MacWrite II 1.1 comes with an XTND filter for Word 3.0 (Macintosh) files. If this filter exists in the Claris Translators folder AND you use the Place File command in MacDraw Pro to place a Word 4.0 file AND you leave the popup menu in Place File set to show "All Available", MacDraw Pro will attempt to use the Word 3.0 translator to open the file. The result is an error message which says that the file is incompatible with the translator, and the file is unopened.
Solution:
1) remove the Word 3.0 translator, or
2) in the Place file translator popup menu, click on "All Available" and select "Word 4.0" instead.