THE WEATHER HERE
MOSTLY CLOUDY with occa
sional showers tonight and Fri
day. Slightly cooler tempera
tures. Lowest tonight. 34; high
est Friday, 44.
Maximum yeiterdiy. 65: minimum to
day, 41. Tolil 24-hour preclpUllon:
for month: 4.BB; normal, 8.0S Seuon pre
cipitation, 14.70: normal, 16.18. Rtrer
bright, 4 feet. (Beport by U.S. Weather
Bureau.)
C apital
r Men 11
HOME
EDITION
.-Hfr
61st Year, No. 309 JUSTWS Salem, Oregon, Thursday, December 29, 1949
,4) Pogesj
Price 5c
Job
Call for Bids
On Airport and
Cily Hall Annex
Contractors Offers
To Be Opened at City
Hall on January 17
By STEPHEN A. STONE
Scaled bids will be opened on
Connally Asks
Morse Asserts
Truman Can't
Halt Coal Strike
T-H Law Provisions
Ineffective Against
3 Day Week
Washington, Dec. 29 (IP) Sen
Continuation of
Foreign Policy
Flood Menace
Fast Subsides
In Washington
Worst Held Over
Light Rains Predicted
With Colder, Weather
(By the AJioclated Press)
Flood-menaced western
Washington got a break from
the weather man today. Despite
a forecast of occasional showers
throughout the Fugct Sound
and coastal area, the sky-scanners
dropped the word: "The
worst is over."
None of the anticipated show
ers were expected to reach tor
rential proportions such as those
which deluged the region the
last two days. The thermometer
also was expected to undergo a
gradual drop, sufficient to halt
the rapid thaws in the mountain
snow zone.
The forecast was a happy one
for the region's residents.
Heavy Snows in BC
The post-Christmas blast al
ready has caused one death in
Washington state, gorged a half
dozen rivers to flood stage, tem
porarily marooned scores of mo
torists in mountain passes and
inconvenienced hundreds of
others.
In British Columbia, moun
tain passes were sealed by a rec
ord snowfall and slides. Trains
from eastern Canada were halt
ed and long distance telephone
calls to and from the east had
to be rerouted. Princeton, in
central British Columbia had 30
inches of. snow in 24 hours. Van
couver's 65-foot Christmas tree
was toppled by wind last night.
Near-gale winds lashed all
along the coast of Washington
and the province, driving rain
filled clouds ahead of them.
Basements Flooded
Twenty miles north of Aber
deen, 6.23 inches of rain was
dumped on the Wishkah head
works of the city water depart
ment in a 24-hour span. Many
Aberdeen and Hoquiam homes
had flooded basements. Roads to
Grays Harbor's north beaches
were flooded to a depth of 18
inches as the Humptulips river
surged over its banks at Newton.
The Burrows road in the same
general vicinity lay under four
to five feet of water for a dis
tance of two miles.
(Coneluded on Page S, Column 7)
Mystery Blimp
Seen in Skies
Hamlet, N.C., Dec. 29 (IP) A
mysterious object moving south
westward through the sky had
scores of Carolinians agog to
day. The ob'ect, on which descrip
tions varied, was first spotted
at Fayetteville, about 50 miles
northeast of Hamlet at about
4:30 p.m. yesterday.
It was sighted again over
Hamlet at about 4:45 p.m. and
reports came from Greenwood,
S.C., today that the mysterious
object passed westward over
that city shortly after 5 p.m.
(Greenwood is about 180
miles southwest of Hamlet on a
direct line extending from Fay
etteville.)
Scores of residents in all
three cities reported sighting the
object. And at Hamlet and
Greenwood, it was chased for
several minutes by four pilots
Hamlet observers said it re
sembled a balloon or blimp, and
appeared to be about 20 or 30
feet in diameter. At Fayette.
ville, one observer said it look
ed more like a vertical neon
lighting tube.
At Greenwood, two pilots said
it appeared to be a streak of
smoke about 15 or 20 feet long
coming from an unseen plane
But the object, the pilots said,
retained its shape during the 10
or 15 minutes that they followed
it.
Ground observers all said that
it drifted into the direction of
the setting sun.
Marion County's Farm
Income $25,549,000
Portland, Dec. 29 W Marion
county's 1949 farm income was
estimated by County Agent
Harry L. Riches today at $27,
549,000 a drop from last year's
record of $30,000,000 high,
Miscellaneous specialty crops,
such as hops, mint and flax, com
prise the largest single division
of the county's farm income. In
second place are dairy products,
with livestock, eggs and poultry
coming next.
Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the office of
City Manager J. L. Franzen for
construction of the administra
tion building at McNary field and
for an annex to City hall.
Bids from contractors will be
received up to 2 o'clock p.m. on
that date. The bids will be op
ened publicly and read aloud,
and any received after time fixed
for the opening will not be con
sidered.
For the airport administra
tion building specifications, in
cluding contract documents may
be examined at the offices of L.
P. Bartholomew, architect, and
William I. Williams, associate,
and at the city manager's office.
They may be obtained at the ar
chitect's office upon deposit of
$15 for each set on and after
January 9.
To Refund Deposits
The full amount of the deposit
for one set of documents will be
refunded to actual bidders upon
return of the documents, unmu
tilated and without marks or an
notations, within five days after
the time set for opening bids.
(Concluded on rage 5, Column 4)
No Immunity
For Gubitchev
New York, Dec. 29 (P) The
state department told Federal
Judge Sylvester J. Ryan today
that accused Spy Valentin A.
Gubitchev has no immunity
from arrest or trial.
Gubitchev, a Russian engineer
facing trial with Judith Coplon,
is claiming immunity because qf
his United Nations post, from
which he was suspended follow
ing his arrest.
Ryan ordered the government
in the course of a pre-trial hear
ing which is still going on to
produce a state department cer
tificate of the Russian's status.
The document laid before him
today repeated the department's
statement of March 11 that Gu
bitchev "enjoys no immunity
from arrest or judicial process
with regard to the acts charged."
"This remains the view of the
department," said the communi
cation, signed by State Depart
ment Legal Adviser Adrian S.
Fisher.
the government also gave
Ryan the United Nations certi
ficate he had requested on the
subject of Gubitchev's status.
This noted that after his ar
rest he was suspended with full
"pending investigation and with
out prejudice to his rights as a
(UN) staff member."
Trapper Missing
Juneau, Alaska, Dec. 29 (IP)
A Ketchikan trapper who set
out in his troller Dec. 8 to work
the Duke island area south of
Annette was being sought today
by the coast guard. The missing
man was identified as H. J
Hansen.
Bus Lines Problem
Recognized by Board
Curtailment and readjustment of City Transit Lines' suburban
bus service, to be effective January 1, are to meet a serious
problem in operation, says Carl Wendt of Portland, general man
ager of the lines.
And Mai B. Rudd, chairman of
cial committee investigating dus
schedules, said today:
"The lines do have a prob
lem, and it's a problem of which
the public is not aware."
Rudd said his committe was
making an investigation, but
would not have a report for two
or three weeks. The committee
was created by the city council
mainly to investigate schedules
with relation to time of arrival
of buses downtown, with the pos
sibility of getting away from si
multaneous arrival of buses at
the Commercial street terminal.
Wendt has confirmed the re
port that two suburban routes
will be discontinued after Jan
uary 1, but said some other su
burban routes would get an ex
tended service, while routes in
side the city will scarcely be
changed.
Wendt said the Fruitland
route east of Lancaster drive
would go out, but that the Four
Corners bus would be rerouted
for the benefit of persons living
near Lancaster,
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Severe Quake
In Philippines
Manila, Dec. 29 (IP) A heavy
earthquake shook Luzon, main
island of the Philippines, for
two and one-half minutes today.
Isabela province, on the north
east coast was reported hardest
hit, with sea waves and land
slides. The Manila bulletin corres
pondent said the shock was rat
ed at intensity seven there. That
is the third heaviest on the
earthquake scale.
An unidentified woman was
drowned by the seismic sea
waves at the town of Mercedes.
A boat with eight passengers
capsized near the Manalan fer
ry, but all were reported saved.
In the town of Naguilian,
about 250 miles northeast of Ma
nila, a jeep was reported to have
been swallowed up by a fissure
in the earth. Several nearby
towns were isolated by land
slides. The national Red Cross re
ported several fissures spewed
black water in the town of Ila
gan, Isabela province capital 275
miles northeast of Manila. The
Catholic church there was bad
ly damaged.
Throughout the 500-mile
length of Luzon, almost every
able-bodied person fled into the
open for safety.
Mayor Robert L. Elfstrom's spe
The Swegle and Fisher road
route will be discontinued east
and south of Park and Market
streets, he said. This will be
partially compensated for by a
rerouting of the Madison street
line. Eliminated by this change
are parts of six daylight runs
and eight day and one night run
on Fisher road.
Wendt said the curtailment
was because of decreased pat
ronage and the resulting finan
cial problem.
Other changes announced are:
The South High street district
which is served by the Liberty
Boone Road-Browning avenue
route will get a straight 30-min-
ute service from 6:30 a.m. to 7
p.m. every day but Sunday. Aft
er 7 p.m. the South Commercial
route will continue to serve the
South High district.
The Liberty-Boone Road and
the Liberty-Browning districts
will have hourly service between
6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on all
week-days
(Concluded on Fate 5, Column 6)
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New Construction Collapses Under the weight of rain
sodden earth behind it part of a new retaining wall on the
banks of North Mill creek at the D. A. Larmer Transfer &
Storage company, 889 North Liberty, collapsed during the
night. There was evidence that the creek, swollen somewhat
by rains and flowing rapidly had cut beneath the wall and
that lack of sufficient reinforcement in the concrete caused
the collapse. The picture above shows a broken section of the
wall on the north side and the 15-foot high wall on the south
side that is showing signs of collapse.
Larmer Retaining Wall
On Mill Creek Collapses
A new retaining wall, 15 feet high, at the D. A. Larmer Trans
fer & . Storage company, 889 North Liberty, yielded to rain
soaked earth behind it and swiftly-flowing Mill creek, and col
lapsed last night.
Another new wall on the south
;
Plane Flies 1989
Miles Per Hour
Los Angeles, Dec. 29 (IP) An
air force plane reportedly has
flown 1989 miles per hour
three times the speed of sound.
That's the new record of the
air forces x-l rocket plane,
says the Los Angeles Times' avi
ation editor, Marvin Miles. .
Quoting what he calls "reli
able informants," Miles today
said the X-l had reached a
speed of 1989 miles an hour in
the stratosphere over Edwards
air force base at Muroc dry
lake.
The speed was given to him as
mach 3, he said, or three times
as fast as sound. Sonic velocity
is 663 miles an hour between
the altitudes of 35,000 and 100,-
000 feet.
Miles' story did not say who
was at the controls, but pre
sumed it was Capt. Charles
Yeager or perhaps Maj. Pete
Everest. A year and a half ago
the air force announced that
Yeager would try to fly the X-l
up to 1700 miles an hour. The
maximum speed for which it
was originally designed. Everest,
Miles said, has been testing the
rocket-powered craft.
The needle-nosed, 31-foot-long
X-l is dropped from the
belly of a Superfortress for its
flights.
Czechs Imprison
Swedish Importer
Prague, Czechoslovakia, Dec.
29 (IP) A Swedish businessman
was sentenced to three years in
prison last night, charged with
smuggling Czech tools out of the
country and helping Czech ci
tizens to flee.
Holger Hjelm, 29-year-old di
rector of a Stockholm import
ing firm, was convicted with
five Czechs, including three wo
men, on general charges of In
dustrial sabotage. Hjelm also
S I
... ... . ' - JL
side showed signs of crumbling
today, and Larmer said he
pected it to go out.
The walls average 15 feet
high, are 24 inches thick at the
bottom and eight inches at the
top. Larmer said insufficient
steel reinforcement may also
have been a cause of the break.
The walls, about 75 feet long
on each side of the creek, were
built during the summer to stop
erosion of the premises by North
Mill creek. Ground on the south
side has been leveled for use as
a truck yard.
Filling in behind both walls
has been going on steadily with
dirt obtained from the city and
from the excavation for the Lee
apartment house at North Cot
tage and Marion.
Larmer believes he hurried
the filling in too much.
"The earth was very wet," he
said. "Perhaps I should have
filled it in gradually over a pe
riod of two or three years in
stead of rushing it in one season.
The collapse, I think, was actu
ally caused by an earth slide."
The creek may have cut under
the wall, he said.
Larmer said he would not at
tempt to rebuild the wall until
summer.
Man Dies After Fall
Into 40-Foot Sewer Pit
Portland, Dec. 29 (IP) A city
sewer pit cave-in was fatal last
night to Guy Lloyd, 48, Port
land. He died two hours after
crewmen dug him out from tin
dor three feet of clay and stone
that fell from the side of a 40-
foot-deep excavation.
Witnesses said the earth broke
away from an overhang, and
knocked Lloyd flat. He was
unconscious when freed, and
died of internal injuries.
nivorce Friendly
Hollywood, Dec. 29 (Pi Ida
Lupino plans to divorce Collier
Young but will remain his bus
iness partner. .
The British-born actress dis
closed last night that their separ
ation is on the friendliest terms
and that the divorce action will
be on the same basis.
ator Morse (R., Ore.) contended
today that the three-day mine
week - - which has so cut coal
production that a slash In rail
service threatens cannot be
halted by President Truman.
Morse stated that view on the
heels of a report that the Inter
state Commerce Commission,
meeting today (4 p.m., EST),
might order a 25 percent cut in
passenger service on coal burn
ing railroads. ,
The roads report they are low
on coal due to the short work
week ordered by United Mine
Workers President John L. Lew
is.
Southern coal operators,
cusing Lewis of unfair labor
nractices, yesterday asked the
National Labor Relations Board
to take court action to force a
return to full production.
Morse's Arguments
Earlier, some operators had
urged Mr. Truman to use his sep
arate emergency Taft-Hartley act
powers including a prevision
for an 80-day strike-halting in
junction toward that end.
But Morse said his opinion as
a lawyer is that the president's
national emergency powers un
der the T-H act can be used only
in cases where there is an actual
critical strike or the threat of
such a strike.
"There is a great difference."
Morse told newsmen, "between
a dispute which causes economic
losses and suffering and one
which imperils national health or
safety.
(Concluded on Pace S, Column 8)
Purge Looms ior
East Germans .
Berlin, Dec. 29 (IP) The com
munists gave warning today to
all their opponents in the Soviet-
sponsored East German people's
republic; toe the line or get out
of political life.
This was sounded in the
Soviet-licensed newspaper Nacht
Express, and follows reports of
heavy communist pressure on
non-communist parties of East
Germany. It indicated the com
munists intend to push sternly
a drive to weed out all political
unreliable! communist or
otherwise.
The liberal democratic party
(LDP) yesterday suspended five
of its members of the Brandcn-
beurg parliament from party
membership, apparently acting
under this communist pressure.
The communists earlier had
charged the five with being re
actionaries and "attacking Sov
iet culture."
An LPD statement said the
five were suspended to insure
that members would not deviate
from the party's political course.
mm 'ti i l' iiwlrk-J ' I ' ' '
Willamette's Wandering Paul Bunyan Axe returns to Sa
lem once more via railway express, charges collect. The 137
pound instrument remained In charge of Chct Moffitt, (right),
depot agent for the carrier, discovered that Travis Cross,
head of the university's information department, had empty
pockets.
r3s ffJ
May Wed Reliable sources
report that King Farouk of
Egypt may soon marry the 16-year-old
daughter of an Egyp
tian civil servant. Heavy cen
sorship in Egypt has prevented
confirmation from Cairo but
newspapers have forecast the
"Happy News." The girl's
name is Narriman Sadek.
(Acme Telcphoto)
King's Romance
With Girl Denied
Cairo, Egypt. Dec. 29 (U.B-
Kerim Tabet Pasha, press ad
viser to King Farouk, said to
day that all stories published
about the possible remarriage of
the king to a 16-ycar-old daugh
ter of an Egyptian civil servant
were "completely without foun
dation. '
"Any talk about his majesty
getting engaged is entirely pre
mature," the press adviser told
the United Press.
(There have been reports ever
since the kings divorce more
than a year ago that he would
remarry soon.)
"All stories which have been
published on this subject are
completely without foundation,"
the press adviser said.
Later today, the Egyptian em
bassy in London joined in with
another denial that King Far
ouk had broken up Miss Sadek's
romance with Hashem so that
he could marry her.
"The Egyptian embassy wish
to deny the version of the sen
sational story published by cer
tain papers and news agencies
in connection with the breaking
up of the engagement of two
Egyptian subjects," the state
ment said.
"The details of the report are
certainly without foundation,
and are meant to give undue
prominence to a mere rumor,
and it is with surprise and re
gret that such a rumor should
find way for undue publicity,
especially when it concerns a
high personage
Brush Fire Routs Family
Beverly Hills, Calif., Dec.
29
(IP) A brush fire that raged for
more than two hours last night
forced Loretta Young and her
three children from their sub
urban home.
Before it was brought under
control by 300 firelifihters, the
blaze threatened several large
residences, advancing at one
point to within 30 feet of two
homes.
Calls for Cut in
Expenditures and
Bi-partisan Action
Washington, Dec. 29 VP) Sen.
Connally (D., Texas) called to
day for cuts in foreign spend
ing next year and continuation
of a "non-partisan" foreign pol
icy.
The veteran chairman of the
senate foreign relations commit-,
tee told a news conference that
U. S. recovery and military as
sistance programs "have already
installed new confidence in a jit
tery world."
'The United States can have
but one foreign policy," he in
sisted.
Moving into a developing sen
ate fight over the bi - partisan
foreign policy, Connally thus
generally aligned himself with
Sen Vandenberg of Michigan,
republican spokesman on many
foregin policy issues and co
author of the bi-partisan effort.
Policy for China
Before he met with newsmen,
Connally's position had been
expected to furnish some clue to
the administration's attitude on
soothing ruffled republican
tempers.
Connally told newsmen there
would be no recognition of a
communist' government in China
without prior consultation by
Secretary of State Acheson with
the senate foreign relations
committee.
(Concluded on Page S, Column 6)
Truman Works
On Messages
Washington, Dec. 29 VP)
President Truman passed up his
usual weekly news conference
today to work some more on the
three important messages he
will start giving congress next
week.
The state of the union mes
sage, in which he is likely to re
new his call for that part of his
domestic program congress has
not enacted, is expected Jan. 4
5. Congress will reconvene
Jan. 3.
Two others will follow short
ly, his economic message and
the especially awaited budget
message.
A big question is whether the
budget message will call for
balancing the government's in
come and outgo. A balanced
budget presumably would mean
some tax boosts or some drastic
cuts in spending plans. The per
iod to be covered is the fiscal
year beginning next July 1.
Mr. Truman flew back to
Washington yesterday from a
Christmas holiday in Missouri,
He brought with him Secretary
of the Treasury Snyder.
In a report from still another
cabinet member, Mr. Truman
was told yesterday by Secretary
of Commerce Sawyer that Am
erican business and labor would
rather get their profits and
wages from private operations
than from programs sponsored
and financed by the govern
ment. Paul Bunyan
Ax Comes Back
That Paul Bunyan axe, em
blem of football rivalry between
Willamette university and Whit
man college, missing for the
third time since mid-November,
turned up Wednesday via Rail
way Express from Oakland, Cal.
The company expected to
make delivery Thursday and col
lect $8.42 from the associated
student body.
The axe, well crated, has
changed colors since its last dis
appearance. Instead of cardinal
and gold, it is now blue and
gold, colors of the University of
California. A label attached to
the crate gave no other identifi
cation as to the consignor other
than the "University of Califor
nia." It has been learned that the
axe, rather badly crated was
shipped to Walla Walla a few
days after it had been returned
from that city. How it made its
way to Oakland has not been
determined.
Russ Tripp, student body pre
sident, at his home in Albany,
for the Christmas holidays, could
not be reached for comment con
cerning the future safekeeping
of the axe. It was taken from
the student body office in Wal
ler hall by someone who made
forcible entrance through a
broken window.