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FARTHEST WEST NEWSPAPER IN THE 50 STATES" 64th Year No. 99 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 1963 Per Copy 150 Two Small Boys Cause Ferry Taku to Crash Full Speed Into Dock PETERSBURG l/P> — Two small boys aboard the Alaska ferry Taku were blamed today for an accident which wrecked landing facilities here Saturday night. Merlin Needles, port captain for the state ferry system, said the boys darted into the wheelhouse, slammed the controls ahead and ran. The Taku, tied up with engines idling, was about to cast off when the controls were tampered with. She surged forward, twisting and breaking two 75-foot steel coun terbalance towers and dropping the 180-foot ramp into the water. James Cole, whose company built the landing ramp and towers, estimated repairs would take about 2Vz months at an undetermined cost. Needles said damage to the Taku was comparatively minor and probably would not exceed $4,000. There were no injuries. Rescue Workers Find Three Miners Alive, Trapped Since Tuesday HAZELTON, Pa. tft — Rescue workers lowered soup, medical supplies, head lamps and a re quested cigar today to three coal miners trapped since Tuesday near the bottom of a 400-foot shaft. “We’re all okay,” shouted David Fellin, 58, one of the trio, after a six-inch drill broke through into the gangway where the men fled after the main shaft walls collap sed. Contact was made just before midnight Sunday after they vir tually had been given up for dead. The next step is to bore a 28 inch hole to bring the men out. It took 22 hours to drill the six-inch shaft. The mine is in the heartland of the anthracite coal mining area. Underground, as one expert has put it, the land is like a piece of Swiss cheese —honeycombed with cal shafts. Pilot Bob Jacobs Missing On Flight To Betties FAIRBANKS UP — An Anchor age pilot and a Fairbanks hunter today were the objects of two sep arate searches by the Civil Air Patrol. The pilot, identified as Bob Jac obs, was reported missing on Fri day flight in a Cessna 180 from Betties to Tanana. He was reported to have flown to Betties from Umiat on the Brooks Range’s north slope. The hunter was identified as Wayne Mahanney. He was report ed missing Sunday near 88 mile on the Steese Highway. Jacobs operates a flying ser vice in Anchorage it was reported. Z. J. Loussac Suffers Mild Stroke In Seattle SEATTLE UP — Z. J. Loussac, 81, former mayor of Anchorage, was reported improved today after suffering a stroke at his home here l^ast Friday. Loussac’s doctor described the stroke as mild. He reported it af fected Loussac’s right side, includ ing his arm, leg and face. Loussac is a financier and phil anthropist. The library in Anchor age is named for him. In recent years Loussac has lived in Seattle but retained busi ness interests in Anchorage and spent considerable time there. Meredith Is First Negro To Graduate From Ole Miss In 115 Years OXFORD, Miss. </P — The white people stared stiffly ahead, with out expression. The few negroes in the audience watched somberly in small, self-conscious groups. Except for a few glances, nei ther group seemed to look at the other. Together, under the tall oaks, they sat in awkward silence and watched what neither had ever seen before. James Howard Meredith, a slight man of 30, became the first negro to graduate from the Uni versity of Mississippi in its 115 year history. Without incident, he received what some are calling the $5 million diploma, that being the estimated cost of the soldiers and U.S. marshals it took to get and keep Meredith at Ole Miss. The scene Sunday bore no re semblance to the night he entered, last Sept. 30, in an explosion of violence and death. Few people at the graduation were aware of the 16 marshals standing inconspic uously on the fringes of the crowd. Moses Meredith, a tall, sol emn man whose father was a slave, said of his son’s graduation, “I'm proud to see a man get an edu cation. That’s all he ever asked for.” n-imosi to uie ena, lviereaun s graduation was resisted by Gov. Ross Barnett of Mississippi, who led the original resistance and was cited for contempt for defiance of a federal court order. Barnett, a few days ago, was trying to have the negro expelled from Ole Miss for violating a university order against “inflammatory” state ments. The attempt failed. On Sunday, James Meredith, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the Uni versitp of Mississippi, became a fellow alumnus of Barnett. Two Air Force Bombers Collide Over Iowa IRWIN, Iowa ^ — Two Air Force B-47 medium jet bombers collided in the air over this west ern Iowa farming community to day and plunged to the ground in flames. A spokesman at a nearby hos pital said two crewmen were dead on arrival, and four others had been admitted for treatment. Strategic Air Command head quarters said the bombers each carried a crew of three, the nor mal complement. Witnesses said up to six para chutes were sighted seconds after the bombers met above a cloud formation. First reports indicated the wreckage fell in fields and wooded areas, and not on any occupied dwellings. Parents of Boys Assessed $500 JUNEAU l/P — The parents of two boys who admitted throwing the engines full speed ahead while the ferry Taku was docked in Petersburg Saturday night causing considerable damage to the dock were assessed $500 for each of the boys in magistrate’s court here this morning. The boys, 10 and 15, admitted to state police they were responsible for the act. Being minors their names were not released. State police said how ever, they were traveling with their parents who are from San Diego, California. The $500 assessment is the max imum allowable under Alaska law. Bear Kills Anchorage Man Mining Near Manley Hot Springs FAIRBANKS tP — A prominent Anchorage resident was killed by a bear Friday at his mine near Manley Hot Springs, about 160 miles west of here, state police learned Sunday night. Dead is William (Bill) Strand berg, about 55, a member of a pioneer Alaskan mining family and a former president of Greater Anchorage, Inc. Strandberg is the third man to be attacked by bears in this area in as many weeks. He is the first fatality. First reports of the incident, radioed to state police here by Gus Benson, deputy magistrate at Man ley, indicates Strandberg was at tacked by a bear while moving mining equipment in the Eureka Creek area. Strandberg was working at the mine with his brother, Harold, who is a state representative from Anchorage and chairman of the House Finance Committee. The Strandberg brothers oper ated Strandberg Mines, Inc., at Manley Hot Springs. William Strandberg was born at Flat, now an Alaskan ghost town. Capt. Merkley Retires Again From Alaska State Ferry System KETCHIKAN UP — Capt. Mait land M. Merkley bowed out of the Alaska ferry system today and will resume the retirement he left to help launch the Alaska Marine Highway System last January. Merkley turned command of the Matanuska over to Capt. Andy Hansen of Seattle last night after tieing up the newest vessel of the fleet. He plans a short vacation in eastern Oregon to compensate for the many weeks he worked on the ferries without relief. Merkley said he told Director Greg Mangan of the Division of Marine Transportation that he would be on call “to help if you get stuck but I sure hope you don’t.” The veteran mariner has about 50 years at sea behind him. He stepped out of retirement and had what he called the privilege of bringing all three vessels of the system to Alaska. | Russian Trawler Makes Repairs In U.S. Port PROVINCETOWN, Mass. UFI —A Russian fishing trawler and a sea going tug took refuge in the calm waters of Provincetown harbor yesterday to make repairs to the luge fishing boat. The Coast Guard said the fish ing boat broke a propellor blade and sought calmer water while the screw was replaced. The tug, with its own divers, nade the repairs. No one came ashore, according to port author ities. A large fleet of Russian craft have been fishing of Cape Cod for several days. Richard Barthelmess, Silent Movie Star, Dies at Age of 68 SOUTHAMPTON, N. Y. Ut) — Richard Barthelmess, 68, matinee idol of the silent screen era, died Saturday in his summer home at this Long Island resort. Death was attributed to natural causes. He had been ill for some time. Some of his best known motion pictures were “Broken Blossoms,” 'Way Down East,” “Tol’able Da vid” and '‘Patent Leather Kid.” Police Have 15 Sets Of Fingerprints In Great Train Robbery LONDON W) — Scotland Yard experts, studying 15 sets of finger prints found at the farm hideout used by the great train robbery gang 10 days ago, hoped today that the prints would identify more of the men who got away with S7.28 million. The prints were found in build ings at isolated Leatherslade Farm at Oakley, the gang’s hideout 18 miles from where the Glasgow London mail train was held up. Police hoped they would match prints in the Yard’s criminal rec ords. Other possible clues included: a Monopoly set, a card game usually played with stage money but be lieved used by gang members play ing with their banknote loot while they waited in their hideout to make their getaway. —A house in a respectable dis trict of London where, detectives were told, 12 men began holding night meetings behind darkened windows last March. --Five men sought for question ing because they have been ab sent from their homes since the robbery. —A trail at nve - pouna bank notes in St. Helier, Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. —A suitcase and a briefcase found stuffed with $282,520 in a Surrey wood last Friday. —A second - hand black Austin Healy sports car, found in a park ing lot where it had been left by a drapper man and a plump pock marked woman. The couple bought the car for $2,338—all in five-pound notes — the day after the robbery. $10 Million Libel Suit Goes To Jury Today ATLANTA LP — Attorneys con cluded arguments today in Wally Butts’ S10 million federal court libel suit against the Saturday Evening Post which stemmed from a football game fix article last March. William Schroder, counsel for the former University of Georgia coach and athletic director, told the jurors the Post had set out on a muck - raking policy two years ago and a verdict for millions should be handed down for his client. Post attorney Welborn Cody said if the jurors believe that Butts, ihrough a telephone call to Ala bama coach Paul Bryant before lie 1962 Georgia-Alabama game, tad tampered with it, they should dismiss the suit. “If there was tampering with :he game in advance then the de fendant company has proved a :‘ix,” Cody said. Asking a $10 million judgment, Schroder said: “If you let them aut for $5 million or less I may be next on their list or you may be next. They don't care about Butts and they don’t care about you and me. Somebody has got to stop them.” PRESIDENT AUTHORIZES PAN AM TURN JUNEAU ROUTE OVER TO WIEN Sen. Pearse Walsh received a phone call from Sen. Bob Bartlett in Washington, D.C., this morning stating that President Kennedy has signed the certificate which transfex-s the Juneau - Fairbanks route of Pan American to Wien Airlines. He stated that this will be returned to the Civil Aeronau tics Board for finalizing. Cen. Power of SAC [Opposes Trej | Ratification WASHINGTON UP — Gen. Tho mas S. Power, chief of the Strate gic Air Command, Monday op posed ratification of the limited nuclear test ban treaty. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay. Air Force Chief of Staff, supported ratifica tion but said that if the treaty were still in the proposal stage, “I think I would recommend against it.” Other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff supported ratifica tion in public testimony with Le May to the Senate Foreign Rela tions Committee. Power, who is under LeMay and responsible for delivery of nuclear warheads by missiles and heavy jet bombers, told a closed session of the Senate Preparedness sub committee that the treaty “is not in the best interest of the United States.” ity ben. John Stennis, chairman of the subcommittee told newsmen Power testified “he had less con fidence than others that the United States can or would maintain its present undisputed superiority in nuclear power if it ratified the treaty.” “Gen. Power believed this is the only present deterrent to war,” Stennis added. All of the military men made clear, however, that their support for ratification of the treaty was conditioned on the safeguards that Gen. Maxwell Taylor, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had out lined in testimony last week. The support of the treaty, be fore a joint public hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Atomic Energy com mittees, is conditioned on compre hensive, aggressive and continuing underground weapons testing per mitted under the treaty. In addition, they said it is based on maintenance of modern nuclear laboratory facilities and programs, a state of readiness to resume at mospheric testing, and improved facilities for detecting any viola tion of the treaty and maintain ing knowledge of Sino-Soviet nuc lear activity, capabilities and ach ievements. As the hearings moved into their second week, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield said he ex pects the Senate to ratify the treaty “with a few extra votes.” Ratification requires a favorable vote of at least two-thirds—66 if the 99 senators are present. There is one vacancy since the death of Sen. Estes Kefauver. Leaders have predicted about a week of Senate debate after the hearings end. A vote is expected soon after Labor Day. Propose Ban on Antibiotics In Cold Cure Remedies WASHINGTON uR — The Food and Drug administration is pro posing a ban on prescription cold cure remedies containing anti biotics. It says a special medical panel has concluded there is no evidence that antibiotics have any value in treating the common cold or its side effects. The proposed ban could become effective in mid-September, after expiration of a 30-day period the FDA announced Saturday for re ceiving comments on the proposal. WEATHER FORECAST Continued cloudy with occasion al light drizzle. Little change in temperature.