Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 1

Press Wednesday, August 1 6, 1 978, Binghamton, N.Y. 20 Cents NEWSSTAND I. dMim'tt OT kill. 'VI- Li I -w -A- v. May- says- ft Elvis Presley fans cry openly as they Mansion in Memphis this morning.

As ft WASHINGTON (AP) James Earl Ray took the witness stand before Congress today and swore, as expected, that "I did not shoot Dr. Martin Luther King." Ray, in his first public accounting under oath of the events surrounding the April 4, 1968, murder of the civil-rights leader, told the House assassinations committee: "My testimony is the same that I would have given to a Memphis trial court if I had had that opportunity." The 50-year-old Ray, accompanied by a phalanx of U.S. marshals, was brought into the committee's chamber under severe security provisions. Spectators, including photographers, were cautioned they would be expelled if they so much as stood while Ray, wearing an ill-fitting sport coat and gray tie, entered the room. After his attorney, Mark Lane, engaged acting chairman Richardson Preyer in battle over Ray's treatment by federal authorities, Ray launched into a long and rambling preliminary statement.

Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 to King's killing but almost immediately recanted that confession after receiving a 99-year sentence in a Tennessee state prison. "In respect to my guilty plea," be said, "it is not a difficult matter for an attorney to move his client to a guilty 'n' roll legend, who died a year ago, will visit the gravesite. The line of fans, four abreast, winds down Elvis Presley Boulevard. From rags to riches, from king to immortal Senate may stall extension of leave the gravesite at Graceland many as 12,000 fans of the rock cial programs, both musical and narrative, and some newspapers are planning supplements to their daily editions. Why is this going on? Among the major reasons is that Elvis Presley appeared at a time when there was a big void.

Music in the mid-1950s wasn't on the move like it had been with the big bands. The country was hungry for some sort of sex symbol. There was no direction until one day in June 1955 when Sun Records in Memphis released and pushed a rockabilly number by a skinny Tupelo, young man. It was "That's All Right Mama," backed with "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," and today that single is worth about $300. Elvis Presley came on with force and novelty.

The teen-agers immediately adored him. He was the best thing to come along in years. He was humble and had a humble origin. It was a quality he was to maintain throughout his 42 years, even though he achieved unequaled fame. He had a close relationship with his parents, especially his mother, Gladys.

He was deeply religious. Through his career was a man named Col. Tom Parker, his manager. Parker, who operated a booking agen cy in nearby Madison, realized what he saw and set out to take the young man with the unstylish sideburns out of the chili joints and guide his career into the coliseums. Elvis Presley is a rags-to-riches story.

Years ago, in a Photoplay magazine interview, he told his story: See ELVIS' STORY, ISA plea. I'm sure every member of this committee knows this." Ray's attorney at the time of his sentencing was Percy Foreman, a nationally known trial lawyer. Then Ray turned to what apparently will be the underlying theme of his claim to innocence: that he was a mere pawn in what he thought was a gun-running scheme by a mystery man named "Raoul" and may have been set up, moreover, by undercover operations of the FBI. The story is one which Ray has long aired via prison interviews. Ray told the committee today about breaking out of Missouri State Prison in 1967 and traveling in zig-zag fashion to St -Louis, the Chicago area, Indianapolis and ultimately to Canada, where he spent one night with a prostitute and robbed her pimp the next then met "Raoul" by chance on the Montreal docks.

In return for money and a never-fulfilled promise of travel documents, Ray said he carried items across the Canadian and Mexican borders for "Raoul," a man with a Spanish accent. After smuggling the items, which Ray did not specifically identify, he said he went to Los Angeles. See RAY, HA Rep. Matthew F. McHugh votes against extension of the Equal Rights Ameadmeat.

Page 3A. Leading anti-ERA lobbyist Phyllis Schlafly, who had an appointment in Hatch's office after the House vote, said she did not think the extension would pass the Senate and that opponents would challenge it in court if it did. The ERA, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, has been ratified by 35 state legislatures, but those of Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska and Tennessee later voted to withdraw their approval. The Kentucky action was vetoed. The amendment needs the approval of 38 state legislatures to become part of the Constitution.

The Justice Department says it does not believe a state legislature can change its mind once it has ratified, but also says this will be a question for Congress to decide if the required three-fourths of the states approve the amendment. All 18 women in the House voted for the extension. In the Senate, Sen. Muriel Humphrey, supports it, but the only other woman senator, Democrat Mary on Allen of Alabama, is against it Paper strike to broaden NEW YORK (AP) Machinists authorized a strike against the city's three major daily newspapers today, but did not set a date. A machinists walkout would increase the likelihood that the New York Times, Daily News and New York Post will not be seen for some time.

Richard Hubert, business representative of the union, said, "We may well be on strike this time tomorrow; I just don't know. The situation is pretty grim." The machinists voted unanimously to strike the papers, but it was a ballot based more on economic measures than unhappiness with the publishers. A Gannett Newspaper VOLUME 102-89 By BILL HANCE Gunett News Service MEMPHIS, Tenn. He was like a kindly king, and for 22 years he ruled the land not only here but abroad. He was in unquestioned power, loved and worshipped by the masses.

But unlike many a king, the popularity of bis reign did not diminish when be died. Nor were the people able to name a successor. If anything, Elvis Aron Presley is higher on the pedestal now than ever before. It has been one year since the universally acclaimed "king of rock 'n' roll" collapsed and died in his hometown here. But most Presley fans quickly will admit the pain and agony remain.

Now, it is an internal pain, one the Presley Elvis Presley came on with force and novelty. The teen-agers immediately adored him. He was the best thing to come along in years. devotees experience every time one of his hundreds of recordings is played or when one of his 33 movies plays on the screen. A lot of tears will be shed this week, as more man 100,000 are expected in Memphis to pass his gravesite to relive what happened last Aug.

16 when a legend died. Radio stations all over the country are commemorating his death by airing spe i WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd said today that be isn't certain the Senate wiD debate a proposed 39-month extension of the Equal Rights Amendment this year. The House voted 233-189 yesterday to extend toe ERA ratification time limit to June 30, 1982, from its current deadline of -March 22, 1979. Rep.

James. M. Hanley, D-Syracuse, voted for extension and Reps. Matthew F. McHugh, D-Ithaca, and Donald J.

Mitchell, R-Herkimer, voted against extension. However, the measure is threatened with a filibuster in the Senate. Asked about prospects for action on the extension in the Senate, Byrd said, "I don't know. As of now I just can't say." The West Virginia Democrat said he hoped the Senate would have time to debate the measure, but noted, "We have so many things to get done in so short a time" as Congress tries to adjourn for the year in October. Rep.

Elizabeth Holtzman. principal sponsor of the extension, said -the 44-vote margin was "larger than any of us anticipated." "The size of the House vote will give tremendous momentum to the effort in the Senate," said Holtzman, who is scheduled to meet with pro-extension senators tomorrow. Rep. Don Edwards, floor leader of toe pro-extension forces, said, "We thought we were going to win by 25 or 30 votes." In the Senate, a version of the extension measure pushing back the ratification deadline by seven years has become stuck in a subcommittee divided 3-3 on the bilL That means the Senate likely will ignore its measure and deal directly with the House-approved 39-month extension when returning from the Labor Day recess early next month. Had the Senate been able to decide on its own version, the ERA question now would have been headed for a Senate-House conference committee to iron out differences in the two versions.

However, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, who helped stall the Senate extension measure in the subcommittee, predicted a filibuster be said he would not lead but would support "I suspect there is going to be one awfully extended debate," Hatch said. NORTH SIGNS VS. Open champion Andy North will be among the professional golfers who will take port in the this year's B.C.

Open. Page 1C. Andy Carter tuition plan wins Senate OK incomes of 815,000 to 825,000 a year. Carter's biD, approved with little debate, would allow a student from a typical four-member family earning as much as 825,000 to qualify for a tuition grant of about 8250 a year. Depending on family size and disposable income, the grant could go as high as $1,800.

Present law generally allows such direct federal assistance only for students from families earning less than about $16,000. The bill, which is pending in the House, also would make needy students regardless of family income eligible for subsidized guaranteed loans, which average about $1,000 each. The government would pay the interest on the loan while the student is in college. Carter says his plan is far more equitable because it targets education aid to those who need it In contrast, the tuition credit, which was approved 65-27 yesterday, would be available to all, regardless of need. The president says the nation cannot afford both programs.

Although the vote on the tax credit was lopsided enough to override any presidential veto, the margin by which the House approved its version of the credit last June was far short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override. Before approving the tuition credit, the Senate ended three days of arguments over constitutionality by eliminating a provision that would have provided a credit for parents of pupils attending private schools. WASHINGTON AP) The Senate today approved President Carter's plan to expand college grants and loans, making them available for the first time to middle-income students. The 68-28 vote followed approval last night of a rival $500-per-student tuition tax credit that Carter opposes. At the White House, deputy press secretary Rex Granum said the president's position "has not changed.

He is strongly opposed to such." But Granum did not say whether Carter would veto the bill. The Carter program would provide aid to an additional 1.4 million students, with about 64 percent of the benefits going to students from families with Inside FORCED OLTl" 400" My INCENTIVES John "Jay" Walden associate pastor of Faith Baptist Church, has the right formula to encourage teens to come to church. Page IB. J. ..111.1:, Business Cowley Classified Comics Deaths Editorial Help Leisure Sports TV 12B ISA 814C 6B 8C 14A 2A 3B 1-7C 2B Ann Anderson, a mother of two, was eased off Rosalynn Carter's staff because she tried to keep a normal, 8-hour schedule.

Page 14B. Warm, hazy and humid tonight with showers and thunderstorms likely, some thunderstorms may contain heavy rain, lightning, strong winds and hail Low tonight 65 to 70. Chance ot a lew showers tomorrow tallowed hy gradual clearing and cooler, high near 80. (Details on Page 2A.) i XL' John Walden Jr. Ann Anderson North.