31 Mar 1954
Page 1
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Newspaper
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Mar 31, 1954
Page
1
President Eisenhower signed a 999 million dollar excise tax cut bill. He said it should stimulate the economy and it goes into effect Thursday. The House approved 395 to 1 with Rep. Fred Marshall the lone opponent, and the Senate followed with 72 to 8.
Sens Hickenlooper and Gillette joined the Senate majority in approving a compromise bill. The chamber passed the measure 72 to 8, finalizing congressional action to cut federal excise taxes on a long list of items.
Sen. Harry F. Byrd denounces the measure as fiscal irresponsibility calling tax cuts on borrowed money. Senators Dirksen and Cooper join Byrd in opposition with Langer Williams and Democrats Daniel Hill and Russell voting no.
The bill signed by the President cuts various federal excise taxes from 20 percent to 10 percent for items including furs jewelry luggage toilet preparations long distance and local telephone service domestic telegraph cable radio messages and more. Other cuts drop rates from 15 to 10 percent for passenger fares sporting goods electric light bulbs cameras and tickets to movies college athletics events and non profit museums while some items see 5 percent or eliminated taxes such as household appliances and theater admissions. Refunds on certain preApril 1 tickets and floor stocks provisions for distributors are noted as well.
Cedar Rapids retailers anticipate rapid passes of federal excise tax cuts to shoppers. Prices drop on appliances, luggage, cosmetics, jewelry, sporting goods, cameras, furs, travel, and communications. Theaters may lower admissions but Tri-States says Cinemas must survive. many merchants expect immediate price reductions.
New York AP reports wholesale food prices measured by Dun and Bradstreet rose to a record high total since records began in 1926. The index reached 7.42, up 17.4 percent from the same week in 1953, with a previous peak of 7.36 in July 1948 and 7.34 the prior week.
In St Louis a federal building elevator stops automatically on cue at the second floor even if no one waits. Mechanics blamed the habit created earlier this month and noted income taxes are paid on that floor, suggesting the automatic stop is overdoing it.
Sonia Michigan AP report states Mrs Samuel Stevens received first aid for 16 leg wounds after a rooster attacked while she cared for neighbors chickens. She said it will be a long time before she offers to care for anyone s chicks again and the bird tore her blue jeans to tatters.
William H. Bartley 37 a Democratic candidate for Johnson County attorney was fined $100 after a peace disturbance conviction. A breaking and entering charge tied to a Dec 18 apartment incident was dismissed. Judges Evans and Gaffney announced the joint ruling after a midweek hearing.
In Eagle Grove Iowa two girls aged 3 and 2 died in a house fire that started in the basement around 2 a.m. Their parents escaped with a 1-year-old sibling. Fire chief Archie Lalor led the response as rescuers attempted to reach Debbie and Tresha in the upstairs bedrooms but could not revive them.
Washington INS reports the House Judiciary Committee approved an anti traitor measure to legalize court use of wire taping evidence against spies subversives and saboteurs by a 19 to 9 vote. All nine voting against were Democrats.
Boston report notes Virginia Cal Nan, age 78, facing arraignment for shoplifting for the 77th time. The article provides a brief crime update and repeats the offender’s age and charge details.
President Eisenhower said he is in partial agreement with Secretary Dulles on united action against communism in Southeast Asia. He warned against dispersing U S troops to distant conflicts and said decisions must fit each case’s unique stakes and dangers. He cited a World War I French maxim to illustrate pursuing national interests.
The satin and lace wedding dress of Mamie Eisenhower has been added to the Smithsonian Institution's historic costumes display in Washington. The addition highlights the former first lady's bridal attire and its place in American memory.
French and Viet Namese forces repelled the first Red assault on Dien Bien Phu as paratroopers were alerted to reinforce the besieged fortress. Col. Christian de Castries reported gains by the defenders and said some posts were recaptured after heavy bombardment with jellied gasoline and high explosives.
The Senate labor committee approved all but one Eisenhower Taft Hartley amendment. Democrats protested and cried steamroller as party line votes blocked outside amendments. No action on government supervised secret balloting before strikes yet. Chairman Smith indicated GOP support for a separate amendment plan.
New York police and neighbors hunted a gray-haired woman and her dog after a 22 month old girl Pia Schipani was bitten. Rabies risk looms while cardiac illness makes anti rabies treatment dangerous, and the child may be kept under the threat until June. The family canvassed Brooklyn streets door to door in a house to house search for the suspect and the dog for tests.
In Cheektowaga New York an explosion and fire ripped through an elementary school annex killing at least 11 people most of them children. At least 19 others were burned or injured as firemen searched ruins and investigated a furnace or boiler as a possible cause. A 12 year old student described escaping through a window after the hall filled with flames.
Cedar Rapids dairies announce a one cent reduction in regular milk to 20 cents a quart and homogenized milk to 21 cents. The cut, starting Thursday, follows anticipated May price declines as supports ease down. Darley Riedel of Sanitary Farm Dairies led the move with other managers agreeing. By-products prices remain unchanged.
Weather brief notes cold trend across Iowa with a shift in storm path. Forecast calls for freezing to near 40 by Thursday afternoon, then a return of colder air Friday. Cedar Rapids records 32 degrees at 2:30 PM, after 34 highs and 22 lows. Sioux City reports 14 degrees as Council Bluffs posts 35.
Paris reports Russia is willing to study joining NATO or, alternatively, backing a 50 year all European security pact. The French foreign office said Moscow handed a Soviet note to the United States and Britain after delivery in Moscow.
President Tito announced Belgrade that Yugoslavia will not renew a Communist partnership with Russia. He spoke at the fourth plenary session of Yugoslavia's Communist leaders meeting in Belgrade over the past two days, with Tito presiding.
Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis L. Strauss told President Eisenhower that the March 1 hydrogen bomb test was about double the expected yield. He cautioned the bomb could be made large enough to destroy a metropolitan area, while White House officials clarified the claim referred to disabling a city rather than leveling it.
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