• • - DELCO . WEDNE DAY , Auau ·· ·T 21 , 195 7 DISARMAMEN T (o·ven by . Cron <h te - 1 . 1 . : n ew Gu nea ) T he western powers have made, what the news u " dispatch, callt - a major concession" to Soviet Russia. T h ey h a v e o f fe red /llllll'tllg to stop atomic tests for two years - if Moscow will accept a aeries of other measures 1n a general plan for disarmament. These other measures are centered around previo~• western proposals - for open skies and ground inspection, and cuts 1n military manpower. Today's offer was presented at the London disarmament conference by French delegate Jules Moch, and repreaenta an expansion of · a previous offer - for a ten months suapenaion of atomic teats. Now - two years. The response of Moscow delegate Zorin was--unfriendly. He assailed the conditions pertaining to inspection, but said he'd study the new otfer. Today President Eisenhower stated the new disarmament proposal, if accepted by the Soviets, could bring about what he called _ " a sound and safeguarded _ first step, arms control agreement.'' C ~ RIGHTS The Republicans propose/ a compromise on civil rights. The GOP leaders tn the House - advising a modlfle:1 form of Jury trial amendment. They suggest a provl10 for Jury AKI trials only ln caaea lnvol v 1ng vot 1ng rights I\ Sat , • .. that would call for penalties of more than a fine or three hundred dollars and nlnety daya 1n Jail. · Jury trlala, that la - only 1n the more illlportant voting rlghta cues. President Elaenhower, today, declared/ th11 Republican comprom1ae would be acceptable to hlm. What about the Democrats? Well, Speaker Sam Raybum of Texas calla the proposal "very deep stutr". And says - he'll have to take time to atudy ft. S!RIA The new leftist regime in Syria states/ that Army officers have been arrested on a charge of plotting against the pro-Cormnunlsts. The conspiracy, they claim, was directed by the United States. Those arrested are not named, but a report 1n Jerusalem is - that five brigade commanders have been taken into custody, and replaced by Communist officers. Damascus denies that Syrian President Kuwatly has realgned1 Explaining that he's in F.gypt merely for medical reuona. In Beirut, a Lebanese newspaper says that President Kuwatly left a letter of resignation 1n Daaacua before tlying to Egypt laat weekend. But - that Egyptian President Nasser has arranged a compromise between President Kuwatly, . a moderate, and the leftist military officers. So that, now, Kuwatly has instructed people in Damascus to tear up his letter• of resignation. SYRIA -2 T oday, President Eisenhower t o ld his news conference that Soviet Russia 1s trying to take over Syria - through the usual tactics of Red subversion. He dismissed the charge that the United States has plotted againat the Syrian government, Calling thla - "obviously a smokeacreen." BISINHOWER President Eisenhower, today, called on the Senate - to restore the eight hundred and nine million dollars the House cut from the new Foreign Aid Appropriation. The President said - "put back every cent." At a White House news conference, he le po ated his tnreat to · 1!Jjl•L•'1 ua, lie lltght call a special aeaa1on of Congress, 1f the legislators fail to provide enough money tor Foreign Aid. But - only if the world situation seems to demand it. He added that he is "tremendously dlaappolnted" over the failure or Congre11 to take action on "so many" of his leglalatlve propoaala. .. EISENHOWER - INFLATION . . The White House has asked t~e Labor Department - to make a study of a proposal put forward by Walter Reuther. The President of the Auto Workers Union, who is also a Vice President of the AFL-CIO, suggested that the automobile industry declare a one hundred dollar reduction in the prices or motor cars. In which case - the Union would mak~••• 11R er conceaaion in the matter of labor coats. E t1:ts news cont&Nnce tuday, Pt aaidllit l!sa.Jww&' wu asked about tbe B1vtb1r prCl)o•eJ, end 11S4 - • ►er • RACKETS At the Senate Racketeering Investigation today, James Hoffa, called "crown prince or the Teamsters Union" listened to a wire tap recording. Horta 1n a telephone conversation with alleged , I I C I I 1 I racketeer Johnny Dio. Vhen lt was through, Horta adllltted that he "could have been interested 1n bringing Johnny Dio into the Te-t,ra Union. FLU - Ar entlna reports an increasing sweep of the epidemic of Asiatic flu. A million people stricken - the whole economic life of the nation affected. Schools - closed. A newspaper - suspending publication, because the entire staff la 111. The Argentine soccer team, halting preparations for 1ntemat1onal matches. Toa many players - 111. Fifty newspaper correepondenta covering an inter-American economic conference at Buenos Aires - stricken. The Asiatic flu spread across the Andes from Chile - mild, but it's a national crisis, because so many people are ai•k. tit. In Washington, President Eisenhower, today, said - he'll get a shot of the anti-flu vaccine, as aoon as it become generally available in the campaign against an epidemic in this country. cHADEL The winner of the sw1nnn1ng race u across the English Channel - is Greta Andersen, the Danish wife of an American physical culture expert ~r Long Beach, Cal1fom1a. Mrs. Andersen - swinlnlng from the French coast across the treacherous water to a point near Dover in thirteen hours, fifty-three minutes. Her nearest competitor - Brenda Fisher, the British woman champion. The male swinlllera - far behind back the ladies. The nearest 111&n - two mllea •• •~••••or the winner. The Czechoslovak Red radip reports the conviction or 1 Roman Catholic Priest. Sentence - nine years in prison. The churchman was charged with directing an organization that collected espionage information for the Vatican and the United States. An d n ow once a g ain, the e p i R iver - for a d ateline. Th at river t h rou g, t h e jun g les of N ew G uinea - on which owell Thomas has been voya g in g . lI l lVER ------------------- L. T. : - B e llo Everybody: This time my voice is comin g to you from mid- stream on the S epik River up which ~e are making our way to "uncontrolled territory•, the region District Officer Iaad was talking about when he warned us that we were heading for an area where the tribesmen are still headhunters, and still eat each other. It's early morning and the birds in the jungle on the bank a few yards away, are making a lot of noise. 1 wonder if Jou can hear them? The Sepik is navigable as far as 300 miles from its mouth, where it empties into the Bismarck ea - on some maps called the Melanesian Ocean. Navigabl that far u for vessels drawing as much as 12 or 13 ft. W e can go even farther because none of ours draws over7f~ Unless there is unex ected trouble from the natives, day s from where we are now, our chief roblem •ill be dodging the countless trees that come drifting - 2 - d own, and f l oatin is la nds of vegetation. For this reason we tie up to the bank, usually at a native village, each night. After we have been out for a week or so, and reach the p art of the Sepik that flows through •uncontrolled territory•, we are told that our little flotilla is sure to startle the ~iver peo p le who seldom, if ever, see more than one motor driven craft at a time - a lone crocodile hunter going by. e have ll!I, with 25 Euro p eans - all Australians exce p t Gil Ralston and myself - and 20 natives of the New uuinea River p olice and the boys who man our flotilla - 45 ot us aboard. Our ttaaship is a 60 ft. cabin cruiser, the "Tangalooma•, with a single 60 hpr. V iesel engine. The ca p tain, and owner, Eric •Spook• snook, of Tasmania, veteran of many yea r s p ros p ecting for g old in the aountains of New Guinea. Also the •Tayanna", a 60 ft. iJPlI BlVER - 3 - two ■ asted center board p earling lugger, that has been in the fiew Guinea-Torris Strait-Thursday Island trade for aany years under her veteran skipper, Jack P ert. The 'Winbirra•, also an ex-pearl lugger, fro ■ Thursday Island, captioned by •Blue• Dockery. Called •Blue• I suppose because he ia a fiery red head. ~lue spent the entire war in Japanese ~rison ca ■ ps - after he was captured in Malaya at the fall of Singapore. The two other units of our flotilla are a little hard to describe. They are found only on the Sepik. Each thatch roofed but on a platform supported by two long dugout canoes. £ach propelled by a single 12 hpr. outboard at the stern of one canoe. Each dugout 40 ft. long, and each with a prow carved to look like a crocodil On the platfora in front of one of these thatched atructurea, in a co■fortable rattan chair, with a rifle across his lap, sits veteran crocodile hunter, Toa Davidson. He tells me that he and several other crocodil~ dPll RlV:EB _ _ - 4 - bunter, Tom avidson. He tells me that he and several otbr crocodile hunters took 7,000 croca out of the Se p ik last year. Thea~ croc skins bring fro ■ 5 to 12 pound• apiece. They are s hipped froa Hew Guinea to Sydney, fro ■ there to Singapore, and then eventually aade into leather goods aainly tor New York and Paris. Just to give you an idea how crocodile leather 11 prized, one croc bunter, with one of his own skins and a pair of shoes aade up, in Australia, at a cost to •d• of 14S.OO. Crocodile bunters have been known to make as aucb as twenty to thirty thou1and dollars in a couple of All clear profit, because there are no taxes in lew Guin The cli■ate is just about as tou9h tor the whit• ■ an as you will find anywhere in the world. You are thousands of miles fro ■ nowhere, on an island with several aillion stone age natives. So those who come hen • §IPJI &lVIB _ . - 5 - and eventually pull out with a aaall fortune, aade in gold, or raising coffee in the mountains, or in cocoanuts and cocoa in the lowlands, or in shooting · 1 crocodiles, they more than earn all they aate. SAJ FRANCISCO A San Francisco reports -~ ? rofitable business deal. Which has to do - with a flock or blackbirds. For a long time the city government baa been putting up nine dollars a year - to provide grain for hundreds or blackbirds. Which, 1n their migration, ake an annual atop at the San Francisco waterworks. So, thla year, the uaual nine dollars worth or grain waa ready - when the nock or blackblrda arrived. But what did they see? Swaru or gra11hoppera. The grounda at the waterworks - infested with a plague of 1nlect1. Devouring - the leavea or the walnut trees. So the hungry blackbirds began devouring - the grasshoppers. The city fathers had planned an expenditure or a thousand bucks - for 1naect1c1dea to get rid of the plague. the blackbirds have saved them - that expense.