Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 44, Number 293, Decatur, Adams County, 13 December 1946 — Page 1

BjTxUV- No. 293.

II SOLDIERS DIE IN TROOP TRAIN WRECK

■!olov Hits Wracking icjlProposal ■ Chorges Attempts iTo Destroy' Pion ■ QfTrQop s ' c° un f ■ , xatioM Hall. Hushing. (IP) Soviet for'n.nnf.T V M. Molotov !>-■ Inited Nations today ME* t« “destroy” a ■EJ p,„|„,MII for a world-whip armament count. Molo--8W’,,,|.. afi.r a 54-natlon UN unanimously passed reduction resolution a first step" ill ending . i liaise threatened to HT?,, his power unanimity ■R) suited in passage of the SK, Mu< timi proposal by ac amidst I’N oratory IlKiw it an important ex n f ureat power unanim nations were try HMp Hdvtr.K k the Soviet de EH I *’ r a *othl wide count on BK- ami aimaments. nuking where l« thia resolu BK| who dared destroy this | jHßfr receive I assurance from '■Mwbnri Fpaak of Belgium. BKal'tt of he general assetn his proposal still was -he general assembly fur But British ■K! S delegates maintained ,-n«u- issue was covered resolution lahdd for submission of information that the .oun. il might demand of vtates ■Mik o.tnim'tee then choked off ■Bp committee debate on ’• demands for a troop innami-nt audit, but left the open to its full discussion a plenary session of the atiembly. voted 29 to I to send a report drafted by r -"Hn'l- of Czechoslovakia. |^L.*<>>■ |. porter, which recomthat the troopsartns is- dropped, and a resolu |» appt-wed authorizing the scSBpf council to ask member Mb for any military data it essential to fulfilling HMi diunniament program. Only and slates usually follow |, ' ai> v,,,p d against the • procedural squabble came BRtPer'n persisted that secrei of sta'e James F. Byrnes the initiative in the debate later In the voluntarily announcing and location of American forces. Molotov told the com ’hat th- disarmament resoBB* ,n "uttimnn a special gento approve a world control program placed the " ,11P Important and (

M lTj, n Tn Pag. «. Column 5) ■ 0 B°od Fellows Club I To Give Christmas I Dinners For Needy Delta Theta Tau sorority, sponsor of the Good Feb lhih ' whhh annualy spreads cheer to the less fort tin I®]*®' 11 *" of Decatur, today anPlana for the club’s actlvl lkl * the sorority hae started with a donation of 150 in » While no solicitation for he made for the Good K- cl “b. contributions from |^ ai «tionH and individuals will received. These conyoiay be made to Mrs. Joe |WJy. 421% Marshall street. ■J** 01 - Hl* fiowl Fellows club this year ■"Ptovide Christmas dinners to throughout the city. MT

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Azerbaijan Leader Fleeing To Russia Tehran. Dec. 13. (I’Pl-The Iranian army chief of staff said today that Jala ar Plshevarl, premler of the Aierbsljcn provincial regime, had fled to Kussla. Gen All Kasmars told the United Press that ‘•Plshevarl and his clique of ’liberating generals’ are well within Soviet territory by now.’’ — o Senator Bilbo Given $25,000 By Contractor Senate Committee Hears Testimony From Contractor Washington. Dec. 13—(UP)—F. T. Newton, Hattiesburg. Mias., contractor, testified today that on Sept. 7. 1942. he gave Sen. Theodore 0. Bilbo. 0.. Mias., four checks totaling 335.000. Photographs of the checks were placed on the record of a senate war investigating committee. The group is hearing charges that Bilbo received gratuities from con tractors whom he helped get army air base construction jobs. The committee recessed for luncheon without asking Newton what the checks were for. Newton had testified previously that he had tried to get Bilim’s help in obtaining government contracts. Asked whether Bilim was of any help to him, he said: "1 don’t know. I hope he was. 1 asked him to.” Newton was a member of a contracting firm which bu'lt the 113.5d7.005 Keesler field at Biloxi. Miss., under a contract awarded June 1.3, 1941. Edwin Jones, Charlotte. N. (’. contractor, who also participated in the job, testified earlier that he donated |SOO to construction of a Poplarville. Miss., Baptist church in which he was told Bilim was Interested. The committee today subpenaed the bank records of Edward P. Terry, who lias lieen sought by the FBI since he wrote the committee he, his wife and his daugh ter were threatened with death if he testified against Bilbo. Terry, a former secretary to Bilim has been missing since committee in-

• (Turn To Fair® B. Column 5) o Dan Christen Heads Knights Os Pythias Annual Election Is Held Last Evening Dan Christen was named chancel-lor-commander of Kekionga lodge 65. Knights of Pythias during the annual election of officer*, held Thursday night at the K. of P. home.

Other officers, named for one year terms, are Albert Sellemeyer, vice-chancellor; Oren Stulls, preate; Roy Mumma. master of works; Fred E. Kolter. master of finance; J. Fred Fruchte. master of exchequer; F. V. Mills, master at arms; George Brewer, inner guard and John J. Hunter, outer guard. Herman Haugk wan named a trustee for a three year period while A. D. Suttles. Henry Dellinger and I. Bernatein were named to the 1946 auditing committee. The officers will be Installed at the first meeting in January. A class of candidates will lie Installed during a meeting to be held late Iq January or early In February, officers of the lodge announced. Local Lady's Cousin Is Killed In Italy Mrs. Ed Shoaf, ct near Decatur, received word today that her cousin, Pfc Jack Fawcett. 19. of Van Wert, 0., was killed In Italy December 8 In an accident Involving his motorcycle. The* Van Wert soldier, who entered service Dec. 13. 1945. was a motorcycle patrolman with the military police. He was Van Wert county’s 96th war casualty. He Is survived by his parents. Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Fawcett and a sister, Mrs. Herman Oakley, all of Van Wert. _ .

20 Dead, 16 Missing In Tenement Explosion

BB f • ‘M * I V - S e je *, .1 . •

NEW YORK FIREMEN comb the ruins of a six story tenement house destroyed by a blast set off when fire started in an adpscent Ice house. Twenty persons are known deal, scores are hospitalized with injuries and 16 are listed as missing. The all but completely covered limb of one on the victims, a woman, can Im- seen at right (arrow! in the dehris.

Cold Front Moving Across The Nation Cold To Diminish While Moving East By United Press A cold wave prevailed today from the plains states eastward to the Appalachian*, spreading *outhward to the Gulf states. The cold front moved southeastward across the nation from the Yukon territory, where the temperature had dropped to 67 degrees below zero. Temperatures were below zero this morning in North Dakota and Minnesota. Freezing weather extended southward across the Ohio River and into Oklahoma. On the Atlantic coast, rain fell last night from South Carolina northward, and the colder weather to the west was moving rapidly toward the north and middle Atlantic states. Light snow fell In Montana. Nebraska and portion* of Kansas. The U. S. weather bureau of Chicago said the cold wave would diminish as it moved eastward, but that the New York area could expect below freezing temperatures tonight. Generally fair weather with seasonable temperatures prevailed over the southwestern states, but other areas rejmrted floods, rain and fog. Rains prevailed over the Pacific northwest, with Washington experiencing its worst flood in 12 years. Streams and river* were swollen by continued rain in western Wash- — — (Turn To Page 5, Column 7) 0 Gives Warning On Use Os Firearms

Police Worn Against Dangerous Practice Police chief Ed Miller today issued a warning against the use of firearms In the vicinity of the St. Mary's river. It has been the practice for many years among the city’s firearms enthusiasts to alm their guns at various targets along the river, firing from the west bank onto the east, he stated. This was done, he said, since in previous years there was customarily no activity on the east side of the river. The picture is much different today, however, he said, with numerous city projects underway there. Workers are engaged In drilling a water well for the city and othvrs are erecting service lines to the new Stratton Place addition. Several "close calls” have been reported by, these workers In recent weeks, he said, and a more rigid enforcement of the ban on the use of firearms in and near the city has resulted.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, December 13, 1946

Police Chief Attends Traffic Conferences Police chief Ed Miller has returned to hi* regular duties here after attending the series of traffic court conferences, held In Fort Wayne under the supervision of the Indiana traffic safety council and traffic safety commission. Proposed safety legislation was disclosed at the sessions and discussed by state, county and city officials in attendance. State supreme court justice M. J. O'Malley presided. Clothier Is Locked Out Os Own Store Friday The 13th Bad Luck Cited Misfortune and bad luck held full sway today, according to the more superstitious and Will Linn, Decatur clothier. Mr. Linn was the first to feel she effects of the spell today—Friday, the 13tb. For several bOUM he and his co-workers stood out in the cold and then ducked inside some neighboring store to get warm. The reason: Mr. Linn and his men were locked out of their clothing store. Something happened to the burglar alarm mechanism, which U connected electrically to the front door of the store, and his keys failed to turn the trick. After repeated futile effort* to use his keys to gain entrance, he gave up and telephoned the burglar alarm expert at Roanoke —and then waited for his arrival. Elsewhere on the superstitious front apparently ail was quiet. Those who believe in the evil pow-eiw-tliat-be. ot course, exercised (Turn To Page 6, Column S>

"The Christmas Miracle" At High School Sunday Afternoon

"The Christmas Miracle," reputedly one of the finest atories concerning the sacred mystery of the first Christmas, will feature the annual seasonal presentation open to the public at the Decatur junior-senior high school Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock. The program, yearly one of the holiday's finest, Is heralded as the moat beautiful and inspiring or the series, staged by the senior class members of the school, under the direction of Miss Mildred Worthman. Miss Helen Haubold and other members of the school faculty. School principal W. Guy Brown today Ireued an invitation to the general public to witness the presentation. Te«che r s and students have been busily engaged in preparing apbropriate scenery on the school's auditorium stage for the past several days. The acene of the presentation is laid in the chancel of a deserted •maH town church, similar to mao]f

Big Four Ministers Start Long Recess Satellites' Peace Treaties Finished New Yor|(. Dec. 13 —(UP) The big four foreign ministers, finishing the five satellite pence trestle* after 15 months an I one day of negotiations, today started their longest recess since last April. They packed tneir bag* to return home after six weeks of con ferences here mid after almost continuous big four or Pari* peace conference session* starting last Apt 11 25. Now they will have a three months respite from each other to prepare for tho. meeting in Moscow on March 10 when work on the German and Austrian peace treaties will begin. The big four council of foreign ministers formally adjourned the New York meeting last night in the 27th floor suite of the Wai dorf-Astorla hotel where they have held 23 formal and iff informal meetings since November 4. Before adjourning they: 1, Took the last decisions necessary to complete the treaties of peace for Italy. Roman-a. Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland. 2. Made final arrangement* for signing those pact* in Paris on February 10. 4. Agreed on instruction* to their special deputies on Germany and Austria to begin preparatory work In Ixmdon on January 14. (Turn To Page 3. Column 7) 0 WEATHER Partly cloudy and colder tonight. Low 20 to 25 north and near 25 south. Partly cloudy and continued cold Saturday.

In lightly populated areas which have been abandoned in recent yeate. Only the faithful caretaker of the abandoned structure remains in the building, along with a crippled boy, and it is before these two character* that the Christmas story is unfolded. The complete program: Prelude—"Adeste Fidelia” "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" and "Joy To The World"—violin, piano and organ. Candlelight processional—" Hark, the Herald Angels Sin?.” Song—" Lullaby ot the Bells,”— eighth grade chorus. Story of the play. Part Ons Choir—“ Oh. Come All Ye Faithful" and "Beautiful Savior.” Solo-“ The Birthday of a King.” Part Two Choir—" Glory to God In the Highest.” “Silent Night." “Gesu Bambino" and “Silent Night" (echo chorus). a

Three Crewman Killed, At Least Eight Bodies Are Still In Wreckage

Auto Workers Seek 23.5 Cents Raise First Os Big Three To State Demands — New York. Dec. 13—(UP»- The CIO united automobile workers union started Its campaign today, for a basic wage increase of 23.5 cents an hour for 1,000,000 automobile workers, with fringe demands that would bring the total of 30 cents or an estimated 1624.000.10)0. The |’AW was the first of ClO’s "big three” to announce a wage demand policy The united steel workers and united electrical workers will discuss wage demands In Pittsburgh Tuesday after “strategy” laika among "big three” leaders on Monday. UAW wage negotiations already are underway with Chrysler, Packard, Hudson and Kaiser Frazer, while negotiations with General Motors will etart in the spring. The international board of directors of the UAW agreed unanimously on the wage demand, discussion of which ended last night, according to president Walter P. Reuther. He said it represents a 17.6 increase determined on the basis of increased living costs. In addition to the basic wage demands. the I’AW proposed standardization of wages and health and (dd age retirement programs, but Reuther would not estimate how much such a program would cost the Industry. "The wage increase of 23.5 cents per hour m necessary to restore to the workers in our industry what has been taken from them by the rise In the cost of living since the beginning of the year." Reuther said. The new demand was considerate ly lot* than the 3u percent increase demand of 1945 which brought on rhe 113-day strike at General Motors last winter. Reuther said that automobile companies were showing prdfits “at a far greater rate than ever in the past, in peace or in war.” "We go into the year 1917 equipped with the most inflated boom that ever preceded a bust In all the long history of private enterprise In the United States," Reuther said. (Tarn To I'aae «. Column 7) 0 Kirkland Church Aids Union Chapel Donation Is Made To Aid In Rebuilding Members of the congregation of the Union Chapel Evangelical United Brethren church, which recently burned to the ground, received a pleasant surprise Thursday afternoon when the men of the congregation of the Pleasant Dale Church of the Brethren. Kirkland township, presented them with a check for >SO tor their building fund. The Pleasant Dale church members farmed a tract of land in Kirkland township and are using the profits from the venture to assist in their church work and to aid other congregations. When It was learned that the Union Chapel church planned a new structure to replace the destroyed church, the members immediately voted to contribute the 150 to start the building fund, and Victor E. Byerly, treasurer of the fund presented the gift to Thurman Drew, a member of the building committee. Phil Sauers, Decatur street commissioner, and Peter Loathe of this city hauled several truck loads of cinders to the ground adjacent to the Dent School in Root township, where the Union Chapel members have temporary quarters, to provide for ample parking space tor automobiles. Many Individuals and churches of the county have expressed their (Turn To Page 4 Veluma JA

Tenement Fire Death Toll 23 13 Are Missing Two Dead End Kids Held After Bragging They Started Fire New York. Dec. 13-<UPI All hope of removing any more victims alive from the rubble of a shatter ed tenement house <>n New York’s tipper west side was abandoned today. indicating a final death toll of perhaps 36 person* in one of the woret building dkuisters in the city’s history. Officials ordered the dangerous front part of the building, which was still standing, demolished. The rear of the six-story structure, which housed 95 persons, collapsed early yewtc-rday when it was struck by the falling wall of a flreswept adjoining ice-house, hurying the tenement dweller* under a threestory pile of bricks, plaster and masonry. Police said that the search for the bodleo of 13 persons still missing and presumed dead will be continued after the tottering front of the building, making rescue operations dangerous, is demolished. Twenty-three person* were listed as known dead in the disaster and more than 40 injured as two dead end kids who bragged that they had started "one hell of a fire" were held on arson charges. Anxious relative* still lined the street outside the building almost 36 hours after the building was crushed beneath the falling bri. |{ Wall of an adjoining abandone I ice house. The wall toppled as a result of a fierce blaze in the icehouse. They watched through th" night as fire and police- rescue crews toiled in rain under tin glare of searchlights. They wer« still there when tin- day dawned cool and clear and fresh rescue crews relieved the weary night men. The rubble and debris wn < packed so hard within the shell of the tenement that rescue workers made slow progress in < l< aring It away. Since the building crumpled on the 5 residents of the 22f.imily house early yesterday, rescuers had been painstakingly, slowly, removing the debris with their hands so as not to jar any further masses of brick on any of the victims below. Until late yesterday the res cuers coqld bear the gradually (Turn T<> I’.ige 3, t’olucnn 11 —- O-'——' —- Max Schafer Speaks At Rotary Meeting Talks On Conditions In European Lands Max Schafer, labor relation* director of the Central Soya com panv, who came to this country in 1903 at the age of 16 and "found the land of freedom and opportunity,” stated in a talk before the Rotarians last evening that "unI less tariff and trade barriers were i removed between the countries in Europe that economic collapse would result” in the very neai* future. Mr. Schafer's talk was the second of a series of four to be given I on International relations, sponsored by the committee which has arranged a program for the discussion of subject* of vital interest to all Americans. Mr. Schafer wa* born in Austria. now Czechoslovakia. He didn't like the monarchial form of government, nor the military caste, which was then prevalent in the Austro-Hungarian and German countries. He had studied I of conditions in America and deOTurn T« Pag* 6, Cvlumn 51

Price Four Cents

Pennsy Troop Train Smashes Wreckage Os Freight Trains Near Mansfield, 0. Mansfield. 0.. Dee. 13.—(UP)— A speeding Pennsylvania passenger train today smashed into wreckage 'of two freight trains strewn across Its right of way. killing at least II soldiers and trainmen and injuring approximately 40 other*. : Six of the dead, three of them soldiers enroute home for furlough* before being sent overseas, and three crewmen, were identified. At least eight and possibly more bodies were still buried in the tangled wreckage of the Pennsylvania - Golden Trlangb- passenger train. Warren Pirn, funeral director at Wooster, O, said crews at tho disaster acene had told him that at "least seven or eight more person* are in the wreckage.” The fifth servlie command headquarter* at Columbus, 0., reported that "at least" eight eoldier* were killed In the crash. Railroad officials said a special train had picked up 70 uninjured passengers and taken them on to Chicago. Th" speeding passenger train bore down on the wreckage only minute* after the two freight* crashed, giving no time (or warning signals to Im* placed, trainmen eaid. Most of the injured were taken to General hospital here, where six were reported in critical condition. Three Identified dead were: Robert E. Keith. 31, Toledo. 0., E. H. Patterson. 44, Canton, ().. passenger train engineer, and F. J. Hughes. Sandusky, <).. brakeman. An uninjured soldier, Pvt. Roltert Radtke of M.lwattkee, Wi*., said "most of us wen- sleeping when we hit about 2:30 a.tn. 1 crawled out of a tear in th- dd • of the car after I wa- knocked to the floor. There v. as lots of escaping steam and some of the men were yelling. Outsale, bodies were lying all over the track*." Officials at General hospital said most of the passengers suffered fracture* or were burm-d by es(aping steam. Fourteen of the 4<> taken there were released after treatment for minor injuries. The hospital, already overcrowded. emptied Its maternity ward to care for the strea n of injured. The soldier* were riding in tho first two coaches of the passenger train, one of the coaches overtinned and the oilier was derailed. The crash occurred in a hilly, unpopulated area near the Coulter. O, pumping station of the Ohio Oil Co. A company of the Ohio stato guard, deputy sheriffs and Mansfield police wen- called to the scene. All doctors from Community hospital, Wooster. O. doctors from Samaritan Ixspital, Ashland, O„ ami nurse* from City hospital at. hhelby, o, were ordered to tho b< one. Railroad workers used blow torches to extricate the injured from the two car*. Railroad officials said the first of the two eastbound freights stalled with a broken air hose and then was hit by the second freight following it. Wreckage, including one entire freight ear. was thrown over the east bound track* in the path of the speeding passenger train. A combination baggage and passenger car, a coach, a dining car and a sleeping <ar also were deriled but remained upright. The reiTurn To Page * Column «> Buys Health Bond i Tlie legion Auxiliary has voted purchase of a |!0 Health

bond, officials ot the Christmas seal campaign In Adams county an* nounced today. All proceeds from the annual Christ* mas seal sales are used In the fight o n tuberculosis and to provide free clinics and othewlse carrv on

Christsrat Sedt ■ * WWW* hlffi ... Year FratocHsa Apiatl T«Uf((d»»l«

uiurwiue carry on the fight against the "white plague." The sale Is conducted by the Adamg county tuberculoala association.