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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1957)
Scotland Yard Defective Cooks When Not Investigating Crime By ROBERT MUSEL Uniltd Press Correspondent London U.R Ever since Sherlock Holmes sa-ed away at his violin in the meditative throes of deduction, a good de tective always seems to have some sort ol hobby. So it is fitting that the detec tive hero of this true-life story should be found in the kitchen in a clean white apron, patting down the last spoonful of icing on a cake. Detective Superintendent Her bert Hannam of Scotland Yard "The Count" to his colleagues and " 'Erb the Gent" to the un derworld bakes pastry for a hobby. He is no flatfoot at the stove. He holds a diploma as a pastry cook, earned 40 years ago before he decided to make law enforcement his career. Hannam stands now at the crossroads of that career. On Dec. 19, he arrested Dr. John Bodkin Adams, a prominent physician in the seaside resort of Eastbourne, on a charge of mur der. He specifically accused the 57-year-old bachelor of killing Mrs. Edith Alice Morell, a widow who left $215,000 when (he died in 1950 at the age of 81. She was cremated and her ashes scattered. One such murder would have been furor enough. But Hannam has investigated the deaths of more than 20 other patients of Tr. Adams, most of them widows, most of them old and wealthy. Full Publicity Hannam went to Eastbourne last August to look into the "case of the wealthy widows." From the start, he worked in a blaze of rare publicity. Scotland Yard prefers to work quietly but It deferred to Hannam's theory that publicity would bring in formation from all sides and might crack the murderer. The 59,000 residents in the richest town in Britain found they had ringside seats at a drama that made the cinema seem pale. For everyone knew the man Hannam was stalking. It was a risk, for publicity in Britain can be a boomerang. Al ready there is talk that "trial by newspaper" may figure in the defense headed by Sir Hartley Shawcross, former attorney gen eral and one of the most bril liant and expensive legal minds at the British bar. Adams will have a prelimi nary hearing Jan. 14. Under British law, the prosecution must produce enough evidence then to satisfy a judge that it has made out a case for trial on murder charges. ' Hannam does not appear con cerned. In this, type of investiga tion he has few superiors. An in structor in criminal law at the training school for detectives, he has a talent for the most com plicated kind of research. In 1947 and -1948. he toured the Riviera and the United States to help break up a cur rency racket involving S280 mil lion. Later he was assigned to general security cases for the government. Minute Evidence During the coronation year of 1953, two girls Barbara Song hust and her friend, Christine Reed were hacked to death, raped and their bodies thrown with their bicycles into the Thames river. It became known as the "towpath murders." Hannam took 1,650 written statements from everyone he could find who had been near that stretch of river on May 31, 1953. One of the last was given a schoolmaster who recalled see ing a man practicing throwing an axe at a tree trunk. His description led to the ar rest of Alfred Charles White way, a 22-year-old laborer. A three-mile stretch of the Thames was drained. Whiteway's shoes were found. One tiny spot was found to be bloodstained. White way was hanged. Two years later Hannam sent another man to the gallows on the basis of the tread of his bi cycle tire. Hannam has spent four months completing his dossier on Dr. Adams. WHen the case is fin ished, Hannam's associates know what he will do. He will curl, up with a good historical novel. Next to making pastry, it is his favorite recreation. Police Check Scores Of Reports for Mad Bomber of New York New York (U.R) Police checked scores of letters report ing "suspicious persons" today on the chance that one might lead to the "mad bomber" whose homemade explosives have set off a barrage of false bomb alarms across the nation. While crank calls diminished here with only 12 Tuesday com pared with a high point of 40 last Friday, they continued to spread nationally. Fake threats Tuesday forced the evacuation of hundreds of movie patrons from theaters in Kansas City and Park Forest, 111., a Chicago suburb. Both threats proved unfounded. Philadelphia Bomb At Philadelphia, a homemade pipe bomb, containing a mix ture of dough, calk and baking soda, was found in a restaurant in the city's Mayfair section. Em ployees of the restaurant, who found the device, placed it in pail of water until police arrived. In tracking down Tuesday's hoaxes here, police found no bombs, either real or simulated. However detonation of a "cherry bomb" firecracker and an Army practice grenade touched off more than a score of telephone calls from persons who feared the "mad bomber" had struck again. In all, more than 150 fake threats have been made since Christmas Eve when the mad bomber left a lethal calling card at the New York Public Library. That weapon and a subsequent one last Thursday were found before they exploded. Police have ascribed 32 home made bombs to the deranged "bomber" since 1940. All but 10 have exploded, but there have been no fatalities. Several per sons have been injured. NORFIELD'S WATCH FOR JANUARY SHOE CLEARANCE SALE! BEGINNING FRIDAY, JANUARY 4 10,600 Die in Fires During Past Year Boston, Mass. U.R) An esti mated 10,600 persons were killed by fire in the United States during 1956 875 fewer than in 1955. The decrease in deaths was the largest for any year since World War II, the National Fire Protection association reported today. General Manager Percy Bubgee attributed the reduction to a "substantial growth in the general public's awareness and of adherence to the simple rules of personal fire safety." Total dollar value of property destroyed by fire in 1956 was a record $1,250,000,000. The 1955 total and previous high was $1, 140,768,000. Of the total loss in 1956, Sl. 505.000,000 represented loss to building and contents. The other $200 million was loss in aircraft, motor vehicles, forest and other non-building fires. Biggest fire of the year was the Malibu, Calif., conflagration. The NFPA said the Malibu loss is expected to exceed the S15 million Brooklyn, N.Y., pier fire and explosion of Dec. 3. Wednesday, January 2. 19S7 MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THREE , if 4 -V CT 4 TIT ' CATHEDRAL DESTROYED Lone fireman directs stream of water on stained glass windows of St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hartford, Conn., as flames leap from roof of the structure. The 58-year-old cathedral was the second Catholic church destroyed in the city in two days. Land Management Bureau Cites Major Projects During. '56 Baker Baby Turns Out To Be Two Yesterday Baker Ill.R) Baker's first baby of 1957 turned out to be two. A 6 pound, 7 ounce boy was born yesterday to Mr. and Mrs. Joe DeRoest of Baker at 12:45 a.m. at St. Elizabeth hospital. Fifteen minutes later a 5 pound, 9 ounce twin girl arrived. GIVE YOURSELF The YOU-DIDNT GET! (Bift at ACME'S-, w j BUY NOW! PAY LATER! Use Our Convenient BUDGET PLAN! WHY BE DISAPPOINTED because you didn't get EVERYTHING YOU WANTED this Christmas? Just visit ACME-and GIVE YOURSELF the GIFT YOU DIDN'T GET! We've EVERYTHING you were hoping for . . . and for the BIGGEST PRESENT OF ALL . . . just wait 'til you see HOW MUCH YOU SAVE when you take advantage of ACME'S INVENTORY SALEI LOWEST PRICES FOR HIGHEST QUALITY SPECIALISTS IN HOME WARES J Free Parking Free Delivery SPECIAL! Clearance Prices ON ELECTRIC WOOD & GAS HEATERS! Portland Progress toward complete inventories and ap praisals of O&C timberlands, open marketing of salvageable timber, increased reforestation and access road construction and implementation of new mining legislation were cited in an in formal year-end report by State Supervisor Virgil T. Heath as 1956 accomplishments of the Bu reau of Land Management in Oregon. Increase Noted Heath pointed out that the al lowable timber cut on Oregon and California revested lands had been increased 12.3 per cent in the course of the year. The increases, made possible by com pletion of new inventories, were from 588.200,000 board feet to 514.100.000 board feet in Feb ruary and to 660.700.000 board feet in October. The BLM studies disclosed greater volumes of merchantable timber and great er growth than had earlier, more conservative surveys. Inventories of O&C timber are con'inuing. The state supervisor also cited the lifting of marketing restric tions on salvage timber as a sig nificant step in BLM's manage ment of the O&C lands. The ord er lifting the restriction was is sued in July by BLM Director Edward Woozley after the Bu reau had held a public hearing in Portland. Market Areas Market areas were (established by the Department of the Inter ior in 1947 when it divided the O&C lands consisting of more than 2,000,000 acres of heavily forested terrain in western Ore gon into 12 sustained-yield marketing units each with ap purtenant marketing areas. Bet ter conservation and forest man agement are expected to result from the speedier utilization of salvage timber which the greater marketing flexibility will facili tate, Heath said. He pointed out that 169,331, 000 board feet of salvage timber valued at $6,439,352 was sold during the first 11 months of 1956. This will bring total rev enues from salvage timber to well over $30,000,000 since the program was started five years ago after the major forest fires and wind storms of 1951. Although total sales of timber on O&C lands increased each year to a high of 603,229,000 board feet valued at 521,379,769 in calendar 1955 both volume and value fell off slightly in 1956. During the last year 566, 754.000 board feet valued at S20, 280.475 was sold. The average bid price per thousand board feet for 1956 was S36.80 compared to S37.ll in 1955. Exchange of Land Another highlight in 1956 O&C activities was the exchange with the U. S. Forest Service of 242,734 acres of O&C lands for 241,137 acres of USFS lands to overcome administrative prob lems caused by the intermingled checkerboard pattern of the two forests. The exchange carried out the provision of Public Law 426 passed by congress in 1954. An expanded access roads pro gram for O&C timber lands got under way during the fall of 1956. Since Oct 1, contracts have been let for 36.7 miles of road and one bridge to be built at a total cost of Sl,628,43;2. These roads will give access to a total of 5.600.000,000 board feet of timber including some private and some administered by USFS. I Heath praised the O&C coun ties for their efforts in support ing the O&C program of the Bureau. By law these 18 coun ties receive 75 per cent of the revenue from timber sales on O&C lands and in many in stances they have urged further use of their revenues- to speed access roads and reforestation projects. A payment of S11.900. 000 was made in August. 1956. as the O&C counties' share of 1955 forest receipts. During the year, also, the Bur eau of Land Management paid over to the state of Oregon $59. 099.13 as the state's 371.4 per cent share of bonuses, royalties and rentals from mineral leas ing on Federal lands within the state and $59,135.38 as Oregon's share in receipts from grazing leases, lands and public domain timber sales. Heath said the Bureau plans to construct a new system of uub lic land recoVds for the 2700 townships in Oregon. Bids were called during 1956 for this work in conjunction with the same job for the state of Utah but bid der stipulations and funds avail able precluded award of a con tract for both Utah and Oregon. The Oregon work will be read vertised in the near future. Portland Girl Says She Was Assaulted Portland (U.R) A 13-year-old girl told police a trio of teen age boys forced her into a car at knife point last night and that she was taken to a desolate area and criminally assaulted. The girl said she was returning home from the St. Johns theater when she was stopped. She said one youth held a knife against her and forced her -into a car. She was driven to a desolate area where one of the youths assault ed her, police said. It was the fourth incident of juvenile violence here since Saturday. TRIGGER RESOLUTION Detroit U.R) James Mes sisco, 20, has resolved never again to pull both triggers of a double-barreled shotgun at the same time either on New Year's Eve or any other time. Messisco did it and ripped both barrels to shreds. He escaped injury. Batista Calls (or End lo Violence Havana U.R) President Fulgencia Batista has called for an end to the "menacing quar rels and violence" among va rious political elements that plagued Cuba in the closing months of 19,56. At least 66 persons died in the eruption of political tempers during December alone, 27 of them between Christmas and New Years. Batista made his appeal for a "ballots not bullets" solution in a New Years message to the na tion. He said: "We proclaim once more than the best arms for the exercise of right and peace are ballots." The holiday wave of terrorism was climaxed by a bombing New Years Eve in the famed Tropi cana Cabaret. Two 18-year-old women were seriously injured in the explosion, one losing an arm. Police reported finding the bodies of two men shot to death under still unknown circum stances in the town of Manicara gua in the province of Las Villas. Three Fugitives Caught in Gervais Salem U.R Three fugitives who broke out of the Harney county jail at Burns yesterday morning after overpowering a jailer, were apprehended at Ger vais yesterday afternoon. State police said the three still were in the jailer's car in which they had fled the eastern Oregon city when they were spotted on Highway 99E about 10 miles north of Salem. Patrolman Henry Hepler said he was cruising the highway when he spotted the stolen car and set out in pursuit of the trio. State police identified the es capees as Richard Perkins, 22, held for Oregon state prison as a parole violator; Leonard Queener, 20, held on a contributr ing to the delinquency of a mi nor charge, and Lester Elledge, 24, held on a burglary charge. Hepler said the fugitives turned off the highway onto a gravel road and then junctioned onto the Mount Angel - Gervais highway. After reaching Gervais, they attempted to shake the pursuing officer, but were unsuccessful. Hepler said that they suddenly stopped at a corner and offered no resistance to arrest. The Harney county jailer, 60-year-old Ernest Musick, said he had entered the prisoners' cell to removed their breakfast plates when they jumped him and took his keys. They locked him in the cell and drove off in his car. Washington Climbers Reach Ml. Hood Peak Timberline Lodge U.R) A quartet of Washington mountain climbers today held the honor of being the first persons to stand on the peak of Mount Hood in 1957. The annual race up the snow covered slopes of the lofty peak to be the first of the year at tracted four climbing parties this year. The first group to conquer the mountain consisted of Bill Un soeld and Stan Bishoprick of Vancouver, Wash., and John Utzinger and Ed O'Neal, of Ta coma. The group left Timberline Sunday afternoon and camped overnight, reaching the summit yesterday morning. vDePOSITED tf jffVTH EARH FROM THE U K... 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