SB NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LXIII No. 4 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1961Per Copy 15<
Nome Prepares
For Basketball
Tournament
The arrival here on Feb. 14 of
a chartered Alaska Airlines DC-6,
carrying visiting teams and their
parties from Kodiak, Homer,
Kenai, Seward and Eielson AFB,
will herald the opening of the
1960-61 Class B Basketball Tour
nament at Nome.
For several days all reserva
tions for this flight, with a capa
city of 90, have been taken; about
60 seats are being held for team
members and coaches, and cheer
leaders and rooters account for
the 30 additional seats. According
to Dick McCormick of the local
tournament committee, enthusiasm
is building to a point where an
other charter trip for the occasion
may be considered.
This year’s clash of the West
ern Alaska High School Associa
tion teams — Feb. 14 to 18 — is
of special interest because it will
be the Nome Nanooks’ first op
portunity to host the B Tourna
ment, and Nome is determined to
make this event a rousing, happy
success regardless of who flies
off with the trophies. There is
a local feeling, that, perhaps not
all of the trophies will get away!
The local tournament committee
is in need of housing for players.
Individuals about town who can
help out are urged to call the
school in order that planning can
be facilitated.
The Arctic Club rooms will be
open, under supervision, during
tournament days at off-game in
tervals, and visitors and Pep Club
members may enjoy new friend
ships there, refreshments of pop,
and recreational facilities such as
pingpong and juke box.
Arrangement are being made
at the school gymnasium to care
for as many spectators as possible,
and bleachers have been con
structed for the gym stage where
64 Pep Club members can be
seated. Reserved seats, at $12 for
a 10-game tournament ticket, will
be held along the front rows of
the balconies and the main floor.
These tickets, going on sale on
Jan. 20, are not restricted to one
user. General admission for adults
and children for any one game
will be $1.00, but small children
will be admitted only with an ac
companying parent.
After the last game of the tour
nament, scheduled for 2:00 p. m.
Friday, Feb. 17, in order to per
mit a playoff game if necessary,
a gala tournament banquet is
planned. The Nanooks and their
friends hope that this event, as
well as the Valentine Dance which
is to follow, will bring out the
visitors in full force, and perhaps
it can be proved Friday evening
that the best men on the basket
ball court aren’t necessarily the
most successful fellows when the
lights dim and the music swells!
WEATHER FORECAST
Fair becoming cloudy tonight.
Little change in temperature.
North winds 15 to 30 mph. Low
tonight -10, high tomorrow 5.
In the last 24 hours a high of
3, low of -3. Maximum wind 55
mph. Sunrise at 9:41 a. m., sun
set at 2:38 p. m.
State Employe Pay Plan
Costs Additional $725,000
JUNEAU Ut) — The new uni
form pay plan which went into
effect late last year will cost Alas
ka more than $725,000 additional
each year for wages and salaries
of state employes, Gov. Egan
said last night.
Speaking before the Juneau
Democratic Club, Egan said the
extra $725,000 in wages and
salaries does not include addi
tional costs involved in applying
the new pay plan to the Depart
ment of Public Works.
The extra cost for that depart
ment, Egan said, has not yet been
determined.
The fiscal 1961 appropriation
set aside $21,460,601 for wages
and salaries of state employes.
The State Department of Public
Works’ appropriation for wages
and salaries amounted to $5,675,
211, tops for any individual de
partment.
Tribute Paid to
Eisenhower on
Special TV Show
NEW YORK UP) — They honor
ed Dwight D. Eisenhower last
night in a tribute that traced the
story of his life from prairie boy
hood to the White House.
The President, who leaves of
fice Jan. 20, was hailed as a
“Great Man,” “Man of Peace” and
a “Patriot” by various world
leaders.
President-elect John F. Ken
nedy paid tribute to “the grace
and the courtesy with which
power has been moved from the
Eisenhower Administration to the
new Democratic Administration.”
Vice President Richard M.
Nixon said Eisenhower had been a
great President.
The occasion was a special NBC
Television program, "Tribute to
a Patriot.” The taped program
consisted of still photograhs,
films, tape recordings and inter
views with boyhood pals, col
leagues and statesmen. It was
moderated by actor James Stew
art.
Besides Kennedy and Nixon,
speakers included British Prime
Minister Harold MacMillan, In
dian Prime Minister Nehru and
West Germany Chancellor Aden
auer.
The Vice President originally
had declined to appear on the
program, saying he was previ
ously committed. He also said that
he wished to stay off television
in deference to Kennedy.
NOVELIST HEMINGWAY
TREATED FOR HYPERTENSION
AT THE MAYO CLINIC
ROCHESTER, Minn. UP) —
Famed novelist Ernest Heming
way has been undergoing medical
treatment here for hypertension
since Nov. 30, the Mayo Clinic
said today. He is slated for re
lease within the next two weeks.
The clinic said Hemingway’s
condition is regarded as satis
factory.
A spokesman for the clinic
added Hemingway has received
no surgical treatment and none
is contemplated.
Mary Pickford
Defines Her Ideas
At Aging Meet
By G. K. Hodenfield
WASHINGTON UPl — “The
Irish have a toast that goes: ‘May
the devil chase you every day of
your life and never catch you.’
I’m just trying to stay ahead of
the devil.”
The self-styled “Wild Irishman”
who said that is Mary Pickford,
“America’s Sweetheart” of a by
gone era and still pretty enough
at 67 to recapture the title, hands
down.
Miss Pickford is here as a dele
gate to the White House Confer
ence on Aging and she came to
work, not to see and be seen.
In one of yesterday’s discussion
groups she sounded out other
delegates on the idea of a central
reference bureau in each city for
elderly people.
Her idea: In each city there
would be one easy-to-remember,
easy-to-dial telephone number
where elderly people could call
whenever they were in any sort
of trouble.
“Each community needs a clear
ing house for information on
housing, health, economics and
entertainment,” she said. “There
are so many welfare organiza
tions now that our senior citizens
don’t know which one to call
when they’re in trouble.
“A clearing house would elimin
I atea lot of red tape and it would
insure that the people who are
[ in trouble would be promptly
helped.”
Her idea, or some form of it,
may be incorporated into the fi
nal recommendations of the con
ference.
Miss Pickford, who retired from
the movies in 1933, has some very
definite ideas about the way old
folks get treated in this country.
“It’s a shameful thing,” she
told a news conference, “that we
haven’t realized the need of our
senior citizens to be assisted. We
are from 40 to 50 years behind
other leading countries, and we
should be looking ahead to the
changing times of 10 and 20
years from now.
“Old age in this country has a
stigma which must be removed.
“Our senior citizens are in need
of help. They have to battle with
inflation, the high cost of living,
and prohibitive medical bills.
They put a dollar away for their
old age, and now they have only
35 cents left.”
JAP SURVIVORS TO SEND
KENNEDY CONGRATULATIONS
TOKYO (41 — Seventeen Japan
ese whose ship almost killed John
F. Kennedy in 1943 gather here
this weekend to draft a cable
congratulating him on his inaug
uration Jan. 20 as U. S. President.
They are the survivors of the
Amagiri, the Japanese destroyer
that rammed and sank Kennedy’s
torpedo boat in the Solomons.
Kennedy received a severe back
injury but swam to safety.
The Amagiri’s former skipper,
Kohei Hanami, 51 and now a
farmer, said Kennedy’s election
brought so much attention to the
incident that the destroyer’s sur
vivors have formed a club.
Local Legislators
Preparing to Leave
For Juneau
Northwestern Alaska Legisla- j
tors start leaving for Juneau this
week with the departure on Sat
urday of Sen. Les Bronson and
Rep. and Mrs. Art Johnson. They
will go by way of Fairbanks.
Sen. Pearse Walsh will leave on
Monday, Jan. 16, going first to
Fairbanks and then to Anchor
age before going to Juneau.
Sen. Eben Hopson of Barrow
will command a platoon of the
1st Scout Battalion of the Alaska
National Guard in the president
ial inauguration ceremonies in
Washington on Jan. 20. The
Second Alaska Legislature con
venes on Monday, Jan. 23.
Sen. John McNees departs Fri
day. He expects to be joined in
Juneau by Mrs. McNees and son
Roger.
Inaugural Attire
Is a Big Question
WASHINGTON UR — Will a
vojer look down his nose at a
senator who wears a high silk
hat?
More to the point, will the
fancy headgear cost the senator
votes on election day?
Republican Senators will have
to decided for themselves and
then choose before Inauguration
Day. The party isn’t going to ad
vise them.
The crisis stems lor an indica
tion by the Inaugural Committee
that distinguished guests are ex
pected to wear formal attire.
A GOP conference pondered the
situation yesterday and decided
to take no stand as a group.
“We decided to let every man
decide for himself what fo wear
on the occasion.” said Sen. Ever
ett Dirksen of Illinois, the Senate
Republican leader.
“There may be some who will
wear formal or semiformal attire
such as striped trousers and short
coats.”
Another Republican Senator,
George Aiken of Vermont, takes
a dim view of formal attire, par
ticularly when voters are looking
on.
Aiken recalled that he wore a
top hat, striped pants and a cut
away coat at a reception in Can
ada in the 1930s for the then
King and Queen of Britain.
“There were about 400 Ver
monters there,” Aiken said. “It
almost nipped my political career
in the bud.”
Republicans at the conference,
Aiken reported, held mostly to
the point of view that John F.
Kennedy’s assumption of the
Presidency Jan. 20 “will be an
inauguration not a coronation and
we’ll wear business suits.”
NEW 12-OUNCE FOOD PACKET
WASHINGTON UR — The Army
Quartermaster Corps reported it
has developed a new, lightweight
survival food kit for emergency
use anywhere in the world.
The 12-ounce packet includes
four food bars which can be
flavored with bacon, cheese,
fudge, fruitcake, or wheat cereal.
Powdered instant beverages also
will be included.
Castro Holds
Gunnery Practice
To Invasion Scare
HAVANA U?i — Prime Minister
Fidel Castro, with Communist
Czechoslovak technicians assist
ing, has been directing anti-in
vasion gunnery on the northern
coast, informed sources said to
day.
These sources said members of
Castro’s people’s militia, using
Czech antitank artillery, fired at
targets 15 miles at sea.
Confirming that Castro had
been directing the gunnery prac
tice “at some spot in Cuba,” the
semiofficial newspaper Revoluc
ion claimed gunners made direct
hits on the seaborne targets. This
would be phenomenal marksman
ship with an antitank gun of that
size.
Ernesto Guevara, Cuba’s eco
nomic chief, confirmed that Com
munist leader Osvaldo Sanchez
and two Cuban air force fliers
died Monday night in the crash
of their plane after it was fired
on by Cuban defense batteries on
invasion watch near the resort of
Veradero.
There were signs Cubans were
beginning to tire of the “invasion
from the north” warnings that
have put this island on a virtual
| war fooing.
Castro soon may announce that
the strength of his people’s army
has frightened off the American
aggressors he claimed would in
vade Cuba before Jan. 20.
Government-controlled press,
radio and television continued to
trumpet warnings that invasion
would come before President Ei
senhower turns over the White
House to John F. Kennedy.
But the rank-and-file defend
ers of the island seemed to be
losing some of their enthusiasm
for the 24-hour alert.
More and more regular army
soldiers are appearing in Havana.
Some were relieving militiamen,
indicating that part of the thou
sands called up in the latest in
vasion scare were returning to
; factory and farm work.
[Arrange Funeral Services
For Mrs. Theo McKenna
Charter Member Pioneer
FAIRBANKS OR — Funeral
services will be held tomorrow for
Mrs. Theo McKenna, long-time
secretary of Auxiliary No. 8,
Pioneers of Alaska, and a charter
member.
Mrs. McKenna died Sunday on
the eve of her flight to Seattle
for medical attention at Swedish
Hospital.
She was born in Tacoma in
1893. She came to Alaska in June
of 1923 as a stewardess aboard
the S. S. Alameda.
In 1929 the McKenna’s moved
to Fairbanks and for many years
owned and operated the Golden
Heart Taxi Company. They built
the Golden Heart Building in
downtown Fairbanks. Mr. Mc
Kanna passed away two years
ago.
Funeral services will be con
ducted by past presidents of Aux
iliary No. 8 of the Pioneers.
X3T31C* 13 XL XL "H XL Friday N'Sht — 9 p.m. School Multipurpose Room
X^ XVffl^Jk XaV^XjJ^XXX X V^XJ Admission $1.00 —:— Louie Green and his Band
MEET THE JUNIOR MISS CONTESTANTS WHO WILL VIE FOR ALASKA’S JUNIOR MISS HONORS SATURDAY NIGHT