THE
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
62nd Year No. 26 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 1961 Per Copy 15<
Senate Boosts Benefit Pay Period for
Employment Security to 28 Weeks
JUNEAU UP) — The State Sen- ,
ate, after a debate lasting more
than an hour, today passed legis
lation boosting the maximum
benefit period for employment
security payments from 26 to 28
weeks.
The vote was 13-7 on the meas
ure requested by Gov. Egan.
Sen. Howard Pollock, who
voted against the bill, changed
his vote before the roll call was
announced and gave notice he
would seek reconsideration of the
bill tomorrow.
Opponents of the measure,
SB29, said it would add $248,000
a year to the State’s Employment
Security Bill.
After Pollock changed his vote,
a parliamentary procedure which
placed him in a position to ask
for reconsideration, the final vote
showed the following senators for
the bill: Howard Bradshaw, Les
ter Bronson, Elton Engstrorh, Eben
Hopson, B. F. Logan, McNabb,
John McNees, Irwin Metcalf, A1
Owen, Vance Phillips, Howard
Pollock and Jack Weise.
Lined up against the bill were
Sens. Paul Griemann, R. J. Mc
Nealy, James Nolan, Brad Philips,
W. O. Smith, Pearse Walsh and
Frank Peratrovich.
McNealy and Pollock led the
opposition.
“I do not feel obliged to go
along with the governor on this
School Band’s
First Concert
On March 18th
The Nome School Band will
hold its first concert on March
18th for which two groups have
been preparing for some time.
The band is a large one, but
has been divided necessarily into
two groups due to the fact that
the school is on a shift program
and all students are not in school
at the same time.
Don Grettie, music instructor,
sated that the proceeds from the
concert will be the start of a fund
raising series of projects which
will make it possible to send
the band to the High School Band
Festival next year. The com
munity having experienced being
host to the basketball tournament
recently for the first time, is now
aware of the benefits derived from
the meeting with groups from
other schools. This is important in
other fields of endeavor as well as
athletics as there are many stu
dents whose interests are not in
athletics.
In April a benefit basketball
game will be played for this proj
ect, matching the female teachers
against the mothers, and the male
teachers against the fathers.
Chairman for the teachers teams
is Richard McCormick and an
other teacher to be announced.
For the parents, Dorothy Grant
and Werner Bohrer.
The band is hopeful that it will
be invited to participate in civic
functions such as the Midnight
Sun Festival and Fourth of July
celebration.
Band members will start selling
tickets for the concert the first
of the week.
Mr. Richard McCormick, High
School Principal stated, that pro
fit left over from the basketball
tournament, which is well over a
hundred dollars, will be put into
the band fund to help get it start
ed.
I
I
bill,” McNealy said, “because he
is only a man and as a man he
can be wrong, and in this case
he is wrong.
“If we keep discouraging busi
ness from coming to Alaska with
bills like this, here won’t be any
need for employment security, be
cause there won’t be anyone work
ing to contribute to the fund.
“If we continue to try to bank
rupt the state in this manner, it
would be my suggestion that we
had just as well sell the whole
thing back to the Russians.”
Smith said the Senate should
not pass the benefit period ex
tension until the present law has
had a chance to work unemcum
bered for at least a year.
Smith said the new contribu
tion formula went into effect only
last October.
Bronson told the upper chamber
it should not hesitate to pass the
bill- because “we have no assur
ance that the Congress is going
to pass the emergency employ
ment security legislation before
it.
“Let’s take care of our own
backyard, now,” Bronson said.
Greimann and Pollock said the
bill will not provide any helping
hand to the “little fellows who
need it, those making under $1,
700 a year.”
“The only ones who are going
to benefit,” Greimann said, “are
those who are making $7,000 to
$15,000 a year and they don’t
need it.”
Engstrom said that while he
planned to vote in favor of the
bill, he felt strongly that the Leg
islature should do something im
mediately to make the “bankrupt
employment security fund sol
vent.”
Engstrom said the fund was al
most $9 million in debt and at the
current rate of contributions, and
payouts, it would take 27 years
to wipe the debt away.
Flash Fire Routs
Rockefellers from
Executive Mansion
ALBANY, N. Y. GD—A ruinous
flash fire drove the Gov. and Mrs.
Nelson Rockefeller from New
York’s 101-year-old executive
mansion early today and left the
mansion a wreck.
Rockefeller’s conservative esti
mate of the damage was $500,000,
including paintings and art ob
jects valued at almost $350,000.
He said his preliminary inspection
indicated the historic mansion
could be repaired.
The governor, roused by his
wife, climbed through a second
floor bedroom window to the roof
of a shelter over the main en
trance and directed firemen in
the rescue of three servants trap
ped by the flames in their third
floor quarters.
The fire, which originated in
the basement and spread to the
main floor music room and sec
ond floor bedrooms, ruined seven
paintings left by former Gov.
Averell Harriman and several
contemporary works installed by
Rockefeller. Harriman’s old mas
ters’ collection was valued at
$250,000. Rockefeller said his own
loss could run as high as $100,
000.
In the charred living room, only
the blackened frames of the Har
riman masterpieces remained.
Bills Introduced
JUNEAU (J*) — Rep. Warren
Taylor introduced a bill in the
House amending the State Gamb
ling Act to outlaw devices known
at slot machines.
The bill would make coin-oper
ated machines subject to seizure
if they contain “reels with sym
bols thereon or automatic facili
ties for realeasing coins, tokens,
merchandise or similiar objects.”
Three Democrats today intro
duced legislation calling for a
state trapping incentive payment
of 10 per cent of the sale price
of fur from any fur-bearing ani
mal.
Sen. George McNabb one of the
authors of the bill, said the meas
ure was designed to “restore the
economic dependence of rural
Alaska.”
McNabb said the BIA spent
$720,000 on direct relief in the
state last year and the total state
and federal welfare payments in
rural Alaska during the year
amounted to some $2,875,000.
Co-sponsors of the bill with
McNabb were Sens. Eben Hopson
and A1 Owen.
Legislation which would require
school district boards to prepare
and present their annual budgets
by the first of January was intro
duced in the House yesterday.
The councils of cities wherein
some of the school funds would
be raised would be required to de
termine at their first meeting in
February how much money they
will set aside as their share of
school expenses.
Rep. Edgar Baggen of Fair
banks introduced the bill.
Ike’s Five-Star General
Rank Will be Restored
WASHINGTON 0P> — The Sen
ate and House Armed Committees
today approved a bill io restore
former President Dwight D. Ei
senhower’s five-star general rank.
President Kennedy this week
called for early legislation to re
turn his predecessor to the rank
Eisenhower gave up in 1952 be
fore accepting the Republican
candidacy for President.
The measure, approved for ac
tion by the House, would author
ize Eisenhower’s restoration to
the active list in the rank and
with privileges but not the $20,
543 yearly pay of a general of
the Army.
It stipulates that Eisenhower
will receive instead the $25,000
annual pension and $50,000 al
lowance for office and staff pro
vided for former presidents.
The measure would authorize
the Secretary of Defense to as
sign military aides to the former
President, but provide that their
salaries and expenses be deducted
from the staff and office allow
ance Eisenhower will receive as
an ex-President.
Propose Pay Increase for
Low Paid State Employes
JUNEAU (if! — Legislation call
ing for an increase in the pay of
those state employes on the low
end of the uniform pay plan was
introduced in the Senate today by
Sen. Elton Engstrom, A1 Owen
and George McNabb.
State employes whose salary
was set at less than $550 a month
under the plan would receive a
10 per cent pay increase; employes
whose salaries were set at $550
to $900 a month would receive
a 6 per cent boost; and those
whose salary was set at $900 to
$1,180 would receive a 4 per cent
pay increase.
Awards Presented
At City League’s
Basketball Banquet
Presentation of the outstanding
sportsmanship award to Tony
Willoya climaxed the annual bas
ketball banquet held last night at
the Seaview Room.
In making the presentation, city
councilman Keith Hedreen, praised
Willoya for his continuous fine
showing of sportsmanship, in a
league which each game is hard
fought all the way.
Ike Larsen accepted the cham
pionship team trophy for the
ANG and introduced members
of the team.
Master of Ceremonies Ash
Craft, named the 12 man All-Star
Team instead of the usual ten
because of the close balloting.
The following were selected:
Tony Willoya, Polar; Gordon
Brown, ANG; George Kost, ANG;
George Bell, Jaycees; Arnie Castel,
ANB; Johnny Herman, NHS; Pete
Hahn, Jaycees; Dave Bell, ANG;
Harold Bell, ANG; Jake Titus,
Polar; Bill Caldwell, ANG; and
Dick McCormick, Jaycees.
Letter winners for the Nome
Nanooks were introduced by Dick
McCormick. The awards went
to Johnny Herman, James Bell,
Gordon Brown, Ron Locke, Lang
ford Adams, Bill Oman, W. Witte,
C. Chunn, R. Atuk, E. Ailak, G.
Wilkalkia and Tweet Hardy.
Others mentioned for their part
in making the City League a suc
cess were Dick McCormick as
overall manager, Mr. Zentner and
Mr. Dinkle for their work as
timekeeper and scorer and Pete
Kokes, Pete Hahn, Allen Brad
shaw and Larry Flanagan as
referees.
Mrs. Mae Hedreen as sponsor
of the ladies team accepted the
trophy on behalf of the ladies for
their victory over the high school
girls.
Receiving some good natured
kidding was Bob Herman who
received a whistle to assist in his
I sideline activities next year. John
Walters and Harold Bell were
each presented walking canes.
Twenty-Two Coal
Miners Die in
Flash Explosion
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. UP> —
Twenty-two miners died in a flash
explosion deep in a coal shaft last
night. Their torn, burned bodies
were hauled out by masked work
ers in a hazardous 10-hour opera
tion.
“We don’t now what caused the
explosion,” the mine general man
ager said, “but we’re going to
start an investigation to find out.”
The blast ripped through a shaft
deep in the Biking Mine about
eight miles southwest of Terre
Haute.
Pockets of intense heat and
deadly coal gas threatened the
operation and forced the rescuers
to push forward with the greatest
care.
The explosion was so far un
derground that nobody heard it,
and mine officials were unable
to pinpoint the time.
Just when the explosion was
discovered was not clear. When an
air pressure gauge on on the sur
face dropped to zero, an official
attempted to telephone the miners
and got no response to repeated,
frantic ringing.
Then coal dust was seen bel
lowing from the shaft.
Missile Sub Tender
Runs “Blockade”
At Holy Loch
HOLY LOCH, Scotland UB —
The U. S. Navy tender Proteus
ran a comic blockade by a paci
fist canoe armada today and
moored safely at this new missile
submarine base.
Thousands of specators lined the
the Loch as the 18,500-ton tender
for nuclear missile submarines
was towed to her anchorage by
three tugs.
While this was going on, Brit
ish naval and police launches
darted around the big river Clyde
Basin chasing the pacifist canoes.
In the end, all six of the block
ading canoes were swamped and
the occupants arrested.
The pacifists don’t like the idea
of a missile base here.
The Patrick Henry, first of the
U. S. Navy nuclear subs for which
the Proteus will act as mother
ship, is already enroute from
America.
| The lively welcome for the Pro
| teus and her crew of 950 had been
i well-advertised in advance by the
pacifists.
First of the Proteus crew ashore
was photographer Eugene Meece
of Dayton, Ohio.
Meece was happy to find Scots
rushing up to shake his hand as
he stepped from a launch.
“Some of the boys were a little
apprehensive as to the welcome
we’d get after all we had read,”
he said. “So you can say we’re
relieved to find everything so
friendly.”
—
$14,220 In Depressed
Area Funds Will be
Allocated To Five Villages
JUNEAU UPi — Gov. Egan today
announced approval of the allo
cation of $14,220 in depressed area
work project funds among five
villages.
The money will be used to help
defray labor costs.
The villages, allocation and pro
jects are:
Selawik, $3,000, air strip and
street repairs.
Kiana, $3,500, repair of roads,
ditches and bridges.
Teller Mission, $3,000, digging
new channel at Brevig Lagoon.
Nulato, $2,000, trails and road
work.
Stebbins, $2,720, storage house
for reindeer meat, construction
and digging of well house and
well.
$200 Million in Tax Refunds
Paid in First Two Months of Year
WASHINGTON — The U. S.
Treasury paid out nearly $200
million more in income tax re
funds in the first two months of
this year than in the first two
months of 1960.
President Kennedy ordered that
refunds to individuals be speed
ed as an anti-recession measure.
The White House said today as
of Feb. 28, about six million in
come tax refunds totaling $685
million had been routed to indi
viduals. The comparable figures
for the last year were 4.6 million
refunds and $490 million.
5 PER CENT TAX WOULD BE
LEVIED ON SPORTS EVENTS
JUNEAU tfl — A gross receipts
tax of 5 per cent would be levied
on all professional and semi-pro
! fessional athletic and sports events
j under the provisions of a bill in
: troduced in the Senate today by
! Sens. A1 Owen, George McNabb,
1 Eben Hopson and Elton Engstrom.