SSI NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LIX No. Ill NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1957 _Per Copy—15^
BOB BARTLETT ADDRESSES
NWA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
By RUTH McLEAN *
“This was a highly constructive
session of Congress for Alaska, j
especially regarding lands,” stat- j
ed Delegate E. L. (Bob) Bartlett
at the Chamber of Commerce j
weekly meeting on Monday.
Bartlett then briefly outlined j
legislation whi<*h transferred Sec
tion 16 in the City of Anchorage
to the Territory of Alaska; and
the transfer of certain tidelands
to the territory from the federal
government which now can be
transferred to municipalities.
Bartlett also described a bill he j
introduced to give the territory a j
total of 90 percent of oil and gas
lease moneys. At present, Alaska !
receives 37 Vz percent for schools
and roads. An additional 52Vfe
percent would be used as the Ter
ritorial Legislature sees fit, Bart
lett proposed.
The Alaska delegate said the
cause of statehood has never been
further advanced than it is now
and that it should be a reality in
the second session of Congress.
He told the Chamber that the
Alaska delegates-at-large have j
served Alaskans faithfully and I
well in the nation’s capital.
On behalf of the Chamber and i
the people of the Nome area,!
President Jim Walsh thanked
Bartlett for federal funds now
being used here, mentioning the
new federal building and the re
habilitation of the airfield as ex
amples.
Another guest at the luncheon
meeting was Henry Clark, Alaska
Steamship Company’s representa
tive from Washington, D.C., who
spoke briefly.
“Nome has a great stbry to tell
to its visitors,” Clark said. “It has
the greatest traditions of any city
in Alaska. Nome is Alaska and
Alaska is Nome.” He mentioned
that altho the territory is 5,000
miles from Washington, D.C., and
our population is a small pert of
the total population, Alaska has
many real friends in the nation’s
capital. \
Clark then advised the Cham
ber members that Alaska Steam
officials are now in Washington,
D.C., for a rate review and they
will try to keep any raise in ship
ping rates to an absolute mini
mum.
Other guests at the regular
Chamber meeting were John Lar
son, secretary-treasurer of the
Northern Commercial Company
in Seattle; Jack Elliott of D. K.
McDonald Company in Seattle;
Roy Snyder of the CAA; Joe
Gatzka of Anchorage, and Robert
W. Oliver, U.S. marshal in Nome.
POLICE TO CRACK DOWN
ON SLOW DRIVERS
CONCORD, N.H., WV—The state
police today cracked down on
slow drivers.
They were asked* yesterday by
Gov. Lane Dwinell to enforce a
1955 statute making it a misde
meanor to drive “at such a slow
speed as to impede or block the
normal and reasonable movement
of traffic.”
BULLETIN
NEW YORK, wn—The Brook
lyn Dodgers agreed today to
defer action-on their projected
move to Los Angeles until May
or Wagner discusses with the
City Board of Estimate a new
proposal put forward by Nelson
A. Rockefeller to keep the base
ball team in New York.
Louisiana Hit
By Rain and Wind
Of Storm Esther
I By The Associated Press)
Tropical storm Esther hit south
eastern Louisiana today with a
driving rain and buffeting winds.
Winds of 64 mph. were record
ed on the Lake Pontchartrain
Causeway, just north of New
Orleans. Buras, east of New Or
leans, reported five inches of rain
in 2Vi hours.
There were no reports of dam
age in the New Orleans area.
The storm, whisking in from
the Gulf of Mexico, passed New
Orleans and headed in a north
easterly direction at 12 to 15 mph.
The predicted course was across
Mississippi during the day and
into northern Alabama tonight.
* * *
On the northern edge of the na
tion a cold wave brought rain,
snow and freezing temperatures
to a large area.
Snow fell on most of northern
Montana. The snowfall reached a
depth of two inches at Cut Bank.
Thousands of
Flu Cases in
Eight States
(By The Associated Press)
Thousands of flu cases, most of
them believed to be of the Asian
variety, were reported today in
eight states from New York to
Texas. School-age children were
hardest hit.
The states included New York,
Texas, Mississippi, Florida, West
Virginia, Missouri, Pennsylvania,
and Oklahoma.
A Board of Health report shows
24,000 cases in Mississippi. Out
breaks near the epidemic stage
existed in 12 Mississippi counties.
Dr. A. L. Gray, director of pre
ventative disease control for Mis
sissippi, said most of the cases
are Asian flu. Up to 40 percent
of the population has or has had
flu in some areas, he added.
Doctors investigated a suspect
ed epidemic of Asian flu among
more than 400 school children in
the town of Hastings, N.Y.
Five schools in Hastings were
closed. They suspended classes
yesterday, the first schools in the
state to do so because of flu.
KEEP THE BUMPS
CORAL GABLES, Fla., UR—
Riviera Drive needs repairing but
its residents want it to stay
bumpy.
They told the city commission
yesterday the bumps keep buses
off their street and slow down
other traffic.
Don’t take away our bumps—
we like them, said a spokesman
for a delegation of Riviera Drive
residents. The commission agreed
to keep repairs crews off Riviera.
Progress at Morningside Hospital
Revealed in Testimony at Hearing
PORTLAND, Uft—The Morning
side Hospital, which holds a fed
eral contract to care for mental
patients from Alaska, has made
many improvements recently,
witnesses said yesterday.
Helen Ney, director of nursing
at the hospital, and Lynette Mc
Coy, her assistant, told of im
provements made during their
time at the hospital, which is un
der scrutiny in a House subcom
mittee hearing here.
“There’s not a question that
Momingside is improving. It’s
getting better every day,” com
mented Rep. Chudoff (D-Pa’.
Also introduced was testimony
of a report toy Karl M. Bowman,
San Francisco, special consultant
for the Department of Health, Ed
ucation and Welfare, which said
the hospital has made “a great
deal of progress” in the past 18
months and “plans for the future
indicate the improvement will
continue.”
These statements came after
Republican members of the com
mittee demanded the hearing be
confined to present practices at
the hospital.
Rep. Hoffman (R-Mich) said
past practices at the hospital are
“water under the bridge.” His
colleague, Rep. Knox (R-Mich),
accused Rep. Chudoff, subcom
mittee chairman, of calling “only
those witnesses you want to hear.”
“You don’t want the facts,” he
said. “You’re just building a po
litical record.”
But Chudoff said anyone who
had anything to say was welcome
to testify about the hospital. Chu
doff said it has been accused of
giving patients improper treat
mnet.
Up for discussion were the
deaths of several patients on in
sulin shock treatment.”
The Rev. Herman Harris, a for
mer hospital attendant, testified
that a former medical director at
Morningside had given insulin
shock treatment to patients “prac
tically recovered” from their
mental illness.
He admitted he did not qualify
as an expert and that he had
been fired for going to sleep on
the job. He said that was because
he had tried to work night and
attend school during the da^ys.
The Rev. Mr. Harris said he
considered the hospital substan
dard, compared with the Arkan
sas State Hospital and another in
stitution where he had worked.
North American Defense Umbrella
Will Not Protect From New
Russian Intercontinental Missile
-^
BOMARC MISSILE
MAY REPLACE NIKE
IN ALASKA DEFENSE
SEATTLE, UPL-'The Boeing Bo
marc, pilotless, supersonic inter
ceptor, may replace Nike guided
missiles in Alaska.
A newsman asked U. S. Air
Force Maj. Gen. Harvey T. Alness
here yseterday if such a replace
ment would occur.
“You might say that,” Alness
replied. He is deputy chief of staff
for plans and operations of the
American Defense Command.
Whether it will toe used in Can
ada has not yet been determined.
SURVIVORS
SOUGHT FROM
B-47 CRASH .
/
HALIFAX, N. S., UP—Cutters
and rescue planes search today
for the pilot and navigator-bom
bardier of a U.S. B-47 jet bomber
that plunged into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence yesterday.
The co-pilot, 1st Lt. William
Stevenson, 32, was picked up by
an amphibious plane and trans
ferred to a RCMP cutter. He was
reported in good condition.
Still missing were Capt. Ray T.
Cable, 36, the pilot, and Capt.
Paul Pascal, 42, the navigator
bombardier.
The twin-jet plane was on a
refueling mission from Platts
burgh, New York, Air Force Base
when Cable radioed he was ditch
ing about 100 miles northeast of
Sydney, N.S. He gave no reason.
Five rafts were dropped after
a search plane reported seeing
three men in the water. Only
Stevenson was found.
ALL OR NOTHING
CARSON CITY, Nev., <JV-It
was all or nothing for the Nevada
Day- Committee planning the ad
mission celebration at Carson
City. Chairman John Moroni had
applied for use of the auditorium
for staging a melodrama at which
drinks would be served.
When city trustees refused per
mission for the liquor, the whole
project was dropped yesterday.
Moroni said a dry melodrama
would violate tradition.
Piper Pilot Killed in
Crash Near Anchorage
ANCHORAGE, UP—A Piper Su
per Cub crashed yesterday near
Drift River across Cook Inlet
from Kenai, killing the pilot, Bob
Spelta.
Civil Aeronautics Authorities
were advised of the crash toy Ray
Moore, who had been a passenger
on the plane. Spelta had toeen on
a duck hunting trip. He was be
lieved to be from Anchorage.
> By PAUL WELLS
SEATTLE OS—'The United States
and Canada, im the first joint
news conference since the North
American Defense Command
(NORAD) went into operation last
Thtirsday, in effect warned Rus
sia yesterday every resource of
both countries has been pledged
to protect the continent.
The defense umbrella consists
of planes, missiles, radar warning
lines, ships, blimps and “Texas”
oceanic radar towers.
At the same time, U.S. Air
Force Maj. Gen. Harvey T. Al
ness, NORAD’s deputy chief of
staff for plans and operations,
conceded an enemy could get thru
the continent’s defenses despite
anything we could do.
“There is no such thing as a
100 percent defense,” he said. “We
can only keep as strong as possi
ble, hope for the best and prepare
for the worst.”
The news conference was at
tended by several score U.S. and
Canadian newsmen. It was high
lighted by a rare look at the high
ly classified Boeing Bomarc pilot
less, supersonic interceptor.
The 47 foot-long Bomarc is the
mightiest weapon in NORAD’s
arsenal. However, production in
quantity only recently began at
the Boeing Airplane Co. in Seat
tle under a $139 million Air Force
contract. Alness said the missile
would not become operational be
fore mid-1959.
Performance data on the Bo
marc is classified, but unofficial
reports have placed its speed at
two to three times the speed of
sound, its ranee at 200 to 300
miles.
Gen. Earle E. Partridge of the
USAF is supreme commander of
NORAD. He is answerable to the
joint chiefs of staff of both coun
tries.
Alness said the continent’s
three radar picket lines and other
radar defenses cannot detect an
intercontinental ballistic missile
such as the Russians recently
boasted they now had.
But he said it would be some
time before the Russians would
have enough ICBMs in attack
quantity, and until then the radar
“fences” along North America’s
aerial frontier will give warning
against all “air breathing ar
madas. He referred to jet
bombers.
Fighter-interceptor planes of
both nations are in a state of con
stant readiness. These include
F.-.102 delta-wing Convairs, CF
100 RCAF Canucks, F-94C Lock
heed Starfires, F-&9D Northrop
Scorpions, and F-86D North
| American Sabrejets.
first severe frost
Nome experienced iits first
severe frost of the fall last night.
Pools were frozen over and the
water lines were very sluggish
until the sun warmed things up
a bit. It all adds up to a sure
sign that “operation deep freeze”
can’t be too far away.