The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 26, 1948, Page 1

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VOL. LXVIIL, NO. 10,898 FLOODS ROLL OVER GREAT AREA IN NW Emergency—M;asures Are Adopted-Dikes Break- 5 Victims Reported (By The Associated Press) The flooded Rivers of the Pacific Northwest and Canada rolled over vast areas of farmland today, re- quiring emergency measures in many areas. Melting snow drove streams through dikes in four places on| Idaho Rivers. Weather forecasts| predict warm sunshine in the area| for the next 48 hours. Approximately 75 families near St. Maries, Idaho, were driven from their homes when the St. Joe River gouged a hole 150 feet wide in the barrier protecting a lowland. It was the third break there. A 220-man detachment of Army Engineers from Fort Lewis, Wash.,| worked with the residents of the; Bonners Ferry area to keep the flood out of the town. Near Vancouver, Wash. this! morning, the driver of a truck and traller was killed when a crumb- ling road dropped his vehicle into; 26 feet of water in the Colum-} bia River. He was the flood’s fifth victim in that general region. The driver, Roger Viramontes, 33, Portland, went to his death only a few hours after Joe Wilson, 67, Linnton, drowned in the rowboat] in which he was trying to reach his houseboat. - A 3-year-old and two tughoat crewmen had fallen victims to the flood earlier. The Crlumbia Rives rvise at Povt land and Vancouver was the great- est in 15 years, and was threaten- ing to surpass the great flood of 1894 by Sunday. On the Canadian prairies cances| were pressed into service as mercy vessels to contact farms isolated by floods. Nearly 100,000 acres were under flood water in Manitoba and | a huge lake was being formed byl the overflow from rivers in Sas-l katchewan. In British Columbia, the Skeena e River joined the Koctenay and Upper Columbia in wild floods. OVER 9 MI'_”ON e, FKOM LOS ANGELES ! RE(OMME"DED i Edna Olson and Mrs. Hannah ' ! Fjollman, both from Los Angeles, are at the Baranof Hotel. The Washington! Merry - Go - Round | By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1948, by The Bell Syndicate, Ine.) ASHINGTON— The President has resorted to new strategy in handling White House callers. For some time, Washington ob- servers were amazed at the num- ber of visitors President Truman saw daily. But now the calling list has tapered off. The official list released every morning shows only a handful of visitors. What most people don't know, is that there are five separate en- trances to the White House, and in recent weeks Truman has been fooling the press. While the regu- lar White House correspondents wait in the lobby of the executive offices watching for Presidential visitors, various private callers slip in other doors. Sometimes as many as 25 will flow into Tru- man’s office unnoticed. They come in through various side doors, sometimes even the distant East Wing, and are then spirited around | the back through the rose garden and in to the President. In recent days, Truman has held numerous significant confabs, none listed. He has seen Joe Keenan, head of the AF. of L. political ac- tion committee, British Ambassador Lord Inverchapel, French Ambass- ador Henri Bonnet, and various Zionist leaders including Chaim Weizmann, new President of Israel. Some old Senatorial friends also drop around to see Truman at breakfast. Others come in after breakfast, but before the press ar- rives. Ed Flynn has been in twice lately, unnoticed. Former Judge Sam Rosenman is again a White (Continued on Page Four) I ! military and on-military traffic. 1 Earth Tremors, Alaska (By The Associated Press) Earth tremors in Alaskan waters, described variously as moderate and strong, were recorded on two seis- mographs in the United States about 1:25 a.m. Seattle time, today. The John Carroll University seis- mograph at Cleveland recorded a “moderate” two-hour shock, believed to be in the eastern end of the Aleutians or a little to the north of them. The Boston College seismograph recorded “strong” tremors in the , near Seward. ACS Observes | 48th Birthday| SEATTLE, May 26.—(®—The far-|{ flung Alaska Communications Sys- | tem observed its 48th anniversary today. Born with a $450,000 Congression- al appropriation in 1900, the service has expanded until it provides long distance telephone service and tele- | graph faeilities between the farthest corner of the United States and key | points in the Northern Territory. Col. T. J. Tully, ACS chief, said in connection with the ‘birthday”:. that the comparatively recent in- | auguration of these services marks (culmination of almost half a cen- | tury of persistent effort by the U. 8. | Army Signal Corps. Its goal was to | ! develop adequate communications to | and in Alaska for military, govern- i ment, commercial and public Use. i The ACS, under direction of the| | Chief Signal Officer, is now operat- iing a network consisting of a main | station at Seattle and 36 stations in Alaska. They, vary in size from the 120-man Anchorage station to such small and remote ones as the two- man setup at Point Barrow, north- ernmost tip of North America. The ACS says its records show that for the past two years its serv- | ices were used almost equally by FISH, WILDLIFE WASHINGTON, May 26—(P—An appropriation of $9,226,979 for the! Pish and Wildlife Service in the| year starting July 1 was recom- mended to the House today. The recommendation came from the House Appropriations Commit- tee when it reported the annual bill carrying funds for the Interior De-, partment. The figure is $2,360,221 below the Budget Bureau's estimate and $2,644,169 above the current years appropriation. ‘The bill includes $1,800,525 for propagation of food fishes; $1,025,- 000 for investigations respecting food fish, $495,000 for commercial fisheries; $1,000,000 for invesuga-i tion, exploration and development | of Pacific Fisheries; $1,228,000 for| Alaskan Fisheries; $325450 for wildlife resoures and management investigations; $175,000 for enforce- ment of the Alaska Game Law; $1,210,000 for maintenance of mam- mal and bird, reservations and $143,- 000 for the Fishery Market News Service. The committee recommended that in Alaska the forces in charge of enforcing the game and fish laws be shifted according to the seasons in| the interest of greater efficiency. RS P HEAVY SALMON RUN CALIFORNIA COAST EUREKA, Calif, May 26—®— Commercial fishermen today were harvesting the heaviest run of sal- mon of the year. Boats flooded this port with fish taken in deep waters west of Blunts Reef, 60 miles off- shore southwest. Norcal Packing Co. of Fields Land- ing on Humboldt Bay last night and today accepted deliveries total-| ing more than 35,000 pounds, mostly | large Chinook salmon. { Many of the delivering boats are | larger craft from Oregon and Wash- \ington, currently fishing the Hum-|schools, boldt Bay Area, ARABS WON'T CEASE FIRING IN HOLY LAND Fifth Effort fo Stop Fight- ing in Palestine An- nounced as Failure | (By The Associated Press) The United Nations’ fifth effort to stop the fighting in Palestine collapsed today. Arabs said they could accept a cease fire order only if the Jewish Army Haganah receives no more arms, if recognition of Israel is aban- doned and if Jewish immigration is limited A spokesman for the new Jewish State promotly said the conditions could not be accepted. A dispatch from Jerusalem said the heaviest fighting in Palestine was at Latrun, key communication post on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, 20 miles southeast of Tel Aviv. The bombardment of Jerusalem with artillery and mortars con- tinued. Siege lines in the old city remained about the same. A big power spokesman at Lake Success said a demand may be made for a worldwide diplomatic bsak with Arab countries. France was re- ported as anxious for strong action, as were the United States and Rus- sia. Britain, linked to many Arab nations by treaty, was absent from that camp. A bill was introduced in Congress for a lend-lease military aid program of $100,000,000 to the Jewish State. | TO REMOVE AMERICANS WASHINGTON, May 26. — B — The United Tiates hbs atzembled g fleet of air transports Cyprus at in readiness to remove Americans from the Middle East. e I LIONS CLUB WORK CREWS ARE BUSY ! ONBEACH PROJECT| “location crew” will of the tables, Tonight a spot the placing ! toilets, and other facilities! grates, such as wind breaks, dressing shelters, etc., for the new com- munity beach. Tomorgow evening a Lions’ work party will begin work in finishing the placing of the rustic tables, and on this crew will be Licns Burke Riley, John Parmenter, Joe Alexander and Alva Blackerby. Saturday apother crew will be; at work in the afternoon finishing the tables, placing the fire circle| and working on the toilets. Lions| Bud Phelps, Howard Andresen, Milt Furness, Dr. J. O. Rude and the Rev. Bob Treat have already vol- unteered. & The Thursday evening crew will leave the Federal Building at 7 o'clock, and the Saturday crew will leave from the same place at 1 o’clock. The dedication of the beach, scheduled for Monday, Memorial Day, is being postponed until funds from the Lions Amateur night pro- gram, scheduled for June 4 has taken place to permit further de- velopment of the beach. i -, INDIAN SERVICE OPERATIONS ARE GIVEN CRITICISM| By CHARLES HASLET i WASHINGTON, May 26—®—A House Committee today severely criticized operations of the Indian Service, - charged instances of “maladministration” and. recom- mended abolition of the five Indian District offices in the = United States. The bill contains $4518962' for expenses of the Alaska Native pro- gram—$856,021 more than this year and $240,738 under the budget estimates. Of this $550,000 is pro-| vided for Quonset huts to be used in a health program. It approved $5,925,000 contract au- thorization for a new hospital in Alaska and $222500 for building hospitals and quarters| there, ¥ “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE DEEERI UNEAU ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1948 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Urgent Needs Of Alaska Qutlined By MARINE STRIKE LOOMS Pacific Co ast Walkout of Longshoremen Sched- uled fgr jme 15 SAN FRANCISCO, May 26.—P— Harry Bridges’ powerful CIO Inter- national Longshoremen's and Ware- housemen’s Union said today it was going ahead with plans for a Pa- cific Coast strike June 15. “The next time we will meet in negotiations will be after the men are out June 15" said an ILWU statement. An employer announcement, how= ever, said the controversy “appears ed to be headed for a prcsldenua‘ board of inquiry” and a possible 80« day cooling off period. The ILWU and employers both conceded that conciliation of their contract dispute had collapsed. The Waterfront Employers’ Association (WEA) said the chief issue blocking peace was the hiring hall - - CLAM PACKING IS \STARTED, CORDOVA; DISPUTE IS ENDED Labor Deadlock Confinues, However, in Salmon In- dustry Over Prices GORDOVA, Alaska, May 26— Clam packing got underway tod after a month's delay by a labor dispute. 4 A deadlock_continues, however, in the salmon indusiwry dispute, The prinecipal disagreement be- [ tween clam canners and the Copper River and Prince William Scund Cannery Workers' Union was a de- mand of resident cannery workers for a standard eight-hour day given to imported labor. The union settled for a guarantee tof 200 hours’ work for the season, with a 20-cent hourly wage crease from last year. The guaranteed work was only for 80 hours. The operators also agreed to give in- last year ! preference to local labor. The delay was expected to reduce the clam pack 40 per cent or more. Cordova puts up 70 per cent of the Pacific pack of razor clams. A labor deadlock also continued in the salmon industry, although the season opened May 15. The Cor- dova district of the Fisheries Union and Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc, were reported still far apart in their dispute over fish prices. The union was reported to have come down from $1 to 94 cents for recds and silvers, with the operators raising their offer from 65 to 67 cents. The latest asking prices of the Union for other species include 35 cents for pinks, with operators offering 20; 50 cents for chums, operators off- ering 25; 16 cents a pound for kings; opera- tors offering $2.25 per fish. No further labor-operator meet- ings were scheduled. The Prince William Sound salmon pack last year totaled more than $9,000000 worth, Choir from Sitka In Seattle; Sings At Church Meet SEATTLE, May 26—(®—The choir of the Sheldon-Jackson Junior Col- lege, Sitka, Alaska, arrived in two small powerboats yesterday to sing at the National General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church here. ‘The seven-day assembly opens Thursday. ‘The choristers said they had some rough weather, but everyone ap- peared to be fine on arrival. > TWO W F&WS AGENTS J. C. Lanier, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and D. F. Shuffler, of Long Island, New York, arrived here via PAA yesterday on a tem- porary summer assignment with the Alaska Region of the U. S. Pish and Wildlife Service. SIXBILLS | FOR ALASKA ARE PASSED Senate Ap;;fo;al Is Given But House Must Agree fo Amendments fo Two WASHINGTON, May 26 —(P—{ Legislation to authorize construc-| tion of a $1,875,000 seawall at Nome Alaska, was passed yesterday by the Senate It goes back to the House for action on Senate amendments pro- viding that the 3350 foot seawall be constructed in accordance with Army Engineer plans. | Other Alaska bills passed by the Senate would: Authorize mail power boat ser- vice to the Alaskan Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands at a cost of $250,000 instead of $125,000 allow-l ed at present. Transfer a i Third Judicial | Fourth Division. Transfer lot one in block 115; in Fairbanks to the city for school the the in to small area Division it the Territorial Legislature to increase taxes from one to two percent and to permit incorporat- ed towns to increase taxes from two to three percent. Extend benefits of the Civil| Service retirement act to employees of the Alaska railroad. The bill was amended to hold the retire-- ment pensions to the regular Civil Service amounts. { situation, Millions Recommended For Highways, Railroad, Other ltems for Alaska MAY CLOSE PINK SALMON FISHING IN SCUTHEAST ALASKA Disclosure Is Made by Fish and Wildlife Service | Through A. M. Day WASHINGTON, May 26—P— The Fish and Wildlife Service was disclosed today to have given con-| sideration to closing completely { large portions of the pink salmon | fishing areas in Southeast Alaska ' next year. Albert M. Day, director of the Service, so testified before the House Subcommittee on Interior Department appropriations. He said in testimony made public to- day the move was considered in hope of rehabilitating the pink' salmon runs. “Alaska salmon, pa pinks, are in bad shay ticularly the " he testi- fied. “The runs have been down the past several years and thel prospects for the next two years! i not at all encouraging. Thei in fact, is so serious that consideration has been given to complete closure of large por- are | therization. [tions of the pink salmon fishing territory in Southeast Alaska next year in hope of rehabilitating the Uruns. “We feel a great deal of the| trouble is due to over-fishing. In- dustry itself has urged increased | efforts toward enforcement in or- lder that the maximum protection Of the last five bills, the first four were sent to the White House; | the fifth to the House. | .- | { Alaska Roads i | ' Hurt Defense, - Army Reports ! Al | WASHINGTON, May 26—®— Army Secretary Royall of the Army says that “limited capacity” jof the Alaska Railroad and detic- | !lencies in the present road system | [in the Territory “jeopardize the| missicn of national defense.” He so wrote Secretary Krug of the Interior Department last fall.: His letter, made puMlic today, was placed before the House Appropria- tions Subcommittee on Interior | Department funds during a hearing on the Department’s appropriation | bill. Royall urged that improvements be made on the Alaska Highway,® the Haines Cutoff, the Richard-i son Highway, the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cutoff. Extensions of the present roads, if constructed, he said, should be ‘:wo routed as to connect military | installations. Royall said that as part of the| Alaska Highway and of the Haines Cutoif are in Canada improve- ments of these sections should be accompanied by area control of the region traversed by the roads. He said the roads are considered essential to the utilization of a road system as a whole. 'She'sPast90 But Will Wed Baau, Whe Is 37 | BRUSHTON, N. Y. May 26—, —ngdlng plans are in the mak~ ing’ for' a widow :who figures she's past 90 and her 37-year-old beau. Clarence McBee “hasn't been courting me very 1.g" Mrs. Eliza Murray said. “But Clarence and I like one another well enough to get married and that's just what we plan to do.’ | “I only feel like 80,” she added.| She was about 14 when she went \u) the altar with Charles Murray, she thinks. This will be McBee's first marriage. - eee— - HERE FROM SITKA { 1 | Frank Wright, Jr., from Sitka, is registered at the Baranof Hotel.| >o ! | HERE FROM TENAKEE i |M. H. Wilson from Tenakee, is visiting here and staying at the| Baranof Hotel, {ing quotation of Alaska = Juneau mine stack is 4%, American Can 87%, Anaconda < 40%, . Curtiss- may be given this important fish-| Day told the committee the amounts asked for fishery pro- tection in Alaska falls far short of the needs. Columbia spends* more to protect| its fisheries than the United States does to protect Alaskan fisheries. He said Washington State with| only 1,000 miles of shoreline com- | pared to Alaska's 10,000 miles| spend $624,000 annually to protect | its fisheries compared to $619,000 | spent in Alaska by the Federal| Government, Oregon, he said, with one-twenty-third as much shore’ line to patrol, spends more than half as much as the Government | does in Alaska. Day said the Service has had many reports ol increased hunting pressure on Alaskan wildlike which | is decreasing the game. “Game in Alaska is in a des- perate situation,” he testified. .- Mt. McKinley Park | Given Working Fund| WASHINGTON, May 26— | The amount of $51,865 was ap- proved for Mount McKinley Park in Alaska, for the year starting!| July 1, in the House Appropriations Committee recommendations an-| nounced today. | STOCK QUOTATIONS | NEW YORK, May 26.—(®- ACIOS-“ Wright. 8%, International Harvest-, er 96, Kennecott 58', New York! Central 17, Northern Pacific 26%, | U. 8. Steel 79%, Pound $4.03%. Sales today 1,840,000 shares. .| Averages today are as follows® industrials ,191.06, rails '61.43, util-! ities 36.68. e STEAMER MOVEMENTS | Grommet Réefer scheduled to sail from Seattle Friday Aleutian scheduled to sail from| Seattle Saturday. George Washington sgheduled to sail from Seattle Monday. Alaska scheduled to arrive Thurs-| day evening, salling south some-| time before midnight Princess Louise scheduled to ar-| rive 8 a. m. Priday and sails south one hour later. Baranof gcheduled southbound | late Sunday or early Monday. . By CHARLES D. WATKINS WASHINGTON, May 26.—(@— The House Appropriations Com- mittee recommended today $35,200 000 for Alaskan Highways and the Alaska Railroad for the year start- | ing July 1. ‘The sum it contained in the In- terior Department appropriation bill.” It includes $15,000,000 cash to carry on a $47,858,790 rehabilita- tion program of the Alaskan Rail- road plus $6,700,000 in contract au- The $13,500,000 for road construction and improvement includes $5,000,000 in contract au- thorization. The road allocation is $3,211,400 under budget estimates and pro- vides maintenance and improve- ment of existing roads $1,700,000; construction or roads, $6,000,000 cash, $5,000,000 contract authori- zation; construction of repair shops and district headquarters $300,000, and surveys $500,000. The Army urged the committee to be liberal with its funds for the Alaskan Rallroad and for the roads. Alaska Native Service The bill provides $4,518,962 for the Alaska Native Service, $325,000 for investigation of mineral re- sources in Alaska by the Geolo- gical Survey and funds for the Territorial government. These latter include salaries and expenses $62,785, legislative expen- ses $48,000, public schools $50,000; care of insane $400,000; struction and repair of roads and trails $100,000. In addition sums for Alaska are contained in funds for a number ol other Interior ugencies includ« ing the Indian Bureau, the Mines Bureau, Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service and others. One Indian Bureau item is con- tract authorization of $5,925,000 for; a new hospital. No Move From Juneau The t-u'mmutec recalled reports He said British|ypa¢ rhtelior officials planned re-! moval of Alaskan headquarters irom Juneau to Anchorage. It said it had not been informed of such a plnn and told the Depart- /ment not to take such action until the committee has approved it. The committee disallowed $4,500 for painting the Governor'’s Man- sion and said it would be better to remove the present stucco fin- ish and replace it with wood. Road Work the road improvement It said program included the asphalt sur-; facing ‘of portions of the Richard- son Highway anli the Glenn High- way; continuation of construction of the Kenai Lake-Homer road, the Eagle-Foity Mile road, the Anchorage-Potter road and several farm roads, 'KLONDIKE KATE 10 WORK CLAIMS OF FORMER MATE VANCOUVER, B. C., May 26—-® —The “Queen of the Klondike" of geld rush days was here today the northern boom days. She is gracious Mrs. W. L. Van Duren, 68, of Bend, Ore., known as “Klondike Kate,” whose first hus- band, John Matson, died in the northern wilderness in 1946 after a colorful prospecting career, With her present husbahd, an | Oregon accountant, Mrs. Van Dur- en plans to head for Dawson City to work Matson’s placer mining stake. " Reférring to the “New Look” Mrs. Van Duren says she likes to think that things popular 50 years ago are staging a comeback. - - 'HOWELL SERVICES 70 BE DELAYED PENDING ARRIVAL SON JAMES The last rites for Mr. and Mrs. Sewlyn Howell, who passed away within a few days of each other will be delayed pending arrival of the son James A. Bradley, from Flamouth, Mass Both remains are at the Charles W. Carter Mortuary. and con-! the | of | Krug VIEWS GIVEN ON TERRITORY BY SECRETARY Says Stafehood Is urgently Needed - Army Wants North Made Strong WASHINGTON, oay 26—~P— Secretary Krug of the Interior De- partment told a House Subcommit- tee he believes there will be less exploitation of Alaskan resources under statehood than at present. Krug made his statement before the Appropriations Subcommittee considering the Department's 1949 appropriation bill. The testimony was made public today when the bill was introduced in the House. Rep. Jensen (R-Iowa) asked Krug if he is convinced there will be no exploitation of Alaskan re- sources under statehood which the official said he favored. | “I am quite confident there will i not,” Krug replied. “I feel very strongly there will be less exploitas tion of Alaskan resources if Alas- ka is a state thaii now, because I think the interest of the people of Alaska will be far more effective than any supervision from Wash- ington.” Krug said the Federal Govern- ment should exercise control of the | fisheries and natural resources from | the standpoint of conservation and | said the Department would continue control of the Pribilof Island seal herd and the National Parks and the Government would continue !control of National Forests. : Urgent Needs of Alaska | He listed the urgent needs of Alaska as: Aluska: should B¢ granted state- hood without delay. Improved land and water trans< portation ior development of The Territory and national defense. Extension of civil aviation, which will play a major part in the de- velopment and defense of the Territory. 2 Development of agriculture and {industrial settlement, | Private development of the pulp rand paper industry. Intensive exploration and de- 1 velopment to make possible the | greatest utilization possible of Alaska’s mineral resources, A comprehensive program of con- struction of municipal public works. Development of hydro-eclectric power, ;A comprehensive development af | public health, hospitalization and !a housing program and settlement of native rights, f Alaska Defense Assistant Secretary Willlam E., ) Warne told the committee that the security of Alaska is and will continue to be vital to the de- fense of the Territory. “If we are to remain strong, | Alaska must be made and kept stong,” he said. Warne said military works alone are not enough and that Alaska { must have more people, more rail- !roads, more roads, more farms and more industries. “To fail to meet the challenge of Alaska, and promptly, would be to gamble with our salety,” Warne sald. “It seems to me the plain duty of the government s to pro- | | |to help Gity Archivist Major J.|mote the settlement and full de- | 8. Matthews compile records velopment of Alaska ! Warne said an interdepartment committee study of the Alaskan situation indicated that with ade- quate support “a population in- crease within the next five years of 100,000 to 200,000 has been as- sumed as & possibility.” He sald that Alaska’s timber will support on a continuing basis six large paper mills cnd urged that an adequate health program be adopted. Rehabilitate R.R. Lt. General Howard Craig urg- ed the committee to approve funds for the rehabilitation of the Al- aska Railroad. Committee mem- ibrrs said privately they would ap- prove appropriation of $15,000,000 ‘(m‘ that purpose. Speaking for'the Armed Services, the General said the rehabilitation program would care for civilian and military requirements. “We consider the rapid accom- plishment of the rehabilitation program and re-equipping of the Alaska Railroad as essential to the progress of the military devel= opment program and as a primary requisite for the security of Al- lContTnucd on Page Three) o

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