Died. Mary Penelope Hillyard, sixtyish, owner of Blarney Castle and the stone embedded in its parapet that is said to bestow the gift of persuasive eloquence--in other words, blarney--on whoever kisses it; after accidentally setting her clothes on fire with a cigarette; in County Cork, Ireland. Mrs. Hillyard inherited the 15th century castle in 1951 from her uncle, who stipulated in his will that the fabled stone must never be sold. When an American chain-store millionaire offered to buy it in 1968, she turned the offer down, presumably with eloquence.

Died. James J. Matles, 66, controversial general secretary-treasurer of the 165,000-member United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (U.E.), who spent most of the 1950s under fire for suspected Communist sympathies; following a heart attack; in Santa Barbara, Calif. Born in Soroca, Rumania, Matles arrived in the U.S. in 1929 and went to work as a machinist. When John L. Lewis set up the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1935, Matles practically singlehanded converted his AFL-affiliated colleagues in the International Association of Machinists into a new union, which he called the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Under that umbrella name, it became one of the CIO's most influential arms. As director of organization for the U.E., Matles gained a reputation as a left-leaning leader as well as an articulate, precise negotiator. In 1949 the U.E. was ousted from the anti-Communist CIO, and Matles was briefly deprived of his U.S. citizenship by a federal judge in 1957 on the ground that he had lied about his Communist ties when applying for naturalization more than 20 years earlier. The case went to the Supreme Court, where the decision was overturned. For three decades, Matles was a major force in shaping labor policy in the United States.

Died. Jack Bell, 71, former chief political writer for the Associated Press and author of several books on the U.S. presidency; following a massive stroke; in Washington, D.C. Bell joined the A.P. Washington bureau in 1937 and remained there for the next 32 years, writing a widely read, bylined daily column. A steady, reliable writer, he was respected for the soundness of his reporting but never established an imposing personality as a columnist. His chief preoccupation was the Chief Executive. In such books as The Splendid Misery (1960) and The Johnson Treatment (1965), Bell wrote about White House power politics and concluded that the Federal Government worked best when the President was strong enough to lead and dominate Congress.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.