Evening star. [volume], December 10, 1951, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Weather Forecast
Cloudy, cold; high 48 today. Fair, cold
tonight; low 32 in city, 26 in suburbs. /To
morrow. little change. (Full report on
Page A-2.)
Midnight 46 6 a.m... 43 11 a.m... 43
2 a.m.__45 8 a.m... 43 Noon ...43
4 a.m... 44 10a.m-.43 1p.m.— 44
Lote New York Morkets, Poge A-23.
Guide for Readers
Page
Amusements ..B-14
Classified.. B-15-20
Comics_B-22-23
Editorial_A-14
Edit’l Articles. A-15
Financial_A-23
Page
Lost and Found A-3
Obituary_A-16
Radio-TV_B-21
Sports_A-19-21
Woman’s
Section_B-3-6
An Associated Press Newspaper
** WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1951-FORTY-EIGHT PAGES. V&l'SA&SL 5 CENTS
99th Year. No. 344.
Phone ST. 5000
McKinney Defends 68-to-1 Profit
$
In Stock in Bankrupt Company;
Grunewald Tied to'Fix'Message
Democratic Chief
And McHaleTell
Of 10-Month Gains
By Robert K. Walsh
Frank E. McKinney, Democratic
national chairman, made a quick
profit of $74,000 in 1947 from a
$1,000 investment in common
stock of a company that sold 700
tractors to the Government, bank
ruptcy hearing records in Phil
adelphia indicated today.
Frank M. McHale, Indiana
Democratic committeeman who
sponsored Mr. McKinney for the
party post recently, made a simi
lar amount after reselling 1,000
shares of common stock to the
Empire Tractor Co., from which
he had purchased it 10 months
previously, the records indicated.
Mr. McHale's wife netted $18,500
from $250 she invested.
At a press conference here,
called after disclosure of the rec
ords, Mr. McKinney declared his'
profits were only $68,000. The na
tional chairman said he had in
vested $26,000, in 1946, of which
$25,000 was in preferred stock.
When he resold all of the stock
10 months later he got back his
original $25,000 on the preferred
stock and about $68,000 on the
$l-a-share common stock invest
ment.
McHale Tells of Net.
Reached by telephone in In
dianapolis, Mr. McHale told The,
Star that his original investment!
In the tractor firm was $26,000, of
which $1,000 was for common
stock and the rest for preferred.
His profit on the common stock
at the time of the sale was $69,468.
he said.
Mr. McKinney and Mr. McHale
bought the stock from Frank
Cohen, head of Empire Tractor.
Mr. Cohen had headed the Em
pire Ordnance Co., a World War
II munitions combine which came
in for considerable criticism by
the then Truman committee in
the Senate. Empire Tractor was
a subsidiary of Empire Ordnance.
The national chairman said he
had known little about Mr. Cohen
or the Empire Tractor when he
bought the stock in 1946. He did
so at the suggestion of Oscar
Salenger, who was president of
the Milwaukee American Associa
tion baseball club at the time Mr.
McKinney was an official of the
Indianapolis club.
Charges Distortion.
Defending the stock transaction
as a business venture that paid
off, and denying that any deal was
Involved, Mr. McKinney told re
porters that critics have gone out
of their way to “dig up and dis
tort” something that took place
years ago.
“I don’t intend to take this lying
down,” he declared, “I am per
fectly willing to give a 15 or 20
year resume of all my investments,
if necessary. I have made other
investments just as good and I
have made investments with cor
responding losses. Only a year
after that investment, I bought
$66,000 in'a new company under
very much the same circumstances
and it all went down the drain.”
Mr. McKinney and Mr. McHale,
in their separate explanations,
said they sold the stock in the
belief that there was an argu
ment over control of the company.
Mr. McKinney said Mr. Salenger
suggested that he hold on to the
stock. But Mr. McKinney said
he never believed in “sitting too
long on an egg” when a good
profit was .available. He also
told reporters that he regarded
the $26,000 total investment in
Empire Tractor as “comparatively
small.”
Didn’t Investigate.
Mr. McKinney said he made no
Investigation of the company when
he bought the stock. The bank
ruptcy record in Philadelphia dis
closed today that the company
got a contract for 7,000 tractors
from an Argentine company but
the contract was cancelled later.
Both Mr. McKinney and Mr.
McHale recalled that they had to
buy 250 shares of preferred stock
at $100 a share before they could
buy the common stock at $1 a
share. Mr. McHale added that
he had never represented the com
pany as a lawyer or otherwise.
Mr. McKinney, a banker who
has extensive interests in other
business fields, said he never had
transactions or personal dealings
with Mr. Cohen except for this
(See McKINNEY, Page A-2.)
Gift Sales Here
Parallel Last Year
A large District wholesaler and re
tailer says the volume of Christmas
gift sales so far is about the same
as last year.
Here is a goad way to help provide
gifts for your
youngsters: Sell
outgrown toys
through Stor
Classified and
use the money
to buy more ad
vanced toys.
You can sell
quickly through
the miscellane
ous for sale sec
tion of Star Classified. So phono
sterling 5000 and advertise in Wash
aton't No. 1 classified medium.
Truman DiscussesWorld Affairs
With Military, Foreign Advisers
White House Silent on Details of Talks
After Executive's Return From Florida
By Joseph A. Fox
President Truman today met for
more than an hour with top mili
tary and foreign affairs advisers
but at the end of the session the
White House would only say that
the conference had “discussed the
world situation and no policy de
jcisions were made.”
Asked if tfte conferees dis
cussed “any special aspects of the
world situation that might be
mentioned.” Joseph Short, the
President’s press secretary, re
sponded “I can't go beyond what
I said.”
Asked if the problem of spurring
the Korean truce negotiations was
taken up, Mr. Short said “Korea
was among the subjects discussed
but the meeting was not confined
to that subject.”
After the President had broken
off his vacation in Key West Sat
urday night a week earlier than
he anticipated, offloials here indi
cated that he wanted a detailed
first-hand account of recent de
velopments in Korea with full re
ports on possible new moves in
the armistice talks.
The deadline for the Korean
truce negotiations is December 27.
Attending today's meeting were
Secretary of Defense Lovett, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary
of the Army Pace, Air Force Sec
retary Finletter, Assistant Navy
Secretary Francis Whitehair, Act
U. N. Demands Reds
Reply on Proposal to
Exchange Prisoners
Radio Accuses Them
Of Blackmail Effort
On Armistice Terms
By the Associated Press
MUNSAN, Korea, Dec. 10.—The
United Nations command today
demanded an answer tomorrow
from the Communists on the
Allied proposal to start immediate
negotiations for exchange of
prisoners of war in Korea.
There was no indication what
the Red reply will be. The Reds
Armistice Outlook Gloomy With Only 17
Doys Left. Poge A-7
U. N. Troops Repulse Nine Probing At
tacks on Korean Front. Page A-7
Arlington Soldier Among Eight From Area
Listed os Casualties. Page B-l
have stood pat on their demand
that the U. N. answer their pro
posal for behind-the-lines inspec
tion by representatives of neutral
nations before discussing pris
oners.
Prom Tokyo, the United Nations
radio tonight lambasted the Com
munists in one of the bitterest
attacks from an Allied source.
It accused the Reds of holding
U. N. prisoners for blackmail and
ransom to win their point on the
question of policing an armistice.
The Allies in effect told the
Communists at Panmunjom to
day to quit stalling on the pris
oner issue.
They told the Reds that an Al
lied liaison officer will be in Pan
munjom at 10:30 am. Tuesday
(8:30 p.m., EST. Monday) for
their answer.
Meeting Lasts 41 Minutes.
Joint subcommittees working on
arrangements for enforcing a
truce met only 41 minutes today.
They quit as far apart as ever,
but scheduled another session for
11 a.m. Tuesday (9 p.m., EST,
Monday).
Excerpts from the U. N. radio
broadcast were distributed to cor
respondents in Tokyo by Gen.
Matthew B. Ridgway’s headquar
ters in a bulletin labeled “not an
official release.”
The broadcast declared that the
Communists “have made hostages
of all U. N. prisoners still alive in
Red camps” by their apparent
refusal to talk about exchanging
prisoners unless the U. N. gives
in to their demands for policing
the truce.
“This Communist blackmail,
which is a thousand times more
repulsive than the ordinary act of
kidnaping by the lowest form of
gangster, should not come as a
complete surprise to the free
world,” the broadcast continued.
"The Communists have long held
hostages for ransom of one type or
another in Europe.”
Silent on Truman Action.
A U. N. spokesman. Brig. Gen.
William P. Nuckols, declined to
comment on President Truman’s
return to Washington, reportedly
for high level conferences on the
Korean armistice negotiations.
Asked which issues under dis
cussion are of sufficient Impor
tance to call for presidential ac
tion, Gen. Nuckols replied:
“I do not feel an answer to that
question is within the perogatives
of a spokesman of the U. N. com
mand.”
ling Secretary of State Webb and
Deputy Undersecretary of State
H. Freeman Matthews.
Mr. Short said that the meeting
took up European affairs, but he
insisted, as the President had
yesterday in Key West, that to-;
day’s meeting was simply like
those the President holds periodi
cally with military and foreign af
fairs chiefs.
Asked if Mr. Truman might
meet with the same group to con
tinue today’s talks, Mr. Short j
said that unquestionably there
would be additional talks but that!
he wouldn’t say if they'd be to
morrow or the next day.
Asked about the possibility of
"new directives in connection with
the handling of cease-fire nego
tiations in Korea.” Mr. Short said
"I don’t know of any but that;
doesn’t mean anything.”
Today’s conference was held in
the cabinet room, and those who
participated entered and left the
executive offices by rear doors,
thus avoiding reporters in the
lobby.
President Truman also said yes
terday that one of the reasons for
his return was to talk with people
recently in Europe
Defense Secretary Lovett just
returned and Secretary of State
Acheson will be in Wednesday.
Secretary of the Treasury Sny
(See TRUMAN, Page A-4.)
Agreement Reported
For Further Study
Of Arms Reduction
West and Russians Said
To Have Accepted Plan
For Forming Commission
By tH« Associated Press
PARIS, Dec. 10.—A high diplo
matic source said today the West
ern powers and Soviet Russia have
agreed on formation of a disarm
ament commission which could
consider rival East and West!
plans for arms reduction and
atomic controls.
This diplomat, who would not
permit use of his name, said that
U. N. Puts Off Hearing East German
Views on Election Survey. Page A-4
agreement was the only important
concrete result of the long secret j
talks of the Big Four powers on
disarmament.
He said it appeared that the
Western plans for arms limitation
and reduction plus the Soviet
version of disarmament plans
would be put before a disarma
ment commission next spring
with instructions to 6tart work on
drawing up arms limitation pro
posals.
No Immediate Atomic Ban.
Informed sources insisted that
the delegates of the four big
powers, United States Ambassador
Philip C. Jessup, British Minister
of State Selwyn Lloyd, Soviet For
eign Minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky
and French Delegate Jfiles Moch,
had not agreed on any plan for
immediate prohibition of the
atomic bomb. '
It was reported also that there
had been no agreement on any of
the major points separating the
East and West except on the dis
armament commission, which may
not even be called by that name,
but which actually will deal with
that topic.
The Big Four ended their secret
talks in a session which ran
through the lunch hour and
caused the hungry delegates to
order sandwiches and coffee taken
into the smoke-filled room.
Will Report Tomorrow.
The four will report tomorrow
to the U. N. Political Committee,
which is expected in some circles
to conclude the armaments de
bate before the Christmas holi
days begin December 21.
Luis Padilla Nervo of Mexico,
president of the Assembly and
chairman of the Big Four ses
sions, said the report would de
scribe the areas of agreement be
tween East and West, the areas
of possible agreement and areas
of disagreement
Boy Who Fled Blue Plains
Is Held in Housebreakings
A youth who fled the Industrial
School at Blue Plains six months
ago was arrested and charged
with housebreaking early today.
The 16-year-old colored boy
was taken into custody in the
600 block of S street N.W. Police
said he told them he broke into
a lunchroom in the 1200 block of
Seventh street N.W. last night
and took $112, and broke into a
grocery in the 700 block of Sev
enth street N.W. October 5 Mid
pNc $103 in merchandise. *
Caudle Quoted as
Declaring Voice
'Might Be' His
By Cecil Holland
A new and mysterious element
was disclosed today in the story
of a $500,000 shakedown attempt
when an Atlanta attorney testified
that Theron Lamar Caudle told
him that “a deep guttural. Ger
man voice, figuring in the case
"might be Grunewald,” referring
to Henry Grunewald.
The testimony was given by
I. T. Cohen before the House Ways
and Means subcommittee looking
into the shakedown story as a
part ,of its investigation of tax
scandals.
Mr. Cohen testified that he
heard the story from Abraham
Teitelbaum, wealthy Chicago at- i
torney, last summer and related
it to Mr. Caudle as something dis
turbing and worthy of investiga
tion.
Spoke With Strong Accent.
The witness said he learned the
story of the alleged shakedown at
tempt from Mr. Teitelbaum who!
told him about receiving calls i
from a man speaking in a “deep:
guttural voice” and warning him
"he'd better play ball” with those
seeking $500,000 to fix his tax
case.
Mr. Cohen testified that during!
his discussion of the story with
Mr. Caudle he said it was "a
very intriguing” one and might be
traced because of the man who
telephoned and spoke with a
strong German accent. He added
that Mr. Caudle differed with him
and then he quoted Mr. Caudle
as saying:
“ ‘That might be Grunewald.
He’s a Dutchman. (Berkt K.) Nas
ter wanted me to see him but I
declined because of his reputa
tion.”
Subcommittee Counsel Adrian'
W. DeWind called Mr. Caudle to
the stand and put question after
question to him about why Mr.
Caudle had linked the "sutural
German voice” to Henry Grune
wald.
Just a Surmise About Voice.
Mr. Caudle insisted that he
"just surmised” the voice must
have belonged to Grunewald. He
said the only basis he had for
this assumption was that he knew
Grunewald “was a German or a
Dutchman” and that Grunewald
was acquainted with Naster, one
of the two men linked to the
shakedown charge.
Mr. Caudle said Mr. Naster had
tried to get him to meet Mr.
Grunewald before Mr. Caudle
went to Europe last summer, but
that “I simply did not care to
know the gentleman.”
The subcommittee has sub
poenaed Grunewald, a mysterious
Washington figure and self-styled
public relations man. for testi
mony about the Teitelbaum case
and his relations with Charles
Oliphant, former counsel, and
George J. Schoeneman, former
commissioner of the Bureau of
Internal Revenue.
The subcommittee headed by
Representative King, Democrat, of
California already has received
testimony that Grunewald talked
with Mr. Oliphant on one or more
occasions about the tax case
against Mr. Teitelbaum.
Figured in Inquiry.
Grunewald is a patient In
Georgetown Hospital, where he
was located by a United States
marshal after being sought for
two days to be served with a
subcommittee subpoena. He is
said to be a native of South Africa
and was educated in Germany.
He figured a year ago in a Sen
ate District Committee’s inquiry
into wiretapping here.
The Naster who was referred to
by Mr. Cohen in the statement
quoting Mr. Caudle has been
named by Mr. Teitelbaum as one
of the two men who demanded
$500,000 to keep him out of tax
j troubles.
Mr. Teitelbaum identified them
as Naster, a Hollywood (Fla.)
businessman, who formerly lived
in Chicago, and Frank Nathan of
Miami Beach, a self-styled pro
moter of “deals.” He said the two
men told him they were connected
with a Washington “clique” of
present and former officials seek
ing “a soft touch” from taxpayers
in trouble. \
Both Nathan and Naster have
denied the charges. Strong de
nials have also been made by
those named as being members of
the clique—Mr. Caudle, Mr. Oli
phant, Mr. Schoeneman, Jess Lar
(Continued on Page A-4, Col. 2.)
GIs to Be Made
By Price Tags or
>y *h« Associated Press
NEW YORK, Dec. 10.—To make
officers and GIs cost-conscious,
the Army is putting price tags on
its equipment.
The price tags, says Secretary
of the Army Pace, are a “dramatic
way of getting across to the soldier
not only how important his job
is, but how important it is that he
use his equipment wisely and
well.” $
As for officers, Mr. Face sMs,
IF YOU WANT ANY
HELP FROM ME, BROTHER,
MAIL'EM NOW!
Nebraska Governor
Appoints Publisher to
Wherry's Senate Seat
Fred Seaton, Leader of
Midwest Stassen Drive,
Serves Until November
ly th« Associated Press
LINCOLN, Nebr., Dec. 10.—Fred
A. Seaton, Hastings publisher to
day was appointed Senator from
Nebraska to succeed the late Re
publican floor leader, Senator
Kenneth S. Wherry. The appoint
ment was made by Republican
Gov. Val Peterson.
Mr. Seaton, 42, will serve until
a successor is elected at the gen
eral election next November and
qualified by the State canvassing
board.
He is a Midwest leader of the
Harold E. Stassen for President
forces and has served two terms
as a State Senator in the Nebras
ka one-House legislature.
Active in Landon Campaign.
Before coming to Nebraska as
publisher of the Hastings Tribune,
Mr. Seaton was active in his home
State of Kansas in the Alf Landon
presidential campaign. He now
has publishing interests in Nebras
ka, Kansas. South Dakota. Wyo
ming and Colorado.
Mr. Seaton headed the Stassen
forces during Nebraska's all-star
Presidential preference primary
campaign in 1945, when Mr. Stas
sen polled 80,979 votes to lead the
field, including Gov. Dewey of New
York, Gen. McArthur, Represen
tative Martin of Massachusetts,
Senator Taft of Ohio, the late
Senator Vandenberg of Michigan
and Gov. Warren of California.
Mr. Seaton is married and has
two children.
As a State senator Mr. Seaton
was particularly active in natural
resources and conservation legis
lation, school legislation and bet
terment of the State operated
hospitals.
Senator Wherry's death in
Washington November 29 added
a new factor to the already con
fused political situation in Ne
braska.
Peterson Files For Senate.
A campaign was in progress for
election of a successor to the
late Karl Stefan, Republican,
Nebraska who died in Washington
October 2. Gov. Peterson had an
nounced he would not seek re
election and had filed for the
Senate seat of Hugh A. Butler,
also a Republican.
Senator Butler since has filed
for re-election, dispelling rumors
he might change his mind.
The Governor passed up a
chance to accept a party draft for
Mr. Stefan’s seat and had an
nounced after Senator Wherry’s
death he would not step down
and accept the short term ap
pointment to the .ninority leader’s
seat.
Only last week Robert D. Harri
son, Norfolk Republican, was
elected to Congress succeeding Mr.
Stefan.
Fire Hits Housing Project
LINCOLN, Nebr., Dec. 10 (*).—
Fire last night raced through a
1,000-foot main ramp at the
Huskerville city housing project
and then destroyed a theater,
nursery and the housing office.
Cost-Conscious
t Equipment
they also And it worthwhile to
become economy-minded because
it may mean a promotion.
Mr. Pace explained the Army’s
new “cost-consciousness” program
during a Columbia Broadcasting
System newscast yesterday.
Senator Lyndon B. Johnson,
Democrat, of Texas, said a week
ago that the Navy also is rating
officers on their “cost-con:
ness.”
Support for Beck Is Weakened
As Kansas City Inquiry Opens
Survey Commending Recorder Nominee's
Home for Children Is Qualified by Beisser
By Don S. Warren
Star Staff Correspondent
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 10.—
One of the props supporting the
hope of President Truman’s old
time political friend, Earl Wayne j
Beck of this city, to be the Dis-j
trict of Columbia's new Recorder
of Deeds has collapsed.
Mr. Beck served 15 years as
superintendent of the Jackson!
County Home for Negro Boys and
Girls here. During the earlier part,
of that career, Mr. Truman headed
the Jackson County Court In
charge of this and other county
j services.
Eleven years ago Mr. Beck re
signed that post after the Kansas
City school board and some other
groups demanded his ouster. But
a main point of Mr. Beck’s sup-1
Son, 18, Braces Wall
With Back 7 Hours in
Well Digger's Rescue
Oregon Rancher Saved
After Being Pinned for
18 Hours by Cave-in
By th« Associated Press
PENDLETON, Oreg., Dec. 10 —
A 51-year-old rancher, trapped
for 18 hours in a 15-foot well
while heavy digging equipment j
churned about him, was brought
to safety today.
At the Pendleton Hospital
where he was taken after the
dramatic rescue in sub-freezing
temperatures, doctors described
his condition as “good.”
The rancher, Norman Vina
Ford, 51, was pinned to the wellj
bottom with his foot under a|
plank when the walls caved in
at 11:30 a.m. (PST) yesterday.
At 5:30 this morning, he was
lifted to the surface.
Mr. Ford’s 18-year-old son,
Leon, was the hero of the rescue
operation. He was helping his
father sink the well but was
working on the surface when the
walls collapsed. Leon jumped in
and began digging his father out
with his hands. Neighbors whoj
had been called lowered buckets
to the youth.
Son Braces Back.
Leon had his father uncovered
down to the knees when the walls
caved in a second time. Leon,
spotting another section of the
wall about to give way, braced
his back against the crumbling
section. He remained there for
seven hours.
It took that long for a crew
with digging equipment to arrive
from nearby Umatilla, where Mc
Nary Dam is under construction.
As hundreds watched under the
glare of searchlights, John Mor- 1
ton of the McNary Dam con
tractors took charge of the rescue.
He had a 24-inch iron pipe forced
down around the trapped man.
That prevented further cave-ins.
When the pipe was in place,
Leon was brought to the surface. i
He was put to bed with a mild
case of shock.
Son Said He Was Scared.
Later the youth said of his
seven hours in the well: “I was
scared a little—mostly when I
saw more dirt falling down on
Dad a little bit at a time.”
After the pipe was slipped
around Mr. Ford’s head and shoul
ders, huge diggers began widening
the mouth of the well to 50 feet
across. The last several hours
rescuers dug with their hands and
small shovels. The pipe was re
moved and Ford was propped up
in the middle of the now huge
ditch. He was weak, but still con
scious, as rescuers uncovered his
feet.
Mrs. Ford remained at the top
of the hole, calling down encour
agement to her husband through
the afternoon until rescuer&asked
her to leave. W
porters has been that a respected,
nationally known welfare leader
had given the institution a high
rating. In fact, the home for de
linquent children was rated the
best in the county.
That still stands, but, it is now
revealed, the indorsement was not
a blanket one.
The survey, conducted in 1939
by Paul T. Beisser of Baltimore,
then president of the Child Wel
fare League of America, was a
one-day job that allowed no time
for examination of whether Mr.
Beck properly fed his institutional
wards or whether he beat them
for disciplinary breaches.
These two questions—the food
i and the discipline—were promi
(See BECK, Page A-4.)
Non-Privafe Facilities
Seen Sole Solution to
Nursing Homes Need
Area Survey Indicates
Critical Shortage of
Care for Elderly Persons
By Wallace E. Clayton
Construction of new Govern
ment or non-profit facilities for
the care of the chronically ill may
be advocated as a result of a
nearly completed survey of the
nursing home situation by a spe
cial United Community Services
Subcommittee.
Members of the UCS Subcom
mittee on institutional care indi
cate that additional non-private
facilities may be the only answer
to the increasingly acute problem
of what to do with elderly persons
who need supervised care. More
than a dozen private nursing
homes have closed as a result of
a District fire regulations crack
down. The profit margin for
many still open is becoming in
creasingly slim.
Dr. Comely Statement.
Dr. Paul B. Comely, medical di
rector of Freedmen’s Hospital and
chairman of the subcommittee,
says:
“The problem presented by the
greatly reduced number of beds
available to the chronically ill
must be brought to the attention
of the Commissioners and the pub
lic.”
Mrs. Martme McNeill, social
service director at the Home for
Incurables, describes the con
valescent bed shortage as “the
most acute health problem facing
the District today.”
First move in the campaign to
create “community awareness”
will be presentation of the sub
committee’s report and recommen
dations to an upcoming meeting
of the UCS Health Section.
Group Founded in 1950.
The subcommittee was formed
in January, 1950, to study the
“neglected area” of nursing home
care* The problem was made more
acute early this year when the
District Building Inspector’s office
ordered 21 private nursing homes
to make major fire prevention
construction changes.
To date, 14 of the homes have
closed rather than spend an aver
age of $7,000 to revise their homes.
The rest have either filed plans
with the office or asked a hearing
from the Board of Special Ap
peals.
Homes which comply with the
fire regulations, however, will face
a new hurdle next year, when the
Health Department will establish
a code of minimum requirements
covering care, sanitation and
other health standards. At pres
ent, nursing homes must meet only
the general health regulation;
covering private dwellings.
The Health Department study
was started about six months ago
(Continued on Page A-3, 4fc>l. «.)
Corning Insists
PIA End Strike
Before Parley
Letter to Parents
Calls Payne-Webb
Walkout Unjustified
By Coit Hendley, Jr.
School Supt. Hobart M. Corn
ing today announced that he will
not meet with the striking parents
of the Payne and Webb Elemen
tary schools until the 800 pupils
are returned to classes.
Although Dr. Corning did not
say that legal action against strik
ing parents would be taken, his
statement implied that this would
be the next step. His refusal to
confer with parents until the chil
dren returned indicated a stiffer
attitude since he earlier had ex
pressed willingness for a confer
ence without reservation.
The colored students have been
kept from school since last Thurs
day by their parents as a protest
over what the parents call inad
equate measures to relieve over
crowding at the two buildings.
PTA Meeting Tomorrow.
C. Melvin Sharpe, president of
the Board of Education, said Dr.
Coming’s statement was issued
after consultation with him. Mr.
Sharpe said he was in complete
agreement with Dr. Coming’s
stand.
The Payne - Webb Parent
Teacher Association executive
committee met yesterday and de
cided to seek a conference with
Dr. Corning tomorrow.
The PTA also decided to con
tinue to strike through tomorrow,
at least. A meeting of the full
PTA is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
tomorrow at the Payne school to
determine the next step.
Violating; Obligation.
Dr. Corning, in a letter being
mailed to the striking parents to
day. declared:
"In the performance of our
official duties we hereby advise
you that by continuing to keep
your children out of school, you
are violating your moral and
legal obligation as parents to
send your children to school
regularly.”
Dr. Coming stated that his
office received several calls this
morning from parents of Payne
Webb children, complaining that
their children were sent to school
today but were turned away at
the building "by persons sta
tioned at or near the entrance of
the schools who carry placards
with false statements that the
school is closed.”
Conference Requested.
"These practices of displaying
false statements about the school
and of influencing children to
return to their homes violate the
law. prevent parents from per
forming their legal obligation, in
fringe upon their rights as citi
zens to send their children to
school and prevent the children
from obtaining the education to
which they are entitled,” he de
clared.
Dr. Coming declared, “We again
officially remind you of your legal
obligation to send your children
to school and your obligation as
parents not to inflict upon your
children the affect of disagree
ments among adults.”
Dr. Coming went on to say that
this morning for the first time
since the strike began an official
of the Payne-Webb PTA requested
a conference.
Calls Action Unjustified.
He declared:
“The president of the Board of
Education and the superintendent
of schools will be glad to discuss
the situation with representatives
of the Payne-Webb PTA after
your obligation to send your chil
dren to school has been met. The
withdrawal of your children in
protest of a decision of the Board
of Education is unjustified now or
at any time.”
The strike began after the
Board of Education voted to
transfer the Madison Elementary
School, Tenth-and G streets N.E.,
from white to colored to help re
lieve overcrowded conditions at
the Payne School, Fifteenth and
C streets S.E., and the Webb
School, Fifteenth and Rosedale
streets N.E. The three colored
members of the School Board
voted against the transfer.
The Payne-Webb parents de
manded that the Bryan School,
three blocks from the Payne at
Thirteenth and B streets S.E., be
transferred to colored children
instead. They maintained the
Madison transfer would not solve
their problem.
Featured Reading
Inside Today's Star
ANY RAGS, ANY BONES?—A little
imagination can save you a few dollars
for a couple of extra Christmas gifts
*this year. Betty Miles tells how to put
the imagination to work for making
attractive and inexpensive holiday
decorations from odds and ends around
the house. Page B-3.
DOWN TO THE SEA-The import
once of the United States merchant
marine, active and in reserve, is dis
cussed today in the second of two
articles by Star Staff Reporter William
A. Millen on Page A-6.
WALLS OF BERWYN-The concrete
barricades which close off the Berwyn
road connection between Berwyn and
Berwyn Heights may be knocked down
with hammers wielded by irate citizens
and ccsinty officials. The story of tha
rood closing and its effect on the
communities is told by StaM Staff
Reporter Gene Goodwin on fJS B-l.