European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes. September 5, 1988 slaves descendants seek roots at reunion Creswell . A walking where their ancestors oiled and played nearly 2,000 descendant of slaves sought their roots and celebrated Black history saturday on inc grounds or a restored antebellum Plantation. From As far away As new York and Scalle they converged on Somerset place once a thriving Rice and lumber Plantation on the Banks or Lake Phelps about so Miles from the Atlantic coast in Northern North Carolina. In was inc second Homecoming Tor people descended from the labor Force of Josiah col Lins ill s Coli la we Don t agonize Over slavery said Warence Blount 67 majority Leader or the Maryland Stile Senate. We who arc descendants of these slaves Are not Here to mourn. What we Are to a is Rise from the ashes of slavery. To celebrate walk  Blount s great Grandfather was a slave at Somerset. The two Story 14-room Collins mansion and Sev eral outbuildings have been restored and Are a state historic site. The slave quarters gradually disappeared As the Plantation fell into disrepair after the civil War. I d heard about his but to actually be Here it s jus mind blowing said Judy Smith 33, Greal Greal granddaughter of Staves Joe and Ellen Collins Smith of nearby Plymouth said she was glad her Mother persuaded her to attend. I be met family i never knew 1 had. It s a great feeling to know t be Long she said. The reunion was the idea of Dorothy Spruill red Ford a Croswell resident whose decade Long quest for her roots led to records that old the Story of Itie Collins Plantation and the slaves who built it. At her invitation 2,000 descendants of the Origi Nal 21 slave families attended the emotional first reunion two years ago. Redford is now employed by the state to do re search and coordinate Black history projects at the Plantation site. A Book she wrote about her search for her family history goes on Sale this month. Attendees at saturday s reunion watched a performance about abolitionist Harriet Tubman and a dance ensemble perform the John Kooner dance which is said of have orig naked at Somerset. Other entertainment included inc colourful run act mint of a slave wedding and ragtime and jazz music. Between performances pople poured the re stored buildings ale Southern foods ranging from pork Barbecue to Jambalaya studied genealogical re cords and examined slavery Era crafts. This is exc line said Alonzo Mitchell of Bain Bridge ga., who decided to make the trip after see ing television news accounts of the 1986 Homecoming and was truck by Hertford s resemblance to his sister. I d never known anything about my family history before that he said. Justice def. Memo shows probes of King Kennedy murders closed Washington a the Justice department has officially ended its inquiries into the assassinations of John f. Kennedy and Martin Luther King jr., find ing no persuasive evidence to support conspiracy theories according to a department document. A Justice department memo obtained by a califor Nia ophthalmologist through he Freedom of information act was the department s admittedly Long Over due response to the House select committee on assassinations recommendation 10 years ago for fur ther investigation. William f. Weld who was head of the department s criminal division until he quit at the end of March told rep. Peter Rodino d-nj., chairman of the House Judic iary committee hat Alt known leads have been checked. The department of Justice has concluded thai no persuasive evidence can be identified to support the theory of a conspiracy in either the assassination of president Kennedy or the assassination of or. King Weld wrote in the undated memo. No further investigation appears to be warranted in either matter unless new information which is sufficient to support additional investigative activity be comes available he added. The Justice department s response to the conspiracy theories comes As no Surprise. It is however the first Lime the department has made a formal conclusion on the assassinations said Justice spokesman Dean St. Dennis. The House assassinations committee concluded in1978 Hal Kennedy was probably assassinated As the result of a conspiracy involving a second gunman a find ing thai broke from the Warren commission s belief that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in Dallas on nov. 22. 1963. The House panel also said there was a likelihood Hal King s slaying in 19 was part of conspiracy. The committee urge the Justice department to investigate several areas of the assassinations and one year later inc department agreed to conduct a limited inquiry focusing on an acoustical study presented to the committee by Independent experts. The acoustical experts had concluded after studying a Dictaphone recording of a Dallas policeman s open radio transmissions that there was a second gunman on the infamous Grassy Knoll who fired a fourth shot. Thai evidence was the key to inc committee s second gunman conclusion. Justice officials instructed the National Academy of sciences to review Hal study and the Dictaphone re cording and Academy scientists concluded in 1982 that inc Independent experts were wrong. Weld said inc Justice department had completed virtually All or its inquiry by the end of 1983, but delayed us response to the House judiciary committee pending a Complete review of All Public comment on the National Academy study. We have considered the review of All correspondence 10 be potentially productive he said. But he said there was no persuasive criticism of inc facade my report so the Justice department has accepted it conclusions. Others including rep. Louis Stokes a Ohio chair Man of the defunct assassinations committee have stood by inc committee s conclusions and the acoustical evidence presented by he Independent team. Stokes could not be reached for comment Friday but a former select committee aide who has fought to have Ibe panel s records opened to the Public blasted the department s response. Kevin Walsh noted thai the department did not follow through on several parts of the select commit tee s recommendations the most egregious sin according to Walsh was the department s failure to obtain and Analyse a bystander s film shot just minutes before the Kennedy assassination. The film by Charles l Bronson scans the sixth floor window of the Texas school Book depository where Oswald was positioned. The memo was among documents sent Lodr. Louis p. Kartsonis a san Diego ophthalmologist on a free Dom of information act request he made through sen. Alan Cramton d-calif., and rep. Bill Lowery r Calir. Karvonis said he has conducted research and delivered lectures on he Kennedy assassination for More than 1s years. Chemical loaded truck tips forcing 500 people to flee Charleston . A about 5do people including More than 300 from a nursing Home were evacuated saturday after a tank truck carrying a Hazar Dous chemical lipped releasing the chemical that formed a noxious Cloud officials said. No serious injuries were reported but two men near the truck who were taken to a Hospital complained of burning eyes and Chest after inhaling the chemical phosphorus trichloride. The Tanker lipped Over about i . Saturday when it Sank Inlo the rain soaked ground of an unpaved parking lot near . Highway 78. The Cloud Hung Over the City s North end authorities said. The men were in Good condition said Trident regional medical Center nursing supervisor Jan pfennig. Those who fled included 15 to 10 workers from the presbyterian Home of South Carolina and its 320 Resi dents some of whom were removed in stretchers. Evacuees were taken to summery ill elementary school and the South Carolina Marine and wildlife resources coastal Center about six Miles away. Authorities said they did l know How much of the chemical had leaked out. Phosphorus trichloride is a Clear colourless fuming liquid used chiefly in organic synthesis As a Chlorina ing agent when it comes in Contact with moisture in forms a compound similar to acid according to or Bruce Metis director of the Palm Tio Poison Center in co Lumbia. In can irritate the eyes and the mucous Mem branes of inc respiratory system melts said. Stateside Etc urged to make Toyota publicize secret warranties Washington a the Federal Trade commission should order Toyota to directly notify owners of Mccrel warranties on cars made by the japanese company the Center for Auto safely said in a petition. The Toyota documents clearly show that the company has an internal policy that systematically reimburses Consumers for failure of specific components beyond the written warranty said Sam Cole of the Center a Consumers group often critical of inc automakers and their regulators. Certainly. Every Toyota owner should be made aware of the policy he said. An internal Toyota document published last month by the Detroit news listed 41 components for which Toyota motor sales Usa could be reimbursed by its japanese Parent company. The document said an attachment was a Complete secret warranty  76-foot-Long whale found on Calif Beach san Francisco a a dead whale 76 feet Long tentatively identified As a Blue whale the world s largest animal species washed up on a Beach near the Southwest Edge of san Francisco possibly Early saturday. It appears to be an adult Blue whale said or. Ray Dieter a veterinarian and chairman of the coast wildlife society. He estimated he whale s weight at More than 150,000 pounds. Dicker said the creature which was decomposing probably died last week of undetermined causes. An attempt would be made to cart the entire Skeleton to a museum possibly the Cali fornia Academy of sciences in Golden Gale Park he said. Florida Man in custody for threat on justices lives Washington a authorities held a Florida Man in the City jail on saturday after he was arrested on charges of threatening to kill the nine justices of the . Supreme court. George Thomas Haley 38, was arrested with out incident Friday afternoon in the Washington suburb of Arlington a said Bill Dempsey spokesman at the Alexandria va., Field office of the . Marshal s service. He is scheduled to be arraigned on formal charges tuesday. Haley whose last address was in fort Lauder Dale ffa., will be formally charged with writing threats to assault or kill a . Judge and verbally threatening to kill the nine supreme court justices Dempsey said. Haley originally threatened the justices in May while be was still living in fort Lauder Dale according to the spokesman. Haley later told an unidentified minister and an unidentified supreme court employee of similar intentions Dempsey said. Haley was arrested by the supreme court police and agents of the . Marshal s service and the Fri