4 Negro Girls Killed in Birmingham BIRMINGHAM, Ala
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Distribution Wet&er ToiUy pDBANK 22,700 WP^P«V • •)•• •"»! T w, «; Low * 1 Independent Daily f .., LiktMi Wednesday, fair and [ mmA*mooammaAr~*u.an J wanner. See weather, pag* *• DIAL 74I-00I0 vm ' aft un <u? dtuy, uqn<uy turougn rtuuj. •MOM OIUIMH( RED BANK, N. J., MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1963 7c PER COPY PAGE ONE VUL. 00, NO. DO u M £uk w>4 at AMIU0M1 MHIlng OUIOM. Two Others Dead in Wave of Violence 4 Negro Girls Killed in Birmingham BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A me has the nation's Negro com- tegration. Its beginning last week some gunfire was reported. dynamite blast killed four Negro mnity reacted so strongly to ra- brought some student boycotts Sunday school classes At the girls and injured 23 other persons ial violence. and protests. Gov. George C. church were just ending a lesson in a Birmingham church Sunday Negro leaders called for strong Wallace earlier had sought toon "The Love That Forgives" Birmingham—City of Fear and touched off a day and night federal action. block the integration but was when the explosion tore out con- go to the area." Then, minutes later: "All cars disregard of violence that left two other The blast was the worst of nu- stymied by federal intervention. crete, metal and glass. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The city was sticky with persons dead and several injured. merous bombings and other vio- This tense city spent a long, The four girls apparently wera fear and apprehension. supermarket bomb report False alarm.". There were several true alarms. Two young Negroes were The bombing brought swift con lence since Negroes began cam- fearful day and night after Sun- in the lounge in the basement of •. Army trucks loaded With gerious-faced National Guards- shot to death—one by police officers who said they were fir- demnations from national Negro Migning in earnest last April for day's blast. Several fires broke the old brick church. One, Cyn- men clutching carbines bounced along city streets. ing over his head after rocks were thrown at their car; the leaders and state and local offi- lesegregation here. out, rocks were thrown by Ne- thia Wesley, 14, was hit by the Heavily laden police cruisers, bristling with shotguns and other allegedly by two white teenagers on a motor scooter. ciate. The mayor said he couldn't They achieved public school In- groes in various sections and (See VIOLENCE, Page 2) rifles, roamed everywhere.: . > Firemen were kept busy putting out two major fires and understand such viciousness and Hard-hatted cops halted everyone on the street, demand- a raih of minor blares. One fire swept through a broom fac- the governor called for the cap- ing identification and'warning that it was dangerous to be tory; another broke out in a roofing company. Both were ture of the bombers. out on this tense and murky night. in Negro residential areas. "Today has been the most Thousands View City's City bus drivers were leary of making regular runs into "Today has been the most distressing in the history of frightening in the history of Negro neighborhoods. Birmingham," lamented Sheriff Melvin Bailey. Birmingham," said sheriff Mel- The police radio crackled with reports of potential trou- And so it went through the night—unreal, nerve-jangling vin Bailey as scattered outbreaks ble, much of it false. and fearsome. of violence occurred throughou Fire-Torn Beachfront '•' At a late hour, city officials appeared in a special tele- Civilians weren't spared the official commands to meet the city despite pleas for non- cast to urge everyone off the streets who had no business the situation. violence. "All members of the 31st MP Co. Please report to the Shortly after the blast at the ASBURY PARK — .Weather held down day to discuss the fire situation. They hops there. tha anticipated parade of curiosity seekers, to to get some information from fire underwriter "Stay home," pleaded Negro ministers. "Stay home,". Graymont Armory immediately," snapped a voice on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, radio1. two Negroes were killed In shoot- the city's fire-torn beachfront yesterday and inquiry teams who have been on the scene pleaded the city leaders. may also have allowed delay of initiation of since soon after the August blaze. The city was taut; a city caught up in the knowledge What would the next report be? A full-scale Negro up- ings and three other person rising to avenge the deaths of their young? were injured. the city's newest antifire precaution plan. Though Mr. Lee and Fire Chief Michael that four young Negro girls lay dead—victims of a dynamite Nevertheless, the resort was ready yes- J. De Sarno believe an accumulation of gas bomber who sowed the seed3 of potential racial warfare, "Better. have somebody with you," a photographer was Seal Off Area warned by a police officer in the heart of the downtown area Officers sealed off an area terday to handle whatever crowd arrived, of some origin, ignited by a dropped cigarette, Birmingham is no stranger to violence. Twenty-two bomb- — police put the throng at about 25,000 — and triggered both fires, no official theory has ings with racial overtones in the past eight years stain the before midnight around the church while experts Shotgun-armed police officers guarded University Hos- searched for clues. is ready today to keep the remainder of the been produced. community's police files. None has been solved. boardwalk sufficiently saturated at all times pital. They swarmed around a Negro motel where Dr. Mar- Civic and government leaden A four-inch gas line of the New Jersey But this is different For the first time, human life has to be Tire reslstent. Natural Gas Co. stretches under the boards been taken and a house of worship has been desecrated. tin Lather King Jr. was scheduled to be staying, and in a worked to head off any new ra- park across the street from the bombed church. cial violence in bomb-shake: , Twice in five weeks, on Aug. 6, and last along the oceanfront but Investigators have' Muttering* of discontent rumbled from the 125,000-strong Wednesday, fire of undetermined origin burst- yet to advice that anything was wrong with Negro' community. Their leaders urged restraint and to "fol- At City Hall, 150 slate troopers, riot-trained and-equipped, Birmingham and called on all cit- stood by in case of need. The armory was crowded with izens to help them. through the boardwalk at locations six blocks it. low the Christian path." apart, and destroyed wide areas of boards All of the wood In the boardwalk U But reports of potential trouble kept pouring into police 500 guardsmen alerted by the governor. The U.S. Justice Departmenl And Birmingham was once again "The Tragic City" and sent in three top officials and and two beachfront commercial pavilions. treated with creosote. Some observers have headquarters. The losses have been put in excess of $2 speculated that fumes from this source had "Someone threw a bomb into a supermarket. Cars . not "The Magic City." force of FBI agents with bomt experts. City officials joined with million and much higher if replacement costs been pocketed because, in recent years, the church leaders in a special tele- are considered. underside of the 'walk facing the ocean has cast, urging citizens to be calm, As temporary measures, workmen have been boarded up as a barrier to the sea in Democrats Reply Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., erected narrow connecting spans in the fire storm seasons. the Negro leader, flew into town areas, north of Convention Hall in front of In other action today, council will formal- to urge Negroes to be non-violent the now ghostly Sunset Ave. Pavilion which ly approve applications to the federal govern- —just as he did in May when burned in August, and north of the Casino, ment for money to help rebuild the newly To GOP Platform the bombing of a Negro motel in front of the most recent victim, the As- destroyed pavilion and boardwalk. bury Ave, Pavilion. Under the Accelerated Public Works Pro- touched off rioting by Negroes. RARITAN TOWNSHIP—Demo- been the plan to do this, if the City Manager Kendall H. Lee has dl- gram, th» city already has been promised cratic candidates, at a press con- sidewalk program goes through, National Guardsmen were rected the fire department to wet down the $275,000 for replacement of the Sunset Avenue ference yesterday at the Harmony but at the same time accused the placed on alert. Gov. George C, boards every three days — except when there pavilion, and $45,000 for boardwalk In that Bowl, accused Republicans of GOP of miffing the job on side- Wallace sent 300 state troope: is a heavy enough.rain to do the job — until area. The city must match these sums and having a "me-too" platform, but walks in 1962 when a Republican into town at the request of May the fires arc explained. provide whatever difference Is needed if new in the process the Democrats did township committeeman who was or Albert Boutwell. City Council meets in special sesston to- work exceeds the total of the basic amounts. a little "me-tooing" themselves. chairman of the sidewalk com- Youth Day Program, Running for the GOP: Allan mittee "accomplished nothing." The Sunday morning blast at th Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Chun Nixon and James O'Neill, for Sewer Study Township Committee, -and Mrs. occurred during a youth day pr< 6. Have the Board of Health gram at the church where numei Quintuplets Doing Well Helen Stewart, for township furnish a priority list for sew- ous desegregation meetings, ha' clerk.