The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 19, 1949, Page 1

e THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE| = "'"] “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1949 VOL. LXXIL, NO. 11,124 ~ MEMBER AS snt:mw PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS GAS TAX, SAIL TAX DEFEATED Elk (hased i by Helicopter EXEMPTIONS ISSUE MIGHT Tax Bill Awaits Governor's | 5! Signature, But Issues Not Dead BULLETIN— The National Guard bill passed the House this afternoon at 12:45 o'cleck by a vote of 14 to 10. By JIM HUTCHESON Alagka’s first general property ] tax bill was being enrolled in fmql\ form today for Governor Gruen-| ing's signature, but there were indi cations exemptions issue rugm again staik the legislative chambensl [ | Lefore the session's end. The House lest no time yesterday ! afternoon in concurring, 18-6, with the Senate amendments to the bill.} But several House members cx-| pressed dissatisfaction with the low- | cring of the personal property ex-) emption to $200, and there was Hlkl even in the urgency of XU\I‘LJH" through the concurrence, that Lhe‘ issue could be reopened and the| new act possibly amended after the| governor signs it into law. i The House had originally set the exemption at $2,500 as a concession primarily to fishing boat owners, and it was their situation that was} mentioned by several of the legts- lators as they waived their objec- tions in order to “get the law on the kooks.” It is the second major revenue bill of the governor's long-advocated “pasic taxation” program to bel passed by the legislature. The oth-l er was the income tax bill i House members expressed a fear| that if they refused to concur, andThe e Running ahead cof low flying helicopter, these elk were chased from Yakima, Washingten, orchards to avoid threatencd slaughter by irate farmers. Dark band (lowcr) is from helicopter window frame. ® Wircpholo. (OURTHELP | SOUGHT IN AIR (RASH IN ENGLAND BUS STRIKE PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 19.—(#— courts were asked today to the bill was sent into a Senate-;mrce settlement of Philadelphia’s House conference committee, some- | nine-day transit strike. thing might go wrong and cause thel Philadelphia Transportation Com- Senators to cacktrack on the whole|pany promptly was ordered to show proposition. E) peaker Stan McCutcheon, in! pleading for prompt concurrence,] “unhamgpered” said the bill “would be Jeapardnzed!m |cause by three temporary receivers ould not be appointed "to conduct negotiations and ake peace. A hearing was set for if it were thrown into conference:Tuesday. committee. There would be a chance of losing the whole bill.” Opponents of speedy concurrence i al The 11,000 PTC subway, trolley nd bus operators have been on rike since Feb. 10, costing busi- asked for additional time to con-|ress and industries $60,000,000. The sider the Senate amendments. The|union and company have gotten two Jobnsons—Frank G. and Frankwithin seven ceuls of a settlement. L.—both expressed a desire to study the changes overnight, and Rep Marcus Jensen, a bitter-end oppon- ent of the property tax, admon- ished: “We shouldn’t pass over the senate changes lightly.” REVENUE ESTIMATED Sen. Victor Rivers and Speaker& McCutcheon” both estimated the| revenue from the bill at $4,000,000 ! for the biennium. Rep. Glen Frank-' lin promptly challenged the figure, however, as not representing what it would bring the territorial treas-| ury. l “It will mean only $2,000,000 for PROTESTANT | CONFESSES SPY CHARGE SOFIA, Bulgaria, Feb., 19.—P— Two Sofia’ newspapers said today the biennium to the territory,” saidione of 15 protestant leaders held Franklin, who is a mémber of thejin treason charges has confessed House Ways and Means Commit- l tee. “The other §: nicipalities under the refund pro- (Continued on Page Five) | The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON ] (Copyright, 1949, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) ; betraying Bulgaria, given during a preliminary inves- ,000 goes to mu-|tigation. The defendant, Vassil Ziapkov, was yuoted as saying his role in the high United Evangelical counc:l was “most important and re- ; sponsible.” Church He added: “I was the link between the Anglo- Americans and the high council. “I received espionage information lrrom my colieagues and transmitted same. . . “We betrayed our motherland, we revealed her secrets before enemie: ASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Forrestal and the Navy are moving frantically to hush it up but a full-fledged Congressional in- vestigation of the effects of the Bikini bomb tests is in the offing. In fact, Senator Brien McMahon, chairman of the Atomic Energy Committtee, may announce it any day. Senators say privately that they are fed up with the hush-hush pol- icy of the'brass hats. While the enate Commiitee is 100 per cent) in favor of keeping secret all ato- | mic information of possible value to an enemy, they do not believe cither the U. S. Congress of the American people are an enemy. Also Committee members feel the brass hats are deliberately suppressing considerable information about the effectiveness of the bomb to cov- —— (Continued on Page Four) tre tr it i i Indictment of the 15 on charges of eason, spying and illegal foreign exchange dealings was announced earlier this month, just after the ial in Hungary of the Roman Cathplic, Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, lon similar charges. Their trial has been set down to begin Feb. 25. ——————— ; MARRIED YEETERDAY . Frieda Thomas became Mrs. Lloyd Marshall Dedrick at a quiet cere- ony Friday noon, with U. S. Com- missioner Felix Gray officiating. As the Commissioner’s Courtroom was in use, the marriage took place in the large corner office of the U. S. Attorney, where sunlight on {the Channel waters made a view | |10 ke long remembered. Witnesses were Nila Hall and |Louise Skinner. Dedrick is a driver for the Royal | Seattle and T. Conrad of Bellevue, | :n Juneau, registered at the Gas- !Blue Cab Compsany. in testimony | | | |14DEADIN COVENTRY, England, Feb. 19.—® —Fourteen persons, including three Americans, perished toeday when an RAF training plane and a British airliner collided and crashed flames near here. British European Airways said the Americans were among six pas- sengers who died with four crew members of one of their Dakota twin-engined planes, enroute from London to Renfrew, Scotland. The air ministry said four RAF men were killed in the trainer, an Anson | omber. BEA listeq tne American dead as Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Michaels and I'fl,nry C. Aitken. Aitken was listed as teing from | Rbode Island and was described as an employee of the Chase National Bank in Londen. His alien registra- tion card gave his age as 26. Buriness papers and, a passport found gave Michaels' Highland Park, Bl ——e———— EAGLES LODGE AT KETCHIKAN PLAN BUILDING A contract may soon be let for the new Eagles Building at Ketch- ikan, accord.ng to Harry V. Will- iams, Ketchikan accountant and member of the building commit- [tee of the Eagles Lodge there. Williams, who is in Juneau for e few days on business and is a delegate to the meeting of the Grand Igloo of the Pioneers of laska which will be held here next week, said that bids on the con- <truction work have bkeen opened. Low bidder on the job was Mc- Gillvray Bros., Ketchikan contract- ing firm, with a bid of $178,500. In addition, Willlams said, furniture end fixtures for the building will cost an estimated $30,000 to $40,000. e BEIDLE, UTTER TO ADAK A Cpl. Lex Utter, ACS cable-splicer irom . Ketchikan, was in Juneau yesterday enroute to Adak. He will be there about a month for needed cable-splicing. Pfc. Richard E. Beidle, who has been VHF repeater-man at Lena | Point, was to leave today for a teur of duty, from nine months to a year, at Adak. - FROM WEST COAST Registered at the Baranof from the’ West Coast are Don S. Davis, Virgjl Baker and J. D. Vance of Wash. in in the scattered wreckage home address as WILLAMETTE RIVER AGAIN | FLOOD STAGE| ' Warm Rain Storm Tur'ni Into Blinding Snow Stor —Casualfies Reported PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 19— An unpradictable winter played nf tricks on the Pacmc Northwest tn} day, mixing ice, rain, snow l!‘lg floods indiseriminately. The rich Willamette River anl« was flooded for the second time of the winter. The river, meiting snow and heavy rains; spilled over miles of farmland. sent the Willamette river up, a warm rain st in Portland turned into a blinding snowstorm. Two auto- mokilss' smashed head-on and two passengers were killed, six others injured. The snowstorm piled new inches onto record mouniain snow levels, which already had mounted to morg than 18 feet at Timberline Lodge oul Mt. Heod in Oregon. WP Y LE " |OPERATION ICICLE' SHIPS DOCK HERE i swollen by | In the midst of the thaw that i YS scarch the p: TABLESALT SUBSTITUTE LAST NIGHT AT 8:30 Last night at 8:30, the 12 ves- sels of “Operation Icicle,” under the command of Task Group Com- mander Capt. M. M. Ricker, dock- 2d in Juneau. The 12 vessels carry a comple- ment of approximately 1,000 men and officers. The ships are known as the LST 1123, which carries Capt. Ricker; LST 827, LST 845, LST ' 11122, ARL 11 which also has the name of “Creon” and is the repair ship for the group; LSMR 401, LS- | MR 403, LSMR 412, LSM 359, LSM 250, LSM 419, and the fleet tug ATF 114 named the Tawakoni. The LSMR’s are the rocket shiy of the fleet. According to Com- mander J. S. C. Gabbert the LS- MR’s were constructed on land- ing ship hulls but were equipped for firing rockets. i Visiting Hours i “Visiting hours for the people (vL Juneau to go aboard the fleet will ke until 2 pm. this afternoon as we are leaving at 5 pm,” sad Capt. Ricker. “This is milder weather than we had at San Diego before we 21t on our operations,” stated Capt. Ricker. The operations around Kodiak lasted about one month and were satisfactory said Capt. Ricker. “When the fleet leaves here, w iwill be heading back to Seattle,” concluded Ricker. This morning Capt. Ricker called | on Mayor Hendrickson and Gov- | ernor Ernést Gruening. It was possible that the governor would re- turn the call during the course of | the fleet’s stay in port. The governor would be saluted with 17 guns. Eight side boys would pipe him aboard Capt. Rick- er’s ship, the LST 1123. Last night 50 per cent of the ships’ crew were given shore leave with the possibility of a like num- ber being given shore leave today. —.—————- 22 FROM SEATILE ONFRIDAY CLIPPER All Pan American fllzhti are due | 10 arrive here on schedule today with perfect flying weather over Alaska. Yesterday 22 passengers came in from Seattle with five go- g to the westward aboard PNA. Two returned to Seattle. Passengers from Seattle were: | Winifred Carter, Mr. and Mrs. Ar- thur Glover, Frank Stein, Carol Anderson, Virgil Baker, Merritt Ppeterson, Harriet Bennett, Don Da- is, T. Conrad, Dr. and Mrs. John Clements, Ken Bowman, J. D. vance, Mildred Sydman, Hans Moore. To Seattle: Bill O'Niell, Jack Dal- ton. 3 RO o e VISITOR FROM HAINES | steve Homer of the Chilkoot Mo- ; torship Line of Haines is a visitor I i tineau i i \ Istitute for common table salt, |it said, but F. KILLS FOUR CHICAGO, Feb. 19.—#— Four persons have died recently, the American Medical Association says, Liter tsing lithium chlofide, a sub- in seasoning foods. The U. S. Food and Drug Admin- istration has ordered the chemica. withdrawn from the market. The administration asked all persons w. have purchaserd it to “stop us this dangerous poiscn at onee.” Three of the deaths occurred in Cleveland and one in Ann Arbor Mich., the AMA said. “There is ont case in Baltimore that's suspicious,’ A Korff, Baltimore food control director, said he dic not know of any illness there re- sulting from the chemical. He addec the lithium su:stitute “is,used quitc frequently when ordinary salt i forbidden.” Common table salt it sodium chloride. Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of thc AMA Journal, said the substance “is highly poisonous if a person it | on a salt restricted diet. The lithium in such cases is retained in the body and causes the poisoning.” Dr. Fishbein said the AMA dic not know how widely the product has been distributed. D e ALASKA GROUPS STRONG AGAINST SPLIT SEASOK Alaska opposition to the proposac split season in the halibut fishery is strong, according to evidence ir the Governor's office, which ha: received petitions, telegrams anc letters from fishermen, businessmen and city councils from Southeas: Alaska. . Among the communitics from which expressions have been re- ceived are Angoon, Hoonah, Pelicar: Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell, Sii- ka anqd Petersburg. They give as reasons those pre- viously published in The Empire as representing fishermen, cold stor- age operators and others, most of which were included in a telegram of protest sent by Gov. Ernest Gruening to the International Fish- eries Commission which made the | Proposal, e MRS. McCORMICK WILL ENTER CLINIC IN SOUTH Bound for Seattle where Mrs. Mc- Cormick will enter Virginia Mason Hospital, Mr. and Mrs. John Mc- Cormick will be passengers from Juneau on the Alaska sailing Mon- Cay. Mrs, McCormick, who has been verfously ill and a recent patient at St. Ann's Hospital, is entering the Seattle clinic on advice of her Juneau physician, evouvve s ©cocescescen Seattle due to P - S £ A RCHING FOK FOOD — Cattle in the drought country near Ravenswood, Australia, ied land for dead leaves and bark for food. No useful rain has fallen in nearly half € i State's 670,000 square miles for two years. ON BLACH—F:ImAc- tress Lizabeth Scott, ' former magazine sweater girl, poses in swim suit on California beach. e o o c e e 0 0o @ WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU This data is for 24-hour pe- riod ending 6:30 am. PST In Juneau— Maximum, 15; minimum, 9. At Airport—Maximum, sninimum, -11. FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Mostly fair this afternoon and Svuday. Highest today near 20 degrees, Lowest to- night near 8 deg PRECIPLTATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. toduy In Juneau- City since Feb. 1, 127 since July 1, 90.63 At the Airport — None; since Feb. 1, . .92 inches; since July 1, 57.45 inches. 14; © 0000000 cce0000 00000 o STEAMER MOVEMENTS Knot / from 9 am. Sun- 2 e Freighter Terminal day. se noon. or Princess Norah from Vancouver heduled to arrive Sunday after- evening. Barancf from Seattle, due Tues- Alaska from west scheduled uthbound 3 a.m. Monday. MINING MAN DENOUMNCES 'RED UNION i WASHINGTON, | Feb. A wining industry official today de- urged Congress to tighten the Taft- Hartley law’s anti-Communism pro- vision. 19.—P— | nouneed what he called a “Com- land moved to. put munist-dominated” CTIO union and {into second readine to make tke EN*ATE 4 BOTHBILLS VOTED POWN BY SENATE Motor Fuek—TEE( Remains at Two Cents—Seas Are Free to Sail Boats By BOB DeARMOND Greatest carnage of the present lezislative session was seen yester- day afternoon in the Senate, where 1motor ail boat tax. The lethal roll talls came after tne Senate had approved two ma- ijor tax bills in two days—the fish trap increase and the general prop- erty tax. Senator Barr's bill to increase motor fuels tax levies to four cents 2 gallon was defeated by a 5-11 vote, cnly the four Third Division tenators appearing in the ‘“yea” column with Senator Barr, The margin was narrower when the vote came cn the sail boat tax, which went down 7-9 on the final vote. In his opening statement cn his inil, Senator Barr said that while «it provided for a refund to muni- 1cipalities of one cent per gallon of the revenues collected for the road fund within the municipalities, he A bad rreceived several rcquenu that he refund be made two cents per .;allon or half of the revenues so collected. He sald he was williny to com- premise on one and a half cents back ‘nmendment. but fa’'sc to secure the (necessary susvensic: ci the rules, i Roads, Airfields Needed At length and in detail Senatcr Howard I. Young, president 0{' the American Mining Congress, | identified the CIO union as the |Barr recited the need for roads and Tnternational Mine, Mill and Smelt- : airfields throughout the Territory cr Workers. He teld the Senate, labor committee: “Our country is spending billions ef dollars vent Communism from spreading beyend the Iron Curtain. We sure- 1y should not be remiss in our en- deavors to prevent Communism from further infiltrating into ourj labor unions.” e GAME COMMISSION, FWS,. FORGET WORK AT PARTY TONIGHT!, After extra sessions last night ¢nd this morning, members cI the Alaska Game Commission, field men of the Fish and Widlife Ser- vice, and Federal Aid Project lead- crs will take time off toright for 1 party. [ Clarence J. Rhode, Alas) director, and members of the Ju- rieau staff are making the arrange- ments for a gay evening at the Balmon Creek Country Club. Raymond Woolford and Frank Chapados, two Fairbanks staff members who have been on patrol in the Fort Yukon area, were 2x- pected to arrive on today’s Pan American flight from the North, In order that no area may 1 main greatly understaffed, FWS agents and other personnel are ming and going during the week- iong Game Commission mectir 'Those who have finished confer- “ing with the Game Commission will leave this weekend. Earl N. Ohmer, Game Commis- sfon chafrman, expects the annual ression to conclude early next week. e WAR CRIMES TRIAL SENTENCES FOURTEEN| IT0 HANG FOR CRIMES| (By Assodu!ed Press) crimes trial in the Philippines end-; | A Philippine army commission con- and rape. They were attacking Filipino and Chinese civ- ilians on the east coast of Luzon xislnnd in 1945, in an endeavor to pre-, The largest and longest war ed today. All 14 of the J‘:pmese‘ defendants were sentenced to hang, victed them on 20 counts of murder convicted of end read, in support of his state- {nems. a considerable qutntity of letters requesting the construction of such facilities. Larger and safer airports would |enable the use of larger planes and ‘a consequent cutting of freight tates to the mines and other out- 1lying localities. He gave several specifie examples st landing fields, at mines and xmnll communities, that are too |small or otherwise unsafe for use |Lxcept by small planes. Average cost of good gravel roads is $30,000 a mile, Senator Barr said. Rmnl ronds without gravel surfac- t $25,000 }!e estlmnted that cnly 15 to 28 {miles of new road could be built each year out of motor fuel tax tevenues, but felt that cvan that 1s worth while, Open Farm Lands Short branch roads in many tplaces would open desirable farm |':mds to settlement, the Senator aid. “And they would be settled ‘mmediatly.” Senator Howard Lyng thought, on the other hand, that the Terri- tory is doing well enough under the present fuel tax Act. The bill was originally passed in 1945, he recalled, and in 1947 the 1ate was doubled. “Now we want to quadruple it, like we did the fish trap tax. We ought to proceed a {little more slowly,” he warned. That statement brought a chorus of approval from several of his colleagues. Upheaval Ceming “There will be an upheaval amcng the people if we pile on many more taxes,” Senator Nerland cau- t:oned. “The income tax and fish trap tax and property tax are about enough,” Senator Edward Ander« son joined in. *“It's about time to slow down.” Senator Lyng mentioned a long: renge, $35,000,000 Federal roads b uilding program in the Territory. “We have had a long-range pro- -uram of doing nothing for years; it's about time we got in and did ' someathing,” Senator Barr retorted. Senator John Butrovich objected |ro the bill not only because of the (tax increase but because “it may |:uin a perfectly good Act.” “The mechanics of this bill is very bad,” he said, claiming that there would be entirely too much Pookkesping involved in the three separate funds—roads, airports and water facilities—set up by the mea- sure. (Continued on Page Five)