'Ike' Causes Jam in Square; Two Students Hurt in Mob

The pushing, shoving, noisy crowd of over 6,000 that packed the Square to greet Dwight D. Eisenhower yesterday gave the General's security guards their biggest scare of the campaign.

At least two students were treated for injuries as the University and Cambridge high school students fought to touch, shake hands with, or just to see the General. Eisenhower's coat was torn and the radio antenna and license plate of his car were ripped off in the near riot. The General kept smiling throughout.

One of the injured students was Thomas Plaut 4G, who received a badly gashed hand when shoved against Eisenhower's car. Plaut later charged there was "inadequate police protection" during the melee. "Eisenhower was 45 minutes late," Plaut said, "so there was plenty of time to clear the streets beforehand."

Exhaust Causes Burn

The other reported injury was a knee burn, caused by heat from the exhaust pipe of one of the police motorcycles.

At one point, 25 persons were counted clinging to the rear of Eisenhower's official car as police tried to clear a path through the crowd. It took the Eisenhower cavalcade 30 minutes to traverse the 75 yards through the Square.

As the Republican presidential nominee's car stood stalled in front of Lehman Hall, one unidentified male student grabbed the General around the neck and kissed him.

Crowds began to gather in the Square a half hour before the scheduled time of the General's appearance. High school students left their classrooms a half hour before the official afternoon recess. By 1:30, the throng was large enough to slow traffic. At that time, a sound truck plugging Governor Adlai Stevenson and operated by Walter C. Carrington '52 1L and Lawrence Erbst '51 1L was rocked and almost overturned by Eisenhower partisans as it drove through the Square. Students rocked other cars and opened the doors of a few. One trolley was derailed.

Adiai Posters

A number of posters of Governor Stevenson were in evidence in the windows of Square buildings. Students in the crowd carried both Stevenson and Eisenhower signs. One carried a Taft button ringed with six stars.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and Republican gubernatorial nominee Christian A. Herter were also in the General's car. Herter tried to protect the General from the crowds during the entire trip through the Square.