Mm fetafs
lVUGi JUT uiiumosi?
United Press Full Leased Wire
49th Year , 24 Pages
Cancellations at .
Local Post Office
Reach Record Mark
Monday Total
Hits 85,000
Cancellations at the Medford
post .office hit an alltime high
yesterday when the total reach
ed 85,000, according to Post
master Moore Hamilton.
The previous record was 77,
000,' set last year at Christmas
time.
"We're over the hump now,"
Hamilton said this morning. He
indicated that yesterday's total
was the top of the outgoing
mail, and from now through
Christmas day, most of the post
office's heavy work will be on
incoming mail.
No Mail Held Over
Throughout the rush, the Med
ford post office has been able
to "keep current" on each day's
mail, and it has not been neces
sary .to carry over any from
one day to the next.
The Medford post office will
deliver Christmas parcels on
Christmas day, the postmaster
said.
In addition to the regular
post office crew, an additional
25 men have been hired this
year to handle the Christmas
rush. ,
.As is usual, the local post
office has borrowed vehicles
from the forest service and other
federal agencies to facilitate
delivery of parcels since the
start of the Christmas rush.
Yule Tree Lights
Stolen in City
A total of six thefts of outdoor
Christmas tree lights in the up
per east side area have been re
ported to city ponce yesterday
and this morning. The value of
bulbs taken by thieves may run
as high as $50. -
Those making reports this
morning were William V. John
ston, 5 Valley View dr.; Clara
Fanger, 7 Windsor ave., and El
bert Lenox, 2330 East Main st.
Similar reports were sub
mitted to police last night by B.
Brandt Bartels,, 35 Valley View
dr., and Evelyn N. Schuler, 33
Valley View dr. Earlier yester
day, Mrs. C. Rease Braley, 245
Valley View dr., reported the
theft of lights from a decorated
tree in her yard.
Approximately nine lights
were taken from : the outdoor
tree at the Bartels home, and
Mrs. Schuler told police that
some 30 bulbs were taken from
her tree. -
About seven bulbs were taken
from the tree in the Fanger
yard, and Johnston told officers
That about 45 lights, valued at
about $22.50, were taken from
his tree between 8:30 and 10:45
p.m. yesterday; ;
Sixty five ;bulbs, valued at
$11.70, were taken from the tree
in the Lenox yard.
Red China Planes
.- i " V
Bomb Tachen Island
Taipeh, Formosa (U.PJ Red
Chinese planes bombed Tachen
Island today in the first air .at
tack on: a Nationalist Chinese
position since the signing of the
Nationalist - American defense
past. , .
The Ministry of National De
fense, said it was the second
such attack against Tachen,
northernmost anchor of Chiang
Kai-shek's chain of defensive is
lands. The first occurred on Nov.
1. v .
Seven Russian-made Red Chi
nese planes dropped 10 bombs
on the island. . . ,
A communique said National
ist warships and land anti-air
craft batteries drove the planes
away with intensive fire. No
damages or casualties were re
ported. .
Portland (U.PJ Multnomah
county will observe its 100th
birthday tomorrow. On Dec. 22,
1954, the territorial Legislature
voted to form a new governmen
tal unit called Multnomah from
pieces of Washington and Clack
amas counties.
la
mage by '
Listed at
Temblor
; EureRa, Calif. (U.R) A sharp,
jolting earthquake which
knocked over chimneys, broke
plate glass windows and felled
light fixtures rocked this coastal
Northern California city shortly
before noon today.
There were no immediate re
ports of injuries. x . .
The short shake, according to
the city editor of the Humboldt
Daily Standard here, was ac
companied by a loud noise
which sounded like "an explo
sion.
Lines Knocked Out
Many of the telephone land
lines into the city were knocked
out. The city was wittiout elec
tricity and press association tele
types and telephoto lines were
inoperative. ; ' -
A woman was trapped in an
elevator in the building adjoin
ing the Standard building when
electricity was knocked out at
11:57 a.m. PST, according to a
clock in the Standard office.
Scoop Eean, city editor of the
Standard, said the quake was
one of the worst "to hit the city
in recent years. y
Courthouse Closed
The Humboldt County Court
house was immediately closed as
"unsafe" and was roped off by
deputies. It will hot be opened
until it has been checked by
building inspectors.
Although the Standard clock,
and that of the Humboldt County
sheriff's - office -stopped -at -11:57 1
a.m., the University of Califor
nia seismograph, described the
quake as "strong," located 180
to 200 miles northwest of Berke
ley, just south of Eureka, and
centered at the northern end of
the San Andreas fault off the
coast of Mendocino County.
Marion said "the seismograph
still was recording surface
shocks at 12:25 p.m. He said,
however, it was "too early" for
a Richter reading. .
Strong Enough
"However, it is apparent that
the quake was strong enough to
cause considerable damage,''
Marion said. '
Beal said that the composing
room of the Standard was "a
complete shambles." Linotype
machines were tossed about, but
none overturned. Beal, in the
composing room when the quake
hit, said he was splattered by hot
metal from the lead pots in the
shop. .
Beal said that one man ran
down the main street of the city
of 23,000 screaming: ' .
"The world is coming to an
end."
A large crowd, including po
lice, gathered to quiet him down.
All merchandising stores were
immediately closed. Virtually all
of them suffered shattered win
dows and goods were spewed
across the floors, entangled with
fallen light fixtures. V
Chimney Topple
Beal reported that every brick
chimney in town toppled.
The chief of police reported
that a few small fires started in
some of the damaged homes,
but were quickly controlled.
However, firefighting was hin
dered by broken water mains.
Emahiser reported that "sev
eral persons" received minor in
juries from flying glass and fall
ing plaster. '
In Redding, about 100 miles
east of Eureka, two windows in
the city hall were cracked but no
other damage was reported.
In Weaverville, about half
way between Eureka and Red
ding, piaster was knocked off the
ceiling of the Trinity County
Courthouse.
DISASTER PROPHET N
GETS 'MESSAGE'
Chicago (U.PJ Dr. Charles
Laughead said today he had re
ceived a "message" that Chicago
will not be destroyed by tidal
waves and earthquakes ' as he
predicted and the end of the
world is not at hand.
MEDFORD, OREGON,
Eureka;
Felt Ctee
The ousted Michigan State
college physician said the "mes
sage" came from forces in outer
space 4 hours and 45 minutes
after Chicago's supposed day of
doom had begun. .
The reprieve was granted
through the intercession of God,
who "is in thy midst," Laughead
quoted the "message" as saying.
Medford Gets Jolt
From
No Damage
Medford was jolted shortly be
fore noon today by an earth
quake which caused extensive
damage in the Eureka, Calif.',
area. The quake was felt
throughout northern' California
and southern Oregon.
Telephoned inquiries immed
iately swamped the switchboard
of The Mail Tribune. The .tem
blor , was reported from many
sections of the city. No local
damage was listed.
Reports received here said
that Civil Aeronautics adminis
tration clocks stopped at 11:58
a.m. at Ukiah and Red Bluff,
Calif. Reports . received at the
Medford municipal airport said
residents of Montague, Calif., xe
ported feeling the quake.
Light Fixtures Swing : '
Light fixtures swung to and
fro in the offices of The Mail
Tribune, where employees felt
the tremor. In quick order, re
ports came in from all parts of
town. : ' " -
Employees 1 ' at - the ,:.". county
courthouse, California., Oregon
Power company and the. Sparta
building, reported ' feeling the
"rumble." : Capt. Paul Parson
said 'he felt the tremor at state
police headquarters north 'of
Medford.
.-" United Press quoted amatuer
seismologist Bill Geitz, Portland,-
as saying his seismograph
was still registering the tremor
at 12:25 p.m. The quake, was
the first felt in Medford in re
cent years, v v':-: ". ' "
' Editor Bote: Joseph Alsop hat
Just made - a secret trip - into the
Communist guerilla area" of Viet
Minn. Alsop, who has lone heen
an advocate of strong ' measures
against the Reds in Southeast Asia,
tells in this and succeeding dis-.
patches how rapidly they ase eon-
solidating their - fains. He warns
that the West must make -a realis
tic estimate of the enemy's strength.)
By JOSEPH ALSOP
Saigon, Indo-China For an
American nowadays, the Bamboo
Curtain of Asia is far harder to
pass than the Iron Curtain of
Europe. But by a curious chapter
Saigon, Indochina (U.R)-
Adm. Arthur W. Radford,
chairman of the U.S. Joint
: Chiefs of Staff, ; arrived . here .
ioday for urgent conferences
aimed at bolstering free South.
Viet Nam against Communist
expansion. '
The Big Three decided in
Paris last Saturday to throw
their support to the govern
ment of Premier Ngo Dinh
Dien, to cut the Viet Namese
army lo a smaller but more
effective force of 90,000 men.
and to bring threatened South
Viet Nam under the protection
of the allies - Southeast Asia
Treaty Organisation. - - 7
of accidents, this reporter has
just spent three days in the great
Viet Minn guerrilla area which
still forms a virtually independ
ent state at the southern tip of
Indo-China. ....
The trip involved every appa
ratus of . conventional romance,
from' two gloriously moonlit
nights chugging through . Com
munist territory on a native ca
Earthquake
SoDniiDiisft ESepoiri&ESedl
TUESDAY DECEMBER 21, 1954
mm
J? 'W
HI
TREE WITH A VOICE Colorado's Denver High School
students pyramid into a human Christmas tree that sings
as they appear on stage for annual Christmas presentation.
SamSheppa r d J u ry
Hearing 100th K b u r
Cleveland (UP)
Lr.,; Samuel . H. Shep
pard .wa$ jconvicted - to
day of second - degree
murder in the bludgeon
: slaying of. his. pregnant
wife. . .
Cleveland KU.R) The Shep
pard wife-murder jury , buckled
down today' in a final try to
decide whether" it's to be life,
death or prison for the hand
some Dr. Sam. i 1 '
; Nearing the 100th hour ' of
having the fate ... of the osteo
pathic brain surgeon in their
hands, seven husband and five
housewives returned from lunch
and resumed' their mulling in
the jury room. ; .
They had told the judge' they
believe they can reach a verdict
today. : - .' ' .
But- they gave no hint of prog
ress, and Judge' Edward Blythin
nal boat, to the inevitable false
papers, which were needed to get
back through the Curtain again.
Yet these details were? hardly
noticeable. Despite the extreme
shortness of the permitted time,
the impressions produced by this
experience were so vivid one
mght 1 almost say so violent
that they alone absorbed ones
entire attention: 1 .
Horrified Admiration
Perhaps it is tactless , to say so
nowadays,': but my dominant
emotion was a sort of horrified,
helpless admiration for the Com
munist achievement not - of
course fpr the thing itself but for
the courage shown; the incredi
ble' difficulties -overcome, the
sheer brilliance -of the political
military f eat. ; "
Here," after all, ; was.- a huge
region with a population of close
to 3,000,000, with no local war
resources except its rice produc
tion, with no hope of serious out
side aid, situated at the southern
extremity of Indo-China, as far
as possible from the main Com
munist base in the north. ' . v
Here, in this plain ofCamau,
The Commttee of the South (the
ruling Viet Mihh'qrgan in Cochin
China) first raised -the standard
of revolt and fixed its capital
nine long years ago, Such arms
as they had got from the Japa
nese and a treasury of 75 pias
tres, or about $5 in those days,
were' the sole tangible assets of
the oddly mixed committee of
Vietnamese Communists and na
tionalists whom ' Ho Chi- Minh
had chosen for the task.
Political Asset
But they had a political asset
Juki
Price 5c
1
w
i
Jt'
did not attempt to learn ; how
they were getting along when
he had them in the courtroom
to dismiss them for the noon
meal. ,-; t.
lWhen ,. ajiyiedj last ;nighi by
a note from the judge" wtiether
they were hear, a verdict, the
jury replied through its foreman
that it believed "we", can do it"
today. A bailiff said he carried
the word from ; the foreman
orally to the judge. ' :r V
The "marathon jury was in
the afternoon of ' its fifth day
of deliberation. It can send Dr.
Sam to the electric chair with
a flat guilty verdict. ;
. He is accused of bludgeoning
his, wife to death .in her bed.
DOW-JONES AVERAGES -
" New York (U.R) Dow-Jones
final stock averages: 30 indus
trials 398.11 up 0.79; 20 railroad's
144.12 up 0.06; 15 utilities 61.38
off 0.23, and 65 stocks 147.99 up
0.07. Sales today were about
3,630,000 shares, compared with
3,770,000 shares traded yesterday.'-
'?:.:-'.'" - . !
Sftireinigtllu ami Sort
too. This delta of the Mekong
had been a vast swamp until the
French drained it, and divided
it into '.great landed estates. .The
peasants in their palm, huts had
always lived in bitter poverty
and without hope until the Com
munists gave them the land., i '
When the late General Leclerc
took command in Indo-China
with the complacent boast that
he would destroy the VietJ Minh
in a few months, French troops
entered the plain of Camau and
established 13 fortified posts. But
although the Committee of the
South had barety raised its ban
ner, the guerrilla' attack was so
severe and sustained: that 'the
French forces . soon destroyed
their mud forts .and departed.
From that day to this, when
the local Viet Minh government
is moving north under the terms
of the Geneva accord the' plain
of Camau has been what the
Communists call1 "liberated ter
ritory." Once ' every yearsor so,
a ; French - "clean : up" column
would push into the.region, burn
ing and destroying: as it moved.
Always there were Vthe air at
tacks that wrecked and wrecked
again the little palm hut villages
along the canal banks, and con
fined oil road and canal move
ments to the dark hours of the
night '
Rules Other Regions '.
. But there was never a .mo
ment "when .the Viet- Minh did
not run- throughout the. region.
And as time went on, the Com
mittee . of . the South;- from its
mobile palm hut capital in the
Camau plain, came to rule other
BOTE
United Pres Full Leased Wire
No. 235
National
Dm B
itterlebate
Paris (U.R) The French Na
tional Assembly-plunged into a
bitter, general debate on German
Rearmament - today. The odds
favored approval, perhaps ' be
fore Christmas. '
As deputies faced up to what
will be France's most - fateful
decision since, World War II and
ent
S.
! Vienna (U.R) Russia called
an extraordinary 'session, of the
Allied Council today and charg
ed that the United States violat
ed the control agreement for
Austria by placing troops in the
French Zone province of Tyrol.
The United States, .Britain and
France flatly denied the Soviet
charge and -Complained because
of the 'emergency character"
the Russians gave to the meet
ing. A regular, session of the,
council would have been held
Thursday. . '. " . .
There was much speculation
as to what Russia was leading
up to. , : , . , ' . r ;
Charges Countered
Soviet High Commissioner
I. I. Ilyichiev said the United
States sent troops to the Tyrol
to "maintain ' contact between
U. S. forces in Austria and their
supplyjMiseS'in Italy." The Unit
ed StaTeT- answered t'-ttWitin
Army unit near Innsbruck mere-
J ly maintained highway traffic.
U. S. High Commissioner
Llewellyn E. Thompson called
the Soviet action an "abuse of
Allied Council procedure" and
said the Russians "called the
meeting only for propaganda
purposes. '
He listed such Soviet practices
as maintaining a gunboat in the
U. S. sector of Vienna and a bar
racks in the British! sector.
He also pointed out that the
Americans had .communications
in the Soviet zone and the Rus
sians did not object. ' :'
: The - extraordinary session of
the v council, unprecedented in
the eight-year history of four
power government in Austria,
ended in disagreement after an
hour and 40 minutes of bitter
debate. Vi"' . -
huge regions approximating rath
er more than, a third of the
whole area of Cochin China,
which Gen. Navarre told me last
year the French "effectively con
trolled." : ' -.. : '
An army of something like
30,000 ; regular and regional
troops was organized, trained
an'd armed with captured French
heavy weapons and small arms
painfully manufactured in .tiny,
camouflaged local shops. And I
have never seen smarter", tougher
looking Asian troops than the
few soldiers the accidents of my
journey allowed me to inspect.
A permanent government was
formed, complete with financial,
economic, . educational, . health,
propaganda and police services.
Currency - was y printed, taxes
were levied, and budgets were
annually prepared. In short; the
whole mechanism of state power
and regular administration was
created out of nothing," in the
nearly neolithic little muddy
villages among' the rice fields
and in the very teeth of French
military power. ' '
Symptom of Ills . ':
I thought I even detected a
first . symptom of the ills to
which - all r grown up govern
ments are liable. I stayed, for my
short visit, at the palm hut re
ception center provided for the
families who were' coming from
all ' over Cochin - China to say
goodbye to their soldiers going
north. The cadre in charge (cadre
is the Viet Minh name for any
trained and indoctrinated offic
ial or party worker) was a 'pale,
delicately dandified young fel
low. It seemed hard to believe
Russia Charges
Agreem
Violated by U
FORECAST:' Considerable hifh
cloudiness threugh Wednes
day. Patches of valley fof
Wednesday morning. Little
change in temperature. Low
' tonight 26-28; high Wednes
day 50.
- Temp.-.
Highest Yesterday. . .. 53
Lowest this Morning 28
Assesui
ernnaini Airnniinig
debate swung into its first full
day, enemies of the accords
which would put 500,000 West
Germans into uniform under
NATO took .the offensive. s
Leading off was the , man
whose' motion ' killed EDC, the
European Defense Community
plan which was the ill-fated
predecessor of the new plan for
West European union. "He was
Rightest , Deputy Gen. Adolphe
Aumeran. ; ' ' - "
Sees German Danger . '.f
He charged that the new plan
was a sinister concoction of Sec
retary' of State John Foster Dul
les and the Germans. . 4
' "Under the pretext of Atlantic
solidarity," Aumeran said, "they
are asking France to lake pre
cautions against the Soviet dan
ger before taking precautiobs
against the German danger."
: But despite the opposition's
heavy : attack, the . odds still
favored a pre-Christmas victory
for, France's fighting Premier
Pierre Mendes-France. .
Carson, George
Named to Senate
Portland XU.R) Joseph JC.
Carson Jr., unsuccessful Demo
cratic candidate for governor,
and Harry George, .local attor
ney, , today ' were , appointed" to
the state Senate' vacancies creat
ed by the Nov. 2 election.
The vacancies' were created by
election of Richard L.- Neuberg
er to the U., S. Senate and ; of
Jack Bain as a Multnomah coun
ty commissioner. Both appoint
ees are Democrats and had been
recommended to county commis
sioners by the county ' Demo
cratic central 'committee. i
''-. Carson is a former jmavor of
Portland . and member of . the
U,' S. M a r i t i m e Commission.
George has practiced law here
since 1930. - -
BID AWARDS DUE
i Award of bids on several city
owned buildings on municipal
airnort nronertv will be con
sidered tonight at a meeting of
the Medford city council, ac
cording, to City Superintendent
Robert Duff.
that he did the daily hour of
work in the rice fields that is
required of all cadres to set an
example, maintain contact with
the peasants and eke out the tiny
salary of rice that the Viet Minh
government pays. '
; I was told he escaped the rice
fields because he was an unus
ually expert fisherman with a
net, but I. still suspected that he
was an early specimen, of the
great genus of bureaucratic ca
reerist. I may have, been unjust,
however, for the dandified cadre
was responsible, for the absence
of- an . official seal on my exit
papers. And this later. gave me
a rather bad hour of worry about
what I would do if a sort of
canal-side soviet of soldiers and
grim security police looked at
the passport in my; bedding role
and discovered I really was not
Monsieur Muller, a wandering
French journalist.
Need Realistic Estimate
- I wish I could report that the
Viet Minh. organization which I
glimpsed in those three days was
feeble, evanescent and hated by
the people. But the record of its
achievements in nine years all
too clearly confirms my own
short observations of the effic
iency, power and popular sup
port of this' Communist built
and Communist guided mach
ine of guerrilla government,
i If we are not to lose the strug
gle 'for the world, we had best
make a realistic estimate of the
enemy's strength. And the fore
going merely summarizes the
strength that I saw. - - '. r
, - - -(Copyright, 1954.- -
I New York Herald Tribune Inc.)
Ho
English Decision
Reaffirms German
Treaty on Arming ;
Reds Told They Can .
'Tear Up Treaty' ;
London (U.R) Britain refused
today to abandon German re
armament and told Russia to tear
up their 1942 friendship treaty
if the Soviets want to. " "-" ' '
A foreign office spokesman
branded as rude in both manner
and context Russia's threat to
abrogate the treaty if Germany
is given an army. - - ' ' -
The spokesman rejected it out
right. ' - - " : ; V : :
Russia also threatened to break
off a mutual defense pact with
France if the National Assembly,'
now debating German rearma
ment, agrees to bring the Bonn
government into the Western de
fense scheme.
Good Pact ':''" -!
The spokesman said "Britain
would be sorry to lose its friend-'
ship treaty with Russia because
the country felt it was a good .
pact.; , V, .
. But in straight diplomatic
tough talk, the spokesman "de
plored" the Russians', method in ,
threatening to abandon the
treaty. .. ; . .. . .. r
The Russian threat, similar to
the one handed France, was de
livered . in Moscow yesterday to "
British Ambassador Sir William t
Hayter. : . ' , '
"Her majesty's government!
would regret it if the Anglo- '
Soviet treaty ' of friendship of
1942 to which they have always "
attached importance were, to be
cancelled 5 or 'annulled by the
Soviet government," the spokes-
men told the daily Foreign Of-,
fice press conference. '
Deplore Manner, Context ;
"At the same time they de-!.
plore both the manner and thr
context in which that govern-.'
ment threatens such annulment, ;
he said. ; -- .
" ine untish government can-
not accept the arguments used 1
in the Soviet. note.
. "There . is no justification of
the Soviet contention that the
Paris agreements are" incompati- ,
ble with the treaty. Her majes- (
ty's government will continue to
pursue their chosen policy of
l : i: . nr.u " -rc l-. '
ci'iisuuuauug western Ciiuopean '
unity." - V ' ' -
The foreign off ice statement
came as Britain took, a firm step '
toward closer alignment with a
United western Europe. :
. Britain signed today an this- '.
torie agreement that tips her
with the S chum an Plan coal and
steel pool. '- '
BRITAIN SIGNS
SCHUM AN PLAN PACT
London (U.PJ Britain signed
a treaty today linking it with the
European coal , and steel com
munity the-', former "Schuman
Plan"-r-which is the first Euro
pean federal ; institution with
wide . economic , and political
powers. ' - - - -. - - " . '- -; - ;
' Britain is traditionally ' wary
about shackling itself to any .
form of European federation, but
the attitude has softened with the'
coming of the atomic age. Last'
summer Foreign Secretary
Anthony Eden committed Brit
ish troops to continental defense
for the first time. . ' ,
Author James Hilton
Dies of Liver Cancer
Lone Beach, Calif. - (U.R)
James Hilton, English-born au
thor whose novels were best
sellers throughout the world for
20 years, died Monday night
of cancer. He was 54.
Hilton, who wrote such well-
known booksas "Lost Horizon,
'Goodbye, Mr. Chips," and
'Random Harvest." died at Sea
side hospital. His former wife,
Alice, was at his bedside. .
The author's physician. Dr.
David Wigod, attributed Hilton's
death to "incurable cancer of
the liver." ? : .
Hilton, several . of whose
books were turned into success
ful motion pictures, had been
hospitalized since Nov. 21.
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