The Charlotte News

Monday, July 28, 1958

THREE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from London that Secretary of State Dulles had assured the Baghdad Pact nations this date that the U.S. would act, even at great risk, to safeguard their independence and integrity against any threats. He made the comments by way of addressing the first session of the Baghdad Pact Council which had begun in Lancaster House, absent Iraq, where the recent coup had taken place. His statement was made during a survey of the Middle East scene, in the course of which he had set forth the significance of the U.S. military landings of the Marines in Lebanon. The significance of those landings, he said, had gone far beyond the immediate situation inside Lebanon, that the events there had to be related with events inside Iraq and a conspiracy inside Jordan against the life of King Hussein. He said that there was no doubt that the Lebanese civil war had been fomented from outside the country, that the U.S. had not publicly revealed all of the evidence because it wanted to protect sources of information. He said that the pattern of conspiracy in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq posed several questions, whether the U.S. would be loyal to a friend in need, would be deterred by a fear of general war, whether the U.N. would be capable of quick, effective action, and whether Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser of the United Arab Republic would be allowed to carry through with his ambitions without check. The Secretary's remarks, made as an observer, had been relayed to reporters in a briefing after the morning session. British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan had opened the morning session with the declaration that the Pact's four remaining members intended to maintain the aims of the alliance, saying: "We have all suffered a great loss in the violent deaths of His Majesty King Faisal [of Iraq] and of our other staunch friends and allies. We intend to maintain the aims of our alliance and to consider how to do this in the light of the present situation."

In Beirut, it was reported that a U.S. Marine spokesman had said this date that a private first class, who had been fatally shot the previous day, had been killed by the accidental discharge of a companion's .45-caliber automatic pistol. He said that four Marines were on an unauthorized visit to a cluster of houses half a mile forward of the Marine position at the time of the incident. One of the Marines had been climbing over a wall when his .45 apparently had snagged and the bullet went through the holster into the head of a man standing below. The three surviving Marines were being held for investigation and had requested counsel before making a statement. Under the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, men under investigation were not required to make a statement without the advice of counsel. Since the Marines had landed in Lebanon on July 15, three other U.S. servicemen had been killed, all accidentally. American troop commanders were on the alert to watch for trouble during the week when Lebanon's 66-member Parliament was scheduled to elect a new president. Robert Murphy, the U.S. top diplomatic troubleshooter in Lebanon, had been conferring with rebel and Government politicians in the hope of helping them agree on a compromise candidate. If a candidate acceptable to both sides could not be found, however, the virtually stalemated rebellion might again erupt into new violence.

In Amman, Jordan, the British Embassy had disclosed this date that the U.S. Air Force the previous night had begun airlifting supplies of ammunition from Cyprus for British troops in Jordan, with an Embassy spokesman indicating that a dozen C-119 Flying Boxcars had been involved.

In Nicosia, Cyprus, the July death toll had climbed to 84 this date in another day of killings, with official figures placing the number of Greek Cypriot dead at 39 and Turkish Cypriots at 43, with two British soldiers also having been slain.

In Algiers, Algerian Nationalist rebels had killed at least four persons and injured 37 others in terrorist attacks during the weekend.

In Tokyo, it was reported that Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama had said in the Diet this date that Japan would file a strong protest to the U.S. and seek appropriate compensation for two Japanese Coast Guard ships and crews reportedly exposed to radiation outside the Eniwetok danger zone, where the U.S. had conducted nuclear testing.

In Lydenburg, South Africa, it was reported that the trial of 201 Africans, including 25 women, charged with murder, arson and incitement to riot, had begun this date, the Africans all being members of the Bapedi tribe, which had rioted the previous May.

In Caracas, Venezuela, police guards had been strengthened around the U.S. Embassy this date after Ambassador Edward Sparks had received a written bomb threat.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, rampaging waters which had brought one of the worst floods in the city's history had begun to recede this date after leaving thousands homeless, with three persons having been reported lost as rescue workers toiled through the night shuttling victims from their flooded homes.

In Louisville, Ky., an estimated 10,000 workers at the General Electric plant had been idled this date as a local of the International Union of Electrical Workers had set up picket lines at the plant's entrance, in the largest single strike of the city's history.

In Union Point, Ga., a 26-year old man had been shot and killed this date when, according to police officers, he had attacked a police car with a steel chair.

In Wilmington, N.C., it was reported that a Coast Guard plane and boat had hunted an area of 1,000 square miles of ocean this date for a Rowan County carpenter missing from a capsized outboard motorboat, searchers indicating that they had been unable to find any clue of the missing man, 30, who had disappeared on Saturday night between Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach. Another man, 32, had been picked up by the Coast Guard and had been wearing a life jacket. He said that the other man had with him a buoyant gas tank when he was tossed clear of the motorboat when it capsized. The pilot of a search plane early on Sunday said that he had seen a number of sharks break water in the area.

In Charlotte, it was reported that four persons had been injured this date in a gas explosion, three of them being workmen for a Charlotte construction firm engaged in placing water lines in the area, and the fourth having been an observer, an operator of a nearby dry-cleaning establishment. The Charlotte Water superintendent said that one of the injured workmen had entered a brick structure being constructed about 6 feet underground to house waterline valves, that the structure was dark and that natural gas had seeped into it, exploding when the worker lit a match. He had been the most seriously injured of the workers, suffering second and third degree burns, admitted to a local hospital. The other three men had suffered only minor injuries.

John Kilgo of The News reports that there was a strong but still underground movement to oust Police Chief Frank Littlejohn. Members of the City Council contacted by the newspaper, however, said they had heard nothing about it. There were also reports that a person or persons involved in the current investigation of the City Recorder's Court had raised a fund to be used in the campaign against the chief. Attempts to confirm the reports had been unsuccessful. One report said that the fund had raised $5,000. There were no indications of how the backers of the movement planned to use the money, since only the City Council could dismiss the chief.

Ann Sawyer of The News reports that a Mecklenburg grand jury was expected to receive during the afternoon a lengthy State Bureau of Investigation report on the alleged irregularities in City Recorder's Court. SBI agents awaiting their appearance before the grand jury had been silent during the morning, but the SBI head, Walter Anderson, said from Raleigh that the report for the grand jury was completed and that it was his understanding that the lengthy report would go to the solicitor who would present it to the 18-person grand jury. The solicitor said that the report would be given directly to the grand jury and not to him.

In Cleveland, O., it was reported that a visitor from Philadelphia had gone to police headquarters to report the theft of his car, that as he and a friend had driven away from the station they had spotted an automobile which looked familiar, gave chase, forced it to the curb and it turned out to be the man's vehicle. While his friend collared the 17-year old who had been driving, the owner anxiously opened the trunk to find untouched a paper sack containing the man's $1,000 in vacation money.

In Paris, it was reported that the wife of a French big game hunter was obtaining legal separation from her husband because he insisted on having his pet panther jump into the bed with her early each morning. She said that she remained friendly with both but that her husband liked the panther better than her. The panther had gotten loose a year earlier on a street on which was located Harry's New York Bar, where Americans often sought solace in drink, the panther spreading near panic, causing for the ensuing several days liquor sales to drop. The wife said that life had become impossible, that she liked to sleep during the morning, but the panther was an early riser and jumped on the bed and all around the bedroom furniture, made worse by the fact that her husband then romped around the bed with it. The couple had been married in 1952, primarily because they shared a passion for horses and hunting, and the panther had entered their lives in April, 1957 when they captured it during a trip to Africa.

In Carthage, Mo., it was reported that a man had wanted to find a commercial use for the hedge apple, but the Government had stepped in to stop him. The man, a 40-year old stone cutter, thought that he would try boiling the fruit and his experiments had led him to believe that from a ton of hedge apples, he could obtain 67 pounds of vegetable oil, 24 pounds of an anti-oxidant compound for use as a food preservative, 309 pounds of high protein dried pulp good for cattle feed, and 20 gallons of ethyl alcohol. Being a good citizen, he informed the Federal Government about the alcohol, which he said he had not been seeking. The Government could not understand what he was doing and he believed they thought he was some type of bootlegger and so confiscated all of the alcohol, dumped out all of his experiments and told him he could not do any more experimenting under any circumstances, taking all of his equipment, including his wife's pressure cooker. The Government then sent him a bill for $111.53 in taxes on the alcohol he had produced. That had been about two years earlier and he said that he was still sparring with the Government, with one assistant U.S. Attorney having said that he had caused him more trouble than any man he had ever dealt with. The man's friends had carried the story to Representative Charles Brown of Missouri, whose protests had drawn, among other things, a suggestion that the man's difficulty had stemmed from failure to qualify in a lawful manner as a distiller, advising that he post a bond. The man had received a letter from the regional tax office in Omaha, advising that the bond should be at least $5,000 or $10.50 per proof gallon for any alcohol produced in a 15-day period. The Government had sent a report that his alcohol had tested at 157.9 and 126.8 proof. He did obtain the return of his wife's pressure cooker. He said that if he had it to do over again, "Darned, if I wouldn't keep my mouth shut about it until I had it done."

In New York, it was reported that, as mass gatherings often did, the convention of 180,000 Jehovah's Witnesses had brought out pickpockets, with police having arrested four men on the charge at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds the previous day, three of the four having previous arrest records.

The Associated Press reports that a woman who had walked down a Baltimore street wearing a chemise dress had attracted the attention of another woman sitting on the front steps of her home, who then started humming a song called, "No Chemise, Please". A battle between the two women ensued and the singing woman had lost a portion of her right ear. In court the previous day, the woman who had bitten off the portion of the ear pleaded guilty to a charge of mayhem, but vehemently denied a charge of disorderly conduct.

In Washington, it was reported that the Defense Department had announced the development of a tether which enabled a man on the ground to lead a hovering helicopter around as if it were a kite, the purpose being to permit precise hovering operations where the pilot could not see the ground directly below.

A Washington cabbie had found a purse containing $2,000 in cash just after he had discharged a female passenger. He retraced his path and found her standing in the middle of the sidewalk, bewildered at losing her recreational club's funds. She did not provide him with any reward, the cabbie indicating that she was so flustered that he guessed she had forgotten.

A man threatened to commit suicide after a proposal he had made had been spurned, telling the woman that she had better get out of the car for when he got to the second bridge, he was going to drive off. She had not, and he did plunge the car 20 feet into the San Gabriel River bed. In addition to being coated with mud, the man was treated for a broken arm and the young woman, 19, for a scalp laceration.

Though each of the latter four stories are branded "The Brighter Side of the News", we are not so sure that any of them are really that funny, that is, unless perhaps you are a member of an organized crime outfit and find a lot of such circumstances very funny.

On the editorial page, "Luther the Lionhearted & the Dragon" finds that Governor Luther Hodges was a man of infinite confidence. Six months away from his last General Assembly of 1959, he was threatening to introduce "probably the most ambitious program" of his Administration.