The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 13, 1949, Page 1

- . THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIIL, NO. 11,195 Olson Confesses Embezzlement Over $ VERDICT REACHED JSC CASE At 4:15 this afternoon the jll'ry in the Juneau Spruce Corporation damage case against the ILWU and local ILWU returned the ver- dict in favor of the plaintiff (Ju- neau Spruce Corporation) against both the ILWU and local and assessed damages at $750,000. Defense attorney Anderson asked for an individual poll of tke jurors as to the verdict and all answered nyes.” Given To Jury At 4:45 o'clock yesterday after- noon, Judge George W. Folta finished his lengthy instructions, and the jury of nine men and three women retired to decide the out- come of Juneau Spruce Corpora- tion’s damage suit for $1,025,000 against the International Long- shoremen’s and Warehousemen'’s Union, both Local 16 and the in- ternational organization. Neither Union Certified The judge’s instructions made clear that neither the longshore- man local which sought the dis- puted work of barge-loading and lumber-slinging, nor the Interna-i tional Woodworkers of America, Local M-271, to which the work had been assigned by the company, had been certifieq by the National Lubor Relations Board as the bar- gaining representative for the em- ployees performing - such work. He emphasized that both Verne; Albright, ILWU representative in Alaska, and Germaine Buicke, ILWU vice president, both of whom figured In ~evidence, were agents, put that it was for the jury to say whether their actions were within the scope of their ILWU employment. Judge Folta pointed out that, if} there was technical evidence of in-\ tent of conspiracy, then everything| done by officials or agencies| wou)d be binding on both defend- l ants, and each would be liacle for the whole. Contract Excluded | As the longshoremen’s contract with Juneau Lumber Mills, from which the plant was purchased by | Juneau Spruce, had not been; shown to carry over as an obli-} gation, Judge Folta ruled that this exhibit should not be taken to the| Jjury room. : The jury was instructed that it could find either or both oxi neither defendant guilty. | He emphasized that the burdgn! of proof had been on the plaintitt { to show that the ILWU, from| April 10, 1948, until now, had en- gaged in a concerted refusal to . handle or work on . .. com- modities . . . of the company . . . where the object was to compel the plaintiff to assign the load- | ing of lumber to ILWU 16, rather| than to TWA M-271. If they found such evidence, charged the judge, and that it caused a pecuniary loss, the ver- dict must be for plaintiff in the amount deemed by the jury fair and reasonable damage, including; loss of profits, not to exceed the sum that was sought. Judge Takes 20 Minutes Judge Folta's instructions occu- (Continued on Page 2) The Washington Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1949, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) (Editor's Note—The brass ring good for one free ride on the ‘Washington Merry-Go-Round, today goes to the Secretary of Agriculture; Charles Brannan.) ASHINGTON— Bald, bespect- acled Charlie Brannan, author of the much-debated farm program, is the most unusual member of the Cabinet. He is the only Cabineteer who has offered to drop out of the official family if it would help Oscar Chapman’s chances of becom- | ing Secretary of the Interior. Both came from Denver, and there’s a semi-precedént against two Cabi- net members coming from the same town. This gesture was not grandstand- jng by Brannan. He really works | at doing unto others as e would have them do unto him. Meeting Brannan, you would never know (Continued oo Page Four) |two organi2ations. 'Consfitution of MEMCRIAL DAY PROGRAM IS NOW BEING ARRANGED At last night's meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars at thex| club rooms at the Jeep Club, the | Vets met with John Tanaka, the American Legion chairman of the Memorial Day committee. Post Commander Harold Fennel ap- pointed Alan Marcum as the chairman of the VFW committee and the two chairmen will coope- rate in a joint ceremony by the Plans at present are that a me- morial day service will be held in the Elks’ Hall starting at 11 o'clock the morning of Memorial Day with a speaker designated by the Com- manding General, U. S. Army. Alaska. If possible, this service will be followed by a parade consisting of units of the Army, Coast Guard, American Legion, VFW and other organizations. There will be serv- ices from the Alaska Steamship Dock with a firing squad composed of both Army and Coast Guards- men. From there the parade wil continue to the American Legior plot in the Evergreen Cemetery where a wreath will be placed ir commemoration of those who gave their lives in the wars of this na- tion. H Tanaka and Marcum are formu- | lating the plans for this joint ef- fort of the two local veterans organizations and the final plan: will be announced within the next | week. Another subject discussed at last night's meeting was the work of the Cancer Committee. The chair- man of the committee announced that collection devices will be placed in all the local “watering’ spots and that follow up campaigns will take place in the near future New Republic Gels Approval Western A@ Get Trump Card for Useat Paris Talks May 23 (By Ascociated Press) The Western Allies approved with reservations last night the new West German Federal Repub- dc’s draft constitution. This gives them a trump card for use in the May 23 Paris talks with Russia seeking a solution to the entire German situation. The Americans, British and French also ordered an interim peace treaty for the Western Oc- cupation Zones’' 45,000,000 Germans to come into force the day the West German government takes office. Mrs. Eisler Re-Arresied ‘WASHINGTON, May 13— (A— Mrs. Gearhart Eisler today was re- arrested for deportation while the Justice Department laid plans to bring her husband back from his flight across the seas. The Department announced that Mrs. Eisler was taken into custody in New York City this morning. She had been at liberty, without tond, oni charges of being illegally in this country. One reason for her re-arrest was that the government wished to question her about the flight ot Eisler, 52-year-old admitted Com- munist, as a stowaway on a Polish vessel. The Justice Department said that immigration service of- ficials in New York had been in- structed to detain Mrs. Eisler on Ellis Island. Except for the principle of the thing, the government could save quite a bit of money by just ignoring Eisler’s flight while under charges looking to his deportation. Coffee consumption in the United States now averages more than 17 pounds per person, including child- ren. PARKING METERS 10 GO IN EFFECT MONDAY MORNING Parking meters installed on down- | town streets during the past week | will become operative Monday morning at 9 am. Chief of Police B. E. Hulk announced today. Meter regulaticns will *be in ef- fect every day from 9 a. m, to 6 2. m. except Sunday and holidays. Instructing motorists in their use, Police Chief Hulk said the meters are manually operated, nec- essitating turning a handle aifter inserting a coin. Time limit is 60 minutes which can be obtained by inserting either five pennies or one nickel. Turn the handle slowly as far as possible after each coin to be sure the flag falls. Do not use dimes, the police chief advises. Meters on green posts are limited to 12 minutes and will register only one penny in time. The police chief advises motorists ©0 park within the marked stall with the front bumper about even with the meter, and to park care- fully to avoid pumping meter posts. Anyone using slugs or tampering with parking meters will be sub- ject to arrest. Meter rates can be found in an “ad” elsewhere in the Empire, N Car drivers who are wondering | f they will be able to park all day in one meter stall by inserting a nickel an hour will have to wait for the city to draw up regulations on that score. City officials this morn- ing said that no ordinance has| been drawn up in that regard. PRINCE GEORGE | WILL MAKE EIGHT | SE ALASKA TRIPS VANCOUVER, B. C, May 13.—A busy summer cruise season for the Canadian National steamers Prince | George and Prince Rupert is fore- seen by S. M. Greene, general pas- senger agent here for Canadian| National Railways and Steamships. | Mr. Greene reports the palatial | new 5800-ton TSS Prince George, which went into Alaska service last ummer following completion in a| British Columbia shipyard, wiil| nake eight regular 10-day voyages this season between Vancouver and Skagway. Sailing dates will be June | L7, 28, July 8, 19, 29, August 9, 19 and 30. The new ship accommo- | Jates 260 first-class passengers and | advance reservations indicate all saflings will be heavily booked.! Ports of call include Ocean Falls ind Prince Rupert, in British Col- umbia, and Ketchikan, Wrangeil Juneau and Skagway, in Alaska. In addition, the ship makes a day- ong trip along the scenic waters :f Douglas Channel and Gardner Janal, famed B. C. fjords. “Bookings have been received from all sections of the United States and Canada,” reports Mr. SGreene, “and even as far off as New Zealand and Hawail” He alsc mentioned that the Prince George has been chartered | for two special cruises to take place before the regular Alaska schedule commences. On May 21, :he ship leaves Vancouver for Skag- way on a 10-day voyage arranged for the Oregon Journal, Portland daily paper. The other charter, June 8-17, has been arranged on behalf of the Los Angeles Cham- ber of Commerce; which made a similar gocdwill trip to Alaska on the Prince George shortly after her scmpletion last June. Mr. Woods said that the SS Prince Rupert, which carried 200 first class passengers, will continue ‘n regular coastal service between Vancouyer, Westview, Ocean | Falls, Prince Rupert -and Ketchikan, dur- ing the summer, but much. of the space in ‘June, July ‘and’ August'is| reserved for touristss Twenty-two specigl tour parties, organized by travel companieg in Los Angeles, Birmingham, Alabama, ¥nd Tor- onte, Ontario, will‘include the five- day cruise on the Prince Rupert this summer in their itineraries. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, May 13—#—Clos- ing quotation of . Alaska Juneau! mine stock today is 3%, American Can 90%, Anaconda 28%, Curtiss- Wright 8%, International Harvest- er 26%, Kennecott 44%, New York Central 11, Northern Pacific 14, U. S. Steel 717%, Pound '$4.08%. Sales today were 780,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: industrials 174.82, rails 47.58, util-| ities 35.85. | the Russian charges “a lot of non- JUNEAU, ALASKA, F THREATIN BLOCKADE REVEALED (By the Associated Press) Russia and the Western Powers still argued today over whether all the barriers in the Berlin blockade have been lifted. The Russians charged the West with “evading the lifting of their restrictions undar invalid pretexts.” A Western spokesman promptly labelled the charge a ‘“lot of non- sense.” The Russian incurred Western wrath yesterday by refusing to allow (rucks from West Berlin to travel to the Western Occupation Zones without obtaining permits from the Soviet military or the Russian-backed German Economic Commission. Early today, however, West Ber- iin police said they understood such trucks now need only an order rom the West Berlin government. VEILED SOVIET THREAT Western observers saw a veiled Soviet threat to renew the blockade in a Russian press statement that “the (tlockade) agreement cannot ke fulfilled by the Soviet side aldne.” Any such step, however, would be 2 matter of policy for higher authorities than the Russians in Germany to decide. Meantime, fresh food shipments from the Western zone were pour- ing into West Berlin without inter- ference ' from the Russians. Ral]i shipments of food and coal also were moving smoothly. NEWSPAPER CHARGES BERLIN, May 13.—(®—The Soviet Army newspaper in Germany has accused the Western Powers of bad faith in the lifting of the Ber- lin blockade. The Russian paper says the West s “torpedoing” the agreement, and that it is evading the lifting of re- ! strictions. A Western spokesman has labeled sense.” He says that officials were told to lift restrictions in effect since March, 1948. He adds that we've done that and more.” | I EXPLODING TRUCK | INN. Y. DISRUPTS | PHONE SERVICE NEW YORK, May 13—(®—Drums of chemicals exploded on a truck r. the Holland Tunnel today, fill- ing the underwater highway with carbon disulphide fumes. Thirty sersons, including 20 firemen were overcome. The explosions, touched off when he truck caught fire, occurred in the tunnel's east bound tube at 7:55 a.n. at the height of the neavy morning traffic. The tube links Jersey City with Manhattan. | ‘The drums began exploding while : the truck was near the Jersey City side of the tunnel. The blast disrupted carle and telephone channels from New York to the west. The countrywide Associated Press wires to radio stations were out approximately two hours. LABORPARTYIN BRITAIN SUFFER | LSS, ELECTIONS (By Associated Press) Britain’s Labor party lost heavily today in returns from big city elec- tions, continuing a trend. toward the right begun last ‘month in county council balloting. British press association returns from 381 of the 420 boroughs which voted for councilmen yesterday showed Labor suffered a net loss of 437 seats, while Conservatives chalked up a net gain of 528. NOTICE OF APPEAL IS FILED IN CASE OF | KURT 6. NORDGREN Following the couri’s denial of a motion for a new trial, Attorney Howard D. Stabler yesterday tiled notice of appeal in the case of Kurt G. Nordgren. The Petersburg fish- RIDAY, MAY 13, 1949 MATTHEWS NAMEDFOR SECY.NAVY WASHINGTON, May 13.—®— Francis Patrick Matthews, Omaha lawyer, was named Secretary of the | Navy today. The White House announced that Matthews, 62, widely known Catho- lic layman, had been picked to suc- ceed John L. Sullivan. Sullivan quite recently with a blast at Secretary of Defense John- son for halting work on the Navy's super aircraft carrier. President Truman also announc- ed he is promoting Dan A. Kimball to Undersecretary of the Navy. Kimball is now assistant secretary. ae is a Californian, Kimball succeeds former Under- secretary W. John Kenny whose resignation was announced last week. Presidential Press Secretary C. G.| Ross made the announcements for the President. Later, formal nom- inations were sent to the Senate. Mr. Truman also nominated Vice Adm. John L. McCrea to be director of the staff of the Personnel Policy Board of the Defense Establish- ment. | Matthews is a Democrat and was a member of the President’s com- mittee on civil rights in 1946. He is| a graduate of Creighton University and a native of Albion, Nebr. Ross said that the President is not yet ready to name a new| Secretary of the Army to succeed Kenneth C. Royall, who also resign- | ed. The President told a recent news conference; vhe still hoped Curtis E."Calder, New York utilities execu- | tive, would accept the Army post. | Selection of Matthews followed the refusal of Jonathar Daniels, North Carolina editor, to accept the Navy job. . DOGBITEVACCINE BEING FLOWNOUT | 10 PACIFIC SHIP i i SEATTLE, May 13— —A radioed | plea for anti-rabies vaccine was eceived from the Army Transport Genefal Walker in mid-Pacitic last! night, the Coast Guard reported. The message said that a soldier | aboard the transport had bec:ni bitten by a dog that later developed | -abies, The Coast Guard said here that| a B-17 took off from Adak in the Outer Aleutians to rendezvous with the General Walker, 650 mfles! south of Adak, but was turned back when the Hawailan sea frontier said it would send a Navy bomber to the scene. Reason for the change in plans vas given as the PBY's greater cruising range. ‘The transport, enroute from San Francisco to Yokohama, was in- structed to proceed toward Mid- way to meet the Navy plane, the| Joast Guard said. (At Anchorage, Alaska, it was| ceported that a B-17 from the, Tenth Rescue Squadron at Elmen- dorf field also was sent out with serum and expected to reach the| transport about 10 p.m. PST last night. The Coast Guard, however, said it had no word of that plane making _ the flight.) ! The Alaska-based B-17's plan-| ned to make the serum delivery with a parachute with flotation| zear which released a fluorescent | dye ppon landing in the water. | | SERUM IS DROPPED | SAN FRANCISCO, May 13.—®— | A Navy PBM from Midway drop- ped two packages of rabies serum | to the Army Transport Gen. Nel-| son M. Walker for treatment of an Okinawa-bound soldier bitten by a; dog at Camp Stoneman, Calif, 10" days ago. | The drop was made about 300 miles north of Midway, the Army| Port of Embarkation® announced. The ship is due at Yokohama May‘ 20. The Army identified the sol-| dier as Pfc. George R. House, 22. (Hometown unavailable). /When bitten, the Army said, an examination showed no skin Wbrok- en, but the dog died a week later and an autopsy showed rables pres- ent. Private House i1s not ill, but erman had been convicted and sen- tenced on a charge of bribery. ‘as a precaution. the serum was flown to the ship MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Anti-Pickefing Injundiion -+ InJuneau Mill Case Made Here by Attorney of NLRB LRB REPORT IN DOUGLAS CANNING CASE MADE TODAY SEATTLE, May 13 — (® — An NLRB f{rial examiner's report recommended today that the Doug- las Canning Co. of Douglas, Alaska, shall stop recognizing the Food, To- bacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers union (CIO) as the bar- gaining agent for its employees. ‘The reéport also recommended that the company should do noth- ing to deter its employees from joining the rival United Alaska Fishermen and Cannery Workers union (AFL). TWODEAD, 4 INJURED IN HOTEL FIRE PASCO, Wash.,, May 13—(®—Two men died and four others were jinjured, two seriously, in a $50,000 fire that swept the Lewis Hotel and two stores here early today. All 36- ocd -of - the 26-room hotel were made homeless. The 'fire started (w1 the ground floor a few minutes after midnight. The dead were C. T. Hillman and Clarence Heath, both of Portland. They were both found lying in water in the hotel while the fire was still being brought under con- trol. Heath was dead when found land Hillman died shortly atter Jeing taken to the hospital. Firemen said that smoke prob- ably knocked the men down as they tried to escape. The two most serfously injured were Norris Farringer, 20, Yakima, who was badly overcome by smoke, and Fred Dux, 49, Bellingham, Wash., who suffered a possible broken ankle and possible back njuries. WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU ‘This data is for 24-hour pe- riod ending 6:30 am. PST. In Juneau— Maximum, 45; minimum, 39. At Airport— Maximum, 45; minimum, 40. FORECAST (Jupesu and Vielpits) Mostly cloudy with occa- sional light rain tonight and Saturday. Lowest tempera- ture tonight about 40 de- grees. Highest Saturday near 50 degrees. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 &.m. today In Juneau — .20 since May I, 377 since July 1, 11003 At Airport — .11 since May 1, 2.36 since July 1, 6295 inches. ©0 0000000000000t 00c 00000000 FOUR JUNEAU HIGH STUDENTS RECEIVE MEDALS IN RIFLING WASHINGTON, May 13—®-- Katherine Bavard, 16, Jon W. Stew- art, 17, Clifford Melvin Cole, 17, and Robert J. Sommers, Jr., 16, all of Juneau, have won the Expert Rifleman’s Medal, it is announced here by, the National Rifle Associa- tion, governing body of competi- tive rifle and pistol shooting for the United States. These four youngsters have been | shooting for about two years and | have climbed steadily throught the {13 lower rankings and need only | one more to reach the top draw- er of the junior shooters—the Dis- | tinguished Rifleman’s Medal. They are students at Juneau High School. and members of the school's junior rifle club. | BULLETIN: Arguments were con-| pleted this afternoon in the anti- injunction case and Judge Folta announced he would take it under advisement and make his decision in court at 10 o'clock next Mon- day morning, One minute after the jury retired (o deliberate the Juneau Spruce Corporation’s million dollar damage suit against local and internation- al longshoremen, Samuel Ross, of Wasnington, D. C., attorney for the National Labor Relations Beard, fil- ed an anti-picketing injuncticn in District Court here late yesterday afternoon. “By stipulation,” Ross told the Empire, “we agreed Monday not to file the suit during the trial of that case, because the attendant public- | ity might prejudice the parties rights and we had no wish to do 0. It was stipulated that the suit could be filed as soon as the jury retired.” It is the position of the Gov- ernment, accoMling to Ross that refusal of longshoremen to abide, by the NLRB determination of Ap-! ril 1—that the longshoremen had no right to the. barge-loading-—is! considered a violation of the juns-' dictional dispute provisions of thei Labor Management Relations Act Section 8 (b) (4) (D). “Although the picket line was re- moved Monday,” Ross sald, ‘“‘we have no assurance from anything yet conveyed by Local 16 that they have relinguished their demands for this work or that they wiH ‘dfscon= tinue other activities in which they are engaged—such as the Prince Rupert incident and the general re- fusal of longshoremen to load anda! unload Juneau Spruce products, Nor,” Ross #dded, “is there any assurance that the picket line wili not be resumed, other than oral statements. “Therefore,” he concluded, “w: feel that, in order to carry out our | duty under the act, it is necessary | to secure the injunction pur.«iuamt to the provisions of Section 10 (Lt of the act.” The case is called that of Thom- as P. Graham, Jr, as regional di-| rector, on behalf of the NLRB, ver- | sus ILWU 16, CIO, and its agents, George Ford, Orville Wheat, Joe Guy and Verne Albright. The injunction case was taken be- fore Federal Judge George W. Fol- ta this afternoon. Manley Stray- ar is representing the Juneau 3pruce Corperation and Willlam Paul, Jr., and George Anderson are representing the unions. CRIME MOVIES, ALSO| (RIME COMICS GETS YOUTH INTO JAIL SEATTLE, May 13—®—A 19- year-old would-be detective sat in the county jail today blaming his plight on “seeing too many movies| and reading too many crime comie Looks.” ““Things like this deal’of mine al- ways pan out pretty well in the kind of stuff I've been reading,” added the youth, Walter Franklin Butler. { He was arrested by Federal Bur- 2au of Investigation agents Wednes- day night after accepting a dum- my package which. was suppcsed to contain $10,000. The money was to have come from B. W. Oseran, owner and manager of the Sportsmen’s Supply ; Center, for whom Butler once work- ed. Oseran called in the FBI after receiving a threatening note stat- ing that: “It is worth $10,000 to you to/ keep breathing. If you disobey these orders, you will die.” The orders directed Oseran to deliver the money to a nearby bev- erage store. The arrest followed. Butler, a former soldier, said he wanted the money to finish his education as a private detective. STEAMER MOVEMENTS | Princess Louise from Vancouver due to arrive Saturday afternoon or evening. Baranof scheduled to sail .from Seattle Saturday. Alaska scheduled southbound on Sunday. 23,000 ARRAIGNED IN COURT ON CHARGE Former Territorial Treas- urer Is Released ‘on Bond of $10,000 Oscar G. Olson, who resigned Saturday as Treasurer of Alaska, has confessed to embezzling approx- imately $23,000 of Territorial funds, and of failing to account for these public moneys. Olson was arraigned this morning in U. 8. Commissioner’s Court on a complaint signed by P. J. Gil- more, Jr, United States Attorney. Acting Commissioner Gordon Gray set the preliminary hearing for next Thursday morning at 10 o’clock. Olson was released on $10,000 bend furnished by two Juneau citi- | zens, i The complaint was based on in- formation turned over to the U. 8. Attorney by Acting Governor Lew M. Williams. Information was based on find- ings by Arthur Andersen and Com-. pany of Seattle, in the course of an audit being made of Territorial cffices covering the biennial period of December 31, 1946, to March 31, 1949. The audit was authorized by the 19th Legislature. Gilmore said today: “While the charges are based on the period of the past biennium, it is believed that further defalcations took place prior to that time." Acting Governor Willlams stated today that the audit pf the Terri- torial Treasurer’s office is being ex- | tended to go back to the time at the last previous audit, September 30, 1944. The complaint charges embezzle- ment on two counts. The first is that from December 31, 1946, to March 31, 1949, the Treasurer did feloniously, wiltuily and unlawfully { tmbezzle and fraudulently convert to his own use approximately $23,- 53754 belcnging to the Territory . of Alaska, sald moneys having come into his possession . . . by virtue of his being Treasurer of the Territory {of Alaska, The second count is on failure and neglect to account for approx- imately $23,237.65. Olson is represented by the firm of Faulkner, Banfield and Booch- ever. RED FORCES CREEPING UP ON SHANGHAI (By Associated Press) China’s Communist forces crept closer to the great city of Shanghai today, despite stout Nationalist re- sistance. One battle raged a:out 25 miles southwest of the city, centering around the village of Sunkiang, on the Shanghai-Hangchow railroad. Another developed to the northwest, around the village of Tainsang, near the banks of the Yangtze river. The nearest Red lines ap- peared to be about 20 miles from Shanghal. : Inside Shanghai, - soldiers were’ busy piling sandbags at street corners and building entrances. Traffic was light, as hundreds of civilian and military vehicles al- ready have evacuated. McGrath Supporfs Shalleck in N. Y, Election Tuesday (By The Associated Press) Democratic Natiorral Chairman J. Howard McGrath has given the party’s support to the regular Dem- ocratic opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Junior, in a New York congressional election. McGrath has backed Municipal Court Justice Benjamin Shalleck, who also is sup- ported by Tamnfany Hall. Young F. D. R. is the candidate of the Liberal and Four Preedoms parties. Next Tuesday's election will pick ‘a successor to the late Sol Bloem. 5\