The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 12, 1950, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIV., NO. 11,399 State Secretary WOMAN CHARGED / MURDER Reportedly Admitting Fir-| ing Hospital That Took | Lives of 41 Persons | DAVENPORT, Ia. Jan. 12.—(®— A murder charge was filed today | azainst a woman patient who re- portedly admitted setting a hospi- tal fire which took the lives of 41| women here last Saturday. Scott County attorney Clark O.| Filseth said he filed a charge ot “murder committed in the perpe-| tration of arson,” against Mrs. El- | nora Epperly, 23, of Rock IslAnd, | . i it | (Rock Island is across the Missis- | sipri River from Davenport.) This development followed the| announcement by state’s attorney| Bernard Moran of Rock Island | County that Mrs. Epperly had ad- | mitted she started the fire in her | room at St. Elizabeth’s mental ward | of Mercy Hospital. | The three-story building was de-| stroyed by a fire which mush-| roomed through it while the pa- tients slept. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEET SET FOR TONIGHT |~ Traffic ordinance revisions willl ke considered by the Juneau city| council when it meets in special | session tonight at 7:30 o'clock inl the council chambers of the City | Hall. | Councilmen will also consider al report by the police committee on| a request by the Baranof Liguor | Store that the council take action | to have the store's 1950 liquor ll-‘ cense awarded immediately. The license was held up for one| month by the U.S. District Court| on recommendation by the City Council, because an employee of | the store had been found guilty of selling liquor to a minor during 1949. STOCK QUOTATIONS | NEW YORK, Jan. 12—Closing quetation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 3%, American Can 107';, Anaconda 30, Curtiss-Wright 8%, International Harvester 272, Kennecott 53%, New York Central 12%, Northern Pacific 14%, U. 8. Steel 27!s, Pound $2.80%. JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSI)V}\'. JANUARY 2 “y 1950 MEMBER Al SSOCIATED PRESS Dr. George Dale Leaves Gov'l. Supervisory Post FAREWELL HANDSHAKE—Don C. Foster (left), Alaska Native Service director, bids goedbye to Dale, education supervisor, who is being transfe one of his key men, Dr. George A. d to another post after 15 years on job in the Territory. (Empirc Photo) An Eskimo seal-oil haps hundreds of graced the desk Allan Dale, director of for the some 15 years—in ash tr lamp, per- years old, has of Dr. George education e object, akout thi ol inary saucer, has typified his work with the Terri- native peoples over the and today it is carefully d away, ready for shipment. Dr. Dale and his wife, Dr. Eve- lyn I. Butler, AN3 welfare super- visor, are leaving Alaska within the next few weeks, cecause of his transfer to other duties after a few weeks or months in the In- dian Affairs office in the nation’s capital. What success the far-flung edu- cational system unter his direction has enjoyed, the 49-year-old edu- MICHENER NOW QUESTIONED I BRIDGES' CASE SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 12—(P— ity of another government in the Harry Bridges per- jury case was under fire of de- fense attorneys today. The witness, Lew Michener, 41, a Long Beach official of a Unitedclaring that he had contributed a|in any business that can be han- Auto Workers local, has had, tes- timony disclosed, a varied career — from Montana bootlegger to Communist Party membership to membership of the Tenth Regional Alaska Native Service, for | the role of an| | caticnalist places 1 credit on the natives themcelves — particu- y those who dwell in the region m y between their nt cul- ture and the era of toda Just like the |lamp in the modern ash receiver, these people kridge between past and present upon which the Native Service's educational system has progressed, he explained. cess we have had,” he should receive credit pa ancie are the In making the move, Dr. Dale expressed regret at leaving the many friends—native and white— which he has made in the Terr:- tory, and from whom he bhas learned much, while at the same time has directed their learning. “Those we have endeavored to teach,” he said, “have been chari- table at our shortcomings, and | zenerous with aid in understand- ing our problems.” GIFT PRESENTED An informa] farewell ceremony took place in the office of Don C. Foster, ANS director, at which Dr. Dale was presented with a fossil- ized ivory pen desk set, a gift from the staff. Presentation was made by Miss Olive Trower, per- sonnel assistant, on behalf of the staff. | i Foster expressed his appreciation of the work done by Dr. Dale, de- tremendous amount to all divisions of the service. Dale replied that he left a debt to the natives, who he said “overlooked many of my i ~ | carry out recommendations of STATEHOO RANKS NO. 1 .. GRUENING ?Delense, Airlines Assist-| ance, Development on Docket | SEATTLE, Jan. 12—®—Gov. Er- | nest Gruening stopped here brief- {ly last night on his flight to | Washington. D.©., and described statehood as the No. 1 problem to | be pursued with government ofli- | cials and Congress. ‘i His brief case was bulging with | documents on action he will seek |from Congress or government| agencies. | He listed the following major | Appropriation of funds to| the military for the defense of Alaska, He will address a “defend Alaska" group tonight in the Statler Hotel in Washington. 2. Retention of Marks Air Force | at Nome. There have beén | | base Air Force spokesman in Washington has de- nied any present plan for such ac-| tion. 3. Assistance for both scheduled and non-scheduled airlines serving | Alaska. { { 4. Revision of the Alaska Devel- opment Authority plan from the original Interior Department pro- posal. i 5. | aska. The governor said that when he visited Nome recently there seemed to be evidence of packing up at the air base. ' “No Alaskan defenses should te| | abandoned,” he declared. “We | | need more rather than fewer de- | ffenses. We should get enough funds to properly support the mili- tary establishments and make Al- | aska as nearly impregnakle as 1S | humanly possible.” He commented to a reporter re- ‘gardmg the Alaska development | bill: “The original bill could put the government in all kinds of busi- {ness in Alaska and it called for an expenditure all out of reason. I} {don’t want to see the government Achieving statehood for Al- jdled by private enterprise. ! “Construction of power damsand | { other public works would be all |right and the agency could ‘e | useful.” PRICE TEN CENTS e e Ma‘s_ka“ Sicam, in Sealll Alaska Agems, H. E. Green, Alaska Steamship Company Juncau agent, is in Alaska Line annual agents’ meeting. Seattle this week attending The As a company official explained, these meetings arc geared to produce constantly improved ship- ping service for Alaska and are timed to come betwcen the busy seasons in order to reap the maximum benefits of the experience of the past year before the heavy traffic movement of the next year begins. Pictured here, examining the original ship’s bell of the steamer Victoria in the entrance of the company offices at Pier 42 between sessions of the conclave, are (from left in back row) G. W. Skinner, president; Leo McCormack, Wrangell agent; H. N. Peterson, general traffic manager; Green; D. E. Skin- ner, vice president and genmeral manager; J. D. Nelion and W. J. Manahan, assistant general traffic managers. In the front row (from left) are Richard Miller, Petersburg agent, (ringing the bell); George W. Hooker, Skagway agent; W. P. Lockwood, Ketchikan agent; G. S. Duryea, general freight and passenger agent with headquarters in Ketchikan; and D. M. Ramsay, Sitka agent. BRITAIN WILL TRY SHANGHAI ' DUNCTURE"" (By Associated Press) i Unofficial reports in Tokyo said | today Britain plans an armed con- voy to proceed from Hong Kong to puncture the Nationalist blockade of Shanghai. In London the Admiralty said British warships will continue pro-!route to Japan. tection of British shipping off China Tt carried 808 Japan-bound en- from Nationalist attempts to bottle|listed men and was picking up 181 Cemmunist ports. But the spokes-|more here. man neither confirmed nor de- nied the reports that Britain would | TROOPS FOR - NORTH NOW IN SEATTLE SEATTLE, Jan. 12—(®—The big | troop trangport Danil I. Sultan was discharging 224 enlisted men |and 40 officers here today for (trans-shipment to Alaska. The ship came from San Francisco en- CHINA REDS READY FOR NEW DRIVE TAIPEI, Formosa, Jan. 12—(M— Red China was reliably reported | massing forces today for a smash at rugged Hainan Island, National- ist refuge off the south China | coast, Information reaching Hong Konz said the Communists could land on the island at will. Some 17,000 iied guerrillas already on | the isla.id control the heart of the i iron ore rich island and 100 miles Acheson Blasts Out at Russia DISRUPTING NO. CHINA |'S CHARGE | Adding Provinces fo Sovief Union; Chinese Warned; Scores Critics WASHINGTON, Jan. 12—(P—Se- cretary of State Acheson today ac- cused Russia of dismembering northern China, and said the Sov- jets are busy now adding four | Chinese provinces to the Soviet Union, In an address to the National | Press Club, he made this fact a cornerstone of American policy to- ward China and Formosa. In broad terms, Acheson’s general | thesis boiled down to this: : | Some day the Chinese people are going to wake up to what Russia |is doing and their wrath against {the Soviets will be great and ter- rible. | The one chance the Russians ihave to avoid that is to turn the | Chinese against some other na- | tion.. | The United States must do noth- |ing to obscure the northern China | situation and nothing that would | help the Russians deflect Chinese anger to th. country. | “The only thing that can ob- |scure it is the folly of ill concealed adventures on our vart.” . Wiai 1s Dolng Acheson sald the Soviet detach- ment of Chinese provinces “Is complete in outer Mongolia and almost complete in Manchuria.” Outer Mongolia is one province and Manchuria is made up of provinces, ! In addition to these four, Ache- son sald that the Russians are un- doubtedly rheeiving glowing re- ports from their agents in inner Mongolia and Sinkiang Province. And, he said, the Communist re- |gime in China itself developed new | methods and techniques to help the Russlan menace and provide “insidious weapons of penetration.” | Takes Crack nt Critics | Acheson swung into his discus- sion of Russia and the Chinese situation after first taking some cracks at senatorial critics—Sen- ator Taft (R) of Ohio in particu- lar—of the Administration’s Form- osa poliey. He referred to Taft only as a “distinguished statesman” who had said he had no doubt that some sincere ald to China some time ago would have resulted in dif- fedent conditions now, and no | shortcomings” and that methods o1i The governor _wmmented that open the sealanes to Shanghai the Native Service were constantly [ he felt territorial finances now! mhe Admiralty spokesman indi- | prozressing. are in better shape than those o!|cated the British patrol would not | {the state of Washington, which is|g0 beyond the three-mile limit of War Labor Board. No longer a member of the party, he testified Jhe and Bridges attended two Communist meet- doubt that a small amount of aid can “solve the problem in Form- osa.” Acheson fibed that this statesman DRY QUESTIONIS | BIG ISSUEINN.Y.; . of the west coast. i Unconfirmed rumors flew that| the Reds already had landed on the west coast. Sales today were 2,970,000 shares. | Averages today are as follows: | industrials 197.93, rails 53.81, util- ities 40.94. The Washington Merry - Go-Round By DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1950, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) ASHINGTON—President Tru- man attended a private birthday luncheon for Speaker Sam Ray—‘ kurn last week at which he pre- sented Sam with a new hat. “Sanf is the only man I know,”| commented the, President, “who| could stay in Washington over 40| years and still wear the same size hat he wore when he came here. I don’t know what kind of a hati Truman continued, “but| Il show you how to fix it.” | Showing he hadn't lost his touch as a haberdasher, Truman flipped the hat into shape and planted it ceremoniously on Rayburn's head.| As the guests roared, Rayburn yanked it down over his ears. The President also kidded Ray- burn about his age. “Vice President Barkley tells me | when he was a kid, he used to listen to Sam on the lecture plat- form,” Truman confided, “But, in view of ' Barkley's known age, I'll be damned if I can understand how Sam can be just 68.” Florida vs. Texas Grapefruit First course at the luncheon in honor of a famous Texan was grapefruit, which caused the Pre-| sident to remark: “I understand | this grapefruit came from Florida.” | “Yes, I am sure this is Florida grapefrui agreed Chief Justice‘ Fred Vinson, “Now I know it is Florida grape- fruit,” declared the President, “be- causc the Surpeme Court has al- ings. Defense Counsel James M. Mac- Inms pounced on Michener's ad- mission yesterday that he protably rilled out some sort of government document when appointed to the War Labor Board and asked: “In the questionnaire you had to fill out you were asked, ‘Are you a member of the Communist Party or affiliated with a Communist or- ganization, weren't you?” “I doubt it and I'll buy you 2a ew hat if you can show me I signed such a statement under such circumstances,” replied Michener. MacInnis immediately demanded a search be made of government records. Bridges, head of the CIO Lon;!—‘ shoremen’s Union, is accused of falsely swearing in 1945 at his naturalization hearing that he had never been a Communist. Two other union officers, character wit nesses at the naturalization hear- ing, are co-defendants charged with conspiracy. Late this afternoon a prosecu- tion witness in the Harry Bridzes perjury trial said the CIO Lonz- shore union chieftain was “one of the most able and capable labor leaders in the country.” The witness—Lew Michener, an admitted ex-Communist—added to his testimony: “If it wasn't for the fact of his (Bridges’) affiliation with the Communist Party, he'd be able right now to fill the boots of Philip Murray.” Murray is president of and at odds with Bridges latter’s left wing policies. Michener, 41, an official of the CIO United Auto Workers local at the CIO over the Long Beach, made his statement| while under cross-examination by defense attorney James H. Mac- Innis. Dr. both were studying for their doc- torates at the University of Iowa,| and were married in 1934, Prior to entering the Indian Service, he was principal of Lincoln Junior High School in Mason City, Ia. CAREER TEAM The couple came north in 1935 to begin an unusual “career team”; of man and wife pursuing the same work. Both became educa- tional supervisors within a few months of each other, and in 1944 when he was named director of education, she became director of welfare services. He estimates the government has invested at least $20,000 in his tra- | vels and expenses in the Terri- | tory, which investment he now terms “completely lost” because ol his transfer. He expressed particular concern that his wife was the “innocent Lystander” in the move, having to leave her work which she has made so outstanding while she has pursued it. At various times over the years they have gone Outside to do edu- cational work in universities. Their most recent assignment was at the University of Kentucky, as consul- tants with the sociology, geological and anthropology departments there. She was dean of the Alaska Section on Indian Service studies in Oregon the summer of 1938, and both have served on the staffs of { teacher training services in vari- | ous schools. s ! While his future assignment is I still somewhat indefinite, Dr. Dale expressed hope that the “career team” will not be broken up, and that his wife will be able to work with him as for the past 15 years in bringing learning and enlight- cament to native peoples. Dale and his wife met while | scraping the bottom of its general| fund. , “Alaska’s treasury will be | good shape by the time the nex | Legislature meets in January 1951,” he predicted, “kecause ou last Legislature put in effect long overdue basic tax progra | 1 Ilhird Division . Demos Will Hold | Meet, March 23-25 ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan. 12— (M—The Third Division Democrat- ic Convention has been set for March 23-25 in Anchorage. The Anchorage Democratic Club went on record overwhelmingly, at its meeting this week, against any Territory-wide sales tax, Congressmen Are Smugglers, Belief (By Associated Press) Some members of the House want to start another kind of in- vestigation. They want to find out just what some legislators have been doing on their overseas jaunts. The move toward such an inves- tigation has been spurred by a spokesman from the Customs Bu- reau. He said an inquiry would disclose that some congressmen have abused their customs exemp- tion privilege Ty bringing thin home from abroad. FROM KLAWOCK William Fenner of Klawock 15 +|Mzao tze-Tung is not getting all the| Chinese territorial waters. ( In Hong Kong, Britain’s historic | open door to China, there was spec- | ulation Chinese Communist leader) NO BATHS. SHAVES (By Associated Press) economic help he wants from Soviet ! Wetness or dryness in rclation Russia. to liquor is not a critical problem Okscrvers pointed to Mao's un-'it New Fork City today. But for precedented long stay in Moscow | -2-O the word is “dry”. The city which they said may indicate he 1S having the second of its dry has found the bargaining tough.|days in aftempts to reduce water He has been talking with Kremlin | cODsumption. The city's reservoirs heads now for almost a month, |2 at less than 40 peércent of cap- Mao does not need to be hugged |2¢Ity: NO baths or shaves—a dirty uncomfortably by the Russian Bear, neck and a stubble are not the Hong Kong observers said. For marks of a bum today in the big pulling him in another dircction,|City: but the adornments of @ it was pointed out, are British re- cognition of his regime, President| Truman’s “hands off” declaration! on Formosa and the possible em- | ergence of an oriental Tito in Jap- anese Communist leader Sanzo No- | EARTH RUMBLINGS, LOWER CALIFORNIA 12 %+ & »!| LOS ANGELES, Jan P ® [Accompanied by heavy rumbling, e ' a sharp earthquake jarred a large ® cection of southern California yes- e | terday. But it caused no damage e Heaviest jolts were felt in the e tall Civic Certer buildings down- o town, although the temblor was re- WEATHER REPORT In Juneau—Maximum 18; minimum 10, At Airport—Maximum 15; minimum -10. (Junean and Vielnity) Partly cloudy and contin- ued cold with gusty south- easterly winds tonight and Friday. Lowest temperature tonight near 12 degrees ex- cept -5 'in areas free from e inland to San Bernardino, e | Geclogsts feared that oil wells e/in the Long Beach area, which e | cuffered several million dol e damage in a quake Nov. 17, may ® have been disturbed anew. e Dr. Charles F. Richter, California the winds. e Institutee of Technology seismol- PRECIPITATION e ogist, said the epicenter was with- @ (Past 24 nours ending 7:30 am. today @ |in 15 miles of Pasadena. City of Juneau—None. ./ since Jan. 1—99 inches; L since July 1—54.93 inches. ®| At Airport—None; ®| John Mulligan of the U. S. Bu- since Jan. 82 inches; @ reau of Mines staff returned ye: since July 1--36.31 inche ® terday from the states, and is a e00ceeeceecccove .00 MULLIGAN RETURNS stepping at the Baranof Hotel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 ';nurfl at the Gastineau Hotel. e |ported from Long Beach 75 Xlnlm‘; I"oul‘mes; here said they had no { knowledge of any landings or Red ! “beachheads” on Hainan. Nationalist naval units were sent to Hainan Strait, a narrow strip iof water that is barely tive miles wide at one point, separating Hai- nan from the Chinese mainland. All but a mile of the strait at this point could te waded by troops. A Nationalist navy task force reported it sank 30 of 50 Red junks trying to invade Weichou Island off Liuchow Peninsula Chiang Kai-Shek’s bombers renged the coastal country blasting Red concentrations. Canton, Foo- ' chow and Shanghai were bombed. Chinese news dispatches report- ed a big concentration of Commun- ;:»-r boats in Hangchow Bay., The IChu San Islands, 20 miles long land 10 miles wide and located aLout 100 miles south of Shanghai, appeared to be their objective. The islands are used by the Nationalist |navy and air force to blockade | Shanghai, | Most of the Hangchow craft were sald to be 40- to 15-ton | craft. Their number ranged up | to 2,000. Small scale fighting between the /100,000 Nationalist regulars and | stragglers on Hainan and the 17| | 000 Red guerrillas, who have been | operating in this area for a | time, was reported officially here | in the Nationalist capital. STEAMER MOVEMENTS | | Princess Norah scheduled to sail from Vancouver Jan. 14. ; Denali scheduled to sail LScflttle January 14. | Baranof scheduled southbound Sunday afternoon or evening. from But Nationalist | long | {was & man who switches between !a postion of some doubt and “no | doubt.” MURDER, SUICIDE " TAKE SIX LIVES . ININDIANA HOME | | HAMMOND, Ind, Jan. 12—@®— The bodies of four adults and two children were found in a fire- swept home here today and De- puty Coroner B. W. Tidlaw said there was evidence of murder and | suicide. Police said “blood was all over the place.” They said they found several bloody butcher knives and |empty .22 calibre cartridges in the | house. | Four of the victims were iden- |tified as Felix Samas, 33, a ma- !chinist; his wife, Katherine, 24, |and their two children, Felix, Jr., {4, and Phyllis Elaine, 18 months. The two other adults were id- |entified as Richard Norman, 23, jand his Christmas bride, Shirley, |18. They were staying in the Samas home. The deputy coroner said bullet wounds were found in the bodies |of Mrs. Samas and her son. | Officers said they were informed Samas and his wife had separated before Christmas. Court records show Mrs. Samas had filed suit for divorce and re- | cently obtained a restraining order |to prevent her husband from mol- | esting her. Officers sald there were indica- tions that Samas had gone to his wife’s home in the night and had broken in.