OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LXI No. 5 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1959 _ Per Copy—15c
Mushing
Through
Washington
o
By FRANK W. VAILLE
WASHINGTON, WV-iLast week
was a busy one for Alaskans in
Washington, but Senator and
Mrs. Ernest Gruening found time
to be “at home” one evening to
fellow 49ers and some of Washing
ton’s chief sled pullers.
Supreme Court Justice William
O. Douglas, a Walla Walla, Wash.,
native, was an early arrival as
was retired Justice Stanley F.
Reed.
Mingling also was Senator Lyn
don Johnson (Tex), Senate Demo
cratic leader, whose eye was
caught by a display of magazines
on the Gruening reading table.
Atop the pile was one appropriate
ly titled “The New Leader,” with
Johnson’s picture on the cover.
Also on hand were Paul Butler,
Democratic National Chairman,
and his wife, conversing with Sen
ator and Mrs. Bob Bartlett around
the food-laden buffet. Senator and
Mrs., Frank Church (D-Idaho)
stood nearby, telling of their ex
periences during a campaign trip
Church made to Alaska last fall.
Representative and Mrs. Wayne
Aspinall (D-Colo) took time off
from admiring a solid ivory gavel
to tell of his hopes to have a dele
gation from his House Interior and
Insular Affairs Committee on hand
in Juneau for the inauguration of
Governor William A. Egan.
Among Alaskans on hand, in ad
dition to members of the two sen
atorial staffs, were the former An
chorage mayor, Zachary Loussac,
and Mrs. Loussac, Gruening’s
house guests; Anabel Simpson,
formerly of Juneau, and Clar
ence Mattson of Port Chilkoot.
Senator Bob Bartlett could be
wishing Alaska was still a terri
tory. Statehood and his elevation
from delegate to senator has made
him “a prisoner of the bells” like
his other voting colleagues.
While a votelcss delegate for 14
years, Bartlett wasn’t bothered by
the bell signals that summoned
other members of the House to the
chamber for a vote or quorum
call. He could just remain in his
office and continue what he was
doing.
Now he must scurry to the Sen
ate chamber whenever the bells
ring.
To a newsman who encountered
him hurrying back to his office on
the morning after his swearing in,
Bartlett moaned: “Those darn
bells — I’ve already had to post
pone one appointment twice this
morning.”
* * »
Governor William A. Egan isn’t
going to have to surrender that
plastic-encased shamrock tie clasp
which figured in Congressional ac
tion on the Alaska Statehood Bill.
Egan’s wife, Neva, first gave the
clasp to Representative Leo O'Bri
en (D-NY\ chairman of the House
Territories Subcommittee, when
he carried the statehood bill to
the House floor last year. O’Brien
(Continued on Page Three)
Proposed Bill
Will Double
State Employes
JUNEAU. UPi — Proposed legis
lation in the form of a single,
comprehensive bill, was recom
mended to shift Alaska’s govern
ment from left-over Territorial
status to that of a fully function
ing State.
The proposal was contained in a
268 page report made public by
the agency hired by the Alaska
Statehood Committee to study the
steps needed to put the 49th State
in running order.
At the same time, Public Ad
ministration Service also made
public a separate personnel report
recommending a staff of some 2,
000 government employes — from
department heads at Juneau to
part-time laborers at remote high
way maintenance stations.
A State payroll of that size
would be about double the present
1,050 employes carried over from
the Territory. A substantial por
tion of the increased state staff
wpuld be in the Department of
Public Works — with a proposed
staff of about 900, including most
of the job allocations under the
Federal Bureau of Public Roads.
Kentucky High School
Girl Prefers School To
Alaska’s Inauguration
LOUISVILLE, Ky„ OP) — Caro
lyn Sue Haag likes school so much
she has turned down a chance to
attend inauguration ceremonies for
Alaska’s Governor, next Saturday.
The 16-year-old honor student,
whose father works for an Alas
kan company, received an official
invitation to attend Governor
William A. Egan’s inaugural in
Juneau.
“I would like to go,” Carolyn
said. “But I think school is more
important.”
Carolyn, a junior, has not
missed a day of high school.
Villagers Contribute
Money to Continue
Search for Lost Pair
FAIRBANKS, UP) — Villagers
of the lower Kuskokwim and low
er Yukon areas have contributed
more than $800 to spur the search
for Paul Tovey and Phil Penta
cost, missing since Christmas on
a flight out of Minto.
In addition, a number of Fair
banks schoolteachers have contri
buted funds to continue the search
for the two missing men.
Tovey, a graduate student at
the University of Alaska, and
Pentacost, Minto school teacher,
left on a wolf-hunting expedition
and haven’t been heard from
since.
Although the Air Force has
abandoned the search the funds
contributed can be used by pri
vate pilots in continuing the
search.
Contributions poured into Fair
banks from such villages as Kals
kag, Akiak, Mekoryuk, Chevak,
Stony River, Eek, Quinhagak, Qui
gillingok and Stebbins.
Other contributions came from
Hooper Bay, Kasigluk, Mountain
Village and Tuluksak.
Supreme Court
Rules Alaska Can j
Collect Back Taxes!
WASHINGTON, UP) — The Su
preme Court ruled 7-0 today that
Alaska can collect from eight
firms, back taxes and interest
totaling more than $175,000 under
the now defunct property tax act.
The 1949 Alaska General Prop
erty Tax was repealed, with cer
tain exceptions, by the 1955 Ter
ritorial Legislature. The U. S. Dis
trict Court in Alaska and Ninth
Circuit Court at San Francisco
overruled the Territority’s efforts
to collect these taxes for the years
1949 through 1952.
Attorney General J. G. Williams
argued the case before the Su
preme Court on December 9. He
said at Juneau the court’s decision
opens the way to collection of $1,
115,000 additional assessments on
the rolls besides those against the
eight firms. The firms named are
American Can, Fidalgo Island
Packing, Libby, McNeill & Libby,
Nakat Packing, New' England
Fish, P. E. Harris, Pacific and Arc
tic Railway and Navigation, and
Oceanic Fisheries.
The additional unpaid taxes are
on 8,689 assessments, including
1,664 in the Second Division. The
Governor’s Office says it will
move to collect them.
Forbes to Continue
Serving As Federal
Judge at Fairbanks
By RICHARD P. POWERS
, WASHINGTON, UP) — The Jus
tice Department said today Ver
non Forbes of Wahpeton, N. D.,
will continue to act as a federal
court judge in Alaska until the
judgeship situation for the 49th
State has been clarified.
Forbes’ four year appointment
as one of four federal judges to
act in the then Territory of Alas
ka expired last August 24. But a
spokesman for the Justice De
partment said he will continue as
a holdover for the present, as will
the others.
The act making Alaska a state
specified that one federal district
court judge be appointed for the
new state. The four present
judges in Alaska have been hand
ling not only federal matters but
all types of court cases as well.
Neither of Alaska’s Democratic
senators, Bob Bartlett or Ernest
Gruening, has made any recom
mendation to the President for the
appointment of a federal judge
for the new state. His appoint
ment would be for life while the
present judges are operating on
four year appointments.
Aides to both senators say they
would like to have an Alaskan
named to the new post of Federal
Judge for the state. The Justice
Department gave no indication as
to whether any of the present
four judges is under consideration.
The others, in addition to
Forbes, who holds court at Fair
banks, are Raymond J. Kelly, Ju
neau; Walter H. Hodge, Nome,
and J. L. McCarrey, Anchorage. I
Eisenhower & Mikovan Meet Saturday
WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Eisenhower will meet with Soviet
Deputy Premier Mikoyan at the
White House Saturday.
Secretary of State Dulles and
perhaps some other officials will
be present, Presidential Press Sec
retary James Hagerty said.
Eisenhower is expected to im
press upon Premier Khrushchev’s
top deputy that the Western allies
have no intention of abandoning
West Berlin or creating a neutral
ized Germany.
The Soviet visitor met with
both Dulles and Vice President
Nixon a week ago before starting
his present tour around the coun
try.
Interest in the forthcoming dis
cussions were sharpened over the
weekend by two surprise Moscow
moves.
1. In notes to the United States
and 26 other countries that fought
Nazi forces in World War II, the
Soviet government proposed a 23
nation conference to meet at War
saw or Prague in two months to
write a German peace treaty. Tae
12-page note was accompanied by
a 25-page detailed outline for a
withdrawal of Western and Soviet
troops from Germany and a ban
on German membership in any
military alliance. West Germany is
a member of NATO.
2. In a second note Saturday
night, the Soviet Union called for
resumption of East-West talks on
the problem of preventing surprise
attack in the nuclear missiles age.
The 'United States responded
promptly with a statement saying
it favors resuming the talks —
which broke down at Geneva on
December 18 — but wants an
agreement with the Soviet Union
on the range of problems they
should deal with.
Nixon Statement
Challenged By
Sen. Symington
WASHINGTON, UP) — Senator
Stuart Symington (D-Mo) chal
lenged Vice President Nixon to
day to prove the United States
is now ahead of Russia in ballistic
missiles.
Symington told the Senate that
if Nixon made an observation to
that effect, “it is not correct —
and I do not know a single impar
tial expert in the missile field
who would support it.”
The senator is a former Secre
tary of the Air Force under Presi
dent Truman and a member of the
Senate Armed Services Special
Space Committee. He took issue
with information given newsmen
yesterday that Nixon says the
United Slates is ahead of Russia
in developing military missiles and
is catching up fast in other phases
of the space race.
Symington, mentioned often as
a potential Democratic candidate
for the Presidency, spoke out in
the Senate shortly after Nixon left
his place as presiding officer.
The question of where the
United States stands in the space
race is expected to come under re
newed scrutiny in both the Sen
ate and House this session.
New Flag Has — Yipes,
42 Stars and 11 Stripes
FULLERTON, Calif., UP — A
flag described as the first with 49
stars to fly in Orange County was
ceremoneously presented to
Hughes Aircraft Company and
hoisted to the top of its flagpole
Saturday.
Then, a few hours later, some
one discovered it had only 42
stars — a whole horizontal row
was missing. What’s more, it had
only 11 instead of 13 stripes. It
was quickly lowered.
The flagmaker, Harold Mat
th^s of nearby. Santa Ana, ex
plained today the national emblem
had been custom-made and rushed
through for the presentation.
“I guess we were just in a
hurry,” he added. He said he
would replace the flag with a
i proper one.
International
Boxing Clubs
Must be Dissolved
WASHINGTON, Iff) — The Su
preme Court today upheld a lower
court ruling requiring dissolution
of the International Boxing Clubs
of New York and Illinois.
The ruling, by U. S. District
Judge Sylvester J. Ryan in New
York, also held the Madison
Square Garden Corporation and
its majority stockholders — James
D. Norris of New York and Ar
thur M. Wirtz of Chicago —
along with the two clubs had vio
lated the Sherman Antitrust Law.
Justice Clark delivered the Su
preme Court’s 5-3 decision. Justice
Harlan dissented, joined by Jus
tices Frankfurter and Whittaker.
Judge Ryan found the defen
dants had monopolized interstate
commerce in the professional box
ing championship field through in
terlocking corporations, ownership
of stadiums, and contracts with
boxers.
Norris and Wertz were told to
sell their more than 50,000 shares
of stock in the Garden, were pro
hibited from acting as officers of
the Garden corporation, and
were limited to promoting two
championship fights yearly.
Ham Brings Out The
Beast In Holdup Men
NEW YORK, Iff) — Ham was
Arthur Hutchinson’s meat, but the
two men who robbed him regarded
it as poison.
Hutchinson, 42, a clerk in a
Harlem check-cashing agency,
was assaulted and robbed of $7,000
he was carrying in a paper bag
to his office last December 4.
He was carrying a paper bag
again Friday when two Negro men
I stopped him. One grabbed for it
and demanded: “Give us the
; money.”
“It’s only got a sandwich in it,”
Hutchinson protested.
“Oh yeah,” scoffed the holdup
man. He snatched the bag and
the pair ran off. They stopped a
short distance off and examined
the contents
They foun 1 a ham sandwich.
They ran back to Hutchinson
and beat him up.