Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 51, Number 143, Decatur, Adams County, 18 June 1953 — Page 1

Vol. LI. No. 143.

25,000 Flee UN Prison Camps

129 Killed In World's Worst Airplane Crash *

TOKYO. (UP) —A huge double*' decked air force C-124 Globemaster, crammed with American troops bound for Korea, crashed and exploded today near here killing 129 persons in the worst aviation disaster in history. The air force officially set the death toll at 129 late tonight after a thorough check of the crew and passenger list Indicated 122 pasv sengers and seven crewmen were aboard the four-engined transport. An earlier estimate by James Bowen, fire chief for the Far East command who directed the fire fighting crews at the scene, put the figure at 134 dead. Most of the victims were believed to be American servicemen returning to Korea after a short rehabilitation leave in Japan. The Sth army cancelled rest leaves today, presumably because of the mass escape of Red prisoners of war. The air force said the giant plane reported serious engine trouble shortly after taking off from Tachikawa base. Crippled by loss of power, the Globemaster smashed into a rice field ’six miles short of the air field and exploded into flames. Firemen reported most of the victims were still strapped to their seats, indicating they were either stunned or killed outright by the i . crash impact. About 90 bodies had been re- i moved from the charred wreckage before operations were suspended at nightfall. Bowen, one of the first on the scene, said the heat from the burning plane -was “terrific.” The plane was demolished, except for a part of one wing and a 15-foot section of the tail assembly. Rescue! workers waded through a sea of mud to reach the plane. One of the men who helped remove the bodies said most of the victims liad been burned, some of them “to a crisp.” “I got sick three times.” said airman |l-C James Hand of Birmingham, (Ala. Air force officers said despite the adverse weather, the plane was operating well within its safety limits. There was one mile visibility. The ceiling was 1,000 feet with broken clouds and overcast at 5,000 vfeet, the air force said. The mini■mum is 250 feet ceiling and halfmile visibility. , An air force officer said it was decided to call off The work at nightfall because all aboard were dead and some of the rescue workers might slash themselves on the jagged pieces of metal. “I have never seen anything ' like it,” Hand said. "We had t > hack away at the wreckage to bring those guys out. Some of them were doubled up like they had the cramps. Most of the bodies were ■burned, some to a crisp,” Edwin Hoffman, United Press photographer, said some of the victims did not appear to be burned, ‘"but their grotesque limbs showed the torture they went through.” Hoflfman said the wreckage lay scattered over an area twice the length of the plane ap d three times its width. \ The bodies of the victims were placed aboard trucks and weapons carriers, which bumped over the field to a road 300 yards away. There the charred remains were transferred to ambulances. i The U. S. air force said there were no survivors, after a helicopter circled the flaming area and saw no signs of life. The worst previous crash on record also involved a C-124 Globemaster. One of the big planes carying servicemen home for Christmas crashed t1 (Moses Lake, Wash., Dec. 20, 1952, killing 87. •Several instances had been reported in the past week of engine trouble occurring on the giant planes. 'ln two known instances during the “P® B * week, C-124’s had to return to base because of mechanical troubles. The plane crashed in the rain at 4:30 p.m. 1:30 a.m. c.s.t Japanese fire trucks rushed to the crash scene to extinguish the dames.

• - * DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Ask High Court To Set Aside Douglas Ruling Hearing Opened In Supreme Court On Rosenberg Appeal WASHINGTON UP — Government lawyers before an extraordinary session of the supreme court today urged it to set aside the stay of execution granted to atom spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg by Justice William O. Douglas. The high tribunal convened at 12:12 p.m. e.d.t. to hear arguments on which It will decide whether to let the Rosenbergs die in Sing Sing’s electric chair tonight for betraying atomic secrets to Russia or uphold Douglas* reprieve. The government asked the court to overturn the stay of execution, arguing that a further postponement “would not serve the interests of justice.” ~ \ ■ Defense lawyers stood by to argue in support of Douglas* action? Chief justice Fred, M. Vinson and the eight other black-robed justices filed into the courtroom and took their places at the bench 12 minutes after the session was scheduled to begin. The courtroom, which seats about 400, wgs packed. Some spectators stood around the back and at the sides. Several hundred persons waited hoping for a chance to get in/ The ’ high court granted hours of time for each side. Then ( the justices 'Sill retire to their chambers to ponder a ruling. Justice department lawyers hoped for a decision- by early evening. As the court convened, Mrs. Sophie (Rosenberg arrived by plane from New York, hoping to be able, to make a plea to President Eisenhower “for the life of my two children." Acting solicitor general Robert L. Stern opened the government’s argument by saying the Rosenberg case has “been before the court six times already. As he explained the justice department’s position, justice Douglas interrupted him twice to define the situation and issues more precisely. . Douglas granted the stay on grounds there* is a question whether -the Rosenbergs should have been sentenced under the 1946 Atomic Energy Act instead of the 1917 espionage law, under which they were convicted and sentenced to die. The 1946 law provides for death penalties only on recommendation of the jury. The jury made no such recommendation for the Rosenbergs. Stern said the contention that the atomic energy act superseded the 1917 espionage act does “not have substantiality.” He argued that the Rosenbergs’ co-consptratorj Morton Sobell. attempted to get information generally for the aid of the Soviet Union and not just about atomic energy. Brazilian Airliner Crashes, 17 Killed SAO PAULO, Brazil UP — A Brazilian airliner en route from London to Buenos Aires exploded iin flight and crashed near here ’ Wednesday night, killing all 17 ipersons aboard. Names on the passenger list included two —J. H. Singer and Raymond Wurmsor —that might have been British or American. Nationalities of the passengers were not listed. \ INDIANA WEATHER Mostly fair and warmer tonight and Friday except partly cloudy with scattered thundershower* extreme northeast portion tonight. Low tonight 62-70 north, 66-74 south. High Friday 88-94 north, 92-98 south.

Russian Firing Squads Al Work In East Berlin Soviet Germany Is Virtually Paralyzed By Anti-Red Riots BERLIN, UP —Russian firing squads went to work in revolt-torn East Berlin today. The official East German news agency ADN reported a West Berliner had been sentenced to death and shot on Russian orders. The Red radio told of continuing arrests and promised “severe reprisals.” The whole of Soviet-run East Germany was reported virtually paralyzed by anti-Communist riots and a general strike which crippled industry and transportation. The strikes and demonstrations were reported spreading in defiance of Soviet tanks and troops. Unconfirmed reports filtering through the Iron Curtain said the Red army has imposed martial law throughout the Russian-occu-pied zone. The U. S.-operated radio station IRIAS said large scale anti-Commu-nist demonstrations which exploded Wednesday in Soviet East Berlin spread Wednesday night to a number of Soviet zone cities. Erich Ollenhauer, West German. Socialist party chieftain, told a press conference he has received reports from the tightly sealed Soviet zone that martial law has been clamped on all East Germany. It was established that martial law has been extended to Babelsberg and Potsdam — headquarters for the Soviet occupation—and to several other East German cities. The West Berlin Labor Union Federation said East Berlin and most of East Germany is tied up by a general strike now in its second day. Soviet tank units were reported rushed to Magdeburg, near the east-west frontier, to quell a violent riot outside' the ThaelmanStrasse jail where anti-Communist demonstrators demanded release of political prisoners. v Demonstrations and riots also were reported in Brandenburg, Waldheim, Hallie, Torgau, Bautzen, Leipzig, Jena, Dessau, Dresden and Gera. V < West Berlin newspapers reported mass arersts of strikers. Red army troops guarding the boundaries between east and west sectors of Berlin dug in today behind machine gun and anti-tank gun emplacements. East Berliners reported only (Tern To Pace Seveo;

Josephine Thomas Is Taken By Death 91-Year-bld Lady Dies Last Evening iMrs. Josephine Thomas, 9}, lifelong resident of Adams county, died at 5:30 o’clock Wednesday evening at her home on Mud Pike, south of Decatur. AHhengju she had been in falling health for some lime, her death was unexpected. She was born in Adams county April 10, 1862, a daughter of Anthony and Mary Louise Kurber-Spul-er, and was married to Mathias Thomas Oct. 25, 1894. Mr. Thomas preceded her in death In 1945. (Mrs. Thomas was a member of the St. .Mary’s Catholic church and the Rosary v society. Surviving are four daughters, Sr. •M. Hildegarde, with the Sisters of St. Agnes at Hays, Kan., Mrs. Francis Costello of Decatur, Mrs James Noel of Rome City and Miss (Helen Thomas, at home; two grandsons, Thomas Cosiello, with the armed forces in Germany, and Joseph Costello, Decatur, and one sister, Sr. M. Frederica. Fond «lu Lac, Wis. On e son, Clement, is deceased. Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Catholic church, the* Very Rev. iMsgr. J. J. Seimetz officiating. Burial will be in the Catholic cemetery. The body will be removed dram the Gillig & Doan funeral home to the residence, where friends may call after 7 o’clock this evening until time of th* services. The Rosary society -will meet at the residence at 8 p.m. Friday, following church services.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, June JB, 1953.

Revolt By South Korea Leader Reduces Hopes Os Early Korea Truce

Rhee Defies UN Authority On Prisoners President Os South Korea Orders Anti- * Red Prisoners Flee BULLETIN J TOKYO, Friday, (UP)—Reliable sources reported today ' that United States marines were battling stampeding North Koreans at Pupyong prison camp. These sources said between eight and ten of the North Koreans were killed and 90 were wounded. PUSAN, Korea, UP — Twentyfive thousand militant anti-Com- > munist North Koreans fled to freedom today from four Allied prison compounds 00 an order from President Syngman Rhee defying United Nations authority. The prisoners hopped over low barbed-wire barricades shortly after midnight and vanished into the hills. | Disciplined South Korean guards and American troops who rushed to the compounds killed 10 of the escaping prisoners and injured 15 with shotgun and rifle fire. But most of the Korean guards, handpicked troops from the ROK army, stood by and watched the mass escape. Some of the ROK’s opened the gates for the prisoners. The U. N. prisoner of war com-, mand rushed additional American troops to guard the 9;000 anticommunist North Koreans who remained in the four camps—No. 6 at Nan-San, No. 7 at Masan. No. 9 at Pusan and No. 5 at SangMudai. “If they want to do more of this tonight, they can do it,” Brig.-Gen. Lionel C. McCarr, commander of the POW command said.

“We will use riot tactics against them it they try.” Americans, along -with ROK guards not in the governmentsponsored plot, fired tear gas shells at the prisoners in an attempt to stop the stampede. Rhee, violently opposed to a negotiated truce which would leave Korea divided and subject non/Twa Ta P»aca Right) Work Progresses On Line Installations City Light Head Reports On Work Decatur light and poster chief L. C. Pettibone today outlined progress of his department in three current projects. Pettibone said three miles of the Mud Pike wire improvement installation are completed and only two miles still remain to be installed, which should be done, according to* the department head, in about a week. The new installation makes for more efficient service all along the line, and is a virtual guarantee of a power supply without annoying greater capacity wire replacing voltage drops. This is due to a the old one. In the week-long interiip, before the remaining two miles of wire are delivered, declared Pettibone, city electrical workers arei clipping bushes and other growths coming up around power lines. The diesel engine at the city’s new light and power plant has been completely assembled, said Pettibone, and, upon completion of general piping work remaining to be done, should undergo its first tests in the latter part of (Tara To Page Sevea)

Asks Impeachment ' ■ ‘ I Os Justice Douglas y Georgia Solon Asks Douglas Impeached < WASHINGTON, UP—The house judiciary committee met in closed session for an hoiir today, but took no action on a resolution demanding impeachment Os supremd court justice William O. Douglas. ; ; Chairman Chauncey W. Reed, R-111., leaving the session, told reporters that “in due course of time” the resolution —by Rep. W. M. Don Wheeler, be referred to a subcommittee for consideration. » Reed, declined to elaborate, but reference to a subcommittee is often tantamount to pigeonholing 'of such items. Wheeler introduced the resolution Wednesday within a few hours after Douglas,' acting alone, granted a stay of executiop! to condemned atomic spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. lution naked for DougWiL impeachment on grounds of ’‘"high crimes and misdemeanor* Tin office." ‘r| , ' Under the constitution, a bill of Impeachment — comparable t£ an indictment —must originate in the house. Then the senate sits Ba a court of impeachment and f the charges are presented by members of the house. It takes a two-thirds vote of the senate to convict*' The only penalty for conviction is? removal from office. The last federal official convicted under the constitutional I requirements for impeachment, was Halsted L. Ritter, federal judges in the southern district of Florida. Ritter was removed from office in 1936. — I Reports Orders To Liquidate McCarthy .. p . Former FBI Agent: Gives Testimony WASHINGTON UP — A former FBI undercover agent testified to-', day that Communist leader Louis Bortz once said he had 'been as-i signed to “liquidate” Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy. | Joseph (Mazzei, now a Pittsburgh theater owner, made the charge. Bortz refused to say -whethqr it (was true. \ The charge was ma/le at a llearIng (before (McCarthy’s permanent senate investigating subcommittee. Bortz also refused to B ay whether he was a member of the Communist party. Acting chairman Karl ®. -Mkudt R-fi. ID. asked Bortz after!'the iMazzei accusasion: “Were you ever assigned by anyone the duty or job Os killing senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin?” “That’s the same kind of Question," replied 'Bortz in a soft, ’cautious voice, “1 have to decling to answer.” He had refused to answer same previous questions “on the grounds it may be self-incriminating.” | i When Mundt asked Bortz i| he was ever a Communist, Bortz corrected himself in mid-reply. |#'; “It will be — It may be selfincriminating,” he said. 1 'McCarthy, a half-smile on his face, sat beside Mundt during: the questioning. IMazzei Identified . Bortz as < the leader of a Communist groun in 'Pittsburgh. He said Bortz ;an- \ <T«ra Paw* Ffv*> ||| 14 PAGES Tw6 Sections F, >

Eisenhower And Dulles Confer On Rhee Move Communicates With Korean President On Releasing Men BULLETIN SEOUL, Korea, Friday UP — South Korean President Syngman Rhee has informed President Eisenhower that the Korean issue cannot be settled by political means, It was revealed today, WASHINGTON, UP —President Eisenhower is communicating with President Syngman Rhee about the South Korean chiefs action in releasing anti-Communist war prisoners, it was announced today. Secretary of state John. Foster Dulles disclosed President Eisenhower’s action in a short stMoment following a two and one half hour meeting of the national wcurlty council at the White House. Dulles stayed behind after the meeting to confer 30 minutes longer with Mr t Elsenhower. “I have been in conference with the President regarding the unilateral action taken by the Republic of Korea to release prematurely North Korean prisoners of war.” Dulles said in the statement. “This act was in violation of the authority of tho United Nations command to which the Republic of Korea had agreed. On behalf of , the United Nations, we have conducted our negotiations for an armistice in good faith and we have acted and are acting in good faith. President Eisenhower is communicating with President Rhee in this sense.” Earlier, the President discussed the “seriousness” of the situation with senators at a White House 'breakfast. And a senator demanded an investigation to determine “American culpability” in the re/Tmw T* pas* DAV Installation, Election Tonight National Officer To Preside Tonight Albert Ciroy, of -£)hio City, O„ national executive committeeman for the seventh district of the Disabled American Veterans, will preside at the election and installation of new officers of the local chapter of the DAV at 8 o’clock this evening. David R. Smith and Rufus P. Sommer are nominees for commander of the local post. Croy has the distinction of being the only man to hold the post of Ohio .state DAV department commander for two successive years, serving in 1947-48 and 1948-’ 49. Croy, publisher of the Convoy, Q. Radar and the Ohio City, O. Progress, served as senior vicecommander in Ohio in 1946-47. ■. Croy will be assisted in tonight’s meeting by Harley Ward, Fort Wayne, first senior vice-comman-der for Indiana, and Gerald Smitley, Decatur, third junior vice-com-mander for the state. Before and following the meeting, these three 1 men will assist veterans in filing claims or any other service work desired by ths veterans. Reports on the state convention held at Evansville last week will be presented tonight and al! DAV member* are urged to attend. Luncheon will be served following the meeting.

ToEurope I ■r Ji ’ Robert Sprunger, of route 6, left. Wednesday on the first leg of his trip to Europe, where he will be in the international farm youth exchange program. 4 | T .„ , ~ ~ , ■ Study Plan To Give • Away Food Surplus Expect White House Will Announce Plan WASHINGTON, UP—The White House Is expected to announce soon a new \plan to permit the give-away of billions of dollars worth of farm crop surpluses piled up under federal price supports. Essentially it would give the President authority to dispose of crops for overseas disaster relief or emergency purposes without getting approval from congress. The surpluses would go ionly to countries where there is an “urgent need.” Some describe it as an “extension” of the grant of 1,000,000 tons of wheat to Pakistan, which with quick house and senate approval is expected to begin moving about Aug. 1. President Eisenhower in his press conference Wednesday said there was ho cause |to get excited about big surpluses until they reach the stage of spoilage. Then he said a serious moral point would be involved. ‘ He said it Would, not be right that the resources of this country be thrown into the ocean when other peoples are starving. Sen, George D. Aiken (R-Vt.), chairman of the senate agriculture committee, calls the proposed plan a means of “promoting international good will” while “at the same time disposing of some of our very large surpluses.” Greek Troops Stop Communist Drive Red Drive Stopped ' On Invasion Route SEOUL, Korea UP — Greek troops killed or wounded 780 Chi; nese Communists today in stopping a Red drive down a main invasion route leading to the 38th parallel. ‘J The Greeks estimated half of the two battalions of attacking Reds lay dead or wounded on the elopes of offtpost Harry following the furious four-hour battle. <ln the air war, American Sabrejets shot down four Communist (MilG-lg’s and damaged four others in three high-level dogfight* \ near Sinanju. Cept. Ralph S. Parr of Appls Valley, Calif., with three (MlG’* so hl* credit already, became aa sea by knocking down tnvo more tpday and Maj. James Jabara eg Wichita, (Tarn Ta Page ievea)

x Fries Five Cents

Action [Blasts Hope Os Early Korean Truce ■ . r : .. I; Truce Jeopardized By Drastic Action ! Os Syngman Rhee i'' r 1 ' PANMUNJOM, Korea Friday . UP — Sou|h Korean President Syngman Rhee’s drastic one-man revolt today reduced to rubble the United Nations’ orderly hopes and plans for an early Korean truce. ' What happens now depends on the Communists, r ' By staging a mass release of 25,000 non-Communists from Upit-.* ed Nations prison' camps, the aged, embittered Rhee placed in jeopardy the entire mechanism of Jho truce.--, d Harassed United Nations, officials were attempting to prove tbjdr good faith 4>y replacing ROK with American guard* at th* remaining prison camps and' by chasing the elusive escapees through the hills. But they had rounded up barely a thousand men and hopes for corralling others appeared slim. Rhee’s action brought these swift reactions: 1. In Washington, President Eisenhower conferred with Senate leaders on “the seriousness” of Rhee’s act. 2. Sweden and Switzerland indicated Rhee’s action placed in doubt their participation in a neutrmi truce supervisory commiesioo. 3. The United Nations truce team gave formal notice to the Communists of the mas* release of the prisoners the Reds had hoped to get back. 'i . : 4. The Reds accepted the news in sullen , silence. Peiping Radio, 20 hours after the event, had made ho mention of the incident. 5. Demands were made in Washington for senate investigation of “American culpability” 4n permitting 4 situation in which Rhee could have made his defiant move, \ s 6. Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the British house of commons that he thinks there is still “hope” for a Korean truce despite the South Korean action. > 7. A ROK government spokesman denied rumors tl&t the released prisoners would be drafted info the South Korean army. * Staff members of the two opposing aides in the three-year-old war 1 worked out the last details at a •O-mfoute meeting in the truce hut and "handed it tg translators for a final reading. Both sides drew the truce battleline separating the two armies and establishing a 2 1-2-mile buffer tone Wednesday night. Loudspeakers behind the Communist lines blared out an announcement that the war was over and there would be no further broadcasts. But South Korean President Syngman Rhee’s action of ordering the release of some 25,000 antb Communist North Korean war pris[Ollers at Pusan crushed hopes for an early signing of the armistice. Rhee’s rebellion not only made tn immediate armistice unlikely but raised the possibility of a complete collapse of the whole truce effort. 1 ' \ \ •f i '• ■ i ■ ■’ I - x ‘ All Aboard Plane Killed In Crash LIENTIANB, Indochina UP —A search ptrty which reached the 1 sceae of Tuesday’s “Air Laos” plane crash reported today that all 34 persons abo»rd-~lncluding one passenger believed to be an ' American —Hrere killed.