‘ LOOKING i
AHEAD
GEORGES. BENSON
President—Harding College
Searcy. Arlan: is
THE NEW
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR
WASHINGTON—“If the Amer
ican people ever lose their self
reliance in any great numbers,”
Secretary of Interior Douglas Mc
Kay said to me, “our nation will
be destroyed.”
The key word in the American
language Secretary McKay feels
is “opportunity.” The govern
ment’s primary responsibility is to
protect and expand it.
Secretary McKay considers the
number one job of the Interior
Department to be the safeguard
ing of the natural resources so
their development may enrich the
lives of all Americans. He believes
that in most cases private enter
prise can best serve in such devel
• opments.
School of Hard Knocks
Douglas McKay’s Scotch fore
bearers helped settle the West, but
his parents were of such modest
means that young Doug, at 14,
was driving a butcher’s delivery
wagon while getting his high
school education piecemeal. He
worked his way through Oregon
State College, but the beginning
of his career was cut short by
World War I. He enlisted. In the
historic battle of the Argonne |
Forest, his outfit engaged in the
fiercest action. Of its 201 men,
only 28 survived. McKay, his right
shoulder terribly shattered, was
given little chance for months and
had to adjust to a lifetime of being
handicapped.
At war’s end he got a job sell
ing Ford cars in his home town,
Portland, Ore. He lived thriftily,
saved his money, and in 1928
bought a small Chevrolet dealer
ship in Salem. Some of his capital
was borrowed money and this he
paid back early in the depression
because he felt the future was
so uncertain he might not have
it later. He weathered the depres- j
sion by cutting expenses to the
bone. Today his automobile busi
ness, built up gradually over 25
years, is prospering.
"Pui Something Back"
Larry Smyth, veteran writer on
the Oregon Journal, was persuad
ed by the new Secretary to take
a leave of absence and work with
him for a time in Washington.
Smyth covered McKay’s political
career in Oregon. “When Douglas
McKay got in business for him
self and began to progress in
Salem, he also got into civic
work,” Smyth told me. “His
theory was, and still is, that those
who take somehing out of a com
munity should put something
back.” McKay’s civic work led to I
his being elected mayor. He next
was sent to the state senate.
When World War II started he
cut short any further political
career and, although handicapped
and over-age, he enlisted in the
Army again. He remained in ser
vice until the Japanese capitu
lated. Back in his Salem auto
mobile dealership once more, he
was stunned one day in 1947 when
the governor, the senate president
and the house speaker all were
killed in an airplane accident. A
few days later the Oregon - Re
publicans tossed in McKay’s hat
for governor. He was elected. In
1950, he was re-elected to a four
year term with the biggest vote
any Oregon gubernatorial candi
date ever received.
His Philosophy
At 59, Douglas McKay feels
that the Interior Secretaryship
now gives him an opportunity to
“put something back into Amer
ica” for what America has given
him. Two actions as Governor of
Oregon characterize his govern
mental philosophy. He clgsed Ore
gon Indian reservations schools,
and brought the Indian young
sters into the public schools, and
at the same time repealed all
state laws discrimingating against
Indians. And when a vast acre
age of Oregon timberland was
denuded and left barren, he or
ganized a great locally-financed
and locally-managed reforestation
project, sowing'seeds with heli
copters, instead of relying on the
federal government to do it.
As Interior Secretary he wants
gradually to end the govern
ment’s jurisdiction over the In
dians, give them full citizenship
responsibilities and let them be
come self-reliant. Paternalism for
anyone, he thinks, is destructive.
“I believe in private enter
prise,” he said at the close of the
interview. “But it must earn its
way. For instance, atomic energy
is being developed by our govern
ment. It holds great promise for
the future. At the proper time, I
believe it should be gradually
transferred to private industry—
bpt not as a gift.” *
U.S. Cotton Co. Employes
Arrested in Argentina
BUENOS, AIRES, UP)—'The U.S.
embassy said today four U.S. em
ployes of Anderson Clayton and
Co., Texas cotton brokers, had
been arrested in northern Argen
tina.
The men were arrested in Re
sistencia, the tropical, cotton
growing province, President
Peron. They included Jesse A.
Root, the manager of the firm’s
operations in Argentina, an Am
erican employe living in Argen
tina and two .visiting officials
from the company’s headquarters
in Houston.
Communications from Resisten
cia gave no indication of the rea
son for the arrests. The embassy
learned of the incident last night.
Kenneth Yearns, U.S. consul-gen
eral, left by plane for Resistencia
to investigate.
—
Kitten Gets Lucky Break
When 600 Kids Chip in
To Pay $40 for Operation
CHICAGO, m — Clay, a gay
little alley-bcfrn kitten, has 600
owners.
And the 600, all 5- to 14-year
old pupils of the Henry Clay Ele
mentary School, nurse and pet her
almost as no kitten ever has been
before.
Maybe it was the fondling, or
maybe it was a leap or a jump,
but anyway the yellow and black
kitten of obscure lineage began
limping around the school. Then
she began dangling one leg.
A veterinarian diagnosed a bro
ken hip, said an operation would
cost about S40 and suggested Clay
be destroyed.
Mrs. Abbey McCulloch told the
children what the veteriAarian
had said.
“By noon the children, in an
absolutely spontaneous movement,
had collected the money,” Mrs.
McCulloch said Monday. “They
gave pennies, nickles and dimes.
It was really amazing.”
The operation was a success.
Clay should be back with her
young friends within a week.
r- —v
Survey Reports Promising Coal
Deposits In The Susitna Region
WASHINGTON, WP> — The Geo
logical Survey said yesterday it
has found promising occurrences
of subbituminous coal in the Little
Susitna district in Alaska.
In a report on field work lastx
year, the agency said the two
most promising deposits were an
eight-foot bed containing six and
one-half feet of clean coal and a
bed at least nine feet thick that
contains five feet of clean coal in
the exposed section.
The Little Susitna district lies
along the north side of the lower
Matanuska Valley near Palmer
and Wasilla.
WEATHER FORECAST
Compiled by the
U.S. Dept, of Commerce Weather Bureau
Mostly cloudy tonight with oc
casional light snow. Decreasing
cloudiness Thursday.
Low temperature expected to
night 25, high Thursday 40.
Nome data last 24 hours as of
7 a.m. today: High temperature
31, low 26. Max. wind 9 mph
from the SSW. Sunrise at 4:03
a.m., sunset at 8:02 p.m.
Temperatures a year ago today:
high 17, low -6. Extremes this
date since 1907: highest 54 in
1940, lowest -8 in 1924.
Station Temp. Weather
Barrow -11 Part cloudy
Kotzebue 15 Light snow
Wales 11 Light snow
Gambell 15 Part cloudy
Nome 31 Part cloudy
Unalakleet 33 Part cloudy
Bethel 30 Light snow
McGrath 36 Part cloudy
Anchorage 40 Part cloudy
Fairbanks 42 Part cloudy
Whitehorse 36 Cloudy
Edmonton 51 Part cloudy
Juneau 40 Rain showers
Ketchikan 39 Rain showers
Seattle 50 Cloudy
San Francisco 61 Cloudy
Oil Lease Applications
Filed on 90,000 Acres in
Cold and Wide Bay Areas
ANCHORAGE, UP) — New oil
lease applications were filed with
the Land Office Tuesday on 90,000
acres in the Cold Bay and Wide
Bay areas of the Alaska Peninsula.
The filings were by six Los
Angeles residents, including Al
fred Henrich, Vera and W. H.
Olds, Helen Gifford and W. Ar
gyle Nelson. There were uncon
firmed reports they had connec
tions with the Shell Oil Company.
Nine lease applications for the
Iniskin Bay area also were filed
by several San Franciscoans.
At the same time, C. F. Shield
and Associates in the Alaska Oil
and Gas Development Co., An
chorage, reported drilling was be
gun this week in the Eureka area
along the Glenn Highway near
Fairbanks.
CAB Denies Applications
To Serve Togiak by Air
WASHINGTON, UP)—The Civil
Aeronautics Board has rejected
applications of two Alaska air
lines—Northern Consolidated and
Pacific Northern — to serve To
giak, Alaska.
The board said the applications
raised issues' of public conven
ience which should be explored in
a certificate proceeding.
Northern Consolidated applied
Dec. 3 to serve Togiak on its
routes to and from Bethel and
Platinum. It said Togiak, 50 miles
from Platinum, has a substantial
permanent popuation greater than
many Alaskan towns now having
air service.
Pacific Northern petitioned on
Feb. 16 for permission to serve
Togiak on its Anchorage-Bristol
Bay route.
Legal Blanks at The Nome Nugget
I
Arctic Sanitary Service
Phone RED 181
ALASKA CAB
(Formerly Glue Pot Cab)
“SEE US FOR SIGHTSEEING”
MAIN 20 or RED 41
GLUE POT
®S O D A
^ FOUNTAIN
FRESH ICE CREAM
AND POPCORN
— DAILY —
CIGARS, CIGARETS
TOBACCO
CANDY
> . J
DAILY SCHEDULED FLIGHTS I
TO SEATTLE AND PORTLAND I
NOME TO FAIRBANKS BY WIENS H
FAIRBANKS TO SEATTLE, PORTLAND BY H
ALASKA AIRLINES STARLINER I
Nome’s Only Daily Direct Service To The “Outside”