™E NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVI NO. 58 7" NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1954 ~ Per Copy—1 3^
Gambler Costello
Faces Another
15 Years In Prison
NEW YORK, UP — Gambler
Frank Costello, convicted of fed
eral income tax evasion, faces a
possible maximum penalty of 15
years in prison and a $30,000 fine.
Costello appeared on the verge
of tears last night when the jury
foreman intoned “guilty.”
The 63-year-old defendant, who
allegedly headed a national under
world syndicate for years, paled,
and buried his face in his hands.
Trembling, he lighted a cigaret.
Costello had been out of jail
less than seven months when the
threat of bars struck him again.
He was released last Oct. 29
from the federal correctional in
stitution at Milan, Mich., after
serving 14 months of an 18-month
sentence for contempt of the Ke
fauver crime investigating com
mittee when he refused to answer
several key questions and twice
stalked out of hearings.
The Italian - born Costello —
whose gravel voice grated the
ears of millions during the tele
vised Kefauver hearings here in
1951—also faces deportation pro
ceedings.
»
Russia Accedes To French
On International Control
For Any Indochina Peace
GENEVA, UP)—Russia proposed
today that any settlement of the
Indochina conflict be carried out
under the supervision of a neutral
nations’ supervisory commission.
This represented a major modifi
cation in the Communist position.
Soviet Foreign Minister Vya
cheslav M. Molotov made his pro
posal to the nine-party Indochina
conference a few minutes before
French Foreign Minister Georges
Bidault had declared international
control was an essential condition
in any settlement.
Molotov conceded that the ear
lier proposal of Communist-led
Vietminh did not provide for ade
quate supervision and then sub
mitted his own proposal as a sup
plement to the Vietminh plan.
There was no immediate word
from the Western powers as to
whether the Soviet proposal
would satisfy them on the ques
tion of supervision.
FAIRBANKS, UP) — The first
meeting between the Northern
Commercial Co. management and
the retail clerks union since the
clerks started picketing the store
more than three weeks ago was
held yesterday.
PROGRAM FOR FIFTH ANNUAL
Armed Forces Day Celebration
9:00 a.m. Reveille at Federal Building.
9:00 until 12:00 Open house at Nome Field and
inspection of a C-124. Refreshments will be
served.
10:30 a.m. F-94 jet fighters from 449th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron and the Korean com
bat-tested F-86 Sabres from 720th Fighter
Bomber Wing at Ladd AFB will demonstrate
high speed flying overhead.
2:00 p.m. Parade will form at Nome School and
proceed down B St. through P^ont St. This
will be headed by Ninth Army Band, a pla
toon of Infantry and Air Force personnel
from the 11th Air Division at Ladd AFB;
5003rd Air Force Squadron; Det. E; 9472nd
TSU; National Guard; Boy Scouts; Cub
Scouts; American Legion; V.F.W.; A.C.S.
and other groups.
This will be followed by an address by Gen. Donald
B. Smith, commander of the 11th Air Div., who
will be introduced by Mayor Andersen. Also on
the reviewing stand will be Judge Walter Hodge,
Gen. John Noyes, ANG, and Maj. K. D. Swisher,
commanding officer of Nome Field.
4:00 p.m. Band concert at Federal Bldg.
6:00 p.m. Retreat ceremony.
7:30 p.m. Banquet at Bering Sea Club honoring
Gen. Smith and party.
9:00 p.m. Taps.
9:00-until 1:00 a.m. Air Force Orchestra at
High School Prom.
1:00 to 5:00 p.m. USO open house at old Meth
odist parsonage.
Military project officer from Ladd Field is Major Jeanne O. Brice
Lt. Richard Kummer is in charge of arrangements from Nome Field
Statehood People
Told Partition
Offers Best Chance
WASHINGTON, (A —Hawaiian
and Alaskan statehood delega
tions set out on their final pat
rols of capitol corridors today in
search of means to break the
statehood stalemate.
Both delegations had plans to
return home today, but may post
pone their departure until tomor
row.
With their deadline nearing, Al
askans still were hopeful of ob
taining an appointment with Bud
get Director Rowland R. Hughes.
The meeting was proposed yester
day after Undersecretary of the
Interior Ralph Tudor told them
the department had filed three re
ports on the Alaska statehood bill
but that each had been rejected
by the bureau.
Members of both groups ar
ranged to continue their indivi
dual meetings with members of
Congress.
The two delegations last night
attended a reception given by the
Matson Navigation Co. and a din
ner sponsored by the Alaskans.
At the Interior Department, the
Alaskans heard Undersecretary
Tudor commend the suggestion of
Alaska Gov. Heintzleman that
Alaska be partitioned and only
the populated area be admitted
to statehood.
Tudor expressed the opinion
that the partition proposal offered
the “best chance” of obtaining
statehood for Alaska.
Gar Wood’s Twin-Hulled
“Unsinkable” Venturi
Goes Down In Storm
MIAMI, Fla., UP*—1The “Unsink
able” twin-hulled yacht Venturi
lay in her watery grave off Great
Isaac Light in the Bahamas today
but Gar Wood, 73-year-old speed
boat racer and builder, and eight
others were safe.
The 188-foot Venturi broke up
in heavy seas while returning to
Miami from a round trip to Nas
sau yesterday but Wood, his sec
retary, his Negro housekeeper and
six crew members were rescued.
Wood, who designed the 120-ton
craft for use by the Army Air
Force in 1944 and re-acquired it
from the government five years
later, the secretary and the house
keeper, were brought to Miami
last night. A Coast Guard heli
copter snatched them from a life
boat wallowing in heavy seas
about 65 miles east of Fort Lau
derdale, Fla.
The others of the crew were
picked up from small boats by
fishing craft. •
“The Venturi was going 22 to
23 knots in deep water when we
ran into- a bad storm,” Wood said.
“Some of the front streamlining
on the bow, sort of an airlift,
broke off and I knew we were
in trouble.”
U.S. Announces Completion Of
H-Bomb Tests As Conference Starts
Seeking Outlawing Atom Warfare
LONDON, UP)—The world’s five
leading atomic powers met in this
H-bomb-wary capitol Thursday in
quest of a pact ending the arms
race and outlawing atomic and
germ warfare.
There were guarded hints from
British and American informants
that the Western nations, jointly
or individually, might put fro
ward revised proposals in a bid
to break the years-long deadlock
with Russia on ithe issues.
The secret talks are under the
auspices of the United Nations.
The group is meeting as a sub
committee of the U.N. Disarma
ment Commission.
Recent disclosures of effects of
hydrogen bomb test explosions
gave new urgency to the task
facing the Russian and Western
disarmament experts. Revelations
stemming from U.S. tests in the
Pacific touched off a chain reac
tion of nervousness in many parts
of the globe and especially in
this exposed island. This led the
Churchill government to propose
that a new effort at control be
made in London.
Britain’s Labor Party
Gains 509 Commons Seats
LONDON, (51 — Britain’s Labor
party surged forward today with
a net gain of 509 seats in returns
from borough council elections in
England and Wales. The Conser- |
vatives suffered a sharp setback,
showing a net loss of 385.
There was a similar swing to
the Labor party in borough elec
tions held last week in Scotland.
Prime Minister Churchill’s Con
servative cabinet is scheduled to
remain in office until the fall of
1956 unless (1) it orders a new
election or (2) it is defeated in
the House of Commons on a major
issue.
Propane Gas Explosion
Wrecks Fairbanks Home
FAIRBANKS, \B—An explosion
attributed to propane gas peeled
off a garage door and smashed
and twisted the Melvin Popescu
home in the Island Homes tract
yesterday.
A mass of flame seared the
lawn. Dishes and pictures on the
wall in the neighboring home of
Fairbanks City Manager Don
Eyinch were shattered. The Ey
inch garage was knocked out of
line.
The blast occurred while resi
dents of both home were absent
and no one was injured.
Investigators found a valve to
the main gas line to' the Popescu
home open. The line was not in
use but gas had been but in for
a short test, they said.
WASHINGTON, UP — The
United States has fired a final
hydrogen explosion in the island
shaking, controversy-stirring 1954
test series at the mid - Pacific
proving ground.
A joint Atomic Energy Com
mission-Defense Department an
nouncement said last night the
series had been completed and
“the tests were successful in the
development of thermonuclear
weapons.”
This was much like language
used to mark the end of previous
test series and, like the previous
announcements, it did not specify
how many bombs had been set
off. However, three previous ex
plosions had been announced — a
mighty blast on March 1, another
explosion 26 days later and a
third on April 6—leaving open to
speculation whether one or more
than one detonation occurred
after that time.
Announcement of the end of the
series, which drew foreign pro
tests because radioactive particles
showered well outside the test
area, came on the same day that
a five-power conference opened
in London, aimed at ending the
arms race and outlawing nuclear
weapon warfare.
There was some speculation of
a connection between the timing
of yesterday’s announcement, con
tinuing protests abroad and the
London conference. Besides the
usual laconic statement that a
test series had been concluded
successfully, the joint statement
also said of the 1954 tests:
“They were essential to our na
tional interest and have contrib
uted materially to the security of
the United States and the free
world.”
Churchill Boards Royal
Yacht To Accompany
Queen Elizabeth Home
LONDON, U?i — Prime Minister
Churchill hurried from London
this afternoon to accept a surprise
invitation from Queen Elizabeth
to join her on her triumphal jour
ney the rest of the way home.
The Prime Minister will go
aboard the royal yacht Britannia
off Southampton this evening,
and will remain on it through the
night as it completes its journey
carrying the Queen through the
English Channel at the mouth of
the Thames. She is finishing an
historic six - month, round - the -
world tour with her husband, the
Duke of Edinburgh.
As the Britannia moved majes
tically up the English Channel to
day escorted by 28 war ships and
watched by thousands of Britons
lining the shore, the Queen was
on the bridge much of the time
watching a huge naval and air
display.
Junior - Senior Prom
School Gym — 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. — $1.50 Single or Couple -- Music by Armfe Forces Dance Band