m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVII No. 5 NOME. ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1955 ' Per Copy—15#
Gold Mining Firms
Sue Govt. For
1942 Shutdown
WASHINGTON, UR—A case to
decide whether the federal gov
ernment must pay damages for
shutting down the nation’s gold
mines during World War II comes
up for argument in the court of
claims today.
More than 160 claims for dam
ages, totaling an estimated 50
million dollars, have been filed
with the court.
The amount of the damages,
however is not an issue in the
current case which involve nine
mining companies.
The issue is whether a War
Production Board order of Oct. 8,
1942, constituted a taking of pro
perty rights by the government
without just compensation. The
order shutting down gold mining
operations was issued in an effort
to divert labor and machinery
into the mining of copper and
other strategic minerals.
A War Production Board re
port after the war estimated the
order failed in its objective, re
sulting in only about 100 miners
leaving gold and working in cop
per mines.
Should the court uphold that
the taking of the right to mine
and sell gold makes the govern
ment liable for damages, the
amount of the damages to each
operator would be determined in
subsequent court proceedings.
The companies contend the
closure order was discriminatory,
since no other business was stop
ped completely by the govern
ment during the war. They say
it forced them to undertake heavy
maintenance costs without a
chance for return on investment.
The government takes the posi
tion that the order was regulation
rather than a taking of property
and that it bore a reasonable rela
tionship to other wartime produc
tion controls and restrictions.
15 Believed Die In Mid-Air
Collision Of Two Planes
BULINGTON, Ky., UP)—.Fifteen
persons were believed to have
been killed today in a mid-air
crash between two large airplanes
several miles southwest of the
Greater Cincinnati airport. The
airport is 12 miles southwest of
Cincinnati.
One of the planes was a Trans
World Airlines ship enroute to
Dayton and Cleveland. The other
plane was not identified immedi
ately, but was believed to be
carrying two persons.
AVA To Meet At
Juneau February 7
JUNEAU, UP)—A meeting of the
Alaska Visitors Assn, has been
called for Juneau Feb. 7, while
the Legislature is in session.
President Ed Coffey has issued
a call for attendance by all per
sons and firms interested in de
veloping tourist traffic. He said
plans will be drawn for national
advertising and promotion and
steps will be taken toward aid
for local communities were pos
sible.
Dag Hammarskjold
Enroute Home To Report
On Talks With Chou
TQKYO, (#> — U.N. Secretary
General Dag Hammarskjold flew
homeward over the Pacific to
night on his way to report to the
U.N. and the world on his efforts
to free 11 Americans and other
U.N. prisoners held by the Com
munists.
Hammarskjold and his party
stopped in Tokyo less than an
hour on the trip from Peiping to
New York.
He has refused steadily to give
any indication of the results of
his four talks with Red China’s
premier and foreign minister
Chou En-Lai.
Per Lind, an aide who accom
panied Hammarskjold, said any
statement now might not be in
their (the prisoners) best inter
ests,” the Nippon Times reported.
The paper said Lind urged fam
ilies of the 11 American airmen
to “have a little more patience.”
I -
Paratroopers Jump
From ^Boxcars'’
On Way North
*
SEWART AIR FORCE BASE,
Tenn., UP>—Engine blazes in two
C-119 Flying Boxcars marred a
paratrooper airlift to Alaska yes
terday with a flaming crash here
and a forced landing in Montana.
A total of 68 paratrooper and
three airmen parachuted to safety
from the two planes, but the pilot
and co-pilot of the plane which
crashed here were listed as dead.
Thirty-five airborne infantry-'
men and three crewmen jumped
when an engine burst into flames
shortly after the twin - engine
craft took off here.
Only hours earlier, 33 para
troopers used their chutes when
an engine caught fire on their
plane near Miles City, Mont.
Pilot-Capt. T. G. Johnson of Sew
art AFB then guided the plane to
Miles City airport without inci
dent.
The two Boxcars were part of
a flight of 80 ferrying 3,000 air
borne troops from Ft. Campbell,
Ky., to Alaska operation Snow
bird, a winter exercise. Para
troops involved in both ships
were members of the 503rd Air
borne Infantry regiment.
Lt. James Reynolds of Mel
bourne, Fla., platoon leader of the
paratroops, said his men thought
it was a drill when the crew
chief ordered them to prepare to
jump.
Reynolds said the men followed
briefing instructions exactly and
30 seconds later the passenger
compartment was empty.
“I don’t know what happened
to the pilot, but he did a good
job. He gave us all the time we
needed ...”
FASCIST GENERAL DIES
ROME, UP)—Former Harshal Ro
dolpho Graziani, 72, grizzled old
“Desert Lion” who commanded
Mussolini’s last ditch Fascist stand
against the Allies, died at a clinic
here Tuesday of a heart attack.
An unrepentent Fascist to the
end, he spent his last years in re
tirement.
80 Flying Boxcars
Carry 3,000 Troops
For Snowbird Test
EDMONTON, Alta., («-— Giant
Flying Boxcars were roaring into
Edmonton steadily today as
movement continued of 3,000 U.
S. paratroopers to Alaska for bat
tle maneuvers.
But the big “jump” for the
paratroopers came before they
got into exercise Snowbird in
Alaska.
The temperature when they
left their base in Kentucky was
40 degrees above. It was 12 below
when some arrived in Edmonton.
The planes carrying them are un
heated.
Weather statistics show they
may expect temperatures rang
ing as low as ,50 degrees below
zero.
Th troops, attached to the 503rd
Airborne Regimental Combat
Team based at Fort Campbell,
Ky., are prepared for the cold.
They are wearing full jump kit.
The month-long Army-Air Force
maneuvers is designed to test
-men and equipment under in
tense cold conditions.
Each plane of the 100 involved
in the movement carries 36 para
troopers with full equipment and
five crew members.
The last plane is expected to
leave Sewart Base in Tennessee
about midnight tonight and the
4,300 - mile flight to Elmendorf
Field at Anchorage, should be
completed about Friday noon.
The planes are arriving in Ed
monton at 30 - minute intervals
with a lapse of one hour between
each unit of 10. By Tuesday night
more than half had arrived in the
Alberta .capital where there is a
12-hour stopover for refueling
and checks.
Venezuela Fighter
Plane Strafes The
Costa Rica Capital
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, 1<P>—An
air raider described as “a Vene
zuelan pursuit plane which came
from Nicaragua” machinegunned
San Jose yesterday and then was
shot down by antiaircraft fire, the
Civil Guard announced.
The raider, which looked like
the American-built P-47 Thunder
bolt of World War II vintage,
buzzed the downtown area of this
capital city and loosed machine
gun bursts at a residential sec
tor. This came as government
troops battled in the north to clear
a rebel band from the Villa Que
sada area, about midway between
San Jose and the Costa Rica
Nicaragua frontier;
Three bursts werfe aimed into
the section surrounding the Costa
Rican White House, the home of
President Jose Figueres.
The plane was climbing rapid
ly as it passed the San Jose
airport control tower. A lumber
ing DC-3 of the Lacsa Airlines,
armed with machineguns in its
side doors, took off in pursuit.
But the plane was shot down
a few minutes later by anti-air
craft fire, the Civil Guard re
ported.
Election of Florida
Democrat Gives Them
232 to 203 House Majority
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., UP>
—Paul G. Rogers is going to Con
gress to fill the Democratic seat
vacated by the death of his
father, Dwight L. Rogers.
Complete, unofficial returns
gave Rogers, a 33-year-old Demo
crat and West Palm Beach attor
ney, 30,131 votes to 21,515 for
his Republican opponent. J. Her
bert Burke, in yesterday’s special
election.
Paul Roger’s victory gives Flor
ida seven Democrats and one Re
publican in the House and gives
the Democrats 232 members in
the House to 203 for the Repub
licans.
Stassen Must Take
Responsibility For
Hiring Ladejinsky
WASHINGTON, — President
Eisenhower said today he has
reached no judgment personally
in the Wolf Ladejinsky case, and
Foreign Operations Administrator
Harold E. Stassen must take full
responsibility for whatever is the
eventual outcome of keeping Lad
ejinsky in government service.
The President discussed the
controversial security case at his
news conference and emphasized
he had only one side of the story
when he once remarked to Sec
retary of Agriculture Benson
that Ladejinsky’s background was
the sort of thing that would scare
him.
But Eisenhower said he up
holds the decision by Stassen to
hire Ladejinsky despite the Ag
riculture Department’s ousting of
the man on security and techni
cal grounds.
In discussing the case, Eisen
hower said Benson came* to him
and read him a summary. After
hearing it, Eisenhower said, he
had some doubt as to whether
Ladejinsky should be given secur
ity clearance. The President
stressed, however, that he did
not know what be called the
other side of the story.
For example, he added, he
didn’t know Ladejinsky is the
author of an anti - Communist
book.
This was Eisenhower’s first
news conference since Dec. 15,
and the discussion ranged over |
many topics.
I
Soviet Scientists Make
North Polar Magnetic
Map for Arctic Airmen
LONDON, (JO—Moscow Radio
reported Tuesday Soviet scientists
are preparing a new North Polar
magnetic map for airmen flying
in the arctic area.
The data is being supplied by
the two fully equipped scientific
stations the Soviets maintain on
,ice floes floating in arctic waters.
Another broadcast Monday an
nounced preparations are being
made to change the personnel on
the two stations and continue the
Work this year.
“Airmen flying in the central
arctic area are already using the
new data,” the broadcast said.
*
Rat Extirmination
Program To Start
Tomorrow Noon
The City of Nome will conduct
a rat extermination program to
morrow, starting at 12:00 noon
and lasting until 12:00 noon on
Saturday.
Poison baits will be used and
it is therefore requested that dogs,
cats and other pets be confined
during that period.
Dr. E. Schiller, who was here
last year, is conducting the pro
gram again and he said that the
bait will be placed in bakery
sacks and painly marked “Poison”
in large red letters. These pack
ages will be distributed all other
town where there is evidence of
rats.
Children are cautioned not to
handle these packages. Wherever
possible the bags of bait will be
picked up at the end of the
period.
All rats killed and recovered
during this time will be studied
for parasitic and other diseases.
Search On For 9 Eskimos
Adrift On Hudson Bay
OTTAWA, liP—Mounted Police
and the Royal Canadian Air Force
are searching for nine Eskimos
adrift on an ice floe in Hudson
Bay since Jan. 4. A police spokes
man said last night the prospect
of finding them “doesn’t look
so good.”
The Eskimos were marooned
when the ice on which they were
hunting seals broke away from
the northeast shore of the bay.
Their dog teams, kayaks and ice
boats were found on the shore.
Wild Seal Climbs Stairs,
Knocks On Door Of
Upstairs Apartment
LONG BEACH, Calif., tP—Sam
uel F. Ashbrok and his wife,
Edith, heard a knock at the door
of an upstairs apartment. “Why,
it’s Bootsie,” she said, thinking
of her Persian cat.
When she opened the door,
she saw a golden fur seal, which
gave evidence it wanted in. Giv
ing a flap and a honk, the ani
mal entered, only to have Ash
brook remove his belt and put
it around the seal’s neck for a
walk back downstairs.
A call to the Animal Shelter
brought an understanding offi
cer. He escorted the grunting
animal to the ocean—at nearby
Seal Beach. Apparently unwel
come ashore, the seal plunked into
the ocean.
Hardly Worth The Risk
DENVER, tiP—“How much tax
is due on $75,000 income?” the
anonymous woman caller asked a
government tax expert yesterday
by telephone.
About $41,180, not counting
deductions, she was told.
“Well, what about $150,000?”
she asked.
The bill jumped to $101,980, the
expert’s slide rule showed.
Asked why she inquired, the
woman replied:
“I’m just deciding whether to
buy one or two tickets on the
Irish Sweepstakes. Thanks for
your help.”