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

THE D “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIX., NO. 11,999 JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1951 MEMBER Af SOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS $60,000 Fire Levels Wildes A spectacular fire Saturday night completely destroyed the Keith Wildes home on the Douglas high- way, causing losses which are esti- mated at over $60,000. No fire equipment was available and hundreds watched helplessly while the nearly new, ultra-modern residence crumpled in the mass of high-soaring flames. ‘The origin of the fire was not exactly determined, but it was thought to have started from an electrical device which heated and melted snow from the driveway leading to the attached garage. Mrs. Wildes' mother, Mrs. Alma Hendrickson, was in her apartment in the semi-basement of the home when the fire started, but was un- aware the house was burning until she heard a noice, rushed upstairs and found a passer-by, Herman Porter, and others, pounding the door. The telephone was still in order, and the alarm was given| from the burning home. Watch Home Burn Mr. and Mrs. Wildes were at a | dinner party when informed of the fire. They rushed home through the piled up traffic, but were able |§ to do little but watch-as their new home was destroyed. Mis. Hendrick- son’s personal effects were nearly the only things saved Irom the flames. ‘With its metal glowing a dull red | from the heat, the new Chevrolet of Mrs. Wildes stood in its pla in“the garage. The fire evidently on | Leave for Home The three baby fast October when they came te clse's money leave po return to Massachusett n Curry and Roberta McC: s auly. ft cf $18,000 from the home of Dr. Albert H. # —no more ic headlines > with $18,000 station for wedia Field Left to right: Eilsen Jeffrey, They will face charges in Mass, who York ocn a s 0 s. ) Wirephoto. §1 oy M %8 Ui 'l ore Are | 1A JUANA, Mexico., Dec. 24—® 15 of dyluz children and this city gripped today r of a Chrls 5 parwy a toll offici i started near or in the garage and | passers-by were unable to the-car. The Wildes' dog died in the burn- ing house. It had keen put into its bed earlier by Mrs. Hend: S and could not be found and did not come cut of the fla house later when called in an effort to save it Fire Heat Iniense The heat from the fire was in- tense, driving onlookers back to the highway. Flames twisted and roared as sparks flew hundreds of fect in the snow-filled air. Sitting on the Channel front, the burn- ing house was visible for miles. The torch-like flames brought a mass of spectators who caused a (Continued on Page’3) The Washington Merry - Go- Round ¢Copy=tght, 1951, by Bell Syndicate, ‘Inc.) By DREW PEARSON (Ed. Note — Today, in Drew Pearson’s series of columns on corruption in government, he contrasts the problems of the little taxpayer with the wire-pui- ler.) SHINGTON. — Here are 2 few illustrations of how tax injus- tice operates under the present system whereby the wire-puliers settle their tax-fraud cases with- out going to jail, while the little fellows with no pull go to jail or suffer severe hardship. It's this kind of tax injustice that undermines democracy and in Europe has led to Communism., Ilustration No. 1—Is that of Francis J. Massey, a warehouse worker for a Washington depart- ment store who was charged by treasury agents with having re- ceived $150 in dividends from stock in ‘the Washington Gas Light Co. Massey was able to show, through an affidavit from the gas com- pany that he never owned the stock, that it was owned by his save | | corr { were ur es 4 he believed it was | ! the highest toll of deaths in a inglo fire in the history of Mexi- | Ei y-eigl who escaped from three-story building doorway, were | at the Miguel| | d | Ale | only fire escape was not only locked | | but boa i { for needy child- | s in full swing when its j | ed to terror at 11:15 o'clock | Saturds | There were | of how the fire started. Everyone agreed the flames spread with ter- | rible speed from near the location | of the Christmas tree. ! As panie 200 or 400 people in the third floor hall of the old Coliseum buildir three blocks from Tia Juana’s' gay Main Sireet, the lights went out.| “Then all was madness,” said Luis Alarid, 34, radio station announcer. | “A 1ot of people were trampled tc ! death before they were burned.” different accounts | i 1 —_— | ‘Moscow Sends Czech) \Up Ladder fo Job | As Vice Premier LONDON, Dec. 24—(®—One of | Moscow's trusted Czech adminis- | trators, Dr. Jaromir Dolansky, was {named a vice Premier today in a new reshuffle of Czechoslovakia’s | Communist government. Dolansky got the political hot- spot seat left vacant by the arrest last month of a once-trusted Kremlin henchman, red-haired Ru- dolph Slansky—now accused as aj traitor and awaiting trial. Prague radio . announced that Dolansky was sworn in this morn- ing with three others who moved Officials said their | the hills—u took hold among the ;' late father. However, the Internal|up the ladder in the Czechoslo- bean SavediBglrailr!'el For Himself Ralher Than Be Prisoner PANMUNJOM, Korea, Dec {#—Maj. Gen William F. Dean, lox missing commander o e U. S. Division, “told a Com: pondent he saved his Yast bullet to kill himself rather than be captu i t the Reds caught him 1 a ruse. correspondent, Wilfred Bur- 40, of the Paris newspaper , said he interviewed Dean wree days ago in a prison camp near Pyongyang, Korean Red cap- chett, Dean, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, was listed as missing 17 months before his name ap- red on the Communist war pris- 5 zave Lals account of hi | th Dean: dered for a month in hout fuod for 20 days. sick, he lost 60 pounds. Dean Injured an Dean was surrounded six times, but | cach time eluded the Reds. During those agonizing days, he saved and carefully polished his last | i2 pullets. Burchett quoted him: “I was absolutely determined never to become a prisoner of war, I was ined to kill 11 North Koreans. e 12th bullet was for me.” But near Chinan, some 30 miles from Taejon, Dean was sheltered nd fed by two Koreans. They be- trayed him when North Korean soldiers closed in. Dean drew his gun, but one of his “friends” grabbed his {arm before he could shoot. Alfied Soldiers in Korea Pray for Peace, Bul Fight By Associated Press Allied soldiers in Korea today prayed for peace but fought scat- tered skirmishes on the frosty Ko- rean battle front. There was plenty of Christmas spirit along the 145-mile front. United' Nations troops had relig- jous services, wrapped gifts for Ko- rean orphans, gathered around trees decorated with Lome-made baubles and opened packages from home. Francis Cardinal Speliman, arch- bishop of New York, celebrated his first wartime mass in Korea Revenue office demanded that he pay just the same. Though his sal- ary was only $28 a week and he had a wife and two small children to support, he proceeded to pay up at the rate of $2 a week to a total of $18.92. This, however, was not fast enough for the treasury, and a lien was slapped on his salary for the remaining $15.59. This got him into trouble with his employer who didn’t want to ‘be harboring a tax dodger and he was fired. He was unable to find full-time work, his youngest child became ill, the family doctor had not been (erml) rvakian Communist hierarchy. this morning with 600 soldiers, The Dolansky, a 56-year-old lawyer,,white-haired cardinal , dressed in {bécame secretary of the Commun- | |ist party in Cgechoslovakia in 1945 after spending most of World War II in Nezi concentration camps. He had batted just under Slansky in the Gzech Communist lineup until Slansky was ousted in dis- grace as a Trotskyite. Dolansky moved up quickly in the postwar organization. He "be- came vice president of the Nation- al Assembly in 1946 and finance minister in that same year. l He was named chairman of the| state planning office in 1949, a/ post he relinquished today to move up to the vice premier’s spot. army winter clothing, was on a flying tour of front line units. But, for many a soldier, the day before Christmas meant “business as' usual.” With the mercury around the freezing level, U. N. forces re- pulsed a series of small Commun- ist probing attacks early today. The heavlest action of the 24- hour period ending at midnight Sunday was a stiff two-hour fight between an Allied tank-infantry raiding party and Chinese Reds southwest of Chrowon in West- central Korea. The Allied armored column rum- bled akout 2,000 yards inte Red 119 Miners Are Killed InBlast | WEST FRANKFORT, Ill, Dec.24 ~—(M—One miner was rescued from a 56-hour entombment today after the nation’s worst mine tragedy in 23 years claimed 119 lives. Taken from the shaft 550 feet below the surface was Cecil San- ders, 44, of Benton, Ill. He w taken to the United Mine Workers Hospital in serious condition. Shortly after Sanders was brought to the surface, mine superintend- ent John R. Foster said: “There are five men down there alive. We believe that is all.” The discovery of the last of the 119 bodies followed rescue work that has been in progress day and night since the violent explosion |shattéred the Orient No. 2 mine |Friday night. | Farewell Note ‘ Morgue attendants reported one of the six kodies found early today still was warm. Found on the body |of B. R. Williams, about 40, of |West Frankfort, was this final | message scrawled on the inside of |a cigarette package and addressed |to his widow, Laura: | “I Ibve you all the way. I go to- I night with Christ. I love him too.” | All but five of the bodies have |been recovered from the deb littered shafts. One miner died las {night in a hospital of injuries re- ceived in the explosion. He was Ralph Kent of Marion, Il Sovere Disaster the worst mine “disaster sinee 1909 and the worst © 1928, The Cher- ofs on Nov. es. An un- | 1€ 'was inois the nation ¢ mine blast i 1809 claimed 259 1 derground explosion at Mather, Pa., in 1928, killed 195 miners. In 11€47, 111 miners were killed in a blast at Centralia, Il | The blast ripped through the tunnels at 5 pm. (EST) Fri- day. It occurred about two miles k from the shaft. And it shat- |tered timbers for three miles in n T in ry 12 3, { 12 mile area. Tiracle” of Survival | " | - |son, Paul, were waiting at the hos- | pital when the survivor was br {in. She talked briefly with her husband. ‘ Oh, my God, we've prayed and {pr land over. She Teferred repeatedly to the “miracle” of her husband’s | survival. | Grave concern over the blast | own in the flight here from Washington of Oscar Chapman | Secretary of the Interior, John L | Lewis, United Mine Workers p ident, and John Forbes, director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The three men went below the surface with rescue workers yes- terday for a brief personal inspec- !tion of the damaged sections. Chapman ordered a dozen feder- al mine inspectors to open an in- vestigation into the tragedy. FROM SITKA James Young and daughter from Sitka are stopping at the Gastin- eau Hotel. JUNEAU BOY PROMOTED Richard Dundas, son of Mr. 4 Mrs. Frank Dundas, of Jhneau, been appointed corporal of the Shat- tuck Corps of Cadets at Shattuck school, Faribault, Minn. || TIDE TABLES ||| I December 25 Low Tide 4:36 a.m. High Tide 10:49 a.m. 1 Low Tide 5:41 pn. -05 It 5.1 ft 2 f December 26 High Tide 12:07 am. 1.1 ! Low Tide High Tide 11:42 am. 1 Low Tide 6:32 pm. - ® & 0 0 0 o o o territory, looking for targets The Reds opened with a hail of small arms fire. When they added mortar .and artillery fire, the raiding par- ty withdrew. In the air, F-86 sabre jet {“MIG alley” throughout {without spotting a Comm: wept day ist jet. sprawling mine which covers af d for.this,” she muttered over; 5:34 am. 1 Ransom Is Demanded, 4 U. . Fliers By The Associated Press United States officials, from the President down, are puzzled by the ransom demand of Communist § Hungary for four fliers forced down in their unarmed cargo plane and convicted in a swift trial. They were accused of violating the Hun- garian Lu.der. The situation seems to be un- paralled in history. U. S. officials | beth in Washington and in Buda- pest moved cautiously, aware that the Hungarian move was one cal- culated to humiliate the United States before the world, and re- membering that premature specu- lation in the jailing of American businessman Rebert Vogeler by Bungary delayed his release from prison, g A military court, acting with as- 1 | | | | | ] | s wife and his 23-year-old | rirport, before leaving for Christ- tonishing speed, convicted the four fliers in Budapest yesterday of vio- lating the border with the intention of aiding spies and subversive ele- ments. The four were fined the equivalent of $30,000 each and the plane, a C-47, was ordered confis- cated. Only a week before, Soviet For- eign Minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky refe: to the four fliers in a speech of Laurence Olvier's “Caesar and in New York (12-19). Miss Maith! ago when she slashed her wrists theatre building. Holm. (® Wirephoto, First Nijh!ers [ 8 Americans Victims of Plane Crash TEHRAN, Iran, Dec. 24—{P—Ir- an's American colony was in mourn- ing today for Dr. Henry G. Bennett, 1 U. 8. Point Four program director, | and seven other Americans who per- | ished Saturday night in a plane | crash which claimed 21 lives, ° | The crash came when the big | four-engined plane, owned by Eg- | ¥pt's MISR Airlines, tried to gropg hrough a blinding snowstorm an vriled into the base of a 10,000~ | foot granite range north of Tehran. No one survived the disaster, worst |In Iran’s air history. | Among the victims was Bennett's Joyce Matthews, twice-divorced wife of comedian Milton Berle, is squired by theatrical producer Billy Rose as they attend the opening Cleopatra” at the Ziegfeld Theatre lews was in the news a few months in Rot’s apartment in the same Rose presently is separated from his wile Ecanor ng violated “Soviet Territory” and expressed the hope that they would be dealt with by “our” mili- ary and justice authorities, The fliers are Capt. John J. Bwift of Glen Falls, N. Y.; Capt. Dave H. Henderson of Shawnee, Okl Sgt. Jess' @ Duff of Spokane, Wi and Hgh. Yamedsh: Biek ob Wi tand, Ark. Their plane, off i ht from west Germ Eelgrade Yugoslavia, strayed across| he Hungarian border Nov. 19 and| was forced down by Soviet fighters. ! The news that the senteace fine—or three menths imprison- ment of (he fine was not paid—re- lieved relatives of the fliers. Thay had expecied worse. j unqualified for the job, Fred G. The U. S. legation in Budapest | Hanford, emained uncommunicative today on | said today. its plans to free the fliers. In Wa: Hanford’s statement came aftcr he read Apostol's charges in Sat- (Charges of | from his position as enforcement | rector for the Alaska district Office “I noted particularly,” Hanford r at home in Missouri, the Pre-| ald, “that Apostol’s statement, pub- sident was asked whether he pignned | !1hed in the Emplie, failed to men- any move today. He said “no.” | ton that he had been discha e | three day: before. I discharged h Inspedtion of | fore appear that his cha; S we ! based more on vindictiveness than act. They are, of course, untrue and ridiculous.” George N. Apostol was removed 1 of Price Stabilization because he was | territorial OPS dircc.(u',“ -fieel Workm Are Called fo ‘Meei Thursday | President Philip Murray of the CIO ted 1’s top policy makers into ses- sion here Thursday but declined to say the purpose of the meeting. The USW executive board will t at 10 am. (EST) followed by a session of the wage policy commit- !tee—the ratifying body—at 2 p.m. Ch suminons was the only public janswer to a nation awaiting his re- sponse to President Truman's appeal { to the union and the steel industry to continue production of vitally I needed steel past the midnight Dec- ember 81 strike deadline. The steel industry has accepted the President’s request but Murray has given no indication of his future lans. . | Since the 3§-man USW execulive | board makes all the union’s import- | ant decisions, steel sources immed- PITTSBURGH, Dea. 24— () — teciworkers today called his | Is Rejeded | last Wednesday and it would ther Prison Camps By GEORGE A. McARTHUR MUNSAN, Korea, Dec. 24—P— The Communist high command to- day rejected Gen. Matthew B.Ridg- way’s appeal to permit Red Cross inspection of North Korean prison camps. The Peiping radio said North Kcrean Premier Kim Iy Sung and Chinese General Peng Teh-Huai told the United Nations supreme commander that inspections were unnecessary because of the “hu- manitarianism” shown allied pri- soners in Red Camps. The Communist broadcast the text | Apostol was hired by Hanford injately speculated that Murray might October and approved by the OPS |y, calling the group together to regional office in Washington, as| consider one of the following posid- are all positions of this grade. | lities: > “When it became apparent that! 3 Extend the union contracts with Apostol was not the man for the jnqustry so that the men in the job, I reluctantly discharged him | mils will continue producing steel last Wednesday,” Hanford said. “I ,fter Dec. 31 while the Wage Stab- have notified the Washington office ' jjization Board studies the contro- and they are in full accord with my | yeysy and prepares a recommended action.” { solution, Hanford added that Apostol was| 2 Give Murray the union leaders' advised several weeks ago that Lis|oyjdance whether he should stand handling of the position was unsat- ijym on his “no contract, no work” isfactory. policy. | 3. Consider some possible undis- closed solution which could conceiv- Cutter Storis Pinch Hits for Sanfa Claus | ably have been worked out in meet- The U. 8.° Coast Guard cutter | ings between the government, in- Storis, pinch hitted over the week- | | dustry and union. There was absolutely no elabora- end for the jolly old gentleman who | tion from any union source on Mur- ray’s announcement of the Thursday meetings. Murray himself declined | o talk to reporters. Monday to UN truce negotiators at|gifts on his back this time of year. Panmunjom. Regular transportation has been un- The Red commanders declared|able to operate due to bad weather that early agreement on an armistice will permit all prisoners to return"here the Storis was dispatched with quickly to their homes. {6,000 pounds of mail for Skagway They added: jand Haines, She left at 2 o'clock yesterday morning and returned a “Several important questions in |19 o'clock last night after deliveri the armistice negotiations are now of a letter to Ridgway delivered!travels around with a big sack of| At the request of the Post Office the mail; picking up Mrs. Daisy W.| REGULAR HOURS AT il’OST OFFICE TODAY Refular hours will prevail at the postoffice today and Juneauites | were urged to pick up accumylated Christmas mail. ! No windows will be open Christ- mas day. on the point of being settled. The only thing holding up agreement. . . Js your side’s continuous and e o 0o 00 0.9 0 0 WEATHER REPORT (U. 5. WEATHER BUREAU) Phillips, a stretcher casc at Haines; | and stopping at lighthouse stations on the return trip. - persistent sidetracking and unrea- sonable demands which are creat- ed to delay the negotiations.” A strongly hopeful note was sounded at Panmunjom Monday by | North Korean Maj. Gen. Lee San Jo. After listening to Rear Adm. R. E. Libby ask again whether the Reds would permit an immediate exchange of sick and wounded pri- soners, Lee declared: “We hope we are trying to reach an agreement before the 27thH of | December. Of course we will give pri- | the 27 is not far off, we don’t know ority to the sick and wounded. As [ A ST SHOPPING DAY i L TO CHRISTMAS why there is such a hurry.” Temperatures for 24-Tcar Period Ending st 4:30 AM. Today At Airport— Maximum, 32; Minimum, 26. FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Fair and cold tonight and Tuesday. Low temperature to- night 15 degrees in Juneau and a slow as zero in outlying areas. High Tuesday around 20 de- grees.. PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m. today At Airport — .11 inches; o since July—20.41 inches. ® o 00 0 00 0 00 | wife, who had accompanied him to Tehran for an officlal five-day visit | in connection the Point Four program of tec aid to under- developed countries. et In Washingten, President Tru- man paid tribute to Bennett.as a “great teacher of the simple ideas of cooperaticn and brotherhood.” Mr, Truman spoke of another of the victims, Benjamin H. Hardy,. chief public affairs officer of the program, as one of the creators of the idea of helping underdevelop- ed areas. Other Americans aboard the plane were James T. Mitchell, audio-visual specialist; A. C. Crilley, special assistant; Louls dal, University of Michig anist kwh to have desgat. (Address unknown). | The other vietims were six Iran- |lans, and five Egyptian crewmen. ‘Bodies of Ten ‘Recovered from ‘Burning Ship | ASTORIA, Ore., Dec. 24—(P—The kodies of 10 persons, missing since Thursday when fire flashed |through the Danish ship Erria, | were recovered yesterday. The lifeless body oi Elizabeth Brunlecs, 6, was -still seated on the lap of her dead mother. Five other kodies were found seated in lounge chairs. Another was sprawled on the floor. Ccroner Raymond O. Luce said all apparently died of suffocation and that death had come quickly. The todies found in the lounge were identified as those of Mrs. C. M. Taylor; C. G. Scott and Dor- othy Myers, all of Vanccuver, B. Mr .and Mrs. Holst Andersen and Mrs. A. Sorenson, Copenhagen, and Mrs. Brunlees and her daughter. Two other bodies were found on the floor of a companionway. They were those of Thorn Andersen and Lilly Haase, both of Copenhagen, laundresses on the ship. A. 8. Iversen, Copenhagen, a steward, still is missing. Luce said his body probably was on a lower, deck where fire still is raging. The ships crew reported that the fire started early Thursday morn- ing from sparks from a shorted cable. It spread rapidly, trapping the eight passengers and three crew members. ‘ The remaining 103 aboard—23 .a:sengers and 80 crew members— were saved. Among the gurvivors are Angus Brunlees of Whitehorse, Y. T.—whose wife and daughter were found in the lounge—and his 11 year old son, Williams. CITY CLERK'S OFFICE CLOSED WEDNESDAY AM. City Clerk C. L. Popejoy announ- ced today that his office would be closed the Wednesday morning, but would be open for business between. 1 and 430 o'clock in the afternoon, Denali i¢heduled to arrive from Seattle at 6 p.m. today westbound. Baranof scheduled to sail from Seattle Friday. Freighter Yukon Princess sched- uled to arrive from Vancouver on