The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada · 1

The Evening Citizen 109th Year Number 283 Telephone 2-2441 OTTAWA. CANADA, TUESDAY. MAY 27. 1952 Single Copy: 5 Cents 26 Pages Seek Arsonist In Fire Dept. Police And Fire Officials Probe For Uniformed Man Police and lire department irmstigators today were probing the dynamite -packed theory thst sin srscnist rr.cv be zX work within the Ottawa Fire Department itself. A combined two-department hunt for clues in yesterday's $90,000, two-alarm fire which swept the LaSalle Hotel, 245 Dalhousle Street, has concentrated ton this theory, The Evening Citizen learned. Subject Released Police arrested one 26-year-old Ottawa man for questioning last night but he has been released. . . Inspector of Detectives J. Ab. Cavan said he was picked up last night at his home about three hours after the fire in the LaSalle Hotel and released "pending further investigation." Both police and fire department spokesmen declined to comment fn the possibility that an Ottawa Fire Department member is under suspicion. But Fire Prevention Bureau Chief Fred Cooksey, said there was no doubt the LaSalle fire and a second smaller one in the washroom of the Victoria House, 34-40 Murray Street about three blocks away had been set. Trace Movements Investigators have traced the movements of one man who was seen sitting in the beverage room of the Victoria House and later in the groundfloor tavern at the LaSalle Hotel. In both places, the man dressed in civilian clothes described himself as a fireman to waiters, it was learned. The pattern of his movements fits the timing of the two fires. The blaze at the Victoria House flared up about 30 minutes before the big fire at the LaSalle. At the Victoria House, a small hole was punched in the men's washroom plywood wall. Then paper was shoved into the aperture and set alight. Only the alert work of a cus tomer and Waiter Emile Le-veille, 163 Clarence Street, who used pails of water to douse the At the LaSalle, investigators were not able to pinpoint the spot where the fire was touched off but Fire Chief Gray Burnett pointed out today it may have been set in "two or three" places. Used Accelerator "The man must have used some kind of accelerator to get it going so fast and he may have started it in several places," said the chief. Chief Cooksey and Inspector Norman Green were focussing their attention on the third-floor of the hotel annex. Chief Cooksey said the six-by-ten foot linen closet on this floor was a likely spot. The closet doorway leads onto a long back veranda with a back stairway a route providing easy access to the annex. Investigators have uncovered no actual evidence of incendiarism, however. Detectives Edward Logan and Raoul Desjardins are continuing the police probe of the case. At the Victoria House, Walter Leveille told The Evening Citizen he had been attending patrons in the beverage room when one rushed up to him. "He told me there was a fire in the washroom and I went in with him," said Leveille. "The flames were starting to shoot up to the ceiling . . . "Wei got a couple of pails of water 1 and managed to get it out. I ripped away a piece of wallboard and got at it. Some body must have put a hole In that board. It was tight against the wall before." Leveille said one "stranger" In the beverage room came up to him and told him he was a fireman himself. Leveille described the man as thin with "blondish" hair. "He said he'd seen lots of fires and this one wasn't much." 11 By-Elections 9 Wins Drew Delays Bid For General Vote Army For Europeswlts M. St a or or .01 Liberals Historic I Canada Gets Out Treaty Signed Big Three Agree To Defend Berlin A Narrow Escape Miss Veronica Mcintosh, an employe of the Department of Transport, was taking it easy at Laurentian Terrace today as reaction set in after her narrow escape from drowning last night when the footbridge opposite Strathcona Park floated loose and carried her downstream. She was rescued from the swaying bridge by city police and two courageous young teenagers. (Story On Page 6) Photo by Newton Berlin Phones Severed By Reds Appears First Communist Reprisal For West Germany's Signing Of Pact Gallery, Theater May Be Combined Two .proposed national cultural projects in Ottawa a new building for the National Gallery of Canada and construction of a National Theater may be combined in one commodious structure to be devoted to art, music and the theater. Preliminary consideration is being given by the National Gallery trustees to the earlier suggestion of having an auditorium, with seating capacity of 2,000 or more, included in the new Gallery building. This would be the theater. The government has already given the trustees permission to hold a special competition to select an architect to draft plans and specifications for a new Gallery building here. Up to the present, the suggested site for the National Gallery building has been Car-tier Square facing Elgin Street, where the National Defence Department's main "temporary" building is located. However, this site is unlikely to become available for at least five years, or perhaps 10 or more. Authorities feel there is logic behind the suggestion of combining the Gallery and Theater. The cost, including site and building, would be lower than If two separate buildings were to be erected. Would Pave Way Defence Minister Claxton has Indicated that Canada's cur rent defence expenditures will slacken,off by 1954. This would pave the way for a start on the new project. An alternative site is on Sussex Street where the old St. Lawrence railway station and freight yards are located. Progress Is being made by the Federal District Commission with the new CNR freight yards and industrial area on Walkley Road. Within two, three or four years, the CPR freight yards on Sussex Street, and the industries it serves may be relocated In the Walkley Road area. This site, about four blocks in area, would provide ample space to construct a building, with adequate parking facilities. A proposed new parkway along Boteler Street replacing the railway spur would give increased traffic access to a Gallery-Theater building there. The Competition The competition for selection of an architect is being held under the supervision of Eric Arthur, Toronto, architect advisor to the Gallery board and is open to Canadian architects. When the Gallery Board arid the government have reached agreement on the ultimate site and whether a theater is to be included in the Gallery building, the chosen architect would be inst-ucted to prepare plans and specifications. By The Associated Press BERLIN The Communists cut telephone communications between East and West Berlin and 17 long-distance lines be-between West Berlin and West Germany today. Eight telegraph lines also were shut down. Thus far, however, teletype communications ebtween West Berlin and West Germany were not affected. The First Reprisal It appeared to be the first blow in the promised Communist reprisals for West Germany's signing of a peace pact with the Western Allies yesterday. West Berlin, 110 miles inside the Soviet zone, feared a renewal of the near-paralyzing Red blockade of 1948-49. West Berlin telephone officials would not disclose how many land lines they still have open to West Germany but indicated the numbo is far in excess of the 17 shut down. Also radio telephones, capable of handling about 50 calls simultaneously, are still functioning Allied officials said their communications lines still are operating normally. One Allied officer said the telegraph cutoff left West Berlin Germans with no alternative but to send messages for relay over the civil telegraph headquarters in the Soviet sector. Allied Patrols Barred Earlier today the Russian border guards again barred Allied military motor patrols from the city's only highway link with the west, the 110-mile road to Helmstedt. The patrols, which aid stranded motorists, had been periodically banned between May 8 and May 17 but since then had not been troubled. Today, as before, the Russians gave no explanation for their action. Civilian freight and passenger traffic on the highway still flowed normally, however. The Communist tightening up on the surrounded city was heralded In an East German cabinet decree last night ordering immediate "strengthening" of the East's forces all along the border between East and West Germany. By Carter L. Davidson Associated Press Staff Writer 1 PARIS The Big Three powers backed up the six-country European Army pact today with a new declaration that they would consider a Communist attack on Berlin, West Germany or any other part of free Europe a "threat to their own security." The declaration was coincident wtth the ceremonial signing of the army pact and related agreements by Fiance, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg which, when ratified, will merge their armed forces into a single army of 1 ,000,000 men-history's first peacetime international force. The pact is a companion to the peace treaty signed at Bonn yesterday by the three Western powers and the West German republic. Text Of Declaration The new declaration by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden of Britain, Foreign Minis! r Robert Schuman of France and State Secretary Dean Acheson of the United States, said: "The Government of the United Kingdom and the U.S. have an abiding interest, as has the Government of France, in the effectiveness of the treaty creating the European Defence Community and in the strength and integrity of that community. "Accordingly, if any action from whatever quarter threatens the integrity or unity of the community, the two governments will regard this as a threat to their own security." France, in the European Army Pact, already is linked with West Germany in mutual defence. (See "Army". Page 12, Col. 7) By Frank Swanson Citizen Parliamentary Writer Canada has quietly withdrawn its diplomatic representation in Communist China, it was learned from external affairs sources here today. Dr. George S. Patterson and his staff closed down the Canadian consular offices in Shanghai and Canadian property and interests are now being looked after by the United Kingdom's representative in the Chinese Communist city. Dr. Patterson left Shanghai early this year and travelled to Canada down through South East Asia visiting Canadian missions en route home. Return To Canada His assistant, Alberta-born Frank Balachi, left shortly before Dr. Patterson. He is now in Ottawa. A Canadian-born stenographer has also returned to this country. No publicity has been given to the closing of the Canadian diplomatic mission. External affairs officials would give no reason for shutting up the office and withdrawing the diplomatic representative other than to say "there is little or no work left for the steff in Shanghai." Canada has never formally recognized the Chinese Communist government. Officially, Canada still recognizes the Nationalist regime under General Chiang Kai-Shek which is now installed in Formosa. Canada, hewever, has no diplomatic representative on the island of Formosa. One reason believed to exist for the withdrawal of the Canadian diplomats from Communist China Is to avoid further friction with western nations. National Ballot Possible In Fall Ridgway Defies Commie Threats Thousands Of Poliee Stand Guard As He Drives Through Paris Streets Canada Consulted U.K. On Protest Fined For hearing Baby Unattended Near Hotel A 23-year-old man who left his young baby unattended in a baby carriage outside a West End hotel while he and his wife were drinking beer received a $20 fine and a severe tongue-lushing from Magistrate Joachim Sauve this morning. "I think that this is the first time that such a case has come before this court." the magistrate remarked in sentencing Leonard Davidson, of 45 Sher-brooke Avenue. "Surely you and your wife did not both have to go together to drink beer if you had to go at all." ' Morality Officer Lloyd 'Little Carleton Rrstilts Undergraduates in various courses at Carleton College will ce able to see their examination results in Wednesday's morning and evening editions of The Citizen. said the charge was laid after a police officer saw the baby crying in its carriage. An investigation disclosed that both parents were inside the hotel consuming beer. Kept Lookout In his own defence. Davidson said he could see the outline of the carriage through a frosted window. "I was only In the hotel for 20 minutes," he said. "And I came outside three times to make sure my baby was all right. I couldn't see faces through the window, but I knew the carriage was there." "Anything could have happened to the child while you were inside- drinking." interposed the magistrate. "Someone might have taken it away, even." Davidson was given the option of six days in jail if his fine was unpaid. By Reuters News Agency LONDON A Foreign Office spokesman said today that Canada was "in touch' with Britain before it sent its note to the United States on the posting of a Canadian paratroop company to Koje Island, Korea. L. B. Pearson, Canada's external affairs minister, said yesterday that the Canadian Government has expressed dis- i pleasure and concern to the j U. S. State Department over the dispatch of the Canadians I to the Koje prison camp without Ottawa's prior approval. By Charles Nichols Evening Citizen Correspondent WASHINGTON Dispatch of a company of Canadian troops - along with other United Nations units to help restore order among rebellious Red prisoners of war captured in Korea was justified, in the American view, as a means of meeting a cifficult crisis. At the same time, it is conceded that it was unfortunate that the Canadian authorities j in Ottawa were not consulted i before the Canadian unit was j ordered to turbulent Koje Island where the well-organized Red POW s are held. This point of view will probably Rot be set forth in an ex- i change of notes between Ottawa I and Washington which is ex- i pecte d to follow the complaint by External Affairs Minister; Lester B Pearson in the House of Commons yesterday that ! Canada had not been consulted. Nevertheless, it is understood reliably to represent official American thinking. Want To Close Incident It is expected that the Canadians will be returned to their brigade as soon as possible as Mr. Pearson hoped they 'would and other UN. personnel sent to replace them. Every effort will be made to close the incident as quickly and as calmly as possible. At the same time, it was he- lieved by informed sources here that the situation which the transfer of Canadian and British units to help in the Koje assignment was meant to help solve has been made worse by the parliamentary statement by Mr. Pearson and some remarks made at the same time in Westminster by Former Prime Minister Attlee and members of his Socialist opposition party. The movement of Canadian and other U.N. units to Koie was not intended to fill gaps which the Americans were able to fill themselves. It was ordered as a means of off-setting the! latest barrage of Red propaganda designed to convince the peoples of the Far East and Europe that the U.N. action in Korea was in fact an act of American imperialism. Tarret Of Pramfsnilii The Americans have been bearing the brunt of the increasingly ferocious propaganda war. just as they bore the brunt j of the battlefield fighting during the long early months of the war. .1 Jail Airman 8 Months Rodolphe St. Amour, 36-year-old Air Force sergeant who has admitted stealing supplies valued at $2,300 from RCAF Station Rockcliffe, was sentenced this morning to eight months definite and four months indeterminate in the Ontario Reformatory. It was also learned that more charges may be laid as a result of the grave shortage of equipment at the nearby air station. Magistrate Joachim Sauve, Assistant Crown Attorney Ed. J. Houston and Defence Counsel Harry Sigler said this morning that they believed others beside St. Amour were implicated, Mr. Houston told The Citizen that the RCMP are continuing their investigation and that further arrests may be made. Raps Bookkeeping In passing sentence on St. Amour, a veteran of 14 years' service with the air force. Magistrate Sauve criticized bookkeeping methods at Rockcliffe. "It appears to me that there was some laxity on the part of authorities handling the books. I am also under the impression that someone else is connected. I cannot see how St. Amour alone could have perpetrated these thefts and conversions'' Magistrate Sauve said that he was not attempting to set an example with St. Amour. "I have given this case great thought and attention. For the past 14 years you have been employed with the Air Force, you have been working toward a substantial pension. You were placed in a position of trust. "Many persons in authority do not appear to appreciate the importance of this trust." By The Aaaoclated press PARIS Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway returned to Europe today to take command of the fighting forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and said his experience in Korea convinced him a sound defence against Communism here can be built from a combination of many countries. Then, accompanied by Gen. Dwight D. Elsenhower whom he is to succeed three days hence, he drove through the streets of Paris in contempt of Communist threats to stage hostile demonstrations against "Le General Microbe" as they call him. The Communists have applied the tag as part of their propaganda, repeatedly denied by the West, that the United Nations used germ warfare in Korea. Ridgway stepped out of his plane at Orly Field just 10 days short of eight years after he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. Eisenhower was at the airport to greet the man who will relieve him Friday as Supreme Commander of NATO forces. Police Mass Route The field was almost black with French police determined to snuff out any Communist demonstration. Twenty thousand other police were massed along the route of the parade through Paris, a route deiiber- j ately chosen in preference to a shorter circuit direct to SHAPE. "I have utmost confidence' in the leadership of Gen. Eisenhower, and I expect to learn about the problems first hand as he sees them." Ridgway told a press conference. "If I am able to add anything to what he has done, I shall be pleased indeed." Asked if he expected any military action from the Russians, he replied, "anything which is a capability is always a possibility. There is great capability there. I would not want to go any farther." Ridgway, who gave up his command of U.N. forces in the Far East to come here, told correspondents, "what I saw in Korea is something on which we can rest solid hope. "There we had 16 nations of all languages and creeds mixed in our fighting force They had pride In their organization and found complete mutual confidence in battle. "If we can do that in one place in spite of barriers of language, differences in food and other factors, I have no reason to believe1 that it cannot be done elsewhere . . . "There comes to me now the privilege of great service far greater than ever before. I follow here a very great man who has been leading the people of Europe towards their one aim permanent peace. That man is Gen. Dwight Eisenhower." Shoivers On Wednesday MONTREAL By J. A. Hume CttlEen Parliamentary Writer Progressive Conservative MP's were reported sharply divided today as to whether Opposition Leader Drew in the light of yesterdav's by-election results should immediately challenge Prime Minister St Laurent to Further Details On Page 6 call an early general election. At their caucus the Conservatives canvassed their strategy carefully. "What will George Drew do?" was the big political question on Parliament Hill. It is a matter of tactics but the answer cannot long be delayed. In August As for the Liberals, they awaited the possibility of a general election as early as Aug. 5. (Monday Aug 4, Is civic holiday in many parts of Canada and the election would have to be held on Tuesday, Aug 51, or alternatively, in the early fall. Informed Conservative sources indicated, about one o'clock today, that Mr. Drew will not throw down any general election gauntlet at this stage. Mr. Drew's problem is whether, or not, flush with nine Conservative victories in the last 11 by-elections, he want to risk another general election with Mr. St. Laurent as his prime ministerial opponent. The last Gallup Poll showed a strong percentage of thr popular vote would be behind the Liberals. The Liberals, disappointed by the by-election results, are quite ready to go to the pecple under Mr. St. Laurent's continued leadership, confident the government would be endorsed at the polls. Prime Minister St. Laurent's own statement last night on the by-elections gave the Liberal reaction in succlnt terms. Mr. St. Laurent spoke about "local circumstances having been important factors" and that no lack of confidence in major government policies was reflected in :he results. (See "Elections", Page 12, Col. 1) In Brief Following is tabulation of votes received by candidates in yesterday's six federal by-elections: Victoria-Carleton 93 Polls Complete Montgomery, PC 9.511 Tait, Lib 7,151 Gloucester 71 Polls Complete Robichaud, A M., PC 11.242 Robichaud, H. J., Lib. 10,022 Waterloo North 162 Polls Complete Schneider, Lib 12,440 Janzen. PC 10.860 By The Canadian Press Dominion Public Weather Office report: Synopsis: Today's weather will be only a short break in the spell of bad weather of Schroeder, CCF 4.658 the last week. A storm now centered in northwestern Ontario Is moving southeastward and is expected to affect gradually our regions Wednesday. Clouds will spread over the western regions Wednesday morning and they will be followed by some scattered showers late in the afternoon. This weather will gradually move into the eastern regions Wednesday afternoon. Little change in temperature. Ottawa Region: Sunny with brief afternoon cloudiness today. Clear tonight. Clouding over Wednesday morning. A few showers j Deslieres, Lib. 8.253 late Wednesday afternoon and in the evening. Little change in : Demers, PC 5,977 Ontario 191 Polls Complete Starr, PC 12,310 Lay. Lib Scott, CCF Brome-Missisquoi 97 Polb Out Of 99 Deslieres, Lib. Demers. PC 9.088 8480 temperature. Winds light, becoming southeasterly 15 Wednesday Borgan, CCF 627 Summary showers. For Wednesday Minimum and maximum temperatures for the 24-hour period ending "30 this morning : Ottawa Vancouver Jasper Zdmon'on - Calcary - S.kavon -- Reslna Winnipeg North Ear --- Windsor Torontr, Mor) treat Quebec Saint John . . Halifax Char'.ottetown SO 33 33 33 33 33 42 34 59 48 49 43 48 61 38 83 87 73 82 58 83 Late afternoon and evening 0 ' ... Features Inside AninlU it Astrology Column is Bridge is Canasta is COtT ... g Children's Corner is j Ci mks it, n 1 'Cross Town 2 j t Crossword Punts is Editorials 38 j Robcrval 85 Polls Out Of 92 Spence, PC 6,279 Potvin. Lib. 5361 Boulanger, Ind. Lib. 3,402 Noon Resdinr Citizen Thermometer: 38 degree Relative humidity: 84 per cent. Birome'er 28 89 Inches, rising. Sun rose: 331. sets 8)40 (EOT). H Mr.:i Once Sa-io Serial Story Srclsl Newt Sport New S t:"'j Personsl Times Summary Tuai And Trail Bar 18 10 V. 13 I s Want Ada - 30-24 How They Stand By The Canadian Press Standing in the Commons after six by-elections: Liberal 183 Prog -Cons 49 CCF 13 : Social Credit - 10 j Independent 4 j Independent Liberal 2 ' Vacant l Total 282