The Defense Department has deferred a planned 8,000-man reduction in support troops in West Germany because it believes the reduction would weaken the combat strength of the United States Army in Europe. The decision, disclosed by a high-ranking Army officer, is the first reversal of a much-publicized Pentagon policy in recent years of getting rid of “fat” in the armed forces through the elimination of support troops and headquarters staffs. The policy has been an important part of Defense Secretary James Schlesinger’s budget strategy in trying to persuade Congress to accept a larger defense budget and to endorse an increase from 13 to 16 Army divisions.
The policy question now being raised by the Army, with a sympathetic response from the Defense Department, is whether the reductions in support troops have been carried to a point that the combat endurance and flexibility of the United States Army in Europe are being jeopardized. This question, in turn, raises a more basic policy issue of whether the Army — and thus the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — is being driven to strategy in which it could fight only a “short war” in Europe, of a few weeks duration at most. The pressures to reduce the support forces have come not only from the Defense Department but also from Congress. which has long had a belief that the Army in Europe was top‐heavy in headquarters and noncombat units.
Portugal’s new Premier, Vice Adm. Jose Pinheiro de Azevedo, announced that the Socialist Popular Democratic and Communist Parties of that country had reached agreement on a general program that would take a more moderate revolutionary course and guarantee a representation of the major political parties. Admiral Azevedo said that while there were still more difficulties, he hoped to name the ministers of a new cabinet at the beginning of this week. He stressed the need for law and order and government authority against “counterrevolutionary forces that seek, through violence and terrorism, a return to fascism.” But his program also called for measures that would weaken the Communist grip, on such key sectors as national and local administration, the news media and the trade unions.
In a television and radio broadcast, Admiral Azevedo promised the Portuguese people that his Government would defend their liberties and “advance realistically toward the construction of democracy and socialism.” He said the program would seek to assure wide representation in news media belonging to the state. These include radio and television and most of the newspapers, which were nationalized following nationalization of the banks in March. Democracy in the trade unions would be enforced, he said, and municipal bodies “irregularly constituted against the democratic will of the people” would be replaced. The functioning of the constituent assembly now drawing up a constitution providing foal elected institutions would be guaranteed, he said.
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş said he would declare the Turkish-held north of the island independent unless negotiations on a settlement were resumed quickly and unless he was allowed to address the United Nations. After a meeting in Ankara with Turkish Premier Suleyman Demirel, Denktaş said he would ask the Turkish Cypriot parliament this week for authority to declare independence unless he were given equal authority with President Makarios to address Tuesday’s U.N. General Assembly as a Cypriot representative.
The Soviet Union has not responded to repeated United States requests that it allow 650 Soviet citizens to join their families in the United States, a State Department spokesman, Robert L. Funseth, said yesterday. Mr. Funseth said the United States has submitted several lists of names of people who had not been permitted to leave the Soviet Union to join their spouses in the United States. The submission of most of the lists predates the Helsinki agreement signed last month, calling for expeditious action to deal with the applications of persons who wish to he reunited with members of their family.” Mr. Funseth said.
United States and Soviet negotiators postponed a scheduled meeting on a new grain deal for 48 hours today so they could consult further among themselves. A United States spokesman denied there was any stumbling block. The third session of the talks had originally been set for this morning to explore further the possibility of a long‐term agreement under which the Russians would buy fixed amounts of United States grain. But the spokesman said the meeting between the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Charles Robinson, and Foreign Trade Minister Nikolai S. Patolichev was put off until Monday because the negotiators “felt they needed more time to consult among themselves.”
The euphoria that erupted in Britain six years ago over the discovery of North Sea oil has evaporated. Bitter feuds over Britain’s energy policy, unforeseen costs and technical delays — even the weather — have combined to tarnish what was once a vision of new riches for the oil industry and a new era for Britain. Oil production in the British sector of the North Sea is less than a tenth of the 500,000 barrels a day that had been expected by the government. “The North Sea.” said Richard Bailey, an economist and oil expert, “was supposed to compensate for the loss of the Commonwealth, putting us back into a situation where we had economic advantages. But the opportunities that were all there for the taking are now very much less.” Some of the 25 oil fields discovered in the British sector of the North Sea have been effectively mothballed. They may still produce oil some day, hut only if world oil prices soar even higher or if the Government is willing to lose money by pumping them itself.
A military court in Madrid imposed the death penalty on three members of an extreme leftist group and jailed two others for killing a Madrid policeman July 14. The court has agreed to hear appeals from two other guerrillas, from the Basque area, who have been sentenced to death for killing a policeman in that area last year.
Israel expects to receive first deliveries of the American F-15 fighter plane, made by McDonnell Douglas, by the end of the year. National radio in Tel Aviv denied reports from the U.S. magazine Aviation Week that Israel might cancel its orders. Additionally, Israel will be getting large numbers of the F-16 fighter, made by General Dynamics, in one to two years. But the country also wanted the more sophisticated F-15 to counter Soviet-made MIG-23s already in the Arab arsenals.
South Vietnam denied it would use Americans left behind in the country as hostages to extract political concessions from the United States. State Department spokesman Robert Anderson said the United States had no reason to believe South Vietnam would adopt such a policy. but that it would take “an extremely dim view” if it did. South Vietnam stressed the protection of “all foreigners in South Vietnam who make an honest living and respect the independence and sovereignty of Vietnam.”
The leaders of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor portrayed themselves at a news conference in Dili today as the rightful successors to the Portuguese colonial regime here. This could lead them into conflict with Indonesia, which, has championed two other political parties and denounced the front, known as Fretilin. One party, the Timorese Democratic Union was defeated in a brief, bloody civil war with Fretilin and its leaders are now imprisoned here, on the run or across the border in Indonesian Timor. The other, the Popular Democratic Association for the integration of Portuguese Timor into Indonesia appears to have little popular support. Members of Fretilin’s central committee, who met the press, said that the Portuguese flag still flew over Dili, the capital and that they recognized the. Portuguese Government as the only authority in the process of decolonization.
China will lend Cambodia $1 billion to help repair the ravages of war, a Japanese report from Peking said. Quoting informed sources in the Chinese capital, the business paper Nihon Keizai said that the loan would be interest-free and repayable in five or six years. Negotiations for the loan were conducted with Chinese officials by the deputy prime minister. Khieu Samphan, when he visited Peking last month, the paper said.
China made a major shift in foreign policy by giving implicit approval of dialogue between black Africa and white southern Africa. Such dialogue, it said, should be used by black African leaders as a weapon for the revolutionary African cause. Previously, China had condemned dialogue as one of the faces of “reactionary double tactics” followed by white leaders. The new Chinese position was expressed by Vice Premier Li Hsien-nien during a banquet for Alexander Grey Zulu, secretary general of the Zambian United National Independence Party.
Forty-eight passengers died when a Costa Rican bus carrying 60 persons plunged over a cliff into a salt marsh near the Pacific port city of Puntarenas. The victims were listed as 15 children, 11 men and 22 women. Among the 12 survivors was the bus driver. Antonio Nacarado, who was identified as the driver of a bus that overturned in Choluteca, Honduras, 10 years ago, killing 36 persons. In the Puntarenas crash, Nacarado was quoted by police as saying, “I made every effort to survive and pushed out the windows so I could get out and rescue some of the people who were saved. The vehicle was overloaded and it was impossible.”
Argentina’s President Isabel Perón, believed to be “on the edge of a nervous breakdown”, took a temporary leave of absence and was replaced by Senate President Italo Luder. She would return to office on October 16.
The Defense Department said that a United States Navy installation near Asmara, Ethiopia, had been attacked and that eight persons, including two Americans, were missing. The announcement said that the attack took place “in what appeared to have been a series of attacks by unknown forces against various locations in and around the Ethiopian city of Asmara.” It did not identify the missing Americans, except to say that one was from the Army and the other from the Navy. The others missing were Ethiopians employed at the installation.
Aroused by French public opinion, the French government has begun to act to rescue Francoise Claustre, a 38-year-old French archeologist and anthropologist, who for 17 months has been held hostage under the threat of death by a band of rebels in northern Chad. The rebels have demanded a ransom of $2.4 million, some of it in arms, and have said that they will kill Mrs. Claustre if their demands are not met. They have set September 23 as the deadline. On Friday night, the French government, under public attack for alleged reluctance to help Mrs. Claustre, said it would agree to pay the ransom, but did not say whether the ransom would include arms. The government apparently had delayed taking action because it did not want to antagonize the Chad government of General Felix Melloum by giving in to the rebels’ demands.
A meeting of central and southern African heads of state opened in Lusaka, Zambia today but representatives of violence‐torn Portuguese Angola failed to make a scheduled appearance. The talks, with the strife in Angola the main topic, opened at President Kenneth Kaunda’s estate outside Lusaka. Others present were the Mozambique President. Samora Machel, the Tanzanian President, Julius K. Nycrere and President Seretse Khama of Botswana. President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and representatives of Angola’s three liberation movements were scheduled to attend the talks but did not appear.
President Ford told a meeting of the National Federation of Republican Women in Dallas that he was fed up with pessimism about America and was determined to reverse a trend toward social spending that “literally threatens our whole economy.” He said that he would use his veto “again and again and again” to prevent liberal Democrats from enacting new and larger social programs. He indirectly criticized New York City’s Democratic administration as one that “hasn’t or won’t responsibly manage its fiscal affairs,” and he brought his audience to its feet by pledging to “find a better way” to provide quality education than through court-enforced busing.
The General Accounting Office has challenged the accuracy of a statement by President Ford that the expense of government regulation and the higher prices charged by monopolistic industries may cost the average American family $2,000 a year. The President used the claim that federal regulation and industry monopoly may cost 52,000 a family, and $130‐billion a year for the whole nation, as part of his continuing drive to eliminate what the Administration has argued are unnecessary Government controls. The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, conducted the analysis of Mr. Ford’s cost estimate at the request of Representative John, E. Moss, Democrat of California. Mr. Moss is chairman of the investigating subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee. The G.A.O. reviewed the Administration’s cost calculation methods without trying to compute what it thinks the correct cost figures should be.
The House Select Committee on Intelligence has set the stage for its next confrontation with President Ford by issuing a subpoena for top secret Vietnam war documents that must be answered by 10 AM Wednesday. If President Ford has resolved not to release classified documents to the House panel, committee sources said, he will have to go to court to quash the subpoena. The committee is expected to meet early Wednesday to receive the Administration’s answer. At the center of the controversy that began last Thursday is whether a Congressional committee has the power to “declassify,” or make public, matters that the executive branch thinks should be kept secret. Both sides are deeply entrenched in their positions. Administration officials have said that the President cannot send the thousands of secret documents and oral information to Capitol Hill if every committee of the House and Senate can, “willy‐nilly,” make them public.
Vice President Rockefeller completed his second trip to the South in less than a month, having in two days visited three states, made five speeches, held four news conferences and a television interview, attended four receptions for Republican dignitaries, sat through half a University of Oklahoma football game, presided over a fundraising dinner and shaken countless hands. Mr. Rockefeller also said repeatedly that he is not a candidate for the Vice Presidency or any other office next year, and that he toured the South not to seek support for his own nomination but for President Ford’s programs and the Republican party.
Some postal rates went down today but the Postal Service was expected to begin action this week that would raise the cost of mailing a letter to 13 cents after Christmas. Under new permanent rates, the cost of mailing a letter that weighs less than an ounce stays at 10 cents but each additional ounce will be 9 cents instead of 10. Postage for postcards will be 7 cents, down a penny, but the cost of sending a parcel will go up by 6%.
Boston’s new desegregation program is the focus of the most extensive and far-reaching involvement by colleges and universities, as well as business, ever undertaken in a public school system in the United States. Their effort has had conflicts and tensions, but even some opponents of desegregation see the collaborative effort as an unprecedented opportunity for the improvement of a long-troubled school system in which only 15 percent of its pupils went on to college.
No progress was reported in negotiations over strikes by teachers in New York City and Chicago, the largest school systems hit by walkouts. Nearly 2 million students and 125.000 teachers are out of classrooms in communities across the nation. Cost-of-living pay increases, class sizes and fringe benefits were the key issues in walkouts in San Jose and Berkeley, California, Wilmington, Delaware, Lynn and New Bedford, Massachusetts, and in New Jersey, New York, Ohio. Pennsylvania, Washington and Rhode Island. Talks in New York City were resumed on the staff level. In Chicago, negotiations continued, with the main issue a cost-of-living increase. The teachers have not disclosed publicly what they want but the pay range under the previous contract was $10,400 to $20,996.
Mosquitoes began dying in Birmingham, Alabama, after a low-flying airplane sprayed 1,900 pounds of insecticide over a 120-square-mile area. Targets of the program are the adult Culex mosquitoes, encephalitis carriers blamed for 28 cases of the disease in Jefferson County, including one death. The misting program cost the county $50,000 and is expected to kill between 70% and 90% of the mosquito population. The malathion spray was called harmless to people and pets. A similar spraying program scheduled for Cleveland, Ohio, where the St. Louis-type encephalitis was reported in epidemic proportions, was delayed because of bad weather.
Half of a 600-man National Guard contingent was pulled out of Boston, thinning the massive security screen that protected court-ordered busing as schools opened last week. The 300 men withdrawn will remain on active duty a half-hour away at Camp Curtis Guild. A spokesman said Governor Michael S. Dukakis had ordered the pullout because of the relatively calm opening of the schools. Meanwhile, city education officials turned their attention to the large number of white students who have been absent from classes.
An investigation of alleged overpayments totaling $400 million to the 4.2 million needy aged, blind and disabled under the Supplemental Security Income program was to be opened by a Senate appropriations subcommittee. The program went into operation in January, 1974, when the federal government took over responsibility from the states for assistance payments to the three categories of needy persons.
State police in Pennsylvania said they expected to make two arrests in connection with the death of a Cheyney State College student who was injured during freshman hazing. The student, Theodore Roosevelt Ben, 19, of Coatesville, died of head injuries in a hospital after being in a coma for four days. A spokesman for the college, situated at Cheyney, 20 miles west of Philadelphia, said Ben had been carrying someone on his back during a hazing routine when he was shoved and his head struck a wall. The youth’s father, James Ben. 45, termed the death “murder.”
Scientists believe it is possible that fluorocarbon aerosol sprays could alter world climates. The role of the fluorocarbons has hitherto focused mainly on public health questions. According to calculations by a staff member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, fluorocarbons in the atmosphere could have a “greenhouse effect” similar to that caused by carbon dioxide. This view has been supported by a growing number of stratospheric observations.
The gravest financial crisis in New York City’s history has shifted the Democratic party in the nation’s most liberal city and state markedly toward fiscal conservatism and also has rebuilt the state’s political-power structure. The Democrats’ new fiscal policy is so pronounced that differences with the traditionally conservative Republicans are becoming blurred. “I don’t see any difference between a hard-nosed reactionary and myself on how you work the City of New York now,” Paul O’Dwyer, president of the City Council and a liberal Democrat, said. He was one of the Democratic and Republican politicians who gave their views on the consequences of the city’s financial upheaval.
Novelist Danielle Steel (28) weds Danny Zugelder (25) in the Vacaville, California prison canteen. It is the second of her five marriages; they divorce in 1978.
Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii hosted its first event, with Texas A&I University beating the University of Hawaii Warriors, 43 to 9. The stadium had a unique design that allowed it to be reconfigured for ideal seating for various purposes. Four of its 7,000 seat sections could be moved on an air cushion to accommodate a baseball diamond, a football field or a concert venue.
Major League Baseball:
Homers by George Scott and Bobby Darwin helped the Brewers score six runs in the fourth inning to gain a 9–6 victory in the day game before the Red Sox came back to win the night game, 6–3. With the Red Sox leading, 2–1, Scott hit his homer to ignite the Brewers’ explosion. Darrell Porter singled and scored on a double by Charlie Moore before Darwin rapped his round-tripper to kayo Rick Wise. The Brewers then added two more runs off Dick Drago on a single by Robin Yount and doubles by Don Money and Bill Sharp. The situation was somewhat reversed in the night game with the Brewers leading, 2–1, before the Red Sox took command with three runs in the fourth inning on a single by Carlton Fisk, double by Rico Petrocelli, triple by Bob Montgomery and single by Doug Griffin. Montgomery helped ice the verdict with a homer in the eighth.
Fritz Peterson (13–7) gained his ninth straight victory as the Indians won the first game of a twi-night doubleheader, 7–1 , but the Yankees came back to take the second game. 4–3. The Yankees scored their lone run off Peterson in the first inning on doubles by Sandy Alomar and Thurman Munson. The Indians took advantage of a throwing error by Fred Stanley to rack up three unearned runs in the third. George Hendrick drove in a run with a single, added another with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and accounted for his third RBI of the game with a single in the seventh. The Yankees, after tying the score at 1–1 in the nightcap, broke away to win with three runs in the sixth. Chris Chambliss and Walt Williams singled and Rick Bladt walked to load the bases. Bobby Bonds hit a sacrifice fly to snap the tie and Alomar followed with the decisive double, driving in two runs. John Lowenstein homered with a man on base for the Indians in the seventh.
Paul Blair batted in five runs and Doyle Alexander (8–8) pitched a four-hitter as the Orioles defeated the Tigers, 8–0, to pull within four games of the Red Sox in the East Division race. A triple by Ken Singleton and singles by Blair and Don Baylor produced two runs in the first inning. Blair homered with two men on base in the second. Bobby Grich joined in the attack with a two-run homer in the eighth before Blair accounted for his fifth RBI with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
After Sal Bando belted two homers, Gene Tenace hit for the circuit with two men on base for the Athletics’ deciding blow in an 8–5 victory over the Twins. Bando homered on successive trips to the plate in the fourth and sixth innings. After his second smash, the A’s scored two more runs on a double by Reggie Jackson, a walk and singles by Tommy Harper and Phil Garner. Tenace hit his homer after singles by Jackson and Billy Williams in the seventh. Before the inning ended, another run counted on a double by Harper and single by Garner. Steve Brye batted in two for the Twins with a double and sacrifice fly. Ken Holtzman won his 17th for Oakland.
After losing 12 straight times in previous meetings between the clubs this season, the Angels ended the Royals’ mastery with a 6–2 victory. The Angels began their attack with two runs in the first inning. Dave Collins tripled and scored on an infield out by Dave Chalk. Singles by Dan Briggs and Ron Jackson around another infield out produced the second tally. A double by Jackson, single by Andy Etchebarren and triple by Rudy Meoli added a pair in the fourth. Fred Patek knocked in the Royals’ runs with a triple in their half of the inning, but the Angels clinched the verdict with their final tallies in the eighth.
Experiencing a rare loss of control, Rich Gossage walked two successive batters in the 10th inning, forcing in the run that gave the Rangers an 8–7 victory over the White Sox. Jim Sundberg drew a pass from Dave Hamilton to open the stanza. Len Randle bunted and when Bill Melton threw wildly, Sundberg reached third and Randle took second on the error. After retiring Nelson, Hamilton gave way to Gossage, who walked Mike Hargrove to load the bases and passed Jeff Burroughs to force in the deciding run. Burroughs and Hargrove hit homers for the Rangers, while Bob Coluccio had one for the White Sox.
Jerry White and Jim Dwyer, batting 1-2 in the Expos’ order, each collected three hits to lead the way to a 5–2 victory over the Pirates. White scored two runs. Dwyer batted in two and scored one. Dwyer accounted for his RBIs with a double in the fourth inning, putting the Expos ahead, 4–1, to pin the defeat on Dock Ellis. The loss did not affect the Pirates’ lead in the East Division race. The second-place Phillies and third-place Cardinals also were defeated.
Although ordinarily poor at bat, Hank Webb rapped three singles and drove in two runs while pitching the Mets to a 6–2 victory over the Cardinals. Webb also scored twice. Del Unser started the Mets’ production with a homer in the first inning. Webb singled a run across in the second, but the Cardinals tied the score with a double by Keith Hernandez in the fourth. Webb singled in the fifth, took second on a sacrifice and crossed the plate when Mike Vail singled to extend the rookie outfielder’s batting streak to 21 games. A double by Roy Staiger for his first major league hit, singles by Mike Phillips and Webb and double by Unser wrapped up the scoring in the eighth.
Ray Burris’ record of never having lost to the Phillies remained intact when the Cubs’ righthander posted a 4–1 victory. The triumph was Burris’ third over the Phillies this season and fifth in a row for his career. The Cubs decided the outcome in the seventh inning, breaking a 1–1 tie with two runs on a walk to Andre Thornton and singles by George Mitterwald, Dave Rosello and Don Kessinger.
Andy Messersmith (17–14) posted his seventh shutout of the season, pitching the Dodgers to a 6–0 victory over the Braves. Davey Lopes hit two singles, drove in two runs, scored two and stole his 70th base.
Exploding for seven runs in the the fifth inning, the the Giants ended their eight-game losing streak by defeating the Reds, 9–2. Gary Thomasson opened the outburst with a homer. Derrel Thomas and Bobby Murcer followed with singles and Gary Matthews was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Clay Kirby then passed both Willie Montanez and Bruce Miller to force in two runs. After Pedro Borbon replaced Kirby, Johnnie LeMaster knocked in two runs with a double. A triple by Mike Sadek and double by Thomasson added the final pair. Jim Barr (12–13) got the complete game win for the Giants.
Milwaukee Brewers 9, Boston Red Sox 6
Milwaukee Brewers 3, Boston Red Sox 6
Philadelphia Phillies 1, Chicago Cubs 4
Baltimore Orioles 8, Detroit Tigers 0
California Angels 6, Kansas City Royals 2
Atlanta Braves 0, Los Angeles Dodgers 6
Oakland Athletics 8, Minnesota Twins 5
Cleveland Indians 7, New York Yankees 1
Cleveland Indians 3, New York Yankees 4
Montreal Expos 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 2
Cincinnati Reds 2, San Francisco Giants 9
New York Mets 6, St. Louis Cardinals 2
Chicago White Sox 7, Texas Rangers 8
Born:
Joe Don Rooney, American musician (Rascal Flatts), in Baxter Springs, Kansas.
Akihiro Asai, Japanese racing driver, in Tokyo, Japan.
History Diaries 