December 21, 1973

Fed authorities on Dec 20 indict 28 persons, including 13 harness drivers, on charges of fixing superfecta races at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceways; 14th driver, J Bonacorsa, is charged with obstructing justice and lying to grand jury; indictments, resulting from yr-long grand jury investigation, accuse 13 drivers of conspiring with a betting ring that allegedly made $3-million on about 30 fixed superfecta races between Jan 1 and Apr 13; most other defendants are '10 per centers,' so called because they receive a 10% fee for cashing big-payoff tickets; irregular betting patterns at OTB branches triggered investigation, which came to public attention nearly 4 mos ago in NY Times story; all 28 defendants are charged with violation of Fed statutes prohibiting bribery in sports events; conviction carries maximum penalty of 5 yrs in jail or fine of $10,000 or both; if convicted, drivers would also face life suspensions from harness racing; nondrivers indicted include F Gerry Jr, described as ring leader of betting syndicate, and underworld figure P Vario; Fed Strike Force head D E Dillon comments on indictments; indicted drivers listed; illus

AL pres Cronin rules on Dec 20 that R Houk's new contract to manage Detroit Tigers is valid while D Williams' new contract with NY Yankees is not; basic difference seems to be that Yankees signed Williams after Oakland Athletics owner Finley's objections were known and bargaining had taken place, while Tigers signed Houk before any issues of compensation had been raised by Yankees; Williams and Yankees pres G Paul express disappointment at decision; illus

Optimism among US energy officials that Arab oil production will increase and that embargo on oil shipments to US will be relaxed noted; there have been guarded comments by several officials about 'leakage' in Arab oil embargo, that is, 'diversion' to US of Arab oil destined for other mkts; officials have said privately that they drew some encouragement from visit to US of Saudi Arabia's Petroleum Affairs Min Sheik A Z al-Yamani

Dec 21: Middle East peace conf in Geneva will open on Dec 21, with little optimism expressed by either side about chances of early agreement, except for possible mil accord on disengagement of Egyptian and Israeli troops along Suez Canal front; spokesmen from participating countries pledge, however, to talk in good faith; opening phase of discussions is expected to last 2 or 3 days, with next round of talks to begin in Jan, after Israel's natl elections on Dec 31; US State Dept spokesman G S Vest says that US Sec of State H A Kissinger and Soviet Foreign Min A A Gromyko met during day and are expected to meet again on Dec 21 and Dec 22; says that present plan calls for opening statement by UN Sec Gen K Waldheim, who will preside over conf, and Gromyko and Kissinger; speeches by Israeli Foreign Min A Eban, Jordanian Premier A al-Rifai and Egyptian Foreign Min I Fahmy are expected on Dec 22; Kissinger says on arrival in Geneva that there is no 'acceptable alternative' to negotiated settlement, pointing out that Oct war proved 'futility of mil solutions'; holds that lives of millions of peoples depends on outcome of conf; security precaution described; Israel is apprehensive about structure of conf and is skeptical about chances of early results; Israeli delegation members, however, seem exhilarated by conf and prospect of negotiating change in 25-yr-old Arab-Israeli stalemate; Egyptian Pres A el-Sadat's moderate view and Syrian Pres H al-Assad's more radical view of negotiations noted; most Western specialists in Arab countries are convinced that Egyptian and Syrians will renew fighting, regardless of odds for victory, if conf fails to produce initial Israeli withdrawal early in '74; are also convinced that Saudi Arabia will continue oil squeeze unless Israel withdraws from territories occupied in '67; major issues facing Israel at conf is USSR's role, fearing that it will push for elements of settlement that might serve its own interest; Israelis believe that USSR still feels that its position in Middle East can be fostered by continuing tension between Israel and its neighbors; another Israeli concern is UN's expanding role in conf, which Israel considers heavily weighed in favor of Arabs; 3d Israeli concern is that it is isolated diplomatically and that Arabs, for 1st time, have made effective pol use of oil; Israel also fears that Kissinger will ultimately compromise its interests to preserve his policy of reconciliation with USSR; Israeli sources rept that Kissinger proposed that after weekend recess, Egypt and Israel resume talks on Jan 7 on deadlock issue of separation of forces

NYC City Council on Dec 20 rejects in closed session a controversial bill to ban discrimination against homosexuals in housing; this is 4th time in last 3 yrs that bill has been stopped; Mayor Lindsay expresses disappointment