Week of February 15, 1957

Warrenton, Mo - Fire sweeps through a

home for the elderly, killing 71. Only

outside walls remained of the Katie Jane

home for the elderly. It was the worst fire

in Missouri so far and will surely bring demands for tighter State regulation of

nursing homes.

Dmitri Shepilov is replaced by Andrei Gromyko as Russia’s foreign minister.

The U.N. Steering Committee beats down a Soviet demand for immediate

Assembly debate on the Eisenhower doctrine and other alleged aggressive acts

by the United States.

The Air Force opens the security curtain part way and unveils the Douglas C-132

logistics transport - a giant, swept wing cargo plane capable of carrying twice the

load of the largest air freighters now operating. The Air Force regards the C-132

as providing new capability in moving huge quantities of material in minimum

time. Its speed and range (3500 miles with 100,000-lb payload) will shorten

supply pipelines almost to insignificance.

In a poll - Sen. Kefauver leads Sen. John Kennedy of Boston for Democratic

voters - 49% to 38%.

Playwright Arthur Miller (41) is indicted on

contempt of Congress charges for refusing to

identify fellow writers with whom he attended

Communist party meetings in 1957. His

attorney said Miller’s refusal to name names

was based “on grounds of conscience.” Miller

is married to Marilyn Monroe.

President Eisenhower flies back to

Washington, cutting short his Georgia golf

and hunting vacation to grapple with the

U.N.-Israel impasse. Earlier, Secretary of

State Dulles told a press conference the Gulf

of Aqaba is an international waterway and

Egypt has no right to block passage of ships

of Israel or any other nation.

Week of February 15, 1957

President Eisenhower appeal to the American people over the heads of

Congressional leaders of both parties to support the United Nations and ‘exert

pressure” on Israel to withdraw from the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gaza Strip. Israel

says it has rejected President Eisenhower’s appeal to withdraw immediately

behind the armistice lines, but says it will leave the door open for negotiations.

(One car for every 41,500 persons in

Moscow) Buying a car in Russia is a

drag - In the city of Moscow, there’s

only one car salesperson to handle all

auto orders. More than 100,000

Muscovites are competing for this

year’s supply of 12,000 cars. Outside

the salesroom at No. 21 Bakunin St., the sidewalk and doorway is constantly

jammed with roughly dressed men in fur hats awaiting their turn to get inside.

The lowest priced Russian auto - the Moskvich - costs about $3000 - more than

the average worker here earns in a year. The car buyer must plunk down cash in

advance even before he can be placed on the waiting list. When a Russian finally

saves enough to pay for a car, he tells the auto people about it and is assigned a

number designating his place in the waiting line. Then, the prospective auto

owner must make periodic visits to the salesroom and check the bulletin board to

see which numbers have been called. When his number comes up, he pays for

the car and then settles down to wait four, five or six or as much as 10 months for

the more popular makes. The director of the store says the demands for auto is

so great, he could easily sell 100,000. The shortage is due to exports, as

Russian autos are also sold in Finland, the Scandinavian countries, Iran, turkey

and Eastern Europe.

Sports - The Brooklyn Dodgers purchase Wrigley Field, the Los Angels, their

territorial rights and Pacific Coast League franchise from P. K. Wrigley from an

estimated $3 million.

Entertainment news -

Palm Springs - Process servers awaken Frank Sinatra at 4am

to hand him a subpoena to appear before the state Legislative

committee. Sinatra will be asked at a hearing in February to tell

what he knows about a “raid” Joe DiMaggio was attempting to

stage on Marilyn Monroe November 5, 1954 in which private

detectives wound up in the wrong apartment.

Week of February 15, 1957

Live TV - Character actor Fred Kruger collapses as he gave in opening speech of

a play about politics on the CBS-TV show “Climax!” The director turned the

camera away and the actor was revived and continued.

June Allyson and Dick Powell , after 11 years of

marriage announced they have separated.

Sunday night television -

CBS - Boing-Boing, Telephone Hour, Air Power,

Lassie, Private Secretary, Ed Sullivan Show, GE

Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, $64,000

Challenge, What’s My Line?

NBC - Meet the Press, Roy Rogers Show, 77 th

Bengal Lancers, Circus Boy, Steve Allen, Drama, Loretta Young Show

ABC - Ted Mack, Open Hearing, Omnibus, Passport to Danger

Ed Sullivan - Hugh O’Brian, Robert Wagner and Jeannie Carson.

Steve Allen - Tab Hunter, Frankie Laine, Ima Sumac, Alan Young, Jack

Kramer’s professional tennis team.