The Daily Independent from Murphysboro, Illinois • Page 1

Vol. 253 Murphysboro, Illinois Serving the Jackson County Market Area Monday, April 7, 1947 5 Cents Per Copy NO SIGNS PHONE SETTLEMENT "Safety Strike" Hits Truax-Traer Strip Busy, But Slope Idle; New Kathleen Running See Murder Suspect as About 125 miners reported for work this morning at Burning- Star strip in northwest Jackson county, but the 225 diggers in the slopes stayed away. Company officials said they, presumed the slope miners would re- main above ground until some new move is made to break the stale-! mate occasioned by John L. Lewis' demand that the government keep the mines closed until they were inspected and found safe by Federal examiners. Truax-Traer reported earlier last week that It was ready to begin op- orations on a full scale today.

This announcement came late Thursday after Secretary of Interior Krug ordered 51S mines (the Burning Star among them) closed until Kititon pronounced them IfK'fe. T.ni- ax-Traer placed its approval the slope there, but Lewis on Sat-j The staring eyes of George (Bud) Gollum may have so hypnotized urday issued his demand for a Fed-! stolid, apathetic lieulah Louise Overell that she still cral inspection. jhis Svengali-likc domination, say Santa Ana, The "We can maintain our production pre-nncllcal student and his 17-year-old sweetheart are held, in the al- raffc for a short time," a Truax- I CKU( time bomb yacht explosion murder of the, girl's par.ents. Examiii- Travr official said, "but when our nK physicians report her in a hypnotic monomania condition, apparently Government Is Apparently Stomped By Continued Walkout stockpiles are exhausted we will slump unless the slopes are manned." New Kathleen Operates The new Kathleen mine just over the north Jackson county line in Perry county was one of the few UMW mines in the nation which was operating a full strength today. Dudley Sanford.

fixccutlvc assistant oC the Union Electric Co. Of. 1 operates the mine, had announced previously that, the mine would and on Saturday it was an- inducod by Gollum prior to the tragedy. Dowel! Man Is Boomed As Medill's Successor WASHINGTON, April 7 majority of the United Mine Workers' 400,000 members in the nation's soft coal fields began a "safety strike" today. -It caused' the steel industry to curtail operations slightly and the Pennsylvania railroad laid off 1,500 employe's.

John L. Lewis, the mine workers' chieftain' who is under court injunction not to strike against the federally-operated coal mines, appeared to have done just that without formally ordering a And the government seemed to.be stumped as to what to do about it. Most of the soft coal districts reported that the MW members were extending last week's "memorial" shutdown into a safety walkout. .7 They were'' obeying the implicit wishes of Lewis who demanded that LOCAL SERVICE MAINTAINED BY ICT EMPLOYES Fire Cuts Down Wires In Benton; Toll Calls Re-Routed ''I'm sorry, but we cannot complete your call because it involves, company Tvhere there is a work stoppage." Those, were the words which Jackson county long distance telephone users encountered this morning when they tried to reach communities outside the boundaries of the Illinois Commercial Telephone Company. However, telephone users seeking connections throughout most of -Egypt this morning found swift response, and experienced little trouble in placing calls.

F. Misselhorn, of Area Supervisor of the Illinois Commercial said this morning that there is little danger a work stoppage in the local telephone office. He said that the Illinois Commercial company em- the government keep the 2,500 soft jployes on a. bargaining Anticipate Strike With a nation-wide telephone scheduled for Monday, these-Chicago union members had their signs prepared for From left they are Margaret Clifford. Joaa O'Hanolon, and Mary Ninaber.

(NBA Teleplioto) 325,000 STRIKE IN SUPPORTING WAGE DEMANDS Emergency Calls Handled By Supervisory Staffs Where Possible to Mix. Burglar Gets Easter Candy, Misses $800 A burglar at the Paul bar home in Mt. Carbon munched Raster egg candy and turned pockets wrong side out in a closet in a vacant room adjoining the owner's quarters, but failed to get his rull of $800 in greenbacks under his pillow Saturday night. Deputy Sheriff "Smack" Wright investigated the case ami traced the intruder from the house to the roadway. He said he wore No, 10 slices.

The fact that good clothing and shoes were not taken from the closet caused Wright to believe, he said, that the intruder knew Crombar had considerable money in the house, arid was after that. What saved the owner, Deputy Wright said, was a sturdy door between the va- ciunt room and the room in which Crombar was sleeping, which was latched on the inside. The burglar used a pair of pliers he took from a tool house to gain entrance an outer door, and to try to open the inner Uoor, where lie failed. HINTS SCHOOLS SURVEY COMING UP ONCE MORE Robert Cruse, who lives at Dow.ell a restaurant vllle, is being 'boomed' for -State Director of Miues and Mincrals-in petitions being circulated among United Mine Workers in the Egypt coal fields. The completed, petitions are to be forwarded to Governor Dwight I Green, asking that the governor name to succeed Robert Medill who resigned the job'under fire after the Centralia No, 5 mine blast in which 111 men Cruse is a coal field veteran.

For 11 years he was mine manager at Old Kathleen at Dowell. Altogether 1 he has had 45 years of experience in Egypt mines, more than 3G them as mine manager or superintendent. six years before he became mine manager at Old Kathleen he was mine foreman there. Prior to his affiliation with the iUtoion Colliery Cruse was employed at Hurst-Bush and Cambria. He is a life-long Republican.

District UMW officials in Du Quoin said the circulation of the coal mines closed-until they are reexamined by federal inspectors and found safe. That; request the government firmly rejected as "arbitrary." That put the next move up to the mine leader. And Lewis, by doing nothing, had in effect achieved a strike. Few Mines Operate There were mines operating some states, particularly-Alabama, Kansas and Missouri. But most mines were idle the great coal producing areas oC West Virginia, Kentucky, 'Ohio The Interior Department, Lewis' adversary in the safety controversy, was finding it difficult to check the situation in the coal fields because of another telephone walkout.

Jackson County Superintendent i of Schools Lee Nebughr was host today beginning at 10 a. in. to superintendents of-the 11 counties farthest south in Illinois at their regular monthly block meeting. Educators mot at the court house. The purpose of such meetings, Superintendent Nebughr explained, is for- general discussion of school problems and reorganization.

Each superintendent is assigned one of the monthly meetings each year. The official remarked that it looked very much as if those few counties in the state that turned down a rural school consolidation survey last year would have vote on the issue through an act of the legislature later this year. Jackson county was among those which rejected the proposed statc-linanced survey. William Carruthers, Murphysboro city schools superintendent, addressed the meeting this The afternoon speaker-was Stclle W. Cracff, state supervisor of the hot lunch program in the schools.

Counties and their superintendents called to today's block conference were: Alexander, Lawrence E. Hincklc; Galhitin, Horace G. Brown; Harnin, Clyde L. Flynn; Johnson, Lloyd B. to heavy rains at hand, St.

Robertson; Massac. Louis W. OU district office of the Army Smith, block chairman; Pope. Howard Wright; Pulaski, M. E.

Hunt; Saline, Kenneth L. Davis; Union, Russell D. Rcndlcman; William- petitions is not sponsored by tbe UMW office. They said the move indicated general widespread high regard for Cruse's ability. "He's a mine man, all right," one official said.

By United Press Well over half of Illinois' coal production remained cut off today as AFLJUlnited Mine Workers members stayed out of most mines pending government safety inspection. The 31 shaft mines and one slope mine included in the membership of the Illinois Coal operators Association were not working, according to George Campbell, Chicago, Association These mines account for about 45 per cent of soft coal production in Illinois. The coal mines administration office at Springfield estimated that more than 90 per cent- of the 88 government-seized mines in Illinois were idle, but. added that it had been unable to make anything like plan with company officials and that "at the present time, working relationships were in excellent Misselhorn said that service was to most of the larger towns in Egypt, such as Harrisburg in the East, Anna in the South, and Olney and Flora in the north. Emergency Calls Calls to other points, such as Centralia, St.

Louis and Chicago, were being accepted by. local operators only in emergency cases. It had not been definitely established barTy" today what'constituted-', an emergency situation, but-Misselhorn said that "the usual rules would apply." Reports from the Murphysboro office indicated that subscribers were aware of the situation and were not plaquing the operators with non-essential calls. Lady Luck took a hand in the Russia Wants To Begin Junking Arms, Armies LAKE SUCCESS, N. Y.i April Russia challenged the world today to start junking arms and armies without waiting for the controls and safeguards demanded by the United "States and Britain.

Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko told the United Nations Conventional Armaments Commission that begin quickly to wipe out "the mutual suspicion and lack of confidence i that exists between countries." I In a major speech which leashed KH I I lIV sharply with Anglo-American views, i It ft, Li Lt 1 VAi Gromyko.said it would be harmful to. wait for the three guarantees which the western countries say must be provided These are: (1) World-atomic'en-1 ergy control machinery, (2) forma-1 lion of the UN's world peace force $100,000 BLAZE BUSINESS AREA and, (3) development ot strict controls and safeguards to assure honest, world disarmament. Opposes Delay Gromyko made clear that Russia believes in the need for some form ENGINEERS ON ALERT AS HIGH With the spring flood season due son. C. McKir.ney.

Clear and cool tonight, Tuesday increasing cloudiness and warmer. Driver Unhurt As Big Tractor Takes A Spill COOL DEATHS Mrs. E. J. Banister, 62, died at her home on N.

Fifteenth St. this morning after an illness of about 18 months. Mrs. Mattic Stomer, 68, died this morning at the of her daughter in Chicago. BIRTHS WEISS Daughter born to Mr.

and Mrs. Ronald Weiss, Murphysboro, April 4 at 6:39 a. m. in St. Andrew's Hospital.

The baby weighed 6 2 ounces. The Pocahoutas, 111., driver ot a six-wlu-clcr tractor-trailer out ot Grccuvillc. escaped without a scratch Saturday afternoon when he was forced to take to the ditch on State Highway Route lo on the curve just west of the Henninger farm between Murphysboro and Carboudale to escape crashing with a Sludebakcr pleasure car parked on the slab, or an oncoming car from the cast. The heavy transport mired iuthe soft earth and settled on Us side. Its cargo was yellow corn.

None of the com was lost. Word to Sheriff D. L. McGregor from the highway police patrol was that two men in the Studcbaker may huvu been reading buok. Corps of Engineers has laid plans for the annual battle against high water.

Liaison has been established with the Coast Guard, Red Cross and related sector officers by correspondence mailed to 300 persons and organizations. Army engineers'went into action coincident with a St. Louis Weather Bureau report timed at 7 a. m. Sunday morning, predicting a rise of 10 feet within the ensuing 4S hours in the Mississippi river at St.

Louis, and the run-off from the Illinois River Valley expected to continue for several days. Major flood threat, remote at a complete check. PMW Mines Busy All major mines manned by members of the Independent Progressive Mine Workers of America were working. The PMW has about .0,500 presently working, members in Illinois. They account for less 25 per cent of the state's coal production.

-Hugh White, president of UMW District 12, said he had been.im- (Turn to page six, please) ALEX KENT WILL SPEAK AT ZOJffi LIONS' DINNER IN CARBONDALE HOTE strike proceedings when a lumber of intel national supervision of dis yard n'ro in Benton seriously dam- I ai mament Buj he ins that aged lines the Illinois Commercial company in that area. A company official said that workmen were working on the wires even before tbe fire was extinguished, in an effort to restore as much service as possible. Instead of the expected flood of messages to the Western Union the UN must not "prolong the prep- (Tui'iv to page six, please) Murphysboro Lions will gather tomorrow at 6:15 p. m. at the Morgan-Jewell Motor -Co.

to attend the zone meeting at the Hotel Roberts in Carbondalc. The program will be under the direction of the Carbondale Lions' Club and will begin at 7:00 p. m. Zone Chairman Alex Kent of Murphysboro will give the principal Aiming his talk at the treatment of new members in the organization, Lion Kent will call oil the old members, to take an active interest in new Lions, to keep them interested in the Club. Member clubs in the local zone the week-end, was possible in event mc i Murphysboro.

Carboudale, Ava, Elkvlle and Cobdcn. Deputy District Governor Lester Jones, Herrin, will discuss the Lions' State Convention to be held in Springfield on May IS, 10, and, 20. Lion Jones will also discuss the International Convention to be of continued heavy rains in the valleys north and northwest. St. Louis flood stage is SO feet and the river was expected to reach ol or 31.5 there in'its preliminary crest night.

Flood'stage at Chester, the guago Jackson-Randolph county valley farmers watch most, is 27 feet, Flood Stages Expected. The Hood-is running this spring (Turu to -tli', please) held in San Francisco, July 2S to 31. The Rev. W. J.

Secretary Lions' Club, will give a Lionisni, 6000 MEET ON BALD KNOB FOR SUNRISERITES ALTO PASS, April An estimated 6000 persons attended the Bald, Knob Easter Sunrise Service Sunday morning, according to Wayman Presley, Makanda postmaster and one of the originators of the Egypt observance. The throngs oE worshippers who attended yesterday's tenth annual rites made up the second largest crowd 'since 1941, when blooming blossoms and warm weather combined to attract 4600 automobiles along the scenic drive to the second highest peak in the state. At the pre-Easter banquet Saturday- night in Giant City Park Lodge, Dr. Carl Bracey, president of McKondree College at Lebanon, 111., and Henri Rush, architect, spoke to a capacity group. Alderman Vernon Riehl of St.

Louis also spoke briefly and read a from Mayor Kauffman of St. Louis, endorsing the plan for erection of a mammoth cross on the high hill. The architect, born in South Africa and sent here to design his country's buildings at the St. Louis World's Fair, gave a. complete description of his plans.

Some of the hitherto unpublicized plans include: Cost of the 150-foot concrete cross would be $140,000, not including an elevator. A 250-mile panorama would bo visible from the top of the cross. On its roof and arms would be powerful lights lor guidance of airplane pilots. Reflected Lighting Vari-colored electric set in could -be made to aration and implementation" of actual measures for paring, national armed-strength. The said, should do "everything in its power" work out immediate means for guaranteeing that the disarmament measure are carried out fiy everyone, but this should not be used for "excuses" to delay.

He foresaw "difficulties" for the UN's disarmament negotiators but said it was their duty to find a way to overcome them. BENTON, April A spectacular $100,000 fire raged in the downtown district here for more than two hours this morning, burning through telephone cables and sending clouds of smoke high in the The blaze broke out in the McCreery lumber yards and spread quickly to other business houses in the immediate area. Included in-the total loss were fire and water damage to the Webster school the Southern Illinois hatchery, and several other nearby structures. company officials ex- pected'to have normal seryice restored by tonight. During the day, long distance calls were routed through Christopher and Du Quoin.

LUCAS CONGRATULATES NEW EGYPT PUBLISHERS, POINTS TO ADVANTAGES HEAVY DAMAGE INFLICTED BY SATURDAY WIND WASHINGTON. April 7 (UP) Some 325,000 telephone workers struck today in an unprecedented coast-to- coast walkout which disrupted. normal long distance and local non-dial telephone service in all but scattered parts of the country. With President Truman "watching," federal conciliators tried desperately to end the walkout. But.

there were no signs of a settlement on the horizon. Hours after the walkout began, Department of Labor conciliators kept up their non-stop efforts for a settlement. Assistant Secretary of Labor John W. Gibson and conciliation Director Edgar L. Warren joined- conferences between the union and the American Telephone and Telegraph Co.

These were the groups which found the pattern, last year to avert a strike. The labor department also instructed conciliators throughout the country to convene conferences of local unions and companies. The countrywide strike, first in the nation's history, started at Sa, in. in the various time zones. Dial telephone service, newspaper teletypes, and major radio network wire communications were not affected.

Management supervisors everywhere tried to handle as "emergency" calls as possible. States Bicape Tlie strike affected most of the states. Some, however, escaped. Local service was maintained in the six New England states because workers belonged to a. union not affiliated with the NFTW, which called the walkout.

In Indiana and Virginia, state laws blocked the strike. And in Montana there was no disruption of service because telephone workers there are unorganized. Many telephone workers in upper New York state ignored the strike call, and the walkout made little headway in Pennsylvania, The issue was the union's demand for a S12 weekly wage increase and other contract improvements. Conciliators hoped A. T.

T. and its long distance workers could get together on some formula for resuming- service. It was these groups that produced a pattern last year which averted a scheduled countrywide strike minutes before the WASHINGTON, April Scott W. Lucas today sent'liis congratulations to Southern Illinois Publications upon their assumption of management of the Murphysboro Independent, Carboudale Free Press and the Herrin Daily Journal. "I am pleased to learn of 1his progress step in behalf of Southern Illinois." said Mr.

Lucas. "The policy ot the new owners to report the facts as you find them, and youi high integrity of editorial policy proved through years, is in keeping the best newspaper ethics. "Southern Illinois, through these three newspapers is bound to receive an improved service which will satisfy their readers. "I think these papers are most fortunate to obtain the advantages Southern Illinois Publications can bring them, including an indepen dent Washington news report. This Washington service interprets national and international affairs as they affect Illinois.

You will get something you haven't had before." (Turn to six, please:) Police Ticket Seven Cars During Week End Seven cars were ticketed in Murphysboro over the week-end, in biggest recent haul of drivers violating the traffic rules. Offenses were running boulevard stops, blocking driveways, parkins on the wrong side of streets and zones, Eacli arrested driver paid costs of in. the court ot Magistrate George picture In Illinois CHICAGO, April All telephone service for 500,752 subscribers in 141 Illinois towns was halted today as 20,000 union em- ployes of the Illinois Bell Telephone Company struck for higher wages and improved working conditions. Subscribers in all cities the state were prevented from making or receiving long distance or toll (Turn to page six. please) Wire Briefs 4 NEWARK, N.

April Reynolds, millionaire pen manufacturer, again postponed today the start of his 20,000 mile around-thc-world airplane flight. Saturday's windstorm left- damage in the city and county expected to total thousands The worst damage reported in the city was at the three-story plant of the Brown Co. on S. Nineteenth St. Here the wind stripped off a section of roofing by 70 feet in the south wing and a deluge ot rain that followed swept through the three floors of the exposed section.

Plant'Superintendent Glenn Myers said the damage was not "too great" and complimented the watchman and plant engineers for keeping it within bounds and ex- pediting repair. Workers said the damage was two to three hundred i dollars. Workers, particularly in the third floor, which was wrecked by the 1025 tornado, frightened as a tremor passed through the building and daylight showed above their heads. Workers below wondered what had happened above. Only a skeleton force was on the job, it being the dinner hour.

the Henry Borgsmiller building at Thirteenth and Rover Sts. the wind stripped off a large section of comparatively new roofing on the south side of the big two- story brick structure and a deluge of rain got through. MOSCOW, April Rus- Mr. Borssmillcr said today sia jusisted today that Austria be it so happened that no perishable 1 cqu i I ed to ay ie Allies for all services and supplies delivered during the occupation, even including LLANDUDKO, WALES, April 7 Cooperative Party which customarily reflects non- trade union rank and file sentiment in the British Labor Party today approved a resolution, condemning President Truman's stop-Communism program as "a menace to world peace." WASHINGTON, April Robert A. Taft today presented to his Senate Labor committee a sweeping labor reform bill which would outlaw the -closed shop, but permit industrywide bargaining.

merchandise was stored under the damaged buildin section. The structure is used for warehouse purposes by Montgomery Ward. 0 ntra ot0 1 Ca ottc 91. forces-and used to" feed-other Aus- triaus. such items as the Austrians' owu foodstuffs taken by the occupation "(Taru -to page six, pleate).