The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 1

A A MEAT PISH STORY Clwftd Monday Oldest Newspaper, Established in 1842, Dedieated To The Growth and el Galveston and All ef Galvesten Gaunty Vol. 133, No, 243 Member, United Press International Qalvestofi, Texas, Sunday Morning, December 9,1973 The Only 7-Day Paper ISe Dally, 25c Sunday Net Worth Triples Over Years Nixon Issues Detailed Accounting Of Finances WASHINGTON (UP1) Seeking to refute allegations he, profited illegally from his' office, President Nixon Saturday issued a financial account- 'Ing showing his net worth tripled over SVi years, making him a millionaire, And he has paid a smaller percentage of his income in federal per that period than would a family of four with an income of $8,000. That results chiefly from a huge writeoff for contributing his vice presidential papers to the National Archives. accounting also showed' he has paid no state income taxes since assuming office. Both the President and a team of tax attorneys asserted all his transactions were legal.

But to eliminate any lingering public doubt, Nixon asked a joint committee of the Democratic-controlled Congress to examine the transactions and vouch for their legitimacy. "I will abide by the committee's judgment," Nixon said. If the committee rules against him on the gift of his papers, and disallows an opinion by his attorneys that he does not have to pay taxes on the sale of some California property, Nixon could be liable for more than $300,000 in back taxes and interest. And, although the statute of limitations has run out on his Text Of President's Statement, Page IDA 1969 deductions and he could not be required to pay for that year, his spokesman, Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler, said Nixon would do so anyway if the decision went against him.

The documentation, thick as a Russian novel, took a staff of a dozen attorneys and accountants more than three weeks to assemble. Nixon called It the most complete accounting of personal finances ever provided by a president. It represented a major effort to refute widespread charges of personal wrongdoing that have crept into public print. A White House spokesman said the documentation will be followed by other similar "white papers" dealing with Watergate and related matters. The documents, authenticated by an exhaustive $25,000 audit conducted at Nixon's expense by the New York firm of Coopers Lybrand, showed that on Jan.

1, weeks before he became was worth $307,141. As of May 31 his net worth was $988,522 and by now, his accountants said, he Is a millionaire. To do this on an annual salary of $200,000 plus $50,000 In expenses, the documents showed the President: some enormously successful real estate deals. heavily from friends, but paid them the going interest rate. through a con- Sec NIXON, Page 6A Fitzsimmons Makes Plea Trucker Group Defiant WORK ON Galveston main sewer plant'-Is progressing and expected completed in early spring.

Expansion of the plant is from a daily capacity of 6.4 million gallons, a day to 10 million -gallons per day. The project was undertaken by order of the Texas Water Quality Board. Estimated cost of the project is $2.2 million with local, state and federal funds involved. (Staff Photo By Rene Perez) Briscoe School Cutback Authority Is Challenged AUSTIN (UPI) Gov. Dolph Briscoe has no more authority to make Texas schools let classes out early than he did to reduce highway speed limits for energy conservation, Sen.

Ron Clower, D-Garland, said Saturday. Clower said it would be illegal for Texas schools to let children but an hour early as Briscoe requested Nov. 28 as part of a 90-day program to reduce fuel consumption. The Garland senator said state statutes also would prohibit schools from cutting classes from five to four days a week a plan under consideration in some areas, "1 really don't quarrel with the idea of what they're trying to do," Clower said, "What I quarrel with is the seeming disregard for the legislative process," Clower said Briscoe should call a special legislative session to consider proposals such as cutting back school operations and reducing high speed limits. Briscoe on Nov.

28 asked the State Highway Commission to cut speed limits on its own authority and urged schools to end classes at 2:30 p.m. in January, February and March as one of the "minimum steps" he recommended for energy conservation. Clower said state statutes, however, stipulate school days are to be seven hours long, including lunch and recess, and require five-day weeks for public education facilities. Those requirements cannot be changed without legislative action, he said. "That's not the prerogative of any governmental agency," Clower said.

Attorney General John L. Hill last week sidetracked Briscoe's plan to reduce highway speed limits to 55 miles per hour without calling legislative session. Hill said the State Highway Commission had no authority to reduce speed limits statewide See BRISCOE, Page 6A WASHINGTON (UPI) Teamsters President Frank E. Fitzsimmons concluded a meeting with President Nixon Saturday by asking the nation's truckers to abandon their protest of fuel shortages. But a dissident group of drivers promised to press ahead with plans for a two day work stoppage.

Fitzsimmons, Nixon's strongest ally in the labor movement leadership, met with the President for 50 minutes in the Oval Office and then conferred for about one hour, 45 minutes with chief energy official William E. Simon. He said the discussions hinged on the truckers' request that highway speed limits, which have been reduced to save fuel, be restored to 60 m.p.h. and that strict controls be placed on the rising cost of gasoline and diesel fuel. He added he was confident the President would give "due consideration" to the truckers' needs, "I urge truck drivers everywhere to exercise patience and discipline while the issue is being resolved," Fitzsimmons told reporters after the White House session.

"I do not condone blockages or nationwide strikes." Mike Parkhurst, editor of an industry publication, "Over- drive," meanwhile declared at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol that as many as 100,000 drivers would join in a two day shutdown Thursday and' Friday. "Neither Frank Fitzsimmons nor President Nixon has the influence or the power or the respect to stop the shutdown," Parkhurst said. "Frank Fitzsimmons has tried to manipulate the press into thinking or reporting that the two day shutdown would be averted." Fitzsimmons, who met with reporters at the White House along with Simon, indicated that both his members and the Independent drivers would hold off their threatened shutdown. "Teamster members and all truck drivers are loyal Americans first and truck drivers second," he said. "I faithfully promise that we will promptly take action against those who are exploiting the current fuel shortage," Simon said.

Both Fitzsimmons and Simon, who has been named to head the new Federal Energy Administration, left the clear impression that no final decision had been made on the speed limit issue. Nixon has asked Congress for legislation creating a 55 m.p.h. speed limit for trucks and a 50 m.p.h. limit for cars. Referring to the price problem, Simon said he and his staff were investigating the possibility of providing additional gasoline and diesel fuel for truckers and added that the Internal Revenue Service was trying to find and correct any evidence of retail price gouging.

"I need the help of the truckers, the people who are out on the highways if they could call and identify any abuse of this pricing mechanism, we'd like to know about it so we could help," Simon said. Fitzsimmons said his union never advocated blockades of major highways set up by many independent drivers last week. Simon added that he "agreed very strongly that any action which would obstruct our high- Egyptians Pound Weather GALVESTON AREA FORECAST Increasing cloudiness and warmer today. Clearing and cooler tonight and Monday, High today mid 60s, low tonight near 40, high Monday low 50s, BOATING AND RECREATION Southeast winds 8 to 14 mph becoming southerly 12 to 18 rnph today and shifting to northerly 18 to 25 mph and gusty tonight and Monday. Bay waters slightly choppy becoming choppy today and rough tonight and Monday, Offshore wave heights 4 to 6 feel Increasing to 6 to 8 feet tonight and Monday.

BEACH WATER TEMPERATURE 60 degrees. FISHING Spotty. By United Press International Egyptian artillery hammered Israeli positions along the West Bank of the Suez Canal Saturday, wounding 10 Israelis soldiers, a Tel Aviv command spokesman said. Small arms activity was reported on both sides of the canal. In Israeli-occupied Jordan, an Israeli military governor was wounded by a terrorist's grenade in the city of Nablus.

The Israeli casualties were a record toll for a single day during the Middle East cease- fire. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger arrived in Brussels NATO talks, a prelude to his trip to Middle East. In Tel Aviv, the military command said the Egyptian artillery on the West Bank of the canal opened at a position southeast of Nafisha, in the Ismailia district of the canal. Israeli artillery returned the fire, the command said.

The command said elements of the Egyptian 3rd Army, using small arms, opened fire seven times on Israeli positions on both sides of the canal. There were no reports of casualties. Saturday's incidents brought to 32 the number of frontline wounded reported by Israel since the cease-fire began Oct. 24. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to command reports.

In Cairo, Egypt announced it would attend the forthcoming Arab-Israeli Middle East peace conference in Geneva, Dec. 18. However, Egypt warned it was remaining in a state of "total As doubts about Egyptian participation in the peace conference ended, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger left for Europe and Middle East capitals, where he will try to lay the groundwork for the historic talks. In Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan met with Vice President Gerald R.

Ford for 50 minutes. A spokesman for Ford said that Dayan "expressed ap- preciation to the United States for the rapid replacement of equipment that saved Israel from greater losses" in the war and that Ford "reaffirmed" American support for Israel. An Israeli army spokesman said Col. Eliezer Segev, the military governor of Nablus, the largest Arab city on the Israeli-occupied west bank of the Jordan River, was wounded along with a soldier in a grenade attack on their car Saturday. The city was sealed off and a curfew imposed.

Egyptian Deputy Premier Mohammed Abdel Kader Hatem told the parliament Saturday, "we are getting ready to participate in the forthcoming peace conference in Geneva." He warned at the same time, "we shall not accept that this conference be used as a means of delaying the implementation of international resolutions or to take the situation back to where it was frozen before Oct. 6," the date the fourth Arab- Israeli war began. ways really should be avoided at all costs and we strongly urge this." But Fitzsimmons declined to say what position the Teamsters would take next week if new blockades were erected. "A blockage is something you deal with whenever you meet it," he said. "Rest assured we do not condone it as Teamsters, but we'll have to deal with it if and when it happens." Fitzsimmons, who said the Teamsters would "abide by whatever solutions" are reached in negotiations with the administration, was credited by the President for bringing and end to last week's road blockades.

Hitchcock Parade Saturday The annual Hitchcock Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. The parade will start at Jordan Drive and Highway 6 and proceed west down Highway 6 to Farm Market Road 2004. Entries should assemble on Jordan Drive. Marvin Zindler, Channel 13 newsman, will be the parade marshal and the judges' stand will be located at the First State Bank of Hitchcock. The judges will be Ms.

Mae Bruce of Bruce Realty of Alta Loma; Ms. Cathy Gillentine of the La Marque Times; and John Ballone of the Daily Sun. Cash prizes will be awarded for the best decorated float, bicycle, riding lawnmower, and horse and rider. Following the parade, Santa Claus will meet with children in front of the judges' stand. For more information about entering the parade, contact John R.

Gardner at 986 5248 or 986 6541 Ext. 291, or Jim Reitmeyer at 98fi 5915. Affable BUDDY TUCKER, who halls from Nacogdoches, will be the new food services manager at the Galvez Hotel. He's tall, handsome and blond, and girls, here's a tip he's single and has a lot of personality UTA NILLEN has her students all ready to entertain the residents of the Moody House this afternoon And just wish you'd take a good look at that pretty MRS. T.

URINKHAUS hurrying about spreading Christmas cheer. It's mighty easy to figure out where her daughter, WILLIE MAE (MRS. WALLACE) COFFMAN gets that million dollar personality UNUA WESTERtAGE has been bestowed with the most impressive title you can imagine. It's better than Your Royal Majesty or the first woman president of the United It's San Antonio's gain but Galveston's loss civic minded SJSEET WALTON is moving there to take over the management of the historic Menger Hotel And for real family entertainment, the kids will love "The Nutcracker" at Ball High School at 3Q P-" 1 toJay- Price of admission is dwjlar, and tickets csn be bought at the door. The ballet is being by the Ballet Theater on tbs lay NlNXjJJlAM, $on of UK.

and MKo. PAUL explains IJbaite8ftd big sister, both go, to Trinity School. He's in the first grade here but she is a freshman at Trinity in San HUNTER GORDON is doing just the greatest at John Sealy after major surgery MRS. GRACE FOSTER of Houston has been here visiting with friends. She used to teach the kindergarten class at Trinity.

VERNON WEDDLE, a Texas City high graduate and now a professional actor, will be seen as Dr. Glover on the Perry Mason TV program this evening. He is the son of MR- and MRS. V. M.

WEDDLE of Texas City Celebrating a wedding anniversary are MR. MRS. PERCY GILES, DEBRA JONAS McCLAIN, MR. MRS. LLOYD E.

QEHLERT Birthday kids are MRS. AGNES BELLE OAKLEY, CHARLOTTE MILBURN, WILUAM EARL BROCK JR. of La Marque, DARREN ALLEN, ELAINE CLARK. FRED JUNEMANN of La Marque, JACQUELINE BANKS. CHARLES SCHAUB, DANA LYNN WILSON, REV.

MRS. PEARL FOSTER. SAMMIE SIMMONS, PHYLLIS SHACKLES, ALMA SANTOS, GERRY SMITH. TERRY SCOTT, ANN FLOJBES. WILLIE MAJUUNE, SCOTT.

RODERICK ROCHON SMITH, DAREN ALLEN, WANDA LU WHITE. OKA LEE CARTER of Texas City, PALE TURNER, KATMY CHUMLEY of La Marque By TERRY Galveston Mentioned In Space Gyro Falters, Recovers HOUSTON (UPI) One of Skylab's last two working gyroscopes faltered again momentarily Saturday, but flight controllers said the vital device that keeps the spaceship on course recovered with no ill effects. Skylab 3 crewmen Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson and William R.

Pogue, uninhibited by the minor problem, photographed Comet Kohoutek out of a space station window and were twisting the lab out of its normal position in orbit to collect data on the earth. The earth photography sweep started over the Himalayas in Nepal and ended in the outback of Australia. Information collected with the crew's powerful cameras will be used to map remote areas of Nepal, aid weather forecasting in Thailand and chart the ocean floor off Java. It was the third time in week the gyro bad fluctuated to its performance. Flight controllers said possibly the lubricant on a bearing in the erratic gyro had become too cold, causing the spinning wheels in the device to slow down.

But the officials said after th.e slowdown both of the spaceship's gyros were "working beautifully." Engineers continued efforts, though, to devise a scheme to avoid continued erratic behavior. The usually quiet astronauts chatted briefly with ground controllers Saturday morning about the magnificent view they had across the southeast. "We could see Apalachicola Fla. and we could see the Gulf Coast from there all the way down beyond Galveston, one said. "With the sun angle we've got we can even see JSC (Johnson Space WATCH FOR SANTA'S SHOPPING SHOWCASE BEGINNING DEC IS SHOPPING DAYS TO OHR1STMAS Flight controllers believed there was little likelihood of the faulty gyroscope failing altogether, but the last week it acted much like a similar apparatus did before breaking down.

That first failure left the spaceship with only two good gyros, and a second breakdown would force an abrupt end to the mission. Flight Director Neil Hutchinson said engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, were working on a way to cut the rate of speed at which little wheels inside the gyros spin, thereby reducing tension on the whole device. The spin of the gyros, acting together with stabilization gas, keep Skylab flying true and enable the ship to be maneuvered for research work. Hutchinson, emphasizing that the misbehaving gyro is "not on its knees or anything like that," said the idea to reduce the rate of spin was still highly theoretical and no one was sure it was tbv solution. Several times the past week the erratic gyro received an increased rate of electric current and experienced momentary loss or speed in Us wheels.

Check These AMERICANS are on a gigantic gambling spree. Estimates on the amounts wagered annually run as high as 1100 billion. Page IB. JACK ANDERSON says Nixon Administration scandals'have left the nation's press with a feeling of shock, shame and sadness, not exultation. Page 6B.

Other Features Energy Crisis Strikes At Poor Coin Corner Crossword 7C UB 6A Earl Wilson 16B Editorials 2D From Here to There 13B Horoscope HB Jack Anderson GB Jito Bishop 12B School Menus 7C Service Salute SB Sports 12-15A TV Listings 3D Waal Ads 4-iu 5A Women's News 141' United Press International With only a mild winter in its infancy, many of the nation's poor already are hard hit by the energy crisis. In New England, the region worst off so far, the poor arc complaining that ghetto landlords are raising rents, lowering thermostats and in some cases threatening to cut off heat altogether. One woman claims landlords were channeling fuel deliveries to their wealthier paying properties. Elsewhere in the nation, municipal services vital to the poor are threatened with curtailment and landlords claim they're running out of heating fuel. And in at least two instances, landlords are reportedly violating President Nixon's fuel- saving guidelines by raising thermostats-and rents, and objecting to tenant installation of storm windows and other weather insulation.

In Hooksett, N.H.. Mrs Pearly Lund. 69. said. "I saw the depression" but in ways it's worse now because "I had quite a little bit on the farm we don't have here She said the rent on their mobile home lot had gone up $5 a month.

Terry Anne Lunt, a member of Maine United Low Income, said landlords in the Maine cities of Bangor and Portland are threatening to cut off heat in poor neighborhoods while saving fuel for wealthier tenants. In Salt Lake City, Dick Ludwell, a spokesman for the Union of the Poor, said that instead of cutting back on heat. some landlords are raising rents "sometimes as much as $40 to of 1 set their higher fuel costs." Dan Lopp, of the Cross Roads Urban Center, in Salt Lake Ciity, said "A lot of our people are really afraid, particularly the older people who rely on their cars to get them to the grocery store and the doctor." In Knoxville. Stan Cole of the Community Action Commission, said his agency has been forced to pay retail prices for its gas instead of getting it at county pumps. Cole said the hardest hit were the self-supporting working poor "For the most part they drive old cars, the gas burners." he said..