The Key West Citizen Newspaper, May 3, 1954, Page 5

Monday, May 3, 1954 . TH 'Y WEST CITIZEN VIETMINH HALT INFANTRY PUSH ON FORTRESS }) By LARRY ALLEN! /AHANOI, Indochina W—The Com- thunist-led Vietminh halted their fhird massive infantry assault on (Dien Bien Phu last night. The breather for the weary and bat- ‘tered French Union defenders ex- tended into today. / A terse French high command communique early today said the night at the besieged northwest Indochina fortress was “calm,” with only “light harassments” of key French positious by rebel ar- tillery and mortars The French took immediate ad- vantage of the slack in the fighting to parachute toss of ammunition and supplies info the beleaguered fortress. There was no immediate ex- for the rebel pullback, a startling development since pre- vious repors of the fighting had indicated the Vietminh probably could overtun the besieged French position yhenever they threw the bulk of Meir much greater num- bers inte-the charge. The Yietminh had launched their third Avave-on-wave infantry as- sault on the fortress Saturday Bédore they broke off their wild from all sides of the en French perimeter, the had choked off three more ofthe strongpoints guarding the ‘ankered command headquarters bf French Big. Gen. Christian de ‘Castries and also overrun “Isa- Pelle,” an isolated outpost three miles south of the main fortress defenses. * A later French arnouncement said the defenders in a violent counterattack had recaptured Isa- belle. The battle raged at close range for hours Saturday night and yes- terday as the garrison force, out- numbered about 6 to 1 and squeezed into a trap less than a mile across, fought for their lives with bayonets, knives and hand grenades, The French army command said its losses were heavy but claimed the enemy toll was “extremely” high. The fortress, F-r anc .s last in northwest Indochina, had withstood 51 days of constant hammering by the Vietminh, in- eluding two previous attempts to overwhelm it by sheer force of Bitter F r e n ch counterattacks drove the Vietminh from positions held briefly on the southeastern rim yesterday, but the other cap- » bunkers and trenches—on the east, northeast and west—gave the. attackers new protected firing French tanks, clustered in the heart of the fortress, were of little I? been ready for almost any- thing but) that. “Will you con- fess that to the police?” I asked him. (“Why not? They'll find it out.” “And why,” I asked, “did you do all this?” “Isn’t that a superfluous ques- tion, Yates? I did it to cover my own guilt. I killed Dick Ealing.” “How did you manage such a good murder?” I asked him. “T shot him with his own der- ringer and put it in his hand and closed his fingers around it,” said Kuhl “Wait,” I said. “When the door was smashed down, Pettigrew checked the position of the key— in the lock on the inside of the door. He called Dr; Stokes’s at- tention to it.” “Well,” said Kuhl, and now his voice was no longer clear and steady, but shook like his hand, “I just pulled the door shut and let it catch.” “With the key in the lock?” “That’s right. Yes. with the key in the lock.” i thought for a moment. “I don’t think it would work, Kuhl, That was a patent lock and it closes or opens y the key only. If the door was locked, and the key was in the lock, it would have to be turned from the. in- pide.” i} “Oh!” cried Diane Ealing, and jumped up. “Mr. Yates, don’t rou.see what Jim’s trying to do? le didn’t kill Dick. He’s trying to take the blame because he thinks I did it.” I needed only the one look at James Kuhl’s face to see that she had told the truth about what he ‘was doing and thinking. “Before you get bitter toward him,” I admonished Diane Eal- use in the fighting at close quar- ters. French bombers and fighters swooped over the battlefield but could not blast the rebels at close range without killing their own As in their first big attack, on March 13, and the second, two ‘weeks later, the Vietminh opened up Saturday with a heavy artillery and mortar barrage before striking. The Vietminh infantry hit the main French positions from three sides at 10 p.m. At the same time “Isabelle,” As the rebels pushed toward the center of Dien Bien Phu by at- tacking again and again, the French threw up new defense lines. But all the time losing pre- cious ground, French warplanes strafed and bombed Vietminh reserves en- camped in the surrounding jungle- covered hills and hit at antiaircraft and artillery positions. They also slashed enemy supply routes which fan northward to Red China, Hollywood Notes By BOB: THOMAS HOLLYWOOD (—Sterling Hay- den today, came to the defense of a much-maligned breed in Holly- wood—temperzmental actors. Mind you, Hayden is not one to toss his ego around. He’s as even-tempered as a British diplo- mat. Proof of his cooperativeness is the fact that he has made 11 pictures in the past 2% years. His latest is “Suddenly” with Frank Sinatra. Having worked at every studio in town, he has seen his share of temperament. Some of it he likes, some he doesn’t, When we met for lunch, he said he had meant to look up “‘tem- permental” in the dictionary. I have done so, and the definition is: “the peculiar mental and phys- ical character of an individual.” That would support Hayden's “The word ‘temperamental’ has acquired a bad connotation in Hol- lywood,” he remarked. “I don’t think it is necessarily bad. I al- ways remember a foreword Clif- ton Fadiman wrote for ‘Moby Dick.’ He said that Herman Mel- ville had been considered some- thing of an eccentric ‘in his life- time. He added that perhaps we should not apply normal standards of behavior to someone with the genius to write a ‘Moby Dick.’ “And I think that applies to all creative people. Take Marlon Brando. I don’t care if he has # raccoon for a pet or is , “just remember how you thought he was the murderer.” }/ Kuhl swung around to face me, $0 savagely that I imagined for @ moment he wanted to bite me. “What was that, Yates? Just say that again.” | ‘She was trying to cover bi for you before you came,” I said. “Where were you, Jim?” asked Diane Ealing sharply, “You tell, @e, and at ance.” analysis. To me take of great actor. He can and act the heck out i , “I was calling on my wife,” he said. No wonder he’d tried to hold that back. Diane Ealing was furious with him on the instant. Her anger exploded like a shell. I looked across him at Diane ing, winked at her, then and walked out. As I closed the front door, I could hear their voices. again, both Tinging out at once, fast and ex- call chief,” I that he framed Doe Stokes. Til o into that in detail when I get ick to the office. Tell me, where does Kuhl’s estranged wife live? | him You were calling on:her a couple of days ago.” “She stays with her aunt, Mrs. Dora Howard, in the Lowell Park District. Why?” “I want to talk to her. Give me the address.” _ J. D. gave it to me, and direc- tions how to get to Lowell Park. At the house with the proper number I rang a bell and a wo- Man came to the door. “Yes,” she answered my ques- tion, “I’m Mrs, Kuhl.” I didn’t blame Kuhl for want- ing to nade her non Diane ing. Average _heig! ave! figure, average face, with slacks and sweater over enough founda- tion (area to harness ‘a horse, big thick-soled wedgies, and hair bleached to the color of raw, new rope done in a hair-do straight out of the funny papers. “What do you want?” she asked, in the empty high voice you hear from the made-up lips of so many wo- men. “What I want to ask is about your husband.” “IT haven’t any husband any more. We're separated.” “So I hear. Now, Mrs. Ki who came to see you the day the murder?” “Jim came. It was about our divorce. He wanted to get it into court and offered me a settle- ment. I said I'd fight the case.” “What time in the afternoon was this?” “Two-thirty, “Zou talked. maybe.” a Page 8) Basic Beauty! ee” 9295 by TWerien Mest. my dough, he can be ‘as eccentric as he wants, “Bette Davis is another. She says Oh, what beautiful things this new line does for your figure! Just picture the pretty flare of the 8- gore skirt—makes your waist look so small! Best of all, this dress is casual enough to wear 4 days out of 7—dressy enough for a dance. Quick, sew it now. Pattern 9295: Misses’ Size 12, 14, 16, 18, 20; 40. Size 16 takes 4 yards 35-inch fabric. * This easy-to-use pattern gives perfect fit. Complete, illustrated Sew Chart shows you every step. Send Thirty-five cents in coins for this pattern—add 5 cents for each pattern for Ist-class mail- ing. Send to Marian Martin, care, of The Key West Citizen, No. 186, Pattern Dept., 232 West 18th St., New York 11, N. Y. Print plainly NAME, ADDRESS with -ZONE, SIZE and STYLE NUMBER. exactly. what she feels. If she gets mad enough, she’ll blow her cork. Put she’s a wonderful gal, and she has great integrity as an ac- tress. “The first time I heard Mario Lanza sing, I said, ‘This guy has got it.’ I didn’t care how he acted in his private life; that great voice made up for it. “Then there’s Sinatra. He’s sup- posed to be temperamental, but I’m on his side. He has a mind like a steel trap. He has some ter- ficie speeches in this picture—wild stuff that would throw me. He doesn’t always get all the words right, but gets the meaning across. And there’s a certain sincerity about the guy that comes through. ie “An hour and a half or two hours. We didn’t get anywhere.” A little more of that and I thanked her and went out. Driving back to the office from that meeting with Mrs. James Kuhl, I tried to think where I'd go from there for a new clue and a new trail. I'd have to clarify things in a good talk with J. D. But J. D. met me in the outer office. She didn’t pause for much more than long enough to put out her hand for’ the car keys. m overdue on a lead of my own. “Where away?” “At Dr. Stokes’s home,” she said, and left. Dr. Stokes. She had said Dr. Stokes, after saying she’d ignore im from then on forever. I walked into the rear office, where Holmgren was sitting. He looked up and smiled “From under the door. We were discussing what we had on the case backward and forward and from side to side, and then somebody knocked. I went out and opened the door. Nobody was there, but a folded note had been stuck underneath. There it The note read: How much is it wurth for you to kno I can tell who really killd R. Eling Talk to me about this quick befor its to late Alchisez “She went buzzing out there—” Holmgren started to go on. “And Ym buzzing right out after her.” J._D.’s car was parked in front of Dr. Stokes’s house and as I leaped up the steps I saw that the front door was open. I walked in, through the hall, and into the parlor. I almost bumped into J. D. She stood like a statue, gazing cies gazing at what lay on the It was Alchisez, flat on his face with his arms out and a stain of dark’ dampness around his head. Bey: him, half hidden behind an easy chair, body with a checked pants. I knew those clothes, It would be Al Bensinger. §To be continued) Th WASHINGTON #® — The Eisen- hower administration talked tough but, it appears now, never had a prepared plan to help the French if they faced disaster in Indochina at the hands of the Communist-led Vietminh. The tough talk didn’t stop the Communists. Secretary of State Dulles didn’t come up with a plan until the French did face disaster. So far his plan hasn’t worked. When the Korean truce was signed last summer, Dulles fo- cused American and world atten- tion on Indochina, where the French had been fighting the Viet- minh seven years. On Sept. 2 he warned the Com- munist Chinese not to send their troops into Indochina. Such ag- gression, he said, “could not occur without grave consequences which might not be confined to Indo- china.” If this was intended to warn the Chinese they might be bombed in China if they sent an army into Indochina, it overlooked a reality: they didn’t have to send in an Army. The native Indochinese rebels were willing to fight and die. They needed supplies amd expert direc- tion and help. The Chinese sent in supplies and specialists. A few weeks ago Dulles said they had sent in 2,000 specialists. Dulles hadn’t said what this country would do in a case like that. Yet, that may be the future pat- tern of Communist aggression any- where: get the native communists to revolt and then see them through a victory with supplies and trained men who stay in the back- ground. In another major policy speech Jan.. 12 Dulles said aggression would be met with instand and massive retaliation. Later he wa- tered it down, saying he had meant to emphasize not so much try’s “capacity” to -retaliate in the word “‘instant’’ as this coun- stantly, if it wished to. It was watered down even fur- ther by President Eisenhower on March 10. He told a news confer- ence the United States would not | get involved in war without a for- | mal declaration by Congress. That could hardly be done instantly. Three days later Dulles ex- plained Eisenhower could order in- stant retaliation if-he thought ani ...only ina NAVARRO, Inc. e World Today By James Marlow attack anywhere was preliminary to attack on this country. Chinese is i could hardly be considered that. On the very day Dulles gave that explanation, the Vietminh began a major offensive against the French fortress of Dien Bien Phu in north- west Viet Nam, The date was March 13, At this time the administration seemed:to think the French would win, Secretary of Defense Wilson said he thought so on Feb. 9. On Feb. 16 Walter Bedell Smith, Dulles’ un- der secretary, brushed . off Red advances in Indochina as “‘nothing but. real estate victories.” As late as March 23 Dulles was predicting a French victory. Meanwhile, Eisenhower had said U. S. involvement in a hot war in much congressional opposition to involvement. By this time it was fair to wonder what Dulles’ tough talk amounted to. By March 29 the Vietminh had given the French a_ battering. Dulles said a Communist victory in Indochina would lead to domi- nation of all Southeast Asia. “That possibility,” he said, “should not be passively accepted but should be met by united action.” This, at last, seemed to be a plan, although one thought up at the last moment, for he dashed off Friction Between Russia, Red China May Develop WASHINGTON W—A study pub- lished by a federal agency says there are potential points of fric- tion between Red China and Russia — “he “‘stalinization” of China and efforts to weld stronger bonds between the two countries. The U.S. Information Agency yesterday published for public in- formation and the guidance of its own staff. a study of Chinese- Russian relations by Richard L. Walker, assistant professor of Far Eastern history at Yale University. Walker said Communist China is being remade in the image of Soviet Russia with Russian help would form a Pacific alliance like the one they had with this country in Europe. There had been months in which to talk this over with the two big allies. The Geneva conference with the Russians and Red Chinese on Indochina was to start April 26. If the British and French turned Dulles down on his united action idea the Communists would know that the three big allies were divided. Britain and France insisted on waiting to see what happened at Geneva before agreeing to “united action.” They went into the conference divided, facing the undivided Com- munists, who could take advantage of their split. They did. Now the French may agree to a peace plan which could lead to eventual sei- zure of all Indochina, SPECIAL! FOR TUESDAY ONLY JEWFISH STEAKS Lb. 39 JEWFISH FOR BOILING Lb. lic FLORIDA POULTRY, EGG and FISH COMPANY, Inc. 819 Simonton Street Telephone 2-6385 to see if the French and British | - and tht’ ties between the two na- tions are strengthening. But he viewed as potential trouble points China’s traditional antiforeign attitude, which might turn against Soviet advisers, and, more important, the Soviet sys- tem’s inability to solve Caina’s problems, particularly in agricul- ture. THE Ih One mine at Greensboro Pa. has 300 miles of railroad and is classed as the largest bite uminous coal mine in. the world, Of the 238 copies of the first fo- lio edition of Shakespeare’s work now known to exist, half are in the United States. Citizen Want Ads Bring Results FARE ror ROUND TRIP GOOD ONLY TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY ON FLORIDA GREYHOUND LINES GREYHOUND introduces sensational savings for middle-of-the-week bus travelers. Ride the loaded mid-week schedules and Save 50% on your return trip, with 14 days return limit. Enjoy the same fine standard of service. GREYHOUND BUS STATION 511 Southard Street PHONE 2.5211 You drive 285 HP FirePower V-8 . « ; most powerful engine on the road, and all-time record breaker at Indianapolis and Daytona Beach! You drive with PowerFlite . .. most automatic of all no-clutch transmissions. And with Full-time Power Steering and power braking . . . surest, safest car control in automobile history! Come be Number One—today! The power and look of leadership are yours in a HRYSLER 601 Duval Street ‘