The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 20, 1949, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIIIL., NO. 11,251 PLANE CRASH IN SEATTLE TAKES 6 LIVES TWO-ENGINED 'HOUSES WHEN TERRITORY | T0 ASKFOR 1 MILLION § Admmlsirahon Authoizes Loan from Banks to | Meef Obligations | It should not be long before the Territory is out of debt. | That is the encouraging word | spoken today by no less an author- | ity than Territorial Tleasurer' Henry Roden. Alaska’s solvency in the near future depends, however, on thol working out of plans authorized at a meeting today of the Bonrd of Administration. 1 From correspondence and conver- | sation with bankers concerned, Ro- | den believes they will work out. | Roden will go to Seattle tomor- | row to ask banks to loan $1,000,-| 000 or thereabouts, to make possible the picking up of an equal | amount of outstanding warrants. “There being sufficient revenue | in sight to meet the ohllgat)un»‘ in full within a reascnable time,” | said Roden, “we expect to be able to pay off such a loan bomeen‘ the middle and the end of Jan-| uary. “Certainly everything should be | paid off by January 31,” he con- tinued, “and, from estimated rev-| enues, we should be able to pay our running expenses at the same | time.” Roden will be armed with statis- | tics prepared by his office nnd‘ that of Tax Commissioner M. P. Mullaney, showing anticipated rev- enues and comparing them with | the rate at which monies have| been received to date. He was given authorization to execute necessary documents, such‘ as the signing of promissory notes, | at the special Board meeting lhs\ morning in the Governor's office |""‘ does not discourage other n‘..\and peace by icolation is futile and The legality of the enterprise deemed advisakle in this temporary | emergency has been approved by Attorney General J. Gerald Will- iams, and that opinion will be filed. The Board further promised to use its good office with the next\ incoming legislature to obtain in- | terest. Meantime, the banks will| be asked to.carry the loan for| five months or less without guar- antee of interest. In view of the possibility of the Territory soon having working | capital, the Board modified lts' freezing order of June 20, 1949‘ voting to release frozen appropria- | tions when urgency can be shown. | Then, only the urgently needed: funds are to be used. | Treasurer Roden again pointed | out that the Territory is not bank- | rupt. “Alaska has $1,300,000 deposited to its credit in the banks,” he| said, “but, because of the financial | structure which permits earmark- ing of funds, not a penny of this | amount can be touched.” Present at today’s Board of Ad- ministration meeting were Gov., Ernest Gruening, Treasurer Roden, Attorney General Williams, Auditor | Frank A. Boyle, Education Com- | missioner Dr. James C. Ryan, and John H. Dimond, secretary. The Washingfon' Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1949, by Bell Syndicate. Inc.) ASHINGTON— It hasn’t been published, but ECA Administrator | Paul Hoffman has written a strong private letter to Senator Vanden- berg, protesting the plan to award| a special $50,000,000 gift to Spain. This grant for the Spanish dic- tator, to be taken out of Marshall Plan funds, was slipped into the ECA appropriations bill by Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada, Demo- | crat, at the prompting of Catholic | leaders. It has aroused vigorous opposition from Protestant church- | men because of their contention| that Protestants in Spain are giv-| en only second class citizenship, | and that the same principle of re- ligious discrimination exists in| Spain against Protestants as ex-| ists in the Iron Curtain countries against Catholics. Hoffman, in his letter to Sena- tor Vandenberg, avoided religious| references, but warned: “Because no work has yet s!art-! (Continued on Page Four) ‘ bership | Can 92'2, Anaconda 28%, RUSSIAN PROTEST DENIED Charge that )t Alantic Pad Violates Ifalian Treaty Refuted by Acheson WASHINGTON, July 20— | Secretary Acheson today z‘e~cx|bvn as “utterly without foundation” a Russian protest that Italy’s mem- in the Atlantic Allian(‘: violate the Italian peace | would treaty. The Secretary of State told a news conference he had received the Soviet protest only today. Moscow sent a protest also to| the Italian, British and French| ; governments. Britain already Scviet contention Italy has signed the North At- lantic Alliance, but has not yet ratified it. Acheson said the Russian argu- ment in the case of Italy like | other Soviet objections to the treaty, assumes that the treaty is directed against Russia. Acheson said that is not the case and the American government has | said many times that the treaty is purely defensive. At his news conference, | also: 1. Spoke out azain on the con- | flict- between Czechoslovakia’s Com- { munist government and rellgmu; has denied leaders. He declared the Czech re- | | gime is guilty of “tyrannous domi- |certain to turn nation” of religious organizations in violation of human rights stand- | i ards being worked out in the United Nations. 2. Said the United States re- mains alcof toward the idea of participation in any Pacific Pac: tions from making for security measures. arrangements 'ABSURD SAYS ITALY ABOUT RUSS CHARGE Nation Is Gomg to Sign At-| lantic Alliance Treaty, Rome Reports (By the Asociated Press) Russia has sent a diplomatic note to Italy protesting her sign- ing of the North Atlantic Treaty. | Russia charged Italy violated thci terms of her peace treaty. 'I'no British and Italian Foreign Offices denied it. Simultaneously Russia sent pro- test notes to the United States, Britain and France accusing these powers of urging Italy to join the Atlantic Pact in violation of peace | treaty terms. Ratification of the pact is under discussion in Italy’s lower House of Parliament—the Chamber of Depu- | ties. It is expected to pass both Houses without difficulty. Specifically Russia said the Italian action &roke Italy’s peace treaty signed in Paris in February 1947. This treaty, Russia said, pledged Italy “to abstain from undertaking any actions directed against states with which that treaty was signed and consequently not to join any alliances or other groupings pursuing aggressive aims.” An Ttalian Foreign Office Spokes- man said the charge was and ridiculous.” STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORXK. July 20—(®—Clos- ing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 3'&, American Curtiss- Wright 8, International Harvest- er 26%, Kennecott 47%, New York Central 10’4, Northern Pacific 13%, U. S. Steel 227%, Pound $4.03'%. Sales today were 1,380,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: industrials 175.60, rails 45.17, util- ities 35.57. the | Acheson | “absurd | JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1949 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Bulleis of Gangsters Hit Four, Including Czar Cchen, ~ In Gambling War ‘pA(T DEBAIE nnd three other persons—including | a state-appointed bodyguard for } (0 N T l NUES the dapper hoodlum--as the party | |left a smart Sunset Strip eafe. | | “None of the party was Kkilled LOS ANGELES, July 20—(®-- | Gangsters' Zullets early today cut outright but all were in a serious condition, including Harry Cooper, 38, a svecial bodyguard assigned |to Coken by the California Attor- | ney ‘ Gnverz\-]. . b 4 Baldwin Mkes PIoE 100 o s e \ J rbert, h 3 Passage — AHeMplS 0 |ieommenn. “Sversrt sscupe. 11 | gangland bullets only a month ago as he was entering his apartment. | Cohen, 35 a key figure in the sizzling Grand Jury inquiry into WASHINGTON, July 20 —(P— |police vice tieups which already has | Senator Baldwin (R-Conn), u; 1g | resulted in a wholesale shakeup of the Senate to approve the Nolth the Los Angeles police department. | Atlantic Treaty, said today is could | be expanded later into a World| ‘Allxance to guard the peace. He suggested also that an Inter- | "Write-in" May Fail By DON WHITEHEAD GUARD ASSIGNED Only yesterday Attorney General Fred Howser disclosed that he had national Police Force is “within|2ssiened Cooper to guard Cohen, the range of possibility” under the |Presumably because Cohen had ex- | treaty. | pressed fear that Eastern gang- Some time late tomorrow the Sters were in town to assassinate | Senate will vote on the 12-nation him. i pact. The big issue is whether| Barney Ruditsky, critics will be able to write in a SPerry’s Restaurant, declfiration that the treaty does|Shooting took place, not carry any obligation for the| %S leaving the place | United States to furnish arms to|Shotsun charges rang out. the other signers |time was approximately 4 am., Senate leaders said the Senate 1s | PST- down efforts to! It sounded like firecrackers and "ewnbody hit the walk. There were | jatout 25 or 30 people on the street ! lat the time. f co-owner of where the said everybody when the The | | write that in. | Baldwin argued to the Senate| Mthat any major conflict in the fu- I {ture ietween two other nations| “Cooper yelled T'm hit'" | ult'mately. would involve the United IN MANY BRUSHES i | States. Cohen, who fronts as a Hnuv-‘ had ma and several | wood haberdasher, has shes with the law with assassins’ bullets. A year “We know the hope of security |dead,” he said. He went on to say | |the pact is not a threat to any na- | Harry “Hocky” Rothman, hoodlum | associate of Cohen, was slain nu |tion “unless that nation chooses Ito cast itself in the role of aggres- Cohen's store. | sor.” Police grilled Cohen extensiv | in the Bugsy Siegel killing of two ( ,)'oax'a ago but nothing ever camv WAR MA(HINE oF of it. Siedel was ambushed as h2 sat in the luxurious mansion of international playgirl Virginia Hill. COMMUNISTS ON The ar and quick, secret re-| lease of seven Cnhvn henchmsx\; Mov[ 'N (HENA last April in an assault case! touched off the current Grand | Jury investigation which has rocked the Los Angeles police department The henchmen were arrested by | two rookie policemen soon after | they were seen leaving the scene (By Associated Press) The Chinese Communist war machine is rolling southward again Nationalist sources in Canton | | said Communist troops in Kiangsilof a beating of a radio shop owner. | |are spearheading in three direc- Higher-ups in the police depart-| {tions toward Hunan, China’s ricz|ment are charged with ordering bowl. The fate of South China|their “hushed-up” release. {hangs on what happens in Hunan. ———— John Roosevelt Changes His Job (By Associated Press) \ One of the late President Roose- velt’s sons, John Roosevelt, dis- closes that he has resigned as presi- Britain's Labor government re- | dent of the Roosevelt-Good De-|p,keq the National Dock Labor jpartment Store in Beverly Hm5’iBoard for threatening to take away | | Calif. timportant labor benefits if Lon- Roosevelt will devote full time | 15000 dock workers do not to another firm of which he is 20 back to work. The Board threat- president. This is the hair beauti- ened to withdraw virtual closed fying company which makes a per- shop provisions and regular pay manent wave preparation. and vacation guarantees. The gov- ernment urged the men to return | BRITISHLABOR BOARD ACTION GETS CRITICIZED | (By Associated Press) 'FARM PROGRAM IS but said they would not forfeit | these benefits. The government prepared to . DEBATED, SENATE (By the Associated Press) Another Administration plan ]cumes up for debate in the House (today and some long-time Admin- istration supporters are joining the | coalition against Agriculture Secre- tary Charles Brannan's farm pro-l gram. | TEL AVIV, Tsrael, July 20— | Democratic Representative Albert The Israeli-Syrian armistice was| Rains of Alabama calls the pro-|signed today, it was announcel; gram “a booby-trap for the farm- | here. | place more troops on the piers m; unload ships. ISRAELI-SYRIA SIGN ARMISTICE ers.” Democratic Representative | An Israeli government spokesman | A. S. Monroney of Oklahoma fears expressed satisfaction with the that the Branman farm plan wllllagreement‘ adding that it means Israeli now has armistice arrange- | —_— iments with all neighboring coun-| | ALASKA STANDARD HERE |tries. | ! The Alaska Standard, Standard| | Oil Co. tanker, arrived this morn- ing at 2 o’clock from Ketchikan on a routine delivery trip of bulk products. The tanker sailed on the return trip to Ketchikan at 11:00 v'clock this forenoon, lead to a peace-time OPA. Israel previously had signed| agreements with Egypt, Trans-| Jordan and Lebanon. Those agree- ments also covered elements oOf Saudi Arabian and Iragi troops which had fought against the m-\v‘ Jewish state, table |City and then returned ALASKA FUND FOR HOUSING in L. A.| AGAINURGED "VACATION" Others Ask Sen-| Wilder, ators for 15 Million for Development HINGTON, July 20—(®—An w Alasks terday that the greatest obstacle to the development of Alaska is the “lack of decent housing.” E. Glen Wilder, Executive Sec- retary of the Alaska Housing Authority, said the reason for this housing shortage is lack of avail- financing and disproportion- ately high building costs. Wilder appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to urge approval of a $15,075,000 addi- | third fiscal 1949 defi- | tion to the ciency hill for the Housing and Home Finance Agency. an official told Senators yes- | 9-HOURDAY, UNION MEN, Plumbers, Steamhfiers at:‘ ‘; Fairbanks Just Walk l Off Jobs | FAIRBANKS, Juh 20.—P—Ap- | proximately 260 members of the | Plumbers and Steamfitters’ Union, Lccal 875, were “on vacation” to-| day from four construction jobs ! Carl Slatburg, union business| agent, said the action was to pro- | test a reduction in working hours. | “It's definitely not a strike,” Slatburg said. “The men just de-| cided if the jobs are so far nh’);\’l; cf schedule that the contractors can | | cut hours, there’d be no harm if they take their vacations now.” Slatburg said the plumbing con- | tractors cut working hours, effec- tive Monday, from 10 hours a day | {to nine. | Raymond M. Foley, Administra- | tor of the Agency, said the money| 'If contractors decme to go back would be used to carry out the|!0 10 hours a day, the men pro- Alaskan Housing Act. Both he ani|DP8Ply will cut their vacations| Wilder stressed that it would be|ShOrt” Slatburg said. i used as a “revolving fund.” Cnnstru(?tmu jobs at Ladd Field, | Wilder said Senators should m--E“’l“’" Fisla, Untversity of . Alss<! gard it as a loan and “not a gift,” K3 8nd for the Alaska Railroad Senator Magnuson (D-Wash) | Were hit by the vacations. and Delegate ‘Bartlett of Alasl S. L. Davis, plumbing (‘nnt!'uc(mfi} | also urged approval of the appro- priation. The money originally was sched- | {uled to te requested in the second | deficicney bill but was postponed until the Housing and Home Fi- nance Agency could make a survey of the. Alaskan situation. Foley sald the there is “no question about lack ot adequate housing in Alaska.” He|road terminal project has been iq it disclosed a need for some | halted. 4,800 to 6,800 units in all price| The stoppage there now affects ranges, One of the basic objectives of (h(‘ Alaskan Housing Act, he added to pn\me industry in the Territory which will be able to meet lnc needs within its own resources.’ V. A aner C10 Official, Passes Away PITTSBURGH, July 20—(®—Van A. Bittner, who looked like a school | teacher but led ‘some of the most | far-reaching organizing drives i the American labor movement, di last night at 64. The CIO Vice President had been a hospital patient since July 7. He was stricken by a heart ail- ment several months ago in At- lanta, Ga., while on his last union assignment — the CIC Southern organizing campaign. He was hes- pitalized for a time in New York to his home here. CIO President Philip Murray |who worked side by side with Bitt- ner both in the United Mine Work- ers of America and, later, the United Steelworkers, expressed deep shock at his death. He gave 48 years to furthering the labor movement. SHRINERS WILL REPEAT PARADE AT CONVENTION (By Associated Press) The tireless Shriners will put on| nnncher pageant at Soldier’s Field | lin Chicago tonight—sort of a re-|Bishops are under peat performance of yesterda dazzling five-hour parade on Mic gan Avenue and ceremonies at the| field. The highlight of the program yesterday was the Foreign Policy address by President Truman—a Shtiner himself from Araral Temple in Kansas City. Tonight's ceremonies will wind up the diamond jubilee convention and the convention proper close somorrow. Platinum was called unripe cold and thrown back into streams to “ripen” &ty early day Indians ir South America. survey showed | “hasten the development of | said representatives of seven com- | panies met last week and decided | to reduce the work week “because | they believe we can ‘inish the work | | on schedule with the shortened! schedule.” i James D. Bush, super:niendent of Morrison - Knudsen Construction | Cempany, said all plumbing and steamfitting on the Alaska Rail- [but 30 men, Bush said, but could | | affect the whole job if it con- | tinues. He said plumbers and| steamfitters were the only men| not already working the nine- | hour day when the new order be- | came effective. : BABY KILLED, "ROUGH PLAY' | | | | LOS ANGELES, July 20.—(®—A two-months old baby died last | night in General Hospital after | Juvvmle officers said she was beat- ‘en in rough play by two three- | year-old boys, one of them her | brother. ‘The baby was Trudy Hayes. Ju-l venile officers, W. H. Clark and| J. R. MacArthur said the baby's|c ;falher, John Hayes, left her in a| | crib while he stepped out to a | stere. When he returned, Trudy was unconscious on the floor. The two boys, the other a neigh- | bor, told the officers that they| took the child from the crib to play ! | with her, then beat and hit her. | The officers said she suffered a | possible fractured skull and super- ficial bites over her body. PR A ST | | CATHOLIC ACTION MOVEMENT STARTS | IN CZECH, REPORT | (By Associated Press) | 'The Communist press in Czecho- | slovakia said today that the g()v-i | ernment-sponsored Catholic Action | »movemem has taken the placé of | {the Roman Catholic Hierarchy as| spokesman for Czechoslovakia’s 8,- | 000,000 Roman Catholics. Archbishop Josef Beran and his| police survel-f llance and perhaps eftectively silenced. MOOSE WOMEN | WILL INITIATE THURSDAY MEET The Women or thc‘ Moose will have ,initiation Thursday evening at 8 o'clock. Entertainment will be furnished hy the officers and| pinochle will be played and re- freshments served according to Mrs. | fdna Card, Senior Regent. AIRLINER HITS TAKEQTF FAILS; DEATH, DESTRUCTION RESULTS SFATTLE, Jl:].\' 20.—(»— An air ransport crashed into a residential treet last night and exploded, kill- ing six persons and injuring 30. Fcur people are missing When one engine failed as the | plane took off from foeing Field | with 32 aboard, the big craft sliced down through power lines and piled up in the street. A wing sheared away the top two floors of a frame rooming house where 18 persons lived. It piled on down into a brick home. In the two minutes before the wrecked ship exploded most of all the pass- engers got clear. The coroner’s identified three office tentatively of the dead as Lawrence Furio, Chicago, a pas- senger, and Ralph Parker and Ed Brightcamp. The latter two were in the rooming house. All the bodies were burned, making identification difficult. Seventeen the of two-engined xlane's passengers and its four crew | members were missing. were hospitalized. Two Nine residents of the | damaged homes were taken to hos- pitals. Hours after the 10:03 p.m. (PDT) crash, one of the plane’s gasoline tanks exploded, injuring four city firemen. The crash occurred at 10 p. m. acific Daylight Time. 21 Hospitalized Seventeen of the plane’s 28 pas- sengers and four crew members were hospitalized with injuries, Eight others were treated and re- leased. Three were unhurt and four were unaccounted for. Seven residents of the damaged homes also were Injured, and four firemen were hospitelized when a gasoline tank exploded three and a half hours after the crash. The 50-passenger plane .crashed seconds after it took off irom Boe- ing Field in a non-scheduled flight to Chicago. . Amos E. Heacock, company president and a passenger on the | plane, said both engines checked uut “without a sputter” at the end of the runway. Motor Sputters “But soon after we go into the air one motor began sputtering |and the pilot evidently thought it best to continue. A few seconds {later he pulled back on the throttle, apparently intending to land,” Heacock said. “Then he perceived almost im- mediately that he could not land and pulled the throttle again, con- tinuing to climb with a sputtering engine.” Another witness said the right motor of the plane sputtered, then cut out. The plane failed in its climk and began clipping the tops of utility polks. Lines, Wires Clipped Power lines and telephone wires were clipped, plunging the area in- to darkness and disrupting com- munications. Its wide wings cutting swaths through frame houses, the plane ripped through five Georgetown homes. It buried its nose in one structure, Then Explosion Abcut two minutes later it ex- ploded. During that short interval, pas- sengers jumped or were thrown from the tail of the plane which was sheared off in the crash. Heacock snld he personally check- INJURED PILOT ONFIRST FLIGHT, CRASHED PLANE OAKLAND, Calif., July 20.—®— Anthony H. Gjessing, injured sur- vivor of the Air Transport Asso- ciates plane crash in Seattle last night, was making his first flight with the company, his wife, Jaquel- ine, said today. Mrs. Gjessing said a Seattle hos- pital informed her that her hus- band suffered severe burns on the hands, face and neck, but was in a “satisfactory” condition early today. Gjessing, she said, was making his first flight with the company in the navigator's seat to study the company’s route to New York. He previously had been flying for Alaska Airlines to points in Japan and Asia, she sald, 4 ed all seats of the plane and all passengers had gott:n out before the blast. The airline president said he found his wife, acting as | stewardess, struggling with her head | between two seats and threw her “bodily” off the plane. “Then I went through the pilots’ compartment, which was torn off the craft. I found two pilots struggling and a third pilot ap- parently dazed or unconscious. Thrown from Flames “All three were entangled in saf- ety belts and wreckage. One man, James M. Adams, the co-pilot, was pleading with me to get him out. I pulled the wreckage off him and picked him up and threw him clear of the flames.” Two hundred National Guards men formed lines to hcld back a crowd of thousands endangered by writhing electric wires, Flames wera visible for miles. It was the second crash of a chartered airplane here within tho last seven months. Eleven Yala University students, headed back to the campus after Christmas holidays, were killed when a Se- attle air charter plane crashed taking off from the same field January 2. Three crew members also died. It followed by a week the death of 35 persons near Burbank, Calif., in a charter flight by Standard Airlines of Long Beach. SEVENTH VICTIM SEATTLE, July 20.—(®—The sev- enth victim of last night's plane crash is Pete Chumos, 66, who was one of the injured taken from a rooming house. He died this after- noon. Other residents killed were Frank Morgan, 6); Edward Bright- camp, 71; Olavi N. Niemi, 45, and Ralph Parker. Also dead was one passenger of the plane, Frank Catalica of Kala- mazoo, Mich. Still unaccounted for was Lawrence Furio, another pas- senger. Mrs. Eleanor Wilming, 46, Kodiak, Alaska, a passenger, was in a criti- ical condition with a chest injury. TRUMAN UP EARLY; GOES FOR STROLL (By Associated Press) President Truman was up with the milk man this morning after his overnight stay in Chicago. Mr. Truman arose at 5 a.m., and 45 minutes later he was walking briskly along Michigan Avenue. He waved in reply to a shouted greet- ing by a milk driver, and then walked into Grant Park, across from the Stevens Hotel, where he stayed. A band played in the hotel until near dawn, and another band performed in the nearby streets as ‘| Shriners celebrated their diamond Jubilee. There was other excitement. too. President "Sruman was not dis- turbed; but about thirty hotel em- ployees were driven to the street by an explosion of a gauge on an ammonia tank on the second flocs. The President was on the 23rd floor, and was not aware of the excitement as firemen brougnt the leaking tank under control. The President left the Chicago Municipal Airport for Washington at 8:13 am. (EDT), but there were few early risers there to see him off. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Prince George from Vancouver scheduled to arrive Friday after- noon. Princess Norah scheduled to sail from Vancouver 8 tonight. Denali scheduled to sail Seattle tomorrow. Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle Saturday. Princess Louise scheduled to sail from Vancouver Saturday. Princess Kathleen scheduled sail from Vancouver July 27. Aleutian scheduled southbound Sunday, from to