OCR Text |
Show SS Monday. December 24. 1979. THE HERALD. Provo, Utah—Page 5 Christmas Wishes Vary Iran Briefs Clergymen Visit LONDON ‘UPI Three American clergymen invited by Iran to celebrate Christmasfor the 50 hostages held in the US Embassy in Tehran said today they hope their visit will “begin a reconciliation The three were the Rev. William Sloan Coffin Presbyterian Minister at New York's Riverside church, the Rev. William J. Howard, Jr.. a black who is president of the National Council of churches and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, a RomanCatholic The clergymen spoke to reporters at London's Heathrow airport where they stopped over two hours to catch a connecting flight on the trip from NewYork. Their Iran Airways plane left London at 9°55 am (4 55 EST) and wasdue in Tehran at 8:45 pm. Tehran time (12:15 p.m EST), an airline spokesman said Asked if they were planning to take an in- itiative aimed at winning the release of the hostages. Coffin told reporters “Private citizens cannotnegotiate for govern- ments. But when a governmentis having a hard timetalking, it is up to private peopletotry to discuss the situation. Maybe tworeligioussides can get together and begin a reconciliation “Werecognize the pain and angerthatled to the taking of hostages.” Coffin said. ‘We want to investigate what caused it. We feel President Carter started very well, but the American people are getting patience and time mixed up. We haveall the time in the world.” Revocation Irks Agree HAMBURG, West Germany (UPI) — Former CIA official Philip Agee. whose passport was revoked Sunday by the State Department, branded the action today ‘‘an astonishing measure (that) is just part of an eight-yeareffort to silence me.” Agee, whohas lived in Hamburgandin other Europeancities since his book identifying CIA agents was published in 1970, said a State Departmentofficial had visited him Sunday and asked him to give up his U.S. passport. Agee said he had been in contact with militants occupying the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, with the Iranian government and with ‘‘interested third parties,” such as Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Sean Macbride who flew to Tehran this weekend, in an effort to release the 50 hostages. “The quickest solution would be an exchange of the CIA’s files on their operations in Iran since 1950,"’ Agee said. Hesaid he has discussed such an exchange in telephone calls with Iranians. Hesaid he last spoke with the militant students holding the embassy Saturday. “If such a solution were agreed, the hostages would be homequickly and both Americans and Iranians would have almost complete knowledge of the relations between their governments over the last three decades,” Agee said. Cards Flood Embassy TEHRAN, Iran (UPI) — The beseiged U.S. Embassy has been swamped by morethan1 million Christmas cards, trees, food packages and gifts for the 50 American hostages. The militant students occupying the embassy said Sunday some of the estimated 1.1 million cards have already been distributed to the hostages, who are spending their 51th day in captivity today. The students today posted several photographs outside the embassy. which they said, showed the hostages receiving Christmascards. Two Christmas trees were seen being carried into the embassy compound Sunday. One ofthe trees, about10feettall, was wrapped in a piece of cloth and did not appear to be decorated. The other, a little smaller, was decorated with red ribbons, cotton, silver paper and pieces ofholly. The small tree was brought to a side gate of the embassy by a Catholic priest, Alfred Picchioni, along with dozens of wrapped gifts, cookies, cheeses and fruits. The priest, accompanied by two women, one from the Italian embassy and an Austrian, was not allowed to personally deliverthegifts to the hostages. LESTER, W Va. (UPI) — If Santa wants to put a smile on T.J. Basham face this Christ mas, all he has to do is arrange for the youngster to take a years vacation from school Jack Bailey wants something a little more tangible and his parents, not Santa. can best fill that order Jack wants a baby brother And Brian Richards would like to see James Carter was ready to use his wish to Carter's anxiety I wish there's no school for a year the youngster wrote ~1 would have fun Emphasizing the point. the boy turned in a drawing of a huge school building with the windows boarded up All 1 wish for is a baby brother toplay “Ay was thinking about trees My wish is to carefor the forest.’ ai he said The forest should not be ‘puluted’ by the people who don t care The forest is my second home So please please don’t hurt the forest AS usual. there was a deluge of requests for specific toys Others had loftuer objectives in mind I don't want toys for Christmas "said Allen ‘he with the Bailey child wrote. and told of his Gwinn ~The only thing | wish for is enough veryfirst Christmas tree plan to write Santa a letter that same day and food and tov and love Those were some of the wishes expressed tell him of his dream And Stacy Taylor content to put down only when third graders at Lester Eleraentary 1 wish I could go back in time and see the ‘one toy on the list pointed out school were asked to furnish one each first Christmas tree.’ wrote Brian Richards If I wished for everything in the world, I Apparently, the dread of schoo! work oc- I think it would be beautiful vould beselfish We don't celebrate Christmas cupied the minds of most of the 8-year-olds Joey Sawyers. a youth with an appreciation for iovs We celebrate it because it’s Jesus’ “Twish that I don't ‘fale’ onegrade.” wrote a of the natural order of the countryside also birthd: v Santa Needs Batteries Plus Cash By United Press Internati The heir apparent to the trenay Christmas The computer toys business which entered There also are the more mundanesimulated market once dominated by the Pet Rock is a the market in 1977 with total sales of $30 mil. vast array of toys that talk, beep or laugh ob- lion, is this year expected to bring in $500 mil- Christmas Eve stretch are grabbing for the microchipped, battery-driven cornucopia of to sales. “Tt used to be that try to keep a gameat$10. donations. In Burlington, Vt. Salvation Army maybe $20 tops. But with electronics, it now Capt. David McLean blamed it on the uncer- noxiously. Shoppers making their way down the electronic toys. Sometimes loquacious, chesssets talk back. a Space age tanks complainif left unatten- A robot named Simonplaysteacher. criticizing incorrect word spellings with a mocking chortle that soundslike an ‘old raspberry.” A correct response gets a sing-song. fabricated response; “You are very smart for a hu..man.” Most of the so-called education-oriented gizmos use the monkey see. monkey do approach. Are these high-priced itemsselling? George R. Ditomassi Jr.. senior vice presi- lion Ditomassi said Price has not proven to be much of a barrier tain state of the economy. “People are thinking about paying the fuel bills in January and February. (They) seemto have a caveman mentality this year — save the the public has responded bones until you need them,"’ he said A salesman at FAO Schwarz at Chicago's So, the spiritual surge of Christmas seems to posh Water Towerplace on Michigan Avenue said times are rare when a person comesin compete with the tangible. An ex-Marine in Brookings, S.D., who traded and asks for a Raggedy Ann doll “People see the advertisement on TV and I in his uniform for somescarlet. velvet duds, think they expect an IBM 2000 computer,” he said his job as a Santa has touched him unex said. “Most younger kids seem to get bored “We'renot evenclosetofilling our orders. The Corral with lasers substituting for sixguns Truck Driver Finds Yule Spirit Endures Yuletide spirit. The 33-year-old truck driver. who earns $112 a week. was treatedto a $900 shopping spree at a Rockingham, N.C., departmentstore Sundayafterstore officials learned of his plight. Sansbury, whose family lives in a four-room frame house, was charged with trespassing at the countylandfill near Cheraw Tuesday. Heis to appear Barton. ‘‘They got sometoysanddolls and oneofthe boys gota bicycle he was just tickled to death with.”” Barton said the store also provided the family with cookware, dishes and silverware. “We also gave them a $100 gift certificate for groceries at a localstore.” he said. ‘They just seemed like real nice people. I was real happy about the whole thing.”’ Sansbury said his family really en- Since his arrest. Sansbury has been besieged with offers of help from across the nation. The local Western Union office had received some $700 in clothing, food and about $100 cash had been donated. Sansbury said he has been flooded with telephone calls from as far away as California and New York. He said the phone did not stop ringing until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. Sunday. “It makes mefeel better that people expected based on numerous calls received by newspapers and broadcast stations around the country. He also has gotten severalchecksin the mail. Sansbury,his wife and children drove 90 miles to the Rockingham store Sunday and left 2% hours later with about $900 worth of merchandise. “Most of it was clothing for the children,” said store manager Vernon “I always thought Christmas was materialistic, just exchanging presents and that wasit,” he said. “But in the past month, I've realized it’s a time to express feelings about people andgifts are just a symbolof that expression.” High Ho Ho Santa Claus, bearing a stron Cr M. balloon enthusiast John Falzone showsoff an alternate form of transportation which serves him well in a day and age when reindeer might be intimidated by the heavy volumeofair traffic. SeasonsGreeting Be 4 5ee ss ee “I don’t know how muchwegot, but it was a wholelot,” he said. A local radio station also has collected gifts for the family. A moneyorders Saturday, and more was pectedly. joyed thetrip. in magistrate’s court Thursday where he could be fined up to $100 and given a 30-day jail sentence for allegedly violating a state law prohibiting trespassing atlandfills. tions have been reporting a poor record of Blitzed by television ads for the machinery public is absolutely mesmerized bythis stuff."” DARLINGTON, S.C. (UPI) — Raymond Sansbury, arrested for trying to find Christmas gilts for his seven children at a garbage dump, says he now knowsthere is such a thing as the But while the computer toys business has blossomed this year somecharitable organiza- seems that $100 may not be unrealistic. Ditomassisaid. with the stuff pretty soon.” If the excitement wearsoff. there are other diversions. There are guitars that remember tunes, doodads that deal hands of blackjack, and updated versionsof the shoot-outat the OK dent for marketing at Milton Bradley, said versions of hockey, football, basketball. soc- cer tennis and bowling spokesman said two Christmas trees, are feeling for me,” he said. ‘‘The kids are happy. It should be a nice Christmas, but I’m still thinking about the trial.”” Before offers of help came in, San- sbury said he had to stop buying Christmas presents for the children because he was afraid he would not have enough moneyfor the fine. Sanctions Gain Backing WASHINGTON(UPI) — Despite a lack of any assurances from the Russians, the United States believes the Soviet Union will support its effort in the United Nations to impose economic sanctions againstIran, U.S. officials say. “They understand the importance we attach to this,” State Department spokesman David Passagesald Sunday. fe are confident they understand the imolications for U.S.-Soviet relations should they de seen to be the cause of the U.N.not taking action,if it does not take action in this matter.” He added: ‘‘Wehave every reason to believe we will receive their support.” Passagedid not explain why U.S.officials held such confidence. but it was known that Secretary of State Cyrus Vance discussed the economic sanctions two weeks ago with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin in amigo: In addition, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Watson Jr. met with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromykoin Moscow aboutthe proposed action. It was also known that both Vance and Watson put the Soviets on notice. in the strongest diplomatic terms, that a Security Council veto would be seen as an unfriendly action. Rabbi Joins Delegation AMMAN,Jordan (UPI) — An American rabbi invited to Iran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini left for Tehran today to join a delegation of religious leaders planning to visit the 50 U.S. hostages. Dr. Abraham Herschberg, president of the U.N.-based world Organization for Peace and Freedom, was expected to join religious leaders from other denominations in Tehran. The clergymen, who were invited by Khomeini to visit the hostages, plannedto visit the embassy compound tonight, sources here said. HAIR CARE FOR MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN Sere The si pleasures of Christmas! May you and your family Ger ak caehsts Vas! irs haan a Pleasure torveg vot throughout the year. (UtaHWSUPPLY) Ss We'll put fashion on your mind. 1217 North State Orem, Utan 84057 801/224-3936 377-5170 225-9529 489-7469 373-2430 69 E. Center, Prove 748 S. State, Orem 191 $, jain, Springville 595$. University, Prove Weyfg 116 West Center, Provo 373-0460 q |