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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1955)
0 Klouse-by-lnlouse Search Launched for lues in Ohicago IBUgS Police Seeking Scene of Murders, Victims' Clothing Bus Driver, Waitress Tell of Seeing Beys - Chicago (U.R) Fifty police men today launched a house-by-house, foot-by-foot search of a six-block area where they be lieve three young boys were strangled. They hunted in garbage cans, vacant lots and alleys for clues to (fte wanton murder Sunday night of Robert Peterson, 13, John ScUfcessler, 13, and his 11-year-old brother, Anton, Jr. j Clothing Sought The policemen hoped particu larly to find the boys' clothing, which had been ripped off them, Jand the tape which was used to "fiind their yes and mouths. The boys' nude, mutilated bodies were found Tuesday, thrown into a forest preserve ditch like sacks of potatoes. The triple murder is one of the most shocking crimes in Chi cago's history, but authorities are divided about the motive be hind it. TwoQDifferent Theories County . officials, including Sheriff Joseph Lohman and Cor e oner Walter McCarron, believe the boys were killed by one of the teenaged gangs that roam the northwest side. But city police men leaned to the theory that the murder was the work of one or more sex perverts.. A bus driver and a waitress O helped Oolice to .the conclusion that the boys were murdered some placO in the six-block area Bus driver Bruno Mencarini, 44, was apparently the last per son outside of the killers to see the boys al.ve. O Boys Boarded Bus He told police Wednesday night that the three boys boarded his Milwaukee ave. bus Sunday at 8:55 p.m. and got off M few minutes later. The waitress, Mrs. Elsie Weis- berger, 26, said the boys ate a hearty final meal between 5 and 6 p.m. at the C&L Restaurant, a favorite teenaged hangout. They impressed her with their polite ness, she said. County Officials At Salem Meeting On Highway Plans County Commissioner Chester Wendt and County Engineer Paul Rynning were in Salem to day to confer with state highway officials about the proposed new road to Klamath Falls. The route would run through " the McAllister Soda Springs area and by Lake of the Woods, fur nishing an easy grade, all-weather highway across the mountains as a Supplement to the Green Springs route. , Difficulties in getting the proj ect iftder way are largely fi nancial, and it was understood that today's conference is being held in an attempt to agree on plans fox paying for the road. Earlier plans called for federal state financing, with Jackson and Klamath counties to pro vide the right of way and main tenance. Both counties cooled on the plan, however, when Highway Engineer R. H. Baldock indicated that the federal participation ijl would have to come from county -road monies provided regularly by the federal government. Oth er types of federal participation, including the possibility of ob taining forest road funds, are being explored. UN Assembly Picks Greece and Brazil United Nations, N.Y. (U.R) The UN General Assembly, en tangled inOits worst election 0narl in history, today elected greece and Brazil to the remain ing vacancies on the Economic and Social council. Hopelessly deadlocked after nine ballots, the Assembly heed ed American advice and sus pended voting for the Security Council late yesterday and pro ceeded to the elections for the " other two major' councils, Eco nomic and Social, and Trustee ship. . The Philippines, backed by the United States, held a slim lead over Yugoslavia, supported by Russia and Britain acting inde pendently, but was nine votes short of the required two-thirds majority. Adenauer Said Well On Road To Recovery Bonn, Germany U.R) Chan cellor Kanrod Adenauer, strick en two weeks ago by bronchial pnuemonia, was up and about for i two hours today and doctors said he is "well on the road to recovery." VICTIMS IN BRUTAL SLAYING The node, mangled bodies of Robert Peterson, 13 (left); Anton Schuessler, 11 (center), and John Schuessler, 13 (right), were found in a forest preserve near Chicago. The -Schuessler brothers had been strangled by hand. Their friend, Robert, had been viciously beaten on the head and then strangled with a tie or rope. Marks showed their eyes, mouths and hands had been taped. They were not sexually assaulted. It was one of the worst crimes in Chicago's history and has touched off a giant manhunt for a sex maniac or teen-aged hoodlums. Skid Row Motel Fire Dn Chicago Kills 2 Chicago (U.R) Fire swept through a skid row hotel Wed nesday night, burning two men to death and injuring eight oth ers. ' The dead men were trapped on the upper two floors of the Ad ams hotel, which is regarded as a slight cut above the usual brand of flop houses along taw dry West Madison st. ' One of the victims was identi fied Jby a rent receipt found in his pocket as Egbert Lonergan, 60. The other man was burned beyond recognition. Marjorie Smith Case Under Way in Yamhill McMinnville (U.R) The stat disclosed today that it will ask the death penalty for Mrs. Marjorie Smith, Port land widow, accused of com plicity in the slaying of her attorney husband last April. McMinnville (U.R) Marjorie Smith; a pretty young Portland. widow, went on trial for her life today in" Yamhill county courthouse. ; The first degree murder trial resulted from the death, almost six months ago, of Portland at torney Oliver Kermit Smith. Smith was blown to bits by dynamite attached to the starter of his car. ' Selection of a jury was ex pected to occupy the rest of this week. Dynamite Plant Admitted . Last April 22, 45-year-old Vic tor Laurence Wolf admitted to police that he planted the dyna mite in Smith's car. He said he did it at Mrs. Smith's instigation because he was her "love slave." But Mrs. Smith has stoutly denied that she was in love with Wolf or that she planned to use him to kill her attorney-husband whom she divorced in JL954 and remarried in 1955. Marjorie Smith was trans ferred from Portland to the new jail here last week to prepare for trial. Wolf, who invoked a little known law to plead ' guilty to the murder, is awaiting a hear- Old Golf Crony Visits Eisenhower Denver (U.R) President Eisenhower today had a visit from one of his old-time golfing cronies, New York investment banker Clifford J. Roberts, who was the first caller other than of ficials and family members since the chief executive entered "the hospital. , ' Roberts, who also is chairman of ' the Executive committee of the Augusta National Country club, spent about 15 or 20 min utes with the President at Fitz simons Army hospital where Mr. Eisenhower is recovering, from a heart attack. Mr. Eisenhower ' sat up for about 40 minutes in an easy chair in his room; He also con tinued work on an oil painting of the majestic Rocky Mountain landscape visible from his win dow. Salk Polio Vaccine Said 'Safe as Aspirin Pocatello, Idaho (U.R) The independent doctor who dis covered live polio virus in Cut ter vaciine used in Idaho last spring said today vaccine cur rently being distributed - was "safe as aspirin." "The safety tests used on each batch of polio vaccine manu factured now makes it safe as the vaccines for smallpox, whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus that are so universally accepted," said Dr. John -G. Bachtold, Salt Lake City, Firemen swarmed up metal fire escapes to carry out the in jured. Most of the injuries were minor, consisting of burns and smoke 'inhalation. The two deaths brought to 54 the total persons killed in "flop house" fires in Chicago this year. Officials -said the death toll was cut down Wednesday night because many of the guests had not returned to their rooms. In previous skid row blazes, many of the victims have been killed while, they were sunk in drunk en stupors. ing to determine whether he shall be executed or sentenced to prison for his crime. Veteran Hearing Case The case is being heard by Circuit Judge Arlie G. Walker, a veteran of 29 years on the circuit bench. Trial was moved here on the application of Mrs. Smith's ' attorneys "who ' claim that publicity in Portland papers might have prejudiced the trial's outcome. Preparations For Hearings Slated , A Congressional committee staff council will visit Medford Oct. 28, 29 and 30 to make ar rangements for hearings here in November on federal timber sale procedures. William Coburn, of the joint committee on federal timber, will be. here to interview those interested in the hearings, and to advise them of plans for the hearings, which will be held in Oregon, Washington and Cali fornia Nov: 14 to 30. He also will visit other cities where hearings will be held, in cluding Klamath Falls, Rose burg, Eugene, Salem and Port land. ' Sen. James D. Murray (D Mont.) is chairman of the com mittee. He said matters of major concern are out-of-date inven tories of timber, the need to. re vise allowable cuts, the necess ity for development of better timber sales programing, sal vage of timber which is unnec essarily lost, and more'efforts to build access roods , Sen. Richard L. Neuberger (D - Ore.) is the only Oregon member of Congress on the com mittee. Verdict of Guilty In Malfeasance Case McMinnville U.R) A Yam hill county Circuit court jury late yesterday returned a ver dict of guilty against Edgar O. Ferguson, State Highway de partment employee charged with malfeasance in office; , Ferguson, who was suspended by the department, was speci fically accused of accepting $228 from .Wallace . Wright, McMinn ville contractor, while Ferguson was the state's representative on a paving job at Carlton. . Ferguson had contended he earned the money by operating Wright's paving machine for 114 hours. Circuit Judge Val Sloper of Salem set Friday at 1 p.m. as time for sentencing on the con viction. MEETING DELAYED ' . A city council meeting sched uled for noon today was ad journed until 7:30 p.m. Annexa tion of block six as an extension of the Siskiyou heights addition; and a petition for the annexa tion of an area adjacent to South east Medford will be considered at the meeting. J ,1 Price Controls On Items Farmers Purchase Urged Washington (U.R) A Repub lican congressman wants the ad ministration to begin an emer gency program of price controls on items farmers must purchase. Rep. Phil Weaver (R-Neb.) made the suggestion yesterday in a telegram to Agriculture Secretary Ezra T. Benson. Weaver also invited Benson to accompany him on a tour of Nebraska farms for a first hand look at the "sagging eco nomic position" of farmers Shivers Blames Democrats' ' Meantime, Texas Gov. Allan Shivers, a Democrat, said the battle over fram price supports was probably made inevitable by Democratic-sponsored legisla tion. Shivers said the farm issue has become "a contest between the two parties, not to solve the problem, but to see who's going to offer more. "I would like to see us get politics out of the farm prob lems and really go to .work to solve it," he said at 'the .annua Southern Governors' Conference at Point Clear, Ala. Immediate Steps Urged Weaver said the government "must take immediate steps to strengthen and bolster" the farm economy. He proposed a "temporary and emergency program to es tablish maximum prices ... on essential items for farming op erations." . He suggested that they be "pegged to a previous date when the parity rate was reasonably fair to the farmer." Sears Roebuck To Open Catalog Store Opening activities will be con ducted Friday and Saturday at the new catalog and service store of the Sears Roebuck and company. It is in the former lo cation of the Brainerd studios on South Central ave. , L. M. George, Portland, is tem porarily assigned as manager of the new store and Margaret Gail is assistant manager. Jim Craig is a field representative. The store will feature shop ping by catalog either at the store or by telephone, a local credit department, and a local service department, George said. , . Evan Petcoff, here from Seat tle branch office, is the, credit manager. Donald Swank ' and Wilfred Friesen are service men and oth ers on the staff include Margaret McGuire, Clara Hyland, Betty Payne and Dessie Evalyne Tay lor. On display at the store are samples of Sears' merchandise. Red China Frees Two Not on American List Geneva, Switzerland (U.R) Communist China today announ ed the release of two more Am erican "nationals" but United States officials said they are not on the list of detained Americans whose freedom is being negoti ated here. ' U. S. Envoy U. Alexis John son is expected to ask for in formation on the two Americans during the 22nd session of the Sino- American ambassadorial talks. The session opened short ly after Peiping Radio announc ed that two "American" civil ians had been granted permis sion to leave Communist China. The broadcast, monitored in London, identified the couple as "Louis Henkel and his wife, Mrs. L. A. Henkel ... two nationals of the United States living in Shanghai." Medford United ITess Full Leased Wire 50th Year 28 Pages Statement Made In Bristling Reply To Defense Report Said Not Consulted Before Yalta Meeting Washington (U.R) Gen. Doug las MacArthur admitted today he urged Russia's entry into the fight against Japan in World War II, but vigorously denied he ever supported concessions made to the Russians at the Yalta conference. The famed former Pacific commander made the statements in a bristling reply to a 107 page Defense Department report on long secret wartime decisions which showed that MacArthur had strongly favored Russia as an 11th hour ally in the fight against Japan. But he said he had not been consulted before the Yalta con ference in February, 1945, exer cised . no influence on it, and knew nothing about its secret agreements. ' Fantastic Agreement "I repeat," MacArthur said, "had my views been requested concerning the secret agree ments bearing upon Russia's entry into the Pacific war I would have opposed them as fantastic." MacArthur's views on Rus sia's entry into the war against Japan have been the center of a swirling political-controversy for years. - The Democrats have claimed the pressure of MacArthur and other U. S. military leaders to get Russia into the war was the main reason the late Presi dent Roosevelt agreed at Yalta to postwar territorial conces sions for Russia in the Far East. The Republicans have claimed just as vigorously that Roosevelt sold out the country at Yalta. And as late as last spring Mac Arthur said he would have op posed Russia's entry into the war at the time of Yalta if he had been consulted. Was Not Consulted In his 350-word statement is-' sued from his Waldorf-Astoria headquarters in New York, Mac Arthur declared any attempt to associate him with the conces sions made at Yalta would be "wholly unwarranted" and "pre varicate the truth and the record." He declared the Defense De partment documents released last night "confirm I was never consulted concerning the Yalta conference, that I exercised no influence whatsoever thereon and knew nothing about its se cret agreements." MacArthur said the contro versy never was over whether Russia should have entered the war. He said this "should clearly have' been done at the very be ginning." The real point at issue, he said, was whether "we should have made vital territorial con cessions at the expense of Chi nese sovereignty to induce Rus sia to come in at the end." United's Pilots Will Continue Despite Strike ' Chicago (U.R) The Air Lines Pilots Association said today that United Air Lines pilots will continue to fly even if the Flight Engineers International Associa tion calls its threatened strike against the company Oct. 22. DEB Swedish Scientist Winner Of Nobel Medicine Prize Stockholm (U.R) A Swe dish scientist won the 1955 No bel prize for medicine today over five famed American candidates. Prof. Axel Hugo Theorell won the coveted plaque and the cash prize of $36,720 for his 20-year-old research into the secrets of enzymes, the complex organic bits that cause chemical trans formations of material in plants and animals. Californians Considered " It was the first year since 1950 that an American failed to win a share of the Nobel prize for medicine. Two California scientist who MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1955 -A v v jlng, ber Under Way in County Moij than 400 acres of burned- over forest area have been re seeded to grass to protect soils from erosion, it was reported to day by the Medford district of fice of the bureau of land management. n the Skyes creek fire site in the northern part of the county, some 280 acres has been re seeded by BLM personnel, and on the Timber mountain fire northwest of Jacksonville 260 acres have been seeded in a co operative project involving the BLM, the city of Jacksonville, and private owners. Grass re seeding on Blackwell hill is planned soon. The bureau had hoped to be able to do reforestation work at the same time as the grass seed ing, but adequate supplies of the proper types of tree seeds were not available. This planting will be done when seeds are avail SEEKING VARIETY OF . . . 1 - " "41115 v-wmptr mig iui iXLlSS World title in London. From left: Jennifer Chines, Miss Britain; Margaret Anne Haywood Mis U. S. A.; Anita Oestrand, Miss Sweden; Karin Rasmussen, Miss Denmark and Mirva Ar vinen, Miss Finland. Winner gets sports car, $1,400 and silver rose bowL (International) George H. Jackson, Attorney, Passes George H. Jackson, 74, of 202 West Third st., died unexpected ly in Grants Pass late Tuesday afternoon. He was visiting there to check on property he owned. Mr. Jackson, an attorney, has lived in Medford since 1944, and has been active in practice here. Before that he had lived and practiced law in Grants Pass since 1923, moving there from Detroit, Mich. Christian Science services will be read in the Conger-Morris chapel at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Committal will follow in Siski you Memorial park. He leaves his widow, the fort mer Juliet Larkin, whom he married in Illinois in 1915; three sons, George H. Jackson Jr., Portland; Robert A. Jackson, Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Philip L. Jackson, Ann Arbor, Mich.; a sister, Mrs. Violet Pow ers, Grants Pass, and two grand children. He was born in Canada on May 3, 1881, and moved to Mich igan as a small child. He was graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1908, and practiced in South Dakota and Michigan until moving to Grants Pass. He also was active in real estate and insurance business in Grants Pass. He was a member of the Oregon Bar association. have studied mushroom- muta tions to determine how genes af fect the metabolism of cells in human heredity were unofficial ly reported to be runners-up. They are George W. Beadle, 52, genetics professor at Pasa dena's California Institute" of Technology, and Edward L. Ta tum, 46, biology professor of Stanford university. Candidate List Secret Also considered in the run ning, although the list of candi dates was secret, were New York heart specialists Andre Courn and and Dickinson W. Richards, and brain specialist Vincent Du Vigneaud of Cornell university. UYJ mm Salvage of able, a bureau spokesman said. Work is under way preparing large stands of fire-damaged timber for salvage sales, mostly in the Sykes creek area, and similar work will be started soon in the Timber mountain burn. The work involves survey ing lines and assembling access road information. It is hoped the sales can be held in the spring before the heat of sum mer starts damaging the timber. Plan Small Sales It may be possible .to have ar few small salvage sales within the next few months, it was re-; ported, possibly including some in the Blackwell hill fire area. Several hundred acres of Na tional Forest land burned over in the same Labor Day week end fires are being surveyed for salvage possibilities, according to Jack Wood, supervisor of the Rogue River National forest. PRIZES. tTlPCfl. tnrla ara -riiW OO Special Planes To Be Sent for Senators T r a y e I i n g i Washington (U.R) The De fense Department said today it is sending two 66-passenger trans port planes to Europe, at a cost of $20,000, to pick up three senators and their wives and return them to this country.. . The department said it is do ing so at senatorial request and that has "no alternative." But aides to the three senators said they did not believe special flights were necessary. The Defense Department said it has a "duty" under law "to provide without question trans portation to members of Con gress who are traveling" on offi- Faure Shakes Cabinet; Hints New Elections Paris (U.R) Premier Edgar Faure shook up his Cabinet to day amid reports that Jie will dissolve the National Assembly and call for new general elec tions before the end of the year. Later, . Faure disclosed that he has summoned his Cabinet to meet tomorrow to decide on whether to call a general elec tion, probably in December. . The government reshuffle started plugging the holes left when four Gaullist party mem bers walked out on Faure two weeks ago in a bitter dispute over his plans for moderate re forms in Morocco and Algeria. Highland Grocery Victim of Burglary Several hundred dollars worth of groceries were taken from the Highland grocery, 458 South Highland ave., Tuesday night, ac cording to city police. Niles B. Smith,. 316 South Highland ave., owner of the store reported that several items, in cluding bacon, lunch meats, beer, eggs, 20 cartons of cigar ettes, soda, sugar and canned foods were missing. Entry was gained through a rear entrance to the store. Tribune United Press Full Leased Wire Price 5c No. 180 Burned Most of the salvage operations will be carried on in Klamath county, he indicated. . UPPRf iriHi oj) m To Plant 700 Acres Yreka Plans to reseed 700 acres of the Haystack burn area to grasses have been announced by R. W. Bower, supervisor of the Klamath National forest Bower stated that when mora money becomes available for est service plans call for reseed ing of 8,000 to 10,000 additional acres of non-timber producing lands. . . Congressman Clair Engle (D Calif .), has wired . Secretary of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson a re quest to allocate $80,000 from emergency funds to complete re seeding of the burn. area. . . G It is considered important that the reseeding be done bsjfore heavy rains ruin the natural seedbed left by the fire. w t ir.- r .., i n E u rope cjal committee business.: One plane will go to Madrid Sunday to pick , up Sens. John McClellan (D-Ark.) and John Stennis (D-Miss.) and their wives. The other plane wl go to, Paris to pick up Sen. Dennis Chavez (D-N.M.) and his wif Nov. 3. All three senators are mem bers of the senate Appropria tions Committee. They have been touring Europe and lit Near East to check on defense spending. The cost, of sending the planes, four-engine Constellations, will be about $10,000 for each round trip. The Defense Department state ment was prompted by inquiries about a story from Berlin by Jim Lucas of the Scripps-How- . ard Newspapers reporting that the Air Force was flying two big transport planes to Europe to pick up the three senators and their wives. Other Planes Available The department said previ ously scheduled military planes could have picked up McClellan and Stennis in Madrid on Oct. 25 and Chavez in Paris on Nov. 6, two and three days respec tively after the specially dis patched planes are scheduled to pick up the senators. Aides to the three senators said the Air Force knew well in advance that all three had firm commitments which made it necessary for them to return to the United States on speci fied dates. They said schedules had been worked out last month and special trips should not have been made necessary. Weather FORECAST: Fair through Fri day. Low tonifht 40. Blfh Friday 72. Temp. Highest Yesterday .. S9 Lowest this Morning 43 i f ! "..!