The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 27, 1950, Page 1

4 4 ’ THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” ——| VOL. LXXV., NO. 11,565 JUNEAU, ALASKA, TH URSDAY, JULY 27, 1950 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS e e——— Capt. A.E. Lathrop Killed In Min BOYCOTT OF UN BY RUSS ENDED NOW Notification Is Given that| Soviet Union Will As- sume Presidency BULLETIN — LAKE SUCCUESS, N. Y, July 27—/P—Russia noti the United Nations she is ending the boycott and would assume pres- idency of the Security Council on August one. Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Jakob Malik, who led the Russian walkout from the UN in January, notified Secretary General Lie he would assume the presidency. Under the system of alphabetical rotation used by the council, Rus- sia is due to preside in August but other council members had not ex- ' pected the Russians to appear. CAPT. JOHNSON WILL TAKE CAPT. HANSEN'S POST FOR SECOND TIME | In 1947 Capt. Melvin A. Johnson relieved Capt. Svend C. Hansen as chief of personnel and training at the headquarters of the Alaska Communications System in Seattle. Captain Johnson is in Juneau now to relieve Captain Hansen again,| this time as sector commander of ACS here. Captain Hansen, who has been in‘ Juneau since August, 1946, will turn over command of ‘the Tocal sector to Captain Johnson Tuesday. Cap- tain Hansen was a member of the Juneau Rotary Club and resided in West Juneau. He has been ordered to ACS headquarters in Seattle and | will leave with his family August; 6 on.the Aleutian. | Captain Johnson served four! years in Alaska before the war—at | Fairbanks and Anchorage, and was | non-commissioned officer in charge | of the Nome ACS station at the outbreak of the war. He served as a commissioned of- ficer in Europe for three and one- half years during the war and has been at ACS headquarters since his return. Captain and Mrs. Johnson ar- rived Tuesday on the Baranof and | already are settled in their home at | 850 Gold Belt Avenue, a new resi- dence built by James Larsen. The Washington: Merry - Go- Round Bv DREW PEARSON ICopyrighs, 1950, Dy Bell Syndicate, Inc) | ASHII{GTON—I( isn’t gener- | ally known, 'but Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, chief of the super- duper spy agency, central intelli- gence, had asked for sea duty well before the Korean outbreak. The admiral has done a better job of foreign intelligence than | Congress gives him credit for, but | he has never been particularly happy in the job and would- like | to get back to a battleship. Hillen- koetter was former commander of the battleship Missouri, comes from the state of Missouri, and Wwas picked by Truman personnally for the difficult intelligence assignment. Faced with the admiral’s ins ence that he wants to be tran: ferred, President Trulan has asked | General Bedell Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, to take | over central intelligence. Smith, so far, has refused, on the ground | that he recently underwent an“ ulcer operation. Gen. Smith knows the Russians, and would be better than most | military men for this assignment. However, Congress, in creating cen- | tral intelligence, did not intend that | it be run by the military. Past experience has shown that civilians | are better qualified to direct de- | tective-espionage agencies. Therefore, some of the President’s friends are urging that he appoint | J. Edgar Hoover to this important | post. & T Hoover is one of the best organ- izers in government, has built up one of the best-trained investiga- tion bureaus the world has ever Jressdt e RS A (Continued on Page F‘oun | Great clouds of gray and black smoke float un from Seoul struck in the second major raid. was taken by RF-80 jet reconnaiss Center of hits ap pears to be at left where trains are vi nce plane slmrtl) after strike. ® “'ln‘phoiu from U. S. Air Force. marshalling yards after B-29 Superforts ible. Photo REDS MASSAIaska GopersHOUSE BILL FOR BIGGEST PUSH OF WAR ‘MacArthur Flies fo Froni— Confident of Ulfimate U. N. Victory (By the Associated Press) Three big Communist columns speared eastward on the central sec- tor of the Korean front today against American lines in the face of murderous artillery and plane fire, and the indications were that | the Reds were massing for what ! may be the biggest battle of tke war thus far. On the northeast flank, South Korean troops attacked and pushed | the Reds back seven miles. ‘The Second and Third Red Di- | visions—their best—regrouped on the central front for the big push. These troops, with the mauled Red First Division, have been in the van of the whole invasion march down the peninsula. They are well trained land still have much offensive | punch, despite their heavy losses. Gen. MacArthur paid a flying visit to the front—his second of the war—and flew back to Tokyo, after | expressing conviction that United Nations victory is sure. In Tokyo his headquarters issued a communi- | que saying the Reds were continuing pressure in a manner suggesting “that the invaders were regrouping and reorganizing.” The Communists were reported moving by night to assembly areas, to avoid punishing air attacks. Reds Punched Back South Korean troops, with U.S. air support, delivered two sharp punches, east coast. In both cases they drove Red forces back. Six enemy tanks were knocked out in battlefront ac- | tions by bazooka fire and plane at- tacks. Allied warships helped out in the east coast action with strong shellfire. At Maromyon, 15 miles northeast of Yongdong, the 24th Regimental combat team, the only Negro unit) (Continued on Page Eight} STOCK QUOTATIONS | NEW YORK, July 27 — Closing | quotation of Alaska Juneau mine | stock today is 2%, Amencan Can ¢, Anaconda 327% Curtiss- Wright 10%:, International Harves- | ter 281, Kennecott 60%, New York Central 147, Northern Pacific 17%, U.S. Steel 35%, Pound $2.80%. Sales today were 2,300,000 shares. Averages today are as follows: in- | dustrials 206.37, rails 61.31, utilities 3'l 59. ~ one on the northeast of | the Yongdong sector, and one on the Stage Kickoff For (ampalgnl | Albert Wh”e Speaker:lme House voted today to erect| Reveals Many Shortcom- ings of Administration j through a bill authorizing the Presi- | .ouple of months ago the President By LARRY MEYERS KETCHIKAN, Alaska, July 27— (Special to The Empire) — Urging voters of the Territory to begin “ay crusade to save Alaska” Albert White, war horse of the Republican party, was the principal speaker at the Republican dinner Tuesday night which marked the kickoff for the general election campdign to place “taxpayers” candidates into Territorial office. In a brass knuckle speech which bristled with indignation White nurled his brawny frame into a blistering attack upon the present administration and called upon the people of Alaska to rid themselves of “the four horsemen” which are riding the rough shod over the ter- ritory. His four horsemen he named as “dishonesty, corruption, malfea- sance, and misfeance.” Stating that at the last meeting of the Republican'party a commit- tee was set up in the party to in-| vestigate corruption within the gov- ernment of the territory, White be- gan his speech by pointing out that Norman Haley, former administra- tor of the Territorial Veterans Board, had used the funds of that board to finance personal friends and had involved over $10,000 of taxpayers money in a deal in Ju- neau which was never recovered. White said that out of 2. million dollars invested by the board since it was first created about $400,000 of this amount is now uncollectable. ! Turning next to the treasurer's ; office, White pointed out that { former territorial treasurer Oscar Olsen was now serving ten years 1in prison for theft after it was ! proven that his office was at least} $50,000 short in territorial funds. In addition to this amount, White} said, many of the deputy collecy | tors whom Olson appointed, and, iwhosp duty it was to sell liquor {stamps to bars and dealers wheml i short in their account, one & them | to the extent.of $27,000. | Evidence Destroyed White said that when he went to' the treasurer’s office to find out about this report he was told that all records had been destroyed and no evidence remained on which to continue the investigation or deter- | mine just what_took place. | ‘White then brought forth the statement that the'salary of George Sundborg as consultant for Lhe‘ Alaska Development, Board mui\ tC’mlm‘lcd on Page Five) SAFEGUARDS COAST PORTS: WASHINGTON, July 27 — B — | safeguards against the sneak entry of possible bomb-carrying “Trojan Ships” into U.S. ports. ‘Without opposition, it whipped | dent to search and control move- ments of all foreign flag vessels en- tering American waters. Rep. Celler (D-NY) told the House | jthe legislation is aimed to prevent|ina¢ way. a potential enemy from bringing | the A-bomb into American harbors under the guise of merchant ship- | ping. Search of foreign vessels would be | conducted by the Coast Guard or the Custom Service upon order of the President in a national emer- gency. The bill goes back to the Senate | for action on minor changes before going to the White House for Mr. Truman’s signature. Customs officials on the West Coast already have taken steps to forestall possible efforts of foreign ships to bring atomic bombs or bac- terial warfare ingredients into American harbors. INTERIOR AIRFIELDS BUILDING ON TIME, SAYS CAA OFFICIAL The two large international air- ports now under construction at Fairbanks and Anchorage are up to schedule and will be completed next year, according to Chris Lem- ple, Civil Aeronautics Administra- tion executive in' charge of Alaska public airports, Lample and his wife arrived here on board the Baranof from Wash- ington, and will be met by Walt Plett, CAA director in Anchorage, who will accompany them to the Hub Cit Work at the Anchorage airport is taking longer than originally plan- | ned because an increased appropri- ation allows the lengthening ot the I field to 8,400 feet, rather than 7,600 feet as first planned. nm'vl PENNSYLVANIA Catharine McClellan of Spring Grove, Pa., is staying at the Ju- neau Hotel. She is a member of the scientific party headed by Dr. Fred- erica deLaguna, now making an- thropological studies at Hood Bay AT GASTINEAU HOTEL H. B. Crewson, broker of Seattle, is staying at the Gastineau Hotel FROM SKAGWAY Erna Taylor of Skagway is stop- lping at the Gastineau Hotel. ladded. )SAYS IRUMAN | ,lA Bomb Not Conlemplatedi =Solons Seek Curb on Powers Asked WASHINGTON, July 27 — (B — {President Truman said today he| sees no necessity now for wage, price and manpower controls. He told a news conference that i they come they will come to-| gether as part of all-out mobil- ization He ho have ! res we will to all-out mobilization, ne Mr. Truman's comments came In | .response to questions about the | proposal from Bernard M. Baruch for an immediate “ceiling on everything.” He gave his views to Congress| \yesterday, They appeared divided ton his proposal with most mem- bers.apparently against any all-out | mobilization right now. There were | | others, however, who called for | full-scale economic mobilization | with consumer rationing and wage- pricé controls. ! President Truman also told his| news conference: 1. He is not now considering use of the atomic bomb in the Korean war h 2. Steps are in the making !01 deal with any traitors or saboteurs | in the present emergency. Those |steps will not infringe on the bill 'of rights, he added. 3. The State and Defense DLe-| pettments aye working on propos- | als» for increased military aid to {Buropean allies. He said these | proposals will be presented to Con- gress before it adjourns. | 4. He did not want to make any |comment now’ on peace prospects; | Ithat it would be better to wait for |'| few more developments. A re- Iporter had recalled that only a | had said the outlook for peace was | better than it had been at any time since 1945. The newsmen |asked if the President still felt | Control Rumor “News” { On the question of wage and price controls, #*Mr. Truman salc he thought his economic message to Congress had covered that. He Isaid then he would not hesitate | to ask for them if he thought | they were needed. A reporter said there were ru- mors around Washington that price and rationing steps were already in the making and were to be set 'in force by Labor Day. The President said that was news to him | Another reporter wanted to Imow} | whether, if prices are rolled back, | they would be rolled back to the | June 25 level as Baruch proposed. Mr. Truman said he would cross that bridge when he came to it But such a step, he went on, is not being considered now. At the Capitol, Attorney Gen-} eral McGrath made a plea, mean- | time, for quick passage of the con- trols asked by President Truman. McGrath was before the Senate | banking committee, the same gr¢%p | that heard Baruch. The Attorney General told the senators he believes the powers the | President seeks are broad enough and flexible enough to handle the |situation unless there are “more serious developments.” Not Fast Enough Baruch, venerable Presidential and Congressional adviser, criti- | (Continued on Page Two) STEAMER MOVEMENTS Princess Kathleen from Van- couver due Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Freighter Flemish Knot from Seattle scheduled to arrive Sunday. Prince George scheduled to sail from Vancouver Friday. Aleutian scheduled to sail from | Seattle Saturday. Princess Norah scheduled to sail from Vancouver Saturday. Princess Louise due to arrive at 8 a.m. Friday sailing south one hour later at 9 a.m. Alaska from west scheduled | southbound 5 p.m. Friday. Baranof scheduled southbound | not have to| 1 ‘L. J. Perry” | from west on Sunday. i CAPT. AUSTIN EUG More probably than any other one man, Capt. Lathrop ueservvs' to be called “the Builder of Alaska” for he had ploneered in almo.st\ avery field of economic and soclal activity and has provided the Terri- | tory with a great proportion of its! modern industrial structures. His career of over 50 years m[ Alaska was one of constant and varied successes, it brought him to eminence as a director of trans-| portation companies as builder and | manager of real estate properties, a mine operator, radio executive, legislator, university regent and banker. Capt. Lathrop was born in La- peer, Mich, October 5, 1865, the son of Eugene and Maria Parson Lathrop. When he was 16 fhe family moved to Ashland, Wiscon- :in. Following his education in the public schools he began a transter business there before he was 21. While engaged in that business, Capt. Lathrop read of the disas- trous fire in Seattle on June 6, 1889. Recognizing the opportunity offered by the rebuilding of the Puget Sound city, he left Ashland within 24 hours and was on s way to the west coast before the ruins of the Seattle he was to help vebuild had ceased smoking. “Boy Contractor” By 1890, he had earned the name “Boy Contractor,” Seattle was rebutlt and he moved his ‘There of largely headquarters tc Anacortes. he cleared the townsite, graded streets and built an electric road. His next move, after the:panic ot 1893 in which he suffered severe osses, was to Protection Island near Port Townsend where he de- velored one of the region’s show places and engaged in chicken ranching. Comes to Alaska Capt. Lathrop’s first active in- erest in Alaska was aroused by news of the gold strike at Cook’s nlet. Seizing the opportunity the sold 1 opened in the transport- ition business, he purchased a half interest in the steam schooner and for some years operated the vessel in Alaskan waters. It was this connection with the sea which won him the title of ‘captain” and he was afterward known affectionately as “Cap”— or “Capt.” as it became in the interoffice correspondence of his organization. Prospects for Oil In 1901 he took the first drilling rig into the Territory and used it to prospect for oil in the Cold Bay district. Shortly afterward he moved to Valdez and with the help of San Francisco capital, organ- ized the California-Alaska Mining ! and Development Company to pros- pect for copper and though copper was found, it could not be profit- ably mined because of lack of transportation facilities. In 1907 he expanded his interests to several cities and many enter- prises. He started a transter bus- iness in Cordova, entered the theatre business. In 1917 he buf a large apartment house there. He had extended his interests to Anchorage and there repeated in- | vestments in the transfer business, theatre and apartment operations. Fairbanks was brought into the realm of Capt. Lathrop's activities, In that year he purchased a thea- tre there and acquired an interest in the Healy River Coal Corpora- ion which operated the mine wher¢ E LATHROP he met his death yesterday. His enterprises in Fairbanks were enlarged by the construction Ir 1927 of the first concrete butlding in that city and, ten years another large concrete building which houses his second theatre, his newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and radio station KFAR of his Midnight Sun Brbad- casting Company and apartments. His most recent development is another radio station, KENI ir Anchorage and the beautiful 4tk Avenue theatre. Never Considered Costs Capt. Lathrop-planned and erec- ted all of his buildings without con- sideration of costs. He endeavored to return to Alaska in the form ot fine buildings the benefits he re- ceived from the Territory. In addition to his business acti- vities, Capt. Lathrop always took a sincere interest in political and educational affairs in Alaska, He was a member of the Territorial legislature, Republican national committeeman from 1928-1938 arf& had been named Republican na- tional committeeman again at the recent party convention in Juneau On the occasion of his 80th birthday celebration in Anchorage, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner published an editorial on the front page of its extra “birthday edition” which ended with this revealing paragraph: “We, as employees and friends of Capt. Lathrop, are proud ot ow association with a man whose ac- complishments are so great and who still leads the way.” At the moment of his untimely ieath, he was still leading the way. C(HAMBER PAYS TRIBUTE T0 LATE CAPT. LATHROP Chamber of Com- merce at jts noon meeting today paid tribute to Capt. Austin E. Lathrop, Alaska’s outstanding in- dustrialist who died in a tragic coal mine accident yesterday. “‘Cap’ Lathrop was a great Alas- kan industrialist and a wondertul leader,” Chamber President Robert Bocchever said. “We all feel deeply about his passing.” The Juneau FWS MAN HERE C. H. Pemberton of U. 8. Fish and Wildlife Service arrived from Seattle and is a ;,uul at the | Juneau Hotel. WEATHER REPORT © . In Juneau—Maximum, 53; minimum, 48. At Airport—Maximum, 53; minimum, 46. FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Cloudy tonight. Intermit- tent rain Friday. Low tem- perature tonight about 50 and high Friday near 60. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today City of Juneau—098 inches; since July 1—8.67 inches. At Airport — 122 inches; since July 1—6.53 inches. ® 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 later | e Accident FINANCIER CRUSHED BY LOAD OF COAL 84-Year-0ld Alaska Lead- er, Beloved as “Cap,” Dies in Healy River Mine FAIRBANKS, Alaska, July 27— /M—Alaska’s foremost industrialist and wealthiest man—Capt. Austin Eugene Lathrop—died beneath the wheels of a loaded coal car yester- | day. He was 84, The fatal accident occurred as Lathrop inspected a load of coal gondolas at his Healy River Corp., holding at Suntrana, 112 miles south of here. Dr. Paul B. Haggland of Fair- banks said the operator of the gon- dolas failed to see Lathrop and released a loaded car down a slight incline. The industrialist either tripped or fell under a wheel. An inquest was to be held at the mine today by U.S. Commissioner Margaret Sullivan of Nenana. The Fairbanks News-Miner owned | by Captain Lathrop, sald the body was being returned here in an Alaska Railroad ambulance car. After several days, it will be ship- ped to Seattle where his will stip- ulates that he be buried. His extensive holdings are be- lieved to run to several million dol- lars. Captain Lathrop many years ago expressed his intention of turning his businesses over to his senior em- ployees upon his death. In addition to controlling interest in the . Healy- River:Gorp., largest coal mine, and “Fair- banks newspaper, Lathrop owned five theaters, two radio stations, a large apartment building and a bowling alley. Born in Lapeer, Mich, Oct. 5, 1865, Lathrop came west to Seattle in June, 1889, a few days after the Seattle fire razed much of the city, “Boy Contractor” He pitched a tent, set himself up as a contractor, and began razing {old buildings and excavating for new. Within a year he was known throughout the Pacific Northwest as the “boy contractor”. He contracted to build an electric railroad from Anacortes, to Fidalgo, on Fidalgo Island, but the railroad collapsed in the 1893 financial panic. Undiscouraged, he leased Protec- tion Island, off Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula, setting up one of the northwest’s first modernized poultry ranches. It was there thaf | he entertained Benjamin Harrison, former President of the United States. ; Acquires “Captain” Title Lathrop acquired the title of Captain in 1896 when he bought a half interest in the 110-foot steam: schooner L. J. Perry and piloted Il.; carrying gold-seekers from port to port in Alaska. He set up a draying business at Valdez and hauled supplies over the rugged trails to the interior cop- per mines. With the start of con- struction on the Copper River Northwestern Rallroad, Lathrop | moved to Cordova, the rail terminus, | and contracted to haul all supplies | from the docks to the railroad work- ing areas. Lathrop married Mrs. Cosby L. McDowell, a Seattle widow, in Val- dez in 1901. Mrs. Lathrop died in 11909, In 1900 he took the first moderrt oil-drilling equipment into the Ter- ritory and started drilling for oil at { Cold Bay, near the tip of the Alaska | peninsula. | He abandoned the oil project \when Alaskan coal and oil lands were withdrawn from public entry | by the government a few years later, Start in Cordova | It was at Cordova, Lathrop fre- ‘quen'.ly said later, that he got his start. He subsequently became a di- | rector and president of the Bank of | Cordova, bought the Cordova Com- | mercial Company and his first the- | ater. | Naturally, he has been a vital | figure in the Territory’s politics. A staunch Republican, he served as the party’s national committeeman during ex-President Hoover's term |and was recently renamed to the post. He was opposed to Territorial Governgr Ernest Gruening and to Statehood for Alaska. He served in | the Alaska Legislature in 1921 as l (Continued on Page Two)