THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone Main 125 $1.50 PER MONTH
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E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY . Production Manager
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the
post office at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3. 1879.
THE FINE FRINT
’ ;c
It Could Only Happen In Alaska . . .
TIHE PEOPLE OF BARROW are law abiding and
law respecting people. The stand they have taken
on shooting game is not because they wish to deli
berately break the law, but because they want to be
law abiding citizens and the matter had to be brought
to the attention of the powers that be so that the long
overdue change can be made in the international
regulations.
Withholding a needed food supply from an iso
lated group of people so that hunters in the other parts
of the world can enjoy the sport of shooting is fan
tastic. No wonder the law enforcement people have
for years turned their heads the other way.
The people of Barrow have waited too long for
this change as well as for the use of natural gas which
is practically under their village, but which has been
made available only to agencies of the federal govern
ment.
There are 1,300 permanent residents at Barrow
who frequently during the winter months see their
oil supply completely exhausted yet they cannot use
the gas which nature put at their back door. They
must pay the higher price of imported oil.
A restriction on food to exist, a restriction on
fuel to keep warm — is this the American way of life?
It couldn’t happen in the lower 48 because the people
have educated leaders to stand up and challenge such
an injustice. In their own way the Barrow people have
stood up and asked to be heard. If Northern Alaska
is to develop it must have the use of its own resources.
It would be far better to finance these people to
dig a gas well and help them finance the purchase of
equipment for mining of coal than dole welfare as is
now being done. Creating an industry provides honor
able labor, which these people would welcome.
The BIA seeks a bigger vessel to carry more sup
plies and more fuel to this northern port. Where else
but in Alaska would you import fuel when there is
a choice of gas or coal to be had in vast quantities
within walking distance?
Teen-Age Killers
Want to Die
SALT LAKE CITY. Utah OB —
Two teen-agers, in a tale of tragic
irony, say they embarked on
seven slayings in five states be
cause as they killed one “we
might as well keep on.”
But the man they thought they
had killed didn’t die. Had they
quit there, they wouldn’t be
facing murder charges.
There’s another irony. Both
James Douglas Latham, 19, Mau
riceville, Tex., and George Ron
ald York, 18, Jacksonville, Fla.,
say they want to die. They’d pre
fer the electric chair. But the
states with seemingly the strongest
cases execute by other means—
Kansas by hanging and Colorado
by the gas chamber.
What started it? The Army,
they claimed at a news conference
in Salt Lake County Jail Monday.
They complained about Army
harassment. They objected to
racial integration in the Army and
to serving under Negro officers.
Though they expressed some
offhand regret for some of the
killings, they didn’t for the slay
ing of John A. Whitaker, an elder
ly Negro railroad porter in Tulla
homa, Tenn., who was robbed and
shot to death.
“He was black,” York explain
ed. And Latham added: “We don’t
feel bad about killing a nigger.”
Both are AWOL from the Army.
They fled a disciplinary unit at
Fort Hood, Tex., May 24. Latham
was serving six months and was
to get a bad-conduct discharge
for taking $40 from a fellow
soldier. York had been given six
months for being AWOL.
“We got what we were work
ing for,” said York, “to get out
of this stinking rat race on the
outside.”
But York said he doubted they
would have killed anyone else if
they had known that Edward J.
Guidroz, the man slugged and left
for dead near Baton Rouge, La.,
had survived.
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AT
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Plan Set lip for Eskimos to Handle
Logging and Lumbering Jobs in Alaska
JUNEAU rn — The State De
partment of Labor and the Bureau
of Indian Affairs have joined
hands in a unique plan to estab
lish Eskimos in logging and lum
bering jobs in Southeast Alaska.
State Commissioner of Labor
Gil Johnson and James Hawkins,
area director of the BIA, an
nounced details of the pilot proj
ect today.
The plan, as it is being tested,
has a two-fold purpose:
1. To increase the employment
of resident Alaskans, and
2. To trim the workmen’s com
pensation rates of Panhandle log
ging operators.
Logging operators in Southeast
Alaska are now paying workmen’s
compensation rates of about $17
for each $100 of payroll, com
pared with $6.50 in the construc
tion business,” Johnson said.
“For the logging operator, work
men’s compensation is the second
highest cost of doing business.
Labor costs come first.”
Johnson said he was instructed
by Gov. Egan to find a means
of increasing employment of resi
dent Alaskans and cutting work
men’s compensation costs for log
gers.
A Joint Venture
The joint venture of the State
and the BIA, with the two agen
cies working very closely on the
details, was the result.
The first Eskimos, recruited in
the Barrow area, are scheduled to
take up jobs in logging operations
in the Panhandle within the next
few weeks.
Before they are assigned to log
ging camps which have agreed
to employ them on a trial basis,
they will undergo a rigid BIA
medical checkup and take state
employment service ability and
skill tests in Fairbanks.
The Eskimos accepted for work
in the Panhandle will then be
given $50 each by the BIA to
purchase the clothing they will
need — corked boots, rain gear
and safety hats — and the federal
agency will fly them to their des
tination.
“Eskimos are a hard-working,
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extremely careful people,” John
son said. “Their carefulness can
only result in lower workmen’s
compensation rates for their em
ployers.”
Start as Choker-Setters
The Eskimos, Johnson said, will
start out as choker-setters, one of
the hardest jobs in the woods.
“But,” the Labor Commissioner
continued, “with their ability to
learn, I don’t think it will be long
before they will be moving into
the better logging jobs. There is
no reason why they can’t fit into
a logging operation.”
Johnson emphasized that the
goal of the plan is to increase the
employment of resident T^laskans,
not to replace resident Alaskans
with Eskimos.
He said many logging operators
in Southeast Alaska are forced to
hire loggers who are residents of
Pacific Northwest States, simply
because they cannot find the men
they need in Alaska.
“Some of these non-residents,”
Johnson said, “are wise to
the workmen’s compensation laws.
We have a record of one such
man who had been working a
bad back routine for 15 years,
with success.”
On the other hand, Johnson
said, Eskimos traditionally have
had excellent safety records.
“We normally have some 7,000
workmen’s comp cases a year,”
Johnson said. “Yet I can remem
ber only one Eskimo applying for
benefits under the law. He was
injured in a plane crash.
“Eskimos just simply do not
have compensationitis.”
The Eskimos who are accepted
for employment in the timber of
the Panhandle, Johnson said, will
normally have a two-month period
to visit their homes each year,
during the wintertime when many
southeastern camps are closed
down.
Johnson said the undertaking
would not have been possible
without the complete cooperation
of the BIA, union officials and
logging operators who have agreed
to participate in the pilot project.
“If this pilot project is suc
cessful,” Hawkins said, “it is
planned that the program will be
extended to include Indians, Es
kimos and Aleuts from all parts
of the state.”
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