The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 5, 1950, Page 1

| s | i V) 4 » THE DAILY VOL. LXXVI, NO. 11,675 ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1950 Dunkerque POPULATION OF ALASKA 15 128,643 WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — (B — Final population figures for Alaska and Hawaii from the 1950 census were announced today. They were: Alaska 128,643 and Hawaii 499,794. That was the count as of last April 1, to which the 1950 census was tied. The Census Bureau provided this additional data: Alaska recorded a population gain of 56,119 or 774 percent over the 1940 census. Its population had grown 223 percent between 1930 and 1940. Hawaii gained 76464 or 18.1 per- cent from 1940 to 1950, compared with a 149 percent gain from 1930 to 1940. Alaska’s 1940-1950 population in- crease was described by the bureau as the “greatest growth rate for any decade since the 1890-1900 gold rush.” Over Six Inches of Snowfallflnchorage ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 5—/ —This city got its first seasonal taste of snow Sunday—weeks after many stateside cities were snow- bound by blizzards. Over six inches during the day. of snow fell 17 INCHES NOW ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 5—A —Snow mounted to a 17-inch depth today in Anchorage. It started fall- ing Sunday — several weeks after many parts of the states had their first snow. The snow brought some delays in airplane schedules and some traffic tieups. The weather re- mained comparatively mild, without wind. HOLTZINGER DIES ON TRAIL, TENAKFE William Holtzinger, 62, of Ten- akee, was found dead on the trail near there, November 30, after he had been visiting friends. His re- mains were brought to Juneau and are at the Carter Mortuary, pend- ing word from two sisters in Min- neapolis. He was born in 1888 in ‘Winona, Wis. He is known to have been in Nome with the U.S. Mining, Smelting, and Refining Co. in 1947. He specified in his will that he wished to be buried in Juneau. ] MARRIAGE LICENSE Arvid Oberg, logger, of Juneau and Myrna Gertrude . Savage of 3 Douglas have applied for a mar- riage license in the office of the U. S. Commissioner. The Washingtion . Merry - Go-Round Copyright, 1950, by Bell Synaicate, Inc.) By DREW PEARSON . WASHINGTON—IC was partly a fluke that led to the Attlee-Tru- man conversation—one of the most important conferences since Pots- dam. Regardless of the accidental inception, however, diplomats agree the - conversation has_long been needed to bring greater synchron- jzation of traditional British-Am- erican friendship. The fluke was the President's off-the-cuff statement that we were considering dropping the atomic bomb and the inference that Gen- eral MacArthur had been given 2 free hand as to when we should| drop it. This statement, made at a morn- ing White House press conference, hit the British House of Commons late in the afternoon and left Brit- jsh labor leaders gasping. They have had increasing misgivings about MacArthur, and were fully aware of the manner in which he had maneuvered around State De- partment proposals to keep UN armies. away from the Chinese dams and the Manchurian border. British labor leaders did not then know that the President had made his atom-bomb statement in reply to oral newspaper queries and that it was not a carefully considered statement. Finally, they did pot L (Continued on Page Four) } | | RFC LOANS KAISER MILLIONS TO GET IN WAR PRODUCTION WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — B — Another $25,000,00 Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan was | eranted today to Kaiser-Frazer Co. Henry J. Kaiser immediately an- | nounced plans for defense produc- tion, including proposed reactiva- tion of a wartime Vancouver, Wash., shipyard and expansion of a Spo- kane aluminum plant. The loan was made to permit the | company to maintain auwmohlleE output and get into defense work. | At the same time Henry J. Kaiser | announced the firm would open a | plant to make military products in the San Francisco-Oakland area. | He outlined other defense pro-| jects, among them the Spokane ex- pansion and the Vancouver ship- yard reopening. The latter is de- pendent upon acceptance of plan- ned ship conversion bids. Among his other anngunced plans: ‘The Kaiser-managed Permanente | Cement Company will speed com- pletion of a million-barrel expan- sion in its northern California | plant. It has opened ‘“cement fa- cilities and low-cost bulk steam- ship transportation” in Alaska to| held build up Alaska gainst thu‘ danger of enemy polar invasion.” | POSSIBLETO EVACUATE UN TROOPS NOW WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — (B — Gen. Omar N. Bradley was reported to bave told Senators today that withdrawals by TUnited Nations | troops now have made it possible to evacuate them if a defense line can not be held in Korea. Bradley, the nation‘'s top mili- tary officer, testified on the world military situation at a closed-door meeting of the Senate Foreign Re- lations Committee. Some of those who heard him said the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave the Senators a much more optimistic picture of the situation in Korea than they had received at previous briefings. Senator Taft (R-Ohio) urged meanwhile that President Truman give the country “more informa- tion” about the grave world situa- tion. \ 1 RETURN TO SITKA AFTER JUNEAU VISIT Mrs. Paul Morgan and her little | daughter Connie Rae left Monday | on the Alaska Coastal Airlines plane | for their home in Sitka after a three weeks’ visit with Mrs. Mor- gan’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Jorgenson in Juneau. Mrs. Morgan is the former Millie Rie Jorgenson. She spent an enjoyable visit here with her parents and sisters and re- newing old friendships. IN JUNEAU FOR WINTER Robert Novatney is a recent ar- rival from Ketchikan to spend the winter months in Juneau. He has been at his mining property at Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, the past summer and closed operations last month until next spring. Fairbanks Woman Narrowly Escaped | " Death, Chute Jump, FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Dec. 5—P | ‘—Joan Harrison’s first parachute ! ings of the candidates for either |ed the sponsorship of an indiar jump mighty nigh came near being | | her last earthly act. The 24-year-old jumped from 3,000 reet and her parachute failed to open until she was only 150 feet from the ground. Joan landed in a snowbank and received a broken ankle. Miss Harrison, who said she “al- ways wanted to see what it felt like” to jump from a plane, made her leap from a private plane piloted by Thomas Olsen. She had been instructed by Robert Sinclair, an exhibition jumper. SYDNEY, Australia A 100- degree heat wave scorched Victoria ! |ted to conform to Assembly rules { conferences continued MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS - Style Pull-out Maybe Korean War Six Nations Demand Show Down on Korea, LAKE SUCCESS, Dec. 5—P—Six | countries, including the Big Three Western Powers, called upon the United Nations Assembly today to | act immediately to stop Communist China’s intervention in Korea. The demand was contained in a formal memorandum filed with U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie by | the United States, Britain, France, Ecuador, Cuba and Norway. It fol- lowed yesterday’s request that the Chinese intervention be put before the 60-nation Assembly for debate. Brief, Mild The new document was both brief | and mildly worded. It was submit- which require an explanatory memorandum to accompany any re- quest for taking up new business. The memorandum made these main points: 1. Chinese Communist troops are fighting against UN. forces in Korea. 2. An attempt was made in the Security Council to get them to withdraw but Russia vetoed the pro- posal. It then added: Intervention “Under these circumstances, the delegations of Cuba, France, Ecua- dor, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States believe that the Assembly should now consider im- mediately, as an important and urgent question, the intervention of the central people’s government of the people’s Republic of China in Korea, with a view to making ap- propriate recommendations.” ‘The mildness of the tone was un- derstood to be in keeping with the go-slow policy which has been put into effect during the Wash- ington talks of British Prime Min- ister Attlee and President Truman. | There still was no definite word as to how strong the sponsoring powers | would go in a resolution which they are considering. Behind-the-Scenes Meanwhile, behind - the - scenes here. Brit- ain’s Sir Gladwyn Jebb arranged for a private luncheon with Gen- eral Wu Hsiu-Chuan today. This followed a dinner given by Lie at his home last night for Wu and several other delegates, including Jebb and Sir Benegal N. Raw of India. If any positive results were achieved at the Lie dinner, they were not yet apparent this morning. CANVASSING BOARD WIND UP OFFICIAL BALLOT COUNT MON. The Territorial Canvassing Board believed it would be able to com- plete the official count of the Oc- tober general election ballots when it met yesterday but found five pre- cincts from the Fourth Division still missing and that the Valdez vote from the Third Division had not yet arrived. However, the votes from 11 pre- cincts from the Fourth Division counted Monday, have made no ma- terial difference in the standing of the candidates, Lew Williams, Act- ing Chairman of the Board said today. Candidate for the fifth seat in the Alaska Legislature House | of Representatives Wilbur (R) is leading the Democratic Candidate Jones by 5 votes. The official count | to date for Wilbur is 1829 and for Jones 1829. These two are the only seats in which the vote is so close. Williams said Valdez votes cast total about 149. It is not believed | this number will affect the stand- the Senate or the House in the | Third Division. Williams said the Canvassing Board will meet again next Monday, December 11 to wind up the canvass of the four Alaska divisions. De- cember 10 at 4 p.m. is the deadline when the Board may receive ballots {from the precincts for the official count, according to the Territorial Election Laws. SKAGWAY VISITORS John Winstock and R. W. Feero of Skagway are at the Baranof Hotel, AL GHEZZI HERE state in southeast Australia for the third straight day today. | Al Ghezzi of Seattle, formerly of COLD WAVE PREVAILS, MIDWEST (By the Associated Press) A cold wave pushed across the frozen prairies of the midwest to- day. Temperatures dropped below the zero mark as it advanced. in a special bulletin, said the mass of “extremely cold arctic air” was fanning out across the north cen- tral states. It predicted temperatures of 10 to 20 below zero in Minnesota, zero {to five above for Chicago and ten to 15 above for the Ohio river valley by tomorrow morning. “Even lower readings are ex- pected Thursday morning east of the Mississippi river,” the forecaster said. 4 The Rocky Mountain region and the Dakotas already felt the sting of earlap weather. Butte and Glas- gow, Mont., had 25 below today. It was 17 below at Cutbank, Mont,, and 14 below at Sheridan, Wyo. The advance of the season’s cold- est weather checked the melting of snow and curbed threats of floods. 20 DISEMBARK FROM BARANOF; SAILS AT 5 Twenty passengers disembarked from the Baranof this forenoon. Scheduled time of sailing for the Westward is 5 p.m. this afternoon. Master of the ship is Capt, C. Nil. sen. Disembarking from Seattle were: Mr. and Mrs. George Matson, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Priest and son; Paul Sutton, Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Wil- liams. From Ketchikan: Barney Kane, Helge Pédersen. From Wrangell: E. J. Kelly, S. A. Vincent, Mr. and Mrs. William Willard. Sigurd Klabo, Mr. and Mrs. Os- bjorn Odegaard. GET AUTOS OFF STREETS TONIGHT; SNOW CLEARANCE The Street Department warns autoists to quit parking on certain streets tonight. Beginning at 10 o’clock tonight the Street Department staff will start snow removal and there should be no parking of autos be- low Fourth Street on Main, Seward, Franklin and South Franklin. At noon today there was about 4% inches of the snow, and more is expected during the next 12 hours. ROTARIANS DECIDE T0 STAGE ANNUAL VARIETY SHOW 1951 Dr. W. J. Altenburg, regional di- rector of the National Foundation | for Infantile Praalysis, spoke at a regular meeting of the Juneau | Rotary Club this noon at the Bar- | anof Hotel, He emphasized in research to help conquer the| polio virus and the amount of work that was being done by the National Foundation and the 2- 894 chapters. Altenburg was intro- duced by Dr. C. Earl Albrecht, Al- | aska Commissioner of Health | President Ellis Reynolds announc- Dance December 16 in the Hi School gym at 8 pm. The purpose | is to help the Alaska Native Bro-! therhood pay off its library pledge. | ‘The amual Christmas Kids party was announced for Tuesday noon, | December 19 at the Baranof with | Carson Lawrence chairman of the Qcommmce, The party is for young- sters up to 12 years. Dr. Albrecht ang Dr. I. J. Mont- gomry were named co-chairmen to stage the Second Annual Variety Show early in 1951, Last vear's Success stimulated requests for a repeat this year, | Guests were Gordon Smith, In-| e ternational Representative of Lions | e Club from Seattle, Jack Johnson | e | | | | Fairbanks, is at the Baranof Hotel. 1“ Sitka and Bud Schultz. I The Weather Bureau in Chicago, | From Petersburg: Fred Haltner, ! STASSEN DELAYED AN ANCHORAGE ON HIS WORLD FLIGHT ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 5—(® —A faulty radio forced Harold E. Stassen’s plane to turn back here terday for Tokyo. Stassen, University of Pennsyl- vania president, conferred with lo- cal Republican leaders while he waited three hours for the plane's radio to be repaired. | askan affairs, but had no com- ment on difficulties encountered by the Alaska statehood bill in the Senate. He also said he would have no statement on his round-the-world trip until after it was completed. TALKS WITH MACARTHUR TOKYO, Dec. 5—(P—Harold E. Stassen conferred with General MacArthur two hours today. The dent is on a world tour. NOVEMBER WAS COLD, DRY MONTH IS WEATHER DATA According to information released by the local airport office of the United States Weather Bureau of- | fice the month of November was | cold and dry. With the exception of | five days during the first half of the month, the remaining days were below the normal temperature. | This resulted in the lowest monthly | mean temperature on record at the | Juneau airport since the station was | established in July, 1943. The lowest previous record was in 1945 when | 1241 degrees was recorded. The | absolute lowest temperature for this | November lacked three degrees of | being as low as the lowest record of minus three degrees in 1948. The average amount of cloudiness | was the lowest on record at the air- ‘ port while there was more sunshine ; than was ever recorded in any No- vember since 1943. | Extremely gusty nort.henswrly] winds on the 14th to the 16th, al-| though not severe at the airport caused some damage in the Juneau- Douglas areas. Detailed data for the airport and the city appears below. | Airport Data | Highest temperature: 56 in 1949, | this November 51; lowest umpera-i ture: -3 in 1948, this® November, 0; mean maximum temperature: av-{ erage 37.1, this November 28.5; mean | minimum temperature: average 27.5, | this November 16.1; mean monthly temperature: normal 320, this No-‘ vember 22.3; total precipitation: | normal 832 inches, ‘this November 213 inches. Maximum wind: E 39! |in 1943, this November SE 28; total snowfall: average 11.1 inches, this| November 167 inches; average | cloudiness: average 83 percent, this | November 65 percent; percentage; of possible sunshine: average 21 per- | cent, this November 41 percent. | City Data Highest temperature 48 on the 2nd and 4th; lowest temperate: 12 on the 17th; mean maximum tem- perature: 303; K mean minimum temperature: 22.1; mean monthly | temperature: 26.2; total precipita- tion: 421 inches. MRS. WINTHERS, SR. BACK Mrs. John Winthers, Sr., return- ed Sunday from Seattle where she the |has been visiting with relatives progress that was going forward | the past three months. WEATHER REPORT Temperatures for 24-Hour Period ending 6:20 o’clock this inorning In Juneau—Maximum, 25; minimum, 15, At Airport—Maximum, 19; minimum, -2, FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Rain occasionally mixed with snow tonight. Low tempera- ture near 30, Warmer with rain Wednesday. High tem- perature about 36 degrees. Southeasterly winds 15 to 20 miles per hour throughout PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today City of Juneau—0.08 inches; since July 1—33.32 inches At Airport — 0.19 inches; since Dec. 1 — 020 inches; since July 1—23.32 inches ® 0 0 0 00 0 00 shortly after he had taken off yes- | He expressed keen interest in Al- | University of Pennsylvania Presi- | !and it did not work and it probably (CHARLES MILLER TAFT SEEKS INFO FROM PRESIDENT 'Wants Truman fo Giye Country Facts Abou Infer. Situation By JACK BELL | WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — /(B — | Senator Taft (R-Ohio) called on President Truman today to give the country “more information” about the grave international situation. Taft proposed that the President report directly to the people after !he concludes current talks Wwith {Prime Minister Attlee of Great | Britain, | The Ohio Senator’s suggestion came after an hour-long meeting of the Senate Republican policy com- i mittee, which he heads. The com- mittee discussed the developments in Korea and their relations to world affairs generally. Complaining, as he has before, that Republicans had not been asked for their advice, Taft told a news conference: “I want to make it clear that Republican leaders in Congress are not being consulted before decisions are made.” A Democratic Senator, Hoey of North Carolina, came up yesterday with a demand that American troops be withdrawn from Korea. Hoey said in a statement that “the supreme consideration now is to get our soldiers out of Korea and prevent a general slaughter.” “We have tried bluffing in Korea would not work by the precipitate use of the atomic bomb,” Hoey de- clared. DIES IN SEATTLE; BURIAL, JUNEAU SEATTLE, Dec. 5— (/ —Charles Miller, 65, prominent Juneau and Fairbanks, Alaska, businessman, died Sunday in Virginia Mason hospital after a month’s illness. Born in Yugoslavia, he had lived in the United States 45 years, most of that time in Alaska. His home was in Fairbanks. He was a member of the Moose, Elks and Eagles lodges in Juneau, and of the Pioneers of Alaska. Surviving is a son, Alex Miller of Fairbanks, and three daughters, Mrs. Albert Vacurra of Fairbanks, Mrs. J. Bradford, Fairbanks and Miss Nellie Miller of Seattle. Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Bonney-Watson Chapel. Burial will be at Juneau. Charles Miller, resident of Ju- neau for many years, at one time had a taxi service but prior to Imm’ing to Fairbanks was proprietor |of a well established night spot. He | was married here and raised his family. His home on Gastineau Ave | was alwdys open and many enjoy- |able affairs were held there. MORLANDER ENROUTE TO BETHEL FROM VACATION George A. Morlander, administra- tive assistant for the Alaska Native | Service schools, store and reindeer herd at Bethel, is here enroute to Bethel from a vacation near Bel- lingham, Wash. He expects to leave | by the end of the week. FROM ANCHORAGE { R. R. Taylor and M, S. Stuart | of Anchorage are registered at the ‘EBdranol Hotel. STOCK QUOTATIONS ‘[ NEW YORK, Dec. 5 — Closing .lquozauon of Alaska Juneau mine e stock today is 2%, American Can © 95, American Tel. and Tel. 150%, e | Anaconda 35%, Douglas Aircraft ©|85%, General Electric 47, General o | Motors 45%, Goodyear 60, Kenne- o |cott 68%, Libby McNeill and Libby | e | 8%, Northern Pacific 27'%, Stand- | o !ard Ofl of California 27%, Twen- | o |tieth Century Fox 19%, U.S. Steel e |39, Pound $280%, Canadian Ex-| ® | change 95.37%. o ! Sales today were 1,940,000 shares. o Averages today are as follows: in- | o | dustrials 22544, rails 68.82, utilities | Crisis Talks Taking Place In W’aflinglonl Truman, Aftlee, Bradley Review Serious Sit- uation in Korea WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — B — President Truman sajd today United Nations forces in Korea are fighting “against tremendous odds.” But he declared that no matter what hap- pens there the fight for freedom will go on. His somber-toned report came amid growing talk in Congress and elsewhere that the UN. military situation has begun to appear al- most hopeless and may force a Dunkerque - type withdrawal by sea. Mr. Truman took time out from | a busy, almost-continual round of conferences with American military- diplomatic advisers, and with Prime Minister Attlee of Britain, to address the White House Conference of Children - and youth. Situation Precarious His prepared speech stressed (1) the precarious situation in Korea and the “grave risk” of a general war and (2) the nature of the pre- sent crisis as only part of the long- range struggle “to uphold the values | of peace and justice and freedom.” Beyond stressing the tremendous odds the UN. forces face, Mr. Truman made no assessment of the Koréan situation. And against the talk of a possible evacuation of the troops there, same of the best informed officials are saying it is still too early to pre- dict what will actually happen or that the U.N. forces will have to get out of Korea entirely. Situation Reviewed Mr. Truman and Prime Minister Attlee reviewed the situation yes- terday with Gen. Omar Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the first of their crisis talks. Bradley is reported to have told them that evacuation plans are ready if they have to be used. In his address to the conference on children and youth, the Presi- dent said that the intervention of Chinese Communists in Korea had greatly changed the situation con- fronting this nation. Then, in a sentence interpreted by some offi- cials as his first move to prepare the country for bad news — news of a military disaster in Korea — the President added: Tremendous Struggle “No matter how the immediate situation may develop, we must re- member that the fighting in Ko- rea is but one part of the tremen- dous struggle of our time — the struggle between freedom and Com- munist imperialism.” Mr. Truman and Attlee reached no agreement in their opening talk yesterday but diplomatic informants reported they were moving toward an agreement that Western Europe is the place to offset Communist victories in the Far East. As far as the present military situation is concerned, it is under- stood that the President and Prime Minister dealt with three alterna- tives and found themselves facing a choice between complete and par- tial defeat in their initial analysis. Korean Line Hopeless The idea of establishing and hold- ing a line across the Korean penin- sula appears almost if not entirely hopeless. There was still some belief on the part of American leaders, however, that it might be possible again as it was earlier this year to maintain a foothold on Korea. This would be Justified if there was reason to ex- pect a new buildup of U.N. forces capable of dealing with the Chinese Communist masses and so far there is no evidence such a buildup is planned. ‘The other possibility which looms bigger with each days news of new Chinese Communist = successes on the battlefield is a complete mili- tary defeat for the U.N. forces. STEAMER MOVEMENTS Baranof from Seattle in port and scheduled to sail westward at 5 p.m. today. » Princess Louise from Vancouver scheduled to arrive at 9 tonight and sails for Skagway at 11:30. Denali scheduled to sail from Se- ® 3933 . attle Friday. | SITUATION 1S SKETCHY FROM FRONT Eighth Army May Throw Up Defense Line-Five Divisions Isolated (By the Associated Press) President Truman and Prime Minister Attlee were reported today to have agreed that.United Na- tipns forces would return to Korea in the event a military disaster forces a withdrawal now. i A ‘British informant in London ! said the two leaders in their Wash- ington talks reached a decision not { to write off Korea, but to avold * open war with Communist China if possible. Their policy, it was said, calls for making every attempt to stabilize a defense line which United Na- tions forces could hold against Red Chinese pressure — and then to negotiate a settlement with the Peiping authorities. Bombing Ruled Out The British informant said the two leaders are agreed that bomb- ing of Manchurian bases must be ruled out for fear of bringing Russia into the war. There was no official confirmation in Washington on these reports. The U.S. Eighth Army continued its headlong retreat towards South Korea and the 10th Corps appeared: to be in a. more dangerous position in the northeast. The odds were said to be mount- ing so Hheavily against the 10th Corps that perhaps only another :Junkerque style pull-out could save t. Reds Back in Pyongyang The vanguard of a 1,000,000-man strong Chinese Communist army entered Pyongyang, refugees re- ported. The Allies had pulled out and were far to the south as the Communists swarmed around Pyongyang, the first Red capital to fall and be restored to the Com- munist world. There was no indication where the Eighth Army would attempt to throw up a new defense line. For strategic reasons military informa- tion was sketchy. The fast-retreat- ing army was exposed to flanking movements from the lightly de- fended center of the Korean penin- sula. A correspondent, Leif Erickson, saild at Eighth Army headquarters that the army might go all the way to Seoul and throw up a perimeter around Seoul-Inchon, scene of the Allies greatest victory in the Ko- rean campaign. Five Divisions Isolated But it was in the northeast ice- box of Korea, where five divisions of the 10th Corps were all but fso- lated, that the gravest danger lay. AP War Correspondent Stan Swinton said: “It is a grim situa- tion.” He said the U.S. Marines and Seventh Infantry Division must fight their way through a mountain road from the Changjin reservoir to the escape port of Hungnam or be evacuated by air. Odds Against Airlift “There is only one make-shift airstrip. Perhaps two divisions could be airlifted from it but the odds are against it,” Swinton wrote. Red Chinese are still pouring into Korea from Manchuria. One 30-mile long convoy was sighted moving toward the Changjin re- servoir, probably aiming to seal the fate of the holed in Marines and Doughboys. Other large Chinese units speared towards Hungnam and the great east coast port of Wonsan, the two main escape hatches for the 10th (Conuinued on Pa;?e Six) SHOPPING DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS 16