Despite the continued fighting in Cyprus, the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain, the guarantors of the independence of Cyprus, resumed talks in Geneva to try to establish an effective cease-fire and also to tackle the political problems underlying the fighting. In the first phase of the talks, the three countries, guarantors of the independence of Cyprus, signed an agreement here on July 30, but the ceasefire lines have still not been worked out on the scene. The British Foreign Secretary, James Callaghan, said on arriving today that “this time I hope we shall see words matched by deeds.” The Greek Foreign Minister, George Mavros, had been expected by some people traveling with his Turkish counterpart, Turan Güneş, to refuse to negotiate while Turkish troops were still expanding their hold in Greek Cypriote territory west of the harbor town of Kyrenia.
He did not, although he reportedly told Mr. Callaghan at a private meeting that Greece could not be expected to talk at gunpoint. The New Greek Government, which signed the disadvantageous July 30 agreement under pressure, averting war with Turkey, had hesitated to send a delegation at all. The three Ministers are expected to stay until the weekend, when Glafkos Clerides, the Acting President of Cyprus, and Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriote leader, will arrive and begin political discussions on how to keep the 440,000 Greek Cypriotes and 110,000 Turkish Cypriotes from fighting in the future. In addition, Turkish troops that invaded the island after President Makarios was overthrown in July have to be dealt with.
Glafkos Clerides, the acting President of Cyprus, announced a new cabinet containing no militant advocates of the union of Cyprus with Greece. The cabinet eliminates all the ministers named by Nikos Giorgiades Sampson, an advocate of union with Greece, who briefly held the presidency with the support of Greek officers, after the coup against the government of President Makarios. The men appointed by Mr. Clerides are said to be without political experience, for the most part, but have strong business connections.
Premier Bulent Ecevit said today that the Turkish Cypriots could not accept rule by the Greek Cypriots, who, he said, have proved incapable of governing themselves. He underlined the urgency of a settlement to prevent an increase in the tension between Greece and Turkey. “Neither side can afford losing time,” he said. “Every passing day will make it more difficult to reach a solution.”
The Turkish armed forces today released four wounded Greek Cypriotes from a prisoner‐of-war camp in the southern Anatolian city of Adana. Panayotis Yorgos, 20 years old; Michail Elefteros, 18; Illas Constantinou, 21, and Ioannis Anrira, 19, were turned over to an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Laurent Marti of Switzerland. They were to be flown by helicopter back to Cyprus. Some 380 other prisoners of war here were visited for the first time today by members of the local and international press. The Greek Cypriote prisoners, mostly young soldiers, appeared to he in good physical condition and their morale appeared to be high.
A British television soundman was killed and five journalists were injured today when unmarked Turkish land mines exploded around them on the road to the village of Lapithos, Cyprus. A group of four automobiles approached this village carrying 10 British and American journalists early today. The Turkish Army had occupied the village and nearby Karavas yesterday. During the night, Turkish troops mined the asphalt road to the village. As the leading automobile approached the village the newsmen recognized the presence of mines by holes in the road that had been covered over with fresh asphalt. Edward Stoddart, 33 years old, a sound technician for the British Broadcasting Corporation, got out of the car, and a land mine exploded.
A British soldier was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a young farmer in Northern Ireland. Police did not identify the soldier, who is accused of shooting Patrick McElhone, 23, near his farmhouse at Pomeroy, County Tyrone. McElhone’s mother said two soldiers were taking the farmer away for questioning when the shot was fired.
A team of Japanese and American climbers discovered the bodies of 7 members of an 8-woman team of Soviet climbers, led by Elvira Shatayeva, which had reached the summit of Lenin Peak, the third-tallest mountain in the Soviet Union, on August 5. The eighth woman was believed to have been swept off the mountain by high winds.
Economic experts meeting at the Vienna headquarters of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries completed a revised plan for a fund to help Third World countries hit by higher oil bills. Sources said the recommendations, details of which were not disclosed, represent an attempt to find a formula that would allow all countries in the organization to contribute to the fund sooner or later. Venezuela, Iran and Algeria have been the fund’s strongest supporters. The five Arab Persian Gulf states have had reservations about it in the past.
Two close friends of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, defying an army order to surrender, reportedly fled to the Imperial Palace. The development was seen as a further step toward an almost inevitable confrontation between the emperor and the armed forces. The wanted men were Lieutenant General Asefa Demissie, aide de camp to the emperor, and Blatta Admassu Retta, imperial treasurer.
In an apparent attempt to speed the present series of political trials here, 26 more persons were convicted of subversion today and 19 others were placed on trial. A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said the 26 defendants, ranging in age from 18 to 48, had received prison terms of 3 to 15 years. The spokesman said he had “no information” on the occupations of the 26, but other sources said the majority were students. All 45 were charged with involvement in an alleged Communist plot to overthrow the Government of President Park Chung last last April. The plot was said to have been led by the National Democratic Youth Student League. Almost nothing is known publicly about the league, and families of many of the defendants have denied that the prisoners belonged to any such organization.
Military authorities in Manila were reportedly concerned with the situation in strife-ridden Cotabato province after a new attack there by Muslim secessionist rebels in which 12 government soldiers were reported killed and 81 wounded. Cotabato province is the worst hit by the rebels, who are active in three other southern provinces. Some roads in Cotabato were reported either under rebel control or “not safely passable,” according to military reports.
Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau shuffled his Cabinet today, introducing what he called a new policy of frequent ministerial changes to bring needed flexibility to his administration. Reconstituting the Government after the overwhelming victory of his Liberal party in the national election a month ago, Mr. Trudeau dismissed five ministers, moved eight and added four. There will be more changes, he said at a news conference.
More than 1,200 marine engineers and deck officers in Canada’s Great Lakes fleet went on strike in two separate walkouts expected to tie up 90% of Canadian shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. An official of the Canadian Marine Officers Union said the walkout would tie up more than 250 vessels. Also on strike were members of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild.
Thousands of Africans were fleeing Luanda, the capital of Angola, for the countryside after at least nine persons were killed and 29 injured in demonstrations for and against independence. The riots were blamed on a European group called the Armed Revolutionary Front and on the National Union for Total Independence of Angola. Meantime, diplomatic sources in Lisbon said independence talks would resume with leaders of the republic of Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea). Also, a provisional government was to be announced soon in Lisbon as a preliminary to independence for Mozambique.
Forty-eight U.S. Navy enlisted men are being tried for missing last June’s sailing of the aircraft carrier USS Midway from Yokosuka, Japan, the Navy confirmed. A Navy spokesman said special courts-martial had been ordered for 41 sailors and informal captain’s mast proceedings for seven of the men. The spokesman said the Navy has not yet decided how to proceed against six other sailors involved.
Richard Nixon became the first (and, as of 2024, the only) U.S. President to announce his resignation. Earlier in the week, Nixon had admitted his coverup of the Watergate scandal. In a televised address to the nation, Nixon said, “I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as President I must put the interests of America first.” He added that continuing to fight “would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress… when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.”.
President Nixon, in an address to the nation, said that he would resign the presidency at noon tomorrow. At that hour, Gerald Ford, whom Mr. Nixon nominated for Vice President last October, will be sworn to serve out the remainder of Mr. Nixon’s term. Mr. Nixon said he had felt it was his duty to persevere but “in the last few days it was evident that I no longer had a strong political base in Congress to continue with the effort.” He said that to have resigned several months ago would have been unfaithful to the political process, but with the disappearance of his political base “I now believe the constitutional purpose has been served.”
The young women who work in the White House press office wept, and Ron Ziegler, the White House press secretary, choked on his words and struggled visibly to keep himself under control when he announced to reporters that the President would address the nation. President Nixon was said to be “unbelievably serene” as he went through a busy day. He conferred with the Vice President and the bipartisan leadership of Congress, appointed federal judges, accepted resignations from federal agencies and signed several laws.
The possibility still remained that President Nixon might be charged and stand trial for his part in the Watergate case. Leon Jaworski, the special Watergate prosecutor, said after Mr. Nixon’s resignation speech, that no deals had been either made or offered that would have given Mr. Nixon immunity from prosecution on charges that might stem from the Watergate case.
Vice President Ford praised President Nixon for “one of the greatest personal sacrifices for the country and one of the finest personal decisions on behalf of all of us as Americans.” He vowed to continue Mr. Nixon’s foreign policy and announced that Secretary of State Kissinger had agreed to stay on in the new administration.
The question of who will be Mr. Ford’s choice as Vice President was a much-discussed mystery in Washington. One Senator said, “So far I’d say he’s a loner on this issue,” Close friends of Mr. Ford continue to feed speculation about more than a dozen possible candidates. Several men put out word of their availability.
President Nixon’s decision to resign drastically altered the political landscape of America. It seemed to presage an era of more open government, of more cooperation and less antagonism between Capitol Hill and the White House, and the decline of the White House staff as an independent power center. It also improved Republican prospects in the congressional elections in November, and put Mr. Ford in the favorite spot in the 1976 presidential election,
In 1968 and 1972, Suffolk County gave Richard Nixon the largest single election plurality of any county in the United States. All that was changed in Shelter Island, a conservative community 100 miles east of New York City. One resident, Evans Griffing, sadly stripped off his bold red-lettered bumper sticker proclaiming “NIXON” — six years after he had put it on the car. Mr. Griffing felt a sense of loss, as did hundreds of other Shelter Islanders.
A broad campaign finance reform bill, spawned by events of the 1972 presidential campaign, cleared the House by a 355-48 vote less than two hours before President Nixon’s statement on resignation. The bill, which now goes to a conference committee to reconcile differences with a Senate-passed measure, would set limits on political contributions, restrict candidate spending, provide federal subsidies for presidential conventions, elections and primaries, and establish a board to enforce new campaign rules.
Legislation extending a program of special aid for the jobless in high-unemployment areas and providing cost-of-living increases in benefits for aged, blind and disabled persons was signed by President Nixon. States with 4% or more insured unemployment are eligible to participate in the extended unemployment compensation program. More than 3 million persons are assured monthly incomes of $146 for individuals and $210 for couples under the new Supplemental Security Income program.
Contract negotiations were broken off between Western Electric and 56,000 striking members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, according to the company. The dispute is over a new contract already accepted by unions representing about 700,000 other Bell Telephone System employees. Western Electric is the manufacturing branch of Bell.
Legislation to allow giant oil ports to be set up offshore was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee. Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate’s National Ocean Policy Study, said the bill would prevent oil companies from owning the offshore ports. The ports, designed to allow huge supertankers to unload oil, would cost more than $300 million each.
Delta Air Lines has appealed to the Civil Aeronautics Board for permission to ban all but the most essential radioactive cargos from its planes. The airline, which has had its passengers and employees endangered twice in the last 30 months by leakage from “hot” shipments, warned that existing federal regulations “are not and cannot be enforced” adequately to assure safe packaging of hazardous cargo by shippers.
Women convicted of equally participating with men in a criminal act cannot receive lesser sentences merely because of their sex, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 opinion in Richmond, Virginia. The court sent back to a district court in North Carolina for resentencing the case of Monroe C. Maples, sentenced to 15 years in prison for bank robbery. Maples, who is 21, had been joined in the robbery by 17-year-old Lynn Morrow, who was given 10 years.
The Federal Trade Commission proposed a set of regulations designed to eliminate the profit from deceptive vocational and home study schools. The regulations, if adopted, would require the schools to refund a student’s money if he or she dropped out for any reason. The amount refunded would depend upon how long the student attended and the number of classes taken. Complaints have focused on promises by the schools of high-paying jobs upon graduation.
The Kansas City Royals–Minnesota Twins game is briefly interrupted by President Nixon’s resignation speech. The speech is broadcast after it begins and the next inning is delayed until the conclusion of the speech. The Twins prevail over the host Royals, 3–2 in 14 innings when Tony Oliva’s sacrifice fly drives home Rod Carew. Rod Carew opened the 14th with a single and moved to third on a one‐out hit by Larry Hisle. Oliva followed with his sacrifice off Joe Hoerner. Bill Campbell pitches 7 innings of relief for the win.
Joe Rudi, the unsung hero of the world champion Oakland A’s and a loser in his salary arbitration case with Charlie Finley last winter, virtually beat the Texas Rangers by himself last night in Arlington Stadium. All the Oakland outfielderfirst baseman did was single twice, double, hit his 13th homer and drive in five runs in a 10–2 rout of the Rangers. The A’s collected 14 assorted hits off David Clyde (3–8) and three relievers, and behind that assault, Jim (Catfish) Hunter breezed to his 16th triumph against 9 losses, scattering nine hits.
The Milwaukee Brewers downed the Boston Red Sox, 5–3. The Brewers halted a slump that included three losses to Boston as they raked Luis Tiant, a 17‐game winner, for four runs in the third inning. Tiant had won his previous six games, all complete. Darrell Porter drove in two runs, one with his eighth home run. The Brewers, scoreless in 22 innings, began the third inning with singles by Robin Yount and Dave May. Don Money doubled, John Briggs and George Scott followed with singles, and Porter added a grounder to account for the four runs. Tiant took his eighth loss in a six‐inning workout. Billy Champion, with relief, won his sixth game in eight decisions.
The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third straight time in Pittsburgh tonight. This time the score was 4–3, and defeat came suddenly in the ninth inning. Mild cheering sprang up among the crowd of 11,191 in the sixth inning when the announcement of President Nixon’s resignation was made over the public address system and appeared on the electronic scoreboard. It hardly matched the roar that went up with one out in the ninth when Richie Zisk hit the game‐winning home run. The blow came off Jon Matlack, who lost his ninth game. He has won 10.
The Montreal Expos outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals in 13 innings, 3–2. Hal Breeden brought an end to the struggle when he cracked a pinch single with the bases loaded and two out. Bob Bailey led off the 13th against John Curtis with a single and took second on a bunt. After Ron Woods was intentionally walked and Ken Singleton struck out, Barry Foote walked. Breeden, batting for Don Carrithers (2–1), singled to left. Curtis suffered his 11th loss in 17 decisions.
The Phillies cut St. Louis’ Eastern Division lead to half a game by beating the Cubs, 2–1, on Dave Cash’s run‐scoring single in the seventh. Chicago’s Bill Bonham and Philadelphia’s Ron Scheuler were locked in a 1–1 duel when Bonham walked Mike Anderson with one out. As Jay Johnstone struck out, Anderson stole second base. Then, with Cash at bat, Bonham uncorked a wild pitch, moving Anderson to third. Cash slapped his single over the pitcher’s mound and off Don Kessinger’s glove at short to score the run. Schueler got the victory (8–11) while Bonham took the defeat, his 14th in 24 decisions.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 784.89 (-12.67, -1.59%).
Born:
Andrei Mezin, Belarusian National Team and NHL goaltender (Team Belarus, Olympics, 1998), in Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Rubén Beloki, Spanish Basque pelota (jai alai) star; in Burlada, Spain.
Brian Harvey, British pop singer (East 17 – “Stay Another Day”), in Walthamstow, England, United Kingdom.
Died:
Baldur von Schirach, 67, Nazi German politician who led the Hitler Youth, and served 21 years in prison for war crimes after World War II.
Howie Pollet, 53, American Major League Baseball pitcher who had the best ERA and most games won in the 1946 National League season, died of adenocarcinoma..
Elisabeth Abegg, 92, German resistance fighter who provided shelter to 80 Jews during the Holocaust.
Henry King, 68, American orchestra leader for the Burns and Allen radio show.
David Dodge, 63, American novelist.
History Diaries 