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British Ship Exploion
Kills 10 Injures 1000
GIBRALTAR, April 27—M—The 1,152-ton British ammunition
ship Bedenham blew up today with an earth-shaking blast as she
unloaded at this Mediterranean rock fortress. Ten workers were be
lieved killed and more than 1,000 injured.
Naval authorities said 500 tons of ammunition—all abroad the
Bedenham--went up in smoke.
The blast, described by witnes
ses as •the "worst ever heard,"
smashed nearly all the windows in
Gibraltar town at the base of the
rock• and shattered others in La
Linea, a mile away on the Spanish
mainland. Many of the injured
Were victims of flying glass.
Sabotage Possibility
It was understood a fire on a
lighter alongside the Bedenham
touched off the ship's cargo of
ammunition as it was being car
ried to storage houses at the ord
nance wharf. The • lighter also
blew up. Authorities were inves
tigating the possibility of sabo
tage
A British admiralty statement
put the number of dead at six and
indicated that neither the ship's
captain nor any of the crew of 25
were among this number. , The ad
miralty said there were some in
juries, however, among the crew
Most of those unloading the ship
were' Spaniards• from the main
land.
The explosion hurled crewmen
and dockworkers into the air and
sent up huge. clotiqs of billowing
smoke. It caused panic among
many residents of Gibraltar town.
Women ran screaming toward air
raid shelters.
British authorities at this guard
ian post to the western approaches
of the Mediterranean cut off com
munications with the Spanish
mainland and closed the frontier
gates on the connecting causeway.
CENTENARIAN DIES
OIL CITY, Pa., April 27—(W)—
A 102-year-old former Oil City
carpenter died today in Huefner,
Clarion county, 20 miles from
here. He was Henry Hargenrader,
one of the few remaining cen
tenarians in this section.
Churchill Cancels Speech
To Avoid -' olitical Dispute
LONDON, April 27—K1—Winston. Churchill today cancelled a
planned speech in the United States—presumbably to avoid getting
embroiled in the American political dispute over General Mar Arthur.
The Conservative leader explained that "events have happened"
which make it difficult for him to fulfill an engagement to speak on
world affairs at the bicentennial of the University of Pennsylvania
library, May 8.
Only Two Reasons
Churchill did not specify what
the events were. Obviously; how
ever, there could only be two:
the dispute in the United States
centering around President Tru
man's removal of MacArthur from
the far eastern commands and
the developing split in Britain's
labor party, which increases the
possibility of an early general
election here.
While both incidents undoubt
edly influenced Churchill, sev
eral sources suggested that, of
the two, the MacArthur affair
carried much the most, weight.
- -
Difficult For Churchill
As the political expert of the
British Press association pointed
out, it would be difficult for
Churchill to make a speech on
world affairs in the United States
"at the present juncture without
geting involved in „issues that are
causing much controversy in the
Extended Forecast
Extended forecast for the period Sat
urday. April 28 through Wednesday,
May 2:
Eastern Pennsylvania, eastern New
York and mid Atlantic states: mostly
fair and warm weather temperature
average 10 to 12 degrees above normal ;
Waite warm Saturday, somewhat cooler
north portion Sunday and south portion
Monday;, warmer again Tuesday; scat
tered showers mostly over north portion
Sunday and again Wednesday, total rain
one-half to one inch north and a quarter
of an inch or less in south pcirtipn.
Western Pennsylvania, western New
York. Ohio and West Virginia: scattered
showers or thunderstorms late Saturday
or Sunday, and again about Wednesday,
total amount one half to one inch north
and one quarter to one half , inch south
portion; temperature will average 10 to
12 4ilegrees above normal, warmer Satur
day, a little cooler north portion Sunday,
warmer north portion Monday.
...qataxmari, sriurn coLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
13 Men Killed
in 2-Plane
Collision .
CARNEY, Okla., April 27 (JP)
A/ giant B-36 bomber and an
F-51 fighter plane collided today
during a practice bombing run on
the state capital. Thirteen men
were killed.
Witnesses said the six-engine
B-36, world's largest bomber, ex
ploded when hit, scattering
wreckage and bodies over a
square mile area.
Four other airmen parachuted
to safety.
The bomber, from Carswell Air
Force base at Forth Worth, was
believed to have carried a crew
of 15 and a civiliah technician.
The F-51 carried only the pilot.
Officials at Carswell said the
B-36 was- making a- ^adar bomh
ing iun on Oklahoma City. The
F-51 was' making "pursuit tactical
passes" at the huge bomber in
interception maneuvers, a Cars
well spokesman said .
Residents in this area, some 50
airline miles northwest of Okla
homa City, said the roar of the
explosion rattled windows and
brought them running frofn their
homes.
BULLETIN
WASHINGTON, April 27—(1P)
Rep. Frank Buchanan (D-Pa.)
died tonight in the naval hospi
tal at Bethesda, Md. After an
illness of four weeks.
states."
Members of Churchill's staff de
clined to amplify his brief state
ment. 'They explained he and
Harold Stassen, president of the
University of Pennsylvania, had
agreed upon what they would, say
about the postponement. Stassen
had invited Churchill to make
the speech.
State General Assembly
Tough Job In Next Two
HARRISBURG, April 27 (11')
Pennsylvania's General Assem
bly has been in session four
months—but its only been a long
warm up for the job still ahead
of it.
The 1951 session has passed 73
bills. Thirty-seven have been
signed by Gov. John S. Fine.
To date the session has been
divided into three phases of ac
tivity. •
Marked Time
For two weeks after they con
vened, the legislators marked
time while awaiting the incom
ing governor's inauguration. Then
the Senate fought a pitched bat
tle for six weeks over Fine's cab
inet.
For the past nine weeks the
assembly has debated the gover
nor's $2,200,000,000 budget and
his $163,000,000 tax program. The
pivotal feature of the tax pro
gram is the' hotly d4uted state
U.N. Troops
Continue To
Withdraw
BULLETIN
U. S. Eighthi Army Headquar
ters, Korea, Saturday, April 28
—(?P)—U. N. forces today aban
doned strategic Kapyong, on one
main invasion highway 33 miles
northeast of Seoul.
The Allies continued their or
derly withdrawal all along the
front. They ,fell back (four
words deleted by censor) north
of Seoul.
TOKYO, Saturday, April 23 (W)
—Allied troops withdrew steadily
southward in a pelting, rainstorm
Friday along the - 100-mile-wide
Korean battlefront, leaving a
muddy no man's land behind.
The advancing" Chinese Com
munists pressed within 10 miles
north of Seoul on the western
front Friday night, bu t the
United Nations retirement was at
a faster rate than the casualty
riddled Chinese and North Kor
eans could advance.
Contact Slackened
Field dispatches said that
while contact was broken or
slackened along most sectors of
front, thousands of fresh Chi
nese troops were moving south
ward Friday night toward the
central front.
It was the familiar Chinese tac
tic of passing fresh assault waves
through 'the exhausted Commu
nist divisions which began the
major Red offensive Sunday
night.
Thus far, in five days of bitter
fighting, the Chinese and North
Koreans were estimated to have
suffered a devastating toll of
nearly 37,000 men killed or
wounded from allied ground, air
and sea action.
Chinese . Casualties Mount
This boosted total enemy war
casualties to more than 862,500
since the North Korean Reds be
gan the war by invading South
Korea last June 25.
A field dispatch from. AP cor
respondent George A. McArthur
on the west-central front said
U.N. troops jammed on trucks
and marching in the almost
steady downpour moved south
ward throughqut the day in a
Solid, stream.
They passed through Uijongbu.
That road junction 11 miles north
of Seoul, still was in allied hands
but might be, abandoned soon.
"It was an army in retreat,"
McArthur said, "but an army
that still maintained its spirit
and its capacity to inflict a tre
mendous toll on, the enemy."
Residents Leave Seoul
Flashes of fire from allied ar
tillery bombardmentS lit the
skies north of Seoul Friday night
as 300,00 p Reds pressed south. A
half-million residents were or
dered by the South Korean gov
ernment to leave the city.
Allied rearguards north of
Uijongbu covered the U.N. with
drawal. Of no military value, the
capital appeared about to change
hands for the fifth time. The
Reds have captured it twice and
lost it twice.
income tax of one half of one
per cent.
Rejected Tax
The House rejected the income
tax when it came up for passage
the first time.'But parliamentary
maneuvering and the vote switch
of some Republican legislators
squeezed the measure through on
'a second try.
The Senate will now take up
the bill with the degree of suc
cess enjoyed by the bill there
indicating when the session will
complete its work.
With the tax' pr ogr am still
churning up the political surface,
many other major issues of the
session have been shunted to the
background, causing both
branches to prepare themselves
for a lengthy session.
Length of Session
Estimates of the length of the
session range from late May until
July, or the latter part of June.
The one other major piece of
MacArthur Issue
Delays Draft Bill
WASHINGTON, April 27—(W)—The firing of General Mac-
Arthur today brought a delay of at least two weeks—more likely a
month—in efforts to reach a compromise on new draft-UMT
legislation.
"Senators will be completely occupied next week and for some
time in the MacArthur hearings," Chairman Russell (D Ga.) of the
Taft Backs
MacArthur
Strategy
WASHINGTON, April 27 (in—
Senator Taft (R-Ohio) urged to
day that the United States not
try "to end this war by appease
ment of the Chinese Communists"
and not be deterred "by any pos
sibility the Russians may come
in."
In an angry Republican-Dem
ocrat debate in the Senate, Taft
called for immediate adoption of
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's strate
gy against the Communists.
'Will Wake Up'
Interrupted. from time to time
by Democrats, the Republican
leader also declared that unless
Congress takes a firm stand "we
will wake up some morning" and
find that what he called the ap
peasement policies of Secretary
of State Dean Acheson have been
adopted.
Taft upheld the MacArthur pro
gram for making use of Chinese
Nationalist forces under Chiang
Kai-Shek on Formosa and for air
operatiorls over Manchuria. Bomb
the Reds at their home bases, he
urged.
Acheson's Policy
He said Acheson's policy in
volves appeasing the Chin es e
Reds by surrendering Formosa
and admitting them to the United
Nations. He dismissed President
Truman'.. announced plan to con
fine the war to Korea if possible.
That can't go on forever, Taft
said.
"The choice the country has is
between Acheson and MacAr
thur. That is the only issue. What
I am afraid of is that we will go
the way."
Fraternities invite
Frosh Tomorrow
All fraternities will hold open
house tomorrow afternoon from
2 to 5 o'clock to enable freshmen
to become acquainted with the
fraternity system here at the Col
lege./
Interfraternity council is spon
soring the event, ,with Robert
Houseworth and Roger Clinton in
charge.
Questionnaires for the freshmen
will be available at the houses
and pledging rules will be ex
plained. The fraternities will an
swer any questions that may be
asked by the freshman.
Faces
Months
legislation which has been acted
on deals with lifting the present
ban, on the sale of colored oleo
margarine in Pennsylvania. The
Senate agriculture committee re
jected bills to that effect two
weeks ago, but a new move is
reported underway to seek ap
proval for the measure.
Under Wraps
, 1. Establishment of a Fair Em
ployment Practices commission
to guard against discrimination in
business or labor organizations
because of race creed or color.
2. Increase minimum'and max
imum levels of the state's un
employment an d workmen's
compensation rates.
3. Reapportion the state legis
lative districts to increase House
membership from 208 to 210
members.
4. Grant Pennsylvania's school
teachers a $92,000,000 salary in
crease
PAGE THREE
Senate Armed Services commit
tee explained to reporters .
He referred to the hearings his
committee and the Senate Foreign
Relations committee will conduct
into the MacArthur issue.
Iron Out Compromise
Russell and Chairman Vinson
(D-Ga.) of the House Armed Ser
vices committee have been
guiding efforts of a Senate-House
Conference committee to iron out
compromises on legislation to
extend the draft and to do some
thing about universal military
training (UMT). The conferees
met for the fourth time today, and
reported some progress, although
still deadlocked over UMT. Rus
sell said Vinson agreed to the
delay.
The bill the Senate has passed
calls for a start on UMT, to go
into effect when the draft is
deemed to be no longer needed.
The House bill would set up a
commission to study TJMT and to
submit a, report on which Con•
gress would have to act, later.
Big Dif'erence
Another ,big dilfcrence is that
the Senate set the minimum draft
age at 18 years (at present it is 19)
and the House 'voted for 181.
House conferees were reported to
have suggested an 18-year mini
mum for future UMT service, if
the actual combat age for draftees
were held to 19..
Those things now will have to
await a time when the lawmakers
are not so occupied with the Mac-
Arthur issue. The present draft
law. expires July 9, and Russell
said he expects to get the Senate-
House committee together again
"before a month."'
Votes To Cut
'Voice' Funds
WASHINGTON, April 27 (W)—
The Senate Appropriations com
mittee reportedly voted today to
go along with the House on a
90 per cent slash in State de
partment funds for the "Voice of
America".
Two committee members who
asked not to be named said the
group voted "very closely" to
provide only $9,533,939 to build
up facilities used for the "voice"
broadcasts. The ' administration
had asked $97,500.000.
The "Voice of America" item
is included in the Hou - :e-passed
bill carrying $473,165,363 in sup
plemental funds for a group of
government agencies.
One member of the committee
told a reporter at least two of
the members were absent when
the vote on the "voice" program
was taken and a move to re
consider later was possible.
Alumni Club Holds
General Elections
In the elections held recently
by the Penn State Alumni club,
Mrs. Carl Gettig was elected sec
retary, succeeding Daniel De-
Marino.
Other officers who were re
elected were Frank Neusbaum,
first vice-president; and Reuben
Jaffe, third vice-president. Rob
ert A. Higgins is president of the
club; Musser Gettig, second vice
president; Russell Clark, treas
urer.
Newly elected persons to rep
resent the club on the Alumni
council were Harold E. Dickson,
Betty J. Haugh, and Mrs. Mervin
Lucas. Those reelected were
Thomas Beaver, William W. Sieg,
Ivan Walker, Russell E. Clark,
Eugene J. Reilly, and B. M. Her
mann.
DUFF HONORED
WASHINGTON, April 27 (JP)
—Senator James H. Duff, Penn
sylvania Republican, was one of
10 Senate an d House members
presented scrolls yesterday by
Liberty magazine as "honest poli
ticians."