The Charlotte News

Friday, September 9, 1955

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that the U.S. and Communist China were reported at the point of final agreement this date on the release of the remaining 25 Americans held in jail by the Chinese for several years and three others under house arrest, with still others whose status remained uncertain. An announcement of the final agreement might come from Geneva when U.S. Ambassador Alexis Johnson and the Communist Chinese Ambassador would meet the following day. It was understood that the agreement thus far provided that Communist China's assurances that all Americans who wished to leave the country could do so "expeditiously", subject to Chinese Communist judicial processes, presumably indicating that those currently incarcerated would be subject to court action for parole, deportation or other process enabling them to depart, with the U.S. seeking a clearer indication of what the word "expeditiously" meant to the Chinese. In addition, the U.S. would assure that the Chinese in the U.S. who wished to depart and return to Communist China were permitted to do so, a policy which had been declared by the Government for months. There were some Chinese students who had originally come to the U.S. from Nationalist China prior to the revolution in 1949, and who had said that they wished to return to the Chinese mainland but had not yet departed. A further understood part of the agreement was the designation of the Indian Embassy as a representative of any Chinese remaining in the U.S. who believed that they could not obtain a fair break by making arrangements directly with U.S. authorities for return to Communist China. Additionally, employment of the offices of the British Embassy in Communist China would be made to protect the interests of Americans there on a basis similar to that provided by the Indian Embassy in the U.S. Once the return of the Americans was finally agreed on, the next item on the agenda was "other practical matters at issue between the two sides", with it expected that the Chinese might bring up the desire for greater trade with the West under that topic.

In Moscow, it was reported that West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer had called on the top Soviet leaders this date to release German war prisoners still held in Russia, as a prelude to "normalization" of relations between the two countries. He pleaded with Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, Communist Party Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov to "dedicate all your energies" to speedy conclusion with the Western Big Three of an agreement to reunify Germany. Premier Bulganin, in response, ignored the question of the war prisoners and repeated the Russian claim that West German membership in NATO and the Western European Union formed a major barrier to reunification of Germany. He urged the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between West Germany and the Soviet Union, asserting that closer diplomatic contacts would help in finding a resolution to the unification problem. Chancellor Adenauer said that it was unthinkable to establish normal relations between the two countries as long as the question of the prisoners remained unresolved. He said: "It is an unbearable thought that more than ten years after the end of hostilities, human beings who, one way or another, were drawn into the maelstrom of war events should be kept away from their families, their homes and their normal, peaceful work." The West German Government claimed that there were nearly 100,000 Germans still in Soviet custody, while the Russians and East Germany insisted that the number was less than 5,000. The Chancellor said that the current talks would be only the first of a long series which would be necessary to arrange relations between the Soviet Union and West Germany, that he regarded the purpose of the talks as being to treat as a whole the problem of normalization of relations in the context he had explained, regarding the release of the German prisoners.

In New York, two additional ports, at Norfolk and Boston, had been idled this date in sympathy strikes with the New York waterfront strike by the independent International Longshoremen's Association, in a dispute with the New York-New Jersey Waterfront Commission, with the Association contending that the Commission had used discriminatory practices toward the Association in the regulation of employment, the Commission having been formed by the two states to clean up the rackets which had proliferated for years on the waterfront. Scores of ships were idle and cargoes were piling up on piers, with some 70 ships tied up in New York Harbor. The strike had immobilized 20 million dollars worth per day of export and import shipping along the New York and New Jersey waterfront. Twenty vessels were stranded by a one-day "holiday" by the Boston longshoremen, who would return to work the following day. Eleven vessels were idled in Norfolk, where the longshoremen were attending a series of meetings to hear reports on the New York situation. In New York, the head of the ILA told a meeting of dockworkers that whatever was going on in other ports, they could be sure that the strategy was working, but that he could not say much more at present. The shipping firms and the Commission had sought permanent injunctions against the strike. One temporary restraining order had already issued against the ILA in New York state court, but, according to the head of the union the previous day, it had not yet been received by the union and so the strike continued. The association of shipping firms was seeking a contempt citation against the union this date for not having recognized that restraining order.

In Washington, the trade association of the scheduled airlines had proposed this date that they limit sale of liquor while in the air and bar or remove drunks from airplanes. The Civil Aeronautics Board had said that public protests against drinking aboard airlines were becoming more frequent and hinted that it might take corrective steps if there were no voluntary steps taken by the airlines. Under the proposed rules, no alcoholic beverages would be served on planes on Sundays or national election days, to minors or intoxicated persons. Sales would be limited to flights of more than two hours and to the hours between noon and midnight. Passengers who became drunk and noisy during a flight would be deplaned at the first stop. How about just opening one of the exit doors at a sufficiently low altitude to enable depressurization of the cabin and inform the drunk that it is the entrance to the bar?

Also in Washington, Confidential Magazine had been banned from the mails by the Post Office Department, as disclosed this date when the publication had sought in U.S. District Court an order lifting the ban. Attorney Edward Bennett Williams was representing the magazine, which he said had a circulation of 4.5 million copies per issue. The Post Office had five days to answer the magazine's motion for an injunction, with the suit indicating that the order had been sent out without informing the magazine, without providing grounds for holding up its mailing, and without any hearing, all constituting violations of the Constitution and Federal laws, according to the lawsuit. The magazine had gone into business in 1952 and published on a bimonthly basis. Numerous stories which it had carried had prompted vigorous denials as to their accuracy from persons named therein, and libel suits, seeking millions of dollars in damages, were pending against it. Among those who had sued were Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress, and actor Robert Mitchum, who was suing over the story that he had appeared the previous spring at a costume party, thrown to celebrate completion of the filming of "The Night of the Hunter", in the nude covered in ketchup, saying that he was a hamburger, which he and the host of the party, Charles Laughton, director of the picture, vehemently denied. Whether he was a ham on rye, however, was another question.

In Philadelphia, the mother of the 22-year old young woman who had died after a botched attempt at an illegal abortion on August 24, while the mother and daughter visited an apartment occupied by a butcher and his wife, with the abortion attempt having been made by an unknown person or persons, was indicted for conspiracy and being an accessory before the fact in the abortion attempt. The district attorney said that the mother's testimony was the cornerstone in the homicide investigation, apparently the reason for the charges, to try to get her to talk. Her husband was the vice-president of the Food Fair supermarket chain, one of the largest at the time in the country. No charges had yet been filed against the couple who occupied the apartment where the daughter died. She had eloped the previous spring with a Miami Beach motorcycle officer, who had remained in Florida at the time of the death.

In Atlantic City, N.J., the Miss America contest continued into the final round of preliminary competition this date, with four contestants from the South, Oklahoma and Hawaii leading the 45 other entrants. Miss Oklahoma and Miss Florida had respectively won the bathing suit and talent contests the previous night, with results of the evening gown competition being maintained in secret. Miss Alabama and Miss Hawaii, who had won contests on Wednesday night, shared the front-runner spots. The third and final round of the bathing suit and talent competitions, as well as the evening gown competition, would occur this night. Miss America for the previous year, Lee Meriwether of San Francisco, would crown the new Miss America on Saturday and the winner would receive $50,000 in prizes and personal appearance fees.

Ann Sawyer of The News indicates that a 19-year old firebug, who had set fires and returned to fight them as a volunteer fireman, had been sentenced in the Superior Court in Charlotte this date to between 20 and 27 years in prison, after having been found guilty the previous day on nine charges of unlawful burning and on two charges of larceny. The burning spree had continued during a period of two years and he admitted setting fire to a black Baptist church, a school, barns and vacant buildings. He said that he knew that it was wrong when he did it but that he could not control the impulse. One of the largest losses had been suffered by the owner of a barn who valued its contents at over $5,000, with the owner not having any insurance. The defense had not denied that the young man had set the fires but contended that he had a mental disorder and was not responsible for his actions. He was also convicted of stealing cement from a construction company where he was employed. The judge had meted out sentences of between two and three years on each of the nine burning counts and a two-year sentence on the larceny conviction, running the sentences consecutively. He said that the youth should be given a thorough mental examination and transferred to the State hospital if the examination so indicated. His defense counsel gave notice of appeal.

In Hollywood, Rita Hayworth's lawyer, Bartley Crum, was visiting from New York to confer with her estranged husband, singer Dick Haymes, the couple having split up the previous week after an argument. Mr. Crum said that Ms. Hayward wanted more time to consider whether she would sue for divorce or reconcile with Mr. Haymes. Well, hurry up, as your fan base are awaiting with bated breath the news.

In North Tonawanda, N.Y., a young mongrel named Pooch had crawled into a sewer pipe the previous day and it had taken six town employees, a steam shovel and several drills 22 hours to remove it. Neighbors had heard the dog crying and called the SPCA, which in turn had called sewer workers in the Buffalo suburb. The dog's owner, a seven-year old girl, stood among the hundreds who had watched the rescue operation, pleading with the rescuers to hurry. A neighbor brought the dog's mother to the scene, but instead of coaxing it from the hole, it proceeded to lick the hands of the people in the crowd. It was all for naught, as Pooch died in the sewer pipe, all because of the glory-hound, the mongrel mother.

No, that's not true. It was washed into the river and lived happily ever after, if a bit smelly for the curiosity which nearly killed the dog. We were just preparing you for the possibility in the future that you might be taken prisoner by a Commie force and told, as part of your brainwashing regimen, that they received a letter from home saying that your dog had died after being stuck in a pipe for days, slowly suffocating the while, suffering as no animal had ever suffered, until death finally relieved it of its misery. Thus, we are performing a service for you so that you can resist such brainwashing efforts.

On the editorial page, "That They Shall Have Music" tells of David Ovens, the patron of the arts, philanthropist and citizen extraordinary who had worked tirelessly to ensure the construction of the new Coliseum-Auditorium complex, the Auditorium bearing his name. He had been best known as a business and civic leader who had given a fortune away to colleges, universities and a number of other worthy causes. He was a Canadian-born local merchant whose long career had an enormous impact on the cultural life of the community, particularly in the field of music.