THE
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
62nd Year No. 50 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1961 Per Copy 15^
U.S. Staged Civil
Defense Conelrad
Alert Today
WASHINGTON UP — In the
middle of a nationwide Civil De
fense exercise, President Ken
nedy told Americans today “We
do not expect war,” but urged
them to take common sense mea
sures to be ready “should an
enemy thrust war upon us.”
Screaming sirens at about 4
p.m. EST in many areas halted
traffic and sent millions of adults
and school children seeking cover
from the make-believe fallout of
an hypothetical nuclear attack.
For half an hour all radio and
TV stations closed down except
the 640 and 1240 wavelength sta
tions of the emergency Conelrad
(Control of Electronic Radiation)
system. These broadcast the mes
sages of Kennedy, Civil Defense
Director Frank B. Ellis, and gov
ernors and mayors.
Chief aim of the drill, which
climaxed three days of quietly
run government exercises, was to
train some 7.5 million federal,
state and local employes in their
emergency duties. But Kennedy
told the nation:
“Individual preparedness, which
is beyond the province of govern
ment, is essential to an effective
civil defense.
“For unless individual Ameri
cans plan to protect their o\)vn
families, the most ambitious and
carefully organized activties of
government will prove inade
quate.”
The annual alert is a test of
the country’s program of prepar
edness.
Plans for public participation
varied from city to city. People
were asked to take shelter, to
stand under a viaduct or in a
doorway. Traffic was to be halted.
But some may ask: “Why
bother to take shelter? An H
bomb blast would blow me to
smithereens anyway.”
The answer of the Office of
Civil Defense Mobilization is
given in a word — dust, radio
active duct.
Thirty million or more Ameri
cans might be killed, burned or
maimed in a surprise nuclear as
sault that hit 100 cities, airfields,
ports and missile bases.
But the other 150 million Am
ericans could survive, retaliate,
rebuild and wage war, if only
they could be sheltered from the
infected dust, or could outrun it.
The doorway and the bridge are
considered little more than sym
bolic makeshifts at this date for
a nationwide shelter program
which OCDM wants to initiate.
Official Time Clock
Set Up At Nenana
NENANA (jP) — The Nenana
Ice Classic official time clock will
be put up today, but veteran river
observers don’t expect to see the
breakup for several days.
Once the time clock is up a
watchman will be on duty to make
sure there is no tampering with
the mechanism which records the
Tanana River breakup time to the
second.
A check of ice conditions today
showed the ice still hasn’t raised
to the level where it froze last
year. Ice on the Nenana River
is weaker but has not yet started
to actually breakup. The Nenana
normally goes out several days
before the Tanana breakup starts.
Last night there was a hard
freeze in the Nenana area.
BLM W ill Open
Information Office
In Nome on May I
Mr. Richard Quintus, operations
supervisor for the Fairbanks Of
fice of the Bureau of Land Man
agement, announced today that
the Nome Information Office will
be reopened to the public on
May 1. Dan Jones, Fairbanks
Land Office manager, will reopen
the Nome office.
Mr. Loyal J. Johnson, present
ly chief of the Fairbanks infor
mation office, has been assigned
to take charge and he will main
tain office hours from 8 a.m. un
j til 5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays
and Wednesdays. He will conduct
field trips on Thursdays and Fri
days.
Mr. Johnson will arrive here on
May 15 and until his arrival,
Miss Julienne Gibbons of the
Fairbanks Land Office will be in
charge of the office.
The Nome office will be open
on a trial basis until Oct. 31. A
study of activities during that
period will then be made to de
termine whether the office will
be required in the future.
Maps and survey charts of the
district, as well as other mater
ial will be available in the office.
—
French Stamp Out Last
Elements of Rebellious
Forces in Algeria
ALGIERS [fft — A vast purge
was launched in Algeria today to
stamp out the last remnants of
rebellion among the military and
European civilians. Five generals
! were sent off to France under
arrest and three more military
units were ordered dissolved.
A spokesman for the Informa
tion Ministry said a roundup of
rebellious elements had resulted
as President Charles De Gaulle
moved swiftly to crush opposi
tion to his policy of self-deter
I mination in Algeria.
Despite the high tension among
the European settlers, the Mos
lem population remained calm.
A Moslem informant said they
had received orders from the na
tionalist rebel headquarters to
avoid any provocative acts and re
main at home as much as possi
ble.
An early trial before a joint
military-civilian court was indi
cated for the leader of the abor
tive mutiny, ex-Gen. Maurice
Challe.
Rumors Says Actor
Marlon Brando is Wed
SANTA MONICA, Calif. W —
Is Marlon Brando secretly wed
to ex-film star Movita?
The source for this latest specu
lation is Brando’s former wife,
Anna Kashfi.
Neither Brando, 37, currently
working in Tahiti, nor Movita, 45,
was reached for comment. Bran
do declined comment on the same
rumor several months ago. Movita
lives in Mexico.
Miss Kashfi told newsmen yes
terday that Brando telephoned
her one night, confided that he
and Movita had been secretly
married in Mexico and had a 9
month-old son.
Miss Kashfi’s visit with news
men came as she was about to go
into court for another hearing
involving her feud with Brando
over their 3-year-old son, Chris
tian Devi.
The hearing was continued un
til June due to Brando’s absence.
Disposal of ACS
Could Create
Major Scandal
WASHINGTON UP — Disposal
of the government’s Alaska Com
munications System could cre
ate a major scandal, Rep. Daniel
Flood, (D-Pa.>, says.
“It has been lace-curtained.
Now we are goldplating this oper
ation,” Flood said of the mili
tary-o p e r a t e d communications
system established in 1900 and
now valued at some $160 million.
“Just watch this grow and
grow,” said Flood, “then finally
we will say to A. T. & T. (Amer
ican Telephone and Telegraph),
here it is.
“This is the potential of one of
the greatest scandals in American
political history. This is a joke.”
Flood, an advocate of selling
the system, aired his views at
a recent hearing of a House Ap
propriations subcommittee.
Maj. Gen. E. F. Cook, Deputy
Chief Signal Officer, said the
Army has asked Congress to au
thorize disposal of the system but
approval has not been forthcom
ing.
Assuming Congress approves
1 disposal, he said, it would take
two to three years to negotiate
the sale and transfer the system.
“In the meantime,” Cook said,
“the . . . Army must continue to
operate and provide the essential
and basic communication services
j for the general public which are
available only through this sys
tem.”
M. C. West, acting comptroller
I of the Signal Corps, said it would
i be in the best interests of the gov
| ernment to sell because “it is my
| personal opinion that commercial
! enterprise can do it better and
cheaper.”
The Army is asking Congress to
provide $6,260,000 for operation
and maintenance of the system in
the year starting July 1.
Senate Postpones Inquiry
Into Invasion of Cuba
WASHINGTON Iff) — A Senate
inquiry into the Cuban invasion
was postponed today until Mon
day when acting Secretary of
State Chester Bowles said “sev
eral emergencies” would prevent
his appearance.
Sen. Wayne Morse, (D-Ore.l,
Chairman of the Senate Latin
American Affairs subcommittee,
announced the postponement after
a series of telephone calls to the
State Department.
But Morse announced that he
and Bowles agreed to invite Allen
W. Dulles, Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, to attend
Monday’s closed meeting.
Woman Tells Israel Court
Of Eichmann’s Slaughter
JERUSALEM — A woman
witness at the trial of Adolf Eich
mann quietly told the story to
day of a Nazi massacre in a Polish
village, tihe murder of her own
father, and the slaughter of chil
dren who wept.
“I saw this with my own eyes,”
said Eda Lichtmann, testifying in
the trial of the former Gestapo
officer accused by Israel of major
complicity in the destruction of
an estimated six million Euro
pean Jews.
Eichmann, sitting in the prison
er’s box directly in front of her,
sat like a statue. He stopped leaf
ing through the files beside him
and leaned back in his chair, un
moving.
Mercury Space
Capsule Ready for
First Astronaut
WALLOPS Island, Va. —
The Mercury space capsule under
went its final and most severe
unmanned test today with this
verdict: A man aboard unques
tionably could have survived.
Next week an American astro
naut at Cape Canaveral, Fla., will
stake his life on that finding.
Little Joe VII, a cluster of eight
solid propellant rockets, leaped
up from this test station of the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration this morning with
the 3,000-pound space chamber
on its nose.
Half an hour later, after a
flight that produced stresses even
more violent than the extreme
conditions that had been planned,
the capsule was back on the beach
after a parachute-cushioned land
ing in the sea and fast recovery
by a helicopter.
Meantime the vehicle had been
blasted loose from the booster by
rocket devices intended to save
a space flier in case of trouble
in the liftoff.
Asked if a man could have
lived through it, project manager
William M. land replied: “Un
questionably.”
The aim was to determine
whether the equipment would
work under the most punishing
conditions as the pstronaut migh
encounter.
Next comes the real test—prob
ably next Tuesday — at Cap<
Canaveral, Fla., with man aboarc
for a longer ride.
Insurance Adjuster
Praises Nome Fire Dept.
Handling of Barrow Fire
Nome’s Fire Chief Bob Oliver
and the Volunteer Firemen have
received a pat on the back for
their handling of the Dr. Barrow
residence fire earlier this month.
The accolade was made in a
letter to Chief Oliver from Don
McGee, insurance adjuster of An
chorage.
McGee’s letter says in part:
“ . . . Due to the rather un
orthodox construction of the
building, I feel that you accom
plished a job of extinguishing the
blaze that would be the envy of
any major city, highly paid, and !
famed fire company.
“I am also mentioning this to
the insurance company involved
in this fire, who undoubtedly will
pass the information on to the
National Board of Fire Under
writers which could, eventually
result in lower premium rates for
Nome.”
PREDICTS MAY BREAK-UP
OF THE NENANA ICE CLASSIC
Carl Haggstrom, manager of the
predicts a May break-up. He said
yesterday:
“The ice is raising a little, but
it has been down to freezing at
night. There is water running
near both shores but a car can
still cross. Unless it gets warmer
or rains it will be several days
yet before the ice moves.”
Congress Provides $200 Million
In Benefits for Needy Children
WASHINGTON W> — The Sen
ate Thursday passed and sent to
President Kennedy a bill provid
ing an estimated $200 million
benefits for needy children of un
employed parents.
Action came on a voice vote
after brief debate.
U. S. Spurns
Negotiations with
Castro Regime
WASHINGTON UP) — The Unit
ed States, spurning a suggestion
from the Castro regime for U. S.
Cuban negotiations, declared to
day that “Communism in this
hemisphere is not negotiable.”
A State Department spokesman
pointedly reminded newsmen that
President Kennedy had said the
American people “are not com
placent about Iron Curtain tanks
and planes less than 90 miles
from our shores.”
The Cuban problem, Press Of
ficer Lincoln White asserted, is a
problem among many nations, not
between Washington and Havana
alone.
Cuban President Osvaldo Dor
ticos told diplomats at the Presi
dential Palace in Havana today
that Cuba was willing to discuss
I its problems with the American
\ government and “even to reopen
j diplomatic relations.”
The chief of the regime con
trolled by Prime Minister Fidel
Castro also said the United States
was preparing to launch a mili
; tary attack, and that the Cuban
people would defend themselves.
On this point, White declared
! that U. S. Naval vessels “are in
, the Caribbean on routine maneu
vers.” He added:
; “The report of planned inva
. | sion of Cuba is completely with
I out foundation. This is nothing
■ more than cheap propaganda.”
. I
Daylight Saving Time
In Effect Throughout
17 States on Sunday
By The Associated Press
About half the nation’s popu
lation will lend an hour to Father
Time this weekend. The loan will
be repaid in kind next fall, no
interest, but nothing lost either.
Daylight Saving Time — a
means of increasing the number
of daylight hours — goes into ef
fect at 2 a. m. this Sunday
throughout 17 states and the Dis
trict of Columbia, while Minne
sota makes the switch May 28.
In 11 states, the measure goes
into effect only in some areas.
All of the communities in the re
maining 21 states will stay on
Standard Time through the sum
mer.
In this age of shrunken dis
tances, it will be difficult for
anyone to remain unaffected by
the change, even if his own com
munity remains on Standard
Time.
If you are a resident of such,
—43—, you won’t have to bother
setting your clock ahead one hour
this Sunday, but you’ll find that
many of your television programs
will be going on the air an hour
early.
For some, the confusion will
be compounded by the fact that
they live in states where the time
is different from one area to an
other.
THE WEATHER
Mostly fair. High clouds. Low
tonight 25, high tomorrow 35-40.
In the last 24 hours as of 7:00
a. m. today: High of 33, low of 26.
Maximum wind at 23 mph from
the northeast. Sunrise at 3:42
a. m., sunset at 8:19 p. m. Tem
peratures a year ago today: High
of 35, low of 12. Extremes on this
date since 1907: High of 46 in
1912. low of -9 in 1928.
In Nenana today it was clear
with a high temperature of 39.
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