The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, April 4, 1946, Page 1

\ o & ¢ “ALL THE NEWS xg’ JOL. LXVL, NO. 10,236 NO SETTLEMENT IN LO JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, nt) ALL THE TIM 1946 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS e e e———————————————————————————————— CANNERY UNION SET FOR STRIKE VOTE APRIL 20 Cooling - Off Period Soon Expires-States Locals Favor Action SEATTLE, April 4—The regional office of the Alaska CIO-cannery workers unon said today it had no- tification from the Secretary of Labor at Washington that the 30- day “cooling off” period for a against the Alaska Salmon Ihdustry, Inc., will expire April 20. The Smith-Connally act requires such a 30-day period must elapse before any strike action be taken. “ The union has askéd the National Labors Relations Board to econduct a strike vote among membership of its six locals involved in the in- Wem and at n, Hoonah, Seldovia. The Union said it was conducting its own strike vote and has unanimous votes favoring one from locals here, at Portland, Sun Francisco and Stockton, California.| Alaska locals’ votes are not tabu- lated yet. The main issue, the union said, is - COMMUNICATION | ' o A (Editor's Note: The editorial re- ferred to by the Governor was bas- ed upon the following letter which! was read in the Senate by Senator: Coffey, and in order that both sides of the matter be presented,; we, reproduce it at this time. Let the reader decide who is to be be- lieved. The writer of the letter, “Gowey” Shepard, has lived in A1<1 aska practically all of his life,; owns a home in Juneau and Is well-known throughout the Terri- tory.) January 15, 1946, Fairbanks, Al- ! aska. } Mr. Ed Coffey, Aichorage, Alaska. Dear Sir: Regarding your inquiry concern- ing thé cancelled allotment for the proposed Anchorage water system it will be necessary for me to goi back into past history to tell youj what actually happened. This is | Editor, The Daily Alaska Empire Jurieau, Alaska, April 3, 1946. | Dear sir: | My attention has been called to 'your editorial in the issue of March 28 entitled “Abuse of High Office.” |In this editorial it was alleged, | pased on a letter written by J. G. | Shepard, former FWA official ,in Alaska, read the previous day in the Senate by Senator Coffey, that I had cancelled an already approv- ed Federal Works water project for the City 'of Anchorage because “the | people of the city were not cooperat- | ing too well.” This allegation and |every other to that effect in. the| | editorial are totally unfounded. | | There isn't a shred of truth in |them. I have never been privileged |to see Mr. Shepard’s letter. | When 1 appeared before the Sen- ate (on the very day that the edi- | torial was published) so that all 25 CHILDREN AREMISSING, HILO TIDAL Property Damage in Ha- waiian Islands Estimat- ated at $10,000,000 HONOLULU, April 4.-—Property rdamage wrought by the Pacific’s tidal waves was estimated at $10,000,000 in the Hawailan Islands today as businessmen and owners of tiny beach cottages and $60,0001 luxury homes counted their losses. The death toll in the islands rose | | to 88 with the finding of five more bodies at Hilo, bringing that city’s Petersburg, | Juneau and| allegations of this nature could be aired in my presence, and I might have a chance to give my side of quite a story and as it is some [total to 58. Sixty-nine were miss- years since I have been connected |ing; 59 of them from the island with the FWA I see no reason why !of Hawaii. In other areas of the jeastern Pacific, 12 persons drown- N the story, it was noteworthy thz:you should not have the facts. the matter was not brought up at; You are of course familiar with | all, although there was ample time|the provisions of the Lanham Act |and the Senate adjourned at ap_'which provided funds could be ob- ‘proximately 4 o'clock when Presi-|tained by communities which were ! dent Coffey found there were no|hard hit by an influx of Armed | | further questions to ask me. Now,|Service people and civillan war {what afe the facts concerning the|workers and were unprepared to} ed. Thus, 169 persons in all may have lost their lives. Monday’s immense waves also hit Tthiti, the Aleutians, California and South America, but the greatest loss of life and property occurred |in the Hawailan Islands. the Alaska Salmon Industry’s re-|anchorage water project? Far from fusal to negotiate. The industry|cancelling or contributing to the offered a nine percent wage IN-icancellation of this project and crease over last year on a “take giney projects, I did everything pos- take care of the situation. i { As former head of the PWA inj | Alaska, I was recalled to administer The search for the missing, includ- | ing 25 school children—continued | by sea and air. Supplies of food b - abd clothing pourpd 1igt the s frém Honclulu to San Francisco. it or leave it basis,” a statement said. A 30 percent increase and a 40-hour week is sought. —_— e, BACK TO NOME Representative M. J. Walsh, wife and daughter, have left via PAA planie for their home in Nome. B o The Washington Merry - Go- Roun By DREW PEARSON i5ible. to promote them. | this act in Alaska. The first appli- | ed the attention of Mayor Stolt of | gnq Ketchikan. Among these ap- Anchorage to the possibility of se'ipncatmns was a request by the | curing Federal funds for such pro-| City of Anchorage for funds to| | jects as the one in question by ! construct a water supply syslem! | the followig telegram: |from the Ship Creek Canyon tol | “Mayor William Stolt,* Anchorage. the point of city distribution. ’l‘m.siK i “Bill providing limited amount of applicaticn received immediate pri- | | Federal funds for construction of [ority by my office for the reason ! tsc'h(mls, hespitals, sewage and wa-iuu_n some forty thousand soldiers Iter systems, sanitary facilities, re~ apt an unknown host of civilian [ creatioyal , -access .roads,| workers had ‘been aSsémbled at | apparently due for final passige | Fort Richardson and were crowd- ! lin Congress shortly. ‘Would like | ing Anchorage facilities, this town: jfrom you tentative list of projects of course being totally unprepared:‘ { most needed in Anchorage listing for such an influx. Also was re-| en seaport city of Hilo, partly & | cations received by my office were | wrecked as the full force of the ti-| In fact, on June 21, 1941, I call-| from Anchorage, Fairbanks, Sitka'dal waves crashed through its fun-| ~ Boals, Piers Wrecked by Tidal Wave nel-like harbor. CONDEMNED RAPE-SLAYER IS AT LARGE § WASHINGTON—About six weeks 'order of priority, approximate total ago Postmaster General Hannegan|cost of each project, percentage of crganized a group of young bminlpossxble local contribution for each, trusters known as “Hannwn‘s!pcrcemage of Federal grant neces- Task Force” to help push legisla-|sary in order to carry out each tion and various other Truman | project, also estimate as to how projects. {soon work could commence on each. But too much publicity appar- ;I should like to transmit recom- ently worried someone in high‘m@ndndons to Washington. Since places, and the project was drop- funds are limited decision is likely ; ped. Last week, however, Hannegan | to be based both on need and read- | quietly invited the same “Task | iness of individual community to Force” to lunch in his office, nndido its part. Please radio Govern- gave them the go signal for an all-out drive to push President Truman’'s legislative program through Congress. “I want you to know,” Hannegon said at the start, “that President Truman has personally approved the participation of each and ev- ery one of you fellows in this un- dertaking. We mean business and we're, going ahead. We've got to get this legislative program Hannegan then referred to the "4 fact that at least one cabinet mem- bet, Secretary of the Treasury Vin- son, had frowned on the idea of any Treasury. aides working on Hannegan's Committee. '“Don’t you worry about what anyone tells you,” said the Post- féster General, “I'll take care of anybne who gets in trouble. I'm not worried about making anybody | in, Washington angry with me ex- i cépt the President. And I've got e of those present complain- ed about the lack of effective liai- s0B between the White House and CGongress. Assistant Secretary of Eabor John W. Gibson ‘was espec- fally vigorous on this, point. “f talk to a senator,” explained Gibson, “and tell him what I be- lieve is the Administration's view s on the minimum-wage bill. I get my instructions from Secretary Schwellenbach, whom the President has placed in charge of labor mat- térs. Then Senator Ellender calls up John Snyder and Snyder tells #nim something _different. Then § Claude Pepper calls up John Steel- man at the White House and Steelman says something entirely dlfferent again. The poor senators don't know where they are.” Hannegan explained that he was working on the problem of White House liaison with Congress, but agreed that there were still too many cross-currents. He also urged the importance of concentrating on passage of the Minimum Wage Bill. Oreekmore Fath of John Snyder’s office then called attention to the hundreds of lobbyists who were | ment collect. i GRUENING, Governor.” ! _You will note that I notified the Mayor of Anchorage of this possi- bility. even before Congress had passed the bill. Mayor Stolt re- plied by wire the next day listing the various projects which the city desired. I got behind all of them. A number of them were obtained. As for the water project, I have today received from Earl McGinty, who was then and is now the rank- ing official of the Federal Works Agency in Alaska, an unsolicited telegram which is as follows: “From Earl D. McGinty, Seattle, { Wash. 030118Z | To Governor Gruening, Juneau, Alaska: i Sorry to hear of unjust criticism |false statements and - intimations with particular reference to Shep- ard’s statements connection with Senate hearing on Memorial Num- water system distribution portion of project constructed with Federal funds and funds for water supply portion project , rescinded after completion of plans because of un- sufficient military. endorsement at | time review and reestablishment of war need was required on all pro- jects. Shepard was aware of the true reason for Trescission of the| {allotment as he sent a radiogram to our Juneau office while he was assignment at Anchorage prior to | termination of his services by FWA | advising in effect that General | Buckner was unable to furnish the | type of endgrsement requested for | this project. Files contain copy of | radiogram dated August 11, 1942 |addressed to FWA Administrator, | Washington signed by you, Clark,! Wade and me recommending im-| | mediate action in lifting suspenslon‘ iorder and proceeding with this en- ! tire project. Re Sitka recreation Icenter for service men Shepard al-| so aware this project when approv- | ed termed urgent necessity con- junction with Navy and Army nc-f tivities Sitka and necessary part of ; ') {Emtintwd on Page Four) war effort by commanding omceri ,onli;ued on Page i‘;;re) ber One as reported in March 28 issue Alaska Empire. Re Anchomge‘ ceived from Anchorage an applica- | il tion for funds to pgepare cercain!Breaks from Jall n waSh' streets to bear the heavy army: traffic. i An allotment was made by the Washington office of funds to con- ‘ struct the water system. Plans andi specificaticns were prepared and! Guadalcanal Cunning g, { WASHINGTON, April 4—Earl| | the project was advertised for bids. ::"‘;F” li:‘t:;i ‘:::de‘:‘::‘sld ':931':::‘3": |today pi e ng he Shortly after tnls Mr. Grueningi,, G aqalcanal against the com- summcened me to his office and in ;o o erforts of police and FBI| very suave language informed melmanhunters | |that the people of Anchorage did | ppe 24_},'“,_0“ e%-Marine has| inot ‘“co-operate” with him and he| . {been at large since dawn yesterday ! | desired no funds to be allocated t0 | ywyen he and Joseph D, Medley stag- | this commurtty. He also addressed ioq g gpectacular death house break |@ letter to my office in which helafer overcoming two guards. | put his seal of approval and disap- | The recapture of the 44-year-old { proval of the different projects and : pedley after a seven-hour man-| ‘Wh""b:“le ':"IU“CY could be spent. I.punt evidently provided poiice with| :l,x“ absolu x)’ dumfounded to “““‘k :no clues on McFarland’s plans for| at a man in Mr. Gruening’s posi- flight - Bloodhounds followed one i tion, during wartime, would at- trail to a railroad track, but police | tempt to use public funds ef a spe- also are keeping a close watch on ‘Ciillg hpurp?zfi !‘0 further his °Wn]northbound antomobile traffic going selfish political purposes. through Maryland. | ml";llm this time on we WE‘LE en-| McFarland was cofivicted on Octo- ely at cross purposes. Note, one'ber 5, 1944, of rape-slaying of an| lof ;li::a projects on which we were '18-year-old Govempr:ent girl, Doro-| in greement was the construc-,thy Rerrum. Originally sentenced | ition of the eighty thousand dollarito die last August 31, the ex- USO building at Sitka which xluIMnrine‘s execution was stayed pend- |in lonely grandeur on Observatory ing an appeal. {Hill and is entirely out of line with - - | the needs of the community, i. e, there are no military personnel at woRK SIARIED o“ | Sitka to speak of and this small | | community cannot afford to oper-i “Ew M ARI"E w AYS ate such an installation as a civic| | enterprise. H e i | Bhortly after these happenings Tl Work has Begun.on the bresk-| | was shown a copy of a letetr writ- | water for the new marine ways,| iten by Mr. Gruening in which helwhich the R. J. Sommers Construc- | | stated, “I have finally suceeeded in itjon Co., is building for the North-| having Mr. Earl McGinty of the|ern Commercial Co., here, con-| Indian Service appointed to direct struction company officials reported 1today. } the policy of the FWA in Alaska.” 7 The ways, which will be directly | | Mr. McGinty assumed this author- | ington, D. C. - Using |4 | | (AP Wirephoto) Lumber and debris litters a section of dewntown Hils, Hawaii which felt the full effect of a tidal wave which hit the Haweiian Tslands, Alaska and the California coasts. This picture was transmitted by radio THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE PRICE TEN CENTS ORE STRIKE Tidal Wave Hits Downfewn Hilo Negotiations For Contrad | Boggg! Down ;Exclusion of Alaska from l Pacific Coast Settle- | | ment Is Issue Ships still sit tied up in Alaska ports with practically no progress being made toward negotiation of {longshoremen’s and the warehouse- men's demands for a new working contract with increased wage scales, ’plus distribution of retroactive pay back to the fall of 1944, ‘The retroactive pay demanded {was ordered under two ‘War Labor Beard directives, union spokesmen | here state. An agreement recently i concluded . strike threat in WN;MMM of the United | States secured $8,000,000 retroactive ipay for workers along the West ;Coast but did not include Alaska ports. - 'dlrectlvel,.one for 6 1- ihour and the other for tional 5 1-2 cexts, would | housemen and |$132 straight time, | The difference ‘and the rates 2 ;ret.m-efivo pay. = According to ‘The ! scale {dock workers in time, $2.50 for overtime. !mand does not affect the retroactive {in CIO ports equalled or exceeded lzha rates pair in 1 ports under AFL , to $1.15 strajght time {8172 1-2 overtime, tbe statement Debris from wrecked small beats, and piers on the Aia Wai canal, nczr Honolulu, Hawali, fill the canal just after the tidal wave hit the area. (AP ‘Wirepho'0) REAL LIFE SLAYINGIN REEL FILM Man Founfiying After Celebration on Comple- | tion Gangster Feature HOLLYWOOD, April 4—A real- fe slaying has climaxed a party ity under the ‘guidance of Mr. jects as he indicated. I was unable to concur with such a policy and resigned. In <due course the Anchorage al- lotment was rescinded as was the paving money for Fairbanks. Ap-|McNamara during the past week | hospital, was murdered. north of the small boat harbor, celebrating conclusion of a gangster I‘ fall. 2 e BUILDING PERMITS Two new building pérmits have been issued by City Engineer J. L. | Gruening and approved such pro-;will be completed sometime next movie, Police found Edward W. Gray, 31, |a studio electrician, dying beneath 'a film set backdrop. | Det.-Sgt. Stanley W. saidy Gray, who succumbed in a Atten- parently the people of Ketchikan,ito: Ernest Thorsen, for remodeling, 'dants said his skull was fractued, Sitka, Seward and Skagway ‘co- operated” with Mr. Gruening as money was poured into these towns for the various projects requested. I am unable to venture an opin- ion as to whether the water project could be revived. Four years have |passed and possibly the people of| . Anchorage “co-operate” more fully| with Mr. Gruening and his seal| of approval might be obtained. Yours very truly, J. G. SHEPARD R An estimated 28,500 persons were killed in traffic accidents in 1945, (Bigned) | repairs and addition of two-car garage at 226 and 232 Willeughby avenue, estimated cost $700; James j Larsen contractor, for repair of | foundation of Telephone Company building at 135 West Second street, $2,000. —— FIREMEN TO MEET Members of the Juneau Volun- teer - Fire Department will hold their regular monthly meeting at the Fire Hall this evening. Hold- ing a prominent place on the agenda is discussion of plans for the approaching baseball season. |bis jaw broken his pierced. and palate of filming a picture, the cast and |crew of “Angel On My Shoulder” {joined in a party at the General |Service lot. Paul Muni, who stars las the gangster in the movie, was Ihost. ©Otkers attending included [Lhe leading lady, Ann Baxter, and |supporting players Kurt Kreuger and Joan Blair, studio sources said, Ibut all had departed by 10 p. m. several hours before Gray’s body (was discovered. Muni’s last scene was laid in hell; Johnson | As {8 often the case on conclusion | with Claude Rains playing the devil. {Rains departed when shooting of the picture ended about 6 p. m. ‘The electrician, father of thres children, was fouhd beneath a 60- ioot scascape backdrop. He could not have fallen, Johngon explained, pecause the scaffolding would have broken the plunge. Another electrician was being questioned by police several hours later. ———————— STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, April 4—Closing | quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 9%, Alleghany Cor-| poration 6%, American Can 97%, Anaconda 48, Curtiss-Wright 7%, International Harvester 96, Ken- necott 567, New York Central 28, Northern Pacific 31%, United Co: poration 5%, U. 8. Steel 8%, Pound $4.03%. Sales today were 2,130,000 shares. | Dow, Jones averages today are as follows: indusirials 204.77, rails 65.30, utilities 42. et DE GANAHML IN EAST Charles de Ganahi of Juneau vis- ited with Delegate Bartlett during a recent trip to .the capital. Mr, de Ganahl is now attending the University of Oregon and expects to return to Juneau for the sum- mer. PARCIRID. SR § RETURN_WESTWARD Senator Don Carlos Brownell, Senator Gren Coll{ns and Mrs. Col- lins, Representatives Dr. C. A. Poi- lard and 8. O. Gill and wife, left yesterday via Pacific Northern Air- ‘Greece Eledion BYSLIDESON | ALASKAR.R. ANCnunqu,AMlsku, April 4— Two Alaska Railroad employes were buried by snowslides late Saturday | night but escaped with their lives, one after waiting until Sunday af- aernocn for rescue, officials of the road have disclosed. Neither man was identified. A slide at Moraine crashed through the roof of the telegraph office where the operator was sleeping. He was thrown under the bed and lay there until help arrived 14 hours later. A second slide struck a ‘hut oc- cupied by the door keeper of the south portal of the Whittier tun- nel. He managed to dig his way out. Is Under Atfack ATHENS, April 4.—The four left- wing parties of the EAM-KKE, a |tacking the validity of Sunday's election because only half of the registered voters went to the polls, have called upon Regent Archbishop declared. Alaska in Odd Place Gov. Gruening yesterday appealed [to the Notrhwest Representative of {the International ‘s and ‘“Sarehousemen’s Union (C10) for postponement of the strike. He was advised by Steve Glumaz, of 1#7) union’s retroactive pay settlement—had “no bearing” on the Alaska situation. The Governor was told the strike on Alaska ports was “job action” jto enforce payment of legal wages |under government orders and con- | tract agreement. The Governor's office here today stated that ap- peals for settlement of the strike lhlve been wired also to Harry | Bridges, ILWU President; Edwin |c. Arnold, Director of the Division of Territories and Island Posses- istons of the Interior Department; to the War Shipping Administra- tion; Gil Skinner, Northland ‘Tnmponlflon Company and Alas- ka Steamship Company, and to Waterfront Employers and the i Union local at Ketchikan, | Meanwhile, the steamer North |Sea is still shuttling between Ju- . (neau and Sitka with 550 tons of { Juneau-consigned cargo in her holds, including considerable quan- tities of perishables; and, the Al- aska Liner Victoria is idle here, 150 tons of freight for Juneau not discharged. It is reported that an attempt may be made by local merchants to get North Sea cargo discharged at Petersburg—an AFL port not tied up—{rom where it might be re- turned to Juneau by small boat. ILWU STATEMENT The following stdtement was is- sued to the Empire this afternon by the Juneau Local of the Inter- |muoml Longshoremen’s and Ware- housemen's Union, explaining the lines for their homes to the west- Damaskines to prepare the way (N A ward. b new balloting. (Continued on Page Two) 'l