VOL, LX No. 2NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1958Per Copy—15^
Sputnik I Believed Down After
Three Months and 35,000,000 Miles
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., WV-Sput-«
nik I, which burst upon the world
last Oct. 4 as history’s first man
made satellite, may have died qui
etly yesterday unseen by human
eyes..
American astronomers say the
23-inch, 184-pound sphere has
been “lost” for the past month.
They base their prediction of its
death upon orbit calculations car
ried forward from observations
made in late November and early
December.
Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director
of the Smithsonian Astrophyscal
Observatory, says it’s impossible
to pinpoint just where the final
flaming plunge into the earth’s
atmosphere may take place.
He expects it was yesterday but
“we just don’t know ...” he ex
plained.
The Smithsonian alerted its 150
moonwatch teams thruout the
world to maintain a death watch
for the satellite. Observation of I
its final dive is of the utmost sci
entific importance, the observa
tory says.
The Soviets have issued reports
on the satellite’s total revolutions
but no information on its position.
The number of trips since its
launching—over 1,350 yesterday
morning—can be calculated with
out any observations.
In its nearly three months, the
satellite has traveled about 35,
000,000 miles at upwards of 18,
000 miles an hour. This is about
equal to the minimum distance to
Mars, more than enough to reach
Venus and more than one-third of
the distance to the sun.
Dr. Whipple believes the final
stage rocket that launched Sput
nik I fell the night of Nov. 30.
Russia first maintained the
rocket was still aloft, then said it
plunged “in the Territory of
Alaska and the west coast of
America,” but finally dropped the
subject.
>-;- ;
SECOND PERSON
SAW GREEN LIGHT
A second person in Nome has
reported seeing the brilliant green
light falling swiftly behind the
horizon last Tuesday.
He is Bob Royce, an employe of
the CAA station here. He said he
saw the streak of light at about
the same time reported by Marley
Lincoln, shortly before noon.
Royce, like Lincoln, saw the ob
ject in the east and said it disap
peared behind Cape Nome.
Chrysler Got
20% of Auto
Business in ’57
DETROIT, UP>—Ward’s Reports,
Inc., said today Chrysler Corp.
reached its avowed goal of a 20
percent bite of the automotive
business in 1957 and that Ford
Motor Co. posted its best penetra
tion of the market since 1930.
The big three—General Motors,
Ford and Chrysler—accounted for
96.9 of the total automobile out
put, their best in 22 years.
Studebaker-Packard and Amer
ican Motors built only 3.1 percent
of cars manufactured in 1957. In
1952 they had a top of 13.3.
Of total production, GM ac
counted for 46 percent,. Ford for
30.9, Chrysler for 20.0.
The sale of import cars in 1957,
the industry statistical agency
said, equaled those in the same
low-price field of American Mo
tors and Studebacker-Packard,
plus the Dodge Six of Chrysler.
U.S. production for 1957 was es
timated as 6,114,467 cars and 1,
079,000 trucks for a total of 7,
194,467 units. In 1956 production
totaled 6,906,189 units, of which
5,801,864 were cars and 1,104,321
were trucks.
James Smith, Innocent Bystander,
Gets Snagged at Scene of Burglary
FORT WORTH, Tex. UP)—James
Smith discovered in the wee hours
today that being named James
Smith creates problems.
Smith, a 36-year-old insurance
salesman, knew most Buddies Su
permarkets stay open all night.
He didn’t know, tho, that the one
at which he stopped closed at 9.
He went by there about 2 a.m.
and saw all the lights on and the
front door standing open.
What he also didn’t know was
that burglars had just hauled
away the firm’s safe containing a
large amount of money, and had
Eighth Child, a Boy,
Born to Stepoviches
JUNEAU, Uft—Mrs. Mike Stepo
vich, wife of the governor, gave
birth to a son Tuesday at'5:48 a.m.
in St. Ann’s Hospital.
The baby, whose birth weight
was nine pounds, is the sixth son
of the Stepoviches and is their
eighth child.
forgotten to close the door.
Smith got a cart and began to
wander around the store, picking
out dog food and milk. He figured
the employes were in the back.
When he couldn’t get anyone to
check him out, he started idly
reading a magazine at the check
stand. That’s when police cruised
by, and found (1) the safe burg
lary, and (2) Smith idly reading
his magazine.
“What’s your name?” he was
asked.
“Smith. James Smith,” was the
innocent reply.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting to be checked out.”
The police insisted on checking
Smith’s story before they would
let him go. He made the rounds of
the shelves returning his dog food
and milk.
Then he politely said, “Thank
you,” bade the officers goodnight,
and went off, eventually finding
an all-night grocery store—one
with people inside it.
ALASKA AIRLINES
APPLIES FOR
ROUTE TO SIBERIA
According to advices received
by Alaska Airlines here, an appli
cation for certificate for services
has been filed by Alaska Airlines,
to the city of Irkutsk located in
eastern Siberia north of Mongolia
Manager Bill Golden states that
this city will be served through
Nome.
Soviet Guards Watch
For Festive Deserters
BERLIN, Uf>—Special Soviet
guards failed to reappear in East
Berlin today, 'they apparently had
been on the lookout for Russian
soldiers who might have deserted
during the Honsfra merrymaking.
The troops, armed with ma
chine pistols, were withdrawn
early last night after spending
the day patrolling all main border
crossings and downtown inter
sections.
Soviet Newspapers Clamoring for
Eisenhower-Khrushchev Meeting
I-.
| Bartlett to Ask
Tax Relief for
ANG Employes
WASHINGTON, UP>—Delegate
Bartlett said today he will ask
Congress to exempt from taxation
the cost-of-living allowances re
ceived by National Guard em
ployes in Alaska.
The bill also would authorize
Guard employes to apply for re
funds of income taxes previously
paid on such allowances.
The bill would affect some 200
persons in Alaska. Other federal
employes are exempted by law
from paying a tax on the cost-of
living allowance.
Bartlett said he also plans to
confer with Interior Dept, offi
cials to see whether the adminis
tration plans to offer a bill ex
tending the life of the Alaska
Public Works program.
He said if no such proposal is
forthcoming he will introduce a
•bill of his own.
In addition, Bartlett plans to
seek early action on statehood.
Russia Believed
To Have 3 A-Subs
STOCKHOLM, —Soviet Rus
sia probably already has three
atomic submarines, the Swedish
naval yearbook “Marinkalendem”
said today.
The 1958 yearbook, issued today,
suggested two may be in the Bal
tic Sea and the other in the Far
East. It gave no details.
The Marinkalendem estimated
the total of Soviet submarines at
I “more than 400.”
i Because of their geographical
proximity to Soviet navy bases in
the Baltic, Swedish naval experts
are often ahead of others with in
formation on Soviet naval power.
> MOSCOW W)—Every newspaper
in Moscow today took up the So
viet cry for a meeting between
Communist Party boss Nikita
Khrushchev and President Eisen
hower.
Khrushchev in a New Year’s
toast said such a meeting could
solve most of the world’s prob
lems.
The Moscow papers printed as
sortments of reports from New
York, London and elsewhere un-.
der identical headlines saying the
“people of the world favor meet
ing between Eisenhower and
Khrushchev.”
Most of the stories were pegged
to a recent Gallup poll, and also
quoted editorial comment in the
United States and Britain.
The Soviet leaders have made
no secret of the fact they would
like nothing better than such an
invitation. Khrushchev has said
the only reason he has not gone
to Washington is that he has not
been invited.
Western diplomats in Moscow
say a meeting between Khrush
chev and Eisenhower would be a
sort of crowning achievement of
Kremlin efforts since the death of
Stalin to break down the western
world’s ostracism of Russia and to
establish Soviet prestige and re
spectibility.
Season’s Coldest Weather
From Rockies to Atlantic
(By TJje Associated Press)
The season’s coldest weather
enveloped most of the country to
day from the Rockies to the At
lantic coast, and little immediate
relief was in sight.
Freezing weather dipped deep
into the South. Northern Florida
reported readings in the 30s. And
Atlanta, Ga., shivered in 28 de
grees.
Sub-zero weather embraced
areas of the north-midwest.
In the Far West, no severe
weather was reported.
Hillary, Conqueror of Mt. Everest,
Reaches South Pole by Overland
Nome High School
Recommended
For Top Rating
At a meeting of the Northwest
Association of Secondary and
Higher Schools held in Spokane,
Wash., in December it was rec
ommended that Nome High School
be taken from the list of “advised”
schools and be placed on the list
of “fully approved” schools for
the 1957-1958 school year with a
note of commendation for the out
standing progress made.
Superintendent William Angell
was informed that “he was to be
commended for the butstanding
progress that has been noted over
the period of the last two years in
bringing the Nome High School
up to accreditation standards.”
AUKLAND, N.Z, WV-Sir Ed
mund Hillary, first man to con
quer Mt. Everest, the highest
point on earth, today reached the
South Pole, at the bottom of the
world.
He radioed the dramatic news
to Scott Base, the Boss Sea point
he and his party set out from on
October 15.
After ploughing more than 1,000
miles across the wide, white ant
arctic continent, Hillary radioed
the base that he and his tractor
party of four other New Zealand
ers had arrived at the pole with
only one drum of gasoline extra.
“We were cutting it rather fine
due to the very soft snow,” he
reported.
I The lanky 38-year-old New
I Zealander and his companions
camped within two miles of 17
Americans manning a camp es
tablished there more than a year
ago as part of the International
Geophysical Year scientific re
search program.
He was the first explorer to
reach the pole overland in 45
years and his group was the third
in history to reach the objective
by land.
Hillary’s companions are Mur
ray Ellis, Peter Mulgrew, Derek
Wright, and Jim Bates.
Hillary’s party followed much
of the 1,200-mile route of Capt.
i Robert F. Scott of the British
j Navy, who raced Roald Amundsen
j of Norway for the pole in the ant
| arctic summer of 1911-1912.
j Amundsen won by a month, be
I coming the discoverer of the
j South Pole. Scott’s five-man party
■ perished on the way back to the
! coast at McMurdo Sound.
j Navy Asks First
! Nuclear Plane
!
Be a Seaplane
NEW YORK, WV-The' Navy is
proposing that the United States*
first nuclear powered airplane be
a seaplane, the New York Times
said today.
In a Washington dispatch, the
Times said the Navy outlined its
proposal yesterday at a high-level
meeting in the office of Deputy of
Defense Donald A. Quarles.
The meeting was called to dis
cuss plans for nuclear powered
planes. \
High officials of the Navy, Air
Force and Atomic Energy Com
mission attended. No final deci
sion was reached, the Times said.
The Air Force has favored a
supersonic nuclear bomber that
would fly faster than 700 mph.
The Defense Department must
decide whether the first nuclear
powered plane should be specific
ally designed and built for nu
clear power or whether a nuclear
reactor be placed in an existing
airplane.
The Joint Congressional Com
mittee on Atomic Energy is put
ting pressure on the department
to establish a firm timetable.