The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 8, 1950, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIV., NO. 11,446 JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1950 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS Passengers, Crew Perish in DEFENSE RESTS THIS AFTERNOON, "MERCY KILLING" Vein Segments of Dead Woman’s Arm Taken Info Court MANCHESTER, NH., March 8— (P—The defense in the Dr. Herman N. Sander “mercy death” murder trial rested today at 2:34 p.m. (EST) Defense counsel brought their case to a close after Dr. Richard F. Ford, noted Harvard pathologist, insisted the accused doctor could not have killed a cancer patient with air injections. Judge Harold E. Wescott called a recess before the state opened its rebuttal. 7 He discussed with the jury the guestion of how the autopsy of the dead woman's body came about. Earlier, the vein segments fronr Mrs. Abbie Borroto's arm, on which | the injections were made, were brought into the court. The vein segments from the 59- year-old woman’s arm were not shown to the jury. Attorney General William L. Phinney and his assistants took a look at them during a special re- cess in the trial. The veins play an important part in the testimony because it is into them that Dr. Sander is accused of injecting a deadly dose of air as Mrs. Borroto lay dying of cancer last Dec. 4. The defense contends the woman was already dead before the air injection was made. WSC MEETS FRIDAY NLP CHURCH PARLORS ‘The World Bervice Circle of the Northern Light Presbyterian church will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the church parlors with Mesdames Kenneth 8. Clem and J. Gerald ‘Williams as hostesses. Mrs. Elton Engstrom will continue the study of Japan. Mesdames Walter B. Heisel and Donald Bur- rus will sing a duet and Mrs. Gun- nar Blomgren will lead the devo- tions. Several chairmen will pre- sent questionnaires on year’s ac- tivities. Each member is urged to attend and take a guest. SEATTLEITE HERE Gil Rich, wellknown traveling man, of Seattle is stoping at the Baranof Hotel. Tne Washingion Merry - Go- Round (Copyrieht. 1950. by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Bv DREW PEARSON ASHINGTON—It looks as if the U. S. Attorneys, some of them hitherto phlegmatic about prosecut- ing income-tax frauds, were now getting to work. On January 20 this celumn pub- lished the sordid details of a hold- up.scheme by which five Internal Revenue agents in New York City shook down federal taxpayers who either had violated the tax laws, or else wanted to avoid tax argu- ment. The column cited dates, names and places regarding these shake- downs, and raised the question as to why this type of fraud had not been prosecuted. One of those nam- ed, incidentally, was Willlam A. Ganey, chief of the fraud squad of New York's third Internal Rev- enue collection district, and a friend of certain high-up Demo- cratic politicians. Finally, on March 3, six weeks after the column expose, the Inve men were indicted. Acheson Passes Deadly Test A tall man with an elegant mus- cache and a soft, cultured voice went through a special variety of hell in a tiny, smoke-filled Senate room the other day. His agony was there for the world to watch. Glaring cameras stared at him. Reporters scrib- bled notes. Hostile words picked at him sawagely. No tempers flared or voices raised. It was very polite and very, very deadly. Dean Acheson, the Secretary of State, sat before the mighty Sen- ate Appropriations Committee and an intent , audience. The test began when urbane Sen. Styles Bridges of New Hampshire casually asked: “Mr. Secretary, (Continued on Page Four) 8 CAUGHT, FIRETRAP, LOSE LIVES SANDY, Ore., March 8—(#—A family of eight died in a flaming one-room mill cabin near here to-| day. The roaring fire apparently started on the small building's north side—the only one with a door. Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy A. Ludwig | and their six children died in the | trap. The cabin was one of 132 for housing workers at the Wilson saw- | mill off the Mount Hood loop high- way about 11 miles from here. Sandy is 20 miles east of Portland. Carl Wilson, owner of the mill, said his barking dog awakened him at 1:15 am. and he looked out to discover the fire. He ran to the cabin, ripped away boards covering a window, and flame billowed out. The interior was all ablaze. “It all happened so fast there was no chance to do a thing,” Wil- son said. Wilson said he assumed the firé started from a heating stove. 1 ‘The dead were listed as Ludwig, 34; his wife, Wanda, about 32; Re- becca, 15; Jerry, 13; Dennis, 10; Michael, 7; Ronnie, 2; and Kath- leen, 5 months, Moose Lodge Enjoys Gala Barn Dance A gay and fast-stepping barn dance was held last Saturday night by Moose Lodge with a capacity crowd in hand costumed appropri- ate country regalia. Music was pro-| vided by Mrs. Joe Mangun and Phyllis Langdon. Added fun was previded shortly! after midnight when Loren Card,| an auctioneer, offered box lunches, provided by the women, to the highest bidders. Last Saturday's party was only one of many the Moose Lodge hope to enjoy in the future. Those present included Messrs. | and Mesdames Gordon Peterson,| Carl Latho, George Brison, Arnold Hildre, Harold Zenger, Fred Par- sons, Jack Westfall, Charles Wind- | sted, Bob Light, Jack Gould, Sea- burg, Don S. Tanner, Loran Card, | Jerry Perkins, Dr. and Mrs. Mont- | gomery, Mrs. Jim Sofoulis, Mrs.| Rodenburg, Mrs. Ladely, Jean Lyons, | Betty Logan, “Howling” Bill Auld,! Robert Dodson, Sonny Fleek, Bill} Clarke, Paul Urich, Bill C. Hill, M,‘ C. Mosier, Harold Swanson, Jack | Kearney, Walter Hermansen, Carl| Aho and Mr. Burrell. | Duck Season May Be (uf, Says_Diredor' SAN FRANCISCO, March 8—® —Albert M. Day, Director of the| Fish and Wildlife Service, hinted to- | day that waterfowl hunting regula- tions next fall may have to be tighter than ever. The reasons: an apparent decline in waterfowl populations, and ap- parently faulty estimates a year ago which resulted in overly-generous | shooting seasons last fall. { “It looks now as though instead of gaining ground last year, We more than likely lost some of the previous years' gains and not only took the harvestable crop but also cut into the capital stock of this year’s breeders,” Day gloomily in- formed the North American Wiidlife conference. “The Pacific and Mississippi 1ly- ways are definitely off,” he said. | OF CAA, ANCHORAGE Robert Matson and Owen E. Rye, of the Anchorage CAA staff, aTe registered at the Gastineau Hotel STEAMER MOVEMENTS Princess Norah schedule to sall from Vancouver 8 tonight. Denali scheduled to sail Seattle Saturday. from 'BALDWIN GRAND | concert pitch. jcert Association, GOVT. COMPLETES TESTIMONY IN BRIDGES' TRIAL SAN FRANCISCO, March 8—(®— The government completed its testimony today in the perjury trial of Harry Bridges. With its main case ard rebuttal ended, the defense opened surre- buttal, expected to be concluded | before the weekend. George H. Wilson, Los Angeles | newspaperman who had testitied | that Bridges, CIO longshore union president, was a Communist, was recalled by the government, the de- fense had insisted Wilson, an ad- mitted Communist of years, testi- fied under government “threats” that he, himself, would be prose- cuted. “That’s not true,” Wilson said. “I} have committed no offense that I am aware of, and there was no threat by the prosecution.” As the government ended its tes- | timony, Vincent Hallinan, chiet ot | Bridges’' defense staff, looked at| Wilson. “No questions,” he decided. | | NOW IN PLACE FOR | SCHAPIRO CONCERT There is a strange study in con- trasts behind the double curtains at the 20th Century Theatre. From a long-ago era remains a relic of rowdy days—a battered and | exhausted upright piano, the front panel gone and its patched and broken strings mnakedly exposed. On the big stage, it looks very little and pathetic. Not so its new neighbor. Looming big, even in that high- vaulted expanse, is the new ou- neau community concert grand pi- ano. Full concert size, it looks even more enormous beside the lit-| tle fellow. The fine Baldwin concert instru- | ment was unloaded from the Square Sinnett last weekend and placed on | the 20th Century stage yesterday. Loving hands must have handled it, for the ebony concert grand | came through in fine style, wn,h| only one minor nick at the edge ol | the lid—a little travel scar that| can easily be hidden, “Congidering its long joumey; from New York City,” said Ernesz" Ehler, “the big Baldwin has stayed remarkably in tune. That was scarcely to be expected, as the legs had been removed for shipment, then put back here, and, of course, the instrument was transferred from train to boat for shipment from Seattle.” Ehler has volunteered to keep | the community piano in tune to | As President of the Juneau Con- Ehler has been in constant correspondence with Maxim Schapiro, through whose ef- forts the piano was obtained. Schapiro gave the piano fund a big boost, through his benetit ap- pearance October 28 when more than $1,500 was raised in a single evening. Then, he negotiated with the Baldwin Piano Company and was able to obtain a substantial price reduction, Also, the Baldwin Company offered to pay half the freight charges from New York to Seattle. In the same spirit of the com- munity interest, the Alaska Steam- ship Company made a similar gen- erous gesture, arranged through H. E. Green, Juneau agent. Alaska Steam contributed half of the charges from Seattle, and delivered the instrument to the theatre with- out charge. Now for the big event—the first concert on the new piano. Schapiro has been able to ar- range his concert tour schedule so he can dedicate the community piano for which he is largely re- sponsible. He will arrive in Juneau early next week and writes that he looks forward to many hours of practice on the “noble instrument” he selected. His recital next week will open the spring series of the Juneau Concert Association. Originally scheduled for Friday, it has been changed to- Thursday evening, so that persons with other plans for St. Patrick’s Day can also enjoy the music, Schapiro has sent several pro- grams for selection, answering the request of the Association for one Baranof scheduled southbound 5 p.m. Sunday. including certain generally popu- lar, and lighter numbers, SENATOR IS TABBED JUST PLAIN LIAR Charges of Commies in State Depl.i Opened WASHINGTON, March 8—i®— Senator McCarthy (R-Wis) charged today that Dorothy Kenyon, wnhom he identified as a State Department | employee, “has been affiliated with at least 28 Communist front organi- zations.” She promptly called him a “Yar.” The State Department also denied McCarthy’s statement before a Sen- ate committee that Miss Kenyon is now with the Department as an American representative on a United Nations Commission. Her three year term expired in Decem- ber, the Department said, adding that the U.N. job had been her only connection with the Depart- ment. The 62-year-old Miss Kenyon, a former New York City judge who is now practicing law there, accused McCarthy of “taking cowardly re-| fuge in his Congressional immunity to smear innocent people.” She said she had fought Russian delegates | in the U.N. “for years.” McCarthy made the accusation | | | WARNE SAYS WE'RE READY TOBE STATE | | ‘Hearing on McCarty's| Local Gover;m—ent No. 1on| N A Interior’s Program, Says Assistant Secrefary | SAN FRANCISCO, March 8—(#— Alaska and Hawaii are ready for ehood and they should have it, Assistant Secretary of the Interior| William Elmo Warne said here yes- terday. | Warne, in San Francisco to ad- | dress the North American Wildlife | conference, said statehood is the first point in ‘the Interior Depart- ment’s four-point program for de-| velopment of Alaska. | Terming the northern Territory | ‘so strategically important to na- | tional defense,” Warne said. “We need local government Alaska—not absentee government. “The United States is now operat- ing Alaska like a puppet on the end of a string. Wasxington is far, far| away. While the work of the fed- | eral government has been relatively good in Alaska, it cannot operate things there as a local government should. “Alaska is mature enough to con-; | | | | | | in | duet its own affairs.” Point two in the development pro- | during his career has served as §0ur Forces No Guarantee | Against Heavy Blow, But Bradle VY MEDIC GETS MOVED: CRITICAL OF SEC. JOHNSON. | By Ruth Cowan WASHINGTON, March 8—(M—| Disclosure that a Navy critic of | Secretary of Defense Johnson is| being transferred out of his medical post raised some blood presures in Congress today. i The officer mvoived is Rear Ad-| miral Joel T. Boone, who has called Jchnscn's econ cut-back of | military hospitals “shortsighted" policy. He has been the senior medical officer in Johnson's office, and ‘White House physician to President Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, be- sides winning the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War L Congressional ire was centered in a House Armed Services sub- committee which has been hear- ing repeated testimony that without consulting Army, Navy and Air| Force medical authorities, Johnson ordered several military hospitals yFeelsW | that e(anWin By Joseph C. Goodwin WASHINGTON, March 8—(P— General Omar N. Bradley, Ameri- ca’s No. 1 military man, said today present forces cannot give United States “an absolute against a disastrous the guarantee klow.” “But I feel that we are going to have the necessary forces to prevent a disastrous attack from crippling this country,” the chair- man of the joint chiefs of staff said in a speech prepared for deliv- ery before the Women’s National Press Club. “I also believe that our forces in being, and our mobilization base, will be sufficient, together with the forces and potential of friendly | nations, to win a war if it comes,” he added. Praises Sub Program Bradley made a sober analysis of this nation’s military position as compared with that of Russia. He praised the Navy’s anti-submarine program and the Army's economy- geared emphasis on the combat strength at the expense of support- ing personnel. Of atomic power, he said: “Our stockpile of atomic bombs, and our abllity to deliver them, af- fords us an immediate but incon- I | before a Senate Foreign Relations|gram, Warne continued, is a settle- | closed in an attempt to save from!clusive blow of retaliation. Our re- subcommittee at the opening of an | ment project and adequate enablmg‘szslgggvgou to $50,000,000 in operat- inquiry into McCarthy's charges that a Communist spy ring is op- erating in the State Department. The hearing got off to an up- | roarious start with Chairman Tyd- ings (D-Md) promising McCarthy: “You are going to get one of the most complete investigations in the history of this country.” In the Senate recently, McCarthy detailed the cases of 81 persons he said are bad security risks. He named no names but said they either now or formerly were in the State Department. 'BIG STRIKE IN FRENCH NATION, WORST 3 YEARS| (By the Associated Press) Premier Georges Bidault’s French government ordered a draft of pub-| lic utility workers today to avert a paralyzing nationwide strike of gas and electricity workers. There are 100,000 such workers, but a government spokesman said later the draft will be applied ini-| tially only to about 10 percent of them, adding that “we’ve got to re- spect the right to strike.” Learning this, a non-Communist union leader said the unions, both Communist and otherwise, would go ahead with their walkout, which comes at the crest of France's worst strike wave in three years. The walkout is scheduled for midnight. Warnings went out to sure tonight. MERIT SYSTEM HEAD T0 SPEAK TO CHAMBER Dr. 1. J. Montgomery, head of the Alaska Merit System, will be| the featured speaker at tomorrow’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon Hotel. The subject of his speech be “The Welfare State.” It will follow the usual order of will Chamber business, according to se=| cretary Robert Aste. ® ® 0 o v o ® o o 0o WEATHER REPORT In Juneau—Maximum 42: minimum 33, At Airport—Maximium 42; minimum 19. FORECAST (Junesu and Vielsity) Continued fair tonight and Thursday. Gusty northeast winds. Lowest temperature near 32 degrees in Juneau tonight and as low as 20 in outlying area. Highest Thursday about 36. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 nours ending 7:30 a m today City of Juneau—Trace; since March 1—2.72 inches; since July 1—60.63 inches At Airport—Trace; since March 1—.72 inches; since July 1--39.41 inches ® 000 0.0 0 0 0 0000000000000 0000t i house- | holders to expect lowered gas pres-| | j tories in their party platforms. The in the Gold Room of the Baranof| | legislation to encourage agricul- ! tural use of Alaska lands. He said point three calls for a program of economic development encourage business and industry in the use of Alaskan resources—in 'Alaska. Point four, said Warne, settlement of native claims Alaska “to do justice to the Indians ! !and to give clear title to land for | the orderly development of the Ter- i | ritory.” l is the i 'MEAN T00 MUCH ON STATEHOOD BILL By JAMES MARLOW WASHINGTON, March 8—— Alaska and Hawaii have moved a | step nearer statehood. That doesn’t mean they'll get it, at least this year. In a week’s time the House has| okayed statehood for both of them.| Unless the Senate also approves, | and it may not, the House action | means nothing. | Next year therell be a new Con-| gress. And, in a new Congress, what | either House did in a previous Con- gress doesn’t count. i In that case, the two Territories will have to start from scratch) again. Both have been seeking state- hood a long time. Hawaii’s principal industries are| sugar, pineapples, cattle, dairy pro- duets, truck crops, fish, cotfee. Alaska’s chief industries are furs, lumber, mining, fishing. | The people in both Territories| have voted in favor of statehood.| Congressional committecs have in-| vestigated the problem. The Demo- cratic and Republican parties have promised statehood for both Terri-| | | { President approves. Real pressure tq get the job done began in the middle 1930’s. First real action came in 1947. In that year the House voted to let Hawaii come | in. The Senate has never voted. So nothing happened. This year the Hous? now has voted for Hawaii again and, for the first time, for Alaska too. KNOX MARSHALL HERE Knox Marshall of the Petersburg staff, U. S. Forest Service, is stay- ing at the Gastineau Hotel. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, March 8—Closing| quotation of Alaska Juneau mine Anconda 287, Curtiss-Wright 8% International Harvester 27%, Ken- necott 52%, New York Central 13%, Northern Pacific 16, U. S. Steel' 31, Pound $2.80%. Sales today were 1,360,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: industrials 203.71, rails 55.46, util-| itles 42.93. A | Bader. ing expenses. Boone was a witness search and development program, not only in bombs and missiles, but yesterday. Military headquarters at the Pen- | tagon confirmed that eight days being removed from his post as Chief of the Joint Plans and Ac- tion Division of the Defense De- partment’s office of Medical Ser- reasons. The Navy said Boone has been ordered to the Navy Bureau of Surgery for reassignment. The 60-year-old Admiral has been in the Navy since 1914. With that ever, whether he plans such a step. INGA MILLER GIVES INTERESTING TALK T0 BETA SIGMA PHI Mrs. Inga Miller of the Bureau of Public Roads was the featured speaker at the regular meeting of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority whick was held in the Gold Room of the Baranof Hotel last evening. At the close of the business meet- ing, Ione Williams, program chair- man, introduced Mrs. Miller who spoke of her experiences in Costa Rica. First the speaker told about the Inter-American Highway known as the Alkan highway. She stated that in Costa Rica terrain was surveyed for this survey that had never been covered before except possibly by the Indians. She told many inieresting stories illustrat- ing the temperament of the people. Thirty-six days in the year are set aside as holidays in Costa Rica. Mrs. Miller described the colorful pro- cessions held in the streets on these festival days. Especially interesting were her accounts of a revolution | which she witnessed. At the business meeting the mem- bers decided to have an April Fool’s Day party on March 31. They voted to make a contribution to the In- ternational Beta Sigma Phi endow- ment fund. The following girls vol- unteered to assist at the Red Cross booth in the Baranof Hotel on Sat- urday, March 18: Louise Skinner, Harriet Smith, Helen Saale, Jean Marsh, Francis Paul, and Ruth { Magnuson Given | Reward by Alaskans in other weapons and techniques, if properly maintained and support- ed, should continue to improve the tailored to Alaskan needs that wullggc, Feb, 28, Boone was told he was position of the United States and its friends.” Bradley urged that the Navy's submarine and anti-submarine pro- jram go along “as fast as our re- in | vices. The Department supplied no | search and delevopment facilities will permit.” Can’t Match Reds Over a long period of peacetime, he said, the United States “should not expect to match the Soviet Union plane for plane, ship for | HOUSE vo‘l’[ DOESN'quCh service, he is eligible to re-|ship, division for division without i tire, There was no indication, how- | lowering its standard of living.” “If it is the desire of the Ameri- ;an people to assemble forces that will statistically give the United States a preponderance of military power next year then we shall{ aave to become an armed camp,” qe declared. Such a source even- ‘ually “will be a drain, not only' an the economy, but on democracy and its many freedoms,” he added., Bradley called the prevention ot war “our first goal.” In the meantime, however, he said, it would be “economically foolhardy and politically inconsis- ent for us to maintain forces in being sufficient to win a major war.” TIDE TABLE MARCH 9 High tide 4:58 am., 17.6 ft. Low tide 11:41 a.m., -06 ft. High tide 5:51 p.m, 13.6 ft. Low tide 11:41 p.m. 3.5 ft. e o o o . e o . eveeceo .o e0eeeceono Air Accident PLANE IN CRASH IN BLIZZARD Ship Explod_e;Cre ating Blazing Funeral Pyre for lSjersons MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., March 8 —{M—Roaring through a blinding March blizzard, a Northwest Air- lines plane crashed and exploded last night to convert a Minneapolis home into a blazing funeral pyre for 15 persons. The ship carried ten passengers and a crew of three. Two children, who had just been put to bed in the house the plane struck, were also trapped in the flaming inferno which spouted from the ship's sundered gasoline tanks. The rest of the family were watching television. Originating at Washington, D.C., the ship—on NWA flight 307—made stops at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, De- troit and Madison, Wis. It was scheduled to set down at Rochester, Minn,, but that landing was pre- vented by the heavy weather and the ctaft was ordered into Minne- apolis. It would have proceeded thence to Winnipeg, Manitoba via Fargo and Grand Forks, ND. ' Instrument Landing ‘The plane, a Martin 2-0-2 Mars, was trying for an instrument land- ing here in gusty winds and swirl- ing snow. Mal Freeburg, NWA operations executive, said he was investigating a report the plane struck a flagpole at the Fort Snelling national ceme- tery, just south of Wold-Champer- iain airport on its first instrument run, which was unsuccessful. He said this report was borne out by the fact one wing was found eight blocks from the scene of the main crash. Less than two airline miles from the safety of the airport, the plane plummeted into the home of Frank- lin Doughty. Houses Fired Shafts of flame spewed immedi- ately from the shattered airliner to fire the neighboring homes of Mrs. Robert Cahn and Irving Luger. Occupants of these two houses, forewarned by the cannon-like ex- plosion of the crash, fled to safety. Both houses were heavily damaged. Janet Doughty, 10, and her eight- year-old brother, Tommy, were en- gulfed by the first rapid sheeis of searing fire. Fatality List Crew members who were: Capt. Donald Jones, Minneapolis, the pilot; William McGinn, South St. Paul, Minn., the co-pilot, and Stewardess Mary Alice Kennedy, St. Paul. The passenger list included: B. Eberhardt, a parts executive for the Ford Motor Co., who boarded the plane at Detroit, bound for Fargo, N.D. Emery E. Oliver, manager of the (Continued on Plge- ; -Blght) perished (George Bro now Oteen ‘till For Great Work WASHINGTON, March 8—#— stock today is 3, American Can 110, | Senator Magnuson (D-Wash) was | presented an ivory polar bear yes- | terday as evidence of appreciation of Alaskans for his help in getting a law enacted to set up a territorial community facility program. Delegate Bartlett told Magnu- son the gift was from him, Terri- torial officials and the mayors of important Alaskan towns. Try Spudnuts By ‘em by Spudnut Shop s. Building) resumes regular hours Widuit and Coffee— he dozen— | “The freshest thing in town!” | WE SERVE DELICIOUS SANDWICHES