The Van Nuys News from Van Nuys, California • Page 30

SZ-A-North 34-A-Wcit Von Muys Sunday, Pteember 16, 197? Geneva Conference East Warned Britons Go on Buying Year Daylight on Mideast Peace Heavy Snow Spree; Triggered by -In i Delayed Until Friday Slorm e3r Over Rationing Time Due in January By Halted tttst iU.S. and Egyptian offi- cfals announced yesterday tfie Geneva Middle East conference has been ppstponed until next Friday. It had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, but a U.S. official said it be delayed by crucial talks with Israel. Amman, Jordan, an American official, traveling with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on his seven-nation tour of the Middle East, told newsmen the opening of the peace rence would be ostponed because of mstters that Sis- singer has to take up with Israel The official would sot elaborate further.

wao arrivied in the capital after more sevss hours of taiss wrth Srrf 22 President Hafes Assad la Damascus, was to eccfer in Tel Aviv with Isrs.aH leaders today. "In Cairo, Foreign Minister Ismail F-ais- nil announced the postponement for his government. "Diplomatic sources in Cairo said last night the delay was caused by Israel's failure to define its stand on the international conference. The sources ascribed the delay to two factors: The fact that Israel has not made it clear whether it will attend the cabinet held a lengthy talks, although the Israeli meeting Friday. Talks at the United Nations that produced last night's Security Council resolution making Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim the conference's presiding officer.

The superpowers abstained from voting on the resolution. In Jerusalem, a foreign ministry spokesman said late yesterday it was impossible to respond yet to llie announcements. you know, we first have the cabinet meeting Sunday and there is still Kissinger's arrival after that" he cabinet meeting will be the continuation of a session begun Friday, devoted to preparing the Israeli stance on the conference. I aeli leaders have been reluctant to go to the Geneva talks because of Syria's refusal to hand over a list of Israeli prisoners of war. U.S.

officials refused to say whether or not Kissinger discussed the prisoner of war issue with Assad. An American, official said the Soviet Union has 1 a. med the United States that Moscow has been urging the Syrians to release the Israeli prisoners. Kissinger, who noted he the first American officer to visit Syria in 20 years the firs; since the late John Foster Dulles in 1953 -said: "It won't be another 20 years before a Secre- tarv of State comes bacK here." High-ranking U.S. officials said diplomatic contacts between Washington and Damascus would be increased as a result of Kissinger's visit, but they stopped short of saying full relations would be resumed.

They emphasized the stronger relations would be noticeable in the near future. i singer's itinerary calls for him to fly today to Israel from Lebanon, the last Arab stop on his Middle East tour. Saudi Arabian sources said Kissinger tried, but failed, to get King Faisal to agree to lift the Saudi embargo on oil shipments to the United States when the eva conference opens. reds of plainclothes police, many carrying machineguns, guarded the Damascus airport and the streets used by Kissinger's official motorcade upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia. Unarmed U.S.

Officer Slain in Viet Cong Ambush (UPI) Communist troops ambushed three helicopters searching for the body of an American soldier yesterday and shot to death "in cold blood" an unarmed U.S. Army captain, according to American reports. The officer, Capt. Richard M. Rees 32, of Kent, Ohio, was the second U.S.

serviceman killed in Vietnam since the cease-fire took effect. 'l a shington, the Stgte Department said the Communists carried out "a i inal attack" of a manitarian mission specifically authorized by the Paris accords." It said, "This was the 1 a st and most contemptible of a series of violations by the Commu- nist side of the accords Four other American diers were reported wounded and one South Vietnamese soldier killed and three others wounded in the ambush 12 miles from Saigon. Maj. Richard Laritz, St. Paul, who was aboard the lead helicopter, told a news conference the three copters, carrying 13 Americans and 12 Vietnamese, had just landed about 12 miles southwest of Saigon when they encountered rocket and machinegun fire.

He said all three helicopters carried the orange stripes of the four-party, ce-supervisory Joint i i a Commission (JMC) and were involved in the search mission. Cambodian Forces Battle to Reopen Key Highway PENH (UPI) Waves of Cambodian government troops backed byS rocket-firing armor attacked Communist bunker positions about 10 miles noVthwest of Phnom Penh yesterday in a determined bid to reopen Highway 5. and skirmishing" was also reported ndrtheast, southeast, south and southwest of the the battle for Cambodia's Highway 5, the supply of rice to capital, a dozen ar- 106mni rockets backed up th'e government troops at Wat Thmey, miles northwest of the capital. four hours of hard fighting the government troops had blown up 20 Communist bunkers and I huts, had lost two men killed and 11 wounded but had advanced only 50 yards, field reporters said. Government forces reported they killed eight Communist soldiers and seized five AK47 Soviet- designed rifles and three M79 grenade launchers.

Communist forces cut Highway 5 north of Wat Tuesday. The highway has also been cut 15 miles farther northwest since Sept. 5, blocking rice shipments to Phnom Penh from the paddies of Bat- tarabang province. The hardest fighting a a Mohasaing, 36 miles southwest of Phnom Penh, where Highway 4 to the deepwatex' port of Kom- pong Som has been cut since Nov. 11.

By Cnllcd Press International A powerful storm rumbled over the eastern portion of the nation yester- a riggering heavy snow warnings and travelers' advisories. ow fell from the a a region through northern and central Illinois over portions of the Ohio Valley and into the central and northern Appalachians. Warnings for snowfalls of four more inches were in effect for West "Virginia, western Maryland orthwestern Virginia. Winter storm or heavy snow watches were in effect for portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. a velers' advisories were continued over Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Indiana and eastern Tennessee.

Travelers' warnings also were in effect for Kentucky and the mountains orthwestern North Carolina. a i dampened the southern Atlantic Coast a es, with scattered thunderstorms over the eastern and central Gulf Coast region. Early afternoon temperatures ranged from 11 below zero at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to 81 at West Palm Beach, Fla. Worry Over Skylab Gyro Increasing 0 USTON (UPI) -Flight officials admitted increasing concern yesterday over a faiceimg gyroscope that keeps Skylab on course, but said the situation still is not "alarming." Little spinning wheels in the vital device hesitated in their work for the fifth time in two weeks, prompting cautious officials to cancel a planned roll of the space station to photograph comet Kohoutek. Planning Affected Untroubled by the erratic gyro, astronaut Gerald P.

Carr jetted about his ship's roomy workshop i ng a back-mounted Buck Rogers-type flying device, testing the contraption's feasibility for working outside future spacecraft. Planning of the astronaut's research activities was also affected by the gyro's problems since a great deal of earth and met photography requires maneuvering of the spacecraft, flight director Charles Lewis said. Avoiding Stress The official said cancel- 1 a ion of the planned utek observations yesterday morning reflected the caution controllers were exercising, because of the stress the maneuver would put on the The faltering gyro is one of only two Skylab has left working. One gyro quit working three weeks ago after behaving much like the second one has the last two weeks. Tho Visits Moscow on Way to Paris MOSCOW (UPI) Le Due Tho, North Vietnam's' chief peace negotiator, arrived in Moscow yesterday en route to Paris for a meeting Thursday with U.S.

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the Tass news agency said. 0 ON (UPI) -Shoppers frightened by the prospect of rationing in Britain's worst economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s overwhelmed stores throughout the country yesterday in a pre-Christmas buying spree. Department store managers said they expected to ring up record sales in what one called a "spend and forget" buying binge. With all train services in southern England halted yesterday in a growing work slowdown by locomotive engineers, cars jammed the highways and city streets, burning up precious supplies of gasoline. Reaction to Decision "It is developing into es of cars going around in circles with nowhere to park," an au- i a ssociation spokesman said.

"We are going to see some gigantic traffic jams before the day ends." The outburst of buying came in reaction to Prime Minister Edward Heath's decision to impose a three- day work week or electricity reduction, to industry in an effort to avert a total breakdown in Britain's power supplies. Businessmen said the public generally believes ergy-conserving asures will severely tail production and lead to widespread shortages and possible rationing. "People are frightened about tomorrow and seem to be trying to drown their fears by buying everything in sight," a store manager on London's Oxford St, a main shopping thoroughfare, said. "Our sales have shot up almost It's spend and forget." More Power Cuts Job actions in a bid for higher wages by British coal miners and electricity workers and a cutback in oil production by the Arab world have created an energy crisis in Britain. A spokesman for the electricity council said the one-hour blackouts that switched off lights and electric heaters in more a 3 0 0 0 0 0 homes throughout the country during the night were only a foretaste of more power cuts.

Gas Price Hiked Ronald Richardson, deputy chairman of the government's electricity council, said if householders did not respond to Prime Minister Heath's appeal for strict economy in the use of electricity, cuts of up to 40 hours a week will have to be made. Although engineers at Britain's electricity generating plants said they would suspend their slowdown for Christmas, more power cuts are likely over the holidays. Filling stations, meanwhile, boosted the price ol gasoline yesterday by 72 cents a gallon. Spokesman for Truckers Predicts End of Protest By United Press International The independent truckers protest against high iuel prices and lowered speed limits dwindled to a few spots around the country yesterday. A national spokesman for drivers predicted that truck traffic "should be almost bac-i- to normal" by tomorrow.

Scattered vandalism and violence that marked the two-day protest continued. Says Sympathy Won Michael Parkhurst, edit a ublisher of 0 erdrive" magazine, said in a telephone call to a mgton yesterday that most of the drivers who stayed off the road sday and Friday be behind the wheel tomorrow, although "a few guys will want to show how gutsy they are for another two or three days." a ui'st said he ught the shutdown "made the public sympathetic to the trackers' plight." Basing his predictions on checks yesterday with drivers in 10 states, Parkhurst said he didn't expect much truck traffic this week end since many drivers have decided to rest at home. Incidents in Ohio They wouldn't just jump in their trucks at midnight and start to drive somewhere just because the slowdown was over," he said. Most of the violence appeared to be ha Ohio and Pennsylvania where truck traffic remained light. The Ohio Highway Patrol reported that two more trucks were shot at in the northeastern part of the state.

Since Thursday police received at least 85 reports of violent incidents, half of them shootings. There were no known injuries, however. The number of shooting incidents in Pennsylvania reported since Thursday rose to eight, although state police said they knew of no injuries. Baja California's Propane Supplies Cut Off by U.S. I A Mexico (UPI) Liquid propane gas, the heating and cooking fuel for of Baja a i i nia's 1,500,000 people, was abruptly ordered cut off Thursday by the U.S.

Department of Commerce. Urgent meetings were under way in Los Angeles and Washington Friday after distributors on both sides of the border learned of the order. Only 2-Day Supply The first word came late Thursday when customs officials refused to allow roleum products to cross from the United States. The sole distributor 'in i ana, Alfonso Bustamente, said only a two- day supply of fuel was on hand. etrolane Long Beach, Bustamente's supplier, confirmed exportation of propane had been ordered stopped.

Necessary permits to resume the flow of gas were being sought. "Whoever did this did it without any knowledge of what it meant to the Mexicans," said R. J. Munzer, Petrolane board chairman. "The situation in the United States is not that severe in liquid propane gas- No Advance Notice "Hopefully they will recognize their error in order to get those cars released and give us enough time to get the information and documentation they need." Munzer said his firm first learned of the exportation ban at 4:15 p.m.

Thursday when six railroad tank cars destined for Tijuana were halted at the border. a ustoins inspectors said they turned back five or six tank trucks. In Los Angeles, the Commerce Department office referred queries to Washington, WASHINGTON (UPI) President Richard Nixon yesterday signed legislation putting most of the nation on year-round daylight saving time to save energy and authorizing use of 2000 Internal Revenue Service agents to enforce fuel allocation rules. Postponing his annual ysical checkup until some time this week, the President met for one hour with energy chief William E. Simon and his deputy, John C.

Sawhill. Simon announced the beefed up enforcement actions at a news conference after the meeting. daylight saving time bill, a compromise passed Friday by the House and Senate, would go into effect at 2 a.m. Jan. 6 and continue until October 1975.

It was designed to save some energy expended for lighting and heating. Full Time Agents Simon, who said he had given Mr. Nixon a "very positive report" on. the government's energy cons rvation program, announced the 2000 IRS agents would begin immediately to enforce the allocation system and crack down on price gouging. The agents have been assigned on a full-time basis for the next six months, he said.

Simon added that the IRS agents also will tram some 1000 new personnel to take over the enforcement job by the middle of 1974. "They are going to train and supervise work for us at our direction on allocation, price gouging and any other illegal activities connected -with, any of these shortages," he said. Nixon Approved "We are not going to tolerate any abuse and we will come down on this very hard when it is found out." i mon indicated Mr. Nixon approved the plans outlined. Simon said they also discussed a three-day-old strike of dissident truckers protesting high fuel prices and lower limits, the question of rationing, the present fuel allocation program and 1 i slation pending in Congress including a proposal to deregulate natural gas at the well head.

There were predictions meanwhile that the truckers strike would end by tomorrow. The forecast came from both Transportation Secretary Claude S. Brinegar and Michael Parkhurst, editor and publisher of Overdrive magazine which i i ally urged the strike. Says Men With Him But J. W.

"River Rat" Edwards, an independent trucker who claims to be one of the protest leaders, disagreed. He told newsmen the "men that are behind me all across this country are not moving (their trucks). There's only one way that those men will move. That will be for me to tell them to move." "At this- tune we're sit- i i ght." he said. "We're not going to move until we have definite action.

We're prepared to sit it out." Simon said the administration is trying to increase the diesel fuel supply and has promised the truckers of, the fuel supply they used last year. Some Problems The energy chief said Mr. Nixon described the emergency energy bill, which passed the house early yesterday, as a "basket case" because "I'ts got a mere 200 points of difference" with a Senate- passed version. Both versions have some problems," he said. the House version with that many amendments we just could not tolerate." Simon said he and Mr.

Nixon discussed the possibility of gasoline rationing "at some length," but in- they still view it as a last resort. He also said his staff would begin meeting tomorrow with airlines representatives in a neffort to relieve a threatened layoff of pilots and flight personnel because of jet fuel shortages. Thinks Embargo Stays pressing optimism that the government will these shortages, Simon added that his predictions were not based on the assumption that the Arab oil boycott will end soon. "I'm assuming the embargo will continue," he said. The daylight savings time bill which Mr.

Nixon signed would put the na- i fast throughout the year for the first time since World War II. Mr. Nixon said this would save the equivalent of 150,000 barrels of oil daily during the winter "with only a minimum of inconvenience and equal participation by all." Some Exempted Daylight saving time, normally used during the summer months, would tend to reduce demands for electrical lighting and heating in the evenings by artificially creating an extra hour of daylight The legislation Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Indiana, and allows dozen straddling two time zones to adopt a uniform statewide tune. At the bill-signing, Mr. Nixon urged Congress to act swiftly on other emergency legislation before it i its scheduled Christmas recess next Friday.

congressional sources predicted long, negotiations between the House and Senate to compromise their versions of legislation Mr. Nixon requested Nov. 8 for sweeping authority to deal with the energy crisis. Among the major sticking points in the House bill approved at 1:30 a.m. yesterday were a ban on gasoline for pupil busing eighborhood schools and a requirement that Mr.

Nixon submit all energy saving programs for congressional approval. Neither provision is in the Senate bill, which would empower Mr. Nixon to act at his discretion, subject to a congressional veto within 15 days. House Voles Nixon Fuel Crisis Powers WASHINGTON (UPI) The House, keeping its lights on well past midnight, passed a bill yester- a i ing President Richard Nixon emergency powers to deal with the energy crisis. a i amended measure, which i 1 tides congressional veto power over gasoline rationing, differs so widely from the Senate version passed Nov.

20 that long rence committee will be needed before final enactment. scribed oj House Democratic leader Cong man Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. as a "nmfet" bill, the legislation passed 265 to 112 after a 15-hour session. The House bill would force Mr.

Nixon to seek prior approval from Congress befoi'e imposing any conservation or allocation measures and would give either House veto power over gasoline or home heating oil rationing. It also banned gasoline for school buses used to transport pupils past their local schools for desegregation purposes and oil shipments to Southeast Asia for military purposes. But an amendment barring oil shipments to Israel for military use -was soundly defeated. The House narrowly defeated an amendment that would have delayed auto exhaust control measures until the energy shortages eased. Both Houses Friday approved a bill imposing a 1 i ght saving time through October 1975.

nate Friday passed a bill forcing states either to set their speed limits at a maximum of 55 mph or face loss of federal highway funds. In a speech Friday, as he lit the star atop a dim national Christmas tree, Mr. Nixon said this will not be a "dreary" holiday season "because the spirit of Christmas is not measured by the number of lights on a tree. The spiril of Christmas is measured by the love each of us has in the In other developments: Herbert Stein, head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said Friday the energy and labor problems forcing Britain to go to a three-day work week ''can't happen here." The American Automobile Association said a survey it took shows that most of the nation's gasoline stations will not take long Christmas-New Year holiday week ends. The Cost of Living Council issued guidelines Friday for pricing erf petroleum products at the refinery level, designed to encourage production of more home heating oil and less gasoline.

Amendment Would Nullify EPA's Traffic Regulations WASHINGTON (UPI)-Environmental Protection Agency regulations dealing, with space and bus and car pool traffic lanes would be nullified under an amendment approved Friday by the House. The amendment, offered by Congressmen John E. Moss and Robert L. Legg th California Democrats, was added to the national Emergency Energy Act before a final vote on the bill. The California Congressmen said their amendment was intended to free Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento from EPA regulations, legislation also would nullify proposed parking surtax intended to reduce auto traffic in the California cities.

"The Implementation of these regulations would have created a crippling paralysis in the construc- tion industry and an engineering nightmare along our freeways," the congressmen said. "What we had was a perfect example of a well- intentioned bureaucracy The EPA, submitting regulations to the public that would have created more problems than they solved," they laid. Their amendment would require EPA to study the proposed regulations for another six months and then to submit them to Congresi for final approval. NEWSPAPER!.