Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, August 22, 1949, Page 1, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Capital
HI vlOi
THE WEATHER HERE
PARTLY CLOUDT tonight and
Tuesday. No Important temper
ature change. Lowest tonight,
50; highest Tuesday, 84.
Maximum yeiterdajr, ?9i minimum -iy,
tt. Total H-hour preclplUlion:
far month: .M; normal, .16. Sea ton precl-
Eltallon, 42.95; normal, 31.00. Rlvor
lrht, feet. (Report by U.S. Weather
Bur can.)
61st Year, No. 199 SSffSfoSZ Salem, Oregon, Monday, August 22, 1949
(20 Pages)
Price 5c
Series fmk$ ffimks Wi
re in Mi
MOM E
Eye Witness
Letter Exposes
5 Per Cent
Deals
Ties in With Whole
Chain Of Exposures
Declares Mundt
Washington, Aug. 22 VP) A
secret letter beginning "Dear
Fop" Is shedding new light on
the perfume oil and home freez
er aspects of the five percenter
inquiry, Senator Mundt (R-SD)
? id today.
The letter was written by a
former member of the armed
services to his father, who turn
ed it over to Mundt. The South
Dakota lawmaker is a member
of the special senate subcommit
tee checking on whether impro
per influence has figured in the
handling of government busi
ness. Mundt declined to discuss the
contents of the letter in any de
tail. He did describe it as a sig
nificant eye-witness account "of
something which took place
which appears to have an im
portant bearing on matters we
have been investigating." He
added:
Month to Testify
"The letter tics in with the
whole chain of events dealing
with the presentation of home
freezers to prominent people in
Washington nd the subsequent
activities of representatives of
the perfume company which
paid for the freezers.
Mundt said the youth who
wrote the letter either will be
called to testify at the senate
public hearings, to be resumed
tomorrow, or will be questioned
privately.
Mundt declined to name the
boys or his father. He said the
letter was prompted by accounts
of the investigation which ap
peared in the newspapers dur
ing the last few days.
The committee has been told
that seven home freezers pre
sented to Maj. Gen. Harry H.
Vaughan and other Washington
notables in 1945 were paid for
by the Albert Verley company,
Chicago perfume oil firm.
(Concluded on Page S, Column 4)
Seek Post Office
For West Salem
The first move looking toward
the establishment of a post office
in West Salem was taken Mon
day when postal authorities
asked bids on a building to house
the facilities. Bid forms may be
obtained at the Salem post office,
according to announcement by
Postmaster Albert C Gragg.
A building, which must con
form to zoning and building reg
ulations, with floor space of 1500
equare feet is sought by the post
office department and bids will
be received up to and including
September 20.
The post office in West Salem
would provide all services of the
Salem office although mail
would be cleared through the
latter. This means that money
orders would be sold, lock boxes
installed, and deliveries for
West Salem and rural routes in
that district made from there.
The plan for placing a full
fledged post office in West Salem
was inaugurated several months
ago. Early this month E. A.
Wohlfrom, Seattle, post office in
spector in charge of leases made
a personal visit to the area and
reported that It was desirable
that the office should be estab
lished. Monday morning Post
master Gragg received instruc
tions to ask for bids. When com
pleted the building will be leas
ed from the owner for a period
of five to 10 years.
Electric Chair for
Lonely Heart Slayer
New York, Aug. 22 P Mrs.
Martha Beck, 29, and Raymond
Fernandez, 34, today were sen
tenced to die in the electric
chair the week of Oct. 10 for the
murder of Mrs. Janet Fay, 66,
Albany, N. Y. widow. '
Mrs. Beck, 200-pound 29-year-old
divorcee, and Fernan
dez, a professional romeo, were
convicted of the bludgeoning
and strangulation of Mrs. Fay
last Jan. 4.
The state charged the Fay
murder, and two other murders
laid to the defendants in Michi
gan, grew from a scheme to
fleec. lonely women.
Soviet Demands
Death of Tito
As
Riff Widens
Charges of Espionage
Exchanged in Officio
Notes by Each Nation
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Aug. 22
(U.R) Moscow published a de
mand for Marshal Tito's death
today as the Russian-Yugoslav
rift steadily widened.
The Yugoslav press struck at
the Soviets with a charge of es
pionage.
The press of the two countries
traded blows after the two gov
ernments exchanged bluntly-
worded notes over the week-end
The Soviet note, delivered on
Saturday, threatened "effective
measure" to protect Soviet citi
zens in Yugoslavia. The Yugo
slav reply, published yesterday,
accused the Russians of double
crossing Tito in his dispute with
Austria.
Published by Pravda
The notes dealt with twn spn-
arate issues under debate by the
two governments, and the Yugo
slav note was not intended as a
reply to the Soviet warning.
The Moscow newspaper Prav
da, organ of the Russian com
munist party, published the de
mand for Tito's execution in a
three-column article signed by
Bedrl Spachiu, secretary of the
Albanian communist party.
(Concluded on Page 5, Column 8)
Finnish Strike
Proves Failure
Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 22 VP)
The communist strike offensive
against the Finnish government
lost momentum again today as
workers apparently remained
deaf to red pleas for further
walkouts.
Although the Transport Work
ers union called a strike for this
morning, traffic was normal on
Helsinki's streets.
The communist timetable had
called for more than 100,000 of
Finland's 300,000 unionized wor
kers to be on strike today in
what the government charged
was an attempt to prepare for a
communist coup.
The government has not yet
been able to compile an official
report on the number who ac
tually have left work but em
ployer estimates gave the total
at 27,000.
The strike threat generally
appeared to have been overcome
by the combined firm efforts of
the social democratic (socialist)
government of Premier Karl A.
Fagerholm and the loyal Cen
tral Trade Union Federation.
Strikers in many industries
were reported streaming back to
work. These included bakers,
brewery workers, dock workers.
lumbermen and log floaters.
The waning strike movement
drew strong comment from Fin
land s communist press. I
Forest Fires in 6 States
Still Out of Control
(By thft Associated Pre.)''
Hundreds of fire fighters battled flames in national forest areas
of six western states today. At least six major fires were still out
of control, three in the Payette national forest of central Idaho
and three in Yellowstone national park in Wyoming.
Four crewmen were hospitalized, one in California and three
in Idaho.
More than 300 lightning-caus
ed fires, most of them small,
covered an estimated 33,000
acres of timber and grass lands
in the drought-stricken forests.
Winds that caused fires to
flare out of control Saturday had
died down yesterday and in Id
aho, a light overcast raised the
humidity last night. Weather
will be the major factor in bring
ing the fires under control,
James Hockaday, forester from
the regional forest service fire
control office at Ogden, Utah,
said today.
Some 500 men have been sent
by plane from Portland, Ore.,
and by bus and plane from east
ern Oregon cities to fight Pay
ette national forest fires.
Major fire was a 7000 acreimit lake, 15 miles west of Old
blaze in Hell's Canyon in t h ei
Payette forest. It was there that
wind-swept flames caught a
crew, causing injury to several
1 WT.nu-
1. V .UjT
Spaalz in Favor
Of B-36 Bombers
Washington, Aug. 22 (U.R)
Gen. Carl Spaatz, former army
air force chief of staff, said to
day no outside influence was in
volved in the air force s pur
chase of the B-36 bomber.
With the United States having
temporary monopoly of the
atomic bomb and B-36 to deliver
it, Spaatz said, the nation is
fairly safe from attack by an ag
gressor. Spaatz, now retired and writ
ing on military subjects, said
that in 1940 and 1941 military
planners thought an inter-con
tinental bomber was essential in
the face of Hitler's successes in
Europe.
Again in December, 1946, and
January, 1947, he told the house
armed services committee inves
tigating alleged "irregularities"
in the super bomber program, it
was decided to continue the B-36
contract because of continued
unsettled world conditions.
"Unless an aggressor can de
velop weapons and techniques at
least equal to ours he will not
start a war," Spaatz said.
The possibilities of a long cold
war, he said, "requires that our
military security be obtained at
a minimum sacrifice of our na
tional wealth."
This is emphasized, he said,
through the atomic bomb and
B-36.
Two Men Killed
In Plane Crash
Republic, Wash., Aug. 22 u.
Two men were killed in the
crash of a light plane last night
l'.i miles west of Danville, on
the Canadian border north of
here.
The pilot of the plane was
identified as Jack P. Dean, 29,
Shelton, Wash., and his passen
ger as Harry Ozeroff, 30, Brit
ish Columbia, civil aeronautics
authorities reported.
A civil aeronautics board
from Spokane is investigating
the crash today.
men. ihree were hospitalized
and Jim Knudsen of Gem, Kas.
was termed critical. The gorge is
7400 feet deep, adding to the
difficulty in establishing a fire
line.
Another fire near Riggins, Id
aho, had covered 3200 acres.
In Yellowstone park, nine tim
ber and grass fires kept more
than 300 men on the fire lines,
although no park roads were
closed. Largest fire is a 1000
acre blaze about five miles
southeast of Mammoth.
A fire on Mirrow plateau
north of Yellowstone lake flared
out of control yesterday and
forest service officials were too
busy to send crews to a third
fire that broke out yesterday on
the Madison plateau near Sum
Faithful. Flames roared over
200 acres on the upper Gallatin
river in the northwest corner of
the park.
1
Keizer Scout Troop Travels
bers of Keizer troop No. 41 departed to Pendleton this morn
ing for a five-day vacation including a view of the Roundup.
They were accompanied by Mickey Hickman, scoutmaster, and
two other adults. Scouts making the trip are Dwayne and
Ted Snook, John Rehfuss, Dale Wood, David Adams, Larry
Powell, Art Lewis, Richard Schmidt, Owen Slockard, Ralph
Sipprell, Tommy Frigaard, Merritt Linn, Lary Smith, Dick
Greenwood, Don Stettler, Chuck Kieper, Jimmy Robertson,
Arnold Pederson and Norman Bowman.
Baldock Plan Doesn 't
Affect Capitol Group
A report that the newly-created slate capitol planning commis
sion would try to get the city council to dolor action Monday
night on the Baldock plan had
question today.
It had also brought the question as to what right the commis-
ic Debt Set
At 255 Billions
-Washington, Aug. 22 , (flV
The public debt, rising as the
government overspends its in
come, has climbed above $255,
000,000,000 for the first time
since February, 1948.
Treasury data showed today
the debt totalled $255,076,246,
000 on August 18 and was on its
way up. The government al
ready is $1,674,796,000 in the
red for the' 1950 fiscal year,
which began July 1, and appar
ently is headed deeper into the
hole for the full year as a whole.
In rounded figures, govern
ment spending so far this fiscal
year amounted to $5,341,000,000,
or about $300,000,000 more than
at this point last fiscal year.
Receipts from taxes and oth
er sources so far this fiscal year
total $3,666,000,000 and arc
about $130,000,000' below last
year. .,
British Parley
Opens in Gloom
Washington, Aug. 22 VP)
Preliminary American - British
talks on Britain s economic cris
is will open here this week in
an atmosphere of bitterness and
gloom.
American officials said it
would require some notable
feats of statesmanship to prevent
the conference from hurting in
stead of improving British-
American relations. The confer
ence will reach a climax early
next month.
Among other things the Brit
ish say they take a dim view of
the appointment of Secretary of
the Treasury Snyder to head up
the American delegation for the
main, second stage of the nego
tiations which will open Sept. 6
or 7. They say they would have
preferred Secretary of State
Acheson.
American officials believe the
British negotiators are coming
here with hands outstretched
for another round of American
help not a loan comparable to
that of 1946 nor a new kind of
Marshall plan but rather some
more indirect measures.
American officials have not
displayed any particular enthu
siasm for such British ideas.
This, is partly because they be
lieve Britain s troubles must be
solved by major internal moves
and partly because they foresee
trouble in getting any British
aid measures through congress.
No Files for the Fair
There will be no flies on Ore
gon i state fair which opens
here Monday, Sept. 5, Manager
Leo Spitzbart declared here to
day following completion of a
DDT spraying program over the
entire grounds.
to Pendleton Nineteen mem
caused public confusion on the
'sion has to interfere in the mat-
ter.
The three ordinance bills cov
ering the street and traffic de
velopment plan, including a one
way street grid, rebuilding of
the present Center street bridge.
ana construction o a new
bridge over the. Willamette, are
on the calendar for third reading
at the Monday night meeting.
Mayor Robert L. Elfslrom
said he had received no offi
cial notice that the capitol corn
mission was making the request.
"I have checked with officials
of the state highway department
and they say there is no real
conflict of interest between the
Baldock plan and questions with
which the commission is sup
posed to concern itself."
Mayor Elfslrom wants to sec
the plan adopted, and is hope
ful that enough aldermen will
vote with him to put it through
the council.
If the bills pass it is under
stood the plan will be presented
at a meeting of the slate high
way commjssion set for Septem
ber 19 and 20.
Also it is anticipated oppon
ents of the plan may invoke the
referendum on the bills and if
so they will go to the people
for a popular vote this fall.
probably in October.
House Debates
Flood Control
Washington, Aug. 22 W) The
house opened debate today on a
$1,114,539,000 omnibus rivers
and harbors and flood control
authorization bill.
Action was delayed until to
morrow on a second bill. It
would provide money for water
project construction during the
12 months which began July 1
Chairman Whillington (D..
Miss.) of the house public works
committee chided the house
rules committee for delaying
house consideration of the omni
bus authorization bill by requir
ing him to call it up under a
special resolution bypassing the
rules group.
He said the bill involves proj
ects all over the United States
which are considered meritori
ous by the army engineers and
should be made eligible for fu
ture appropriations.
On money for current con
struction, senate and house con
ferees have been in disagree
ment since June 1., Before Eas
ter, the house passed an appro
priation bill allowing $593,292,
220 for army civil functions
consisting mostly of funds for
flood control and rivers ind har
bors projects of the army en
gineers. The senate lipped the
amount to $751,440,690 adding
dozens of new projects.
Multnomah Fair Opens
Gresham, Aug. 22 HP) The
Multnomah county fair opened
here today for the 43rd time. The
first day is "kiddies' day."
Truman Pleads
For Approval of
Full Arms Bill
Tells Critics Peace
With Russia Can't be
Bought Cheaply
Miami, Fla., Aug. 22 VP) Pre
sident Truman pleaded today
for fast approval of the full Sl,-
450,000,000 arms aid program as
part of the price of peace.
He indirectly told - critics of
the plan in congress without
calling any names that peace
with freedom and justice "can
not be bought cheaply" in a
world made uneasy by "Soviet
pressure."
And he described the goal as
prevention of aggression.
"We are not arming ourselves
and our friends to start a fight
with anybody, the president
said. "We are building our de
fenses so that we won't have to
fight."
Speaks Before Vets
He spoke before the golden
jubilee convention of the Veter
ans of Foreign Wars after an
822-mile flight here from Wash
ington in the Independence, the
White House plane.
His schedule allowed just
enough time for a 15-minute
talk and a couple of dozen hand
shakes, before his return flight
to Washington.
The president blamed Russian
tactics in the United Nations and
elsewhere for the need to arm
friendly nations "to resist ag
gression." Russia, the president declar
ed, "has blocked every effort to
establish an effective interna
tional police force and to free
the world from fear of aggres
sion."
(Concluded on Page J5, Column -6)
No U.S. Aid in
Hawaiian Strike
Washington, Aug. 22 VP) The
government today asked oppos
ing sides in the Hawaiian dock
strike to make a new effort to
sctlle their dispute and if this
fails to come to Washington or
New York for mediation talks.
Cyrus S. Ching, director of
the U. S. conciliation service,
sent a table to Honolulu request
ing the new attempt at a settle
ment of the crippling 114-day-
old strike.
Ching told the striking union
and Hawaiian stevedoring nego
tiating committee that he would
be happy to meet with them in
the U. S. to discuss the issues.
He said if they are again un
successful at reaching an agree
ment they could come to the
states and meet with him and
other government mediators any
lime they choose.
The strike has seriously crippl
ed the economy of Hawaii. It has
brought export of vast quantities
of sugar, pineapples and other
island products to a standstill.
Also import of vital food stocks
has been stalled.
Alissing Dane Found Rescuers examine tail section of .iir
force B-26 bomber that crashed into Mississippi head of Mt.
Hood, Ore., in April, killing three. Pieces of the ship were
scattered over an area of 100 acres as far down as the patch
of snow showing to the left of the tail section. (Acme Tele-photo)
Burglar Tops
Stolen Sundae
with Ice Cream
A nocturnal soda- jerk is op
erating in Salem.
Sometime Sunday night the
Top Hat restaurant at 1275
Stale street was broken into by
a sweet-toothed thief with a
particular yen for sundaes.
When an employe of the cate
came to work early Monday
morning, he discovered that
someone had lifted out the back
window, gained entry, opened a
can of sundae topping, scooped
a dipper of ice cream from the
freezer, then sat down at the
counter and enjoyed a sundae.
The used sundae glass was
still sitting on the counter when
police made their investigation.
The thief also drank two bot
tles of coke and made himself
a ham sandwich.
Crime Wave in
City Hits Autos
By CHRIS KOWITZ, JR.
A brief crime wave involving
auto thefts struck Salem over
the weekend. Two of the cases
involved bodily assault.
Ervin J. Sisk, who lists Salem
general delivery as his address,
was beaten about the head by a
man he found silling in his car
in the 200 block, Ferry street,
late Saturday night. Sisk had
just come out of a beer parlor
and had started to get into his
car when his assailant, described
as an Indian or French-Canad
ian, assaulted him, forced Sisk
out of the car, then drove off in
Sisk's auto.
The car had not been recov
ered by noon Monday.
A Salem taxi driver, R. G
Rickets of Brooks route 1,. was
hit over the head by a fare lie
had picked up at South Commer
cial and Trade streets early Sun
day. Rickets reports that after
he had driven a very short dis
tance, he asked his passenger to
leave the taxi because the man
was in an intoxicated condition.
Instead of stepping out of the
car, the passenger hit the cab-
driver over the head. Rickets
says the next thing he remem
bers he woke up in the taxi,
then parked at Leslie and South
High streets. None of the driv
er's personal belongings were
stolon.
Two men and two juveniles
wore apprehended by cily po
licemen late Sunday night when
a city patrolman saw them rid
ing in a car which had been
stolen earlier from West Salem
Charged with larceny of an
auto were Harvey William Hick-
an, 28, Salem route 4, box 545,
Adolph Thomas Tronson, Jr., 20,
of Silctz, Ore and two juven-
los, one from Silctz and one
from Salem.
One of the juveniles resisted
arrest and had to be brought to
the station in handcuffs.
The office of Mac's Used Cars
in the 800 block of South 12th
street was broken into some lime
Saturday night, and a set of car
keys stolen. The keys were then
used to operate a car on the lot,
which was also stolon.
Northern British
Columbia Center
Of Disturbance
Tremor Felt From
Alaska to Portland
No Loss of Life
(By the Associated rre.vl
Trincc Kupcrt, B.C., Aug. 22
'IP) An earthquake which last
ed longer than the devastating
shock in Ecuador and was
stronger than the San Francisco
quake of 1!)06 struck off the
coast of British Columbia last
night, hut there were no reports
of casualties or major damage.
The violent submarine tem
blor, its main shock lasting six
and one-half hours with subse
quent siiorter shocks, was felt
is far north as Juneau, Alaska
and as far south as Portland,
Ore. Seismologists said the
quake would have been destruc
tive had it not centered offshore.
It appeared to center off the
British Columbia coast, but the
greatest shock felt on land was
in the Skeena river valley.
In Seattle, the University of
Washington seismograph station
said the severity of the quake
knocked the needle off one seis
mograph drum. It lasted for six
and a half hours. The Ecuador
quake of Aug. 5 was recorded
in Seattle for four hours.
Grafs Report Severity
Trof. Perry Byerly, Univer
sity of California seismologist,
said it was "very large," the lar
gest ever recorded in California
from a distant point. He said it
was more severe than the one
which shook San Francisco in
190G.
iCoiKiuricd on TaRc 5, Column 6)
Ink
Lakes Bubbled
Spokane, Aug. 22 (-T) Inland
Empire lakes "rolled and bub
bled" during last night's earth
quake, witnesses said today.
Boa lake, north of Nelport
near the Idaho state line, "start
ed rocking violently," Mrs. Wil
liam Wilson said. The resort
owners wile sain the shock
rocked all our bonis loose from
our docks and took them out on
the water.
"When we went out to get
them we could hardly row be
cause of the pull of tiie water.
We pulled them high up on the
beach where we thought they
would be safe. Then the lake
surface suddenly rose what
siecmd to be ihree or four feet
and took all our boats out
again."
At Clear lake, northwest of
Cheney, Mrs. G. C. Hollomon
said a "young tidal wave" left
dozens of fish on the shore.
"One big wave came in about
six feet and then the whole
shove line receded." she said "It
looked as though somebody had
pulled a plug out of the lake hot- -torn
and the water was running
out.
After that a huge wave came
in and washed way up on the
shore, and the lake appeared to
irise six or eight inches.
! "That wave threw lots of small
bass up on the shore. I threw
abftut three dozen back into tiie
lake myself and my husband
threw lots more."
Graph Shows Quake
Severe Than in '05
Berkley, Calif., Aug. 22 VP)
The rarlhriiiakc which jolted
northern British Columbia last
n i qii t was more severe than the
one which shook San Francis
co to pieces in 101)6.
That belief was expressed to
rt.;;.' by Prof. Perry Byerly, Univ
ersity of California scimologist.
He called it "very large," the
largest, in fact ever, recorded
here from a distant point. He
was corroborated by tna Har
vard university station which
said the Britisli Columbia shock
was "ton times as severe as the
recorded shock in Ecuador Aug.
5," in which thousands died.
rrofessor Byerly's instru
ments placed the center of the
quake 1.300 miles north, to sea
from Queen Charlotte island,
off the British Columbia coast.
The first violent shock was
timed here at 8:05:21) p.m. FST.