Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 25, Decatur, Adams County, 30 January 1957 — Page 1

Vol. LV. No. 25.

ADAMS COUNTY MAN DIES AS AUTO SKIDS - t, I Pictured above is the overturned wreckage of the auto driven by Robert E. Parr, 29, of Berne route 2, which skidded on an icy county road northwest of Berne late Tuesday afternoon, Parr was instantly killed in the accident. y ~ - ' - ' ' ■ ~

t Probe Os State Highway Dept. Scandal Bipartisan Probe Os State Highway Department Sought INDIANAPOLIS (UP)—A House Democratic minority leader proposed today that a bipartisan commission investigate "scandalous activities" in the Indiana State Highway Department and "help prevent the recurrence of such maladministration." Rep Birch Bayh or lerre Haute said he will introduce a resolution -3k* * w The resolution came after John Peters, the new state highway commission chairman, announced this week the department was in a "mess” when he took office. Peters said some employes were getting paid for doing no work, that exorbitant rental contracts were in effect for highway equipment, and that a right-of-way appraiser was suspended in a land purchase deal. Peters said earlier that a Marion County official got more than $17,000 rental in less than a year for furnishing one piece of eouinment that cost less than SB,OOO. - Land Buyer Suspended He also said a highway right-of-way appraiser was suspended during investigation of reports he bought land in the path of a proposed new highway as a speculation venture. However, the appraiser, George R. Hinton of Sellersburg, denied the charge. He said he did not know about plans for a U.S. 31 route north of Jeffersonville until three months after he bought the land. Anyhow, he said, a route has not been selected and there is no assurance the highway will take part of his new 66-acre Jr act at the junction of U.S. 31 and Ind 60. * Meanwhile, Sen. D. Russell Bontrager (R-Elkhart) said his Judiciary "A” Committee will recommend passage today of a bill to require legislative approval of budget committee members appointed by the governor. Bontrager said the bill was amended to double the size of the committee from four to eight. It would permit Governor Handley to replace the present committee, which he has criticized for failure to pare adequately the proposed 790 million dollar biennial budget for 1957-59. But replacement could not be made immediately. Another Senate committee approved a series of 10 bills which would eliminate most fees collected by county officials and substitute a higher salary schedule. The County & Township Business Committee, headed by Sen. John Harlan of* Richmond, amended the bill to make it effective Jan. 1, 1959, instead of 1958, and to re--1 duce the top salaries from $17,500 to $16,000. (Coatlaqed ob Face Five) INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy, not quite so cold central and north tonight. Thursday partly cloudy north, mostly cloudy south, chance of some snow, sleet or rain southwest Thursday or Thursday night. Not so cold Thursday. '■■Low tonight near 10 extreme north to around 25 extreme south. High Thursday around 30 extreme north to 35 to 40 ...... ex<remt Sunset 6:83 p. m., sunrise Thursday 7:54 a.m.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Hint Marshal Tito Will Cancel Visit Yugoslavian Paper Cites Opposition BELGRADE, Yugoslavia W — The Communist Party newspaper Borba strongly hinted today President Tito will cancel his planned visit to Washington because of anti-Yugoslav sentiment in the United States. _ *■ A special article written by< Borba’s foreign political editor, Joze Smole, took particular notice of reports the United States planned to slip Tito in and out of Washington while Congress was in recess so he not have to address the lawmakers. "It is to be expected that our government, if it has not done so already, will inform the American government clearly that in such circumstances the visit cannot be carried out,” the newspaper said. Borba did not say flatly Tito had cancelled the visit officially, but since it is the official Communist Party newspaper there was little doubt Tito was thinking of doing so. The article was distributed hfr fire official Tanjug News Agency, thus adding to the authenticity of the views set forth by Smole. The special article strongly attacked what it called a “hostile and insulting campaign against Yugoslavia” in the American press. “At the same time, insulting statements were made by individual responsible political personalities, and above all, by some congressmen and senators, Borba said. “VR cannot be indifferent to suck .. campaign, not only because of ourselves but also in view of American-Yugoslav cooperation and also because of international cooperation generally,” Smole’s article said. Checking On Essex Duties With Slate State Highway Head Checks Decatur Man INDIANAPOLIS W — The Indianapolis Times said today that state highway chairman John Peters is checking to learn what are the duties assigned to Harry Essex, Adams County Republican chairman. , „ _ — — ■ i Essex was listed as a $7,200; a- year public relations man. Peters told the Times “I have seen him once since I have been over here.” Peters became chairman Jan. 15. Essex has held the job a little more than a year. Peters said he does not know where Essex’s desk is. The Times also said that former 9th District GOP chairman Wilbur Banister and Bartholomew County GOP chairman Kenneth Jackson shafed in lucrative highway equipment rental contracts. Banister, the Times said, collected $20,777 for use of a road grader, two mowers and three bush removers, and Jackson collected $2j56/or each of two bush removers which cost him $2,100. Banister bought the grader for $6,913 and received $11,561 rental fees from the state since Aug. 1, 1955, the Times said. Jackson collected $8,608 altogether for renting four bush removers to the state fast year, the Times said.

Production Os Bomb Growing At Fast Rate A-Bomb And H-Bomb ; Production Swells In United States : WASHINGTON (UP) — The ' Atomic Energy Commission said ‘ today that A- bomb and H - bomb 1 production is swelling at a rate that necessitates multi-million-dollar ex- 1 pansion of its farflung weapons plant. It also reported “new design principles”—stemming from last ' year's H-bomb tests—‘‘which will ’ lead to more efficient weapons that 1 can be mere This apparently means the once hydrogen weapon has been tailored to missiles and bombs for 1 a variety of military uses other than mere destruction of cities. The commission also claimed '“a ’ notable advance” toward nuclear propulsion of aircraft. For the first time, it said, a turbojet plane engine was powered with atomic heat in a ground test. These were highlights of the AEC’s 21st semiannual report in which it said “significant progress” was made in the last six months toward fulfillment of President Eisenhower’s international atoms for peace program. As a special feature the commission published a five-chapter report on “radiation safety” in the U.S. atomic project. Although 331 persons have received “overexposures” in the past 13 years, the project nevertheless has hung up a safety record “without parallel in industrial history,” the AEC said. Os the 331 persons, 290 received their overexposures from the big H-bomb shot in the Pacific on Mhrch 1, 1954. The other 41, two of whom died in 1945, received theirs in “radiation incidents” at atomic installations in the United States. In this country no member of the public has been hurt by radiation. ’ And 99.4 per cent of the nearly 200,000 workers in the project have received an exposure averaging “less than one-third the amount of radiation allowed by strict safety standards.” The commission said its own experimental program to develop economical atomic power made “satisfactory progress” in the past six months. It said the number of planned atomic power plants to be financed entirely by private industry has grown to seven. But the effort to make nuclear power pay its way is still “in its early stages.” Atoms-for-peace was advanced by adoption of a statute for an 82nation international atomic energy agency. In addition, this country has negotiated 41 agreements to help 39 nations set up research or power reactors. The United States still leads the free world in production of uranium, the atomic raw material. In the past half year it stockpiled more nuclear fuels and explosives than ever before in a like period. In weapons, "accelerated reiContlßued oa Pace Five) BULLETIN WASHINGTON (UP) — The House today overwhelmingly approved President Eisenhower’s "fight if we must” plan to protect the Middle East from Russian aggression. -- Mr.- Eisenhower requested the measure to strengthen his hand in dealing with the crisis in the oil-riJh Middle East and the dangers of Communist penetration of the area.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, January 30, 1957

Adams County Farmer Killed Tuesday When Auto Skids From Road

Nine Men Die In Explosion On Oil Tanker Nearly 50 Injured Aboard Oil Tanker In California Port ALAMEDA, Calif. (UP)— Weld-? ers’ torches may have touched oft petroleum fumes aboard the oil tanker S. S. Jeanny, causing a series of explosions and a fire that killed nine men and injured - nearly 50, a spokesman for Todd Shipyards said today. Hie spokesman said the fume* may have been trapped in a tank next to the boiler room of the 10,000-ton ship, which was being readied for use in the Mid-East oil crisis. “That tank may have contained fuel oil,” the spokesman said. “If it was the first to blow up, as we suspect, the fuel probably fed the fire that followed the initial explosion.” Six of the dead were found huddled in a corner of the boiler room, their hideously charred bodies resembling the victims of an atomic blast. The bodies ofthree others were removed from an adjacent hold. Many Injured Critical Many of the injured were to critical condition. They sufferfflP terrible agony. The limbs of some were nearly ripped off by the force of the explosion while others were so badly burned “that skin was falling from their faces and arms.” ( The accident took place Tuesday at 3:10 p.m. while nearly 250 workmen were aboard. It was like being hit in the face with a giant fist,” said Lee Kilpatrick, 46, of Oakland, one of the injured workmen. “The explosion sounded like a bomb. It knocked me down on a catwalk on the bottom deck of the ship.” Eugene Fitch, 37, Oakland, an electrician, said “there must have been a hundred of us” in file engine and boiler rooms. Lights Go Out “I was standing with two or three other men. All of a sudden there was a boom and I was knocked down. The lights went out and my glasses and face were covered with oil.” It was discovered later that the force of the explosion hurled a worker against the light panel, wrecking the switches. “We hung on to each other and headed for the ladder about 40 feet away,” Fitch continued. “It was the only one in the place and people were milling around in the dark, hollering. The smoke was so thick you could hardly breathe,” Five minutes later, a second ex(Continued on Pare Five) Mrs. Inez Gresley Is Taken By Death Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon Mrs. Inez M > Gresley, 57, a native of the Monroeville area, died Tuesday at her home in Tocsin. She had been in failing health for the past 20 months. Mrs? Gresley’ was a member of the Tocsin Evangelical United Brethren church, the Pythian Sisters at Tocsin and the Order of Eastern Star at Ossian. Her husband. Merlin Gresley, died in 1950. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs, Gertrude Bush, Monroeville, and Mrs. William Myers, near Craigville; one son, Norman Gresley, Ossian: three brothers, Ross Marquardt, Fort Wayne, Howard Marquardt, Sturgis, Mich., and Richard Marquardt, Ossian; one sister, Mrs. Paul Row, Oneco, Fla., and seven grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Elzey home for funerals. Ossian, the Rev. Fred Pflugh officiating. Burial will be in Oak Lawn cemetery, Ossian. Friends rpay call at the funeral home until time of the services.

Whiting Refinery Is Badly Damaged Explosions, Fires At Processing Unit WHITING, Ind. (UP)-A series of explosions and fires destroyed A IG-story processing unit for high Actane gasoline Tuesday night, Causing at least a million dollars damage and injuring seven men. The blasts ripped an alkylation i unit shortly .before midnight and ?-»eag rivers of flaming fuel cours- ’ ing through the Standard Oil Co. • of Indiana refinery, one of the i nation s largest. Workmen hastily erected sand ! dikes to contain the flames, which ■ could be seen three miles from the burning unit. The injured men suffered burns • and cuts and all were released • aftr treatment at the company ’ hospital. The flames spread to four smaller storage tanks, but a southeast wind prevented them from reaching 50 tanks containing 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of gasoline each located only 200 yards away. About 1,200 firemen battled the flames in near zero temperatures. Fire officials concentrated on containing the fire and let it burn itself out. A.H. Hayes, assistant refinery ‘superintendent, said that while it is difficult to estimate the damage, “it appears to be in the neighborhood of one million dolL Jars.' The blasts rocked file immedfate ‘ area, knocking out telephone communications in that section tempo- ’ rarily. Flames shot hundreds of ! feet into the air and dense clouds of smoke hung over the 1,600-acre refinery, ) It was the first major blast at the refinery since August 1955, >' when an explosion in a 26-story cracking unit touched off a chain . of explosions in nearby fuel tanks. The explosions hurled tons of ! metal into homes and through the t working area, killing two persons . and injuring hundreds of others. i Meet Thursday Noon r ' On Industrial Fund •Y C. C. Leaders Will Meet Here Thursday Cliff Brewer, new president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, will meet Thursday noon at the Decatur Youth and Communi ity Center with members of the Greater Decatur project committe. Also attending will be -Severin , Schurger, attorney for the committee which is arranging for the purchase of an industrial site. New directors of the Chamber of Commerce will also be present at the meeting. Main purpose of the meeting will be to present reports on the curisaent progress of the fund drive to raise money for the purchase of the land. The land being bought is located near the southwest city limits and is considered and excellent industrial site. : It will be used in file longterm project to bring new industry to Decatur. The property will be offered to any industry which chooses Decatur as the location of a plant. The Greater Decatur committee Is now in the process of a fund raising drive - among Decatur resi- ’ dents. Letters were sent out several days ago inviting local citizens to participate in the project with 1 donations of any amount. _ _ ■ The committee has requested . that any persons who desire to donate to the fund and have not yet done so, send their contribution/ today to the Chamber of Commerce office in order that they might be included in the Thursday reports. ■ ■■ , Two recent donors to the fund, ■ who were not reported in previous ligts, afd Glemr W.Potts and Clarence Deitsch. They are among several local individuals who have : expressed approval of the indust- ■ rial promotion project by donating money to the fund.

Ike Declares Statement By Wilson Unwise Criticizes Charge By Secy. Wilson On - t National Guardsmen 1 WASHlNGld^^UPl—President Eisenhower said today, that De- . tense Secretary Charles E. Wilson’s "draft-dodging" statement 1 about the National Guard was very i unwise. Mr. Eisenhower told his news conference that the men who joined the National Guard certainly could I not have been slackers when they entered the Guard under proper provisions of law. He said he did not believe that ■ Wilson wanted to damage the Na- ' tional Guard, but he thought his 1 secretary of defense certainly made a very unwise statement without stopping to think. Wilson told a House Armed Services subcommittee Monday that the National Guard was a “sort of scandal" during the Korean War; that some young men were using it as a “draft-dodging business." Wilson stuck to his charge Tuesday after a conference with Mr. > Eisenhower. Wilson told reporters - his language may have been tough but that it was an . accurate ac- ; Sunt of the situation. Other highlights at the Presi- . dent’s meeting with reporters tof day: 3 1. He strongly defended his con- » ferences here with King Saud of Saudi Arabia and the possible t visit of Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia to this country. He said he de'r plores any discourtesy shown to j visitors who came here as representatives of governments and in f an effort to ameliorate difficulties. . This was a reference to New York j Mayor Robert F. Wagner’s snub to Saud Tuesday. 2. He said he would not run again even if Congress changed the 22nd amendment which limits a President to two terms in office. 3. He was unrestrained in his praise of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. As for Democratic charges that Dulles’ actions in the past had contributed to Middle East difficulties, the President said vehemently that Dulles never had taken any action that he had not approved in advance. 4. He said that Democratic critics of administration foreign policy — those who talked about great blunders—had failed to his knowledge to submit proposals of what should have been done in the Middle East, even with the benefit of hindsight He said generalized attacks were easy to make.’ — Additional Students Accept Dinner Bids Annual C. C. Dinner Here Thursday Night At least 20 and possibly five or 10 more foreign students of Indiana Technical College in Fort Wayne, representing that many countries, will attend the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet at 6:30 p. m. Thursday at the Decatur Youth and Community ter,The names of 10 additional students who have accepted the invitation were announced today. They are Asad Thohabehay, Syria; Thein Tun, Burma; Fritz Erler, an instructor at the college from Germany; Allan Mourillon, N ether land Antilles; Alberto Hurtado, Chille; Nuradeen Abdool, Trinidad; Paul Baretta, Netherlands; Agnar Eike, Norway;. Theohoris Kehayioglou, Greece, and John Hiles, Canada. Several of these students will give brief talks on youth opportunities in their own countries. Each of the students will be placed at a different table and those attending the banquet will be able to sit at the table represented by the country which interests them most. ~ Highlight of the banquet will be 1 (CvaUaaeS *a Pag* Flv*>

Peru's Shortage Os Power Is Easing Up Some Semblance Os Normalcy Returns PERU, Ind. (UP)— Miami County residents breathed a sigh of relief today as a "critical" electrical power shortage eased off and some semblance of normal living returned. A week ago today, water from the Wabash ‘River entered the municipal power plant through an open valve and knocked out generators. Since then, factories have been shut down completely or production curtailed, schools have been closed for certain periods, housewives have been ordered to conserve electricity and a general blackout enveloped this city at night. Many of the plants reopened Monday with staggered shifts and work loads to ease the strain on the electrical supply. And Mayor John Devine made use of the city fire siren to warn householders when they should turn off appliances to conserve the meager Supply of power. But most of the troubles seemed to be ironed out today, though electricity still was in short supply. Contractors currently are working on a multi-miUion dollar expansion program for the power plant. < . , fA, , Devine authorized officials '"SSf, the Public Service Company of Indiana to put employes on over time to speed the building of an . emergency line from Bunker Hill [ Air Force Base. It was hoped the i line would be completed by the end of the week. . New Witness Testifies In Chicago Case Bank Clerk States Sisters Followed Him From Theater CHICAGO (IB — A new witness told police today that the drivers of two cars apparently tried to pick up the slain Grimes sisters the night they disappeared. Roger Menard, 19, a bank clerk, said he sat behind the girls at the Brihton theater the night of Dec. 28, and that they followed him from the movie about 11:30 p. m. Police said it is possible the girls, Barbara, 16, and Patricia, 13, were slain within an hour after that. Their bodies, nude and frozen, were found Jan. 22 in a snowy ditch on the outskirts of the city. Menard said the girls walked along behind him on Archer Avenue. At an intersection, he said he heard a car brake to a stop and turned to see the girls talk with the car’s occupants and giggle. He described the car as a Buick, a 1951 to 1954 model. The car started up again and passed him going northeast on Archer, he said. Heard Them Giggle Menard said he stopped to gaze into a store window and the Grimes sisters passed him. Shortly afterward, he said, another car, a Mercury, pulled to a stop. Again the girls exchanged remarks and giggles with the occupants, Menard said. He said-.' he believed there were two teen-agers in the car. Menard said the car drove away fast. A short time later he said he ( turned off Archer toward his home, and the Grimes girls continued northeast along the thoroughfare. At that point, police said, the girls may have been less than an hour from death. A surprise medical report after inquest into the deaths indicated that a skid row romeo was lying when he said he and an accomplice killed the girls Jan- 13 after a week-long sex and liquor (Coadaaae oa Page

Six Cents

Robert E. Parr Year's Second Traffic Death Automobile Skids Off Road West Os Berne On Tuesday Robert E. Parr, 29-yeqr-old Adams county farmer who resided! at Berne route two, died of Injuries Sustained 1 in the county’s second traffic fatality within a week Tues* day at 3:10 p. m. 1 The accident occurred on a county road three and a half miles west and a fourth of a mile north of Berne. The Parr vehicle apparently went out of control on the ice as he headed north al* though the road had been sanded. The vehicle skidded from side to side on the road, slid into a ditch on the right side of the road, rolled over cm its side and then hit a utility pole. Parr was thrown out of*the car and the vehicle landed on top of him. County coroner Elmer Winter* egg, Jr., stated that he died almost immediately from a crushed chest and broken neck. Parr is the second 1957 traffic yictim in this county. Several days ago Arthur Zuercher, WyW'Old GeneBerne. The accident was investigated by sheriff Merle Affolder and state troopers Dan Kwasneski and Gene Rash, assisted by Berne police chief Karl Sprunger. Parr was married and had no children. Survivors include his wife, Betty; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bert W. Parr of Bente; a brother, Keith Parr of Berne; three sisters, Mrs. Marvin L. Sprunger of Decatur route six, and Judy and Donna Parr, at home, and the maternal grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Miller of near Bryant. A native of Jay county, Parr resided in Adams county most of his life. He was past commander of the Berne Post 468, American Legion, and a veteran of World War n, when he served with the U. S. Navy in Alaska. He was a member of the Bethel Brethren church, east of Berne. Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 2 p. m. at Bethel Brethren church, with the Rev. Irwin Miller officiating. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Friends may call at the Yager funeral home in Berne after 7 o'clock this evening until noon Friday. Military rites will be conducted at the cemetery by the Berne Legion post. Seven Are Orphaned By Traffic Death St. Joe Woman Is Killed In Accident FORT WAYNE (UP)— Seven children were orphaned Tuesday when an automobile accident on a county road near Grablll killed their mother, Mrs. Mary Zimmerman, 33, St. Joe, eight months after their father, died. Authorities said Mrs. Zimmerman was returning from work when her car apparently skidded on ice and crashed into a tree and a post. She was thrown from the vehicle and it overturned on her. A passerby saw the wrecked car and called police. They said they believed Mrs. Zimmerman was alive when put in the ambulance, but she was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital here. -Mr s. Zimmerman’s husbard, Sherman, died last May. Arrangements were made with relatives to take care of the children, who range in age from 4 to 16.