The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 8, 1937, Page 1

I THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS JEPPELIN CRASH PROBE TO START ONNEXTMONDAY Key to Mystery to Destruc- tion of Hindenburg | to Be Sought VICTIMS OF DISASTER NUMBER THIRTY-FIVE Capt. Emest—_Le-hman, Pilot of Ship, Passes Away from Injuries BULLETIN—Lakehurst, N. J., May 8.—The death toll of the Zeppelin disaster has now reached 35 with the death of Capt. Ernest Lehmann who pil- oted the Hindenburg on ten safe voyages to this country this year. His last words were: “The next time we come over I hope we will be using helium.” LAKEHURST, New Jersey, May 8.—In secret inquiries, taciturn of- ficials and experts sought from a score of witnesses the key to the mystery of the majestic zeppelin Hindenburg'’s flaming destruction here last Thursday evening in which 30 of those aboard perished and 66 survived. A public investigation of the trag- edy begins on Monday, but officials strove meanwhile to correlate evi- dence that may ultimately estab- lish a cause for the disaster. The Navy Department convened a . Court of Inquiry today. The Court is headed by Capt. Gordon Haynes, Commander of Naval Ammunitions Department at Fort Mifflin. The Department of Commerce has also arranged for hearings. All bodies of German victims will be returned to Germany as soon as possible. The theory that an electric spark either from one of the engines or from one of the landing ropes, caused the disaster, remained the most general. COAST GUARD IN THRILLING RESCUE TODAY Battle Five Hours to Reach Doomed Ship as Crew Jumps Into Sea HOQUIAM, Wash., May 8—C08st|pane of Tulsa, Oklahoma, tuning| Guardsmen made a dramatic rescue of 21 members of the San Francisco lumber schooner Trinidad during a 60-mile gale early today. The schooner grounded three miles north of Willapa harbor soon after leaving Raymond last night and immediately sent up distress flares. Surf boats of the Coast Guard battled for five hours to'reach the ship as members of the crew began jumping into the sea. One sea- man is believed to have been drown- ed as he.is missing from the official check of survivors. The Trinidad was in command of Capt. I Hellisto, who was also in command of the steam schoon- er Santiam which took fire and was destroyed last October 14 at Aberdeen. MRS. GALLWAS IS Edinund Krofcheck, one of the 200 Sharpsburg, Pa., flood victims beiirg fed at the American Legion Home smuggled in his dog and reft sed to eat until his dog was fed. Here the dog getting emergency rations, NEW MARINE Al MECHANIC IS OLD TIMER IN GAME Shoemaker’s Connection with Aviation Dates Back Early Air Corps Days Almost twenty years of keeping 'Mrplana so they will go up in the air and stay there until the pilot| wants to come down lay behmd§ Donald Shoemaker, new service and| mainteuance man for the Marine ?Al:'wuys. when he arrived in Juneau |from Seattle yesterday aboard the compary's Fairchild plane with Pi- lot Chet McLean. Mr. Shéemaker made his ac- quaintancme with airplanes in the U. S. Army Air Corps, in 1919. As a Staff Sergeant in the Air Corps, he nursed mechanical birds in all parts of the United States and even in the Philippine Islands until 1926, when he left the military branch of flying to become associated with ithe Robinson Aircraft Company, of {St. Louis, one of the nation’s pion- eer air mail contractors, for which |Charles Lindberg was at that time chief pilot, preparing for his spec- ial flight across the Atlantic. Oth- er noted airmen who were then iflying the mail from St. Louis to ,Chicago for Major Robinson and his brothers, ownersof the company, |were Slim Love and Nellie Nelson, iMr. Shcemaker disclosed today, as the unfolded the story of his con- ing over a carburetor in the Mar: |ine shop. | From 1928 to 1930, Mr. Shoemaker was with the Spartan Aircraft Com- ,up new planes and holding a match- /ing eye over the 18 training ships at that company’s field there. Moving out to the Pacific Coast in 1930. Mr. Shoemaker remained at Los Angeles for six ylars, being assoclawd there with the North American Company, builders of Northrup planes, and with Howard Hughes. While workjng for Hughes ,he had a hand in preparing the ship in whicl: that famous flyer set his record of seven hours and twenty- |eight minutes from Los Angeles |across the country to New York. ] In February of this year, Mr. iShoemaker transferred his activities ito San Francisco, where he joined the staff of the Stearman-Ham- mond Company, which was at that |time working with the U. S. De- partment of Commerce on the de- velopment of the “foolproof” Ham- mond plane. Now, Mr. Shoemaker has suc- LUNCH.EON GUEsTlcumbed to the lure of far places Miss Gretchen DeLeo was hostess this aftérnoon at a bridge luncheon in Percy’s Cafe, honoring Mrs. Har- old Gallwas, formerly of Juneau, who is visiting here for a few weeks before returning to her new home in Seward. Twenty-six guests were assembled for the occasion. CRUISER VIDA ON CRUISE TO TAKU Just overhauled and €équipped with a new engine, the Vida, pleas- ure cruiser owned by Harold Da- mon and Dan Putnam, made its first charter trip for the summer yesterday taking a party of five to Taku Harbor. again. When offered an opportun- ity to come north, he was unable to overpower the urge, so is now in Juneau, ready to take a hand in Alaskan aviation. Scouts at Jamboree Are to Publish Daily Paper WASHINGTON, May 8. — Boy Scouts attending the National Jamboree here June 30-July 9 will publish their own daily morning newspaper, the Jamboree Joufnal. The Journal is to be a 16-page |illustrated tabloid with a circula- (tion estimated at 50,000 coples. It will be edited and illustrated by Boy ‘Scouts and their leaders who are members of Boy Scouts press lclubs. nection with airplanes while work-! [lce Remains Firm | At Nenana But | Break Not Far Off | i FAIRBANKS, May 8.—Ice re- | i mains firm at Nenana, some saying it is good for a week al- | though it reached 52 above | here yesterday. A little snow on | the main sheet is still solid. | Chena slough rose six inches in " 24 hours and the lowest tem- | perature last night was 32 with mercury going to 42 at 8 o’clock this morning. The Tanana river is wide open at Richardson and the Healy and Nemana rivers are both open. Pilot Harold Gilliman, flying in from Valdez said there is no_more open water along the general route than last win- ter. e —— — CHAS. DENTON, INT. PIONEER, PASSES AWAY | FAIRBANKS, Alaska, May 8.— ‘Charles Denton, 68, manager of the |Fairbznks Hotel, is dead as the |result of preumonia and a heart |attack. | A native of Newburgh, N. Y., Den- !ton came to Alaska 33 years ago. |He was in Nome and the Iditarod previous to coming to Fairbanks. | Denion is survived by his widow {in Seattle, and a ddughter in San Francisco. He was a member of the Elks lodge. | ———————— SCORES ATTEND OPEN HOUSE OF * LIGHT COMPANY The new building of the Alaska Electric Light and Power Company was filled to capacity during the afternoon by the scores who gath- ered for open house and inspection from 2 o'clock until 8 o'clock, view- ing the various features of the building in small parties, directed by employees of the company. The entire main floor was open to the inspection of visitors, as well as the basement, to which guests descended on the freight elevator. On the main floor, which covers a space of 100 by 100 feet, was shown the accounting and cashier depart- ments, the main appliance display, electric supplies department, the private offices of W. 8. Pullen, gen- eral manager, and his assistant, Ralph Martin; the drafting and planning room, repair shop, model kitchen. In the basement was shown the storage space, boiler room, paint room, battery room, stock room, and second hand department. Miss Elizabeth Stewart and Miss Corrinne Duncan received and dis- missed the guests during the after- noon. ——— SACRAMENTO, Cal, May 8— Lethal gas has been substituted for hanging as the capital punishment in California. Governor Frank A. Merriam today signed the Holohan bill for substitution of iethal gas |instedd of the gallows. and| GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY STRAINED English Newspapers Are Banned from Musso- lini’s Nation NEWSMEN IN LONDON TOLD TO ‘COME HOME’ Boycott of Coronation Is lanned—Other Inci- dents Cause Trouble ROME, May 8—All but three English newspapers have been banned from Italy and all Italian| newspaper correspondents at Lon- don have been ordered to:return home to Italy and a boycott on next Wednesday's coronation is planned. This s done in answer to British newspaper articles about Italy, par- ticularly in regard to Italy’s defeats in Spain, which the Italian press have bitterly termed “campaign lies,” alsro in reply to the British action in inviting Haile Selassie to the coronation. It is hinted here that the inei- dents may lead to bitter relations between the two countries. e Good Time Dance to Be Saturday B.P.W.C. Sponsoring Affair Ballroom One of the leading informal dances of the year will take place next Saturday when the Business and Protessional Women’s Club will present a “Good Time” dance in the Elks’ ballroom, with Clarence Rands orchestra playing for the occasien. The “Good Time” dance is the; {second large social event which the| club hes sponsored in several months, the first being the educa- ticnal fund ball at Hallowe'en time. Expected to be as successful as the former event the “Good| Time" dance is scheduled to assem- | ble scores of couples, and many pur-! ties are being arranged to precedef the affair. Mrs. Lisle Hebert is chairman of | |the dance, for which members are Inow selling tickets. EARLY HUNTING NETS DR. GARHART NO BEAR| | “Lote of hunting, but no bear,”| was the description Dr. M. N. Gar—l hart, Seattle physician and big-| game hunter applied to his most recent hunting trip, yesterday af- ternoon, when he arrived back in Juneau by AAT plane from Tenakee, | where he has spent the past week at the cabin of his guide, Herbert Lee. Dr. Garhart was accompanied to Tenakee by his old Juneau frend, John K. Marshall, who returned here with him yesterday. ,Dr. Garhart had originally in- tended to trail his bear through the wilds of the Alsek region, but transferred the center of his acti- vities fo Tenakee when he was un- able to secure transportation tol Yakutat. “Mr. Lee told me before I came north that it is really too early to expect tc have any luck with my bear hunting, but I had a fine rest and great time at Tenakee with him, and that is the main thing I was after,” Dr. Garhart said. Dr. Garhart is to return to Se-| attle on the southbound steamer Yukon, leaving here Monday. MAINE TOUR PARTY WILL VISIT ALASKA IN JULY, AUGUST A tour party from Maine in charge of G. A. Harrison, General Agent for the Canadian National Railways at Portland, Me., will visit Juneau and Alaska this summer, according to information to the Governcr’s office. The tentative schedule calls for the party to ar- rive in Juneau July 15 aboard the Prince Rupert, continue north over the grand circle tour, returning| from Seward to Juneau August 2. Mr. Harrison conducted a similar party of ‘91 to Alaska in 1921, going as far north as Dawson at that time, RELATIONS OF | Liowel B Next Week in Elks’ i Three anniversaries—his 59th birthday, his 54th year ds an actor, and his 27th year in the movies —were celebrated recently by Lionel Barrymore at a surprise party given for him on a movie set. Here he is cutting the cake while Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow look on. MOVIE STRIKE THREATENS T0 BE EXTENSIVE eting of Houses May tart—Actors™ Guild May Be Involved ! HOLLYWOOD, Cal, May 3. — A} new threat that famous screen play- ers may join the studio craftsmen in their strike ugainsy the movie producers, chimed in toGay with the possibility of immediate picketing of movie theatres throughout the nation as strikers offered a plan for a setticment to the film moguls. | Business Manager Aubrey Blair,| of the powerful screen actor’s guild said 99 percent of the members have | been polled and they favored join- ing the strike unless the producers| meet the Guild’s demands which are separate from those of thei craftsmen. | Dy . o o oosemmcacd | FRENCH SHIPS | TAKE REFUGEES FROM BILBAO Merchant Vessels Protect- ed by War Craft in Bay of Biscay Py | | BILBAO, Spain, May 8. — Three French merchant ships have ar- rived here to evacuate 2,400 more women and children while three French war craft, the cruiser Emile Bertin and destroyers Terrible and | Fantasque halted outside of the| three mile limit to await their re- turn. Thirty thousand of the defenders of Bilbao are fighting desperately to hold their entrenchments and engaged in partly hand to hand| struggles with the Fascists with grenades and bayonets. e e——— | STOCK QUOTATIONS | 5 bt b i NEW YORK, May 8. — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine| stock ‘at the short session today is 12%, American Can 101%, American | Light and Power 10, Anaconda 53%, Bethlehem Steel 86%, Calumet and Hecla 13%, Commonwealth and| Southern 2%, Curtiss Wright 5%,/ General Motors 59, International | Harvester 108%, New York Central 48, Southern Pacific 59, United| Btates Steel 103%, Cities Service 3%, Pound $4.93%, Kennecott 55%, Republic Steel 35, Pure Oil 19%, Holly Sugar 34%. — e ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 8.—| Albert Moreland, 66, - restaurant; man, is dead here after a short illness. He is survived by daughters in Oakland and Portland. {Marine Airways, reported that radio Dressmakers in I Nervous Breakdown LONDON,; May 8— Dressmakers have been driven to the verge of nervous breakdowns owing to last minute coronation orders. One firm is working 500 extra girls on two 10-hour shifts. RADI SETS FOR "2 oo MARINE AIRWAYS ABOARDBARANOF Company Receives Station Approval from Depart- | ment of Commerce | | Approval for plane radio broad- casting stations in both of the com- | pany’s airships was received thls;‘ morning {rom the Federal Commun- ications Commission, by the Marine Airways of Juneau, the Fairchild seaplane being designated to oper- ate under the call letters KHBDK, and the Bellanca to broadcast as KHBDL. Chief Pilot Alex Holden, of the equipment, both receiving and send- ing, for voth planes is due to arrive in Juneau tomorrow aboard the steamer Baranof; and will imme- diately be installed in the ships. Pilot Chet McLean, who arrived from Seattle yesterday with the Marine Airways Fairchild plane, is a licensed radio telephone opera- tor, while Pilot Holden is a licensed operator for both radiophone and code equipment. Leaving here this morning at 11} o'clock, both pilots headed for Sitka in the Bellanca seaplane, on anoth- er of the series of flights to Chich-| agof, Sitka and return, which they are making this week and next. They carried no passengers on thé hop and were due back at Juneau| about 1:30 o'clock this afternoon. — e BENEFITS FROM SEATTLE . OFC. TOUR FORECAST Bender, Editor and Manager of The Daily Alaska Empire of Ju- neau, in a special greeting to Se- attle business men today said that Alaska welcomes the Seattle Cham- ber of Commerce goodwill excur- gion next month and.it should prove beneficial in many ways. “Alaskans always are glad to play host to their Seattle friends,” he sald. “They are happy over im- proved conditions in the Territory | and the rosy outlook for the future. | Business is good and on the up-| grade. One of the most encourag-| ing activities is building which is LAGERGREN IS REAPPOINTED * CITYENGINEER Controversy Remains City Engineer Milton Lagergren was reappointed to the position of Engineer and Building Inspector by the City Council at its regular meet- ing last night. Salary was fixed at $225 per month. It was decided to coniinue the office of magistrate combined with City Clerk and Clerk H. I. Lucas will serve in that capacity. The Clerk’s salary was fixed at $200 per month with $20 per month addi- tional from the School Board for handling its accounting. School tax collection, a duty which always has fallen to the City Clerk, was left with retiring City Clerk A. W. Henning, who was re- quested to complete the collection of this money. SBalary of assistant City Clerk was raised to $140 per month. No appointment has yet been made to this position. Etta Mae Kolasa is the present assistant. H. R. Shepard was appointed As- sessor at a salary of $400 for the Jjob which is to be completed in two months. Matter of radio inspector was laid over when question of the need of such an official was raised. Councilman Frank McCafferty voiced the opinion that he did not be- lieve the present radio ordinance could be enforced because it was impossible to eliminate some of the interference. Bill Hixson, who has been Inspector, and E. E. Stender are candidates for the position. ‘The Council voted to approve the application of the Fire Department for a $4,000 PWA loan and grant for construction of a grandstand at Firemen’s Park and the perennial question of what to do with the justly famous Gus Messerschmidt garage now owned by John Hermle on the block between Tenth and Eleventh and D and E on the al- ley. Some seven or eight years ago, Mr. Messerschmidt built the gar- age after removing some stumps of what has developed to be the alley. At various times since the city has been confronted with the ques- tion of having it moved off the al- ley. Last fall the Council ordered |the City Engineer to have it re- SEATTLE, May 8. — Robert W.| moved and a notice was sent that it must be moved in 15 days. Councilman Henry Messerschmidt, son of the original builder, report- ed last night for the information of the Council that nothing had happened at the end of the 15 days so the Engineer was asked about it. Engineer Lagergren told of send- ing the letter asking removal in 15 days. He conceded that the 15 days had long since expired, but he re- ported, “things just went along and one day I asked Mayor Goldstein about it and he said not to be both- ered about it just then because the reaching almost boom proportions.” (Continued on Page Eight) SEA, DROWN rrymore Celebrates Three Anniversaries PLANE TAKES SUDDEN DIVE IN MANEUVERS ' UPON PACIFIC Victims Are Lieut. Comdr. J. F. Gillon, Radioman Glen Beal-—Destroyers Find no Trace PENNSYLVANIA, IN MID- PACIFIC, May 8.—Two naval airmen were killed when a plane crashed and sank into !the ocean. The accident occurred durs ing the fleet’s war games. Naval officers report the victims of the crash are Lieus tenant Commander ' John Frances Gillon, pilot of the plane and radio operator, and Glen H. Beal, radioman first class, : The accident happened yes- terday off Hawaii while Gil- lon, commanding Scouting Squadron 2-B returning to the aircraft carrier Sa ratog*;. where other planes of his squadron were landing on deck. Gillon’s plane suddenly went into a power di into’ Nearby destroyers rushed to the scene but the plane had disappeared. - e TWO AIRMEN PLANNING HOP NEW YORK, May 8-—Capt. Dick Merrill and Jack Lambie are poised ready for a hop from the Floyd Bennet! Field in a projected non- stop flight to London to see the coronation. s It is Merrill's eighth try in . Atlantic crossing and he said: “It is a tough flight, but life is like that. One can't see a coro= nation every day and I want to sge this one, if possible.” The two are flying a Lockheed Electra instead of a Douglas plane which Merrill handles on the regu~ lar passenger run between New York and Miami, : Lamie is the co-pilot. TWO HALIBUT, ONE SALMON BOAT SELL Two halibut boats brought catch~ es into Juneau this morning. The Hyperien, Capt. Oscar Oberg, sell- ing 13,500 pounds to the Marlyn Fish Company at 6.75 and 5 cents, and the 31-A-27, Capt. John Pade- meister, sold 1,800 pounds to the Alaska Coast Fisheries at 6.80 and 5 cents per pound. The boat Thlinket, Capt. Jimmie Martin, brought in 1400 pounds of king salmon this morning, which was purc¢hased by the Alaska Coast Fisheries at prevailing prices of 8, 6 and 4 cents. The Thlinket was to take ice at the Juneau Cold Storage this' afternoon. MOTORCYCLE CLUB SCHEDULES PICNIC, HUNT FOR TONIGHT A “hunt” will be staged tonight by the Gastineau Channel Motor~ cycle Club with prizes to be awarded during the evening to the motorists and girls in attendance. The participants are to meet at 8 p.m. at the H. 8. Graves Clothing Store and start the hunt. Following the hunt the chuggers will go on a picnic. % ‘The following are to engage in the hunt and picnie: Bert Whitfield, Jack Lynd, Al- bert Fleek, Howard York, Car! Hag- erup, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lynch, Lu= — |cille Lynch, June Lynch, Virginia yBardi, and Ann Morris. A BO ARD BATTLESHIP TO CORDNATION