Eisenhower Studies Progress, Mistakes
Made in Government's 'Operation Alert'
Emergency White House (U.R)
President Eisenhower re
turned to the vaulted under
ground Pentagon today to review
the progress and the mistakes
of the government's three-day
"Operation Alert."
As the nation's biggest civil
defense exercise came to an end,
the President was convinced that
in the future, the job of moving
the government from the prime
atomic target area of Washing
ton could be done much better.
His recommendations for im
provement were to be trans
mitted today to Val J. Peter
son, the civil defense adminis
trator, and Arthur S. Flemming,
director of the Office of Defense
Mobilization.
Searching Reappraisal
The President, Peterson and
Flemming arranged to meet at
the underground Pentagon dur
ing the forenoon for a searching
reappraisal of the evacuation
exercise that sent Mr. Eisenhow
er and 15,000 other key govern
ment worker scurrying out of
the capital Wednesday to escape
a mock atomic blitz.
After the meeting, Peterson
and other government officials
planned to return to Washington
Mr. Eisenhower, however, will
SDend the week end on his
Gettysburg, Pa., farm, returning
to Washington late Saturday.
On Monday, the President will
fly to San Francisco to address
the 10th anniversary meeting of
the United Nations. Former Pres
ident Truman also will be there,
but he will not speak until Mr,
Eisenhower has flown back to
Washington.
The President's venture into
an unusual peacetime world of
armed secrecy had its somewhat
paradoxical aspects. Reporters
were under stern warning from
the White House not to identify
the President's whereabouts.
Gettysburg Farm Dinner
Yet, the President broke away
Rationing of Money
Included in Plans
In Event of Bombing
Emergency U.S. News Center
U.R) The government wQuld ex
pect to ration money, as well as
food, and spend millions on
emergency aid for evacuees if
enemy planes ever rain atomic
bombs on American cities.
Some idea of the plans came
out of .Operation Alert, the big
three-day civil defense exercise
drawing to a close today.
Those were some of the prob
lems tackled by President Eisen
hower and top government offi
cials, who, for realism, worked
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at 31 "emergency relocation"
sites on the theory that Washing
ton was ampng the CI cities re
duced to radioactive rubble by
an imaginary "enemy" assault.
Money To Refugees
Probable rationing of money
was mentioned by Treasury Sec
retary George M. Humphrey. He
said one of the problems his de
partment worked on during the
exercise was "how to get money
out to the refugees."
"All over the country you are
going to have to try and ration
out money . . . and try to keep
anybody from getting an undue
share, more than he is entitled
to; to try to prevent hoarding,
and to see that everybody is
helped to get over this first
hurdle," Humphrey said.
Humphrey said, the govern
ment has enough reserve cur
rency stashed away in apparent
ly safe places to meet emergency
needs for "a good many weeks."
Imaginary Pleas
Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, sec
retary of health, education and
welfare, told how her depart
ment handled imaginary pleas
for help from seven states and
hypothetically "allocated" $89,-
900,000 to feed, clothe and
shelter the presumed "evac
uees.
Humphrey, Undersecretary of
Agriculture True D. Morse and
Mrs. Hobby held press confer
ences at an emergency federal
news center set up to handle all
news of the massive exercise.
The cavernous converted to
bacco plant, located more than
100 miles from Washington, was
also the release point for some
so-called "regular" news of fed
eral departments and agencies.
from his super-secret hideaway
Thursday night to have dinner at
the Gettysburg farm with his
wife and her mother, Mrs. John
S. Doud of Denver. It was per
missible to say that he had din
ner at Gettysburg. But it was
distinctly forbidden to say where
he slept Wednesday and Thurs
day nights.
The President and his staff
learned a lot from his three-day
evacuation exercise. Mr. Eisen
hower confessed that he never
knew there could be "such com
plications." For one thing, he discovered
that even under simulated war
time conditions of security, he
could not "get away" from the
public. As his big, black lim
ousine whirred over country
roads, smiling farm children
chirped "hey Ike" as he went by.
Mr. Eisenhower also found
that he had to move in a pack.
Even when he went to a meeting
of the National Security Council
Thursday in the underground
Pentagon, he was trailed to the
cavernous front door by speed
ing carloads of reporters and
photographers.
Guaranteed Wage
Plan Won From
Shipping Industry
New York (U.R) The CIO
won a guaranteed wage plan
from the shipping industry last
night ending a one-day strike of
seamen against passenger and
dry cargo lines.
The agreement still left at
odds the National Maritime
Union and representatives of
tanker lines but brought a fast
end to a threatened tieup of dry
cargo and passenger ships.
No Difficulty Seen
Joseph Curran, president of
the NMU, said his union still
would support an unsettled
strike of engineers end radiomen
but Francis Greene, spokesman
for the shipping operators, said
'we do not anticipate any diffi
culty in settling the differences
between the two remaining
unions."
The shipping operators agreed
to pay 25 cents a day into an
unemployment fund for every
seaman it employs. Unemploy
ment benefits from the fund will
not be paid for one year, during
which time the fund will be al
lowed to build up.
The seamen passed up a vir
tually assured wage increase thi3
year to win the principle of a
guaranteed wage.
To Work Out Details
Under the agreement, the
shipowners will supplement the
state unemployment benefits of
sailors thrown out of work.
Curran said a joint union-company
committee would work out
Evacuation Test
Seen Necessary .
In Civil Defense
Santa Rosa, Calif. U.R)
Philip D. Batson, Federal Civil
Defense chief for the West, hopes
the next nationwide CD exercise
will test evacuation plans.
Batson said yesterday that
evacuation efforts during the
first phase of "Operation Alert"
Wednesday and Thursday saved
lives on paper.
"But only a small number of
city dwellers know which siren
signal means 'Get out of town' or
even which road to take," he
said.
Mass Panic Seen
He emphasized that chaos and
mass panic may result in a real
alert unless people practice
evacuation drills and gain "con
fidence in their local CD orga
nization. Batson said Operation Alert
brought out a "disturbing num
ber" of examples of indifferent
or poor planning and weak ope
rations, as well as a number of
examples of "excellent" coordi
nation work.
He said the flow of messages
was "spotty" at times and said
more planning must go into
Civil Defense as a result of
weakenesses discovered in Ope
ration Alert.
In the first 26 hours of the
operation, five Pacifk Coast
cities San Fransisco, Oakland,
Los Angeles, Seattle and Port
land were theoretically blast
ed by atomic or thermonuclear
weapons.
Ability Tested
The first phase of the opera
tion ended yesterday morning af
ter state and city civil defense
directors secured their control
centers. The second phase began
immediately after.
In the second phase, nearly 50
federal - agency offices and in
stallations in the eight Western
states and Hawaii tested the
ability of the federal agencies
to operate after an attack.
It was the first time key gov
ernment activities have had an
opportunity to appraise the real
ism and effectiveness of their
plans to insure continuity of the
most essential functions after an
enemy attack.
Friday, June 17, 1955
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE MINK
details of amounts to be paid
and eligibility of seamen.
The contract is to run for
three years. It also includes in
creased company payments into
a pension and welfare fund.
The one-day work stoppage
involved 775 ships on the At
lantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts
although no ship movements
were delayed. Several passen
ger ships scheduled to leave
New York today were expected
to sail on time.
Minister Keeps Vigil
As Contact Man in
Missing Judge Case
Wast Palm Beach, Fla. U.R)
A minister who will serve as
go-between in case a wealthy
judge and his wife are held for
ransom by kidnapers, kept a
vigil by his telephone today for
any hint of the couple's where
abouts. Members of missing Judge C.
E. Chillingworth's family last
night asked that "persons who
are in possession of positive in
formation" about the judge and
his wife contact the Rev. Harry
H. Waller of the First Metho
dist Church here.
A total of $16,500 in reward
money had been posted by sev
eral groups.
The possibility that the Chil
lingsworths had been kidnaped
early Wednesday from their
summer cottage was just one of
several theories on which in
vestigators were continuing to
check.
"This still could be anything",
said County Investigator John
R. Hiatt. "It could be a kid
naping for ransom or carrying
the couple away for revenge."
Judge Joseph S. White, a col
league of the missing jurist, be
lieved it the work of possibly
the same person involved in the
abduction of Mr. and Mrs. Char
les Ferri who vanished under
similar circumstances from their
Wrong Prisoner
Awarded $112,290
New York U.R) Louis
Hoffner, 41, said today freedom
means more' to him than $122,
290 he received as compensation
for spending almost 12 years in
prison for a murder he didn't
commit.
Hoffner, a bachelor, was
awarded the sum . by a state
Court of Claims yesterday for
"loss of earnings, degradation,
humiliation and mental anguish"
he suffered in prison. He had
asked for $540,000.
Hoffner thanked Judge Fred
erick A. Young when the award
was announced. "I feel awfully
good that it's all over," he said.
"I've got my freedom and that's
the main thing.
Hoffner was convicted of the
slaying of a Queens, N. Y., bar
tender in 1940 and sentenced to
life imprisonment. The convic
tion was set -aside on Nov. r 10,
1952, by Queens County Judg
Peter T. Farrell, following an
intensive campaign by the New
York World-Telagram and Sun,
a Scripps-Howard newspaper.
Judge Young said yesterday
that "inherent in this decision
must be the fact that the dis
trict attorney's office had pos
session of evidence which, if
known to defendant's counsel,
would have prevented this tragic
miscarriage of justice."
Chemical Engineers Study Air Pollution
Berkeley, Calif. (U.R) Chem-1 Engineers, including the north
ical engineers from the Pacific era California, southern Califor-
blood-stained Miami home six
weeks ago. Ferri had testified
in the income tax evasion trial
of New York gangster Albert
Anastasia.
But Mrs. William Cooper, Ro- j
selle, N. J., daughter of the 1
judge, said her parents had not;
been acquainted with the Ferri !
couple.
The 58-year-old judge, who
handled only capital punish
ments, and his wife were dis
covered missing two days ago.
Their house was found open and
the beds unmade. A floodlight
over the porch was shattered and j
drops of blood stained the porch !
steps and formed a crimson trail
leading down to the ocean. Their j
wallets and other valuables in
the cottage were undisturbed.
Coast states gathered here to
day for discussions on air pollu
tion and industrial waste dis
posal. The symposium was sponsored
by West Coast sections of the
American Institute of Chemical
nia, Washington-Oregon and Co
lumbia river sections.
The featured speaker was W.
L. Faith, -vice-president of the
Air Pollution foundation at Los
Angeles. '
Ray L. Casterline, M. D.
PHYSICIAN
Announces the Resumption of Practice
Limited to
Diagnosis and Internal Medicine
832 East Main Street Phone 2-7440
Medford, .Oregon
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