Medford mail tribune., August 13, 1953, Image 1

mM ranis, Ma. my
Lawful Obligation
Tribune
Medford
To Free Prisoners
Denied by Peiping
United
Win
United
MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1953
48th Year 24 Pages
No. 124
,,;V
Vicious Sideswipe
Taken at Dulles
Tokyo (U.R) The Commu
Landslides Sweep
Part of Island
Capital Into Sea
Many People Vanish
Into Great Fissures
Athens (U.R) Landslides
swept part of the Cephalonian
capital of Argostolion into the
Ionian sea today and new earth
quakes destroyed nearby Ithaca,
kingdom of Odysseus in Homer's
epic poem.
Great masses of soil and rock
slid into ruined Argostolion, a
city of 10.000 population as
fleets of ships raced to evacuate
and aid victims of the continuing
temblors.
Authorities fear that at least
500 persons on the destroyed
islands of Cephalonia, Ithaca and
Sante died in the mammoth, up
heaval. Many vanished into great
fissures.
U. S. Fleet Helps
The American embassy in
Athens said the entire U. S.
Sixth Fleet would be available
to the Greek government for
rescue operations. '
An accurate account of the
dead was impossible because
entire villages disappeared when
the earth opened.
The Athens seismographic ob
servatory said 22 new earth
shocks jolted the islands during
the night and early today.
Four Word Cable
V. I -".'.Ci-os, Zante's deputy
minister, iznt to Athens a four
word cable that told the story
of death and destruction.
"Zante does not exist," the
cablegram said.
Terror stricken survivors who
had seen their loved ones crush
ed to death by crumbling walls
or swallowed by the earth crowd
ed the beaches awaiting evacua
tion. Pilots flying over the devas
tated area said the picture re
minded them of photographs of
Hiroshima after the atom bomb
had been dropped.
Smokejumpers Battle
Fires in California
Four plane loads of Forest
Service "smokejumper" forest
fire fighters were flown out of
Medford today to help battle
fires in the Klamath, Six Rivers
and Trinity National forests in
California, according to Nation
al Forest Service officials.
Another plane load was sched
uled to arrive at 3 p.m. today
from McCall, Ida., and the For
est Service has requested that
two planes be sent in from Mis
soula, Mont., they said.
Approximately 26 men were
dropped over the California fires
this morning from planes based
at Medford. San Francisco and
Portland. The planes all were
operating out of the Medford
municipal airport.
Unverified Report Says Son
Of GH Man Died in Red Jail
Gold Hill An unverified re
port that Sgt. 1c Richard H.
Stewart, U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers, died in a Communist
prison hospital in North Korea
in April or May, 1951, has been
received by his father, Daniel H.
Stewart, Gold Hill, in a letter
from the Department of the
Army.
Letters Received
Sergeant Stewart was reported
missing in action in North Ko
rea Nov. 30, 1950. Two letters
written by him. one dated Jan.
10, 1951, and the other March
15. 1951, were received in July
1951, by his wife, Marjorie, in
Los Angeles.
If .the report of the sergeant's
death is true, the Communists
apparently released the letters
after they knew he was dead.
The notification from the De
partment of the Army said, in
part:
"An exchange soldier atated
that Sgt. 1c Richard R. Stewart,
Corps of Engineers, 2nd Divi
sion home address Los Angeles,
Calif., who is identified as
your son, died in a hospital at
ashlaqd fire. HIT
BY K; BEDFORD
GIVES ASSISTANCE
Ashland A two-alarm fire de
stroyed the Busch Motor com
pany building here early today
and endangered a congested one
block business area before it
was brought under control.
There was no immediate esti
mate of damage, but firemen re
ported the structure and every
thing inside was a "total loss."
Cars Destroyed
Seventeen cars were destroy
ed in the blaze, Fourteen of
them were new models includ
ing a shipment which arrived at
the firm Tuesday.
Hoarding, Epidemic
Fears Added To
French Troubles
Paris U.R) Hoarding and
the fear of epidemics were ad
ded today to the hardships re
sulting from the French general
strike, affecting 4,000,000 work
ers. All public transport and utili
ties have been paralyzed and
thousands of tourists, including
10,000 Americans, are stranded.
Frugal French housewives
were hoarding food, threatening
a further squeeze on an esti
mated 100,000 tourists who al
ready were reduced to eating
box lunches.
Gasoline Disappearing
Gasoline was disappearing
from the market, with indica
tions that fuel hoarding might
halt the scanty, makeshift trans
portation still available.
Today the strikes, sparked by
labor's' objections to the
economy program of Premier
Joseph Laniel, had spread from
nationalized industry and public
works to private enterprise.
The result was a land of no
mail, no trains, no buses, no
subways, reduced gas, flicker
ing electricity, limited taxi ser
vice at highway robber prices
and a score of other inconven
iences. Epidemic Feared
Garbage was rotting in the
gutters of the normally gay,
tree lined boulevards and in
front of the swank hotels of
Paris. The hot and humid air
reeked.
French public health officials
warned that the strike of gar
bage collectors, coupled with a
walkout of morticians, faced
France with the serious danger
of epidemics.
Pyoktong, North Korea,' some
time in April or May, 1951,
while in the hands of the oppos
ing forces. He was suffering from
dysentery. The information
which was hearsay was obtained
from some other soldiers who
worked in the hospital.
On Misting List
"Since the report regarding
your son cannot be confirmed at
this time, it is necessary for the
Department of the Army to con
tinue him in a missing in action
status until information is ob
tained upon which a definite de
termination can be made. You
may be assured that as soon as
?ny further information is re
ceived, it will be transmitted to
you."
Sergeant Stewart is the step
son of Vera Stewart. In addition
to his wife in Los Angeles, he
has a daughter, Marlene, aged
two years and four months,
whom he has never seen. He was
sent to Korea late in August,
1950. He has served in the Army
since 1938, and was in the Afri
can, European and South Pacific
theaters during World War II.
All Ashland equipment was
called out for the blaze and a
pumper truck from the Medford
municipal airport was called in
to give assistance. Ashland had
three trucks and all available
hose, including spare sections, in
use.
The fire is believed to have
started shortly before 1 a.m. It
was brought under control about
45 minutes later. The alarm was
turned in by an Ashland police
officer.
AsMand Sire department said
this morning that the building
was "all afire" and "too far
gone" to save when they reached
the scene. About all we could do
was control it to the Busch
building, they said.
Other Building Hit
Buildings on both sides of the
Busch structure suffered water
damage, and the fire ate through
the side of the Lithia Motor
company. However, damage
there was not believed to be ex
tensive.
Exploding gas tanks and in
tense heat from the fire hamper
ed firemen battling the blaze.
Firemen said the fire started
in the rear of the building, but
was not noticed until it broke
out the front. It was not defin
itely known what started it, but
firemen speculated that a wreck
ed auto which was "saturated"
with gasoline when it was towed
in late yesterday, may have fig
ured in the blaze.
The amount of insurance cov
erage on the building as not
known by firemen.
State Police Aided
The fire department reported
that state policemen "did an ex
cellent job" of controlling traf
fic in the congested Plaza area
during the blaze.
Medford Fire Chief Gordon
Barker said today that the Med
ford pumper was dispatched to
Ashland under a mutual aid
agreement, with all county calls
coming through the Medford de
partment. Medford is first on the
list to provide assistance for
Ashland.
Local Youths Win
In Design Contest
Jon W. Cooper, Medford, was
announced second place winner
in a Fisher Body Craftsman's
guild automobile designers con
test at Detroit, Mich., according
to a release from the guild. As
a winner in second place, senior,
he will receive $100. A check
here today with automobile
agencies, school directors and
other sources- failed to reveal
further information concerning
the young winner.
Benson Foley, son of Mr. and
Mrs. William Foley, route 1,
box 325, Central Point, placed
third in the contest and is a
S50 senior winner. Young Foley
is an active 4-H club member,
specializing in swine and some
beef cattle, as well as doing
woodwork, hobbies, gardens and
crops. He is a student at Crater
High school.
Mercy Flight Carries
Ex-Medford Resident
Charley Gruberman, formerly
of Medford, was brought by
Mercy Flights ambulance plane
this morning from Corvallis to
Sacred Heart hospital where he
was admitted as a medical pa
tient, according to Mercy Flights
officials.
Lee Flink was pilot of the
plane and Clyde King copilot
Mrs. Gruberman was expected
to arrive here today to be with
her husband. .
Hamilton Field, Calif. U.R)
Gen Mark W. Clark, com
mander of United Nations forces
in the Far East, has left aboard
a military aircraft for Tokyo
where he will resume bis duties.
Five Burglaries
Reported; Yreka
Man Admits Three
Possible Implication
In Others Studied
William Henry Robinson, 40,
of route 1, box 131A, Yreka,
Calif., was being held in the
Medford city jail today after
admitting three burglaries which
took place in Medford last night.
Police are investigating the
possibility that Robinson may
be involved in a fourth Med
ford burglary and another at
the Varsity theater in Ashland.
Robinson has admitted bur
glaries at Doctors clinic, Cal-
Ore Machinery company, and
General Petroleum company po
lice said. They are investigating
the possibility that he may have
been involved in burglaries last
night at Skinner's garage and
Varsity theater in Ashland.
Arrested at Phoenix
Police picked Robinson up in
Phoenix at 2:20 a.m. today fol
lowing a rash of burglary re
ports. At 11:50 p.m. yesterday
they received a call from Lucile
K. McKenzie, 1013 West Main
st., who reported sounds of
pounding and hammering com
ing from the Doctors Clinic. 1032
West Main st. On investigation
police said they discovered the
combination of the safe had
been knocked off and an unsuc
cessful attempt had been made
to open the safe from the bot
tom. The pharmacist at the clinic
said that a bottle of a thousand
Benzadrine pills, another of
Dexadrine pills and a one ounce
bottle of Dionin, a morphine
derivative, had been taken.
Merchant patrolman John
Henry Tizekker, chased away
a man from the Cal-Ore Ma
chinery company, 944 South
Central ave., at 1:30 a.m. today.
On arrival police said they dis
covered he had broken into the
safe and taken $83.68.
Unsuccessful Burglary
At 2 a.m. today police were
notified of an attempted bur
glary at General Petroleun. 936
South Central ave. The attempt
was unsuccessful.
A call from Skinners Garage,
143 South Riverside ave., at
5:34 a.m. today notified police
of the fourth burglary. An un
determined amount of money
was taken from the safe there.
Ashland police were alerted
this morning when the janitor
at the Varsity theater arrived
at 8:30 to discover that the safe
there had been broken open.
The day's box office receipts
had been taken to the bank, but
$150, box office change normal
ly kept on hand, had been
stolen.
Jail Escapee Still
Sought by Police
The search continued today on
the Pacific coast for escaped
Jackson county jail inmate Floyd
Earl Denno, 23, of Sun Valley,
Calif., according to the sheriff's
office.
Denno was awaiting sentence
on a larceny by bailee charge
when he escaped with two oth
ers from the jail's "bull" pen
Sunday night Police have cap
tured the two others, one near
Ruch and the other at Los An
geles. They were in jail awaiting
disposition by military author
ities on AWOL charges.
Earthquakes Shake
Buildings in Tokyo
Tokyo (U.R) An earthquake
shook Tokyo buildings for three
seconds today but there were no
casualties. .
. The government meterological
observator said the tremor was
of "weak intensity" in the Tokyo
area but was felt in a wide area
of Honshu island.
Weather
FORECAST: Coder with aftcr
nooa and cvanlnf tfcnnder
thowen throats frttay. Low
tonight , hl(h Friday SI-SS.
Temp.
Highest Yesterday !
Lowest this Morning
SOMBER WELCOME HOME Mrs. Frances Huddleson, Battle Mountain, Nev., reassuringly touches
shoulder of her son, CpL Richard M. Davis, who was second repatriate to be taken from a plane at
Travis Air Force Base, Calif., as the first "Freedom Flight" from Korea ended. Only a small number
of relatives met the plane.
Carpenters-Joiners Quit AFL;
Cause of Labor Unity Shaken
Chicago (U.R) The cause
of labor unity was shaken today
by the withdrawal of the power
ful 750,000 man Carpenters and
Joiners Union from the AFL.
The carpenters bolted the fed
eration only hours after the AFL
Executive Council approved a
"no raiding" pact with the CIO,
an essential step toward eventual
consolidation of labor groups.
Maurice A. Hutcheson, general
president of the United Brother
hood of Carpenters and Joiners,
denied that the union quit the
AFL because "we do not believe
POWs Released From
Prison Camp 1 Tell
Of Bad Conditions
Panmunjom, Korea (U.R)
The first group of prisoners
from Communist prison camp
No. 1 came back to freedom to
day and said conditions there
were worse than in notorious
camp No. 5, where at least 2,000
Americans died.
They told of Americans dying
of sickness and mistreatment, of
men duped by Communist prop
aganda, of miserable food and of
constant mental harrassment.
One of the 75 Americans hand
ed over to the United Nations in
"Operation Big Switch" was
swathed in bandages.
Others said he had been in
jured when the truck taking
them from camp No. 1 at Im-
sang-Dong to Kaesong near here
turned over in North Korea aft
er hitting a shell hole on the
highway.
With the exception of the
bandaged soldier who was able
Swayze Arraigned
On Check Charge
Jack Swayze, 27, of 1303
North Riverside ave., appeared
in district court Tuesday and
was arraigned on a charge of
drawing a bank check with in
sufficient funds, according to
the district attorney's office.
He was given time to obtain
counsel and a preliminary hear
ing will be held on the com
plaint on Aug. 14 at 10 a.m., ac
cording to court records. Swayze
was released on his own recog
nizance. Swayze proprietor of Swayze
Service stations, is charged in a
complaint, signed by Richard E.
Fanger, 1760 North Riverside
ave., of writing a $67.74 check,
payable to O. K. Rubber Weld
ers, Dec. 15, 1952, without suf
ficient funds in the bank, ac
cording to records.
BASEBALL
NATIONAL
Philadelphia 3 7 0
Pittsburgh 4 9 4
Miller and Popata: LaPalme
and Atwell.
Cincinnati 10 )2 1
Chicago 2 7 4
Bacsewski and Sominick:
Pollet, Simpson, Willis and
McCuilough.
Unrest, Revolt in
North Korea Reported
Tokyo (U.R) - Communist
broadcasts today reported unrest
and revolt in North Korea and
said a total of 25 officials have
been purged.
Among the new names strick
en from party lists by Premier
Kim II Sung were the former am
bassadors to Peiplng and Mos
cow. Kwon O Chik and Chu Ny
ong Ha, respectively, a Peiping
radio broadcast said.
in no raiding agreements."
"We think they are all right,"
he said, "even with the CIO, but
we believe the difficulties in
our own families should be
settled first."
Hutcheson said that the car
penters left the federation be
cause of jurisdiction disputes be
tween member unions and
charged the AFL has failed to
control "its own affiliates" or
to curb "disruptive conditions."
The carpenters have engaged
in an unsettled feud over union
jurisdiction with the Interna-
to walk all of the Americans re
patriated today appeared in
good health.
The-returning Americans lift
ed the total of U. S. personnel
freed by the Communists to 823,
more than 25 per cent of the
3,313 listed by the Reds for re
patriation.
More Head Home
As the new group of Ameri
cans arrived here, 10 Americans
in Tokyo prepared to fly home
tonight on the second airlift of
sick and wounded, and in Inchon
306 freed G.I.s waited for the
next ship to leave for the United
States.
The Communists have promis
ed to return 84 Americans, one
Canadian and 324 other captives
tomorrow.
James Linderman
Hurt in Accident
James C. Linderman, 22, well
known Prospect athlete, re
ceived a broken shoulder and leg
in an automobile accident yes
terday on Crater Lake highway,
according to state police.
He was taken to Community
hospital by Conger Morris am
bulance. Linderman was a passenger in
a car driven by Joe Josephson,
Prospect, which sideswiped a
log truck 14 miles north of Trail
at about 3 p.m. Josephson and
Lewis S. Mason, 30, Prospect,
another passenger in the car,
received minor injuries.
Wayne Kenneth Griffith, 39,
Prospect, driver of the log truck,
was uninjured, police said.
The passenger car was report
ed to be a "total loss" and some
damage was reported to the log
truck.
In another accident, Walter G
Jovik, 924 Broad st.J escaped
injury at about 11 p.m. yester
day when his car failed to make
a turn at Rock Point bridge on
Highway 99 west of Gold Hill,
police said.
Pella Will Attempt
Italian Government
Rome ' U.R) Former
Treasury Minister Guiseppe Pel-
la, a. Christian Democrat, agreed
tonight to attempt to form a new
Italian government.
Pella was called upon by Pres
ident Luigi Einaudi to make the
third attempt to end the 46-day
old Italian government crisis.
Previous attempts by former
Premier Alcide de Gasperi and
Attilio Piccioni failed to win
sufficient support from Italy's
widely divided political parties
to establish a stable government.
Pella, 51, directed Italy's fi
nances through the turbulent
post war years.
tional Association of Machinists
and the Brotherhood of Mainte
nance of Way Employees, both
AFL affiliates.
One of the most important
topics on the Executive Council's
agenda for the weeklong meet
ings here was merger with the
CIO. And yesterday's "no raid
ing" pact was considered an im
portant step toward consolida
tion.
Blow to Unity
The carpenters withdrawal
was a grave blow to labor unity.
The huge union now joines the
rsnks of John L. Lewis' United
Mine Workers and smaller un-
alfiiiated unions, as well as
several unions expelled from the
CIO In recent years for Com
munist sympathies, as complete
ly independent bodies.
San Francisco (U.R) John
L. Lewis says the withdrawal of
carpenters from the AFL "exem
plifies" the AFL's "Tweedledum
and Tweedledee policy" toward
no raiding.
"The carpenters action exem
plifies the fallacy of this . . .
policy of the AFL Executive
Council in avoiding the basic
question of unity and engaging
in rather futile discussion of
"no raiding," Lewis said.
Lewis, head of the powerful
United Mine Workers, left here
for the east last night after a
two day stopover on business.
Randle Drives
Obstacle Course
Washington U.R) Dick
Randle, 18-year-old Medford,
Ore., high school graduate, to
day put an automobile through
a tough- specially-designed ob
stacle course in the second day's
competition here.
Randle and 47 other contest
ants are competing for a top
prize of a $1200 college scholar
ship and several lesser scholar
ships which will go to the top
teen-age drivers in the nation.
The Road-e-o is sponsored to pro
mote safe driving among the
country's youth.
Randle recently won the Ore
gon Road-e-o title at Bend.
After the obstacle course test
in the National Guard armory,
the contestants will undergo an
actual road test in traffic of
downtown Washington. A writ
ten test will be held Friday.
Officials said no results of the
competion would be announced
before the awards banquet to
morrow night.
Fire Levels Sprawling GM
Plant; Two Workmen Killed
Detroit (U.R) A spark from
a welder's torch was blamed to
day fpr touching off a spectacular
multi million dollar fire which
killed two workmen and injured
more than a score of others as
it reduced a sprawling General
Motors plant to rubble.
Company officials feared the
final damage figure might reach
$70,000,000 and said it was
nothing short of a miracle that
most of the 3,000 employees on
duty at the suburban Livonia
plant managed to flee the build
ing before it became a flaming
inferno.
Inflammable Fluid
James L. Hagen, Livonia pub
lic safety director, whose pre
liminary estimate placed ' the
damage at $40,000,000, said the
only part of the two block long
structure left was a section hous
ing front offices. The rest was a
rrass of charred bricks and
twisted steel.
nists, in their first major threat
to the new Korean peace, said
they legally were empowered to
hold Allied prisoners convicted
of "crimes' until they finish
their terms.
Peiping radio, voice of Red
China, denied that the Commu
nists had a lawful obligation
either to liberate their political
prisoners or turn them over to a
neutral custodial commission.
The Red radio waited until the
United Nations command had
released the last of 5.495 Chinese
prisoners desiring to return to
Communism before making its
defiant broadcast.
Sideswipe At Dulles
Quoting a dispatch from the
Communist camp at Kaesong
near Panmunjom, Peiping radio
said the Geneva convention on
prisoners accorded the Reds the
right to compel prisoners con
victed of "crimes" to serve out
iheir terms.
At the same time Peiping
made a vicious sideswipe at Sec
retary of State John Foster
Dulles, who had expressed
"grave concern" over the Com
munists refusal to release the
accused Americans.
Dulles said yesterday, in a
Washington press conference,
that failure of the Reds to return
"all" United Nations prisoners
"would be considered by us to
be a vioaltion of the armistice
terms."
Renewal of Fighting
He added under questioning
such a truce violation might
bring about resumption of the
Korean fighting. But he temper
ed that statement by saying such
a course would not be taken
lightly. He also cautioned that
the U. N. to date has only
meager, unevaluated evidence of
Communist bad faith in the
prisoner return program.
The Red radio said the Dulles'
statement was nothing but a
"blackmail" plan for holding
Communist prisoners.
Washington (U.R) Army Sec
retary Robert T. Stevens said
today that about 250 Chinese
Communist prisoners are involv
ed in various crimes and may
be held until the last of the
prisoner exchange.
Stevens' statement, made to
reporters on his arrival from
Korea, was an apparent counter
move to Communist reports that
some American prisoners have
been convicted of crimes and
sentenced to prison terms which
will bar them from being re
turned with other Americans.
Stevens said charges against
the Chinese prisoners range
from murder of a United Nations
guard in a POW compound to
lesser crimes.
He stressed, however, that so
far the United States is "not
holding anybody back" in the
prisoner exchange. He said the
exchange is going forward, but
that the Chinese Communist
group involved in prison camp
crimes will be held until the
last.
KBES-TV May Resume
Boradcasting Friday
Broadcasting from KBES-TV
which has been interrupted tem
porarily since Tuesday because
of a part failure, may resume
Friday, station officials said to
day. They expect a replacement
part to arrive from New York
City tomorrow and installation
will be made at once when it is
received, they said.
Portland (U.R) Dr. Squire
Smith Bozorth, 59, of Eugene,
died here yesterday. He was on
the staff of the University of
Oregon infirmary.
The fire started during yester
day's late afternoon shift while
a welder, who was not identified,
was working near a tank of
highly inflammable fluid used
to clean transmissions.
Army Tank Plant
Blazing fluid showered from
the tank and raced across the
creosote treated wooden floor of
the transmission plant, which
makes transmissions for Cadillac
and Pontiac passenger cars.
Flames soon spread to an oil
soaked conveyor belt which
helped carry the fire into the GM
Ternstedt division, a producer
of range finders for Army tanks.
The dead were identified as
Dan Stanley of suburban Inkster
and William D. Degner, 43, act
ing chief of plant protection for
the Ternstedt wing. Degner was
trapped in a washroom and Stan
ley's body was found in pro
duction area, -