December 6, 1973

Nixon Adm, responding to wildcat blockades of nation's hwys by truck drivers, on Dec 5 promises to take immediate action to alleviate truckers problems and to give high priority to fuel for trucks in natl energy allocation program; Transportation Sec C S Brinegar calls for for cooperation of truckers in 'avoiding disruptions of traffic while effort is made to find solutions to problems'; expresses sympathy for 'serious problems' of truck drivers; says Govt will take following actions immediately: orders investigation by IRS of alleged price gouging in truck fuel sales; have Office of Petroleum Allocation rev fuel supply at truck stops; investigate impact of sharply higher fuel costs on freight rate schedules; Teamsters pres F E Fitzsimmons 'urgently' requests Pres Nixon and his energy officials to hold conf with trucking indus mgt to discuss impact of fuel shortage on indus and on Teamster members, telegram to Nixon; deputy press sec G L Warren declines, in Nixon's name, to criticize blockade of hwys by truck drivers; says Adm is encouraging negotiations; neither Teamsters nor trucking indus has endorsed blockades, but they have expressed sympathy with motives of drivers; Teamsters spokesman contends that Cost of Living Council should halt increases in fuel prices; Amer Trucking Assn pres W A Bresnahan says trucking indus will go along with 55 mph speed limit; says 50 mph limit will be 'disastrous'; says indus should be allowed '100% of its fuel needs' so that nation can avoid serious inflation; United Transportation Union pres A H Chesser and Amer Railroad Assn pres S Ailes contend that 'return to rails' is best way to ease growing energy crisis

NYC Mayor-elect A D Beame on Dec 5 calls for resignation of 265 high-ranking officials in Mayor Lindsay adm; asserts that if they wish to remain in office beyond next Jan 1 they should submit written applications, with resumes, 'which will be given prompt consideration'; states, in form lr written at his order by Deputy Mayor-designate J A Cavanagh and delivered by hand, that he will 'appreciate' officials remaining in their positions until final decision is made; lr notes that some Lindsay officials will be reapptd if they wish to remain in city service; some top Lindsay officials are indignant at what they describe as impersonal tone of lr; concede that it is customary for new adm to request resignations of holdover appointees but say it is usually done in more personal fashion; call lr 'humiliating' and 'insensitive'; example of attitude is reaction of Munic Services Admr M Musicus, who has been in Civil Service for 37 yrs; Musicus declares that he does not intend to answer lr and that he does not know why it was sent; asserts it is humiliating for man with 37 yrs of service to be told to submit resume; notes that he has put in his retirement papers, effective Dec 31; Finance Admr R Lewisohn takes different attitude; calls lr 'eminently fair and considerate'; vast majority of city officials refuse to comment; first Lindsay adm official of importance to answer lr is Pks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Admr R M Clurman, who writes to Cavanagh that he intends to resign, effective Jan 1, unless Beame asks him to do otherwise and that he would like to be of assistance to Beame adm; Fire Comr J T O'Hagan terms lr 'proper' and has sent in resignation and separate lr and resume requesting reapptmt; City Planning Comm Chmn J E Zuccotti says he will submit resignation and 'would look forward' to discussions with Beame; one of most important Lindsay adm officials, who asks that his name be withheld, suggests that Beame lr is effort by Beame to rationalize fact that he has been slow in making apptmts and that he does not want to reappt Police Comr D F Cawley, hoping that problem would be solved by Cawley's refusal to ask for reapptmt

Worries over the energy crisis and the uncertainty of corporate profits continued to batter the stock market yesterday. The Dow‐Jones industrial average, dropping 14.90 points to 788.31, has tumbled nearly 200 points in less than six weeks. Page 71.

CAB Chmn Timm says CAB must take from airline indus mgt many of its prerogatives for scheduling flights if adequate service is to be maintained in face of massive cutbacks due to fuel shortages, speech, Dallas, Dec 5; denies indus allegations that such role would border on nationalization of indus; rejects indus charge of CAB 'empire building'; notes problems involved in effecting an immediate 25% cut in services which indus took 35 yrs to develop; Timm por

E Coleman is believed by officials to be youngster who was sent home from state training school in July after landmark decision by NYS Appeals Ct; decision held that persons in need of supervision (PINS) should not be kept in same facilities with juvenile delinquents; arrested boy gave same name, birth date, address and pending Family Ct status as youth identified in ct case; Legal Aid Soc lawyer S M Schlussel recalls case

Blockades by truck drivers protesting higher fuel prices and lower speed limits end in Penna on Dec 5 but continue in Ohio despite 6 arrests and forcible removal of 300 vehicles; Penna drivers call off their protest after meeting with Gov M J Shapp and appearing on TV in Phila; Shapp had vowed to call in Natl Guard; NJ Gov Cahill also threatens use of Guard to clear further blockades; riot-equipped police are employed in Ohio when about 700 drivers keep Interstate 70 closed east of Columbus and 1,000 others close 112-mi stretch of Ohio Tpk across northern part of state; Ohio Gov J J Gilligan says it will not be practical to tow away so many trucks from Interstate hwys; most drivers voluntarily move their trucks; Del Gov S W Tribbitt declares that laws of state will be upheld; has no intention of changing state's 50 mph speed limit; Del Police Supt J L Ford says drivers will be arrested and have their rigs towed away if they use them to block rds; Tribbitt's action follows massive traffic snarl at Del Memorial Bridge on Dec 5; blockade affected drivers in Penna, NJ and Del; about 20 trucks briefly block Interstate 40 midway between Little Rock, Ark, and Memphis, Tenn; 3 drivers are arrested after refusing to comply with police requests to move; Mich police clear blockades from hwys near Detroit; illus; map shows location of blockade at Del Memorial Bridge

White House chief of staff A M Haig Jr testifies in Fed Dist Ct on Dec 5 that Pres Nixon was 'very, very disturbed' and 'almost incredulous' when he finally learned of 18-min gap on crucial White House tape recording; says he told Nixon on Nov 15 that gap in tape lasted not just 5 mins, as previously believed, but 18 mins; says he told Nixon that tape, contrary to what Pres previously thought, was covered by Watergate prosecution's subpoena; says he got this information on Nov 14 from 1 of Pres's attys but decided to withhold information from Nixon until Nov 15 to allow Pres to give speech to group of realtors without burden of new information; Nixon's secretary R M Woods testified last wk that on Oct 1 she caused 5 mins of gap and when she realized this she immediately told Pres; White House position has been that full extent of gap was not discovered until Nov 14 and that it was not until Nov 14 that White House realized tape had been subpoenaed for grand jury; Haig says Nixon told him of Woods's rept shortly after she made it and informed him that tape had not been subpoenaed; says he was told few days earlier by J F Buzhardt Jr that conversaton in question was not covered by subpoena; says he informed Pres after Nixon's Nov 20 speech to Repub Govs that White House could find no explanation for buzzing tone on tape; says Pres insisted matter be quickly disclosed to Judge Sirica; Woods testifies that she knows no more than what she had already testified to; illus of Haig, R M Woods ant staff aide M Acker

AMA, acceding to demands of conservative drs, on Dec 5 votes to oppose Fed mandated system that will monitor competence of drs' services, annual clinical conv; delegates stop short of mounting natl campaign to repeal law that was passed in '72, avoiding clash with Conf that would have been similar to previous fight over Medicare; law is amendment to Soc Security Act, proposed by Sen Bennett; it reed strong support from Sen Finance Com and HR Ways and Means Com; law calls for creation of groups of drs who will collectively rev work of their colleagues to assure that every dr's professional work is satisfactory if it is paid for by govt programs; calls for establishment of professional standards rev orgns, which would monitor about 350 specific procedures to determine if diagnosis of patient is correct, if course of treatment sound, and that if hospitalization is ordered it is needed; delegates order assn to work toward amending legis to remove provisions most onerous; HEW Dept Asst Sec Edwards and Deputy Sec Simmons comment; Drs T Parker, R Greene, J H Sammons and AMA pres R B Roth comment

Cost of Living Council on Dec 5 permits 2c a gal heating oil price rise, which will increase consumer bills by about 1%, effective Jan '74; orders refiners to decrease gasoline prices by 1c per gal; Dir J T Dunlop says gasoline price reduction will not be noticed by consumers; 2c-a-gal increase will also apply to diesel fuel, kerosene and jet fuel; Dunlop holds price move is designed to curtail co profits; hints at future heating oil and gasoline price increases, possibly by pegging increased profits to increased production; HR Commerce Com adopts provision directing Pres to bar windfall profits to energy suppliers; Dr A M Okun says cutting gasoline consumption 30% by increasing prices will cost average family $20 per wk, advocating immediate rationing

US Defense Dept officials rept on Dec 5 that USSR has begun flying mil reconnaissance missions from W African nation of Guinea, apparently to monitor US ship movements in S Atlantic; map

NYS PSC on Dec 5 announces series of fuel-saving measures, including 5% voltage reduction, greatly decreased outdoor ad lighting and maximum use of coal in elec generating stations; gives utilities until Dec 14 to show cause why program should not be implemented; sets no date for implementation; empowers cos to cut off service on 5 days notice to customers who violate new provisions; emphasizes saving of oil by restricting wasteful lighting and heating practices; weighs reduces voltage from 8 AM to 12 PM, 2 PM to 6 PM and 8 PM to 12 AM; proposes ad lighting be turned off nightly at 9:30 PM or at close of business, whichever is later; permits illumination of signs needed to identify establishment, limiting lighting to 1 sign per customer entrance; coal maximization order will not effect NYC's continued refusal to permit Consol Edison to use coal; comm repr says regulations will include Christmas lighting, but imposition before Christmas is improbable; asks employe and customer parking lot illumination be turned off no later than 3 hrs after closing and that thermostats be lowered to 55 during non-business hrs; limits theater marquee lighting; Westchester County Health Comr Dr J Goldman says he has arranged with Teamsters Union for fuel oil deliveries to persons affected by continuing wildcat strike against Petro Fuel Co whose health might be endangered by lack of fuel; Natl Oil Inst exec vp R D Lynch says heating oil prices may go to 50c per gal, blaming utilities and natural gas interest for increase; says power cos encouragement of elec heat and that natural gas cos have dropped industrial customers in favor of competing for more lucrative home-heating business; Exxon Corp chmn M A Wright asserts price-fixing charges made by NYS Atty Gen L J Lefkowitz are unwarranted and unfounded; denies corp engaged in any concerted action with other cos in regard to timing or granting of allowances to Exxon dealers

LONDON, Dec. 5 (AP)—Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas‐Home returned today from two days of talks with Soviet leaders in Moscow and said relations between Britain and the Soviet Union were “now back to normal after the coolness of the past two years.”