WEATHER
Considerable cloudiness
with sunny periods today and "
Wednesday. High both days
38-44. Low tonight 24-30. I
Established 1S96
Daily except Sunday
LA GRANDE, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1958
Price 5 Cents
ATO Alliance
upport To Berlin
Boy Admits Killing
Benefactor's Family
EL CAJON, Calif. (UP1 A
lanky le-year-old runaway youth
tearfully admitted Monday night
that he killed the wife and tour
children of his benefactor because
one of the children "wouldn't stop
screaming." The youth was cap
tured by an off-duty policeman
"I guess I just flipped my lid,"
0-foot, 4-inch Carl Eder told po
lice. "I pray that God will take mer
cy on . him,'" grieving Thomas
Pcndergast, 38, husband and fath
er of the victims said.
"Why did you do it? Why?
Why?," Pendergast - asked Eder
when he confronted Eder, a run
Diplomat's
Car Stoned
In Baghdad
BAGHDAD. Iraq (UPI I Ameri
can officials today clamped a se
crecy ban on the Baghdad move
ments of Assistant Secretary of
Mate William C. Rountree to
forestall mob demonstrations
against him.
Rountree, touring the Middle
East on a fact-finding mission,
' was whisked to safety unharmed
Monday, when a mob stoned his
windshield. No one was hurt.
(Reports reaching other Mid
east capitals from Baghdad said
an extremely tense situation ex-
, istcd in Iraq and that a Commu
nist attempt to take over the goy-
. ernmenfcetrtd-be expected at any
time.) '
The attack on Rountree oc
curred as he was returning from
a courtesy call at the Palace of
the Sovereignty Council to the
U.S. Embassy four miles away.
A stone' shattered the windshield
on the driver's side of the car but
did not go through it. ,'
Rountree's car also was stoned
when he left the airport on his
arrival here from Cairo. Demon
: strations flared in the ' Baghdad
, streets soon afterward with dem
onstrators shouting "Rountree' go
home." They 'also Carried plac
ards reading: "Don't soil our
land, you courier of conspira
cies." Iraqi troops were assigned by
government officials who appar
ently anticipated demonstrations
and were anxious to insure they
did not get out of hand.
'In Washington, State Deparl-
ment officials said they deplored
the demonstrations and noted that
the Iraqi government had called
Rountree's visit a welcome one
and said they had every reason
to expect Iraq to prevent future
occurrences.)
, Inquest Set Here
In Shaffer Death
On inquest wiif be held at 7 p.m.
Wednesday at Daniels Funeral
Home in connection with the death
of John Lee Shaffer, 18, La Grande,
who died about two hours after be
ing struck on an Elgin side street
by a car driven by Richard L.
Parsons the night of Dec. 4. -
County Coroner has impaneled a
six-man jury to consider the evid
dence in the car-pedestrian acci
dent. Shaffer was walking on the
right hand side of the street when
he was struck by Parsons' jeep
as Parsons was returning home
from work about 10 p.m.
Thor Firing Seems
SANTA MARIA. Calif. (UPI)
Intensified activity at the country's
newest missile range at Vanden
berg Air Force Base indicated to
day that the firing of a 1,500-mile
Thor missile was imminent. ,
Firing of the mighty intcrmed
ate. range ballistic missile will
mean that it offically has moved
from the test stage into the hands
of the .military as an operational
device ready for use as a weapon.
The Thor carries an atomic punch
in its warhead.
A tense expectancy filled the air
in the city which is brimming over
and reporters who have rented
nearly all available motel and ho
tel room.
- The firing by SAC's first missile
away from Irondcquoit, N.Y., at
the police station.
Eder was arraigned this morn
ing before El Cajon Municipal
Judge R. Fenton Garfield. He
was immediately bound over to
Juvenile Court in San Diego where
it will be determined if his case
will be handled as a juvenile case
or if he will face trial as an adult.
Garfield ordered Eder held in
county jail without bail.
Eder was captured Monday
night after a civil engineer told
an off-duty police officer of seeing
him in San Diego, about 12 miles
from the scene of the killings.. The
officer arrested the youth who
surrendered peaceably.
"I did it because Diane (4 years
old, one of the slain children)
was screaming. She wouldn't stop
screaming. That started the whole
thing," he said.
Pendergast, an aircraft plant
worker and a deeply religious
man who had taken Eder into his
home six weeks ago to "help save
the boy's soul," found his wife,
Lois, 37, fatally shot in their home
here Friday.
In various rooms throughout the
house and adjoining garage, Pen
dergast found his four children,
Allen, 2; Diane, 4; Thomss Jr.,
6, and David, 9, all with their
throats slashed.
The two oldest boys also were
disembowled.
'I'm glad I'm captured," Eder
said. "I am happy to get some
where where it s warm and to get
food."
The youth, who was booked on
suspicion of murder and jailed
after, questioning by police, said
he had been living for the past
three days in a deaiirted -ballroom'
in the San Diego Mission Beach
area.-
Bulganin's
Ouster Hinted
MOSCOW (UPI) The Commun
ist party's Central Committee met
today amid Western speculation it
was about to oust former Pre
mier Nikolai Bulganin from party
ranks. . .
Last spring Bulganin was fired
as premier and was succeeded by
Nikita Khrushchev who is also the
Communist party leader. Bulganin
has already been removed from
the Presidium, or governing body,
of the Central Committee.
Since then, he has been linked
with the "anti-party group" of
former Premiers Georgi Malenkov
and Vyacheslav M. Molotov, for
mer Deputy Premier Lazar Kag
anovitch and Dmitri Shepilov, for
mer foreign minister.
Observers noted that there has
been no official announcement that
any of the anti-party group had
been expelled from the party itself.
The Central Committee meeting
started Monday. It was highlight
ed by a bitter blast by Khrush
chev at Bulganin and the other
anti-party members whom h e
called "a despicable group of
wretched splitters." "
Khrushchev blamed the group
for attempting to sidetrack agri
cultural policy and opposing the
interests of the people.
C OF C GROUP TO MEET
National ' trends in imnrnuinu
employer-employe relations will
oe aiscussea at a special meeting
of the National Affairs commit
tee of the Chamber of Commerce
at a 7 a.m. breakfast Wednesday
in the Sacajawea hotel.
division also will inaugurate the
launching of ballistic missiles on
the West Coast.' Heretofore the
IRBM rocket, first stage of the
vehicle which blasted an Air
Force probe more than 71,000 miles
into space, has been fired only
by scientists and technicians at
Cape Canaveral, Fla. Missiles
fired ' over the Pacific missile
range to this date have been
guided, not ballistic, weapons.
Shortly after the initial Thor
tlight, the first of the "Project
Discoverer" series, eventually
leading to launching of a manned
satellite, will be held.
,The Air Force has been deliver
ing the missile and its supporting
equipment to the RAF in England
since September. Four RAF mis
V-K ' V, v ; ,
- . .; I.
f 1 I ' : . is--. 1
REACHING PEAK La Grande postal employe
Bert Burke is shown adding another "mailed
early" Christmas package to the pile that is
about to be shipped to all parts of the coun
try for delivery before Christmas. The. post
office here reached a record high for this sea
season yesterday when 1,001 packages wer"
stamped and 22,970 letters were handled
through the metering machine. Those figures
College Building Program Okayed
-The State Board of Higher Ed
ucation today approved a $4,780,
000 building program for student
cental's suid.heajlh services on-gix
canlj)uses';includi!fe' an additioH to
Hoke Hall at Eastern Oregon Col
lege. The approval shortly before
noon followed a recommendation
by a special board's building com
Warming Trend Promises
Temporary Relief For East
United Press International
A warming trend surging out of
the plains today promised at least
a temporary break in a record
December cold wave gripping the
East.
The warmer weather, boosting
readings an average of 10 to 15
degrees in its path, was expected
to reach into the East today, al-
GOP Solons
Choose Sides
WASHINGTON (UPI) The Sen
ate's 34 Republican members are
choosing sides for the hottest
leadership fight the Grand Old
Party has seen since the 1952 Na
tional Convention.
Members of a rebellious liberal
faction claimed they needed only
four votes to insure success for
their revolt and grab off the top
leadership posts held by conserva
tives next month.
They said they would spend the
next two weeks trying to line up
more supporters and putting to
gether a slate of candidates. They
were reluctant to mention names
at this point but Sens. George D.
Aiken (R-Vt.) and Thomas H.
Kuchel (R-Calif) figured in spec
ulation. They mapped their strategy at
a rump caucus Monday attended
by 10 senators while present GOP
leaders sat in on a legislative
conference at the White House.
Imminent
sile squadrons, totaling some 1,700
men, have been training at the
Thor plants in the U.S.
The missile, cigar-shaped and
about 70 feet long, is designed for
overseas locations where it will
post a deterrent to the Commun
ist world. It could not become op
erational in the U. S. because of
its range. Vandenberg will be a
Thor training center.
Before the end of next year,
however, Vandenberg AFB on the
Pacific missile range about 160
miles north of Los Angeles is
expected to become the free
world's first operational base for
the Atlas intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM). This more than
6,000-mile range weapon could be
lobbed to Russia from here.
mittee yesterday.
Although' -plans are drawn-for
a $180,000 addition to Hoke Ha
thejcommitiiie jneetinsc in 'Port
land yesterday arid today . recom
mended only $25,000 for imme
diate future construction.
Financing of the dormitory and
student center projects at the six
colleges will be from student
though it may arrive too lute to
prevent damage to Northern rlor-
ida's citrus and vegetable crops.
Overnight readings again
plunged to near two below zero in
the Great Lakes region and the
Northeast, with below freezing
weather ranging southward
through the Ohio Valley into the
Gulf Coast stales.
The intense cold in the South
land readied into Northern Fori
da for the second night, threaten
ing to frost crops in the area.
Snow flurries swirled across the
Great Lakes region during the
night and into parts of the Ohio
Valley and New England, with
the heaviest snow falling in West
ern New York.
The Weather Bureau at Buffalo-,
N.Y., warned of a five-to-10-inch
accumulation in the area with
poor visibility due to blowing and
drifting snow.
Scattered flurries swept the
Great Lakes. An accumulation of
two inches was expected today at
Detroit.
Light snow also hit Western
Pennsylvania, along with high
winds which piled up drifts and
made driving hazardous.
In the Northern Great Lakes,
where readings again skidded be
low the zero mark, Coast Guard
ice breakers cleared a path for
freighters to return to their win
ter berths before the Soo Locks
closed at midnight, officially end
ing the 1958 shipping season. The
stragglers were .routed through
the St. Mary's River into the low
er lakes.
In Chicago, which is heading for
its coldest December on record.
the Weather Bureau warned the
warming trend was expected to
be short lived. A 30-day outlook
from the U.S. Weather Bureau's
office in Chicago predicted more
below normal temperatures for
the eastern half of the nation.
Weathermen said the cold wave
set records in parts of the Mid
west, for duration and intensity.
The. Indianapolis Weather Bureau
said "This has been the coldest
first two weeks of December on
record since 1871. Wisconsin had
11 straight days of sub-zero tem
peratures during the same period.
In contrast to the rest of the
nation, Northern California was
experiencing a record warm, dry
December. In the southern part of
the state, lack of moisture ham
pered fire fighters battling a
brush fire near San Juan Capis-trano.
do not include packages or letters stamped be
fore reaching the post office, Postmaster Vic
tor Eckley reported. Eckley is using eight
extra men, along with 24 regular men to handle
the seasonal high incoming and outgoing loads.
Outgoing peak should be reached this week,
and incoming peak next week, Eckley said. He
said "local "people have been very cooperative
in bundling letters and mailing early.
fees, United Press, International
reported this morning. The board
now "lias $190,000 in this fund
and would issue bonds to raise.nd
dltional money.' ''T!'
The long-range plans for Hoke
Hall calls for construction of a
structure for both classroom and
laboratory work and student ac
tivities. Since part of the struc
ture would be for classes and
laboratories, part of the funds
for the building would be tax
money, college officials explain
ed.
In case of yesterday's recom
mendation, the committee recom
mended that $25,000 could be
"borrowed" for Hoke Hall con
struclion. The money, possibly
uotten from a bond issue, would
be repaid from student fees.
Chancellor John R. Richards
told the board today that it could
issue the bonds without legisla
tive action (for the $4,780,000 pro
jects), because the over all sum
of more than nine million dol
lars falls within the $15,350,000
statutory limitation fixed by the
Legislature. The nine million dol
lar figure includes the building
recommendations yesterday and
a board approval last October to
borrow $4,460,000 to build dormi
lory and housing projects during
the next biennium.
Largest projects planned in the
student center program are $1,-
525,000 for an addition to the
Memorial Union building at Ore
gon Slate and $1,475,000 for an
addition to the Portland State
College center.
Also included in the board's
proposals are plans to borrow:
$835,000 for Student Center and
commons, at Oregon College of
Education; $200,000 for a student
health service addition at Oregon
State College and $440,000 for
an Erb Memorial Union addition
at University of Oregon.
The board retails a balance of
$50,000 for the Britt Student
Center completion at Southern
Oregon College, also in the plan
ning stage.
Original plans for the Hoke
Hall addition, the $180,000 struc
ture, is for the 1050-60 school
year.
Reward Posted
For Information
"PORTLAND (UPI)-A $500 re
ward has been offered for infor
mation leading to the discovery
of the whereabouts of the Kenneth
R. Martin family of Portland,
missing since Dec. 7.
Mrs. H. A. Dorsey of Portalnd,
a sister of Martin, said she and
members of her family and
friends raised the money to en
courage the continuance of the
search for Mr and Mrs. Martin
and their three daughters.
The organized hunt' for the fam
ily has been abandoned but
friends and relatives were con
tinuing to retrace some of the
territory in the hunt area.
Gas Barge
Explodes
At Pasco
PASCO. Wash. (UPI) A barge
unloading its cargo of gasoline ex
ploded here this morning, causing
a fire which threatened lfi storage
tanks before it was brought under
control.
The barge. City of Longview No.
535. had Dumped out most of its
cargo of 328,000 gallons but still
had about 50,000 gallons aboard
when the explosion occurred.
The blast rattled windows a
mile away and hurled a portion
of the superstructure 75 feet. A
portion of the barge remained
above water and burned fiercely.
Flames swept beneath the dock
causing about $25,000 damage to
the dock, Pasco Fire Chief Lylc
Cooney said. ;
Walter Pirtle, 29, Kennewick,
Wash.,- was hurled into the water
but made it to shore and was
taken to Our Lady of Lourdes
Hospital here where his condition
was reported as fair.
The storage tanks, about 150
feet from-' the barge fire, were
kept drenched to prevent any ex
plosion. .-,'.-
Cause of the explosion was not
known. Firemen fought the blaze
for more than three hours before
bringing it under control.
Junior High
Program Set
The annual La Grande Junior
High School-Christmas program,
open free to the public, will be
held at 8 p.m. .Wednesday in tho
school gymnasium. ,''
-'. The ' program? will,, feature se
lections by the school band, or
chestra, eighth grade girls' chor
us, ninth grade girls' chorus and
the ninth grade girls' ensemble.
Donald Scott will direct .the
band, Otto Wcigel will handle'the
orchestra and Betty Faulkner
will direct the choruses.
A highlight of the. evening will
be the final performance, when
'he traditional "living Christmas
tree" is formed by the choruses
and band members, all singing
Christmas carols.
1 The various groups will pre
sent nine selections plus the
"living Christmas tree" grande
finale. -
Ray bum Asked
ToBackChange
WASHINGTON (UPI) Liberal
Democrats in the House put it
squarely up to Speaker Sam Ray
burn today to support their pro
posed change in House rules.
Otherwise they said much of the
legislation to which the Democrat
ic Party is pledged probably can't
be enacted by the 86th uongress.
They denied they were in revolt
against the House leadership,
They pledged their whole-hearted
support and admiration for Ray
burn and House Democratic Lead
er John W. McCormack (Mass.).
Without the speaker's support,
liberal spokesmen said, they
haven't a chance to put across
the curb they seek on broad ex
isting authority of the conserva
tive House Rules Committee.
They said that as a group they
probably won't even try unless
the speaker gives his assent.
However, some individuals among
the 100 or so members for whom
the group claimed to speak said
they will make the pitch anyway,
first in the Democratic caucus
and then in the House, on open
ing day of the new Congress.
Group leaders, including nep.
Frank Thompson Jr., (N.J.),
were drafting messages for Ray
burn and McCormack today out
lining the liberal contentions and
suggesting conferences with the
two leaders sometime before Jan.
7, the fisrt day of the session.
W. Brownton To Speak
At Farm Bureau Meet
talking on
the "Fundamentals of our demo
cratic, free enterprise way of
life," will be the main speaker at
the T.s r.nnHi Form Bureau Cen
ter monthly meeting in Island
City Thursday night.
A 7:30 p.m. potluck dinner will
be held in advance of the meet
ing, and Instrumental music will
be presented by La Grande llign
School students.
Knnta flunk will also make a
visit to give treats to youngsters.
Rejects Red Repudiation
Of Agreements On City
PARIS (UPD The North At
lantic allies reaffirmed solemnly
today the West's determination to
remain in Berlin regardless of So
viet threats.
At the same time, they rejected
Russia's one-sided repudiation of
international agreements on the
isolated city.
However, they kept the door
open for East-West negotiations on
Brush Fire
Rages Out
Of Control
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.
(UPD A gigantic brush fire that
has blackened nearly 40,000 acres
and destroyed 17 homes raged out
of control today -toward a popu
lated area.
About 1,100 firefighters manned
lines around the 90-mile perim
eter of the blaze. Officials report
ed the blaze has been about 50
per cent contained but said it
was burning out of control along
the north and headed toward an
area known as Trabuco Canyon.
Elmer Osterman, fire coordina
tor for tho State Division of For
estry said the blaze at its closest
point was about a mile and a half
from homes in the canyon but
that they were in no immediate
danger.
Firemen said depending on
weather conditions complete con
trol could not be expected before
late today.
, The .huge blaze, .. the ; second
large brush fire in southern Cal
ifornia in two weeks, broke out
Sunday and, pushed along by 4 -mile-an-hour
winds, spread quickly
through the tinder dry canyons
and mountains in Cleveland Na
tional Forest.
Walls of flame 40 and 50 reel
high cut a swath through the
brush and small tree-covered can
yons and steep mountain-sides to
San Juan Hot Springs about 10
miles north of this historic mis
sion town and destroyed 17 sum
mer cabins.
All residents In the burned area
had been evacuated and no In
juries have been reported. ,
Scientist
Kills Student
BERKELEY, Calif. (UPI) -A
scientist who befriended and
housed a student from Germany
killed the University of California
junior today because he' suspected
him of having had a love affair
with his wife.
John W. Hampton, 31, a Ph.D
research scientist for an oil com
pany, told police he had carefully
planned to kill Wolfgang Ludwig
Marx, 26. He had resigned from
his job effective today.
About midnight, Hampton said,
he finished his fifth martini of the
night, put a .22 caliber pistol in
hs belt, and went stalking the
campus for Marx, who had a room
in Hampton s home. After search
ing in coffee shops and all-night
bookstores he found his victim
working on an experiment in a
third floor physics laboratory in
LeConte Hall.
A LeConte Hall ' janitor saw
Hampton fleeing after the slaying
A half hour later tho scientist re
turned to the building and was
captured in a light-well where he
was trying to recover the pistol,
thrown there after the shooting.
Girl Perishes
In Athena Fire
ATHENA, Ore. (UPI) Eleven
year-old Cathy Ball, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ball, died
early today in a fire that destroy
ed their home in this northeastern
Oregon community,
The mother, Mrs. Eunice Ball.
managed to save their six-year-old
daughter, Connie. Cathy, who
had gone to bed in a front room,
apparently ran to a rear bedroom
and hid under the bed, where her
body was found after firemen
had managed to cool the area
sufficiently to enter.
Lawrence Ball was taken to a
Pendleton hospital with cuts on
his arms suffered, authorities
said, when he jumped from a
rear window. The fire broke out
about S a.m. Firemen said its
origin had not been determined. .
Germany as a whole, though not
on Berlin alone. . ..
They did so in a brief joint dec
laration pledging the entire 15
nation NATO alliance to support'
Berlin and reject the Soviet ulti
matum to the West to get out.
The declaration was drafted by
a six-nation group consisting -M
the United States, Britain, France,
West Germany, Italy and Canada.
It was being approved by the
full NATO Council and was ex
pected to be published this even
ing. Agreement on the broad outlines
of the declaration was reached by
the NATO Council this morniqg
after Secretary of Slate John Fos
ter Dulles told the 15-nation group;
that the Soviets would not risk
war over Berlin. "
Alhough the declaration . indi
cated the West's willingness to ne
gotiate on Germany with the So
viets, it did not set any date for
the talks or propose whether they,
would be in (he form of a summit
meeting, a foreign ministers', get
together, or simple diplomatic
talks. - ;
Authoritative sources said the
NATO statement set out the broad
outlines of the reply the , West
plans to send to the Soviet Pre
mier's note of Nov. 27 calling, on
the western allies to get out of
Berlin.
The official pact spokesman said
Dulles told the council that giving
an inch to Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev in Berlin would be '"'a
beginning that might end in dis
aster." -
The U.S. leader told America's
allies that they arc strong enough
to ignore the Kremlin's propagan
da threats.- , .'.
."Wq do not .need to worry about
Soviet threats -f" he soldi ."i, am
quite certain tne soviet union win
not risk war over Berlin. There
fore, we' can proceed with 'confi
dence." .
Before beginning the 2k ' hour
Closed session, the council heard
a "tough, hard-hitting" speech by
its president, Dutch Foreign Min
ister J.M.A.H. Luns.
Conference sources said Luns
told the council that western aban
donment of Berlin would amount
to "abdication by the Free
World."
Earlier today, authoritative dip;
lomatlc sources said the pact, de
spite its unanimity on the ques
tions of Germany and Berlin, has
developed "alarming rifts" on Oth
er Issues.
They said France is at odds
with the United States and Britain
over a French proposal for Big
Three "leadership" of the pact,
and with Britain alone in a dispute
over European trade. .
Toduy's council decision ratified
the stand taken by the United
States, Britain, West Germany
and France in preliminary talks
here. The western "big four" had
been waiting only for formal coun
cil approval before drafting notes
to the Kremlin. ;..'
Radio Moscow charged . in -a
broadcast beamed to English lis
teners early today that the West
jrn powers "want to perpetuate
the occupation of West Berlin:"
Secretary of Stale John Foster
Dulles met Premier Charles de
Gaulle Monday to discuss
France's differences with its al
lies, notably over the idea that
the United States, Britain and
France should form a sort of "super-group"
to formulate policy for
the entire pact.
De Gaulle was said also to be
disturbed over the U.S., failure jo
take sides in last week's U.N; vote
on Algeria. ' ' .... $
The British-French trade wrang
le was the chief subject at a
meeting of the Council of the Or
ganization for European Econom
ic Cooperation, which adjourned
Monday until Jan. 15 without solv.
ing the problem.
Britain is trying to set up a J
nation "free trade area" in Westr
em Europe, while France favors
a six-nation "common market'
The controversy could kick off. a
trade war capable of tearing the
pact wide open. . .