North Adams Transcript (Newspaper) - May 2, 1975, North Adams, Massachusetts YEAR No 200 NORTH ADAMS ADAMS WILLIAMSTOWN MASSACHUSETTS FRIDAY MAY 2 1975 20 PAGES 15 CENTS Thais leave it to U.S Hanoi demands armament Scramble Vietnamese and Americans crowd a checkpoint in Saigon during the evacuation of the city This photograph made Tuesday was sent from Saigon last night AP By The Associated Press Hanoi and Saigon today demanded that all combat planes and ships taken out of South Vietnam be returned but Thailand said it would leave a decision on 130 planes and helicopters on its soil up to the United States A Hanoi broadcast said the Foreign Ministry of the Revolutionary ment in Saigon charged that dozens of warships freighters and hundreds of cargo and combat planes were taken away It said all property inside and outside of South Vietnam including gold by the defeated Saigon regime belongs to the Vietnamese people and is at the disposal of the new government under international law In other French sources reported in Paris that the Khmer Rouge have destroyed several foreign embassies in Phnom Penh and no foreign mission was functioning in the Cambodian capital A spokesman for President Valery Giscard d'Estaing said he was deeply concerned about the fate of a truck convoy supposedly bringing 610 foreigners from the French Embassy to the Thai border South Vietnamese spokesman said enlisted men and non- commissioned officers taken prisoner around Da Nang have been released to their homes Viet Cong's Liberation radio reported that President Duong Van Big Minn told Viet Cong officials that former President Nguyen Van Thieu tried to get away from South Vietnam with a large amount of gold but we stopped him from taking the gold out last group of Vietnamese refugees was flown from the the Utapao Air Base in Thailand ending an can airlift operation to remove refugees from Thailand to Guam American sources in Bangkok said congressional leaders are expected to start work next week on a new to approve aid to Vietnamese refugees after rejecting one proposal Thursday because it included authorization for use of American military forces in the already completed evacuation North Vietnam's official newspaper Nhan Dan rejected U.S claims of ownership of planes warships and other property of South Vietnam taken to Thailand by fleeing Vietnamese of- It said the Thai government must hand over to the PRG these aircraft and warships and in the meantime it has the duty to take care of them The Thai government at first said that the aircraft would be returned to Vietnam But today after pressure from Washington Thai Defense Minister said disposal of the aircraft was the responsibility of the United States Secretary of Defense James R Schlesinger said Thursday The United States retains title to all aircraft that have been given under assistance grams Another broadcast from Hanoi said the new Saigon government had ordered personnel at South Vietnam's diplomatic missions to stay at their posts and await new orders It called on them to protect the property and files and documents of the previous government and said that those who render distinguished service in this connection will be commended or rewarded Unemployment climbing but at slower pace WASHINGTON AP The nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.9 per cent in April the government reported today but there were some bright spots in the employment picture suggesting joblessness may be nearing its peak The 2 per cent increase in ployment was at a slower rate than in March and total employment rose for the first time in seven months Nonfarm payroll employment also held steady and the length of the work week edged up for the first time since the fall I wouldn't want to say we're coming to the end of the said an analyst for the Bureau of Labor Statistics But City rate story on page 9 he added There's room for en- Unemployment in April rose by to a total of following an increase of in March when the jobless rate hit 8.7 per cent But total employment which had declined by 2.6 million since September increased last month by to 84.1 million With employment and ployment both rising the size of the U.S labor force rose sharply for the second month in a row to 92.3 million The Labor Department said adult males who have experienced greatest number of job losses during the current recession accounted for more 7 than half of the April employment The jobless rate since hitting 8 per cent in January has remained at the highest level since the depression of the Not since 1941 when the rate averaged 9.9 per cent for the year out of a work force of 55.9 million had it ex- the 8 per cent mark A further rise in unemployment is expected in the next few months before it reaches the peak forecast by the Ford administration for about However despite new predictions of an economic improvement joblessness is expected to remain at high through much of the 1970s Labor Secretary John T Dunlop in- Thursday that he believes the steep rise in unemployment experienced over the past seven months is losing steam He predicted that joblessness will not go much higher In its report the Labor Department said total nonfarm payroll employment held steady in April at 76.3 million Since last October's peak level payroll jobs have declined by 2.6 million with all but of the reduction occurring hi the goods producing industries Declines in manufacturing which have played a dominant role in the economic downturn continued in April but at a slower pace the government said Jobs in textiles and apparel two industries hard hit in recent months increased in April and transportation equipment jobs held steady Most of- the April increase in ployment occurred among adult men whose jobless rate rose from 6.8 per cent in March to 7 per cent its highest level since July 1958 Jobless rates for married men and household heads rose to 5.6 and 6 per cent respectively Jobless rates for adult women were reported at 8.6 per cent teenagers 20.4 per cent whites 8.1 per cent and blacks 14.6 per cent all about unchanged last month but still at or near record high levels The government said the increases in joblessness last month centered mainly in the construction manufacturing transportation and public utilities in- Jobless rates of 19.3 per cent in con- struction and 12.2 per cent in manufacturing were record highs The so-called hard-core unemployed those jobless for 15 weeks or more rose by to a level of 2.4 million in April As a result the average duration of unemployment increased by 1.5 weeks to 12.9 weeks the highest level in more than 10 years Following an almost steady downward trend since last fall the average work week for all production workers edged up in April to 36 hours In turing there was a rise of of an hour to 39 hours and the government said nearly all industries reported in- creases in the factory work week However factory overtime inched down to 2.2 hours In April average hourly earnings of production workers rose one cent to or 34 cents more than in April 1974 Average weekly earnings rose 36 cents from March and from April a year ago Joblessness rose from 5.4 per cent last August to 6 per cent in November soared to 8.2 per cent by January remained at that level in February and rose by another half a percentage point in March A blackout continued on reports from non-Communist newsmen in Saigon Three Associated Press correspondents in Saigon were reported able to move about freely but they were not allowed to send dispatches The Pentagon said the number of Vietnamese evacuated by the United States totals nearly A spokesman said U.S ships picked up about from sampans small boats and other craft off the South Vietnamese coast by this morning State Department spokesman Robert Anderson said efforts to rescue any more refugees who were able to make their way beyond South Vietnam's territorial waters would continue de- spite North Vietnam's demand sday that all U.S ships leave the waters off the Vietnamese coast A truck convoy that was supposed to be bringing 600 foreigners from the French embassy in Phnom Penh to the Thai border still had not arrived today and the French ambassador to Thailand said it may not have even left the Cambodian capital Ambassador Jean-Louis Toffin and scores of Red Cross workers diplomats and newsmen have been waiting at the border town of Aranyaprathet Thailand since Wednesday Cambodian border guards tole them on Thursday the convoy had run out of gas 30 miles from the frontier and efforts were being made to get together with Cambodian officials to clarify the situation But Toffin said all reports circulating about the evacuation were probably non- sense Representatives in Paris of the new Cambodian government issued a statement charging that those who took refuge in the French Embassy included hundreds of persons guilty of in- numerable crimes against the bodian people It said among them was Sisowath Matak a cousin of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and one of the leaders of the coup that deposed Sihanouk Reports from Phnom Penh the day of the Communist takeover there said Sink Matak had surrendered to the Khmer Rouge The French maintain that those being evacuated included 515 French citizens 95 other foreigners and no Cambodians Acceptance by foreign governments of the new government in Saigon proceeded slowly Ambassadors of Indochina's neigh- bors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Thailand Malaysia Singapore Indonesia and the pines met in Bangkok to decide on a procedure for recognition Diplomatic sources said they would meet again Monday to draft a joint statement The ASEAN members jointly recognized the new government in Cambodia last month In Taiwan former South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu emerged after six days in seclusion He met with Premier Chiang Ching-kuo and visited the tomb of Generalissimo Chiang shek Ethan Allen's thundering words historic version will ring again TICONDEROGA NY dressed British captain roused from his bed by revolutionaries who had just captured his fort demanded to know in whose authority the rebels were acting In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Ethan Allen replied in words that passed into the history books At least that's what Allen a man with a literary touch recalled saying several years afterward It was May 10 1775 and Allen Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys had just captured Fort Ticonderoga and its force of British soldiers and precious cannon It was the first American victory of the Revolution that had begun three weeks earlier at Concord and Lexington An estimated persons are ex- to crowd into this village May 10 for the bicentennial of Allen's victory Inside Adorns Cheshire Classified Editorial 10 Entertainment Living Sports 15 Vermont 4 12 13 5 and the reenactment of the aries predawn raid across Lake Champlain More than 200 descendants of Allen Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys will gather on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain that Saturday morning and dressed in colonial garb and armed with muskets row across the lake to reenact the historic event They plan the attack for 3 the same hour as the original one with repeat at 10 and 2 p.m for late risers Dr John K Lattimer of Columbia University an Allen descendant will portray his ancestor and speak Allen's memorable lines Some historians however have cast doubt on Allen's account of what he said to the British captain noting that Allen did not believe in the great Jehovah One historian contends the actual words Come out of rat But John H G Pell whose family purchased Fort Ticonderoga in 1820 and restored it is sticking by Allen is sion I can't think of any motivation to alter the Pell says noting that the rebel leader's compatriots were alive when he published his account and never questioned It at least publicly Pell president of the Fort Association and chairman of the state Bicentennial noted that the victory was accomplished without bloodshed but that dots not detract from the bravery and initiative of the feat At this moment in our history when victories are Americans can take special pride in the reenactment of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga Pell added in a reference to the fall of South Vietnam Gov Hugh Carey historians and ambassadors to the United Nations from France and England are among the dignitaries scheduled to attend the festivities which will include a fife and drum corps demonstrations of colonial crafts a bluegrass jamboree and an ox roast The long-planned event will be the biggest thing that ever hit our said Edmund Morette cochairman of the bicentennial committee in this town of Ethan Allen a natural leader who had organized the Green Mountain Boys because of Vermont's land disputes with New York and New Hampshire tried in vain later in the war to take Montreal He was captured sent in irons to England and later exchanged for a Brit- ish prisoner I think he showed two weaknesses overconfidence and inability to be a team said Pell a biographer of Allen But the man was a doer and it is therefore no coincidence that he was involved in the first act of Initiative In the American Pell said Scene of Joseph White 9 of 344 East Main St is assisted by fire police and ambulance attendants yesterday after he fell 30 feet off a cliff at the rear of property near the East School Boy suffered only bumps and was reported in good condition at North Adams Regional Hospital today What A Vietnamese woman ponders the future from a refugee tent at Camp Pendleton Calif AP Reds take billion in U.S gear WASHINGTON AP Pentagon officials acknowledge that the new leaders of South Vietnam have acquired more than billion in weapons equipment and facilities but say a large proportion of that is unadaptable for use by the Communists At the time the South Vietnamese army began crumbling in March its military arsenal on paper was the envy of many Asian military leaders By the Pentagon's count there were nearly 500 and tanks about large artillery pieces and an air force which included more than 500 combat planes The artillery included just under long-range guns There were- also more than 650 combat helicopters in the South tagon officials said the total represented original equipment cost rather than replacement value If all that were added to the weaponry already provided the North Vietnamese by the Soviet Union and China only the two Koreas and China would compare in military might in Asia But Defense Secretary James R Schlesinger told a- news conference Thursday he expects no new Communist military challenges in Asia as a result of the defeat of the Saigon government Pentagon officials say however that even before the start of the South Vietnamese collapse some of those tanks aircraft and other weapons were unusable or in poor condition The United States hi part because of budget restrictions was unable to keep up with the South Vietnamese heed for spare parts Maintenance by the South especially on aircraft was frequently poor As the South Vietnamese retreated southward some expensive weapons were destroyed either in combat or to deny their use by the advancing Com- munist forces U.S officials acknowledge however they don't know how much was left intact For the planes guns and other material still in South Vietnam a new Communist leadership must decide whether it's worth it to them to turn it to their military purposes There is an estimated billion in airports port facilities and com- bases captured largely intact by the North Vietnamese in the South Officials said that while these facilities served American purposes ideally the North Vietnamese will have little use for them The weather Clear and cool tonight Low Sunny and mild tomorrow high around to Details page 8
