The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 14, 1949, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIV., NO. 11,350 JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, NOVEHMBER 14, 1949 MEMI DER ASSOCIATED PRESS Public Works Program To Start In Alaska Now GOLD STOCKS DROP, RESULT OF NO CHANGE Idaho Cona;;sman Says| $56 Right Price - Hits Western States, Alaska By William E. Lowell WASHINGTON, Nov. 14—P— | President Truman's announcement that there will be no change in the value of gold during his administration doubtless was un- happy news in Alaska and the west- ern United States. Practically all the gold mined in the United States is produced in the 11 western states and in Al- aska. There are many small gold mines, a few large ones, including the fa- mous Homestake of Lead, 8. Dak., and numerous placers, or dredges. While the immediate effect of the President’s announcement was 8 sharp drop in gold shares on the stock exchanges, the long range prospect is a further curtailment of risk capital available for new | mining ventures. | Moere Ghost Towns H It also will mean that many lit- tle comunities built up around| western gold mines will retreat fur- | ther into the wilderness. ! Many were hard hit during the war when the government listed gold mines as non-essential, cutting off their supplies of materials and manpower. It was hoped the workers would turn to some other types of min- ing but Senator McCarran (D-Nev) said they did not do so. He was arguing for a bill to permit own- ers of the closed mines to get a court ‘decision “as“'to whether" they were entitled to damages from the federal government. The price of gold was raised from $20.67 a fine ounce to $35 in ! 1934. Since that time, the South Dakota legislature found, wages have more than doubled and the| cost of materials necessary to the industry has increased 70 percent. | Should Be 856 Rep. Sanborn (R-Idaho) told Congress recently that the price should be $56 a fine ounce, to equalize the values of foreign cur- rencies. Mr. Truman made his statement ~on gold at a news conference. The President was not asked specifically and he comment to indicate whether he would approve a free market for gold. There have been reports of go]d‘ sales abroad at $70 an, ounce. One argument against accepting that as a true value is that the U. S. producer would undoubtedly have trouble getting the purchase money back home. The government now has the right to, purchase all newly mined gold from domestic sourges. Several bills were introduced in (Continued on Page Three) The Washington Merry - Go - Round By DREW PEARSON lcopnlnaz, 1949, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) LOS ANGELES—There is one lesson eastern Republicans learn- ed from last week’s big Democratic victories which still hasn’t percol- ated to hardheaded California Re- publicans—namely, the fact that ' the Grand Old Party is not going to romp back into power with old- fashioned, pre-New Deal candidates. Even in rock-ribbed Republican Philadelphia which hasn’t let. a Democrat get a toe hol® in its government for half a century, Progressive Democrats staged a sig- nificant victory. Ahd in New York City the Republican Party did not poll even 25 percent of the vote. Here in California, However, the old-line Gopers arestill day-dream- ing about unseating progressive Re- publican Governor Earl Warren and running a conservative instead. Republican big business considers Warren too liberal, to friendly to labor, too sympathetic to the old people of California. What they don't realize s that| Warren was elected chiefly because he has swung Democratic and bor- derline voters. And today, with Jimmy Roosevelt’s winning smile (Continued on Page kFour) ECONGMIC FUTURE HOPEFUL HERE AND ABROAD - SNYDER | Secretary of the Treasury John Snyder spoke hopefully of the fi- nancial picture in the United States and .abroad when he made a brief | |talk at the Lions' Club meeting in the Baranof Hotel today. To a crowd of more than 100 rep- resentiffg all Juneau service clubs, he said that future soundness of | the United States’ economy rests {on the “impulse which created this| | great nation—and find out what people want, what they will pay for| it, and produce it."” (. G. Expansion Is|j Planned; Gold Won'i Go Up Says Secretary Importance of Alaska in the na- tional defense program is recog- nized by Washington, according w Secretary Snyder, Who met with a press in conference this afternoon, and the Coast Guard, which wouid immediately bécome a part of the| Navy again, should war appear im- | minent, has representatives in the war college, and works closely with GOLD COINS - NOT COMING BACKINU.S. Present Currency Gener- \ ally Acepted World | Over, Says McCabe the other services to insure the na- | tion’s security. WASHINGTON‘ Nov. 14.—(®—The {FIVE STEEL FIRMS STARTING TODAY, FULL PRODUCTION One Costly Strike Pradl- cally at End—Coal Dis- pute Is Up in Air (By the Associated Press) Most of the country's steel tirms rushed preparations today for re- sumption of full production atter a long and costly strike but all was| SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14—(#—] BRIDGES ON TRIAL Longshoremen and-Two Others Go Before Jury PERJURY| Head of (10 Lefi-Wing|’ NEW SECRETARY OF INTERIOR Among immediate plans of the | jcurrency of the United States is Coast Guard, it was said today by‘ “the most generally acceptable” in not peaceful in the coal dispute. John L. Lewis’ miners were dig- In spite of the pessimistic views the Secretary and Admiral O'Neill, |the world and Chairman Thomas ging coal but he has threatened to of the future held at the end of the war, the United States economy is still sound, he pointed out, and the United States at present has a will be the establishment of three additicnal Loran stations in south- east Alaska. Funds for this ex- pansion have been requested in the | that 1951 budget. Presently, it is the intention of the Coast Guard to distribute its Of the situation atroad, he said, facilities throughout our coastal “Communism is definitely | region so as best to carry out the checked. Governments are taking | responsibilities of its service, Ad- hold and functioning again.” !miral O'Neill said. He pointed out that the people| As to the price of gold—any of Europe are no longer begging;|reported, especially in Alaska, with because they now have something|the chance to question the Secre- to sell. tary of the Treasury had to ask Secretary Snyder said that al-|him that—it is not going up. Thi: though the United States exports|the Secretary made pretty clear. outweigh imports by more than $6| “Of course, with a gold mine billion, that situation could be mauuhere in your town, I can see why more even, |you wculd be interested in the price There could be a larger l’oreigniof gold and the possibility of its trade, he declared. The States could sell abroad cthose pro- | great potential purchasing power plus the greatest industrial plant in the world. the reporters gathered, for half a and buy from abroad what is pro-|price of gold just wouldn’t work. s.|A price raise would hurt United | increase,” the Secretary said, but, | ducts it produces most efficiently|dozen reasons, an increase in the duced more etficiently in foreign countries. He did not mention the tarift situation, Secretary Snyder spoke well of | the four-point program put for-| ward by President Truman which| would aid in the development ot kackward nations. He said the President wants to help those nations which want m, help themselves. Speaking of Alaska, he said that| Alaska’s Territorial debt didn'i| B. McCabe of the Federal Reserve |Board doesn’t want to tinker with it. He said so last night in report- ing to a subcommittee of the joint Senate-House Committee on the economic report. McCabe offered strong opposition to: 1. Circulation of gold coins—for- hidden in this country since Presi- |dent Roosevelt in 1934 raised the | paper-money price of gold from 1820.67 an ounce to $35. 2. Any further change—up or |down—in the $35 an ounce price. many |friendly nations, he said. | President Truman said last week |there will be no change in the gold price so long as he is president, McCabe said that circulation of gold coin would in the long run weaken, rather than strengthen, confidence in the dollar. He went on: “The currency of the United Stat- have them quit work Dec. 1 if the operators and his United Mine Workers fail to agree on a con-| tract. ! There was no scheduled meeting between Lewis and the soft coal ‘operators. Cyrus S. Ching, the gov-| ernment’s chief mediator, had ar- ranged a meeting last week after Bewis suspended the 52-day old; strike for three weeks. But Lewis' did not show up. A Lewis aide said, the UMW chief would be in Wash-| ington Monday “awaiting the con-| venience of the coal operators.” But the operators, in a deadlock with Lewis since last June, ap-; peared lukewarm to the union; chief’s suggestion to talk business. Ching was to report to President| Truman on the coal dispute and| most okservers thought he favored | appointment of a Presidential fact-| finding board with power to re-| commend a settlement. With at least com- | five steel | Harry Bridges went on trial in Federal Court today, charged with ‘perjury and conspiracy in denying he was Communist, With Bridges, head of the CIO left-wing * Longshoremen's and Warehousemen’s Union, were two fellow-officers in the union, J. R. Robertson and Henry Schmidt. The government holds that Bridges lied in denying he was a Communist, at his 1945 naturaliza- tion hearing, and charges that the others were guilty of conspiracy in supporting his plea for U.S. citizenship. Bridges was born in! | Australia, A panel of 72 prospective jurors filled most of the seats in the small courtroom of Federal District Judge George B. Harris. As the names were called, nine men and three women were seated tenta- | tively. i { After they had been sworn by the court, and before challenges | tegan, Judge Harris told them| ! that “on the threshold of this case we might recognize our joint re-| alarm the Secretary of the Trea-|es is the most generally acceptable sury, nor did he think it wouldzcurrency in the world today. Cun- have much effect upon Congress- |fidence in it is assured by the men voting on the statehood ques- |productive power of the U. 8. ec- tion. ‘cnomy He was amazed when two of the | people in the group during his press | SECRETARY SNYDER'S| As for Savings Bonds, the Secle— panies signing strike-ending con-|sponsibility. The court and the tracts over the weekend, less than{ jurors work together as a team. 100,000 CIO Steelworkers remained|You have the grave responsibility | on strike. | of passing on the facts, and the |court, the grave responsibility of M.SSI“G pllol ls |administering the law.” Oscar L. Chapman is shown at his desk in Washington as Under- Secretary of Interior after Secre- tary of Interior J. A, Krug an- nounced his resignation. The resignation was accepted by the President who immediately nomi- nated Chapman to take Krug's nlue in the cabinet. | 500 VISIIORS SEE NEW COAST GUARD HEADQUARTERS Officers and Men Explain| Operations at Open House on Sunday More than 500 persons yesterday afternoon filed through the offices from which administration of the! the Territory has a great number |tary sair that the strongest sup-| of friends in the Capital. lport the Treasury’'s Savings pro- The Secretary was introduced bylgmm receives is from the banks| Gov. Ernest Gruening, who told of|in the country, that this alone in- [PARTY DURING VISIT| | Bridges watched the proceedings from his chair at the counsel FAXRBANKS Alaska Nov. u—m. | table, 1 As to the probahle length of the —Weak, undecipheratle radio mes-| sages intensified the search today the great regard Alaskans have for |l the Treasury Department’s Cout “I thought everyone in Alaska wa:l cates the s;rengch of the program,| A well-filled schedule awaited crying for statehood,” he said. As for Savings Bonds—there Wise and; affable, the Secretary Secretary of the Treasury John of L !Snyder and his party when they | trial, Judge Harris commented to nhe jury panel, “Let us say the| for Lt. Alexander N, Murphy, 10th| Rescue Squadron pilot from Kan-! | &8 timate will be elght weeks.” 'GOVERNOR GRUENING TO MAKE FLIGHT WITH offered no | easury .gave freely of his 0 questions:and, ‘one | ad Guard. g Jack Taltot, mayor of Ketchikan, | \tlme ed |who was a guest at the meeting, {felt, would have answered more h congratulated Juneau on the con-|time allowed. struction of the Community Build- ing. S. J. McCUTCHEON NAMED PRESIDENT, Also at the meeting was Rear Admiral Merlin O'Neill, Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Coast | Guard. STUDENT CHARGED | WITH SLAYING OF |, . i FELLOW FRAT MAN S i e = e Raymond W. Marshall, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said Mc- Cutcheon succeeds James A. Woot- en, who resigned several weeks ago to take a position with an airline in the Near East. McCtitchdon’s headquarters will {be in Anchorage. He is a member of the Alaska Legislature. FISHERIES HEARING COLUMBUS, 0. Nov. 14—(#—A first degree murder charge was | filed today against James D. Heer, an Ohio State University fresh- man, who killed a fraternity brother after a homecoming party. The 20-year-old student and ex- marine pleaded innocent and was held for the grand jury without bond. Detective Sgt. Lowell V. Sheets |who filed the charge, said the ALASKA AIRLINES arrived at Juneau airport yester- \day afternoon. They will leave to- | morrow morning by air for Adak |and Tokyo. | With Secretary Snyder was Rear | Admiral Merlin O'Neill, Assistant | Commandant of the Coast Guard ‘v.ho has been appointed to succeed lAdmh‘al Joseph F. Farley as Coast | Guard Commandant January 1. A dinner was given in their honor at the Governor's home last night. This morning they attended a stag breakfast at which officials of the Treasury Department were prcsenL Secretary Snyder and his party were guests of honor at the Lions Club meeting this noon. From 5 until 7 pm. today they will attend a reception at the Coast Guard headquarters at which Capt. N. S. Haugen, officer com- manding the 17th Coast Guard District and commissioned and warrant officers attached to the District Staff and the cutter Storis !will be hosts. This evening they will attend a Community Building Corporation dinner in the Baranof Hotel. Cor- sas ' City, who has been mxssmg‘ since Nov. 3. The radio at Ladd Air Force Base here, TREASURY SECRETARY signals were heard' EC\ | will ac- | Ophir and Nome, west of here, and |company Secretary of the Treasury | as far away as McChord Air Force|John Snyder and his party on their Gov. Ernest Gruening Base near Tacoma, Wash. |ilight to Japan, the Philippine Is-| Ladd authorities said they were !lands and Hawali, it was announced ! reluctant to believe the sender is today. Murphy until further contact is! The party expects to arrive in| made. | Honolulu November 24, after stops | A Fairbanks radio operator picked 'at Adak, Tokyo, Manila, Guam, and up the signals and said he asked Wake Island. the sender to signal three long| In Honolulu the governor will dashes if he were Murpny. Threeymeet with the House of Repregen- long dashes followed. But ntmos—\tallves sub-committee on territories. pheric conditions shut down further The sub-committee includes Re- | contact. \pfl.sflnmuves John E. Miles of New ' Planes from - 10th Rescue are|Mexico, chairman; Edward H. Jen- | using radio directional finders to |ison of Illinois; Jay LeFevre of Ncwi locate the source of the signals,| York; John Phillips of California; | which are believed to come from/and Dr. A. L. Miller of Nebraska. o mies wes o re " " crek QUOTATIONS | 250 miles west of here. | Previous searches for Murphy and | his Cessna plane have concentrated | NEW YORK, Nov. 14.—Closlng‘ in a 150-mile circle from Fairbanks.!quctation of Alaska Juneau mine Murphy, 29, is listed from 2012 stock today is 3%, American cnn‘ Kansas Ave., Kansas City, Mo., 31'198. Anaconda 27%, Curuss-wught‘ though he and his wife, Berna- 7%, International Harvester 27%. | dine, and three-year-old daughter, Kennecott 49%, New York Cenlral‘ |Lshments on the Pacific Coast. 1‘ entire 17th Coast Guard District originates. 1 Occasion was the first public open house at the headquarters of | the 17th District in the new Com- munity 'Building here, It is one of the finest Coast Guard estab-| They visited the offices on the| second and third floors of the| kuilding between 1 and 3 p.m., while | Coast Guard officers and men stood | by in uniform to explain the opera~ ition of each division to the visi- tors. Chief Yeoman I. C. Cahail pointed out the top spot in the Coast Guard's Alaskan chain of com- mand, the office to be occupied by R«r Admiral Joseph Gréenspun | on his ‘arrival to /take.over' cdm=! mand, of the 17th, District, { Hesald that Capt. N. 8. Haugen, | chief of staff for the aistrict, is| Acting Commander whenever the commander is out of the district. Administration of the district,! which stretches from the Canadian torder to the Russian border, flows | | year," GSATO OPEN OFFICE IN THIS CITY Public Wor—kfirogram fo Be Started-First Group Comes Sunday WASHINGTON, Nov. 14—(P— The General Services Administra- tion will open offices in Juneau, Aiaska, next week in a move to get the Territory's $70,000,000 puklic works program under way early next spring. The last session of Congress authorized a general public works and community facility program in ! | Alaska. It appropriated 81,000,000 | with a contract authorization of $4,000,000 the started. Col. A. D, Morrell, Deputy Com- missioner of Community Pacilities, will head a group which will leave Seattle next Sunday, arriving at Juneau that afternoon. He will be accompanied by District Engineer John Argetsinger, who will estab- lish offices in the Territory, and Lester Marx, an assistant, also by Miss Miseczkowskl. Morrell told a reporter he plans to set up an office in Juneau which will employ 25 or 30 persons and to accept applications for the en- tire five-year program. The program is based on the Ter- ritory, citles and local groups re- to get program ‘;:nymu the government 50 percent of the total cost while the United States will contribute the other | half of $35,000,000. Morrell said applications for the various projects must have the con- currence of Alaskan Governor Er- nest Gruening and of the lnurlor Department, “We hope to get the applications for the entire program listed and work started in the current fiscal Morrell said. “With the $1,000,000 cash and $4,000,000 con- tract authority Congress gave us we expect to get actual work under way in late April or in May of 19E0. “We plan to have follow us as quickly as possible a staff of fi- nancial and legal experts to process the applications. We also will re- cruit the force for our permanent office which will be set up.” SETUP IN JUNEAU The Governor's office has re- celved information the group will arrive in Juneau, as stated above, next Sunday, and the following is the tentative schedule, as suggested to Gov. Gruening: Monday, November 21 — Group will discuss with your immediate staff (Dr. Albrecht, Dr. Ryan, etc.) our policies and procedures in the administration of the Act, and out- ey |line the detalls of the 1950 .pro- gram, ‘Tuesday, Novemter 22—Same pro- cedures with the interested Federal department representatives [(Rec- from the headquarters, he said. | COMMUNICATIONS NERVE | CENTER | Out of the offices oi the District lamation, REA, . CAA, Hobsing, | Geological Survey, Military Estab- lishment, ete.). After these discussions the itin- Commander and Chief of Staft nnd‘en,y of the next two or three down the well lighted hall to the|weeks can be arranged in accord- shooting followed an argument with | a girl friend and a reprimand from fraternity brothers. ' The girl friend, Joyce Crafton, 22, of Cleveland, was arraigned as 2 material witness and her bond was continued at $300. The officer, after questioning the 20-year-old Ohio State University freshman, reported Heer said he was “going to get a gun and start out on a criminal orgy.” James T. McKeown, 21, a senior and managing editor of the uni- versity’s student daily, was shot to! death early Saturday when he tried | to take a 45 caliber automatic pistol from Heer. SITKA MAN BIDS HIGH; GETS BEACHED SCOTER The Fish and Wildlife Service vessel Scoter, on the beach near Cape Fanshaw, was sold “as Is, where is” to Frank P. Martin of Sitka, FWS officials announced today. Martin, highest bidder, offered to pay $5,050 for the disabled ves- sel. N et A ) VALDEZ GUEST Louis Rainery of Valdez is re- gistered at the Baranof Hotel. { | IS UNDER WAY HERE A public hearing was being held this afternoon by the five-man territorial fisheries board, presided over by C. L. Anderson, fisheries director. The meeting, held in the Semne' chambers, was hearing interested; parties make suggestions on various! programs to be carried out next year. Regulation changes will be presented to the Fish and Wildlite Service for consideration when that group makes up its 1950 rules. Hancock Quifs PAA; Effedive Jan. One SEATTLE, Nov. 14 — (@ — Pan American World Airways announ-; ced the resignation today of Haw-| vey Hancock, traffic manager for | the Pacific-Alaska division, effec-| tive January 1. The firm said Hancock Wwould open a public relations and manage- | ment consultant office in San Fran- cisco, His successor has not been named. ;nu“ SEATTLE David A. Hoffman of Seattle is a guest at the Baranof Hotel Sheryl Ann, reside here. — i RODEN DEPARTS Aliaska's Treasurer Henry Roden | left Juneau over the weekend for| Seattle where he will attend to\ Territorial business. ! 21 poration stockholders, commissioned and warrant officers of the Coast Guard, and members of Juneau service clubs will also attend. ! Members of the party, in addi- tion to Secretary Snyder and Rear Admiral O'Neill: are: Capt. 8. C. Linholm, Capt. R. L. Raney, Lt. Comdr. A. M. Davison, Lt. Comdr. J. N. Schrader, Lt. (jg) A. J. Guillemette, all of Coast Guard | Headquarters in Washington, D.C. S. H. Puhlich, N. Brady and Sal- |vador Fente of the Coast Guard air department; V. W. Sutton and | K. Macklin of Coast Guard Head- | quarters; and W. W. Diehl, Trea- sury Department official enroute to Tokyo. ® @& o ® o o o o WEATHER REPORT (This data is for 24-hour pe- riod ending 7:30 am. PST.) In Juneau—Maximum 44; minimum 34, At Airport—Maximum 42; minimum 33. . FORECAST l' (Juneau and Vielnity) . Mostly cloudy with an oc- casional shower of mixed rain and snow tonight. Low- est temperature near 34 de- grees, Occasional light rain showers Tuesday with high- est temperature near 40 de- rees. {PLEASURE YACHT GIVEN | AID BY COAST GUARD - The Coast Guard Cutter White|e | Holly, based at Ketchikan, went wI ° the asstistance of the 45-foot plea- | ® sure yacht Seaforth in Behm Canal | ® near Bell Island yesterday. le The Seaforth called for assistance | ® |after she began taking in walex through a leak in the stern. | The White Holly towed the Sca- ' lforth to Ketchikan, PRECIPITATION (Past 24 nours ending 7:30 a m. today City of Juneau—.76 inches; since Nov. 1782 inches; since July 1—4391 inches. At - Afrport—49 inches; since No. 1—631 inches; since July 1--30.19 inches. 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 o ®d o u\to sail from Seattle Friday for|complished by the aid of tapes, the end of ti 1) 1 ® | Ketchikan, Wrangell, Junean, Hain-| at the s G tie frin befos s, 10, Northern Pacific 13%, U. 8. |Steel 2414, Pound $280%. Sales today were 1,250,000 shares. Averages today are as follow: industrials 189.27, rails 47.68, util-| ities 389‘1‘ STEAMER MOVEMENTS | Baranof from Seattle due mmnr-, row afternoon or evening. Princess Norah from Vuncouver ue tomorrow afternoon or evening. Freighter Square Knot scheduled | es and Skagway. Denali scheduled to sail Seattle Saturday, e o0 0 from -8 90 «w o TIDE TABLE NOVEMBER 15 Low tide 3:08 am. 24 ft. High tide 9:40 am, 149 ft. SUN RISES - SETS NOVEMBER 15 Sun rises at 8:45 am. Sun sets at . 4:39 pm. . . -o-covoo right, and visitors went to the otfice ' ance with the program tentatively {of Lt. H. I. Allen, communications, oytlined, for it may be advisable officer for the -17th district. With| to visit the towns to be included Chief Radioman D. T. James, he|in the 1950 program. In any event explained the operation of tele- Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Ketchi- type machines in the cummunlcl-| kan should be enumerated as cen- tions center. |ters to which interested applicants These machines—one direct t0 could come and hear about the Act the Alaska Communications SY!'!lnd the manner in which it will tem, one to the Coast Guard radio| pe administered and to receive | station at Point Higgins near Ket-! acsistance In filing applications. chikan, and one “dummy” machine| 1t is hoped that not over three —are operated by the one man on weeks will be consumed so that watch in the center. This is nc-‘wme time may be spent in Juneau punched in a code, which will porrell and Mr. Marx return to | duplicate messages received on the| washington. Mr. Argetsinger, Dis- live machines, when teing run trict Engineer, will of course stay through the “dumnmy.” The punched ' with other memkters of the task tape also sends perfectly any mes-! force until they are replaced with sage received by the other m““permlnent employees. It is hoped chines, Allen explained. | that while this trip is in progress The operational set-up for the the Juneau office will be getting 17th district, of which the Opera-| organized and will be able to carry tions room is nerve-center, WB.Slon from that m]nt | explained by Lt. Comdr. L. I. Reilly,| | Aids to Navigation and Operations | Officer. He is aided by Lt. (J.8) 8.| E. Putzke and Lt. S E. Taylor. RESCUE OPERATIONS | Reilly sald that direction ot, The Parent-Teacher Assoclation search and rescue operations in €Xecutive board will meet tonight |Alaska is divided between Coast|8t 8 o'clock In the office of the | Guard, Navy and Air Force. West Superintendent of Schools. lof 141 degrees west longitude, a They will make plans for the next regular P.-T.A. meeting to be held | P.-T.A. EXECUTIVE BOARY | (Continued on Page 6) 'a week from tonight,