May 4, 1972

May 4: US Gen Abrams reptdly has advised Nixon Adm that critical mil situation is developing in central region, S Vietnam, where N Vietnamese and Vietcong forces are said to be trying to cut country in two; high Adm officials say Abrams May 3 daily rept stated that Kontum, key city in central highlands, will not fall if it can hold out for few more days; US Defense Dept announces that Sec Laird has sent 6-man mission, headed by Asst Sec Shillito, to S Vietnam for 7 to 10 days to study needs of S Vietnamese army; other members of group are Lt Gen Woolwine, Lt Gen Heiser, Vice Adm Minter, Lt Gen Goldsworthy and Maj Gen Murray; Adm officials say Abrams has expressed confidence in ability of S Vietnamese 1st Div, elite unit, to defend Hue area; assessment assumes maintenance of US air and naval support; officials rept Abrams daily repts are more optimistic than assessments made by Washington officials; official says Washington believes Kontum will be lost during next few days; holds N Vietnamese and Vietcong are expected to move eastward from highlands and link up with other Communist units in Binhdinh Prov, traditional Vietcong sanctuary; officials contend critical situation in central highlands is compounded by inadequacy of S Vietnamese 22d Div; high-ranking mil comdr in Saigon has claimed that unit has fought badly; sr officials in Washington rept intelligence repts indicate that N Vietnamese offensive will continue at current level on 3 fronts 'well into June'

Nixon Adm denies repts on May 3 that US and N Vietnam are approaching agreement on broad peace settlement; rumors are stimulated by French newspaper article stating that US has proposed 7-day truce in secret negotiations in Paris; N Vietnamese sources, Paris, reptdly confirmed rept; newspaper article also held US and N Vietnam have agreed in principle on mutual withdrawal of Amer and N Vietnamese forces, exch of prisoners and resignation of S Vietnamese Pres Nguyen Van Thieu; Communist sources claim that Pres Nixon's natl security adviser H Kissinger and N Vietnamese Politburo member Le Due Tho are in Paris negotiating make-up of govt that would assume power in S Vietnam after Nguyen Van Thieu's resignation; Nixon Adm officials concede that Kissinger has made recent secret trip to Paris; hold N Vietnam may have circulated rumors in deliberate effort to create atmosphere of expectation; HR Minority Leader Ford repts Kissinger attended briefing on Vietnam mil situation by Joint Chiefs of Staff chmn Adm Moorer; contends Moorer gave 'realistic appraisal' of deteriorating mil situation in S Vietnam; also present at briefing were Nixon and Repub Cong leaders; sr Nixon Adm official says N Vietnam has demonstrated only readiness to re-establish private contacts in Paris, not to begin serious negotiations asserts allied negotiating position will be drastically weakened if Hue falls; State Dept official repts Nixon is close to ordering major step-up in bombing of N Vietnam; describes move as Adm's 'one remaining option' in face of offensive; Sen Stennis briefs Sen on mil situation; contends N Vietnam is winning battle; urges Sen to defeat pending legis that would cut off funds for war by end of '72; asserts legis would undercut Nixon's negotiating position at crucial time

at least 150,000 S Vietnamese people flee from Hue on May 3 as N Vietnamese forces push closer to city; govt of Thuathien Prov, of which Hue is capital, is in process of collapse; deserters from S Vietnamese 3d Div, which abandoned Quangtri without fight, roam through Hue, looting and intimidating those who displease them; city police are unable to stem rampage; US adviser says Amers in city are attempting to dampen panic; earlier, group of deserters, who apparently number in thousands, set fire to city's central mkt place during wild and drunken gunfight with another mil unit; illus

S Vietnamese Pres Nguyen Van Thieu orders shake-up in army command in wake of loss of Quangtri Prov to N Vietnamese; Lt Gen Hoang Xuan Lam replaced by Maj Gen Ngo Quang Truong as comdr of northern mil region; Brig Gen Vu Van Giai relieved as comdr of 3d Div; is reptdly under probe

H Holder and co-defendant L Gershenson convicted in NYS Sup Ct, Mineola, of conspiring to murder Holder's wife in Aug '70; case and trial revd

May 4: (Ohio, Indiana, Ala, Dist of Columbia Primaries--Dem Aspirants' Activities) Late returns, May 3, from Ohio, Indiana, Ala and Dist of Columbia indicate that Sen Humphrey won most delegates in 4 primaries and apparently won Ohio Dem Pres primary; Sen McGovern, Humphrey's chief opponent in race for nomination, fared so well in Ohio that he apparently lost little ground and Gov Wallace may have gained most momentum; Humphrey leads in Ohio, where counting is marred by voting machine problems, and won 55 delegates in Indiana and possibly 6 in Ala; McGovern, retaining lead in natl delegate count, appeared certain of picking up sizable block in Ohio; Wallace's successes include winning challenge in Ala from loyalist faction of Ala Dem party by winning 22 scats compared to loyalists' 6 seats; in Indiana, Wallace won 42% of popular vote, best he has ever performed in Northern indus state; other results analyzed; Gallup Poll, released on May 3, indicates that McGovern picked up 12 points over Humphrey and Wallace; chart indicating poll's results; Minn dist convs indicate that McGovern cut into Humphrey's strength in his home state; McGovern won 4 delegates in Nev, Humphrey won 1 and 6 remain uncommitted; Oil Chem and Atomic Workers Union pres Grospiron backs McGovern, 1st natl labor endorsement that McGovern has recd; Wallace is now concentrating on Tenn, West Va and NC, McGovern will concentrate on Neb and Humphrey will concentrate on Neb and West Va; next major clash between Humphrey and McGovern will be in Mich; question of whom backers of Sen Jackson will vote for remains unanswered

7 persons die in steam-pipe explosion in 36th-floor offices of Gen Public Utilities, at 80 Pine St, NYC, May 3; 4,000 evacuated from bldg; pipe that exploded reptdly carried steam, at pressure of 155 lbs a sq in, to turbocompression air-conditioners on roof; Bldgs Dept Comr Stein later says expansion joint of steam line had ruptured but that authorities do not know cause of unusual failure; victims include corp sec of Gen Public, 2 asst secs and 2 visiting auditors working in office for day; impact of blast and steam is so great that some victims are found upright at their desks; Mayor Lindsay, at scene, orders check of other bldgs of comparable age, size and structure; City Councilman Scholnick notes bldg was built according to pre-'68 code which did not require certain inspections; map of Wall St area showing site of explosion; wreckage illus

NYS Sen, 40-16, approves, May 3, bill to impose moratorium on assignment of schoolchildren for racial balance; bill differs from Assembly version in that it does not mention busing; includes broad language that critics warn could suspend all attempts at racial adjustments in schools

Chief Justice Burger illus giving eulogy May 3 near Hoover's flag-draped coffin in Capitol Rotunda

UMW Tenn local pres S Huddleston on May 3 confesses that he directed and handled payoff for Yablonski murder with what he believes is union money, Washington, Pa, County Common Pleas courtroom; says money was channeled to him by 2 union officials, including A Pass; union spokesmen at Washington, DC, hq say there will be no comment until they see confession; Huddleston changes his not guilty plea to guilty on 3 counts of murder; is promised in return a prosecution recommendation of life term in prison rather than death penalty; Judge C G Sweet receives his confession, which names W J Prater, whom authorities say will be arraigned on murder charges; does not connect union pres W A Boyle with murder; prosecutor R A Sprague says certain information is possessed indicating murder fund was estab at conf between Pass and Boyle; details on confession and case; Huddleston illus

S Vietnamese Lt Gen Hoang Xuan Lam, recently replaced as comdr of northern mil region, contends troops disobeyed his orders to make stand at Quangtri, May 3 int; says some 'high-ranking' officers will be brought before tribunal; denies Pres Nguyen Van Thieu contention that he was dismissed; insists he resigned because his troops gave up Quangtri without fight; says he takes responsibility for their actions; illus

Price Comm announces on May 3 that it is suspending all price increases for about 1,500 major corps that failed to submit required profit margin repts on time; Grayson says ban applies to pending increases already approved by comm; comm is notifying cos they have 5 working days to submit qrly earnings repts; civil penalties set for those failing to do so; comm says it will not consider future requests for increases by cos failing to submit 'acceptable profit margin repts'; comm charges R H Macy & Co with violation of profit margin rules and orders co to roll back prices, but later in day rescinds its order; Grayson says order was rescinded after comm recd additional data from Macy's; co chmn D B Smiley says co was never in doubt about its repts; comm issues its new industrywide productivity figure for all major industries to be used by cos when computing permissible price increases; under rules, cos must deduct productivity gains from costs when applying for price increases; Grayson comments on possible penalties for improper earnings repts; says he has asked Amer Inst of CPAs to explore ways for ind audits to be made of profit margin repts being turned in by big corps; says list of cos violating rules is being prepared