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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1959)
WEATHER Variable clouds today, fair tonight and Thursday; high today 57-62 and Thursday 62 67; low tonight 33-38. Established 1S96 234th Issue 63rd. Year LA GRANDE, OREGON, WEDNESPAY, MAY 20, 1959 Price 5 Cents n'M'?'' 'An GAMBLERS, GUNMEN AND LADIES Today is "Centennial Dressup Day" for students at La Grande Junior High School and a variety of colorful costumes were donned by youths and instructors alike. Four students above were caught coming down school stairs by the cameraman. In rear, left, is gambler David Hallmark while "gunslinger" Paul Riggs stands to his right. Two damsels in front are, left, Lanetta Carter and Nancy Chandler. (Observer Photo) Outlook Dim For Agreement Before NEW YORK (UPI) Steel wage negotiators, nursing frayed feelings, resumed their joint con tract talks; today against a de cidedly pessimistic background for a peaceful settlement before the July l strike deadline The talks erupted into a heated debate Tuesday when negotiators for -the--tteel- industry" and the United Steelworkers Union viola ted a basic grammar school arith metic principle.-' '. They tried to add and compare horses and apples in a futile ef fort that dramatized the differ ences of opinion that separate them on basic contract issues. The eight negotiators four from each side still are poles apart on agreeing on a new contract for 500,000 steelworkers. -The cur rent three-year agreement expires at midnight June 30. Use Different Figures David J. McDonald, president of the USW, accused the steel industry Tuesday of putting out 'pure fiction" to support itsview that wages should be frozen for a oiic-ycar period. He charged the industry has created a "fictitious monster in a cage inflation to mis lead the public. It. Conrad Cooper, chief nego tiator for the industry, accused the union of making "invalid and phony" comparisons. Both Cooper and McDonald rat tled oft statistics at a joint press conference to support their eco nomic arguments. The crux of the problem was that they used different sets of figures for their comparisons. Ar thur J. Goldberg, general counsel for the union, brought the some times angry debate to a halt by BATTLES ARE RAGING IN BOTH HOUSES OVER IKE'S BUDGET WASHINGTON UPI Battles raged in both houses of Congress today over President Eisenhow er's budget. The hottest skirmish was in the House, where administration forces were trying to scuttle a Democratic housing bill GOP lead ers described as "budget busting." In the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Wayne L. Hays I D-Ohio I announced plans to of fer an amendment to the Presi dent's foreign aid bill which would lob off all military aid to Latin America and impose other deep cuts in the program. The re duction would total 426 million dollars. The foreign' aid measure also was under consideration in the Senate Foreign Relations Commit tee. Assistant Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield i.Mont.) has asked the committee to make sweeping changes in the way assistance programs are administered. The House was expected to take its first vote today on the housing measure. Democrats predicted they had enough votes to ram through their $2,100,000,000 meas ure and more than enough to kill a $1,300,000,000 compromise bill the administration accepted The compromise figure was con- VluvU mm citing these discrepancies and no ting that .neither side was getting any place. The union's statistics were .de signed to show that profits and productivity have risen faster since 1940 than steelworkers' earn ings. The industry's figures show ed the opposite was .true. The one thing the conflicting figures proved was that the steel industry and the steelworkers union had completely opposite philosophies. Cooper said soaring wage in creases were responsible for the cost - plus inflation of recent years and said the only way to halt this dangerous trend was by Herter Delivers Sweeping Denunciation Of Red Plan GENEVA UPI Secretary of State Christian Herter branded Russia's draft peace treaty today as a "package proposal for the permanent division of Germany." Authoritative conference sources said the secretary delivered tiiis sweeping denunciation of the Russian plan to the Big Four Con ference after, pressing privately for secret and intimate talks de signed to, open genuine East-West bargaining over Berlin and Ger many. The sources said Herter spoke for about 15 to 20 minutes and gave another detailed review of the West's own cold war package peace plan which offered Russia global troop cuts and security in Europe in exchange for a Berlin new deal and reunification of Ger siderably lower than the origin al administration request. Republican House leaders, be hind closed doors, met to organ ize opposition to the Democratic measure. They said its public housing section would boost over all expenditures to $5,800,000,000 in a 45-year period. Other congressional news: Farmers: The House approved by an overwhelming majority a Republican proposal to put a ceil ing of $50,000 on the price support checks a farmer can receive. The limitation was written into a $3, 939,164,498 agriculture appropria tion bill. The roll call vote was 261 to 165. Agency funds: The first appro priation bill passed by the new Congress became law. President Eisenhower signed the measure, which provides $2,764,500,300 for federal agencies through the re mainder of the fiscal year. The figure was $136,298,990 less than Eisenhower requested. Reid: Prospects were reported bright for Ogden R. Reid to win the Senate Foreign Relations Com mittee's approval of his nomina tion as ambassador to Israel. No member of the 17-member group has announced opposition and sev eral have declared their open Peaceful Deadline frezing wages. McDonald retorted the industry was talking about inflation in an effort to hide the fact that its rising profits and productivity would permit a wage increase without .a corresponding price in crease. , . The joint bargaining talks now 'are in thair second tyeek'. " " Iron Age magazine said a nation wide steel strike would have a greater impact on the economy this year than it did in 1956 be cause more steel companies, in cluding Kaiser Steel on the West Coast, have contracts which ex pire at June 30 this year than was the case in 1956 many. At the same time, the secretary was said to have explained again in painstaking fashion why the West is determined to continue to reject Russia's own package plan. The West insists this would mean keeping Germany permanently di vided and condemn 17 million East Germans to permanent Red rule. British Support Herter British Foreign Secretary Sel wyn Lloyd, the sources said, backed up Herter's renewed at tack on the Soviet plan. Earlier, Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy arrived here from Washington to serve as senior ad viser to Herter and said in an airport statement that it is up to the Russians to decide whether there will be trouble over Berlin. support. Reid testified Tuesday before the committee for three hours. . Ugly American: The best-selling novel "The Ugly American" was attacked on the Senate floor Tues day by Chairman J. William Ful bright (D-Ark.) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He" said the book grossly exaggerated "the deficiencies of our Foreign Service people in Asia." He said the book "purports to be based on fact" but contains "glaring er ror of fact and interpretation." Insurance: The Senate passed by voice vote late Tuesday a modified bill that would boost in come taxes on life insurance com panies by about 200 million dol lars a year. The measure would tax for the first time the so-called "underwriting gains" of insurance firms., - Wheat: The House Agriculture Committee proposed Tuesday to let wheat farmers decide by se cret ballot between higher sup ports with reduced plantings or low supports for unlimited produc tion. In a surprise move the com mittee reversed its approval of a bill which would have ordered a mandatory cutback 'of acreage al lotments and have raised price supports. HE. DIDN'T LIKE KISN PORTLAND (L , Steve Brown, a five-foot ; o-lrtch disc jockey at radio l.v'itm KISN (lore, went to a drive-In for dinner Tuesday evening. Seated in the car next to him were a man and woman, listening to the station. Brown got out of his car and walked over to the young lady and asked, "How do you like KISN?" The man, about six-foot-six, feeling his companion had been insulted, got out of the car and grabbed the disc jockey. - Brown explained that he was referring to the radio station and meant no offense. Putnam Warns Of 'Crisis' In Education SALEM (UPD-The State Edu cation Department, especially its secondary education section, faces a "crisis," Dr. Rex Putnam, su perintendent of public instruction, told the State Board of Education at a special meeting here Tues day. Three vacancies among the four general supervisory positions in high school education caused Dr. Putnam to ask the ' board to choose between two alternatives: Either to employ persons of in ferior qualifications which would result in poorer service and loss of prestige for the department, or to maintain present standards even though positions are left un filled and the department is un able to carry on all its responsi bilities. The Board indicated it favored maintaining present standards rather than employing less quali fied personnel. Vacancies were created when John Conway was promoted to di rector of the section, Clyde Mar tin resigned as a secondary super visor to become curriculum direc tor of Milwaukie high school and Clifford Moffitt resigned a similar position -Ho .become-, principal oi South Eugene high school. "There is no guarantee that we will not lose others," Dr. Putnam said. The new jobs taken by the re signed men all paid more money, Livestock Show Queen Selection Due On Saturday Queen candidates for the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and one sponsor from each of the four spon soring organizations will meet at the Union Hotel at 8 p.m. Satur day night to count the number of tickets sold by each of the four girls. The queen will be announced at approximately 10 p.m. at a dance at the high school gym. Candi dates include Rosemary Zaugg, 16, Union Commercial Club; Ella Mae Denton, 17, Union Range Riders; Jordyce Tameris. 16, Elgin Stampeders and Janice Lorenzen Maverick Riding Club of La Grande. Vern White, secretary of the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show association emphasized that just one representative from each of the sponsoring clubs would be allowed in the voting room, with the girls, so the vote would be fair and square. The queen named, and the other three girls who will reign as prin cesses, will rule over the show set for June 4-5-6 at the Union show grounds. Storm Violence Is Tapering Off United Press International Weather violence was expected to taper off today following a flur ry of tornadic storms in the Mid west and Florida. Several tornadoes struck in Cen tral Wisconsin late Tuesday, and two twisters touched down in Flo riday, one of them skirting the big Pensacola Naval Air Station. A farm was damaged near Lan caster, Wis., by a twister which touched down three times, ripping down utility lines and blocking highways with fallen trees. At least three other tornadoes were reported in Wisconsin, but damage was confined to rural areas and no one was injured. Flash floods caused heavy dam age in Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa. Floodwaters from the swol len Black Snake Creek in St. Jo seph, Mo., claimed a second life when a man was electrocuted while repairing telephone lines. Earlier, a man drowned when he was swept away by the waters which climbed as high as six feet Monday night and early Tuesday. Damage' in the St. Joseph flood was estimated at more than one million dollars. Police Man In Two Die In Battle With Man LAFAYETTE, La. (UPI A crazed Negro armed with an ancient shotgun killed a woman and two policemen today before he died after an hour-long battle. Joe Victor killed Mrs. Joseph Duchome and then dragged two white children into a nearby house. Police rushed to the house and two of them were shot dead on the front porch. Two others in cluding the chief of police, were wounded. Victor was found shot nearly 10 times with pistol and shotgun fire in the charred ruins of the house, which caught fire during the bat tle. He freed the two white children at the height of the battle. They escaped unharmed. Assistant Police Chief Leroy King and Capt. Harold Abadee died of shotgun wounds on the porch of the besieged house. Chief Carlo Listi and Sgt. Donlon Rich ey were wounded. Victor riddled them with an old double-barrel 410-gauge shotgun that was held together with black tape. It was not immediately learned what sent Victor on his rampage. Police said he went into the home of Mrs. Duchome this morn ing and killed her. He dragged the children into a small frame house two doors down the street and the battle began. Victor's charred body was found an hour Officers hid behind police cars and ambulances and crouched at house corners. One group of off! cers operated from the roof of a house across the street. They surrounded the beseiged house and poured in a withering cross-fire. Victor held his fire un til the police sent through a vol ley, and then would return with two blasts from his shotgun. The children, Walter Langlinais and James Roger, were not harmed. "He didn't hurt us at all," they said. Victor untied them and pushed them out the front door during a lull in the shooting. The two dead policemen lay on the front porch for the duration of the gun battle. Police ran loudspeakers into the area to warn the crowd. But the crowd pressed to within nearly three houses of the line of fire, Another Strike Plagues Oregon By United Press International A new strike started in Portland today to add to the Pacific North west's labor troubles as other dis putes in Oregon and Washington continued without settlement. Pickets were posted at the St. Johns plant of the Continental Can Company this morning. Jay Wagenor, shop steward of the Ma chinists Union Local 63, said the walkout would affect about 225 employes. He said the Machinists and two other union locals. Ware housemen and Production Work ers, were involve. n. contract wnn me nrm ex pired May 15 and talks arranged by the Federal Mediation Service failed to , produce agreement, wagenor said. In Salem Tuesday night an em ployer meeting was held to dis cuss the strike-lockout which has closed some sand and gravel firms in Corvallis. Salem and In dependence. A spokesman said there was "nothing to report." Youth Group . Meets Tonight The White House Conference on youth and children will meet at 7 p.m. at La Grande High School tonight to discuss the for mation of committees, Chair man Lt. Oakley Summers said this morning. The group, which consists of 35 area citizens, will be formed into committees headed by Dor othy McPhetridgo, Harvey Carter, Gaylcn Searles, Dolores Uria and Jim Huber. Committees are parential edu cation, youth recreation, facilities by social agencies, youth educa tion and youth employment. ' Seeking La Grande Embezzlement Case DEBBIE DANCES WITH THE KING HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Bach elor King Baudoin of Belgium met an array of glamorous movie start Tuesday but he seemed to have eyes only for Hollywood's newest bachelor girl, Debbie Reynolds. The 28-year-old ruler twice had the petite film beauty as his table partner, and both times he had little conversa tion with anyone else. He and Miss Reynolds danc ed into the early morning hours at a dinner party Tues day night held in his honor. Earlier, at a luncheon in the MGM commissary,. . the King also met such, beauties as Mamie Van Ooren, but his at tention was fully taken up with the 27-year-old Mist Reynolds. Only last week sh wn di vorced by Eddie Fisher in Ne vada to he could marry Eli zabeth Taylor. Mist Reynolds wet one of the few unescorted women to attend the private dinner par ty for the King at producer Mervyn Leroy's secluded home in nearby Bel Air. . Fumes Kill Albany Man ALBANY (UPI) A furnace operator died of suffocation at the Wah Chang Metals Co. reduction plant here Tuesday when he ap parently stuck his head into t chamber used for processing met al and breathed argon gas fumes. The victim was Donald Willis Raymond, 29, Albany. He was preparing to remove some metal from the tank when the accident occurred, plant offi cials said. Raymond's body, slumped through the door to the tank, was noticed by two fellow workmen. A physician called to the scene pronounced him dead. An autopsy performed later in the day by Dr. William Lidbeck, Salem pathologist, showed asphyxi ation as cause of death. Officials said the metal purifi cation procedure on which Ray mond was working was to first deposit the metal in the tank. Then argon gas is piped in and when the metal has been process ed, pumps take the gas' out and the metal is removed. Raymond apparently reached into the cham ber before, the pumps had cleared the tank of the gas, they said. Chamber Of Commerce Selects Snodgrass Francis Snodgrass was appoint ed secretary of the Chamber of Commerce at a board of di rector's meeting this noon. Snodgrass will replace Fred Schneiter who is slated to become secretary of the Walla Walla com merce group. BUDGET MAIN TOPIC The 1959 60 budget will be the main item of business for City Commissioners at their regular meeting tonight. The group will receive a report on sewage la goons from the city manager, and a progress report on La Grande sidewalks, INADEQUATE THOUGH IT IS' Nation's Highest Civilian Honor Bestowed On Dulles WASHINGTON (UPI) Presi dent Eisenhower has bestowed on John Foster Dulles, his ailing former secretary of state, the na tion's highest civilian decoration the Medal of Freedom. The decoration was disclosed by the White House today as Dulles lost more ground in his struggle against cancer and pneumonia. The chief executive, in a warm, personal salute to his ailing friend dispatched his son, Maj. John S. Eisenhower, to Walter Reed Ar my Hospital Tuesday night. Young Eisenhower, assigned to the White House as assistant staff secretary, handed it to Mrs. Dul les who took it to Dulles in his hospital room. BOWLING OFFICIAL HAS DISAPPEARED By H. E. PHILBY Observer Staff Writer A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Elmer R. Swart, 40, La Grande, secretary-treasurer of the La Grande Bowling association and Western Bowling League, charging him with embezzlement of association funds. Swart, recognized as one of the top bowlers of the area, has disappeared, leaving his wife and seven children in La Grande. He is charged with the theft of $580.10 from the western Bowling League and $105 i from the La Grande Bowling Association. The warrant was issued this morning by District Attorney George Anderson who is working with the State Police on the missing funds case. Louis Statler, president of the city association which administers the leagues, re ported the funds missing and signed the warrant. ; The case of the missing funds is also causing local bowling league officials to delay payment of prize money and a city asso ciation meeting slated for Thurs day night to elect new officers has been postponed until June 2, according to Robert Hermann, manager of the Blue Mountain Bowling Lanes Hermann said league officials are covered by a $5,000 bond, so the Western Bowling League s $580.10 is "safe." He said the bonding company has been advised of the shortage and payment to league players is pending settle ment with the bonding company, Hermann said he was not certain about a bond covering the . city association s funds, TrophW were recently award ed league winners but prize money checks that have been made out are being held until the league funds are replenished. The Western Bowling League is a Wednesday night men's bowling league, Hermann explained. The funds, in the two associa tions represent money paid by bowlers during the recently con cluded 24-week winter season of bowling. It was also reported this morn ing that Arnold Thompson has been appointed secretary-treasurer of the associations by Statler. Thompson replaces Swart. Swart, according to authorities, recently notified the Mt. Emily Lumber Co. that he was quitting his job. He collected his salary before disappearing. STASSEN WINS ELECTION BID PHILDAELPHIA (UPI) Harold E, Stasten, once a presidential hopeful, hat won the Republican nomination for mayor. The former governor of Min nesota and former disarma ment adviser to President Eisenhower will oppose Demo cratic Mayor Richardson Oil werth In the November elec " tiont. ; Statten, backed by the GOP oranization, won easily Tues day over two rivalt. Dilworth was not opposed for renomina tion. With, the medal, a bronze disk suspended from red and white ribbon, went a one paragraph note which said: "Dear Foster: "It is an honor and a privilege to award you this Medal of Free dom. Inadequate though it is to express my gratitude and the gratitude of the nation you have served so well, it does stand as a small token of the affection and esteem that the people of Ameri ca and of the world hold for you and your tireless efforts on behalf of freedom. With warm regard, "As ever, "D. . E." .. Eisenhower has visited Dulles with some frequency at the hos- Jet Crash Kills Six FUKUOKA, Japan (UPI) A crippled U.S. Air Force jet prop air freighter crashed into an Air Force barracks at Ashiya Air Base while landing today, killing six men and injuring 13. One of the eiht men aboard the plane was killed and seven in jured. Five men in the barracks died and six were injured when the huge four-engine C130 Herculvs overran the runway and plunged into the barracks. The barracks, built in an "E" shape, were set afire by the ex ploding plane and destroyed. The buildings belonged to the 483rd Flightline Maintenance Squadron at the base outside this south Jap anese city. An airman second class was , credited with saving the lives of fellow airmen aboard the plane. He stood at the door of the burn ing plane, slapping his friends on the back and urging them to hurry- , ''If it wasn't for this guy," said one of the survivors, "we wouldn't have made it." The name of the heroic airman was not disclosed. One of the plane's engines was disabled when lt crashed. Fires burned for several hours after ward. An Air Force spokesman said all but three of the between 175 and 225 men housed in the bar racks were accounted for. Names of the critically iniured and dead were withheld pending notification of next of kin. The Air Force announced the names of the less seriously in jured, suffering lacerations, bruis es and minor burns. They included Capt. James Smith, Santa Paula, Calif.; and Airman 2C Donald M. Kennedy, Tacoma, Wash. All of these men were assigned to the Ashiya1 Air Base. The plane was returning from a flight to Iwo Jima when it over shot the runway. It was trying to pull up for a second landing at tempt when it crashed. Girl Electrocuted In Malin Accident MALIN, Ore. (UPI) Deanna Cacka, 3, daughter of Mr. and -Mrs. Frank Cacka of Malin, was killed Tuesday afternoon when she picked up a live wire while playing with four other small children in her own- back yard. State police said the father had strung a 220-volt wire along the ground by the fence from his shop in the yard to a potato cellar a quarter of a mile away where men were cutting seed potatoes. Cacka is a prominent potato grower in the Malin area. pital. But he apparently wanted to confer the medal through Mrs. Dulles to avoid any ceremony which might tax the little strength left to the secretary. Dulles spends much of his time in a drugged sleep because of an algesics administered to offset the gnawing pain. The Medal of Freedom, origin ally established at the end of World War II, is awarded by the Presi dent "to any person for perform ance of a meritorious act dr ser vice in the interests of the securi ty of the United States. " The State Department said Dul les "continues to grow weaker," was receiving pain killers -end was "in general, comfortable."