The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, January 18, 1950, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIV., NO. 11,404 MFMm' R ASSOCI \II D PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNF\";! \Y, JANUARY 18, 1950 Biggest Robberyi BIGFLOOD | THREAT ON BIG RIVER Government Now Moving Equipment to “Fuze Plug” Sections (By the Associated Press) The Army ordered heavy earth moving equipment to critical “fuze plug” sections of the big Mississippi today in the biggest flood threat since 1937. The mayor of historic Vincennes, Inc, issued a special second call for volunteer flood fighters in his endangered city on the bnnks of | the Wabash. ! ‘The Army sent the bulldo:erar and earth movers to the levee tops of the Birds Point-New Madrid | floodway. There the crews willl await orders either to blast out | sections of the levee, or set their machines chewing into the massive earthen floodwall. The idea is this: if a “plug” is deliberately pulled out of the levee, the mighty Mississippi's torrent will | surge into the 139,000 acre floodway. | This will lower the pressure an} other walls, up and down the! stream, such as that atv Cairo, IiL | A leaking dike on the north side | of Vincennes made Mayor William | L. Betz' call at Vincennes neces- sary. He asked 400 or 500 fres workers to bear a hand at the levee near the mouth of Kelso creek. The kLig Ohio and other rain- swollen streams in the lower Mis- | sissippi and Ohio River valleys—as well as the Old Miss' itself—con- tinued to rise at other points. There was a mass exotius—some 8,000 farmers and sharesroppers--in “ southeast Missouri, as the nation’s | mighty Father of Waters welled up to its highest mark in 13 years. Soldiers in Alaska Told Families 0K In (olgr_ado Blaze CHICAGO, Jan. 18— (® —Fifth| Army headquarters sent family re- | assurances today to soldiers from Camp Carson, Colo., who are par- ticipating in the “Exercise Sweet- briar” maneuvers in the Yukon. The men in the north were advis- | ed that all their wives and children were safe after the fast-sweeping| prush fire left two soldiers dead yesterday. The Washingion Merry - Go - Round Bv DREW PEARSON (Copyright, 1950, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) | TIME GETS SCOOPED This week Time Mngazine car- ries two columns patting itself on | the back for breaking the inside story on the backstage debate in the Truman Cabinet over For- mosa. The scoop for which Time congratulated itself was published in the issue of Innuary 9. Time editors, however, obvious- Iy overlooked the consistent news- beats of the Washington-Merry- Go-Round on the same subject. On December 22, long before other Washingten news-hounds scented what was up over Formosa, Drew | Pearson carried a lead story re- porting that the jeint chiefs of sinff had reversed their policy and recomniended that Formosa be occupied by U. S. Marines. The clash between Secretary of Defense Johnson and Secretary | of State Acheson was described | in deinil : Then, on January 1, Pearson | followed with an immediate-re- lease story giving the details of the historic National Security Council meeting presided oved by President Truman, which finally decided to reverse Yie joint chiefs of staff und let Formosa go un- defended. Pearson’s stories were published two weeks and one week respectively ahead of Time's. ASHINGTON—A secret huddle of Russian and Hungarian generals plotting an attack on Yugoslavia is the inside reason for the State {ped Maj. FLYING SKA § Eo— X pion fizure skater, fiies threugh air during Paris practice session. VAUGHANIS RAPPED BY SEN. PROBERS WASHINGTON, Jan. Senate investigating committee rap- Gen, Harry H. Vaughn accepting seven home today for freezers as gifts from a perfume company. The freezer transaction was {srought out by the Senate group last summer in its investigation of Washington - “five -percenters”—per- ons who collect fees for helping others get Government contracts. The seven-member Senate investi- Hoey a headed by Sen. (D-NC), unanimously approved report which criticized not onl Vaughin, President Truman's m tary aide, but denounced John Margon, who for a time had free access to the White House and boasted to businessmen of his friendship with Vaughn. The committee said there is no doubt that gating group, Maragon to carry on his business dealings with federal agencies. Vaughn said at the time of the investigation he saw nothing wrong in accepting the home freezers from the Albert Verley Co., which form- erly employéd Maragon. Vaughn gave one of the freezers to Mrs. | Truman. Maragon nov: is undef indictment on a charge of lying to the Senate investigating committee. The committee filed with the Senate today. DELEGATE OF its report SOVIET BLOC RESIGNS, U. N. LAKE SUCCESS, Jan. Alexander Rudzinski, one of Soviet bloc delegates who walked out of a United Nations committee Mcnday in a general demonstration against Nationalist China, has re- signed from the Polish delegation as a protest against the walkout, it was learned today. The walkout was part of a Russian campaign to have the UN kick out Nationalist the | Chinese delegates. His resignation was -disclosed in 1 letter to Secretary of State Dean Acheson, dated Monday. A copy of the letter was obtained by the Associated Press. In his letter to Acheson, Rud- zinski asked the United States to grant asylum for himseif and his wife, Maria Anna. He asked the right remain in the U. S country whose devotion to the caus of freedom I learned to admire,” he said. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle Saturday. Princess Norah scheduled to ar- rive Friday at 8 a.n. and sail south one hour later at 9 am. Denali from west scheduled (Continued on Page Four* southbound early Monday. Maragon's rriendship! |with Vaughn made it possible for 18— | ?!ays Rams, Winner Too | OLDSMAR, Florida, Jan. 18- {An unknown gentleman from Wash- ingten, D. C e given midas cards and spades turned up ith the only w double tickets at Sunshine The winning ducat returned $3,2% | for $2—a new record at Sunshine— The mutels window director said the winning gent was the same one who cashed in one of Monday four winning double tickets, worth $729.70 each . Yesterday's combination was made | up “8f Academic in the first race| and Say Polly in the second. Ac-| lemic paid $42.10 to win and Say Polly-~a Mutuel field horse—was $12.10. RETAILERS ORDER COAL RATION IN STEEL CAPITAL PITTSBURGH, Jan. 18—(@—Coal rationing was ordered by retail deal- ers today in this coal capital. | With the strike of more than 85,000 soft coal miners tightening its pinch on the naticn's economy, the Retail Coal Merchants Associa- tion said available supplies will be {rationed with first priority gomg| to such essential users as hospital? land food processors. One of John L. Lewis' influen- tial lieutenants, President John P. Busarello of United Mine Workers District Five, said he was using his staff to try.to get the striking ers back in the pits next Mon- | day. Lewis has suggested they re- sume production. Over the country, Americans are learning the hard way that bitumin- lous (soft coal) is basic. Above-ground coal supplies are dwindling. Railroad service has been curtailed. In Pittsburgh, coal- hung- ry power companies predict theyl soon have to ration electricity. As a result, 300 big industries in the steel capital of the world may |have to shut down. ALASKA STEAM BUYS LIBERTY SHIP FOR 'NORTHERN SERVICE i SEATTLE, Jan. 18—®—Negoti- ations for purchase of the freighter Dorian Prince ©y the Alaska Steam- | ship Company were completed yes- terday. The Liberty ship was purchased from the Dorian Steamship Cor- poration of New York for an un- disclosed sum. G. W. Skinner, president of the Alaska line, said the purchase is in line with the company's program to replace older vessels with a fleet of modern ships large enough to serve the Territory. The Dorian Prince was built in 11944 by the Southeastern Shipbuild- ing Company of Savannah, Ga., the | €S. william G. Lee. The vessel is 441 6 feet in length, has a 58-foot Leam‘ and is of 7,198 gross tons. Skinner 'said it will go into .Seame-A]nska action as soon as it is outfitted for the special rigors +of northern service. The vessel in- creases to eight the number ot ships owned by Alaska Steamship Company. IN PARTS OF WASH. STATE Cold Spellflnlinues as Skies Clear-High Wind Abates (By the Associat:d Press) Sub-zero temperatures moved into Western Washington today for the first time this winter as the cur- rent cold spell continued its six- day clampdown on the Pacific Northwest. The Weather Bureau, blaming clear skies and an absence of wind, | reported at 4:30 a.m. today the thermometer dropped to a' minus 6 degrees at Toledo, some 20 miles | south of Chehalis. An hour later, the mercury had dropped anomerl two degrees to minus 8. Farther south, at Kelso, it was three above. At Bellinghamson the state’s northern border, it was five above. Minus readings were ngam the order of the day in Eastern Wash- ington with Ellensburg apparently the coldest at —19. Other sub-zero srots included Spokane at 410. ind Omak at —7. The continued cold brought in- creased fears for residents off the beaten paths. Elks Prairie, Ore., in Clackamas County, was reported isolated and running short of food, fuel and feed for animals. Spokane county authorities put two-ski-squipped planes on a stand-iy basis to answer possible distress calls throughout Eastern ‘Washington and Northern Idaho More than a dozen calls a day are being received, they said. In Seattle this morning it was 13 ubove zero. In Juneau at 8 a.m. it was 14 above zero. TWODEAD AS FIRERENEWS; 19 INJURED Colo , | COLORADO SPRINGS, Jan. 18—(M—Fires flared up again today in the ravaged area south of here where a gale swept brush| fire left two soldiers dead and threc| missing. The ilaze, started early yester- day, leaped over more than 50 square miles, running on winds ol hurricane force. It burned much ol the east face of Cheyenne Moun- tain, singed the palnual homes in the Broadmoor district’ and ran across powder dry prairies nearly to Fountain, Colo. It was brought under contro after a shift in the wind last night But fresh winds from the east to- day were starting up old fires. Weary firefighters sped to the scene of each new blaze ard quickly orought most of them under con- trol. ‘Sprawling Camp Carson, wartime home of 30,000 troops, was consid- ered “out of danger” by post offi- cers barring a sudden shift and| upsurge of the wind. It was fighting the fire when it flared into the Carson building: yesterday in which one soldier was| killed. Another died this morning There were 19 more in the post hospital, 10 of them on the critical list. A check of personnel during the night showed three missing. Names of the dead, missing and injured were not released by Army authorities pending notification of next of kin. Connors Confirmed, Collector of Customs WASHINGTON, Jan. 18—+ The Senate confirmed the Presi- dential appointment of James J Connors as Customs Collector for District ' 31 with headquarters at Juneau, Alaska, last night. The Senate Finance Committe will hear from Social Security Ad- ministrator Arthur Altmeyer again today. Altmeyer will give further details on proposals to hoost the amount of annual pay subject to the Social Security tax. in History BELOW ZERO regular session of the group. President and Cabinel " President Truman (third from right) poses at the White House with members of his cabinet belore a Clockwise around the table are Interior Secretary Oscar Chapman, Com- merce Secretary Charles Sawyer, Vice-President Alben W. Barkley, Labor Secretary Maurice J. Tobin, Agriculture Secretary Charles Brannon, Postmaster General Jesse Donaldson, Defense Secretary Louis Johnson, Secretary of State Dean Acheson,t President Truman, Treasury Secretary John W. Snyder, and Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, (® Wirephoto, | ASKS COURT 5-DAY WEEK FOR MINERS WASHINGTON, Jan. 18— (M — Robert N. Denham, General Coun- sel of the National Labor Relations "Board, said today he is appIying for ‘a court order to put coal min- ers on a normal five-ddy work week. Denham said a complaint charg- ing John L. Lewis and his miners | union with unfair labor practices is { the basis for the court action. Denham said his aides are ing into court this afternoon apply for a temporary injunction. This type of application calls for a hearing to be set by the court before any order is issued. Denham said that he is not ask- ing for a temporary restraining order-the kind of legal proceeding which calls for immediate action by the ceurt. Conceivably, it might be weeks before the court would act. Denham’s complaint charges that Lewis has been failing to bargain in good faith with the coal operat- |ors. The Taft-Hartley law requires | vargaining in good faith and also | permits the NLRB counsel to seek {court orders barring “unfair prac- tices” by management or a union | Seattle Firm Is Low, | Wrangell Narrows Dredging Bldder| SEATTLE, Jan. 18—®—The Pu- get Sound Bridge and Dredging Co., Seattle was the apparent low bidde: for dredging and disposal of 769,000 cubic yards of material Wrangell Narrows, near Pctershurg, Alaska, the District Corps of En- gineers announced. Col. E. C. Itschner, District En- gineer, said the company bid to do | the job for $1,034,305. The govern- ment estimate of fair cost was i 3968 940. General Construction Co., Seattle, | bid $1,422,650 and Portland Tug and go- to ® 9 | Barge, Portland, Ore, asked $l- | 768,700. | ol Itschner said the bids will | be studied before award is made. ® ® o v o 0 e 3 @ WEATHER REPORT In Juneau—Maximum 20; minimum 14. At Airport—Maximum 20; minimum 2. FORECAST (Junesu aug Vielaity) Fair tonight and Thurs- day with occasional gusty northeasterly winds. | | | ’ Lowest temperature’ in Juneau to- night near 15 degrees and as low as -6 in outlying dis- tricts. Highest Thursday near 24 degrees. City ‘of Juneau—.09 inches; since Jan. 1—1.08 since July 1--55.02 At Airport—.,03 inches; since Jan. 1—65 inches; since July 1--36.34 inches. @000 00000 ceccsvec0o e 00000 ececo0es®ceco00nc 0 | changes, MAY LOSE I.EG ' ( { | { Ruth Miller (above), 13, of Nor- walk, Calif., goes to a hospital soon for amputation of her left leg at ths hip. She is suffering from cancer of the bone which doctors believe will prove fatal if the operation is not performed. She agreed to undergo the surgery | after reading how Ruth Marbury | of Memphis, Tenn., submitted to amputation of her right hand for s ar reasons. (#) Wirephoto. Battleship Missourils On Mudbank NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 18-—#—The | next attempt to float the 45,000-; ton battleship Missouri, stuck ¢ mudbank in Chesapeake Bay 1 old Point Comfort, will be made tonight, the Navy announced 1t was decided to make no effoct | to float the huge battlewagon on high tide this foremoon but to use a dredze to remove some of the mud blocking her way back to the | n ship channel. The last of the Missouri's fuel oil was being removed today. It that doesn't help her ammunition be taken off tomorrow, the Navy said. Naval officers pointed out that tides will be progressively will | until January 26 when the moon and that the rattiesnip | went aground at high tide yesier- day. TONY ZITZ HERE Tony Zitz of Seattle arrived on the Denali yesterday, and is re- gistered at the Gastineau Hotel.| REDSLOSE | {nan said his forces are mopping | | economic road to travel. {of many countries—not merely one | 17,000 MEN, SAY CHINESE Jessup Tells Communists They Need Outside Aid from Many Nations (By the Associaied Press) A Nationglist Chinese comman- der claimed today the Nationalist Navy and Air Force have made im- | possizle an early Communist in-| vasion of Hainan Island. | The ground commander on Hai- up the remnants of 17,000 Com- munists who landed on the big Eouth China island. He said Nationalist air and naval forces have sunk 2,000 Communist | craft (mostly junks) massed on Liuchow, the invasion peninsula opposite Hainan. Hainan and Formosa are the last two important strongholds left to Chaing Kai-shek’s Nationalists. Meanwhile the official Commun- ist voice, Peiping Radion, heard| in Tokyo, gave its first account | of the Communist seizure of; American, French and Dutch gov- ernment properties in China, SEIZURE ‘JUSTIFIED’ The seizures pushed the United | States into recalling all State De-| partment officials from Communist China. The Peiping radio accused the Western Powers’ Consuls of “pro- crastinating and refusing” to hand; over their government’s properties in response to the Peiping regime’s “justifiable demand.” It said “military necessity"l prompted the seizures. It called the government properties “military cstablishments” protecting “special | interests based on unfair treaties. ! A chief spokesman for American oreign policy in the Far East talked | turkey to Communist China, re- minding her she has a long, hard Roving Ambassador Philip C | Jessup, using Hong Kong as his rostrum, said: “China will continue to require the technological and cultural md} or two—if her development is not | to be retarded.” Again, with obvious references to Russia, Jessup said: We further believe that no single | outside nation can supply all re-| quirements or make all the con- tributions that country needs for its fullest development in the tamily of nations.” | Jessup reaffirmed American sup- | port of a policy of equality, inde- | pendence and integrity for China. | A Nationalist Chinese alr nltatk‘ on Communist Canton yesterday | i was the biggest yet. The Nationalists 5ul~,u reported they stepped up their aerial pounding of Shanghai. HOPE OF 'TKA FILES FOR DEMO HOUSE SEAT Andrew Hope, 53-year-old boat |builder of Sitka, and member of | | the Territorial House of Represen- | L.u since 1945, filed today for Pulled offin Roston BANDITS GET $1,500,000 INROBBERY ;Pass Up Million Because Hands Full-Seven Men + Work 20 Minutes BOSTON, Jan. 18—(P—Crack FBI agents joined today in a man- hunt for a bandit gang that got away with $1,500,000—a million of it in cash—in one of the biggest rotberies in the nation's history. A spokesman for Brinks, Ine., operators of the money transpor- tation firm robbed, said $100,000 reward would be offered for cap- | ture of the bandits. “We have not worked out the details of setting up the reward vet,” he said. “But we will offer this reward.” Working smoothly, the robbers escaped last night without leaving a single clue. Hours later, Police Supt. Edward J. Fallon said. “we have little or nothing to work on.” Eight suspects were being held but police officials indicated they had little to pin on them—at this time anyway. All except one are ex-convicts—rounded up as “types” { for such a holdup. LEAVE MILLION The seven soft-shoed gunmen— all wearing Hallowe'en-type masks and Navy peajackets—Ileft behind them another million dollars in fash only because their hands were ul. ike a movie thriller, they sneaked through six locked doors to reach ‘the of a money" transportation firm, surprising five cashiers and guards before they could reach for their own shotguns. An alarm giving descriptions of the desperadoes was sounded along the entire eastern seaboard while this city's police icegan one of the Liggest roundups of underworld characters ever. undertaken, FBI agents and state police joined local police who were under orders to “break this thing up be- fore a new outbreak develops.” FBI agents across the country were alerted because Federal Re- serve Bank funds were included in the loot. Ellis Hult, vice president of the Boston Federal Reserve, sa!d that the looted money transportation firm handles the delivery of funds of a number of member banks.. . In a special department order, Police Supt. Edward W. Fallon told his men: 20 MINUTE HAUL “Don’t stop until you find men. I want every available aetfl- tive to work on this case.” - The gunmen—in a 20-minute pre= cision raid — snatched the money from an open vault in the sprawl- ing waterfront garage of Brink’s, Inc, a money transportation:firm, after gagging and trussing five em- ployees last night. Along with the million in the gangsters grabbed tsooofi checks. Shortly after the holdup, police chased at break-neck speed a gfive- passenger [clack Cadillac Seddm thought to be the getaway ecar. Police believed the car, bearing stolen registration plates, headed for Providence, R.I. The plates were stolen in Boston /last week, pplice said. “It's very obvious,” Fallon said, “that these men used a master key to open all those doors.” - ONE CLUE GIVEN NEW YORK, Jan. 18—P—A black Cadillas bearing Massaehu~ setts license plates and with black | masks lying on the rear seat was sought in New York today in con- nection with the million dollar rob- bery in Boston last night. ” John Koziatek, a partner in a filling station, saic the car drovo (Continued on Page Two) STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Jan. 18—Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 3%, American Can 113%, Anaconda 29%, Curtiss- ‘Wright 8%, International Harvester 27%, Kennecott 53%, New York Central 12%, Northern Pacific 14%, U. S. Steel 27%, Pound $2.80%. Sales today ware 1,570,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: ! reelection on the Democratic ticket. Hope was born in Sitka. | industrials 199.50, rails, £4.70, util- ities 41.33,