The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 9, 1949, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIIIL, NO. 11,268 Two Boys Are Missin VAUGHAN INVOLVED IN USE OF RESTRICTED MATERIALS AT TRACK U.S. CHIEFS OF STAFF BACKHOME | SUMMARY OF TODAY'S INTER- NATIONAL NEWS EVENTS | (By the Associated Press) America’s three top military| commanders returned from a 10- day European tour today, hopeful of swift action to bring the Nortb Atlantic Treaty into military effect. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Hoyt Van- denberg of the Air Force and Ad- miral Louis E. Denfeld, Naval Chief of Operations, flew back to Washington after preliminary talks with military leaders of all Euro- pean members of the 12-nation treaty. “We hope that these frank dis- cussions and - exchanges of views| will help our respective govern- ments and will shorten conferences necessary to organize under the pact,” Bradley told reporters at the airport in Washington. The three chiefs were to report to Defense Secretary Louis John- son at a luncheon meeting. To- morrow they are to appear before the Senate Armed Services com- mittee. +The commitice cwudying the administration’s $1,450,000,000 for- eign arms aid program, designed to provide the arms that the European Past members say they need. CZECH CATHOLICS REBEL In Europe, a Czechoslovak Com- munist weekly magazine reported police had put down a brief revolt in a Slovakian town. It said Catho- lics defending their priest from threatened arrest had set up their own ‘local government. Two persons were reported wounded ‘wnd geveral arrested in the incident at Strecno, in North- western Slovakia. The exact date of the newest incident in Eastern Europe’s church-state struggle was not given. Winston Churchill, a leading ad- vocate of a federated Europe, was due in Strastourg, France, to take his place as a Brifish delegate to the newly created 13-nation Council of Europe. Churchill was expected to press for admission of Western Germany as soon as possible after West German elecfions Aug. 14 to set up a government for the American, British and French zones. GREEK GUERRILLAS SENTENCED Greece’s government announced the sentencing of 23 captured Com- munist guerrillas to death. These included a guerrilla brigadier and his wife. The general staff said government forces repulsed guer- rilla counter-attacks yesterday inj the Grammos area, scene of a new| government offensive. ! WOMAN’S CLUB' TEA To usher in the new club year which begins in September, the Ju- neau Woman’s Club is making ex- tensive plans for a “Round-Up” tea which will be held this month at the home of Mrs. Mildred R. Her- mann. The date will be August 17 and the hours from 3 to 5:30. Honored guests on this .occasion will be women of the community who have been active in the clib’s’ work during the past years. The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1949, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) ASHINGTON — A theatrical company of American Negroes will tour the Scandinavian countries next month to offset Paul Robe- son’s Communist-sponsored barn- storming. 5 The Negro players will present Henrik Ibsen’s “The Wild Duck” in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and thus. demonstrate that all Ameri- can Negroes aren’t downtrodden, but can attain the same education- al and cultural heights as other Americans. This good-will tour was arranged by the ,Norwegian Embassy and Howard 'University of Washington, D. C., without any prompting from the ' State - Department. Twenty- one students and three instructors| from the Howard University’s drama department will make the trip, most of the expenses being paid by Blevins Davis, American philanthropist, who also brought (Continued on Page Four) x | Howard Easley, 62, and his wife, ARREST TACOMA KILLER FBI Picks Um-toncid' Who Admits Slaying of Elderly Couple SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 9—(®— A 33-year-old ex-convict, arrested here by the FBI, has admitted kill- ing an elderly Tacoma couple last month, Special FBI Agent Harry M. Kimball said today. He is John Edward Summers, a former neighbor of the victims, Elizabeth, 67. He surrendered with- out resistance late yesterday at a Gough Street rooming house where he had been living under the name John Skinnere. Kimball said the man, a farm laborer and dishwasher, agreed to removal to Washington state, where he is charged with first de- jree murder. FBI agents declined to disclose how they treced Summers here. They said they found in his pocket 1 copy of the FBI's “Wanted notice alerting police to be on the | \ockout for him. The notice, Kim- hall said, had been stolen from a mail box at the rooming house. The Easleys were shot and killed at their Tacoma home on July 16. Berry pickers near Chinook Pass} found the bodies four days later Easley’s automobile was sold to a Portland dealer on July 21. Federal agents stepped into the case with a complaint charging Summers with taking a stolen car over state lines. He also is charged with the Federal offense of unlaw- ful flight to avoid prosecution for murder. Kimball said Summers was re- leased last May from Washington state penitentiary and had been arrested on a number of occasions for forgery, burglary, larceny and carrying concealed weapons, Summers today blurted out a story of accidental shooting. The ex-convict was given a form- al appearance before U. S. Commis- sioner Francis St. J. Fox. Handcuffed and guarded by two deputy U. S. Marshals, Summers appeared before Fox, who asked him if he had any statement. Summers didn’t have to reply. But he recounted eagerly a story he had earlier told newsmen. He had visited the Easley’s on their ranch near where he lived, he said. Mrs. Easley berated -him for not picking up a suit at a cleaning place. Her husband joined in the! argument, which grew heated. Eas- ley reached for a rifle, the accused man said, and Summers and the rancher struggled. The weapon dis- charged, M'rs.. lj:usley was killed, and her husband resumed the fight for possession of the gun. ,Again a bullet was fired, Summers declar- ed. This one killed Easley. Help From Alaska The Federal Bureau of Investi- gation in Seattle said today a tip from its Anchorage, Alaska, oftice aided in tracing Summers. J. B. Wilcox, agent in charge of the FBI at Seattle, gave this account: ! As part of a general investiga- tion, an FBI agent in Anchorage interviewed % relative of Summers. The Anchorage informant gave the name of another relativé in San Francisco. The latter person re-! ported that Summers was believed to be working as a janitor 'in a cer- tain San Francisco rooming house district. A systematic check of the district followed and the search ended when Summers answered the door bell at a Gough Street rooming house, and admitted his identity. Remains of stone-age cakes, made from ground acorns and found in the Swiss lake-dweilings. Probably the earliest bread was mdde from ground acords and beech nuts. | WASHINGTON, Aug. 9. —®P— Housing Expediter Tighe Woods| said today that Maj. Gen. Harry H. Vaughan summoned him to the White House in 1948 and told him Vaughan's friends were interested in a California race track construc- tion case. Woods said the track owners then were trying to get government clearance for construction at the Tanforan track, near San Fran- cisco, Calif. The use of scarce building materials was sharply re~‘ stricted at the time. The Housing official told a spec- ial Senate investigating committee that Vaughan, President Trueman's military aide, told him at the White House on January 9, 1948: “I want to make sure there is no| prejudice in your office just be-| cause this is a race track case.” | Woods said Vaughan also told| him: “Some friends of mine are in- terested and it is your duty to handle the case on its merits and on its legality.” Francis D. Flanagan, as attor-| ney for the committee, previously | had read a private memorandum saying Vaughan had stepped into the dispute. It quoted Vaughan as saying he was “damn sore” at Frank L. Creedon, Federal Housing | ixpediter in 1947, for his handling of the case. Creedon was succeeded by Woods, who testified he had been Expedi- or only a little more than two months when Vaughan got in touch with him. ‘The government had ordered con- struction work at Tanforan halted in 1947. Other witnesses testified that construction work went ahead | anyway and that it took a court order to stop it. NLRB REFUSES POSTPONEMENT CANNERY VOTE| (AP Special Washington Service) WASHINGTON, Aug. 9.—®—The| National Labor Relations Board re~ | fused today to postpone a collective bargaining election among 1200 res- ident cannery workers of the Al-; askan Salmon Industries, Inc, in Southeastern Alaska. The CIO-Food, Tobacco ‘and Ag- ricultural Workers had asked that the election, scheduled for Aug. 15, be put off until clarification of a controversy over signing of non- Communist officers. The Board’s decision means that the CIO union will not appear on the ballot. Donald Henderson quit at presi- dent of the union and was ap- pointed National Administrative Di- rector “in order to meet Taft- Hartley Act requirements, Officers of local and national unions must sign affidavits disa- vowing Communism before the un- ion may avail itself of the pro- cedures and collective bargaining machinery of the NLRB. The Board had directed the union to show cause by yesterday that Henderson is not still technically an officer of the union and there- fore required to submit the affi- davit. Other officers, including the acting president, filed the required oaths. The Board’s decision rejecting postponement was unanimous. The decision means that a rival AFL union will be the only labor or- ganization on the ballot when the Alaska salmon workers pick a bar- gaining agent. The choice will be between the AFL and no union at all. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Princess Kathleen in port from Vancouver. Baranof due to arrive at 9 p. m, from Seattle. Prince George scheduled to leave today from Vancouver. Princess Norah scheduled to sail| tomorrow from Vancouver. Denali scheduled to sail Thursday from Seattle. . Aleutian scheduled to sail from Seattle Saturday. | say oaths by the union| Diamond Cement scheduled sail from Seattle August 17. to JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1949 Vandenberg Wanls Fifty Per Cent Cuf WASHINGTON, Aug. 9.—P— Sen. Vandenberg (R-Mich) today proposed a 50 per cent cash re- duction in the first year's cost of the Western European arms pro- gram. The Michigan Senator suggested to Secretary of Defense Lo Johnson that about $580,000,000 furnished in cash by Congre: with the balance in contract ay- thorizations (to be met by Iai appropriations) which would not charged against the current budg Vandenberg said he believes t! budget President Truman sent Congress for the 1950 fiscal yedr carries funds for European milital aid which would cover almost all the money cost of the first year. But Johnson, appearing before a joint meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services com- mittee, argued that the full amount —$1,450,000,000—is needed to safe- guard the security of the United States. Said Johnson: “Should Western Europe be over- run by a hostile power and should its vast industrial and manpower potentials ke added to those of such an aggressor, the United States would stand isolated in a danger-| ously insecure period. “United States security, therefore, demands that Europe be safeguard- ed:"” “A military vacuum in Western Europe,” Johnson added, “is a great temptation to the Soviet Union and international Communism.” What Is Surplus? In connection with the arms plan, some Senators say they are confused over this question: When does a tank become sur- plus? They may write a ceiling of $500,000,000 on the amount of mili- tary surplus that can be shipped abroad, leaders said. Their confusion arose from a dis- closure by Senator Knowland (R- Calif) that military leaders had told China two months ago there | was no surplus equipment but now supplies that originally cost $450,000,000 are available for North Atlantic treaty signers. ANOTHER ECUADOR TREMBLER QUITO, Ecuador, Aug. 9—M—A new earthquake shook Ecuador last night in the wike of a series of shocks last Priday which devastated a large section of the country and left thousands dead. The Quito Observatory today de- scribed the latest tremor as being of “considerable strength” and said it probably was rather strong in the already wrenched and battered area south of Quito. It was not determined at once what effect the new quake had in the region. Meantime, the government faced the problem of housing 100,000 persons made homeless by Friday’s earthquake which gutted 50 com- munities and caused thousands of deaths. b A spokesman for President Galo Plaza Lasso said the government had not yet been.able to' compile a death list, but estimated that the toll mijght ' not exceéd between 2,000 and 4,000. Previous estimates ranged up to 6,000. i The President announced Sunday that in the town of Pelileo alone some 3200 had perished. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Aug. 9.—(P—Clos- ing quotation on Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 3%, American Can 91%, Anaconda 29%, Curtiss- Wright 8%, International Harvest- er 25%, Kennecott 49%, New York Central 10%, Northern Pacific 14%, U. S. Steel 23%, Pound $4.02 13/16. Sales today were 1,140,000 shares, Averages today were as follows: industrials 17952, rails 4731, util- ities 36.68. - sional leaders to determine what I MEMBER A PRICE TEN CENTS SSOCIATED PRESS T0 RENEW STATEHOOD ATTEMPTS AP Special Washington Service WASHINGTON, 'Aug. 9— M — Chairman Peterson (DrFla) of the House Public Lands Committee said today he has renewed his ef- forts to obtain House action on Hawaii and Alaska Statehood bills this session. Peterson told a reporter he is making a new attempt to obtain approval of the two bills by the House Rules Committee. At the same time, he said, he is conferring with various Congres- would be the outcome of an at-| tempt to call up the legislation under a special rule, bypassing the Rules, committee, $ The basis for his renewed efforts, Peterson said, is the result of a recent newspaper poll of Members of Congress on the statehood pro- positions. ‘The results of the poll, conducted by the Hearst Newspapers, were printed in the Congressional Record today as a part of remarks by Rep. Larcade (D-La). Larcade said the poll shows that | “Congress is overwhelmingly in favor of granting statehood to Alaska and Hawaii by a tabulation of approximately 3 to 1.” Both bills were approved months ago by the House Public Lands Committee. Peterson said that Monday, Aug. 22, will be the last chance to call up the bills under special rules, unless the Rules Committee acts meanwhile. He said he nas asked Delegates Farrington (R-Hawaii) and Bart- lett (D-Alaska) to make indepen- dent checks of the ‘House support for the two measures if they are brought *up without Rules Commit- tee approval. ALASKA STEAMSHID WILL OMIT SMALL PORTS IN WINTER Cargo Service Continues But No Passengers Calls at Haines, Skagway, Kodiak, Seldovia SEATTLE, Aug. 9.—(®— The Al- aska Steamship Company will have sailings from Seattle each Satur- day from October 1 to February 25 for Southeastern and Southwestern Alaska under a fall and winter pas- senger schedule announced today. F. A. Zeusler, executive assistant to the President, said calls at Haines, Skagway, Kodiak and Sel- dovia have not been included in the fall and winter passenger sche- | dule. He said this was because of | “the heavy losses sustained in pro- | viding passenger service to these ports during the past spring and winter due to lack of traffic.” “This will in no way affect the! irequency of our cargo vessel sail- ings to those ports,” he added, “ex- cept, perhaps, to increase them.”! The first sailings on the new| schedule is the steamship Baranof, October 1, to be followed by the Aleutian and Alaska, October 8 and 15, respectively. For the rest of the season the Denali and Baranof will alternate, sailing on consecutive Saturdays. Health Research Grant Is Awarded To Alaskan WASHINGTON, Aug National Institutes of Health awarded 217 grants, totaling $2.- 056,426, today for continuation of medical and allieq research projects at 94 institutions. The projects include studies of deafness and speech defects, peptic ulcers, the common cold, and the relation of endocrine glands to| aging. The grants include: | Alaska: Department of Health, Seward €anatorium, Seward, Law-| rence H. Lowell, $7,760. 9—(M—The ‘The wolf now is a rare animal| in most parts of the United States. TO CONFER ON EUROPE AID BILLS By DON W WASHINGTON, Aug. 9—®—The multi-billion dollar foreign recovery till sped toward final Congressional action today after a stormy pas- sage through the Senate. Lawmakers expected a Senate- House Committee to reach quick agreement on the somewhat dif- ferent versions’ the two branches have passed. ‘The Senate approyed its bill late yesterday by a top-heavy 63 to 7 vote. Senators ended almost two weeks of wrangling to shake the measure free from the confusion which had blocked action on more than $20,- 000,000,000 in money bills in addi- tion to other legislation marked “must” by the administration. When the final showdown came only six Republicans and one Democrat voted against the $5,- 797,724,000 measure, The lone Democrat was Johns- ton of South Carolina. The Repub- lican opponents were Capehart and Jenner of Indiana, Kem of Mis- souri, Langer of North Dakota, Ma- lone of Nevada, and Williams of Delaware. NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE Despite all the sound ang fury of debate, the Senate bill does not differ greatly from the House- approved measure. The Senate re- duced the money totals about 10 percent and added some amend- ments—none of which is expected to cause much trouble. Kem made the final effort to amend the bill with a move to deny Economic Cooperation Ad- ministration aid to any nation which in the future nationalized a basic industry. The amendment was drawn to throw a brake on the British Labor government’s socialization program. Kem argued that socialization in Britain is slowing down the re- covery effort. The United States, he said, should encourage private en- terprise not only at home but abroad. HITCIIZAD Congressman Asks U. S. Aid InDock Strike WASHINGTON, Aug. 9—(P—Rep. Anderson (R-Calif) called today for government intervention in the Honolulu longshoremen’s strike which he said was “the first step lin Communist domination” of all American shipping. He said the United States should institute an airlift to take supplies to Honolulu, The strike, he said in a state- ment, is “the direct result of a Communist inspired and - Soviet di- rected blockade of the Hawalian Islands.” One group of Hawailan mer- chants has chartered the Anchor- age Transportation Company’s 'deep-un tug Myrtle Wilson to carry 3,000 tons of relief food supplies by barge to Honolulu, the company said in Seattle yesterday. The shipment is expected to leave Seattle next weekend. The CIO International Long- shoremen’s and Warehousemen's Union has agreed to unload the cargo, the company said. The tropical bread-fruit tree has many uses: Its fruit is a dietary mainstay; its wood is used for canoes; its inner bark, for the manufacture of cloth; and its juice for glue. The practice of kneading dough with the feet originated in Egypt and continued into medern days in Scotland. WASHINGTON, Aug. 9~—M—A | self-described former Communist | party executive told the House Un- | American Activities Committee to- ‘day that the Communist party has spent large sums trying to gain in- fluence in the American Labor Movement. The witness identified himself as Joseph Zack Kornfeder of Detroit, He said he was a graduate of the Lenin School of Moscow and, among other jobs, was at one time a member of the Central Commit- ! tee of the"Communist party of the United States. He was a member of the Com-| munist party from 1919 to 1934, he said. JHe was called as the com- mittee began hearings on alleged Communist infiltration of the CIO United Electrical Workers Union in the Pittsburgh area. (OMMUNIST SUSPECT IN KETCHIKAN KETCHIKAN, Aug. 9—(Special) —Ernest A, Mangaoang, business agent for the Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers’ Union, ar- rested last week in Seattle .on a warrant charging him with mem- bership in the Communist party, is in Ketchikan, expected to take the lead in negotiations with the Alaska Salmon Industties, Inc., for a new working agreement. Mangaoang, a native of the Philippine Islands, is at liberty on a $5,000 bond pending deportation hearings. He is known in Ketchikan as business agent, also, of the Food Tobacco and Agricultural Workers' Union, CIO, local No. 7, of Seattle, which refused to comply with the Taft-Hartley law in 1948. The CIO resident cannery work- ers are affiliated with the same international union, but have a separate local charter. What part Mangaoang will take in the negotiations has not been disclosed, but unionists said it will be a leading part. He is reported to have declared shat his arrest was timed to pre- vent his appearance in Alaska ne- zotiations, pointing out' that the warrant was dated early in July and the arrest could have been made any time. FAIRBANKS WOMAN IS ELETROCUTED iN POOL OF WATER FAIRBANKS, Aug. 9—@®—A mother of four children was found dead in the basement of her home Sunday. The victim, Mrs. Ed Black, was believed to have been electro- cuted when she tried to connect a light switch while standing in a pool of muddy water. 1 SITKA VISITOR J. H. Wilson of Sitka is a guest at the Gastineau. WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU) (This data is for 24-hour pe- riod ending 7:30 a.m. PST.) In Juneau—Maximum, 53; minimum, 47. At Airport—Maximum, minimum, 48. FORECAST (Juneau and Vieinity) Mostly cloudy with light rain showers tonight and Wednesday. Lowest tempera- ture tonight near 48 degrees. Highest Wednesday near 58. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today In Juneau — .79 inches; since Aug. 1, 329 inches; since July 1, 8.58 inches. At Airport — .36 inches; since Aug. 1, 168 inches; since July 1, 570 inches. 53; I ! ' l ! 1 le ’o . 3 . . g From West Juneau FORMER U. 5. COMMUNIST OFFICIAL DESCRIBES LABOR INFILTRATION PARTIES SEARCH; NO TRACE Ronald Ellers, 8, *Chum” Niemi, Jr., 12, Seen Last Near Log Raft What happened to 8-year-old Ronald Ellers and 12-year-old Oscar (Chum) Niemi, Jr., since they were seen walking on the Douglas Road 28 hours earlier still was a mystery at press time (3 pm.) today. All Gastineau Channel shares the frantic worry of their parents, Mr, and Mrs. Roman Ellers, and Mr, and Mrs. Oscar Niemi, of West Juneau, The boys were last seen by Ole Olsen, caretaker, who chased them away from the Douglas log raft, where they were playing about 11 o'clock yesterday morning. He reported that they walked along the Douglas Road toward the bridge. Great fear is felt by the two families that the boys may have returned after Olsen went to lunch, and had an accident while playing on the treacherous logs. Searching parties on Mount Jue neau, along the beaches to Auk Bay, and up and down Douglas Island still strain for the “two” all-clear signal on the emergency 2-9 fire call which sounded at 11:15 last night, Scores of men who had spent all last night in fruitless search for the two missing boys roused them- selves after an hour’s rest to re- sume their scouring of beaches, tralls and mountainsides today. The emergency call last nighi was sounded after Fire Chief A. Minard Mill and a small party had made a search, following the call to the Police Department from Mrs, Niemi about 7 o'clock. Mother Didn't Worry First “I didn't really begin to worry about Chum,” sald Mrs. Niemi this morning, “until he was so late for dinner. He is a very reliable Loy, and often is gone hours, but always returns when he is ex- pected, or within a reasonable time, “He has gone fishing a lot with his father,” she added, “and is very self-reliant, He knows every inch of the beaches around here, and could take care of himself un- less there were an accident. “When he was so late for din- ner, after missing lunch, too, I realized there must have been an accident. He wouldn't keep me worrying by staying ‘out so Jong without sending word.” As Chum dashed from ihe Niemi home yesterday morning, his mother asked, “Where 'are vou going?” ' “Out with my friend,” he replied, grabbing a paper that had lines and writing on it. On thinking it over, Mrs. Niemi wondered if, boy-like, Chum and Ronnle had planned some secret expedition. “In that case,” she sald, “they could be anywhere, not neces-" sarily in any of their usual haunts.” Chum’s father, a commercial fisherman, has taken his 12-year- old son on many fishing ‘ trips. About a week ago, Chum had gone to Marmion Island to meet his Dad on his return from fishing. A Coast Guard whaleboat went |to Marmion Island last night in the search. Returning, several of the party were put off at Nevada Creek, to continue the search while walking back. About three dozen men hurried to the Juneau Fire Hall in re- sponse to last night's emergency call; others telephoned in, and offered to search in their own dis- tricts. The Douglas Fire Department was summoned, and searchers fan- ned out from there, too. “All roads and highways werc scoured,” said Acting Juneau Police Chief Frank D. Cavanaugh today. He, Lieut. Emmet M. Botelho and Sgt. John P. Monagle of the High- way Patrol had supervised the search last night on this side of the channel, finally coming in about 5:30 this morning. Both were at it again a few hours later. “Every possible clue is being fol- lowed,” said Chief Cavanaugh. At first, the most likely one was from the Andy Pattons, who live up by the eecond Salmon Creek Power House. They reported having seen (Continued on Ni*uige_'i';o)