The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-01-07
Here's Real Inside Story
 Of How Communism Split Coast Plane Workers Union
Sneak Editorial Caused Storm Now Heard Across U. s.
BY M. s. SULLIVAN NEA Special Correspondent

NEA Speclal correspondent
 Seattle, Jan. Tn this national defense boom town of the Pacific Northwest, one of the fastest grow ing labor unions in the United States-the A. F. of L. Aeronautical Mechanics Union-is split wide open over the issue of Communism.
 Torn for two months in an open fight, and disrupted for nearly year behind the scenes, tins union now Is faced with the prospect of its parent union, the International Association of MachiniStS, stepping in and taking over complete con- trol.
 The dramatic, weird and almost melodramatic story of Communism at the mighty Boeing Aircraft Con- pany plant, where the Aero Mech anics claim jurisdiction over 5000 workers, first came into the open last Oct. 28.
 In the print shop of The Aero Mechanic on that day, Editor Cliff ford A. Stone was ripping up forms, skipping type into place and shap- ing up his sensational T Accuse!' editorial. It was a sneak" edition. The editorial board already had passed on the newspaper contents, but Stone removed their choice, m- stalled his own.
 Stone accused 9 members of the union, including nearly all high ranking officers, of Communistic activity; alleged misuse, waste of union funds; charged union officers did not cooperate with the unions negotiation committee, and publish ed pictures of all the accused.
 Named in Stones scathing attack were Hugo A. Lundquist, 32-year-old business agent of the union, a blond, hollow-cheeked Boeing mechanic; Donald R. Keppler, vice-president Of the union, hook -nosed young pro gressive"; Sam Telford, publicity man for the union during last August,s threatened strike at Boe- Ing: Victor Hicks, "labor educa- tion" instructor for the union, and others.
 STONE USED
 OICTAPHONE
 Swiftly the union acted on Stones charges. At mass meeting the night after The Aero Mechanic ap- peared, the membership appointed the rpw-famous "red trial board" to near the charges. Suspended were LundquiSt and Stone.
 The trial board went to work and met almost daily and nightly for two months, hearing charges and counter charges, tales of Communist meetings, of "cells" of Communists at the Boeing plant, and sitting through thousands of words of tes- timony. Transcript of the trial board hearing ran to more than 5000 pages of typewriter copy; cost of the hearing ran into 5000 for board member salaries and witness fees; several times the bomb squad" Of the Seattle Police Department was called to hearings to assure order.
 Typical of testimony heard by the trial board was LundqulstS'S account of how Stone used dicta- phone. It revealed that blackbrowed, dark-haired Stone had been working to "get the goods" on Lunlquist and others as far gack as last July.
 Cliff Stone and his wife drove to my house one war summer eve hing" Lundquist testified, and later elaborated upon at a mass meeting of 5000 Boeing workers in Seattle's Civic Auditorium on Dec. 28.
 His wife came into my house and engaged Mrs. Lmdquist in conver- sation. He asked me to come out and look at a broken spring under his car.
 "I thought the whole thing was kind of funny, because Cliff Stone prevoiusly had made it plain he didn't approve of me. Anyway. l crawled under the car with him and he got around to questioning me what I thought about Con- munism. later, when I loked inside the car. I saw a blanket was stretched out from the top of the front seat to the top of the back seat
 T asked him what was under the blanket. He said it was something he was taking to his mother.
 W11dU l HULL U h4ASW oAASAAs NAS found out later, was that Brother John Cameron was under that blan- ket and was operating a dicta- phone"
 Editor Stone told of attending Communist Party meetings with those he accused. charged them of handing him party card
 The editor said he decided to be- gin his one-man crusade after the editorial board repeatedly interfered with his job ($25 month of put ting out The Aero Mechanic. He charged the board jerked his edi- torials, inserted cartoons used by the Daily Worker and published pro- Communist articles lifted from the fred press" of the nation.
 FUN AT
 TRIAL
 At the compulsory attendance meeting where Stone and Lund- uuist faced each other dramatically and pleaded their cases before the membership, LundquiSt delivered an