Billings Gazette (Newspaper) - September 14, 1971, Billings, Montana McGovern escapes firebombing GEORGE McGOVERN SAIGON AP Sen George McGovern was rescued by U.S military police and Marines Tuesday night from a hail of rocks and firebombs hurled ainst a church where he was meeting with South Vietnamese students and dissidents McGovern a leading antiwar critic was trapped in the Ro- man Catholic church with eral associates for about half an hour He emerged shaken but unhurt under the protection of the U.S troops summoned to the scene The identity of the rock and throwers was not im- mediately established One ness described them as young South Vietnamese motorbike ri- ders often called cowboys The South Dakota Democrat is on a three-day visit to South Vietnam He went to the church to talk with South Vietnamese about political prisoners and abuses in Vietnamese prisons The senator returned to his downtown hotel under an armed escort He said he didn't know who the attackers were I really don't know what it was all about I was there as a guest of the group seeking on he told newsmen Shortly after we arrived the fireworks started I had no way of knowing whether the people outside knew whether 1 was there or not The incident began with the firebombing of a Jeep some 20 yards from the church en- trance witnesses said The meeting then was disrupted by the shouting youths who hurled rocks and flaming bottles of gasoline at the church violence erupts in South Vietnam See page 17 McGovern and the others withdrew to a church office where according to one ness they were pinned down for about half an hour During that time according to McGovern's press secretary Frank Mankiewicz they tele- phoned the U.S Embassy lor help The outburst at the church appeared to be part of a new surge of anti-American ment which flared to the face in other demonstrations in Saigon and Hue Sen George McGovern after a meeting with Abrams earlier Tuesday quoted the American commander as Our goal is a total nation of U.S ations and the development of a balanced South Vietnamese force capable of functioning without U.S forces either rial or ground Abrams comment as ed by the South Dakota crat was the nearest thing to a public statement by Abrams on the subject to date McGovern said Abram told him a nonresidual force was Interpretation of Nixon's Vietnamization icy McGovern also reported that Abrams told him of serious problems among the Gb in Vietnam including drugs racism antiwar sentiment rale and tension between the American servicemen and the Vietnamese These are the five things he worries McGovern ob- served Zoning switch is turned down By ROGER CLAWSON Gaiette Staff Writer Charles mayor's biggest cash blamed The Gazette for his failure to obtain a agreement from the Zoning Commission Monday Sparboe is the owner of an unannexed city surrounded tract of land on Broadwater Avenue He has plans to develop a shopping center between 19th and 21st Streets West He needs a commercial zone designation to realize his plans and wanted the commission to agree in advance that it would recommend such a classification should Sparboe allow the city to annex his property COMMISSIONER Maurice Colberg Jr called it putting the horse before the cart Colberg said the property should be annexed first then zoned At Monday's session the Zoning Commission promised to give Sparboe the answer it denied him at a special meeting called secretly by Mayor Willard Fraser last week Two women living in the area of proposed development rose in protest of the planned shopping center THE MAYOR says there are 60 businesses on ter and the street should be said one I ed several hundred homes and say it should remain tial A second woman complained the development would generate more traffic and devalue residential property in the area Sparboe then presented his plans A vine-covered chain link fence and a row of Lombardy Poplars would screen the center from the residential areas on all sides but hte south facing TWO WELLS would be drilled to maintain the greenbelt he said Sparboe said the development would enhance Continued on Page 8 warning Frost warnings for Tuesday night with a low of 30 to 35 are forecast for Billings Wednesday will be cool but mostly sunny with a high near 60 Tuesday's high was in the Tuesday night will be clear and cold Temperatures dropped 10 degrees in 10 minutes after 3 p.m Monday as a cold front moved through From Monday's high of 88 temperatures plunged to an overnight low of 43 East of the divide forecasters call for snow showers over the mountains and cooler north and much cooler south through Wednesday LOWS a year ago on Sept 13 and 14 were 29 and 31 Earliest Billings freezing temperature on record was the 31 of Sept 4 1862 Vitals Weather Dr Landers Women's 138 Billings Montana Tuesday Evening September SInale Home lOt price is Lower vote dribbles in Poll watchers net repairman Gazette Photo by William Tutokey What appears to be an illegal peek into the curtained cy of the voting booth is instead an audience drawn by a ing machine repairman at Rimrock School Light voting Tuesday morning in the Constitutional Convention delegate primary election allowed clerks and judges to be diverted by the call Only two minor quickly fixed jammed machines another at Lewis Clark were ed at noon 8 riot hostages die of gunshot wounds ATTICA dical examiner reported Tuesday eight of the 10 hostages killed in the Attica prison riot died of gunshot wounds The state's top penal official said previously the eight died when convicts slashed their throats The 10 hostages and 31 prisoners died in the five-day revolt broken up Monday when state troopers National Guardsmen and sheriffs ties stormed the prison with blazing guns It was not known who fired the shots at the prisoners or the assault forces Dr John F Edland Monroe County medical examiner in Rochester said autopsies formed on the hostages showed that cause of death was gunshot wounds Most gas prices return to normal By CHARLIE Chief Staff Writer Most Billings gasoline prices are back to normal But some service station operators still aren't Some are hurting from being caught between a rock and a hard President Nixon's wage-price freeze on the one side and loss of temporary dis- count allowance TDA on the other I CAN'T FIGHT with the oil company and I can't fight with the says Cliff Aaby operator of the station at Ave N When told that another co operator says it cost him since most stations boosted prices Aaby says It coat me more than that It's still costing me Aaby says he pays little tion to TDA simply paying his gasoline bills when he gets them but when the company said he did I had to go up that's all there was to it There's nothing I could do about it Prices to him were raised and I have to make a living too you know Monday evening his prices were 34.9 for 36.9 for regular 38.9 and 40.9 for premium They were dropped to that price last Wednesday he says and he's not sure they're the prices he started with when the price freeze began They probably are since 36.9 for regular and 40.9 for premium were the usual prices among the majors when the freeze began Some stations varied and still vary a penny on the or regular Aaby owns the contents of the station he leases from Continued on Page 8 John Van Buren spokesman for the Monroe County Health Department said from second hand reports there were other injuries Van Buren refused to say whether slit throats were among the other injuries The autopsy results conflicted with statements by Russell G Oswald state corrections com- missioner that the eight died when heir throats were slit A spokesman for Gov Nelson Rockefeller said an immediate investigation into the new development had been ordered Authorities said death cates would be filed in Wyoming County scene of the prison riot that erupted last Thursday when inmates took over the facility The autopsies were formed in nearby Monroe County because it is one of the few upstate counties with a large medical tem When Oswald took newsmen through the prison Monday after the rebellion had been put down lie said eight guards died when their throats were slit See related stories on page 2 Standing on a ramp where hostages died he put his hand to his throat and drew it across showing the path a knife would take That's how they he said in a soft voice He said one other hostage died when he was castrated and the 10th William died of Continued on Page 8 Bragg about 1884 state journal is found The original journal of Montana's 1884 Constitutional Convention is alive and living in nobody knew about it until last year That was when during a reorganization of his office after remodelers finished with the capitol building Secretary of State Frank Murray found the historic document in a wooden box of old state ers Both the journal and the Constitution written and adopted in 1889 are now safe in a vault in Murray's office And both say capitol observers who've seen them are in pretty bad shape IT WOULD cost about to send them back east to a firm which would restore the papers and place them in protective containers But the Montana Legislature apparently doesn't feel like spending the money At any rate three requests by Murray for an tion to this end have not been acted on by legislators Discovery of the proceedings of Montana's other con- convention answered the question as to how the 1889 document was drawn up by the Helena convention in as short a time as it was Delegates met for the first time July 4 1889 and adopted the constitution Aug 17 The 1889 document it was discovered was taken almost word for word from the constitution drawn up five years be- fore FINDING OF the long-lost journal represented a ure trove for historians particularly since the 1889 conven tion made up largely of men who took part in the 1884 sion relied considerably on discussions and actions taken at the 1884 meeting Their decisions accordingly often merely reported in the 1889 journal without further Murray's with other students of Montana know whether it has the original of the 1884 constitution or not It has a it's one ot several which were made Some went to libraries one to the United States and one to state offices Some even may have been lost But since the fathers forgot to instruct the convention secretary to number his the copies he made an original is still a subject for conjecture Bragg School day is By CHRISTENE C MEYERS Gazette Staff Writer The Billings school day is being stretched by one hour on each end If this is discouraging for dents who've barely begun to adjust to the new school year it shouldn't be The individual student's day won't be any er Only the buildings hours are being lengthened THE LONGER day stems from extremely crowded tions in Billings schools and a need to better utilize special use says Supt of Schools Paul O'Hare Official approval of the longer to begin at and continue through Monday from the State Board of Education and the State Department of Public Instruction The hours have been in effect however since the first day of school The plan won't affect the schools or students says O'Hare It simply means that more classes will be offered at earlier and later hours bling more students to enroll in them Billings schools are becoming more and more crowded at the junior and senior high levels says O'Hare who suggested the need for a third high school in the city In fact he says The board is waiting for a report by the zens Committee a group of lings professional people ents and educators to see what their recommendations are re- garding a third high school THE SPACE problem is not just with classrooms according to O'Hare It is with the entire high school and junior high Longer day approval means that West and Senior will offer typing home economics and drafting classes at coln Will James and Lewis and Clark junior highs will offer shop Spanish and home eco- nomics respectively at Afternoon extras will include p.m classes in machine shop at Senior and wood shop at West Continued on Page 8 By CAROL SABOE Gazette Staff Writer Voters were turning out by the mere dozen or so at some lings precincts Tuesday morning to pick candidates for the Con- Convention If everyone in District 8 votes ballots could number The cool but sunny and clear weather should detain none But voters were staying away in droves before noon sampling of precincts showed We even had time to show school kids how the machines work And tell them to go home at lunch and remind their folks to said Judge Charlotte Erpenbach 2933 Miles Ave precinct 82 at Meadowlark School At noon only 15 of 291 tered voters had entered the polling place at Meadowlark Voters of Precinct 72 said by election officials at the stone County Courthouse to be a heavier voting precinct had 20 of 554 voters at Meadowlark County Clerk and Recorder Merrill H Klundt had forecast light voter turnout making a wild guess of about 32 per cent before the Tuesday tion day Leiws Clark precincts some voter machine Klundt investigated and found not a jammed machine but a lever not fully extended rock School had a machine re- pairman get another machine back in working order Only minor and normal machine problems have so said Klundt at noon It's been very smooth But with few voters yet At the YMCA where many of the voters come from older residential areas near downtown only 41 out of 517 votes had been cast Very was the word from Judge Mrs James Straw 225 Jackson Ave at the Orchard School polling place for side voters She reported only 12 out of 303 and 28 out of 420 ballots in precincts 74 and 34 Perhaps it will get busier Continued on Page 8 Police catch pair wanted for murder By GEORGANNE LOUIS Gazette Staff Writer John Curry and Jerry er wanted in Billings on a der charge were arrested in a daybreak raid Tuesday by lette Wyo Sheriff Delano Spike The two were found at a ranch 70 miles west of Gillette They were asleep at the time and of- no resistance Sheriff James Mocks said Sheriff Meeks and two ties will fly to Gillette Tuesday afternoon to talk to the two and search the dark gray Plymouth the pair was driving Both men have refused to waive extradition proceedings and Meeks estimated it would take one to two weeks for the legal proceedings to be ed to return the two THEY ARE charged with the Sept 7 execution murder of year-old Eldon Egan His en bound body was found Sept 8 atop the Hardin Hill by a fornia rockhound Egan was shot once behind the right ear and once in the mouth Meeks said his office was fied Monday night by Sheriff Hladky that the pair was hiding Continued on Page B
