davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Valley settler. (Palmer, Alaska) 1937-195?, 1947-07-03

CAll RgaUSSEN attond- = .l
Convention in Anchorage this uook.
nApPEL HURST wife and tro snail children
LEFT for the states Saturday. They arc
driving over tho highway by truck. They
have boon living on the farm Owned by Mrs.
oil.
lR AID MRS. ED-ARD B0-ENs report tho ar
rival Of daughter born in the Providence
Eoapital. This is tho second child and
only dauChtor.
II. DE-. TUCKER depot agent in the absence
CT c. L. Nelson, is in tho Providence
hosnital With pneumonia.
7Rs. gEL reports that she saw Lloyd OF sen
in anchorage Tuesday. 10 sent regards to
everyone and said he would DO in the Va11o,
on tho 18th. Ho is on his way to Mono
i til tho Pan-Pacific tour.
The Valley settler. (Palmer, Alaska) 1937-195?, 1947-07-03
July s. i94s

felt that tho, cont fnuanco Of ront controls
as contr ibut ing to lack Of ranta1s il
20 city. A policy Of lowering already
oo-lou rontals on tho part Of the Of
ice Of Rent Control forcos owners to aoal
rather than rent their property, tho
roa1tor said.
,-oanuhilQ Wal ter Walsh, rent director FOR
tlo territory undor tho fodora1 govern
reht, who was hero from Junoan, said thcro
were as many increases in rentals as do
croasos ordered since tho first OF tho
yoar.
Local hotels, mich recently wcro freed
from control, have increased rates,
making it difficult for transionts to
stay in town long without securing o1-
plopnont. gouovor, indie at ions arc, that
between 900 and 800 snail homos will
DO con st ructcd in Anchorage during the
next year. Tho banks, mich unit il rocontl
granted up to 50 por cont on loans Oh CID
homes, nor arc refusing such loans oocaus
nor 2ui1d1ng will reduce tho Value o. oldG
homes.
444asEas%*|*sks &ss::,S%'kss@:
VALDEZ ORPHANS ARE l-oV30 nrnD
Movement Of ~orkors and children OF the
Il Nathan Chi1dron's Homo at Valdez which
zas destroyed by fire during tho past win
tor to nov branch homo in tho interior
has started.
Tork vas bugun last summon on 6Q-acro
tract about four miles from Palmor, and
tho fire mado it necessary to set up ton
porary housing thoro unit il permanent
building can be erected. Six quonsot huts
nhavo boon loaned rh1ch Will house about
50 children and six or Q cht ronkors.
*#4<;sSss* E<.:*|s'k,;*%
GRAHAM BELL, who is employed by the Road
Commission is homo for the holidays.
hrs. DOROTHY FELL has boon busy out on
hor ranch cleaning house and hooing
potatoes.
According to reports from the states,
sugar is no longer rationod.
Three worry deaf Gontl onon were seated
on park bonch as tho Following con-
vorsation uas overheard:
The frontiersman. [volume] (Seldovia, Alaska) 1946-19??, 1947-03-22

FROM UHA1 HEAR
It's been interesting to learn that even
though the Fed eral government has been extra
nice to Alaska in the matter Of assistance
in airport building (75% Of the funds can be
secured from the government by Alaskan CT
until an act in the territorial legislature
permits them to.
For that reason, anchorage, Fairbanks and
& dozen smaller cities, including seloovia,
are Watching vi tn interest the progress Of
Senate Bill 48. That bill entities them to
eat the cake the government has put on the
table before them. It's said that very bill
mi ght become !, political football before the
session is over.
AS nj ght have been expected, the closed
shop refer endum proposed for the next gen.
eral election, responsible for. lot Of
family surprising thing about the measure
was that after terrific expenditur Of
words it passed the Senate wi tn only three
dissenting votes.
Kodiak appears to be going twentieth
fury. The territory's first dial telephone
system is to b inst4l1ed in that city this
spring, it is report7d. 1t won't be more
than a year or two moro, probably. before
1t Nenan5 go out through our televi ion sets
and our check for the winnings Will be DELI
Vered 1t the door couple Of hours later by
pilot-less hello opter.
There is still no water in Homer, in the
conventional spota ike water taps, that is.
Horer~i ties will 7r2ember this winter for
many year to core, but they still seem to
like it, even after winter Of carrying wa
Evening star., 1947-04-18
Spring in Toll Hedge

GreeninD pastel nosD touches every ttDs0
That seemed as iron .ohen hammered
by the cold:
And through the living treilss, gladdened
epes
See bright sky. blus-JustroNs Jold on
fold.
Woven patterns OF color take the breath
As gay tcfpos through the hedgerotD
dart,
While from the topp,ost sprig gold
song ponrs
Surpdssing song In any poefs heart.
It sings to the nearby feld OF emerald
tCheat,
And sings Of snppers plump broUn
Loaf, and eyes
Shining nboue the little folded hands
Somewhere beneath the curpe OF for.
ei0n skies.
ROSE MYRA PHILLIPS.
Evening star., 1947-04-18

Executives Of numerous departments
have been surprised to find Capitol Hill
examiners going over their operations.
And pay dirt is being struck, Republi-
cans claim.
Old hands on Capitol Hill have
learned to know what to watch for in
appropriation bills. Once the budget
requests are In, series of hearings is
scheduled before the subcommittee.
These sessions-closed door occasions on
the House side-may occupy several
weeks on each bill. The deficiency hear
ings lasted nearly month. Nearly 200
witnesses were examined. Printed testi-
million words. This was one of the
smaller subjects.
Some hearings run much longer, into
two or three volumes.
Diverse Subjects.
Subjects covered in the deficiency
hearings ranged all the way from $780,
100000 for European and other Nations
relief to minute item of $685. for a
minor division of the District govern
ment-from testimony by former Presi-
dent Hoover, who surveyed European
food crises, to that of minor municipal
employees.
There were pages and pages of fine
print figures. One wonders how any
committee, even IN month of study,
could ,surmount such widely divergent
and mountainous data.
Once a subcommittee concludes hear
ings, it goes into executive session to
mark up the bill. Arbitrary judg-
ments, of course, are involved. Then
comes a meeting Of the full Appropria-
tions Committee, which must okay
measure before 1t is sent to the House.
In that private session, it is reported,
the subcommittee chairman takes the
floor to outline what he has done and
why. Protracted debate sometimes en-
sues. Occasionally, major change is
made there. Other changes occasional
ly are ordered subsequently by the
House.
The bill then goes to the Senate,
where the process generally is repeated.
Once passed by the Senate-almost
always more liberal than the House
the battered bill now is referred to a
House-Senate conference committee.
Compromises are the only way out
of major issues, and this situation in
spires "horse-trading" maneuvers which
nave peen anticipated Dy tne wise ones
In both House and Senate
Under the two party system, politics
in budget making is as inevitable as a
dandslion on your front lawn.
For instance, when Mr.. Keefe was
hard put to explain some things about
the Labor Security bill, youthful, world
travelled Representative Gore, Tennessee
Democrat, waxed eloquent about earlier
Republican prophesies of budget and
tax cuts, saying: ''The easy saddle of
pleasant vaticination has become the
hard seat of responsibility
And lively Representative Rooney,
Democrat, of New York jingled:
"Oh, in talk he's wonder, but oh,
how small are the gains.
"oh, how loud is his thunder, but, oh,
how little it rains"
Evening star., 1947-04-18

Another Property Owner Speaks
To the Editor of The Star:
am afraid Constant Reader of The
Star" has missed a few things which
have been printed in The Star.
In the first place, there was an effort
made to raise rent 10 per cent. Presi-
dent Truman very decidedly said: NO"
1t was then left to the Senate to plan
what to do about rent. There is no use
to pass bill to increase rent for the
President to veto. AS far as the land
lords in the District of Columbia are
concerned, the ones in the several States
are having it just as hard.
live $50 miles from Washington. My
husband died in 1929, leaving 17-room
house, which I made into four apart
ments and furnished them. Higher
taxes, 81 increase in the price of coal,
advanced prices of material and labor
made the upkeep of the house $500 last
year. with very small net income
Every business should pay it's own
losses and leave a fair profit for the
owner. Real estate is no exception.
7 can understand that it would not
do to remove rent control. Landlords
certainly are sore about every other
class of people having raises in income,
while we have to furnish them a place
to live at prewar prices, the same rents
we received in 1912.
If rent control were removed, the
streets would be full of people looking
for places to live.
I think we should have a small in
crease in rent, and thereby even things
up. A LANDLADY.
Evening star., 1947-04-18

An open letter to Henry Wallace:
Dear Mr.. Wallace:
You. are being pretty we'll panned
here, but I am writing with serious,
and I think constructive, suggestion.
I see you are going to Sweden. While
there, you might inquire whether any
thing has been heard officially about
Raoul Wallenberg. Until April /, I
believe, nothing had. Your reputation
as the champion of the common man
and the four freedoms. together with
the confidence you deservedly enjoy
from the Soviet Union, may enable you
to accomplish on your trip something
for the ends you desire.
You might even think it worthwhile
to cancel any projected appointment
with Johannes Steel in order to attend
to this matter. Without referring to
his past, spent in the services of German
armament traffic after the last war, he
is writing articles in the French Com
munist press attacking American policy
and the American press. AS an avowed
anti-C Communist, YOU ought not to cul-
tivate such acquaintances.
The Wallenberg affair may seem
small, but you would not call it insig-
nificant
You must recall that in the spring of
1914 President Roosevelt issued a pow
erful appeal to the Hungarian people to
protect the Hungarian Jews and those
who had fed there. and that the War
Refuge Board raised funds for a rescue
mission. Action, extremely hazardous.
had to be disguised under the colors
of neutral country. But an intrepid
man was found, in the person of Raoul
Wallenberg connected with the Swedish
Legation in Budapest.
His actions are recorded in book by
Rudolph Philip which you can obtain
in Sweden. Wallenberg managed-by
pleas. bribes, threats. intrigues, and by
his influence on the amorous wife of a
Na1 minister-to save 100. 900 Jews. He
issued papers of protective Swedish citi-
zenship to several thousands. He organ
lied rescue missions in all neutral lega-
tions. He snatched victims from the
Gestapo, even at the railroad stations
Evening star., 1947-04-18
The Texas Disaster

1t is an ironic circumstance that
a sword-into-plowshare operation,
involving the conversion of war
explosives into agricultural fertilizer,
should have led to the frightful
catastrophe in Texas City, Texas.
According to press reports, the first
of the disastrous series of explosions
in the harbor and ashore was that
of a French ship loaded with am
monium nitrate, one Of the principal
components of munitions as we'll as
synthetic fertilizers.
Chemists say that strictly pure
ammonium nitrate is a safe enough
product, If properly handled. II it
should become contaminated with
certain organic products, however,
or If subjected to intense heat in
confined space, it can explode with
terrific force. That was proved in
tragic form back in 1926, when the
City of Oppau, Germany, was vir-
tually wiped out by an ammonium
nitrate blast, caused by contamina-
tion of the ordinarily harmless
chemical.
The nitrate aboard the Inflated
French freighter Grandcamp had
come from Government plant
that, during the war, made explo-
sives for bombs and shells. Since
the war large quantities of nitrate
manufactured for war purposes have
been decontaminated for fertilizer
use. 1t was some of this decon-
taminated nitrate that blew up in
Texas City Harbor, setting of fires
and explosions that have run the
toll OF dead and injured into the
thousands. The disaster is remi-
niscent of the explosion of q NUM-
tions ship in Halifax Harbor on
December 6, 1917, when $500 persons
lost their lives and 1000 were seri-
ously injured.
The Texas tragedy raises the
question of whether sufficient at
tention has been given to precau-
tionary measures in the processing
Evening star., 1947-04-18
On the Record
By Dorothy Thom bson

where they were being deported. Seldom
in the course of human history has so
much been accomplished by one man.
In Budapest, street was named for him
and memorial monument begun.
The Nazis knew who was foiling their
plans. But he escaped and lived to well
come the 'liberating" Russian armies,
who took him and his property under
protection Since then not one word
has reached official channels about him,
but returning prisoners have reported
him prisoner at forced labor in the
| U. S. S. r.
Since official channels have failed,
your personal intervention with the Rus
sian government might succeed. Sweden
small, and so near Soviet frontiers
finds it hard to do more for her citizens,
especially since the new-type, jet-pro-
PEELED, radio-directed robot bombs were
tried out over her territory from the
German station at Peenemunde, now in
Russian hands. With your passion for
peace, you might-at the same time-ob-
tain permission to visit this station and
set international fears at rest.
But If that Is too difficult, you can
surely obtain news of and justice for a
man who responded to- plea from
President Roosevelt, in whose name and
for whose policies you claim to speak.
For you are citizen of powerful ma
ton and of lone world" The u. s. S. r. is
greatly indebted to you. I am sure that
on issues that must command your
humanitarian sympathies and sense Of
honor you will not prove less intrepid in
facing the leaders of the Soviets than in
facing the President Of the United
States.
Wishing you we'll in this endeavor.
Sincerely yours,
DOROTHY THOMPSON.
tReleased by The Bell Syndicate. Inc.1
Evening star., 1947-04-18
UntimeIy Row

The Red hating" charges made
against some of our Embassy officials
in Moscow by Almond D. Willis
should be accepted with considerable
reservation until he supports them
with more evidence than has ap-
peared in the news dispatches.
Nevertheless, the accusations, espe-
cially coming at this time, can hardly
be brushed off by the State De-
partment.
Mr.. Willis has been the depart
ment'S cultural officer in Moscow,
and his relationship with the EN-
bassy there obviously has not been
a happy one. From reading his
statement one gets the impression
that Ambassador Smith is a rather
naive soul and has permitted him
self to become surrounded with
career Russian haters" who have
built their regulations on hating the
Russians and who work overtime at
their trade. Mr.. Willis adds that
these men, none of whom are named,
control the official channels of COM
munication and choke off all in
formation that might be even
slightly favorable to the Soviets
They won't let anything out of here
(Moscow) that would let anybody
think we can get along with the
Russians" Mr.. Willis declares.
These charges are implausible on
their face and they are not strength
ened by Mr.. Willis failure to docu-
ment them. On the other hand, the
replies which have been made to
them are hardly more impressive.
Describing the Willis statement as
complete eyewash," an Embassy
official said: Willis was not on to
the political situation here. He was
off the political beam and was writ
ing letters high, wide and handsome
which expressed political opinions
Somebody who had political sense
had to look them over to avoid en-
barraSSing the Embassy"
1t will be a mistake if the State
Department. attempts to let the
matter die with this unsatisfactory
exchange. Mr.. Willis, who is re-
turning here, should be called upon
to substantiate his charges with
facts, not mere expressions of opin-
ion. If he cannot do so that will
end the matter. But If he has any
real evidence which supports, even
in part, his seemingly extravagant
accusations, the department had
better clean house in our Moscow
Embassy.
Evening star., 1947-04-18
The Russian Question

To the Editor OF The Star.
am neither Communist nor the
son Of Communist but believe your
editorial of April 3, THE Russian
Question" requires certain amplifica-
tions in the interest of justice
Distorting facts to amuse, cajole or
dramatic is not Russian monopoly.
1.-The Iceman Cometh" hardly typif1es
the Russian revolutionist in the por-
trayal of Hugo Kalmar, but isn't that
the impression received by the public?
1t is also questionable if Greta Carlo,
in celebrated movie several years ago,
gave an accurate portrait of a Russian
girl
Certainly the way American plays and
movies show American life doesn't COM
mend their Iruthfulness in expound-
ing the Russian people or the doctrine
Of communism.
There can be no disputing the state
ment that we are not understood by
the great mass of the Russian people
but equally true the Russian people
are not understood by the great mass
Of Americans.
Probably the mass of American peo-
pie better understand the Communists,
who are small majority of the total
q. S. A. population.
JAMES N. ESKES.
Evening star., 1947-04-18
A No Smoking Budget

The new budget announced by
Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, corresponding to our Secre-
tary of the Treasury, is being greeted
with mixed emotions by the British
public. In many items it presents
a bitter dose of accentuated "auster-
ity" The most vigorous protests are
those aroused by the so per cent
rise in the already heavy excise tax
on tobacco. Concretely, this boosts
the price of an ordinary packet of
20 cigarettes from At to 81 cents
This means that a working man
earning around $40 per week (not
an uncommon figure in Britain
would spend nearly one-fourth of
1t on cigarettes if he smoked only
one pack per day. That is the reason
for the current London witticism
which dubs Mr.. Dalton's handiwork
a "'No smoking budget"
However, there is method in the
Chancellors severity toward the
soothing weed 1t is part and parcel
of the British governments en-
deavor to cut to minimum imports
which must be paid for in dollars.
Most of Britain'S tobacco imports
come from the United States, and
.Britain'S chief fiscal problem is how
to stretch out the credits granted by
the United States and Canada. To-
bacco is. in sense, a luxury. no
matter how s. ere may be the effects
upon popular morale that might re-
suit from its elimination. On the
other hand, imports of foodstuffs,
raw materials, and certain types of
machinery and machine tools are
absolutely vital to Britain's economic
life. AS Mr.. Dalton himself explained
it, the higher tobacco duty was put
on mot to raise revenue, but to save
dollars"
This is another way of saying that
the toughest aspect of Britain's
financial problem lies outside rather
than inside the British Isles. Domes-
tically, the situation seems to be
under control; because the Chancel-
lor announced proudly that, for the
first time in decade, the budget
balances, meaning that overall ex-
penditures are covered by revenue
This balance is, of course, achieved
by the continuance of the most
drastic taxation. Income taxes
though slightly alleviated, remain
far higher than with us. Business
taxation continues to cripple enter
prise. As for tariffs and excise taxes
they are such as to make luxuries OF
necessities, while former luxuries are
Evening star., 1947-04-18

do not let any one kid you about it.
1t is just one damnable job to get rid
of these barnacles when they are on
the old ship of state. You are going
to be pretty unpopular guy If you
head the job and WELD the AK"
Representative Keefe, Republican,, of
leagues As chairman of one of the
Tending off attacks against the cuts his
group had made in funds requested for
the Labor Department and the Federal
Security Agency.
In effect, however, he was broadly
describing the plight Of Republican con-
gressional budgeteers. Wanting desper-
ately to carry out the economy man.
date" of last November's elections. they
are finding the going tough.
Basically, there is nothing new in
this. Make a slash here, congressional
groups find, and suddenly you discover
those "barnacles" are not bad barnacles
at all, but are good barnacles. Cut
there, and the opposition yells murder.
Or, If you reduce a construction Item,
there comes the cry of 'phony" since
you also have increased the contract
authorization. Republicans complained
about this ''phony' business during the
Democratic Seventy ninth Congress.
NoW, with Republicans in charge, Demo-
Gratis are making identical complaints.
National budgeting is not an exact
science. Some budgeting is guessing
game. Sometimes it is played astutely,
sometimes sciumsiIy, but most always
against political backdrop.
Congress, as 1t must, depends largely
on the scapacity and energies of its hard
working appropriations committees And
these lean heavily on the much smaller
numbers on specialized subcommittee.
Only a relatively few members of the
House or Senate have any detailed
knowledge of the mass of figures poured
on them when an appropriation bill
comes up for vote.
Standing Committees.
The House Appropriations Committee
has assigned its 43 members to IL stand
ing subcommittee. A similar pattern
is followed by the Senate Committee.
Veteran members hold subcommittee
chairmanships. House Committee Chair
man John Taber himself takes charge
of deficiency appropriations.
The subcommittee chairmen are Mr.
Keefe, for Labor-Federal Security;
Mr.. Wigglesworth, for Independent
Offices; Mr.. Garfield, for Treasury Post
Office; Mr.. Dirksen, for Agriculture; Mr.
Jones, for Interior; Mr.. Engel, for War;
Mr.. Johnson, for Legislative Funds; Mr..
Stefan, for State Commerce Justice
Judiciary; Mr. Plumley, for Navy; Mr..
Koran, for the District of columbia, and
Mr.. Jensen for Government Corpora
tions
They do not work unaided There are
sharp-eyed staff investigators to help
thena-headed by Robert E. Lee, former
FBI agent. His staff is limited. So
experts in various departments are
placed on call. But the field is so large
Congress also has provided fund for
hire of outside experts on per diem
basis
Evening star., 1947-04-18
GIobuI Air Cruises

Pilot William Odom was being
modest, of course, when he described
the record round -the-world aerial
journey OF Milton Reynolds Bomb
shell as "just a routine flight" He
was probably speaking more than a
small measure of truth. however,
when he predicted that within a
few years airlines will be booking
passengers for round -the-world
cruises, just as the shiplines used
to do.
Circumnavigation of the globe no
longer is novelty, as is evidenced
by the sparsity of advance publicity
given Mr.. Reynolds preparations for
the flight. This may have been
partly because of suspicious by the
reporters that Mr.. Reynolds was
seeking free publicity for his pens
and that no serious attempt to circle
the earth was to be expected. These
suspicious were strengthened by an
apparent inattention to navigation
problems and by numerous delays in
taking off.
Whatever the lack of outward ap-
pearance OF preparedness for such
an undertaking, the Bombshell's
crew came through in remarkably
fine style. A new unofficial record
for hyinp around tho uorId uoc cat
The war, of course, brought trans
oceanic and round-the-world flying
to new peaks of achievement and
perfection, the Army Transport
Command planes operating military
airlines that crossed oceans and
continents regularly and frequently.
1t is interesting to note that the
Reynolds plane was stripped down
former Army B-26 bomber.
There Is no immediate prospect of
globe-circling airplane service of the
one-plane, brief-stop type that the
Bombshell exploit illustrates. Nor is
there likely to be any great demand
for this gruelling sort of global avia-
ton. The time undoubtedly will
come, however, when the travel
agencies will advertise round-the-
world air cruises of more leisurelv
nature, with time for ground excur-
sions during conveniently scheduled
layovers.