2£ NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
62nd Year No. gff 1/ _NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JULY 7, 1961Per Copy 15^
Suspect Suicides When
Confronted by Officers
In Utah Desert Mystery
MOAB, Utah Mfl — Small foot- j
prints and a bundle of clothing
found on a desolate mesa spurred |
search parties today in the hunt j
for Dennise Sullivan, 15, of Rock- j
ville, Conn., who was kidnaped
a week ago by a man who killed
her mother.
Despite discovery, there seem
ed little chance that the girl
could have survived six days in
the scorching desert country.
MOAB, Utah OR — A former
Marine here who shot himself
when confronted by FBI agents
was linked to the highway mur
der of a Connecticut tourist and
the kidnapping of her teen-aged
daughter.
The ex-Marine, Able B. Ara
gon, 36, an unemployed Utah coal
miner, was stopped at a road
junction near here Friday night,
then stuck a pistol to his head,
fired and died two hours later
without saying a word.
There was no trace of the kid
naped girl, Denise Sullivan, 15,
and authorities said they feared
she has been killed.
“There is no doubt in my mind
that Aragon is the man we’ve
been looking for,” said Sheriff
John Stocks. <lfWe know from
paint scratches that his was the
car that rammed the Sullivan
car.”
Aragon, father of five children
and known in his home town of
Price, Utah, as a model citizen,
hadn’t been seen for four days.
He joined the Marines in 1943
and won the Navy Cross for hero
ism on Guam.
New Rivers Bill
W ould Subsidize
Tin at SI .40 Pound
WASHINGTON—Rep. Ralph J.
Rivers Friday introduced a bill
calling upon Congress to subsidize
the production of tin which would
encourage the discovery and de
velopment of tin deposits and the
mining of tin within the United
States and its possessions.
Under the new Rivers bill the
Secretary of Interior would be
authorized to make subsidy pay
ments to domestic producers upon
presentation of evidence satisfac
tory to him of their status as such
producers, and of the sale by
them of newly mined domestic
tin-bearing concentrates, whether
derived from lode mining or pla
cer mining operation, the date of
sale, the number of pounds of
metalic tin involved in each such
sale, and the price obtained
therefor.
In commenting on his legisla
tion, Rep. Rivers stated: “This
bill is intended to avoid a princi
pal point of opposition which was
interposed by the Department of
Interior which vigorously op
posed stockpiling of tin, saying
that the government’s tin stock
piling objectives were attained.
“My new bill would provide a
floor price of $1.40 per pound for
metallic tin, and the government
would merely make up the differ
ence between the market price at
New York City on the date of
sale and the said floor price. This
program would continue for 10
years.
“If enacted, this bill should en
able resumption of tin mining in
the Seward Peninsula, much
needed by the people of that area
for their local economy.”
U.S. Is Taking
Another Look at
Its Defense Setup
WASHINGTON UP — Secretary
of Defense Robert McNamara,
noting that Russia intends to in
crease military spending, today
announced the United States is
taking another look at its defense
program.
Soviet Premier Khrushchev an
nounced in Moscow last week that
the Soviet Union has suspended
plans to cut Soviet armed forces
by more than one million men in
view of the world situation.
McNamara said that “the
simplest precaution calls for still
another examination of our de
fense posture.” He added:
“Currently we are as strong—
if not stronger—than any po
tential aggressor.
“But in 4he fact of the ines
capable realities that confront us,
such as threats to dispossess us of
our rightful presence in Berlin,
we can do no less than re-examine
our needs. This we are doing.”
McNamara’s statement gave no
j indication of what new steps the
I Kennedy Administration might
! take to bolster defenses.
Ever since the Berlin crisis
began heating up again a month
ago, there has been speculation
that Kennedy might order some
form of mobilization to alert the
American people to the gravity
of the situation and to warn
Khrushchev that the United States
intends to back up its firm stand
against being ousted from West
Berlin.
j Roswell Gilpartic, Deputy Sec
retary of Defense said the reap
praisal Kennedy has ordered will
determine whether the adminis- |
tration will ask Congress for ad- j
ditional appropriations for mili- 1
tary and defense purposes this |
year.
_
AF Fliers Pluck
Discoverer Cone
Out of the Sky
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE,
Hawaii (j'P — Air Force fliers who
plucked another Discoverer nose
cone from the sky on its return
from space hoped today that the
next aerial recovery “gives us
something that wiggles.”
Airmen at this mid-Pacific base
said they were confident they
could retrieve any capsule that
could be brought back into the
earth’s atmosphere. “But the next
time,” said one, “please, let’s have
something alive in there. These
instruments are getting routine.”
Discoverer 26’s instrument
jammed nose cone was snagged
in the air by a C-119 recovery
plane Sunday as the space pack
age parachuted 270 miles north
west of Hawaii. The twin-engine
plane, one of eight circling over
the impact area, made the catch
on its first pass with its trailing
trapeze-like hooks. The recovery
came just 29 minutes after the
capsule was kicked loose from
space over Kodiak.
The gold-plated capsule, sealed
in a gray cannister, was flown to
Sunnyvale, Calif., Sunday night
for examination by space sci
entists. It had circled the globe
32 times on a Polar orbit since
its launching Friday from Van
denberg Air Force Base.
Contents of the capsule were j
not disclosed but an Air Force j
spokesman said nothing aboard j
was alive.
Missile-Alarm Satellite
Fails to Get Off
Launching Pad
POINT ARGUELLO, Calif, iff—
The United States’ first attempt
at launching of Midas III, a mis
sile-alarm satellite into an orbit
that would have taken it over
Russia failed spectacularly today
when the 98-foot projectile failed
to lift from its launching pad.
Observers on a hilltop 10,000
feet away saw a huge puff of
black smoke burst around the
base of the projectile indicating
that ignition of the powerful
360,000-pound thrust rocket en
gine had failed.
A great plume of white smoke
erupted from the nose of Midas
Ill’s first stage Atlas booster as
technicians began purging it of
highly explosive liquid oxygen,
apparently in an effort to prevent
a disaster.
It worked. As the smoke and
fumes cleared away, the bird
could be seen resting apparently
undamaged on its seaside launch
ing pad.
If the launching had been suc
cessful, the 30-foot-long Midas
satellite would have gotten its
first look at Soviet territory in
about three hours. The second
stage of the projectile, all of which
was designed to go into orbit,
contains an infra-red eye to sense
the heat from a missile’s exhaust
hundreds of miles below.
This was the third straight in
stance of difficulty, with the new
j Sky-Spy. Midas I, launched Feb.
126, 1960, failed to orbit. Midas
II orbited May 24, 1960, but its
radio failed.
Salmon Pack Up
Over Last Year’s Catch
JUNEAU W — The State Fish
and Game Department reported
today that the 1961 salmon pack
through July 2 was 510.749 eases,
compared with 431,853 cases
through July 3 of last year.
The upsurge reflected heavy
catches of pinks in the Icy Strait
district of Southeast Alaska and
the huge catches of reds being
made in Bristol Bay.
The total pack for Western
Alaska was 356,822 cases, includ
ing 302,382 cases of reds packed
on Bristol Bay.
The Central Alaska pack was
120,265 cases and the pack in
Southeast Alaska was 33.662 cases.
Of the total state pack, 38,544
cases were kings, 359,529 were
reds, 473 were cohos, 17,542 were
pinks and 60,661 were chums.
Proclamation
WHEREAS, health agencies are
an integral part of our democ
racy and as such they are a
tower of strength to our way of
life and,
WHEREAS, the American Cancer
Society which this month is
conducting its annual education
and fund raising Crusade, and
WHEREAS, today we are told
there are many sound, imagin
ative plans to move more rapid
ly ahead in the battle against
cancer,
NOW THEREFORE, I, Roscoe
Wilke, by authority vested in
me as Mayor of the City
of Nome, do hereby proclaim
that the residents of Nome ob
serve this week as Cancer Week
and increase their support to its
programs and give generously
so that the dread of cancer can
be wiped out.
ROSCOE WILKE,
Mayor of Nome
Soviets Show Off
Their Air Power to
Western Diplomats
By Stanley Johnson
MOSCOW UP — The Soviet
Union showed off its air might I
Sunday in a dazzling display that
struck Western diplomats as a
gesture designed to strengthen
Kremlin demands on Berlin.
Premier Khrushchev and Cos
monaut Yuri Gagarin watched
side by side along with a crowd
of 50,000 while the Soviet Air
Force paraded a spectacular array
of new craft at Moscow’s Tushino
airfield.
Western' experts watching the
show — first the Soviets have
staged since 1958 — said the
United States has nothing to
match several of the entries, in
cluding a jet fighter that can
light up a liquid rocket engine
booster in flight to gain a tre
mendous rate of climb.
The most spectacular attraction
shown publicly for the first time
I was a Delta wing bomber the an
nouncer said had a speed several
I times that of sound. The plane
1 looked bigger than the eight-en
| gine U. S. B-52 and had four
j jets, two on the wing tips and
two inboard below the wings.
Western air attaches showed
keen interest in a flypast of 10
heavy supersonic bombers which
also made their first public ap
pearance. This new model’s two
engines were mounted on the rear
atop the long-slender fuselage. It
had high swept wings and was
comparable in size to the U. S.
B-58, whose public!}' admitted
speed is 1,500 miles per hour.
“A very impressive show,” said
j the U. S. air attache, Col. Melvin
i Neilsen. “It’s evident the Russians
have continued with the develop
ment of al classes of aircraft.”
Western observers said the j
show made clear the Soviets are
not pinning all their faith on long
range missiles alone.
The Soviets gave advance bil- 1
ling to a vertical takeoff plane j
that does not depend on a jet
thrust to get it aloft. Called a
“screw wing plane” it was a cross
between a plane and a helicopter.
One novelty was a giant heli
copter capable of hauling 180 men.
It appeared carrying a wooden
house under its belly and landed
it on the field. The house was
about the size of a large car trail
er in the United States.
Mrs. Elsa McGee
Dies at Pioneers Home
SITKA UP) — A longtime resi
dent of Alaska, Mrs. Elsa Mc
Gee died Friday at the Pioneers
Home where she had been a
guest since 1946.
She was born in Latvia and
came to Alaska in 1906, after
nursing in the Japanese-Russian
War in 1904.
She made her home at Ruby
and Fairbanks, during which time
she nursed many oldtimers and
served as a midwife, delivering
many babies in remote areas.
Once Mrs. McGee and Mrs.
Anna Lemon — friends for over
forty years — made a 1,700 mile
trip in an an 18-foot boat from
White Horse to Ruby. This was
in 1919 and they were the first
two white women to make the
jaunt alone.
In later years she was a guard
at the federal jail in Fairbanks.
Funeral services were held here
this morning. There are no sur
vivors.
AGC and Unions
To Resume Talks Tuesday
ANCHORAGE UP! — Federal
Mediator Barney Toner arrived
here last night from Seattle to re
sume talks with various factions
in the current construction labor
dispute.
Toner said he will talk sepa
rately with all factions, including
the Associated General Contrac
tors, representatives of six unions
seeking a joint wage pact, and the
Ironworkers who are also seek
ing a new work contract with the
AGC.
Bargaining sessions between the
AGC and the representatives of
the Teamsters, Laborers, Operat
ing Engineers, Cement Finishers
and Plasterers, Lathers, and
Bricklayers Unions will resume
tomorrow, Toner said.
An AGC spokesman said their
board of directors will meet here
tomorrow. Among the topics for
consideration is the determination
of a policy regarding four mili
tary jobs which have been de
clared critical.
Curious Case
Of High Up
In the Sky
LOS ANGELES UP) — The curi
ous case of Joseph Newkirk, who
got belligerently high in the sky,
was still up in the air today.
I Newkirk, a 60-year-old janitor,
I was seized by police and booked
I on suspicion of assault with a
deadly weapon Saturday after he
and 117 other passengers arrived
by jet from Chicago. Investigators
said he became enraged when a
stewardess took aw'ay his bottle
of whisky. Later, they said, he
threatened two persons with a
pocket knife.
Today, however, the district
attorney’s office refused to is
sue an assault complaint, explain
ing that its jurisdiction does not
extend into the heavens—at least
not beyond the California bor
der.
This raised the question of
whether anybody has jurisdiction.
The State of Nevada looked like
the best bet, since it was over
her domain that the alleged as
sault occurred.
This raised another question:
Whether a person might commit
murder on an interstate flight and
get away with it unless the state
over whose territory the crime
occurred wanted to prosecute.
Newkirk, who had planned to
fly to Hawaii, had his whisky
taken away from him shortly
after the plane left Chicago. It
was some time later, while the
plane was over Nevada, that he
became belligerent.
Newkirk, said all he could re
member was that he was drunk
when he boarded the plane.
He said he was going to Hawaii
to look for a rich widow. “I was
tired of cooking for myself,” he
said.
Merrill Chitty Here To
Re-assess City of Nome
Merrill Chitty has arrived from
Anchorage to start the reassess
ment of the property in the City
of Nome. Residences and business
houses will all be visited within
the next month and everyone
should be prepared for the in
spection of their homes when Mr.
Chitty calls, stated Mayor Roscoe
Wilke today.