Banner Graphic, Volume 14, Number 95, Greencastle, Putnam County, 27 December 1983 — Page 2

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, December 27,1983

Orr starts Colorado vacation INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Robert D. Orr is taking a delayed vacation in Vail, Colo., and is scheduled to return next weekend, his press secretary |aid. S Orr had originally intended to leave Dec. 17, but postponed his Vacation one week because he wanted to wrap up three parts of his legislative package, said Mark Lubbers. - Orr left Monday. He worked until about 6 pm. Saturday, Christmas Eve, cleaning up his desk and making sure that armories would be open to help stranded travelers, the press secretary said.

Banner-Graphic l "It Waves For All" USPS 142-020) Consolidation ol The Daily 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 a! Greencastle, Indiana, as 2nd class mail matter under Act of March 7,1878. Subscription Rates Per Week, by carrier »1,03 Per Month, by motor route ‘4.55 Mail Subscription nates R.R. in Rest of Rest of f\ Putnam County Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months *13.80 *14.15 ‘17.25 6Months *27.60 *28.30 *34.50 1 Year *55.20 *56.60 ‘69.00 Mail subscriptions payable in advance . . not accepted in town and where motor route service is available. Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.

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world/state

Blame me, not Marine Corps, for deaths: Reagan

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan today took responsibility for permitting 241 U.S. servicemen to become victims erf the Oct. 23 truckbombing of a Marine Corps headquarters building in Beirut. At a meeting with reporters shortly before starting a vacation trip to California, Reagan said local military commanders should not be punished for failing to provide sufficient security because they did not fully understand the threat posed by terrorists. “If there is to be blame, it should rest in this office and with this president,” Reagan said. “I accept this responsibility.” A report issued last week by the House Armed Services investigations subcommittee blamed all levels of the chain of command for permitting the lax security. It particularly singled

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PRESIDENT REAGAN 'Put blame on me'

out Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, then commander of the Marine peacekeeping unit, for “serious errors in judgment in failing to provide better protection for his troops.” But, without naming anyone,

Reagan said it was unfair to punish local commanders for not “fully comprehending” the threat posed by terrorists. Reagan said a report issued by a Pentagon-appointed commission noted that by tradition and training, U.S. military forces have not been prepared to deal with attacks by terrorists, “and I heartily agree. ” But the president said this should not compel the United states to pull out of Lebanon, saying, “the problem of terrorism will not disappear if we run from it.” Under questioning, Reagan also said he did not want the loved ones of the servicemen killed in the blast to think that the lives had been given in vain. He also said there were signs that the Marines “were laying the foundations for peace” in Lebanon and said the nation “is on the verge of national reconciliation.”

The Reagans left Washington and headed west for their traditional year-end holiday in Los Angeles and the desert resort town of Palm Springs, Calif. The Reagans, who spent the Christmas weekend at the White House with their son and daughter, had no events on their public schedule for the 5Vi days they will be in California and planned to spend their time visiting with friends. However, a decision on one key issue continued participation by the United States in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is due by the president by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Reagan’s aides are continuing to work on the fiscal 1985 federal budget, which the president will send to Congress in early February.

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The entrance to the United States Steel plant in Chicago takes on a somber, isolated appearance as a locked gate and "closed” sign block the roadway. The

U.S. Steel to decide closing of five plants

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The fate of at least five of U.S. Steel’s ailing steel operations, including large plants in Chicago, Birmingham, Ala., and Pittsburgh, may be announced today at the company's final board meeting of the year. The giant steelmaker set the stage for shutdowns or partial closures at the plants earlier this month when it demanded substantial wage concessions from production employees beyond the 43-month contract signed only nine months ago. The United Steelworkers union has refused demands for more concessions. In letters mailed this month to USW members, U.S. Steel threatened closures at its Chicago South Works; the Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Ala.; the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland; a fabricating shop and foundry in Johnstown, Pa., and a wire rope plant in Trenton, N.J. U.S. Steel’s NationalDuquesne works near Pittsburgh also has been rumored as a prime shutdown candidate, especially after it was mentioned in a September speech by U.S. Steel Vice Chairman Thomas Graham. “We must recognize that the high tonnage days of the past may never recur; and, as a result, we must learn to operate more efficiently at lower production levels,” Graham said. Graham added, “We have facilities of varying ages and degrees of competitiveness. To reconfigure these facilities into economically viable units is sort of like solving a Chinese jigsaw puzzle.” U.S. Steel Chairman David Roderick, who has promised a realignment of money-losing steel operations by the end of the year, said the company intends “to reconfigure our various operations to operate those facilities which will be most efficient and lead to maximum future profitability.” “We are continuing to

Propane tank leak routs 1,200 residents at Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A propane tank leak at Lin-Gas Inc. bulk storage plant forced evacuation of about 1,200 residents living in a half-mile radius of the westside plant, authorities said. About 35 used a school for temporary shelter, while others went to the homes of friends and relatives, police said. They allowed most residents to return to the neighborhood about 4:30 p.m. Monday after gas from the leaking tank was transferred to another tank

plant's fate was to be decided today at the company's final board meeting of the year. (N.Y. Times photo)

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Tom Machielson, who has been laid off at U.S. Steel's Chicago plant since February, stands with his wife, Darlene, as he talks about the economy difficulties the layoff has caused. The Machielsons and their two children get by on about S2OO a week in unemployment compensation. (N.Y. Times photo)

evaluate the long-term and market potential of our facilities ... We expect to conclude these studies and initiate appropriate actions during the fourth quarter,” Roderick said. A steel analyst, John C. Tumazos of Oppenheimer and Company, predicted in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that U.S. Steel may announce large-scale plant closures and as much as $1 billion in related write-offs for the year at today’s meeting. Such an retrenchment would be U.S. Steel’s largest since 1979, when it closed down 13 plants, including its huge steelmaking plant at Youngstown, Ohio. If the Duquesne plant is included in the predicted shutdown announcement, the move could involve as much as 9 million tons of steelmaking capacity, or about 30 percent of U.S. Steel’s total capacity, and thousands of lost jobs, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported

without incident. It was the third leak at the plant this year, said Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Barr. “ It was potentially disastrous,” said German Township Volunteer Fire Chief John Buckman, who represented volunteer fire departments at the command center. He said that if a spark had ignited the gas the tank could have rocketed half a mile. “There could have been a fireball, and they have been

today. U.S. Steel lost $497 million in the first three quarters of this year. Last year, the worst in the steel industry since the depression, U.S. Steel’s steel segment reported an $852 million operating loss. By cutting back capacity at outmoded plants, U.S. Steel could lower its break-even point of capacity from 70 percent to 50 percent. That means the company would only have to operate about half of its steel operations before they start making money as opposed to nearly threequarters currently. At Fairfield, U.S. Steel is threatening to permanently close the basic steelmaking operations and leave operational only a new seamless pipe mill. U.S. Steel also revealed a plan last month to scale down the South Works from nearly 4 million tons of capacity to a 1-million-ton mill for the production of steel rails and beams.

known to measure 1,000 feet across,” Buckman said. The leak was discovered about noon Monday by Leroy Pogue, a neighbor and parttime mechanic for Lin-Gas. A two-inch pipe between an 18,000-gallon liquid propane gas tank and the shutoff valve had cracked, allowing the liquid gas to escape. A five-foot-high fog of gas floated three feet above the ground around the tank. Firefighters pumped water onto the tank to disperse the gas. “