August 18, 1976

M Frankel article says Repub leaders at Kansas City conv are confronted with selecting candidate who can beat Jimmy Carter and halting erosion of party; comments by Sen Howard H Baker Jr and Sen Barry Goldwater noted (M)

Philippines disaster control center repts earthquake on Mindanao, Aug 17, has left 3,103 persons dead, 2,282 missing, 688 injured and 28,000 homeless; Philippine Pres Marcos declares state of emergency on Mindanao and in SuIu Archipelago; earthquake registered 7.8 on Richter scale; officials comment; map; illus (L)

Repub Natl Conv, 1,180-1,069, defeats proposal urged by Ronald Reagan's supporters that would force Pres Ford to name Vice-Pres choice before Pres balloting; Ford raises delegate total, in Times tally, to 1,140; Reagan claims only 1 more delegate; Reagan illus; delegate illus (M)

White House chief of staff Richard Cheney says if Pres Ford wins Repub Pres nomination, he will ask Ronald Reagan to consider Vice-Pres nomination; Reagan says he will not take post; William D Ruckelshaus and Sen Howard Baker are leading candidates for 2d spot; Baker tells Ford of wife's alcohol problems, which caused her to be hospitalized for 8 mos in '71; says she is substantially recovered (M)

W Mark Felt, former assoc dir of FBI, says he approved in '72 burglary of Arab Information Center in Dallas by bureau agents engaged in domestic intelligence investigations for clues to operation of Palestinian terrorists in US; says he gave his approval for burglary on strength of assurance by L Patrick Gray 3d, then acting FBI dir, that he would countenance use of 'surreptitious entries' to gather evidence in sensitive intelligence investigations (M)

Oil cos bid $3.5-billion for oil and gas leases in Baltimore Canyon off East Coast, after Sup Ct Assoc Justice Thurgood Marshall decides not to sustain injunction against sale; high bids total $1.14-billion, compared with $600,000 expected by Govt; Appeals Ct will hear, Sept 27, a suit to block drilling that has been brought by NYS, several cities and counties and environmental group, and drilling could begin in 3-6 mos if ct finds it environmentally sound; high bid for single tract, $107,788,600, was made by consortium headed by Mobil, Sun and Getty Oil for tract designated by Interior Dept as high-royalty tract; Exxon is most active bidder; John L Loftis and J R Jackson of Exxon comment; map of lease tracts (M)

After 16 mos of involvement in Lebanese civil war and 2 1/2 mos of confrontation with Syria, Palestinian guerrilla movement is fighting for survival; fall of Tell Zaatar Palestinian camp, which was symbol of Palestinians' determination to hold on to what they gained in Lebanon, has reinforced their belief that major objective of fighting has been destruction of guerrilla movement; Syrian intevention in Lebanon has thrown rejection front of PLO and Al Fatah guerrilla orgn back together but led to split between Syrian-backed As Saiqa and PLO; Palestinians feel that if movement is suppressed in Lebanon, it will have to go underground in Lebanon and in other Arab countries; map (L)

Conv rule change backed by Reagan is defeated by Ford supporters; Sen Robert P Griffin's arguments against rule change and Richard Derham's arguments for it noted; conv approves rule binding delegates chosen in primaries to vote as required by state law (M)

Mrs Ford wins 2d round of applause battle with Mrs Reagan at Repub Natl Conv on Aug 17; illus of Mrs Ford dancing with entertainer Tony Orlando and Mrs Reagan with former Natl Fed of Repub Women pres Connie Armitage (L)

article on increase in youth gang crime; residents, city and police officials, including Chief Philip G Tannian comment; recent violent incidents noted; map; illus (M)

Geography—Mindanao, a 36,380‐square‐mie island the second largest in the Philippines. This island, at the southern end of the Phiippine Archipelago, has vast uncultivated areas, abundant forest resources and largely untapped mineral reserves. Mindanao has two large cities: Davao, with a population of 400,000 and Zamboanga, with 200,000. More than a third of the population of two million is Moslem, and the island has been a center of Moslem insurgency.

Tanaka released on $690,000 bail, Tokyo; Enomoto, Aoki, Hiyama and Okubo also released on bail (M)