The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, October 20, 1948, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1948 VOL. LXVIIL, NO. 11,021 Communism In Alask Hear for Fist Time REDINQUIRY | IS ASKED FOR | SHIP STRIKE § House UnAmerican Com. to Take Jaycees Request "Under Advisement™ WASHINGTON, Oct. 20.—P— Chief Investigator Robert E. Strip- ling said today the House Un- American Activities Committee will take “under advisement” the Al- aska Junior Chambers of Commerce | i West Coast maritime strike. No committee members were in the city today. The J. C. C. request was an- nounced from Anchorage, also from Juneau. In a telegram from Anchorage, J.C.C. President Earl Cook told the committee.: ? “Unless settled immediately, this; strike will seriously impede the development of Alaska and severely handicap national defense xu:tivnlesl in the Territory.” The telegram specifically asked| the committee to determine wheth- er Harry Bridges, president of the CIO Longshoremen'’s” Union, is a Communist. 20—M— Con- One Slrikeb;un ‘Members of a House Committee on Education and Labor, now in Alaska, said in Anchorage, and also in Juneau, they were “glad to ac- cept” the suggestion of investigat- | SEATTLE, Oct. These three little girls, all deaf since birth, register varying expressions of joy upon hearing the human request for an inquiry into thel yjie for the first time, using acoustic instruments at the Ephpheta School for the Deaf, in Chicago. Left to right: Janice Ohlson, five; Dawn Boyson, five, and Dianna Calabese, seven. (® Wirephoto. Alaska Ship Line Going fo | Suspend; 'No Future Plans’ TELLS STORY 1 H | | d Seattle, SURVIVOR OF BARGE WRECK | 'Sees Four Companions | Swept to Death in Dark- ness—Cargo Tofal Loss CORDOVA, Alaska, Oct. 20.—#— | Alive because he missed the bont.' | the lone survivor of the Skarstone! ' barge tragedy was awaiting air pas- | sage to Juneau and thence to his SEATTLE, Oct. 20.—#— One of 1 three strikebound (Seattle-Alaska ship lines—The Alaska Transpor- tation Company—said today it is suspending operations ‘“indefinite- ly” and has “no future plans.” A. J. Swanson, vice president and general manager of the firm whose | vessels are idled by the maritime strike, declined to elaborate. | He did say, however, that the {firm hopes to turn back to the | | a {today perishable food shipments to|his entire year's livelihood from a STRONGHOLD OF COMMIES TAKEN, solidation of operations of the Alaska Steamship Company and the Northland Transportation Com- pany, to take effect after settle- Maritime Commission “as soon as: Seattle home today. possible” from the Commission. two vessels it chartered | The ships = arc tne freighters Clove Hitch and Sword Knot. The G. A. Skarbo, 42, told yesterday how he remained with the sinkimg, Skarstone by accident and how four companions who managed to leave | ALL THE TIME” MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS COAST STRIKE FISHERY COSTLY;LABOR HEARING, SUFFERS LOSS SEATTLE Fifects of Walkout Far?More Slrifi;fit Regula- Reaching-Waterborne | tions for SE Alaska- ‘ Commerce Dried Up Packers Profest | SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20—, SEATTLE, Oct. 20.—#—An offi- The Pacific Coast maritime strike, cial of the United States Fish how in its 49th day, has nearly |and Wildlife Service told a hear- dried up a $4,000,000-a-day water- ing yesterday that more stringent borne commerce but has spurred on| fishing regulations must be put into & huge commercial airlift. effect next year in Southeast Al- All dry cargo sailings have stop- aska because of the recent series ped, save a few ships which carty ci poor runs. supplies for the Army. Oil tankers| “There jusi are not enough fishi are not affected by the strike. to go around,” George Kelez, While paralysis set into shipp.ng, ' Fisheries Supervisor for Alaska, told the strike forced resort to the air-|the hearing. “The day is rapidly Aift. Pan American Airways reported | passing when a fisherman can earn Alagka have increased about 100 per)few weeks" fishing.” cent and to Hawaii about 55 per |~ The two-day hearing, conducted cent. The air shipment of food to|by the Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska now is at the rate of a mil-|was the last of the year. Several lion pounds a month and still grow- | previous hearings had been held ing. (in Alaska. | 222 Ships Tied Up | Southeast Alaska packers backed | Of the 375 dry cargo ships oper- | the Service in its proposal for ated by West Coast American su.,,m_‘leglslmiun to change the “person- ship companies, 222 were tied up as 4l use” provision of the regula- of October 15. They lay idle in V(ll'l-! tions | ous ports from Seattle to San Diego,| This provision permii Alaska | from Mobile to New York. The|residents to take fish for their own | largest number in any one port was'use at any time. Packers, in a 61 in San Prancisco. ibrief, said “abuse of this provis-! What has been the cost to lator jon is flagrant and untold | in wages lost? |damage has been done to spawning | An exact statement cannot I:e‘fxsh by this abuse.” Kelez uldi made, but—the 222 ships now idle' many violations have been »eport- have an average crew of 45 men ed in populous centers, where resi- who draw a total of about $139,000: dents catch and sell fish to mar- a 3}“;‘ o kets. Coast. OIO gshoremen, packers.also oppesed any change crerks, carloaders and related dock!m the ,egmg::, whichy“qugm.» workers were paid $57,000000 in weekend closures of fish traps. — " Labor Unions Probed | RED ESPIONAGE DISCOVERED IN ARCTIC REGION Evidences of fifth column activi- ties in the Diomedes Islands were reported here yesterday by Con- gressional Investigator Rep. Charles| Kersten of Milwaukee, Wis. weal Wken asked specilically what evidences of a fi.i-. commn had been found, Kersten saia: ‘I be- lieve we did find some proof‘ which I cannot divulge at this time.” Kersten said he and Rep. O, Clark Fisher of Texas and Investi- gator Frank MacArthur had spent| Congressional investigators arrived some time in Nome during their|here yesterday afternoon at 4:30 presnt investigation tour of Alas-p, m. from Ahchumxe aboard an ka. | Army plane to call a quick-notice Howard Rushmore, Hearst news-|hearing of labor union activities WITNESSES 'SUMMONED IN JUNEAU Quick Action Hearing Takes Place by Investigat- ing Congressmen |man who is accompanying the group | in the Juneau area. while in the Territory said they The Congressmen, Rep. Charles “had found that Russians had in- J. Kersten (R-Wisc) and Rep. O, formation about Nome which could | C. Fisher (D-Texas) of the House only have come from Nome resi-; Committee on Education and La- dents.” {bor, along with Investigator Frank Under the caption “Red Espmn--‘MacArthur. called a hearing for age Discovered in Arctic Region,”|5:30 o'clock in the Senate Cham- the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of |ber, after subpoenas had been issu- yesterday morn‘ng, October 19, car- ed to five members of local labor ried the following dicpatch from unions. Nome, written by Howard Rush-| Called to appear before the House more: committee were George Ford, — Chris Hennings, Cyril Zuboff, Don NOME, Oct. 18.—Evidence that!McCammon, and Abel Anderson. the Russians have a well trained! Summohs to appear were issued espionage system in the Arctic re-'at 4:30 yesterday afternoon by glons of Alaska has been unuoveredfnepuxy Marshal Sid Thompson. |Ly a congressional committee prob-|Two of the five subpoenaed, George ing Communism here, !Ford and Don McCammon, did not Representative Kersten (R.-Wis.),. show up for questioning by the chairman of a sub-committee of | committee. the houre commitiee on education | Two members of and labor, said today that his group | district fishermen’s union, “Red"” had learned: | Chester Carlson and H. J. Lannen, 1—Red Army officers on Big | testified at their own request, re- Diomede Islanc, i ew miles {rom garding activities of the Westward American territory, knew highly | ajagka Pisheries Counell secret detalls of military installa-| Henry Benson, Territorial Com. tions in strategic Alaska areas. - | p.iccioner of w,.“z 2. These Red Army officers ap- W to put “'the__co parently are in contact with Ameri- | ;m cans in Alaska who keep them sup- m‘"dh' ‘eftects of tfi’%* plied regularly with data on Alaska the Cordova $ 8 } wages last year. At that rate they, Presiding at the hearings h"'“",de(ens-e. ment of the maritime strike, is So- jAVA (oAS | contemplated, an official announc- ed today. firm also owns three vessels—the D freighters Empire Consequence and |lost when their small boat swamped. the battered barge in a dory Wwere |haye Jost about $8,000,000 in wages | | so far. | Skarco said he was lowering the | Effect On Business besides Kelez, were two other rep- resentatives of the Fish and Wild- 3. Russians are trying to use Al- askan Eskimos as a potential fitth strike on Alaskan economy. ! vgnm ‘asked how the committee | determi who was to appear R. C. Anderson, a partner with ‘Tongass and the newly-acquired ' BATAVIA, Java, Oct. 20—®— G w gkinner and David Skinner Indonesian republican troops have y, ownership of the Northland captured the communist stronghold, oompany, said that “certain assets” of Patjitan, the Republican govern-!oe tho™ concern, including the malt announced today. | steamship Chief Washakie, would Patjitan, on the South Java co8st, e yransferred to the Alaska Steam- Was one of the last cities remaining | o, company. The latter will also in eommunist hands after the fall: gy, virtually all the Northland of their short-lived capital, Mad-j g .. personriel. ioen. 2R e i S T ! The Maritime Commission will lbe asked to approve the merger, LABOR INSPECTOR - i | Duplicating - agencies of the IS EXPEUED HER | Northland Transportation Company ] jand the Alaska Steamship Com- | pany in Souytheast Alaska, where Leonard E. Evans, Territorial both companies have ofiices, will representative for the U, S. Depart- be consolidated, Anderson said. ment ‘of Labor, returned yesterday The Alaska Steamship Company from a week's vacation trip to;will operate the combined fleets| In about two'of the two companies as one unit, | Cordova and Valdez. weeks he expects announcemerit from Washington, D. C., of the appointment of a wage-and-hour inspector here. Since Monday, Miss Claribel Rake- | straw has been secretary in Evan’s office, transferred from the U. S. Forest Service. The Washington| Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON 1Copyright, 1948, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) MSHINGTON— President Tru- man's executive order directing Defense Secretary James Forrestal to' expedite the training of reserve contingents was an indirect slap at Afmy Secretary Kenneth Royall and Air Secretary Stuart Syming- ton. While the Navy has kept its re- serve training program in good| shape, Royall and Symington have lagged "behind in planning reserve units for the Army and Air Force. The top brass in the Pentagon Bullding, whose views are echoed by .Royall and Symington, frown on ' reserve training, want a big standing army costing the tax- payers $20,000,000,000 annually. However, when Royall and Sym- ington . presented the brass hats’ views at a recent White House meeting, Truman cut them short, pointing out that there are more than 10,000,000 ex-servicemen in the country, trained in the last war. “ se men, or a large part of them, would have to be called back anyHow, if there is another war,” declared Truman, “so why not draw under its own houseflag, and will iserve all the territory to which | Northland ships plied, he said. More frequent sailings are also CIVIL WAR BREAKS OUT, 50. KOREA (By The Associated Press) Something like civil war broke jout in southern Korea, where a new government has been sponsored by the United States in former Jap- fa.nese territory. Rebellious troops, iwhich the home minister said were inspired by communists, seized -two towns and killed or captured 100 policemen. Martial law was de- clared. The rebel force may num- ber 4,000 men and is growing. ‘The Moscow radio asserted Sov- {iet troops are leaving northern Ko- rea which the .communists now !dominate. The broadcast said. a north Korean spokesman “thanked {the Soviet army and its leader Stalin, who defeated the Japanese imperialists and brought Korea free- dom and independence.” Russia entered the Pacific War when Japan already was defeated and virtually on her knees after twe or her cities had been ripped by atom bomts delivered by U. S. planes. The Russians, who have trained and armed 200,000 men in northern on this experienced ‘manpower now for ireserve training. This idea (Continued on Page Four) Korea, hase insisted that the U. 8.1 ® abondon southern Korea. The U. S.|® has said no. . passenger liner, The George Wash- ington. Beiore the two chartered vessels can be returned to the Maritime Commission they would have to be unloaded, Swanson said. | Swanson's comments were in| confirmation of reports that the| line is suspending operations. i Future Plans Unknown Asked whether the line might resume operations after the smp—Q ping tie-up ends, Swanson said: “Future plans are unknown.” He disclosed that most of the| !company's Seattle operating person—' I nel was let go Friday. Meanwhile, the Post-Intelligencer said that unofficial reports were| | current on the waterfront that the other two Seattle-Alaska shlphnesi —The Alaska Steamship Company and Northland Transportation | Company—are considering consoli- dation. Company officials declin- ed to comment. The two are already affiliated. Ge W. Skinner is president of the Alaska Steamship Company and is a part owner of Northland. i l NO COMMENT, SKINNER | | FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Oct. 20.—| |h—G. W. Skinner, President of| Alaska Steamship Company aboard a special train with Colonel John- son of the Alaska Railroad last} evening declined to comment on the report that the Alaska Trans- portation Company was to suspend operations. Mr. Skinner left aboard the train} from Fairbanks to Anchorage atj 6 o'clock last evening. He stated that he “was gratified to find that the attitude of the population of the Territory is sympathetic to the position of shipping interests in the present maritime strike.” i e e o0 0000 0c o0 WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU) Temperatures for 24-Hour Period In Juneau— Maximum, 52; minimum, 40. At Airport— Maximum, 50; minimum, 40. FORECAST (Juneau and Vielnity) Partly cloudy with light rain showers and lowest temperature near 40 degrees tonight. Mostly cloudy with intermittent light rain on ‘Thursday. . PRECIPITATION o (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today @ In Juneau — 46 L4 since Oct. 1, 8.10 since July 1, 39.01 At Airport — .34 since Oct. 1, 563 2 %1 dory and it got away without him.| He was rescued by a bush plane yesterday from a beach on which the drifting craft grounded. Odom Cargo Total i Milton Odom, head of tie An- chorage Cold Storage Co., for which the shipment was destined, examined the wreckage and reported the cargo, valued at $248,000, was a total loss. Skarbo suffered a wrenched an- kle. He was piloting the barge. Skarbo said he and his four crew mates had stuck with the floundering barge for 26 hours in mountainous seas when the ill- fated dory was launched. A flooded engine room left the craft power- less. Its flooded radio was dead Dory Swamps In a matter of minutes the dory | was swamped. Skarbo immediately | released another ‘raft and dory, | Bridges, president of the Long- closing date in Southeast Alaska thinking the men might be able|shoremen’s Union, and Hugh Bry-|next year to save themselves by clinzing t0|son, President of the CIO mAarine rpjs year's season ran from August |cooks and stewards, was the “crit- them. It was pitch black in the pre- dawn darkness of Sunday morning. | He was unable to see what hap- pened to the other four. Huge' waves continuously pounded | the disabled barge. The superstruc- ture was crumbled away, bit by bit It was several hours later that the karge ran onto the beach, 22 mile: west of Yakataga beach. Tro tide | was low and Skarbo was able tc | jump from'the craft and race across the beach to high ground. In a telephone talk with Odom at Anchorage, Skarbo told how they had kept the 105-foot barge behind the protection of Cape Spencer for three days before heading into the treacherous Gulf of Alaska “on a Leautiful day.” (Continued on Page Three) MIAMI, PFla., Oct. 20.—P— The’ American Legion returned to the serious side of its convention today after a deluge during its parade last night damaged musical instru- ments, uniforms and floats, but failed to dampen the carnival spirit. * The rain, which piled water curb- | deep along the -parade route, caused an estimated $7,500 damage to the Miami Harvey Seeds Post band since July 1, 2628 © o 00000 0 0 I alone. Some 300,000 spectators were drenched, too. 'life Service, Seton Thompson, The effect on business is less|chairman, Chief of Alaska Fisheries |eastly figured. Here are some things pranch, and Clarence Rhode, Re-| "’?B‘;h“e happened as xesult of the gional Director for Alaska. | strike: | The NEW REGULATIONS | SEATTLE, Oct. 20.—®The Fish California-H a wai i Sugnr$ Company laid .off 800 employees,' representing a payroll of $400,000 [ a month. jand Wildlife Service will recom-| The Eldorado Oil Company dis- mend that opening the salmon missed 125 men. The payroll was'season in Southeast Alaska be de- Inot disclosed. Ilayed until Aug. 22 next year to | Some West Coast lumber mills,:permic escapement of more sal- unable to move their product, have mon, Seton Thompson, chief of | reduced operations. ithe Service’s Alaska branch, said! “Critical Issue” | today. | And there appears to be no im- Thompson conducted hearings | mediate prospect of ending the'here Monday and Tuesday and strike. There have been no nez0—|wm return to Washington tomor- | tlations since Sept. 1. irow with brief cases stuifed with | The Waterfront Employers Asso-! testimony from both fishermen |at the hearing, which Kersten des- - ” b cribed as “exploratory, for the gen- Kersten and Representative Pish- | er (D-Tex.) held public hearinzs::‘rx‘gon D: :.’t‘:equ:S:B :l‘:u;:: in this Bering Sea port marking | & the first time that congressionall 161 i1 Alaska." the representa- committee had probed Red Fasmmvflw: sald- that investigations have, in the Arctic regions, | been' made here prior to committee Kersten said the hearings showed | P€aring. that several Nome residents sub-, scribe to such puclications as’ Pray- | Chris Hennings, former CIO rep- da, official Moscow organ, Soviet reseatative for the Territory of Russia Today, The Daily Worker,|Alaska, was the first to be inter- and other American Communist "°8ated "By the Congressmen, ¢ publications. | Following general questions re- “We are sure the Communists|88rding Hennings' past union ac-' have an efficlent underground in | tVitles, ‘Kersten asked: “Are you operation along the Bering s“|[nmmnr with the Westward ‘Alaska coast,” Kersten said. { Pisherles Council?" RED KNOWLEDGE WIDE l “During the 51 days that 17 Al-, column in American territory. ) Hennings Testifies Q.—"Did you assist in the forma- tion?" Rain Washes Out American Legion Parade at MiamiBut | | Carnival Spirit Keeps Up! ciation says there are no real eco- nomic issues involved. ! It said the leadership of Harry| i ical issue.” Economic Merger Nearly Complete In Wesfern Zones BERLIN, Oct. 19.—®—An almost complete economic merger of the three Western Zones of Germany was announced today. An agreement fusing the foreign trade of the French zone with tbat; of the already merged British and American zones was signed by the three Western Allied Military Gov- ernors, i ' | ' i H Arch Cantrell, chairman of the Legion’s band contest committee, said no complete estimate had been made of damage to instru- ments, but at least 30 units were caught in the deluge which started | about 8:30 p. m. | The Miami Daily News, in re- porting the embarrassing turn of askan Eskimos were Leld on Dio-| and packers. He held Alaska hear-| Red! ings ' earlier. m;;;le I.sln(;\d lby t:xe Russians, ; ' 3 officers displayesl an amazing Under the recommendations, the ....1a400 of Nome and its military' defenses. This information, detailed | as it was, could only have been| obtained from American sources.”| Kersten and Fisher, whose sub-| committce for the past several| months has been investigating Com- | »!munism in labor unions, will also| hold hearings in Anchorage, largest | city in Alaska; in Juneau and other Alaskan towns where Communist- controlled unions have considerable strength, ————te —— MAYOR OF SEATTLE SEES LITTLE HOPE IN SETTLING STRIKE will be September 3. 9 to September 3. v b L Fairbanks Bound Air Cargo Plane Crashes,Anchorage ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 20. —iM— A Fairbanks-bound Colum- bia Air Cargo DC-3, loaded with fresh produce, crashed a few hun- dred yards west of Merrill Field yesterday after failing to gain al- titude on the takeoff. Two passengers and the three crew members escaped injury but the plane was extensively damaged, The plane did not burn. he frankly admits the prospects are not very hopeful, Mayor Will- .|lam F. Devin declared that he will continue his efforts to get cargo ships through to Alaska with sup- plies badly needed there. ENGINE FAILURE PORTLAND, Oct. 20.—#— The crash of a Columbia Aif Cargo plane at Anchorage yesterday was blamed by company President Joe Dobbins on engine failure. He reported the pilot, Pat J. Manley, of Portland, had- notified the Civil Aeronautics Administra- tion, that the engine failed just as the plane was about to leave the ground. mination after a conference sep- arately with representatives of | both sides of the water front i strike controversy, the unions und‘ the employing companies. | M. G. Ringenberg, president of | the Waterfront Employers’ Associa- | tion, said the proposals would be! submitted to leaders of the Pacffic Ceast Association at S8an Francisco, | but he held out little hope of ap- proval. William Gettings, regional direc- tor of the CIO Longshoremen’s| Union, and Jason A. Hopkins, pres- ident of the Local, reiterated the strikers' offer to sail the ships un- der pre-strike conditions, with the agicement that any wage increases ———— NEW TERR. PATROLMAN Frank A. Metcalf, head of the Territorial Highway Patrol, an- nounces the addition of Glenn A. Lane, of Ketchikan to the Ketch- ikan' staff. Lane started work on Monday. _Patrolman Casey Moran of Ketchi was taken to the .ich is a member SEATTLE, Oct. 20.—®—Although The Mayor expressed his deter-' A—"Yes." Q-—+"Do you know Jeff Kibre, secretary of International Food and Allied Workers' Association?” A~—"1 know who he is.” Q—“Do yon know Joe Jurich, president of IFAWA?" A~—"Slightly, yes. Q--"Do you know if Jeff Kibre is a member of the Communist party?” A—"I don't know. that he wasn't.” Q—"Do you know if Joe Jur- of Communist | front organizations?” A~"No.” Q~—"De you think that the in- fluence of the Communist party 1is a good thing for a labor union?" ! A—"No." Nct Communist Member , Q—"Are yay a member of the | Communist party?” A.—"No." Q~—"Have you ever been a mem- ber of the Communist party?” A~—~"No.” Q If it were true that Joe | Jurich, president of the IFAWA |were a member of a subversive agency would you feel that his | leadership in the Westward Alaska Fisheries Council could be con- strued as being a dangerous in- fluence A—"Yes." - Q—"Your view is to cleanse Communist influence in unions?” A—"Yes." Zuboff Testifies Cyril Zuboff, who identified him- self as a miner and fisherman, la- bor inspector in the Territorial Labor ofiice and president of the Alaska Native Brotherhood. came betore the committeemen next to | answer questions regarding organi- zaticn of natives in the Territory. Kersten asked Zuboff if he thought Communist activities were good or bad in a labor union. I have heard | ‘events, came out in first editions hospital Saturday following a heart ultimately gained in a coastwide ~ zuporr answered they might be with the headlines: “Better than attack, and will return to his du- Snow.” ties when he recovers. contract would be retroactive for the Alaska voyages. (Continued on P;ée Two)