™s NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI No. 154 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1954 Per Copy—15^
Sectys. Weeks and
Mitchell Foresee
Good Year Ahead
WASHINGTON, UPI—Looking to
next year, Secretary of Com
merce Weeks forecasts “a moder
ate upswing in business activity
. . . high over-all employment
and a rise in the standard of
living.”
And Secretary of Labor Mitch
ell, in a companion year-end state
ment issued yesterday, said “we
will . . . have to have an in
crease in factory production and
employment in 1955, simply to
maintain consumption at the past
year’s level.”
Weeks, reporting a “very good”
business outlook for 1955, said
the nation’s economy “is gather
ing steam for steady growth in
the years directly ahead.”
The Commerce Secretary ack
nowledged there was “some in
crease in unemployment” during
the past year, but he said the
percentage dropped in the waning
months of 1954.
Joblessness in 1954 averaged
about 3V4 million persons —
roughly 5 per cent of the civilian
labor force.
Unlike Weeks, various business
and labor groups have forecast
some increase in unemployment
next year because of population
growth and rapidly rising worker
output.
H. J. Lannen, Democratic
Labor Comm. Candidate,
Will Request Recount
JUNEAU, UPi—H. J. Lannen of
Cordova, defeated Democratic
candidate for Territorial Commis
sioner of Labor, has advised Gov
ernor Heintzleman he will arrive
here Monday to arrange for a
recount.
Republican Henry Benson, who
won the election by 25 votes, has
been certified by the Canvassing
Board and will take office Jan. 1.
The governnor said Lannen
must request the recount in writ
ing and list all the precincts in
which he wants the ballots re
counted. Furthermore, he said,
Lannen must defray the cost of
the recount.
* _
Eisenhowers at Augusta
Golf Club New Year’s Eve
AUGUSTA, Ga., UP) — President
and Mrs. Eisenhower will see the
New Year in at the Augusta Na
tional Golf Club tonight.
There will be a dinner party in
the clubhouse trophy room begin
ning about 8 p.m.
James C. Hagerty, White House
press secretary, said there would
be no special guests. Most of those
around the table will be mem
bers of the exclusive club—Eisen
hower’s golfing companions and
their wives.
j Approval By French Is
But First Hurdle For
German Rearmament
PARIS, UPi — The battle for
West German rearmament thun
dered on throughout Europe to
day despite Premier Mendes
France’s victory in the French
National Assembly. The Paris
treaties enlisting 500,000 German
troops in Western defense faces
many more obstacles before final
ratification.
Even without major holdups, it
now appeared it might be summer
before the Bonn government could
begin organizing the 12 divisions
of soldiers, the air force of about
1,200 planes and the small coastal
navy the plan provides for.
The treaties topped what was
generally believed their biggest
hurdle yesterday when the French
National Assembly approved 287
260 the last of the accords after
nine days of bitter debate. But
even in France, the ratification
process was far from complete.
The Council of the Republic,
parliament’s upper house, still
must give its okay.
Ratification of the various
treaties also remains to be com
pleted in the United States, Can
ada, Belgium, Italy, the Nether
lands, Luxembourg, Greece and
West Germany.
The roughest road is expected
in West Germany, where the
strength of Chancellor Konrad
Adenauer’s governing coalition
has been whittled down in re
cent state elections.
Fancy Fable of
Runningest Rabbits
Wins Whopper
By Paul Clifford
BURLINGTON, Wis., W> — A
fib about jet speed rabbits, nur
tured in the southland to the
status of a fancy fable, has won
the title “world’s champion liar”
for Shelton R. Day, Baton Rouge,
La., in the 1954 parade of fabri
cation by the Burlington Liars’
Club.
Shelton’s tainted truth was an
nounced today as the big whopper
of the year and he won custody,
for one year, of the club’s “gold
plated, diamond-studded medal.”
The tale that carried off the
prize, in this the silver anniver
sary of the Liars’ Club, goes like
this:
“The swamp rabbits down this
way are so fast that we use high
powered rifles to hunt them in
stead of shotguns. Even then hunt
ers never get any, unless they
know the trick, to bag these rab
bits on the run. You have to aim
fast, shoot, and then let out a
shrill whistle. When you whistle
the rabbit stops—and the bullet
has a chance to catch up with
him.”
And a Happy and
Prosperous New
Year to You All
By Francis Stilley
NEW YORK, lifl—Of course, you
can always stay at home and
watch television or listen to your
wife.
Or, as many people do, you can
go to church for the traditional
and ever popular “watch night”
services.
You could even take in a movie
or hold an intellectual roundtable
discussion with a party of friends
at home.
But if you think you and the
wife or girl friend just can’t wel
come the New Year any place but
some hotshot nightspot in the big
city—brother!
Hold on to your wallet. Or try
to. The tab is going to be a
dandy.
Oh, well, happy New Year any
how and here’s our handy vest
pocket guide to the doings around
the country:
New York—Probably a million
people will jam Times Square in
the heart of Manhattan as usual,
whooping, hollering and freezing
their toes.
Washington, D.C.—The Pageant
of Peace which opened Dec. 17 on
the ellipse opposite the White
House, will have New Year’s Eve
religious services.
Boston—Several Massachusetts
and Rhode Island communities
plan free coffee bars over holi
days in police stations to help
keep “tired drivers” from having
accidents.
New Orleans—Top minimum in
town is Hotel Roosevelt’s Blue
and International rooms at $22.50
per reveler. This includes tax,
dinner, a small bottle of cham
pagne and floor show.
1954 Traffic Death Toll
Estimated To Be 36,500,
Lowest In Four Years
CHICAGO, UP) — The traffic
death toll in the United States
this year, the National Safety
Council estimates, will be 36,500,
the lowest in four years.
The council’s estimate, based on
actual reports for the first 11
months of 1954, compares with a
total of 38,300 in 1953.
Fatalities during each of the
first 10 months of 1954 were low
er than in the corresponding
months of 1953. But November
showed a 2 per cent increase with
3,250 deaths.
The council said there are in
dications that the December toll
could be held below the figure
in December last year, despite the
record high toll for a two-day
holiday set at Christmas.
It was estimated 240 traffic
fatalities during the two-day New
Year’s (holiday period, from 6 p.m.
tonight to midnight Sunday.
“Joe Must Go Club” Found
Guilty of Violations Of
Corrupt Practices Act
BARABOO, Wis., OP) — Circuit
Judge Bruce Beilfuss, today found
the Joe Must Go Club of Wiscon
sin, Inc., guilty on 21 counts of
violating the state’s corrupt prac
tices act. The club sought unsuc
cessfully to recall Senator Joseph
McCarthy (R-Wis) last spring.
A fine of $200 was assessed on
each count.
The charges * were brought
against the club by the Sauk
County district attorney fdllowing j
statewide circulation of petitions
by the club seeking a recall elec
tion. The campaign failed to pro
duce the required number of sig
natures.
Under the Wisconsin corrupt
practices act, every committee or
corporation engaged in any politi
cal campaign must file full fin
ancial reports with the secretary
of state, listing contributions, the
source of its income and expendi
tures. This the Joe Must Go Club
did not do. Judge Beilfuss held
that it should have done so and
assessed the fines because of this
failure.
8-Year-Old Boy In Serious
Condition After Savage
Attack By Two Bulldogs
SPARTANBURG, S.C., OP)—An
8-year-old boy lay in serious con
dition today after a savage at
tack by two bulldogs who chewed
his arms and legs “down to the
bone.”
It took nearly 150 stitches to
close Roger Stokely’s wounds.
Doctors said his arm muscles were
torn badly and that on his left leg
both muscle and skin were “just
gone.”
Officers said Roger was attack
ed while on an errand to the
home of a neighbor, Gene O’Sulli
van, owner of the dogs.
Police said they did not plan
any charges against O’Sullivan
pending the outcome of the boy’s
condition. They described the ani
mals as “a mixed breed of big
bulldogs.”
Air Force Secty. Talbott
Takes “Good Cheer” To
Airmen In The North
NEW YORK, (IP)—Secretary of
the Air Force Harold E. Talbott
and a group of entertainers head
ed by comedian Bob Hope left
yesterday by air to celebrate New
Year's with troops in the frozen
northland.
Talbott had 7,500 cartons of
cigarettes and 250 gallons of
eggnog to cheer up the thousands
of Air Force men stationed at
Goose Bay, Laborador, and Thule
Air Force Base, Greenland. They
live in three months of darkness
and most of them haven’t seen
anything female in a year or
more, he said.
President Will Ask
Congress Increase
Minimum Wage
AUGUSTA, Ga„ 141—President
Eisenhower will ask Congress
next month to increase the na
tional minimum wage from 75
cents an hour to 90 cents, it was
learned here today.
Minimum wages come under
the Fair Labor Standards Act,
which covers about 24 million
American workers.
James C. Hagerty, White House
press secretary, announced that
Eisenhower will include a recom
mendation for a “substantial per
centage increase” in the mini
mum wage in his state of the
union message to Congress Jan. 6.
Hagerty declined to say how
much it would be, but reliable
reports fixed it at 15 cents an
hour.
Eisenhower did not recommend
an increase in the minimum wage
to the last session of Congress,
but he said at a news conference
in Washington Dec. 15 that he
is convinced there should be an
increase when the economy is ex
panding.
Army Plans To Release
44,000 Draftees Ahead of
Time Next May and June
WASHINGTON, OP)—'The Army
said today it plans to release
ahead of time next May and
June about 44,000 draftees who
will be nearing the end of their
terms of service.
The Army said it also plans a
comparable early release program
in the March through June period
for approximately 3,400 reserve
lieutenants now serving their in
itial 24 month tour of active duty.
The early release program is
part of the plan to speed up the
process of trimming down the
Army. The new program is aimed
to cut off the rolls by June 73,000
more men than previously plan
ned, leaving a force of 1,100,000
at the end of that month.
Much of the total reduction in
strength, the Army said, is ex
pected to be obtained through a
substantial decrease in draft calls
during each month beginning with
February.
Ahead of the Army’s announce
ment it was reported that Gen.
Matthew B. Ridgway had taken
the unusual step of writing Presi
dent Eisenhower to protest the cut
in Army manpower.
BERLIN, UP)—More than 200,000
East Germans fled from the So
viet zone to the West in 1954, re
fugee headquarters disclosed to
day, 104,000 of them to West
Berlin.
Among the refugees were 2,807
Communist Peoples’ Police, in
cluding 206 officers.
This year’s total in Berlin was
a sharp reduction from 1953, when
305,737 slipped out of the East.
New Year’s Party Tonight
LEGION HALL - 8:00 P.M. - ALL LEGION AND AUXILIARY MEMBERS AND GUESTS CORDIALLY INVITED