Biddeford Journal (Newspaper) - October 23, 1953, Biddeford, Maine Give Once For The Benefit Of The Community Chest Weather Forecast Mild Showers 249 Only Pally Newspaper In York County MAINE FRIDAY OCTOBER 1953 Full Leased Wire NBA Features PRICE FIVE CENTS Korean Armistice Is Threatened By Sitdown Of POWs Explanation Program Is Stalled Until Next Week By FORREST EDWARDS Red efforts to persuade anti Communist Korean War prison ers to return home appeared to day to be stalled at least until next week and there was no in dication whether the POWs would call off a sitdown which threatens the The prisoners had been expect ed to announce a decision But in midafternoon an inform al source said the North Kore ans would wait at least until Monday to reply to Indian efforts to get the explanation program going The Neutral Nations tion Commission met for two hours today then recessed with out reporting progress on the Velde said today that a House un American Activities Com hearing has ed him that some returned American prisoners of war are tainted with Commun He called more witnesses today to continuing closed door hearings and ed the doors will be opened to the public beginning problem of coaxing balky anti Red Koreans to attend Commu The explanation program has been suspended since Monday when the Koreans threatened a mass breakout if forced to at Communist Poland Czechoslovakia walked put when the other three commission mem Sweden and against forcing the POWs to Reds Renew Demands Polish and Czech members re turned but only to re new their demand that the Kore ans toe forced to hear Commu nist The Reds re fuse to interview antiRed Chi nese prisoners who are willing to attend the sessions in place of the After the meeting K the Indian said he would have a statement Satur He declined to say anything about the possibility of a solu He said the problem of the balky Korean POWs was discuss ed today and that the Commu repeatedly demanded that explanation sessions be sched said the commission could not agree on the amount of force needed to get the Korean prisoners out of their compounds and the possible consequences of such He said Indian troops were em powered to push balky prison ers to get them to the explana But he added If other North Koreans jump in to or attack Indian and it becomes necessary to use force against those prison that is an entirely different It is the consequences and the amount of force which is at Seven Illegally Sent To Prison Given Freedom One Behind Bars 41 Years Seven found to have been illegally committed as prisoners were free today after serving terms in state institutions rang ing from 6 to 41 All seven men wept with joy when their freedom was ordered yesterday by Superior Court Judge Felix Forte on the ground their commitment was illegal and without even a hearing in some Judge Forte found one of the Elmer had been a prisoner for 41 of his 51 years on a case of mistaken All seven were sentenced to in definite terms as defective delin Judge Forte found many tne men were transferred from de tention homes to state prison in for minor infractions during their The other six men released and their terms are William of Law committed at the age of 10 for Gerald of one of a family of 16 in custody 11 years for receiving stolen Henry of North a prisoner for 24 He became a musician and leader of the band at the Bridgewater state James of Wren in detention 28 years after at the age of He later was termed a sex case and confined at Concord Reformatory and Martin of Wor committed for larceny of a tobacco and sofa pillow and confined for 30 Paul of committed in 1947 as a defective Forestry Officials Hope Storm Will Bring Rain To Arid Coastal Region Members of the 1912 other undergraduates of Thornton Academy and many residents of the two cities will easily recall the success attained by a group of talented dramatic class members in the presentation of a performance of the Shake The Twelth Featured in the leading roles were Left to Dwight Louise Harford William Hyland and Miss Charlotte Sawyer deceased Journal Shoe Workers Taking Strike Vote OIO United Shoe Workers Union said last night Internation al Shoe employes in four states have started taking a strike vote in support of their wage increase Similar action is expected to be taken by the AFL Boot Shoe Workers which also is negotiating a new contract for other international em president of the CIO said the 34 locals in international plants in Mis Arkansas and New Hampshire began voting last The voting will continue through next Both unions are seeking 15 cent hourly wage increases for workers now averaging an hour for 37 Present con tracts expire ODM Set To Approve Steel Plant Office of Defense Mobilization says it is prepared to issue a cer for the construction a steel mill in New The ODM advised Salton stall last night it is ready to certificate a site being specified in order to speed the ODM there would have to be an understand ing the certificate would be cancelled if the site chosen does not meet security requirements national industrial dispers al The certificate would go to the New England Steel Development a former subsidiary of the New England a private regional promotional organiza The New England plans a 30 million dollar steel mill which will use electric furnaces and scrap The certificate of necessity permits amortization of for tax within five instead of the usual 20 to 25 The application was filed some time but there has been no action up to now because no site was The ODM said Ebasco consultants for the New England will supply re quired technical data to the Na tional Production Authority within a few Soft Screening Permitted Loyalty Suspects To Stay At Radar Says Solon Judge Quashes Bribe Case Of Beach Officer A bribery indictment against Harold former Old Or chard Beach was quashed in Superior Court to day at Justice Randolph Weatherbee ruled that the indictment accus ing Higgins of accepting a bribe from Donat Blais of this city failed set forth the alleg ed crime in precise Higgins was dismissed from the force late in September after hearing on a complaint based on the same Verdict Clears Beach Police In Assault Case Test Alert In Runs Smoothly Todays test alert and trial of the public alarm systems of the statewide Attack Warning sys tem went off smoothy The warning was received at Bidde ford Fire York County bv the officers A at and fire A verdict for the defendants was returned at Superior Alfred this morning after one half hour of jury deliberation in the assault suit of Frank this against Old i Orchard Beach police officers Girard Sul The yesterday heard 12 witnesses on this case Frank Caron and Blanche his wife testified as to the injuries inflicted upon him and the manner in which he was Hundred Feared Dead In Italian Flash Floods Scores Damage Heavy Reggio 23 workers searched today through wrecked homes in a dozen small villages of this southern Italian province for victims of devastating flash floods that may have claimed as many as 100 Torrential rains continued to pour on the stricken area from Reggio Calabria along the Ionian Sea this They stopped abruptly at but heavy gray clouds still hung over the threatening new In the Reggio Calabria area alone 53 dead have been account ed Scores are Hundreds were injured in the the worst here since an earthquake levelled the region in Residents said the dam estimated in the billions of was far greater than that caused by similar years Some of the ripped away bridges that usually are we to ten yards above the river The boiling water surged out of the river wreck Ing tearing down commu and power lines and devastating thousands of acres of vineyards and olive the flood cut High way along the coastline in scores of places and washed away many secondary men on desk duty immediately relayed the warning by telephone to community centers through out the Fire Chief Arthur who has collateral duties as Biddeford civilian defense was standing by to check the effi At 2 the white warning came through and was Immediately following receipt of the signals local directors communicated time of to county headquarters at Amateur radio operators taking part in the test sent their reports of time of warning receipt di to the state control In Saco the warnings when relayed from the center here were relayed to CD Director Clarence Holt and to Old Or Holt was particularly in in the participation in the alert of new twoway radios received from the state for CD and public safety Reports of the warning tryout Continued on Iage Two George this gave testimony from the medical aspect as to the precise ailments that Caron has suffered since Aug and Levesque reported that Caron is still un der my care for treatment of his leg and George local produced three photographs of Caron snapped on July 6 which showed the bruised condition of his Arthur tes that he was the milk de livery man that wanted to un load his truck in the loading zone where Carons car was parked in front of the Whitehall block but that Caron told him in very profane language that he would not move his Charles South who Pratt on that par substantiated Pratts Officer Old Orchard one of the testified that he requested Caron Con tin lien mi McCarthy says the com plete softness of the screening board under the Truman ad ministration resulted in loyalty suspects being retained at the supersecret radar permanent Senate subcommittee on investigations has been probing alleged Com munist subversion among civilian employes at where he conducted closed hearings yes The secret sessions con here After questioning eight persons yesterday at the radar TODAYS CHUCKLE Sign on a fruit stand in Pennsylvania God Help Those Who Help Depression isT that period when people do without what their parents never McCarthy said one of the wit nesses had been suspended by a local loyalty board but had been reinstated by the screening board in the office of the secretary of the Army under saying the witness still is working at said the situation shows the complete softness of the old Tru man No matter how good a job a commanding officer did in root ing out Communists and espion age McCarthy he ran into the same thing with the screening which ordered reinstatements back pay in many instances of six This sloppy situation at Mon the senator wasnt the fault of the generals or other Their hands were quite thoroughly McCarthy said he would ask for records of the screening boards activities over 10 As the result of his Mc Carthy 15 civilian workers have been suspended at Mon Agrees With Mundt Payne Expects Congress To Extend Farm Price Props Bullet Kills Calais Hunter M body of Carl of was found yesterday in woods here where he had been An inquest was called Two Canadian hunters found the which bore a softnose bullet wound in the back of the an unemployed former lumber mill leaves three small ASKS IMPORT QUOTAS Sea and Shore Fisheries Com missioner Stanley Tupper tel the federal tariff com mission yesterday that Maine agrees with other fisheries states in urging immediate imposition of quotas on imported ground fish By JOHN CHADWICK Republican senators said today they expect Congress next year to extend rigid price supports for basic farm crops and perhaps extend the program to addition al The prediction came from Sen ators Mundt RSD and Payne RMe after Young R ND issued a tart statement say ing President de cision not to stump for GOP can in the 1954 congressional campaigns will help the licans greatly in the who opposed confirma tion of Secretary of Agriculture Bensons said the lack of farm policy and their multibillion dollar glorified Truman give away foreign program are very unpopular in the Neither Mundt nor Payne had any comment on Youngs the sharpest yet from a Republi can lawmaker in the midst of growing controversy over farm problems and Bensons attitude toward who strongly de fended Benson at a news con ference two days arranged to confer with his secretary of agriculture at the White House Also to take part in the luncheon conference were Don an assistant to Ben and some of Teachers Schedule Series Of Seven Regional Sessions officers of the Maine Teachers Association will meet in a series of seven regional conferences between 7 and 3 to record membership opinion for guidance of the MTA Represen All MTA members may at tend and vote in the Executive Secretary Clyde Rus sell said Conferences will be held in Presque Isle 7 Waterville 12 23 Machias 24 Bangor 1 Gorham and Auburn The Representative the legislative will meet late in One of its chief jobs this year will be to formulate a program of sug gested bills to give the 1955 Maine High Tide Aids Camp Ellis Man The Atlantic ocean co operated with Louis Gomez at Camp Ellis Near noon the high tides brought the waters rolling up to the rear of his house and boat shed and louts took tage to pull up many small craft for the The tennis courts at Ocean Park were under water at the height of the tide and other low points in the area Preliminary Peace Talks Open 26 By SAM Envoy Arthur Dean arriv ed today eh route to Korea for talks with the Communists and said the Command hopes to get the Korean peace confer ence under way no later At Com munist and delegates could nt even agree on a building in which to hold preliminary talks designed to pave the way for the political Dean will represent the Command at the preliminary scheduled to open Monday in special consultant to Secretary of State flies to Korea with his advisers Would Ease Fire Menace were hopeful today that a slowly moving northeast now over southern New England bring rain to the driest part of the coastal Weather still were not sure whether the storm would touch Deputy For est Commissioner Austin Wil kins And they said rain probably would not exceed half an inch But even that amount would give temporary relief for a seri out hazard of forest fire in coast al Wilkins He added that coopera tion with fire protection officials probably has been responsible for the fact that only a few small fires have occurred in the last two A fire sev eral acres today in but was Maine is in its day with out is high in much of ithe because of the heavy of dead but overcast skies danger The disagreement at eral weeks and high humidity kept man from soaring Rain Predicted day or tomorrow helped ease a tense forest fire and water short age situation in New The forecaster the or drizzle for Rhode Connecticut and Vermont today or Some rain or drizzle was fore cast for Maine and New Hamp shire for New England has been without an appreciable rainfall for sev jon occurred when the Commun ists and Americans met to decide on a meeting place for the pre liminary The Reds want the talks held in the HIGH BID REPORTED Bar high bid by Erich Zwinkel of Cutler was reported by the Bar Harbor Council yes for demolishing the for mer Stotesbury estate to make room for a style frame building in which the armistice was The Command wants the meet ing at the new Military Armis tice Commission Another meeting was schedul ed Saturday to try and break the Peril Acute The drought has brought what forestry officials describe as ah explosive forest fire Oriental particularly in Massachusetts Baxter Buys Acres Of Woodland For Public Purpose 23 For mer Percival Baxter said today he had bought acres of woodland in Hancock county used as a bombing range by Dow Air Force Base the federal govern where about a score of fires have been breaking out None of the fires has been of serious proportions to Woodlands in and the three South ern counties of New Hampshire Hillsborough arid Rockingham already have been In there is a ban against smoking and open fires in all New Hampshire Vermont officials have banned the issuance of all fire permits in woods of that ment The for which he bid Lewiston last But ever the it definitely was nt either mysterious craft fire or fragments of an ex for some according lie had been declared sur plus Baxter said he intended to He has given the state hun dreds of thousands of acres of Harbor ferry land for Baxter State to a statement yesterday by Bertram command er of the 42nd Bombardment Wing based Both the President and Benson have said they will have definite recommendations on farm policy to submit to Congress when it returns in a member of the Sen ate Agriculture said in an interview he was Congress not approve any change in the law that would weaken present price supports or reduce the income of the Its my belief that Congress will approve an extension of the present price support program and perhaps include other stor able crops not now on the man support he unless the Agriculture Depart ment comes up with a plan that would give farmers a better in Payne said he does not expect cutbacks in the pres ent program requiring that prices of six basic peanuts and corn supported through govern ment loans to farmers at 90 per cent of Parity is a calculated price said by law to give farmers a fair return on their products in relation to the cost of things they have to Payne said he knew the possi bility of placing more storable commodities on the mandatory price support list is under discus sion at high Both Sides Suffered More Than Three Million Casualties During Korean War By GOLDBERG United 23 casualty figures for the Korean still clouded by uncertainty over the fate of thou sands missing who may be indicated today that both sides suffered a toll of than three Based on figures from official and delegation to tal casualties for the side are figured at of which the Republic of Korea total is the United States total and the total for the 15 allies In all but a few the figures ran past the July 27 armi stice Pentagon sources in Washing basing their figures on a roundup they made in esti mated Communist killed and at and prisoners at another for a total of down from an estimate last April of The United States still has listed The De fense Department early this month said they must eventual ly be presumed The de stand drew from families of some in New Along with almost complete casualty delegation sources Total have revealed that the al lies actually put onto the front thousands more of through rotation and than the standard size of the From three to six times the strength of finally serv ed on the for with a unit of had personnel numbering during the three years Turkish troops were on the Troop losses generally figured in ratio to the standard size of the unit Breakdown Of Losses This was the breakdown of casualties Republic of Korea Dead wounded missing returned prisoners of war prisoners still claimed to be in enemy hands Total United wounded States Dead and presumed dead as of captured and returned justment of 19 now in repatriation com pound Total Britain Dead wounded missing 766 Total Canada Dead wounded missing captured Turkey Dead wounded missing captured Total Australia Dead wounded missing captured Total France Dead wounded missing captured Total Greece Dead wounded missing captured Total Thailand Dead wounded missing Total Ethiopia Dead wounded Total Colombia Dead wounded missing captured Total Dead wounded missing captured Total Philippines Dead wounded missing captured Total Netherlands Dead wound ed missing Total 704 New Zealand Dead wound ed captured Total Africa Dead mi captured Total The Pentagon estimates put the Chinese dead and wounded at Korean figure at North STATIC JOLTS Air Force says it probably was a charge of static that jolted a giant bomber over
