Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 49, Number 298, Decatur, Adams County, 19 December 1951 — Page 1

Vol. XLIX. No. 298.

MONROE YOOTH ON LIST OF WAR PRISONERS

Most Severe Cold Wave To Follow Snow Third Heavy Snow In Five Days In , Northern States . By United Press The third heavy snowstorm in five days howled across the northern states today on winds that sometimes hit 70 miles an hour. Forecasters said the storm would • be followed tomorrow by a cold wave—the most severe of the blasts of arctic air that have swept behind „ each storm that have moved across the Country since last Friday. Forecasters warned, that portions of Minnesota. lowa and' Wisconsin, would receive up to eight inches of snow. They said steady winds of 25 to , 30 miles an hour —with gusts much' . higher—probably would drift the snow over roads already clogged with almost a 15-inch blanket from the earlier storms. The weather was blamed directly or indirectly for a. total of 214 deaths since Friday, including 87 due to heart attacks, 66 on highways, 18 due to freezing or exposure. and 43 due to miscellaneous causes. The New York area was hit by a "big freeze.” The freeze turned streets at Newark, N.J., into “skating rinks” and caused htige traffic Jams on highways approaching New York. - - , ' The bad weather was blamed for a train-truck Collision at Plymouth, Ind. A gasoline truck skidded into the path of a Nickel .Plate freight train, derailing the diesel engine 1 and 17 ears; The truck driver was crushed to death in the cab of hit' truck but the cargo of gasoline did not ignite. Roads were so bad that Indiana University cancelled classes and let student* begin their Christmas holidays a half day early. Midwest farmers. were" forced to halt corn picking with much of the crop still on stales. The new storm caused local blip- • sard conditions in some sections of the great plains after slugging its way through Montana on winds that' sometimes hit 70 miles an hour. - . It hit the midwest just as ten> \ (Tarn To Paire Kight) Decatur's Girl Scouts To Carol Friday After rioon ■ . ’The court house, the hospital, and the county farm will hear carols by the Girl Scouts of Decatur troops Friday afternoon. The singers will gather at the court' house at 3 o’clock for the first program there. Scout leaders will furnish transportation to the. hospital and to the county farm, and back to the First Presbyterian church, | wherpr members of the Girl Scout Council will serve light refreshments. Mrs. Elizabeth Gillandet has charge of the carolling, and Mrs; Ruth Thacker charge of the refreshments. Girl Scouts have been asked to bring Canned goods for the Good Fellows distribution. Those gifts for the needy may be brought to the Presbyterian church basement before the carol singing, or before the Adams theater entertainment at noon. Girl Scouts receive credit for “community service” for their - and their donations. ? Commissioners Will Meet Here Thursday JII ’ 5 Members of the board of county commissioners will meet in special session Thursday to award all and appropriations for the A two appraisers to take-inventory at the Adams county home January — INDIANA WEATHER , Cloudy, windy and warmer. Snow north ‘portion. Snow ortleet becoming mixed with rain south portion tonight. Thurs-i day snow flurries and becoming much ©older. Strong northerly wind*. Low tonight 20 to 25 . north, 25 to 32 south. Falling . temperature* during Thursday. .2 to 4 inches of enow north portion.

' j • \ ' ' ... . DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT \ DNLV DAILY NEWBNH& IN ADAMS COUNTY

Dies Today llLfe IB ■Mm * B fl fl| JE flfla IpL * I < Jesse H. Cole jfc i Jesse H. Cole Dies At Home Here Today . 1 j' : Retired Railroad Worker Dies Today ■• 1 ■ Jesse H. Cole, 83, well known Retired railroad employe of this ijity, died at. 9:10 o’clock this morning at his home, 104 South .Fifth street. He had been In failing health for the pist year and bedfast for five week*. v Mr. • Cole had been employed by he Erie railroad for more than 70 years as a tower operator, coming to Decatur in 1903 from Marian, 0., and serving Uhtil his retirement 1938. For titore than 30 years, the veteran railroader was at his post in the tbwer at the’ Junction of the Erie ihd Pennsylvania railroads seven fisys each week Without a single 't&y’s vacation. JjFor many years during his active career, Mr. Cole served chairman of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, traveling, many tfhles throughout the country in •his capacity. was born in Pittsford, Mich.. T’eb. 1_ 1869, a son of Orlando and Marcella Cole, and was married to ijiss Lulu Carrel Sept. 8, 1892 Ifr. and Mrs, Cole celebrated their wedding anniversary in 1942 in addition to his wife are one daughter, Mrs. Paul Saur•rf of Decatur; five sons, Jesse L. Cole of Michigan City, C, Warren Cole of San Francisco, Gerald 0.. Carrel H. and Robert D. Cole, all Decatur: nine grandchildren, ahd one sister, Mrs. Harold Lane Pittsford, Mich. J One brother 7nd one sister preceded 8 him in depth. Funeral services will be conducted: at 2 o’clock- Friday afterhdon at the funeral home, w«th the Rev. A. G. E. Gillander officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may at; the funeral i \ home after ndpn Thursday. Berne And County Schools Are Closed More Snow. Colder Weather Forecast \ •- It still remained a holiday tor Bdrne and county school student* ioday. with transportation problems not completely eased as the gounty is still digging out from under the recent seven inches of sinbw that fell. <i The holiday, for that matter, may continue for a day or two longer, for the Weatherman predicts more snow today. He also says it’s going t»; get “much colder.” Peeatur. whose atvdehU aren’t dulte so fortunate but are continuing their classes, is still digging out. The city is utilizing its conveyor system along the man streets th ' 1 an effort to not only: do away With the show, but allow cars to get near enough to the curb to park. . As it was Tuesday, ?ars were going in and out of the parking any way possible, usually hoping that they’d get out without tod much difficulty—or pushing.

Prisoner List Release May Delay Truce i Reds Make Demand ! Translate Names Prisoners Os UN Panmunjom, Korea, Thursday, Dec. 20— (UP)—lt appeared today that announcement of the name* of filled prisoner* held by the Communists might delay instead of speed the attempt to reach an armistice agreement by .the Dec. 27 deadline. “ • \ The Communists now demand that the allies translate Into Chinese and North Korean the name*\. of all the 132,474 Communiat prisoners they hold and give other detailsi —a monumental task.\ j It was indicated that the Red demand may block negotiations for an : exchange* of prisoners, under an armistice, until ifter Christmas. , , The United Nation* command indicated, in turn, that if the Rfedskeep stalling they may face a renewal of full scale war during the Yuletide season. Alan Winnington, a Communist newsman who acts* as a sort of unofficial spokesman for the Red truce delegation, charged yesterday that the list of Red held by the allies is incomplete and useless. Allied spokesman Brig. Gen. William P. Nuckols pointed out that the 30-day period for which! a tentative cease-fire line was agreed upon expires Dec. 27. “Time is running out on the period during which the military forces are being held in leash*” Nuckols said. ' His tanpiicatlon apparently was thatr unless the Red* stop their persistent delaying tactics in negotiations, the UN Cordes may open up on them anytime after Dec. 27. A He said, at the same time, that if fighting did inten*ify it would have no effect on the armistice negotiations as a whole. There is no time limit bn the conference it-V (Tara To Pa*e Five) Suspends Sentence ft 'I ; ‘ A On Windqw Peepef Berne Man Pleads Guilty To Charge Calvin Sprunger, 56, of Berne, who was* arrested by city and county police officials almost two years ago, was fined SSO and costs, and sentenced to the state farm for] 60 days by Judge Myles F. Parrish today. The prison sentence was eusr pended on good behavior, however, Sprunger was nabbed by city patrolman Dale Death and then deputy sheriff Bob Shraluka .January 27, 1950, in the act of peeping in a window on Master Drived He was haled into city court, where Mayor Doan fined him SSO and costs and sentenced him to 30 days in the county jail. The fine and sentence were appealed and a venue to the circuit court was effected by Sprunger’4 attorney, 0. H. Mus el man. ■ » Decatur attorney Ed Bosse repre-. sented Sprunger in circuit court today where the defendant, who was charged with window peeping, pleaded guilty to the affidavit citing him with the offense. T Sprunger gained considerable notoriety at. the time of his jarrest for the method applied in his afterhours’ work. He would employ a little box on which he stood performing his peeping. In a statement obtained at the time by police officers, Sprunger admitted he had been guilty of the offense three times, but “this is the first time I’ve been caught.” He was caught when police received calls from neighbors that a man was observed peeping in a Master Drive resident window. Death and Shraluka rushed to the area, one of them patrolling the front, the other the rear of the residences. When they spied Sprunger, who was deeply engrossed in his work, they closed in. Officer Death told the man to make a move but Sprunger ran. Officer Death: fired several shots in the air. Sprunger stopped. "

Decatur, Ind., Wednesday* December 19,1951.

Decatur High. Students Give To Good Fellows

If you take the oM expression | “from soup to nuts,” kick it around awhile, then try to visualize every conceivable canned foodstuff that ranges in between, you might have a fair notion Decatur high school’s contribiTOpn to the Fellows club. ' l First you’ve got to learn thM was but a three-day, spontaneous venture by the students. ' 1 | Then you've got to "realise that the results were And all of it led principal Hugh J. Andrews to utter some highly laudable remarks about “operation canned goods,”- a project that caught fire last Friday, i < '< Andrews safd the spark, perhaps, was set off by faculty member Deane Dorwin. The challenge was made, the spirit of the thing wlas caught, and the result was a mountain of canned goods which the students are givipg to the Good Fellows club. - , - J The donation moved one of officials of the Delta Theta TM sorority, and a leader in the Good Fellow organisation, to remark that “There are a lot of Good Fellows in the school. We’ll not forget that” 4 The project, which at time* found students digging into thejr own pockets to help buy some of the stuff, and other times found UN Hands Two New Rebuffs To Soviet Russia Rebuff On Major Issues Os Germany And Disarmament Paris, Dec. 19—(UP)—The United Nations rebuffed Russia today on two major east-west Issues — Germany and disarmament. , ? > In quick succession: 1. Tbe special political commits tee voted 40 to 9 with 9 abstentions ih favor of a western proposal to send a five-nation commission to all parts of Gehnany to see if it were possible to hold free elections. t 2. The . main political committee voted 44 to five with ID obstentions to approve a western plan for an arms count and eventual reduction. I * The special committee ted to set up the five min commission for Germany by a vote of 45 --•< 6 with eight abstentions. The Soviet bloc and Israel voted against the creation of the committee. The Russians and East Germans already have said they will not permit the commission inside the Soviet zone of Germany. Poland was proposed by the west as a member of the commission, but said she will not serve. , The main political \ committee earlier had approved by a vote of 51 to 0 with seyen abstentions the setting up of * 12-natlon disarmament commission Instructed to base its work on the western disarmament plan. The votes in the political commission were high enough XO insure the two-thirds majority necessary for general assembly adoption. > : ■ ’ All In all there were 44 votes In the main political committee in today’s complicated business of setting up and instructing the new 12-man commission. . The Soviets, with their bloc, vot-' ed against most of the important ' provisions proposed today but backed the clause founding the 1 commission and agreed to serve . ©n it. The western, powers hoped to push the disarmament plan ) through the full assembly before •ho 19-day Christmas recess starts Saturday. The ’commission then would begin work next month. Today’s voting climaxed one of , the most historic debates of the assembly—it was touched off *lx j weeks ago with the west taking , tbe initiative -in proposing a sweeping world disarmament plan. ! Ruska responded with a plan based on immediate and uncondl- ■ tlonal -ban oh the atom bomb. The plan was overwhelmingly defeated ( today.

|M*HtB contributing to the drive, mgH into a contest between tbe iMe. \ Tito results were piled high in a boom next, to the principal’s office -Tueeday before delivery to the Good Fellows for distribution. Two large tables were utilised, and it ■W*ei»’t enough. Cases of canned toads still remained on the floor of the room. ; 1 'there was canned ' milk, baby tood. a lot of sensible staples, and there was ravioli. The contest, «s it developed, was debldsd .on a percentage basis bet tween the different competing class;rooms, and the results placed Miss ' Catherine Wetdler’s senior English class as tops with a 1277.8 percent, followed by Arnold Conrad’s busineas English with 1260 percent and Dorwin’s Junior history class with 1085 percent. The percentages were derived by assuming one can per pupil In the class, and the school sought 100 percent cooperation. That they exceeded this In such a high fashion brought remarks of sincere gratitude from members of ‘the Good Fellows club, who take this business seriously. They rear Use* now that a group of high school students can also take this business Just a* seriously a* others. Charge Conspiracy Against Berne Men ’ Berne Furniture Co Plant Heads Sued Mhtou* Yager of West Unity, Ohio, has tiled a complatht in federal court, Fort Wayne, charging ctfosplraey oc the part of'officers and directors of the Berne FurnL ture (company. Yager is a stockholder ta the company. Defendants in tbe action are Myron U Habegger, president of the company; Chester T. Michaud, secretary-treasurer, and Lester E. Lehman, A. A. Lehman, Howard Lehman, Wilbur Nussbaum and Edgan Sprunger, members of the bdard of directors, all of Adams county. Yager asserts in his suit the authorized capital stock of the corporation was 10,000 share* of no par vahie, but that for many years only 7,821 shares were issued. The plaintiff, who holds 384 shares of the< common J capital stock, chftr^es the defendants “conspired together to obtain control of the corporation by issuing the authorised but unissued 2,179 shares of stock to themselvfes or persons under their control.” The complaint relates that certificates for the 2,179 shares of stock were Issued to .Habegger by himself and Michaud, secretary-treasurer, “for the purported consideration of $32,685, which the defendants well knew was far lees than the actual value” of the 179 share*. 7A« a matter of fact,” the complaint continues, “no actual con- ’ (Twra To Page Five) .'i" ;i. ' 'T ’ , Regular Meeting Is Held By Councilmen Little Business i Tfltmsacted Here Members of the city council met in regular session Tuesday, and the meeting reflected the. time of year. P The councilman assumed their regular places, the meeting was opened. They had, like a lot of other people, trekked through the packed snow to city hall foiv the meeting. i ' Mayor John M. Doan pounded his desk, said the meeting was Called to order, and asked the clerk to read tbe. minutes of the last meeting. . Clerk Treasurer H. Yernon Aurand intoned the- actions of couin&Uinen December 4. Business r wag light that night: a few petitions, for rural line extension, and a couple of street lights. These ma(ter«\ Were referred to the electric light department superintendent 1 and the light committee tor further studjr. The clerk i read thsit a contract between th* city and the Yost Construction company, tor the erection of the naw auxiliary pow(Twr* Ta Pace Five) 1 ■ - 4 .

Cpl. Leßoy Baumgartner; \ 'V J ' Missing Since July Os 1950, On Prisoner List - , i r y •>! \ ;

Defense Department Works Round Clock To Speed Names To Anxious Relatives Washington, Dec. 19 — (UP) — ’ President Truman today urged , Americans to treat with “skepticism” the Communist-furnished list of 3,198 U. S. servicemen being held as prisoners of war in Korea. As the defense department worked round the clock to speed tbe names to anxious relatives, the White House warned that the government has no way of knowing whether the list is “accurate or inaccurate, true or false, complete or incomplete* The 3,198 servicemen are among the iUp(KI soldiers, sailors, marine* and airmen officially listed by the defense department a* missing in action. The fate of the others is not known. For three out of tour of th* families at those missing in action, the publication of the 3,19$ names will bring only further grief and frustration. For the families of the the identifications will bring/glad Christmas tidings desplter warnings by Mr. Truman and; the defense department to take the news with a grain of salt. It was for that reason that presidential press > secretary Joseph Short said he was making this statement: : ' . -' r The president asked me to nnre every news )m*dtom to stress las often as possible that the prisoner of war list is entirely unverified. “He appreciates the efforts already made along this line, but befteves it important to continue them; to do even more than has already been ddne. “This government has no way of verifying whether the list is accurate or inaccurate, true qr false, complete or incomplete. * " “For the sake of tomilies whose sons are missing in action, everyone should treat this list V \. ; A (Twra To Pace Five) College Board Will Meet Here Thursday December Meeting With John Heller Members of the Indiana state teacher* college board, governing body of Indiana’s two teachers’ colleges, Indiana gtate and Ball State, will hold their December meeting in Decatur Thursday,' at the home of John H. Heller. Because of illness ot the Decatur publisher, who Is observing his 20th year as a member of the college board, the group decided to meet in this city. \ The meeting will start at 10:30 o’clock Thursday morning and will extend into the afternoon, with an hour’s intermission during the noon hour. " Members of the board include Robert Crttchfield, Indianapolis; George Ball, Muncie; William Cronin, Terre Haute and Mr. Heller. Wilbur.;. Young, superintendent of public instruction, is an ex-offlcio board member. \ Also attending the meeting will be Dr John Emens, president of Ball State; Dr. Ralph Tirey, president of Indiana State; J. C. Wagner,' treasurer of Ball State, and I Ralph Watson, treasurer of Indi- I ana State. . —7 ? ■" y ■ -A ' ' 'A Good Fellows Club Previously irepbrted ,__5866.88 , Trinity L. T, L 6.00 , Trinity Junior 0. E. ( 5.00 Mr. & Mrs. EM Bosse—— 5.00 j H&ugks Heating & Appll._- 5.00 ] Nellie Winnes 1.00 A Goodfellow ‘— ■ 5.00 , Donald &\ Kenneth Bucher._ 4.00 , Mary Dixon 1.00 ( A Friend vL 10.00 i 'lom-Dlck-Harry 1.85 ] A Goodfellow ——l.oo* < A Pres 1 f * ' TOTAL L $911.18 1 I A ' • ' f A .

| Prisoner Os Reds i t wk’ - ■ Cpl. Leroy Baumgartner Says American Fliers Should Face Spy Trial Vishinsky States “ Hope Four Downed Fliers To Bfe [Tried Paris, Dec. 19.4-(UP)— Soviet foreign minister Andrei Y. Vishinsky said today he hopes that four American fliers held by Communist Hungary will be put on trial as spies. " .- Vishinsky charged in the United Nations that the group’s- military transport plane, which Soviet fliers forded down in Hungary a month ago, was on an espionage mission. He scoffed at. the Uqited States explanation that the: plane, bound from Germany, Ito Belgrade, Yugoslavia, lost its way and strayed over Hungary accidentally. The Soviet leader raised the threat of a spy trial for the four as he pressed hte chargfe before the U.N. that the United States committed aggression by earmarking $10(1,000,000 th help iron curtain refugees. “The fliers were arrested and due attention was paid them by the frbdtler authorities, and I hope that all due attention will be given them by military justice forces,” Vishinsky told the general assembly’s main political committee.. .. “Why was such a plane flying over Hungary?” he asked, adding that it was searched and found in operational condition.” “There Can be no question that it accidentally mistook the route,’’ he added. “It was deliberately flying over this zones.”- . Bloodmobile Unit In Decatur Friday I Still Vacancies In Schedule At Center A few vacancies in the Red Cross bloodmobile schedule for Friday, when the bloodmobile will be. in Decdtur, still exist, Mrs. Max Schar fep, chapter secretary, said today. Persons desiHng to donate a pint of blood to the program are asked to call the local office tor reservations. The bloodmobile unit will be set up at the American Legion home and will begin operations at 10 am. Appointments are given eacb donor so that they need not -jßpend unnecessary time at the center, Several donors, including members of the 8.P.0, Elk-, have signed up for donation of blbod to the armed forces progran . The quota for Adams county is 125 pints of blood and about 4.0 percent of this amount goes to the armed forces, being delivered from the Fort Wayne regional center to the defeme* department. i \ f • '

Price Five Cents

Communists list County Young Man As War Prisoner ' In Camp In Korea, When informed today that her son’s name appeared on the list of prisoners of war released by the Communists, Mrs. Emil Baumgartner asked, “Is he alive? Is he safe?” She said that “He was captured a long time ago, and we haven’t received one word from him since then.” The official list received by the Decatur Daily Democrat of prisoners of war. contained the name of Cpl. Leßoy Baumgartner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Baumgartner, of Monroe, route 1. CpL Baumgartner was captured r by the Reds July 5, 1950, shortly after the Adams county youth entered the conflict. Prior to that he had. spent “a couple [of years” In > Japan, according to his parents. ; "4 At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner received a telegram succinctly stating their son was a captive of the North Korean forces. He was a member of company D, 21st infantry regiment, 24th division, engaged in fighting the first skirmishes of the Korean police action. ■ . His outfit was one of the first rttshed to Korea whens, the fighting broke out in Jude of last year. It was during, the first hprrible weeks of retreat that Cpl. Baumgartner was taken by the Reds. Mrs. Baumgartner said the last word they from him waa June 30, shortly before his capture. At the time he talked- of general army life, and told how “he liked it so welL” That was the last message until tde fateful telegram from the war department which disclosed that Cbl. -Baumgartner was captured, add that further .details would follow. i*. A. "A Further details simply expanded the telegram’s message. While the official^released lists do not tell anything other thad the prisoner’s name and next-of-kin, it is assumed that those whose names appear are still alive. There was a sense of relief intermidgled utftb hope today for the Baumgartners. A sense of relief was echoed in so many horned across the nation; a hope—a crying hope—that one day soon their son wojuid 'return. Chip day soon, Cpl. Baumgarther woUld , return to his home and family in Adams county.. Return to his parents, return tdl four brothers, Wilford, Harry, Emil, Jr., and Bobby; four sisters, Mrs. Mary LaUdis, Vivian, Flossie and Bernice. Return to another way of life. Those are the' hopes, shared by the 24-yeanold corporal in a prL ■ \ soriier of war .camp. Make Recordings Os Christmas Music Due to inclement weather and conflicting schedules, the G.E. Aeolian choir and the Ziqn Lutheran church choit combined in making a tape recording of Christmas choijal music which will be broadcast!from the court house tower this evening at 7:30 o’clock and Friday evening at 7.*30 o’clock. Both choirs are under the direction of David C. Embler and Miss ' Eileen Bieberich te the accompanist. J! SHOPPING f»»k» »• 'l I 7 toys BRy Main I