™e NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS__
VOlTlXII No. 151 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1960 _Per Copy 15^
East, Midwest Hit
By Snowstorms;
Hot in California
By The Associated Press
This first day of winter found
Californians basking in mid-80
degree temperatures and in South
Dakota the mercury dipped to 20
below zero.
At least 16 deaths were attrib
uted to stormy weather, which
erupted in the plains and spread
eastward rapidly. The storm
deaths included seven in Illinois,
five in Ohio, three in Michigan
and one in Missouri.
The blustery, snowy cold spread
from the eastern Rockies into the
northeast in the wake of a snow
storm which left foot-high falls
in the Midwest.
The temperature soared to 86
degrees at Miramar, Calif., yester
day and the sunshine boosted the
thermometer into the 80s again
today.
Yesterday’s 81 in Los Angeles
was the warmest Dec. 20 since
1933.
In upstate New York the snow
fall continued today with the new
fall in the northern portion up to
8 inches and 5 inches in the Buf
falo area.
In Ohio, the snow accumulated
up to 10 inches, disrupting traf
fic and normal activities through
out the state.
The broad blanket of snow in
the Midwest, plus strong shift
ing winds and sharp drops in tem
peratures, made it look and feel
like midwinter before the official
arrival of winter at 3.27 p. m.
EST today.
It was 13 below zero in Aber
deen, S. D., and the subzero sting
was felt in northern Illinois with
2 below in Rockford, Chicago,
covered with a record prewinter
snow carpet of 12 Vi inches,
shivered in near-zero readings.
Court Refuses
“Tiny” Eckman
Hellenthal Honeymoon
JUNEAU UP) — Grant H. Eck
man, a Nome forger now serving
a prison term at McNeil Island
penitentiary, yesterday lost his
court fight to obtain the state’s
first “Hellenthal Honeymoon.”
Superior Court Judge James
von der Heydt granted a motion
by the state to quash a petition
for a writ of mandamus filed by
Eckman which would have forced
Alaska to give him a week-long
prisoner leave immediately.
Gary Thurlow of the State At
torney General’s office told the
court the Legislature made it
very clear the leaves were to be
permitted as a privilege and not
a right. Eckman was not present
in court, nor was he represented
by counsel.
Eckman, 42, a cook, had claimed
his good record at McNeil Island
since his confinement there last
February gave him the right to a
prisoner leave.
In asking for the leave, Eckman
did not say where he intended
to spend his leave, if he obtained
one. His prison record indicates
he has been married five times
and has children living outside of
Alaska.
Eckman is serving a five-year
term for forgery. He is eligible for
parole in February, 1962.
The week-long prisoner leaves
were tagged with the name “Hel
lenthal Honeymoon” after the
man who introduced the legisla
tion which permits them, state
Rep. John Hellenthal of Anchor
age.
Crew of SS Chena
Are Real Santas to
Jesse Lee Home Children
SEATTLE m —- The Steamship
Chena, manned by a crew of
Santas and with a hold full of
Christmas presents, turned her
fantail on Seattle last night for
Seward, Alaska.
There the children in the Jesse
Lee home will be watching her
progress while youngsters in other
parts of America scan the skies
for traces of St. Nick and his
reindeers.
The Chena, due in Seward
Christmas day, will hold open
house in her arrival and distrib
ute between $1,600 and $2,000
worth of presents to the children
of the home.
There’s aplenty—fishing gear,
portable radios, guitars, clothing
and the like—for every one of
the home’s 35 youngsters.
The crew of the Alaska Steam
ship Co. vessel had asked the kids
to write letters to Santa. The
men picked up the mail, deliver
ed it to themselves and set about
making it a jewel of a Christmas
for the kids.
Eisenhower Said to Hava
Told Douglas Dillon Not
To Join Kennedy Cabinet
DES MOINES, Iowa UP* — Re
publican Douglas Dillon, Secre
tary of the Treasury in the Ken
nedy Administration, was told
in forceful language by Presi
dent Eisenhower not to accept the
appointment, two midwest news
papers said today.
The Des Moines Register & Tri
bune and the Minneapolis Tribune
& Star said in a copyright story
from their Washington bureau
correspondent Richard Wilson:
“It is learned that both the
President and Treasury Secretary,
Robert Anderson told Dillon in a
forceful and firm fashion that he
should not accept the post unless
he got a firm commitment from
Kennedy that the President-elect
was repudiating the Democratic
platform and statements on fiscal
policy made during the cam
paign.”
The story said the acceptance
by Dillon, Undersecretary of State
in the Eisenhower Administration,
came as a surprise to the Presi
dent, to Anderson and to Vice
President Nixon.
Earlier this week White House
Press Secretary James Hagerty
declined comment on a report that
Eisenhower was annoyed because
Dillon accepted the incoming
Democratic Administration job.
Air Commerce Hearing
Scheduled Here Jan. 12
JUNEAU UPi — The State De
partment of Commerce said to
day it will have copies of pro
posed regulations covering air
commerce and motor freight trans
portation ready for distribution
late this month.
The department has scheduled
a series of public hearings in
January to receive recommenda
tions for regulations to cover air
commerce, motor freight trans
portation and public utilities.
The proposed rules covering
air commerce and motor freight
transportation, Commerce Com
missioner Romick said, will be
available after Dec. 28 from the
State Public Service Commission
office in Anchorage.
The hearings are scheduled for
Juneau Jan. 5-7; Fairbanks Jan.
9-11; Nome Jan. 12; and Anchor
age Jan. 14 and an. 16-17.
Navy Officers
Tour Fire-Ravaged
Constellation
NEW YORK UP) — A Navy court
of inquiry today toured the air
craft carrier Constellation, rav
aged in a fire that did an esti
mated $75 million damage and
claimed 48 lives.
The spectacle that confronted
the party was one of devastation.
Decks buckled weirdly from the
heat of the fire. Walls were black
ened and bent, ceilings were
charred and sagged in places. The
ship’s wiring system appeared in
ruins.
The high Navy officers went
aboard about 8:30 a. m. and re
mained for more than two hours
moving through the fire-razed
passageways and compartments
of the 1,040-foot long, 60,000-ton
ship.
About 50 reporters and photo
graphers were given a short tour
through the ship. They were al
lowed to shoot movie film of
damaged areas, some of which
had been death chambers for
workmen trapped by the fire.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a
second Naval group, this one com
posed of four technical experts,
will inquire into “possible fire
hazards to ships under construc
tion at Navy and private ship
yards.” The Navy said the panel
will consider specifically the sub
stitution of metal for wooden
floors for staging or scaffolding,
among other things.
This was the center of the city’s
criticism. Fire Commissioner Cav
anagh said there would have been
“a substantial difference in the
intensity and extent of the fire”
if metal rather than wooden
scaffolding had been used. The
fire department requires the use
of metal scaffolding on city pier
projects, but the Constellation
was being built at the Brooklyn
Navy Yard and was out of the
city’s jurisdiction.
Approve Sewage
Plant at Bethel
JUNEAU UP) — The U. S. De
partment of Health, Education
and Welfare has approved a $26,
050 grant to help construct a new
sewage treatment plant at Bethel,
Rep. Ralph J. Rivers said today.
In a telegram from Washington,
D. C. Rep. Rivers told the Asso
ciated Press the grant was made
under a public law providing for
federal assistance for construc
tion of sewage treatment plants.
The new plant, which will cost
$86,850 when completed, is being
constructed by the state to serve
the new school and National
Guard Armory at Bethel.
ETHIOPIAN REBELS SHOOT
DOWN 18 CABINET MINISTERS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia UP) —
Rebels burst into a room of the
Imperial Palace last week and
mowed down 18 cabinet ministers,
it was disclosed by U. S. Ambas
sador Arthur Richards who said
he was conferring with 20 minis
ters at the palace when the rebels
broke in. The ambassador escaped
through a window.
Richards was in the palace help
ing to negotiate a truce.
After bursting into the room
and shooting the ministers. The
rebels reportedly returned three
times to riddle the bodies with
more bullets.
Fifteen of the ministers were
killed. Three were seriously
| wounded. Two were unhurt.
U. N. General Assembly
Ends 15th Session Today
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y. UP>—
TTie U. N. General Assembly re
cessed its turbulent 15th session
early today after approving a
resolution requiring all members
to share in the cost of the 1960
U. N. Congo operation.
The Soviet Union vigorously
opposed the plan. It made it plain
it would defy the assembly ma
jority by refusing to supply any
part of the $48.5
The assembly also authorized
Secretary-General Dag Hammar
skjold to spend up to $24 million
for the Congo operation during
the first three months of 1961.
The 99-nation assembly ad
journed at 12:57 a. m. to begin a
11-week recess that will end
March 7.
The stormy three-month session,
which opened Sept. 20, was not
able chiefly for the visit of Soviet
Premier Khrushchev and the
Soviet campaign against Ham
marskjold.
The final hours were devoted
mostly to budgetary and other
housekeeping questions, but the
crucial issues raised during the
session persisted.
Although the assembly defer
red action on many issues, it did
make several positive decisions,
including:
1. It called for steps to bring
“to a speedy and unconditional
end of colonialism in all its forms
and manifestations.”
2. It declared the Algerian
people have the right to inde
pendence and the United Nations
has a responsibility to help bring
it about.
3. It called on the nuclear
powers to make every effort to
reach an agreement banning fur
ther nuclear test explosions. It
also called for a permanent agree
ment to prevent dissemination of
nuclear weapons to countries
which do not have them.
CAN'T CELEBRATE
CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A TREE
MOSCOW UFi — The Soviet
youth newspaper Komsomolskaya
Pravda was critical today because
Moscow, a city of more than five
million people, has an alotment
of only 160,000 holiday trees un
der a forestry conservation pro
gram
“You can put Father Frost
(Santa Claus) and Snow Maiden
on the television set and you can
hang other decorations on the
lamp shade, but how can you cele
brate New Year’s without a tree?”
The newspaper asked.
NAZI COMMANDER OF
"DEATH FACTORY" ARRESTED
FRANKFURT, Germany UP) —
The Frankfurt state prosecutor
has announced the arrest of Rich
ard Baer, last Nazi commander of
Auschwitz Concentration camp.
Baer, now 49, had been pre
sumed dead until two months ago
when investigating agencies were
tipped that he actually was hiding
out under an alias.
Auschwitz, where uncounted
thousands of Jews and others were
murdered during World War II,
was the Nazis’ greatest “death
factory” in their extermination
program.
100 Years After Secession
COLUMBIA, S. C. UP) — Tues
day marked the 100th anniversary
of South Carolina’s secession from
the United States.
South Carolina was the first
southern state to secede. The
i Civil War started in 1861.
Canada Revokes
Tax Concessions
To Foreigners
OTTAWA UP) — The Canadian
government has wiped out all
special tax concessions for foreign
investors in an effort to slow
down foreign investment in
Canada.
In a special budget message to
the House of Commons last night,
Finance Minister Donald Flem
ming decreed a raise from 5 to 15
per cent tax on all dividends paid
to U. S. and other foreign owners
of stock in Canadaian companies
or Canadian government bonds.
U. S. investors will be hit par
ticularly by the new regulations.
The U. S. Commerce Department
on Dec. 11 estimated that Ameri
cans invest $2 billion annually in
overseas branches, subsidiaries
and affiliates. More than one
third of this goes to Canada, the
department said.
In Washington, U. S. Treasury
officials said the Canadian move
might prompt similar steps by the
United States against Canadian
investments here, but added it
was too early to make any defi
nite statement.
Officially, the Treasury took
the position trat the matter was
an internal affair of Canada’s
and the U. S. Government would
have no comment.
Flemming said industrial de
velopment in Canada has been ac
celerated by foreign investment
but the time has come to help the
Canadian economy achieve an im
proved equilibrium with the out
side world.
As a result of special conces
sions for foreign capital, he said,
the position that the matter was
“non-residents profiting from in
vestment in Canada do not always
bear their fair share of the gener
al costs of government and admin
istration, although they benefit in
full measure from them.”
Canada faces a $286-million
budget deficit for the fiscal year
ending March 31, instead of the
$12 million surplus he predicted
last March, Flemming said.
Reds Charge Destroyer
Makes Mock Attack
On Soviet Freighter
MOSCOW UP) — The Soviet
Union has charged a U. S. des
troyer made an hour-long mock
attack on a Soviet freighter in
the Mediterranean Nov. 5, almost
causing a collision.
In a protest note delivered to
the U. S. Embassy yesterday, the
Russians demanded severe pun
ishment for those guilty of the
provocative actions.
The note identified the des
troyer as No. 817. The USS Corry.
The freighter, The Faleshty,
was enroute to Odessa from Mar
seille, France, the note said, when
the destroyer made several turns
nearby and then approached.
“When the U. S. Destroyer was
at a distance of 70 to 80 meters
from the motorship and continued
approaching it, the captain of the
motorship had to stop the engines
to prevent a collision,” the note
asserted.
TODAY AND TOMORROW
SHORTEST DAYS OF YEAR
Today and tomorrow are the
shortest days of the year with
sunrise on both days at 10:02 and
sunset at 1:56 p. m. There is only
a matter of a few seconds dif
ference between the two days re
ported the U. S. Weather Bureau.