Bronze Reporter [Volume: 5, Issue: 54]

~

4
Pe were ae

For Auto Thefts

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.

~A federal grand jury at

Grand Rapids has indicted a second member of an alleged

stolen car ring.

Fifty-one-year-old Wilbert F. Miller of Hickory Corners
was indicted on 12-counts of Stealing and changing the

~identification of automobiles. He is held under 15-thousand |

dollars bond pending arraignment in federal court.

Miller and a Battle Creek man,
27-year-old Paul Senseman, also
are named in a second indictment charging them with conspiracy. Senseman was indicted
by a grand jury last February
and was arrested in July. He
pleaded guilty December 4th.

U. S. District Attorney Wendell A. Miles says F.B.I. agents
have bee nworking on the ease
for more than a year. He says
other persons may be~ indicted
later.

Miles said Miller and Senseman bought late-model cars
that had been wrecked from
junk dealers and would then
go to Chicago where they obtained stolen cars of the same

make and model.

The district attorney says the
stolen cars were taken to Miller~s
home in Kalamazoo County

where an arc welder was used
to remove all serial numbers -of
the wrecked cars. Using dies,
members of the ring would then
stamp on the pl numbers pr Se
the _ wrecked.
cars were then old an Tape
chasers were Ain, the title nat
license plates that had been obtained when the wrecked car was
purchased.

The indi~tment against Miller

charges he transported six stolen |:

cars across. state lines and
changed their identification between June 13th, 1957 and October 16th, 1957.

Vice Squad On
Rampage Again

PONTIAC Two persons
pleaded guilty on Monday after
falling into a trap set by Pontiac~s vice squad early Sunday.

Roberet A. Putman, 23, of
244 W. Brooklyn Ave., and
Patricia Ann Willis, 19, of 620
W. Dallis St., Madison Heights
were fined $50 apiece by
Municipal Judge Cecil Mc-Callum.

Police said they admitted attempting to purchase liquor illegally from Patrolman William Gracy, who was stationed
in plain clothes at the corner
of Gagley and syeesecn Sts. bs

er oer ~Sohn ~Pope,
26, of 393 Lowell St. pleaded not guilty to a charge of
soliciting Gracy for an -im
moral act.

Birmingham Negro Ministers
Launch ~Walk~ Movement

BIRMINGHAM, ~Ala. (Special)~Over twenty Negro ministers in this town often referred to as the cradle of the
south, spoke from their churches last Sunday and ~urged
the Negro population to ~Walk for their rights,~ and boycott
the still jim-crowed bus seating arrangements of the city~s

~Defeat Evil~
The Rev. F. L. Shuttlesworth whose home and church
was bombed and who recently was convicted of violating
the city~s bus seating law with a fine of $100 and 90 days

bus lines.

in jail, told his congregation:

~You sin when you yield to

the bus company~s.sin of segregation. I call upon you to
use passive resistance to defeat this evil.~

Rev. Shuttlesworth, who recently spoke in Pontiac at
Trinity Baptist Church, was one of 20 ministers who have

banded together to denounce
Police

segregation.
Warn

Birmingham Police Commissioner E. Conner recently
warned that anyone ~black or white~ would be jailed if they
attempted to boycott Birmingham buses.

The police had recently arrested several Negro ministers~one the Rev. Calvin W. Woods~on a charge of
urging a boycott. This is a violation of state law now in

Alabama.

The bus segregation of the city is under attack in two

separate federal court suits.

PO Feel | by~ the Cong gress r:
Wilkins,. NAACP execiitive secre
Fot

Mr. ~an Mrs. ~John. Avery was

over. ~the ruins: sc

and ~possibly fiv
eeheupadl| by fire,~ The ~parents were: that ve the house at the time of
a) (foreground) and a Apel: Mrs. Johnie Edward, looking

the fire. Shown~ Here are Mrs. ob

ord Bil dren ~lost ~their live

2 today when ~this home of

ROY. WILKINS SAYS:

MILWAUKEE.~The refusal of
Alabama: officials ~to submit -voting ~records to the Civil: Rights

mony: to the nation to. justify
ena

tary, said here tonight in an
address:.at the annual dinner
meeting of the Milwaukee branch
~ef the National Association for
the ~Advancement ~of Colored People/

~In a way their actions can
be understood,~ the NAACP. leader said. ~They have-a smelly
scandal under cover and they
know that its full revelataion

Ala. Thtivico- i

Commission ~is sufficient - testi-.

etment of. further civil rights. Pg rir
at ~the
F SOR Gy. Q

pt, thd onit af the

would se
nation that. the states~ irights
seer. is, instead, a states~

icy.... We

~River Hees dU. Si. Bgpeems

Court antisegregation ruling. of

May 17, 1954, the segregationists

have based their defiance of that

ruling on the ground that ~the
Court is not a law-making

and that its opinion, thetefore,
is not ~law~,~ Mr. Wilkins. pointed
out.:

~This is, of course, nonsense,~

es: New caaag

' | fying this congressional act, Ala
y | George Wallace and of the regis
~~bama has already seceded from

he added. ~But the 1957 Civil
Rights Act, under which the Civil
Rights, Commission functions, was
enacted by the Congress. In: de
ee is saying that regardless

~The action of Alabamny~ s attorney general and Governor-elect
John Patterson, of Circuit Judge
trars are. ~so at variance with
United States practice that in the
human rights field, at least, Ala
the Union,~ Mr. Wilkins asserted.

LANSING~Leaders of the International Typographical. Union
and a Federal mediator have expressed fear that the Booth Newspaepr strikes at eight Michigan
cities may continue ~beyond the
Christmas season.~

A new contract offer was made
by. the company Friday and _I. T.
U. members at Ann Arbor, Muskegon and Kalamazoo were in
favor of accepting the offer, but
printers and apprentices in Jackson, Saginaw, Bay City, and Flint
were against it.

The chairman of the Booth
negotiating. team,| James Sauter,
says there was no offer for workers at the two Grand Rapids
newspaper to vote on.

The Federal mediator, J. Stuart Kelly, reachéd before midnight Sunday, said he had ~no
plans ~at the present~ for another negotiating session. Kelly
said he planned to contact both

sides today, but said~and these

from eft, top row: Tobacgheae melsee ie ke and R. W..
left, bottom row: Judge -R:- W: (Bob) Laster, Ben D. ~Rowland:

regationist group. (UPIT)

Newspaper Strike Still On

were his words ~ ~Optimism

~would be the wrong thing to ex
press at this time.~

Carl Linder, international rep
resentative of the I. T. U., termed
the week-end voting by the various locals~and these were his
words ~ ~more of an opinion
poll.~

Linder said: ~They~re not going
back until they~re told to go
back:~ He said the Grand Rapids
printres Strike involves separate
negotiations. As a matter of fact,
Linder said, the Grand Rapids
problems have not yet been discussed in the negotiations bhetween company and union officials at Lansing.

Linder said: ~There are a
number of things peculiar to
Grand Rapids...~
elaborate.
Linder says Booth officials

agree that the strike in Grand
Rapids must. be taken up separately, probably at a later: time.
He says the contracts of seven
other locals will be submitted to
the ITU headquarters for approval, then: returned to the locals
for a vote on the economic issues.

It~s anybody~s guess when the

newspaper strike will end, either

~in Grand Rapids or. the seven

other cities in the state.

|Parents Seek.

Schools Opening

NORFOLK, Va~Counsel for

| 26. white parents, seeking an in
junction to open six Norfolk
secondary schools closed to pre
vent racial integration, told three

~ederal judges last week that the
children were victims of Vir
| ginia~s.massive résistance pro
gram, ~which has become a ~mas
| sive leckout.~

The ~hearing, before a packed
courtreom attended by white and
Negro residents seated witheut

four hours. ~

Hearing the arguments in. Fed- |

eral District Judge Walter E.

Eaynnwart dr.

He did not -

ee
segregation, lasted more than }*~

ms 7 en Vet Diphen:tos.a portrelt
|Sobelotf U. S. 4th Circuit Cqurt | BY

TO PRAY ON
JANUARY 1 FOR
OPEN SCHOOLS

~PETERSBURG, Va. ~ Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his
endorsement to the Pilgrimage of
Prayer for Public Schools. In a
letter sent from~ his office in

Montgomery, Alabama, to nearly |,

1,000 Virginia clergymen, he
urged their fullest cooperetion
with the Pilgrimage.

The Pilgrimage, scheduled
for Emancipation Day, January
1, in Richmond, is a part of the
growing. state-wide opposition
to ~massive resistance.~

With the end of the first semester drawing near, thousands
of children are still locked out
of the schools. The new semester
brings the threat of closure to
additional schools.

This Pilgrimage of:Prayer is a
religious~*movement. called by
church and lay leaders across
Virginia. These ieaders have stated that it is-their Christian duty
to afford the people of Virginia
this opportunity for the expression| of their deep concern over
the public school crisis.

Dr. M. L. King, Jr., in his letter to the ministers of Virginia
stated in part:. ~Christian democracy is at stake. Let us then, proclaim Emancipation Day, January 1, as a

day of Prayer and Sacrifice for t

the sufferings of - oppressed
people. os

Althea Gibson Hints

NEW YORK - Wimbledon
tennis champion nites Gibson
of New York said this week
week she is considering permatiently retiring from tournament

lak COULD HAVE
2 DANCED ALL NIGHT.
except | had-an appointment

~Factory Worker Escay

Ga. Prison Farmin1948

FLINT~-A 10-year evasion of Georgia Authorities | has
ended for prison escapee Calvin Williams, 35, a Buick fac
tory worker whose real name
City police received the

is Edward Hall.
Governor~s Warrant, signed

by Lieutenant-Governor Phil A. Hart, Wednesday for Williams who is wanted by the Georgia Authorities for volun
tary manslaughter and auto
Williams was temporarily out
is the Acting Governor.

Authorities said Edward Hall
walked away from a prison farm
at Sparta, Ga., in 1948 after serving more than nine years of a
12-to-15 year ~term.

His record was uncovered after
being picked up for investigation
on an assault complaint and his
fingerprints was forwarded to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Washington, D. C, where they
matched the prints on file of
Edward Hall, fugitive from Georgia. Ironically, the assault complaint was withdrawn.

Divorced and father of a
school-age child, Hall appeared
before Circuit Judge John W.
Baker Wednesday. A hearing
was delayed upon request of
Atty. Kenneth Dones, who indicated he would petition to
Gov. Williams for a hearing.

The Hearing is set for ne
Wednesday, December 24.

Kenneth Dones states that Edward Hall is a member of Local
599, A.F.L.-C.1.0., a member
of~ Antioch Baptist Church and
the Rose of Sharon, Masonic
Z His aves ee taes | tad

spect
In Death Of
Grand Rapids Girl

Police here are questioning 25 -year-old James Richardson, formerly of Grand~ Rapids, in connection with the disappearance
of 7-year-old Adele Wells who
has been missing from her home
since November 21.

Richardson was arrested by
Flint Police December 17 on suspicion of the murder of a Grand
Rapids girl on October 14.

Authorities in Grand Rapids
said Richardson is a suspect in
the death of 10-year-old Sandra
Washington who lived in the
same~ Grand Rapids _neighborhood as Richardson.

Ae it om ae ~~
eos Mears ue Fi

theft. Governor G.:Mennen
of the State and Phil A. Hart

Hall~s background and character
has failed to reveal anything
more serious than two minor
traffie violations in the Flint
Community. Further, continues
Dones, ~I feel that I can establish to the satisfaction of the
Governor that Hall is not guilty
of any auto theft.~

Indicating that Hall may have
been a victim of Southern justice, ~Dones points out that Hall
could not have been more than
16-years-old at the time of the
offense and Hall maintains he
grabbed an ice pick only after
his assailant had stabbed at him
with a knife. Dones, feeling that
the outcome of the hearing may
hinge on Hall~s standing in the

~Flint community, urges all who

knew Hall to write or telegram
the Governor~s or the Attorney
General~s. office.

Otis Jim Bishop, President of
Local 599; reacting similarly to
Atty. Dones, stated: ~While I do
not know Calvin. Williams~ personally, I, know some of the conditions in Georgia in-so-far as
apg pesooue ~are concerned

se should be examined

is ~tne ee ~te the. Georsia
authorities. If Williams has
served more than nine years of
his 12-to-15-year sentence and:
has been a good, law abiding
citizen since escaping from Georgia, I feel that the Governor~s
Office will weigh these factors
very carefully.~

FEPC CHECKS ON 610 CLAIMS

The State Fair Employment
Practices ~Commission reported
December 17 it has investigated

610 claims of: job discrimination

in the last three years..

The commission said 43 per
cent of the cases were adjusted
satisfactorily; 52 per ~cent were
dismissed for. lack of probable
cause, and 5 per cent were withdrawn at the complainant~s request or dismissed for lack of

jurisdiction.

Fare Raised

Grand Rapids Transit

Five-Cents

GRAND RAPIDS.~Company and union negotiators
averted a city-wide bus strike early when they reached
agreement on a wage hike and extended pension. plan for

125 Grand Rapids bus drivers.

But the settlement, while,
guaranteeing Grand Rapids citizens bus service during the
height of the Christmas shopping season, may mean a. hike
in fares.

City Coach Lines~ contract with
Local 836 of the Bus Drivers~
Union expired at midnight and
union spokesmen had threatened
to strike if terms were not
reached within a short time.

Grand Rapids City Manager,
Don Oakes, who sat in on the
1ith-hour - bargaining session
along with the mayor, auditor
and city attorney, said the company~s offer of a four cents an
hour pay hike was acceptéd by

Although an accurate account

of union demands heading into |

the session: was not immediately
available, most sources close to
the talks said the bus drivers requested a pay boost of five cents
an hour, while some reports listed
the pay increase request.as approaching 20 cents an hour. ~

The pension plan was reported
to have been -extended, from a
year-to-year basis io a two-year
agreement.

A bus strike. the furniture.
city. would have made Grand
Rapids the second major Mich-.
igan city to be without bus
service. Flint bus drivers topped

van DYKE PHOTOGRAPHERS

threé months of negotiations by
rejecting a three cents an hour

union negotiators. after one a.m. {:; ' <.).City Coach Lines are under the

night Friday. The Flint driv
ers were expected to have asked
for a 10 cents an hour pay

boost and six paid holidays.

Oakes said the company agreed
to the settlement, saying it could
meet the wage boost only if it
could increase fares from 20 cents
to 25 cents.

He said City Coach Lines also
stipulated the city would have
to abandon its present bus company franchise fee of about six
thousand dollars yearly.

Oakes said the bus drivers
yoted 109 to 21 to accept the
company~s offer.:

Both Flint~s and Grand ~Rapids~

same management.
Frat Quits Net~. Body

Over Tan Pledge

AMHERST, Mass. ~ The Amherst: College chapter of Theta
Xi, suspended a year ago by its
national organization for - pledging a Negro -student, has voted
to sever national ties. ~

The announcement was. made
by William C. Segal of Newton,
Mass. =..

Since~ its duspehston ~over the.
Negro pledge issue, the fraternity has been operating as a loeal fraternity under the name
of Alpha Theta Xi and will con
pay hike and striking at mid
tinue to do so,