Banner Graphic, Volume 12, Number 82, Greencastle, Putnam County, 12 December 1981 — Page 2

The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, DeceKflSir i r-Cl

A2

Loop tragedy Crane collapse kills 5 as Chicagoans watch in horror

(c) 1981 Chicago Sun-Times CHICAGO Five construction workers were killed Friday when a crane-hoisted cage broke loose and fell more than 100 feet into the excavation for the new State of Illinois Center. A sixth worker was seriously injured in the accident at the site bounded by Lake, Clark, Randolph and La Salle streets in the Loop. The open cage containing the six men was being lifted by a crane during the lunch hour when it broke loose. Expressions of grief over the accident soon were drowned out by charges and countercharges as to whether proper inspections had been made on the site. Some city officials complained that they had not been allowed to inspect the site because it is a state project. This was denied on the scene by an official of the Illinois Capitol Development Board. Scores of Loop workers and Christmas shoppers witnessed the fatal plunge, and hundreds of others flocked to the site, attracted by seven ambulances and many other rescue vehicles. Mounted police were brought in to help clear the way for rescuers. The mayor, the governor, fire commissioner and other officials rushed to the scene from nearby government office buildings.

Robot'stabbing' big exaggeration c. 1981 N.Y. Times News Service NAGOYA, Japan true. “Man killed by robot,” was the story that first appeared in the Japanese newspapers here and was then carried around the world. One major news service, apparently seeking to instill the tragedy with a provocative measure of machine-versus-man emotionalism, prefaced its account with the headline, “Worker Stabbed in Back by Robot, Dies.” In fact, a 37-year-old factory maintenance worker at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. was crushed to death against a machine by a robot. The accident took place last July 4 along the plant’s processing line for automobile gears, but was only made public last week after an investigation was completed. The death was the first recorded fatal accident involving a factory worker and a robot. According to a report by the Labor Ministry’s Bureau of Standards, the victim of the mishap at Kawasaki’s Akashi factory, near Kobe in western Japan, was “careless.” The government investigators found that Kenji Urata entered a restricted zone when machines were in operation. He apparently saw something wrong with one of the machines on the line, according to press reports here, and became so engrossed with fixing the machine that he did not notice the approach, from behind, of a transport robot that delivered parts to the machine. But the government also said that safety measures at the plant were inadequate and called for improvements. Some safety measures are needed, according to Paul H. Aron, a professor at the New York University Business School. Aron, a robot expert, recently completed tour of automated plants in Japan. “From what I’ve seen, the Japanese companies may be counting too heavily on the intelligence of the human operator,” Aron said. “We all sometimes forget ourselves and go someplace without thinking. The people need to be protected from the robots.”

'Weekend Warriors' Air Guard offers more than a chance to fly

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) Spier finished his four-year hitch in the Air Force that he finally succumbed to the almost overwhelming urge to fly again. Frank Hettlinger always wanted to fly, but private lessons were far too expensive. Three years into his studies at RoseHulman Institute, he found a solution. At 17, Lee Wise didn’t know quite what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. For all three men, the answer was the Indiana Air National Guard. Spier, 41, of Indianapolis, has been in the Guard 12 years; Hettlinger, 23, who is from Terre Haute, just over three. Both are part-time members of the Guard, “Weekend Warriors,” in popular terminology. Wise, 48, has been a full-time employee of the Guard for 29 years. Each of their reasons for joining says something about the roughly 1,000 people associated with the 181st Tactical Fighter Group, which has its headquarters at Hulman Field. “The money is OK, but I drive 100 miles one way to get here,” Spier said. “It’s not really something you can share with your wife and kids. The advantages are individual.”

Banner-Graphic "It Waves For All" (USPS 142-020) Consolidation of The Dally Banner Established 1850 The Herald The Daily Graphic Established 1883 Telephone 653-5151 Published daily except Sundays and Holidays by LuMar Newspapers, Inc. at 100 North Jackson St., Greencastle, Indiana 46135. Entered in the Post Office at flreencastla, Indiana, as 2nd class mail matter under Act of March 7,1878. Subscription Rates Per Week, by carrier M.OO Per Month, by motor route *4.55 > Mail Subscription Rates R.R. in Rest of Rest of Putnam Co. Indiana U S.A. 3 Months '12.00 '12.55 '15.00 6 Months 24.00 25.10 30.00 1 Year 48.00 49.20 60.00 Mail subscriptions payable in advance . . not accepted jn town and where motor route service is available. Member ol the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.

Four of the victims were pronounced dead at Henrotin Hospital. They were identified by the county medical examiner’s office as Franklin Sandquist, 46, of 502 E. Pine, Bensenville, 111.; Charles Houseknecht, 41, of Rolling Prairie, Ind.; William L. Tyson, 32, of 127215. Marquette, Chiago, and Jimmy D. Lasater, 37, of Overland Park, Kan. Elliott Kull of 634 Hillside Manor, Antioch, 111., was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The injured man, Phillip Rios, 28, of 1322 S. 58th Ct., Cicero, 111., was listed in serious condition at Northwestern Friday night after surgery on a ruptured spleen. A hospital spokesman said he also suffered a fractured scapula in the back, injuries to the right knee and lacerations and possible nerve damage to his right arm. Police said the men were being hoisted in the cage so they could add parts to the structure of a larger crane. Chicago Sun-Times photographer John H. White had taken photographs at the site an hour before the accident and had been offered a ride in the cage by a construction crew. He declined the offer because he had another assignment The accident was witnessed by Police Officer

States ask for 'block grant' experiment

c. 1981 N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON - State legislators called on the government Friday to experiment with the idea of consolidating all federal assistance to each state into a “block grant.” The proposal, contained in a resolution adopted at the end of a three-day conference, pushes President Reagan’s philosophy of federalism a few steps further than even he has been willing to go. The idea is also being promoted by Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Budget Committee. The National Conference of State Legislatures urged Congress to create “a demonstration program under which

Previous targets fall short Soviet grain goal said unrealistic

By DON KENDALL APFarm Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Agriculture Department analysts who for years have watched the Soviet Union’s harvests say Moscow is not facing reality with its goal of producing 239 million metric tons of grain annually. To do so would mean grain output over the next four years would have to average more than any Soviet harvest produced so far. A year ago, when Moscow announced its 1981-85 five-year plan, the Soviet Union’s annual grain output target was put at 238-243 million metric tons. Last month, officials announced a refinement in the annual goal an average of 239 million tons. “Given an estimated 1981 crop of 175 million tons, production over the next four years would have to average 255 million tons annually, in all probability an unrealistic goal,” officials said Friday in a report. Soviet grain production has fallen far short of official targets for the last three years. After a record harvest of 237.4 million tons in 1979, production fell to 179.2 million in 1979, and to 189.1 million in 1980. This year’s estimated harvest of 175 million tons is the smallest since 1975 when production sank to 140.1 million.

Guard units are stocked with outdated equipment from the regular armed forces, such as the 20-year-old F4-C Phantom fighter jets the 181st uses. Though parts are sometimes hard to come by, there is a real pride among guardsmen in keeping the planes flying and the operation running smoothly. “We take the equipment the regular service doesn’t want, maintain it and occassionally beat the rear ends of the regular guys in a fair fight,” Wise said. Though it is his full-time job, Wise, a senior master sergeant from Terre Haute, beams with pride at the accomplishments of his unit. At times, he sounds like a recruiter, though he denies it. Hettlinger entered the Guard hoping to use the pilot training for a shot at a commercial flying job. Just back to his Terre Haute home from three years of full-time duty while attending flight school, he is broadening his view of Guard service. All three bristle at the popular notion of the National Guard as a haven for weekend partying by civilians playing at soldiering. “Sure, it can be fun. But there’s a lot of work, too,” Spier said. “The public hears about what a good time it is. But I’ll tell you, it’s not fun to come back in here when your buddy’s been splashed on the ground. And that happens.”

individual states, in lieu of participating in dozens of restrictive categorical and other federal programs, could receive approximately the same level of federal funding on a permanent basis in the form of a single block grant.” The states, according to the resolution, would be able to use the money “with the maximum of flexibility to accomplish those purposes most appropriately financed with Federal funds for example, income maintenance, employment programs and medical assistance.” The omnibus spending bill ap proved Friday by Congress and sent to Reagan provides approximately $86.5 billion of

Evelyn Kolerich from a window in City Hall. “They were raising the car,” she said. “About halfway up to the top of the crane, the car started to twist and turn, and the cable snapped. “The people seemed to stay in the car about halfway down, and then they started to tumble out,” she said. Preliminary reports from inspectors for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration indicated that the cage had been constructed on the site by project workers. The inspectors said the fall apparently was caused by the failure of welds connecting the cage to steel support rods. George Peters, a member of the Illinois Capitol Development Board, said he was told by the construction management firm that the cage was “built to standards and OSHAinspected.” However, Josephine O’Brien, OSHA’s area director, said inspectors had not visited the construction site and had not planned to do so until next year. Roger Badesch, a spokesman for the city’s Inspectional Services Department, asserted that the state refused to allow the city to inspect the work. Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson replied that he “assumed normal inspections” were

A metric ton is about 2,205 pounds and is equal, for example, to 36.7 bushels of wheat or 39.4 bushels of corn. The United States has resumed normal sales of grain to Russia last summer after a 16month partial embargo was lifted. Since then, the report said, total Soviet purchases of U.S. grain exceed 12 million tons. All of it is for delivery during the international marketing year which runs through June 30, 1982. “Soviet purchases of U.S. wheat for delivery during this period currently stand at almost 6.5 million tons,” it said. “This would be the second-larg-est volume of U.S. wheat sales to the Soviets on record, surpassed only by the 9.5 million tons shipped in 1972-73.” The report said Soviet cattle and poultry inventories on collective farms as of Nov. 1 were “the highest on record” while hog numbers were “just slightly below” the 1980 record. “Poultry remains one of the few bright spots in Soviet agriculture, with both poultry meat and egg production ahead of last year’s level,” it said. “Since poultry are more efficient converters of feed, they might be getting priority over cattle and hogs.” So far there has been “no indications of impending large

federal aid to state and local governments. The total last year was slightly more than $94 billion. The proposal endorsed by the state legislators resembles revenue sharing. It is designed, according to Domenici, to stabilize financing for programs recently subjected to cuts and uncertainties in the appropriations process. Earlier this year, at the president’s request, Congress consolidated 56 narrowly defined federal aid programs into nine large grants for broad purposes such as social services and education. But Congress attached many more restrictions than the president had wanted, and these are what the state

carried out, and he said the site manager told him city inspectors had been on the property. “I don’t know why they would deny (access to) inspectors,” Thompson said. He promised “an exhaustive inquiry” and said his “first concern is for the families of the people killed.” The six men were being lifted to a second crane that they were to help assemble. The two cranes are the property of Midwest Steel Erection Co., according to Brian O’Connor, project manager of the development board in charge of construction of the building. Representatives of the company declined to comment. Construction of the State of Illinois Center began in November, 1980. The project originally was budgeted to cost slsl million, by far the most expensive project ever undertaken by the state. But in November, with construction still in the early stages, the project was nearly $6 million over budget for foundation work, the exterior glass walls and architect’s fees. Construction, schooled for completion in March, 1984, is three months behind schedule, largely because of a strike earlier this year by operating engineers.

adjustments in livestock numbers” through stepped up slaughter “despite another poor year for many feed crops,” the report said. “By using available feedstuffs more efficiently, some of the adverse effects of the poor 1981 grain and pulse crops (such as beans) could be overcome.” The Agriculture Department, after looking again at the huge grain supply and the export situation, says farmers are getting less for wheat and corn than its experts previously forecast. “The outlook for farm prices of wheat has been dampened by continued favorable growing conditions for the 1982 U.S. winter wheat crop and weakness in feed grain and soybean prices,” officials said Friday in a new analysis. As for feed grains, weaker world demand for corn and sorghum means that total exports “may be up only marginally” from 1980-81 levels. Consequently, the report said the season average price of both wheat and corn now is expected to be about 10 cents a bushel lower than the experts forecast a month ago. Wheat prices, as averaged over the entire marketing year, were put at $3.70 to $3.85 a bushel, compared to $3.96 for the 1980-81 year.

By Defense Department directive, National Guard and reserve units are considered “partners” with the regular armed forces. As Maj. Wayne Woodruff, personnel officer of the 181st, puts it, “If the whistle blows tomorrow, we go on active duty .” Hettlinger, who attended flight school with full-time Air Force officers, said there is a camaraderie among members of a guard unit that is not found in the regular service. While frequent transfers to different units are commonplace in the regular service, joining a Guard unit is a matter of choice. “Nobody makes us be here,” Spier said. “But it makes me feel good being a part of it.” Underneath all of the revelry, rivalry with other units and work, there is also the knowledge that if, as Woodruff says, the whistle blows, they will have to put their lives on the line. Spier, a Vietnam veteran, said patriotism is almost tken for granted and not a common topic of conversation among Guard members. “The flag is always up here when you come flying in,” he said. “We all know we’re defending our country. Look, I’ve been through war once and I don’t want to go again. But if I have to go, I wouldn’t mind going with these guys.”

legislators asked the federal government to eliminate. The State-Federal Assembly, a policy-making arm of the National Conference of State Legislatures, approved a cautiously worded endorsement of Reagan’s economic policies. The lawmakers rejected a proposed amendment expressing doubts about the wisdom of recently enacted tax cuts. The proposal, offered by lowa state Rep. Lyle Krewson, a Republican, said that the cuts, coupled with the current recession, could force the reduction or elimination of many Federal programs vital to the states. But Assemblyman Charles Hardwick of New Jersey, a

Corn prices at the farm were shown at $2.45 to $2.70 a bushel, compared to $3.10 for 1980-81. Looking at rice, the report said that despite “recent heavy purchases by Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Italy” total use during 1981-82 “is still likely to fall short of production. Thus, rice prices were unchanged from last month’s indicated $9 to $10.50 per 100 pounds. Last year rice averaged $12.90. The Agriculture Department, hoping to give sagging livestock markets at least a psychological boost, plans to buy S3O million worth of canned beef and pork for distribution to school lunch programs. Officials said Friday the purchases will be in addition to regular school lunch food contracts for frozen beef and pork. They said the purchases will be conducted “during aa period of depressed prices” and that the canned meat will “provide nutritious foods at very reasonable prices for distribution to schools and other outlets.” One spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said some livestock groups had urged USDA to buy meat to help bolster market prices. However, he said, the relatively small amount that will be bought “probably will have little more than a psychological effect” on livestock prices.

Republican, told his colleagues: “We have not had time to assess the value of the tax cuts. Our constituents want tax cuts.” Ohio state Sen. Harry Meshel, a Democrat, urged his colleagues to take a more outspoken, critical position. “The president is personally popular,” he said. “That doesn’t mean people are happy with all his programs. Unless we are a lot more vocal, Washington may believe that we are in agreement.” On other issues, the legislators urged Congress to raise the federal gasoline tax, now 4 cents a gallon, to increase the money available for building and maintaining highways.

RAGGEDY PALS: Turning 67

Indy's favorite carrot-tops endure decades By DIANE M. BALK Associated Press Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Raggedy Ann, the confidente and plaything of generations of children, turns a wellpreserved 67 years old Monday. Her hair color has been changed from brown to the wellknown carrot-top red, she’s changed her clothes and acquired a male friend in the form of Raggedy Andy, but in essence, the doll has changed little from its 1914 creation by John Gruelle, a political cartoonist for The Indianapolis Star. Age has its privileges, says John Noble, curator of toys at the Museum of the City of New York. “There’s now a mystique about Raggedy Ann that there wasn’t 10 years ago,” he said, adding that a “cult of Raggedy Ann, like the teddy bear, became important in the last few years.” “It’s the .v me kind of thing Mickey Mouse can set in motion,” he said. Mary Jane Teeters-Eichacker, curator of dolls at the Indianapolis Children’s Museuem, says Raggedy Ann is “certainly the most continuously popular rag doll. That’s not too bad, to be popular from 1915 to now. There isn’t another doll that can claim that.” Raggedy Ann was created in 1914 to entertain Gruelle’s daughter, Marcella. She found a faceless rag doll in the attic, but was unhappy because the doll had no face. Gruelle drew a face on the doll. His wife washed and restuffed the badly soiled doll, placing a heart-shaped piece of candy with the motto “I love you” on it. Gruelle made up stories about the doll to entertain his daughter. When Marcella died in 1916, Gruelle began writing down the stories “as a memorial to her,” Noble said. There are several theories about how Raggedy Ann got her name. One is that she was named based on James Whitcomb Riley’s poems, “Little Orphan Annie” and “The Raggedy Man.” Gruelle was the son of artist Richard Gruelle, who illustrated books that included those poems. But Noble says “he (Gruelle) called her Raggedy Ann because she was so shabby.” The character of Raggedy Andy was created when a former neighbor gave Gruelle a doll. Then, in 1918, a Chicago publishing house printed the first Raggedy Ann book. Dolls similar to the moppet Gruelle helped create for his daughter were created as promotion pieces for the books. But when the dolls were first marketed, they didn’t have hearts and Gruelle had the dolls called back because of it, Noble said. The hearts were then added. The Museum of the City of New York has housed “one of the very first” Raggedy Anns, dating back to about 1919, Noble says. The doll was donated about 10 years ago. The Raggedy Ann in the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis dates back to 1929, says Ms. Teeters-Eichacker. The mother of the doll’s donor had it autographed by Gruelle, who was a schoolmater, Ms. Teeters-Eichacker said. She says the old doll is rotated with a more modern version in the toy display. “We try not to keep anything on permanent display because ultra-violet rays cause fading,” she said. “No matter what you do you can’t cut it out completely.” She said she tries to put the older Raggedy Ann on display for the Christmas season. Currently, the Indianapolis-based Bobbs-Merrill Co. Inc., a subsidiary of International Telephone and Telegraph Corp., holds the book publishing rights. Gruelle, who moved on to draw the comic strip “Mr. Tweedle Deedle” in the New York Herald, wrote and illustrated about 40 Raggedy Ann books. The books sold more than three million copies before Gruelle’s death in 1938. Marian Israel, assistant sales manager for BobbsMerrill, says the books are still “fairly popular” although sales tallies were unavaible. Bobbs-Merrill began publishing the books in the mid--19605, she said, and the firm currently publishes 30 of the original Raggedy Ann stories. Knickerbocker Toys holds the rights to making Raggedy Ann and Raggedv Andy dolls. Noble says he hopes “some enterprising person will reproduce the original” with brown hair and printed dress. Raggedy Ann became a movie star in 1977 when a feature-length animated movie about her made its premier in Indianapolis. Noble and his Raggedy Ann were flown to Indianapolis from New York and presented with a key to the city. Noble said the doll was even interviewed on television. “She’s terribly shy. She wouldn’t say anything,” he said.