The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 24, 1951, Page 1

SATURDAY 1 P.M. Edition et VOL. LXXIX., NO. 11,973 “ALL THE NEWS Garland Fund | Tie-up Denied By Governor When called upon today by an . Empire reporter to explain the gov- ernor's name being listed as an official of the Garland Fund in an excerpt of the California Senate committee on un-American activities printed in Friday’s Empire, Gov Ernest Gruening said he couldn’t explain it, and reiterated that he had never been a member of the organization. Reproduced were pages California committee’s inve: of Communist front organizations, including the Garland Fund, and lists of men and women said to be officials of the organizations. These reproduced pages listed the Daily Worker (a New York Red news- paper) and the Young Communist League among other firms and organizations as alleged benefici- aries of the Garland Fund. Following are questions asked by the reporter; and answers given by the governor: Reporter: “Were you, to your knowledge, an officer or director of the Garland Fund or any of its} subsidiaries?” Gov. Gruening: “The Empire asked me this question on Novem- | ber 5, 1951, and I then replied that I had never been an officer or di- rector of the Garland Fund, and had had no connection with it whatever. This reply was printed in the Empire on page 3, November 5, 1951, and so there is no particu- | lar point in my repeating my state- ment since the Empire already had this information, but I am glad to do so.” Reporter: “If yours and others’ names were used without yours or} others’ knowledge, how did that come about?” Gov. Gruening: “The answer is, ‘I do not know. It would have, been good and fair journalism to; have made these inquiries before publication and to have secured the answers.” Reporter: “If you gave permis- sion to use your name, what was your understanding of the purpose of the Garland Fund?” Gov. Gruening: “I never gave my | permission to anybody to use my: name in connection with the Gnr-'g land Fund and had no firsthand| knowledge of the Fund or its pur- pose.” ! To other questions concerning the governor's alleged connection with the Garland Fund, Gov. Gruening’s only replies were that he had an- swered them in his denial that he| had ever been connected with the | Fund. The Washington Merry - Go- Round (Copy=ight, 1051, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) By DREW PEARSON of the ASHINGTON. — Exuberant George Bender, the Ohio Cong- ressman, popped tHe question to General Eisenhower during a two and ' one-half hour relaxed chat with the General in Paris. Bender, a rootin’-tootin’ Taft supporter, looked Ike in the eye and said with a grin: “General, is you or ain’t you, and how?” General Eisenhower’s eyes twinkled but he made no direct reply. Instead he emphasized to Bender and three other visiting congressmen the great importance of his job in Europe. It was vital to the safety of mankind to rearm Europe, the General said, no mat- ter what individual sacrifices were involved. Young Dick Bolling, the clean- cut Kansas - City Democrat, sug- gested in half-humorous vein: “General, if you do run for Pres- ident, T am sure you will be much happier on the Democratic ticket.” Eisenhower did not answer that one either, but Rep. Leon Gavin, Pennsylvania Republican, did, and in no uncertain terms. “The Republican party is the only party of free enterprise,” he said loudly and firmly. “The Dem- ocrats are all Socialists and you would not get along with them.” At another point in the conver- sation, Congressman Bender ask- ed Tke: “What about that Arthur Krock story in the New York Times saying you and President Truman talked politics?” This was the only time during the visit that the General appear- ed upset or irritated. “There was not a word of truth to the story,” he said indignantly and with great firmness. He added that he could not understand why a reputable newsman would fall for “such a Ketchikan Liquor Dealers Pay Tofal 0f $5,000 Fines Thirteen Ketchikan liquor deal- ers paid fines of $200 each and the Ketchikan Retail + Liquor DLealers association paid a fine of $2,400 after nolo contendere pleas to price-fixing charges were ac- cepted by Judge George W. Folta in U. 8. District Court Friday af- ternoon in Ketchikan. This made a $5,000 total in fines paid by the liquor men in the an- ti-trust suits brought againstthem by the "U. S. government. The liquor, dealers had previously of- fered to pay fines of $5,000 against the association with the individual cases dismissed. The court refused to accept this disposition, accord- ing to P. J. Gilmore, Jr., U. S. At- torney in Juneau. Previously, meat dealers of Ket- chikan had paid fines totalling $2,800 in a compromise settlement after entering no contest pleas. The meat dealers had been charg- ed with boycotting rather than price-fixing as in the case against the liquor dealers. PficneerfiAlaskan, Dr. J. H. Romig, 76, Dies in Colorado Dr. J. H. Romig, 76, former Alaskan missionary, author, and mayor of Anchorage, and U.S. Com- missioner, died Thanksgiving Day iin Colorado Springs, Colo., where he had made his home for the past 10 years, according to advices re- ceived by the Empire. . Romig came to Bethel in , 1896, as a young doctor to the Moravian Mission there. He spent 41 years in his profession and was credited with opening the first hos- pital in the Territory west of Sitka. He was first to make use of an- esthesia in the Kuskokwim area. He later became U.S. Comimis- sicner at Bristol Bav. From 1830 to 1937 he was chief of staff of the Alaska Railroad hospital. After his retirement, he ed a term as mayor of Anchorage. Dr. Romig’s four children, born in Alaska, survive. all Courf of Appeals Upholds Alaska Air Rate Ruling WASHINGTON, Nov. 24—P— The U. S. Court of Appeals yes- terday upheld the Civil Aeronau- | tics Board’s handling of a case involving a reduced air fare from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Seattle, ‘Wash. The board in October, 1950 al- lowed Pan American World Air- ways to put into effect a $75 fare on cargo planes from Fairbanks to Seattle. Air Transport Associ- ates, which operates between Al- aska and Seattle, asked the board to suspend the fare, then went to court when the board refused. The board, however, has pend- ing an investigation of this and other fares. The court said it found no er- ror in the board’s findings in the case, including its refusal to sus- pend the $75 fare. Bartlelt in Federal Building Next Week Delegate E. L. “Bob” Bartlett will have an office in the Federal building next week for Juneauites who wish to talk to him about matters pertaining to Alaska, he said today. Delegate Bartlett said he would be in room 129 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. all next week including Sat- urday. VISITORS W. R. Edgecomb at the Baranof JUNEAU Mr. and Mrs. of Pelican' are Hotel. WEATHER REPORT (U. 6. WEATHER BUREAU At Airport: Maximum, 37; Minimum, 33. FORECAST (Juneau and Vieinity) Cloudy with rain tonight and Sunday. Southeasterly wind 15 to 25 mph. Low to- .night near 35 degrees. High Sunday near 38. eeec®secvore PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 s.m. today At Airport — 0.19 inches; since July 1—17.44 inches. ® 9 0 0 0 0 0 00 @000 ccececcevcccccscee ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1951 MelLeath Stabs Son and Seif; Boy Critical Little 5-year-old Jimmy Leath is in St. Ann’s Hospital today in a critical condition as a result of a knife wound in his lung inflic- ted on him last night by {ather, Melvin Leath. After stabbing the boy, Leath knifed himself in the chest ac- cording to his wife Mary, and 14- year-old step-daughter Carol, who were all in the kitchen of their home at 233 Franklin Street at 1:30 o'clock last night. While Mrs. Leath grabbed Jim- my and ran into the street to hail A passing car, Carol called Juneau police who arrived to find the girl nearly hysterical and Leath his | lying in a pool of blood on the | kitchen floor. They ordered an ambulance and took Leath to the hospital and Carol went to a neighbor’s house. Under Guard Leath was placed under arrest and guard during the night. His condition was described by his attending physician as “fair.” Mrs. Leath said today that Leath had been drinking and ap- parently went berserk as he called the little boy to him with, “Come here Jimmy, I want to tell you something” and then grabbed a 6-inch blade kitchen knife and rammed it into the child's chest. | She snatched the boy from Leath and ran into the street to get a taxi or car to take them to the hospital. Mrs. Leath said that she would | file charges against Leath. He is| a former guard at the Federal jail here and has been Working | for a construction company on Douglas Island. She formerly was | a waitress in the Baranof Coffee | Shop. :Viclims Now 8,000 WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 — (® —! A newly disclosed report from Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, Supreme Al-) lied Commander’ in the Far East, has raised the possible total of { American prisoners slain by Com- | munists in Korea to 8,000. That is 2,000 more than previously indi- cated. The new atrocity report was to the United Nations, and covered the period through July 20. C. Herschel Schooley, chief of the Pentagon press section, told re- porters about it last night, in re- sponse to inquiries. It was described as saying exact evidence of executions, obtained through July 20, numbered about 400 killings. This report was apparently made days, or even weeks, before Col {James M. Hanley, chief of the 8th Army's war crimes investigations section, said—on Nov. 14—that the Reds had slaughtered about 5,500 of their American prisoners and 290 other Allied prisoners. Democratic Caucus (Next Wednesday At Moose Hall A Democratic caucus has been| called for next week by chairmen of the precificts, according to Earl Forsythe, chairman of Democratic precinct No. 2. Forsythe said the caucus, to elect delegates to the Democratic Divisional convention at Sitka, December 13, would be held in the Moose hall in Juneau, start- ing at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Novem- ber 28. FROM KETCHIKAN Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wagner of Ketchikan are at the Baranof Hotel. VISITOR FROM IOWA Mrs. Peter Meland of Postville, Towa is stopping at the Baranof Alaska scheduled to arrive north- bound Monday morning. Baranof scheduled to arrive southbound Monday at 10 a.m. Freighter Yukon Princess sched- i uled to arrive Monday morning from ® Vancouver. | United * | beds as far away as Sweden, 3 . President Truman leans over the speaker's table, hand to ear, as he tries tc hear a remark directed at him from a guest at the dinner of the National Women's Democratic Club in Washington. The Presi- dent was caught in this informal, unposed position prior to his speech Lefore the women Democrats, He flew to Washington from his vacation spot in Key West, Fla. (B Wirephoto. Reds Hurl 1,000-Man Attacks By JOHN RANDOLPH SEOUL, Korea, Nov. 24 — (P — Reds hurled thousand-man attacks at United Nations outposts .ins four sectors but today had made no major change in the fighting jront that may become the basis for a cease-fire line in Korea. | An Allied officer said the nttx:ckei were designed to wipe out sm:xll; U.N. outposts in front of the main Nations line. “They came at us two or three| to one, to surround small units on| hills, then tried to kill as many as | possible,” he said. | He called it a change from the| Reds' “homan sea” wave attacks of | the past. The Red tactics apparently were to bleed the U.N. forces at night, | then pull back before dayiight out of range of Allied fighter planes and artillery. “But even in the dark firepower still chews them up,” the officer| said. “That’s why you can hear our | artillery going so hard.” i The heaviest Red attack came on/ the western front west of Yonchon. | Two Chinese battalions knocked | UN. forces off a hill on “Little! Gibraltar” ridge Friday night but| fresh Allies counterattacked in sub- freezing temperatures and by dawn Saturday had regained ,the peak The Reds threw in a battalion of reserves Saturday at nightfall and the fighting raged on in the dark-| ness. Red battalions of about 1,000 men each- hurled hit-and-rifn attacks in darkness early Saturday at United Nations outposts north of Yanggu northwest of the Punchbowl and south of Kosong on the east coast Danish Arsenal Explosien Kills 16, Injures 79 COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov.| 24—(M—Exploding half-ton minc \ last night blasted the Danish Navy's | arsenal here into a charred tanclc] i i | of death and wreckage. At least 16 ‘firemen and Navs enlisted men were killed. Others| possibly were blows into the harbor i or still may be lying under the/ tangle of concrete and metal debris. | Seventy-nine others were injured at least 20 of them criticaliy. The violent chain reaction fire and explosion, which destroyed five buildings and heavily damaged other navy installations, shattercd windows throughout Copenhagen, | set off hundreds of burglar alarm and knocked people out of the miles across the straits. FROM MOOSEHEART, ILL. Herman C. Fischer, auditor the Supreme Moose Lodge from Mooseheart, Ill. is in Juneau !of a week or two. He is stopping « the Baranof Hotel, of | the Earkley Celebrates, War Front CENTRAL FRONT, Korea, Nov. 24—Vice President Alben Barkley celebrated his 74th birthday today by firing an autographed artillery shefl at the Chinese Reds. He said he was coming through his long trip to Korea “in .good hape,” then added “it's not too s {rough.” When he landed at the forward airstrip of the U. S. 25th Division, the division band broke into :“Happy Birthday to You.” “I expect to live to 105, especi- ally after this exhilerating trip to Korea,” he said with a broad grin. ien. Matthew B. Ridgway, Su- preme Allied Commander, and Gen. James A. Van Fleet, Eighth !Army Chief, accompanied Barkley | on a swing along the front in an |aerial caravan of light planes. Agree Upon Half of Korea Buffer Zone MUNSAN, Korea, Nov, 24—{P— United Nations and Communist staff officers today pinpointed half 145-mile cease-fire line across Korea. A U.N. spokesman said Allied military experts hope to complete the job tomorrow but “couldn’t make iny guarantees.” The spokesman, Lt. Col. Howard Levie, indicated that if the staff cfficers are unable to map the entire battle line Sunday, the joint cease-fire subcommitteés will take over. This apparently | means the full truce delegations cannot approve the buffer zone clause before Monday. The staff officers meet in Pan- | munjom for the third time at 10 am. (5 p.m. PST Saturday). If they fail to reach complete agreement “it’s not to be consid- cred a failure,” Levie said. He ex- plained that subdelegates have far more latitude and would be able to make quick decisions. The staff officers met for more than five hours Saturday. Levie aid they agreed on 65 to 70 miles of cease-fire line. “Our staff officers expect to go ck tomorrow and make consider- .ble progress right from the be- ginning because both sides will have had an opportunity to get the latest information from the front lines,” he said.” While progress was made Satur- day, Levie acknowledged there were certain areas of major difference.” Levie said a “major” difference would involve five miles of terri- tory or a strategic terrain point. Several times during Saturday’s session the Allled staff officers agreed to fly the Communists over disputed areas for an on-the-spot . inspection. Box Fadory Possibility for Guard Encampment | Juneau in Connection with Alaska Plywood Corp. Plani Advance Parties Arrive for National Advance parties of Alaska Na- tional Guard units stationed at Sitka and Hoonah arrived Friday on Alaska Coastal Airlines for the guard encampment Nov. 25 to Dec. 3 of the 208th Infantry Battalion (Sep). A total of 340 guardsmen are ex- pected for the encampment at Montana Creek from detachments at Skagway, Sitka, Hoonah, Angoon, |the Alaska Plywood Corp., revenl-‘ Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Juneau. Twenty-seven First and Second Scout Battalions stationed in the Bethel and Nome areas are scheduled to arrive today on Pacific Northern Airlines. Lt. General Willlam E. Kepner. commander-in-chief, Alaska, is tc ittend the Governor’s Day review on December 1 at 2 p.un., at the subport. The Eisenhower Trophy i to be awarded to Company D of Sitka as the outstanding unit of the battalion. The public is in- vited to attend the review. “A lot of planning and training has gone into the encampment,’ said Col. Lars Johnson, guard ad- jutant general. “The camp pre- ented a logistical problem that would not exist in the States be- cause of the distance involved in ransportation and the bringing in of supplies.” The public can visit the camp ii they are checked through the MP’s. But those visiting the camp are warned to stay out of the rifle range because it will be in use throughout the encampment. ViShHBTy_Asks Big Revision 0f Arms Plan PARIS, Nov. 24—(®—Soviet For- eign Minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky demanded today that the Western plan almost compietely to make it acceptable to Russia.' Spokesmen for Britain and the United States immediately expressed disappointment and discourage- ment with Vishinsky's long awaited reply to the arms reduction plan submitted by the western big three. Some said, however, that they thought Vishinsky had left the door open for negotiation. The Soviet demands for revision of the western plan were incor- , porated in a series of 12 amend- ments submitted to the 60-mem- ber United Nations Assembly po- litical committee. The amend- ments, to all practical purposes, would transform the western plan into the one the Russians sub- mitted two weeks ago. Ambassador Philip C. Jessup, United States delegate who is hand- ling the disarmament debate in the comment;: “We are very much disappointed. Mr. Vishinsky still seems to prefer denunciation to negotiation. Sec- retary Acheson’s speech made it clear that we desire to forsake in- vective and go to work. We will proceed in the hope that progress toward a genuine system of dis- armament is still possible.” Vishinsky's amendments called for immediate prohibition of the atomic bomb under international control; an immediate one-third reduction of arms by the U.S,, Britain, France, Russia and Chiha; emphasized that the control committee on atomic energy and conventional arma- ments be under the authority of the Security Council, where Russia has a veto, and cut out all refer- ence to a step-by-step census of arms. VIRGINIA DAVIS TO BROADCAST DEC. 3 Word has been received her that Miss Virginia Davis, who ap- peared here on the Alaska Music Trail last season, will broadcast over the Canadian network from 9:30 to 10 p.m. FROM SITKA Warren Strang of Sitka is reg- istered at ‘the Baranof Hotel. AT THE BARANOF A. C. Sundsgaard of Seattle is !1’ogistemd at the Baranof Hotel i | time. After the cease-fire line is ap- proved by the subeommittees, the entire buffer zone clause will be turned over to full armistice delegations, which are expected to adopt them speedily. Then the negotiators will move on to the next jitem on the agenda — supervision Levie said the Reds refused eachof the armistice Powers rewrite their disarmament| political committee now, made this | Vancouver, B. C. December 3 from By KAY J. KENNEDY A box factory in connection with the Alaska Plywood plant | which will soon be under construc- tion here, is & possibility, Mark Benhard, consulting engineer for he re- ed here yesterday before scouts from the|turned to his Seattle headquar- | negotiated on construction; ers. K. H. Leash of Western Wire- bound Box Co. of Portland, Ore. was here conferring with Thomas A. Morgan, president of the cor- soration, and Renhard, regardihg .he possibility. Leash's company is nterested in obtaining a supply of spruce veneer. If all goes w hat the new plywood plant will be n production by next August, Renhard said. Preliminary work * ell it is anticipated | THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE (37 PRICE TEN CENTS | on the site at the Juneau Lumber | Mill is to get under way after the | first of the year and building er- ection is anticipated to begin in March. | Negotiate Contracts Two separate contracts will be one |for a concrete or blacktop floor and foundations for a 200 by 400 | frame structure and another for sheathing and roofing., | There will be 20 feet clearance | between the floor to the bottom lof the trusses and possibly & sec- |ond deck in part of the ‘The building and equipment cost more than a million dollars. | Plans are made in such a manner | that when 1t is feasible, additional | machinery can 'be installed to oo piouble the plant capacity, origin- Russia Claims U.S. Bomber Fired First WASHINGTON, Nov. 21—MP— Russia claims that the American patrol bomber which Soviet fight- ers fired on in the Far East opened fire first when the Red fliers sought to force it to land. The American plane has been missing since the encounter. The Russian charge was disclosed today with publication by the State Department of the protest which Deputy Foreign Minister Andrel Gromyko handed to American dip- lomat Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., in Moscow, November 7." : This country countered in Parls {oday with an accusation in the United Nations that Soviet air- craft attacked the patrol craft without warning while it was | fiying over international waters off Siberia. The Russian version was that the twin-engine bomber flew over the Soviet border-in the area of Cape Ostrovnaya, on the Sea of Japan, about 80 miles east of Vladivostok at 10:10 am., Vladivostok time, Nov. 2. Two fighter ,planes approached the aircraft “with the intention of forcing the American plane which had violated Soviet state frontiers to land on a Soviet airport,” Gromyko told Cumming. “The American airplane opened fire on them,” the protest con- tinued. “The Soviet airplanes were forced to open return fire, after which the American airplane went off in the direction of the sea and, disappeared.” The sharply different American account was set forth in a report from Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway's Secretary General Trygve Lie at | the General Assembly meeting. The aim in Paris apparently was to forestall any Russian move in the U.N. This country did not ask for any action on the report. Ridgway asserted the plane was on a route that did not approach closer than 40 miles to Russian ter- ritory and the crew had strict orders |not to get closer than 20 miles under any circumstances. He ac- cused the Soviets of having “inter- cepted and ‘attacked (the Ameri- can bomber) without warning while over international waters, and fur- thermore, while well outside of 20 | miles from the Russian coast line.” DAN MORELAND IS HERE Dan Moreland, employment se- |curity representative from the San Francisco Bureau of Employment security regional office, will be ere unéil next Wednesday. He is making a routine visit to the Al- aska Employment Security Com- mission here, reviewing operations and assisting in a tralning pro- gram. TIDE TABLES NOVEMBER 25 tide 4:28 am., 4.0 ft. tide 10:48 a.m., 165 ft. tide' 5:21 pm., 12 ft. tide 11:35 p.m., 143 ft. NOVEMBER 26 tide 5:16 am. 3.7 ft. tide 11:29 a.m., 176 ft. tide 6:06 p.m., -05 ft. Low High Low 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 U.N. Command, delivered to UN.' ally to run about three million square feet monthly. In an effort to obtain necessary additional storage space. the Alas- ka Plywood Corp, has requested to lease or buy a warehouse at the city dock from the City of Jun- eau. Employment The plant will require 50,000 feet ‘| of logs daily that will provide em- ployrgent for about 25 men in the ) woods and 200 in the plant. It is expected that the plant can operate for at least* ten months a year. Morgan estimates that the Col- umbia Lumber Co. yards in the 'Territory will be able to absorb &t least half of the plant produc- tion. Many inquiries have been re- iceived from the West Coast and !as far east ms Indlana for the Al- iaska spruce plywood, Renhard said. t"Spruce plywood 1s particularly de- sired by furniture manufacturers cers or plasi veneers,” he ex- I | plained. Another advantage of the spruce over fir, Renhard pointed out, is that its weight of 175 pounds per 1,000 feet (3/8~inch plywood) Iis much less than fir and effects a 15 per cent in freight costs for shipping. Machinery Equipment is on order and in- cludes a veneer lathe to handle logs up to 110 inches in diameter and 133 inches long; clippers to !cut the veneer into widths; a tran- sfer system; a barker the same capacity as the lathes; two over- head cranes for the log deck; & six-line, 18-section dryer 144 feet long which will feed from two levels; two glue spreaders; a 20- fopenma hot press; veneer patch- ing equpiment; automatic loaders and off-bearers; complete skinner and trim assembly; an elght-drum sander and one or two belt ean- ders. The corporation has acquired 117 million feet of top grade tim- ber on a stand on Kosiusko Is- land from the Forest Service and test runs at Everett, Wash. were highly successful. Renhard, who is consulting en- gineer and will supervise the in- stallation of the equipment, has previously been with the Penin- sula Plywood Co. st Port Angeles, Wash. when it was organized in 1941 and remained there through 1943. In 1944 he went with the PFir Manufacturing Co. at Myrtle Creek, Ore, where he remained until three years ago when he went into business as a consulting engineer. Anfarctic Jaunt Planned by Byrd For Explorafion COLUMBUS, Ga., Nov. 24—®— Another trip to Antartica is plan- ned by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, but he doesn’t count on making the jaunt until the pres- ent world crisis passes. The famed explorer said yester- day he wants to make the vast south Polar area Which was dis- covered on his last expedition southward in 1946-47. He added he would like to ex- ploit any material. resources in the 6,000,000 square mile area. The 63-year-old Admiral is on active duty as an advisor to the department of defense ‘on cold weather warfare. ARRIVING ON ELLIS Alrlines Saturday flight. from Ketchikan were Pete Ellis, H. Washburn, Tom Williams, Bill Bates; from Wrangell, George