Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 49, Number 302, Decatur, Adams County, 24 December 1951 — Page 1

Vol. XLIX. No. 302.

LONE MINER SAVED; DEATH TOLL NOW 119 — K ’ . l*f}l V -t — KWH ' V. ■ 1

Hope For Early Freedom For Four Airmen Four U.S. Airmen Fined $30,000 Each In Hungarian Court t .'Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 24.— (UP) — An American legation, spokesman- said today that there seemed every reason for optimism that fopr United States air force . fliers convicted of flying into Communist Hungary illegally will be T 3 *- freed soon. The four American airmen were fined $30,600 each in a brief military court trial yesterday, the C-47 transpcirt plaAe in which they became lost over Hungary , was con-\ fiscated. ’ The court specified that if the fines totaling $120,000 were not paid, the men must serve a threemonths jail term. United States charge d’affaires \ George M. Abbott Visited deputy foreign minister Andor Berei at noon to discuss the situation,* ’, -'f Abbott declined to say whethey r - the state department had to pay- the fine. He' feaid he would telephone a report to Avashingtom But the legation spokesman’s optimistic statement indicated^ that Ab■bott thought there would be positive action soon, i | Abbott said the U.S. legation had received the official text of the Hungarian court proceedings, but he-- understood it was substantially the same as the official announcement carried in the Hungarian press. ' /- ” Abbott was believed to have asked the Hungarian authorities whether the fines should be pajrfPhirect to the Hungarian government or through the four convicted airmen, » _ .. lie was given the > task of approaching thW Communist government because the new U.S. mini*ter, Christian Ravndal, has not presented his credentials. The four Americans were tried and convicted in a surprise one-day trial on a charge of violating this country’s border with the intention of dropping supplies to “spies and diversioriists.” , ? - A • The court alsd seized the U.S, jr/’tair force C-47 transport plane in which the four filers- were forced down. • 19? by by Soviet fighter planes. ' ’ ’ The announcement of the sentences by the official Hungarian news agency, M.T.1., gave -no indication how soon the U.S. must de-side-between paying the fines or letting the men serve the three-: month sentences. Ravndal referred all questions on America’s next step to Washington. He said the suddeness of the tridl, coming ..only two days after the government announced the men would be* brought before a court, had taken him by sfarpri§e. . \ “I really can’t mak& any comment now,” he said. ! The four airmen ark Capt. John J. Swift, Glens Fails, N.Y., ,Cap|. David H. Henderson. Shawnee, Okla., Sgt. James A. Elam, Kingsland. Ark., and. T/Sgt. Jess A. Duff, Spokane, Wash; . / - M A Hungarian announcement said the fliers “admitted’! they /violated the Hungarian border near Gyula Nov“ r l9 and t flew diore/than 185 milks over Hungarian territory before being forced down. , It said the Americans were unable to give “a statfefactory explanation” why their plane carried maps Os Russia and the- “people’s < democracies.” parachutes “in superfluous numbers,’ ’A? radio transmitter and bundles of blankets. ■; The court said ,tfe inability Os “W” Homewood Store Is Robbed Last Night -Burglars broke into the Horhe'wood 'Grocery some time during the night and stole an undetermined number of dimes from# stamp machine in ..the store. A thorough check of the machine will have to be* made before the loss can be determined. \ Entry .was made by breaking a basement window. T'he burglars opened the cash register, extradited lhe key for the stamp machine, parttally looted It, then exited by the front door. Nothing else in the •tore was reportedly damaged, according to the preliminary investi- .„ gation report of city police.

DECATUR T) AILY DEMOCRAT - OHLY DAILY NEWSPaMr ADAMS COUNTY

Five Men Killed As Two Autos Collide Fairfield, 111., Dec. 24.—(UP)VFive men were killed andqne critically hurt last night in the crash of two automobiles on Illinois highway 45, three miles west- of Fairfikld. \ The dead were identified as Jack Vaughan, 27;+ Burl Kay, 37, and Oscar Cullison; 38, all oilfield workers of Fairfield, and two negroes, ;|'erling Jqnea, (437 West 50th. piace) of Chicago and Solomori R. Cotton of S. Wabash) Chicago. Icy Weather Fails To Halt Travel Rush Death Toll Mounts Sharply In Home By Christmas Rush By United Press Icy streets and whipping . cold failed to hold back the “home for Christmas," rush today and the holiday death toll mounted sharply. Since the foui-day weekend began Friday, 426 persons had died in accidents, including 289 dead ip highway crashes. The toll also included. 53 killed in fires and 84 dead in miscellaneous accidents, Bus and railroad terminals and airports reported giapt passenger lists as last-minute holiday travelers headed toward Christmas time family reunions. - The travelers braved a snow storm in the west, showers in. the southeast and bitter fold in most Sections of the nation. Some of them didn't brake it. The frozen body of Russell Hersath, 31, was found in a roatlsitje ditch hear Houghton, S.D. He hap been missing since he started for his home in Aberdeen, only 36 milps away. One of the worst traffic tolls was recorded in Arizona vfhere 17 perdied in' collision i hile hurrying home. Veteran hi# hway patrolmen said it w#s “a isolutely the worst” traffic casualty rate in the state’s history. Dense fog closed ai -ports for 11 hours in the San Fr incisco area, holding up homewar ’-bound servicemen who arrived horn tha Far East. ’ ■ About 20 other sei vicemen on holiday furloughslwere delayed in Chicago when a noh-scheduled airplane was forced to return to way airport. Still others were delayed in Oklahoma City i and Los Angeles, 'J V Five- of eight Air Force personnel suffered ipirior injuries When -25 crash landed in an open field in east Denver. Colo. Among (Turn To Pn«e Six) | ’ flbjin > |> ii Hi 1 Three Persons Hurt As Aulo Overturns Work Over Hour To Extricate Injured Three persons sustained serious injuries and shock after th,ey were pinned in. their car when it overturned after striking a utility pole. The accident occurred about 11:4-5 p. m. ; Sunday in Pleasant muis; *' I, z . r v A car drived by paul Campbell, 32, of Andrews, heading toward Decatur, went out of control on the icy pavement/ ■ip Pleasant Mills, struck an Indiana and Michigan utility pole 7200 volts, snapped off tlje pole', careened into a vacant lot, then overturned on its side. Campbell, Wil’iam Mygrant, 31, and his wife Bertha, 26, both of Huntington, were pipned in the station wagon for an hour and 15 minutes before po’ice uathorities end others could get out and biing them to the Adams county memorial hospital. Elva Waldron, 39, and Emory Boidering, 29, also of Huntington, were in the back seat of the vehicle, and were able to get out. A passing motorist stopped, righted the station wagon, and found that Campbell and Mrs. Mygrant both had their feet held fast, and umable to move. Clyde Butler and Ei;nie Bauman, local wrecker operators, three am(Tara Paw* Six)

Abandon Hope For Armistice By December 27 Agree To Exchange ' _ Mail By Prisoners rAnd Their Families Pan MUnjom. Korea. Dec. 24. -MUP) I — Armistice negotiators .agreed today to exchange mail between War prisoners and their families, but tfie Reds rejected Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway’s i plea to let Red Cross representatives visit their prison camps. The jjnited Nations and Communist (negotiators failed to make any progress whatsoever on an exchange ’of prisoners themselves or on policing a truce —the two major problems holding up 1 agreement oh a Korean cease-fire. With the continued stalemate, all hope wa| Abandoned of getting an armistice before the DO-day trial cease-fire line agreement expires -Thursday. There’was no indication yeli whether the deadline will be extended- i U , North Korean Maj. Gen. Lee Sang Cho proposed the exchange of mail and started the ball rolling by handing over from Maj. Geh. William F. Dean, Communist-im-prisoned foriner commander of the U.S. 24th division, for his wife in the United States. U.S. rear admiral R. E. Libby promptly accepted both the letter from Dean and; the proposal for a general exchange'of letter® from prisoners on both sides and their families. , ! Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway's supreme headquarters in Tokyo announced later that a plan for the mail exchange had been radioed to Washington for approval. > The announcement said the proper address for mail .intended for the 1 ,3.198 Americans known to be in North Korean prison camps "undoubtedly 1 made available from Washington.’’, The also handed Libby during the prisoner subcommittee meeting a reply from Gens. Kim II Sung and Peng Teh-Huai, North Korean and Chinese commanders in Korea, to Ridgway’s personal appeal to them to permit international Re<f Cross representatives to visitjthe r ßed prison camps. AliensWirihlngtoi?, correspondent for the London Daily Worker and a sort of unofficial spokesman for the (Turn To ra»e Four) ’ Portland Boy Held On Theft Charges Nabbed In Robbery Attempt At Berne , A 17-year-old boy from Portland is being held in the Adalms county jail on a larceny charge after being apprehended early ’ Sunday morning in Berne. The youth later admitted a number Os thefts in Adams county well as Portland and Muncie. Another 16-year-old youth | him at the time of his capture was released pending further investigation. ’ f The boy was nabbed at the Wittwer body shop, in Berne, as, he Was about to remove a sun visor fipm a car there. The Wittwer brothers, who caught him ip the act, notified Berne police chief Herman Bowman, who in turn rotified sheriff Bob Shraluka, who brought the youth to jail. The 17-year-old youth, who Will be turned over to juvenile authorities, has admitted a series of thefts extending over the past three months, in Berne, Decatur, Albany and Muncie. He admitted taking three cases of oil and four cans of uanti-freeze from Coppess Corners just prior to his apprehension. He admitted stealing several car radios, bumpers, spare wheels, shock absorbers, .wheel rings, rpirrors, lights, cigarette lighters, jacks and other tools.* In fact the stolen tools were often used to remove i»ome of the Other accessories. . The boy had been„under sion. for “some tlgje now;”, authorities stated, and. admitted to city police and the sheriff that he had stripped cars at the Steffen Motor Sales, Mansfield (Twn To Pace Two)

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, December 24, 1951.

r : J*’ 1 , Utility Heads 'Reappointed v > . f 1 . 171

ll I ii ■I »’ Lestet C. Pettibone

Pettibone And Roop / Reappointed Today 'i City Utility Heads Renqmed By Mayor i 1 | Mayor John; M. Doan today com-; ■; plpted naming his “official family’;' wfcep he anngiunced the mgnt of light and power superin- j L. C». Pettibone and engineer and water department superintendent Ralph E. Roop. i“ Both men have long years of* i service in their respective engi-U ndering fields; Roop first starting? with the city in 1935 as city engi-> nper and street commissioner, and Pettibone coming to .this city as j power department head in 1943. : 5 Pettibone was formerly chief 1 > engineer for the city of Portland foir 17 years prior to coming to Decatur in April; 1943, where he has served as head of the light department for almpst nine years. Alto-i gether he hasiihad 30 years’ experience in his work. j . Roop, who graduated from Decatur high school in 1917, served the; . next two yedfs in the army, has served as engineer for the General: Electric company and the Central Soya company; as. well as the City. He served as field engineer from! 1919 to 1929. was county surveyor the next six." years, and was ap- '! pointed to efiy engineet in where he serx’fd the next four years' before taking’a year off to work at j the Central Soya company. i On his return to city work, he \ divided his time between (he city ; and the Central Soya company, but ! for the past nine years has devoted ■ full time to city engineer duties; Both men, jPettibone and Roop, head departments that are constant; ly sacking improvements. They’ point out, respectively, that many improvements* have already been made in field. Paramount Jin the improvements, of the water j department is the water treatment plant inaugurated this year by ithe city. It has not only proven pne of the most valuable assets already, but is primed (Turn (To Page Two) L_ ; |

Faithful Make Annual Bethlehem JSlgrimage

Fait.

Jerusalem, foec. 24. —(UP) —The faithful, yearling for peace in a troubled world, prepared today tc begin their traditional Christmas eve pilgrimage to Bethlehem over , a route still ’bearing the scars of war? Again, as fdr nearly 2,000 years, they will dfffer prayers and sing .carols in homage to the Prince of Peace. ; ji* ' ' 'J I But as begin their solemn trek to the 'birthplace of Christ, i and as the chfimes peal from a 100-'. foot tower, tfje atmosphere is not entirely one of peace. Hostilities |have ceased in the ; Holy Land, ( but Israel and the Arab states have not settled disagreements. Y Armed troops still patrol the walls of the jloly City, as in the 1 , days of King Herod. Rolls of rusty barbed wire and piles of debris* separate the ? old and new Jerusa - lem. Jordan and Israel still are-, technically a| war. The prospects for a settlement seem more remote j than ever. In the old city of Jerusalem, in Bethlehem arid in the nearby Christian village :of Bet Jalia, hotels and monasteries were filled to overflowing. 1 ‘ The devout will converge on'

* w Ik ' w i ... - M *? % f .1; Ai ■k f ■ i *‘. Ralph E. Roop ,

Christmas Mail To lr|ak All Records “ Washington, Dec. 24. —(UP) — volume of Christmas mail this Will break #.ll records but be handled without k hitch, according to postmaster general J. Lawler. Interviewed yesterday on the Gaimett news - service radio pro ''capital memo,” Lawler said poijmasters throughout the nation haw reported they have had both thk' personnel and equipment to handle the extra volume of Christmail. City Prepared For Christmas Holiday jj Churches Take Lead LJJn City Observance The annual holiday rush ended, of Decatur and Adams pointy prepared today for the anhuk* observance of Christmas with .tardily gatherings tonight and tom<row. This city’s observence Will centejfe around Decatur's churches. of the churches held services at various hours Sunday, while the special, Christmas ser-. vices continue tonight and tomorrpi< as the world commemorates Uhkj birth of the Christ Child. “ practically all business will be ikuspended on Christmas day. DeIpaair retail stores, open late all for accomodation of will close at 6 o’clock 'jthfi evening and will not reopen lintil Wednesday morning. The Decatur Daily Democrat krill not publish an edition Tuesday, enabling all to spend Christwith their families. 5 • May Snow Tuesday todisnapolis. Dec. 24 — (UP3 — J.unter-weary Hoosiers will have a |b»-over “White Christmas.” J The weather forecast said cold toßay and tonight. Christmas day wfjl be a little warmer with snow the northern part of the state (Turn To Poire 9ix> — r :

Befthlehem in two lines, over roadt are roughly parallel. Because pf?v the troubled situation, the traditional route still is open only to" diplomatic and consular officials land United Nations personnel. The first two miles runs througu Israeli territory. / All—others—clergymen as well as lay Worshippers—will travel ovter a makeshift route through Jofdan territory, twice the distance original route. It passes •through the Jordan-held old city Jerusalem, skirts its walls. Prinses the Garden, of Gethsemane SI winds along the slopes of the unt of Olives. ■ Bethany the crude road Poses through wild country and skjris the Israeli frontier settle’mknt of Ramat Rachel in a wide t jn Bethlehem itself, ouiet pre-' varied. The little town where the Savior was born was bypassed bv the bitter fighting of three and a years ago. - ■ planned to hold high P4 n tiflcal mass at midnight in the Church of St. Catherine, part of a TOtip of structures comprising the Church of the Nativity. jAt midnight, the bells in the * (Tura To Pa«e Five)

One Miner, Entombed 58 ’■■ * 1 Hours In Illinois Mine, _ • = _" ’ Sole Survivor Os Blast

Report Communist Buildup In Korea Heavy Vehicular Traffic Revealed t Bth Army Headquarters, Korea, Dec. 24. —(UP) — The Communists suddenly resumed their buildup behind theJines today with only three days remaining in the temporary truce line agreement. Fifth air force fighter and light bomber pilots reported unusually heavy traffic ithroughout North Korea during the night. Thley reported “at least 2,300 Communist supply vehicles” were attacked and claimed destruction of an estimated 125. The sharp increase in vehicle sightings capped a day in which sth air force planes flew 763 consecutive sorties, largest number in mdre than a week as the weather cleared. Although the first Communist Mig-15 jet fighters in five days were spotted Sunday, there was only a brief encounter and headquarters said no losses were elainor sustained. However, Red ground fire knocked down an FB6 Sabrejet Monday and an F-51 Mustang on Sunday. On the ground, an allied tank-in-fantry raiding party knifed 2,006 yards into Communist territory on the west-central front Sunday but was forced to withdraw under intense enemy artillery and small arms fire. ' U,N.\ troops pushed off after dawn and inched into Communist lines without resistance for three hours. Suddenly they were brought under attack by Red units west apd Southwest of Chorwon. The Bth army reported light contact with enemy »groups uj> to two platoons in strength along the eastern and western fronts from midnight to noon Monday, with no significant action ip the center of the line. j , 1 Annual Christmas Message From Pope Offers Services To Bring Lasting Peace Vatican City, Dec. 24— (UP) — Pope Pius XII /bluntly told the western world today it must share with Communism the blame “for the saddening shadow of clouds Which still hover menacingly over the world’* on the eve of another Christmas. . Simultaneously the Pope renewed his appeal for world disarmament in his annual Christmas message. It was broadcast to the; world in 24 languages. The! pontiff offered both the east and west the gqbd offices of the Holy See Jo bring about a lasting peace. But he warned that disarmament alone would not ensure peace if the world continued to ignore the basic principles of Christianity. In unusually strong terms, the Pope castigated both the east and west, for their incessant talk of peace while ignoring “skeptically and disdainfully” what he described as the basic cause of'world dissension—a lack of Christian principles. He said the chikrch is faced on one hand by those who demand abandonment of her “supposed neutrality” and on the other hand by those who demand her neutrality. Neither group “has ia correct idea of the place of the church in the midst of the world’s great events,”' he said. “The church cannot come down Vrom the lofty supernatural sphere wnere political neutrality has no meaning . . . cannot consent to judge according to exclusively political norms.” t The Pope described many world leaders as “poor, short-sighted men whose little field of vision does not go beyond the possibilities of the present hour, beyond the statistics of the military and (Tara Tq P*«e Six)

42 Killed As Fire Sweeps Auditorium Fire In Tijuana Termed Worst In Mexico's Ttijuana, Mex., Dec. 24 —(UP) — Th|s fun-loving border city was plugged into mourning today, as* graving relatives searched for loved ones among the 42 charred victims of the worst fire in the history of Mexico. Authorities said most of the Christmas celebrants killed when flames destroyed the city’s civic auditorium early yesterday during a gay Yule party were believed to be women and children. ■ . * I Many of them were burned be-1 yond recognition, and some of the hundreds gathered at a temporary mortuary searched in vain for their wives, children and friends In the , lines of charred b dies. ’At least one man, announcer LUis Felipe Ferreiro. still was reported missing in the rubble of the gutted auditorium, but authorities said they believed all other bodies had been removed from the charred debris. An annual party for needy children and orphans turned into tragedy shortly after midnight when a Christmas tree on the stage was knocked over during a fight between two unidentified mien behind the certain. “It didn’t, look like a fight,” said newspaper reporter Salvador Urquiszo, “and we all laughed and joked about it.” The laughter became screams of hoYyor when the lights on the tree apparently short-circuited and the tree burst into flames. The blaze “spread like a flash” to drapes on the stage and then swept, through the auditorium, sending' more than 200 persons stampeding toward the one exit that could be opened. Doctors at Tijuana’s only hospital reported 1 that 52 persons were trampled and burned seriously in; the crush to escape the. flames, and 60 others were inured. < , “For a few seconds people just stood there trying ..to figure out what was happening,” said Ur.-+ quiszo of a sudden the lights went out and screams started ringing through the s smoke-filled, auditorium.” 1 The bodies of six children and a I woman were found on the sidewalk I outside the auditorium, they, landed when they jumped in panic (Turii To Pane Six) Steel Unfon Heeds Called To Meeting Meet Thursday To Study Truman Plea t Pittsburgh, Dec, 24. —(UP) —CIO presides* Philip Murray today recalled the United Steelworkers’ top policy makers to a n esting here Thursday apparently to consider President Truman’s plea for calling off a New Year’s day strike of 650,000 basic workers. The meeting of the wage policy group, which. authorized the - trike, will be preceded by a conference of the union’s executive board. The union refused to elaborate on the * meetings answering all questions with a short “no comment,” Mr. Truman’s plea for continued production pending stabilization 'board review of Muray’s demand for a ceiling-breaking 18 % cent wage bbost was directed to both the union and the basic .steel companies. ; U.S. Steel Corp., the nation’s number one producer accepted almost immediately. Sharon S'eel Corp, announced it had wired ac-' ceptance today to ware s>ablllza-' tion chairman Nathan P.. Feim ' singer. 1

Price Five Cents

Miner's Survival 1 Termed Miracle; Final Death Toll Is Placed At 1T9 A West Frankfort, 111., ' Dec. 24.— (UP) —A lond coal miner, I entombed for 58 hours After a gas explosion turned the wprld’s biggest shaft miqe into a |ast death trap, was (brought out alive today as the final death count rose to 119. Cecil Sanders, 44, was found deep in the debris-filled recessed of the New Orient.. mine as the search for bodies which began after the explosion Friday night drdw to a close. Doctors said Sanders was in good condition, and termed his survival “a miracle?’ One of Sanders’ buddies. Bill Williams, was among the last of the dead brought out. Rescuer’ found id his pants pocket a note to his wife, Laura. It said: '*‘‘l love you always. If I go tonight tell Ch’*!* l ® and D (Erasure) 1 Inve him t 00..” Mrs. Sanders said 'that the cnrawled notp, nearly illegible in spots, referred to Charles Sanders, ♦heir son. She believed that \the “D” referred to Mrs. Donna Sanders. Charles’ Wife. Sanders and other men had barricaded themselves \from deadly ‘ gas seenlng thmueh the underground Corridors. The bodies , of the others were found this morning, still warm. Rescuers said the men had survived the sudden horror and had lived for houts in ' the» dank blackness, onlv to die before help could reach them. ‘ t Mine superintendent John Foster placed the final death count at [ll9, surpassing the 11J. killed in southern Illinois’ last big mine dis- < aster at Centralia i’n 1947. Foster said only one bodv remained to be recovered, that of’ John Cantrell. He said it had been . located under a rockfall. ‘ Most of the rescue teams were disbanded. A white hearse was backed up tol the mfne with its doors opened, wait’ng for thp last body, j Foster said the mine then would be closed, and that Wednesday, the day after Christmas, the state de- J parmenf of mines and minerals will begin an investigation. The federal bureau of mines an i company official# Will participate in »the investigation, he said. Grimy reseller® who found San- •» ders alive said his survival was “just a little Christmas present after all this tragedy.” Brought to the surface, Sanders said, “I’d hug anvone who would < give me a cigarette.” A United Piress reported handed him one. ' + John Wilkerson, WMttlngtuu, I’.i., a member of the rescue team that found Sanders, said his crew fonnjl arrows marked on a wall with white chalk pointing to a location known as 25th West. Scrawled beneath (Turn To Two) Fred Mills'Brother ' f Dies Sunday Evening William Miils, brother of V. - Mills of this city, died last night | at his home in 'Bladensbufg, Ohio. He was about 87. The message was received at the Leonard Solid?y residence. 325 South Fifth street, where Mills resides. It was forwarded to Logansnort, where Mills is vl’Dine with his daughter, Mrs. Bjen Franklin. Last fall MUIS visited his brother and intended td make another trip to Bladensburg (when his health permitted. Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon, according to the message received here. INDIANA WEATHER Increasing cloudiness tonight and Tuesday. Lloht know developing north portion late tonlqht or [ Tuesday. Warmer i Tuesday. Low - tonlaht (MO above north; 10-15 south. HJoh Tuesday 22-30 north, 2s-35 c south.