Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 51, Number 186, Decatur, Adams County, 8 August 1953 — Page 1

Vol. LI. No. 186.

Soviet Russia Has Developed Hydrogen Bomb

MOSCOW UP —-Russia has developed a hydrogen bomb. Soviet Premier Georgi Malenkov told the Sup-.eine Soviet today. * The announcement ‘ was greeted with the loudest applause of the . current session of the Supreme parliament. ( \ Malenkov said: * •>' “The United States' doe’s not enjoy ar monopoly on. the hydrogen bomb any more.” The Russian premier made the statement in the course of a speech .. in which he. declared Russia has ", become one of the mightiest na-1 tions in the world. Russia’s gross industrial production. he said, is two and one-half times greater than in 1940. He dwelt on foreign affairs briefly. devoting the inajor portion of his speech, which lasted more than an hour, to domestic policy.’ “We too have the hydrogen bomb." Malenkov said. “This Should put an end to any 4* chatterers’ nonsense about Soviet weakness/’ the premier said. Malenkov's disclosure that the now have the hydrogen bomb Was Russia's first direct announcemerit of the development of J atomic weapons The disclosure that the Russians ' had set off an atomic bomb first : was made to the world by former r President Harry Truman Sept. 23. 1949. J . ’ r. ; The Soviets subsequently announced the explosion of various atomic devices described as being used in huge development projects. The American atomic energy commission Nov. 18, 1952, first announced that successful experiments “contributing to hydrogen bomb research” had been carried out by American scientists. _■> Letters from army personnel who claim to have witnessed a hydrogen bomb explosion were published by a number of American newspapers early in November before the AEC announcement. According, to these letters, an H1 bomb Was exploded at the Marshall Islands proving grounds at 7; 15 q.m. Nov. 1. • \ .. | Malenkov named Sen. Alexander Wiley, R-Wis. as among “the “ chatterers" who were talking nonsense about' Soviet weakness. - In his .brief reference to foreign policy. Malenkov hailed the Korean armistice and liquidation of disturbances In Berlin and East Germany on June 17. as “great vic- • torles for world peace.” Malenkov said the Soviet government has appropriated .one billion I rubles (officialy 1250,000.000) for reconstruction in Korea. He said<that Russia has arisen from one of the most backward countries in the world industrially, before the revolution, to one of J the world’s greatest industrial nations today. Kirsch Funeral On Sunday • Afternoon Funeral services for Mrs. Otto L. Kirsch, who died Friday morning a-t' her home in this city, will \ be held at 2:30 p. m. Sunday at the Zwick funeral hotne. The Rev. William C. Feller will officiate, and burial will l>e in. the Decatur cemetery. Friends. who may call at the funeral home after 2 o’clock • this afternoon, are requested to omit flowers but may make contributions to the Fort Wayne or phans home or other charitable organizations. First Auction School Sales Here Tonight Students of Reppert's auction . v school will get their first opportunity to cry sales at 8 o’clock > tonight. The embryo auctioneers will conduct their first sale of the present school term from tion block set up on Madison street <t, the side of the Reppert building. New merchandise will go on sale a 8 o’clock with each of the students getting an opportunity to sell items. The sale will 1 follow the parade of students through the business section of the city. Sai so will be conducted regularly tonight until the close of the school and school authorities'stated that new merchandise would be featured at most of the Madison street will be roped off during the hours of the sale. School instructors, many of them nationally known auctioneers, also will take a turn at selling merchandise.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY . , ■ ‘ I . ' ‘ .. S . ‘ I ' : J « S » •fe ‘ I « J £

Work Underway On Third School Unit Begin Construction At Adams Central ■ty'ork Started this week by Yost Construction Co. on the third unt at the new' Adams* County Centra! consolidated school . property at the west edge of Monroe. The latest unit to be started is the first of two elementary* school buildings, both of which are to oe completed by the opening of the 1954-55 school term a year from September. I The unit started this week is also the first to be constructed by the holding corporation and which will be leased to the school corporation. Other units nearing completion are the gymnasium and high school buildings. .Some members of the schoof board spent Friday in several Ohio cities visiting school buildings and gymnasiums in that state. * The gymnasium for Adams Central, which will be completed in time for the basketball season this next winter, will be one of thej finest and most modern in northern Indiana. _ i The high school building, which it is believed will be ready fojr the secohd semester of the approaching school term, also is* of the most modern dtesign. All of the buildiifgs will be completed in another year. There also is plenty of r room 1 *at the school site, at the west edge of uMonroe, for parkihs of automobiles; outdoor athletic events and playgrounds. ‘ When completed,’Adams Central will be one of the most modern consolidated school units in the state. It will accomnibdate students from Washington/Monroe and Kirkland townships and eventually all other schools in the three townships will be abandoned. L INDIANA WEATHER Fair and cool tonight. Sunday fair and warmer. Low tonight 55-60. Committee Listed By Cancer Society Local Committee Named By Officers, Roy Kalver, president of the Adams county cancer society, and i the other officers today announcI ed the executive committee of the group for 1953-54. The county so- | eiety is set up to lend aid to peri sons suffering with cancer, who are unable to care for themselves financially. , The society also has charge of distribution of circulars, films and other forms -M educational services' pertaining to. cancer. There is no annual drive in Decatur to obtain funds because the society is a member of the Decatur community fund. However, cannisters are placed in stores add public buildings in Berne. Geneva and Monroe jeach year during April. A percentage of the money raised each year is sejnt to the national I society and the balance is -used locally. 1 3 I Following are the members of the executive committee for the year; t HugtUAndrews, principal, Decatur high school; Simon Schwartz, editor. Berne Witness; Dr. John Carroll, Decatur; Dr. Jphn Spaulding, Decatur; Frank Kit Son, county auditor; Max Schafer, Decatur; Miss Dorcas flabegger, Berne; Miss Anna K. Williams, Decatur; the Rev. William Feller, Decatur; Kenneth Hirschy, Decatur; Mrs. James Burk, Decatur; Mrs. Roy Kalver, Decaturj Earl Fuhrman, Decatur, arid\ Louis Jacobs, Decatur. Officers in addition to Kalver include: Dr. James Burk, vice-president; Dr. H. R. Frey, vice-president; Mrs. C l . I. Finlayson, secretary; T. F. Graliker, treasurer; Dick Heller, publicity chairman The executive committee has jurisdiction over the funds spent locally. .

90 American Prisoners Are Freed Friday Among 400 Allied Prisoners Freed By Reds Last Night PANMUNJOM, Korea UP — Elated American war wearing Chinese sneakers danced Saturday down a graveled pathway through Freedom Gate, j - They were the happiest of the 311 Americans released from Communist captivity during the first four days of “operation Big Switch." Altogether 90 Americans passed through the “Welcome Gate to Freedom" on their way home Saturday and the Communist have promised to liberate 112 Sunday, the most in one day since the Prisoner exchange began last Wednesday. Sunday’s operation begins at 9 a.m. (10 p.m. Saturday, e.d.t. In four days,, in addition to Americans, the Reds have released 101 British captives. 108 Turks, 21 Colombians and almost T.OOO South Koreans. The United Nations have released more than 2,400 Communists daily. The first ! two truckloads of Americans repatriated Saturday were negroes. Unlike many of. their predecessors who looked like victims of Nazi torture camps, these men flashed big smiles and appeared robust. They jumped Off the Russian trucks that brought them down the dusty road from nearby Kaesong and started putting on a show for the benefit of reception personnel! who had been shocked by the gaunt appearance of prisoners released the first two dbys. Some of the men through soft-shoe routines and others tried to tap dance in their tennis shoes. A truckload of singing North Koreans returning to Communism passed by and one of the repatriated Americans commented! “How ’bout Shall we give him j/jii’ blues song, boy?’’ Military Police Lt. Louis Bajent of Summerfield, N. J., halted the merry-making momentarily to inform the returnees each had been promoted one grade in rank and would receive back pay immediately. A loud cheer went up from the former prisoners. Then Balent passed around sobie cigarets. As soon as the groups reached Freedom Village near Munsan. they began recalling stories of Communist atrocities and mistreatment. ■ Cpl. Pedro Perelja, an American of Puerto Rican extraction, told of 1.500 Americans dying during the 1951 march to the Yalu River. “Most of the meh who died were the wounded and -sick,” said Pereira, of Brooklyn!, N. Y. “They died from lack of food and any kind of medical attention.’’ Pfc. Robert I. Brooks, 23, of Reidsville, N. C.,) said Chinese CTurn T« Pave Five) $29,000 Settlement Approved By Court Settle For Deaths Os Harmon Family Judge Myles F. ’Parrish Friday granted William El Bell, guardian for Shirley Ann Harmon, aged three , and one-half years;- and Gerald G, Harmon, aged four and one-half years, children of the late Mr, and Mrs. Len Harmon, killed in a trainauto wreck in Illinois May 8, authority to settle for $29,000 with the Chicago and Eastern railroad Co., after a lengthy hearing in Adams circuit court Friday. The three estates and the guardianship of the two surviving children were represented by Sneed and Trahhham, Piggett, Ark. attorneys, and Lewis L. Smith, Decatur. In the estate of the father, Len Harmon, settlement for wrongful death was made *in full to the guardian for $7,500 by the railroad. The sum of $1,500 was paid into the guardianship by the railroad Company for the of a sister, Brenda Jane Harn|on, and $6,000 was the settlement! made for the death of the mothej’, Elsie E. Harmon. The three Harmons, formerly of Decatur, were killed when their automobile collided with a train in Johnson county, Illinois, last May. Shirley Ann Harmon through her guardian received a settlement of $13,000 and G.erald G. Harmon got SI,OOO. The total settlement, which was declared by the court to be in full, was for $29,000. The girl, Shirley Ann, is still under medical treats ment, following the accident i

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, August 8, 1953.

Two Former Residents Os Decatur Killed In Michigan Crash Friday

United Nations To Resist Any New Red Attack Nations Who Fought Red Aggression In Pledge To Resist (UNITED NATIONS, N. Y. UPUinited Nations members ; who fought Red aggression today pledged quick to any new Communist attacks and said a renewed Korean war ihight be carried to Red Chinese territory, Spokesmen said careful diplomatic consultations would hate to precede any go-ahead to strike beyond Korea’s borders. They said such action might require a formal U. N. resolution. United Nations members emphasized that theiie was no advance commitment to hit the Chinese homeland in 4 Friday’s 16-na-tion warning to the Reds. The general view of the nations who resisted aggression in Korea was that the mere threat of action against Red China might well help to deter the Communists from a rash renewal of the war. Neutral Asian delegates were far from convinced, on the other hand, that the warning was a wise move. I i '! They felt that, with a political conference on Korean unifk-atiOti in the offing, this is a poor time to fill the air with warnings. They also suggested that most of the recent talk of renewed fighting has.-, come from South I Korean President Syngman Rhee and not from the Communist side. In general, there is far less optimism here over chances Os a Korean, much leks of a Far East, settlement than there was iii the days immediately following the Wuce signing. • U. S.-Korea Pact SEOUL, Korea, UP —Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Syngman 'Rhee | ahnouneed Saturday the Uhlted States and South Korea Would walk out of the Korean peace conference together if agredhient with the Communists appears hopeless after 9ff days. But Dulles told a news conference later the United States does not intend to renew the whr 4n violation of the armistice agreeSent if ,he peace conference fails. e also promised the Uhlted States would consult with other Allied participants before deciding, to cut off further negotiations, If they have “convincing; evidence” that progress is near or the United States will de<T»r» Tn six) Names Members Os Adjustment Board Four Are Appointed By Judge Parrish j & Judge Myles F. Parrish of Adams circuit court Friday named four members, two Democrats and two Republicans, to the 1954 Adams county board of tax adjustment, which meets September 14 to take final action on work of t|ie review board. IOtt© Fuelling, Root township farmer, and Noah Graber of Berne were named as Democrat members and Harry Fritzinger, Decatur and . William Snow, Wabash township, were named as Republican members. These four men named by the court; Mayor John Doan; Auditor Frank Kitson one representative of the county board of education and one member of the cohnty council! will comprise the sevenman board. The Statute sets the meeting date as September 11, second Monday of the moptb. and sots a deadline of Octqber 1 as the final day in which it mky transact any business. Usually the meeting lasts just the one day. " , J

. Freedom Village Welcomes Ex-POW’s ’T ’ ft* FREEDOM VILLAGE, Korea, with activity as new groups of allied POWs are released from their Communist imprisonfnent; In the receiving area ambulances are lined dp waiting to rush the sick and wounded to hospitals for treatment. The joy over those released was sotmewhat dimmed, however, as more reports came in that the Reds are holding several thousand other prisoners in the stockades in the north. s ■ . ' ■ ■* : I ' ’

Used Americans As I Human Guinea Pigs < Prisoners Used By , ] Chinese Physicians FREEDOM VILLAGE, Korea (UP) — Returning war prisoners disclosed Saturday that Chinese doctors used Americans as humaa guinea pigs in fata! medfeal experiments. , They told of “mercy shots” that killed men in, five minutes and of painful operations. Pvt. Cleveland Clairmont, 23, of Mission, S. D., said he Aad seen three sick Americans die within five minutes after being given shots by doctors. Two other prisoners said they had heard of "mercy shots" being given sick prisoners. v And three Negro soldiers tolt| of experiments. ( ; “One time a woman doctor who said she wAs educated in Detroit put some sort of meat under my skin,’’ Pvt. Godfrey Jones, -.21,' of Scarburo, W. Va., said. I Two of his friends,} Pvt, Andersdn Battle of Bartow, Flat., and Cpl. Tommie Hampton, 33, pf Chicago. agreed. j “That’s all they were doihg, experimenting on us,’ Hampton said. “They did a lot of that.” , ■ A captain in the U. S. tyedical Corps said" ht* the port of Inchon that Communist doctors used carpenters’ saw-horses for operating tables and dirty string for sutures. “3 was tlUre when they took off one boy’s Capt. James B. Ciirry of Vernon. (X. s«(id “They had two wooden horses with a board across them. After the operation 4 medical corpsman catne througlh asking for twine. It seftms they had lost the sutures, to sew him Later they foftnd them where a girl’ had dropped theni’lrf the! yard." u . *burry, whip was shot in the shbuldeib and \ captured in November,' 1950, said he did not know Stalin was iaead until he! was moved from! the infamous camp Nd. 5 to canip No. 2 (or officers. “The Chinese were wearing black armbahds and we asked them what happened.” Curry suid. " ‘Comradd Stalin is dead’,” they told us. Then came ,the news of Soviet secret police chief renti Be ria’s downfall. Hungarians Easing Travel Restriction BUDAPEST, Hungary, UP. — The Hungarian government is removing travel restrictions oh all foreign diplomats effective, next Mbnday, western diplomatic sources said today. Since 1951, foreign diplomats have been restricted to a 30Mnlle perimeter around Budapest. • Nooti Edition !

10 North Korea Officials Given Death Penalty Charged With Plot •V For Overthrow Os Korea Government TOKYO, (UP) — Communists broadcasts said today 10 officials have been sentenced to death for plotting to overthrow the Red North Korean government “on the instigation of the Unitefl States.” Pyongyang Radio, the voice o7 North Korea, said 13 officials were involved in the plan to instill a capitalistic government to replace the Red regime. The reports said Pak Hung Yong, North Korean vice-premier and foreign minister, was slated to head “the hew capitalistic government." The broadcast said Ije had been along with 12 other Koreans, including one official of the South Korean republic. Lee Sung Yap, inspector-general of the North Korean people’s council, was named in the broadcast as the ringleader who had been in contact since 1945 with U, S. state department and counter-intelligence officials. The North Korean people’s council is the equivalent in Russia of the supreme Soviet, the parliament. Radio Moscow said 10 of the 12 were tried for conspiracy j and espionage and sentenced to death, including Lee. Two others got prison sentences of 12 and 15 years. Pak was not among the 12 indicted and thp broadcasts did not say what punishment was in store for him. His replacement as foreign minister by Gen. Nam 11. head of the Communist truce delegation, was announced by Pyongyang Radio without explanation last Sunday. , Informed observers in Tokyo be- 1 lieved Premier Kim II Sung carried out the purge to consolidate his, hold over the North Korean people and keep them from “softening up” during the post - truce period. These observers, said the Moscow trained Kim anticipated increased sentiment among the Korean people tor 1 unification of North and Sputh Korea as a reaction to the three-year war. Both Korean and Japanese sources saw significance in the fact that all 13 officials were native South Koreans who might be more inclined to press for unification at the cost of concessions to South Korea. I By purging some of the highest level officials of his regime, the North Korean leader gave warning that Communism comes first (Twa To Paste Five*

Strikers In France Returning To Work Returning Despite Communist Pleas [ . PARIS UP — Some of the 2.000,000 workers taking part in France’s worst strike in 17 years began returning to tbeir jobs today despite Communist pleas to extend the walkout beyond the scheduled end. But the strike of miners and gas and electric workers was continuing for at least another day and communications were indefinitely. Transportation was still unreliable. •Most Communist unions called on strikers who crippled communications. transportation an& essential public services, Friday to ignore the agreed midnight deadline and stay’on strike, but the Socialist, Catholic and Independent Unions ordered their members to honor the lime limit. - The Red effort faced its first setbacks when trains left “three of six Paris railroad stations shortly after midnight this morning. At th® same time, the transport unior bowed to the back-to-work movement on Paris subways and buses. Strikes throughout France’s public services' and nationalized industries were called by the Socialist Workers Force FO, the Catholic OFTC and Independent Unions to protest premier Joseph Lanlel’s economy program that threatened to cause firings. , I The Communist - dominated General Confederation of Labor CGT most powerful union group in the nation, was caught hy surprise and joined the movement late. Gas and electric workers were called out for 48 hours. A miners walkout was extended through t'day by agreement of all unions. Postal, telephone and telegraph employes were on an unlimited strike.. j H ‘ But all others were scheduled to return to work today. List Os Prisoners W ho Died In Camp Revealed By Reds MUNSAN, Korea, UP — The United Nations military armistice commission disclosed today it had received from the Communists a list of prisoners who died in Red camps. A spokesman refused -to reveal the niijnber on the list. ? (' He said the commission received the list at Panmunjom Friday when the U. N. command gave the Communists a roster of Reds ' who had died In Allied compounds. The spokesman said details j must be ’released by the United Nations command headquarters in Tokyo, 4-' ‘That’s all I can say,” he said.

Price Five Centfl i,

L R. Walters And I Wife Die . In Auto Crash Lawrence Walters 4 And Wife Victims Os Michigan Crash Two former Decatur citizens were killed Friday in an auto collision on U, S. highway 131, three miles 'south of Schoolcraft, Mich. Both cars met head-cn,, according* to press Reports. ' I The dead are: Lawrence R. Walters, 51, and his wife, Leona Ward Walters of Pennville. Mr. Walters was the son of Mrs. Walters, 109 S Second street, and priot to moving _ to Pennville operated a glove manufacturing concern In this city. Five persons met death In tha highway tragedy. A one-year old baby girl was the only occupant of the tvyo cars who escaped with her lite. The scene is a hdlf mile from the Kalamazoo-St. Joseph, county line, about 117--miles soutn of Kalamazoo. L

State police identified the driver of the other vehicle as Samuel Anson \>o( Dowagiac, Mich. Two women who were in his car were i killed. It r was not learned if the three, persons were related, nor if one, of the women was the "mother of the baby girl. Relatives in thiseity were awaking word from the Walter's gon, (Edward of Pennville, who | accom-* panied the Baird funeral home hearse of Portland to Schoolcraft to return the bodies of hi” parents. . j: . iH ■ ’ Mr, Walters was employed at the Schafer Company in this city -Lu:, nearly 30 years in the wholesale department and later as a foreman in the glove manufactuHng ion. In 1045. he opened a glove factory of his own and in IMS’ moved to Pennville, wh^re' he. operated the ideal Glove company. Besides his mother sind son he is surviijgd by two brothers, John of the'U. S- marines, stationed in Virginia, and Raymond Os this city; two sisters, Mrs. Paul Lillich and Margaret Waiters of this city. ■.] ■ \ •Mrs. Walters is survived by four sisters: Mrs, Frances Cash of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Mrs. Margaret White of Columbia City; (Mrs. Grace Messich, Liberty Center.and Mrs. Vida Johnson. Fort Wayne; and two brothers, Harley Ward of Fort and Charles Ward of this city. : Funeral, arrangements will not be made until the. son arrives iu Portland. ' I ■, ■ • High Wind, Storms Hit Parts Os State City Os Anderson Darkened By Storm INDIANAPOLIS UP — Violent \ wind and electrical storms swept parts of Indiana Friday night, causing a plane crash J~at’ Crawfordsville, darkening the city of Anderson and contributing to accidents which killed at least on® person and injured more than a score. Harold Burget, 27, Crawfordsville, and his wife, Dorothy. 29, / were injured seriously when thetr light plane was smashed to - the ground by a gust of wind as they .tried tq land in a storm at the > Crawfordsville airport. Harold Wharff, 27, a utility lineman. wap burned critically when he touched a high tension wire while 1 repairing - storm damage near Crawfordsville. A bus-guto crash which killed a Bloomington man and injured a score of other persons near Bloomfield was blamed op wet pavement from the rainstorms. At Anderson, streets were littered with trees and limbs from what James Van Hefferan, an T. Pm i U)