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

SATURDAY 1 P.M. Edition VOL. LXXV., NO. 11,579 “ALL THE NEWS JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATU ALL THE TIME” THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE SATURDAY 1 P.M. Edition — ] RDAY, AUGUST 12, 1950 Ml'JBTRI<Zl€ ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS e Vital Air Strip o ANCHORAGE PLUMBERS " MAKE KICK Masters Incensed at Exclu- sion Big Meet-Protests Are Dispatched ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 12— Anchorage Master Plumbers, in- ! censed at being excluded from a Seattle meeting called to deal with the 18-day-old Anchorage plumbers’ strike, protested last night to Pres- | ident ' Truman. i Telegrams were sent to Mr. Tru- | man, Defense Secretary Johnson, Alaska Delegate E. L. Bartlett and Cyrus Ching, director of the Fed- | eral Conciliation Service. i Johnson said this week with the President’s concurrence that the strike is endangering national sec- urity, Ching yesterday scheduled an Aug. 15 meeting in Seattle. Invifed were representatives of the AFL Plumbers Union, Local 367, and of! eight contractors working on Al-| aska defense projects. They willI huddle with a panel of three con- | ciliators. | Plumbers in the Anchorage local | have been on strike since July 26, | seeking a wage increase of 50 cents an hour. Present rates are $3 an| hour within the city and $250 an | hour with room and board outside | Anchorage. Master Plumbers, representing the plumbing shop owners, ticked | off a handful of objections in their telegrams. They said: 1. The Seattle meeting may set | wage scales for plumbers that will have to be paid by residents of thel Territory “from now on” and can | very well “sound the death knell| for all private building and indus- try in Alaska.” 2. If the plumbers gain a wage increase, the way is open for every other building trade to get the same raise. (A spokesman added | that “there just isn't any end to | this vicious circle; it has got Lo; stop somewhere.”) | 3. As representative | 1 | Alaskans, | ‘Washington bureaucrats trying to; run our affairs by remote controli from offices outside the Territory.” | 4 They insist that Ching invite | them to participate in the Seatile | meeting, but “propose to have their | representative present !in any event.” | In an earlier message to the con- ciliation service director they de-, manded that the session be, trans- | ferred to Anchorage. | Ching yesterday appealed to the i “good citizenship” of labor and | management to settle the wage dis- | pute and not embarrass their | country. 1 The Washington| Merry - Go- Round By TOM McNAMARA and JACK ANDEBSON Lopyright, 195a. by Dell Syndicate, Inc.) | (Ed. Note—While Drew Pear- son is on a brief vacation, his column will be written by mem- bers of his staff). WSH!NGTON — Story behind' the President’s announcement that | he is considering sending a diplo- matic minister to the Vatican Is/ that it took him three weeks to| make up his mind. Oddly enough, if he goes through with the plan, it. will be against the advice of Catholic leaders close to him. One top Congressional leader, a devout Catholi¢, strongly urged | that if the President wanted to re-establish relations with Rome it would be better to do so informally, | by naming a successor to Myron Taylor, former White Huse repre- sentative at the Vatican. This wouldn’t require Senate con- firmation, since Taylor was a per- sonal representative of the Pres- ident. “If you ask for the re-establisi- ment of permanent diplomatic re- lations with Rome, you may touch off a religious debate in the Sen- ate that would do more harm than good,” Truman was warned. '‘‘This is a time when all faiths should be working together for the war effort, instead of displaying dis- unity.” The President replied that he Bl el 715 R s T (Continued on Page Four) Where Reds Threaten Pohang 75 M\ vanggi ~ /Pyonghac? X - - TAEGU > 3 & [.' Changnyong ) A, ((4‘ 25 <Pyongyong| Sammangiin $amho) Dark arrows on east coast show Red thrusts southward against South Korean defenders (open arrows in threat to Pohang. Nourth Koreans were past Kirye with an advance patrol astride Yongchon-Pohang supply route east of Angang. Blackened is area retaken by U. S. Along Naktong River U. S. and isolated bridgeheads northwest a photo Map. forees in Chinju section. U. S. patrols are two milles from the city. | | | | | | | South Kerean troops contained or nd southwest of Taegu. P Wire- CITATIONS MADE FOR CONTEMPTS WASHINGTON, Aug. 12—(#—The House today dispatched to two U.S. District Attorneys for possible pros- ecution contempt of Congress cita- tions against 56 witnesses whs ae- fied the un-Amciizan Achivities Committee. Prosecutors here and in Honolulu will decide whether the cases shall be placed before grand juries. Capitn® Hill veterans said they coul¢” cecall no previous occasion on Wi.cn either branch of Congréess voted so many citations in so short a period. In a matter of about an hour the House yesterday adopted 54 con- tempt recommendations of the un- American Activities ~Committee. Two citations niad been voted t¥e previous day. Thirty-nine of the citations were referred to the U. ©. District St- torney in Honolulu, Those - cited were witnesses who appeared Refore the committee when it went to Hawaii last April to investigate Communism. The other 17 go to the district attorney here. These witnesses testified in Washington. e o 0 0 0 0 0 0 o WEATHER REPORT In Juneau—Maximum, 77; minimum, 52. At Airport—Maximum, 77; minimum, 53. FORECAST (Junesu and Vieinity) Continued fair tonight and Sunday, except for some early morning cloudiness. Low tonight about 50, high Sunday near 72. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today City of Juneau — Trace; since August 1—1.14 inches; since July 1—11.07 inches. At Airport Trace; since August 1—0.82 inches; since July 1—7.86 inches. The Oberammergau passion plan has been' presented with only a few lapses since 1634. 'LONE STAND OF MTH DIVISION | IN KOREA TOLD| E CHICAGO, Aug. 12 — (P — The | “agonizing story” of the 24th Divi- | sion’s lone stand in the first 19 days | of the Korean war was told today | by the Chicago Tribune. In a dispatch from Eighth Army headquarters in Korea, Walter Sim- mons, Tribune correspondent, said i growing American strength in Ko- Jjrea made possible the lifting of | l voluntary censorship on the story of | the division. The Division was commanded by Maj. Gen. William Dean of Carlyle, | 111, who is missing in action. | Simmons said the 24th landed in Korea with only 12,500 of the 18,000 officers and men normally in an Infantry Division. He said its battle losses were nearly 30 percent—94 men killed in action, 801 recovered wounded, and 2,562 missing. He said the Division lost 80 of its two and a half ton trucks, one- third of its jeeps, one-fourth of its three-fourth ton trucks, and large quantities of weapons and supplies. The Division was ordered to leave Japan June 30. Simmons -said: “Three days later it had advanced leading elements, 200 miles within Korea and made the first major contact with the enemy. This is be- | |lieved to be the fastest such move iin American military history.” ! | REPLY T0 U. S. ON LEND-LEASE ACCT. | ‘WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — (® — Russia has promised to reply to a new demand from the United States | for settlement of Moscow’s long overdue lend-lease account. Andrei Gromyko, Soviet Deputy“ Foreign Minister, gave the pledge in Moscow this week to American Ambassador Alan Kirk. Officials here gave no indication | as to when the Russian reply may | be expected. It was generally anti- cipated that Soviet officials would | be slow to make any acceptable offer for clearing the books of the nearly $11,000,000,000 American claim. However, there was some hope that the reply will provide definite information of the whereabouts of 100 small naval craft whose return the United States has been demand- l'mg for the past three years. { whirling wrench. | spinner of an evening. PILOT IS KILLED IN BEARDED, BURNED, LOWELL THOMAS IS BACK FROM ICE CAP | Prevented by soft snow condi- | tions from taking off yesterday, |and running close to the end of |the jato supply after unsuccessful ! | tries, the ski-equipped C-47 of lhe‘ | 10th Air Rescue Squadron lifted | |from the Juneau Ice Cap early| | this morning for the return to| | Juneau. | At dawn, a B-17 had flown over | | the glacier icefield, dropping ]Ito‘ bottles which were easily spotted | | by their vivid red and blue para- | chutes. | Scarcely identifiable as the pas- | sengers who went to the Tce Cap |last saturday famed Lowell Thomas® | came back on the ski-plane. He is | | bearded, and his lips are so burned |and swollen from the sun's power |in that world of white that he | says there can be no broadcasting for a while, ! | Thomas apd his cameraman, John | Roberts, have spent the week at several of the 16 Ice Cap bases of | the Juneau Icefield Research Pro- | | ject (JIRP), primarily sponsored by | the American Geographical Society. | Both have gathered a wealth of material, and are greatly impressed | with the high calibre of the scien- | tific group, and of the meortance} of their work. Fortunately, the JIRP personnel | includes a doctor this year (for the | | first time)—fortunatel, because there have been several accidents. | These, said Thomas, are of the | kind that might be considered in- cidental elsewhere, but could well prove serious in such isolatfon, | without treatment. ! Anders K. Anderson, diamond | drill expert, who is drilling into_ the,! glacier to obtain an ice core, is| hobbling around on one leg. The injured leg was caught by a large i “No complaints from Andy, | though,” Thomas reports. “He con- | tinues to be the champion yarn- My, that | man has drilled all over the world.” There was a near-accident when two men fell into a crevasse—how- ever, they were extricated, unin- jured, and continued their work. Lowell Thomas, noted global ex- plorer and commentator, says his immediate plans are uncertain, even as to whether his next travels will be farther into Alaska or to- | ward New York. He and Roberts | are again at the Baranof Hotel Fred Milan of the JIRP party | also returned today. | Maj. Robert Ackerly captained the crew which made the glacier land- ing and take-off this week. | Lt. Victor W. Rudd, Jr., whe had | flown the twin-engine ship to | Ice Cap a week ago, arrived y | terday on the B-17 which made the | early-morning drops today. | i CRASH; ANOTHER IS | SERIOUSLY BURNED VICTORVILLE, Calif., Aug. 12— | (A—One Air Force reserve pilot was | killed and another was seriously burned when their B-26 light bomber crashed and exploded yes- | terday returning from a routine training mission. Dead is 2nd Lt. John T. Vesser, of North Hollywood. The pilot, | Capt. Robert D. Clark, 30, Santa | Monica, is in March Air Force Base Hospital, NO BUSSES, NO STREET CARS N ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS, Aug. 12—(®—Resi-| dents of St. Louis, the nation’s eighth largest city, had no bus or streetcar service today. The state-seized public, transit | system was forced to discontinue operation last night because of a wildcat strike by union operators seeking higher wages. Ironically, the strike was started despite use of a state law passed three years ago to prevent disrup- tion of public utility services. It also was staged in defiance of Gov. Forrest Smith and leaders of the union, an AFL Street and Railway Motor Coach Union, rep- resenting some 3,100 workers. | | | | |Harry Sperling,” he said. land participated in many benefits | | but also actively engaged in cancer | SENATE WILL ibelieve Ives already has spiked a DEATH COMES T0 HARRY SPERLING, A CIVIC LEADER Harry Sperling, Forest Service ad- ministrative officer and active com- munity leader, died at 7:40 last | evening in St. Ann’s Hospital after | two months’ illness. He was 55. | Mr. Sperling was born in Grodno, | Russia, and came to the United States with his parents at an esrly‘ age. He attended high school and business college in Minneapolis, Minn. During World War T he served 18 months with the American | Expeditionary Force in France. He joined the Forest Service as | forest clerk in 1921, and came to | Alaska the same year. “The Forest Service has lost an extremely valuable officer and the city and Territory an unusually public-spirited citizen,” B. Frank Heintzleman, regional forester, said today. “I know of no one who through- out the years has given of his time and abilities more devotedly thani Mr. Sperling was a member of the Juneau Elks Lodge, past Exalted Ruler of the Juneau lodge, and past district deputy of the organization for Alaska. “In his younger days, he was;| quite an amateur athlete and actor, for worthy community projects such as boxing and wrestling bouts, bas- ketball and baseball games, and musical shows,” Heintzleman said. | As a leader in the Juneau Lions | Club, Mr. Sperling was active in promoting the Gold Medal Basket- ball Tournaments, one of Southeast Alaska’s outstanding spor“ngi events. He was also active in the affairs jof the Juneau Chamber of Com- I merce and the National Federation of Federal Employees. Many of the | Chamber of Commerce's publications bear witness to his proficiency as a writer. At the time he was stricken, he was not only President of the Ju- neau Parent-Teacher Association i control work in the Territory, as | well as aiding in the drive for| Memorial Library funds as a mem- ber of the many organizations with | which he worked. Funeral arrangements are pending | word from his eldest son, Harry, Jr., co-owner of the halibut vessel | Sitka now in southern waters fish- ing tuna. Mr. Sperling is survived by one daughter, Mrs. E. W. (Mary) Ely; three sons, Harry, David, a U. S. Naval Academy cadet, ahd William; | and a sister, Mrs. Agnes Gordon, who resides in Juneau. PASS CONTROL BILL IS BELIEF WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — (B —! Senate administration leaders said | today support by Republican Sen-; ator Ives virtually clinches passage of a bill giving President Truman | ’authorny to invoke wage-price con- | trols and rationing, when he sees | fit, Administration leaders said theyi move by some of his Republican colleagues to whittle down the | broad powers the bill would confer on Mr. Truman. The House on Thursday passed a similar measure by a whopping majority—383 to 12. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Princess Norax from Vancouver | due at 3:30 this afternoon and sails for Skagway at 11:30 tonight. Aleutian from Seattle due Tues- day. Chilcotin from Vancouver due to| arrive Sunday evening. Freighter Ring Splice due to ar- rive at 1 am. Monday. Princess Louise scheduled to sail | from Vancouver tonight. Alaska from west is scheduled southbound at 6:30°0’clock tonight. Baranof from west scheduled southbound at 4 p.m. Sunday. DOUGLAS 4-H MEETING Members of Douglas 4-H will meet Monday afternoon at 1 o'clock at the residence of Mrs. Rex Her- mann. The members will make The tieup paralyzed the city. muffins, i n Korean Front in UN | | M 3 * Heat Winner? i » Pl Sl e Gerald Taylor, Alaskan Soap Box Derby Cl home as he rests on a cake of ice ‘hamplion, feels right at after his arrival in Akron for the All-American Soap Box Derby Sunday. Taylor was the first out-of- town champion to arrive for the b ig race. The above was air mailed to The Empire and received last night. The cut appeared in the regular issue of the Akron Beacon Journal. A dispatch to The Empire from Milt Daniel, who accompanied Taylor to Akron, was received late yesterday. Taylor had a successful trial run shape. The dispatch stated Friday and his car is in tip-top Taylor will race in heat 45 Sunday against Howard Sweitzer, of Hagertown, Maryland, and Richard Long of White Plains, N. Y. Daniel stated the weather was NW Sky Cause: Wild Furore SEATTLE, Aug. 12—(P—A fiery! object that splft into three bril- liant segments, then vanished, whipped across the sky last night, creating consternation in many parts of the northwest. But experts said it probably was | a fireball—the popular name for a large meteor which is character-| zed by the intensity of the light it displays and its size. Untrained observers came up | with theories ranging from flying saucers to secret weapons or men from Mars. Telephone calls flooded news- ' paper switchboards at Portland, | Seattle and Tacoma. The Van- couver, Wash, police station was swamped with inquiries. A num- ber of Salem, Ore., residents re- ported sighting the bright greenish object, as did a few sky-watchers | in Yakima and other cer.tral Wach- | ington citeis, By plotting the reports, it ap- | peared the strange object passed overhead between Seattle and Port- | land about 8:30 p.m. (PDT), head- ing west. A prominent Seattle ‘astronomer, Mrs. Bror Grondal, pegged the “whatzit" as a fireball, which she sald is a “lone traveler in space” that often explodes with a great light. 15 Lives Lost in Floods af Luzon| MANILA, Aug. 12—(P—At least 15 people drowned in floods that have swept central Luzon Island for ten days, the Red Cross re- |ported today. o very mild. Ball of Fire in |HUMPYRUN EXPECTED, KETCHIKAN Roundup of Various Areas Given-Season Opens Next Tuesday PETERSBURG, Alaska, Aug. 12— (P—Pre-season indications show that the Ketchikan area will be nearest the big humpback salmon run when the season opens Tuesday in South- east Alaska for purse seiners. The enly large run of salmon to| date has been west of Prince of Wales Island. Since early Juiy, thousands of silver salmon have been caught by trollers near Coronation Island, and now fishermen are landing many humpies. Farther north, at Point Baker, king salmon are being caught with trolling gear and in Clarence Straits, several large schools humpies have been sighted. i At Petersburg, no favorable signs have been reported. However, purse seiners here are busy scouting the‘\ waters with seaplanes and small! boats in an effort to locate the humpies by the season’s opening. r Petersburg packed‘ s of salmon duriug the son, the largest pack of se: 1941, since “WALLY” READ LEAVES William W. “Wally” Read left by Pan American Airways today for Seattle where he is assistant field director of the Veterans' Claims Service of the Red Cross. He has been handling 500 claims in Alaska. This is his last monthly trip as he ‘expects to . be transferred to an- other Pacific Coast station. It is not known at this time who his successor will be. H lands SITUATION S BETTER, IS REPORT {Reds Massing Reinforce- ments at Naktong River -B29s Blast Port By RUSSELL BRINES TOKYO, Sunday, Aug. 13—(P— North Korean Reds poured heavy reinforcements across the Naktong | river Saturday on the central front of the Korean battle line. A communique from General MacArthur’s headquarters early to- day said a North Korean prisoner of war reported three regiments of |the Red Fourth Division had streamed across the river in the Changnyong and Waegwan sectors ~in the middle of the central front. The general situation in the Ko~ rean front is reported better. ‘To meet the mounting Red threat, units of the U.S. 25th Division | rolled northward from the southern front. Two Comm»nist roadblocks near | Miryang, 16 miles east of Chang- | nyong, hampered American vehicle and wire comriunication, the com- i munique said. Airfield Is Held The battle for Pohang, eastern anchor of the AYied line, was quieter Saturday night. Allied forces still held the vital airfield six miles southeast of the port town and American planes were using it. Far_to_the north, B-20's from Okinawa and Japan plastered Ma- “ln, North Korean port city only 17 miles from Russian territory. Striking through clouds they drop- ped 500 tons of bombs by radar. Pilots of the Fifth Air Force re- ported they knocked out six Red tanks, damaged 12 others, and wrecked much equipment in 200 sorties Saturday along the battle- front. Saturday's strikes covered the length of the front, from the Yong- dok area in the northeast to the Chinju area of the southwest. “No-Man’s Land” Pohang itself appeared to be half in Red hands and half a flaming “no-man's land.” Correspondent Leif Erickson reported from Eighth Army headquarters that American officers were confident of holding the airfield and recapturing Po- hang. Associated Press Photographer Max Desfor reported from Pobhang that American tanks led a South Korean patrol into the center of the city without drawing serious fire, A few enemy troops quickly disappeared, Desfor said. He re- ported there was no Communist fire hitting the airstrip. On another part of the front, troopers of the First Cavalry Divi- sion, bayonets flashing, thrust back an attempted river crossing at Kaepo. Reds Cross River Correspondent Erickson said the Reds in “battalion strength” crossed the river in darkness and tried to set up a foothold beneath close- range supporting artillery fire. Of this force, 150 were killed and the other thrown back by late afternoon. First Cavalry headquarters said the North Koreans crossed at a wrecked bridge near Tuksong. A part of the Communist force infiltrated lines of the Seventh Re- giment and took up positions behind the Americans. Then other Red In- fantry launched a frontal attack and the First Cavalry met it with bayonets. A force in the rear came out of hiding simultaneously. Other elements of the American Division were rushed in to protect the rear of the Seventh. Both Red forces were routed and as they ran back toward the river American ar- tillery zeroed in on the bridge. NORWAY T0 PLACE SHIP AT DISPOSAL OF UN IN KOREA OSLO, Norway, Aug. 12—P—Nor- way announced today she will place a 10,000-ton ship at the disposal of the United Nations joint com- mand in Korea. The government made the decision after surveying the U. N. need for shipping ton- nage.