Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

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'^   A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
The Weather
Increasing cloudine«*| mild.
43RD YEAR, NO. Q — 60 PAGES
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WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, DECEMBER    5, 1948
PRICE TWELVE CENTS
Vihere Hanover Viants Crossing Relocated
Hanover   township's   appeal   for is expected to clarify the corpora-;    All the commissioners are asking relocation  of Oxford street Cross- tion's position when the matter is for is elimination of the dangerous
Spy Hurifets Will Name Thief of U.S. Secrets
hit farin. Committee    investigators    said
  _ . _ jthey  know  who atole  the   secrets
ing   al the  foot of Orey avenue, aired at the Court House this week, curve pictured above and iristalla- and will expose the thief or thieves will  he  heard  by a  Public Utility I John Steve, chairman of the board tion of a modem traflic signal at In  hearings  atarting  Tuesday. Commission    examiner    Thursday of township commissioners; Andrew the  Intersection  of  Carey  avenue,!    Soon   after   Justice   Department
Hearings Tuesday; Jury also Resuming
Washington, Dec. <. (UP)—Two Communist »py Investigations were ordered resumed today on the strength of sensational new evidence found bidden in a hollowed-out pumpkin on a Maryland farm.
The evidence consists of microfilmed copies of top-secret documents stolen from the State Department 10 years ago for transmission to Moscow by en alleged Communist underground.
The films were turned over to the House un-American activities committee Thursday by ex-Communist Whittaker (3iamber», who had concealed  them In  a  pumpkin  on | transmission to Moscow,  indicated
that  it was an inside job.
They refused to name names now, but Robert E. Stripling, chief investigator   for    the   House    un-
moming at 10 oclock.
Commissioners    of    the pality   advocate   the
munlci- extension   of Oxford street  to West  End Road, pictured In the foreground, to pro¬ vide motorists with a modern con¬ necting  highway  between  the new L Carey  Avenue   Bridge   and  Middle I Road.
PRR   Obieeta
Penn.sylvania
Garber, township secretary and ex-1 which runs left to the city an9 Judge M. F. McDonald, township Old River Road, running right, to- solicitor, as well as Oxford street'ward Nanticoke. in the interest of residents, will present reasons why!public safety. Accidents are com- the changes should be made. jmon at this  point. It's all due to
Incidentally. Oxford Street Cross-1 the   fact  that   motorists   are   con¬ ing   is   another   of   the   "Highway fused.
Hazards" which the Sunday Inde pendent called to the public's at tentlon about a year ago. A number
of the county's danger spots already!quest Is granted will, for the first Railroad   has  filed ihave been  remedied and alert of-|time, be able to Install stop signs,
Municipal ofBcials want the road to run straight, instead of around a bend and in the event their re-.
ofriciBla examined the microfilm, the department ordered its special New York espionage grand jury to resume its investigations at 10 a. m. EST Monday. The grand jury presumbaly will hear the new evidence disclosed by CSiambers, now a senior editor for Time Magazine. Attorney Oeneral Acta
It was understood that Attorney General Tom C. Clark ordered the
objections. It owns the tracks pic-1 ficials of Hanover are following the blinkers or standard highway slg-; grand jury back into action after
tured  above.  Ounsel  for  the  line I trend.
Inala for safety's sake.
LAW REPEAL NOW E
Small investors, Those Dependent on Trusts Hardest Hit
Los Angeles, Dec. 4. (UP)— Southern California was rocked today by a stronger but far less damaging earthquake than the one which wrecked Long Beach in 1932.
The quake broke thousands of dollars worth of merchandise In Palm Springs, shattered windows throughout the area from Ventura to San Diego, and caused a Grif¬ fith Park zoo elephant to have a miscarriage.
The only thing that prevented seriona damage and possible loss of life, experts said, was that the shock was centered in the Coa- chella desert. 100  Miles  From  Pasadena
California   Institute   of   Technol- The   bankers'   hopes   for   "sound jogy uxed its point of origin at 100 reform" of the IMT local "Tax Any-|miies east-southeast of Pasadena.
Harrisburg, Dec, 4 (UP)—Penn- vlvania bankers want the 1940 .'^gislature to restrict the taxing nwers of municipalities to protect widows and orphans and other mall  investors."
Sharp 'Quake Rocks South California Towns
hing" Law were voiced here yes¬ terday at a press conference of officers of the Pennsylvania Bank-
ng Association.
¦ihow Handicap
The  as,iociation   leaders,   attend-
Railroad officials at Beaumont, near the quake centc, said it was the hardest ever felt there. In Indio, south of there, it shook merchandise from shelves, cracked walls   and   broke  plate  glass  win-
mg  the  mid-winter  conference  of dows   Early diners at a hotel were Ihe trust company section,  agreed ishowered  with  plaster, that  the  law is  Injurious to small ¦    The  quake   began  at  4:44  p.  m. investors, wridows and orphans and <«•' *   P    nti.   EST)   and   continued others  dependent on  trusU. In  !»» Angeles   for  more  than   a
Ru«sel  J.  Hopkins  of Titusvllle,''"'""'•'    Pf''"   «P""^,   *"   »*'" «*soclation    president,    said    «,„e »haking half an  hour  later.
*^ The   most   serious   damage   was
reported crowded
at    tbe    desert with   weekending
resort, movie
More than 100,000 football fans who saw the Southern Callfomia- Notre Dame football game had left the Coliseum 10 minutes before the quake. Newspapermen still in the press box glsmced at their watches when the steel super-structure swayed from side to side called their offices and kept on writing.
Sasa, the elephant which had the miscarriage, was the first expectant elephant mother  in  zoo  history. Kerftper Annoyed
"It was a bit annoying to u« all," keeper Robert Allen aaid after the earthquake.
The quake center was near the Palomar observatory, but there was no damage to installations tiiere or to the priceless 200-inch  telescope.
In Arcaldla the quake was so strong that one man said hs couldn't walk across his living room. A home near Inglewood, close to the center of the disas¬ trous 1932 earthquake, shook and trembled and the dishes swayed on the shelf.
Residents of Santa Ana, Long Beach, Altadena, Hollywood, Bev¬ erly Hills and San Diego also re¬ ported feeling strong shocks. A Hollywood man said It felt as If a truck had hit the house.
The Loa Angeles water and power department said that despite
his aspionage experts conferred during the afternoon on the evi¬ dence CThambers put at the dis¬ posal of the un-Amerloan activities committee.
The grand jury, which recently indicted 12 top Communist officials, has been in recese.
Hous« Investigators, saying they
know who stole the doctunents and ¦derground of government em^
turned them over to Chamber* for
American activities committee, said that when the bearings start Tues¬ day "we expect to show conclusive¬ ly the source of these documents from the State Department to C!hambers,"
Stripling said that anyone who had the microfilms and the original coded documents could have broken the American State Department code. Open Tuesday at t
Stripling announced that the hearings will begin Tuesday at 2 p. m. EST and that C:3iambers and other witnes.ses have been sub- penaed to appear. He said four to six other witnesses will be called.
Stripling refused to aay whether the committee would summon Al¬ ger Hiss, former State Department official accused by Chambers of membership In a prewar Red un
(Ointinued on Page A-8)
stars. Thousands of dollars worth jthe strength of the quake it was of bottled liquor and glasses wereSof a rolling nature that pro*)ably broken in the town's dozens of]would not damage pipes bringing Pictures JSouthern (California its Owens Val-
taxes levied under the 1947 laW have drained away from 20 to 25 per cent of the income of persons dependent on trusts.
I^uis W. van Meter, of Philade*- phia. Rhairman of U.e trust section  ,       _.   ^^^^^^   ^^^   ^^„
said   that   the     vast   majority   of ,^,1 ^,j ^^^^ ^^j^,   ^^^ ^j,^^^^^ was ley  and   Colorado   River   water. Vust* are under JICOOO,    with the ^^ ,„j    ^,^j    „„j.,        ,j^i   '        ^ reported   the   quake
^""°w"tVre"hig"l,^'cS;t'""o?"living. -"">   ^^^^  '^  '-  '^-•«- I-  ^elt fharply-lher..
these people living on fixed lncc*ne8 have   been   hard   hit,"   van   Meter •aid. 'ISound reform of the present (Continued on Page A-7)
800 U.S. Reds Believed Drilling Secret Army
TOJO PLEASED AT BAR TO EXECUTION PICTURES
Threaten Berlin Strike Against Soviet Police
Berlin,   Dec.   4.   (UP)   —  NearlylUsed  in  the Soviet sector.      They
5,000    electrical    workers    In    the [threatened  to  strike at t p.m.   (9
Tokyo, Dec. 4 (UP)—Hideki TojolSoviet sector of Berlin threatened!a.m.    EST)    Monday    unlesa    the
is "very pleased" at (Sen. Douglas MacArthur's decision to bar the press. > particularly photographers, from his execution, members of the ex-premier's family said today.
today   to  strike   against   the   newjc^ommimist Russian  "puppet"  city government unless  police are  withdrawn  from power plant installations. The  workers   sent  their  ultima-
city
government: 1—Withdraws     all     IU     police guards from Bewag Installatloni in the Soviet sector of Berlin.
T,. . J .1. . m .    u n      J     —           ^ 2.—Releases  six  Bewag  workers
They reported that To jo believed^ turn   to  the  new  Communist  gov- ^^,ho y,^^^ axrested during the past
ictures of him hanging from the'ernment   after   crossing  over   into f^^ days, apparently without cause.
allows or in his coffin would havethe American sector to hold amass;    xhig ultimatum was handed    to
hown him In an "undignified" light.;meeting  without   fear  of  Interfer-ithe  Soviet   sector   government   on
Dr. Shinsho Hanayama, Buddhist'ence  from Soviet-sector police.    ItUhe  eve  of  city  elections   in    the
priest   who   has   been   seeing  Tojo|was  the  fiist  organized   resistance .three western sectors. It came also
«nd the six other top war criminals to be faced by the new Ck)mmunist!ju^[    m,    Qg„     Lucius    D.    Clay,
who were sentenced to death Nov.!government since it took office lastl^^g^jp^ commander in Germany!
^2.    described    them    as    "cabnly'Tuesday. !..«....obu...4  .v.^ ..iA... .v^a^ *ua .....a*..
awaiting their execution . . . their]   The    defiant   workers    are   em-
niindi   at   ease.   Having   attained!ployees of Bewag, the biggest elec-
religlous faith during the past twoltriral  corporation  in  Berlin, which
years  at Sugamo  prison." 'controls virtually   all    the    power
Boys and Girls Look Just Alike To Man Blind for Past 18 Years
RockforJ, 111., Dec. 4, fUP) ~A| "People are running around In man whose sight is returning after i things we wouldn't have dared to 18 years of blindness said today his wear in 1930," Ozburn .said. "They bigtrest surprise Is that teen-age I wear such bright colors and the Ws and girls look  alike. women's   lips   fairly   jump   out   at
Herbert Oiburn. 88, aaid it's hard you, they;re such a bright red."
to tell them apart
"Boys  and  girls wear the  same clothes and seem to be behaving in the same way," he said. Calls It Miracle
The return of sight to Ozburn, who had to leave his painting and decorating business to operate a newsstand, also has brought a new fear.
In  the  long years  of blindness
I expressed the view that the west¬ ern powers "might" recognize the new Soviet sector government if an agreement is reached on the whole Berlin dispute. Vote Today
The estimated 1,683,000 eligible voters in western Berlin will be choosing tomorrow between west¬ ern democracy and Communism as they elect 98 members of the west- em  city  assembly.
The thing which will be watched in tomorrow's election will be the number of votes cast. Political experts of the American, British and French military governments believe that a big vote—65 to 90 per cent of those eligible—will be a major defeat for the Communists and for Russia.
Washington, Dec. 4 (UP)—House investigators said tonight that 800 Moscow-trained American Com¬ munists are leading a "secret army now being drilled to overthrow our government"
TTie House UitAmerlcan Activities Oommittee said the 800 were train¬ ed at the Lenin School in Moscow and returned to the United States.
The charge was made in a com¬ mittee pamphlet, just released, en¬ titled "100 Things You ffliouJd Know About Communism and Ed¬ ucation."
The committee described the Lenin School aa the "highest col¬ lege of Communist training." Its students receive free courses in factory sabotage, bomb-making, kidnaping, train-wrecking, mutiny, civil warfare espionage and infil¬ tration, the pamphlet said. Details Are Lacking
The objective of the school la to produce agents who know how to "partilyze a nation from within and capture it," the legislators said. They did not go further into detsUl aibout the "secret army" led by the 800 Americans.
The pamphlet is one of a series of five describing alleged Commun¬ ist infiltration tactics. In a list of 100 questions and answers, the committee said the Communists are attempting to take over the American school system.
"The files of our conmiittee, run¬ ning back over a 10-year    period.
show that the Communists have al¬ ways found the teaching group the easiest touch of all the professional classes for actual party zealots and fellow traveUers,' the said.
It said the Ck>mmunists sought to place party members and fellow traveller* on the faculties of Amer¬ ican schools. The party also, It added, has established a number of schools in this country.
Four Schools Named
It listed 1S3 such schools but said only four are atUI operating today. The conunittee said the four are:
The Jefferson School of Social Science (with four annexes) In New York, The School of Jewish Studies. New York, The Seattle Pacific Northwest Labor School, Seattle, and Tbe (California Labor School, San Francisco.
The committee said these schools teach "Communist corrupted" courses in history, economics, pub¬ lic speaking, art, drama and music.
"The whole thing is aimed at luring loyal Americans Into becom¬ ing Communists," the committee said.
The Communist Party also oper¬ ates section district and national training schools "in which promis¬ ing (Communsts are trained to be leaders in the conspiracy to betray and caiptiu-e America," the pam¬ phlet continued.
PRESIDENT SAYS BAHLESHIP MISSOURI STAYS IN SERVICE
Norfolk, Va., Dec. 4 (UP)—Presi¬ dent Truman today gave the crew of the battleship Missouri the best possible preaent—an official promise that the famed battlewagon 'will remain In active service.
The President went aboard the "Big Mo" primarily to give the ship a $10,000 silver service donated by the state of Missouri. But the big news to the Missouri's officers and men was the promise the ship will   not   be   "mothballed."
Mr. Truman's promise completely scotched reporta that the American Navy, mightiest in the world, would be left without a single battleship. It had been reported the Missouri would be decommissioned to permit the Navy to concentrate on anti¬ submarine warfare.
Standing on the wind and rain¬ swept deck where the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Mr, Truman referred to the reports scornfully. He said he would like to know what "smart aleck" posing as a Navy spokesman startled them.
EXPECT TO JUSTIFY EXCESS PROFITS TAX
Washington, Dec. 4 (UP)—The prospective chairman of the senate- house economic committee aaid to¬ night he expects hearings starting Monday to "clearly show" that an excess profits tax Is justified.
Sen. Joseph C. O'Mohoney, D., Wyo., made the prediction as a member of the joint economic sub¬ committee which will hold the hearings to air business profits. He is in line to become chairman of the full  committee next month.
He said the main question is whether "the unprecedented level of corporate earnings" Is the best place for the government to get the money needed to wage the struggle for peace.
Corporation executives have been asked to bring complete data on the amount and distribution of their profits in recent years,
I^abor representatives, including Walter Reuther, president of the CIO's United Automobile Workers, also are scheduled to testify. They are expected to contend that cor¬ poration profits are large enough to warrant fourth-round wage in¬ creases.
Russia Cool To All Berlin Peace Offers
Completely Rejects Neutral Committee Portion of Formula; Upholds Blockade
Chinese Reinforcements Reported Throwing Back Reds North of Nanking
Paris, Deo. 4. (UP)—Russia re¬ jected today the suggestion that a United Nations "good offices com¬ mission" try to settle the East- West dispute In Berlin.
The Soviets agreed, however, to supply any neutral committee studying the Berlin currency prob¬ lem with "necessary Information," but they were not enthusiastic about such a study.
Russia's official position was out¬ lined by the Moscow radio in a broadcast monitored In London. The broadcast quoted a long dis¬ patch by Tass, the official Soviet news agency, which gave the "Sov¬ iet side" of the Berlin dispute.
The Soviet statement detailed Russia's attitude on the latest con- clliaticm proposals of Foreign Min¬ ister Juan A. Bramuglia of Argen¬ tina, November president of the Security Council. On the turface at least, the Soviets appeared to offer no new approach to the Ber¬ lin problem.
Bramuglia   asked  the  Big  Four powers to agree tn    principle   on this formula; Formula is Outlined
1.—The creation of a six-nation pamphlet^neutral committee to study the Berlin currency problem along with a representative to be ap¬ pointed by UN Secretary General Trygve Lie.
2.—^The introduction of a reso¬ lution in the Security Council call ing for simultaneous lifting of the Soviet blockade on Berlin and the recognition of the Soviet mark as the currency for all Berlia.
3.—The establishment of a com mission,   interpreted   by   the   Rus sians  as  a  "good  offices   commis sion," to guarantee that the block¬ ade Is lifted and the Soviet mark properly  recognized.
The Soviet position, as outlined today by Tass, was:
1.—(3oolness toward the currency study,  but 'Willingness    to    supply tho proposed committee with "nee essary  Information."
2.—Complete rejection of the "good offices commission." Tass said such a conunlssion "could hardly lead to any progress."
8.—A repetition of Deputy Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishin- sky's statement that the UN has no jurisdiction over the Berlin dis¬ pute and that the problem must be eettled by the Big Four powers alone.
WEST COAST SHIPS
Good Excuse To Celebrate
Today is the 15th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition.
On Dec. 6, 1933, Utah became. the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution which wiped out the federal ban on liquor sales.
Today only three states pro¬ hibit the sale of hard liquor and one of these, Kansas, approved repeal in the recent election and left its legislature the job of re¬ moving final restrictions in its January session. The other two, Oklahoma and Mississippi, per¬ mit the sale of beer.
Outlining its development In the laat 18 years, the liquor in¬ dustry claimed today to employ 1,100,000 persons at an annual wage of $2,700,000,000 and to pay $20,000,000,000 a year more in fed¬ eral excise taxes. The industry claimed many sidelines such as Schenley Distillers Corp's. peni¬ cillin production.
I
E.
Meeting This Week; Government Reluctant, Cool to Chiang Regime
Washington. Dec. 4 (UP)—Mme. Chaing Kai-Shek will appeal per¬ sonally to President Truman early next week for all-out U. S. help in CThina's struggle against CTommun- ists.
Authoritative sources said today that a 'White House hearing for the Chinese generalissimo's wife would be arranged "within the next few days." Govenunent Reluctant
At her meeting with Mr. Truman, (ZSiina's first lady will try to over¬ come administration reluctance to pour any more money Into her homeland's civil war.
Informsmts doubted that Mme. CSiiang thus far has made any specific requests. She has talked Informally with Secretary of State George C. Marshall but it was be¬ lieved only to review CSiina's mili¬ tary and economic plight Cool to Regime
'While they are unwilling to send Mme. CThiang away completely empty-handed, Amerioan officials thus far have Indicated coolness toward the Nationalist government headed by (Chiang.
Mme. (5hiang conferred informal- (Contlnued on Page A-7)
Ozburn, blinded by cataracts over ihe developed an extreme sensitivity both eyes, first began to see again!to touch and sound, with his right eye three weeks ago. "I don't want to lose that ability," He refused a medical operation [ he said. "It's a different world but when he first became blind and jone which I know so well I would hasn't seen a doctor since. 'hate to lose it entirely."
"I  can't  explain  why  I  can  aee Recognizes Voices Best
*8;ain,"   he   said.  "1   can   Just  say •ts a miracle.'
After his Rip van Winkle absence from the world of sight, OSburn •*ld tWht he was startled to see bow people of all ages were dressed.
^n Today's Issue
I Kditorial    „	
OasKlfied   C—11
'^lovlei   ,.   o—10
f^bituary B—11
•^lo  O—10
^"'''¦l  C—1
"porta   — „  B_l
However, Ozburn has thrown away his cane, despite the warning of his wife that the return of sight might be temporary. He still recog¬ nizes friends principally by their voices.
"The/ve put on so much weight since the old ways," he said, "that I can't tell who they are except by their voices.'
The    first    definite    object    that Ozburn   saw   was   a   mustache one  of  his  customers,
Rioting Students Kill
VFW WILL PUSH UMT      ! ,.       %,.    ,    .       ^     .
AT SESSION OF CONGRESS Fofice Cfiief fii Coiro
from  the windows  and  showering
¦He jumped three feet when I told him he was wearing a cute one," Oziburn said.
Washington, Dec. 4 (UP)—'Veter¬ ans of Foreign Wars leaders today agreed to fire their biggest guns for universal military training during the next session of Ck)ngress.
Pasage of the Taft-Ellender- Wagner long-range housing bill will be their second most important objective.
Direct veterans' benefits were shoved down l>ie scale as the VFW national legislative committee drew up Its 1949 priority list.
C!ommittee Chairman J.  R. Kla-
on! wans of San Francisco said nation-
lal   security   will   be   VFW's   first
legislative objective, with UMT holding the top spot in tba fecurlty oategarjr.
Cairo, Dec. 4 (UP)—Police Com¬ mander Zelim Zaki Pasha was killed by a bomb today when week- long student demonstrations erupt- ed^nto bloody riots. It wm officially announced.
The violence involved students at the College of Medicine in the heart of Cairo, Fuad El Awal University in the populous suburb of Giza and at Ibrahimieh secondary school.
Zaki Pasha, first Egyptian police chief since Britain occupied Egypt
police with  stones.
He stepped out of his car just as a grenade, hurled by an un¬ identified student, exploded at head level. He died instantly.
Breaking into the building, police fought a room-to-room battle with the students, quelling resistance. Approximately 30 students were in¬ jured and 300 arrested.
Demonstrations   began  last  Sun-
In 1882,  habitually sped to trouble day   when   a   team   of   Egyptian
spots for on-the-spot investigations.!lawyers, on their way to Sudan to
His armored car drew up outside defend   Sudanese   accused   of   for
the College of Medicine where stu¬ dents had barricaded themselves inside,    ahoutins / hoakU*    •logaoa
menting trouble during recent elec¬ tions thers, was turned bacli Ay Sudanese autboritlea.
AFTER 3 MONTHS
Jurisdictional Row Settled Quickly; Endangered Settlement
San Francisco, Dec. 4 (UP)—A jurisdictional dispute that had de¬ layed a return to work in the Pacific coast maritime strike was cleared up tonight and West Coodt shipowners announced they expect to resume waterfront operations ofi Monday. I
Negotiators for the Sailors Un¬ ion of the Pacific (AFL) and the West CVjast shipowners jointly an¬ nounced after a bargaining session that they had nullified a settlement reached by five CIO and inde¬ pendent dock and seafaring union after  a   93-day  strike.
No  Infringement
Federal conciliator Omar Hos- kins announced that the sailors union had been informed that the new longshoremen's contract that ended the dockslde phase of the walkout in no way infringed on the sailors' traditional rights to do stevedore work in small ports of the Alaskan  trade.
It was SUP C3iief Harry Lunde- berg's adamant stand on retention of that traditional right that bad blacked an immediate end to the costly tie-up even after the long¬ shoremen, engineers, cooks and stewards, radio operators and fire¬ men reached accord and called off the strike yesterday at noon.
Sixteen thousand AFL sailors kept the ports from the Cmadian to the Mexican borders tied up as their negotiators worked. Their squabble was not a strike. But it was the sole obstacle barring re¬ sumption of the coast's shipping trade after titm long abutdown.
Valley Scene
Driver of ancient jaloppy, stopping in middle of ttreet to retrieve parking ticket he had just collected and which had blown off his windshield, getting another ticket for blocking Public Square traffic.
Sign in window of central city grocery store: "We Sell Groceries."
Six-year-old stopping Mal¬ lery bus with yowls that "Grandmother got off at Y.MCA without me," after which — and after being de¬ posited on curb — the drivrr convulsed all passengtrs with observation: "What a hell of a grandrdother."
Huai River Front Moving Westward; Million Engaged
Nanking, China, Sunday, Dee. B. (UP)—<:?ommunist armies were re¬ ported falling back under heavy attack all along the Huai River front above threatened Nanking and Shanghai today, but the Reds claimed to have encircled 104,000 Nationalist troops farther north- Nanking's new military com¬ mander, meantime, took drastic steps to halt the flight of essential offlcials from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek's imperilled capital. The cabinet supported him by ordering a 400 per cent increase In railway fares for unofficial refugees.
A national defense ministry com¬ munique said 10 Communist col¬ umns—roughly 100,000 men—were withdrawing northwestward from the rail hub of Pengpu, 100 miles north of Nanking, under heavy pressure from reinforced National¬ ist forces.
The (Communist radio in north Shensi claimed CJommunist armies have trapped 104,000 Nationalist troops under (Jen. Haung Wel In a tightening ring southeast «f Suchow,
Three Natioaalist army groups driving south from abandoned Su¬ chow in an attempt to rescue Huang Wei ran into "stone-wall resistance" along a 60-mile front, the broadcast said. The relief col¬ umns finally gave up the attempt after five days of heavy fighting and abandoned the trapped forces to  their  fate,  it said.
Gen. Tang En-Po, who took com¬ mand here yesterday, ordered a 24-hour ban on all travel from the city and imposed sharp restrictions on all future withdrawal*. Raps Fleeing Officials
Tang .sharply criticized legisla¬ tor* and other key officials for fleeing the capital. Parliament was forced to adjourn a scheduled ses¬ sion yesterday for lack of s quorum.
Meanwhile, reports from north CThina said hat a major battle ap¬ peared to be developing around the city of Kalgan, in the shadow of tfte Great Wall of China.
Four army groups—100,000 men- were reported massing In the northwest border area to follow up a reported government victory south of Kalgan. Yangtze 'Valley at Stake
Nearly 900,000 men were reported fighting the crucial Huai River battle, which may decide the fate of Nanking and the whole Yangtze River valley.
Ten   Nationalist   army   groups— (Continued on Page A-7)
METHODIST BISHOPS REFUTE CHARGE OF RED INFLUENCE
New York, Dec. 4. (UP)—Tho (!!ounciI of Bishops of the Metho¬ dist CSiurch charged today that the House committee on un-American activities has falsely created the Impression that the churches have been infiltrated by Communists and that church leaders are fol¬ lowing the  party line.
The council, consisting of 82 bishops of some of the nation's largest cities, represents 40,321 churches with 9,089,943 members In the United States, It said it was speaking also for the millions of members of other Protestant faiths.
"The incompetency of the Inves¬ tigators is revealed in the refer¬ ence to 'The Epworth League,' which has not been In existence during the last nine years," the bishops said. "... but the re¬ port of the un-American activities committee affirms the (Communists have dug into the Epworth League and are  'at it  today.'"
Movie Mogul Louis B. Mayer, 62, Elopes with a Beautiful Widow
Hollywood, Dec. 4. (UP)—Metro- CJoldwyn - Mayer chief Louis B. Mayer and an ex-movie chorus girl ducked out of town today, got married and were honeymooning in Palm Springs. The law gave them extra-special .treatment so they could have a private wedding.
Mayer, a gremdpa at 63, eloped to Yuma, Ariz., with fortyish Mrs. Lorena Danker, beautiful widow of a friend of his, who used to dance in  film musicals of the 1930's.
The Russian-born ex-junkman, who became boss of Hollywood's biggest film factory and drew the nation's biggest salary, got super- colossal secrecy throughout the proceedings. His press afeent drove off photographers, his private MGM police chief fended off re¬ porters with the help of the local sheriff, and the sheriff himself chauffered the movie baron around town. Regular  Cavalcade
'The couple arrived in Yuma early today, trailed by a junior- grade motortade of hcr 11-year-old daughter, his head pres.s agent and the head man of his private police foroA.   Tbe   wedding    party    had
I holed up into an auto court till I dawn, and then the press agent called on Sheriff J. A. Beard. I He obligingly cruised the bride and multi-millionaire bridegroom ; around in his car to keep away I nosey reporters, who'd got wind of jthe event. One newsman reported ja deputy threatened photographers I who tried to take pictures. j At a drive-in restaurant. Court Clerk Willard Daniel scribbled out the marriage license in the back seat of the sheriff's car. Then they all sped to the combination sher- !iff's office-jail a block away where I Justice of the Peace B. E. LutM 'rattled off the ceremony In two 'minutes flat. The couple got out of the car for the ceremony. I The hatless bride had a fur coat draped over her tailored suit and Mayer, who paid $3,250,000 tn di¬ vorcing hia last wife, wore a dark iblue suit. ' Lot of Dashing About
The movie mogul kissed his bride and they dashed out a back door with the sheriff. The wedding wit¬ nesses, press agent Howard Strick> ling and MGM head cop 'Whit«|; i (Continued on Pe«« A-t)
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