The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, April 13, 1950, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIV., NO. 11,477 LEGALITY OF REDPROBEIS (HALLENGED Hawaiian Communists Ob- ject fo Investigation by Com. of House HONOLULU, April 13—®—Harry Bridges’ big CIO longshore union challenges the right of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee to probe Communism in Hawaii. Myer C. Symonds, union attorney, argued the statute creating the committee “is unconstitutional.” The issue broke sharply when chairman Walter - (D-Pa) asked Ralph Tokunaga yesterday whether he was or had been a Communist. “I refuse to answer on the ground it may tend to incriminate me,” replied Tokunaga, ,a former local president of Bridges' International Longshoremen’s and Warehouse- men’s Union. ‘Walter said the committee would start contempt proceedings against ‘Tokunaga after it returns to Wash- ington in about three weeks. Symonds said in a prepared state- ment: “To protect my clients I have ad- vised all members of the ILWU that I represent to refuse to answer any questions regarding alleged Com- munist membership or meetings or acquaintance with admitted or alleged members of the Communist party.” Witnesses in three days of hear- ings have said the Communist party in Hawaii is controlled by ILWU leaders and draws 90 percent of its membership from the CIO union. OFFICIAL SAYS HAROLD ICKES IS SLANDERING DEPT. By Associated Press) All is not serene between former Interior Secretary Harold Ickes and the Interior Department. Mastin White of the Department has accused Ickes of making de- famatory remarks against the De- partment in connection with cer- tain California oil leases. Ickes has criticized an agreement between the Federal Government and California in connection with drilling in coastal lands. White asserts that the agreement ade- quately protects Federal interests. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Freighter Coastal Rambler from Seattle due Saturday. Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle Saturday. Princess Norah scheduled to ar- rive Friday morning at 9 o'clock and sails soutd at 11 am. Denali from westward scheduled _to arrive 2 a.m. Monday. \ TUG ARRIVES HERE The Army Transportation Corps tug Pvt. Charles R. Smoot arrived in Juneau at 6 p.m. yesterday with two large barges in tow. It came from Adak and will leave for Seattle tomorrow morning. The Washington Merry - Go - Round (Copyright, 1950, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) By DREW PEARSON ASHINGTON—No matter which side of the McCarthy-State De- partment dispute you are on, it’s Important to know some of the factors behind the energetic sen- ator from Wisconsin. Supported by a conglomeration of backstage interests, including one or two government figures, here is a roll call of the men who are giving him ammunition: 1. The Kuomintang Lobby—It has millions to spend, once hired Defense Secretary Louis Johnson, includes the powerful brothers-in- law of Chiang Kai-Shek, Dr. H. H. Kung and T. V. Soong. More about this lobby later. 2. William J. Goodwin—A former Coughlinite and Christian Fron- tier, he is paid $25,000 annually by the Kuomintang lobby, wines and dines Congressmen, deluges ed- itors with propaganda on China. 3. Ex-Congressman Keysten of Wisconsin—Defeated for re-election, Kersten is McCarthy’s chief back- stage sleuth. For a time he oc- cupied room 316 in the Congress- jonal Hotel where he placed so many phone calls it attracted the JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1950 (Continued on Page Four) Harry Bridges, West Coast CIO longsh Bridges and Co-Defendants ore leader, an1 his ce-defendants didn’t seem downhearted after being sentenced in Federal court at San Francisco. Taken just before posting of bail this picture shows (left to right) Germaine Dulcke, union vice-presiden t who posted bail; Bridges, Louise Schmidt, daughter of Henry Schmidt, one of the defendants; Schmidt, and John R. Robertson, the third defendant. (P ‘Wire- photo. ALUMINUM (0. OF CANADA IS AFTER POWER B. C. Might Object o Water Export-300,000-Ton Plant Is Planned VANCOUVER, B.C, April 13—/ ~The Aluminum Company of Can- ada’ and Aluminum Company .of Anderica may be vying for water- power in Northern British Colum- bia. The goal would be development of a $500,000,000 aluminum plant at tidewater. The Canadian company s plan- ling an all-Canadian project with 1 reduction plant capable of pro- lucing 200,000 tons of aluminum ngots per year at Kitimat, 400 niles up the coast from Vancouver. Kitimat is less than 100 miles from the Canadian National Rail- ways line. The water power would ome from the Nechako River area, 2ast of Kitimat. The American company has con- firmed reports it is considering building a plant near Skagway in Alaska. It would have to be powered from a dam site in Cana- dian territory. The proposed American plant near skagvt:ay would be just a few miles from the starting point ot he old Chilkoot Trail where the orospectors of 1898 began their journey to the Klondike gold fields. Officiai Statement Lands Minister Kenney of British Columbia said last week: “The gov- srnment of B. C. is solidly behind the Aluminum Company of Canada in the project, with the reduction plant in B.C.—at Kilimat.” Industrialists here said the B.C. 3 ernment might have strong ob- itetions to export of water power for the benefit of an American manufacturing plant in Alaska. The American, strip of territory in Southern Alaska is narrow. Thus 1/ plant near Skagway would need its powerhead in B.C. A tunnel be- tween 14 and 19 miles long would start in B.C. and end in Alaska at sea-level, more than 2,000 feet be- low the level of the interior lakes. One of the main difficulties faced by the Aluminum Company of Can- ada is construction of a 50-mile power transmission line between the dam site and Kitimat. Studies of the proposed route will be made next winter. The line would have to cross a 6,000-foot mountain range between the power- head and reduction plant. Heavy icing conditions make line-building and maintenance an unknown hazard. . STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, April 13—Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock ‘today is 3, American Can 3 Anaconda 29%, Curtiss- Wright 9, Intermational Harvester 26%, Kennecott 53, New York Cen- tral 14, Northern Pacific 16%, U.S. Steel 32%, Pound $2.80%. Sales today were 2,400,000 shares. Averages today arg as follows: in- dustrials 214.10, rads 56.11, utilities 43.23, Nationwide i Crime Probe | On: Truman WASHINGTON, April 13—(P—| President Truman said today the crime problem is nation-wide and noty restricted to Kansas City. He said it extends also to places iike St. Louis and even to Wash- ington. Mr,: Truman said that he him- self had crdered a Grand Jury investigation of the crime situation In Kansas City and proposed one in 8t. Louis. The jury prcbe in Kansas City has been under way for some time. He said other Grand Juries were rating elsewhere as part of an inquiry that is nation-wide in scope. The Senate also is considering &n investigation of crime and gambling but a controversy has arisen over how it will be handled. The crime discussion came up at the President’s news conference as a result of questions built around the murder of Charles Binaggio, Kansas City political figure, and a| lieutenant last Thursday A reporter noted that the two| miurdered men had been witnesses before the Grand Jury in Kansas; City that was pxobing rackets. He said Attorney General McGrath| apparently has not found leg:ll authority for bringing the FBI into | the case although Governor Smith of Missouri has asked all possible | assistance. | Mr. Truman was asked whether he considers this a Federal matter and whether he will ask McGrath to send the FBI into the Kansas City inquiry. YELLOW (AB (0. BUS TO BRING MINFIELD CHILDREN TO MOVIE| ‘When the children of the Minfield | Home go to the movies this weekend | they will be brought to town in the Yellow Cab Company’s bus, com-| pany officials said today. . ! The theatre party for the young- | | sters grew out of a Coast Guards- | | man’s wish that he could take six orphans to a show. He was over- heard, and in a matter of minutes an Easter party—with movie—was | arranged. But when the people organizing the party arrived at Minfield Home Sunday, armed with baskets of Easter eggs for each of the-child- ren, they were informed that the children coyldn’t be bathed and dressed in the time available. So the movie was postponed until this weekend. The Capitol Theatre will give free admission to the 50 .children at Minfield Home, GUCKER CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY, ALSO 35 YEARS IN NORTHLAND | J. E. Gucker, .well known broker, is celebrating his birthday today. He is also observing 35 years of ;resldence in Alaska, traveling to |all sections in the interest of the Imany lines he represents, 4 FORMER MANAGER KETCHIKAN RADIO HELD 2 CHARGES SHIP SIGHTS WRECKAGE IN “Cover Up'-Balfic Divid- ed for Thorough Search ! COPENHAGEN, April 13—(®—A new report of possible plane wreck- age in the Baltic sent U.S. search craft off the Swedish island of Oeland today in their hunt for a Navy patrol plane missing since Saturday with 10 men aboard. The first officer aboard the Ger- man steamer Juno said he saw what looked like an airplane cabin float- ing in the Baltic at the southern tip of Oeland, which lies off the coast of Sweden across the Baltic from Latvia. A US. officials in charge of the search at Copenhagen said one plane was already over the area. Others were directed to concen- trate their efforts there. Report Delayed The German ship which reported sighting the debris off Oeland had no radio and its report was delayed until it made port this morning at Oernskoeldsvik in Northern Sweden. The report stirred new hope in US. Alr Force headquarters at Wiesbaden, where gloom had been felt at chances of finding any of the plane’s survivors. Officers had given up their attempts to find what had been described yesterday MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS TrumanLefs 6o Again af ]SEA; HOPES UP; Sen.McCarthy Russ Claim_We Tried fo Doubls Possibilify of Libel- ing Solon as Charg- ed by Taft WASHINGTON, April 13—®—In 1 new blast at Senator McCarthy, President Truman today questioned ‘v'hcther it is possible to libel the Wisconsin Republican. Mr. Truman’s remarks came at a news conference when He was asked about a recent statement by Sena- tor Taft (R-Ohio). <raft had said the President libeled McCarthy by cracking at Key West, Fla., recently that McCarthy was the Kremlin's biggest asset in the United States. “Do you think that's possible?’ Mr. Truman fired back at his ques- tioner. And he said it was all right to use direct quotations. Mr. Truman went on to say he hadn't read all that Taft had said; that he doesn’t read all the political columns of all the people running for re-election. Taft made his statement about Mr. Truman. McCarthy and libel in a column he distributes to Ohio aewspapers. 5 Presidential Bee Taft is up for re-election this year, Mr. Truman noted. He added that he thinks the Ohio Senator is SEATTLE, April 13—(P—Thomas | @s & life raft off the Danish island y yierested jn something else a couple Alaska, radio station manager, was held here today on embezzlement {and non-support charges. Deputy Sheriff Thomas A. Nault | said a telegraphic warrant from Ketchikan said he was wanted on a charge of embezzling more than $1,000 from the radio station he managed until about a month ago. Nault said he will be returned to Ketchikan. A few hours before the telegra- phic warrant was received, Durant had been arrested on a charge of failure to pay his divorced wife $75 a month for the past two months. Durant’s wife and 7-year-old soa live here. VETERANS INVITED T0 OBSERVE G-DAY AT CHURCH SUNDAY Adhering to a program that has had nationwide response, Juneau Post No. 4, The American Legion, wiil observe G-Day (God Day) by accepting invitations to attend Ju- neau churches Sunday, April 16. The Legion’s National Comman- der, George N. Craig, has urged business, labor and civic leaders threughout the nation to open their conferences with prayer. In ad- dressing the Aannual AFL meeting in St. Paul, he declared “People who pray together work together. People who work together stick to- gether and prosper together.” The aim of this crusade isto i stimulate interest of more than 3,000,000 Legionnairés and to pro- mote regular attendance at divine worship on the community level. Major Eric Newbould, senior of- ficer of The Salvation Army for the Territory of Alaska, is Chap- lain of Juneau Post No, 4, and has urged all officers and members of the post to join in Sunday's pro- gram. All veterans, regardless of Legion membership, have been included in the local invitations Those who wish to attend non-Catholic ser?- ices will meet at the Legion Dug- out at 10:45 o'clock. The Juneau Methodist Church has extended an invitation to the group to the 11 c’clock service of that congregation. Those desiring to go to the serv- ices of the Catholic Church of the Nativity, in response to the invita- tion of the Rev. Leo Sweeney, S. J., are asked to proceed directly to the Church residence in time for the mass of 8:30 o'clock. Pastors of several other churches in the community have expressed an interest in this movement and have extended invitations to all veterans to attend the churches of their individual choice, It is anticipated that veterans will respond in making this a notable day in Juneau as a stim- ulus to the spiritual welibeing of the city. HERE FOR UNION T. P. Hansen of Ketchikan, Union} e Oil representative, is registered at|e the Baranof while in Juneau one company business, | J. Durant, 35, former Kvtcmkan,,Of Bornholm, which lies northeast of Oeland. The semi-official Swedish news agency T.T. said Bernhard Revens, first pfficer, reported that he heard sounds of engines while on duty at 4 am. Monday. Early in the after- noon he found what he believed to be parts of an aircraft cabin float- ing near the ship. He said the debris included parts two & four yards long and wooden sticks three to five inches thick with material that looked like paper between them. Hopes Not High He said he also observed several small biscuit packets and sea gulls circling around the packets and eating from them. The first note of pessimism in the five-day search came from Capt. D'Jack Klinger, Franklin, Pa. di- rector of the search. “Our hopes area’t too high,” he told headquarters at Wiesbaden. But he put 15 planes into the air over the sea at noon, with some ranging near Latvia, where the Rus- jsians say an American plane ex- ichanged fire with Russian fighters. But Kingler said his crews are observing strict orders to stay at least 20 miles away from Soviet- controlled territory. In order to make sure no part of the sea is missed, searchers have di- vided the Baltic into 30 blocs. If the men aboard the plane were able to launch rubber life boats after crashing into the sea there would be a chance of survival. One Air Force spokesman said survivors of sea crashes have been known to live for weeks in emer- gency equipment carried by the plane. SEARCH CONTINUES FRIDAY COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April (Continued on Page Eight) TIDE TABLE APRIL 14 High tide 0:24 am, 159 ft. Low tide 6:29 am. 15 ft. High tide 12:35 p.m,, 155 ft. Low tide 18:38 pm. 06 ft. e o 0 00 0 0 0 o WEATHER REPORT In Juneau—Maximum, 45; minimum, 35. At Airport—Maximum, 47; minimum, 36. FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Mostly cloudy with rain showers and lowest tempera- ture 36 degrees tonight. Cloudy with rain and south- easterly winds 20 to 30 miles per hour and highest temper- ature 44 Friday. i | ' i (o . {oPRECIPITATION | @ (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today | e City of Juneau—029 inches; e since April 1 — 081 inches; ® since ‘July 1—6137 inches. . At Airport — 0.04 inches; { of years from now. The Ohio Senator is frequently mentioned as a possible GOP Presi- dential candidate in 1952. Mr. Truman’s original blast at McCarthy was in defending the State Department from the Sena- tor's charges that it harbors Com- munists and their sympathizers. A Senate Foreign Relations sub- committee is investigating the charges and next week is to hear testimony from Louis Budenz former Communist leader who re- nounced his affillation with the party. There are reports that another witness, also described as a former Communist, may be called. McCarthy’s investigators were re- ported to have talked to the pros- pective witness, but there was nc indication what bearing he might have on the Senator's accusation that Lattimore is a top Soviet spy in this country. Lattimore has vig- orously’ denied the accusation. Budenz, once a Communist and now a Fordham University profes- sor, is McCarthy's key witness in the case. Budenz is to testify Thursday April 20, before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee looking intc McCarthy's general charges of Com- munism in the State Department. ELLIOIT ROBERTSON APPOINTED DEPUTY VA COMMISSIONER Elliott Robertson, son of Mr. and Virs. Robert E. Robertson of Juneau, qas been appointed deputy com- missioner of Veterans Affairs in Anchorage, it was announced today by Floyd Guertin, VA commissioner for the Territory. Young Robertson, born and raised in Juneau, where his father has been a prominent attorney many years, was assistant city asses- sor in the Hub City, resigning to take over affairs of the veterans agency there. He is a graduate ol the University of Washington. At present he is in Guertin’s of- fice in the Federal Building for orientation work. He will leave for his home Sunday, and take ovcr the position, to be vacated April 30 by Robert Speegle, who resigned effective that date. Robertson is a veteran of the Army Air Force in the South Pa- cific and the occupation of Japan, working as a bombsight inspector. He returned to Juneau followins the war, but went to the westward in 1947 to make his home, His wife, Dorothy, and eight- months-old son, Bruce, are with him here, stopping with his parents. FROM SEATTLE Guests registered at the Baranof Hotel from Seattle are: F. V. Hen- derson, John W. White, T. J. Brown, Martin O. Packard, R. J. Mulikin, and R. D. Egge. & White is associated with Pan since April 1 — 042 inches; since July 1—40.53 inches. American Airways and Martin O. Packard is an insurance adjuster; o' Egge is connected with a Douglas 00 000000002000 000000000000000000000c¢ © 0 900 0 9 0 o o ¢ o housing project. PRICE TEN CENTS — ] OVER 500 IFOLTA IS ORDERED 10 END KETCHIKAN COURT, FLY WEST Distgict Judge George W. Folta has been ordered to Anchorage, to open court there next Monday, it was announced today by word re- ceived from Ketchikan. The judge and his staff have been holding court in the first city for several weeks and were not due to leave there until April 24, when it was scheduled they would re- wrn to Juneau. J. W. Leivers, clerk of the court, elephoned his office here that the sudden and unexplained order meant that at least one case must be dropped from the calendar in Ketchikan. The staff will arrive here Satur- day, and Judge Folta and his sec- retary, Marie Jensen, will take off next day for the Hub City. It was not known if the present anti-trust cases being heard before 1 federal grand jury had anything to do with the order, but it is znown the docket there is crowded, mnd it was presumed the judge was called to help clear it before the cases came into court. Judge Folta, M. William Krasi- ‘ovsky, law clerk, Marie Jensen, Mildred Maynard, court reporter, wnd Leivers went south several weeks ago to open an equity term. Indications were here that court would not open in Juneau until I ibout May 1 or perhaps later. FISH WORKERS AT KETCHIKAN MAKE WALKOUT THREAT SEATTLE, April 13—(P—Harold R. Conn, commissioner of the United States Mediation and Conciliation Service, will leave by plane tomor- row for Ketchikan to attempt to avert a strike of fish workers. Some 150 members of a local of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen’s Union (CIO) have scheduled a walkout Monday in a dispute with the Ketchikan fish exchange. Pensions and other con- ract clauses are at issue. TRUMAN SAYS FOREIGN PICTURE BEST SINCE 1946 WASHINGTON, April 13—(P— President Truman said today the International situation . is better than it was in 1946, The President told his news con- ference there has been a gradual improvement during the last four years. Asked why he selected the year 1946 to begin his comparison, Mr. Truman replied it was because 1946 was the worst time in Inter- national affairs that he could re- member, That year was the worst time the country has faced short »f a shooting war, he said. Mr. Truman obviously had in mind the tension with Russia at that time. Beécause he recalled that it was in 1947 that the United 3tates sponsored the military ald program for Greece and Turkey and later Initiated the Marshall Plan to assist Western Europear recovery. SOROPTIMIST (LUB SEES FILM FRIDAY “Alaska, U, S. A, the new fim made by Frederick Machentanz, narrated by George Sundborg and distributed by the Alaska Develop- ment Board, will be shown at the noon luncheon of the Soroptimist Club tomorrow, on the Terrace of the Bubble room. This film has just been released for showing in the Territory and for publicity in Alaska’s campaign for Statehood in 1950. Guests are welcome. All mem- bers are urged to make reserva- tions for their guests by calling' Mrs. Caroline Turner at 304. FROM EDNA BAY J. G. McCague, connected with the Juneau Spruce Mill holdings at Edna Bay, is a guest at the Baranot. U. 5. GOVERNMENT HELD AT FAULT IN DEATH OF IN DISASTER HOUSTON, Texas, April 13—M— A Federal judge ruled today the U.S. government was at fault in the 1947 Texas City disaster which took more than 500 lives. Federal District Judge T. M. Ken- nerly ruled that 8,548 parties who had sued for $200,000,000 in dam- ages “are entitled to judgment” as a result of explosion and disaster. Each suit must go before a federal judge to determine its merits—how much each plaintiff is to receive. The ruling came only three days before the third anniversary of the waterfront explosions which killed 512, injured 3,000, and virtually wrecked the coastai city. The judge ruled specifically in ° the suits of Elizabeth H. Dalehite for $50,000 and of Henry Dalehite, Jr., for $15,000. But the ruling was extended to cover the huge mass of suits—510 suing for death claims, 588 for per- sonal injury and 5987 for property damage. Some of the 8458 persons and firms suing combined their suits with others. In each case the gov- ernment was the defendant. The plaintiffs had maintained that the horrible blast was due to the negligence of the U.S. govern- ment in enforcement of safety regu- lations at the Texas City docks, where ammonium nitrate was being loaded. i It was at 9:12 am. on April 18, 1047, that ammonium nitrate in the S.S. Grandcamp, a 7,176-ton Lib- erty ship owned by the French gov- ernment exploded. French Communist attempts to stop the unloading of American arms ald at Cherbourg fizzled. A feeble attempt by 50 Communist demonstrators failed to arouse the dock workers, who swiftly unloaded armaments from the freighter American Importer. It was the first shipment to come to continental France under the Atlantic Defense agreements, NEW BLAST OF WINTER STRIKES MANY SECTIONS WASHINGTON, April 13 — (B — April, already acting more like Jan- uary,’wd-y packaged a new blast of winter weather to strike freez- ing temperatures at blossoming spring flowers throughout the East and Southeast. The U.S. Weather Bureau fore- cast sub-freezing temperatures as far south as the Carolinas and Ten- nessee, threatening early budding fruit trees in parts of Dixie. For the East there was falling snow and tem- peratures ranging as low as 15 to 20 degrees in the Lower Great Lakes region. The cause, a speclal weather bul- ‘etin said, is a new movement of *xtreme cold air from central Can- ada into the northeastern United States. UNION OFFICIAL'S ILLEGAL ENTRY T0 U.S. NETS SENTENCE SEATTLE, April 13—(P—Peter Egel Nelson, International Wood- workers of America (CIO) union official from Everett, will be sent- enced April 26 for illegal entry into the United States. Federal Judge Lloyd L. Black found Nelson guilty of the charge yesterday after the union official changed his plea from innocent to nolo contendre and ‘threw himself on the mercy of the court. Nelson’s change of plea followed a conference in Judge Black's chambers. Born in Norway in 1906, Nelson has lived in Washington state for 40 years. The court action stemmed from his trip last September to an IWA convention in Canada. He was halted at the border on his return. But later, crossed without permis- sion and reported to immigration headquarters here,