S£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVIII No. 60 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MAY 21, 1956 Per Copy—15#
Trapeze Artist,
Blinded by Flash.
J
Falls 40 F eet,
SAN FRANCISCO, UP—R o s e
Gold Pahin missed a swinging
circus trapeze and fell 40 feet to a
hardwood floor last night, break
ing her pelvis, left leg and arm
before 7,500 horrified spectators
at civic auditorium.
The 33-year-old Vienna-born
flyer probably was blinded tem
porarily by the flash gun of an
amateur photographer, said her
husband, Andre.
Pahin and Francesco Rinetti j
were holding the swinging tra
peze at which she dived as part
of an act at the Shrine-Polack
Bros. Circus. Her hands touched
the bar momentarily, but failed to
find a grip. There was no net.
Pahin said the flash bulb "un
doubtedly blinded her because it
affected us somewhat.” He and
Rinetti hung by their legs while
holding the trapeze.
There were a few screams as
she landed but most of the crowd
just looked in horror.
Pahin said she had done" the act
thousands of times, once from 600
feet up on the Eiffel tower in
Paris.
UNDOUBTEDLY, LADY
BLACKSBURG, Va„ UP — The
lady who called town manager
Bill LaVocchia wanted to know
the altitude of Blacksburg.
“About 2,000 feet,” he replied.
“Are you sure it isn’t close to
5,000 feet?” she asked.
“No, only 2,000.”
“Then something else must be
wrong with my cake.”
Stevenson Beats Kefanver in Oregon
Primary, McKay’s Victory Margin
Seen as Favorable to Morse in Nov.
By the Assohated Press
Democratic backers of Adlai j
Stevenson were hailing Steven
son’s presidential primary election
victory over Sen. Estes Kefauver
•in Oregon Friday as signalling a
Stevenson groundswell "that can
not be stopped.”
James A. Finnegan, campaign
manager for Stevenson, called
Friday’s Oregon results a "smash
ing victory,” pacing the way “for
Stevenson triumphs in the Florida
(May 29) and California (June 5)
primaries.”
Kefauver issued a statement
through his Washington office
saving “I received more votes
than I anticipated. We had neither
the time, the organization nor the
money to conduct a write-in cam
paign of this kind.” He tele
graphed congratulations to Ste
venson, saying "... I feel and
hope that our contest in Oregon
strengthened the Democratic Par
ty there.”
An Associated Press tabulation
showed that Stevenson now leads
the Tennessee senator 148Vs to
127 in pledged and publicly com
mitted delegate votes for the Dem
ocratic nomination. A total of
686is required for nomination.
Stevenson and Kefauver are
expected to split Florida’s 28
Democratic convention votes, but
in the California test the winner
gets all 68.
Democrats in Oregon said for
mer Gov. Douglas McKay’s vic
tory margin in the GOP fight for
nomination to oppose Sen. Morse
<D> in November “is a very good
omen” for Morse.
Monroe Sweeland, Oregon Dem
ocratic national committeeman,
said “a clear majority of regis
tered Republicans” voted against
McKay, “whereas only a tiny
fraction of Democrats" voted
against Morse.
Almost complete returns from
Oregon showed McKay got 118,105
votes to his three opponents’ com
bined 121,531. Morse beat his lone
Democratic opponent 191,159 to
39,321.
Oregon Republicans called the
Democratic votes cast against
Morse a protest vote against the
senator for leaving the Republi
can Party four years ago, and
predicted McKay would pick up
nearly all of these votes in the fall.
Wanted: Enough Money
To Send Nome Youth
To New York City
Carl Webb, Chief of Police, has
been working every angle to de
velop local interest to finance a
trip for talented local youth to
New York City where they have
been invited to take part in the
CBS “Good Morning” show with
Will Rogers Jr., as master of
ceremonies. The date for the show
has been set for June 29th and
now all that is needed is the
money for the fares to New York
and return.
Chief Webb has called a meet
ing tonight at 7 o’clock of repre
sentatives of the Chamber of
Commerce and individuals inter
ested in boosting and advertising
northwestern Alaska. He urges
everyone who has suggestions on
how to raise the money to please
attend the meeting.
Marie Dione's New Flower
Shop Sells Out Stock
Even Before It Opened
MONTREAL (Ah—Marie Dionne’s
new flower shop—named Salon
Emilie after the dead quint sister
—was a sellout even before its
scheduled opening today.
So many persons flocked to a
preview opening yesterday and
demanded flowers that the shop
virtually was cleaned out of blos
soms. ,
“We had not planned to sell
any flowers, but so many people
asked for bouquets to take to pa
tients at the three nearby hospi
tals that we had no alternative,”
Miss Dionne’s assistant, Ellen
Bourget, explained.
“Our stocks are running out
and we’ve had to send for more,”
she said at the height of yester
day’s sales.
First U.S. H-Bomb Dropped
Road To Nome
Gets Top Priority
From ARG Board
Alaska’s Board of Road Com
missioners wound up a two-day
session in Fairbanks last Wednes
day after giving first priority in
future highway construction to
the proposed Route 97, which will
ultimately hook the United States
with Nome and the Bering Sea
coast.
* This is the first time the board
has issued an official priority list,
according to Irving Reed, territor
ial highway commissioner. He said
the Alaska Road Commission has
indicated it will use federal funds
available for construction purpos
es to follow priorities established
by the territory.
Second Priority Rating
Second and third priority rat
ings were given the proposed
Copper River highway, which
would link Cordova with the Al
aska highway system, and the
proposed Fairbanks-Nenana-Mc
Kinley hookup with plans to ex
tend it to Ruby and the Kusko
kwirn.
In other business the board ac
cepted the low bid of the Martinak
Ship Yard of Tacoma, Wash., for
construetios of a new ferry for the
Juneau-Haines-Skagway run.
New Traffic Regulation
An amendment was approved
for Alaska’s traffic laws to pro
hibit any vehicle from following
too closely behind another. This
is the chief cause of traffic mis
haps in Alaska, according to Reed.
The board voted not to spend
any territorial road funds for
work on highways within city
limits, although an attorney gen
eral’s opinion was reversed to
permit it. According to Reed, they
will wait until the matter is clari
fied by the next Alaska legisla
ture.
Japan Outlaws All
Organized Prostitution
After April 1, 1957
TOKYO, I#—Climaxing an eight
1 year fight, Japan’s Parliament to
day outlawed all organized prosti
tution after next April 1,
The House of Councilors 'Sen
ate) unanimously approved legis
lation making illegal the operation
after that date of any type of
establishment for purposes of
prostitution. The House of Repre
sentatives approved the bill last
Tuesday.
The law does not prohibit the
nation’s estimated 140,000 prosti
tutes from operating independent
ly. Its penalties, up to 10 years in
prison, do not go into force until
April 1, 1958.
The law does strike, however,
at some of the world’s most exten
sive organized red-light districts—
in Tokyo, Osaka, Atami and other
areas. It also prohibits the age-old
Japanese practice of parents sell
ing their daughters into prosti
tution.
Maurine Maurer Discovers
Rare Type Tuberculosis
Miss Maurine Maurer, labora
tory technician at the MMM Hos
pital last year, is credited with
discovering a case of bovine-type
tubercle bacillus, a rare type, and
the first to be reported in Alaska,
according to the Alaska Dept, of
Health.
This type of tuberculosis, which
is cattle-borne, is usually limited
to those in contact with fresh milk
and the Eskimo child who is re
ported to have had this type of
tuberculosis had not ever been
given fresh milk. Furthermore,
the report said, no tuberculosis in
Alaska dairy herds has been re
ported in five years.
The Health Dept, is seeking
the possible source of infection in
order to prevent further cases in
the territory as the child had
lived in Metlakatla before coming
to Nome.
Hot Lunch Group
Starts Planning
For Next Year
The Hot Lunch Committee met
last Wednesday evening to discuss
plans for the coming year. It is
important to plan now for next
year, and set up the different
committees. It is felt that early
planning will make for a more
effective, adequate program.
This, being the pilot year, has
meant getting acquainted with
available surpluses, financial
problems, and even the basic
handling of the best possible
menus for the best nutrition for
the most children. This is an im
portant program in the general
winter health of the entire town.
Good hot lunches mean more re
sistance to infection. This in turn
means less spreading of these in
fections. Put your medicine money
into the food program.
The committee must plan early
for the summer boat deliveries
and the program should be ready
to go before it is time to start
cooking. Summer activties are
planned to boost the program and
the committee is in need of help.
Parents and all others interest
ed please call Main 156. Your co
operation will be most appreciated
and “well spent.”
Yogi Yorgesson Killed
In Highway Auto Wreck
TONOPAH, Nev., Yogi Yor
gesson, radio and recording star,
lost his life in a crash on a lonely
desert road near here.
He was found dead yesterday in
the wreckage of his expensive
sedan. Police opined he apparent
ly fell asleep at the wheel. He was
alone in the car.
Yogi, whose real name was
Harry E. Stewart, had a big hit
record some seasons back with his
Swedish dialect version of “Jingle
| Bells.”
h By ELTON C. FAY
USS MT. McKINLEY, Off Bi
kini, tiP—An American B-52 jet
bomber dropped a hydrogen bomb
—one of the most awesome weap
ons ever exploded—over Bikini
Atoll this morriingi It was the first
H-bomb loosed from an American
plane.
The eight-jet B-52, without mod
ification in bomb bay or shackles,
dropped the bomb and set off on
precisely the scheduled minute the
mighty blast that boiled up a
towering, fiery cloud of dust,
steam and debris reaching 25
miles into the sky.
The great cloud hung like an
exclamation point over Namu, the
target island in the American
proving ground in the Pacific.
No task force officer or physi
cist disputed the assumption that
any B-52—the fastest and longest
ranged of U.S. jet bombers—could
carry and drop a similar H-bomb
| weapon on any chosen target.
From Eight Miles Up
The B-52 Stratofortress, eight
j miles up, sent the hydrogen bomb
i plunging down into the pre-dawn
| blackness. There was light—an
i awful, burning light—that hit the
! ocean out to the farthest horizon.
| From 10,000 feet above the black
| and white bullseye painted on tiny
Namu Island in Bikini Atoll, the
fury of fusion explosion hurled
out a mighty shock wave.
Coral dust and a mighty spray
of water leaped toward the sky.
The flashing heat scorched the
sand and seared the sea.
Ten Megatons
A force unofficially estimated
as at least that of he energy pro
duced by detonation of 10 million
tons of TNT was loosed in the
explosion of the H-bomb.
Officials gave no exact mea
surement of tlje force of the bomb,
which carried the code name of
Cherokee. However, an official
task force statement issued late
this afternoon said:
“Preliminary estimates show
the yield of the Cherokee was sub
stantially below that of the largest
1954 test, although today’s shot
likely will be one of the biggest of
the current series.”
Three-Mile r trenail
Before the blast a scientist said
he expected to see a fireball three
miles wide. After the explosion,
the scientist said he had seen what
he anticipated.
Observers said the cloud flat
tened out to about 100 miles in
width.
Measurements on the explosion
are not completed. There was no
indication whether the task force
would make them public.
Earlier this year, Soviet offi
cials had claimed that Russia had
dropped a hydrogen bomb from a
plane. No official in the U.S. chal
lenged the claim. Furthermore, it
appeared to be reiteration in an
other form of a statement last fall
by Russia that one of its thermo
nuclear bombs had been exploded
high in the air to avoid heavy
contamination by radioactive mat
ter.
Standard Design B-52
The plane which dropped the
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