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By GRAHAM LORD London Express Writer PALOMARES, Spain, Feb, 19 — Jose Portillo and his six -brothers-in-law should be out in their tomato patches working through the long day with their wives and chil dren to gather in the ripe, red crop. But this year the Por tillo family’s harvesting is being done for them — by masked, green-shirted American troops, who have no in tention of selling the produce. For this is Palomares, a tiny. The peasants do not believe remote desperately poor ^village the Americans’ insistence that on the southern coast oi Spain where a United States force of more than 200D men is still searching for the H-bomb miss ing from the wrefdcage Of the B52 bomber that collided in mid-air with a jet tanker a Now the Americans are out in the pitiful fields, hacking' away with machetes at the fruit of the 30-strong Portillo The official explanation is' that they are searching for BUT LOCAL RUMOR has it that they are looking lor a sec ond H-bomb which may still be missing, not in the sea, but on Spanish soil. C-r else they are systematical ly trampling and smashing dangerous radioactive crops that must not be eaten. there is no danger from the fell from the sky on Jan. 17. If that were so, they ask, why should the Spanish author ities have banned the sale of WHY SHOULD doctors have examined them at emergency clinics after the crash, and or dered them to burn clothing? Why should one woman, with an infant in her' arms, have been hustled indoors soon after the crash and warned feat her child was in danger? Why should red-flagged poles have been erected in the “dan ger” area and nearby crops de AND, ABOVE all, if there is no danger to health, why such a scious operation — including a destroyer and two of the latest submarines — to find a few Of course, the main pre-occu pation of the Americans is to make sure that no one else finds the H-bomb before they do. If it fell into the hands of an „ enemy who had the skill to take the bomb apart, it would prob ably reveal crucial nuclear se The people of Palomares, however, are concerned with moretillo (29) told. me. “Afraid of having no money because we cannot sell our crops of tomatoes and beans. Afraid of not being able to use our land again, though we may get seme com pensation from the Americans. “But 1 still can’t sleep at night —because I am afraid for our He was speaking for most of the 2000 inhabitants of Palo mares, If only in its own. imag ination, this squalid village is stalked by the spectre of some unknown radiation sickness. ■Whether there is any danger or not, the peasants and fisher men, believe that there is. And that is enough to stop them buy ing fish and vegetables from, the FOR THESE simple, illiterate, bomb is no joking matter. "When I ordered a coffee in tbe vil bar, a colleague quipped: crowd stared in sullen silence. Danger or not, the Americans in tbe nearby villages where they sit drinking and playing To get to their sprawling mili tary camp 1 had to pass two cordons of Spanish police before from the American officials “AS FAR AS we are con cerned,” a senior officer told me, In full view, a mile off-shore, lay seven vessels of the U.S. It is obviously easier for tbe Americans than the almost me dieval villagers to stop worry ing, like Dr. Strangelove, and learn to live with the bomb. At the U.S. camp there is a cheery. Boy Scout quting atmos phere, a mixture of calm ef ficiency and high "spirits. No doubt the adjustment is made easier by the cinema, the laun Housing Threatens Rio dry, the telephones in almost every tent, the slot machines. AND BY THE steak, apricots and cream, and the scented table napkins. Even the bomb itself is cojdly called fee But for the peasants the problem is very different. The American camp and the vil lagers a few hundred yards away are in reality centuries All their lives the local farm ers have toiled to scrape a liv ing for huge families from the barren, yellow-grey dust and stone—a harsh, desolate wilder ness, starkly punctuated by the occasional stunted bush. THE AMERICANS have promised to meet all claims for compensation which it is esti mated may total $1,750,000. An American spokesman has said: ,rWe intend to leave Spain as RIO BE JANEIRO, Feb. 19—(UPI)—The torrential rains and mudslides that carried away many of Rio’s hill side shacks in January, leaving more than 40,000 homeless and 300 dead, have shown that the city must find a quick solution to its slum problem. The alternative is a social Many of those who lost their homes and few possessions in the January storm already are moving to new areas of the city to build their shacks again. And Communist and other extremist groups are moving in behind them. One of the first new favelas to rise after the storm was built on the main highway connecting the city with its international airport The building began on Jan. 28, and by the next day there were 6Cf houses in the area. There also were hundreds of leaflets bearing a manifesto signed by a “Popular Liberation Front,” calling for organization of clandestine commando groups. BESIDES THE TASK OF FINDING roofs for the already home less, city authorities also face the probability that the next heavy rainfall will wash away even more of the clapboard dwellings that dot the hills of Rio—most of Rio’s 128 favelas are In danger. A 2-hqur rain on Jan. 28 sent thousands of Favelados (slum dwellers) fleeing from their homes in fear of further mudslides. The 4-day rain that caused the principal damage and floods began Thus far, government measures to obtain permanent housing for the refugees has been pitifully small. Approximately 2000 have been crowded into schools and large sheds in the Villa Kennedy Housing Project, while more houses are being completed there. Work is being speeded on another housing project, called “City of But Brazilian authorities predict it will be weeks before either project will have permanent housing ready and together they will be able to absorb only a small portion of the homeless. SOME CITY PLANNERS ARE advocating building retaining wails and providing sewage, water and electricity to existing favelas as a solution to. fee present problem and the threatening future. Other urban planners disagree, noting that one such favela with retaining walls was one of the worst bit by the rain-provoked • mudslides. The mud began moving, oozed over the walls and took