OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
62nd Year No. 30 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1961 Per Copy 15*
Nuns Molested by
Congolese Troops
By Dennis Neeld
LEOPOLDVILLE — Nuns
have been stripped and one
American missionary girl has
raped by Congolese soldiers on
the rampage in the rebel province
of Kivu, the United Nations re
ported today.
U. N. Malayan patrols are push
ing out from Kindu, trying to
reach isolated villages where
whites are at the mercy of the
Congolese soldiers.
A nun reaching Kindu from a
mission station at Kasongo told of
48 hours of terror, rape and bes
tiality soon after the death of
ex-premier Patrice Lumumba last
month. The nun, said nine sisters
from the mission were bundled
into trucks and carted off to the
local jail.
A 75-year-old nun said she was
thrown out of the truck and her
arms broken and her shoulder
dislocated. That nun has now
reached Leopoldville.
In a prison courtyard, the nuns
were made to dance barefoot on
stones and gravel, singing hymns
to Lumumba. Then they were
made to lie on the ground and
strip off their clothes.
“They did not rape us but they
did things so disgusting to our
poor bodies that we dare not speak
of them, much less write of
them,” one nun said.
White residents in small com
munities around Kindu live in
nightly terror of being ordered
from their beds at bayonet point
and made to parade naked before
jeering Congolese.
In those communities Congo
lese soldiers break into houses at
any time and help themselves to
food, money and jewelry.
WTien the whites protest they
are left with nothing to eat, the
soldiers reply “you can eat man
ioc like we do.” Manioc is a
primative vegetable food.
Patterson Meets Johansson
Tonight for Title Defense
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. UP) —
Heavyweight champion Floyd Pat
terson today weighed 194%
pounds — the heaviest of his
career — for his title defense
against Ingemar Johansson of
Sweden at Convention Hall to
night.
Johansson weighed 206V&. It
also was Johansson’s top weight.
The new Yorker weighed 182
to Johansson’s 196 for their first
fight in New York, June 26, 1959,
when the Swede knocked out Pat
terson.
In their return bout at New
York last June 20, Patterson
weighed 190, his heaviest to that
date, when he knocked out Inge
mar, who then weighed 194%.
There will be a radio broad
cast fAPC) of the 15-rounder,
but there will be no home tele
vision.
Causes Big Scramble
For Governorship
SACRAMENTO, Calif. UP) —
Former Vice President Richard
M. Nixon invited a scramble for
the Republican nomination for
governor next year when he said
over the weekend:
“I am not a candidate for gov
ernor. I have no intention to be
be a candidate or institute a
draft.”
In private conversations Friday
and Saturday, Nixon declined to
say he wouldn’t except nomina
tion and wouldn’t serve it elected.
Four of Five Bonding
Proposals Slide Through
Without Amendment
JUNEAU (#> — Four of the five
general obligation proposals ap
proved by the voters last fall
slipped through second reading in
the House without amendment to
day.
Republicans, picking up sup
port from Democratic Rep. Bob
Blodgett, voted against moving
the measures up from second read
ing to final passage.
On the fourth bill, the Demo
crats, realizing they couldn’t
muster the two-thirds majority to
advance' the bill, didn’t even at
tempt to move it up.
When the House got to the fifth
general obligation proposal on
the calendar, the $23 million
Ferry Bond Proposal, it recessed
until 2 p. m.
When the bill came up on sec
ond reading, Rep. Bennie Leonard,
who had recommended that the
bill “do pass” when it came out of
the State Affairs Committee,
asked that his recommendation
be changed to “do not pass in its
present form.”
The first four general obligation
bonding proposals to hit the cal
endar, in order, would provide
$2.5 for obtaining federal Hill
Burton matching funds for hospi
tal construction and equipment;
$1.5 for construction of a Voca
tional Education School north of
the Yukon River; $1.5 million for
constructing and equipping bush
airfields; and $2 million for con
struction of a new gymnasium
and improvements to the water
system at the University of Alas
ka.
Bills Okayed by Senate
JUNEAU UP) —Legislation which
would eliminate the requirement
that cars carry two license plates
was approved by the Senate Sat
urday. Only one license plate
would be carried on the rear of
each vehicle.
The sponsor of the measure,
Sen. Paul Greimann said the bill
would result in an annual saving
of some $9,000-$10,000.
The Senate gave its approval
Saturday to a bill which would
levy a 5 per cent tax on the gross
receipts of professional and semi
professional athletic and sport
ing events.
One of the sponsors of the meas
ure, Sen. A1 Owen said the tax
levy would bring in some $700,
000 a year.
Most state employers would be
required to hire workers from
areas which the Commissioner of
Labor has designated as areas of
labor surplus under the provisions
of a bill was okayed by the Sen
ate Saturday.
Senate Kills Jury Trials
In Municipal Cases
JUNEAU iff) — A bill which
would have permitted the de
fendants in cases involving vio
lations of municipal ordinances
to ask for a jury trial was killed
in the Senate Saturday.
NO WORD FROM SOVIET
VENUSNIK SINCE FEB. 27
MOSCOW (#* — No one knows
where the Soviet Venus rocket
is or whether contact will be
established with it again.
The Venusnik blasted of Feb.
12, then disappeared Feb. 27.
Tass, the Soviet news agency,
had said that the scientists would
! try to re-establish radio contact
There has been no word that they
have made any progress.
II. S. Soldier of
Fortune Executed
By Castro’s Militia
HAVANA UP) — William A.
Morgan, American soldier of for
tune who fell from national hero
to traitor in the eyes of the Fidel
Castro regime, was buried Sun
day in a crypt beside the Cuban
major executed with him.
Friends of Morgan’s Cuban wife
attended the rites in Colon ceme
tery, and a Catholic priest offi
ciated. Mrs. Morgan, in hiding to
escape captivity, did not attend
the funeral. She and 10 others
were convicted of treason along
with her husband last week, and
she was declared a fugitive.
The five-man court at La Ca
bana Fortress sentenced Morgan
and Maj. Jesus Carreras to die
Saturday after convicting them
of aiding anti-Castro rebels in
the mountains. A firing squad
shot them in a dry moat ouside the
ancient fortress a few hours later.
Morgan, 52, of Toledo, Ohio,
got a dishonorable discharge
from a U. S. paratrooper unit in
Japan and in 1957 joined Castro’s
revolution and after the over
throw of Dictator Fulgencio Ba
tista stayed in Cuba.
Two years later he lost his
American citizenship for fighting
in a foreign army. But at the
time he was enjoying a hero’s
stature for helping to decoy a
group of anti-Castro plotters into
a trap.
Later he was demoted to run
ning a government frog farm. He
told newsmen last fall that he
was a staunch anti-Communist
and didn’t know how long he
would last in his job.
Senate Kills Bill to
Move Key Sections of
Division of Highways
JUNEAU UP — The Senate to
day killed a bill which would
have required several key sec
tions of the State Division of
Highways to be relocated in West
ward Alaska by next Sept. 1.
The vote on the bill was 11-9 i
to indefinitely postpone action on 1
the measure, a move that has the
effect of killing it.
When the bill was first intro
duced, it called for relocation of
Highway Division’s Administra
tive Headquarters at a point north
and west of Yakutat.
The bill was amended, how
ever, to require only that the
right of way, engineering, plan
ning and design sections be
moved, with administrative head
quarters to remain in Juneau.
Sec. of Commerce
Hodges Says Recession
“Has Hit Bottom”
WASHINGTON UP — Secretary
of Commerce Luther H. Hodges
says it will not be necessary to
cut taxes this spring to spur the
economy.
Hodges said Sunday he thinks
the recession has hit bottom and
the economy now can start up
ward.
President Kennedy said in Jan
uary that he would take another
look at the state economy in April.
A temporary tax cut might then
be considered, he said, if the econ
omy is still lagging.
“Generally speaking I think
there’s a better spirit and a gen
eral feeling that things are going
to get better soon,” Hodges said
in a TV-radio interview.
Blodgett Charges “Skulduggery”
In Ferry-Road Bonding Issue
By Ward Sims
Associated Press Staff Writer
JUNEAU UP) — The huge $23
million Ferry-Road Bonding Bill
hit the floor of the House of
Representatives for amendment j
today, as a storm of accusations j
swirled around the controversial
measure.
Rep. Bob Blodgett told the As
sociated Press the bonding propo
sition “from its very inception j
has been saddled with premedi- !
tated skulduggery.”
In a long statement, Blodgett
accused Gov. Egan and the 1961
Legislature of attempting to sub
vert the will of the people in
implementing voter approval of
the issuance of $23 million worth
of general obligation bonds for
ferries and roads.
Blodgett said the 1960 Legis
lature, in submitting the bonding
proposal to the voters, intended
that $5 million of the $23 million
be used for construction of the
proposed Fairbanks-Nome Road, j
Now, Blodgett said, the adminis- ,
tration wants to use the $5 mil
lion for maintenance and road
relocation.
“They’re running this show as
they damned well please and the
people down here in the Legis- i
lature are apparently nothing but
a bunch of rubber stamps,” Blod
gett said.
Blodgett Stormed Out of Caucus
Blodgett, asked why he stormed
out of a Democratic caucus last
Thursday afternoon, said:
“I refuse to have people tell
me in a caucus, ‘if you don’t vote
for House Bill 44, you won’t get
your Vocational School at Nome.’
“Well, that’s a pretty doggoned
rotten way of doing business. Now,
talk about a bunch of hatchet
men, we’ve got them. People that
have been friends of mine right
here in Alaska for years came
right out and made that state
ment to me in caucus.
“If it follows that Northwestern
Alaska doesn’t come into its own
just due in this road bonding pro
gram, if we don’t get Route 97
from Fairbanks to Nome, I can
assure the people of the state and
our illustrious administration that
I will work in the future for the
defeat of any bonding proposi- j
tions.
“I think it would be wrong to
ask the people of my area to vote
for the passage of any future1
bonding proposition if we are to
be sold down the river now.”
House Speaker Warren Taylor
denied that Blodgett was threat
ened in the Democratic party
caucus.
Rep. Morgan Reed, Chairman
Metlakatla and Pelersburgh
Win Basketball Tournaments
JUNEAU (JP) — Metlakatla and
Petersburg won the Class AA
and Class A Divisions, respective
ly, of the Gold Medal Basketball
Tournament Saturday night.
Metlakatla rolled over a strong
Sitka ANB team, 52-41. It was
the first loss for the Sitka squad.
Alaska's Population Increases
253.1 Per Cent in 60 Years
WASHINGTON (JP) — The Cen
sus Bureau says Alaska’s popula
tion increased 253.1 per cent in
the 60 years between 1900 and
last year. The 1900 population i
: was given as 64,000. Last year as
I 226,000, an increase of 162,000.
of the House State Affairs Com
mittee, said:
“If there was any premeditated
skulduggery connected with any
of the bonding propositions, Blod
gett had as much to do with it as
anyone because he was a mem
ber of the Finance Committee
which drafted them.
“The governor has taken a
hands-off attitude regarding the
implementation of the bond issues.
The Fairbanks-Nome Road with
which Blodgett is so much con
cerned is not even a road system
that would entitle it to matching
funds.”
Egan said he had recommended
against using the $5 million for
road construction at this time be
cause the state had already com
mitted its federal highway aid
matching funds.
“Why should we spend this $5
million now and get 7-10 miles of
road out of it, when we can wait
and get some $60-$70 million in
federal matching funds later?”
Egan asked.
McNees and Hopson Comment
Two senators from the North
western District, John McNees
and Eben Hopson commented in
a joint statement:
“Much has already been said,
some of it wrongly so, as to the
position of the Northwestern leg
islators on the various bonding
measures under the considera
tion by the Legislature.
“Much pressure has been placed
on us from a wide variety of
sources and in many ways —
threats have frequently been
made, both by proponents of the
bonding program as well as the
opponents.
“The reason that the ‘ice bloc'
has been singled out for pressure
is that it very likely holds the
hinge vote in either or both
Houses of the Legislature on
many of the issues involved.
Furthermore, we intend to take
advantage of that position to see
that the intent of the 1960 Legis
lature and the Joint Finance
Committees of that session is car
ried out. That, and no more than
that, is our position.”
McNees and Hopson said the
intent was that the $5 million be
spent, along with federal match
ing monies on a 19-1 ratio, for con
struction of the Fairbanks-Nome
Road.
“We arc morally certain,” they
said, “that this was the intent of
the Joint Finance Committee, the
1960 Legislature and all of the
people of Alaska in voting for it.
“We feel our claim is a just, a
moral and a legal one, and we
are disappointed that we are not
getting the full backing of the
administration in carrying it out.”
Anchorage Area Cut Out
Rep. Bennie Leonard of An
chorage, asked to comment on
Blodgett’s statement, said:
“If Mr. Blodgett feels that
Northwestern Alaska might be
cut out of the bonding issues, I
ask him to look at the Anchor
age area, where 42 per cent of
the state taxes originate, and see
how that area has fared in this
road program, or any of the other
bonding issues.
“It saddens us all to see the
Vocational School being vote
traded to Nome for the Ferry
Bond issue. This is another case
of legislation by the Democratic
oarty caucus.”