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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1955)
Recommended Teatnr rtoriei en a snow trip planned by local Boy Scouts, and on Mercy Flights, Jackson county's unique non profit air ambulance nerviee. appear on Pare 12 of today's issue of The Mall Tribune. Weather RIBUNE FORECAST- Partly cloudy to day and Monday. Few snow flurries over mountains. High today 50, low tonight 25-28. Temp. Highest Yesterday , , ,, si Lowest Yesterday 40 Prec. To 10:30 p.m. Yesterday trace United Press f-ull Leased Wire United Press Full Leased Wire 49th Year 28 Pages MEDFO' .DAY, MARCH 13, 1955 Price 5c No. 305 White Case Goes Back to Grand Jury On Motion by DA Call for Jurors Seen Within Week Case of Bernice H. (Tex) "White, 37, of 228 Hartley rd., held in connection with the March 2 death of Eugene Ray mend Birk, 32, Phoenix, will be resubmitted to the Jackson coun ty grand jury probably some time next week. A motion bv District Attorney Walter Nunley to resubmit the case to the jury, because of er rors in the original first degree murder indictment, was granted y Judge Orval J. Millard in ircuit court yesterday morning A motion by Defense Attorney Robert Duncan to quash the in dictment also was granted. White had been scheduled to enter a plea yesterday. He was indicted on the murder charge by the grand jury on March 4. Birk was fatally injured at Tal ent sawmill. Eyewitnesses said Birk was struck over the head by a two-by-four piece of lumber wielded by White. An autopsy revealed the Phoenix man died of a skull fracture. According to a circuit court report, one error in the indict ment involved a date and an other the description of the piece of lumber allegedly used. The foreman of the grand jury corrected the date at the time the indictment was submitted to the court and the district attor ney was allowed by Judge E. H. Howell to strike a word at the time of White's arraignment, it was reported. However, Nunley told Judge Millard he felt the case should be resubmitted to. avoid error. Nunley said yesterday that the grand jury probably will be sum moned this week. Dust Storms Plague Great Plains Area Chicago (U.R) D u s t storms plagued the Great Plains Satur day while Ohio Valley residents fought floods and cleaned up the debris from a multi-million-dollar windstorm. Farm experts said Friday's violent winds ripped up half of Colorado's 3,000,000-acre winter wheat crop at a loss of an esti mated $50,000,000. In Wyoming, a single county suffered crop damage to 45,000 acres. But in Kansas, the nation'6 breadbasket, the wheat crop withstood the storm without ma jor damage. There was a brief respite from the dust storms Saturday, but more high winds were forecast and already had mounted to 30-40 miles per hour in portions of Kansas, kicking up dust at Garden City, Goodland, Hill City and Dodge City. Hawaiian, Alaskan Statehood Endorsed Washington (U.R) Admission of Hawaii and Alaska as the 49th and 50th states would be good for the nation as well as the territories, the House Interior Committee said Saturday. "Statehood for both," the com mittee said in its formal report, "would be in the best interests of the United States as a whole and of the people of the territories in particular." Hawaii and Alaska, the 126 page document said, are "ready, willing and able to support state hood." The report supported the com mittee's approval two weeks ago of tandem Hawaii-Alaska en abling legislation. Its publication Saturday cleared the way for House Rules Committee hear ings on the bill. These are ex pected next week. Williams Tosses Hat In Presidential Ring Los Angeles (U.R) Governor G. Mennen (Soapy) Williams, of Michigan, flexing his political muscles in the Republican state of California, says he would con sider the 1956 Democratic presi dential nomination if party lead er Adlai Stevenson were not rvailable. "Naturally, I would be proud to accept," he said here Friday at a press conference. "If Presi dent Eisenhower is the Republi can Party candidate in 1956, he'll have a lot of trouble. Peo ple are fed up with his record of broken promises." CHECKING CHINESE DEFENSES Admiral Felix B. Stump, commander in chief of the Pacific area, inspects anti-aircraft positions of Nationalist Chinese forces on Matsu Island. Authoritative diplomatic sources revealed in Washington that Chinese Communist Pre mier Chou En-lai is totally unyielding in his determination to attack Formosa, despite the grave threat of war. Eied Chinese Massing ESig (Guns (CDpposflfe Fortress off Quemoy Nationalist Troops Attacker Battled Off Busy Constructing New Fortifications Taipeh. Formosa (U.R) Red China is massing heavy artillery on the Mainland Coast facing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Quemoy fortress, official Na tionalist Intelligence reports said Saturday night. Nationalist forces on the strategically situated island. within 2,000 yards of Commun ist China and only four miles from the Red port of Amoy, were reported feverishly con structing new fortifica tions against the threat of attack. Guns Rused Intelligence sources said more than 60 heavy 105 and 125 guns have been rushed to the coastal area facing Quemoy and Matsu and that additional heavy artil ery is awaiting shipment to the Fukien Coast in Stockpile areas in Canton and elsewhere. Reports from Quemoy said Nationalist forces were building an extensive system of trenches and that new trooD reinforce ments recently had arrived from rormosa. Matsu, located farther north, recently was reported to have been tripled in troon strength. The last available estimates placed Quemoy's troop strength at 40,000 men, rated- among Chiang's best troops. Sporadic Red shellfire fell on Quemoy's defenders Saturday for the second day running. On Friday the Communists broke a two-weeks lull in the Formosa strait by lobbing 52 heavy artil lery shells against Quemoy. The island is virtually ringed by Communist guns, brought here from Russia. In recent weeks the Red shells have zeroed in from three sides. The Communists were report ed to have massed 100,000 men and a sizeable invasion fleet of junks and other small craft in the Amoy area. . Wreckage of Missing Aircraft Reported Salt Lake City (U.R) Wreck age of one of two planes missing in Utah was reported Saturday atop Mt. Timpanogos by a three man ground party and identified as an Air Force B-25. Three bodies were found aboard the craft. Searchers hur riedly digging through eight-foot-deep snows for bodies of two more men reported to be aboard the plane were forced to leave the crash site because of darkness and a snowstorm mov ing onto the avalanche-threatened peak. No identification of the bodies recovered had yet been made al though some briefcases were found among the wreckage. Meanwhile, an air search con tinued for a civilian Beechcraft airplane that became missing Wednesday night about the same time the B-25 became lost. Victorville, Calif. (U.R) An Force pilot was killed Saturday when his T-33 jet trainer crashed in the Hesperia area south of here, the Air Forct reported. By Premier Nagpur, India (U.R) Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru Sat urday fought off and disarmed a would-be assassin who sought to attack him as he was riding in an open automobile. Police said the Indian prime minister wrenched a knife from the hands of his attacker in a scuffle on the running board of the car. Man Seized Soldiers and police seized the man, identified as an unemploy ed rickshaw puller named Babu ile Murder Trial Transcript Ready Transcript of testimony in the first degree murder trial of James Norman Jensen, 25, Lark spur, Calif., last October, was completed Saturday, Circuit Court Reporter Clifford Howard said. The transcript will be turned over to Defense Attorney Ed ward C. Kelly early this week for his use in appealing Jensen's conviction and death sentence to the Oregon supreme court. Jensen was found guilty of the hatchet slaying of Mrs. Fern Hile, Medford, last April 24. He was sentenced to die on Jan. 7 but the execution was stayed by Kelly's notice that he would ap peal. Howard said that the trans script totals 1,040 pages. Kelly will use the transcripts for preparation of briefs, a bill of exceptions and other docu ments for the appeal. 13 County Schools Set Spring Vacation Thirteen of the 21 operating school districts in Jackson coun ty will close their schools the week of March 14 through 18 for spring vacation, the county school superintendent's office has reported. Six will close for only Thurs day and Friday. March 17 and 18. They are Medford, Talent, Rogue River, Applegate, Pros pect and Evans Valley. Howard and Elk-Trail will have their vacations in April. A-IBflast Tests Smolke Las Vegas, Nev. (U.R) The Atomic Energy Commission set off a "midget" atomic bomb above a smoke screen Saturday to prove that man-made "smog" can protect cities from the fur ace heat of the nuclear fireball. Mice took the place of humans beneath the furious pre-dawn blast at the Nevada Proving grounds, 75 miles Northeast of this gambling resort. Test Successful AEC officials said the test was' 'successful" but disclosed no further details of the results. It was the fifth "shot" of the 1955 nuclear test series, a blast of India Rao, and placed him under ar rest. Nehru, attempting to mini mize the incident, said the at tacker was "an individual crank." He added that the knife he seized from the man was "small and not very dangerous." But in New Delhi, Home Min ister Pandit Pant invited the lower house of Parliament to join him in giving thanks to Providence that Nehru had sur vived the deplorable incident and in wishing the Prime Minister might be "spared for many years." Would Be Crowds The attempt on Nehru was made as the prime minister was standing and waving to the crowds from the rear seat of the open car during a drive from the Nagpur airport to the resi dence of the state chief minister here. Suddenly, police said, a man with a bicycle-drawn rickshaw swerved toward the slow-moving car. At first the prime minister thought the man intended to hand him a petition. Instead, he leaped on the run ning board of the automobile aving what police said was a clasp knife. Nehru grappled with the at tacker, police said. In the brief skirmish, Nehru wrenched the knife from the man's hand and turned it over to police. Over Quickly "The whole Incident was over within 10 seconds," Nehru said. The attack gave India its worst assassination fright since Jan. 30, 1948 when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi as he walked across a lawn to a prayer meeting. Gandhi was cut down by pistol shots fired by a Hindu named Vinayak Godse. Pro Tern Judge Named To Hear Local Cases Judge Pro Tempore William S. Fort, Eugene, has been appointed to serve 13 days in Jackson county circuit-court. He will start his temporary duty on March 21. A number of judges have been assigned to the court here to help with the case load during the illness and absence of Judge H. K. Hanna. from atop a 300-foot steel tower that packed the wallop of 5,000 tons of TNT. - To carry such a load of TNT, 166 freight cars would be re quired. Saturday's device was estimated unofficially as being capable of being packed into a bundle the size of an ordinary suitcase. First Such Test A fireball hotter than a blast furnace boiled out over a mile in diameter, rolling down from its 300-foot starting point into an artificially-generated smoke screen 50 feet above the ground. This was the first full-scale Iker Dulles Spiit Reports Disputed By Senate Leader Sen. George Knows of No 'Real Difference' Washington (U.R) Senate leaders of both parties Saturday disputed reports of a split be tween President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles over defending the Nationalist-held islands of Quemoy and Matsu off the coast of Red China. The reports, originating with some Democratic House mem bers, had previously been denied by Dulles and the White House. Chairman Walter F. George (D-Ga.) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told re porters "I don't know of any real difference in viewpoint." Doubts Difference Senate GOP Leader William F. Knowland (Calif.) said he also does not "believe there is any foreign policy difference." It was learned meanwhile that Nationalist China has in formed the United States that its forces on Quemoy and Matsu will fight to the bitter end against a Red attack, regardless whether U. S. Forces join in de fending the islands. Diplomatic officials said Red China is also "standing firm" in its proclaimed determination to "liberate" the islands, as well as Formosa, even at the cost of great bloodshed. Outlook Black In this situation, diplomats said, the outlook for a cease fire is very bleak, and the adminis tration, while not giving up hope of avoiding a large scale con flict, is resigned to a considerable period of danger in the Far East. The seriousness of the situa tion was brought home to Dulles, informants said, during his re cent Far Eastern tour. Undue Speculation In Stock Market Seen by Knowland Washington (U.R) Sen. J. William Fulbright said Saturday the $7,000,000,000 drop in secu rities values this week "seems to confirm there is an undue amount of speculation" in the stock market. The Arkansas Democrat told a reporter that putting any of the blame for the decline on the Sen ate Banking Committee's inves tigation of the boom is "strictly unwarranted.' 'Fulbright is chair man of the committee. He said the inquiry is "strict ly informative and educatonal" nd that the market is "very weak" if it is being affected ad versely. "If there is no more substance to the rise than that, it makes you wonder," he added. The market declined in four of five sessions this week. Wall Street experts attributed it part ly to concern of traders over tes timony at the investigation that margin requirements should be raised from the present 60 per cent to at elast 75 per cent, and maybe 100 per cent, to check speculation. Margin requirements deter mine the amount of cash a buy er of stocks must put up. The re mainder of the cost can be cov ered by credit. Raising margin requirements to 100 per cent would put trading on an all-cash basis. . Pahoa, Hawaii (U.R) A fiery fountain of lava spurted out of fresh cracks along the Puna coast at 6 p.m. HST Saturday, shooting the molten rock 100 feet in the air. The glow from the new lava foun tain was visible as far as Hilo, 23 miles away. - Screen Filter PDan test of the recently disclosed de fense department thinking that a smoke-screen filters out much of the heat of the fireball, just as nature's clouds insulate the earth from the sun. "By introducing this smoke screen between detonation and surrounding objects, direct ther mal radiation is absorbed, re flected, and scattered resulting in reduction of thermal redia tion by objects beneath the" smoke screen," the AEC said. Actually, a similar test on a smaller scale was conducted during the last nuclear tests here two years ago. But the AEC Forces Knowland Says Jet Fuel Must Be Kept From Red Chinese Washington (U.R) Senate Re- the Indian Ocean after passing publican Leader William F. Knowland asserted Saturday the Finnish tanker Aruba must be kept from reaching Red China with its jet fuel cargo even if the U.S. 7th Fleet has to waylay it. But Ch a i r m a n Walter F. George (D-Ga.) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee disagreed flatly with Knowland. "I wouldn't go that far," George told reporters. "We're not at war with anybody. If the Chi nese Nationalists intercept it, that's another problem." The tanker was reported in Jean Charles Smith Dies in Accident; Second Man Hurt One man was killed outright and another was painfully in jured in a log unloading acci dent at Prospect Friday shortly before 5 p.m. Jean Charles Smith, 27, of 413 Lozier lane, Medford, was killed when the top log of a truckload rolled off as the truck was being readied for unloading at the Ross Lumber company log deck, reports from state po lice," sheriff 's deputies and the coroner's office indicated. Log Hits Driver Ward Blaine, 33, Post Office Box 20, Prospect, driver of the truck who was assisting in the unloading operation, also was struck by the log. He was taken to Community hospital by Med ford Ambulance service for treatment of fractures of the pelvis, leg and ankle, as well as lesser cuts and bruises. The hospital Saturday report ed his condition as "fair." The body of the dead man is at Conger-Morris funeral home, where funeral arrangements are pending. Members of the fam ily include his mother, Mrs. Jack Wilson, Pendleton, a young daughter in Salt Lake City, and four brothers, all of whom have not yet been located. Matusow Cited for Criminal Contempt El Paso, Tex. (U.R) Federal District Judge R. E. Thomason cited Harvey Matusow for crimi nal contempt Saturday. It was the first action taken against the ex-Communist since he ad mitted he lied in testimony given at hearings and trials about Communism. Judge Thomason said he would listen Wednesday to any witnesses Matusow wanted to present, if any, or to reasons he may have had for lying in the trial of union leader Clinton Jencks 14 months ago. He indicated Matusow would be sentenced that day if he could not prove he wasn't in contempt. But the judge ruled that Mat usow's admitted lying was not ground enough for granting Jencks a new trial. Matusow tes tified this week in a hearing on Jenck's application for another j trial. Attorneys for Jencks recom I mended to him that he appeal the decision. just disclosed last Feburary that such a test was held. , Lights Four States The flash of explosion lighted a four-state area Arizona, Utah, California and Nevada. It was seen in San Francisco, and Sacramento, Calif., some 400 air miles away, in Los Angeles, 300 miles distant, and as a "flicker" in Phoenix, Ariz. The shock wave, which often skips erratically, was felt in Inyokern, Calif., some 130 miles distant and the low rumble characteristic of the atomic de tonation was heard for 100 miles. (QJ inrougn tne buez uanai. it is carrying 13,000 tons of Ro manian kerosene, enough to fuel Red Chinese jet war planes for 5,000 missions against Formosa. Dispatches from Formosa said the Chinese Nationalist Govern ment already has ordered its air force and navy to make every effort to intercept it. Na tionalist authorities speculated that Russian submarines might try to escort the vessel. Knowland told reporters he believes the Nationalists are ca pable of halting the Aruba. But if they fail, he said, the U.S. 7th Fleet should intercept it. "It ought to be intercepted, period," Knowland declared. "It would be the height of folly to permit the supplying of jet fuel which might be used against us." The State Department, which had previously expressed "grave concern" about the Aruba's mis sion, declined comment on Knowland's statement. Sen. John L. McClellen CD- Ark.) said the fact that the fuel is being transported in a Fin nish tanker dramatizes "the fail ure of our government" to halt "disgraceful" trade relations be tween free nations and Red China. He said the Senate In vestigating Committee under his chairmanship will soon revive an inquiry, started two years ago under former Chairman Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.), of trade between U.S. allies and the Chinese Communists, Linn County Gets List of 15 Names Lebanon U.R) Mrs. E. A. Gall, the Lebanon housewife who is crusading against what she feels are laxities in Linn county welfare administration, has given the County Public Wel fare Commission the names of 15 persons she claims have been misusing assistance funds. The disclosure was made to Mrs. Lucille McBride, Linn coun-' ty public welfare administrator. While Mrs. Gall carried on her crusade, state police and sheriff's deputies continued their search for the man who -attacked Mrs. Gall's 65-year-old husband and severely beat him. The attack Wednesday night climaxed a series of threatening phone calls Mrs. Gall received following publication in the Lebanon Express of a letter she wrote saying she had knowledge of at least five cases of misuse of public welfare funds in the county. Senate GOP Leaders Expect Tax Cut Veto Washington (U.R) Senate Re publican leaders predicted Sat urday that President Eisenhower will veto the Democratic com promise income tax cut if it reaches the White House. "My belief is that the Presi dent would veto it," Chairman Styles Bridges (N.H.) of the Sen ate GOP policy committee told a reporter. Republican floor leader Wil liam F. Knowland said some what more cautiously: "I don't think the bill, with the amendments proposed, would become law." Both repeated, however, that they expect the Senate to defeat the compromise when it comes to a vote Tuesday. Sports Bulletins Hollywood (U.R) World middleweight king Carl (Bo bo) Olson battered California champ Willie Vaughn last night to win a unanimous de cision in a bloody 10-round non-title bout. Corvallis (U.R) Favored San Francisco university edged Oregon Stale 57 to 56 before 11,206 screaming fans Satur day night to advance to the semi-finals of the NCAA bas ketball tournament as USF all-American Bill Russell out played Swede Halbrook in a battle of giants. Artillery Barrage, Infantrymen Thrown Against Trenches Loyalists Capture Headquarters Town Saigon, Indochina (U.R) Pre mier Ngo Dinh Diem Saturday threw tanks, an artillery barrage and 40 battalions of Loyal in fantry into a major campaign against entrenched rebel forces who have seized a large area 60 miles south of Saigon. The large-scale military action came on the heels of a govern back of a smaller rebel force, , operating north of this capital, was broken during the night. Capture Headquarters A communique said Loval forces stormed and captured the rebel headquarters town of Ba Long, 20 miles south of the fron tier with Communist North Viet Nam. Diem's American-backed re gime is under both military and political attack at home and has been sharply criticized for It. "Faults" and inefficiency by a special French parliamentary investigating committee. Kangea against his govern ment on the local military and political front are powerful re ligious sects and political groups wno nave demanded his over throw and the creation of a new government under the leader-: ship of absentee Emperor Bao Dai. Diem's victory was over a 600-man force. Seven govern ment batallions took part in the action. Serious Threat But a far more serious threat is posed by the well organized ana neavily armed forces of Gen. I Ga Cut to the south. His troops strength is variously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000 men. en trenched in the broad Mekong river marshlands Diem was concentrating his 40 battalions In an area fronting Thot Not, headquarters of the Hoa Hoa Buddist sect command ed by Ba Cut. Tank-led infantry units sruck out from Long Xvyen, 10 miles to the north of Thot Not Reports reaching the capital said Ba Cut's forces Include sev eral hundred former Viet Minn (Communist) insurgents who for merly fought against the French expeditionary force and who still -have their Communist arms. Hofho Found Guilty Of Overload Charge A district court jury has found Arthur F. Hotho, 30, Eagle Point, guilty of an overload charge, according to court offi cials. Hotho was fined $84 and court costs of $5. The Eagle Point man was charged with a 2,800 overload on a tandem axle of a lumber truck. A unanimous verdict was returned by the six - member jury. Russell DeForest, deputy dis trict attorney, represented the state in the case, and Hotho was defended by United Log Truck ers, Coos 3ay. Medford Attor ney Edward C. Kelly represent ed ULT, in the absence of El mer Baldwin, Roseburg. Hotho entered a plea of inno cent after being cited on Jan. 6. Civil Defense Plans Changes Predicted Washington (U.R) Big chang es in civil defense planning are expected to come from a top level meeting next week in the wake of pressure from President Eisenhower and criticism on Capitol Hill. The Civil Defense Administra ton will meet with its natonal advisory council Monday and Tuesday at Battle Creek, Mich., to discuss planning revisions re sulting from the threat of new atomic and hydrogen weapons and new information on their destructive power. The council members are to give their opinions on "plans, policies and operations designed to strengthen and expand civil defense capablities" presented to them by CDA at a meeting Jan. 18. i-
