The Charlotte News
Thursday, December 22, 1958
THREE EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports from Moscow that Soviet Finance Minister Arseny Zverev had announced this date that the Soviet Government would undertake a vast new program of spending on scientific research, social welfare and expansion of the Soviet economy, outlining the program to a joint session of the Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the Soviet Union, which had opened its annual meeting to approve the Government budget for the ensuing year. The biggest jump had come in the projected Government investments to expand the Soviet production facilities, a huge increase of 71.4 billion rubles, nearly the equivalent of 18 billion dollars, over the amount which had been spent in 1958. Investments would be particularly increased in the iron and steel, chemical, oil and gas industries, and in engineering. The Finance Minister had also announced an allocation of 30.3 billion rubles, the equivalent of 7.6 billion dollars, for the expansion of agriculture. He said that 27.3 billion rubles, the equivalent of 7.8 billion dollars, would be appropriated for scientific research, compared to the previous appropriation for the purpose of 23.9 billion rubles. He said that 232 billion rubles, or 58 billion dollars, would be spent in 1959 on education, health, social insurance and maternity benefits for prolific mothers, an increase of nearly 20 billion rubles over the 1958 expenditure. That would include more than 94 billion rubles for education, 44 billion for the health program, over 88 billion for social insurance and 5.5 billion for mothers. The Finance Minister called for increased labor productivity and lower production costs in industry, transport services and agriculture. The labor force was to increase by 1.3 million workers, but the workers obviously were expected to produce more than in previous years, in a continuing campaign to overtake the American economy. The actual figure for Soviet defense spending was far greater than that given for the defense appropriation, but could not be estimated because much of the Kremlin's military expenditures were concealed under such budget headings as capital investment, scientific research, and educational appropriations.
In Washington, radio contacts had been attempted when the nearly 4.5-ton Atlas missile-satellite reached a favorable position for sending and receiving stations within the U.S., in its fourth day of orbiting. During the weekend, a number of voice and radio-teletypewriter messages had been transmitted to the satellite and relayed back to posts in California, Georgia, Texas and Arizona. Most of the words which had flashed back and forth were those of the President, wishing, in his Christmas season message "peace on earth and good will toward men everywhere". That had been the message sent up with the Atlas in recorded form, then erased by remote control and sent again as part of an experiment.
In Taipei, Formosa, it was reported that the resistance movements in Tibet and neighboring Chinese provinces were gaining strength, according to Nationalist intelligence sources this date.
In Boston, a Federal District Court judge this date sentenced New England industrialist Bernard Goldfine to three months in jail for contempt of court for failing to turn over company records in a tax probe. His secretary for many years was given ten days in jail for contempt and the sentences would begin on January 7. Both had been released on a bond of $1,000. Their convictions were handed down the prior Friday by the judge, who told Mr. Goldfine: "I have no wish that you spend this season in jail and I wish to give you adequate opportunity to present this case to the Court of Appeals." A look of dismay had crossed Mr. Goldfine's face and his secretary sagged a bit as the judge passed sentence. The judge said that he based his decision on the fact that Mr. Goldfine and his secretary were "intimate with tribunal proceedings and were well aware of the penalties for flouting the authority of this court." Immediately after sentencing, Mr. Goldfine had been fingerprinted. The sentences were to be served at a jail to be selected by Attorney General William Rogers. Mr. Goldfine's chief counsel had urged that there be no imprisonment, pleading that there was "no flouting of the court's authority" and "no flagrant violation of the court's orders". Prior to passing sentence, the judge had asked the defendants whether they wished to make a statement, and Mr. Goldfine had stated: "I'm very sorry for what happened. I did my very best. I have the highest respect for this court. I'm sorry again for what happened, and I hope you will take that into consideration." His secretary said: "I am very sorry. It was never my intention to violate the court's order. I've only the highest respect for this court. I'm sorry for what happened. I've tried to do my very best. I hope you will take that into consideration." Mr. Goldfine faced civil contempt charges brought by the Securities & Exchange Commission. He was also scheduled for trial in Washington on March 16 before Federal District Court Judge John Sirica for contempt of Congress for failure to answer 22 questions regarding his financial affairs as part of the probe into whether there had been improper influence exerted by his longtme friend, former White House chief of staff Sherman Adams, on behalf of some of Mr. Goldfine's companies facing problems with the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities & Exchange Commission, which both men had denied had been anything more than gifts provided by Mr. Goldfine to Mr. Adams in recognition of their long friendship.
The Associated Press reports that a thick fog of labor troubles hung over holiday air travel this date, as strikes prevented planes of American Airlines and Eastern Air Lines from leaving the ground. Tens of thousands of passengers continued to scramble for alternate accommodations as Christmas approached. Railroads and buses, already loaded with holiday travelers, reported major business, with long waiting lines formed at other airlines. Piles of Christmas mail were diverted to other carriers. A walkout by pilots at midnight on Friday had grounded American, and Eastern had been idle since November 24 at the start of a strike by mechanics and flight engineers. A breakthrough in deadlocked contract negotiations did not appear likely anytime soon. A spokesman for American said that no arrangements had been made for a resumption of talks between the company and the striking Air Lines Pilots Association. The union spokesman and a Federal mediator had predicted that the strike would be a long one. American had notified 20,000 non-striking employees on Sunday night that they would be placed on emergency leave, without pay, after January 4 if the strike went beyond that date. Eastern's mechanics had voted on Friday night in Miami on proposals offered by the company, but were withholding the results pending a company settlement with the engineers. A strike by the pilots at American had drawn criticism from two California officials, Representative H. Allen Smith and Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson, both of whom had wired the Air Lines Pilots Association president, strongly protesting the calling of the strike just before the Christmas season. The strikes had disrupted plans of travelers for the second consecutive holiday period. Pre-Thanksgiving air travel had been choked by a strike at TWA, as well as at Eastern. The TWA strike had since been settled. American operated primarily on cross-country routes running east and west, with 195 planes, which it said represented the largest domestic fleet. They traveled to and from 77 cities in 26 states. Eastern flew routes mainly going north and south in the Eastern part of the country, its 188 planes serving 123 cities in 25 states, plus the Canadian cities of Ottawa and Montréal, Mexico City, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.
The strike at American was not expected to stop the operation of the Delta-American service to Charlotte. The Charlotte district manager for Delta Air Lines said that he anticipated that two flights, one westbound and one eastbound, would serve Charlotte as usual. The only difference would be that planes would not go beyond Delta's western terminus, causing the westbound flight to terminate in Dallas instead of Los Angeles. The eastbound flight, which normally originated in San Francisco, would now originate in Dallas and end in Charlotte. Grounding of American planes had taxed other airlines, already strained beyond normal capacity by the Eastern strike. But most travelers were being accommodated.
In Ventura, Calif., police this date were fitting the pieces of a plot together which had led to the brutal killing of a woman whose bruised body had been found in a shallow grave beside a lonely road. An itinerant laborer, with a local police record, climaxed his tale of what he said was a hired slaying by leading officers on Sunday to her hand-scooped grave. The 25-year old laborer said in a statement that the dead woman's mother-in-law, 54, had hired him and another man, 22, to kill the 30-year old woman who was five months pregnant, paying them $6,000 to do so. Investigators said that the victim may have been buried alive, as they quoted the 25-year old laborer as saying: "I don't know. We strangled her, and I think we killed her before we put her in the ground." One officer had called it "the most cold-blooded crime" of which he had ever heard. The victim, a surgical nurse, had been missing since November 18. She had been the estranged wife of a Santa Barbara attorney, and the couple had separated only two weeks after their marriage the previous June. The district attorney said that jealousy by the older woman was the major motive. Less than four months before her death, the dead woman had written her mother in Bonito, Manitoba, that the mother-in-law held "an uncanny hold" over her son. She said that the mother-in-law planned an annulment. She asked her mother, however, not to dwell on her troubles.
John Kilgo of The News reports that County Police were investigating this date a crude attempt which had been made the previous day to burn down the Country Day School on Sardis Road. The only damage to the school had been smoke damage on one door, but police said that the building could have gone up in flames if the fire had been able to catch more effectively. The arson investigation was continuing. It was the latest in a rash of school arson or arson attempts in the community.
In the eleventh article in the series by prominent Charlotte residents regarding "The Christmas I Remember Best", Judge Willard Gatling of the Mecklenburg Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, relates that the Christmas which stuck out in his mind was that of the prior year. Sometime in November, an official of the Esso Standard Oil Co. had called him to say that his company, its dealers and distributors in the Charlotte area wanted to send Santa Claus to the city in his airplane from North Pole, N.Y., to entertain and distribute gifts to 300 underprivileged children. His job was to locate the children and arrange to have them at the airport. He initially had thought it an impossible task. But the names of 300 children were compiled quickly by Family and Children's Service, the Alexander Home, the Spastics Hospital, the Thompson Orphanage, the Child Welfare Division of the Department of Public Welfare, the Salvation Army, and the Juvenile Court. The Queen City Bus Co. was to provide the transportation. Some of the children were crippled and had to be carried in wheelchairs and some were blind but could "see" Santa Claus. Some were orphans and knew no father or mother, but knew that there was a Santa Claus. Excitement at the airport had reached its peak when 300 little children shouted, "Here he comes." Santa Claus and two reindeer had deplaned and Santa shouted, "Merry Christmas". As each child talked to Santa, one could see tears in the eyes of the women who were being mothers to the children for a day. He saw one clown trying to hide his tears. He remembered that Christmas because he knew there was a Santa Claus, that he lived and would live forever, and that he would continue to make glad the hearts of little children. "The Christmas of 1957 taught me that 'there is room in the Inn'; that there is room in the hearts of the people of Charlotte to help little children, that the more we give of ourselves to little children, the more we enrich our own lives."
As we have fallen behind, there will be no further comments on the front page or editorial page of this date, as the notes will be sporadic until we catch up.
Meanwhile, out West
Still not bearing a Christmas theme, though with religious overtones, was this drama
Framed Edition
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