THE WEATHER HERE
CLOUDY WITH RAIN tonight.
Partly cloudy with showers Sat
urday. Slightly cooler. Lowest
tonight, 40 degrees; highest Sat
urday, 47.
Maximum yeiterdar, 41; minimum
day, 46. Total 24-hour precipitation: .51 1
for month: 3.49: normal, 4.71. Seaion pre
elpltation, 13.03: normal. 15.47. Rlvvr
faclfht, X.i feet. (Report by U.S. Weather
Bureau.)
Capital JciiPJiaJ.
H O
EDITIO
61st Year, No. 305 ESfjr&ftSZ Salem, Oregon, Friday, December 23, 1949
(73 Pages)
Price 5c
B-50 Bomber
Crashes Killing
All 1 1 Aboard
Flaming Plane Smash
es in Marsh Burying
Bodies in Muck
Savannah, Ga., Dec. 23 UP)
A flaming air force B-50 bomb
er crashed in a dreary river
marsh last night, killing all 11
airmen aboard and scattering
and burying bodies and wreck
age in the muck.
The big bomber had just tak
en off from Chatham air force
base here when it went down on
the bank of a branch of the
muddy Savannah river. The
crash was only seven miles
above the city, but it was so
inaccessible it took rescue par
ties hours to reach it by boat.
The first persons to reach
the scene were forced back by
flaming gasoline, floating on the
water. The flames were visible
for miles.
On Training Flight
Col. Frederic E. Glantsberg,
commanding officer of Cha
tham field, identified the plane.
He said it took off at 9:12 p.m.
(EST) on a training flight to
El Paso, Texas. It crashed about
live minutes later.
The plane had been in ser
vice at Chatham for a year or a
year and a half. The B-50, an
improved version of the B-29
uperfortress, has a wingspread
of 141 feet, is 99 feet long, and
weighs 125,000 pounds. The air
force describes it as a more
powerful version of the B-29
which bombed Japan.
The crash site was less than
two miles from U. S. Highway
17, which crosses the river just
above Savannah. But it could
only be reached by small boats
guided by boatmen who knew
the river.
Near Previous Crash
The crash was only a few
miles from the spot where a
chartered airliner crashed Jan.
7, 1948, killing 18 and injuring
18 Puerto Ricans on a flight
from Newark, N. J., to their
home.
The air force wailed until
dawn to send a large crash boat
with score or more men,
armed with shovels and ropes,
to try to remove the bodies
They had to transfer to small
flat-bottomed swamp boats to
get to the wreckage.
Two planes took off from the
air base this morning to circle
the crash scene and guide the
rescue boats.
High tide on the river was at
about 11 a.m., and the rescue
narties hoped to be able to re
move some of the bodies be
fore then.
Sam Rahal, chairman of the
Savannah Red Cross disaster
committee, said the first search
parties could not find a single
large piece of wreckage, and
that apparently even the engines
were under water.
Support for
Tito Promised
Washington, Dec. 23 MP) From
President Truman to Marshal
Tito, a major target of Soviet
threats: The United States is
opposed to aggression against
any nation.
This is the world Mr. Truman
has instructed George V. Allen,
his new ambassador to Yugoslav-
la. to pass on to the Tito govern
ment. Allen is due to leave for
Belgrade Dec. 28. i
Tito has been under heavy
pressure from the Russians since
his break with Moscow more
than a year ago. There has been
speculation that sometime the
Russians might try to break his
power by means of guerrilla
warfare.
The United States and other
western nations have given Tito
economic and political assistance
since he stormed out of the Sov
iet camp. But there never has
been any official statement of
what this country's policy would
be in the event of a Soviet-corn
munist attack on Yugoslavia.
Mr. Truman had a talk with
Allen, before his weekly news
conference yesterday. He told
Allen, he said, to state this gov
ernment s policy to the 1 no gov.
ernment. Then the president
added that the United States is
opposed to aggression against
any country no matter where it
, is situated.
This, Mr. Truman said, does
n't mean any change in Ameri
can policy which has
been
against agression lor a long time.
Truman Spends
Christmas at
Missouri Home
To Broadcast Greet
ings to Nation Satur
day States Policies
Washington, Dec. 23 UP)
President Truman took off in the
rain today to fly back home to
Missouri for the Christmas hol
idays. He arrived at Kansas
City at 12:45 EST in his personal
plane, the Independence.
With him was his daughter,
Margaret. Mrs. Truman already
at their home in Indepen
dence.
Except for a short radio
speech Saturday night extend
ing Christmas greetings to the
nation, and eating Christmas
dinner at home, Mr. Truman
plans to follow no fixed sched
ule while in Missouri. Custom
arily he spends most of his time
visiting with kinfolk and old
friends.
Due Back Wednesday
He is due back in Washing
ton Dec. 28 to face the usual
heavy work load incident to
the opening of Congress.
In his final work day until
after Christmas, Mr. Truman
went over his state of the union
message and other business with
his cabinet and held a news con
ference. Opening the news conference,
the president wished newsmen
a merry, merry Christmas and a
happy New Year and remarked
that the vast majority of them
have been as kind to him as he
deserved.
(Concluded on Face 5, Column 5)
Burning Ship
Crew Escapes
Boston, Dec. 23 UP) Squirm
ing out of portholes and strug
gling through smoke-filled com
panionways, 40 crewmen and
two stewardesses escaped
nightclothes early today as ex
plosions and flames wrecked the
midship decks of the moored
Norwegian freighter, Fern Bay.
One crewman suffered burns
and the ship's captain made his
way over a cargo boom to safety
in the 4 a.m. blaze which caused
loss estimated at "between $100,-
000 and $500,000."
Flames ate through the five
deck superstructure of the 10-months-old
8000-ton vessel, out
of Oslo, Norway, which arrived
here recently from Port Said aft
er a voyage to Far Eastern ports.
Her cargo was crude rubber and
tea.
Tugs and land apparatus bat
tled the flames. Fire trucks
threw up a curtain of water to
keep the flames from army base
sheds.
Radio Operator A. K. Lind
suffered severe burns about the
face and hands.
Last to leave, Capt. Arild Wer-
geland of Oslo, said he was trap
ped in his stateroom and drop
ped from a port to a cargo boom
to make his way ashore.
Two Funerals Planned '
Eugene, Dec. 23 VP) Funeral
services will be held in Eugene,
then in Los Angeles next week
for Mrs. Louisa Flint Kellems,
78, religious educator and moth
er of Miss Vivian Kellems, Con
necticut industrialist.
Cordray Pleads Guilty,
Fined $250
Harley V. Cordray, ex-Salem police officer, changed his plea
from not guilty to guilty in circuit court Friday morning to a
charge of operating a lottery.
sentenced him to 30 days in )ail and to pay a fine of $250, sen
tence to be suspended on payment of the fine, which it is un
derstood will be paid. A slot ma-1
chine involved is to be destroy
ed.
The change of plea was made
and sentence imposed in the ab
sence of Cordray, Paul Burris,
his attorney appearing for him.
He said Cordray had gone to
Ventura, Calif., making arrange
ments for a job there but sub
ject to returning voluntarily if
desired by the court. He said
that Cordray was operating a
small slot machine, a "tin horn
operation," as he referred to it,
and that admittedly it was
wrong. He also said admittedly
it was wrong that Cordray in
operating a merchants' patrol
service allowed his men in uni
form and to1 carry guns, but
nevertheless the charge was
merely a misdemeanor and a
small scale one.
District Attorney Ed Stadter;was made of th alleged parole
stated that the Cordray case has
I been subject to a very uior-
20 Santas Out
With Mrs. Santa
Santas about 20 of them
and all of them dressed in civ
ilian clothes will be on the
streets of Salem this evening
waiting to be tagged.
Mrs. Santa will be there, too,
and the person first tapping
her on the shoulder and saying,
"Tag, you are Mrs. Santa," will
be the winner of $100 in cash.
Presentation of the $100 will be
made at 9 o'clock in front of
the Chamber of Commerce.
The Santa Clauses, each rep
resenting one of the downtown
stores, will be of all ages, com
plexions and stature. One may
be a blonde, another have brown
hair, one tall and another of
medium height.
All will have one thing in
common, however, they repre
sent prizes in merchandise from
the store for which they are
acting as Santa Claus. On being
lagged and greeted with "Tag,
you are Santa Claus," each
Santa will escort the tagger to
his store and there present a
prize in merchandise ranging
from $12 to $40 in value.
Tonight will be the last night
that the Santas and Mrs. Santa
Claus will be on the streets and
the hours will be the same as the
two previous Friday nights,
from 7 to 9 o'clock. Stores will
stay open until 9 o'clock to ac
commodate the late shoppers.
Paul Robeson's Wife
Lauds Chinese Reds
San Francisco, Dec. 23 UP)
The wife of Paul Robeson, Ame
rican Negro singer, was quoted
by the Chinese communist ra
dio today as sharply attacking
the United States government
and lauding the communists.
The broadcast, heard in San
Francisco by the Associated
Press, said she made a Peiping
radio speech on Dec 19 during
a visit to Red China. Mrs. Robe
son was quoted:
"Today, our government is
controlled by sixty families who
use our dollars, our press, our
radio, our guns in plans for war.
"Our people are pitted against
each other by our economic, so
cial and political systems."
for Gambling
Circuit Judge George R. Duncan
ough investigation, an unusual
ly thorough one both by his of
fice and the grand jury and
they were convinced he had but
the one small machine in oper
ation at a used car lot here and
was not hooked tip in any way
with any other slot machine op
erators. He said apparently he
bought the machine himself. He
did say there was one slight ag
grevation, that Cordray might
possibly have developed his
merchant patrol service into a
racket if he wished to, but did
n't say there was any evidence
to that effect. He also called at
tention to an old forgery charge
against Cordray in Illinois back
in 1935 with a charge of parole
violation, but that the record
failed to show what disposition
violation.
uoncluded en Ptc t, Catamn t)
p r r I
Explosives Found Examined Inspector Joseph V. Krug
(left) of the Detroit, Mich., special investigation squad and
Inspector Albert Langtry, head of the police scientific
laboratory, inspect dynamite and fuses found on a basement
stairs of the United Auto Workers international headquar
ters building in Detroit. The dynamite, 39 sticks complete
with two detonators and fuses, was found in a cardboard box
wrapped in gaily decorated Christmas paper. (AP Wirephoto)
Secrecy Lid
Bomb Plant
Detroit, Dec. 23 UP) A secrecy
investigation of the dynamite bomb plot against the CIO's auto
union.
Both the FBI and city police
Tuesday night's mysterious plant
AFL Repudiates
Cleveland Strike
Cleveland, Dec? 23 IP) AFL
leaders here denounced strikers
against the Cleveland Transit
system yesterday and pleaded
with AFL President William
Green to help get them back on
the job.
In an almost unprecedented
move, the Cleveland Jjederation
of Labor (AFL) disowned a
strike by one of its affiliates,
local 268 of the AFL Transit un
ion. The local has 4900 members.
For the second day, the
walkout forced about a half
million bus and streetcar riders
in the nation's sixth city to
hitch hike or ride cabs to stores
or work.
A telegram to Green, without
naming names, accused officers
of local 268 of "failing to keep
their word" in pre-strike nego
tiations. It said they had prom
ised to notify Mayor Thomas A.
Burke before calling the strike
and had failed to get CFL ap
proval. Then the dispatch urged
Green to ask the union's inter
national president, Abe Sprad
dling of Detroit, to order the
men back to work or send a
representative to handle it.
"The union," it said, "is vio
lating rules of its agreement
with the transit board here in
Cleveland, and is violating the
rules and regulations of the con
stitution and by-laws of the CFL
by going on strike.
"They have failed to live up
to' the arbitration clause they
have in their agreement, and
they have failed to take their
dispute before the CFL to which
they are affiliated to get a strike
sanction.
4 Youngsters Killed
In Auto-Train Crash
Pana, 111., Dec. 23 UP) Two
youths and two teen-age girls
were killed and a third girl was
seriously injured last night in
an automobile-freight train col
lision near here.
Coroner Earl J. Baker of
Christian county said the )0
year old car crashed into a Nev
York Central freight train at a
crossing about two miles west
of this south-central Illinois
community. The train, enroutc
from St. Louis to Indianapolis,
was delayed three hours. Bodies
of the victims were thrown sev
eral hundred feet along the
railroad right-of-way.
Baker said the five young
people were returning to Pana
after driving a third boy to his
farm home, about a mile from
the accident scene. He said the
condition of the injured girl,
Phyllis Huffmaster, 16, is criti
cal. She was removed to a Pana
hospital.
Clamped on
for Reuther
lid was clamped today on the
shielded their efforts to solve
of a powerful explosion at the
international union's headquar
ters. Defects in the bomb prevented
its explosion.
FBI agents, ordered into the
case from Washington, proceed
ed without comment. .
As a painstaking search for
ciues continued, ponce iouk jur
ther steps to protect unionists
and to guard against any fur
ther attacks.
The nature of the precautions
was undisclosed.
"To reveal the steps taken
would be to defeat our purpose,'
said Police Superintendent Ed
win Morgan.
After the attempts on the lives
of Walter and Victor Reuther
police guards were placed at
the brothers' homes.
The CIO United Auto Work
ers also bought an armored car
for Walter Reuther, their pres
ident.
Walter was shot and seriously
wounded in the spring of 1948
A year later Victor met a sim
ilar fate again from a shotgun
marksman in ambush.
At his press conference
Washington yesterday President
Truman commented on the dyna
mite plot.
Mr. Truman denounced it as
outrageous.
Harry T. O'Connor, the FBI's
special agent in Detroit, con
ferred with Chief of Detectives
Jack Harvill. Neither would dis
cuss the conversation.
However, Harvill said the in
quiry fo far had turned up "noth
ing hot."
Gale and Rain Bring
Wet Christmas Here
Wind that reached a peak of
52 miles per hour velocity in
stronger gusts whipped over the
saiem area c rmay morning, ana
that is strong wind for this sec
tion. Through much of the wind
storm the velocity averaged 37
miles for one-minute duration
but in some of the severe blows
went, as high as 52 miles.
Altig with the wind came
rain with prospect that the
Christmas holiday will be a wet
one rather than a while one.
Rainfall in the 24-hour period
ending at 10:30 a.m. Friday
amounted to more than half an
inch, .51 of an inch being meas
ured.
Forecast is for cloudiness and
rain tonight, partly cloudy wea
ther and showers, Saturday, and
slightly cooler temperatures.
AMA Magazine
To Change Name
Chicago, Dec. 23 IIP) Hygeia,
health magazine of the Ameri
can Medical Association, will
change its name to "Today's
Health," effective with the
March, 1950, Issue.
The masthead of the January
number carries for the first time
Ihe name of Dr. W. W. Bauer,
Chicago, as editor.
Pope Pleads Christian Unity
To Oppose Militant Atheism
Coal Strike or
Lock-out Looms
After January 1
Washington, Dec. 23 P
President Truman's new refusal
to step into the coal dispute set
off more talk today of the pos
sibility of a strike or lock-out
after January 1.
John L. Lewis minors will
work only Tuesday and Wednes
day of the next two holiday
weeks. After that the big ques
tion is whether Lewis will crack
down hard and close the mines
entirely in a real test of strength
Those who argue that this is
Lewis' plan think he adopted
the three-day work week De
cember 1 just to put some Christ
mas money into the pockets of
his hard-pressed miners.
To Try Big Squeeze
Having done that, some opera
tors reason, he may call the dig
gers out and try the big squeeze.
This would permit operations
only by those employers who
sign a contract for a 35-cent ton
nage welfare royalty and $15
daily wage.
Even the three - day work
week is pinching the operators
With their mines down for four
days out of every seven, and
Lewis allowing only an irre
ductble minimum" of mainte
nance on those four days, the
operators say they're eating up1
60 to 70 cents a ton in overhead.
That comes out of profits
which the employers say aver
age less than $1 a ton.
Would Close Mines
For that reason, there is a
sizeable group of soft coal oper
ators who would like to lake the
initiative and shut down their
mines.- They think a contract
would he forthcoming in less
than a month.
(Concluded on rape i. Column 6)
Global Airlines
Told to Merge
Washington, Dec. 23 (!')
Over the bitter objection of
Trans-World Airlines, a govern
ment examiner has recommend
ed approval of a merger be
tween TWA's two trans-Atlantic
rivals.
The transaction which would
involve the purchase of Ameri
can Overseas Airlines, Inc., by
Pan American Airways, Inc., for
$17,450,000 would have to be
okayed by the five-man civil
aeronautics board and by Prcsi
dent Truman.
Approval was recommended
yesterday by CAB Examiner
Thomas L. Wrcnn who once
before had gone on record as
favoring just two U.S. airlines
in the trans-Atlantic service.
Wrenn said the purchase
agreement should offer protec
tion to the employes of Ameri
can Overseas, which is controll
ed by American Airlines.
He also proposed that Pan
American take over the Atlan
tic operating permit of the pur
chased airline, as well as its assets.
Suicide Believed Master
Mind of Big
London, Dec. 23 (IP) Scotland
bizarre double life of a suicide who they believed may have
master-minded some of Europe's biggest gem thefts in the past
decade.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, robbed of 20,000 ($56,-
000 worth of jewels at Sunning -
dale in 1946, are believed to have
been among his victims, Yard
sources said. ;
Already detectives have turn
ed up stolen jewels worth 100,
000, and are searching for more.
The dead man was known as
Barry Holliday, 51-year-old man-
about-town, famed among Lon
don's underworld as "Society
Bertie" or "Johnny tho Gent."
He was found shot to death in
a hotel room in suburban Vir
ginia Water Wednesday. A walk
ing stick hollowed out to con
tain a concealed gun was by his
side. One shot had been fired.
Holliday had friends in high
society. He frequented country
hunting meets with socialites
who later were often robbed of
their gems
Fingerprints taken afler his
death identified Holliday as an
other sort of man altogether
Rain Making
Claimed Water
Shortage Cure
Los Angeles, Dec. 23 UP) A
noted acrologist today claimed
success for a new artificial rain-
making method which he says
would have prevented New
York City's current water short
age. Dr. Irving Krick, official
weather forecaster for the Nor
mandy invasion, disclosed re
sults of large-scale rainmaking
tests in Arizona conducted by
his American Institute of Aero-
logical research.
The new method works from
the ground up much like smoke
from a chimney. Another artifi
cial method, developed by Gen
eral Electric company, seeds dry
ice into clouds from airplanes.
GE also pioneered use of silver
iodide seeding of clouds from
planes. Krick says the ground
smoking method is much cheap
er. The Krick tests utilized mo
bile silver iodide "smoke" dis
pensers located strategically as
to wind direction. He estimated
that the method quadrupled the
Arizona test area's rainfall dur
ing a two year period.
Late Spurt in
Xmas Shopping
By CHARLES MOLONY
Washington, Dec. 23 UP)
Christmas shopping showed communism though he did not
signs today of taking a late spurt mention them by name to re
that might carry it to a close turn to Christianity and legiti-
finish with last year's record
winner.
It seemed to be in harmony
with the optimism over the na
tion's business outlook which
was expressed by President
Truman at his news conference
yesterday. Mr. Truman didn't
elaborate.
The federal reserve board re
ported that a surge of buying at
the mid-December point shot de
partment store sales ahead of
Ihe same part of boomtime
1948 for the first time in months.
And 1949, striving at being
the 12th consecutive year to
hang up a new Christmas sales
high, packed one big advantage:
it has an extra shopping day
over last year, since this Christ
mas falls on Sunday whereas
it came on Saturday in 1948.
The reserve board, compiling
reports from all over the coun
try, announced department store
sales last week forged one per
cent ahead of the same week of
1948.
That was a sharp Improve
ment over the department store
record of a six per cent lag be
hind last year for the period
from Jan. 1 to mid-December.
Power Line Disrupted
Portland, Dec. 23 WV-Tho
Bonneville Power line from Sa
lem to McMinnvillc was disrupt
ed today, cutting off power to
McMinnville. The line went out
at 10:53 a.m. Bonneville offi
cials said a falling tree might
have struck (he line, though
they were not certain of the
cause.
Gem Thefts
Yard pieced together today the
'
one Barry fieldscnd who was
haled into a London court last
week, charged with ' unlawful
possession of jewelry worth
10,000. He was freed on 2,
500 bail.
Yard sources said Fieldsend-
or Holliday was last convicted
26 years ago on a trivial charge.
But for more than a year the
Yard has been quietly probing
his activities.
Holliday described himself as
a semi-retired dealer in precious
stones.
Detectives, checking through
his papers, believe Holliday died
a wealthy man.
Why did he kill himself?
The coroner, who returned
suicide verdict at today's
quest, said:
"He knew that, as an enemy
of society, the net was closing
about him,"
Union Pleaded
Within Roman
Catholic Church
Vatican City, Dec. 23 UP)
Pope Pius XII pleaded today for
union within the Roman Catho
lic church of ail christians to op
pose the advance of militant ath
eism. The pope's address, his annual
Christmas message, was directed
to the whole world.
He spoke on the eve of the
1950 Holy Year which he said
"must be decisive, especially for
the longed-for renewal of the
modern world."
"Oh, that this Holy Year could
welcome also the great return to
the one true church, awaited
over tile centuries, of so many
who through believing in Jesus
Christ are for various reasons
separated from her," the pontiff
added.
Why Separations
He said "Men are anxious
about the effrontery with which
the united front of militant ath
eism advances, and the old ques
tion is now voiced aloud: Why
are there still separations?"
The pope expressed a hope for
unity within the church and said,
"The holv rionr. nnr arms nnH
our heart" will be opened for all.
"May this jubilee mark the re
turn of all humanity to God,"
he declared.
The pope made a strong plea
for social justice, asking both
social systems of capitalism and
mate liberties and rights. He
criticized the negation of funda
mental rights and the enslave-"
ment of men to totalitarian
states.
1950 Holy Year of Peace
The pope expressed the hoDe
that the 1950 Holy Year will be
a year of peace and not of war,
a year of justice and not of na
tional egoism. He encouraged
workers to defend their "just as
pirations" but said the possession
of material wealth without faith-
in God is of little use.
If on other occasions," the
pope said, "an invitation to un
ity has been sent forth from this
Apostolic See, on this occasion
we repeat it more warmly and
paternally ... for all those who
adore Christ."
"Beginning today," the nope
said, "we direct to the whole
world, then, our plea that all
men and each one in particular,
from every land and every shore,
may accomplish the desired great
return with all the urgency de
manded by these extraordinary
times."
Pontiff, Truman
Hope for Peace
Washington, Dec. 23 (n
President Truman told Pope
Pius XII in a Christmas mes
sage that the United States
"gladly re-dedicates its efforts
to the creation of a peaceful and
advancing world order."
The pontiff said in reply:
"We invoke the light, assist
ance and blessing of the Christ
child upon your excellency's
person and work, as well as upon
all your fellow citizens, who
courageously strive to find and
follow the road leading to a
peaceful future for mankind."
The White House today made
public the exchange of messages.
Mr. Truman's, dated Decem
ber 17, was delivered to the pope
by Myron C. Taylor, U.S. rep
resentative at Vatican CUv.
"The summons to peace on
earth, good will toward men, has
come ringing down the ages, giv
ing direction to the thought and
the action of every human br
ing whose life is lived accord
ing to God's purpose," tho presi
dent wrote,
"The significance of the di
vine call, personified in the birth
and mission of the Savior, is
increasingly visible in the rec
ord of history despite the vicis
situdes oftentimes encountered
on the long path of the cen
turies." Mr. Truman noted a "steady
achievement of friendly, mu
tually helpful relations among
most of the world's people to
day, living indeed as goodx
bors." f .