Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 54, Number 167, Decatur, Adams County, 17 July 1956 — Page 1

Vol. LIV. No. 167.

1 BEGIN McKEQN “DEATH MARCH” TRIAL « Mr #<* (jSEr wHI ■ '< . i&IMh wwW a r t IT' I - : } Wk 1 JCI "■• II w <jBHBL <i BE ***** ijfflgT ■ MB |gW< ’■ • ;> <^~ , 'l Wak --1 Hr ' .•;>&* ■ £BHHSB : M ■ -, — STAFF SGT. MATTHEW C. McKEON (left), who Is being tried by General court-martial for manslaughter Ln t<e death of six Marine recruits during an unscheduled night march in swamp, is shown as he walks to court. In right photo, McKeon's wife, Mary, confers with civilian lawyer hired for defense, Emil Berman, at Parris Island, South Carolina.

Ike Calls For Effort To Pass School Measure Asks Republican Congress Leaders To Revive Measure WASHINGTON (UP) — President Eisenhower called on Republican congressional leaders today to make a last-ditch effort to revive the big school construction bill which was voted down recently in the house. Senate GOP leader William F. Knowland and house leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. both told the President they would make the ’ attempt. Bat chances 'for success are- ’‘slim" in view of the drive to adjourn congress late next week. The President spent more than »n hour swing over the legislative 7 situation with ranking ReptfWcans of the house and senate, exploring what could be done to ape eudp action on administrationfavored legislation in the waning days of congress. Mr Eiscnnower, according to the leaders, was still hopeful that . a measure to increase postal rates, the subject of hearings be- _ fore the senate post office committee this week, would be acted on at this session. The house hail approved the mail hikes. On the school bill, Knowland said what the President wants'is legislation to help build more

schools in needy states and areas “rathef than a pork barrel bill spread out all over the country.” Knowiand said Mr. Eisenhower wants the federal government to bein a supplementary position to provide assistance in building new schools in areas unable to finance construction independently. The bill defeated by the house would authorise a federal expenditure of 11.600,000,000 for school construction over a four ■< year period. It was rejected in the house in a fight over segregation, but the administration hopes to revive it in the senate and push it through congress before it adjourns. Before finally voting down the school aid bill, the house rejected an administration-backed proposal in which wealthy states would have to put up more money than poor states to receive federal aid. This left, standing a provision by which all states would match federal funds on a 50-50 basis. Knowiand said he- told the President he would be “less than frank”*if he did not tell him that revival of the school bill at this late stage is more than “a long shot." \ r ‘ “It’s pretty doubtful,” Martin said, "although the President is very anxidhs to have it. If we're going to get out next week, I would say the chances are pretty slim.” The President also , discussed with the leadership his desire to have congress pass a foreign aid appropriation much nearer to the requested administration figure than approved by the house. Knowiand said the foreign aid appropriation will have to go to house-senate conference and he hopes the conference will come tin with a figure to the original figure approved by the senate ap(Continued on P-ire Five) INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy tonight and Wednesday. Scattered showers or thundershowers likely Wednesday. Low tonight 60-65 north, 65-70 fcouth. High Wednesday low,Bos north, high 80s south. Sunset 1:11 p.m., sunrise Wednesday 5:32 a.m. \ "

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT „ . . . ’ . ..-|i— , u ' i I\ ' " ■ : *

Hearing Opened On Electric Petition Seek Release From Contract With City M. Elliot Belshaw of the Indiana public service commission is presiding at a public hearing which began at 10 a m. today in the Adams circuit court room. The hearing is on the petition by 196 residents of area northeast of Decatur to be released from their contracts for electric power with the city of Decatur. During the first part of the hearing this morning, attorneys for the petitioners and for the city gave their opening statements. The city is represented by city attorney John L. DeVosS, assisted by Davis A. Macklin. The law firm of Ctfster and Smith is counsel for the petitioners. A large crowd' is attend:4lrelteiw<«g.’ . Attorney Robert Smith, in his opening statentent, said that the petitioners would testify that the electric service provided by the Ctty.JU insufficient, unsafe and unrgjjable and that the rates are un reasonable and unjustly discriminatory. DeVoss, opening for the city’s electric light and power’ department stated that the city has- begun a long range program to provide adequate service. He also pointed out that under the terms of the city’s bonded indebtedness which has |70n,000 outstanding, the City is prohibited from selling or disposing of any of its electrical holdings or equipment. During the morning session of the hearing, the petitioners brought

1 forth six witnesses, five of whom 1 were petitioners who are complaining about the service and rates. They included Fred Schamerloh. 1 Ralph Grote and Mrs. Irene Sch- ' lemmer, of Union township, and Erwin Marker and Conrad Houser ' of Root township. AU five testified that the voltage has been too low to properly operate their electrical appliances They also testified as to their rates stat- ■ ing that their quarterly bills ranged from S4O to $65. Some of them also stated that they had taken voltage readings which were below 100 volts. The averag® voltage necessary for the modern home is around 120 volts. In addition to this testimony, all of the petitioning fitnesses stated that during the past several days the service has been adequate with voltage readings ranging from 118 to IH. The slxtlT witness to take the stand for the petitioners was J, Calvin Hill of Fort Wayne, manager of the Fort Wayne district for Indiana-Michigan utility company.. He testified that his company has * the capacity to give service to the area which seeks delease from the contracts with the city. Efforts to secure further testimony from him on comparison of rates and on ability to serve the area failed when objections by city attorney DeVoss were sustained. DeVoss objected to the questioning on the grounds that the matter before the commission is whether or not the city is providing adequate service. He stated that the question of who should provide the service would boa matter for another hearing should the commission rule* that the petitioners be released from their contracts. Belshaw sustained the objections. The 196 patrons who signed the petition are residents of Union township, parts of Robt and Washington townships and a small area of (he southeastern part of Allen county. The hearing was recessed at noon and reconvened at 2 p.m. This afternoon (he -e+ty -offlcrats were to have the opportunity to testify on behalf of the city’s light and power department. ’ I ’ * ■ ' . .. ...... v ..-1.--- « . . -

Magazine Says Mrs. Luce Was Poison Victim Arsenic Poisoning Caused Illness Os Lady Ambassador NEW YORK (UP) — CIA agents have traced the cause of the recurring illnesses of ambassador to Italy Clare Boothe Luce to arsenic poisoning from the whitepainted roses on her bedroom ceiling. - Time' Magazine, in its issue appearing Thursday, will say that for 20 months Mrs. Luce had been breathing fumes, eating food andr drinking coffee powdered with deadly white dust. 1 Te'sts showed that the borgian white roses in the bedrooip of heir 17th century Villa Taveyna had been brushed and re brmfftetT with paint having a high content of arsenate of lead. The magazine said the discovery was made more than a year ago and the poisoning was “one of the best kept secrets of U.S. diplomacy.” In the late summer of 1954, Mrs. Luce returned to the United States where after a long medical examination experts found she had symptoms of serious anemia and extreme nervous fatigue. Feeling better after two months, she returned to Rome to face a full work load.

“In a short time,” the magazine said, “all the symptoms appeared and some new and frightening ones developed. Her fingernails became brittle, broke at a slight tap. She began to lose blonde hair by the brushful. Her teeth were noticeably loosening. Worst of all. for a diplo-. mat. she had become irritable.” Too busy to return to the U.S., Mrs. Luce went to the U.S. naval hospital In Naples. A navy nose-and-throat specialist asked if any of her medicines contained arsenic. None did. It w’as the first time arsenic had been mentioned in connection with her illness. The navy doctors sent their findings and laboratory specimens to the laboratories of the U. S. naval hospital in Bethesda, Md. On the navy’s records the patient was fictitiously identified as “Seaman Jones.” Back to Italy went the report': ’’Seaman Jones is a victim of arsenip poisoning.” The news was relayed to Mrs. Luce while she was at home during the 1955 new year’s holidays. Faced with political and diplo'matic repercussions if the secret came out. the central intelligence agency and embassy officials went quietly to work. All U.S, and Italian embassy employes were quickly investigated. No Indivadual who had any contact with the ambassador seemed even remotely suspect. The disconnected leads finally led to the high-ceilinged bedroom with its beams in terracotta green and cluster upon cluster of roses and rosettes. -“Quick tests showed a high content of arsenate of lead,” the magazine said. The experts also found that the heavily leaded paint exuded fumes in Rome's humid weather. Mrs. Luce, wife of Time-Life editor-in-chief Henry Luce, has been in the United States undergoing treatments to correct the arsenic induced condition since mid-May. Her general health is greatly improved, the magazine said. ' is. .scheduled to leavq this week foV a . three-week Mediterranean atuise and then return to Villa Taverns >here its resettsd L-c. .eq.Fa**Z' . :

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, July 17, 1956.

House Bows To Veto Os Military Construction Measure By President ‘ . ........ )..

Sgt. McKeon's Defense Scores Point At Trial To Inspect Results Os Poll Os Marines On Training Method PARRIS ISLAND. S.C. (UP) — Marine Sgt. Matthew C. McKeon’s defense today won the right" to inspect results of a poll of Leatherneck veterans as to whether boot training practices are too rough. The development raised the possibility that Gen. Randolph Pate, marine corps commandant, might be called to testify in the courtmartial trial of McKeon, charged with manslaughter and cruelty in the April 8 “death march” of six new marines. But In another significant ruling preparatory to the actual trial of McKeon, a defense motion was denied to strike out two charges that he was drinking on duty the day of the tragedy. The defense, poptending the drinking charts’ were trfv’lal. then > moved to have stricken from the indictment count IV alleging that McKeon was drinking in the presence of a recruit while on duty? That petition was dfcgied. too. Jfr though the defense argued there is no order making it unlawful to drink under those conditions. Pate gave instructions for the questionaires to be circulated following the death inarch incident, and McKeon’s'defense counsel may want to bring Pate himself on the stand to explain the reason and the results. The prosecution of the 31-Vear-old junior drill instructor also granted a defense request to produce the names of all men who have been discharged or separated from this recruit training depot since last Jan. 1. The concessions by the prosecution Were considered major initial victories for defense counsel Amile Zola Berman wh<rcon tended that only ex-marines would feel free to talk about the boot training practices on the island. Berman told the court Monday that he expects to show that it is standard operating procedure for marines in the course of their training to be carried on grueling night marches. It was on such a moonless "tight slogging into a tidal creek that brought death to six men and brought the famous stiff training practices of the corps up for a rigid inspection.' Maxym Gorb Dies • Monday Afternoon Funeral Services To Be Wednesday Maxym Gorb, 61, a native of, the Ukraine, who resided one-half mile south and one-half mile west of Coppess Corners, died at 1:45 o’clock Monday afternoon at the Adcounty memorial hospital; He had been ill since June 11. During World War 11, the Gorb family \as In a displaced persons camp in Germany and came to the United States in’l949. They lived at Tipton one year before coming to Adams county.\ _ Mr. Gorb had been employed at the Central Soya Co. in this city for the past four years. He was born in Ukraine Jan. 21, 1895, a son of Paul and Martha Svy-stun-Gorb, and was married to Ma-* trona Zaveriucha in 1911. Surviving 1 in addition to the widow are one son, Paul Gorb of Monroe, and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30-p.m. Wednesday at the Zwlck funeral home and at 2 p.m. at the Monroe Methodist church.. Burial will be in the Ray cemetery west at Monroe. Friends may call »t the funeral home until time of the services. ■ ' *

Handley Fails To Change Committee GOP Factionalism Again Shows Head INDIANAPOLIS (UP)—Lt. Gov. Harold Handley said today his failure to remove two key party leaders during Republican stale Committee meeting would not hurt campaign for governor. Handley said he would “abide” by -the committee action and coni tinue to work for “complete vici tbry in November.” * The GOP governing body voted . 12-10 late Monday to reelect Mrs. . Cecil Haden. Covington, as, national committeewoman, afid 15-7 to keep Thomas Mahaffy Jr., as state party treasurer. Handley and his backers on the committee wanted Mrs. lone Harrington, Chesteron,-to replace Mrs. Harden, 6th district cdngresswoman. Long ago they had tagged Mahaffey, whom they accused of working against Handley for the nomii nation, for removal from his job. Handley’s setback came less than three weeks after he soundly defeated the Craig faction est the GOP by wipnlpg the gp.vernp.r nomiatiori at .the June 29 state coavehi jtion. • * Customarily, the top man on the • party slate is able to make what- . ever changes in the commit; • tee he wants. Four years ago. ( Cfaig made a “clean sweep” of > committee leadership. There was speculation Handley • may try for a complete reorgan- ■ ization if he wins in November. , The 'vote indicated factional ' lines, for some time drawn bei tween district leaders loyal to > either Graig or Handley, may not be as distinct as before. Despite . Handley’s defeat, forjner Gov. , (Continued on Page Five) 1 Auction School To Open Here July 30 72nd Session Os School In Decatur The 72nd session of the Reppert school of auctioneering will begin Monday, July 30, and will extend for three weeks, according to Dr. Roland Reppert, owner of the school. Dr. Reppert stated that enrollment for this session is expected to be close to the number of students who attended the 1955 summer session, when about 60 were enrolled. The school, one of the best of its kind ip the United States l was founded in 1921 by the late Col. Fred Reppert. Since his death it has been managed by his son, Dr. •Reppert. Q. R. Chaffee of Tovn apdA. P_a.j pw_ of the nations top auctioneers, is dean of the school. The school draws student auctioneers from all parts of the country and from Canada. TP addition to classroom lectures oh auction techniques, the students are given practical experience in auction sales. Xhis .year the school will cosponsor a public auction with the Valparaiso University guild of the Decatur zone which includes 10 area Lutheran churches. The auction will be held on Madison street and will be- conducted by the student uactioneers. Proceeds from the sale of a large variety of items will go to the guild. The students will also attend other auctions in the surrounding area including one at Grabill and the 4-H fair auction sale Aug. 2 at the Monroe fairgrounds. Instructors for the three-week session will be G. L. Pettit, Bloomfield. la ; Clyde Wilson, Marion, O ; C. B. Drake. Decatur, Ill.; H. W. Sigrist. Fort Wayne; Walter Carson, Triumph, Minn.; Ray Elliott, Portland; George Borum. Centralia. III.; Guy Johnson, Columbus. O.; Donald Rolfe, Orient, 6 ; H. B. Sager, Bozeman, Mont.; Homer Pollock. Delphos, O-; Earl Wright, ml Gilead. Q., and Carey E. Jones. Oak Park. Hl. AH are considersd experts in their fields of auction salliag. -■A:.. U

Top Executives Os Steel Firms In Conference Veil Os Secrecy Is Clamped Around Conference Today NEW YORK (IIP) — A veil, of secrecy appears to have been clamped around a scheduled meeting of top steel industry executives here today. Industry spokesmen admit that a meeting is planned but they disclaim any knowledge about the time and place. It was understood the chairman or presidents of 12 major steel companies are in New York to meet with the industry’s four-man negotiating team. John A. Stephens, chief induetry negotiator, said in Pittsburgh Monday the industry’s top executives would consider “the whole picture” in the contract dispute which has idled 650.000 steelworkers for 17 days. 'to' resume in . Pittsburgh WeJßlday, Stevens said. USW, president David J. McDon-, aid said he would be busy with "union affairs” during the lull in negotlattotss. The U. s. medfatioh aervic® took an active hand in the bargainings Monday for the first time. Mediation director Joseph F. Finnegan met Monday morning 1 with representatives of the Indus-' try’s big three —U. S. Steel, Beth- ' lehem and Republic Steel Corporations. In the afternoon Finnegan met • with officials of the USW. Finnegan and his assistants made “suggestions” to each side and then told union and industry negotiators to get together in the afternoon with no mediators present, McDonald said the day-long conferences produced “no new developments.” ' " Wide differences on the length and the immediate gains of.a new contract appeared to be the main blocks to settlement. The companies have offered a long term, no strike pact calling for an average annual increase of 7.3 cents per hour plus other *• (Continued on Page Five)

Gusl Yake Dies Al Farm Home Monday Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon Gust Yake, 74, retired farmer and a resident of Kirkland township most of his life, died suddenly at his home two and one-half miles south of Peterson, at 1:30 o’clock Monday afternoon following a heart attack. He was born in Ottowa coiinty, 0., Feb. 19. 1882, a son of Herman and Wilhelmina Martin-Yake. His first marriage was to Maggie Brown, who is deceased. He was then married Dec. 8, 1942, to Pearl Heller, who survives. Mr. Yake was a member of the Pleasant Dale Church of the Brethren. Surviving in addition to the widow g arp three ’brothers, William Yake of Sturgis, Mich., Lewis Yake of Bluffton route 4. and Henry Yake of Switz City, and three sister sisters, Mrs. Edward Hessqrt of Fort Wayne. Mrs. Chester King of Columbus, 0., and Mrs. Wilbur Worthman of Craigville, One brother, one sister and a half-brother preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Yake residence and at 2 p.m. a: the Pleasant Dale Church of the Brethren, the Rev. John D. Mishler officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Dale cemetery. The body will be returned from the Zwlck funeral home to the resideace, where friends may call after 7 o’clock this evening. _ Z

Wildcat Strike At Westinghouse Plants Protest Suspension Os Two Employes SHARON, Pa. (UP) — Some 6|000 union workers remained away from their jobs at two Westinghouse plants today tn a wildcat strike protesting the suspension of two employes involved in a Pickets were stationed at all gates to the company’s plants at > Sharon and nearby Greenville, but there was no disturbance such as occurred Monday, the first day of the walkout. The windows of several homes were shattered by rocks Monday In an outbreaks of vandalism springing from the strike. One of the homes was that of John H. Chiles Jr., division manager of the two plants. No one was injured. Officers of the International Union of Electrical Workers said the work, stoppage resulted from the company suspension of two employes, William Douglas and John Rosala. The two m6n allegedly scuffled with another union member, Victor Steele, last Thursday during a jmeefing™ »f' 30H "membefl nt the plant. ’ - ■ Steele was one of several hundred workers who to their jobs during the recent 158day strike at 30 Westinghouse plants. , i That walkout left bad feeling among Westinghouse employes who remained out during the length of the strike. Elks Petition For Rezoning Rejected Recommendation By Plan Commission The Decatur plan commission voted to /eturn the petition of Decatur lodge, B. P. O. Elks to modify the zoning ordinance to change the six lots owned by the lodge from an R-2 residential area to a C-l business shopping area with a recommendation that the petition be denied, at a Monday night meeting at city hail. The vote of the commission was four against changing the ordin-

’ ance and two for a change. One member, Charles Kent, vice chairman, was not present. The petition was filed with the council several weeks ago and referred to the plan commission and discussed at a public hearing. All but one of the property owners on Third and Marshall streets adjacent to the six lots involved signed a petition asking that the Elks home property, where the present l(>dge home is now located, remain a' residential area. The petitioners also filed a request signed by several residents of the north part of the city supporting their request for a change. The plan commission, following the hearing, continued the matter, so that a thorough study of the request could be made by the full membership. The decision last night was the resiilt of the commission investigation. Another matter, presented first to the council by residents of the west part of the city asking that an area on Eighth street, near the Pennsylvania freight depot, which has been used to store junk on trucks, be cleared and that such parking of junk trucks be prohibited, was presented to the commission. After a discussion of the matter the commission voted to return the petition to the council without recommendation. The action was taken after it was disclosed by commission members that present nuisance laws and ordinances could probably take care of the request and it was an enforcement problem. As a final action the commission approved a partial list of Decatur persons and firms who would re* ceive a copy of the zoning ordinance wLich has been printed into book tons. Thdze on the first approved list (OenUnuee m Pegs Five)

Six Centi

Revises Bill To Conform To Ike's Demands President Termed Bill Invasion Os z Executive Powers aJwaSHINGTON am — The house to President Elsenhower's S*eto of a $2,300,000,000 military construction bill and repassed it withput the language to which the President objected. The house acted by unanimous consent shortly after its armed services committee approved the revised bill. 27-0. But the committee served notice that, as a result of the President’s action Monday, it w'il) go a lot slower in approving defensp requests hereafter. The house action sent the revised authorization bill to the senate where its fate is clouded. The Dew bill embraces, unchanged, the stones of project authorizations covered in the original measure. Chairman Richard B. Russell (l>Qa.| orthe senate armed serv® committee indicated in advance that he doubts whether it will be necessary to re-pau the bill at this session of congress. Russell said the defense department may prove to have enough authority, and money, already on hand to keep its base-building and other construction work going until next year. Mr. Eisenhower vetoed the original bill on grounds that some of its provisions were an unconstitutional invasion of executive powers by congress. He specifically objected tp provisions that would have given the houhe and senate armed service committees a veto over defens department plans for nw Talos guided missile Kites and > for military housing projects. Committee members dented that the provisions were a congressional Invasion of executive authority. But they agreed to go along with the President so vital defense work will not be delayed. Committee ' counsel Robert Smart disclosed that one site will be in Illinois and one in Indiana. The other two will be elsewhere in the midwest Specific sites have not been disclosed.

A United Press dispatch from Washington several weeks ago indicate an air defense guided missile proposed installation would be located around Bunker Hill air force base near Peru, Ind. If the senate affirms the house action, it means that the air force can proceed with plans to build four new Talos air defense bases at locations in the midwest, at { a cost of about four million dollars each. Chairman Carl Vinson (D-Ga.) of the house armed services cow ~ mittee told the house he can ‘only ‘‘hope’’ that the defense depart(Continuee on Page ijftve) Meshberger Bros. Low On Rood Resurfacing . Meshberger Bros. Stone Corp., of Linn Grove, submitted the low and sole bid on two projects among many opened today by the Indiana state highway department; Meshberger bid 136,567 for resurfacing tiro county roads totaling more than four miles in Adams county, and |59,270 for resurfacing 1% miles on a bounty road near Mount Etna in Huntington county. 1 frr Reports Nothing New In Weinberger Cose \ WESTBURY, N.Y. (UP) — A Nassau 1 County police spokesman reported “nothing new” today in the Peter Weinberger kidnap case nearly two weeks after the monthold infant was snatched for his buggy at his parents’-home here. > The FBI, which entered the case j last Wednesday, continued silent concerning its investigation of the Fourth of July Kidnaping but informed sources said there had been no new leads. ! \ ■'