Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 49, Number 278, Decatur, Adams County, 26 November 1951 — Page 1

Vol. XLIX. No. 278.

AGREEMENT REACHED ON CEASE-FIRE LINE

— l ——-a—— 1 u . —.i 17 Killed As Trains Collide , x "i ■' i - I ■ ; . ? . I

Streamliners Crash Sunday In Alabama Engineer Ignored Warning Signals l , Before Collision Woodstock. Ala., Nov. 26 —(UP) — A Southern Railway official said today 17 persons were killed when two luxury streamliners collided head-on - here Sunday afternooyr after the engineer of one of the trains “ran right into a red board’* of warning signals. The railroad announced that 16 bodies were removed from the wreckage of the*two trains —> the j Louisville and Nashville’s southbound Crescent Limited and Southern’s northbound “Southerner.” The two trains piled together v.ith a resounding crash a few seconds after engineer T. J. Powers, a Southern Railway official sa’d. brought the Southerner off a siding in the face, of three different types of warning signals and headed it up the main line in the path of the onrushing Crescent, which was traveling about 65 miles an hour. The Railroad paid Powers, who leaped from his cab moments before the crash, was the 17th victim. Because he died, it probably Will never be known why he ignored automatic block light signals, § warning.whistle signal and flag signals that told him of the danger. '■ ■ ’ 7 The northbound Southerner had pulled off onto the siding to allow the southbound section ‘ of the same train to pass. But the southbound Southerner was being followed by? l the Crescent Limited. The Crescent normally takes another route. It was routed behind the Southerner because of a washout on its regular tracks in Louisiana. L. E. WWterau. general agent cf the Southern, said Jn Birming-i ham, Ala., that “he (powers) ran right into a red board.” “We probably will never know whether he ■> answered the whistle signal and if not, why not.* ' ' Wetterau said there was no possibility of human error in the operation of the block light signals,, sft}Ce they show red automatically whenever another train is on the section of track. K C. Schultz, operating division - manager of Southern, announced that 16 bodies have removed from the wreckage of the two trains, the 17th victim, he said, is tho engineer of one of the trains involved, whose body still is buried in the debris. Upwards of : *o' other persons were injured In the crash. Schultz said that “I believe we have gotten them all out but the engineer but you can’t be sure.” He said rescue crews stilV have not searched two wrecked ears that are lying in a precarious position above a small gorge at the - scene of the wreck. These cars, however, were not smashed and likelihood of finding additional victims there Was considered small. , . ‘ Fifteen bodies had arrived at morgues throughout North Alabama early today. The Louisville and Nashville railroad’s “Crescent Limited,” (Tara T<# Peer Six) i- ; j \ . r- ~;q* Wait 10 Days To Act On Stephenson Indianapolis, 'Nov. 26—(UP) — Indiana officials said today they will wait 10 days before completing plans to extradite former Ku Klux Klan leader D. C. Stephenson from Minnesota. Stephenson, held th Minneapolis for parole violation, has been ordered returned to Indiana by the Minnesota supreme court. He has until Dec. 3 to notify officials whether or not he will., appeal, officials said. Stephenson Indicated he will petition for a rehearing. He was paroled from the Indiana state prison to March, 1950 after serving 25 years of a life sentence following his conviction of -second-degree murder of a statehouse employe.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWBPAPEN IN ADAMi. COUNTY 1 - iL- .. .JO _ u J ' . . ’ . .

Iranian Studying Atrocity Reports j Winter White House Maintains Sectecy Key West. Fla.. Nov. 2|.-’(UP)— The winter White Hoijsef today maintained the tightest kind 'of secrecy on the manper knif extent of -President personal study- of the reported Coijimunlst gJaUghter of .8,000 American prisoners of war in Korea, i The President was ? definitely looking into the atrocity reports from the far east. But #ith de- ? mauds building that he make a through public statement ion the explosive knd tragic subject, the White House pursued a* course of extreme caution against premature utterances. 1 The only reaction thu s fhr from the .President came before Gen. B. Ridgway made his official report on the killing of Americans by their Communist capctors’; The chief executive said week before last that if the report were true, it was : the* most uncivilized thing A that had) happened in 160 years. .j. | 1 The .President receives a highly secret report every day? from the Joint chiefs of staff and ’it was be lieVed that he was keeping up with the. atrocity case through, these daily dispatches. H|s st|aff> meantime. kept strict silence ion the extent of, Mr. Truman’s communications with Ridgway or th® prospect of a presidential statement, . Ahd the President wad expected to hold a news conference next Thursday and it may be that he will have something to ;say then, provided he and his staff feel that sufficient material js at hand to discuss the atrocity changes. The latest of pressure building on the President Was the demand by Rep. -£dith '-Nourse 'Rogers (R-Mass.)'that hd give “the parents of our serviceman a clear and unmistakable statenient of the facts at the earliestjnonleift.” Also high on the current White House secret list was t|ie alleged Soviet destruction of ani American navy patrol bomber in the far east, Mr. Truman's opinion of the rejection of Soviet foreign minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky of tife disarmament plan offered by th|s country, France ahd Great Britain at the staf t of the present United ;Nations general assembly in Parte. ■ Frees secretary Josepp Short for days has refused to go' beybnd a siftiple “no comment” ori the plane incident, and apparently-the President is, for the time beihgj leaving it <o the American delegation in Paris to deal with thei vjshinsky rejection. | ‘ J i Berne Annexation is Case Up In Courll Annexation Os Land |s Under Proteif f Witnesses for the plaintiff were called to the stand today—the first day pf the trial to boniest th? annexation of contiguous property to the city 'of Berne. • lii' the court’s records the cas? is listed as Virgil Hairtes vs the City of Berne. In testimony; offered today under cross-examination, attorneys for both sides ijwerd jockeying for position to gfcin; advantage, in the struggle bjing heard by special Judge Burr Glehn. The annexation pr<A>l«ftn has been: raging for a year, |'ith Berne official® going categorically on record as being in favoij of such a move. ’, , ( This has brought considerable bickering from opposing factions since the “outbreak of Ah® fight whieh is politically linked to the Adams Central Consolidated school merger of a coup|e of years ago. '■ . JI. Historically, the Herpe city i fathers outlined such icoptiguous - arekf as they believed esdntial to further taxation for and fcopsequent valqe to the city. Roughly this area was one-fourth inile north 1 and two and ona-half miles east of Berpe. ' • Altogether it comprises an ap- : proximate 1,360 acres. Virgil Haines, 'through the law (Twr* Te Page ■? j i ■ ■ ? ■ , - Hir. • i d

Count On New Atom Weapons To Aid Europe Eisenhower Speaks To North Atlantic Council Session I ■■ \ Rome, Nov. 26 —(UP) — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told the North Atlantic treaty council today that he was counting on the new “baby” tactical atomic bombs for the defense of Europe against Communist aggression. , Addressing the military committee of the council, Eisenhower said, however, that even the use of such borhbs would not remove the need for feo to 70 divisions Os ground troops for his Atlantic padt defense forces. Elsenhower warned also\that an allied defense, line must be established east of, the German Rhine. If a defense line were bet up bn the Rhine itself to oppose an attack from east it would result in nothing but a stalemate, he said. Delegates from participating countries who are here to discuss defense problems met in secret today, bnt a spokesman disclosed Elsenhower’s speech. The supreme commander of the Atlantic forces said his Atlantic pact command was “taking into account what new weapons might do to facilitate the task of building up strewn in face ar gresslon. “New weapons,” it was madb known, mean the new small atomic weapons recently tested in the United States in sight of troops. They can be used on the battlefield for limited destruction in contrast to the mass destruction the larger A-bombs. Eisenhower added to his “new weapons” statement: \ “But no new weapons will solve the strategic problem such as train(Tarn To Pare Five) Former Methodist z Pastor Dies Sunday Dr. U.S.A. Bridge Is Taken By Death Funeral services for Dr. Ulysses 3- A. Bridge, pastor Os the First Methodist church in \this city from 1922 to 1924, will be held Tuesday at 1:30 p. m. at the Chalfant-Perry funeral home in Fort Wayne. Burial will l>e in the IOOF cemetery. Huntington. Dr. Bridge died Sunday afternoon in the Methodist hospital. Fort Wayne, where he had been a patient for the past two weeks. Following the death of the Rev. Perry Gibbs in 1934, Dr. Bridge served as supply pastor of the Decatur church until an appointment was made at the Methodist conference. Born in Columbia City, Dr. Bridge was 84. He retired from the ministry 18 years ago and was minister emeritus of the Wayne Street Methodist church. Fort Wayne. His immediate appointment from Decatur was as pastor of the Methodist church in Wabash, where he also served as a district superintendent for six years. Entering the ministry in 1889, he held pastorates' at Claypool, South Whitley, Logansport. Richmond. Tipton, New Castle,; Peru, Portland, Noblesville and of the Simpson Methodist church. Fort Wayne. Dr. Bridge received his doctor of philosophy degree from DePauw University and his doctor of divinity degree from Tjpdor University. He was a former trustee of both DePauw and Taylor Universities and for 19 years served on the board of examiners of the Northern Indiana conference of the Methodist church. His wife. Rosa, died last August. Surviving are a daughter. Mrs. Lucille A. Busbin. Charlotte, N.' C.; two sons, Gall H., at home, and Don U., Rochester, N. Y.; two grandchildren, two great grand'children: a sister. Mrs. Gertrude Wilson, Fort Wayne, and a brother, Dr. A. A. Bridge, Tipton. \

• Decatur, Indiana, Monday, November 26 z 1951. [

Santa To Aid Polio Victims W 1 ■ ■ H l 'u. S ' ‘1 Bl #Ti ; •j '' KulF’yWlltw , JlrJ[ a

LITTLE SUFFERERS from infantile paralysis call upon Santa Claus ( in a New York department store ahd urge him to sign up as a volunteer for the Mothers’ March on Polio. He did. * - 3 ... —

Sleet, Rain, Snow [ Moving Eastward ! At Least 11 Killed In Midwest States By United Press - \ 41«» t. freezing rain and snow wert dumped on eastern stales today after the midwest was sheathed In a slippery mantle that cost at least 11 lives.’ ; Forecasters said the fast-moving storm whipped, out of the midwest and into the northern states of the Atlantic seaboard as frosty air pushed southeastward from the plains states. Eastern motorists were warned of “slick spots” that will prove hazardous. At least 11 persons were killed on icy midwest highways before the storm swung east. Wihd with gusts up to 40 and 50 miles an hour were reported in sections of Pennsylvania. New York and Ohio. Snow fell irt higher elevations in these states and New England., The snow was expected to turn to rain later today. Rain also drenched West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and other states in the southeast. Rain and a temperature drop was expected in the Gulf region. Light rain fell in southern Texas and more showers in the Pacific northwest yrßh snow at the higher elevations. j The Great Lakes region was due for snow flurries. Midwest traffic fatalities tied In with the hazardous driving conditions, were reported in Illinois, Indianb. Wisconsin and Michigan. Near LaGrange, Ind., Don Bar rows, 49, and his wife, Lena, 49, of Fort Wayne, Ind., burnbd to death when their auto skidded into utility pole knocked down a 12,500volt power line 4hen burst into flames. . ] At least \ four persons were fatally injured in Wisconsin traffic accidents as highways turned into Ice traps. \ . Mrs. Lillian Frye, 28, was fatally injured in a three-car smashup on an icy highway near New Buffalo, Mich. Her husband, their five children and three other persons were hurt- Two other persons also died \on Indiana highways. Six families were flooded out of their homes along a stretch of the Mississippi river at Minneapolis, Minn., when ice jammed the channel. A converted P-38 fighter plane at the Minneapolis, Minh., (Twrn To Pa** TMrer) Democratic Women Meet Friday Night The Democratic Women’s club of Adams county will meet at the Moose home in this city Friday evening, strating with a potluck ■upper at 6:30 o’clock. The supper will be followed by election of officers. All Democratic women of the county are invited to attend and to bring a covered dish and table service. \ ■ ’ T; I

■ ————r ! V BULLETIN Romh, Nov. 26.—(UP) — Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said today th®t ha has “no intereat in serving anywhere except for the preservation of peace.” ‘*TMt is why I am here,” Eisonhbwer told a pres* con- * ference. The allies supreme ' commander Is here at a confere nd) of leaders of the North r Atlantic treaty powers to'dieh cuas 'their problems of defend1 Ing Europe. t Eisenhower refused to answer'questions about the possr s ; bHlty that he would be a candit date for the presidency in 1952. t > ’■ ■ r Auction School Is I f’’’- - Opened Here Today { J 47 Students Enroll ■ For School Opening - Forty-seven fneii were enrolled t as students today in the Reppert 1 auctionUscbool’s 61st session, according to the preliminary figures »• released by Miss Eleanor Repfjpert, mkngger of the school. » It\ ISfHkely that others will en--1 roll lat£r in the week. Miss Reppert noted, then added that the s enrollment lists would be announc- : ed “in a day or two” when they r are compiled for official records. I Thia year’s winter class is the s smallest in a nunjber of f years, ' eccordipg to the unofficial records i cf. past' years, showing a decline • in numbers during the past five ■ years. Today’s enrollment period is - sharply , contrasted with a year f ago when inajor snowstorms blank--1 eted the ntaion and impeded tray--1 el. At,that time numerous tele- • phone an<l telegrams were 1 received 4 by the school from proar pective students unable to attend. ? Even at that, before the first ' week was out, 55 students were ’ enrolled, compared with 81 in 1949, “approximately” 100 in 1945, 1 end 147 til 1947. ' ; 1 These ; are only -comparative fig-' - ures for she mid-winter term, al- i ’ ways ltd the past much lighter - than the number which converges 1 on the city during the summer. The men - Who came from near f and far ; over the weekend to he ! here today—near being within a - radius 0t25 miles, witile some will travel hitndreds of miles to attend the three week sessions—range in 5 Sge from, say,* teen-agers to old- ’ timers. / Many tfut-of-state license plates were identified today near the Reppert; school at the corner of-, Second aiid Madison, as enrollees made preliminary preparations for their stky. } Otto change in t!he school’s pro- , gram ii necessitated tfiis year when the student auction sales, ' usually held in the building that c is now'being remodeled, for the . Kroger company, will have to be , held in other quarters. Miss Rep- . i pert has pot announced the place • of the dales, Which ordinarily begin the first Saturday of she term (TWre To Page Six) ‘’“ ■ ■ ■ 0 ■ . : •? 1

Truce Delegates Will Meet Tonight To Ratify Korean Cease-Fire Line ■ ■ ■

* —> Allied Troops Hold On Little Gibraltar Reports Russians Direct Artillery Bth Army Headquarters, Korea, Nov. 26 — (UP) — Coinpiunist attacks. forced' allied withdrawal?) on two fronts today, but United Nations troops held firm on bloody “Little Gibraltar.” > In the air, 17 American sabrejets accepted odds of nearly 4-to-l and damaged two out of 60 Communist MiG-15 jet fgihters in a 15minute'jtagfight which -'"swirled from 19jfoo to *35,0A0 feet over north woraTKorea. The air battle endpd with the Russian-built planes in flight toward the Yalu river Manchurian frontier. All sabrejets returned spfely to base. ! Communist ground | forces attacked at Aey points all along the frozen 145-mile front in an apparent attempt to better their positions before a tentative cease-fire line is completed by truce negotiators at Panmunjom.. The Reds threw a reinforced battalion^— up to 1;000 men — against an allied unit advancing toward high ground south of the truce conference site at Panmunjom on the western front The impact of the attack sent, the outnumbered allies reeling back to their original position. ' To the northeast, howevdh UN troops repulsed without loss of ground a Communist attack against the snow-covered threepeak ridge knows as Little Gibraltar. Artillery fire believed directed by Russian officers supported the attack. The allies completed the capture of Little Gibraltar Sunday after a 7-hour battle in a driving snowstorm. The last peak, known as (Tarn To Paae Six) Five Persons Hurt Saturday Evening / Automobile, Truck T Collide At Crossing Five persons were injured in a Saturday evening automobiletruck accident, three of them seriously enough to remain in the Adams county memorial hospital. The remaining two were released after being given emergency treatment. Those injured were driver of the car Butcher, 38, of Crites, W. Va.; his wife, Callie, 23, and their 10-month-old daughter, Lawafida Gay, all oL whom remained in the hospital. Neverett Butcher, 34, brother of the driver, and his wife, Dovie, 35, from Urbana, 0., sustained superficial injuries and were released from the hospital. The accident occurred at the intersection of U.S. 27 and state road 124 when Butcher apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his car as it headed west on 124. He told investigating officers, sheriff Bob Shraluka, deputy Jim Cochran and state trooper Walter Schindler that he had been driving for a number of hours and had dozed. The passengers in the car yelled at him, but not in time to avoid hitting the semi-trailef triick driven nqrth on U.S. 27 by Martin F. Klein, 32, of, Grand Rapids, Mich. The impact of .the collision knocked the rear wheels and axle of the'triick abotrt 50 yards into a field. Total damage was estimated at SI6OO. As a result of the collision, Tommie Butcher sustained possible rib fractures, badly bruised legs and leg and facial lacerations. His wife received fractured ribs and severe leg lacerations, ahd their daughter sustained .a concussion. Neverett Butcher and hie wife suffered 'bruises and lacerations. The driver of the truck was uninjured.

Says America Prepared For Private Talks Willing To Confer With Russians On Disarming Plans Paris, Nov. 66.—(UP)—Dr. Philip C. Jessup of tne United States said today that America is ready to hold private disarmament talks with Russia it the tlnited Nations majority favors such a step. Pakistan, Iraq and Syria had proposed that the. big four powers sit down under the chairmanship of UN generals assembly president Luis Padilla Nervo to attempt to break the east-west deadlock on arms reduction. “If, Mr. Chairman, it in in accordance with the wish of this committee, we are perfectly ready to discuss the proposals with the representatives .of the Sd|iet Union,” Jessup told the UN’s main political committee. .He asserted that Russia, not the United States, is responsible for current world tension? Jessup explained that the pro posal for private talks was the same shat the west had urged or the Russians ifor 14 weeks earliei this year daring'attempts to frame an agenda for h foreign ministers' meeting'. ■' I “But the invitation was not accepted,” he added. “The meeting did not take place.” , The arms, question was given fresh by charges from Yugoslavia that Russia and its satellite countries have massed troops and built fortifications along the Yugoslav ’ borders for a possible invasion. The Soviet bloc’s “fundamentally world peace,” Yugoslav delegates Milovan Djilas told the UN political committee. Djilas said that Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria had 810,000 men under arms —more than three times the number allowed them under current peace treaties —and that they had deployed 23 of their 50 divisions along the Yugoslav border. He said Russia also had large army unit* in Romania and Hungary. j .1, - Djilas added that all the Balkan satellite countries had intensified their military training prograins and had planes and tanks far in excess of peace treaty limits. He said these trdops maneuvered constantly along the Yugoslav (Tana To . . ’ Charles C. Mailand Is Taken By Death Funeral Services To Be Wednesday Charles C. Mailand, 77,-retired Preble township farmer, who lived seven miles north of Decatur on U. S. highway 21, died at 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon at St. Joseph hospital, Fort Wayne, following major surgery last Friday, i A lifelong resident of Adams county, he was born t in Preble township Sept. 17, 1874,, a. son of Fred and Wilhelmina ScheumanMaiiand, and was married to Bertha Bublitz April 24, 1912. He was a member of St. John’s Lutheran church. Surviving In addition to his Wife arip three children. Frederick, Herbert and Margaret Mailand, all at home. Six brothers and' four sisters preceded him In death. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p. tn. Wednesday at the Zwick funeral home and at 2 o’clock at the St. John's Lutheran , church, the Re’v. Walter Schivenn officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may, call at the funeral home after 7:30 o’clock this evening. ' '■ -J ‘ '' '' J ; ' ■ -■ . ’-:’'' ■ . ' , ,

Price Five Cents

/ Doubt Formal Truce Can Be Reached By Christmas; final Disputes Settled \ Panrijiunjom, Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 27r—(UP)—Staff officers of the United Nations and Communist commands agreed last night on a cease-fire line along the frozen 145-mile Korean battle front. Truce delegates will meet at 11 a.m. today (7 p.m. Monday cst) to ratify the agreement. Then, if a full armistice agreement is reached within .30 days—- » two days after Christmas —the I truce line will become permanent. > Hope dimmed that a formal truce ’ can be reached by Christmas day. 5 liut agreement is still possible, and in the meantime it is believed that ■ while officially the war will cont tinue during the 30-day period, it t actually wll die down. t The staff officers settled the last > six points in dispute on the fighting i front shortly after 6:30 p.m. yesterday (3:30 a.m. Monday CST) after • a meeting of nearly 7-Ms hours. Disputes on'the sectors were set- ' tied one by ©ne, in (he conference - tent at this village. Smiling, , the UN and Red officers initialled the 1 maps while photographers’ flash bulbs popped. z e There will be another, formal r initialling ceremony by the staff officers at 9 a m. today (6 p.m. Mon- > day CST). e Truce sub-committeemen under n whom the staff officers worked r will rpeet at 10 a.m. (7 p.m. Monday e CST) to approve the line. s' The full truce committee ( will meet at 11 a.m. (8 p.m. Monday > CST) to ratify the agreement. This ? Is a formality. * .• f After] {that, the truce delegates i will try to settle remaining armisi tice questions within 30 days. If 3 they <|o, the present line will be--1 come the final armistice line. If f negotiations continue beyond the • 30-day deadline, a new truce line must be drawn on the basis, of any r advances which troops of either ’ side may have made meantime, if s armistice negotiations finally fail, the war will be resumed in full fury. • The questions still to be settled 1 are difficult. They are: supervision and inspection to insure compliance with the terms of the ‘ armistice, the exchange of prisoners of war, and peaac recommends--1 tions to be made to governments of the countries engaged in the war. Most observers were dubious that i a full agreement could be reached I in time tb stop the war by Christmas. 'but vice-president Alben W. Barkley suggested a new goal at a ' press conference in Tokyo. He said he hoped for an armistice by New Year’s day. The two Communist and two UN officers finally the location of the tentative cease-fire line at their longest meeting yet. They worked on .until latb in the evening over maps in their tent at Penmynjohi. It had been agreed by a Joint subcommittee that the 30-day line should be in effect the | present battleline, but the UN and the Communists disputed who held 10 hills along the 145-mile front. INDIANA WEATHER Cloudy extreme south, clearing horth and central portions tonight. Colder. Tuesday fair except some cloudiness in < extreme south. Low tonight 18-25 north, 25-30 south. High Tuesday 32-36 north, 37-44 south.- .

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