The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, June 1, 1948, Page 1

CONGRESS LABE STONAL Do e THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” [—= VOL. LXVIIL, NO. 10,902 — JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDA\V JUNE 1 1948 3 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS MASS EVAGUATIO N ALONG COLUMBIA Thousands Flee From Homes, Vanport Gone WASH. OFFICIALS | DEATH TOLL PEACE PLEA IS GIVEN T0 JEWS, ARABS Deadline for or Truce Ends Tonight - Jews Drop Bombs, Arab Meeting (By The Assocll'.efl Press) Jewish bombs dropped today on Amman, where Arab leaders assem- bled to talk over the latest United Nations peace plea. Within a few hours, Israel ac cepted unconditionally the U. N. ap: peal for a four-week armistice dur- | ing which an arms embargo would be enforced on Arabs and Jew: alike. The British said the Jewish war- planes attacking Amman also bomb- ed the RAF field nearby and that | 12 persons were killed and 30 in- jured. Amman is the capital of Trans- Jordan, the home of Warrior King Abdullah, who leads five of the seven Arab armies arrayed against Israel. About ten 50-pound bombs were | dropped during four single flights. The Arabs demanded that Tel Haganah, the Army of Israel, was reported driving on strategic Jenin in north-central Palestine. Jenin is the apex of the Nablus-Jenin- -Tulk- arm triangle, a key to Arab| strength. The Arab Higher Committee in Cairo claimed the capture of Na- tanya, 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and cutting of the coastal road from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The claim was unconfirmed from any other source. | Deadline for the sixth United Nations effort to bring a truce to Palestine ends tonight. The U. proposed a four- -week armistice and arms embargo. The Jewish Pro- visional Legislature was called mlol session at Tel Aviv last night to| hear reports on the truce. Count Folke Bernadotte, U. N. Mediator, left Haifa for Amman in an effort to further peace. The Prime Minister of Egypt said the Arab reply to the U. N. will be| “moderate, reasonable and accept- able.” | There still were vehement public | demands in the Afrab states for pringing the Jews to their knees | in Palestine. - CEASE FIRING, ISRAEL ORDER TEL AVIV, June 1.—(®—The gov- ernment of Israel sent a cease fire order to all its forces in Jerusalem today in compliance with the appeal of Jthe United Nations Security ‘Council. The government's order was to be- come effective at 3 a. m., Tel Aviv time, .tomorrow (3 p. m. Pacific Standard time today. The Washingtion Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1948, nl: 'l‘he Bell Syndicate, | ‘ASHINGTON — Reports from Europe indicate that we are muft- ing the ball in the exchange of so- called “peace notes” with Russia. We wrote a note to the Russians saying that the door was open to diplomatic discussions. The Rus- sians fired back saying that they would like to talk. Then we re-| plied that we didn’t want to talk after all. There have been some explana- tions and counterexplanations since since then, but the net impression in Europe has been bad. The {nounced that the date for the pnc- E ENTERTAINED AT | " ROTARY lUN(HEON The Rotary Cl\xb was host to sev- ‘enl guests from Washington, D. C.,| day \weekly luncheon meeting. The ‘gucsts were: Major Beryl Simpson, Capt. William Steele, Capt. Wfl« liam Brierty, Lieut. Don DeFoe, Wil- | liam Wheaton, Lester Marks. Capt. Wm. Steele acted as spokes- man for the group and gave a short resume as to the reasons why the group was in Alaska. E. A. Lilly-| white told of some of the material | }that was discussed -and William | Wheaton gave several views in re-| |eard to the housing situation in | | Alaska. Otner guests at the luncheon| | were, Lucille Johnson, Earl McGin- y, Joe Williams, Phil Senoir, Tra- el Agent from Ketchikan; Joe | Goding, District Sales Manager for| | Pan American from Ketchikan, .md ‘Arthm O. Allen .from Washington, T, C. Ralph Rivers announced that the | : Washington University Glee Club will make two appearances in Ju-| neau. The first appearance will be | June 13 and on their return trip they will make another appearance | at the 20th Century Theatre on| June 25. Rivers stated the entire| proeeeds will go to the Memorial Library fund. 1 Wallis George is chairman of the; twm sales which will start to-| Glee Club the ' Seattle party. Homer Onrvin is in charge of local publicity and Mr. and Mrs. Art. Uggen, theatre arrangements. _dayor Hendrickson has appointed a central committee to be headed by Ralph Rivers, Harold Foss and Frank Heintzleman. Rivers also said | all service clubs will be asked to| participate in the atove events. | Henry Hogue, chairman for the Rotary Club annual picnic an- nic has been changed due to other | activities that are scheduled for the original date of June 6. A new date will be announced, later. STEAMER MOVEMENTS ‘ from Seattle, Aleutian, west bound. George Washington, on maiden trip from Seattle, due to arrive 3 p.m., Thursday. Princess Louise scheduled to sail| from Vancouver June 2. Alaska scheduled to sail Seattle June 3. Princess Norah scheduled to sml| from Vancouver June 5. Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle June 5 STOC SUOTATIONS NEW YORK, June 1.—(®—Clos- ing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 4, American Can 88%, Anaconda 40%, Curtiss- Wright 8%, International Harvester 967%, Kennecott 58%, New York Central 16%, Northern Pacific 24%, U. S. Steel 79%, Pound 4.03%. Sales today were 1,003,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: industrials 191.18, rails 60.88, util- ities 35.72. PORTLAND MEAT PLANTS ARE HIT BY FLOOD WATERS PORTLAND, June 1. — (# — The Columbia River flood knocked out most of Portland’s meat plants. but officials said the city would get enough meat. Three small plants, although partly flooded, were able to oper- ate, and plants between Portland and Salem stepped up producuon - e INTENTIONS TO WED Two couples filed applications for marriage licenses over the week |end with U. §. Commissioner Felix Gray. First was Albert L. Sholund, of the U. S..Coast Guard, and Shirley A. Johnson, both of Ju- neAu. The other couple was Ken- m port, | 1 from at noon at their regular| E. Alden Llllywhne.‘ ARMY TAKES HIGH OVER ~ TWO DAYS |Over 400 Fatalities Report- ed-Traffic Accidents | Take Many Lives | More than 400 persons died vio- | lently during the nation’s extend- | | |ed Memorial Day holiday. Traffic accidents caused more than half of the fatalities | Accident deaths reported from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Mon- | day totaled 404—not including the | unknown number of dead in lhe‘ | Vanport, Oregon, flood. The drown- ling of 22 Navy and Marine COX'))a! men, lost when a launch capsised | |in Hampton Roads, Va. was the| | largest known loss of life in a single accident. | The toll compared to 504 violent | deaths over the three-day 1947 Memorial Day holiday and to 202 | over a similar period in 1946. | An estimated 30,000,000 automo- | biles were on the country’s high-| ways over the and more than 200 persons were killed in traffic mishaps. Of the 404 violent deaths, 204 died in mo- Aviy he homped again in reprisal, Shattuck is initor accidents; 92 persons drowned,| P 'chnrge of tE wfirtflnme‘ffi'?or the wou e wiiers dost their lives in| accidents of miscellaneous nature— including plane crashes, fires, Ialls\ and other causes. Deaths by states trom l.raffic.J drownings and miscellaneous caus-‘v ers, included: Oregon, 1, 5 and 2; Washington 3, 2 and 4. | - | (ONTROL OF B.C.FLOOD | VANCOUVER, B. C., June 1—#— Battle lines were drawn today along the banks of the disaster-strewn Fraser River as the army took con- trol of British Columbia’s fight against ravaging floods. A state of emergency was declared | in the province by Premier Byron yJohnson last night. He empowered ! Col. T. E. Snow, B. C. Army Com | mander, to call out troops in the province to ‘“combat the flood as well as any other matters arising out of this emergency. i The navy reported a new threat —looting—has broken out in at least two sections of the distressed Fraser Valley. B LABOR DEPARTMENT REGIONAL DIRECTOR ARRIVES IN JUREAU Four men from the Wage and Hours Public Contract Division of the U. S. Department of Labor, ar- rived here via PAA yesterday after- néon, headed by John R. Dille, Re- gional Director from San Francis- co. Dille expects to return to his headquarters within a week or ten days, but the other three, In- spectors Herman Jones, Howard R. Peterson and Robert Hopkins, will remain in Alaska .for an in-\ definite period. i —_————— PRINCE GEORGE ON 5. E. ALASKA ROUTE VICTORIA, B .C., June 1—P— The Pacific Northwest coast’s new- est passenger ship, S. S. Prince George, will make her nfhiden voy- age to Alaska on June 10. | The ship’s first voyage had been | chartered by the Los Angeles Cham-; ber of Commerce. { Capt. E. B. Caldwell, former mas-| neth G. Shudshift, of Douglas, — (Continued on Page Four) | employee. i i ter of the Prince Rupert, and who! { picked up by " Flood Devaslales Idaho Industrial Town COEEE BONNERS FERRY, IDAHO, devastated by fk)()d waters D! Kuownul River when dikes bu: An industrial town, Bonners Ferry is among many towns in Pacific Northwest region now | under water. suffering from flood which has left 16 dead to date and thousands homeless in its toll. three-day holiday ‘¥D—00 acres of diked land are under water. (International Sour |dphnlu ) J. A. STACHEL ARRESTED; TO BE DEPOQTED cation American Com- munist in Custody 1 — WASHINGTON, June | The Justice Department today an- (p—Fire swept through the inounced the arrest for deportation |business district of Palmer, of Jacob Abraham Stachel, Nation- Amencfin Communist party. The department said Stachel was immigration agents in front of his New York residence this morning. Ellis Island roceedings. ’ "fl 8 |men battled desperately to save'by Robert N. Denham, general| Stachel 15 accused of illegally |Luildings in the fire's path. A new|ccunsel of the National Labor Re- | entering this country and of join- concrete building, housing a drug-|lations Board. ing a subversive organization after his entry. o o ¢ . . WEATHER REPORT (U. S. WEATHER BUREAU) Temperatures for 24-hour period ending 7:30 this morning In Juneau— Maximum, 49; minimum, 45. At Airport— Maximum, minimum, 43. FORECAST (Juiicau wnd Vicinity) Mostly cloudy with light rain -showers tonight and Wednesday. Highest temper- ature Wednesday near 53 de- grees. 50; PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today In Juneau 49 inches since July 1, 87.06 inches At Airport — 1.01 inches; since July 1, 53.04 inches. ® o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RIS GENG SR ALASKA COASTAL PIX TONIGHT AT 7 O'CLOCK e®000ec00s0cscc0c0s0ees Ve . Alaska Coastal Airways will show their seventh and eighth series in their refresher course pictures to- night in the Study Hall of the; Juneau High School at 7 o'clock. The topic for tonight's pictures are Radio Navigation and solution of wind triangles and radius of ac- tion problems, All student pilots and Alaska Coastal pilots are urged to attend | and any other persons interested are cordially invited. ——— SEATTLE VISITORS Mrs. Albert Price and son, Will- iam Tierre, Robert Hopkins, vid Hoffman and Louis Bianchi,| Baranof Hotel. to await deportation| eesec Da- | PALMER IS HITBLOW, BIGBLAZE National Director of Edu- Main Busmess District| Argues He Is Is Not Required Afire at Night-Damage Eslimaled at $175,000 ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 1- main in the night, atanuska Valley, last ‘al Director of Education for the causing damage estimated unoffi- |cially at $175,000. | Palmer is the valley’s main set- |tlement and headquarters for the| | government-sponsored jof the Matanuska Valley the in He was removed to| | Palmer and Fort Richardson fire- |store, a fountain and numerous offi-{ ces, was virtually a complete los: The owner, Neil Wright, states on a business trip. The origin of the fire was not mmediately determined $70,000 Fire Three Bmldmgs Destroy-| ed, Two Damaged- Man Suffocated | ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 1—# —One man died, three buildings | were destroyed and two others dam- ! aged in @& two-alarm fire that| swept through the main business district here Sunday. The loss was |estimated atd more than $70,000. A bar, liquor store and groce were swept by the flames. A, res-| taurant and drug store had serious smoke and water damage. The victim was identified as Nick Kolaris, a dishwasher for the res- taurant. His body was found in his basement room below the eating | establishment. Suffocation was listed as the cause of his death. Kolaris, about 75, was a retired Alaska Railroad section foreman. | Fire Chief George Neal was over« come temporarily by smoke while |fighting the blaze. - - HAINES VISITORS | Leonard King, William Sparks and Claire J. Dore, Juneau ACS | has heen with the company for 30 all from Seattle, are guests at the and Ho; - Jeats, (s mastar of ke sewr by { guests a a yt Day of Haines are regis tered at the Hotel Juneau rolonization | is in thel More than 20,- | | lEWIS pUTS UPFIGHTON INJUNCTION to Bargain with South- .| ern Coal Men , ! WASHINGTON, June 1.—®—| | John ‘L. Lewis argued today that | ‘he is not required to bargain with | ‘(he “hostile, arbitrary” Southern Coal Producers Assoclation. This was his reply to the Gov- | | ernment’s motion for a Taft-Hart- | ley Act injunction to compel his| United Mine Workers to seek a contract with the Associatipu, ! Lewis' lawyers filed a motion to | dismiss the injunction suit brought The Taft-Hartley law requires |unicns and employers to bargain| in good faith with each other's ¢hosen reoresentatives. Lewis had | refused tc bargin with the south- | etn group on the ground it did not ! take part in previous contract talks, | and national negotiations for a new | | soft coal contract have collapsed as a resuit, 1 Junoi HELLENTHAL TO. | RETURN OVER HIGHWAY | | | ¢ Accerding to Delegate Bartlett’s Inews letter, dated May 28, Judge | Simon Hellenthal of Juneau, -was in | Washington for a short time to (visit his daughter and son-in-law, {Mr.-and Mrs. Fred W. Ayer. Judge 'Hellenthal will join his wife m\ | Chicago to drive to Alaska over the| J‘h)ghway. Jack F. Scavenius, city Louncnl- man of Anchorage and head nh Mount McKinley Airways, Inc., has| |called on Delegate Bartlett while in | | Washington. Mr., Scavenius was in |the nation’s cepital as Alaska wing commander of the Civil Air Patrol to attend a conference of wing| commanders throughout the coun- try. John L. McCormick of Juneau is in Washington to attend meetings |in connection with his position as| Director of the Office of Selective| Service Raecords for Alaska. - MAEBIED YESTERDAY | | Jehn A. Gallagher, a master| mariner, and Fay L. Middleton,| |laundry worker, both of Juneau,| were married at Douglas yesterday ! by U. S. Commissioner Felix Gray. | Mrs. A. J. Goodman and Neil C. Gallagher v witnesses to the! ceremony, ‘ let | _ ,the | U. 8. Forest Service. ger Larry Zack was called at 4"",‘l by the U. 8. Coast Guard| | with | Skaret, What (aused Disaster at Vanporl' VANPORT, Ore., Jlml' 1~ | What caused the Vanport disaster? An almost-forgotten fact on the dikes there came to light today The protective wall believed to be the strongest was the one that go. It was the railroad fill carrying the tracks of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railroad to the west of Vanport Roy Taylor, assistant mainten- ance engineer of the Portland Housing Authority, which had| charge of Vanport, said the fill was constructed about 1918 by cov- ering an old trestle with dirt. It was not intended for a dike. He theorized that rotting timbers allowed the dike to shift, then give way to the pressure. A wall of water shot into Vanport. At the time of the flood dis- aster, hundred of children were at play on the various grounds. | When “the flood burst, residents rushed to the upper stories of their homes, but these crumbled like match boxes when the flood waters struck and all were hurled into raging waters. TRUMAN AUTHORIZES AID WASHINGTON, June 1.—®— | President Truman today ordered “fall resources of the Federal Gov- ernment” mobilized for aid in the Pacific flood disaster. The President instructed Maj. (;(‘n. Philip B. Fleming, Federal Works Administrator, directing him to co-ordinate all Federal agencies working on the disaster. He also directed the Army, the Interior De- partment and housing officials to mvesugvte the Vauporl disaster, EARLY MORNING FIRE DESTROYS DOUGLAS CABIN, A small cabin, on Cowee Creek near West Juneau on Douglas l'\-" land, was completely destroyed h) fire early this morning according to the Admiralty Division of the District Ran- a. m. Cutter Wachusett Quartermapter who sighted the blaze and reported it to him. The cabin was said to be ownéd by three Juneau youths but their names were not immediately avail- able. Cause of the fire was not determined. e BOATS FLOCK IN AT (OLD STORAGE Swamping Juneau Cold Storage with fourteen boats which came in yes- terday and today: The Nordic, skippered by Ole Jostol with 60,000 pounds; the Ex- plorer, Magnus Hansen, 45,000; the Waterfall, Eddie Jack, 5500; Dor- lothy D, Al Frank, 5,000; the Ford, [ Ole Brandell, 7000; the/ New Anny, Willie Marks, 6,000; the U and 1 by George Davis with 9,000; the 31B700, George Kenney, 1800; the Valor, Willlam George, 15,000, the Defiance, Frank Olson, 7,100; the Arctic, Lawrence Carlson, 2,000; the “RD” by Herman Waldemar 5,000; the Tenakee, Ronald 15,000; and the Rainier, Ed with 3,400 pounds. The Danna and another troller, John, lsklppere(i by the Loseth brothers, were in with 1,800 and 1,600 pounds of king salmon. The Nuisance 111, captained by Stan Thompson, came in with 8,000 pound of kings irom Cmss Sound. Territorial Engineer Frank A. Metcalf reported today that the Haines Cutoff to the Alaska High- way is now open. He Said that three cars came into Haines yester- day via the road and two return- ed. One auto will continue on to Juneau, halibut were the following| GREATEST DISASTER, - NORTHWEST Toll of Lives Estimated at 20 - Propery Damage Runs Into Millions PAUL W HARVEY Jr. | By i PORTLAND, June 1—(M— The | Columbia River flood, which al- |ready had taken a toll of at least 20 lives and property loss of more | than $37,000,000, forced mass evacs | uation teday of a 120-mile section at the lower end of the stream. | The river had already caused the | Northwest's greatest disaster as its crest approached the rich farm- |lands from the Portland area to | the sea. Army engineers gave the warning to evacuate, but said many of the thousands of residents al- ready had fled. Death Toll Unknown The toll of dead will not, be known until waters recede. No estimate of damage throughout the |area was available, but the Port- |land Housing Authority said dam- age at the crumbled war-housing city of Vanport was $27,000,000. The cnly other estimate was $10,000,000 damage in the Kelso, Woodland and Kalama district of Southwest Wathington. "hose were only two small areas affected. Before the Vanport disaster, Ar- Imy engineers had predicted the Columbia and its tributaries would cause 4 total loss of $30,000,000. The engineers now won't make any kind of an estimate. More Flood Threats | The river, which already had |caused the Pacific Northwest's | greatest disaster, threatened to ilood hundreds of farms and many small cities in the area, nearly |all of which is downstream from | Portland. Army evacuation of engineers ordered the the thousands of residents of the 45 drainage dis- | tricts area, but said many of them already had run for higher ground. Vanport Crumbles The Portland Housing Authority | estimated at $27000,000 the loss suffered by the war-housing city of Vanport, which was crambled sunday. The river, second largest in the | nation in amount of water dis- charged, is at flood stage for 750 miles. The crest will reach the Portland area tonight or tomorrow. Part of Portland’s downtown area, including the union station, was under water today aiter the Willamette River topped the sea- wall. The station is Portland’s only railroad depot, and trains were " unable to use it. 18,000 Homeless In North Portland, where more than 18,000 persons were left home- less in Sunday's Vanport disaster, the flooded area was the result of the bursting of two more dikes. {On top of these two dikes were the approaches to the Pacific High- way, principal north-south route. The breaking of these dikes left three square miles under water, with houses from Vanport pour- ing through both gaps. Some of them turned end-over-end and all hope of salvaging these was lost. No bodies have been recovered from Vanport. Some bodies might be swept so far they never would be found. Was “Blowout” Army engineers are investigating the “blowout’” of the railroad em- bankment which resulted in the Vanport disaster. The rail fill was constructed 40 years ago. Com- menting on the fate of what once was Oregon’s second largest city, ythe Portland Housing Authority announced the agency “feels terri- {bly bad that lives possibly were |lost but all you can do is depend (on the advice of competent en- , gineers.” Survivors Scattered Survivors are scattered in thous- ands of homes throughout the city, in schools and churches. In British Columbia, military au- thorities were given power to con- seript citizens and requisition trans- (Continued On Page Two)