2S NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No~44~ NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, APRIL 12, 195* Per Copy— 15e
Wife of Sitka
Minister Chosen
’54 Alaska Mother
JUNEAU — Susan Evans Smith
Chapman, the wife of the Rev.
Henry Chapman of Sitka, has
been chosen as Alaska Mother of
1954, it was announced today by
Acting Governor Waino E. Hend
rickson. Mrs. Chapman, who for
many years was a resident of
Anvik on the lower Yukon River,
was one of ten Alaska mothers
nominated for the honor this year
according to Mrs. Elmer Sellin of
Anchorage, chairman of the Am
erican Mothers Committee of the
Golden Rule Foundation. Mrs.
Sellin and a special committee set
up by her made the selection.
As Alaska Mother of 1954, Mrs.
Chapman will now vie with moth
ers chosen by all the states,
Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Dis
trict of Columbia for the honor of
being selected as the American
National Mother of the Year.
The Rev. Henry Chapman was
bom at Anvik where his father
the Rev. John W. Chapman es
tablished Christ Church Episco
pal Mission. Mrs. Chapman was
born at Scotland Neck, N.C. and
attended St. Mary’s Junior Col
lege at Raleigh, N.C. and Deacon
ness House at Philadelphia. She
was married to the Rev. Chapman
in 1928 and from then until 1948
they lived at Anvik where he
was in charge of the mission. For
the past six years the Chapmans
have lived at Sitka.
The Chapmans have three dau
ghters, May Seely, 24, Laura
Clark, 21, and Anne Hamblin, 16.
The Acting Governor has pro
claimed the week of April 19-25
Alaska Mothers Week during
which Mrs. Chapman and the
other nine nominees for Alaska
mother will be especially hon
ored throughout the territory.
The nominee from Nome was
Mrs. W. B. McCarthy.
Chief Of Dope Ring Dies
Without Divulging Names
Of Men Who Shot Him
CHICAGO, UP— Anthony Pape,
true to gangland tradition, died
last night without divulging who
gunned down him and his bro
ther two days earlier.
Pape, 40-year-old reputed chief
of a 10-million dollar-a-year dope
ring, succumbed to eight gun
shot wounds in the head, back
and arms.
He died without naming the as
sailants who apparently were in
the back seat of the auomobile in
which Pape and his post office
clerk brother, James, 36, were
fatally shot.
Police Saturday said they be
lieved Anthony Pape was slain to
prevent him from making a deal
to tell federal authorities about
a counterfeiting ring in exchange
for clemency on narcotics charges
he faced.
But Asst. U. S. Attjfe James
Piragine said there never was any
indication that the elder Pape
was prepared to “squeal.”
James Pape apparently was an .
innocent victim who was slain
only because he was with his
brother at the time.
Romania Releases
Sons of Georgescu
FRANKFURT, Germany, UP) —
Communist Romania today re
leased the two sons of Valeriu C.
Georgescu, a Romania-horn Am
erican who had refused to be
blackmailed into spying to win
their release.
Misty-eyed, the father and sons
were reunited in West Germany.
It was the first time Georgescu
had seen the boys since 1947 —
when he and his wife left Bucha
rest on a two-month visit to the
United States.
“As a representative of Ameri
can capital (he was president of
the Standard Oil Company of
New Jersey in Romania) they
wouldn’t let me come back,” he
said, “and refused to let our
sons join us.”
The boys are Constantin, now
19, and Peter 15, who smiled as
they talked with their father. Mrs.
Georgescu remained in New York.
The State Department said last
May 26 that Chistache Zambeti,
legation first secretary of the Ro
manian delegation, tried to sub
vert Georgescue into spying for
the Communists.
“The price for this collabora
tion,” the State Department said,
“was to be the welfare” of the
two sons.
But Georgescue refused, after
Zambeti’s visit, Georgescu report
ed the incident to the State De
partment, which forced the recall
of the Romanian diplomat. Zam
beti left, complaining he had been
framed.
Barrow7 Missionary
Sights Downed Airmen
On Arctic Ice Floe
FAIRBANKS, UPi — A flying
missionary sighted three missing
men and their grounded plane on
the frozen Arctic Ocean and ra
dioed the word that led to their
rescue by another airman, it was
learned Saturday.
The missing Air Force Beaver
plane with three men aboard was
located by the Rev. William
Wartes, Presbyterian missionary
at Barrow, who flies his own
plane out of Alaska’s northern
most community.
The plane had been missing
since Friday on a flight from
Barrow to Umiat, in the naval
oil reserve.
After the flying missionary
sighted them, pilot George Thiele
of Wien Alaska Airlines, landed,
picked them up and flew them
to Barrow.
The men said they had walked
10 miles in deep snow after their
plane was forced down 12 miles
off shore when the wings iced up.
It was the second rescue off
the Arctic ice pack for Pilot
Thiele. He made a hazardous
landing on ice floes several
months ago to rescue Jules Thebe
deau.
Predict House Adjourn July 15
But Senate Not Before July 31
WASHINGTON, UPi — Speaker
Martin predicted today that the
House will foe ready to adjourn
by July 15, but Sen. Knowland
expressed doubt that the Senate
will be able to close up shop be
fore July 31.
Atty. Gen. Opposes
Plan To Outlaw
Communist Party
WASHINGTON, W»—Atty. Gen.
Brownell today strongly opposed
legislative proposals to outlaw the
Communist party in this country.
He said such action wcfuld hinder
rather than help the drive against
Communism.
The attorney general told a
House Judiciary subcommittee
that any law making it a crime,
of itself, to join the party, would
send the movement entirely un
derground and “increase the al
ready difficult investigatory job
of the FBI.”
In addition, he asserted that
such a law would raise constitu
tional questions which would cer
tainly be tested at great length
in the courts, thus interfering
with the numerous actions now
being taken to curb Communism
by bringing the organization and
its members into the full light
of publicity.
In lieu of outlawing the party,
the attorney general offered the
subcommittee 10 suggestions of
his own for tightening the laws
relating to subversion. Some of
these he had proposed as long
ago as last year. He detailed all
of them in a telecast'last Friday
night designed to reassure the
country that although Commun
ists are in our midst, much has
been done and is being done to
nullify their movement.
Anchorage Volunteer
Fireman Confesses To
Setting Costly Blazes
ANCHORAGE, LSV-An Anchor
age volunteer fireman who 'suc
cumbed to “an urge” was charged
Saturday with setting the $125,000
fire at the Anchorage High School
auditorium.
Edwin Meier, 20, also admitted
setting a dozen or so other fires,
including a $150,000 blaze at the
National Guard Armory.
Meier, taken into custody Fri
day night after a home fire in
a sparsely settled area south of
the city, broke down under police
questioning and said in a signed
statement:
“I knew when I set those fires
that it was wrong. But all of a
sudden an urge comes over me
and I get all tensed up.”
Federal authorities indicated
they may take action against
Meier, who was released on $5,000
bond, for the armory fire.
French Launch Counter
Attack For Dien Bien Phu
HANOI, Indochina, UP—French
Union troops, charging with fixed
bayonets, launched a strong coun
terattack today against thousands
of Vietminh rebels trying to
smash through to the heart of
Dien Bien Phu from the east and
southeast.
The immediate objective of the
rampaging Vietminh assault ap
peared again to be a 1,200-foot
high hill overlooking the French
fortress and only five-eighths of
a mile from its center. The French
seized the strtegic height from the
rebels in a surprise offensive Sat
urday and have held it against
four big counterattacks.
Washington Post Suggests Governor’s
Partition Plan Lets Administration
Off The Hook Respecting Possible Veto
Special Board To Continue
Study of Alaska Health
WASHINGTON, UR —Secretary
of the Interior McKay announced
today that a special survey of
Alaskan health problems will be
continued this year.
Dr. Thomas Parran, dean of the
University of Pittsburgh Gradu
ate School of Public Health and
a former surgeon general of the
U.S. Public Health Service, will
again head the study group.
Last year Dr. Parran and a
group of associates launched the
special study. They recommended
an emergency program tcf meet
the tuberculosis problem with pri
mary attention given to natives in
outlying areas who are unable to
receive hospital care.
Probers Say “Fifth
Column” Operating In
U. N. Secretariat
WASHINGTON, UR—Senate in
vestigators say a Communist
“fifth column” which includes
some Americans is operating
within the United Nations secre
tariat and “brings into serious
question” the work of U.N. agen
cies.
The Senate Internal Security
subcommittee, reporting Satur
day, recommended that “evi
dence of Soviet use of interna
tional agencies ... as a cover
for espionage on American soil”
be sent to Secretary of State
Dulles as a basis for a possible
protest to Russia.
Reviewing an investigation for
possible Communists among Am
ericans on the U.N. staff, the
nine - member subcommittee re
ported, “there are strong indica
tions that this ‘fifth column” also
includes citizens of other non
Communist countries.”
Champion Hunter To
Retire After Capture
Of 75%-Inch Rattlesnake
OKEENE, Okla., - The
champion hunter of the 15th An
nual Rattlesnake Roundup said
today he was ready to retire after
capturing the biggest rattler in
the history of the event.
“This might be a good time to
quit,” said Russell Strayhorn, a
rugged, bronzed outdoorsman who
collars the deadly diamondbacks
in their own dens.
“At least my wife thinks so.”
Strayhorn, 48, said the monster
Texas diamond-back he snared
with his partner yesterday was
the longest he had ever seen—
75V& inches of buzzing, deadly
reptile. And he estimates he has
caught 2,000 of them alive in his
19-year career.
It topped the catch of 1,576
hauled squirming from their
rocky havens on Salt Creek Can
yon west of here in the safari
sponsored by the Rattlesnake
Roundup, billed as the world’s
most unusual sporting event. The
hunt attracted an estimated 20,000
sportsmen from 26 states.
^ JUNEAU — Governor B. Frank
Heintzleman advised his office to
day that the following editorial
appeared yesterday in the Wash
ington Post and Times Herald, a
leading supporter of statehood for
Alaska:
“If the suggested partitioning
of Alaska will make statehood for
the populous area more accept
able to the House and to the ad
ministration, the compromise
needs to be seriously considered.
No doubt many Alaskans will be
strongly opposed to any division
of their territory; and unquestion
ably a partition into populated
and sparsely settled areas would
create a vast number of adminis
trative problems. The question
needs to be debated, however, in
terms of the major abjective
which is to surmount the road
block to statehood for both Ha
waii and Alaska.
“Evidently the suggestion was
put forward by Gov. Heintzleman
as a means of taking the admin
istration off the hook respecting
a possible veto of the combined
Hawaii-Alaska bill. President Ei
senhower said Wednesday that if
the Alaska measure were to ex
clude the outer reaches along the
Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean he
would look at it with a different
viewpoint. This may be a worth
while hint for action in the
House.
“This newspaper has not sym
pathized with the contention that
statehood for the entire territory
would hamper military defense.
The defense interest in Alaska is
great; but whatever was done,
the powers of the federal govern
ment would remain paramount.
Actually, a stable state govern
ment which would spur develop
ment of the region might be a
help to military organization. It
would be easy to set up more
military districts.
“Nonetheless, what might be
done now by way of compromise
on statehood could be amended
later to take in more or all of
the 586,000 square mile territory.
It would be desirable, however,
to avoid the sort of boundary dis
pute that developed in Hawaii
over the Leeward Islands and
Palmyra (the latter finally having
been excluded from the statehood
bill). In other words, it would be
wise to avoid an attempt to write
fixed boundaries into the state
hood bill. Possibly a congressional
commission could be designated
to study and fix the boundaries
of the new state subject to leg
islative approval. Whatever the
drawbacks to the proposal to limit
statehood to the more homogen
eous part of Alaska, in terms of
practical politics it might be what
is needed to get over the hurdle.’*
No Ruling Yet On Public
School Racial Segregation
WASHINGTON, (/B — The Su
preme Court ended its opinion ses
sion today without ruling on the
public school .ace segregation
issue. The next opinion session
will be April 26.