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-