m NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS__
VOL. LV NO. 61 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1953 Per Copy—15^
Governor Assures
Congress Alaska
Will Raise Taxes
WASHINGTON, UP) — Gov. B.
Frank Heintzleman of Alaska ex
pressed confidence that the terri
torial legislature will raise its
gasoline tax to help meet Alaska
road costs.
A telegram from the governor
was read Thursday to the Senate
Appropriations committee by D.
H. Nucker, executive officer of
the Interior Department of Ter
ritories.
Heintzleman said he plans to
urge the legislature at the first
opportunity to increase gasoline
taxes. He added he felt confident
an increase will be approved.
A recommendation that Alaska
bear a bigger share of road con
struction costs through increased
taxes was made by the House Ap
propriations Committee.
The committee recommended a
cut in the Alaska road construc
tion budget from §18,400,000 to
ten million dollars. This action
was approved by the House when
it passed the Interior Department
money bill.
Nucker today asked the Senate
committee to restore §4,800,000 of
the §8,400,000 cut.
During the discussion of Alaska
taxes at the committee session,
Sen. Cordon (R-Ore) told Delegate
Bartlett that he has felt the people
of the territory have no't had a
proper appreciation of their re
sponsibilities.
“I hope you send that word to
Alaska,” he said.
Polio Record Last Week
WASHINGTON, Iff) — The Pub
lic Health Service said Thursday
there were 155 cases of infantile
paralysis reported last week. That
was 54 more than the correspond
' ing week last year—a record year.
Up to last Saturday, 2,218 cases
had been listed in 1953, compared
with 1,768 in the same period a
year ago.
ALCOA FILES IN ALASKA
FOR INCORPORATION
JUNEAU, Iff) — The Aluminum
Co. of America filed articles of
incorporation in the amount of
125 million dollars with Alaska’s
{ territorial auditor Wednesday.
ALCOA has proposed a huge
aluminum project in the Skagway
area, if the Canadian government
will grant water rights from the
Yukon headwaters, but there was
no explanation of the significance
of the filing ^with the auditor.
Two Top Jet Aces
Leave Tokyo for Home
TOKYO, (ff) — The world’s top
two jet aces left for the United
i States and home Friday night
wearing new medals but still
grumpy at the Air Force for stop
ping their MIG-hunting.
Captain Joseph McConnell of
Apple Valley, Calif., and Manuel
J. Fernandez od Miami, Fla., have
orders to report directly to U.S.
Air Force headquarters in Wash
ington. Both wanted to remain in
action.
Cold rain and windstorms lash
ed the quiet Korean battlefront
» and grounded Allied attack
planes.
M. Mullaney Dies
Of Heart Attack
JUNEAU, UP>—M. P: Mullaney,
Alaska’s territorial tax commis
sioner, died in a hospital here
Wednesday nigh^ within an hour
after being stricken with a heart
attack.
The 55-year-old commissioner
was stricken at his home shortly
after 8 p.m.
Mullaney was known through
out the territory as a result of his
travels to establish the territory’s
big tax-collecting organization.
He was tax commissioner during
the period of Alaska greatest tax
system change. He directed the
creation and administration of the
organization for collecting the in
come tax, property tax, business
license taxes and others enacted
by the 1949 legislature.
Democrats Criticize
Administration Cutting
Of Air Force Funds
WASHINGTON, (if)—Rep. Yorty
(D-Calif), attacking proposed Air
Force funds cuts, said today Sec
retary of Defense Wilson should
resign. Another critic, Rep. Steed
(D-Okla), called for elimination
of the Army’s atomic cannon.
Their comments followed an
Air Force report which said the
120-wing air force proposed by
the Eisenhower administration
would be well below the “abso
lute minimum” for national secur
ity.
Yorty, who put the Air Force
report in the Congressional Re
cord, said he intended to follow
it with further unspecified ef
forts to forestall five billion dol
lars o’f cuts in the Air Force bud
get for the year beginning July 1
“The reductions just don’t make
sense,” Yorty told a reporter.
Rep. Steed said air reductions
will cut the “heart muscle of our
national defense” and cited the
army’s atomic cannon as an ex
ample of “real fat” that could be
eliminated from the budget.
The mammoth <cannon is due
for test firing soon.
Steed contended, in a ^Congres
sional Record statement, that “one
projectile for this cannon would
cost as much as an atomic bomb—
but the airborne bomb would pro
duce an explosion many timfes
more powerful.”
Living Costs Up Again
WASHINGTON, UP) — Living
costs, as measured by the govern
ment, edged up slightly between
mid-March and mid-April.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported Friday that its consum
er’s price index advanced one
tenth of one per cent during the
month. Retail food costs declined
a bit but other consumer costs
rose slightly.
The index at mid-April was
113.7 per cent of the 1947 - 49
average. This means, roughly,
that purchases costing about a
dollar five years ago cost nearly
$1.14.
Living costs now are near the
peak set last November when the
index was 114.3. The mid-April
figure was about one-half of one
per cent under the November
record.
Big Three Meeting
Planned Next
Month In Bermuda
WASHINGTON, UP) — President
Eisenhower, Prime Minister
Churchill and the. premier of
France will meet soon to thresh
out Allied problems and discuss a
possible high-level meeting with
the Russinas on East-West ten
sions.
An agreement for the West’s
Big Three to confer was announ
ced simultaneously Thursday here
in London and in Paris.
The French foreign office said
the three - power meeting will
start June 17 in Bermuda. In Lon
don, Prime Minister Churchill
gave no' specific date, but said
the meeting would take place soon
after June 15.
In a statement, President Eisen
hower described the “primary
purpose” of the U. S. British
French meeting is “further to de
velop common viewpoints with
their friends on the many prob
lems that must be solved cooper
atively so that the cause of world
peace may be advanced.”
There was a disposition in gov
ernment quarters here to stress
that the western power have
many problems among themselves
to warrant the meeting and to
minimize talk in public about a
possible Big Four session.
In response to a question by
newsmen, White House press sec
retary Hagerty left no doubt that
President Eisenhower took the in
itiative in arranging for the Big
I Three meeting.
French Assembly Denies
Vote of Confidence to
Premier Mayer & Cabinet
PARIS, UP)—The French Nation
al Assembly denied Premier Rene
Mayer a vote of confidence Thurs
day and his cabinet — the 18th
since liberation — collapsed.
Mayer, who had been in office
since Jan. 7, had announced to
the assembly only a short time be
fore that he was to go to Bermuda
in the middle of next month for a
Big Three conferenec with Presi
dent Eisenhower and Prime Min
ister Churchill.
Presumably, his successor will
attend.
The unfavorable vote by the
assembly was on Mayer’s request
for power to cut governmental
expenses by cabinet decree, with
out assembly aproval in each case.
He had hoped by this means to
cut the country’s mountainous
budget deficit.
The unofficial tally was 311
against and 260 for.
HOMER OIL WAREHOUSE
DESTROYED BY FIRE
ANCHORAGE, UP) — Fire de
stroyed several Terminal Oil
Company buildings at Homer
Tuesday night, endangering civil
defense fight fighters who braved
exploding butane and oil tanks to
battle the blaze.
The origin of the fire has not
not been determined and no esti
mate of the loss was available.
The company's warehouse and of
fice were destroyed but the blaze
was kept from other outlying
i buildings.
Florida Senator Su£
Be Made County <
-«
Dulles Calls On Russia
To Show Sincerity In
Peace Overtures
NEW DELHI, India, W>—U. S.
Secretary of State Dulles called
on the Russians today to show
the .sincerity of their peace over
tures on three fronts — Korea,
Laos and Austria.
As Dulles’ boss, President Ei
senhower, British Prime Minister
Churchill and the French gov
ernment prepared'for a Big Three
meeting on East-West questions
next month in Bermuda, Dulles
told the first press conference of
his Middle East tour:
“I doubt very important results
could come out of any high level
conference including the leaders
of Soviet Russia so long as the
Soviet blo'c of nations is promot
ing the wars in Korea and Laos,
and so long as they refuse to re
store freedom to Austria.”
President Signs Off-Shore
Oil Lands Bill Into Law
WASHINGTON, OP) — President
Eisenhower signed the of-shore oil
lands bill today with a declaration
that “recognizing the states’ claim
to these lands is in keeping w'ith
basic principles of honesty and
fair play.”
Attending the ceremony at the
White House were more than two
score members of Congress.
They broke into applause when
the President penned his signa
ture to the hotly controversial
measure, fulfilling one of his chief
campaign promises.
The bill recognizes coastal
states’ title—which they already
claimed — to submerged lands
“within their historic boundaries”
and has special reference to the
oil rich lands off the shores of
Texas, Louisiana, California and
Florida.
Eisenhower issued the follow
ing statement:
“Recognizing the states’ claim
to these lands is in keeping with
basic principles of honesty and
fair play.
This measure also recognizes
the interests of the federal gov
ernment in the submerged lands
outside of the historic boundaries
of the states. Such lands should
be administered by the federal
government and income there
from should go into the federal
treasury.”
Air Force May Transfer
Shemya Base to CAA
WASHINGTON, Iff) — The Air
Force said today it is studying the
possibility of transferring its re
fueling operation on Shemya, in
the western Aleutians, to the
Civil Aeronautics Administration.
The Shemya station Las been
serving both civilian and mijitary
planes flying the northern route
to the Far East and has also been
used on occasions by military air
craft operating from Alaskan
bases.
An Air Force spokesman said
that no decision has been reached
but that the matter is under dis
cussion with civil aviation author
ities.
gests That Alaska
)f Washington State
> WASHINGTON, UP)—A Florida
senator suggested Wednesday that
Hawaii be made a county in the
state of California and that the
inhabited areas of Alaska might
become a county of Washington
State.
Senator Smathers, a Democrat,
made the suggestion as an alter
native to statehood for one or
both of the territories. Some years
ago, Sen. Butler OR - Neb) sug
gested that Hawaii might be made
a county of California, but the
idea has never been taken ser
iously.
Smathers is scheduled to lead
the opposition when the Senate
Interior Committee begins a hear
ing on a Hawaiian and Alaskan
statehood bill, probably within
the next 10 days.
He told a reporter one of the
witnesses probably will be Milton
S. Koblitz, a Los Angeles historian
who is acquainted with facts sur
rounding . the question of Ha
waiian statehood.
Smathers wrote Sen. Cordon
(R-Ore), chairman of the Interior
Committee, that he understood
Koblitz would support the posi
tion that Hawaii should become
a California county.
Smathers wrote:
“The full citizenship aspirations
of the people of Hawaii could be
answered logically and completely
by making the Territory of Ha
waii, with its relatively few peo
ple and small area, a county of
the State of California.”
Smathers said this “possible
solution” for Hawaii’s statehood
problem and perhaps that of Alas
ka would be brought up before
the committee to be discussed as
other facts are developed.
The Floridan said he was op
posed to non - contiguous terri
tories being taken in as states.
Lack of Communication
Hides Whereabouts Party
Scaling Mount Everest
NEW DELHI,, India, UP)—Back
ward Himalayan communications
hid the whereabouts Friday of a
team of British mountain climb
ers trying to scale the unconquered
crest of Mount Everest, world’s
tallest peak. Mountaineering ex
perts here speculated the team
may already have conquered—or
failed to top — the 29,009-foot
peak.
Col. John* Hunt and his 14-man
team reached their base camp
18,000 feet up the mountain more
than four weeks ago. Their final
climb toward the summit was due
! to begin on May 15. They cal
culated this would leave them
time for another attempt, in the
event of initial failure, before the
monsoon storms make the climb
impossible.
The team’s only means of com
municating with the world is by
relays of native runners from
their camp to Katmandu, the
capital of the Himalayan kingdom
of Nepal.
In a broadcast to the expedi
tion Thursday night, the Indian
government radio warned of in
creasing cold in the Everest re
gion and temperatures of 20 de
grees below zero.