The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 31, 1947, Page 1

~ > > 2 ", I« [ ) . - S TN "HE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” e= VOL. LXVIL, NO. 10,772 JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1947 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS FIVE AIRMEN STILL MISSING IN ARCTIC 2 MINUTES AFTER HOP Pilot Reports ’ 15" One Engine Out, Stand by,” then Blinding Flash ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 31— (#—An Air Force B-29 with nine aboard apparently met disaster two minutes after leaving Elmendorf Field on a routine long range weather observation flight shortly after midnight today, and field authorities said a search would be concentrated in the area where a “blinding flash” was seen. The big plane took off at 12:11 a.| m. (5:11 a. m. Eastern Standard Time) on a routine mission to the San Francisco Bay area. At 12:33 the pilot radioed the field’s control tower: ‘No. 3 engine out. Stand by.” “Blinding Flash" A few seconds later, the Public Relations officer reported, person- nel in the tower saw a “blinding flash.” There has been no contact with the plane since that time. Aer-| ial observation attempts have been | thwarted by a steadily falling! SnOW. Disasior ~was wobivved struck the plane over me Lo.st Lake and Point McKenzie areas, directly west of Anchorage. It is the second B-29 crash in Alaska within eight days. An- cther on a long-range navigation training mission crashed in isolated Nerthwestern Alaska Dec. 23 and two crew members, believed dead, are still being suughl Six crew | lCol]l{l.ued on Page Elghl\ e The Washingion| Merry - Go - Roun By ROBERT S. ALLEN Substituting for Drew Pearson WASHINGTON — The Russians can be very frank at times, and oh, so secret! at other times. caught one in a frank mood the other day, however, and he surpris- ed me by confessing that Russia | had just about lost the “cold war.” The diplomat, who was of high rank, probably let his hair dovm because he was talking to amther ambassador. I think he was tell- ing the truth. At any rate, he list- | ed three basic errors made by trict Court for the First Division. | petiter in world markets, Moscow. They were: 1. The belief that the would iace wide unemployment and | economic collapse soon after the war. The Politburo expected this would enable them to point to the, United States and tell European nations: “You see what a sham American capitalism is.” 2. Moscow’s mistaken belief that the Frenchmen and Italians who flocked to Communist banners after V-E Day were real Communists. 3. The anti-American campaign staged by Molotov and Vishinsky. ‘This diplomat reported that Sta- lin and his associates still believe the United States is on the verge pf collapse. The Soviet Embassy | in Washington hasn't been able to | convince them otherwise—though I | suspect that the Embassy staff have been too fearful of their own neck to try very hard. The Politburo also still lhmks that American collapse would pre- vent wholesale aid to western Eu- rope under the Marshall Plan, and | that American unemployment will | soon make American manufacturers plead with Russia for large orders irom the Soviet Union to keep U. S. factories going. TEMPORARY COMMUNISTS However, the Kremlin does seem to have opened its gyes to the fact that the Italians and Frenchmen | who joined their banner by the millions are not true Communists. ‘They have learned sadly that the (Continued on Page Four) Bomber Meets Disaster Near Anchorage DR e SNOW IS MELTING| (By The Associated Press) Sub-zero cold prevailed in the Da- | kotas and Montana today, but in the |New York-New England area tem- peratures were rising aft qmp 25-mile-an-hour wind ushered (hfi cold into Montana and North | Dakota, driving the temperature |down to 25 degrees below zero at| N. Dak, at 5:30 a. m ‘The cold was moving |eastward across the country, and less severe effs were expected to be felt to the south, wifh Jower tem- peratures predicted for Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, braska. As the thermometer rose in the East, some melting of the giant snow which covered New Jersey, eastern New York and portions of New Eng- land was expected in the southern part of the area. Non- ntial |trucks and passenger cars were bar- red from the streets in New York City to aid in clearing the 25.8-inch ! snowfall. Buses were still hampered, Pembina, | (CST) today. as {but other public transportation almost noraml. Occasional rain « |sleet was forecast for today. Fair weather for almost all of the | New Year's bowl football games was | predicted. Some chance of rain was seen for the Cotton Bowl at Dall and the Delta Bowl at Mcmph\.; . AUTO PRODU(TlON "IN 1947 IS FOURTH | LARGEST, HISTORY DETROIT, Dec al—m Although the nation’s motorcar makers start- ed and stopped their assembly lines repeatedly throughout 1947 because of unbalanced materials, they man- flged to make the year the fourth | larges( in output volume in their | history. “Tne auto factories came to the |year-end today with an- indicated United States production of 3,550,- |00 passenger cars and 1,235,000 |trucks, and the heaviest volume of freplucemem parts ever turned out. | The vehicles and the parts that kept millions of pre-war models on |the road had an estimated whole- sale value of 88 500,000,000. lEIVERS GIVEN OAIH AS NEW CLERK OF U. 5. DISTRICT COURT J. W. Leivers was sworn in this morning as Clerk of the U. S. Dis- | | The oath was administered by UsA | District Judge George W. Folta. ' filiates in Europe are seeking to | Leivers succeeds John H. Walmer, | who has held that position for the | past three years. Walmer's resig- nation is effective togay. i plans have not yet been announc- ed. Leivers came to Alaska in 1908, and attended the Douglas High school. He was employed by Wint- er and Pond for 20 years and the i’rhomas Hardware Co. for two | years before joining the Clerk’s | office in 1829. Mrs. Peggy Mclvor will succeed has been in the office as steno- | graphic clerk since 1935. She will| ibe succeeded in her old job by Mrs. Lois Estepp, formerly em- ployed by the Territorial Auditor and the Department of Health. - — POLICE COURT NEWS l Richard Davis was fined $15 this | morning by City Magistrate Will- {iam A. Holzheimer on a speeding }charge | Hilda James was sentenced to | serve 30 days in the City Jail on |a drunk charge. | L bt SIS S SNOW WHITE LAUNDRY GIVES 1ST BABY GIFT The Snow White Laundry’s name was omitted from the list of gifts to be given the first baby born in Juneau in 1948. The well wanted diaper service is the gift of the Snow White, cold | Kansas and Ne- His | Leivers as Chief Deputy Clerk. She‘ New Year's | | Messageby ~ President WASHINGTON Dec. 31 .4 | President Truman said today he is +looking forward confidently to world {peace upon which all nations can |agree. In a New Year's message, the |President said this hope includes proper development of the United Nations which he says offers hope to the world. n Mr. Truman said he has every faith in the work of the United Nations and that neither the Unit- 'ed States nor any other nation can afford to abandon its task for a “workable world peace.” MOLOTOV ~ HURLING ‘Declares U. S. Caused | Breakdown of Mini- sters” Conference LONDON, Dec, | $1~P— Soviet Fuxd;,n Minister Vyatheslav M. Mclotov threw the blame for the ccllapse of the London Foreign 'mmsms conference on the Uni- ted States today and declared that only the efforts of the Russian delegation kept the conference from being entirely fruitless. His statement, given to the Rus- sian Press in Moscow at a news conference and broadcast by the | Moscow radio, was largely an echo of what he said at the Big Four meeting in London, which ended cn December 15, after 17 sessions without agreement. He | delegation “undertook to disrupt the entire work of the London dele- gation” because “for some reason’ the United ‘States on December 19, blamed Molotov for the failure {of the London conference, assert- ing that the Russians displayed “no apparem will to reach a settle- ment.” { Although Molotov agreed that the London conference was a failure | he Molotov suggested that Ameri-| ‘L‘ n policy in Europe was “dictated | | by fear that Germany will re-es- tablish herself as an efiective com- in which American monopolies and their af- dictate their will." | DEMANDS OF BRITAIN NEW YORK, Deec. 31.—(‘?—A|1- |drei A. Gromyko, Soviet represen- tative to the United Nations, call-| ed on Britain last night for prompt admittance to Palestine of the U. N. spectal .commission set | up to supervise partition of v.he\ | Holy Land. The Russian official in speaking; at a dinner of the American com- | mittee of Jewish writers, artists! and scientists, said it was reported the U. N. commission until “Brit- | ish troops are withdrawn from { considerable areas—May 1 or June | 1, 1948.” “Such a situation cannot be con- sidered as normal,” Gromyko said. STEAMER MOVEMENTS | Princess Norah, from Vancouver, due tomorrow afternoon or eve- ning. Sword Knot, Friday. Denali scheduled to sail from Se- attle Saturday. | Jumper Hitch scheduled to sail| from Seattle January 3. Aleutian, from west, scheduled southbound 8 a. m. Sunday. e —————— FROM ANCHORAGE from Seattle, due staying at the Hotel Juneau. J The result would be far less lee- CHARGES charged that the American denied that it was fruitless. |las High Huskies and Mike's team | (reception awaited them. xcepnon was arranged by members | s <Many presents were received by 'NO ACTION TAKEN; the British planned not to admit | | case under advisement. T TAXSTUATION IS EXPLAINED | Queen of BY ANALYSTS WA‘:HIN(‘-TON De(‘ 31 Increased government spending andl |decreased revenues during the next | fiscal year may result in a shrunken budget surplus of as little as $2:500.- | 000,000 compared with this year" prospective $6,000,000,000, govern- | ! ment analysts said today. | way for reducing the public debt and cutting income taxes than has exist- ' {ed during the current fiscal vear | [ending June 30. H | The analvsts who made the fore- | ! cast explained it this way: i | 1. The administration hopes to reduce domestic spending, but its plans for foreign aid would run the total government outlay to around { | $39,500,000,000 for the 1949 fiscal | ! year compared with 517000.000,000| lu $37.500,000,000 this year 2. Meanwhile, even without a cut in taxes, revenues would drop from | well over $43,000,000,000 this fiscal year to perhaps as low as $42,000,- 000,000 next year as declines in in- comes from such sources as surplus | property sales offset possibly higher { I tax receipts. These figures, which mirror the situation confronting President Truman as he prepares his budges | for submission to Congress in mid- January, could- be altered sharply Iby Congress i " iYear -— - I NEW YORK, Dec. —Secre- t Miss Irene Johnson And Ray Reed Are i i e pr g Time, the weekly newsmagazine, Mar”ed Kekhlkan 'wnu h called him the “man who had lln' biggest rise in fame during the and who, more than Ise, changed the news for better or worse.” Virginia Goodhue, 18, Year's Day in Pasadena. {Marshall Is {Named ""Man of 31.—A Miss Irene Johnson, daughter nt \Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Johnson of | Dexter, Kansas, and Mr. Ray Reed, | Ison of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Reed of ; |Haverfell, New Hampshire, were married in Ketchikan at 4 p.m, MERGER OF SKINNER, |Christmas Day. The young couple, who are members of the faculty or‘EDDY CORPORATION the Douglas High School, returned : to Juneau on Saturday and were)A“NO“N(ED '!'nDAY |given a surprise reception at the - !Eagles Club in Douglas last eve- ning. ————a——— | 'The couple was martied at the| SEATTLE, Dec. 3l—{P—Merger | Community Methodist Church in |Of the Skinner and Eddy Corpora- tion with the Alaska Steamship Ketchikan with the Rev. William Cex performing the service. They were attended by Mr. and Mrs. Jeff | Snyder. Mrs. Reed arrived in Douglas in September and is instructor in Eng- |lish and commercial subjects. Mr. Reed is teaching science for his sec- {ond vear and is coach for the Doug- Company “to simplify the overall corporate structure of the Alaska Steamship Company and to broaden and further strengthen its financial position,” was announced today by G. W. Skinner, President The corporation has owned Alaska |Swam ship Company since 1944, Skinner said no changes are con- Following the basketball zame ini Douglas last night, when Mike's |team were victorious over Darnell’s {Mr. and Mrs. Reed were invited tnl {the Eagles Club where a surprise The re- »f the new company's business, op- erations or personnel. Business will conducted under the name “Al- iska Steamshiv Company,” which Mas become a Washington cerpora- jon under the arrangement. It has (been a Nevada corporation. The company is studying plan: i or development of its permanent They will make their home mi tions in the Alaska trade, Skin- iDouglas ner said. _P)ans include acquisition | PSR 5 e of new freight and passenger ships of Mike's team and their wi Mr and Mrs. Reed. i he said. ;MEUTIAN TAKES 24 PERSONS TO SEWARD TUESDAY AFTERNOON LIQUOR LICENSES Judge George w. Folta conducted a hearing in U. S. District Court here today on the 1948 liquor license ; application of Frank Kardanoff for | {the Occidental Bar and listened to several witnesses testify on Kardan- | goward at 4 o'clock yesterday after- off’s behglf. 3 noon with 24 passengers boarding at The witnesses included Territorial IJuneau. 16 of them patients being Attorney General Ralph J. m"”glremovecl from the Government Hos- and former District Judge Simon | B. Hellenthal. Judge Folta took the { The ship will be back in Juneau at ]8 o'clock Sunday morning. 1 Passengers from Juneau to Sew- ald are: Willie Kapjohn, | o ! Keghector, Michael Rice, | Pete, Edwin Rathl, Raymond David, | | SIOCK ouOIAHONS Elizabeth Olson, Tinia Olson, Mary | | |Jean Haaf, Carolyn Haaf, Lena | NEW YORK, Dec. 31. — Closing | pyang, Elizabeth Wallinger, Carolyn quotntmn of Alaska Juneau mine Peterson, Jean Peterson, Ann Lev-! There was no action taken, also, on other pending applications. Anaconda 34, Curtiss-Wright [ ;i , International Harvester 0 Arelene Jacobs, Mrs. Bertha 89, | Smith, 14Y, Northern Pacific 20%, U. 8. Barnette, Gladys M. Barnette. Ann C. Nelson of Anchorage is|dustrials, 181.16; rails, 52.48; utili- ipiping motor exhausts gases into ties, 33.40. their burrows. co-ed at Pasadena”s John Muir College, will rcign as Queen over the annual Tournament of Roses on New She was selected at a ball which honored her and six other finalists in the queen contest. onation ball was held December 29. anyone | templated in the general character | suitable for needs of the Territory, | The steamer Aleutian sailed for | pital to the Seward Sanatorium. i stock today is 3%, American Canlg,okoff, Verna Shargin, Mina Nich- 5 Dorothy Lawrence, Julia | Kennecott 487, New York Central|murio, the Rev. E. Baker, Clyde E. | Steel 8%, Pound $4.03%. i Sales today were 1,540,000 shares Averages today are as follows: In- | ‘Rats are sometimes killed by| the Roses who The queen’s formal cor- (International Soundphoto) 'VANDENBERG DOES NOT DESIRE T0 BE "FAVORITE SON" WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 P — Senator Vandenberg is likely to’ touch off a Republican scramble in Michigan with a forthcoming an- nouncement that he does not want to be his State’s “Favorite Son” candidate for President. Politicians long have known that Vandenberg planned lask the Michigan Republican or- ganization not to give him its formal packing at the Philadelphia nomi- . nating convention in June. There are indications the Senator | will make this request in a New \\'\ ar’s letter to party leaders. - REPAIRS UNDERWAY AT EDNA BAY; NO FURTHER | INFORMATION ON FIRE | The mcdernization and program at the Juneau Ccrporaticn lumber camp at Edna underway with the of new equipment in planing mill and sawmill. further word has been recened from Purchasing Agent Richard ' stamm, who went down last week ! investigate results of the fire, which destroyed approximately $30,000 worth of property there a week ago. Stamm s expected back in Ju- neau today or tomorrow. Mean- while, Juneau Spruce shipments are going ahead without interrup- [ tion, and between 175,000 and 200,- 000 board feet of lumber will be transported to Tacoma on Friday | aboard the freighter Sword Knot. D e | WASHINGTON—With a shake of ! his head, President Truman replied no comment today when labout Henry A. Wallace's candidacy for President. ——,——— repair | is now allation to (ices will be held here Friday for |John A. Lathanan, 41, Fairbanks, Alaska, attorney, fatally injured in Ithe crash of an airliner at Renton, veterans' plot at Lincoln Memoria2 ‘P:u'k. | e, —— Robert | Andrew | SEATTLE-The Port of Embarka- | tion reported today the Army trans- | port Sgt. Charles E. Mower will ar- | rive Friday from Whittier and Adak, | with 549 soldiers, 27 dependents and 12 other civilians. >oo HERE FROM SKAGWAY R. R. Cornett of Skagway at the Baranof Hotel. el e FROM OKLAHOMA CITY Ceorge Carcreek of Oklahoma iCity is stopping at the Baraof. stopping | aventually ID‘ Spruce | No; asked | PORTLAND, Ore—Funeral serv- | , Dec. 1. Burial will be in the | RESCUE OF - VICTIMS 1S - TOLD NOw ‘Plane Crashed Suddenly as| "Ground Rushed Up"'- Men Are Frost-Bitten | NOME, Alaska, Dec. 31.—(®—One | of the rescue party who saved six of the eight crewmen aboard the | crashed B-29 “Clobbered Turk { told how the stranded men, with hope of survival about gone after six days and nights In the freez- jing Arctic, greeted them “Where did you guys from?” Bud Richter, a photographer, was | one of the volunteers who flew on the rescue mission by Pilots Frank H. Whaley and Bill Munz, and one who remained at the crash scene in far-below zero weather while the survivors were flown to Nome. | come ! The B-29 crashed Dec. 23, while jon a long-range weather flight. | Richter said of the rescue: “Bill (Munz) circled the wreck | once and landed near the top of | the hill. The wind was howling | and the thermometer showed 40 be- “3ill said the wind was blowing 35 miles an hour. We quickly cov- ered the plane’s motor. I looked at Munz and Kennedy (Dr. Max- | well Kennedy). Their faces hld‘ frozen almost instantly in the terrible cold and crusts of ice were hanging to their eyelids, lips and nose. “We There | broken wreck. with & the one down to six men, went wer leg | Frost-Bitten Faces Their faces and clothes were i blackened with soot and unmis- | | takable signs of frostbite covered their faces. The man with a brok- | {en leg had a crude splint tied on | tand had received nothing to relieve ! his pain. ‘Where did you guys come |rom” they shouted. They hadn't H-\.en heard us land in the howling wind “I talked to the co-pilot (Lt. Don- B. Duesler) who said they! been to the North Pole on a| ather hop and then turned! ‘wuth towards Nome. They evi- | dently thought they were still over ice before they crashed. id they hadn't been able to see a thing for the mists and blowing snow, ! had “Their altimeter showed 1,500 ! feet. The pilot (Lt. Vern H. Ar- | nett) was flying the plane and isuddenly the co-pilot saw the i ground rushing up. “He yelled ‘Here comes the !ground!’ He grabbed the con- ’Ll’n]\ and pulled the nose up sharp- ly. The tail struck the ground and broke off and then the nos idug in and the ship turned a ; somersault on its back | “All the men got out and there | was no serious fire at first, bul» the men were unable to extinguish | a small blaze in the high wind. Ilj quickly spread and the gas tanks| exploded, blowing the motors and | wreckage down the mountain side and burning a black swath (hrnugh i the snow. | Huddle Behind Wreckage | “The flames subsided and the men age to get scant protection lrnm‘ the biting winds. Their clothing was inadequate and all emergency equipment Wwas burned. ‘Days and nights of penetrating cold passed with hopes of rescue dwindling.” - e Simon Hellenthals " Have Holiday Party Hellenthal house yes- their home Over 100 peo- hours of Mr. and Mrs. jgave a holiday open iterday afternoon at lun Calhoun Avenue. ple between the 4 and T Simon calied | | Al 55 | { Soils in areas which were for-| 'merly forested are typically acid i huddled behind the wreck-|e SEARCH IS CONTINUED FARNORTH Two Members of Crashed Plane, Three Paratroop- ers Are Objects of Hunt NOME, Alaska, Dec. 31.—(®— With hopes dimmed almost to the vanishing point, search parties continued today to scan the bleak icy wastes of the Seward Penin- sula 1or a B-29 pilot, his naviga- tor and three Army paratroopers who vanished after leaping to the aid of the airmen’'s six fellow crew members. The two airmen, Lt. Vern H. Ar- nett, Santa Ana, Calif., pilot, and Lt. Frederick I. Sheetz, Keyser, W. Va, disappeared Christmas Day, two days after the crash of their plane 95 miles north of Nome, when they set out together to seek aid at the Eskimo village of Shish- (maref, 50 miles from the stricken plane. Six other members of the crew were rescued Monday by Alaska bush pilots, William Munz and Frank Whaley, both of Nome. Munz, whd returned to the crash scene yesterday with ski- equipped plane, said he saw “what I think was a. dead paratrooper, and possibly two” lying In the snow about 1500 feet from the burned plane. “There was also another ‘chute lying nearby, which might have covered the third missing man in the snow,” he added. None of the three men, a doctor and wwo paratroopers from Ladd Field, has been seen since they leaped to the aid of the stranded survivors last Saturday night. Air Force authorities have not identified the missing trio. A base camp was established yesterday about five miles from the crumpled plane. Capt. Harry Strong an experienced Alaskan now stationed here for the Arctic in- doctrination school, is in charge. Meanwhile, two of the six sur- vivors were flown from Nome to (an Anchorage army hospital. They re Lt. Lyle B. Larson, flight en- gineer of Colfax, Wis., and Tech. Sgt. Wilbur E. Decker, Plaintield, N. J. Larson has a fractured leg and frostbite; Decker suffered from first and second degree burns and trostbite. Hospital officers said the con- | dition of both men was “generally | favorable.” S eee 'KIWANIS HAVE JOKE FEST AT MEET TODAY President Ed Shacier of the Ki- wanis Club presided at the meeting today for the last time as Gene | Vuille, President-Elect, will take up the gavel next week At today's meeting, Program | Chairman Larry Parker had an ex- tra special program mapped out. Each member was given a joke to read, and anvone who could top the Parker speclals, told their own fav- orites At the next meeting on January 7, committees for the coming year | witt be announced. e e e e 0 v v oo WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU) Temperatures for 24-Hour Period @ Ending 6:30 0'Clock This Morning In Juneau— Maximum, 42; mitnimum, 32 At Airport— ® minimum, 33, WEATHER FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Variable cloudiness with e snow showers and cooler to- e night. Cloudy with rain or e rain and snow mixed and southeasterly winds 15 to 20 miles per hour Thursday. Maximum, 40; 0000000000000 00 000000000 . PRECIPITATION @ (Past 24 bours ending 7:30 1.n. taday) e In Juneau— 177 inches; e since Dec. 1, 816 inches; ® since July 1, 61.72 inches. e At Airport— .04 inches; e since Dec. 1, 426 inches; e since July 1, 3630 inches. . . . . . . . &