22 NOME NUGGET
_ OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. LVII No. 150NOME. ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1955Per Copy—154
Eisenhower Gives
Christmas Message
WASHINGTON, (ff—Expressing
hope infinite peace may “live with
us and be ours forever,” President
Eisenhower sent his Christmas
message last night to his country
men and the world.
“To each of you, wherever you
may be, from Mrs. Eisenhower
and me, a very merry Christmas,”
Eisenhower said.
Then from Gettysburg College
near his country home in Pennsyl
vania, the President pressed a key,
and 8,000 vari-colored lights on a
giant Christmas tree in Washing
ton burst into brilliance.
“Well, it worked,” the President
said as he saw the lights go on via
television. Mrs. Eisenhower sat
beside him. ^
The tree, a 65-foot spruce from j
the Black Hills of South Dakota,
stands just south of the White
House grounds.
Vice President and Mrs. Nixon,
with their two young daughters,
sat on the stage while carols from
a 150-voice choir and the music of
the U.S. Marine Band rang thru
the gathering dusk.
For Eisenhower in Gettysburg,
Nixon described the scene and
then introduced the President to
the thousands gathered in the
park.
Cold Wave Hits States
By the Associated Press
The season’s worst blast of arc
tic cold spread across the Midwest
today and headed toward the east
ern seaboard.
The mercury nosedived to -45
degrees at Bemidji and Big Falls,
Minn., coldest of the season. Bis
mark N.D., had -30, Minneapolis
St. John shivered in -20 cold, a
record low for the date.
Comet III Makes Record
On Leg of Global Test
TORONTO, (JO—'The Comet III
streaked into Toronto yesterday
on the home leg of a 23,600-mile
global test flight.
The British jet airliner flew7 the
2,190 air miles from Vancouver to
Toronto in three hours, 55 min
utes, breaking all records for the
route. Canada’s fastest airliners
take about eight hours on the
same trip.
The Comet averaged 560 miles
an hour with a top speed of 587
over Winnipeg. The pilot said he
had the help of an 80-mile-an
hour tailwind.
The airliner will take off for
Montreal tomorrow morning.
Saarlanders’ Vote Brings
Nearer Valley s Reunion
With West Germany
SAARBREUKEN, Saar, (JO—
Voters of the strategic Saar Valley
took another long stride yesterday
toward reunion with West Ger
many.
The German - speaking Saar
landers—90.4 percent of those eli
gible to vote—turned out to elect
a parliament dominated by three
big pro-German parties.
The three groups are pledged as
a coalition to make this frontier
industrial basin of 991 square
miles the 20th state in the Bonn
Republic.
The three parties got 63.9 per
cent of the total vote. Party lead
ers promptly vowed they will now
‘•unerringly pursue the goal of re
turning Saarlanders to the father
land.”
Their jubilation was tempered,
however, by their failure to win
75 percent of the vote—required
to permit them to scrap the Saar’s
autonomous constitution immedi
ately. i
Good Salaries for Good Legislators,
Committee Recommends to Convention
By FLORENCE DOUTHIT
FAIRBANKS, LP)—Each legisla
tor who serves the future State of
Alaska will be paid an annual sal
ary equal to one-third of the gov
ernor’s salary if a proposal of the
Constitutional Convention’s Leg
islative Committee is written into
the constitution being drafted.
The convention is in recess now
but the pay plan is expected to be
the subject of heated debate when
the 55 delegates reassamble Jan. 4.
The committee, headed by Steve
McCutcheon of Anchorage, ex
plains its reasoning this way:
“Most states have not paid leg
islators respectable salaries, and
the citizens have often been dis
appointed when their legislators
were not respectable either. Good
salaries will not automatically
produce good legislators; rather,
they make their selection possible.
“Poor salaries, on the other
hand, tend to produce two types
of legislators—those who have
private means and who are, con
sequently, likely to be upper class
in their attitude, and those who
are on payroll of an outside inter
est and who are sent to the legis
lature to vote as that interest de
sires.”
Other committee recommenda
tions include:
The Senate of the Alaska Legis
lature will contain not more than
20 members and the house not
more than 40. Senators will be at
least 25 years old, three-year resi- j
dents of Alaska, and one-year res- j
idents of their districts. House
members needed to be only 21
years old. The same resident re
quirements apply as to the Senate.
The committee also . proposes
that the legislature convene each
year, with no limit on the length
of session.
i The convention’s executive com
mittee also hc^ proposals expected
to furnish long hours of debate.
One probably controversion rec
ommendation is the requirement
for secretary of state.
The committee would require
that a governor be not less than 30
years old and an Alaskan for sev
en years. His term would be four
years and he would have to step
down after the second term for at
least four years.
The secretary of state, under
the committee plan, would have
the same qualifications. In addi
tion, he would be linked on the
ballot to the governor.
Strong feelings on the subject
were expressed during a recent
public hearing. Some felt the sec
retary of state should be an ap
pointive official; others felt he
should be an elective office, but
not tied on the same ticket with
the governor.
Before sending the convention
into a 15-day recess Saturday, del
egates went through another
stormy session, this one dealing
with initiative and referendum
sections of the proposed constitu
tion. Delegates spent eight hours
arguing that article of the consti
tution and went home at 6 p.m.
with the work unfinished.
Jet Runs Amok
At Lincoln AFB,
Killing Three
LINCOLN, Neb., tP>—A Navy jet
fighter, warming up on the flight
line, ran suddenly wild under full
power at the Lincoln AFB Sunday.
The result:
—Three Navy men killed.
—A huge wooden hangar lev
eled by fire.
—Six aircraft destroyed, and
another one damaged.
—Losses running into the “mil
lions of dollars.”
One of the dead was the jet’s
pilot. The other victims’ bodies
were recovered from the hangar
ruins.
The F-9F jet fighter plane with
its pilot in the cockpit, struck
three aircraft in its wild, careen
ing run outside the hangar. With
its exhaust still spewing flames at
full force, the craft plowed its
way inside the hangar, crashed
through another aircraft and into
still another.
The hangar became a holocaust
of flame and more than 50 men in
side the huge structure, many of
them in the operations office and
other offices located inside the
building, ran for safety.
Army Court Acquits
Two American Soldiers
In E. Germany Fracas
BERLIN, (#)—A six-man U.S.
Army court acquitted two Ameri
can soldiers today of disorderly
conduct charges based on their ar
rest in the Soviet sector of Berlin.
The court ruled that Pvts. Willie
J. Holden, of Poplarville, Miss.,
and Riehard L. Calbert, of Kansas
City, Mo., were innocent in a
brawl which led to their arrest by
Communist East German police
and their subsequent release by
the Russians.
The case aroused wide interest
because the East German Reds,
claiming that East Berlin is part
of “sovereign” East Germany, de
manded that their courts try the
men. The Russians, however,
abided by. the four-power rules
long in use in divided Berlin and
returned the soldiers to U.S. auth
orities.
A refugee who saw the incident,
Mrs. Helene Ehlers, testified today
that an East German cabaret per
former, Werner Lierck, provoked
an argument with the two soldiers
at a Soviet sector bar on Dec. 7.
The witness said the German re
peatedly assailed the soldiers as
“American swine” and tried to
attack one of them. When Lierck
lunged toward Holden, the woman
testified, Holden hit him in self
defense.
Fairbanks Sergeant Gets
Week Vacation for Being
Champ Maintenance Man
LOS ANGELES, UH—An Air
Force sergeant based at Fairbanks
will be given a week’s vacation
here next week for being named
“world’s champion jet aircraft
maintenance technician*
Northrop Aircraft Inc. said to
day it will fly S/Sgt. Richard H.
Holden of Ladd AFB and his wife
here Dec. 28. They’ll attend the
Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game
and tour industrial and recreation
areas.
Sgt. Holden, Menomonie, Wis.,
was cited for outstanding accom
plishments as a crew chief in the
18th Fighter-Interceptor Squad
ron in winning an annual award
program sponsored by Northrop.
More Hepatitis in Nome;
Doctor Recommends
Drinking Water Be Boiled
Dr. Fred Langsam, health offi
cer, cautions residents that there
have been additional hepatitis
cases and that every precaution
should be taken against this dis
ease which is usually carried by
water. He recommends that drink
ing water be boiled.
No specific cure is known.
P. G. Wodehouse Is Citizen
RIVERHEAD, N.Y., UP>—P. G.
Wodehouse, 74-year-old British
writer, Friday became an Ameri
can citizen in ceremonies in Suf
folk County naturalization court.
Wodehouse is working on his
75th book.
Pope Pius Will Deliver
Christmas Message Dec. 24
VATICAN CITY, (A*—Pope Pius
XII will deliver his 17th annual
Christmas message to the world
on Saturday, Dec. 24.
The 79-year-old head of the Ro
man Catholic -Church will begin
speaking at 11 a.m. His address
will be broadcast by Vatican ra
dio and by various European and
other networks hooked up 'With
the Vatican station.
The Vatican radio also will
broadcast translations of the Pon
tiffs speech in 25 languages, in
cluding Russian and other Iron
Curtain languages.
Kefauver Will Be
Demo Nominee in
N. H. Primary
(By the Associated Press)
Sen. Estes Kefauver, whose 1952
campaign for the Democratic pres
idential nomination got its biggest
early boost in New Hampshire,
wants to battle with Adlai Steven
son for that state’s support in 1956.
There was no immediate word
from Stevenson, but one of his
supporters, John Rogers Penn,
said he would seek election as a
New Hampshire convention dele
gate pledged to Stevenson whether
or not the 1952 nominee enters the
contest.
Kefauver announced Sunday he
is entering the New Hampshire
primary and expressed hope “the
snow and ice will not deter” Stev
enson.
Stronger hints came from the
friends of Sen. William F. Know- j
land (R-Calif) meantime that the
Senate minority leader might not
wait for announcement of Presi
dent Eisenhower’s political plans
to enter some primaries on his
own.
The friends said Knowland is
convinced Eisenhower will not
run, and reported the California
senator has sent directly to Eisen
hower his contention that other
GOP aspirants cannot afford to
wait until mid-February or later
to get their names on primary bal
lots.
The New York Times reports in
a dispatch from James Reston in
Washington that well-informed
opinion in both parties is shifting
to the view that the President will
seek another term.
Dr. Paul Dudley White, the Bos
ton heart specialist who examined
Eisenhower Saturdaj', said that it
would be mid-February before
Eisenhower could be sure he is
physically able to seek a second
term if he wants one.
Two Believed Dead
In Fire at Kotzebue
Office of Alaska Air
KOTZEBUE — A fire of un
determined origin destroyed the
Alaska Airlines office here at
8:30 Sunday morning. Two per
sons were believed to have died
in the fire. One was believed to
be a pilot for a Fairbanks flying
service, and another person. Re
mains of the victims had not been
recovered at noon today, and their
names were withheld pending •
verification and identification.
The building wTas owned by
Archie Ferguson, and was his
home. It included mahogany pan
els and other expensive features.
Alaska Airlines had leased the
building for an office and living
quarters for their bush pilot at
Kotzebue, Phillip Gray, who with
his wife, lived there.
There was no explanation im
mediately forthcoming for the
presence in the building of the
two fire victims.
Wien Bush Plane
Crashes At Kotzebue
KOTZEBUE — A Wien Airlines
Cessna 170 with one passenger
aboard cartwheeled on landing
at 11:30 Sunday morning, im
mediately following take-off. The
forced landing was caused, it is
reported, by malfunctioning in
struments. The right wing of the
plane was broken off in the crash.
Both pilot Ed Badten and the
passenger escaped with minor in
juries but Badten is in the Kotze
bue hospital for observation.
The accident was said to have
occurred in a white-out at the
Kotzebue airport.
HOMER RODEHEAVER DIES
WARSAW, Ind., UP)—Homer
Rodeheaver, 75, who served for
20 years as evangelist Billy Sun
day’s chief musical aide, died in
his home in nearby Winona Lake
yesterday following a cerebral
hemorrhage four days earlier.
A prolific writer of Gospel mu
sic and evangelistic books, Rode
heaver travelled the sawdust trail
to all corners of the world, play
ing his slide trombone in city
churches and the jungles of Af
rica. He never married.
Light May Be From
2 Missing Men
FAIRBANKS, UP>—A searcher’s
report of what appeared to be a
weak flashlight signal from the
wilderness gave new, but re
strained hope today in the search
for two men who vanished 13 days
ago on a flight near the Canadian
Alaska boundary.
Two occupants of a search plane
reported seeing the faint light,
about 10 miles on the Alaska side
of the boundary, as darkness and
cloudiness settled Sunday. The
search pilot said, however, that he
could not become buoyant about
the possible clue until more sup
porting evidence can be found.
Searchers can see “spots before
their eyes” after hours of scanning
from the air, he said. However,
the fact that two men reported
seeing the light increased the hope
it might be a tangible clue.
The miesing men are Forrest
Wright, 21, the pilot, and Andy
i Warwick, 42. They vanished on a
| flight to Eagle from a “cat train”
! trail in the remote section of Yu
kon Territory. Sub-zero cold has
prevailed in the region.