Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 54, Number 101, Decatur, Adams County, 28 April 1956 — Page 1

Vol. LIV. No. 101.

TEN DIE IN APARTMENT EXPLOSION jjt. W. < * MMilB A SMOKING RUBBLE is all that remains of thia Pulaski, Va.. apartment building where an explosion and fire killed 10 persons and injured five others. Still another is missing. Bulldosers were needed to push aside the shattered debris of building and automobiles wrecked by the blast, in the hunt for possible other victims.

Chinese Dying By Thousands During Famine ; Nationalist China Claims Widespread Famine On Mainland UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (INS) —A spring famine affecting an estimated 270,000.000 hungry Chinese is raging on the mainland of China, with thousands dying daily in remote areas. The famine was disclosed by Nationalist Chinese UN sources on the basis of data rounded up from the official Chinese Communist press and officialdom. The Nationalist sources cited extracts from the official press of Red China bewailin and deporing mass “desertions from the collective farms.” ’ J Accordlag, to the information made available at UN, the Peiping puppet regime is admitting that the famine is the result of three factors: 1. Overemphasis on the development of collective farms to the neglect of the actual problems confronting the farmers. 2. Delayed delivery and embezzlement of emergency relief funds by Communist party functionaries. 3. Dereliction in the "planned marketing" of grains. The Nationalist sources said “overtaxation" and "heavy exports of grains and cereals to the Soviet bloc" are two factors not mentioned officially but contributory in a large way to the famine. Nationalist sources said total export of soybean, rice, wheat and cereals to the Soviet Union and her satellites from Red China in 1955 alone was estimated at more than 1.500,00 tons. It was pointed out that this enormous tonnage of exported foodstuffs "ton for ton" deprived the Chinese people of — their nourishments. — Information gathered from the mainland by Nationalist sources indicated that Red China is preparing in the current year to ship thousands of tons of processed , eggs, meats and vegetabjes in addition to grains to the Moscow bloc. The information states that most mainland collective farms are now paralyzed by sabotage and spreading passive resistance of the peasants. A Communist publication Jn Canton in an article recently published is quoted as say(Continuea on Hag-e Five) Third Annual State Conference For AA INDIANAPOLIS (INS) — Some 300 members of the Indiana units of Alcoholics Anonymous registered today for the AA's third annual state conference. The two-day conference will be highlighted by addresses from four persons who hit the road baek to successful careers after assorted "loss weekend" experiences. Soviet Minesweepers Delivered To Egypt ALEXANDRIA (INS) —Official Egyption sources said today that a number of Russian-built minesweepers were delivered' to the Egyptian navy today. The vessels were brought to Alexandria by Russian crews and turned over to Egypt under terms of the arms deal concluded with Czechoslovakia last year. -- NOON EDITION

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT • 1 ' ’. ■' * ' • • Sf ■' * ' ' ’’ * • • ‘ ' r -'‘ '' 1 '.i' ' I* • . ' ' U’

Arab Refugees Are Problem In Mideast 900,000 Refugees On Israel Border x" (Editor’s note: Charles P. Arnot, chief Middle East correspondent for International News Service, is the first foreign correspondent to visit the Gaza Strip this year since that sliver of- Egyptian territory became the focal point of ArabIsraeli strife. Here he reports on the condition of 900.000 Arab refugees from Israel living on Is- ' reel’s borders, one of the crucial ’ problems besetting United Nations peacemakers.) __ XBy CHARLES P. ARNOT i (World Copyright, 1956, by I.N.S. IN THE GAZA STRIP (INS)—A ’■ responsible U.N. official says there is solid evidence that the 900,000 • Arab refugees jammed along Is- ’ reel's borders are the No. 1 tarI get in communism's campaign to ' keep the Middle East boiling. Most of the refugees, who fled 1 Israel eight yegrs ago tn the midst ■ of the Arab-Israeli fighting, live ; along the Jordan frontier. About 216.000 of them are packed into nine camps in the Egyptian Gaza strip. The refugee masses offer a good target for Communist agitators. Fewer than five per cent in the Gaza Strip have" jobs. The rest have little to do all day and night but listen to propaganda and talk of their two favorite subjects: War with Israel and going home. The wonder of it is how the refugees can exist, let alone live for years in the camps along this 25-mile strip of shoreline. A minimum of four persons lives in each concrete, tile-roofed hut. Each of the two rooms measures only 10 feet square. Each person receives 1.500 calories a day in summer, 1,600 in winter. About six per cent get additional rations, including a daily glass of milk for schoolchildren. But for six years no meat has been included in the rations. Dr. Johannes Gertembach, chief U.N. health officer in the camps, described the general health of the displaced Arabs as “as good as could be expected.” There have been no epidemics and no major outbreaks of serious illness, he said. The statistics for the past year show that the refugee families have a birthrate of 36 per 1,000. — But not even Dr. Gertembach can find out how many have died. When someone dies the other members of his family quietly bury his body. They don’t report his death so they can keep his ration card and collect extra food. Red Cross Office To Close Tuesday The office of the Adams county Red Cross chapter will be closed all day Tuesday while Mrs. Wanda Oelberg, executive secretary, attends the state conference for welfar workers at Pokagon state park. Also attending the conference will be the members of the Adams county department of public welfare including Miss Bernice Nelson, Mrs. Mary Hazelwood, Mrs. Mabel Marshall, Mrs. Veronica Linn, Miss Winifred Kltson and Mrs. Janet Brown. The welfare office will be closed that day. INDIANA WEATHER Mostly’' cloudy tonight and showers and thunderstorms over the central and south portions. Cooler In the south tonight Low tonight 85-45 north, 45-55 south. Bunday partly cloudy north and mostly cloudy and cooler with occasional showers in the south. * ■ ... - - ' C '

House Passes Huge Highway Bill Friday ’ 51.5 Billion Dpllar Building Program Passed By House i WASHINGTON (INS)—Sen. • bert Gore (D Tenn.), predicted today that congress will approve a I road - building program somewhat i smaller in scope than the 51.5 billion dollar measure passed by the house. • Gore said he is certain that differences can be settled “without » too much difficulty” between the • 13-year house program and a five- - year, 18 billion dollar proposal • adopted by the senate last year. » The senator, sponsor of the senate bil land chairman of the senI ate roads subcommittee, predicted I the bill will be sent td President » Eisenhower “In time to take adt vantage of summer and fall con- > struction weather.” i The house, by a vote, of 388 to 19, Friday approved its program i — the biggest in U. S. history—- — sent it to a conference comi mittee which must work out a com- . promise. ’ • ’ ■ > Despite Gore’s optimism, the bill : may be delayed while the senate finance committee considers the 14.8 billion dollar revenue provision i of the house bill. This section provides for higher i taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel, tires, trucks and buses to help pay for the highway construction program. The finance group ie now working an amendments to the social security act and will probably not get to the highway bill for another two weeks. Committee chairman Harry F. Byrd (D Va.), will probably send the revenue provisions of the bill . to the senate floor since the senate has never had a chance to act on them. The senate bill passed last year made no provision for financing. The administration-backed hous bill calls for construction of a 40,000 - mile super • highway system in 13 years at a cost of $27 billion 750 million. The federal government would pay 90 per cent and the states 10 per cent. It also authorizes increased federal aid to states to improve primary. secondary and urban roads Each level of government would contribute up to 11.5 billion dollars during the 13-year period. Commenting on the house measure, Gore said: “I don’t think we can foresee traffic patterns and highway needs much longer ahead than five years.” He noted, however, that the senate plan was only meant to be the first installment on the longrange program requested by iMr. Eisenhower. But the President has said he wants it all in one package. Showers And Cooler . Weather Forecast INDIANAPOLIS (INS) —"Showers and thunderstorms were predicted today for Indiana’s week-end after an anticipated tornado in northern Indiana Friday night failed to materialize. The Indianapolis weather bureau issued the tornado warning. There were high winds jn that area and coast guardsmen rescued a number of persons In small, craft on wave-towed Lake Michigan. The waather bureau predicted a sharp drop in temperature tonight and Sunday with partly cloudy skies.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, April 28, 1956.

Reveal Scotland Yard t.■;' ' ' \ • Nipped Assassination Plot Against Russians i <

HUM.inii 11l wre art Former Soviet J Seamen Reject• Plea To Return Four Young Sailors Turn Down Plea By Soviet Ambassador WASHINGTON (INS) —Three former Soviet seamen were to go before senate investigators today to tell why they and a shipmate rejected a plea by Russian ambassador Georgi Zaroubih to re| turn home. The four young sailors, In > dramatic face-to-face meetin) with Zaroubin at an immigration hearing Friday, refused to follow the example of five fellow crewmen who suddenly* redefected from the U. S. April They used what was described as “sally phrases,” "unprintable language" and "very harsh words” In telling the ambassador they want to “stay here forever, or until Russia is free.” One of the four, 20-year-old Victor Soloviev, appeared before the senate internal security subcommittee on April 20. The other three were called on to testify at a public hearing of the subcom- ’ mittee t today. . Xhc reelection of their fivv ' shipmates has become a serious international incident. On Wednesday, the U. S. expelled two oL ficials of the Soviet United Na--1 tions delegation for their part in 1 what has been called the “kidnaping” of the sailors. At the same time, the state department sharply reprimanded Arkady Sobolev, chief of Russia’s UN mission, for his role in the incident. The Soviets promptly denied exerting any pressure on the five to return home. In Moscow, the rodefectors held a conference at which they charged U.S. officials with trying "all softs of filthy methods” to keep them from going back to Russia. Their four shipmates who elected to remain in the U. S. — and "disappointed” Zaroubin by telling him so—have their own explanation for the redefection. One of them told reporters after -Friday’s immigration hearing the five must have been "frightened by Soviet agents” into leaving the U. S. Boosting Craig For Eisenhower Cabinet Discuss Plans For Campaign For Craig INDIANAPOLIS (INS) — A campaign to advance Governor George N. Craig to a cabinet post if President Eisenhower is reelected was discussed on the sidelines of the national convention of the Republican Veterans League in Indianapolis today. r Many of the celebrated “king makers” of the American Legion were included among the 1,100 delegates. These leaders have exerted potency in national affairs of the Republican party and appear to be ready to boost Governor Craig. Previously the political veterans have talked about Craig for the vice-presidential nomination, but they agreed today that Vice-Pres-ident Richard M. Nixon seems certain to be renominated. Prior to, the national gathering the executive committee of the Indiana GOP veterans adopted a “pledge to work for all candidates who will continue the programs of President Eisenhower and Governor Craig.” The Governor’s new political ally. Senator Homer E. Capehart, was scheduled to speak this noon and Governor Crelg at a banquet tonight It wa» Craig’s show. The governor 'was to be host at a huge reception in/ihe state house late (OonunuM On Page Five)

» .■■■ . . . —-.-1.1.. . .1 • Graham Confession Admitted To Trial Attempt To Block Admission Fails GRAHAM CONFESSION DENVER (INS)—The confession of Jack Graham — accused of the premeditated murder of his mother in the dynamiting of a United Air Lines DC6-B which cost 44 lives — was scheduled to be read to the i. jury today. i Judge Joseph M. McDonald ruled Friday night that Graham’s sign- > ed confession is admissable as evi- »• ■ The 24 - year -old defendant, Graham, in a dramatic, eleventh i hour effort to block introduction of ; the confession, took the witness stand himself in the absence of the jury in support of a defense motion that the statement be gave to the FRI was obtained under duress. . . Graham claimed he signed the confession because FBI agents, during their interrogation of him. “threatened to arrest my wife for lying to a federal officer.” The hearing, which amounted to “a trial within a trial," inasmuch i as the jury had been excused from • the courtroom, drew a sharp ex- ■ change between district attorney : Bert Keating and the defendant. “So you assumed responsibility for 44 lives because someone said L your wife might be arrested?" Keati ling asked, sarcastically.' - “Yes," sullenly retorted Graham. Judge McDonald's ruling answer- - ed one of the big questions of the i trial. If the confession had been - ruled inadmissable, the death penalty would have been ruled out. The - ruling meant that Graham — if - convicted — can be sentenced to i the gas chamber. i The boyish-looking Graham was • cool and collected on the stand. i He answered Keating’s questions sharply, almost vehemently. He I "was like an animal at bay. I " ““ . Widespread Search For Missing Couple Blackford County Residents Missing INDIANAPOLIS (INS) — Two small children were being cared for by relatives today while a widespread hunt went on for their parents, who disappeared mysteriously four days ago. Richard, 4, and his three-year-old sister, Janicd, awoke Wednesday to find the bedroom of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Darell Spade, empty. The family -lives near Roll. . ■—l—- — uncle, Chester Schlegel. 22. had discovered that his sister, Mary Spade, 24, and her husband, apparently had gone away or been taken away in their automobile come time Tuesday night. Relatives of the missing couple expressed fear they might have teen kidnaped. Sheriff Robert Wentz, of Blackford county, said today that he has turned up no trace of the missing couple or their car, to date. He said he asked state police to aid in a hunt for the Spades and their car, a 1946 Chevrolet. Sheriff Wentz said he was thoroughly Investigating the possibility of foul play, but added: “There also is the possibility they just took off.” Mrs. Spado’s mothef, Mrs. Morton Schlegel, who lives near DunkirftT'Ts caring for Janice and Richard. She doubted that her daughter would go away of her own violltion and leave her children. She said that the Spades sometimes made a quick trip into Roll late at night to visit, leaving the children sleeping in their bedroom. She expressed fears that the Spades had made such a swrt trip away from the house and had picked up a hitchhiker and been kidnaped. She said Spade

Report Egypt Will Propose Buffer Zone I To Present Plan To Dag Hammarskjold At Meeting Today CAIRO (INS) — Egypt was re--1 ported ready today to put a ■ “strong case” before Dag Ham- • marskjold for creation of a one kilometer (about 1,100 yards) wide . demilitarized no man's land along the entire Arab-Israeli frontier. The plan was to be presented to 1 the UN secretary general who arrived in Cairo today from Beirut for the final round of talks in his current Middle East peace mission. Hammarskjold, accompanied with United Nations General E. L. M. Burns and other advisors was greeted at the Cairo International airport fby foreign minister Mahmoud Fawzi and Colonel Salah Gohar who is head of the Palestine ' department of the Egyptian war i ministry. i A heavy security guard surrounded the United Nations plane as the ’ secretary general walked across the ramp wearing a broad smile. ' He said he would meet with Fawzi I around noon to begin the talks. Hanimarskjold’s spokesmen said he would meet with Egyptian premier Gamal Abdel Nasser “prob- - ably Sunday” and would most likea ly spend two days in Cairo before i returning to Israel and then to Rome to write his report of the - mission. f In advance of weekend meetings > with Egyptian leaders, a United Nations military expert told Inters national News Service he believed the proposed buffer zone, which » would be patrolled by UN observ- ! ers, would prevent 95 per cent of the border Incidents which have been keeping the mideast teetering* on th brink of war. Egyptian premier Gamal Abdel Nasser was reported prepared to personally argue for the withdrawal by troops of each side 500 meters from the truce line. A highly - placed Egyptian source said “otherwise Nasser is ready to approve Hammarskjold’s proposals.” The Egyptian adedd: “The rest depends on Israel.” The new conference in Cairo Hammarskjold’s departure from (Continued on Page Five) Predict Pay Boost For U. S. Air Force ' * Seek To Stem Loss On Skilled Personnel WASHINGTON (INS) — Key senators predicted today that congress will grant pay raises in an effort to stem the loss of skilled airforce personnel. Sen. Leverett Saltonstall (R Mass), told a reporter that the defense department “is working" on the problem of higher pay for military technicians. He said the adjustment will be “very difficult" to solve and should be done carefully, but he, added: "I think we can do it.” Sen. Sam J. Ervin (D N.C.). said in a separate interview that increases might be given trained airmen by boosting their rank, possibly to that of a warrant officer. Saltonstall and Ervin are members of a senate subcommittee investigating the adequacy of America's airpower which heard Gen. Cortis E. LeMay, head of the strategic air command, plead Friday for pay boosts. LeMay said the air force’s efficiency has slipped steadily since 1951 because of the loss of experienced men, while Russia’s air force has improved during this period. The general testifies again on Monday — within the limits of security —about what he regards as his troubles in getting planes and air bases. s: ' |

Civic Music Drive I Will Close Tonight Membership Drive Ends This Evening Today is the final day of the membership drive of the Adams county civic music association. After 7 o’clock this evening memberships will be closed for the year. A large group of volunteer workers is busy at the Decatur membership drive headquarters at the Community Center, tabulating memberships and tallying talent preference ballots. All workers in the drive are expected to report this afternoon with their membership receipts. ----- T'~ Starting at 7 p.m., after the talent ballots have been tallied, the talent, committee will meet to decide which artists will be brought to Decatur during the 1956-57 concert season. The ballots which were submitted by those who joined the association will be used as the basis for determining the concert program. This is the initial year of the Adams county civic music association, which was organized by local persons interested in promoting the cultural benefits of a concert series by well-known artists. A large group of local music lovers form the executive board of the association. Glenn Hill is president of the organization. The ass sotfifrtJton Is a non-profit group affiliated with the Civic Concert Service. All money collected in membership dues is used to pay for the concerts next season. At least three 1 concerts are guaranteed and a larg-, er membership will permit . more concerts. The decision of the talent committee on what concerts will be presented In Decatur next year will be announced Monday. No single session tickets will be available for any of the concerts and only members who joined during the past week may attend them. ' ' ' Farm Prices Show Some Improvement Increase, However, In Costs To Farmer — WASHINGTON (INS) — The fact that farm prices have increased for the third consecutive month does not mean that farmers were any better off in mid April than they were in mid-March. The reason is that prices paid by farmers for commodities, interest, taxes and wage rates have increased too. The agriculture department's price report for mid-April shows that farm prices then stood at 82 percent of parity, the same as in mid-March. However, the mid-April figures are encouraging. They show that prices received by farmers were higher in mid-April than any month since last September, when the index of prices received stood at 235 per cent of its 1910-14 average. The mid-April parity ratio figure of 82 per cent shows, however, that farmers were worse off then than a year earlier when the ratio was 87 per cent of parity. If farm prices were 100 per cent of parity today instead of only 82 per cent, farmers would then —- in the government’s opinion — be on a “par" with other segments of the nation’s economy. ■ ~, The department said in its latest report that higher prices for hogs, potatoes, beef cattle, and corn were “important contributors” for the one per cent price rise from midMarch to mid-April. It added that price declines for tomatoes, milk sold at wholesale, and poultry and eggs acted to partially offset the overall price rise. Prices of commodities bodght by farmers averaged 261 per cent of their 1910-14 level in mid-April. the same as in March, but two per cent lower than a year earlier. , , . :

London Papers Reveal Plol To Slay Russians I Give Scotland Yard Credit For Nipping Assassination Plot LONDON (INS) — Scotland : yard was disclosed today to have nipped in the bud a plot to assassinate Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev while the Soviet leaders visited Britain. Details of a dramatic weekskng battle to protect the Russians from European victims of Communism leaked today as Bulganin and Khrushchev were enroute home. The famed British police agency also waa credited with preventing several anti-Communist demonstrations. London sources said Scotland ■\ ard managed to keep one jump . ahead of the plotters. The moat serious and carefully laid death plot was attributed to • a group of emigres already in England who were linked to a . second group on the continent, f The actual assassins were to be . members of the continental group , who planned top ose as journal- . lets in order to get close to the . Russians. <•« • •<>.* Some of the group succeeded in > entering Britain before the secur- > ity counter measures were insti- . tuted which caused the intrigue to misfire. The foreign office and Scotland . Yard both declined to comment , officially/on the reported, plots, I accounts of which appeared in . two Ldndon newspapers today. However, Scotland Yard’s undercover agents on the continent ■ are reported to have heard of the plot by “extremists” to kill the Soviet premier and Communist party chief almost immediately after dates of their British visit were announced. Elaborate security precautions were quickly formulated and an unsuccessful attempt made to identify the plotters. The smoothness of the stringent security arrangements finally used during the Bujganin and Khrushchev visit indicated that British authorities were aware of the plotters' plans in their early stages. Despite the seriousness of an assassination plot, the biggest danger would be a lone wolf making his own plans, and revealing them to nobody. Now it can be revealed that such a plan—while not involving murder —came close to succeeding. The target was the gala ballet performance of the ballet at Covent Garden on April 25, where the Russians sat in a royal box. The plotter was a lone man and his plan was to rush on stage in the midst of the ballet and deliver a speech. The plotter, who was dressed as a musician, actually succeeded in getting backstage undetected when an alert security man noticed all the chairs in the orchestra nit were already filled and grabbed the “extra" musician. The security arrangements for , the visit of the touring Soviets were known to have been among the most stringent ever imposed in Britain, even in its wartime' days. Newsmen covering the party needed credentials to get credentials in some cases. The sensational disclosures overshadowed the diplomatic aftermath of the visit which is the only high-level east-west contact scheduled this year. Prime minister Sir Anthony Eden, meanwhile, told the Brltlslt people he considered the talks ‘ certainly worthwhile.” Eden, in a nationwide telecast Friday night, said the progress made in talking to the Soviet premier and Communist party chief may mean the “immediate danger —(Conttnued cm . Page -Tlve)

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