Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 24, Decatur, Adams County, 29 January 1957 — Page 1

Vol. LV. No. 24.

. DEAD SISTERS’ MOTHER COLLAPSES AT GRAVE ‘ ‘ " I ■ r ■ '■ : .;? )■■■ j -X'. ■ls ■ OVERCOME BY GRIEF, Mrs. Loretta Grimes, mother of the sistars whose bodies were found alongside a lonely road following their disappearance Dec. 28, collapses as the girls’ caskets are lowered into their graves. Two young habitues of Chicago’s skid-row are being held in connection with the murder •of Barbara Grimes, IS, and her sister, Patricia, 13. '

Indiana Senate Urges Congress Veto Ike Plan Resolution Urges Congress To Reject School Help Plans INDIANAPOLIS (UP)— The Indiana, Senate today adopted 31-11 a resolution urging Congress to reject) President Eisenhower’s plan for a billion-dollar federal aid program for school building construction. The resolution, introduced last week by Senate president pro tern John W. Van Ness of Valparaiso, top Republican leader in the Legislature, called on Congress to turn a deaf ear toward any and . all proposals for federal grants to . states tar cducatkmaL purposes. ' *The resolution did Hbt specfi7 cally mention the school building construction program which Eisenhower handed to Congress only 24 hours earlier. But the fact it was brought out of committee at the time it was left no doubt as to —. what GOP majority members of the Senate were thinking about. — Telegram Praises Ike A vote on the controversial issue came after minority Democrats prepared a telegram to tne President complimenting him for “vision and courage” in proposing federal aid for school construction. The only Republican voting with the minority on passage of the resolution was Sen. Robert S. Justice of Logansport. All 31 aye votes were cast by Republicans. Shortly before the showdown, Republicans sparked a drive against substituting a minority report for a majority report from the committee to which the bill was assigned. The substitution was rejected 31-16. The federal aid controversy also came up in the House when Rep. Phillip S. Johnson (R-Mooresville) introduced a measure to amend the Constitution so a state school superintendent would be chosen by an elected board instead of by voters at an election. Johnson Issues Statement Johnson issued a statement saying election of a state school superintendent on a political ballot "makes it difficult to get wellqualified school administrators to seek the office... It is completely inconsistent for Indiana to be the strongest state opposing federal intervention in our schools and at the same time fostering one of the leading excuses for political intervention—the failure to do the j-b the state level.” Justice explained his vote aguu>st the Senate resolution by saying: “I do not think federal support of education is necessarily followed by federal control. I very much resent being put between the President (who favors it) and the governor (who opposes it).” The Democratic telegram was announced shortly before the showdown .vote was taken. PlKup 2nd pgh: The telgram The telegram, announced by Sen. Matthew Welsh (D-Vincen-nes), Senate minority leader, was the latest development in a strange set of circumstances which found Republican majority leaders opposing the Eisenhower plan and Democrats praising it. Minority members of the Senate Federal Relations Committee handed out a report recommending defeat for a Senate resolution asking Congress to reject the Eisenhower plan. RemmntAnd Its Adoption The Republican majority members of the committee recomaapded the ” --j) em ocrats said failure of the state to take advantage of the (Oontinuea on Pago flgbt)

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Hirschy Reelected City Planning Head Annual Meeting Is Held Monday Night Kenneth Hirschy, former Central Soya employee and presently Fuller Brush representative in the Decatur area, was re-elected chairman of the city planning commission Monday night in the annual reorganization '-meeting at city hall. This will be Hirschy’s second year in the job. Also reelected for a second term was vice- chairman C. W. Kent, of Kent Realty and Auction company. Rah* Roop, city engineer, was re-elected secretary of the board, a position he has held since the commission was . formed under Mayor John Stults in 1947. Other ' planning commission members are Robert Gay, Deane Dorwin, Robert Cole, and Lawrence Kohna. .. . The plat of the Leo F. Schultz addition of 20 lots was discussed by the commission in last night’s meeting. The addition dies on the western boundary of the city corporation limits, between Monoe and Adams streets. A street vill curve around the Schultz home ind extend south almost to the Erie railroad, where a circle will deadend the construction. Lots of various sizes, ranging from 52.36 feet to 211.73 feet in frontage, have been laid out. The street itself will be slightly more than 50 feet in width. In checking the plat, a few minor discrepancies between the plat and the city zoning ordinance were discovered, and the paperwork was referred bat* to the petitioner for some minor changes in wording, and will probably be approved at the next commission meeting. In the compliance with the city budget for 1957, Ralph »Roop resigned as a member of the commission, and was appointed as secretary with a salary of S6OO a -ear. The city council set up the budget this year to include the salary, which could not be paid <f Roop remained a member of the commission. Roop was one of three members appointed from the city government. The city council appointed Clyde Drake, ■ Continued on Pnare Five! Appropriations Are Approved By Council Soecial Session Is - Closed By Council Requests .for additional appropriations totalling $78,964 were ap--»roved by the county council to-->av. concluding a special two-day session. —— Among the amounts approved •vere requests for additions of $36 375 in the hospital operating fund and $23,224 in the hospital building fund for building and equipment. Also okayed was the request for *IB,OOO to purchase a drag line fo.the county surveyor’s department Additional appropriations for the county fund which were approved include S6OO for the county treasurer’s office, sl3 for the county sheriff and $752 for the county highway department. These requests are now automatically referred to the stqte board of tax commissioners for further study. This board will hold a public hearing on the requests within 15 days. The exact day of the hearing will be announced in the next few days by county auditnEd Jaberg. On approval of the state board, which will probablv fallow the local hearing conducted by the board, the additional funds will be appropriated.

Senate Groups Vote Review Os Mid East Policy Sweeping. Review Os Policies Voted By Senate Committees WASHINGTON (UP) — Two Senate committees voted 30-0 today for a sweeping review of U.S. Middle East policy over the last 10 years. The unanimous vote came on a resolution by Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark). The State Department revealed that it would “welcome” such a study if it does not “breach the confidence of other friendly governments.” Republican congressional leaders also said President Eisenhower has agreed to such a review.’ • The congressional leaders relayed the President’s approval after a White House conference this morning. Dulles Writes Green The department’s position was outlined in a letter from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to Chairman Theodore Francis Green (D-RD of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It was not disclosed until after the vote when Green read the letter. The vote came at a meeting of the combined “Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, which are considering Mr. Eisenhower’s proposed Middle East doctrine to provide economic aid and, if necessary, military force to the Middle East, Meantime, the House prepared to begin actual floor debate on the doctrine resolution. The two Senate committees include a combined total of 16 Democrats and 14 Republicans. Dulles wrote Green* that “I understand that the request (for a documented chronological report on Middle East developments) will be so couched that compliance therewith would not delay but presumably expedite action on the pending joint resolution to halt Communist aggression in the Middle East. . . and that it will not seek to breach the confidence of other friendly governments.” Expect House Approval Fulbright’s proposal states that the Middle East study will not begin until after the Senate acts on the resolution. It requests the department to furnish in chronological form all documents which are “significantly” connected with developments in Middle East policy. The two Senate committees beran questioning Adm. Arthur W. iadford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, behind closed doors after the vote. House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. (Mass) told White House reporters there is no doubt that the House will approve the President’s stop-communism doctrine overwhelmingly. The resolution went to the House under a “gag” rule barring amendments and limiting debate to one day. Propose Net Income Tax For Hoosiers INDIANAPOLIS (IF — Two Republicans proposed in the Indiana House today that a net income tax bill to replace the gross income tax and reduce the local property tax be prepared for the 1959 Legislature. Reps. Ralph Hines’ of Portland and David Grimes of Fillmore introduced a bill to direct the State Tax Study Commission to draft such a bill for the next Legislature.

ONLY DAILY NKWSPAPRR IN ADAMB COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tues day, January 29, 1957

Secy. Wilson Refuses To Abandon Charge On Draft Dodging Guards

Predict House Group Support Os School Aid Several Democrats Forecast More Aid Than Ike Requests WASHINGTON (UP) — Several Democratic members predicted today that the House Education Committee will approve in about six weeks a school construction bill providing more federal aid than President Eisenhower has proposed. Mr. Eisenhower sent Congress a special message Monday calling for $1.3 billion in school construction grants as part of an overall $2.2 billion aid program. The grants would be handed out to states at the rate of $325 million a year for four years under a formula that would take into account a state’s financial needs as well as its school population. Top Republicans on the House committee and the Senate Welfare Committee prepared to introduce the President’s bill today. But a Democratic member of the House group, Rep. Stewart L. Udall (Ariz) called Mr. Eisenhower’s program “too little and too late.” The Democrats have a school bill of their own, sponsored by Rep. Augustine Kelley <l>PAfti which would provide a six-year $3.6 billion school construction program and allot funds to states on a uniform per-pupil basis. Several House committee members said they expect eventual approval of a bill somewhere between the President’s and Kelley’s. The new school proposals face the same two hurdles that led to defeat of a $1.6 billion bill in the House last summer. These are the integration question and the method of allocating federal funds to the states. President Eisenhower twice—in his State of the Union message and his special school message—urged Congress to keep school aid legislation free of “the complex problems of integration.” But Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr, (D-NY) said in New York Monday he will again offer his amendment to withhold federal fjinds from school districts that refuse to desegregate schools. The Negro congressman’s amendment was added to last year’s House bill, and then the whole bill was voted down. In the Senate, Chairman Lister Hill (D-Ala) of the Welfare Committee, said he wait and see (Coatlßiied on Pace Five) Annual Polio Dance Here On Wednesday Final Opportunity For License Bid The final opportunity to bid on license number JA 1957 will come Wednesday night at the annual polio dance, which begins at 8 p. m. at the Decatur Youth and Community Center, Leo Kirsch, local postmaster, has submitted the only bid to date. His bid is S2O over and above the regular license fee. The amount of the bid will be donated to the 1957 polio fund. Carl Geels and his orchestra will present the music and calls for round and square dancing. Also featured during the evening will be the awarding of several door prizes. < Tickets for the event are available with a 75 cent donation to the polio fund. They can be obtained from Lyle Mallonee, Max Kreps, Art Burris, Robert Tracy, Louis Jacobs, Kenneth Shannon, and from Miss Gloria Koenemann at the Adams county extension office. They will also be available at the door Wednesday night. Kenneth Shannon, general chairman of the polio drive in Decatur, stated today that advance sales of dance tickets have been good and that it-is hoped a large crowd will contribute a sizeable amount to the current polio fund drive.

World’s Wealthiest King Visiting U.S. Saudi Arabian King Arrives In New York NEW YORK OP) — The world’s .wealthiest king arrived today for a two-week visit to the world s richest democracy. King Saud of Saudi Arabia and his retinue reached New York t arbor a few minutes before 6a. te CST aboard the liner Constitution. A precedent-shattering welcome awaited the king in Washington as he began a state visit in which much will be at stake for both the United States and Saudi Arabia. The New York City government pretended fiot to noticedtoe royal ' visitor, but the federalWgovern- ’ ment gave the event itsMnost deluxe treatment. The U. S. Navy sent eight destroyers to meet the liner Constitution, which had carried the King and his party of mere than 80 persons from Naples. •*-» Only city recognition of the King’s arrival was assignment of • special police details to protect the visitors. Mayor Robert F. Wagner said Saud would not receive the usual welcome that consists of a harbor greeting and ticker-tape parade because of the King's anti-Zionism and tolerance of slavery. ~~ { But President Eisenhower for ■tile first time will go to National Airport in Washington to greet a visiting ruler. Previously, Vice President Richard M. Nixon had greeted chiefs of state on their arrival at the airport here. Acting White House Press Secretary Murray Snyder said Saud was invited to the United States in the interest of world peace. Saud’s visit was seen of great importance because he enjoys absclute rule over a Moslem stronghold that controls vast oil resources and is a power in Arab politics. ■ O Most Rural Schools Closed By Weather Decatur, Berne And Adams Central Open Icy roads closed down most Adams county schools today, but Decatur, Berne-French, and Adams Central reported almost normal attendance. In Decatur, the Union township bus arrived on tinie, and even the grade schools reported no unusual absences in the morning. The Decatur Catholic grade and high schools are closed today for the second day of between-semesters vacation. Both Monmouth and Pleasant Mills schools were closed today. SL John’s Lutheran school reported almost normal attendance, except the Monmouth bus did not lun. , In Blue Creek township, both Kimsey and Lincoln schools were closed, according to trustee Frank Myers. A layer of ice covered the snow on most county roads, waking driving extremely hazardous. Adams Central reported almost normal attendance, although buses ran as much as 10 minutes late. Six or seven high school students were reported absent. The Berne-French school reported almost normal attendance, except that the Jefferson township bus did not run. One bus arrived a couple of minutes late there, Geneva and Hartford township schools also were reported closed, but early reports stated that Jes- ' ferson school was open. INDIANA WEATHER Cold wave warning. Snow flurries continuing tonight extreme north. Cold wave tonight and early Wednesday with temperatures falling to sero to 5 above north and around 10 south. Wednesday partly cloudy and cold. Snow Hkely west portion by Wednesday night. High Wednesday 15-25. Sunset 6:01 p,m., sunrise Wednesday 7iss a.m.

Open Inquest In Deaths Os Chicago Girls Parents, Coroner Express Doubt On Bedwell Confession Overflow mob of curidiity-seiekerS tried to jam into a small hearing room today for an inquest into the slaying of two teen-aged girls. Many of the spectators brought their lunches. Bennie Bedwell. 21, skid row dishwasher who has confessed the slayings, was due to come face to face with the man he has named as his accomplice, William Willingham, another skid row derelict. Willingham has denied any part in the deaths of Barbara Grimes, I 15, and her sister, Patricia, 13, whose nude and frozen bodies were found in a ditch on the city's outskirts last week. Mrs. Loretta Grimes, mother of the slain girls, came to the inquest early and told newsmen that Bedwell’s lurid confession of killing the girls after a prolonged sex and liquor orgy was *’a lie.” “J don’t think he ever saw my girls?’ he said. "Our girls are dead, now. They can’t fight for &’’ e ' y ’ e ’” 8?in8 10 Coroner Doubts Confession She said she would ask permission to submit 10 questions at the inquest bearing on alleged discrepancies in Bedwell’s story. Mrs. Grimes divorced husband, Joseph, said he felt the same wa?. “Why doesn’t Bedwell tell the truth and give our girls their good names back?” he ?sked. Cook county Coroner Walter McCarron also expressed doubt about Bedwell’s confession. “If the confession is not true,” McCarron said, “that fact should be disclosed as quickly as possible for the benefit of two girls who are dead and unable to de(Coatlnaea Pare Five) Bessie Lautzenheiser Dies Monday Night Monroe Lady Dies At Hospital Monday Mrs. Bessie Viola Lautzenheiser, 70, of Monroe, a lifelong resident of Adams county, died at 10:40 o’clock Monday night at the Adams county memorial hospital. She had been ill tor two years and in critical condition for two days. She was born in Blue Creek township June 13, 1886, a daughter of Nelson and Mary Smitley, and was married to Frank Lautzenheiser Oct. 23, 1901. “ Mrs. Lautzenheiser was a member of the Union United Brethren church and the ladies auxiliaries of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans. Surviving In addition to her husband are two daughters, Mrs. Flora Lindeman of Delphos, 0., and Mrs. Fern Augsburger of De* catur; five sons, John Lautzenheiser of Rockford, 0., Charles of Toledo, 0., Ernest of Geneva, Clarence of Berne, and Glen of Monroe; 21 grandchildren: eight greatgrandchildren: three brothers, Will Smitley of ntinden, Mich., Ivan Smltley of Flint, Mich., and Roy Smitley of Bradenton Beach, Fla., and two sisters, Mrs. Hazel Listerman of Linden, Mich., and Mrs. Blanche Appley of Flint, Mich. One daughter and three brothers preceded her in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the residence in Monroe and at 2 p.m. at the Monroe Friends Church, the Rev. Vernon Riley officiating. Burial will be in the Tricker cemetery. The body was brought to the Black funeral home, where friends may call after 2 p.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday. .The body will then be returned to the residence, where friends may call after 2 p.m. Thursday.

City Cash Balance Increased In Year Financial Report Os Clerk-Treasurer The city of Decatur had a cash balance at the close of 1956 totalling $105,096.86, compared with a balance of $91,339.17 the previous year, or a gain of more than $14,000 in the one-year period, according to the 1956 financial report prepared by Mrs. Miriam Hall, clerk-treasurer. Mrs. Hall will 1 submit the complete report to the council at its next regular meeting. Ttae was a cash balance of $26,908.04 in the operating fund of the water department, compared with a $7,620.04 deficit on the first day of 1956. This balance does not constitute all profit, because it also reflects the change from quarterly to monthly collection of water bills, but it does reveal that the water department is function I ing at a profit for the first time in serveral years. at a profit for the first time in several years. The operating fund of the electric light and power department shows a December 31 balance of $28,711.31, compared with $9,994.16 of a year ago. The electric depreciation fund shows a cash balance of $228,213.97. The electric utility sinking fund, for retirement of bonds used to buy and construct the diesel plant, shows a balance of $29,081.53. All of the balance* in. toe other departmental funds also show operating balances. This includes • the department of recreation > which operates the Youth and . Community Center. Mrs. Hall’s report reveals that , the city has outstanding sewer bonds in the sum of $79,000; Light i plant Improvement, $758,000; Wat- [ erworks improvement, $57,000. Decatur’s total bonded indebtedness as of December 31, 1958 was $894,000. This indebtedness Included the bonds outstanding on the diesel plant. More Studenis Will Attend C. C. Dinner Foreign Students Here On Thursday Eight additional students of Indiana Technical college have accepted the invitation to attend the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet, to be held Thursday a* 6:30 p.m. at the Decatur Youth and Community Center. The eight are Manuel Crespo Bolivia, S. A.; Kwamera Dougan Gold Coast, Africa; Lions Gugans. Latvia, formerly a member of the Latvian resistance movement’ Ferdinand McLean, Panama; Jean Risse, France; Walter Sopelli, Uruguay; Byng Woo, originally from China and now fromt Canada, and Hideo Toyama, Hawaii. -— The total number ci foreign students who will attend the dinner is 15. Over 300 reservations have been made by local residents wh* will also attend. Some of the foreign students wil’ be given the opportunity to spea* briefly on youth opportunity fr their native lands. “Youth Oppor tunity” will be the theme of th* banquet. The dinner is being held in conjunction with the Rotary and Lions clubs meetings. The Rev. Edgar P. Schmidt, pastor of the Zion Lutheran church, will give the invocation. Another feature of the program trnatlßae* aa Pam Five) Two Youths Killed In Car-Truck Crash CHRISNEY, Ind. (TO — J a c k Atchison, 20, and Curtis Lindsey, 21, Rockport, were killed in a car-truck collision Monday night at the intersection of Ihd. 70 and Ind. 45 south bf here. An automobile, driven by Atchi- , son, crashed into a truck driven ( by George Dickison, 38, Brazil. , Dickison was taken to Stork Hospital in Huntingburg where his , condition was listed as “fair."

Six Cents

Wilson Draff Dodge Charge Stirs Protest Congressmen Irked At Charge Made By Secretary Wilson WASHINGTON (UP) - Defense Secretary Charles E. Wilson, after ■ a conference with President Eisen|hower, today stuck to his charge that some young men used the National Guard as a "draft dodging business" during the Korean War, Wilson, standing In the rain outside the President's office building, told reporters firmly that he did not discuss with Mr. Eisenhower his controversial remarks before the House Armed Services Committee Monday. Wilson bad told the committee that the Guard was a “sort of scandal" during the Korean War; "a draft dodging business." "Perhaps it Is a little tough language but that is exactly what it amounted to," Wilson said today. Wilson’s remarks Monday brought angry reaction from some members of Congress and the rejoinder from Maj. Gen. Ellard A. Walsh, National Guard Assn, pres* ident, that Wilson’s charge was “a lie.” No Keaton to Apologize ’ But Wilson refused today to • apologize for his remarks. *T know of no reason why I should,” he told reporters. Wilson at first declined to discuss his controversial remarks. Then reporters asked what he dis- i mssed-with the President. Looking up at the White House, Wilson said, "This is not my dung hill—anything that is to be announced over here, somebody else ought to announce." Wilson was asked if he had fixed a date for his departure from the Cabinet. He said no, but he expected to leave "sooner or later.” Then he began to talk about his feelings toward the National Guard. ' Not Against the Guard "If anything thinks I am against the National Guard, of course they are wrong,” he said. “I’m trying to get the National Guard efficient and trained. “I do think they ought to step up to be efficient and ready and modernize to take care of the responsibilities as they exist today. "I am told that more than 80 per cent of the National Guard has had no prior military training today. That means they are not a very well trained outfit that can be depended upon. "Our whole purpose is to assure that a reasonable percentage (of the Guard) is well trained. "We are spending a good many hundreds of millions of dollars on the National Guard. And if they cannot be depended on, the expense is not justified. The people who are trying to perpetuate the inefficiency are doing the Guard damage." Wilson was told that the chief objections voiced in Congress concerned his use of the words “draft dodging" in connection with Guard enlistments. ... Brucker Defends Guard “To keep up numbers rather than quality, they have enlisted too many boys between 17 and 18ti years old," Wilson said. These boys, he said, had not received proper military training to be part of an efficient and dependable force. There were these other developments.* —Army Secretary Wilber M. Bruker told the House Armed Services Committee that “our splendid National Guard, traditionally the backbone of our reserve strength, is large and well-equipped." He defended the Defense Department order which will require new National Guardsmen without prior military training to take six months active duty with the Army. —Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, Army chief of staff, told the committee under questioning that 80 per ce it of the 400,000 men in the Nations! Guard have not had any prior active service. . —The Defense Department announced that the National Guard m Page Five)