The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 1

Amgele 0 LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE WEST, DAILY, 1,224,132 SUNDAY VOL XCII SEVEN PARTS-PART. ONE CC THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 30, 1973 138 PAGES Copyright 197) Lot Angelet Timet DAILY 10t Sirica Tape Order CARGO CULTISTS Papuan Tribes Live in Pot at End of Rainbow Nixon by rMmsnt. I It I FvU-' V. Rejected Judge Wants to Hear Recordings, Decide on Use BY LINDA MATHEWS Timet Staff Writer WASHINGTON Chief U.S. Dist.

Judge John J. Sirica, attempting to strike a compromise between the White House and special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, Wednesday ordered President Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes for the judge's private inspection and let him decide whether they should be submitted to the grand jury. Mr. Nixon, charging that Sirica's proposed examination of the tapes Would violate the separation of powers principle and set a dangerous precedent for future Presidents, promptly announced he would not comply with the order. In a statement released at the Western White House in San Cle-mente, Mr.

Nixon said also that his attorneys were deciding whether to appeal the order or "how otherwise to sustain the President's position." Seeks 'Middle Ground In the 23-page opinion that accompanied his order, Sirica called his decision the "middle ground" between the position of the White House that no court can issue an order to the President and Cox's position, that the tapes should be turned over to the grand jury immediately. While asserting the judiciary's right to subpoena evidence from Presidents, Sirica said he would release the tapes to the grand jury only if they could be edited to protect national security matters and important presidential conversations unrelated to Watergate. Sirica, expecting opposition from the White Houser gave Mr. Nixon five days to take the issue to the 1.. Angeles Mayor met Wednes- day with county supervisors, from left, Kenneth Hahn, Pete Schabarum, Ernest Debs, Baxter Ward.

Times photo by John Malmin BY DAVID LAMB Timet Start Writer MUGLUMP, Papua-New Guinea-One day soon the dead ancestors of Muglump will return to their village in ships and airplanes, bringing with them a cargo of Western treasure denied the black man by evil spirits. The whole cosmic order will change. The dead will rejoin the living. Mountains will fall and fish will fly. Birds will swim.

Skin colors will change. The black man will be rich and have no need for his pigs or gardens. Of this the Muglump tribesmen are absolutely certain. They, like thousands of other natives in Papua-New Guinea, are believers in a mysterious, quasi-religious following known as the "cargo cult." The cult takes many forms but each basically revolves around the belief that the material wealth associated with the white man belongs by right to the black man and will be returned to him by supernatural powers. To prepare for the cargo's arrival, tribes in past years have built airstrips and jetties.

Feasts of welcome have been prepared. Pigs have been slaughtered and gardens abandoned. Great sing-sing ceremonies have been held. And when the goods did not arrive on the day specified by village prophet, the result has often been psychic disorders. Emulated White Men One such effect occurred in 1919 in Vailala where tribesmen believed it was necessary to emulate the white man to obtain his goods.

So each day, at a certain time, the natives sat dressed in European clothes at a table, decorated with flowers, to await the returning spirits. The delusion led to a mass hysteria now known as madness." One 'anthropologist, F. E. Williams, wrote: "Great numbers were affect-. ed by a kind of giddiness.

They lost or abandoned control of their limbs and reeled about the village, one man following another until almost the whole population might be affected at the same moment." Although' the cult generally is associated with the Allied military buildup in Papua-New Guinea during World War II, anthropologists have traced movements now regarded as cargo cults as far back as 1867 in West Irian. Flourishes in Many Areas Even today it flourishes in many areas here, particularly on the northern coast, as well as in this western highlands village of 315 persons. And understandably, its ramifications represent a serious concern to the fledging government of Papua-New Guinea, which is due to gain its independence from Australia next year. "We have tried to tell our people not to believe in such things," said Ugl Duma, a former college student whose relatives live in Muglump. But they just answer, You are too young and your skin is too black to That is precisely what Pen Kai, Purulim Waiya and Mel Kai believe.

The three villagers were squatted Please Turn to Page 9, Col. 8 OVERCOMES HIS SHORTCOMINGS Sirica an Unimposing Figure but He Is Unmistakably Firm Judge John J. Sirica photo U.S. Court of Appeals here just up-' stairs from his own chambers. If the President appeals, Sirica said, he will suspend his order "indefinitely" while the case is under review in higher courts.

When pressed by reporters to explain how, short of appeal, Mr. Nixon's position could be sustained, Dep. Press Secretary Gerald L. Warren and the President's chief attorney, Charles Alan Wright, refused to elaborate. "I regard it as so sensitive I can't say a word," Wright said.

Sources suggested, however, that the White House was exploring two options. The first would be to have Mr. Nixon forgo his right to appeal and ignore the order altogether in. the hope that he would be vindicated by public opinion. The second would be to ask Sirica to suspend the order until he rules in the Senate Watergate committee's suit against the President for the tapes, and then consolidate the two cases for appeal.

This would the tapes from the grand jury indefinitely. Please Turn to Page 21, Col. 1 SHOGAN Writer As a lawyer, and as a judge for the last 16 years, Sirica has never been one to stand on ceremony. During the course of the Watergate trial last winter, when he became impatient with the attorneys, he occasionally took over questioning of the witness himself. A few weeks ago, before a hearing in the complicated legal battle for the White House tapes, he chatted informally for nearly 30 minutes with newsmen who crowded into his chambers, some of them sitting on the floor.

The Watergate scandal has vault-1 ed Sirica from obscurity to celebrity, In the last few months his office has been flooded by mail, nearly all of it favorable, from people who i never knew he existed. i Please Turn to Page 18, Col. 1 Ervin Request Halt Hearings (determining) the guilt or innocence of individuals." Both the investigation and the Senate resolution authorizing it "exceed the legislative powers granted to the Congress in article 1 of the Constitution," said the presidential attorneys, who are headed fey Charles Alan Wright, a University of Texas law professor. There was no elaboration on the point, which was the strongest of several made on behalf of the President in a five-page rejection of the committee's right to the tapes and documents. Before the hearings began last! spring, White House spokesmen voided comments that might ap-i near to Interfere with the work of the committee, They ildesteppel rnmment even when former Whle Hoiii-e rounf I John W.

Pfin III Implicated Mr. NU'rn tn th rovrrvp of rime Turn fa tI, I PARLEY AT CITY HALL Los Tom Bradley, third from left, as Heat Causes Smog A em. rowfir urn WIfWB aF in East and Midwest From Aitociated Prvsi Hot and humid weather continued to besiege much of the East Coast and Midwest Wednesday, forcing power cuts, curtailing auto production and causing smog alerts. The power crisis was most serious in New York state, where temperatures climbed into the 90s. Consolidated Edison, under strain because air 'conditioners were being run full blast, cut power by 5 for the second day in a row in New Y6rk City and throughout the state.

The State Power Pool met a demand Tuesday 20,132,000 watts, highest in history, and said it expected demand to go higher. The heat and humidity in New York City were made more uncomfortable by a pollen count of 442. A count of 50 is regarded as the point at which discomfort and sneezing begin. 'Like Breathing Grass' Said one New Yorker, "It's like breathing grass." General Motors reported that operations at its Linden, N. plant had been curtailed when some of the 1,750 workers left their jobs because of the heat.

Some employes at Chrysler's Warren, truck plant stopped work, forcing a shutdown of the facility, which employs 2,000 workers on the day shift. Ford and American Motors reported normal operations. The Washington area sweltered through another day of near-record temperatures, smog and power failures. The temperature hit 97 Tuesday and was hovering at that level Wednesday. The city had an air pollution alert for the, fifth day.

Please Turn to Page 24, Col. 1 B. KENT Writer almost 200 miles toward the Gulf Coast at Veracruz. Uncounted. thousands were driven from their shattered homes.

The earthquake struck as vast areas of the nation were reeling from the effects of severe flooding in the wake of Hurricane Brenda. Rivers were still on the rise as the death toll from widespread floods approached 100. Damage to rich farm and cattle land was officially estimated in the millions of pesos. President Luis Kcheverria Alvarez, who spent much of last week in an on-the-spot assessment of flood damage, flew into the quake region Wednesday. Accompanied by half a dozen membera of his cabinet, he was personally directing relief activity, All long lhi route covered by the conquistador Hernando ('ortest more than (N) yean ago, fiom Cordoba to I'lfiit Turo Tan 10, Col.

I he COURT GIVES OK FOR GASOLINE price controls WASHINGTON (fl An emergency appeals court gave the Administration the go-ahead Wednesday to impose price ceilings on retail sales of gasoline as scheduled on Saturday, if it wishes. Judge Edward Allen Tamm granted the government's request for, a stay of a U.S. District Court order that had prohibited the Cost of Living Council from putting the price ceilings into effect. The ceilings could result in rollbacks of retail gasoline prices at many gas stations, the council said. A court spokesman, in interpreting what the stay order meant to the council, said, "They can proceed to execute whatever they want to execute." Please Turn to Page 16, Col.

4 Peking Move Hints Multiple Leadership ill Succeed Mao TOKYO (if) China's Communist Party has apparently laid the groundwork for a collective leadership to succeed 79-year-old party Chairman Mao Tse-tung when he leaves office or dies. In its 10th national congress held in Peking Aug. 24-28 and disclosed by the official Hsinhua news agency Wednesday, the party placed its official seal of disgrace on the chairman's two principal collaborators in the cultural purge initiated by Mao in 1966. Former Defense Minister Lin Piao, who less than five years ago was named Mao's "close comrade in arms and successor," was expelled from the party "once and for all." Chinese officials say Lin plotted against Mao and then died in an air crash trying to escape to the Soviet Union after the plot was discovered. Chen Po-ta, former party Politburo member, was branded as a "principal member of the Lin Piao antipar-ty clique" and dismissed "from all posts inside and outside the party." Hsinhua's report on the congress said Lin was a "bourgeois careerist, conspirator, counterrevolutionary renegade and traitor." Mao presided over the congress, Please Turn to Page 8, Col.

1 FEATURE INDEX BOOK REVIEW. View, Tage 4. BRIDGE. View. Page 2.

CLASSIFIED, Tart 5, Tagej 1-20. COMICS. View, Page 21. CROSSWORD. Part 5, Page 20.

DAY IX BACRAMEXTO. Part 2, Page 4. EDITORIALS, COLUMNS. Tart 2, Tagea fl, 7. FILMS.

View, Pagei 11 18, HX.WIAL. Part 3, TagM 13 20. METROPOLITAN NEWS. Part 2, MI'HIC, View, Pag l. MI-OUT, rait 3, TaiM I 12, TV It tDIO, View, f'ei 19, 20 WEATHER, part 2, 4 MOMEV.

Viw, TlfH JJ. Mayor, Supervisors Study Consolidation of Some Functions BY DOUG SHUIT Timet Start Writer Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and four members of the Board of Supervisors agreed Wednesday to appoint a task force to study ways of consolidating some city and county government functions. The agreement, came during an unusual meeting in City Hall between the chiefs of the' city and'' county governments believed to be the first such meeting since the early 1950s. At the meeting with Bradley were Supervisors Pete Schabarum, Kenneth Hahn, nest E. Debs and Baxter Ward.

"Supervisor James A. Hayes could not attend because of illness. Bradley, who invited the supervisors to City Hall, described the meeting as "a very fruitful experiment on our part to sit together to talk together." The mayor, in recommending the task force, said it could be successful where other efforts to consolidate costly city and county government services failed. He said it could generate "public pressure" that could "force through some of these kinds of (consolidation) measures." Proposals in the past have been Please Turn to Page 29, Col. 7 Egypt-Libya Merger Apparently Fading BY WILLIAM J.

COUGHLIN Timet Staff Writer BEIRUT The proposed merger between Egypt and Libya appeared slipping even further from reality Wednesday, despite a great deal of Arab rhetoric designed to conceal the fact. Failure to implement the merger, which the two countries agreed last year would take place this Saturday, was a singular defeat for Libya's Col. Moammar Khadafy, who had been demanding full and immediate merger of the two nations as planned. A joint announcement in Cairo, after a final three days of talks between Khadafy and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, made it clear that Khadafy had backed down and agreed to Egypt's stand that the merger, if it takes place at all, will be by gradual stages. Just three days before a referendum was to be held in each country on the proposed merger, the two Please Turn to Page 7, Col.

3 THE WEATHER National Weather Service fore, Night and morning low cloud, otherwise gunny afternoons today and Friday. Itoth dny In low ft'), High Wednewlay, low, C'nmplf wmiIiit Information md imof report In Pr( 2, fi 4. 77 BY ROBERT Timet Staff WASHINGTON The short, slightly built gentleman in the dark suit might have been mistaken for a minor courthouse functionary. His main concern, at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday, was that reporters waiting for the ruling on the President's tapes line up in an orderly fashion.

The opinion, he promised, would be ready in just a few minutes, and he obviously knew what he was talking about. For, as the reporters realized, this unprepossessing figure was John J. Sirica, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and author, of an unprecedented judicial challenge to the claim of executive privilege. It was characteristic of the 69-year-old jurist that, at the moment of his rendezvous with history, he should busy himself with custodial chores.

Nixon Brief on Seen as Bid to Torrential Rains Hamper Hunt for Quake Victims in Mexico BY PAUL HOUSTON Timet Staff Writer BY FRANCIS Time Staff MEXICO CITY-Hampered by torrential rains, relief workers slogged through muddy rubble Wednesday in search of victims entombed by the massive earthquake that jolted much of central Mexico early Tuesday. Official figures here put the death toll at about 500 and the count was rising steadily as new reports sifted in to the capital from remote towns and villages, a number of which still have not been heard from. (The possibility that the number killed could reach 1.000 was raised In an Associated Tress dispatch quoting spokesmen for the states nf Puebla and Veracruz, who said 4 victim had been found but predict, ed the actual total may be twice that when Ihf ncflich Is completed.) Iniunri were officially laM to riimilifM 1,000 nr more In the (leva-, tued mountain ne extending from I'uehli, V) mllci inyiheitl rl here, WASHINGTON White House lawyers Wednesday accused the Senate Watergate committee of conducting an unconstitutional "criminal investigation and trial." The charge, in a brief filed In federal district court here, was the second blast in what apparently is a campaign to end the committee's televised hearings, due to resume Sept. 17. The first shot was fired in a more oblique manner by President Nixon in his Aug.

15 speech on Watergate when he said: "The time has come to turn Watergate over to the courts, where the question! of guilt or innocence belong." White House lawyers, responding to committee suit for release of presidential tapej and document! on Watergate, the hearing! had Itn "a criminal Investigation nd trial romlurted for tM r.tirp'tn) of nVfenmnlni whether not uiniin-il iru fcav tn i-oinmm'l ind.