m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL, LVII No. 13 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1955Per Copy— 15<S
Judge Rules It's Not
Against Law to Ask Girl
For Date in Public Place
SIOUX CITY, Iowa, UP>—When
Air Force Sgt. James Wesley
asked Miss Bonnit Maird for a
date on a downtown street she
had him charged with disorderly
conduct.
But Municipal Judge Berry J.
Sisk ruled Friday the • 26-year
old airman’s “right of free speech”
was violated.
In dismissing the charge, Silk
held on old Sioux City ordinance
which prohibits men from trying
to make the acquaintance of wo
men in public places was uncon
stitutional.
Falls 1,000 Feet,
No Bones Broken
Elmendorf Air Force Base. UP—
Pvt. Stanley Melczak’s parachute
failed to open and he fell 1,000
feet—without breaking a bone.
He landed hard on his back in
deep snow.
The 20-year-old paratrooper
with the 11th Airborne Division
was reported recovering at the
Fort Richardson hospital today
from the battering he took.
Melczak, of Pittsburgh, Pa.,
jumped with other paratroopers
over Talkeetna during the Opera
tion Snowbird maneuver Satur
day.
From his hospital bed, Melczak
said today he didn’t realize his
main ’chute had failed to open
until he was too close to the
ground. He yanked open his re
serve ’chute but he said it began
to unfold only a “breath” before
he hit ih 38 inches of snow.
Amazed doctors found no brok
en bones but said Melczak appar
ently suffered internal injuries.
Rep. Greuel Proposes Creation of
Post of Alaska Business Manager
By JIM HUTCHESON
JUNEAU, </ft—A far-reaching
measure to create the post of a
business manager for Alaska, who
would have both appointive and
administrative powers, was to be
given to the territory’s lawmakers
today.
Rep. Richard Greuel <D-Fair
banks, majority floor leader, said
he planned to introduce it in the
House of Representatives. Such a
business manager, he explained,
would 'be elected in a joint session
of the branches.
Greuel listed what he said were
the many advantages of the pro
posal last night and said it was
not new, but that the late con
gressional delegate Wickersham
had also favored the idea.
The main purpose, Greuel con
tinued, would be to create a chain
of command in territorial govern
ment which will fix responsibility
and create greater efficiency. I:
would eliminate the present sys
tem of administration by boards
under which department directors
and board members can “pass the
buck back and forth,” he argued.
With the second week of the
session starting today, other bills
were to be introduced, on top of
last week’s record number. Only
one has been passed by both
branches and sent to Gov. Heint
zleman, the one designating the
willow ptarmigan as the terri
tory’s official bird.
Greuel, explaining his business
U.S. 7th Fleet
Standing. By to
; Evacuate Tachens
By SPENCER MOOSA
TAIPEH, Formosa, UP—Com
munist guns on recently-captured
Yikiangshan belched in the direc
tion of the tense Tachens tonight
but the Chinese Nationalist de
fense ministry reported all the
shells landed in the sea.
The combat-ready U.S. 7th
Fleet stood by for possible orders
to evacuate the Tachen Islands,
200 miles north of Formosa and
eight miles south of Yikiangshan,
1 but tne U.S. Navy boss in the
! Pacific said Sunday such orders
had not yet been given.
The Tachens were fire-bombed
by Red bombers Sunday, tonight
Communist guns hurled 32 shells
toward the two offshore islands
within 10 minutes, beginning at
8:25 p.m.
The defense ministry reported
I all -was quiet farther south in the
Quemoy area.
The 7th Fleet needed only a “go
ahead” to begin an evacuation of
the Tachens.
However, Adm. Felix B. Stump,
commander of the U.S. Pacific |
fleet, said on a quick visit to this :
Chinese Nationalist capital Sun
| day that an evacuation had not
been ordered.
! Unconfirmed Chinese press re
ports said the garrison of 15,000
; men was under defense ministry
| orders to prepare for a bitter
I stand if the Communists should
! attack before the evacuation takes
i place, as many observers here ex
pect them to do.
Adm. Stump meanwhile Was
flying back to his Pearl Harbor
headquarters after a quick trip
to Taipeh and an unheralded con
ference with top American com
manders in Tokyo.
-----—
!
| ‘Defending’ Force Awaits
| ‘Agressors’ on Airfield
In Operation Snowbird
TALKEETNA, UP—A huge, im
provised snow airfield took shape
in this central Alaska wilderness
yesterday and a “defending” force
| of Army paratroopers awaited an
| “agressor” force in the Operation
Snowbird maneuvers.
The last of 1,500 paratroopers
was dropped Saturday. Jumping
conditions were almost ideal and
another 74 tons of supplies and
equipment also plummeted down
from planes of the 11th Air Force.
Planes dropped 111 tons onto the
airhead Friday, first day of the
landings.
Work on the airfield, built of
compacted snow and brush, had
been started almost immediately
and continued around the clock.
manager plan, said such a mana
ger would appoint the heads of
most administrative departments
and they would be directly re-j
sponsible to him, as he would be
responsible to the elected legisla
tors.
The bill would also abolish the
boards which now name the heads
of such departments as Health,
Welfare, Taxation, Education, Ag
riculture, Fisheries, Aeronautics,
Employment Security and Veter
ans, and turn that power over to
the business manager.
U.N. Council President
Proposes Red China Take
Part in Peace Talks
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., (#>—
Sir Leslie Knox Munro of New
Zealand, president of the U.N.
Security Council, proposed today
that Red China be invited to send
a representative here to take part
in the debate on a Formosa cease
fire.
Monro made his proposal im
medately after the council refused
to consider a Soviet demand that
Nationalist China be barred from
the debate.
The New Zealand diplomat sug
gested that the council suspend its
discussions until the Chinese
Communists can get a representa
tive here.
The council ran into its first
controversy .when Soviet Delegate'
Arkady A. Sobolev tossed in his
demand to bar the Chinese Na
tionalists. The vote was 10-1 with
only the Soviet Union voting to
consider excluding Nationalist
China.
Nome Reindeer
Herd Arrives
At Grazing Area
The Nome Reindeer Herd of
about 800 deer, which was taken
from the Selawik herd about Nov.
10 and which has been on the
way since then, arrived at Penny
River, which is part of the grazing
area alloted to the new herd.
No wolves were reported along
the 400-mile trek by Pete Larsen,
owner of the herd, who arrived
in town yesterday, leaving the
herd with his sons, James and
Peter Jr.
About 40 deer were reported
lost in the Candle area, otherwise
Larsen reported the herd in ex
cellent condition. The lost deer
strayed from the herd and the
herders were not able to catch
them.
Returning with them was Fred
Goodhope who is assisting with
the herding.
The new herd will be located
between Sinrock and Solomon
and when it has increased suf
ficiently will provide this area
with reindeer meat and skins and
will also be a tourist attraction
during the summer.
All along the 400 - mile trek,
various dog teams assisted the
Larsens in keeping the new herd
together and Louie Jake was dis
patched from Nome to meet them
in the Kougarok.
A regular camp will be set up
at Sinrock, stated Larsen, and the
sale of meat, which is now limited
because of the need to build up
the herd, will be through the U.S.
Merc, having been arranged by
Dale Belcher, ANS reindeer
supervisor. Other stores will be
supplied when the herd is larger.
The hardest part of the trip
was due to blizzards when the
going was soft and a total of 24
days were lost due to the weather.
From the Kougarok to Black
Point (headwaters of Nome River)
the herd experienced their most
difficult time, due to the soft
snow conditions and wet weather.
Pete Larsen, who had early
training in the reindeer industry
with his father 30 years ago, is
lean from his trip but confident
that his family is permanently
established in a sound business
venture.
Drain on Unemployment Fund Is
Running at Rate of *>40,000 a Day
CAB Asks Congress
For Power to Fine Lines
Which Violate Regulations
WASHINGTON, W—The Civil
Aeronautics Board asked Con
ress yesterday for power to fine
airlines which violate its econom
ic regulations.
The CAB, in its annual report
to Congress, recommended legis
lation giving it authority to im
pose civil penalties for violations
of regulations applying to rates,
fares, the keeping of accounts
and similar economic factors.
The authority would be similar
to that already held by the Civil
Aeronautics Administration to
impose fines on airlines for safety
violations.
The CAB also asked Congress
for:
1. Authority to issue air line
certificates “f o r supplemental
service.” The CAB currently has
no right to limit airline certifi
cates as to schedules or types, of
aircraft, and therefore it permits
nonscheduled airlines to operate
only under special exemptions
from the regulations.
2. Authority to regulate freight
rates and passenger fares of U.S.
airlines operating abroad, and of
foreign airlines operating in the
United States.
Eisenhower Asks
Congress to Help
Health Insxiranee
WASHINGTON, MV-President
Eisenhower today asked Congress
to help bolster and expand pri
vate health insurance plans as
part of a broad program for a
healthier America.
In a special message, Eisen
hower proposed a federal reinsur
ance service through which pri
vate companies could share the
risk of experimental and expand
ing plans to:
1. Extend health insurance to
farm families.
2. Provide more protectien
against costs of prolonged illness.
3. Insure low income families
against the costs of medical care
in the home or physician’s office
as well as hospitals.
Eisenhower called it “a pro
gram which involves no govern
ment subsidy and no government
competition with private insur
ance carriers.”
He asked increased aid for
nurse training, authority to make
grants for mental health projects
and a system of government mort
gage insurance for private con
struction of clinics, hospitals,
nursing homes and other health
facilities.
As for the controversial propos
al for government underwriting
of private health insurance plans,
the President said the Depart
ment of Health, Education and
Welfare has been working with
specialists from the insurance in
dustry, experts from the health
professions, and with many other
interested citizens in an efforts to
perfect a sound reinsurance pro
gram.
While he gave no figure, the
President’s budget includes an
item of 100 million dollars to
launch this program. Secretary of
Welfare Hobby will give Congress
more details later.
& JUNEAU, UP*—Employment Se
; curity Commission officials ad
vised the Senate Finance Commit
tee at a weekend conference that
the drain on the Unemployment
Benefits Fund is running at the
rate of $40,000 a day.
The pay-out during January
has exceeded a million dollars.
Sentiment was expressed by
some of the senators for revising
the law to cut down on the pay
ments to persons earning big
money in Alaska for the summer
season, and then going outside to
draw maximum monthly benefits.
The federal law prohibits any
outright discrimination between
the unemployment benefits to Al
askans and to persons who work
in Alaska and then go outside
after the open season in the north.
Sen. John Butrovich cited a
case of a worker who showed
checks for $8,000 or more made
during work in the interior, while
the man bragged about how he
would go outside and continue to
draw unemployment benefits dur
ing his off winter months.
Art Hedges, aide to the Employ
ment Security director, A. B.
Phillips, said the reports that the
percentage of unemployment ben
efits going outside Alaska is de
creasing are deceptive. Although
the percentage is decreasing, the
amount actually being paid to
non-Alaskans is increasing.
It was 1 Vz million dollars in
1954 compared with $1,800,000 in
1953 although the percentage, out
of total payments from the fund,
dropped from 32 to 31 percent.
That was because total over-ail
benefits paid rose from $5,640,000
to $7,758,560. Back in 1950, the
low year in recent years, only
$1,784,000 was paid out.
The Senate committee held the
conference in considering the res
olution calling upon the governor
to ask for a federal loan to assure
the solvency of the territorial
fund, which has been drained
from a peak of more than 11 mil
lion dollars in 1949 to $2,650,000.
Senate Group Decides
On Statehood Hearing
For Next Monday
WASHINGTON, (fl*>—A Senate
subcommittee decided today to
open a hearing next Monday on
Alaska and Hawaii statehood.
Chairman Jackson (D-Wash) of
the territory subcommittee said
the hearing is expected to be brief.
“It may last three or four days,
not over a week,” Jackson told
newsmen after a Senate Insular
Affairs Committee meeting this
morning.
In addition to representatives
of the Departments of Defense,
Agriculture, and Interior, Jackson
said the subcommittee will hear
anyone for or against statehood,”
providing they haven’t testified
before.”
“We don’t want to clutter the
record with duplicate material,”
he said, referring to more than
5,000 pages of Hawaii testimony
and 2,500 pages concerning Alas
ka which have been amassed in
previous statehood hearings.
The House Insular Affairs Com
mittee, meanwhile, continued the
hearing it began last week, large
ly in the nature of a review for
the benefit of 11 new committee
members.