Thresher Repair Termed 'Sloppy'
Friday, April 19, 1963
PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—(UPI)—Two crewmen who by chance missed the fatal dive of the nuclear submarine Thresher with 129 men aboard have testified that mechanical difficulties and "sloppy" work plagued the vessel during nine months of overhaul and tests.
In yesterday's testimony, Machinist's mate 2.C. Frank J. De Stefano, who was transferred from Thresher's crew the day before she left on her last cruise, said design changes may have hampered the crew's ability to respond with split-second precision to emergencies.
DE STEFANO was transferred from Thresher the day before the final cruise so he could be interviewed by Vice Adm. Hyman G. Rickover's staff for possible commissioning in September.
Navy vessels equipped with sensitive sonar devices crisscrossed the North Atlantic 220 miles east of Cape Cod in search of the hull of the missing craft.
He said some general work done at the Portsmouth Naval shipyard during a nine-month overhaul of Thresher was "very sloppy."
Flooding drills, held during a March 29 dockside "fast cruise" which simulated sea conditions, were not as successful as they should have been because the crew was not familiar with a design change in the position of the sub's sea valves, he said.
DE STEFANO'S testimony followed that of a veteran submarine officer who said the Thresher had experienced continuous trouble with the vital high pressure air system used in surfacing.
Lt. (J.G.) Raymond J. McCoole, also explained numerous other mechanical malfunctions aboard the submarine.
He was not aboard Thresher because he was granted a temporary leave when his wife had a minor home accident.
During the March 29 drill, De Stefano said, certain important check valves with tricky labeling were found to have been installed backwards. This defect was discovered by the sub's crew and later corrected, he said.
Weather
A fast-moving cold front that crossed Kansas yesterday left skies generally fair and temperatures cooler in Kansas today. But the front moved too swiftly to produce much in the way of beneficial rains.
Under fair skies today temperatures will reach the 60's in the northwest and into the 70's elsewhere. Lows tonight were predicted to range from 30-35 in the northwest to in the 40's in the southeast. Moderation was expected to be evident tomorrow.
DURING A simulated leak drill, De Stefano said the crewmen could not find the proper control valve in the maze of piping.
"They (the crew) weren't particularly happy with their performance because they found out they weren't as sharp as they were before they came to the shipyard," he said.
An American scholar whose fields of interest include the philosophy of science, the theory of relativity, and comparative philosophy of world cultures will present the next Humanities Series Lecture.
He said work done by specialists at the shipyard was done properly but that some work of a general nature was "very sloppy." He did not elaborate.
IN ANSWER TO CLOSE questioning by members of the inquiry board, both De Stefano and McCoole expressed confidence in the seaworthiness of Thresher when she left on the deep-water trials.
F. S. C. Northrop, Sterling Professor of Philosophy and Law at Vale University, will speak on "The Unique Character of the American Legal and Political System," at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Fraser Theater.
Yale Professor To Present 8th Humanities Talk
His book, "The Meeting of the East and West," has been reprinted ten times and translated into Japanese, German, and Spanish.
In 1849, Albert Einstein, commenting on an article by Northrop which outlined Einstein's own conception of science, said, "I see in this critique a masterpiece of unbiased thinking and concise discussion."
In 1953, the American Political Science Association gave him the Wendell Willkie Award for his book, "Taming of the Nation."
He has been visiting professor at the Universities of Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Hawaii, Melbourne, and the National University of Mexico.
WHILE HE IS AT KU, Northrop will also speak to classes in political science, philosophy, and history, and lecture to several other groups.
LAWRENCE. KANSAS
Daily hansan
60th Year, No. 124
Minuteman Assured Of Communist Win
"They feel that they must do something if they are going to enjoy their freedom," De Pugh said.
By Terry Ostmever
He said the "Minutemen" know the Communists will take over, but they do not believe the American people will live under Communists without fighting for their freedom.
A takeover by Communists in the United States is already underway and most Americans are unaware of the fact, the national coordinator of the "Minutemen" said yesterday.
Robert Bolivar De Pugh, speaking to about 200 persons at the Minority Opinion Forum in the Kansas Union, said the Communist infiltration began in the U.S. decades ago; "already over 500,000 Communists have landed on our shores."
DE PUGH SAID Communist propaganda in this country is everywhere — in the news media, the entertainment field, the churches, and the government.
"Our country is in very grave danger. I believe that very sincerely, and when I analyze my own thinking I still believe I am right," he said.
IN ANSWER TO a question. De Pugh said he does believe in the democratic system, but he does not believe the U.S. Government has done all it can about Communism.
HE SAID THE "Minutemen" have this needed patriotism. He described them as an organization of 100,000 ordinary men and women with one thing in common:
"Always before in the past some form of patriotism has come forth and expressed Americanism," he said. "Today I wonder where the patriots are. Surely they didn't all die on the beaches of Normandy or the straits of Corregidor."
"This is the point I want to emphasize. I might be right. If I am God help us."
De Pugh said college students should reserve judging him until they make certain he is wrong by learning "the facts."
THE BEST WAY to combat Communist infiltration, De Pugh said, is with patriotism.
De Fugh said many Americans spend too much time in the city, in the classrooms, or with other people and they lose track of things as they really are.
He said that during the formation of the "Minutemen" in 1960, he and
Robert Bolivar De Pugh
the other early members felt that political activity against Communist subversion would be largely futile and would not educate the American people to the threat.
When asked if he thought President Kennedy was a Communist, De Pugh said he didn't know about that, but he didn't think the President had "lived up to his promises."
DE PUGH EXPRESSSED more definite beliefs concerning some of President Kennedy's advisors, however, particularly Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and press secretary Pierre Salinger.
He said Goldberg has been connected with 11 Communist organizations and had organized or helped organize at least nine of them.
As for Salinger, De Pugh said the press secretary's mother, along with Harry Bridges, helped form what he said was a Communist youth organization in Northern California in 1938.
De Pugh said college students should reorganize their thinking in order to really know Communism. He said many think they know a lot about Communism, yet he believes very few really know enough.
HE SAID HE spent six and one half years in college and now after
many years "the fine edge of college idealism has worn against the grindstone of reality."
He said, however, he is still aware of the thinking of college students even though the bull sessions have changed somewhat.
De Pugh, who lives in Norborne, Mo., is the owner and operator of a pharmaceutical firm and biochemistry laboratory.
"I mention all this to show that I'm not as difficult in my thinking as many think I am," he said.
"IF YOU WANT to know about Communism, talk to those who have recently seen it in action — those who have lived under it," he said.
From letters he has received and people he has talked to, De Pugh said he has learned that Communism is a betrayal of the people by their own government.
He said most Americans do not realize the effects of Communist propaganda because they have no reliable source of information.
"TO RECOGNIZE this," he said, "you must know what the current Communist line is. Right now they want us to believe the difference between their system and our system is not worth fighting a war over."
De Pugh said the Communists are not the only subversive factions that could and are threatening the U.S.
He said a constitutional republic should insure a high degree of personal freedom, but some Americans have already lost their freedom afforded under the U.S. Constitution, such as the Negro and the American Indian.
"To me the enemy is anyone who would try to take away my personal freedom," he said.
ALL MANKIND must be saved from Communist infiltration, he said, but he added that it must begin in America first so an aggressive anti-Communist nation can be built up.
"We should exhaust every possible alternative before we resort to violence." De Pugh stated.
De Pugh denounced several organizations in the U.S. as being Communist controlled, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
1000 Top Athletes Expected at KU Relays
By Steve Clark
An abundant array of the nation's top collegiate track athletes will compete for honors today and tomorrow in the 39th running of the Kansas Relays.
The Relays officially began yesterday afternoon with the running of the 10,000 meter run. The marathon race which covers six and one-quarter miles and encompasses 25 laps of the track was won by the twice NCAA three mile champion Pat Clohessy, a former University of Houston star who is now competing for the Texas Olympic Club.
Over 1,000 athletes are expected to compete in the four divisions—high school, junior college, college and university—at Memorial Stadium. Today's action started at 9 a.m. with the decathlon 100-meter dash.
The meet will close with the running of the university mile relay at 4:50 p.m. tomorrow.
Clohessy had to overcome a strong bid by Emporia State's Ireland Sloan, who is the NAIA three mile champion. Sloan jumped to an early lead which he held until Clohessy passed him with one and one-half laps remaining. In an amazing display of endurance, Clohesy put forth a burst of speed and finished 100 yards ahead of Sloan, who was unchallenged for second place. KU student Bill Silverburg, former Warrensburg (Mo.) distance ace who competed unattached, finished third.
This year's Kansas Relays shows strong individual fields in the pole vault, high jump, javelin, shot put, 100-yard dash, and mile. The records for each of these events are in jeopardy along with the 440, mile and distance medley relays in the college division.
Clohessy's winning time of 31 minutes, 16.6 seconds fell short of the record of 30:46.5 set by Abilene Christian's Dennis Moore in the first running of the 10,000 meter event last year.
Last year's illustrious pole vault field which included John Uelkes, the first man to pole vault 16-feet, and Henry Wadsworth is overshadowed in comparison with this year's. Rice's Fred Hansen, who surprisingly defeated the pair by vaulting $15-6^{1/2}$ to set a new Relays record, returns to defend his crown. Hansen won the Texas Relays, held two
weeks ago, with a 16-1 vault, as he joined the still elite list of 12 men who have broken the 16-foot barrier.
Competing against Hansen, will be Texas Southern's Gerald Pratt, who soared 10- $ \frac{1} {4} $ to win the Tiger Relays and become another new member of the 16-foot club. An impressive field of six 15-foot vaulters will challenge the pair. They are: Hansen's teammate Warren Bratlof, who has reached 15- $ \frac{6} {4} $; Big Eight indoor champion Mickey Baller of Oklahoma State, who is just one-quarter inch behind; Colorado's Roger Olander, who has done 15- $ \frac{5} {4} $; Baller's teammate Preston Holsinger, 15- $ \frac{3} {4} $; KU's Floyd Manning, 15- $ \frac{1} {2} $; and Missouri's Bill Younger, 15-0.
The Relays oldest field event record, the high jump, is in equal jeopardy. The mark of 6-8 3-16 set by Texas Bobby Walters in 1949 has been bettered by four entrants during their careers.
They include Colorado sophomore Leander Durley, who set a new Big Eight indoor mark of 6-10 $ \frac{1}{4} $ last month: Wisconsin's Jim Holden, who won the Big Ten indoor 6-10; Grambling's Roosevelt Richards,
who has done 6-9; and the defending champion from Lincoln, Charles Williams, who has gone 6-9. Behind them are two who have jumped over 6-8 and three over 6-7.
Two former KU Olympians' records could fall too. Rice's javeline threater Ed Red has already bettered the 254-9 Relays record held by Bill Alley, and Texas A & M shotputter Danny Roberts is within five inches of Bill Neider's $9-7\frac{1}{8}$ record set in 1956. In winning the Southwestern Relays, Red threw $260-7\frac{1}{2}$ and Roberts won the Texas Relays with a $59-3\frac{1}{4}$ toss.
Phil Mulkey, a Birmingham, Ala., school teacher who has broken the decathlon record five times, will be trying for a sixth. Although he scored only 7,632 points, 152 behind his present record, at Nashville last month, he is expected to be pressured by his 1960 Olympic teammate Dave Edstrom, formerly of Oregon and now with the Air Force.
The 100-vard dash field features Omaha's Roger "Rocket" Savers, brother of KU football player Gale, and Nebraska's Ray Knaub. Both men have .694 clockings to their
credits. Sayers won at Texas, running :99.6 against a 10 m.p.h. wind. Also figured to push the top candidates is Purdue's Nate Adams, who is the Big Ten 100 and 220 yard dash champion.
Emporia State's John Camien, who defeated sub-four minute milers Dyrel Burleson, former Oregon ace, and Bill Dotson, former KU star, will lock horns with ex-UCLA ace Booby Seaman in the Glen Cunningham mile run. Camien ran 4:02.6 at Texas, the fastest time by a collegiate runner to date. Seaman ran 3:58.0 last summer and has a 4:07 to date. Also in the running are Kansas State's Pat McNeal, 4:05.3, Wichita's Cal Elmore, 4:07.5, and Missouri's Robin Lingle, 4:07.9.
Relays Section In Today's UDK
Today's Daily Kansan includes a special section on the 38th Annual Kansas Relays. It appears as the second section of this 32-page issue.