Medford mail tribune., April 14, 1961, Image 4

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NATION A I EDITORIAL
,"c6"f
Flight o' Time
Madford and Jackson County
History from the filet of, The
Mall Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
not 50 years ago. ..
10 YEARS AGO
The Jackson st, bridge over
Bear creek was opened to
' traffic yesterday, day ahead
of the time planned.
Richard Herndobler, prest
dent of the Ashland Chamber
of. Commerce,' said he has
been informed that the de
fense deoartment has no im
mediate plana to make use of
the WWII Camp White in
stallation here.-- . '
10 YEARS AGO
A New York youth who lost
bo h legs In an accident here
two years ago, has wired hit
r Unci to Medford people
..o ' aided him during hlf
aV tlslsBialManaa
1 m Arthur Perry'i "Ye
r te Pot" column: "The
i (-tat of the lawnmower
In ' rd In the residential
sections. If this nation wasn't
a democracy it would be
machine gun."
30 YEARS AGO
Ail 14. 1031 (Tuesday)
Police have centered their
search in the Dead Indian
country near Ashland for a
would-be bank robber who
; fled when his partner was
hot and killed in an attempt
ed holdup of an Ashland bank
yesterday.
The park service has or-
' dered a survey tor a possible
' '9W HSPO wo-1! P80,1
new north boundary to Crater
Lake National park at the
40 YEARS AGO
April 14, 1921 (Thursday)
Two men were arrested in
Medford yesterday following
an unsuccessful attempt to
rob the Gold Hill bank.
. A Medford Chamber . of
' Commerce committee is seek
ing to obtain a new armory
for Medford.
80 YEARS AGO
April 14, 1911 (Friday)
. Frank W. Benson, Oregon
secretary of state and former
i governor of the state, died
today,
''-News headline: "Hoboes
. Are Now Very Numerous;
Housewives Are Being Trou
bled - Clothes and Food Is
Being Asked - Are Unfavor
ably Inclined Toward Jobs."
What's Your I.Q.?
Nina or torn correct li superior;
even or sight Is eicellenl; five r
sla Is good.
1. Ten million is what part
of one billion?
2. Name the author of the
book "MeinKampf." i
3. G. L. are the initials of
which popular orchestra lead
er who raced speed boats for
relaxation?
4. What are the odds on
guessing the three numbers in
proper sequence in the policy
or numbers game?
8. A passage in the Bible
quotes a King as saying "all
men are liars"; true or false?
, , 6. Is an abridged dictionary
larger or smaller than an un
abridged dictionary?
- 7. The tangelo is a cross be
tween which 3 citrus fruits?
, 8, How many singers com
prise a septet? . .
i 0. Which character in the
Bible is said to have lived 969
years? - - -
10. What is the plural of
larynx?
Answers: 1. One hundredth,
2. Adolf Hitler. 3. Guy Lorn
bvdo. 4. 999 to 1. 5. True.
(Psalms lieill) 6. Smaller. 7.
Tangerine, orange arid grape
fruit. 8. Seven. 9. Methuselah.
10. Laryngei or larynxes.
FrtlDAY. APRIL 14. 1961 -
Legislative Committees
The role that committees play in the legisla
ture is a vital one. Without committees, the legis
lature simply couldn t function. It never would
get through the load of work that is piled on it
every two years.
Committees are assigned to consider bills in
various fields. Ideally, they study each bill which
is referred to them, often holding public hearings
on the measures, or investigating their worth and
desirability in other ways.
After these studies, the committees have
several courses of action.
THEY can "table" a bill in committee which
means to kill it, preventing, further considera
tion (although this action can be reversed).
They can simply ignore a bill, and let it die
in committee at the end of the session.
They can.send it out on the floor of the House
or Senate with a recommendation that it "do
pass," or "do not pass," or with no recommenda
tion at all. They can, and sometimes do, send a
bill to the floor with a divided report, some com
mittee members recommending "do pass" and
others "do not pass."
THE most important function of committees, in
" our view, is to screen out the obviously bad
legislation, the special-interest bills and the
crackpot bills, which pop up at every session. By
holding these in committee, they save the rest of
the legislature mucn time (ana m some cases,
embarrassment) by avoiding full-fledged debate
on worthless measures. . .,.
This committee power, however, sometimes is
extended to bills which may have merit, but
which do not coincide with the personal views of
committee members. ,
(Incidentally, 1 the
much of their considerable power by reason of
the fact that they appoint the committees, and
select the committees to
Thev can thus "stack" a
favorable to one point of
sure that leeislation they
ferred to that committee. In the Senate, Walter
Pearson's State and Federal Affairs committee is
a good example of this use or abuse of the
President's authority.) '
e i e e
CO, IN ADDITION to screening out crackpot
bills, committees oftentimes prevent their
houses from considering legislation which many
members feel is good.
sso one questions tne ngnt 01 a committee to
do this. But it may be appropriate to question the
propriety of such action,
J! or instance, the so-called "tnree-way dm
("which, it bo haDnens. we opposed was passed bv
the Senate, and, although there is considerable
i i ... r . J, li T
Btiliuineni in iavur ui it
tabled in committee.
TO SUMMARIZE:
--. A committee performs a valuable function
when it gives a quick
legislation.
Hut there is a real question whether it should
use its lethal authority to kill substantial pieces
of legislation without giving other members of
the House or Senate a chance to hear debate on
the merits of the bills. . ,
In the case of the three
ion that the committee should report it out, either
with, a "do not pass" recommendation, or on a
divided report.
Otherwise, it is substituting its own opinions
and prejudices for the
House. E.A.
Science is Universal
; Frank Jenkins, in his column today, says:
"Prying open the secret of the atom bomb was an
American achievement with help from some smart
Britons," .
' That's good oversimplification, but it's lousy
history. .
Albert Einstein, a German Jew, is generally
accorded the honor of laying the groundwork for
nuclear energy, which later resulted in the now-
famous formula: E equals mc squared, E being
energy, m, mass, and c,
EINSTEIN'S early theoretical work was built
iir.r.tt q i1 ratQ .lolar! Kir woniT rifVtm wrivVora
including Neils Bohr, a Dane, and Lise Meitner,
Otto Hahn and E. Strassmann, Germans.
Enrico Fermi, an Italian, first hypothesized
plutonium in 1935, and was a member of the
group which achieved the first chain reaction.
Of course, Jenkins is right in that the develop
ment of the A-bomb was paid for by Americans,
mostly in America, in
war effort.' And a great many American scien
tists (including men who then or later became
American citizens) also participated.
TTHE point we wish to make in this nit-picking
at Frank's column is to underline the fact that
science, by its very nature, is international, or
t- -.A ... f 1 1 , .. A 1- 1. -'
uener, universal, in cnaraccer a point ne Him
self concedes later in his column.
Even the race for space, so much in our minds
these days, is based on the speculations and
experiments of many hundreds of scientists of
many nationalities. A TV program the other night
illustrated the point nicely, by showing the first
serious rocket theoretician was a Kussian, the
first practical rocketeer
the first great rocket developments were done by
uermans.
A second point: How utterly tragic it all is
that so much of mankind's genius has been de
voted to weapons of death and destruction. E.A.
presiding officers wield
which bills are referred.
committee with members
view: and then make
consider crucial be re
in certain cases.
. 1.1- 1 . -i. T 1
in tne nuuae, n nas ueeu
quiet death to crackpot
- way bill, it is our opin
' .
judgment of the whole
the. speed of light.
pursuit of the American
an American, and that
Dennis the Menace
I Hi . crk.
I '111
TELEBISIONk OKAY, BUT 1 LIKE
HORSES OHCS IN A WHILE.'
Communications
Letters to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer,
although under certain circumstances the use of pen name or Inilal
for publication It permissible. The Mall Tribune reserves the right to
edit all letters with a view to clarification and condensaton. Letters
submitted for publication must not exceed 400 words .The letters
printed in his column do not necessarily represent the views of the
paper; in fact the contrary it often the case.
A Contrast - '
To the Editor: At last we
are being- told What Home
Rule is supposed to be, after
talking all around it for
weeks.-;;: ' ... '.:. ,
It Is about time the people
had a chance to object to
some things.
But we all thought that
government was "for 'the peo
ple and by the people."
I can tell you of a couple
of things which make quite
a comparison, ,
I learned by reading the
little Times weekly edited in
Rogue River, that the county
Is talking of making a $7,000
cement block and electrically
heated dog house (maybe I
should say parlor).
Each dog Is not kept over
five days before it is dis
posed of, either by death or a
new home. .
There is a perfectly good
building which could be used
for this purpose at a cost of
only a few hundred dollars
for repair and moving a short
distance. The editor shows the
picture in his paper.
Now for the comparison:
A few days ago I was told
about an old lady that had
been In Salem a few years.
She became ' mentally im
proved so was moved to a
home in Jackson county
While In Salem she was
furnished a wheel chair in
which she could get around
a little and get some sun
shine. But here she has no
wheelchair to use. Just has to
sit or lie in bed all the time.
If a dog could talk I'm sure
he would tell you he would
prefer to lie on -the ground
with only a little shelter from
the rain. I'm sure he would
tell you also, to get the old
lady the wheel-chair. Does are
sympathetic, we all know that,
Mary E. Atkins,
1634 Orchard Home dr.
Medford
A Variety of History
To The Editor: I attended
school in the "Horse and
Buggy Days" when our
schools laid great emphasis on
the "three R's" - "readin,"
rightin' and 'rlthmetlc."
Reading and writing were
given a back seat some years
ago, and now it appears that
arithmetic has taken a tall
spin,
I refer to the recent articles
regarding the trial of Elch
mann, who was illegally ar
rested In South America, hi
jacked to Israeli, and Is now
on trial in Jerusalem for kill
ing six million Jews.
About the time Hitler came
into power, the official Jew
ish count of the Jews In Ger
many was slightly over one
half million (540,000). Thous
ands of them fled to the USA
and other countries (Truman
set aside twelve ships to bring
them to this country). How
many thousands escaped be
fore, during and after the war
we do not know, but Hitler
killed 6 million.
And now Elchmann is ac
cused of killing 6 million (pre
sumably some of the same
ones) and there are still many
left.
We used to say "figures
don't lie" but now I wonder!!
, John C. Stllle,
Shady Cove, Ore.
He Takes Hit Stand
To the Editor: While I have
not always agreed with your
point of view, I want to write
to express my deep apprecia
tion for your recent editorial,
"A Lesson." This point of
view needs to be emphasized
in Medford.
As you know, Mrs. Smith
was a member of our Church,
and we had a genuine sense
of Christian love for her and
the family. She not only sang
In the chair, but taught a
Senior High Sunday Church
School class, and served on
our publicity committee.
Harold often attended fellow
MEDFORD MAIL
TO SEP SOME FEAMSff
ship events of the church.
We are happy that the
color, line in Medford has
been broken. I have taken
my stand with those who
want to build a community
where all people are welcome,
and distinctions are not made
because of color of skin.
. Clifford J. Young,
. Minister
' Eastwood Baptist Church
. Medford. ,
Headline Comments
To the Editor: Now that
Governor Hatfield and Sena
tor Morse have buried the
"proverbial" hatchet, and both
agree that the people should
have first consideration in our
deteriorating Democracy,
their big job now is to con
vince the legislative bodies of
the state and nation of this
fact.'-- :';" ;..'"' y
See the government has
filed additional legal suits
against the greedy electrical
corporations, for recovery of
more millions. Let us hope
Mr. Kennedy has no other mo
tive than the honest and ef
ficient operation of his office.
The trial of Adolf Eichmann
is on, and no doubt a convia
tion will be secured, although
proceedings may not be ac
cording to international law.
The end result undoubtedly
will be the same as if he were
tried in Nuernberg-execution.
Israel will get revenge, they
will gain nothing except
more resentment from their
neighbors - although without
cause.
E. E. Ward
. 880 Stewart ave.
Medford
Birdwatchers' Guide
To the Editor: I think I
should write a footnote to my
columns in the paper and vari
ous bird talks I have given.
In these talks I have often
said that the best bird book
available for identifying local
varieties is "Field Guide to
Western Birds" by Roger Tory
Peterson. In recent times I
have qualified this statement
by saying that the book was
out of date in that it didn't
have the correct names of
birds according to recent
check lists.
Now I want everybody to
realize that Peterson has fi
nally come out with a new
edition of his western "Field
Guide," and I recommend it
most highly. Not only does it
have the correct names, but
its illustrations are much im
proved, with many more color
pictures. It is also arranged
more conveniently, so that you
can find more quickly what
ever you are trying to look up
Thomas McCamant
,, The Congregational
Church
300 Oakwood dr.
Medford
Editor's note: As many read
ers know by now, the Rev.
Mr. McCamant is the "T.M."
who for the past several years
has written the Mall Tribune's
Birdwatcher column, first
weekly, and more recently
four times a year, as the sea
sons change. Mr. McCamant
has written his last column
for the paper, and on the first
of the month will leave to
take over the Community
Congregational church in
Hubbard. Ore. We shall miss
him, and know our blrdwatch
ing friends will too.
Hospital Needed
To the Editor: Here is an
article that may be of Inter
est to you.
I would like very much for
all or part of it, to be printed
in your paper.
I cut it out of the San Fran
cisco Examiner.
Thank you.
Louise George
. P.O. Box 151
Hornbrook, Calif.
'i O
Editor's note: The story
mentioned above follows:
Washington-Representative
TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD, OREGON
Manv Differences Still Divide Western
Allies as Kennedy Meeting Top
- . " ii ..ofav
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign News Analyst
For 43-year-old President
Kennedy, it was too away and
one to do.
MHaaaaa He has seen
Prime Minis
ter Harold
Macmlllan of
Britain, a
nnnr 1v FH-
l wardian ap-
I
f " - ,
and Chancel
lor Konrad
A d e nauer of
West Ger
Newiom
many, tough, unyielding, 85.
At the end of May it will be
the proud President Charles
de Gaulle of France, 70.
At 43, Kennedy represented
a young administration, un
Washington Report
By 'William S. White
(ct United Feature Syndicate
TESTING TIME
Washington-What is really
happening here, as one grand
high-level international con
ference follows another,, as
one allied
leader arrives
on the depart
ing heels of
another to
talk tp Presi
d e n t K e n
nedy? Ai e not
great and fate
ful decisions,
White vital to Hun
dreds of millions of people,
actually now being made?.
Are not enormously import
ant concerts really v being
drawn up between President
and , British Prime Minister,
between President and Ger
man Chancellor, and so on?
No, not yet. ;
For though this is inher
ently the most critical spring
in world affairs since World
War II, it is not yet a time
for decision-making. It is, in
stead, a time for attitude-test-,
ing, for personal exploration
of the maps of personality be
tween the President and his
elevated colleagues of the
western world. ' j
IT IS a time for getting to
know one another, for
drawing up private estimates
of one another, for learning
what to expect of one another
later when, at an even more
critical phase, the chips may
be truly down between the
West and the Soviet empire.
So it is a phase hot for the
crossing of bridges but rather
John E. ' Moss, Democrat of
California, said today sick
veterans of northern Califor
nia need a hew 500-bed hos
pital at Sacramento, Calif.
Moss urged the House Vet
erans Committee to approve
his bill to provide a new gen
eral medical and surgical hos
pital to take care of the dis
abled veterans in the area.
"The situation is worsening
dally," he said.
Moss commented that an
antiquated 720-bed hospital
at Oakland, Calif., is being
replaced by a new 50-bed
hospital at Martinez, Calif.,
resulting in a loss of 220
beds. .
"It seems ironic, that the
long needed and sought after
replacement of the Oakland
hospital will have the harm
ful effect of drastically re
ducing the existing inade
quate number of available
beds," .he said.
Now, he said, veterans of
the northern part of Califor
nia must travel long distances
to the San Francisco Bay re
gion of the State for hospi
talization and sometimes then
are denied admittance be
cause of crowded conditions.
"In many cases It is imper
ative that this trip be made
by ambulance," he said.
Punching Holes
To the Editor: It has been
six years since I poked a hole
in a salmon card. Things wuz
going to be different this
year. I'm going to mall a
salmon card full of holes to
the Oregon Fish and Game
Commission like they never
seen before. I'm going to nail
my salmon card to the top of
a fence post and blow it full
of holes with a sawed off
shot gun.
Everett Acklin,
Ashland, Ore.
Walerfowl Areas
Receive Support
Portland - HJPD - The State
Game Commission said today
it has given firm support to
acquisition and development
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service of five or six water
fowl management areas in the
Willamette Valley.
The commission said it fa
vored development of several
1,500 to 3,000 - acre tracts lo
cated at strategic locations In
stead of a single large devel
opment. '
It said such development
would tend to distribute wa
terfowl over a wider area and
allow better hunting opportunities.
1 ' "l
afraid of change. He was 24
years younger than Macmll
lan, little more than half the
age of Adenauer.
The youth of the new ad
ministration and its willing
ness to switch fromlong-established
policy was a source
of both hope and uneasiness
to the older men who came
to Washington to see him and
to De Gaulle whom he would
see in Paris.
On major. issues their poli
cies and differences were well
established. Now they wanted
to learn where they stood in
Washington, . '
' Among all four there was
a grim realization that the
need for . Western unity, was
as great now .as 12 years ago
when, together with other
for building the approaches to
bridges. '
It is a time not for making
hard plans of action but
rather for reaching hard
headed judgments of what
such-and-such a chief of such-and-such
a nation really
thinks, really means, and
really is. -
It is not so much a time
for making high policy as it
is for mixing high people to
gether in the only, form of
"foreign conference" where
they can come truly and actu
ally to grips with each other
as men. This is in private
meetings in which statesmen
have a chance to measure the
man beneath the government
and people he represents.
,'' . . . .,'.,.-.'.'''
TOR in western politics we
have what we insist are
"governments of law" , but
which are, in truth, govern
ments of men. What really
counts in the end is not all
the policies in a statesman's
briefcase but what he himself
is-his prejudices and convic
tions, his going point and his
stopping point. '
Treaties are supposed to be
laws standing above men. But
treaties in reality are only the
instruments of men. And in
foreign affairs, unlike domes
tic affairs, there is no major
western leader who is not
capable of acting, in crisis
how he chooses-or failing to
act-off his own bat. No con
gress, no parliament, no high
court, no party can at that
moment really check or spur
himj One or another of these
agencies might later be able
to control or oust him. But
at the moment of truth he
personally is, in world affairs
and In the hour of crisis, his
government.
All this is why all the of
ficial summaries we have been
seeing of conferences at the
White House seem so unin
formatlve. You can summar
ize an actual bargain struck.
But you cannot summarize
what two men really thought
of each other after consulta
tions in which theoretically
they have gone over" all the
world's problems but in which
actually . have, most of all,
gone over each other.
rpHIS, then, is only the end
,of the beginning of the ad
ministration's job in foreign
policy. The information neces
sary to making great and
critical ' decisions is being
gathered. But most of the de
cisions themselves are yet to
come. ......
Though several will be nec
essary, two and only two
stand at the heart of it all:
Will the Soviet Union agree
at last to genuinely con
trolled nuclear disarmament?
And-as a part of the same
question-if not, will the U. S.
then spread nuclear weapons
among our allies?
And, second, will the west
ern alliance be strengthened
in conventional weapons in
truth and in fact so that what
ever else may happen, the
West will be able to defend
itself?
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF-
SHE WAS PURCHASING her first life insurance policy
and found a few of the questions thrown at her a bit
baffling. "What's your maximum weight?." She answered
easily enough with -
"About 150 pounds," but
the next query, "What's
your minimum weight?"
stopped her. After some
hesitation, however, she
brightened. "I think," she
said, "it was seven
pounds, four ounces."
Slouched over a bar, a
disgruntled race track
patron confessed he couldn't
even pick the kind of drink
he desired. "I'd order a
pony of brandy," he ex
plained to the bartender,
"but I know lt would cotne In last."
'.'.". t
A smart, upcoming young musical comedy starlet, wearied of
parrying the maneuvers of an uninhibited stage manager and a
bald-headed producer, hung this sign outside her dressing room:
"Abandon grope all ye who enter here."
0 1961, by Bennett Cert Distributed by King Features Syndicate
Western , aJlies, they estarj
lished NATO.
With the emergence of
Red China as a major power,
the struggle against commun
ism had become global. To
the fluid foreign policy of the
Soviet . Union, Red China's
swaggering truculence had
been added.
Yet among the United
States and its three major al
lies there were major differ
ences not quickly erased.
French representatives made
clear their resentment over
what they regarded as the
Kennedv administration's in
terference with its Algerian
problem. Outside intervention
Matter of Fact by j05ePh ai50P
'(o) New York Herald Tribune Syndicate
April Fool for Col. Hung
Ben Tre, Kien Hoa Prov
ince, Vietnam - As in most
of the provinces of South
Vietnam at
present, the
second per
sonage of this
smiling delta
p r o v i nee is
the comman
der of the lo
cal Commun
is t under
ground. In
Aisop less fortunate
provinces, which are too nu
merous, the Communist com
mander is the dominant per
sonage; but In Kien Hoa, Col.
Hung, as he is called, has had
to take second place.
He has only had to take
second place rather recently.
This province, with its rich
agriculture and fisheries, its
maze of waterways, its heavy
cover of cocoanut palms, man
goes, and bananas, Is Ideal
guerrilla territory. The Com
munist made a major effort
here from the day, in 1959,
when they sent their 502nd
Battalion into Kien Hoa,
Four of President -Diem's pro
vince chiefs -were successive
ly defeated by them.
Col. Hung would probably
have accomplished his mis
sion, which was to create an
immune Communist base in
Kien Hoa, if President Diem
had not taken something of
a gamble. When his fourth
province chief failed, Diem
replaced him with , an old
Communist comrade, in arms
of Col. Hung's, now Lt. Col.
Pham Ngoc - Thao of the
South Vietnamese army.
have been spending some
days with this remarkable
man, and although lt Is hard
ly current news, I cannot re
sist describing Col. Thao's
April fool surprise for Col.
Hung. ,
e
THE story usefully suggests
the present atmosphere in
beleaguered Vietnam. It be
gins with the fact that Col,
Thao, being an ex-Commun-
1st, understands the arts of
infiltration and counter infil
tration just as well as Col,
Hung. Therefore, when Col,
Hung planned a kind of local
coup d etat in this little pro
vincial capital, Col. Thao had
the news the same day.
It was late, all the same
4:30 p.m., April 1st, at a mo
ment when almost all the pro
vincial troops were already
engaged in operations else
where. The most Col. Thao
could get back before H-hour,
which was announced as 0
p.m. that same evening, were
two lonely companies. It was
just enough.
The Communist plan of od-
erations was formidably as
tute, bix trusted cadres, dis
guised as peasants, were to
seize . the power house at 9
p.m. with inside help. An
other small squad, again with
inside help, had the task of
seizing the lightly guarded
arms depot of the Civil
Guard. A further detachment
was to move against the iall,
with the aim of liberating its
several hundred Communist
prisoners.
Leaders
nnw rhv felt, onlv or.
now, they felt, only compll
cated De Gaulle's task of re.
storing peace to Algeria after
more than six years of war.
Between Britain and the
United States there long has
been a difference of opinion
as to the Allied approach to
the problem of International
communism.
'-Adenauer arrived in the
United States uneasy over the
United States' intentions to
ward a strong NATO. An
even greater difference be
tween the two .existed over
U, S. efforts to persuade West
Germany to bear a greater
share of the burden in NATO
and in aid to under-developed
nations.
THEN, when the detachment
directed against the power
house had given the signal
by turning out the lights of
Ben Tre, a hundred Commu
nist regulars were to advance
into the town from the neigh
borhood of the jail. Another,
even larger group was to be
picked up down river and
brought Into Ben Tre by
trucks secured, yet again by
inside help, from the Depart
ment of Public Works. Thus
Ben Tre was to be taken over.
A little before 8 p.m. Col.
Thao's hastily summoned
companies rolled into town.
He used one company to block
the four roads into Ben Tre,
and ordered the other to act
as a mobile reserve. Loiter
ers were already reported in
front of the power house and
arms depot when the Colonel
snatched a hasty planning
session supper with his staff.
"Then I armed the cook
the Communist order said
someone in my household
was to assassinate me, but I
had faith in the cook -and
went out of the house to take
charge," said the colonel.
A SWIFT patrol showed all
the Communist attack
groups in place Inside the
town, but Col; Thao wanted
to know .who the Insiders
wsre. Just before . 9 p.m. a
power house electrician join
ed the group there. The order
for an immediate arrest was
given to men of the reserve
company. The second group,
by the nearby arms depot,
saw what was happening and
at once attacked the depot
with the help of two Civil
Guards. They passed the first
gate and wounded the depot
guardian. ' l
But more men of the re
serve company pounced on
the depot and rounded up the
lot. Another pounce, and the
intending attackers of the
jail were in the bag. Another
pounce, and three truck driv
ers of the Public Works De
partment were also picked up
just as they were about to
head out of town. Still an
other pounce, and four men
in the market, who had al
ready put on the Communist
Identification brassards, were
added to Col. Thao's collec
tion. ,'
"The last men we got was
my gardener, who was the
one assigned to kill me," said
Col. Thao cherrily. "One of
the men at the jail told us
about him. The servants in
the province chief's house
used to be very stylish
French leftovers, well trained.
I took soldiers instead because
I did not trust them. I should
have changed the gardener
too."
HE ADDED, regretfully,
that he thought of turning
off the town lights himself,
thus giving the secret signal
to advance, so that he could
ambush the larger Commu
nist groups on their way into
town. But the whole roundup
had been so quick and quiet
that hundreds of people were
still watching an outdoor
movie In the market place.
"And if we'd had a fight,
we'd have killed a score or
so of Innocent men and wom
en." All the same Col. Thao
had a good April Fool's day
and Col. Hung had a bad one.
Two days later, Col. Hung
tried to get his own back, by
celebrating the visit to Ben
Tre of Archbishop Ngo Dinh
Thu, President Dlem's broth
er, with grenade throwing in
stead of fireworks. But there
was another tlpoff. The gre
nades were found in the lug
gage compartment of a car
which one of the town's rich
men had contributed to the
archeplscopal procession.
"In these two failures,"
said Col. Thao, "the enemy
lost many key cadres. This Is
the reason, I think, that we
had such, a quiet election
day."
Col. Thao's fairly hair-raising
standards of bitterness
will be understood by those
who have read a previous re
port in this space.
i