The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 23, 1950, Page 1

SOVIETS THREATEN TO B VOL. LXXV., NO. 11,588 U. N. FORCES THROW IN EVERYTHING 10 SLOW 'DOWN 90,000 KO-REDS Critical Phase of War as’ e North KoreansTry ‘Flank- ing Moves Near Taegu (By Associated Press) The Communists added their Sec- | ond and 15th Divisions to the First, Third and 13th on the front north {of Taegu and poised a brigade of | |at least 14 tanks, while Americans | and South Koreans braced for Iwhnl might soon be the all-out [North Korean general offensive. It | may be started with a heavy lunge | pl:x:::flcs:asl‘lre:o P, big Buns andla the American right flank against Hhrean Communisks $hy' foist nighte the U. S. 27th Infantry Regiment. | The Reds, who lost 11 tanks in :;’“5"; ;“ R’e‘i “"“‘9‘; to "“;“: four days in the sector, jabbed and rougt Sl ungebaf. apgy, : probed at several places along the a vast Communist buildup on thejgne flank after a regimental at- northern front was reported today.|i.ck was halted Tuesday by air and About 1,500 Reds sneaked behind artillery fire. i the lines of the U. 8. 27th Infantry “This is a critical phase,” said regiment and were posing a menace | oo) john Michaelis, commanding on its right flank, Col. John Mich-{pe o7th “Wolfhound” Regiment, elis, the regiment’s commander, es- s we stop them we will break cimated. An American-South KOr-{the pack of this drive.” ean attack hit flanking infiltratorsy = A, anjed air, artillery and tank Wednesday in the heaviest fighting | 4ttack early Wednesday (Korean of the whole 120-mile battlefront.| time) had pushed the forward A breakthrough here would 100se | communists back, but one Red five enemy divisions—perhaps 50,-|spearhead was within eight miles 000 men—against Taegu, main Am- | of Tgegu, threatening U. . supply | erican forward base. The Reds Were |jines. The Reds held higher ground operating at points from eight t0|and poured heavy firey into the 12 miles from Taegu. A Red general | gttacking U. N. forces, while their offensive was believed imminent. |infiltrators stabbed at artillery and , Associated Press correspondent} infantry positions with mortar, -Don Whitehead reported from the { machinegun and small arms fire. front. that whole valley was| Allied pilots raked these enemy " charged with the tension of combat | forces, far hehind the fighting lines. On the southern front along the “Tension: stfll runs through the{coastal approach to Pusan, main whole valley—the tension -of mensy, N. supply base, the 25th U, S. alert for combat and prepared for{nfantry Division has beaten back the enemy,” ‘Whitehead wrote. Michaelis said the next 48 hours}threat west of Masan. 27 air miies or less could bring the decision. from Pusan, still was menacing. Planes and artillery poured dead- | This is the shortest route for the ly fire into a 100-yard-wide no-|Reds to Pusan. man’s land after the Reds pushed The front just west of Taegu re- a wedge into U. N. defenses north|mained quiet and there was little of Taegu. Enemy dead piled up|activity on the central front sector before ‘counterattacking U. §. andlajong he Naktong River. South Korean troops who battled to prevent a breakthrough which would allow Communists to descend upon their prime target, the Taegu road and rail junctions, i'he Washington Merry - Go- Round By TOM McNAMARA and FRED BLUMENTHAL «Copyright, 19a. by Bell Syndicste, Inc.) | Red Morale is Bad Two North Korean officers now prisoners of war have given in- dications that morale among the North Korean forces is bad. A 27- year-old lieutenant colonel who commanded a Red artillery regi- ment, walked into South Korean lines and surrendered, saying that “I don't want to see all Korea run the way the Communists now run it.” He said most of his regiment would like to surrender “but they are too closely watched by secret political agents in the army.” A captured captain freely admitted the North Koreans started the war and that his outfit had a Russian’ adviser. Both officers had served vin the Communist Manchurian army. The lieutenant colonel willingly pinpointed positions of his 22 artil- lery pieces hidden in an apple orchard, .and fighter planes hit the position with jellied gasoline bombs. Another prisoner said he had fought for three days without food or water because of supply difficulties. These supply difficulties are be- ing aggravated daily for the Reds by U. S. air attacks. Already man- (E@. Note—~While Drew Pear- son is-oh ‘a brief vacation, his éolgmn’ will be written by mem- ‘Bers of his statl). i yoem W:snmd'rou — It has been hushed up, but the FBI clapped an- other suspected subversive agent in jall last week. He is Wilham| Wolfe Weisband of Arlington, Va., who was arrested in Los Angeles after being trailed by government agents for months. Weisband was employed for seven years as an analyst in one of the government's top-secret defense agencies. For security reasons, we have been' asked not to identify the agency or the nature of its highly classified work. 1t can be revealed, however, that Weisband was abruptly suspended, without pay, last May as a bad security risk. Shortly after his suspension, Weisbend and his wife drove to California “to see a friend.” The FBI had the pair under con- stant surveillance all the way from Washington to Los Angeles. As Weisband was preparing to return to Washington, he was sub- poenaed by a Los Angeles Federal grand jury investigating espionage. At that time he was asked only a few perfunctory questions—his name, age, home address, etc. He was ordered to come before the grand jury one week later, for further questioning. This time he failed to show up, giving the excuse that he had in- sufficient funds to remain in Los (Continued on Page Two) WEATHER REPORT Temperatures for 24-Hour Period ending 6:20 o'clock this morning In Juneau—Maximum, 72 minimum, 54. At Airport—Maximum, 77 minimum, 53. FORECAST (Juneau and Vieinity) Variable cloudiness tonight and Thursday with light rain by Thursday afternoon. Low- est temperature tonight near 52 degrees. Highest Thursday near 63. PRECIPITATION two light Red assaults, but the| Angeles. So he returned bome— with the FBI agent again trailing him across the country. On August 2, Weisband received a third summons to appear before the Los Angeles grand jury. He (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today City of Juneau — None; since July 1—11.07 inches. At Airport None; since August 1—0.85 inches; (Continued on Page Five) since July 1—789 inches. e 00000 0 0 0 ® 000 00cs00s0000000200000%00 00 . . . . ) . . ) . . . . . . . . ) . . . . . . . . ] . . ° “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1950 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS LY ALASKA EMPIRE PRICE TEN CENTS Allied Troops Braced fo TWO-ALARM | FIRE STRIKES WATERFRONT Second Major Blaze in 3 Days Damages Soufh Franklin St. Bldg. The second two-alarm fire with- in three days struck the Juneau waterfront when a building owned by the Juneau Cold Storage Com- pany was damaged this morning. The fire, which laid a cloud of smoke over downtown Juneau, ap- | parently started in the upper part of the structure on South Frank- lin Street, directly south of the; main cold storage plant. | First alarm was sounded at 10:15 a.m. by Wallis George, pres- ident of the cold storage company, who discovered smoke coming through the roof while he was inspecting roofing work. He said he sent cold storage company workers with Iire extinguishers to fight the blaze until the fire de- partment arrived, Second alarm was sounded at 10:20 a.m. Firefighters were forced back by the smoke which poured from the corrugated-iron sheathed buildihg and donned smoke masks before fighting the fire from the north side of the structure. Fire Chief A. Minard Mill said the corrugated-iron sheathing on the building made the fire a diffi- cult one to battle. The tug Trojan, owned by the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Com- pany, tied up at the cold storage company wharf 15 minutes after the second alarm was sounded and immediately went into action pour- ing a stream of water on the smoking building. The fire was confined to a loft between the ceiling and roof of the building, but smoke and water damage was done to the remainder of the building. George said: “Electric wiring is the only .thing I can attribute the iire to.” Due to water in the building, it has been impossible to make an accurate estimate of the damage done by the blaze, he said. The blaze, pushed by a light breeze from the south, threatened the Juneau Cold Storage Company plant, one of Juneau'’s major in- dustrial establishments. At 10:50 am. the fire ‘broke through the roof.,of the burning building, sending clouds of black n;mke aloft, and a short while later flames licked along the edge of the roof. Holes were chopped in the roof so water could be poured on the base of the fire, and the blaze was brought under control at about 11 o'clock. R. E. Packard, owner of Packard's Marina, which was gutted in a two- alarm fire Sunday afternoon, was one of the crowd of at least 700 spectators who were at the scene. of the blaze today.. The building housed the Victory Bar, Metcalfe Sheet Metal Works, the Coca Cola bottling plant, the Juneau branch office of the Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union, the offices of Elton Engstrom and Ed C. John~ son, fish buyers, and one apart- ment. The all clear was sounded at 12:35 p. m, STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Aug. 23—Closing quotations of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 2%, American Can 97%, Anaconda 356%, Curtiss-Wright 10%, International Harvester 31%, Kennecott 65%, New York Central 14%, Northern Pacific 17%, U. S. Steel 39, Pound 2.80%. Sales today were 1,570,000 shares. Averages today were: industrials 221.51; rails 63.33; utilities 39.60. 1 { | FROM MT. EDGECUMBE Doctors R. H. Shuler and B. E. | Juneau and staying at the Baranof Hotel. i McBrayer of Mt. Edgecumbe are in| | SPORTS RULER —poris Kleiner, of Santiago, was chosen “Miss Winter Sports” by vaca- tionists at Portillo, Chile’s new winter resort 12,000 feet high in the Andes. ARMY DOES NOT NOW NEED MORE SEATTLE, Aug. 23—{®—The Chief of the Army Transportation Corps, Maj. Gen. Frank A. Heilman, re- assured shipping men yesterday that the Army has no immediate plans to take over additional space on the Seattle waterfront. “How much future expansion is in store for our Army Transportation setup depends on what happens in the war in Korea and the rest of the International situation,” the general said during an interview. “Mednwhile, requirements for the Far East theater are being met ade- quately.” General Heileman said the Se- attle port’s primary job is Alaska. “Under the present Army Trans- portation program,” he said “San Francisco is set up to handle a large part of the Far East theater supply. But, Seattle is geared to take care of the overload, the 'same as San Francisco would do if Alaska be- came the main theatre.” The general, completing an ins- pection’ tour of West Coast ports, was to return to Washington, D. C., today . C(ONGRESS MOVES 10 BAR SALE OF FISH BY FOREIGN SHIPS WASHINGTON, Aug. 23— (# — ‘The House passed a bill Monday to keep foreign fishing vessels from selling their catches on U. S. shores. It now goes to the Senate. The measure would plug a loop- hole in the law by which foreign fishing boats have been coming to shore as cargo vessels and unload- ing their catches. Under the new provision, the mer- chant marifie and. fisheries commit- tee reported, the use of this device will' be impassible, STEAMER MOVEMENTS Princess Norah due to arrive from Skagway at 8 a.m. Friday leaving one hour later for Vancouver. Alaska due to arrive southbound Friday. Chena due to leave Seattle Thurs- }dny, Aleutian will sail from Seaftle Saturday and is due to arrive here Tuesday. Baranof due southbound Sunday. Chilcotin scheduled to arrive here | Thursday from Vancouver Until further notice there Wwill| be no CPR ships sailing from Van-| couver. BOB DE ARMAND HERE Bob DeArmand, Sitka newspa- | perman, is registered at the Baranof Hotel. A | | | | i MILITARY TO TRY PRACTICE 'EVACUATION' \Dependents Only fo Stage Practical Withdrawal fo Highway, Airfields ANCHORAGE, Aug. 23— (® —A practice evacuation to prepare de- pendents of military personnel for a possible attack on Alaska by an enemy will be staged here Saturday morning with a 50-mile “withdrawal” up the Alaska Highway. Dependents of Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson troeps will participate in the part- theory, part-practice action. Its pur- | pose is to set up a quick, orderly | procedure for evacuation to the United States without clogging trav- | el arteries or snarling military traf- fic. In theory, it will be territory wide | and include air travel. In fact, as set up by Lt. Gen. William Kepner, Commander-in Chief of Alaskan defense, it will not include civilians living in Anchorage, Fairbanks and other cities. It does not, military officials said, : Sum[ Do ( szmz to the need for evacuation at this time: “Cur main.concern,” one officer said, “is to avoid a panicky populace. We are not going to punch a panic button.” As worked out, the dependents will gather at designated collection points when the signal is given Sat- urday morning. They will be picked up by buses and driven as far as Palmer. There they will be processed as if they were beginning the long drive to the reception station at Great Falls, Mont. This would be via the Glenn and Richardson High- way to Big Delta, on the Alaskan Highway. In a genvine evacuation the de- pendens would be taken in convoys across Canada by the U. 8. Army. In actuality Saturday, however, they will return here by bus from Palmer. Aircraft also would be used in any mass eyacuation, but officials pointed out that such travel means probably would be in short supply. Plans have even been worked out for wives to obtain special travel funds at Palmer and Great Falls.| non-dependents joining the ev- acuee caravans would need their own funds, however. Sound trucks will move through the streets of Alaskan cities to advise persons of their duties in event of an - attack oOr praetice evacuation. Radio stations have arranged to broadcast military information via a mobile transmitter operating in- dependent of telephone lines and | power sources which might be sab- otaged. Persons scheduled for air evacua- tion will be instructed on the radio where to gather to board aircraft. No actual flying will be done Sat- urday but persons affected must walk to collection points and report at airfields, leaving personal ve- hicles behind. CITY POLICE READY 10 HELP HAZED FRESHMEN High school freshmen who fear hazing by upper-classmen may ask for police protection, Police Chief Bernard Hulk announced, today. “Juneau's police force stands ready to protect anyone from harm,” he said. “This includes freshmen who don’t like to be shoved around by gangs of upper- classmen.” Cases of unnecessary hair-clip- ping have already been called to the attention of the police, show- ing that the perennial hazing prob- lem is starting early, he said. He pointed out that scissors are dangerous weapons during scuffles by high school youths. “Parents are responsible for the actions of their children,” he said. “They should remember that they may be brought to court if their children inflict injuries on other youths.” r Enemy At AHA REJECTS ALL BiDS ONDOUGLAS [ | l | | The Alaska Housing Authority at la | on Monday, rejected all bids which | had been previously received for the construction of twenty-five single family homes at Douglas, it was announced today by E. Glen Wilder, Executive Director. Wilder stated that the action of the Board in rejecting the bids fol- lowed only after considerable effort to secure reasonable construction costs had failed. Tt was concluded by the AHA that the lowest offer obtained, following negotiations with the low bidders, was at least twenty percent too high and that| the resulting sales prices would be beyond the costs limits which home purchasers could afford. For over a year the AHA has periodically advertised for private sponsor-builders to construct needed homes for sale in the Juneau area, and it was only after this had failed that bids for direct AHA construction were called. “The net result,” Wilder said, “is simply that we will not obtain nec- essary new housing unless the gen- eral theory advanced by builders, that .laskan building costs are something out of this world, is ex- ploded, and that theory is reduced to the realistic. It is true,” he continued, “that in the Territory we must deal with added freight costs, higher labor costs, and other less tangible additions to construc- tion costs, but when all of these items are actually set out and ad- ded, say to Seattle construction | costs, we cannot conceivably arrive at some of the astounding figures that are thrown at us as Alaskan construction costs.” The Housing Authority plans to continue its effort to obtain homes for sale. New bids are to be called on segments of the project to en- courage all local builders to parti- cipate in the Douglas bidding. Attending the meeting Monday were the following AHA Commis- | sioners: Jake Cropley, of Juneau; Louise W. Miller, Ketchikan and Z. J. Loussac of Anchorage. Father Paul C. O'Connor of Hooper Bay and Harold Byrd of Flat, the other Board members were unable to at- tend. ., The Board will hold its regular quarterly meeting in the middle of September, It will be held either at Anchorage or Ketchikan, LATE RUN IS ONLY HOPE FOR PINK SALMON PACK IN SOUTHEAST WATERS “No fish south, and even fewer up here” is the way Clarence J. Rhode is tempted to express the sorry situation in the matter of pink salmon supply. The Alaska director of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service again said there is reason to hope for a good run before the seasom closes at 6 p.m. September 3. “This is a cycle year of the 1948 season which started even worse,” he said today on his return from a survey of Ketchikan waters. “Two years ago, neither the catch nor the escapement was as good, but there was a late run and a good one. It still could happen this season.” As in previous years, the FWS keeps a day-to-day index of trap catches as a gauge to intensity of lof the runs. The 1950 season got of fto such a bad start that, for one off to such a bad start that, for one !trap catch in Icy Strait reached a low of 92, That’s not in hundreds, that is ninety-two fish. The best showing (near Ketchi- kan) for a single day’s trap catch averaged 3,000, but re was a sharp decline there later. “Even so,” said Rhode, “on the | basis of previous statistics, we ex- pect the total pack from Ketchikan |and south to be fair.” Returning from the southward, Rhode reported a very slight im- provement along the west coast and in the southern part of the south- ern district (Ketchikan and below.) “However,” he said, “there has been essentially no change from HOUSING PROJECT special Board meeting held here | ROADEN tack MALIK TELLS U. N. WAR WILL SPREAD IF KOREA BATTLE IS CONTINUED WAR WITHRUSSIA | . .” e s wul COME' S AYS | Communist delegates today studied AMERICAN LEGI0 Russia’s latest blasts for hints of a new war threat. Soviet Delegate Jakob A. Malik told the Council Senafe Approves Increase Allowances for Depend- enfs of Servicemen (By Associated Fress) at Lake Success, N. ¥, yesterday !lhm. “continuation of military op- | erations in Korea would lead not to a localization of the conflict, but ,'would inevitably lead to a broaden- i ing of the conflict, fraught with ser~ fous consequences.” In that ninth session of the Coun- cil since Malik assumed its Presi- dency for the month, there was no WASHINGTON, Aug. 23—M—A progress on the Korean question, representative of the American Leg- | Put the U. 8. and British represen- fon told Congress today that he re- ' tatives lashed Russia with strong gards war with Russia as inevitable. words. Earle J. Cocke, Jr., chairman of | In Washington, State Department the Legion’s National Security Com- Counsellor George F. Kennan, who mission, made the statement in urg- 1S stepping aside after several years ing speedy enactment of universal 8 & top forelgn policy maker, said military training. Ihe believes the United States must “How soon we begin mobilizing Maintain a large military establish- to meet this conflict that is sure to Ment for many years to come, but come will measure our chances of he hopes the U. 8. people will not survival” Cocke said in a state- come 1o accept the idea of war ment given to the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The lords of the Kremlin have repeatedly stated that a Communis~ tic government such as that in the USSR. cannot exist so long as there is a capitalistic United States of America.” ‘The Senate group is holding hear- ings on a UMT bill. A majority of the committee already has endorsed the idea and urged that Congress remain In session until it can act on the measure. Backers of UMT, pointing to swift Senate approval of monthly payments to families of enlisted men, contend Congress is in a mood to enact whatever measures military leaders say are needed. The Defense Department has asked for UMT, but President Truman has said he will not push for action at this ses- sion of Congress. The dependents allowance bill went through the Senate last eve- ning in less than an hour. The proposed monthly payments the family allowance bill would pro- vide vary. from a minimum of $85 monthly for a dependent wife, child, or parent to $115 for three or more dependents of men in the lowest srades. Enlisted men in lowest grades would sign over $40 of their pay to their dependents. The government would pay the rest of the benefits. Allowances would be higher for {amilies of men in the upper grades. Hearings-Elections Set ior Columbia River Fishermen ASTORIA, Ore., Aug. 23—A—Two issues involving Columbia River sannery workers' unions were head- ad for decisions today. A National Labor Relations Board hearing has been set for Aug. 30 on the petition of the CIO indus- trial union, Local 1747, for bargain- ing elections at several fish packing plants. The local, formed by workers who rebelled from the Columbia River Fishermen’s Protective Union over affilliation with Harry Bridges' CIO longshoremen, claims the right to negotiate for workers now under a CRFPU contract. The elections were asked at the plants of the Columbia River Tuna Packers Association, the Keystone Packing Cc., the Seaside Clam Co., Palace Fish and Oyster Co., and State Seafood Co. Meanwhile, the CRFPU officers were preparing to count ballots of members on whether the older Col- umbia River union would remain in Bridges’ ILWU. Members ballotted Sunday and the votes are to be counted Friday. Secretary Henry Niemela reported the voting here was heavy. Niemela said the CRFPU's affili- *jon with the ILWU became effective yesterday. | Ketchikan north.” ussia as Iinevitable. LANDSLIDE CLOSES TRAFFIC ON ALASKA R. R. "INDEFINITELY" [ with Ri ANCHORAGE, ' Aug. 23— B —A ndslide roared over - a. 200-foot , brecipice. Monday,/ covering & (165- ! | foot section of the Alaska Railroad tracks with tons of boulders and gravel, The slide, in the Nenana canyon south of Fairbanks, will close the line indefinitely, railroad officals said, ‘The debris swept over the rails and plunged another 200 feet to the floor of the canyon. Clearing crews were unable to approach the site immed- itely because of danger from furth- er slides and surveys will he nec- e, S i Al : er cedures A mz? p traixt and “Aurora” were held 3 ‘.wm and returned to Anchorage yester- day, e \ A survey crew flew to the scene. DANGER OF FOREST . FIRES HERE NOTED BY FOREST SERVICE Fire danger is at its maximum, states District Forest Ranger Mal Hardy in a recent report, Combi- natici of clear dry weather and light to moderate winds has brought about the worst condition in the woods so far this season from a !ire danger standpoint along Gas- tineau Channel. Since burning and campfire per- mits aré not required this year, forest guards do not know where to expect fires and forest users shoald be especially careful. Until the present dry spell is over, slash and debris burning fires will be prohibited on National For- est land, and no open campfires will be permitted except in im- proved campgrounds. . Malcolm E. Hardy, District Forest Ranger. FISHING VESSEL JUANITA DISABLED IN GLACIER BAY The fishing vessel Juanita of Pet- ersburg has asked for Coast Guard assistance in obtaining repairs. The 50-foot boat is disabled in Glacier Bay with a broken water pump. Reports reaching Coast Guard headquarters here via Sentinel Is- land Light Station said the vessel had a load of fish aboard. Repair parts are being rushed to the disabled vessel, which is own= ed by Leon Hasbrook of Petersburg. FROM SITKA Harry J. Brown of Sitka is a {cuent at the Baranof Hotel.