The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 12, 1948, Page 1

P 4ar THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE VOL. LXVIIL, NO. 10,936 DEMO NATIONAL “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, JULY 12, 1948 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS Predicts Fateful Week BLOCKADE CAUSE OF CONCERN Both U.S. and Brifain Rush| Diplomats fo Berlin- | Troops, PlanesonWay | LONDON, Puly 12 —(®— The Conservative newspaper, the Daily| Graphic, observed somewhat crypti- call today that this may be a fateful week for Britain and the world. The editorial dealt with the Ber- lin crisis—the Russian hunger blockade and the three-power de- mand that the Russians lift it. The same tone was struck by an- other - Conservative journal, The London Daily Mail. “This,” says the Daily Mail, “has been the most critical weekend of its kind since Septen.ber, 1939.” And, continued the London news- paper, if Russia ignores the West- ern power demand, “the situation will deteriorate—to the point of an explosion . . . " That was one influential seg- ment of public opinion in London 1 today as an authoritative spokes-| man for the British government came up with this news: That Britain has sent consider- able numbers of new troops to Western Germany because of the growing tension in Berlin, The informant said many of the troop reinforcements will be flown to the German capital itself— apparently in a blunt warning to Moscow, that Britain means busi- ness. The announcement came as the| British Military Governor Germany, General Robertson, was conferring in London with Britain’s top military brass. WASHINGTON— Lewis Douglas, U. S. Ambassador to London, in view of the serious situation over the Berlin situation, was dis- patched to Berlin for conferences. The situation is recognized as in- tense. Lewis has been closeted with Gen. Lucius Clay, U. 8. Mili- tary Governor. | BERLIN — Mayor-elect Ernest Reuter, of Berlin, told 10,000 cheer- ing members of his Social Demo- | cratic party in the U. S. sector of blockaded Berlin: “We must establish a frontier| to Russian power. If Berlin falls, the liberty of all east of the Elbe falls with it.” BERLIN— The concensus in Ber- lin is that the Russians are try- ing to force the Western allies in- to a four-power discussion of the overall German question. Planes steadily increased the| flow of food to ~%rlin. Coal is an- other matter, however, with win- ter approaching. Economic paraly- sis spread. Production dropped 40 to 80 percent in the coal-starved plants of Western Berlin, TUNDRA-DEFIANE- BRING IN CATCHES! The Tundra, skippered by Peter| Oswald, landed 11,000 pounds of sable and 1,500 halibut at the Ju-| neau Cold Storage over the week- end, and the Defiance was in with 7,000 pounds sable and 500 pounds halibut. The fish went at 18 for medium, eight for chix, and 1¢ cents a pound for large. The cod sold for 11.25 cents a pound. Jim Hickey was in with a 400-|,.., pound salmon catch from Auk Bay and the Gambier, headed by Walt- er Reams, brought in 4,000 pounds salmon from Funter Bay. ———eeo—— HOT BANANAS Wrapping paper, covering a bunch of bananas, caught fire at 12:10 p. m. today in Thibodeau’s Grocery on Willoughby Avenue and brought out the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department in answer to a 2-1 fire alarm. No damage was re- ported. The fire was caused by an exploding oil stove in the rear of the store. for ! said. | | Soft Life Too I Much for Man 95 Years Old ELIZABETH, N. J, July 12— (P—Albert Seamann, who has a birth certificate to prove he's 95 years old, says the soft life isn't for him—he wants to get out of the hospital and go back to work. Doing odd jobs in a local res- taurant, Seamann slipped and brecke an ankle. “I've worked since I was 10 years old,” he told perplexed hos- pital authorities, “and I'm tired ot taking it easy here.” He came here from Florida sev- eral years ago, he says, after los- ing touch with his family of 12 children. FIENDISH SLAYING ~ REVEALED 1Seame University Sopho-| more Quickly Arrested Signs Confession SEATTLE, July 12—®—A 20-| vear-old University sophomore, the confessed slayer of a drive-in res- ) taurant ‘“car-hop” will be asked| to pay with his life for the crime, Deputy Prosecutor J. Edmund Quigley said today. The youth, John Russell Gasser, signed a confession in the pres- ence of six other law enforcement officials, that he killed Donna | Woodcock, 22, in a fit of rage early Saturday morning, Quigley . He has been held without charge since his arrest Saturday night.! Police, acting on the tip of af former high school classmate, took | Gasser into custody while he was eating his dinner. The girl's nude, slashed body was found lying in a muddy North End vacant lot. Shé had been crim- inally assaulted and gagged with her black brassiere. Describing the student “murderer of the coldest, est type,” Quigley said: “The prosecutor’s office will in- sist that Gasser be hanged.. . . or the death penalty be taken off the statute books. If ever a crime demanded the death penalty, this is it. In his confession, Gasser said he strangled the girl while they; were sitting in g 1949 sedan he had stolen earlier from a downtown garage. He denied any criminal attack or mutilation. The Washington| as a cruel- the cutthroat filed with a 22% in- ARABS ARE CAUGHT IN * JEWISHNET Reported Surrounded- in| Strategic Er Ramble, Of- fer to Surrender : . (By The Associated Press) Israeli troops tighting to open the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road said Arabs surrounded in strategic Er Ramle have offered to surrender. The fall of the town would open the way to a two way asault on Latrun, the bloody last barrier blocking the road. In another considerable success in the renewed war for Palestine, the Jews captured Lydda and its airport, the largest in the country. The Arabs advanced 10 miles along a 12 mile front in the Gilboa Hills between Jenin and Haifa, seizing seven villiages. Jerusalem was dive bombed by two Egyptian planes which seemed to ba aiming at a Jewish airport. Tel Aviv and eight Jewish settle- ments also were raided, the Egyp- tian Air Force said. | Both the Jews and Russians crit- | icized Count Folke Bernadotte, the| U. N. Mediator who brought about! the four weeks armistice wmchg ended last Friday. The Jews as- serted he apologized for Arab ag- gression and prejudiced the Pales- tine negotiations. - M. L. MARSHALL, ALS0 JOE HUGHES | HAVE BIG TROUT! With the Junior Chamber of Com- merce Trout Derby getting aff to! a good start, the three top entries( in Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout | divisions have been recorded at the H & Q Sports Center as follows: In the field of Dolly Vardens, Joe Hughes now leads the field with a two-and-on-half pounder measur- | ing 19.25 inches and caught atj Montana‘Creek. Les Fragner is now in the second slot with a 17% incher from Montana Creek and J Garcia, Jr., is third with a 16 9-16 incher weighing one-and-a-quarter pounds also taken at Montana Creek. With the measurement several inches larger, M. L. Marshall leads | cher weighing three-and-one-half pounds taken at Turner Lake. Amy | Bates duns a close second with a 221% incher weighing three-and-one- ! quarter pounds also’ from Turner Lake. Third place is presently held by John Geyer with a 22 11-16 in- cher weighing three pounds taken at Lake Hasselborg, All persons wishing to enter may Merry - Go - Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1948, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) (Ed. Note—Drew Pearson to- day continues his series of columns on personalities hold- ing the stage at the Demo- cratic National Convention.) PHILADELPHIA — No matter who else may be for him, there is no doubt about the fact that Harry S. Truman is thé favorite Democratic candidate—of the Re- publican Party. GOP leaders are keeping their fingers crossed, hop- ing, praying that this convention will not fail to nominate their Reasons behind their prayers are manifold and some quite obvious. One which is not so obvious is the fact that the Republicans have been saving up some of their juiciest scandals on the Truman administration to be publicized this summer—after the Philadelphia convention. They don't want to break the scandals too soon; first, for fear Hruman won'y be nomi- nated; second, because public memory is short. One scandal is the contributions (Continued on Page Four) register and weigh their fish at the H & Q Sports center, headquar- ters for the derby. - e GEO. WASHINGTON| SCHEDULED JUNEAU TUESDAY AFTERNOON Bringing an unusually large load | of 165 roundtrip passengers, the George Washington is scheduled to arrive in Juneau at 3 o'clock tomor- row afternoon with 16 passengers tor Juneau. She plans to sail at 10:45 tomorrow night to the West-! ward. From Seattle passengers are: Mrs. Clare Aubrey, Miss Ruth White, F. J. PFratrick, Floyd Ingerson and wife Mrs. Coffey and two children, Guy A. Russo and wife, C. T. Peterson and wife and two children, Mrs. K. Barricklow and daughter Beth. —e—— FROM ANCHORAGE Mrs. Mildred Clithero and David are among the guests at the Gas- tineau Hotel. The Clitheros are with the Salvation Army. — o FROM FUNTER BAY Arriving here over the weekend Demo Leaders Foregather ITED STATES SENATOR J. HOWARD McGRATH, of Rhode Island, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is shown chatting in Philadelphia on the eve of the quadriennial Bourbon National Convention, with India Edwards, Executive Director of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Convention. discussed plans for the big pow- in the Bcllevue-Stratford Hotel. They wow at Democratic headquarters The convention opened today in the same convention hall where the Republicans a fortnight ago nominated Governors Thomas E. Dewey of New York, and Earl Warren, of Cali- fornia, as Republican candidates for Presiaent and Vice-President. respectively. (International Soundphoto). ;'Sviaiit Defense" 6! Alaska is " " Announced by Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff on Inspection SLOW DOW PROBE ASKED BY GOVERNOR Gruening Suggests “'Im- partial Agency” to In- vestigate Charges SEATTLE, July 12.—P—Alaska’s Gov. Ernest Gruening suggests in- vestigation by an “impartial agency” to ascertain the truth of Waterfront Employers’ charges that C.1.O. longshoremen here are en- gaging in ‘“slowdown” tactics in lcading cargo for Alaskan and oth- , er ports. The Governors suggestion came as a reply to a wire sent him by waterfront employers of Washing- ton, setting forth the charges The Governor's wired reply said: “Gettings of longshoremen em- phatically denies any slowdown. In presence of two contradictory witnesses, suggest that some impar- tial agency ascertain facts.” | (The “Gettings” referred to in Gruening's wire is William Get-| tings, CIO longshore union chief in Seattle, who has denied the “slow- down” charges.) Continuing to detail its charges, the Employer’s Association last night declared that American re- lief cargoes for Greece, Italy and Okinawa are being subjected to “slowdown” tactics by the ‘long- shoremen. 1 Loading operations on relief | cargoes on'the SS Evergreen State and the SS Sgt. Truman Kimbro, were slowed 59 percent, Merle Ringenberg, Waterfront Employers'' president, said. ! A detailed statement in down of loading cargo for Alaska FAIRBANKS, Alaska, July 12— (P—The army’s deputy chiqf of staff said today the new draft act will make army ground forces avaii- able for “static defense” of Alaska for the first time since the Japanese were driven from the Aleutians. The officer, Gen. J. Lawton Col- lins, made this comment as he con- |cluded a tour of territorial military installations with inspection of air force bases near here. The {four-star general was ac- companied here by Gordon Gray, Assistant Secretary for the Army, and Lt. Gen. Raymond A. Wheeler, Chief of the Corps of Engineers. It was the first trip,to the territory for all of them. Both Gray and Collins said they | did not see any immediate danger to Alaska as an outgrowth of tense relations Letween the United States and Russia in Berlin. They adhered, rowever, to the conviction expressed by some other military leaders that in event of any hostilities with tcreign powers Alaska would be in position toth strategic and, from a defense standpoint, That vulnerability, Collins said, will be diminished by two factors: approval by Congress of appropri- atizns for increased military hou: ing m Alaska, and the draft act it- seli, Even had foot soldiers been avail- able previously to send to Alaska for regular tours of duty, Collins said, these were no housing facili- ties to accommodate them. Appro- priations totaling more than $40,- 000,000 for the army, air force and navy quarters in Alaska were in- cluded in bills passed by Congress along with the consgription meas- ure in the final days before adjourn- ment June 20. e FOREST SERVICE CANCELS ALL OF BURNING PERMITS All burning permits were can- celled today by the U. S. Forest slow- | service because of the extreme tire) hazard eaused by a long spell of vulnerable. | from PFunter Bay was R. L. Peco- lvwh. a guest at the Hotel Juneau.;dayx‘ ldry weather it is announced by the | Admiralty Division of the Forest Service. | A.;W. Blackerby, Division Super- Bob Nichols, Chief Engineer of viser, requested that all persons re- the Alaska Broadcasting Co., ar- frain from starting any kind of ports has also been issued. R o g BOB NICHOLS HERE irived here yesterday on the Denali‘:m-es in National Forest areas be- (from Ketchikan, where he has just | cause of the dryness. —_——.———— FROM TODD M. F. Stockwell of Todd is stay- ing at the Baranof Hotel. installed new studio facilities for' KTKN. He will do some work on' KINY here during the next few 1 ' Over Berlin Crisis TENTATIVE PLATFORM IS DRAFTED ‘Compromise_Proposed in | Civil Rights-Fight on | | Floor Indicated | | By FRANCIS M. LeMAY ! | PHILADELPHIA, July 12—m—| | Democratic platform members werri | reported today to have drawn a| | preliminary civil rights plank bid- ding for party unity through revival of the 1944 race stand. But there were no immediate signs whether the proposed com- promise can stop a convention | floor fight—between Southerners | and self-styled “liberals” that | could determine whether the Dem- | ocrats will be one party or two in Novrinber. i The tentative platform draft, | ldrawn by a 7-man cubcommittee and yet to be approved by the| 18-member full platform commit- | tee and by the convention, was| held in secrecy. Southerners were said to have lost their fight in the preliminary, drafting group for a state's right plank. Previously Democritic ! Chairman J. Howard McGrath said the administration might be | willing to go along on such a plank if it did not “nullify" the civil rights proposal. i Senator Francis J. Myers, of | | Pennsylvania, platform commmeef chairman, described the super-sec- | ret document as following “gener- | (ally in outline the philosophy of | ‘the New Deal - a Roosevelt-Tru- | | man platform.” It remained to be seen whether | the words the sleepy-eyed drafting committee of seven came up with| lat 3:30 am., would please either | |side in the red hot civil rights' | battle. | al > | | STEAMER MOVEMENTS | | | a Aleutian, from Seattle, scheduled i to arrive possible early tomorrow afternoon. George Washington, from Van-; couver, due 7 p. m. tomorrow. | Prince George, from Vancouver,' jdue 7 p. m. tomorrow. Alaska schéduled to sail Seattle 10 a. m. Wednesday. Princess Louise scheduled to sail from Vancouver 9 p. m. Wednes- day. Corsair, from west, in port south- bound, to Vancouver. Baranot, from west, scheduled to | arrive southbound 5 a, m. tomor- | row. Princess Norah, scheduled to ar- ‘rive 8 a. m. tomorrow, sailing south | one hour iater, S DEMO CONVENTION | T0 BE BROADCAST HERE THIS WEEK Captain Clark V. Telquist, Sector Commander of the Alaska Com-!| munications System, today announc- ed the dates and times for broad- casts over local radio facilities of( [the National Democratic Conven-! tion at Philadelphia. | The Conveintion will be on the |air from 5-6:30 p.m. today; 5:30- 7 p.m. on Tuesday; 5:30 p.m. until finish Wednesday; and 8:30 am. until finish on Thursday. | ‘The broadcasts are being furnished to Alaskans as a public service of | the Alaska Communications System and are expected to be carried on KINY. from S O ey CORSAIR TIES UP THIS AFTERNOON The passenger vessel Corsair tied | up at the Northland Dock shortly after 2 o'clock this afternoon from Vancouver with two passengers for Juneau. They are Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Michelson. With 58 passengers aboard she is| scheduled to sail at 6:30 o'clock to-! night. | PRICE TEN CENTS T CONVENTION MEETS Convention Gefs Off fo Slow Start BULLETIN Philadelphia, July 12—The first session of the Democratic National Con- vention adjourned at 11:06 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. BULLETIN Philadelphia, July 12.—Gov. Earle Clements of Kentucky, says the name of Senator Alben Barkley will definitely be placed in nomina- tion fec the Vice-Presidency BULLETIN Philadelphia, July 12.—Speakers this morn- ing at the convention all car- ried bitter denunciations of the GOP, one speaker stating the Republican record was “nega- tivism, obstruction and retro- gression.” BULLETIN — Portland, Ore., July 12—Supreme . Cou't Jus- tice William O. Douglas told newsmen here today that he will not accept a Vice Presi- dential nomination. By RELwmanN MORIN CONVENTION HALL, PHILA- DELPHIA, July 12-(—The strains of the “Missouri Waltz" echoed over acres of empty seats today as the Democratic convention got off to a slow, late start. The Waltz, a salute to President Harry S. Truman, was played twice. First, it came from the great rollinz tones of the pipe organ. Then the brass band, in its sec- tion just beneath the roof and at the far end of the hall, played it again. . There was no response either time, from the handful in the gal- leries or from delegates gossiping in the aisles. “Dixie” Gets 'Em . But the bandleader, with a sure instinct for audience reactions, swung into “Dikie.” He got his re- action. Rebel yells rang through the auditorium, and southern dele- | gates brought the first note of en-| since | in Phila-| thusiasm to the convention people begah gathering delphia, three and four days ago. At 11 o'clock (EST), a half-hour after the scheduled starting time, the delegations still had not been | seated and the public galleries were ' less than one-fifth seated. But if the convention itself suf-! fered by contrast to the Republi-| can conclave two weeks earlier, Convention Hall did not. It had more and better decora-; ticns, in the form of state ban- ners, hung from the balconies. Split Personality The Democrats went to Conven- tion Hall suffering from a bad case of split personality. A man with this affliction knows not whether he is coming or going, much less in which direction. And that was precisely the situation in Philadelphia, as the party of Thomas Jefferson gathered to nominate a candidate for the Presi- dency. It was split, first of all, on North-South axis. But there were fissures within fissures, cracks within cracks, and splinters, slivers and broken pieces pointing every which way. The “Solid South” was hardly more solid than a pile of jackstraws. The North was little better. Happy Confusion Doubtless as a result of this, an1 atmosphere of happy confusion prevailed in the convention city as the party settled down to busi- ness. The Eisenhower headquarters on Broad Street have been trans- formed, with a few strokes of a painter’s brush, into the base for ol DEMOCRATS GATHERED, CONVENTION {Question of_lanning Mate | for Truman, Also Plat- form, Big Issues | By JACK BELL “ CONVENTION HALL, PHILA- | DELPHIA, July 12.—A—Justice | William O. Douglas took himself | out of the Vice Presidential picture |today as the Democrats opened their convention, wrangling over ! naming President Truman to head | their ticket and over their plat- form | While delegates were still strag- |gling into this hall for the first | session, party leaders announced | downtown that Douglas had giv- .|en what they regarded as an “ab- | solute refusal” to be considered for the No. 2 spot on the party's ticket. | John Redding, Democratic pub- licity chief, made the announce- ment. There had been reports | earlier that President Truman, in a long distance telephone conver- sation, had personally asked Doug- las to give consent lor his name ' to go before the convention. Doug- las is vacationing. With Douglas out_of considera- tion, talk of Vice Presidential pos- sibilities centered on Gov. Willlam | Preston Lane, Jr, of Maryland, and Senator Alben W. Barkley of Ken- ! tucky Truman Forces Control | Truman's forces are in complate !cnntrul of the convention -and ap- parently able to write their own | platform and name the Vice Presi- | dential candidate as well as hand | the ticket-topping nomination to | the President. [ But plenty of fireworks were In prospect. Die-hard critics of the President are determined he shall not have the nomination without a‘ gesture of opposition on the convention | floor. Dixie Rebels settled on Gov. Ben Laney of Arkansas as the man they will back. And Senator Claude | Pepper of Florida declared him- self a candidate. { Alapama May Walk Out At least part of Alabama's dele- gation was-ready to walk out if Truman is nominated or if the s platform doesn't please them. This group won control of the delegation in_a pre-session caucus. But California, where there was mucht anti-Truman sentiment last week, was lining up behind the President. It voted 42 to 12 to support him on the first ballot. | While Lane and Barkley were {getting most talk as Vice Presi- dential possibilities, Redding said he considers the race “wide open.” Perhaps Barkley is the leading possibility, he said. Pepper and Laney were entered as Presidential candidate last | night. 'FOREST RESEARCH " CHIEF T0 ARRIVE . HERE ON JULY 19 | Ray F. Tavlor, who will take |charge of the newly created Alaska Forest Research Center in Juneau, iis due to arrive here on July 19, it |was announced today by the Re- gional Office of the U. S. Forest | Service. Taylor's assistant, Richard | Godman, formerly of Pattonburg, ( Missouri, came here Saturday with Mrs. Godman to get things ready for Taylor’s arrival. | Office space for the new project : Senator Pepper. Senator Claude Pepper of Fiorida.| has not vet been located. The Re- The sign is the same: It still|search Center is expected to em- asserts, in large blue letters—“The ploy at least five persons and is People’s Choice For President.” hulip.n of an overall Alaska research underneath, in a space that was|program of the U. S. Department of formerly blank, it now speaks for!Agriculture. 1 ————l B e i CAPTAIN VISITS HERE FROM TULSEQUAH | Capt. P. V. H. Weems, Randall Visiting here irom Tulsequah, B., House, Annapolis, Md., is a new C. C. H. King is registered at the arrival in Juneau and is staying Baranof Hotel. |at the Baranof Hotel. s A 3 o A oo