m
105th Year
4
State
Ur
m
Penalty as Trial of
Mrs
,12 Jurors Seated Tentatively in
Murder Trial of Portland Widow
. ; - 4 (Photo in sec 2, page 6.)
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (Jf) A nervous Mrs. Marjorie Smith, 34,
heard a state prosecutor demand her life Thursday for the dynamite
slaying of her attorney husband in Portland last ApriL
ma. oumu, uu icpcaicuiy uas insisted sue is Demon Dan oniy
because of the "terrible lies" of a handyman, picked fretfully at her
white gloves as jury selection began for her first-degree murder
The city commission of Port-
land voted unanimously to refuse
a renewal of the franchise of the
Portland Traction company which
Will. , j. Au . A Vn .... - 4 1 j.4
5 rin in Ynir nn .Tannnrv 51 ct !
next; I wonder if the commission
has thought this, matter through
soberly. Suppose the company lays
up its buses on Feb. 1st and Port
land; is left without city transit
service and the company's 800 em
ployes are left without jobs isn't
this a logical expectation from the
course the commission - has pur
sued? ' Commissioner Boody admits con
cern over the welfare of employes
but thinks, a new franchise is need-
ed and says it is paramount that
it be granted to local interests. !
Very well, where are the local in-:
terests which will come forward
and take on the franchise? When
the street car system was a subsid
iary of the old Portland Electric
Power Company the trustees of
the latter were eager to dispose of
the system. Did any Portland cap-.
jtalisti come forward to buy it
thoueh the .street car- system had
been quite profitable through the
war years? They didn't, but a
group In San" Francisco did, and
paid a good price for the property.
In view of the well publicized dif
ficulties of street transit operations
in Portland and ' everywhere else
what'iope is there that local cap
ital now will make, the investment
required -and Uake. on the head
aches? -
There Is another angle - which
doesn't look: good, and that is the
(continued on editorial page,' 4.)
Study Class Popular. .
CORVALL1S tfl A spare time
class at Oregon State College, just
for the fufrof i.lrew nearly 300
students standing room only. "
The subject: Hints on how. to
study.- -v - - " '
First Marion County Tax Statements Mailed
I r-t ' : 1 : j r
First of More' than S0,OO0 Marion County tax statements were mailed Thursday night as preliminary
work in the county tax collectors of flee at the conrthonse seared completion. Shown checking sev
tnl hundred ( the completed statements are (from left to right) Mrs. Patricia Savage, Mrs. Rath
Wood, Howard Evans, chief deputy county tax collector, and Mrs. Sydney Nelson. Bulk of 'the state
Keats will ke mailed today, according ta Evans.: (Statesman Photo).
" - '.-v . ' poundod 1651 : " ;
SECTIONS - 40 PAGES
Death
. Smith Begins
i trial. '
By night f ill 12 jurors had been
seated tentatively. Still to go are
two alternates. Any of them may
yet be dismissed, for the state and
the defense have not used up all
challenges, although they r a n
through 39 names : Thursday be
fore the 12 were seated.
Six women were selected, five
housewives and a widow. There
also were a farmer a barber, two
insurance salesmen, and two re
tired farmers.
The . trial was shifted to this
' fariminir a roo An mUoc ffvnr, Tai
land teT th'e defense charged a
fajr Hal imnnscihi in Pr.
:land c pubUcity given the
I
case there. Smith was slain by
a bomb blast when he opened
his car door at a Portland coun
try club.
Defense Atty. Bruce Spaulding
did not drop this matter of pub
licity.. He asked each prospective
juror about his feeling toward the
Portland newspapers, which circu
late in this area. When one woman
said she had no particular feeling,
Spaulding snapped. "I do."
Willis West, chief prosecutor, told
the first prospective juror that the
state intended to seek the death
penalty
(Additional details.
Sec. 1,
Page 4.)
Sheridan Mill
Closes; 70 Idle
SUtetmaa News ferric
SHERIDAN The McCormick
Lumber and Manufacturing Com
pany was closed Thursday amid
speculation as to , when it would
reopen. Seventy workmen were
idled... - ' ; -
,The Sheridan - Sim Thursday
quoted ' H, " F.' McCormick, presi
dent of the corporation, as stating
that he hoped to reopen the mill
in the spring. l - . -
The mill. Sheridan's largest in
dustry, was rebuilt a year ago
following , a- $200,000 fire which
swept it on May 18, 1954. It had
operated continuously since it re
opened. ;
The Sun story said the mill
stopped buying logs Monday. It
needed 83 loads of logs a day to
i run and keep its cold deck stocked.
v y:; y" ' :
- rjy :
Th Oregon Statesman,
Parents 'Trade Places' With 7th
r y -. . : - r-- -acr- ;. . ... i.t;
A new idea in public school open houses was tried Thursday night
at Leslie Junior High School. Parents attending over 250 of i
them spent 10 minutes in each of their children's seven class-!
rooms, while faculty outlined an
class. Only parents of seventh
Woman, 82,
Struck by Car,
Critically Hurt
An 82-year-old Salem woman
suffered critical injuries Thurs
day morning when she was struck
by i car at Chemeketa and N.
Liberty Streets, city police re
ported. Injured was Olive Inez Stev
ens, a resident of the Argo Hotel
and minister of the Salem Truth
Center, 341 Chemeketa St, a re
ligious organization. After treat
ment by first aidmen, she was
taken by Willamette ambulance
to Salem General Hospital where
attendants listed her injuries as
a skull fracture, concussion and
fractures of the pelvis and left
leg.
Police said they cited Donald
Frank Moreland, 31, of 245 Boone
Rd., on a charge of failure to
yield right of way to a pedestrian
after his 1950 Nash sedan struck
the woman about 8:20 a.m. The
vehicle reportedly was starting
a left turn onto Chemeketa
Street
Miss Stevens is a sister of Mrs.
Helen Anderson, Dallas.
Salem, Oregon, Friday, October
average day in that particular
grade students attended last night.
Man Held as Witness in
Killing of Chicago Boys
CHICAGO Police Thursday night seizid a man who said
he slept in the forest preserve area where the bodies of three boys
were, found Tuesday afternoon and that "the bodies weren't in the
ditch that morning."
Sheriff Joseph Lohman said the man is Edward Rohlfes, 47, of
suburban Glen Ellyn. Lohman said Rohlfes is held without charge as
a witness and will be given a lie
detector test Friday morning. ,
The sheriff said Rohlfes was
picked up . after a forest ranger
saw his car and traced his license
number. '-
Rohlfes told police he drove to
the area about t p. m. Monday,
parked near the ditch; entered the
woods and went to sleep. He said
he had slept there many times in
the past.
When he got up at 6:43 Tuesday
morning and walked back to the
truck, Rohlfes said he went right
past the ditch and he is positive
there were no bodies there then.
Rohlfes said he returned to the
area in his truck with his daughter
at 10 a. m. and, although they did
not walk to the edge of. the ditch,
he is sure that they would have
seen the bodies if they had been
there.
Old Model Ford
Driving out of the parking lot.
Rohlfes said, he notied three
youths drive up in a "faded blue
Ford, old model". They were be
tween 17 and 20 years old. he said.
Lohman said he had a pickup
order out on the car Rohlfes said
he saw. The sheriff . said the li
cense number was not known.
Meanwhile, handpicked - detec
tives made a door-to-door search
for clues in. the brutal slaying,
while a scientist deduced the
youths had been given savage
beatings by two or more grown
men.
Went to Priest
Meanwhile, in Brookville, Ind.,
a 19-year-old girl who went to a
priest to confess an automobile
theft told authorities there she
knew "who the fellows was'' in the
Chicago triple slaying.
Sheriff Lohman in i Chicago re
served 'judgment on the possible
lead. He said he had conferred
by telephone with Sheriff James
Hixon of Brookville and had asked
Hixon to question the girl on spe
cific points.
The girl, held without charge in
Brookville, said she : was in Chi
cago over the weekend.
Weathermen Say
Some Clouds Due
Partial cloudiness preceded by
early morning fog patches is the
weather prospect for the Salem
area today, according to McNary
Field forecasters. No rain is ex
pected. Thursday's high reading was 67
and today's maximum will be
about the same. A minimum of
around 40 is expected tonight
DIVIDEND DECLARED
. PORTLAND U Portland Gas
k Coke Co. directors declared
Thursday a dividend of 22 Vi cents
a share on common stock.
The Weather
Max. Mia. Prreip.
Salra
Portland
Baker .
Med ford
7- 41
64 51
.00
.00.
.00
.60
.00
.BO
.oo
.00
M
.64 ; 2S
.70 43
..S3 - 48
.64 42
North Bend
Roseburg
San Francisco
.7. -87
.4 53
74 44
Loa Angeles .
Chicago
New York ...
...6J 51
Willamette River .4 feet.
FORECAST tfrom V. S. weather
bureau. McNary field.' Salem):
Patches of -early morning fo. 'oth
erwise partly cloudy ttm afternoon,
tonight and Saturday; high today 64
66. low-tonight 40-42.
Temperature 'at "12:01 a.m. today
was 47. - -
SALBM'MECrPITATIOW'
Sinrr Start of W father Year, 1
Tfcli Tear 1 - Last Tear NnnrtaJ
4.S2 1.31 - . 41
21, 1955
.PRICE 5c
Grade Youngsters
Next Thursday night will be for eighth grade parents, and the next
Thursday for; Ninth graders. Parents of "A" band members are
shown above listening t instructor Glen Williams' (left) in the
band room. (Statesman Photo).
Bike Wheel
Traps Youth
City first aidmen were forced
to pry eight j spokes loose from
a bicycle wheel Thursday in or
der to release the left leg of
Jacky.Marx, 8, of 2690 N. 5th fit.
Aidmen said the boy suffered
abrasions and1 bruises in the 3:50
p.m. accident, which occurred
when his foot caught in the
wheel while he was riding near
his home. No hospitalization was
required.
Chiang Officer
Found Guilty
In Red Plot
TAIPEI, Formosa UP) Famed,
U. S.-trained Gen. Sun Li-Jen has
been convicted of setting up a sec
ret clique which was used by a
Communist subordinate to plot an
uprising in the Nationalist army.
The report of a special commis
sion was made public Thursday
along with disclosure that Presi
dent Chiang Kai-Shek would per
mit Suit, his former personal chief j
of staff, to continue to wear his
stars and uniform.
The commission said that Sun
could not have been "entirely ig
norant" of the conspiracy hatched
last May by Maj. Kuo Ting-Liang,
a trusted subordinate now under
arrest as a long-time Communist
agent.
, Chiang, said, however, that in
view of Sun's distinguished war
record hetwjas the hero of the
Burma campaign in World War II
and because! he admitted guilt he
would be "given opportunity to re
deem himself and be subject to
no further disciplinary action."
RUSS SEAMEN IN U. S.
SEATTLE m. Nine Russian
seamen who lumped ship at For
mosa arrived: here Thursday night
as special immigrants to the Unit- The other will be handled by pri
ed States, f I vale contract for the state.
Defense Department Sending 2 Planes to Europe to
Pick Up 3 Senators, Wives; Solons Deny Requests
By GARDNER L. BRIDGE
4 WASHINGTON tf The De
fense Department said Thursday
it is sending two big f our-engined
transport planes on special trips
to Europe to provide transporta
tion home (or three U.S. Sen
ators and their wives,
i But two of . the Senators said
they had not asked for govern
ment planes to fly them back.
One of them said he is coming
home on ."a! scheduled aircraft.''
.The estimated cost of the two
special roundtrip flights outlined
by the defense department ' is
$20,000. j
The first of the twoplanes, a
DC6, took off Thursday for Ma
drid and was due to pick up Sen
ators McClellan. (D.-Ark.) and
Stennis "(D.-Miss.y there Sunday.
The 'second, a Constellation-type
transport, is scheduled to leave
here next Monday for Paris,
wheretthe defense department
said Sen. Chavez (D.-NM.) would
be waiting.
No. 20!
Leslie Junior
High Parents
'Go to School'
; Parents some 253 of them
went to school Thursday evening
at Leslie Junior High to see class
room procedure as their children
sec it. ; ,
It was all part of a novel idea
hatched by 'school faculty In co
operation with the Leslie PTA. The
affair Was designed, said Principal
Earl Hampton, to acquaint parents
with JLJie inside of operations "and
to familiarize them with the daily
experiences of their children.
5 Turned students for a night
Tuesday evening were parents of
seventh graders. Next Thursday
parents of eighth graders are
scheduled and the following Thurs
day the Leslie faculty will play
host to fathers and mothers of
ninth graders. The school has an
enrollment of more than 1,300.
Seventh grade parents had a
chance Thursday evening to see
the new educational environment
into which their sons and daugh
ters jumped after making the
transition from elementary schools.
They spent 10 minutes in each of
seven classrooms ranging from
physical education to physical sci
ence. Members of the faculty ex
plained an average day in class,
told of subject matter, manner of
grading and home work require
ments. Principal Hampton conducted an
orientation session and introduced
the faculty prior to the trek to
the classrooms.
State Parking
Lots Readied
Some relief of the parking prob
lem around state buildings in Sa
lem was promised Thursday by a
report -from state officials that
three long-planned parking lots
will be ready soon. They will han
dle 100 cars. , -
These will be on property owned
by the state within three blocks of
the Capitol at the southeast cor
ner of Marion and Summer Streets,
on the west "side of Summer be
tween Marion and Union, and at
the rear of Glendora Apartments
on North Winter Street.
The - lots will be used by state
employes. The city of Salem will
grade and gravel two ot them
The Defense Department ex
plained that the senators, who
have been in Europe on business
of the senate appropriations com
mittee, had said they could not
wait for regular ' flights. The
Washington offices of all three
senators said, on the other hand,
that they knew of no requests
for special service;
Reached in Naples tonight, Mc
Clellan' said:
"There is not a word of truth
in it, There can't be any truth
in it I have never heard of such
a story. All I know is that . I
made arrangements to go back
on a scheduled aircraft and that
is what is going to happen."-
It Was not immediately clear
wtiether McClellan meant by
"scheduled . aircraft a commer
cial airliner or: a scheduled mili
tary plane. -The -plane en route-to
. Madrid" . is - now a ''scheduled"
flight, since it has been ordered to
pick tip McClellan and Stennis.'
Adlal
Intent
Stevenson 'Not Counting at All' on
Backing of New York Delegation
NEW YORK Adlai Stevenson made it virtually dear
Thursday he will be a candidate for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
"I'm not counting on the New York delegation at alL" he told
newsmen. They took this as a plain indication he would be in
me race. w
While this implied he expected
Gov. Averell Harriman to be a
rival candidate, at least in a fav
orite son capacity, Sen Herbert
H. Lehman D NY) came out a
few hours later with a pledge of
support to Stevenson.
This presaged a split in the New
York delegation.
Split Indicated
Carmine G. DeSapio, Democrat
ic national committeeman, had
been working for a delegation 100
per cent for Harriman.
Lehman was the first major
Democrat in New York to pledge
support to Stevenson since Harri
man'a name has been mentioned
prominently as a possible candi
date at the Chicago convention
next year.
Stevenson made his comment at
Idlewild Airport before boarding a
plane for Chicago.
Asked About Report
Newsmen had asked him about
a New York Herald Tribune story
that his supporters had started a
j move; to keep the New York state
delegation from giving solid back
ing to Harriman.
Stevenson, the Democratic can
didate in 1952 and former gover
nor of Illinois, replied:
"I neither know of nor have
heard! of such a thing. I'd be in
terested but I don't think I'd ap
prove. I'm not counting on the New
York ! delegation at all."
The! New York delegation will
have j 90 votes at the convention,
more' than any other state.
Later Stevenson remarked:
"I haven't even said I'd seek the
nomination. However, as I said
last July, I expect to have some
thing to say about that in Novem
ber;
Martial Law
Ends at Piston
Ring Plants
h INDIANAPOLIS tf - Martial
law ended in the Perfect Circle
Corpi strike areas Thursday. Gov.
George N. Craig said he was as
sured a reduced force of National
Guard troops, operating under ci
vil control, could maintain order,
The troops on duty in the East
ern Indiana area were cut from
330 to 150 by Craig's order.
The governor called out the
guard the night of . Oct 5 after
eight persons suffered gunshot
wounds in a riot outside the piston
ring firm's foundry in New Castle.
More than 1,200 members and
sympathizers of the striking CIO
United - Auto Workers Union
marched on the plant. Shots were
fired, from the plant and returned
from the crowd. rf
' Craig imposed full martial law
Oct.! 10.
Atheist Asks
Chaplain Ban
MINNEAPOLIS JD Frank C;
Hughes, 73. who identifies himself
as an atheist, said Thursday he
has started legal steps to force an
end i to employment of chaplains
in the United States armed forces.
Hughes, a retired mechanical
engineer who is acting as his own
attorney, said he mailed a law
suit; with this objective to Wash
ington, D. C, for filing in U. S.
District Court there.
Named as chief defendant in the
suitj he said, was Mrs. Ivy Baker
Priest, treasurer of the United
States.
Hughes contends the chaplain
system denies the freedom of reli
gion guaranteed in the First
Amendment of the federal Consti
tution. In paying income taxes, he said,
he is "forced to pay a part of the
cost of promulgating religious doc
trines which he abhors, and is
obliged to support, financially, re
ligion entirely alien" to his own.
Stennis was not reached imme
diately, but Chavez said he bad
"requested nothing. He de
clined to say how he is getting
home.
Senatorial aides said the air
force had known for weeks that
the 'senators' would have to be
back by certain dates to meet
speaking or other engagements,
and: therefore could have . ar
ranged in advance to bring them
back on regular flights.
Robert. Tripp Ross, assistant
secretary of defense for legisla
tive and public affairs, said the
Pentagon . had no alternative,
but 'to order the special flights
when, the senators said they
could not wait two or three days
for Tegular planes. ... i
Ross said the defense depart
ment "has. a duty to provide
without question" transportation
for members, of congress who, are
traveling under statutory au
thorization.
i The three senators arrived in
Shows
toRnn
UF Leaders
See $175,000
Figure Today
Salem United Fund director! ?
expect to count upwards of $175,-
000 today in their campaign for
$205,000 for the coming year'!
support of 27 youth' and.welfara
agencies. , ,
Chairmen of each campaiga f,
division continued their close '
check Thursday of coverage in
their solicitation. f
Volunteer auditors at the UF
campaign headquarters counted -
$167,000 in pledges by late Thurv .
day, with more coming in and -with
much new money predicted .
for the regular report session of '
division leaders today noon at
the Marion HoteL
Campaign Chairman Kenneth
M. Potts has urged all UF offi- X
rials to complete their soliciting '
work in time for a victory report
next Wednesday.
Salem Chosen
one
Warehouse
Salem is chosen lor i. new
warehouse and. distribution cen
ter for North Electric Co., an
Ohio manufacturer of telephone
equipment, it was announced
Thursday by D. C. Dye, manager
of the new operation.'
A half million dollar annual
business is expected to be don
out of Salem by the firm, selling
equipment to some 350 inde
pendent telephone companies of
the nine Western states and
Alaska.
No manufacturing or assembly
will be done here, and new em
ployment will . be limited to a
clerical office to serve Dye, a
salesman in California and one
in Washington. A "
Storage - will be handled ' by .
Capital City Transfer personnel
in a part of its warehouse at
1325 Johnson St. in North Salem.
Dye will have his office there.
Opening date is set for Dec. 1.
The: Salem installation s is the'
first in the West for the electric
concern. Four other warehouses
are located at Atlanta, Ga., Dal
las, Tex., Minneapolis, Minn., and
ata Gauon, Ohio, where the north
factory employs about 1,800.
Dye . said Salem was selected
for the distribution center after
a study of many Western cities.
"From here we can serve better
the telephone industry," he said.
Salem Chamber of Commerce
helped the . company get estab-.
lished here.
GUARD DARFT URGED
NEW ORLEANS UB The Na
tional Guard Assn. Thursday urged
Congress to pass laws drafting
men into the national guard. ;
Today's Statesman
Sec. Pag
Babson Report . H.. 7
Business Paga . . II 7
Classified IV4-7
Comes th Dawn I 4
Comics 10
Crossword III 11
Editorials ' . 4
Food LI!!.. 1-5
Horn Panorama I 6-8
Markets ' 7
Radio, TV 11
Sports ..IV 1-3
Star Gazer l 9
Valley i !! 6
Wirephoto Pago 1 1 10
London by air Sept 27 to begin
a three weeks tour of American
defense aid funds in Britain,
Spain and Turkey. . .
Chavez said on landing iij Lon
don: "We are here to find out
how much is being - spent and
how much we need to spend to
keep or defense commitments up
to the mark. We may -not b
spending enough either in Bri
tain or in Europe." .
A Pentagon spokesman, in ans
wer to a question, said that regu
lations permit the air force to
purchase commercial transporta
tion when air force facilities art
not available. He added, however
that this is. done only upon re
quest and that no such' request
was made in this case. . The com
mercial airlines fare from Ma
drid to New York is about $436;
from ; Paris, about $420. Thus
the cost by ..commercial, flight
would have been less than $3,000
for the three senators and their
wives.
Teleph