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__OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
62nd Year No. 43 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1961 _Per Copy 15?
Young Russian Astronaut Orbits
The Earth fn One Hour ami Half
By Stanley Johnson
MOSCOW UP> — A young Rus- |
sian astronaut has orbited around j
the world in an hour and a half,
radioing back reassurances along !
the way, and landed safely after [
the first human conquest of space, i
This was disclosed by the So- I
viet Union today in an announce
ment hailing one of history’s
greatest scientific accomplish
ments. It also has great military
significance and raises the pros
pect of further Soviet firmness
in dealing with the affairs of the i
world.
Mankind’s first space traveller,
Maj. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin,
was in orbit one hour and 29 min
utes before reverse blasts per
mitted his ship to settle back to
earth by parachute. He was in
the air a total of of one hour 48
minutes.
This is how Moscow radio
described what took place:
The space ship was rocketed
into the air at 9:07 a. m. and 15
minutes later the swarthy young
pilot radioed “the flight is pro
ceeding normally. I feel well.”
17,000 Miles an Hour
Less than an hour later, as he
whistled around the globe at more
than 17,000 miles an hour — six
times faster than man ever
traveled before — he reported
he was withstanding his state of
weightlessness well.
“I am watching the earth,” he
said. “The visibility is good. I
hear you well.”
The space ship made one swift
turn around the globe. Then, ac
cording to a Soviet scientific
writer, the ship was slowed by
reverse blasts and soon settled
to earth by parachute.
The points of departnre and
landing were not annodnced.
Praise was heaped on the as
tronaut by Premier Khrushchev
Soviet Space Achievement
Brings Expressions of
Chagrin at Capitol
WASHINGTON Ufi — M the
capitol today there were expres
sions of chagrin over another So
viet first in the space contest,
and calls for abandonment of the
“eight-hour day and five-day
week” in U. S. space efforts to
keep it from happening again.
But officials of the National
Aeronautics and Space Adminis
tration, accepting the Soviet re
ports at face value, said they
have racked up firsts of their own
which disappointed the com
petition. They said U. S. efforts
will continue on a planned, step
by-step basis.
One of the chief speed-up ad
vocates was Rep. Overton Brooks,
(D-La.), Chairman of the House
Space Committee, who said the
event “puts the pressure on us.”
Sen. Robert S. Kerr, (D-Okla.),
agreed the Soviets had made “a
fantastic, fabulous achievement,”
but said he still believes this
country is ahead on an over-all
basis.
Another who urged speed was
Sen. Hubert H. Humprey, (D
Minn.), who said America must
“wake up completely to the chal
lenge.”
Sen. Mike Mansfield of Mon
tana, the Senate Demoratic lead
er, conceded the achievement was j
“one of the most remarkable in
the scientific history of man
kind” but urged that this coun
try pursue its planned course.
while Soviet publications and
radio stations went wild with joy.
So did the man in the street.
Reds In Fever of Excitement
Tonight in a fever of excite
ment, Russians heard, for the
first time in history, the sound
of a human voice coming from
outer space. Moscow radio broad
cast what it called a recording
of a conversation Gagarin had
with the earth control center
while he was in orbit. The atmo
spherics were heavy but his
words, in a deep voice, were un
derstandable. These were the
messages reporting his flight pro
gressing normally.
There was no advance word to
tracking stations outside the So
viet Union, and apparently none
of them caught the space craft
while it was in orbit. Washington
Space officials said there was a
trace of the rocket case which
split away from the man-carrying
capsule. The last-stage rocket may
stay aloft a couple of weeks, a
Smithsonian scientist said at Cam
bridge, Mass.
Moscow radio triumphantly
blared the news to every corner
of the Soviet Union and it struck
with enormous impact around the
world.
Sir Bernard Lovell of Britain’s
Jodrell Bank Observatory called
it “the greatest scientific achieve
ment in the history of man.”
President Kennedy, hailing “an
outstanding technical accomplish
ment,” sent congratulations to So
viet scientists and engineers.”
Space Hop Will Make
Khrushchev a Hard
Man to Deal With
WASHINGTON UR — The latest
space achievement by the Soviet
Union is expected to harden the
diplomacy of Soviet Premier
Khrushchev and make him a more
difficult man for President Ken
nedy to deal with.
U. S. officials agreed private
ly today that the launching and
recovery of a man-carrying space
vehicle is not only an historic
feat but one which is certain to
strengthen Khrushchev’s deter
mination to get his own way
more and more on outstanding
issues.
Already the lines of a diplo
matic conflict are sharply drawn
at many points. Examples include
Laos, Berlin, disarmament, and
the United Nations.
Ever since the Soviet Union
put the first satellite into orbit
more than three years ago stu
dents here of Soviet affairs have
noticed a toughening trend in the
policy conduct of Khrushchev,
even when he was talking most
enthusiastically about the need
for East-West negotiations and
was urging peaceful settlement of
all disputes.
THE WEATHER
Partly cloudy with occasional
fog and snow tonight and tomor
row. Little change in temperature.
In the last 24 hours as of 7:00
a. m. today: High of 30, low of
13. Maximum wind 28 mph from
the west. Sunrise at 4:40 a. m.,
sunset at 7:28 p. m.
Temperatures a year ago to- |
day: High of 20, low of 1. Ex- j
tromes on this date since 1907: j
High of 42 in 1940, low of -23 in i
1910. i
In Nenana today the tempera- |
ture was 29.
Kennedy Admits U.S.
Is Behind Russia
In Space Exploration
By MARVIN L. ARROWSMITH
WASHINGTON UP — President
Kennedy said today it will take
some time for the United States
to catch up to Russia in space
exploration and in putting a man
ned vehicle into orbit.
The President told a news con
ference, however, that he does not
size up Russia’s achievement as
indicating any weakening of the
West in the fight against Com
munism.
Kennedy again expressed ad
miration of the Soviet Union’s
launching a man into space and
bringing him safely to earth.
As for the relative positions of
the United States and Russia in
space exploration, Kennedy said
that is no doubt about it — “we
are behind.”
He attributed this largely to the
fact that the Soviets have been
able to develop much more pow
erful launching rockets than this
country.
Kennedy’s ninth news confer
ence attracted 426 newsmen —
the largest number to turn out
since he took office.
Kennedy dealt with these other
matters:
Cuba—The President said that
under no conditions will U. S.
armed forces intervene in any up
rising against the government of
Cuba’s Premier Fidel Castro.
Red China—The United States
still is opposed — under present
conditions—to admittance of Red
China to the United Nations.
Kennedy characterized as “not
accurate” a report he said he had
seen indicating that the United
States had changed its position re
garding debate in the United Na
tions about admitting Commun
ist China to membership.
Laos—He is hopeful, Kennedy
said, that the Soviet Union will
reply this week to British pro
posals for a quick cease-fire in
Laos.
Powers —Kennedy said he has
no information indicating that the
Soviet Union may be about to
release Francis Gary Powers, the
U2 spy plane pilot held in prison
by the Russians.
No Official Word on
U-2 Pilot Power’s Release
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. UP) —
The wife of imprisoned U-2 pilot
Francis Gary Powers said today
that reports of her husband’s
impending release and decision to
remain in the Soviet Union “were
all a misunderstanding.”
“I have heard nothing official
ly. I haven’t heard one word that
would lead me to believe such a
thing,” said Mrs. Powers in a
telephone interview from her
mother’s home here.
The London Daily Mail said
yesterday that Powers would be
freed from a Soviet prison May
1 — exactly a year after his re
connaissance plane was shot
down over the Soviet Union.
Mrs. Powers conceded that she
had talked with a reporter from
the Mail, but denied telling him
that her husoand was to be re
leased.
Mrs. Powers described her hus
band as being “as all American
as you or I. He has no bitterness
toward the United States. He has
resigned himself to the fact that
he has 10 years to serve, perhaps
less with time off for good be
havior. He constantly expresses
a desire to return to the United
States with me.”
JFK Said Not
Opposed to Red
China In U.N.
LONDON (#> — In a reversal
of long-standing policy, President
Kennedy’s Administration has de
cided not to oppose U. N. debate
next fall on Red China’s bid for
a seat in the United Nations, in
formed diplomats reported today.
Instead the U. S. government
is working on new strategy to
keep Peiping out of the world
body — at least until 1962. The
diplomats said Kennedy told
British Prime Minister Harold
MacMillan at their meeting last
week he needs at least 12 months
to prepare Americans to accept
the Red Chinese into the world or
ganization.
The informants, familiar with
some details of President Ken
nedy’s talks with MacMillan in
Washington last week, gave this
account:
MacMillan told Kennedy the
West is running out of votes in
the United Nations to keep the
question of seating Communist
China off the U. N. Assembly
agenda and that an attempt next
fall to prevent a full debate on
the issue will carry the danger
of a humiliating defeat.
Kennedy generally agreed. He
indicated Washington, too, thinks
the moratorium cannot be sus
tained. But it emerged clearly
that he considers the American
people need more time in which
to accustom themselves to the
idea of Peiping’s entry into the
United Nations.
Moscow TV Shows
First Space Man
LONDON on — Moscow tele
vision presented a picture of the
Soviet Union’s first space man
today, describing him as a man
with “a good honest smile.”
The portrait of Maj. Yuri A.
Gagarin was shown and then
came this broadcast comment, re
peated by Moscow radio:
“On the screen appears the
image of a man aged 25-28 with
a kind, Russian face, eyes set
well apart, fine bushy brows and
high forehead.
“He wears a flying helmet, a
light overall suit. He smiles a
good honest smile. And is there
any need to add that this man
who has been the first to dare
to fly to space, to reach for the
stars, to look down on our earth,
is a man of a very great and very
real character. This is evident in
his smile, in the intelligent, fine
eyes.”
Gagarin was 27 just a month
ago.
He is married to Valentina Ga
garin, 26, who also has a scienti
fic background.
They have two daughters, Ye
lena, 2, and Galya, just a month
old.
The Cosmonaut has an ideal
Soviet background: His father, a
joiner, his mother a housewife.
Gagarin was born March 9,
1934. As a child of 7, just start
ing school, he and his family ex
perienced the Nazi invasion and
gled into the hinterlands.
Soviets Ship 30 Tons
Of Gold to Paris
PARIS on — Another large
shipment of Russian gold—2,378 ,
pounds — arrived in Paris yester
day on a Soviet airliner from
Moscow.
Since April 3, the Soviet Air- |
line Aeroflot has brought some
30 tons of gold to Paris.
Adolf Eichmann
Expressionless
At Accusations
By Reiman Morin
JERUSALEM [ff\ — Israel’s
attorney general pointed a finger
at Adolf Eichmann in court to
day and vowed that Jewry always
wnll remember him as the man
who succeeded in part in carry
ing out the Nazi plan to exter
minate Europe’s 11 million Jews.
“There is no pardon and there
can be no forgetting,” Attorney
General Gideon Hausner cried
out, his voice ringing with emo
tion.
While Eichmann looked on
woodenly from his bullet-proof
prisoner’s dock, Hausner firmly
rejected the defense contention
that Israel lacks the right to try
the accused architect of exter
mination.
“If we don’t try Eichmann,” he
told the three-judge panel, “it
is quite possible that he will not
be tried at all, and a crime with
out precedent would not be
punished.”
If Hausner’s impassioned words
had any effect upon Eichmann,
the defendant’s expression failed
to show it as he stared at the
1 attorney general.
Eichmann is being tried on
Israel’s charge that he committed
“crimes against the Jewish people
I and crimes against humanity” as
chief of the Jewish Affairs Sec
tion of the Nazi Gestapo. Israel
, holds him responsible in the
i death of about six million Jews.
I Eichmann’s defense counsel, I>r.
Robert Servatius, had demanded
| that Eichman be brought before
j an international court.
“What international court, may
I ask?” Hausner asked. “The in
ternational court in Hague has
no jurisdiction over individuals.”
The defense has argued that
Israel was nonexistent when the
Nazi crimes were committed and
thus has no right to try Eichmann.
Hausner reminded the court of
the "holocaust” suffered by the
Jews in Europe, and said, “if any
state in the world feels in its own
flesh and blood the results of
these crimes, it is the State of
Israel.”
Egan Signs Six Bills,
Bringing Total to 67
JUNEAU UFI — Gov. Egan sign
ed six more bills into law today,
including measures implementing
the sale of $6 million in general
obligation bonds.
The six measures brought to
67 the number of bills approved
by the 1961 session of the Legis
lature that Egan has signed or
let become law without his sig
nature.
The general obligation bonding
bills will provide $2 million for
construction of a new gymnasium
and water system improvements
at the University of Alaska, $1.5
million for bush airfields and $2.5
million for hospital construction
and equipment.
The governor also signed bills
establishing a code of safety for
the operation of recreational
watercraft on inland waters and
authorizing the Department of
Law to represent all state de
partments, agencies, boards, com
missions and public officers of
the state in court actions.
The sixth bill removes the 640
acre limit on the amount of land
which may be involved in the in
corporation of a second class city.