Seaiilhis (Slnoiinlh) Iby M(iflinidlirds Sis
xpfod
NUNDID 1651
NINETY-SEVENTH YEAR 14 PAGES Salem, Oregon. Thursday Morning. April 17. 1947 r Prlc 5c
No. 18
Pool's
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TEXAS OTT, Tex, April If -An
rising freea the waterfront ares
after aa exploding ship carrying
, In the' making of deals from the
trading of horses to sale -of -land
or purchase of flour there mutt be
what is called "meeting of
minds" before. deal is consum
xnated or contract concluded,
likewise in negotiating treaties
between or among nations, there
must be a meeting of minds.
At Moscow there has been no
meeting of minds on any major
issue. The powers have been un-
able to agree on amount or cnar
acter el reparations to be collect-l
ed by Russia from Germany; on
Germany's eastern boundary; on
disposition of the Ruhr or the
Saar; on a form of government
lor the new Germany. Finally,
in an effort to compose "fears of-j
new German aggression, Secre
tary Marshall proposed a- 40-year
-four-power treaty to guarantee
Germany's military impotence;
but Mclctev Insisted on so many
merriments that the plan was
lulled. Only on the minor points
cf handEcg of displaced' persons
and treatment of German assets in
Austria was - an understanding
reached.
Secretary Marshall has gone to
Premier Stalin, apparently in an
attempt to break the deadlock.
No official statement has been,
made but the indication is that
the direct negotiation with the
chief" of the USSR was fruitless.
It is now expected that' the con
ference will break up with the
foreign delegations : beading - far
borne. ' ' - '"
' This imoasse seems almost fatal
to arty early settlement of Europe's
problems. The minds do not meet,
they do not even approach
' (Continue on editorial page)
Reynolds to Receive
Presidential Plaudits
NEW YORKApril lMflVMil
ton Reynolds, Chicago manufac
turer, and his-two globe-girdling
companions left today in . their
record -setting "Bombshell" plane
for Washington to receive the
personal congratulations of Pres
' ident Truman. I
Animal Cracltcrs
By WARREN GOODRICH 4
Yect...you and who ehe7n-
CRT
:gaTLuco
CUea Si Ojmtuaia
serial rtcw shew-the smoke pall
of this city ex 15,00 population
a cargo ef nitrate set ff a series
Salem
Plan Merger Talks
.' By Ed Lewis .
. IUU Writer, Tbt SUUtmin
First move was ' taken by the Salem city council .Wednesday
night to inform West Salem citizens of possibilities for their future
if the Polk county community should merge with Salem.
Appointed by Mayor R. L. Elfstrom 4e a committee for consul
tation with West alera Mayor Wslt Musgrav and city council were
Alderman David 01 Iara, City Manager J. L. Franzen and City At
torney Chris J. Jiowitz.
Questions which , Mayor Ef
strom said had been raised In his
conferences with -West Salem of
ficials involved the separate fran
chises granted to bus and taxi
companies and to utilities. .
Signal Cost Stated
Reports by City Manager Fran
zen included a statement that pro
posed additional . stop-go traffic
signals on Capitol street would
co $10)00 and that this expen-
diture would be shared - equally
by the city and state. ;.
Studies by Franzen and state
highway department 'officials re
vealed the need of lights at Capi
tol street's intersections " with
Fairgrounds road. Market , and
Center streets.' Franzen . stated
that the Center street light -would
be synchronized-to operate with
the other two lights. , "... -"
Budget Planning, . -' '. r "
Money for the project is liot
yet available but Franzen assur
ed the council that it could be ob
tained. He also broached the idea
ct budget planning, t ; r
Initial efforts to streamline the
1947-48 budget , committee from
13 to 5 citizen members, to con
form with the recent state legis
lature's specifications, were begun
by the council, which decided .to
submit candidates for the citizen
members at the next council
meeting. Alderman James Nichol
son and Mayor FJfstrom, both
former citizen members of the
budget committee, will now, be
members by virtue of their offices.
(Additional details on page 2.)
Snell Signs
Barracks Bill
Gov. Earl Snell signed into law
Wednesday the house bill which
appropriates 1620,000 for- opera
tion of the Klamath Falls marine
barracks as a s t a t e vocational
school for "the bienniumv 1
Capacity of the $6,000,000 plant
with 75 buildings is expected to
reach 1,500 students within a few
years. First-year enrollment of
600 students is expected by. the
state vocational education de
partment whichi Is readying the
school for opening by July 10.:
Funeral Friday
For Dr. Kerr
PORTLAND, Ore., April lMff)
.Funeral services will be held Fri
day here and afCorvallis for Dr.
William J. Kerr, chancellor emer
itus of the state system of higher
education. - who died Tuesday
night. ; ' .
The Masonic rites will be held
ih Portland at-10:00 a.m. in the
Holman - and Lutz mortuary i and
at 20 njn. in Corvallis at the
Keeney Funeral home. The . Rev;
Dr. Thomas F. Hudson, pastor or
the- Westminster Presbyterian
church, will officiate. .
Burial will be in the Masonic
cemetery .at Corvallia,.,fc1.v,-., ,
ef explosion which devastated th
: la left center foreground Is the
offered heaviest damage. (AP.
Councilmen
Occupational
Tax Study Set
Mayor R. L. FJfstrom Wednes
day night appointed the whole
city ' council as a committee to
study " business and occupational
taxes In Oregon cities, with an
eye:: to requirements for Increased
city-revenue in the 1 947-48 , bud-
':.'. -'-: ".
. Samples of similar taxes in 16
Oregon . municipalities, compiled
by ;the University of O r e g o n,
were submitted to the. council by
City Manager J, L. Franzen. - ,
Salem already collects annual
fees from bill posters, auctioneers,
apartment house owners, amuse
mentsand public utilities. ' ?
'.Virtually every business could
be taxed on a fee basis under the
system described in the University
of Oregon survey. ;
IV
Rolling !Vault9,
ator to
Serve iri Salem
Two new pieces of equipment
were received by city officials
Tuesday to aid in handling the
"take" from Salem's parking me
ters when they axe put into oper
ation, City Manager J. L. Franzen
said Wednesday. - - - - r
i A two-wheeled dolly to be used
by the coin collector on his rounds
of the meters is madeof alumi
nized steel, and has a strong lock
to protect the money as it is de
posited. The -, task of separating
the : nickels and pennies will be
done by a machine constructed of
the same- material as the dolly.
The coins are . placed into a per
forated drum, the .holes being
large enough for pennies to pass
through, but too small for
nickels. As the drum is rotated
by a handle the pennies fall into
a receptacle in the bottom, leav
ing the nickels in the drum.
" The average take of a parking
meter varies from about $5.60 per
month in Oregon City to $10 per
month in. Eugene and Portland,
Franzen said. Assuming that Sa
lem meters would average $8 per
month the total take of the 1,163
ordered meters would be $9,304
every month. And that is a lot. of
nickels and pennies. . I '
,....,- 1 " -
SHOWERS LV SALEJI -
Light showers early Thursday
began to fulfill weather predic
tions by McNary field weather
station, which forecasts continu
ation of the showers tonight. . ,
By Qty Council
Sepai
entire area early today. The plant
Moneante Chemical company- which
Wlrephote . to .The- Statesman.) . v
Kremlin Talk
to
Big 4 Dispute
MOSCOW, April 16 -UP)- The
kremlin conference of U. S. Sec
retary of State Marshall and Prime
Minister - Stalin was understood
today to have solved no dead
locks and the foreign minister!
council slated a double 5 meeting
on Austria tomorrow In an appar
ent drive to end the conference;
Although Soviet Foreign Min
ieter Molotov told the council to
day that the Russians desired to
complete and sign the Austrian
treaty at this Moscow- meeting,
the four ministers tangled sharply
and inconclusively when he de
manded reparations from German
soaL .
- In a swiftly moving session to
day the ministers considered 15
of the Austrian treaty's 59 -clauses,
agreeing on a dozen of them and
even settling some relatively min
er disputes their deputies had
been unable to patch up.
.Usually responsible sources said
no commitments of any kind were
made last night, either , by Mar
shall or Stalin, and no compro
mise suggestions were advanced.
BYRNES LAWYER AGAIN
WASHINGTON, April 16
James F. Byrnes, former secre
tary of state and former associate
justice of the supreme court, to
day became associated with - the
Washington ' law firm, of Hogan
and Hartson. '
E)evicesi0id
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Turn the handle and the sheckles separate. Lorraine Overgard, clerk
In Salem city recorder's office. Is shown above puxzling over the
Inner workings of the coin separating machine that arrived: Tues
. day along-with the coin collection dolly shown In the Inset. Coins
collected from parking meters are transported in the dolly and
x then pot In perforated hopper of separator to divide nickeb from
pennies. (Photo by Don Dili, Statesman staff photographer.)
Labor Bill
Vote Due
In House
WASHINGTON, April ;16P)-
The house today beat back three
attempts to change major pro
visions of its general labor bill re
stricting strikes and union activi
ties. .15'.
Driving-1 .on' -schedule" j toward
passage. of the bill,; perhaps late
tomorrow, the -membership de
feated:'- '
1. A proposal to knock; out the
bill's ban on Industrywide bar
gaining. The vote was 161 to 71
on standing count. The bill per
mits' companywide bargaining.
2. An amendment to outlaw the
union shop, on a voice vote. The
measure already contains a ban
on closed shops' under which only
union members can be hired. A
union shop permits a non-union
man to be hired but he must join
the union later. 1
- 3. An amendment to ease the
bill's prohibition against employ
er., contributions to health and
welfare funds which a union
controls. This was done 136 to
177 on a teller vote by which
members march down the center
aisle to be coutited.
GOP chieftains expected pas
sage of the bill late tomorrow,
designed to restrict certain strikes
and union practices . and give in
dividual workers a "bill of
rights." They said an Informal
poll showed more than a two
thirds majority the votes needed
to offset a presidential veto.
3 Drown at
Umatilla Fete
-UMATILLA; April 16 t VP -Three
people one of them a man
trying ! to.", rescue his bride
drowned yesterday j within light
of possible rescuers who took .the
frenzied warning of spectators for
gay applause.
The victims were Mrs. Lynn
Grogan and Mr. and Mrs. Max
Elsey. j
The strong Columbia river cur
rent overturned a motorboat be
longing to Lynn Grogan; during
the McNary dam celebration,
throwing its four occupants into
the water. ' ' I - i
Grogan said his boat motor
stalled before the craft was" upset
by the current.
Lew Wallace to Start
Camp White Initiative
PORTLAND, April 16 A
plan to circulate initiative peti
tions asking the state board of
control to take over Camp White
as a state institution was announ
ced today by Sen. Lew Wallace.
The initiative would be voted
upon in the May primary. A bill
to utilize the . camp as a state
hospital was vetoed by Governor
SnelL
Cofliecidtrs
1. 1 , .
Senate to Vote
On Greek-Turk
WASHINGTON, April 16 -(P)
The senate agreed to night to vote
at 4 pjn. (EST) next Tuesday on
legislation to -extend $400,000,000
worth of military and economic
assistance to Greece and Turkey.
The decision was reached after
the senate had been held into' the,
night to speed action on the pro
posal. -
Earlier in the . day the house
foreign affairs approved the pro
gram 12 to 0.
Acting Majority Floor Leader
Wherry of Nebraska first propos
ed, that the senate vote late Mon
day on the measure but when
Senator Taylor (D-Idaho) object
ed he modified the request.
13 States Favor
Tenure Limit
. By the Associated Press
Approval by more than one-
third of the necessary number of
states to put it into law had been
given yesterday to the proposed
22nd constitutional amendment
limiting . the ; tenure In office of
United States presidents, to two
elective terms -and not more than
10 vears In office.
The 12th and 13th states, re
spectively, to ratify the proposed
amendment were Wisconsin and
Ohio. The proposal must win ap
proval of 36 states within seven
years to become operative.
Previously endorsing the meas
ure were Delaware, Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New
Hampshire, Oregon, New Jersey,
California and Vermont.
Lewis Invited
To Negotiate
WASHINGTON, April 16-OP)-
The government twice prodded
John L. Lewis and private owners
of the nation's soft coal mines to
day, urging them to settle their
long-drawn dispute and invited
them to meet here April 29.
. Government control . of the
mines automatically ends on
June 30.
' Today brought these moves:
1. Coal Mines Administrator N.
H. Collision sent letters to Lewis
and to the operators asking them
to a face-to-face conference to
discuss the resumption of collec
tive bargaining.
2. The national labor relations
board, in effect, urged both par
ties to start bargaining immedi
ately. Phone Operators
In Disaster Area
Resign from Union
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 16-
TV George Evans, Oklahoma
strike director lor tne wauonai
Federation of Telephone Work
ers, said today his investigator ran
into "unique hostility" in the tornado-stricken
city of Woodward,
Okla., where 30 telephone oper
ators have resigned from their na
tional union.
The oDerators' local in Wood
ward 'announced its entire mem
bership was resigning from the
uhion because the National Feder
ation of Telephone Workers had
refused to let them work during
the last week s tornado emer
gency. A union investigator, sent
to Woodward, said some men
there warned him to get out of
town immediately.
FOOD PRICES DECLIKE
NEW YORK, April 16-WP-Dun
Sc Bradstreet reported today
wholesale food prices generally
declined for the sixth consecutive
week during the seven days ended
April 15 after hitting a record
high in early March".
Weather
Max.
T9
- 81
65
44
Win. Precip.
43 .
4 .00
62 .00
S3 .11
Salem
Portland
San Francisco
Chicaro
NVw York .. ' 81
48 sa
Willamette rtver 43 reef.
FORECAST (from U.S. weathrr bu
reau. McNary field. Salem): Cloudy
todav i and tonieht with a few llKht
Khowers. Highest temperature today
45. Lowest tonisbt 39.
Loan
Tuesday
Poi
Gas
To Re s c u er s; ,Wors t
D i s a s t e r i n Decade
V,; TEXAS -CITY, JTtx : (Thursday); April J7r-Two
new explosions rocked this stricken city at 1 a. today.
Injuring: many persons who survived yesterday's disastrous
blasts. There were - no immediate reports of additional
deaths.
John Coldron, reporter for the - Beaumont Enterprise,
said another ship had blown up in the Texas City harbor.
Earlier, the nitrate-loaded freighter, the High-Flyer, was
reported burning. ,
i At nearby Lamarque, the state highway patrol said
that one of the explosions was that of an oil tank on the
Republic Oil company's tank farm. .They did not account
for the second.
The patrolmen also reported that the freighter, the High
Flyer, which was expected momentarily to explode, was still
burning. .
TEXAS CITY; Tex April 1 6WP)-Giant explosions
smashed the waterfront of this industrial gulf port today,
killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and survivors fled,
the danger area tonight under threats of fresh disaster. "
Fire, which spread to the docks and industrial, area after the
French freighter Grandcamp blew up at its berth,, grew close to an
ammunition dump, a poison. gas plant and a ship holding nitrogly
cerin. '- ..." . .- : - ; v "-, - '. ,
: Estimates of the 'dead ranged from 1200 down to 450. . '
. . General Jonathan M. Wainwright, hero of Bataan, visited the
scene and said;;. ,- " -- -'; ,
T have never seen a greater tragedy in all my experiences. . I
have come here, to ofter this stricken community, every facility thaj
the army can place at its. disposal.'' .: " t ' - - - - - "
Many of the fatalities occurred on the waterfront after the
nitrate-loaded Grandcamp, an American-built Liberty ship, exploded,
killing all of its crew of about 40 men. Sightseers Hocked to the
docks, to be caught by following blasts which demolished the 919,
000,000 war-built plant of the Monsanto Chemical Company. -
Top Toll Estimate i ,200
. Mayor J. C. Trahan said he knew of 300 dead. G. B. Finley, state
highway commission official, said at Austin that officials at the scene
had indicated the toll would reach 1200. Houston Police Sergeant
Wiley Whatley, at the disaster scene, estimated that the death total
would be between 450 and 500.
The Houston Post's report from State Editor Elbert Turner 'said
that residents were racing in all directions to get out of town ahecd
of the expected new blasts. Turner also said that chlorine gas had sat
urated the dock area and was feared to be. moving toward the city's
residential and business sections. . j . . ;
Much of the boom industrial city was destroyed or damaged by
blast or fire. Property damage will run into millions of dollars.
The first blast rocked the surrounding region for 150 miles, in
flicting heavy damage in Galveston. ' n ..
A reporter flying over, the scene likened it to bomb destruction
of European cities in the recent war. The mushrooming cloud cf
smoke that arose was described as . resembling the aftermath of the
atom bombing of Hiroshima. "j ; ? ' : , v.
First eye-witnesses to move into the "area after the explosion
saw workers stream from . buildings with blood gushing from noses
and ears, the result of concussion.. :
"Bodies were tossed about likS playing cards, said a reporter
for the Houston Chronicle. v V
There were some 3,500 persons, in the dock area at the time of
the major , blast. . v , . ' -
Red Cross Rushes to Aid
Midwestern headquarters of the Red Cross at St Louis reported
that 500 bodies had been brought'out of the explosion area late today
and that more bodies were; being found constantly.
Earlier, E. A. Boehler, a "Houston city policeman, had reported:
"Bodies can be picked up by the downs in the first area, but
you cannot get in to them."" ; ;
. rtener ana rescue worxers swarmea into we area rrora au di
rections. National Red Cross headquarters, in Washington set aside
$223,000 for relief work and sent 30 disaster experts to the scene.
Records of the Metropolitan Life Insurance company in Wash
ington showed that the disaster was the worst, in lives lost, in the
last ten years. The next worst, the Atlantic coast hurricane of Sep
tember, 1938, toe '682 lives. !f
, The huge plant of the Monsanto Chemical company, built in
wartime to make styrene,an ingredient of synthetic rubber, was
reported completely destroyed.
Fires still were raging In the ; Monsanto plant late today and
fire fighters could hear the screams of some workers tranced mide.
One Monsanto worker estimated
Kescue was impossiDie oecause oi
Eyewitness
By William C. Barnard '
TEXAS CITY. April 16-Jp-This tonight is a city of flames, torn
steel, and smoking rubble, a city where the dead are uncounted and
the living are too dazed and weary to cry.
Scores of bodies , of .explosion ; and fire dead are stacked on
benches and tables in a brick mid-town garage and in .the nearby
high school gymnasium: Outside these places the people gather in
silent, expressionless groups. . J
. - Dozens of embalmers are at work in the garage and, there the
slow process of identification goes on.
When identification and embalming are completed a body t
wrapped in a rough brown blanket
to a toe. ;-.-.-:''.; .
An ambulance is then called out of the long line .in front of the v
garage and the body is passed out on a stretcher and taken to the '
gymnasium. . ' .' -.
In the light of the towering blazes a-few hundred yards from
the grotesque mountains of twisted steel, I talked to Philip Flores,
young army veteran , ; -
I was working in a warehouse 25 yards from the ship when It
blew up," he told roe. "The concussion knocked me down.
"I crawled over to some flour sacks and buried my head nnder
them. Then a few seconds later the (Monsanto) chemical plant ex
ploded. The roof and walls of the warehouse were coming down
around me. I got upand ran for
bodies out of the wreckage. It
ever seen.
DBD
M
enace
j ., ...
that 35 employes were imprisoned.
tne neat ana names.
Tells Chaos
, and a numbered ticket is wired
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my life. Later I helped pull the
was the most terrible thing Tve
s axils s'ifc..-' - ? V -ii&4r-&.--