™s NOME NUGGET
_OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LVII No. 137 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1955 Per Copy—154
President of Convention Thrilled By
Absence of Politics Among Delegates
By FLORENCE DOUTHIT
FAIRBANKS, UPI — The presi
dent of the Alaska Constitutional
Convention is getting a big thrill
out of his first experience with
a nonpolitical body.
Forty - one year old William
Egan, lifetime resident of Valdez,
has been in Alaskan politics 18
years and is having a great time
watching politicians at this con
vention eat at the same table,
ride the same bus and forget their
differences.
“There was some strain notice
able the first few days,” Egan
said today, “but I don’t see it
now. It’s wonderful and maybe a
mircle to see how these 55 people
have left politics out of this con
vention.”
“In a Juneau restaurant during
Legislature time people of dif
ferent sides of the fence wouldn’t
sit within a half mile of each
other,” he recalled, “but here they
are at the same table and talking
too.”
Egan, at 41, says he has already
washed his hands of politics,
finding the need for more atten
tion to his family, a wife and one
9-year old son, and his business
at Valdez, a grocery and mer
chandise store.
“But before I quit I wanted to
see the constitution shaped, ” said
the quiet-voiced president. He
added he does not look for any
bitterness in this convention when
the whirl of proposals start
swamping the plenary sessions.
Although averaging only about
five hours of sleep a night, Egan
is enjoying the task of presidency,
drawing upon the experience of
two sessions in the House of Rep
resentatives—one as Speaker and
two in the Senate—plus two spe
cial sessions. Egan also has been
mayor of Valdez twice, a member
of the city council and president
of the Valdez Chamber of Com
merce.
“My hope is that there won’t
be too many allusions to the
way things are done in the legis
lature. This gathering is a new
and different thing. With good
faith already obvious here the
delegates don’t need a legislative
background,” Egan said.
Graham Denies
Planting Bomh
On UAL Plane
DENVER, UF) — John Gilbert
Graham flatly denies planting a
bomb on the airliner that crashed
and killed his mother and 43 other
passengers, the Rocky Mountain
News said today.
Federal authorities announced
Monday that Graham, 23, had
signed a “written admission” but
the newspaper in a copyrighted
interview quoted Graham as say
ing:
“Yes, I signed a statement, but
it’s not true. They told me they
were going to put my wife in jail,
and I’d better get it straightened
out myself.”
Asked by a reporter if he meant
FBI agents had used duress—kept
questioning him until he confes
sed—Graham answered:
“Well, they started about noon
that Sunday and didn’t stop until
I signed a confession about 4 a.m.
the next morning! Oh, they took
me out for dinner once and gave
me drinks of water and such . . .”
Graham is charged with mur
der in the death of his mother,
Mrs. Daisie King, 54. She was
among passengers of a United Air
Lines DC6B that crashed Nov. 1
near Longmont, Colo., killing all
aboard.
In the Rocky Mountain News
interview Graham was asked if
he put either a present or a bun
dle of dynamite in his mother’s
luggage.
“I didn’t put anything in her
luggage,” Graham replied. “I only
bought some straps to put around
the luggage. The hinges on the
suitcase were breaking. I don’t
want to discusg the present.”
Coldest November
Weather In History
Recorded In The West
Snow and rain fell in western
states today but violent storms
which lashed broad areas of the
nation this week appeared dim
inishing.
The windy, snowy, cold wea
ther was blamed for at least 13
deaths. Nine persons were miss
ing and presumed dead. Four
other persons were reported
snowbound in the mountains over
Boulder, Colo., which was hit by
an 18-inch snowfall Monday.
The coldest November weather
in Montana’s history, with tem
peratures more than 30 degrees
below zero in some areas, also
was felt in Wyoming and Colo
rado.
Heavy snow hit the western
slope of the Rockies yesterday.
Snowfalls ranged from 2 to 6
inches in the Pacific Northwest.
Traffic was snarled in many
cities. Seattle had traffic tieups
with some cars standing three to
five hours before being able to
move on the snow-slick streets.
Delegate Bartlett Visits
Nome Pioneer Igloo No. 1
At their meeting last Wednes
day the Pioneers enjoyed a visit
with Delegate Bob Bartlett and
Mrs. Bartlett, both of whom are
members from other parts of the
territory.
The delegate told about the
opening of the Constitutional
Convention and how he was im
pressed by the fine representation
of Alaskans who are members of
the group. He also described the
new union building at the univer
sity which has been turned over
to the convention for its head
quarters.
Pioneers Make Plans For
Their 47th Annual Roof
Garden On December 10
Pioneer Men and Women met
together last Wednesday evening
and made plans for the 47th
Annual Roof Garden which is
planned for Dec. 10 in the School
Auditorium.
Always the highlight of the
holiday season, this event involves
considerable work and coopera
tion of all members of the organ
iation and their families.
Beautiful gold nuggets are
being given away against as is a
traditional part of the Roof Gar
den.
A program is in the making with
a lot of surprise new talent being
trained both musically and dra
matically.
Committees are conferring with
local merchants for new merchan
dise for prizes for the many
events during the evening.
Frank Morris, who is chairman
for the party will announce com
mittees soon.
AEC Vetoes Plan
For U.S. H-Bomb
‘Show of Force’
WASHINGTON, UF> — Four
Atomic Energy Commissioners
were lined up solidly today
against a colleague’s plan for a
dramatic H-bomb “show of force”
to impress on world leaders the
urgent need for peace.
The proposal, made by AEC
Commissioner Thomas E. Murray
in a New York speech last night,
also met some outright opposi
tion in the Senate.
Murray’s idea—outlined at the
golden jubilee dinner of the Ford
ham University law school—was
to call representatives of all the
nations to what he termed a
“meeting at the atomic summit.”
Such a meeting, he said, would be
held at Eniwetok in the Pacific
Proving Grounds used by the
AEC.
There, Murray said, these lead
ers—particularly the Russians and
Communist Chinese—should wit
ness an H-bomb explosion in what
the AEC commissioner envisioned
as a “show of force, a declaration
of American power and a demon
stration of the strategy of deter
rence.”
Shortly after Murray’s speech
was released, his four AEC col
leagues issued a joint statement
declaring that “commission tests
in the Pacific have never been
designed as a ‘show of force” but
are solely for the development of
of weapons necessary for defense
of the free world.”
They said the AEC several
months ago formally rejected
Murray’s motion to invite foreign
.observers, including Communists,
to nuclear tests in the Pacific.
Murray, a holdover from the
Truman administration, said in
his speech, that a demonstration
such as he advocated would do
much to “disabuse our enemies of
any false estimates ... of our
superiority.”
27 GIs Going Home For Thanksgiving
Are Killed In Seattle Airliner Crash
I
SEATTLE, Uf) — A chartered
airliner loaded with GIs home
ward bound for' the holidays
crashed shortly after takeoff to
day and at least 27 persons died
as it exploded and burned.
Forty-seven others including
the three-man crew survived the
crash. ^
The four-engined DC4, a non
scheduled airliner chartered to
the Army by the Peninsular Air
Transport Co., of Miami Springs,
Fla., carried 66 servicemen who
came home from the Far East
only yesterday. They were bound
for separation points in the east
and for a reunion with their fam
ilies at Thanksgiving.
Also aboard, in addition to the
crew, were a woman and three
children and a reserve pilot.
The crash was the second in
the west in less than 24 hours.
Fourteen were aboard a C54
which crashed in Nevada yester
day.
Today’s crash came brief min
utes after the plane left Boeing
Field on a flight to Chicago, its
first scheduled stop. The ship
plowed into a hillside in a resi
dential district, broke into pieces
and burst into flames.
Part of the plane came to rest
in the yard of Mrs. Donald Ren
ard. Mrs. Renard said there was
a “terrific explosion;” and “the
next minute my yard was full of
soldiers.”
Hours after the crash, the coro
ner’s office still was trying to
complete identification of the
dead.
The soldiers were among the
1,833 who arrived here yesterday
on an Army transport from the
Far East.
They were loaded aboard non
scheduled airlines planes operated
by commercial airlines which are
not certificated by the Civil Aero
nautics Board for scheduled
flight—chartered by the govern
ment for speedy return to their
homes. Twenty - two such trans
ports took off from Boeing Field
at intervals yesterday and last
night, carrying 1,000 of the ser
vicemen.
. ’ I
U.S. Air Defense Not Yet
Ready To Cope With
Red Long-Range Bombers
COLORADO SPRINGS, (*» —
The air defense of the United
States is improving, but “we are
not yet ready to cope with” Rus
sia’s long-range bombers, Gen.
Earle Partridge, commander of
the Continental Air Defense Com
mand, said today.
He made the statement in
speaking to members of the Asso
ciated Press Managaing Editors
Assn., who toured the command
headquarters.
The general warned that ex
pansion of the air defense system
which still is needed will be ex
pensive and predicted taxpayers
“are going to have to dig deeper
than ever before” to pay for it.
A defense system alone, he de
clared, is insufficient and the na
tion must have strategic bombers
capable of hitting enemy targets
at any time.
The editors were shown the
plotting board on which unidenti
fied aircraft are traced.
Soviet Bigwigs Arrive
In India on Goodwill Trip
NEW DELHI, U!) — Soviet Pre
mier Nikolai Bulganin and Rus
sian Communist party chief Nikita
Khrushchev arrived in New Delhi
today to begin an 18-day goodwill
tour of India.
The two top Russian leaders
were greeted by Prime Minister
Nehru and other high Indian of
ficials at New Delhi’s military
airport where thousands of per
sons had been assembling since
early morning.
Bulganin and Khrushchev, on
the first leg of a goodwill inva
sion of southeast Asia, had asked
that they be treated as just plain
“misters” during their state visit.
Fourth Victim Dies Of
Polio In Ketchikan
KETCHIKAN, (JV-Poliomyelitis
claimed its fourth victim of the
season in Ketchikan yesterday
when Mrs. Donald J. Tandy died.
Mrs. Tandy, young mother of
two children and wife of a U.S.
Forest Ranger, entered the hos
pital two weeks ago with bulbar
polio.
National Honors
Slated for Two
Eskimo Scouts
ANCHORAGE — Two Eskimo
Scouts of the First Scout Battalion
from the village of Gambell, on
St. Lawrence Island, have gone
to Washington, D.C., to participate
in a ceremony honoring them for
their outstanding part in rescu
ing crew members of a Navy pa
trol plane shot down near their
island last June.
M/Sgt. Willis Walunga and
S/lc Clifford Iknokinok, both of
Company A, First Scout Battalion;
will be present with a certificate
of achievement by Secretary of
the Navy Charles S. Thomas.
Both guardsmen have already
received a .certificate of achieve
ment from Maj. Gen. James F
Collins, commanding general, U.S.
Army, Alaska, and letters of com
mendation signed by Admiral
Robert B. Carney, chief of naval
operations, Department of the
Navy.
Following their visit to Wash
ington, Walunga and Iknokinok
will make appearances on tele
vision and radio stations in New
York and San Francisco. They
were accompanied by Lt. John C.
Doyle, adjutant general’s office,
Alaska National Guard, Juneau.
Eflflfl C A I E Saturday 10 a.m. N.C. Store
FI IIII B ^i|jy| I W all proceeds for meal tickets
■ wwl^ ^0 BT^ wmwm for school hot lunch program
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