sag NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LVIII No. 15 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1956_Per Copy—151
U.S. and Foreign Experts
Will Combine Skills for
19f»0 Winter Olympics
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy,
OW—The 1960 Winter Olympics in
lovely but lonely S<juaw Valley,
high in the mountains of eastern
California, will be staged through
the combined skill of Americans
and Europeans.
“Already we have talked to
dozens of fine European techni
cians,” said Alexander Cushing,
one of the sponsors of the 1960
games, before he left Cortina af
ter a three-week fact finding trip.
“We will be in contact with
many others to get their ideas and
advice so that the 1960 games
can be just as good as the games
here in Cortina have been.”
Squaw Valley was awarded the
games during a controversial ses
sion of the International Olympic
Committee last June. The almost
totally uninhabited valley won
the games against the heavy op
position of Innsburck, Austria, an
established Tyrolean resort.
An additional $4,000,000 is
needed to stage the games and
the IOC gave the organizers until
April 3 to get the money from the
California Legislature, which will
meet in March.
Should the money not be forth
coming, the IOC said the games
would be shifted to Innsbruck.
Over 170,000 Saw
Winter Olympics
CORTINA D’AMPREZZO, Italy
GW—Eleven days of the greatest
winter sports show on earth drew
about as much in ticket sales as
one good American heavyweight
championship fight.
It’s too early to have exact fig
ures. But here are some official
estimations:
Between 170,000 and 200,000
spectators saw the games.
They paid about 250 million lire
($400,000) for tickets—ranging
from 500 lire <80 cents) for the
right to stand shivering along a
mountain slope to see the skiers
pass by, up to 3,500 lire ($6.00)
for a heated seat in the stand at
the finish line.
The ticket sales were just about
what officials expected, since Cor
tina is in an isolated location.
The total cost of staging the
games—about $8,200,000—may be
paid off in years ahead or by in
tangibles such as the publicity
gained by Cortina as a sports re
sort or increase of tourists in It
aly. A large part of the funds
came from the Italian Olympic
Committee, which gets its money
from a weekly soccer pool.
Plane Makes Record Time
From Tokyo to Seattle
SEATTLE GW—A Northwest Or
ient Airlines record was claimed
for a Tokyo-to-Seattle flight by a
Lockheed Turbo Constellation
plane today.
Aided by tailwinds ranging
from 90 to 130 miles per hour, the
plane made the great circle route
from Tokyo via Alaska in 14
hours, 32 minutes.
The former mark, set in March
1954, was 16 hours, 48 minutes.
The great circle Tokyo-to-Se
attle route distance is 4,950 miles.
Blizzard Took 23
Lives in Texas and
New Mexieo
(Ev the Associated Press'
The worst appeared over in the
five-day blizzard that paralyzed
Texas and New Mexico and
claimed at least 23 lives.
The storm subsided last night
as winds lessened and the snow
fall began diminishing.
The U.S. Weather Bureau in
Chicago said today that the storm
front, or what remained of it,
seemed to headed northeastward.
The storm, ranked by Texans
as the worst in 50 years and
tabbed as the worst ever by New
Mexico citizens, made most roads
impassable and caused the closing
of several schools. Classes in
Plainview, Amarillo and Lubbock
remained closed today as the
three Texas cities pushed cleanup
efforts.
The storm brought hardships
along with the snow. Bus driver
John Herron fought his way thru
waist-high snow late Saturday
for 12 miles to send rescue teams
to his stalled bus with 16 snow
bound and shivering passengers.
Heron completed the journey
in 8Vfe hours and arrived in Tu
cumcari, N.M., snowblind, frost
bitten and nearly hysterical. He is
reported in good condition. The
passengers stood the rigors with
out serious effects.
Wien Airlines Would
Buy Byers’ Air Service
WASHINGTON, MP)—A request
for approval of the purchase of
Byers’ Air Service by Wien Al
aska Airlines for $25,000 was re
ceived by a CAB examiner today.
There was no opposition. A deci
sion will be made in about one
month.
Byers operates between Fair
banks, Manley Hot Springs, Tan
anana and Rampart, Alaska. Wien
operates out of Fairbanks with
flights to Nome, Pt. Barrow and
to southeast Alaska.
Ocean Currents Eroding .
Point Barrow Shoreline
At Seven Feet a Year
WASHINGTON UP)—Ocean cur
rents and winds are eating away
at Point Barrow—America’s most
northern shoreline—at the rate of
about seven feet a year.
That’s the conclusion of Prof.
G. E. Mac Ginitie of the Califor
nia Institute of Technology in a
report just published by the
Smithsonian Institution.
The professor, who spent a year
as director of the Navy’s Arctic
Research Laboratory at Point
Barrow, estimates the shoreline
has been cut back at least 500 feet
in the past 75 years.
DES MOINES. Iowa, UP>—Na
tional Young Republican Leaders
yesterday adopted a resolution fa
voring admittance of Alaska and
Hawaii to statehood.
Preamble to
Constitution
Of Alaska
The preamble to the constitu
tion reads as follows:
"We, the people of Alaska,
grateful to God and those who
founded our nation and pio
neered this great land, in order
to secure and transmit to suc
ceeding generations our heri
tage of political, civil and re
ligious liberty within the union
of states, do hereby ordain and
establish this Constitution for
the State of Alaska."
The proposed constitution con
sists of only 13,000 words, making
it one of the most concise docu
ments of its kind ever written.
State constitutions sometimes
range up to 150,000 words and av
erage between 20,000 and 100,000.
Those who have read the Alas
ka constitution have been struck
by its clear, concise style, reflect
ing many hours of work by the
Style and Drafting Committee. It
is written in a manner that a lay
man can readily read and under
stand.
Historic Signing Ceremony of
Alaska’s Proposed Constitution
Attended by All Delegates but One
By FLORENCE DOUTHIT
FAIRBANKS, W>—'The Alaska.
Constitutional Convention basted
a 49th star on the flag yesterday
and called upon the President and
Congress to make the stitches
permanent.
Ending 75 days of deliberation,
the convention adopted and then
signed a basic set of laws for use
when the sprawling territory is
brought into the Union.
And as what they hope will be
a giant step toward statehood, the
delegates wrote into the document
a provision for immediate election
of two U.S. senators and a repre
sentative who will work in the
nation’s capital for a 49th state.
Fifty-four of the 55 delegates
who labored for two and a half
months to draft the constitution
were present for the simple and
solemn signing ceremonies Sun
day. One delegate, Juneau attor
ney R. E. Robertson resigned from
the convention Saturday protest
ing against some of its contents.
With more than 1,000 Alaskans
looking on, the delegates yester
day answered the final roll call
and individually answered “Aye”
to the question:
“We have before us the pro
posed Constitution of the State of
Alaska. Shall it be agreed upon?”
At the front of the gymnasium
on a slightly raised, carpeted plat
form sat the president of the Con
stitutional Convention, William A.
Egan. Seated on his right was
Fi’ank Petrovich, Indian delegate
from the Village of Klawock and
vice president of the convention.
On Egan’s left was Ralph Riv
ers, Fairbanks attorney and sec
ond vice president.
On a small platform below
Egan was a plain office table. In
the center of it was a series of
14 parchment pages, each 13x18
inches in size. This was the con
Political Science Experts Hail Alaska Constitution
One of the Finest Documents of Its Type Ever Written
By JACK RYAN
FAIRBANKS W>—Alaska’s con
stitution has been hailed by polit
ical science researchers as “one of
the finest documents of its type
ever written.”
John E. Bebout, assistant di
rector of the National Municipal
League with headquarters in New
York; Emil J. Sady, project su
pervisor for the Public Adminis
tration Service of Chicago, and
Kimbrough Owen, professor of
government for Louisiana State
University, all agree the Alaska
constitution is virtually what po
litical science authorities would
consider a “model constitution.”
“The constitution is not based
on regional or group interests,”
said Bebout. “It includes only the
fundamentals of government, and
it sifts the best out of United
States experience.”
The three consultants were bn
hand during the closing days of
the convention to advise dele
gates. A total of more than 15 ex
perienced consultants were pres
ent at the convention at various
times to assist delegates during
the 74 days of work.
The three consultants agreed
that an outstanding feature of the
constitution is the fact that it
comes closer to carrying out the
classic pattern of “separation of
powers” laid down by our found
ing fathers than any other state
constitution. They voted Alaska
first, New York second and New
Jersey third.
Separation of powers in the Al
aska constitution is achieved thru
three strong departments, with
each checking the others, and the
people provided with checks on
all three departments.
EXECUTIVE
The executive department is
strong because only the governor
and secretary of state are elective
and they run on the same ticket
in the final elections. All other
department heads of the state a e
appointed by the governor. Fur
•
thermore, the executive is given
the power and authorization to
“get things done.”
However, the strong executive
will be strictly accountable to the
people, for there can be no “buck
passing.” When things go wrong,
the governor is responsible and
the people can take action against
him directly on the simple ballot.
LEGISLATIVE
The legislative department is
strong because the constitution
leaves so much for the future leg
islators to accomplish, and be
cause the constitution puts no
serious restrictions on its power.
The legislators will hold an an
nual session and there is no time
limit on this session. Furthermore
the legislators are paid an annual
salary and they have a Legislative
'"'ounei1 compose-1 of thei" own
rrmro' rs --'Mch on-rates the year
~ rn* ^
?.re c’ of ‘he TTouse will be
■ • two "ears and ?en
■ • -d o
stitution. On the table was a bot
tle of India ink and a heavy lamp
of Alaskan jade presented for the
occasion by Col. M. R. Marston,
delegate from Spenard.
The shade, made of a thin layer
of jade, threw a single shaft of
light upon the document.
Seated in two and a helf rows
of chairs stretched the width of
the building were 50 delegates as
sembled to adopt the constitution.
During the three roll calls, the
name of R. E. Robertson was in
cluded and followed by silence.
No non-convention dignitaries
were seated on any of the three
platforms. Gov. B. Frank Heint
zleman, present to address the
ceremony, was sitting on an end
chair two rows behind the dele
gates on the main floor.
Assembled in the corner to the
right of President Egan was the
University of Alaska band.
The left corner was filled by
members of the Ladd Choral
Group dressed in long grey robes
with blue sashes.
An estimated 200 persons stood
at the rear of the-auditorium as
the ceremony was opened with
the Star Spangled Banner. After
the session of the 74th convention
day was called to order, an invo
cation delivered, the roll call was
taken.
Gov. Heintzleman then praised
the delegates for making “a great
stride toward ultimate self-gov
ernment and self determination.”
He warned of the job ahead:
“ . . . As framers of the docu
ment, each of yoti will be expect
ed and are conscience bound to
follow the lead of our forefathers
and carry to the general public of
the area you represent your in
terpretation of this underlying
fundamental principles and the
definite terms of this document
which you have proposed . .
Charges of imperfection will
perhaps come, said the governor.
They can arise, he said, from
“special interests, regional points
of view, and the frequent propen
sity of people to consider one fea
ture of a proposition with refer
ence to how it influences or is
influenced by other features of
the proposition.”
Quoting Alexander Hamilton,
Gov. Heintzleman said:
“I never expect to see a perfect
work from imperfect man.”
The governor complimented the
delegates for showing a fine will
ingness to hear and consider the
views of Alaskans of all shades of
opinion and to work for accept
able compromises on impending
deadlocks and, above all, to work
hard and conscientiously to pro
duce something that will promote
the social and economic welfare
of Alaska.”
A silence fell over the assem
bled body as the roll call began
for signing. Katherine Alexander,
chief clerk and Juneau resident,
called the roll in a clear, steady
voice.
First to sign was Egan. A short,
greying man in his early 40s, car
in ued on Page Three)