Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 53, Number 37, Decatur, Adams County, 14 February 1955 — Page 1

Vol. Lili. No. 37.

EVACUEES REACH FORMOSA IW&. ■«i z lW — Jr W * ?i 1W -nK* IW « ■mnP" fc.B» ... ■Em L; ■' S ** X®?*'*:. Hi JUST IN from the Tachen Islands, these evacuees are rushed through the port city of Keeluug by truck to temporary quarters. Since their arrival under the protection of the 7th Fleet of the U. S., the remaining Nationalist Chinese have been evacuated and the 7th fleet will now resume “normal operations.”

Three Cities In Running For GOP Conclave President Refuses To State Preference On Convention City WASHINGTON (INS) —Republican leaders talked over the choice of a 19J6 convention site with President Elsenhower today and said Francisco are still in the running. Mr. Eisenhower declined to express a personal preference in the matter, telling the party chieftains he thought the selection of the convention city should be left up to the Republican national committee. He again indicated, however, that he would like to have the convention held as late as possible, to storten the length of the campaign. -Republican national chairman Leonard Hal! said there was no discussion at this morning’s conference on whether Ms. Eisenhower will be the GOP candidate in 1956. Hall added, however: '1 said before 1 was going on the assumption he will be a candidate and I haven’t changed.” Hall said that San Fraheisco, which submitted a last-minute bld for the convention, is “certainly in the running.” He added that while there are factors in favor of holding the GOP convention in the same city picked by the Democrats - Chicago - this will not be the deciding factor. The Democrats announced today that their convention will be held July 23 instead of Aug. 13 as planned unless they are able to effect changes in state laws on certification of candidates. Hall noted that the certification deadline in Massachusetts may be interpreted as July 31, which would force both parties to hold thei» convention before, that date. He said, however, that Republicans' may meet as late as Aug. 25 or 26 if the Massachusetts lawis amended in time. The GOP chief indicated he was Dot particularly concerned with whether the Republican convention is held before or after the Democratic conclave but said the Republicans will schedule their convention as late as possible to make for a shorter campaign. Hall said San Francisco has indicated it will put up the same cash guarantee of $350,000 offered by both Chicago and Philadelphia. He declared: "San Francisco is in the race and making a real bid for the convention.” Portland Banker Dies Last Evening Lewis W. Hoover, 89, president of the Peoples Band at Portland since 1940. died at 6 o’clock Sunday evening at the Jay county hospital after a brief illness. The Peoples Bank is the oldest state bank in Indiana, holding state charter No. 1. ■Funeral services will be held at 2 p. m. Wednesday.. at the-Baird funeral home in Portland, Dr. Robert Clark officiating. Burial will be in Green Park cemetery at Portland.’ INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and a little colder tonight. Tuesday partly cloudy and little change In temperature. Low tonight 1015 north, 15-25 south. High Tuesday 35-40 north, 40-45 “ south.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Democrats May Hold Convention Earlier State Law Changes Sought By Parties WASHINGTON (INS) — Democratic national chairman Paul M. Butler said today that unless a number of states change their election laws the party’s 1956 convention will open July 23 instead of Aug. 13 as previously scheduled. The chairman explained that a study of various state statutes shows that “several” require certification of the Presidential nominee anywhere from 70 to 98 days before election day. Butler took note of statements by Republican leaders that they, like the Democrats, would -prefer a later convention and a shorter campaign. He said he hoped the GOP national committee would join him in supporting a move to change state laws wherever necessary so that both major parties can depart from custom and hold August conventions.' Butler also announced that national committee members, polled by mail, had backed the decision to hold the 1956 Democratic national convention in Chicago. Ernest L. Bedwell Is Taken By Death Funeral Services Tuesday Afternoon Ernest Leo Bedwell, 28, of 121 North Sixth street, died at 11:25 o’clock Saturday morning at the .Adams county -memorial hospital. He had been ill since 1951 of mitral sclerosis. He was born at Dugger June 5, 1926, a son of Do vie L. and Gertrude Booker-Bedwell, and was married to Jean Ruck Jan. 13, 1951. He had lived in Decatur since 1945. ' Mr. Bedwell was employed at McMillen Feed Mills here until 1949, and since that time at Salisbury Axle at Fort Wayne. Surviving are his wife; one son. Michael Dean, and two daughters. Lynda Sue and Bonnie Lou. all at hirne; his parents, also of Decatur; five brothers, Dovie D. and Wade Bedwell of Decatur, Dale of Indianapolis, Laurel of Fort Wayne and Billy, with the U. S. army at Sioux City, la., and two sisters, Mrs. Mitchell Hargis of Indianapolis and Mrs. Murvel Andrews of Fort Wayne. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Zwi'cks funeral home, the Rev. William C. Feller officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home until time of the services. - -• Fuel Oil Explodes At Celina School CELINA, O. (INS) —A school janitor and two other employes suffered burns today when fuel oil in a furnace exploded at the Celina elementary school. None of the children were hurt. Rockford As Truck Hits Car CELINA, O. (INS)—Arlie Miller, 60, of Rockford, was killed today when a truck crashed through a stop sign and hit his car at an intersection south of Rockford. Authorities said charges would be filed against the truck driver, Merle Rabe of Coldwater.

None Os Major Issues Settled By Legislature Only Three Weeks Remain; Saturday Sessions Looming INDIANAPOLIS (INS) — Lawmakers relinquished their Saturday recess hopes as they resumed sessions today with only three weeks of their bienpial meeting remaining and no issues settled. Not only will the legislators meet for three Saturdays but they will have to forego the gay extracurricular nocturnal life about the hotels and hold many night sessions. It would chill the ordinary layman to realize that he had spent five-eighths of the time required for a task without settling any of the problems involved. But it's different with legislators. It's the same story every session. Step on the gas in the final days and wind up the session—that will be the program. House members will toss off their budget worries today and dump them in the laps of the senators. The house late Friday passed $645 million of the proposed record biennial budget. All that remains to do today is to approve three other budget measures providing a S3O million allowance for construction projects at universities and colleges, hospitals and penal institutions. A number of the senators opposing the Governor George N. Craig faction of the Republican party are whetting their knives for pet budget projects of the governor. Hence, it is likely that the senate will trim the measure. Organized labor today battled on third reading in the senate the Fraser senate measure to reduce the cost of benefits for employers hiring out-of-state seasonal workers in canneries and other horticultural processing plants. The laborites likewise buttonholed the lawmakers asking them (Continued on Page Four) Elks Cancer Parly Is Held Saturday Over 400 Attend Annual Party Here More than 400 people attended the Elks cancer party Saturdaj night at the Elks home featuring £ smorgasbord, entertainment and a dance. Total amount earned on behalf of the cancerfund has not. yet been determined. All proceeds are turned over to the Elks cancer fund associatiorfyyhich finances cancer research at Indi ana and Purdue universities. Oran Schultz, exalted ruler, and George Laurent, general chairman of the party, extended thanks to all the persons who contributed to the success of the party. Many hundreds pf dollars worth of valuable prizes, donated by more than 100 local merchants, were given away during the evening. Oth er lodges in Decatur curtailed their activities Tor the evening to enable their members to attend the party. . —_... After two hours of entertainment and awarding prizes, those attending enjoyed dancing tb the music of the King Combo from Wapakoneta, O, In addition to the local people present, several guests attended from out-of-town.

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, February 14, 1955,

Red China Is Warned Against Attacks On Nationalist Islands

Chiang Hints U. S. Will Aid Island Defense Chiang Indicates Help For Defense Os Quemoy, Matsu TAIPEI (INS) —Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek indicated today he was certain of American aid in defending Nationalist-he'ld Quemoy, Matsu and “other offshore islands” from attack by Red China. The Nationalist China leader said the U. S. position on defense of the islands is “quite clear,” but he left unanswered the question of whether he had a secret guarantee from Washington on the future of the offshore outposts. American observers regarded the Generalissimo’s words as a possible attempt to prod U. S. officials into a definite commitment, but a Nationalist source close to Chiang said “the President definitely implied . . he was positive the United States will jointly defend the Islands from Communist attack.” Chiang made the statement at a news conference a few hours after the Nationalists responded to Communist occupation of the evacuated Tachen, Yushan an<t Plshan islands by announcing that Nanchi island would be defended at all costs. Nanchi, 120 miles north of the tip of Formosa, is now the northernmost outpost of the Nationalists. It was reported unconfirmedly in Taipei that Free China officials had flatly rejected U. S. advice to withdraw from Nanchi as well as the Tachens. Red China troops moved into the Tachen group to the accompaniment of Peiping radio boasts that the islands would be “advantageous” in the “liberation” of Formosa. Meanwhile, Communist big guns shelled Quemoy just off the Red China mainland, ending an unofficial truce maintained while the powerful U. S. seventh fleet watched over the evacuation of the Tachens. More than 100 foreign and Chinese newsmen heard Chiang depart from prepared answers to seven questions during the news conference to say “it is generally accepted” that the U. S. will aid Nationalist China in defense of Quemoy and Matsu. He added: “As a matter of fact, the question of whether if Quemoy, Matsu and other offshore islands are attacked will they be jointly defended by the Republic of China and the United States is very clear to us and very clear to the Communists. “It has been made abundantly (Continued on Page Six) Heart Attack Fatal To Abe Whitright Former Resident* * Dies At Elkhart Abe Whitright, 65, a former resident of Decatur, died suddenly of a heart attack Saturday morning at his home in Elkhart. A native of Decatur, he was a son of Abraham and Ida Whitright, and moved from this city* 25 years ago. He was married to Miss Ethel Raver. Surviving in addition to his wife are two daughters, Mrs. Charles Stowe and Mrs. William Grames, both of Elkhart; one son. Gari Whitrig’ht, serving with the U.S. army in Georgia; seven grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Lillie Hammond of Decatur, and a halfsister, Mrs. Mae Johnson of New Carlisle. Three brothers, Ed, Sam and Marion, all of Decatur, preceded him in death. x _.i Funeral services will be held at 1 .p. m. Wednesday at the Church of God in Elkhart, with burial in that city.

Five Fire Deaths In State Over Weekend Four In One Family Killed At Princeton INDIANAPOLIS (INS) — Zerohugging temperatures, which contributed to five fire deaths in Indiana this week end, are expected to climb above freezing today. The bitterly cold spell will take a parting lash in the form of rain, snow or freezing drizzle today in the northern portion of Indiana, but mostly fair and warmer weather is the outlook for Tuesday. Temperatures today will climb to the 30s in the upper portion of the state, and into the low 40s in the southern half. Tonight’s readings are forecast between 15-22 in the north and 22-30 in the south, .Efforts to warm d eold house led to an explosion at Princeton Saturday night which killed four members of the Joseph Childers family. The husband, Joseph, told investigators that he threw kerosene on an open fire in trying to warm the house, which had been chilled by zero temperatures during the three days the family was away on a visit. The resulting explosion and fire cost the lives of Childers’ wife, Wilma, 24, and three of their five children. Dead were one-year-old Suetta. Charlotte Mae, 3, and Ruth Ann, 4. Childers and two older children. Galena, 5, and Joseph Jr., 6, are all that remain of the family of seven. In Indianapolis, a kerosene stove explosion was blamed for the fire death of Mrs. Marie Cook. 27. Loss was estimated at half-mil-lion dollars in another week end fire which destroyed the Hooker Glass & Paint Co., near Huntington. No one was hurt in this fire. Decatur Lions Club Will Meet Tuesday The Decatur Lions club will hold its regular meeting at 6:15 p. m. Tuesday at the K. of P. home. The program will be a 20-minute sound and color movie from Ohio State University. The Lions will not meet Tuesday, Feb. 22, but instead the Lions and their wives will meet with the Rotary club members and their wives at the Moose home -Thursday, Feb. 24. as the Rotary club holds its formal celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Rotary International. Will Hear Requests For Zone Variances Zone Appeals Board Will Meet Tuesday Two requests for variances to the Decatur zoning ordinance will be aired at a public hearing Tuesday night at 7 o'clock at the city hall. The board, with two new members, also will elect officers for the year. Membership is now composed of rwatTe DorWTn ':lhd "Robert'' Gay. named to succeed Clarence Ziner and Dick Heller, and Charles Cloud, Robert Yost and Sylvan Rupert. Robert S. Anderson, city attorney, is secretary of the’ board. A request to make an area at the corner of Monroe and Seventh streets, where the Kraft grocery is located, and the lot directly east into a commercial area is sought in one application. It is understood that an oil company desires to construct a filling station in the location. The property involved includes both the grocery building and the adjoining residence to the east. Severin Schurger is attorney for Harmon Kraft, present owner of the site. The second application Is- a petition of Mrs. Martin Braun, 222 North -Seventh Street, to open a sales and display room in her home, which is zoned residential. The meeting will be open to the general public.

Hunt Missing Airliner With 29 On Board Large Patch Os Oil Reported Sighted In Sea Off Italy , .ROME (INS) — An Italian flying boat crew aiding the search for a missing Belgian airliner carrying four Americans and 25 other persons today reported sighting a large patch of oil in the sea off Santa Severs, 25 miles northwest of Rome. Another flying boat and navy corvette left for the area while other search parties hunted north of Rome for the plane missing since Sunday night. Agence France Presse said reports early today that the wreckage of the airliner had been found 40 miles from Rome were erroneous. The Sabena airliner —a fourengine DC-6B •— was en route from Brussels to Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo byway of Rome. It carried 21 passengers and a crew of eight. The plane never arrived at Rome’s Ciampino airport and reports indicated it might have crashed some 60 miles north of the city. The Americans baoard the plane were identified by Sabena Belgian Airlines as Paul Lefßoy, 28, ot Lake Hiawatha, N. J.; Robert Singer, 30, of New York; E. J. Suter, 48, an American currently living near Brussels, and Gloria Guerrieri, 27, a U. S. citizen living in Rome. Also reported aboard the plane was 20-year-old Marcella Mariani Miss Italy of 1954, who had been attending a pageant in Belgium. U. S. and Italian .planes searched the coastline today while police and volunteer rescue parties, aided by helicopters, began combing the inland areas north of Rome. Ships of the Italian navy steamed through the seas north of Civita Vecchia, about 40 miles north of Rome, in an effort to find some trace of the missing airliner. Land search parties concentrated their operations near the town of Viterbo because of reports that a fire had been seen in a remote, hilly section near there. Officials at Ciampino airport said the missing plane’s last rigid message was received about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land at Rome. The airliner’s pilot reported that he was over Civita Vecchia. The message carried no hint that anything was wrong. Henry Meyer Dies At Hospital Today Funeral Services To Be Wednesday Henry Meyer, 88. of 327 North Eighth street, a retired farmer, died atßrf-fi o'riock -this- morning at the Adams county memorial hospital. He had been failing for a long time with complications, and had been hospitalized for the past week. He was born in Union township Oct. 1, 1866, a son of Jacob and Fanny Meyer, and was married to Nellie Worden June 22, 1893. Mr. Meyer was a member of the Nuttman Avenue United Brethren church. Surviving in addition to his wife are two sons, W. E. Meyer of Decatur and Lawrence Meyer of Fort Wayne; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. One son preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Gillig & Doan funeral home, the Rev. Paul Parker officiating. -Burial will be in the East Salem cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Tuesday until time of the services.

Protectionist Bloc Fights Tariff Bill GOP High Tariff Backers Fight Bill WASHINGTON (INS) — GOP high tariff advocates laid the groundwork today for a battle against President Eisenhower’s foreign trade proposals with a charge that they fail to give adequate protection to U. S. industries injured by imports from abroad. The views are contained in the report of members of the house ways and means committee who fought the trade legislation approved 20 to 5 by the committee. The measure gives the President broad authority to lower U. S. tariffs in trade pacts with other nations. The protectionist bloc is expected to use the report in its effort to water down the trade bill when the house considers the legislation later this week. The group, conceding that the reciprocal trade measure probably will pass without much trouble, hopes to attract enough support from dissident Democrats to push through one amendment. Present plans call for an amendment to make it more difficult for President Eisenhower to overrule his tariff commission when the agency recommends higher barriers to imports, because a U. S. industry is being hurt by the competition from abroad. -■ ■'■ - Under the law now in effect, the president can disagree with a commission finding- that an industry is suffering injury and then disapprove the recommendation on that ground. High Court Refuses Ring Lardner Plea Court In Refusal To Review Appeal , WASHINGTON (INS) — The supreme court refused today to hear the appeal of Ring-Lardner, Jr., fired by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp., for invoking the fifth amendment before the house un-American activities committee in 1947. The decision leaves standing a court of appeals decision that 20th Century-Fox did not violate its contract with Lardner and need not pay him his salary for the balance ot the agreement. Lardner, son of the late humorist, contended that his discharge for “moral turpitude" violated a contract by which he was receiving $2,000 a week as a writer. In district court, he won a verdict for $25,000 but the court of appeals reversed the lower court. Lardner then appealed to the supreme court. Lardner asserted that refusing to tell the congressional committee whether he was a Communist did not constitute “moral turpitude” grounds for the discharge. As a result of his appearance 'Continued on Pare Ebrlxt) _ ' * Wife Says Aga Khan On Way To Recovery CAIRO (INS) —The Aga Khan’s wife announced today that the ailing Moslem leader is "well on the way to recovery.” The 77-year-old Aga Khan, spiritual leader of 20 million Ismailian Moslems, was reported to have suffered two heart attacks last week. ■ ■ 18th Sabrejet Wing To Return To Tokyo TAIPEI (INS)—A U.S. air force spokesman said today the 18th fighter-bomber sabrejet wing had completed its mission in Formosa and ordered to leave immediately for Tokyo. The spokesman said another squadron of sabrejets, probably from Korea, would arrive on Formosa as a replacement.

Warned U. S. To Intervene If Attacked t Formal Warning Is Relayed By Britain To Soviet Russia LONDON (INS) — Communist China has been warned formally through diplomatic channels to beware of attacking Nationalist-held. Quemoy and Matsu islands lest the U.S. intervene with armed force. International News Service is able to reveal on high authority that this warning was delivered by Great Britain to Russia for relay to the Peiping regime. The British government notified Soviet Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov in the most serious terms that it could not be ‘‘assumed’’ that the U.S. would not intervene if Communist China attempted to conquer Quemoy and Matsu, which lie in the shadow of the Red-ruled mainland. The warning was significant especially in the light of reports from the Far East that .the Communists are assembling an armada of motorized junks at the mouth of the Nim River opposite Matsu Island. Britain also warned Russia that It would be "absurd for the Chinese Communist government to think it could attack Formosa directly without becoming involved in a full-scale, all-out war with the U.S, . These warnings were delivered through Russia because the British government felt they would have more effect if they were passed on to Peiping by Moscow. The British believe the Soviet government is genuinely apprehensive about the danger of a SinoAmerican conflict and is sincerely eager to avert it. Therefore, Britain felt that Russia, passing along the warnings to Peiping, might urge the Chinese Communists to heed them. It is believed in British diplomatic circles that the Soviet government had urged the Peiping regime to refrain from attacking American forces protecting the evacuation of the Tachens as a result of the interview which American publisher William Randolph Hearst Jr., had with Molotov in Moscow Jan. 29. In the course of this interview, Hearst urged a temporary ceasefire to permit the evacuation. Molotov said that if Nationalist forces wished to withdraw from the Tachens he thought “hardly anyone’’ would hinder them. Western envoys in Moscow considered this the most important statement made by Molotov during the interview and expressed the belief it paved, the way for a peaceful evacuation of the islands under the watchful eye of the American Navy. - Western diplomats find it difficult to believe that Red China, in view of these various warnings, would risk a conflict with the U.S. over islands since, as one non-American ambassador in Moscow said to this correspondent "China could be wiped out in an afternoon.” Annual Dental Clinic Here On Wednesday • Starting Wednesday morning the annual dental clinic, sponsored by the Tri Kappa sorority, will be held from 8; 30 a. m. to 2:30 p. m. The dentist - , of Decatur will donate their services to examine the teeth of all children in the Decatur elementary schools from kindergarten through grade 6. , All children to be examined are requested to brush their teeth after breakfast Wednesday morning. Last year 18 children received complete dental care through the Tri Kappa aid.

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