The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 21, 1948, Page 1

VOL. LXXIL, NO. 11,073 GRUENING DECLINES TO TALK Will Not D"i;lss Recom- mendations fo Be Made to Special Session WASHINGTON, Dec. 21—(®— Governor Gruening of Alaska de- clined today to discuss the recom- mendations he will make to the special session of the Territorial Legislature. “The recommendations will be contained in a message to the leg- islature January 6 and can not be given out previously,” the Gover- nor said. The call for the special session to deal with the Territory’s critical fi- nancial condition was issued from the Governor’s Office in Juneau, Saturday. It is to run from January; 6 through January 22. The regular session opens January 24. — e NEW GOVT. IN BERLIN PLANNED BERLIN, Dec. 21—(®—The United States, Britain and France an- rounced today a three-power gov- ernment for Berlin without Russian | participation. The French commandant, Gen. Jean Ganeval, read.a three-power statement saying: “If Soviet authorities either now or at some future date, decide to abide by the agreement to which the four powers are committed, the quadripartite administration of Berlin can be resumed. | “During their absention the three ' Spy Suspect ‘HE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” =y JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1948 MEMBER A SSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS == ] Claims Spy Ring in Alaska Supplying Military Info fo Russia; Seek Better Defense Rep. Kersten (R-Wisc.) wants to, SRR peal | | R u SS S lA v E S bolster the defenses of Alaska where | |he says a spy ring is supplying ARE woRKING military information to Russia. Kersten, chairman of a House |Lakor sutcommittee that is check- ing on subversive activities in la- |Employed on Siberian China across the Pacific. COflSf IS RepOfl Made by ] Kersten said he found in Nome |that “Soviet officials right across House Labor Subcom. |trom Aacka scemea to have up-to- A [dnte information” on what is going By CHARLES D. WATKINS WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—(®— ‘on there. They have been told the |size of defense forces and even the A House Labor Subcommittee re- hames of the men there. ! ported last night that it has “good | He said he doesn't know how ex- ireason to suspect” Russia has mov- |tensive the espionage system is ed “many thousands of slave la- Leyond Nome or what the source of | borers” to the Siberian coast within |it is. But he expressed the opinion 100 miles of Alaska. it is “very likely Communist.” WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—®—| | | bor, made a two-week visit to Al- aska in October. ‘ He told a reporter he was “shock- ;ed" by what he described as “in- | adequate” defense of the area. He |added that the danger is increasing I because of the Communist sweep in The subcommittee, headed by! Kersten added that he had found ‘Rep, Kersten (R-Wis), also said '@ “rather important” Communist| Ithat 17 American Eskimos, who Party memter had helped set up a; had come to the Siberian coast Union council at the fisheries in {to trade, were held by Russian|Anchorage. He said he couldn’t Army officers for 51 days and imagine why that Communist went - questioned closely about Alaska De- |10 Anchorage unless there was fense installations. | “some good party reason.” The report covered a two-week “It’s entirely possible there might itour of the Territory in late Oc-‘be espionage there, too,” he con- Itober by Kersten and Rep. Fxsherwm;gcf’_' o St AT, | (D-Tex). The two went there to| 'Kersten said at least 16,000 com- - st . ibat troops are needed for the de- check into subversive activities in labor. fense of Alaska airfields but there | Beretin. ani Waben recommend-“"e “considerably less than that| | 2 | there now.” {ed immediate steps to strengthen i U. S. Alaskan defenses, to prevent | He expects 1o make & formal v+ mformation leaking to Russia and Ef::ml::‘?“[i’;‘":‘s A foa.. vo- 1to eliminate waht they termed o 3 - ! Communist influence in the Terri- NG ‘tory's labor unions. | Kersten said reports received in- |dicated the Russians were doing much kuilding on their side of the i | FOOD TRAINS WITHPRODUCE CHANGE ROLLING OFF Hungry Overseas As- sembled from States DAYTON, O., Dec. Christmas food trains, loaded with farm produce from 13 states for the hungry overseas, start rolling to- night. The food collected through Chris- tion Rural Overseas Program (CROP), were loaded in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missourl, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Wash- ington and Wyoming. Eleven other states also are as- sembling Christm: food gifts for the needy of 43 foreign countries. These trains will leave later in the week. CROP officials say total dona- jtions from all 24 states will approxi- | tomorrow with Francis B. Sayre, mate 2200 carloads of foodstuffs. All were supposed to leave for over- seas Christmas Day. The major reason for the shipping delay—and it doesn’'t make CROP sponsors unhappy--is that contribu- tions have been so far above ex- pectations, CROP facilities haven't Leen able to handle them smooth-: 1 y. — - 33 PERSONS AREKILLED IN PLANE CRASH HONG KONG, Dec. 21.—P— A Shanghai-Hong Kong C-54 21.—(P—The | Bering Sea and have many air- fields in the area. Killed In Fall; My PROBING SOUGHT Methods in Activities Committee Hearing 21 —(P—, WASHINGTON, Dec. Rep. Mundt (R-SD) said today he hopes the House Un-American Ac- tivities Committee will change its methods to insure fairer hearmgs‘ for future witnesses and accused 1persons | The acting chairman told report- | ers that for the next 10 days com- | | mittee members will concentrate on! a report to the new Congress on| {its past accomplishments. He said the report also will contain recom- mendations for altering procedure | at committee hearings. Although the group plans no public meetings this year, session { further | it scheduled a closed-door | former assistant secretary of state, land his secretary, Anna Belle New- comkb { Mundt, who will join the Senate iranks in the new Congress, said he| plans to seek several changes inl ‘the committee's procedure. Among | these he listed: 1. Allowing witnesses to give the; chairman a list of questions tol oe asked of accusers or other wit-| nesses. In the past this practice! jhas not been followed generally, al- | though Hiss was allowed to turn in !a set of questions he wanted fired !nt Chambers. Mundt questioned i Chambers on eight of the requested | | points. ! 2, Questionng witnesses private- 'l_v betfore. public hearings to avoid | “surprise accusations” against per-' :sbns who may te innocent. i 3. Giving accused persons the jright to be heard before the com- mittee issues a report. 4. Prohibiting subcommittees {will continue stery Develop Nafionalist China Nears Collapse Now ed - Pieping Cut Off- Nanking Fighting (By The Associated Press) Nationalist China mover closer~to utter collapse. Pro-government newspapers said Tietsin, the major industrial cen- ter of North China, is completely icolated. The advancing Commun- ists had from the city. Peiping, theancient capital and main city in the north, was cut oif completely. The modern cap- ital of Nanking was brought even closer to the fighting. The Com- munists wiped out two trapped ar- my groups and whittled down three others that were caged. BRITAIN HAS PLAN TO GET OUT FROM RED LONDON, Dec. 21.—(M— Britain announced today a four-year plnn; to muster all her men, money and materials to get the nation out of the red by 1953, The aim is to make Britain self- supporting by the time the Ameri- can financed European recovery program comes to an end. The plan, set forth in a white paper, calls for cont.nued auster- ity and self denial, and a massive production effort. Officials called it “a sign post i Sky- {from issuing reports until they have (for the future.” | jmaster of the Chinese National{peen approved by the full commit-| The plan assumes that Britain] | Airlines Corp. (CNAC) crashed and !jp. to receive American towns ten and 17 miles; WITNESS IN SPY PROBE IN PLUNGE Laurence Dugqan “Either Jumped or Fell” from 16- Story Window, New York 1 (HAMBERS | ON STAND, SPY PROBE Denies that He Mentioned i Laurence Duggan as Giv- ing Out Information NEW YORK, Dec. 21.—(P— Whittaker Chambers today said he never had received any State De- | partment papers from Laurence | Duggan who plunged to his death | last night. Duggan, 43, former high-ranking | iEtate Department official, had been accused in testimony before ! the House Un-American Activities | Committee of handing out secrets | for Red spies. | NEW YORK, Dec. former State Department official, listed in Congressional testimony as one of six persons in the De- partment who allegedly handed out secrets for Red spies, died last night in a 16-story plunge. Laurence Duggan, 43, an expert on Latin-American affairs who served in the State Department from 1930 to 1944, dropped to death ¢ A from a window of his Manhattan m;ghl;'a‘t‘es:l‘\":-;:“.;)‘" ‘I{'_:,l(vc‘:;::“!ltsf:m‘fiue as esplonage probers planned vine, a magazine editor. The;m,r%‘:es"x:’:dk:;n'e“mmfl,vs office committee said Levine testified | ¢ e that Chambers told Adolf A. Berle, ‘:',‘;fe'.'.]:ng‘::e'i.fihn?:fa:&;m,du:hu: Jr., former Assistant Secretary of.o.y,vedtigntion.” Police n‘ld Dug- State, that Duggan was one of a “ A 2 Chambers is a confessed furmel""’lqu“_‘,p - V. pors. P Communist courier | G ) In Pro-Soviet Bioo Gave Out Confidences Chambers said today that hel Rep. Mundt (R-SD), Acting had mentfoned Duggan's name to Chaliman of the House Commits Berle in 1939 as a member of the €€ on Un-American Activities, re= pro-Soviet bloc in the State De- ! vealed in Washington that a wits partment. But the one-tlme cour- Dess had named Duggan in secret tastimony as one of .six people in H— A I | | ier said he had not mentioned Duggan as one who furnished him the State Department who another documents. (person had said passed out con= ildential information, At the time of his death, Dug=- gan was president of the Institute of International Education. The At the same time a grand jury |institute, devoted to promoting ine witness, former Assistant Secre- ' ternational understanding and the tary of State Francis B, Sayre, told €Xchange of students among vara reporters.that Duggan had render- | 10Us nations, was founded with aid . ed “great service” to the State De- [Tom the Carnezie endowment for partment during his employment international peace. there. i Indicted For Lying Did Name Duggan { The president of the Carnegie Referring to Levine's testimony, Foundation, Alger Hiss—also a Chambers said: |former State Department official, “It would be more proper to sa; |was indicted on perjury charges I mentioned six people. 1 men- recently on the ground that he Chambers made his statements | to newsmen at the offices of the Federal grand jury investigating al- | leged Communist esplonage. BLAZE AT ANCHORAGE tioned Mr. Duggan, but I did not!ied when he denied before a Fed- mention all those people as having ' erél grand jury that he passed out turned over those papers. I did not BOvernment secrets to ex-Commun- name Mr. Duggan as passing 1St courier Whittaker Chambers. papers over to me.” Mundt said Duggan, who was an Rep. Mundt (R-SD) of the Un-(8dviser to :former Secretary of an Activities Committee yes- | State Cordell Hull, was named by !Isaac Don Levine, editor of the western allies will exercise the| He said the Russian officers who | powers of the Allied Kommandatura | questioned the Alaskan Eskimos although realizing that owing to asked them if they would "accep{'“ the Soviet obstruction it will only ithe Russians if and when they | be possible for them to carry out!took over Alaska. | their administration in the west-| The Russians told the Eskimos, | ern sectors for the present.” he said, the names of officers and | !burned off Hong Kong today ‘nnd“ The full committee has |the 33 persons aboard were feared ‘made a report on the Condon case, It est/mates Britain's dollar needsi |dead, the CNAC announced here. ialthough a subcommittee openly under ERP next year at $940,000,000 i The plane left Shanghai thisicalleq Dr. Edward U. Condon, head |compared with $1,263,000,000 in lmox‘nnng and became lost in & f0g.|of the National Bureau of Stan-1948-49, 11t was reported to have crashed {dards, one of the weakest links in| Without American help, the plan- Iat Bafalt Island, after losing con-'the nation's chain of atomic se-|ners said, “recovery would be grave- never | help under ERP until m!d-1952. Amerit; The western commandants re-)men stationed in Alaska, the names| ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 21.] i i ¢ " " | terd id ieved th is 5 " d - i 4 o - |tact with the airport here. ) ty. P 2 ol iterday sa he believed there is t sallod thal Mo Bt dlsruptedlgf newcomers dnd the number of | —P—Fire early today . destroyed By Cac g & 'Cugu;d"n repeatedly has denied th(-ni{‘q;‘h‘xmfil’:;dll‘\‘:?\'h':llp]Lee‘(:xr:gxlgyb:e!-l “more than a slight ”"55“’“""'”(‘Rnu.commumbl g g four power government by with- |planes at certain airfields. {two Fourth Avenue buildings con- ! cllarge; and has asked for publlc‘:m‘ cn‘uvh)t s de<céndix}g spiral » i that Duggan's death was foul p]ny'|Tfllk, in testimeny on Dec. 8. drawing from the K(_)mmandaturaé It is obvious, Kersten said,that taining four businesses. 3y ihearings which as yet have mot %‘he -:fimn g p;ngmm R fl;r and that police should investigate | Incrimination ¥ last July 1. They said the Kom-|some form of espionage in Alaskal Fine work of the Anchorage omas | Hodn: BeReIad 'douhfin‘g production of ofl from|that possibility. I", Ly "'mall "“:‘;:lp;:‘ ‘!‘.."evu:eu mandatura “can only be altered or |is veyi s i rmati | vi i | A ; ¢ v P i g " testimony, released by Mundt, the y is conveying this information to!volunteer firemen in ten degree { Rep. Nixon (R-Calif.), another|British-owned fields, raising the out- If foul piay is involved,” Mundt witnest " aald ‘Chambees hxs said, “it might lead directly to the Communist espionage cunspira-' tors."” by abdicated by agreement of all the governments which set it up.” Fire Is?fiday Free Republic the Russians. The subcommittee report that while there is no appreciable | estimated number of “open” Communists in !$100,000. the Alaskan area “there is Com-| Businesses destroyed included the munist leadership in the Interna- Panhandle Bar Cafe, Army-Navy tional Fishermen and Allied Work- ;Surplus Store, Larry’s Liquor Store ers of America (CIO) which gov- | and Weatair Transport office. The erns the labor policy of approxx.ilatter two were small and occu- mately 4,000 workers in the area pied space in the cafe. jcold prevented the blaze spreading | said |to adjacent buildings. Damage is roughly at $75,000 {committee member, said last week(put of coal 25 per cent, and build- ithat he thinks the Condon case was |ing domestic agriculture to an all not handled properly and that the|ti high level, scientist should be given a hem‘mg| - ithis week. Must Go To Trial,_ ...~ former Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A, Berle, Jr., that Duggan was one of six persons in the State Department who allegedly had fun~ e e v v o o & o o o onecled out confidential information ®at various times, : e ! Mundt, who revealed the trans- e |cript a few hours after Duggan's e |death, said “the testimony should to| | - eee - 'Northwest Is to DEATH WATCH' Make Special Run i WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU) This data is ¢>r 24-hour per- WASHINGTON, Dec. |small cuts and bruises, climbing ¥ e 21.—P— Hrept 1 of Anchorage and Kodiak. Glenn Phillips, sleeping in the iod ending 6:30 am. PST. e speak for itself. (By The Associated Press) i : lrear of the cafe, escaped with(’udge Henry Schweinhaut refused ; 'I'o No"h Tomorrow In Juneau— Maximum, 34; | Duggan apparently was alone in Eire became a free and indepen- ) jloday fg diimiss (he. indiotment | minimum, 30. e the office of the Institute of In= dent Republic today. . ot a mind charging Rep. J. Parnell Thomas! [l — At Airport—Maximum, 32; e {ternational Education at 2 West President Sean T. O'Kelly signed |wal ouis m Be" The alarm sounded at 5:37 am, | (R-NJ) With conspiracy to defraud SEATTLE, Dec. 21—®—North-{e minimum, 2. o [45th St. when he plunged to the the island out of the British Com- land the tira’ wag comro‘lled 'B':'Lhe government. i 1 P west Alrlines will put a special| o o |sidewalk just off 5th Avenue at monwealth, Se"i(e 'ndi(aled. i7 a. m. Pire Chief George Neil| Thomas had asked dismissal of the (By The Assoclated Press) !c vo-passenger DC-4 on the Se- FORECAST e!7 p. m. (EST), police said. No The bill .repealed the External /] safd the probable cause of the fire| Lo onent on grounds that thej ... °~a. ;" gared stariea for|Btéle-to-Anchorage, Alasks, rug o (Junean and Viclnity) . !wilness to his fall could be found. grand jury which returned it was! composed entirely of Federal em- e [No note was left, and there was @ ino sign of a struggle in the office, o ldetectives reported. — o —r Mostly fair and colder with lowest temperature near 24 degrees tonight and Wednes- day. Hideki Tojo, Japan's wartime pre-.f}ve_dm"d“" ‘”;”,.’:" tourlst-style i 2 d six other Japanese w“]sgr.he to the e_ruory at a spe-|g ployees. e icial rate of $70, it was announced | g In a memorandum opinion filed in | criminals. The U S. Supremeltoday Brassat’ fare 1% 08 | U. 8. District Court, Judge Schwein- (Court ended thelr last hope for) .ty yest also will schedule three haut deniéd Thomas' motion. The 1fe. Whey they hang will be sec- Relations Act which has empower- ed the British King to accredit Irish diplomats. This was the last | thin tie between Britain and Ire- | land. was an oil stove. Passersby helped themselves the Liquor store stock. —— -~ Deadlock, Wages ST. LOUIS, /Dec. 21.—(P—Wage| Inegotiations between the South- to . flights from Seattle toj additional . PRECIPITATION o ret until after the fact. !western Bell Telephone Company and a union of 50,000 employees in five states failed to break a dead- lock last night and unauthorized walkouts today in some areas were a distinct possibility. ! ,—- 195 ESCAPE DEATH, BLAZING INFERNO PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 21—(P— {Flames swept a section of the West- The Washington Merry - Go - Round Bv DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1948, by The Bell Syndicate, Inc) | 3 ASHINGTON — Secretary o Defense Forrestal had a signifi- cant conversation with two of his top men the other day—Admiral Sid Souers, secretary of the Na- tional Security Council, and Gen- eral Al Gruenther, director of theidelphia today, killing two guUests|Barflett to have one of his secre. | " o7 10 { WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—#—| MANCHESTER, Eng, Dec. 21— joint Chiefs of Staff. trapped on the third floor. TWO, taries take down the interview.| 'Paul G. Hoffman said today the|/P—Seven Royal Air Force men were s FOI' "onslihlfional Forrestal said that he wanted [Other guests and a foreman Were w5, Margery Goding Neil, of Skag- !economic cooperation administra- |K'lled early today when their Lan-| ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 21— + them to get him a top-secret Ar-|curned. my report on Communist espionage| Ninety-five persons escaped the inside Japan. Because certain |Plazing inferno. secret. “I want to give it to Joe Al- 'city council has authorized the city Americans were involved in this Parking Melers fo However, Forrestal asked Admir- al Souers and General Gruen-| sop,” explained the Secretary of Mmanager to buy as many parking National Defense, referring to one meters as are needed here. The Ket- pre-Pear]l Harbor espionage, the re- Be Used, Kelchik e Used, Kefchikan ther to “declassify” it (make it| chikan business association has re- port has been considered highly nonsecret) immediately. KETCHIKAN, Dec. 21.—(®—The (Continued on Page Four) commended their use. minster Hotel in downtown Phila-| 'ROMANCE IN OFFICE ALASKA DELEGATE WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—@P— A Washington newspaperman suf- fered a broken arm at Anchorage, Alaska, two years ago. | A Scripps Howard reporter,® the |was in Alaska on a visit. | He came back to the capital and | went to the office of Delegate ‘Bartlen (D-Alaska) to interview 1 him, | Unable to take notes, he asked | |way, Alaska, vplunteered to handle it. Yesterday, Mrs. Neil announced that she and the reporter, Doug- las Smith, would be married here December 28. ! She will continue her | Bartlett’s office. | " > S work in | | } (By The Associated Press) Russian troops blockaded the road between Berlin and Stolpe, the Ger~ iman farming village a mile from \the city which France promised to |return to Sqviet occupation. | judge cited a Supreme Court opin- ion, handed down only yesterday, upholding the legality of a trial jury composed entirely of Govern- ment workers. Thomas is chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activi- ties. The indictment returned last month charges that he conspired to pad the payroll of his office staff and turned to his own use Govern- ment money paid out of the Treas- ury as salary for “fictitious” em- ployees. Thomas’ trial Stalin 5; Is Yigorou‘ MOSCOW, Dec. 21—(#—Prime Minister Joseph Stalin, apparently As has been customary for some years now, the Soviet pres took no note of the Generalissimo’s birthe day. is scheduled [orl Gen. MacArthur said he had non plan to return to the United States. He intends to stay inj 1Japan to “see the job through.” American toughness ended cur- rent or threatened strikes by 834,- 000 Japanese workers. - U. . CONSTRUCTION | | IN CHINA STOPPED | | toon had suspended all construction projects in China. It had allotted 1$70,000,000 for that purpose ! The ECA administrator told re- | porters about the suspension after italking with President Truman at the White House. Hoffman returned only yesterday from a flying inspection trip of ECA | work around the world. He visited ! thealthy and vigorous, reached his Chira on the trip. 69th birthday today. | Hoffman said the decision to hold up the reconstruction spending in China until the situation clears in that strife-torn country was made during his recent visit to Shanghai, It the Orient each week, according to, Dean J. Hanscom, the firm's west- ern traffic manager. The additional flights will accom- modate a great deal of cargo now piling up in Seattle, Hanscom said. present, maximum gross-loads are being carried on all flights to the far north. S eee BRITISH BOMBER CRASHES; 7 DEAD caster bomber crashed into an 1800~ foot mountain near here. The plane burned after the crash. STEAMER MOVE MENTS Alaska, from Seattle, in port and sails for westward at 8 o'clock tonight. Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle 11 am., December 24, Princess Norah scheduled to sail from Vancouver December 30, Denali, from west, scheduled southbound about December 28, ® (PRst 24 hous ending 7:30 a.m. today @ | STOCK QUOTATIONS ® In Juneau — 28 inches; e e since Dec. 1, 3:30 inches; ® NEW YORK, Dec. 21.—(#—Clos- e since July 1, 7047 inche: .slm( quotation of Alaska Juneau e At Alrport — .37 Inches; e]mine stock today is 3%, American o since Dec. 1, 7.16 inches; e|0an 80%, Anaconda 327, Curtiss- since July 1, 47.66 inches o Wright 7%, International Harvest- ® e o 0 0 0 0 0 0 o er 26'%, Kennecott 55%, New York PERIBEIEAN 5 ST Central 12%, Northern Pacific 18%, {U. S. Steel 70's, Pound $4.03%. | Sales today were 1,000,600 shares. | Averages today are as follows: ! industrials 17635, rails 52.60, util= lmu 33.14 SOLDIER IS KILLED AT ARMY BASE, s FORT RICHARDSON (No Site Chosen (#—A Fort Richardson soldier was killed by a crane boom in the sur- plus property yard of the army base yesterday afternoon WASHINGTON, Dec. 21—#— An autopsy was scheduled in the |Congressional Delegate E. L. Barts death of a second soldier, who was {lett said today there is no way now found dead in a barracks. Cause of /to determine when or where an Al= Ihis death was unknown. |aska constitutional convention might | >oo tbe held. : | War Minister Anastasio Somoza,' The Territerial Delegate said such |the boss of Nicaragua, told investi- 'a decis'on could not be made until| !gators his country was not involved the Statehood Bill becomes law by | !m the invasion of Costa Rica as Congressional action. He made !charged. The Costa Ricans engaged comment in response to a q rebels 40 miles north of San Jose, after reports that a future convens| the capital, tion site had been decided upon, (onvenlionv_ :