Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 41, Decatur, Adams County, 18 February 1957 — Page 1

Vol. LV. No. 41.

LAST OBSTACLE IN SUEZ CANAL

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■ WT‘ ■ ■ -Ao *».*«» - — TWO GERMAN salvage vessels, the “Ausdauer” and "Energie,” reputed to be the world’s most powerful lifting team, are raising the Egyptian LST “Akka” from the bottom of the Suez Canal, where, filled with cement, it was sunk on November 1. The Akka is said to be the last major obstacle blocking th waterway. When lifted, the ship is to be hauled to Bitter Lake and bumped.

U. S., Israel Negotiations At Standstill Latest Attempt By United States Given Rebuff By Israel WASHINGTON (W — Negotiations between the United States and Israel on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Egypt were near a stalemate today. Israel Sunday rebuffed the latest U. S. attempt to arrange a withdrawal, demanding firm guarantees that its security and shipping rights would be protected once Israeli forces pulled out of the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Aqaba area. President Eisenhower replied, in effect, that the United States was not prepared at this time to grant Israel any more assurances than it already has ottered, Plan Called Secure A withdrawal* under the American plan, the President said in a statement at his Thomasville, Ga., vacation retreat, would provide Israel “a greater source of security . . . than an occupation continued contrary to the over- ” whelming judgment of the world community.” ■_ The President also made public Sunday a memorandum bn this country's two-point plan for arranging an Israeli withdrawal. In return for such a withdrawal, the United States promised that it /would work to have United Nations forces move into the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Aqaba area. It also said it would declare that it considered the gulf an international waterway open to the shipping of all nations, including Israel. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban held their third discussion on the American plan in 48 hours Sunday afternoon. Dulles relayed the results of their talk to the President at Thomasville. Negative Results Reported Presidential, Press Secretary James C. Hagerty described the results to newsmen as “negative.” No definite time was set for another meeting —a development which, coupled with the President's strongly worded statement, indicated that the two countries were far apart. Eban said, howCoatlnued on Pa«e Kiußt Local Man's Father Dies In Michigan Ferdinand Price, Jr., 64, of Engadine, Mich., died Sunday at a hospital in Manistique, Mich., following a year’s illness. Surviving are • the widow, Lena; three sons, Carl F. Price of Decatur, Fritz, at home and Dan, Newberry, Mich.; two daughters, Miss Freda Price, at home, and Mrs. Leona Ecker of Buckley, 111., and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at the Lutheran church in Engadine. .. Lawson C. Lenhart Heart Attack Victim Lawson C. Lenhart, 53, a native of Decatur, died suddently Sunday of a coronary thrombosis at his home in Jackson, Mich. He was born in Decatur Nov. 1, 1903, and graduated from the Decatur high school. Surviving are his wife, Doris; two brothers, Robert E. of Napoleon, Mich., and Loneas L. of Gass Lake, Mich., and two,sisters. Miss Arta V. Lenhart of Chicago, and Mrs. Juanita Ehndom of Hurley, Wis. A number of cousins reside in Decatur. Services will be held at 11 a,m. Wednesday at the Wetherby funeral home in Jackson. x

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Several Injured In Rash Os Accidents - Autos Badly Damaged In Series Os Wrecks A resh of accidents in or near Adams county sent several persons to the hospital Sunday and caused extensive property damage. The first occurred at 12:30 a. m. on U. S. highway 27 at the south edge of Geneva. Clarence King, about 53, a Jay county farmer who resides southeast of Geneva, was injured when his car struck a bridge rail. King was headed south and hit the west side of the Buffalo bridge. The car was totally demolished by the impact. King, suffering a few crushed ribs, a leg injury and lacerations to his head, was taken to the hospital at Portland. State trooper Al Coppess and Geneva town marshal Preston Pyle investigated. > Decatar Residents Hurt Howard A. Raver, 59, of 728 Line street, and his wife, Gladys L„ waver, also 59, were injured when their car went out of control on U. S. highway 224 west of Topsin in Wells county early Sunday afternoon. One of the rear tires blew out, causing Raver to lose control of his vehicle, which went down an embankment, hit a cement culvert and turned ovpr. The car was totally demolished. Raver suffered injuries to his ribs and Mrs. Raver sustained a neck sprain. Raver is a patient at Adams county memorial hospital. Mrs. Raven was treated and released. State trooper Gene Rash assisted Wells county authorities in the investigation. „ • Car Hits Train A car driven by Theodore Swoveland. 20, of Decatur route three, skidded into an -Erie passenger train Sunday at 2:30 p. m. at the Piqua road crossing about three miles southeast of Decatur. Swoveland escaped injury but his car was totally demolished when he attempted to stop at the crossing and the vehicle skidded into the train, which was traveling about 70 miles an hour. The train was not damaged. Deputy sheriffs Robert" Meyer and Charles Arnold and state trooper Gene Rash investigated. Three Injured Three persons were injured in a collision of a car and a pickup truck Sunday at 6:50 p. m. three miles south of Decatur on the epunty road which runs past the Decatur drive-in theater at its junction with U. S. highway 33. The pickup truck, operated by (Continues on Page Eight) Christian Nuerge Dies This Morning Native Os County Is Taken By Death Christian Nuerge, 79, of Ossian rural route one, died this morning at the Lutheran home at Kendallville. He had been ill since NaV. 23. He was a patient at the Lutheran hospital in Fort Wayne from Dec. 16 until 10 days ago, when he was taken to the Kendallville home. He was born in Adams county May 29, 1877, a son of Conrad and Sophia Bieberich-Nuerge. He had never married. Mr. Nuerge was a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran church near Ossian.' Surviving are two brothers, Fred Nuerge of Ossian route one, and Karl Nuerge, Decatur route one. and two sisters, Mrs. Minnie Schaper of Ossian, and Mrs. Marie Wiehe of Kendallville. One brother preceded him in death. The body was to the Zwick funeral home. Funeral arrangements have not been completed.

Ike Confers With Dulles By Telephone Expect Eisenhower To Cut Short His Georgia Vacation THOMASVILLE, Ga. (UP) — President Eisenhower, expected to cut short his vacation because of the Middle East situation, conferred again by telephone with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles today. The President put aside hunting and golf so as to keep unusually close contact with the international situation. Asked about a report carried today by the United Press that the President might fly back to Washington Tuesday, Press Secretary James C. Hagerty said, “I don’t know when we are going back. As of now there has been no decision and I'll let you know the minute I know.*’ < . Hagerty also was aQjed about Mr. Eisenhower’s noticeable cough that has been lingering for several days. “He still has a little cough but he seems to be getting along very well—he seems to be improving each day,” Hagerty said. The press secretary said he assumed that in his talk with the President, Dulles told Mr. Eisenhower that Abba Eban, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, had returned to his home country for consultation about developments. Hagerty denied flatly that there was any current plan for Mr. Eisenhower to appear in person before the United Nations General Assembly in connection with the Middle East crisis, but he said the chief executive and Dulles were now discussing possible “farther action” by the United States in the U.N. While some friends of the Eisenhower family said the President was not hunting because of his (Ooattnuea on Fax« Klgbt) Cub Scout Banquet Here Tuesday Night Annual Blue, Gold Banquet Scheduled The annual blue and gold banquet of the Decatur Cub Scouts will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. 'at the Decatur Youth and Community Center. The banquet is held each year in connection with the anniversary of the parent organization, the Boy Scouts of America. The banquet has been planned by a three-pack committee which includes the Rev. Ray J. Walther, Pack 3061; Doyle Collier, Pack 3062, and David Wynn, Pack 3063 The Den Mothers were in charge of reservations and table arrangements. Lawrence Anspaugh, the father of a Cub Scout, will serve as master of ceremonies for the evening. Rev. Walther will give the invocation. The program for the evening will ' be presented by members of the local Archery club. Also on the agenda will be awards and recognition of committees. Group singing is also planned. Late Bulletins WASHINGTON (W — T h e House Veterans Affairs Committee today rejected President Eisenhower’s request to raise interest rates on GI home loans from the present 4’4 percent to 5 percent. Mr. Eisenhower had asked for the increase to encourage mortgage lenders to take a greater part In the lagging GI home loan program.

ONLY OAILV NRWRPAPBR IN ADAMS COUNTY

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—k. t Agreement Is Announced On Dock Strike Five-Day Walkout | By Longshoremen Scheduled To End NEW YORK (UP)—The International Longshoremen’s Association! decides today on when to call dockers back to work under the terms of a new three-year agreement reached in negotiations Sunday night. Representatives of the 45,000member independent ILA and the New York Shipping Association announced the agreement which ended a five-day walkout by longshoremen in Atlantic Coast ports from Maine to Virginia. It was not likely that longshoremen would return to work before late today at the earliest. Subcommittees of the union and shippers rtieet in the federal mediation offices today to work out contracts covering carpenters, checkers and other crafts in the ILA. There was a possibility that the union might advise the longshoremen to return to the docks withoift waiting to work out all contra# details and the necessary form# membership vote on The contract, retroactive to 06b 11, 1956, provides a 32-cents-an-hour package wage increase. Longshoremen will get 18 cents an hour over the current $2.48 hourly rate the first year and seven cents in each of two succeeding years. It expires Sept. 30, 1959. The walkout which began last Tuesday night in ports from Portland, Maine, to Hampton Roads, Va., was the resumption of S nineday strike last November which had paralyzed all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports and for one day also tied up Pacific Coast ports. The early strike was interrupted by an 80-day cooling off period ordered under the Taft-Hartley Act. The strike was renewed at the expiration of the no-strike injunction and it marked the first time that a strike has resumed after such an injunction since the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. Negotiations in the tugboat strike in New York, meanwhile, were reported to be making encouraging progress toward settlement of the 18-day-pld walkout by 4,000 members of the National Maritime Union (AFL-CIO). The strike which began at midnight Jan. 31. has forced ocean liners to dock by themselves and halted barges which carry fuel oil and other vital supplies to New York. * Mrs. Lydia Hakes Dies Here Sunday Funeral Services To Be Wednesday Mrs. Lydia Hakes, 68, lifelong resident of Adams county, died at 12 noon Sunday at her home, 728 Walnut street, following an illness of four months of complications. She was bom in Blue Creek township Aug. 23, 1888 a daughter of Frank and Mary Young, and was married to George Hakes Dec. 25, 1905. Her husband preceded her in death. Mrs. Hakes was a member of the Union church near Willshire, O,* Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Ethel Edwards, Decatur, and Mrs. Marie Havens, Fort Wayne: one son, Paris Hakes, Decatur; six grandchildren; nine great-grand-children, and one sister, Mrs. Jess Pickering, Chattanooga, O. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the residence. 728 Walnut street, and at 2 p.m. at the Nuttman Ave. United Brethren church, the Rev. Paul D. Parker officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. The body, removed to the Gillig & Doan funeral home will be returned to the residence, where friends may call after 7 o’clock this evening.

I—; — ——■ Civil Defense Head Warns Os A-Attack Estimates Half Os Nation Casualties WASHINGTON (UP) — Civil Defense Administrator Vai Peterson said today that 40 to 50 per cent nos the U.S. population would be killed in an enemy atorhic attack even if the best available system ofshelters vuxe in place. Peterson testified, however, *that he nevertheless has recommended to the White House that work be started on shelters that would be available not only to persons in target areas but to Americans generally. Peterson, in a heated defense of past civil defense policy based mainly on evacuation of big cities, warned against an assumption by ' some “sneering, snarling, snide” ’ editorial writers that shelters are ' the ultimate answer to civil de- 1 sense. ! “In the final analysis there is 1 no such thing as a nation being ! prepared for a thermo - nuclear war,” Peterson told a House Gov- i erament Operations subcommittee on civil defense. ; Peterson said evacuation plays 1 an important role in civil defense ] now and will continue to do so until the advent of the intercontinental ballistics missile, which would reduce warning time to near-zero. Peterson said dispersal of industry is just as important as shelter construction. He said new plants and additions to existing plants should be built underground, in mountains and rocks. Although asserting that shelters must be built, Peterson cautioned against expecting too much from them. He warned that an enemy attack would involve "hundreds” of atomic and hydrogen bombs and casualties in the millions. “If we built the best shelters that can be built we would still lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 45 per cent of our people in terms of the kind of weapons available in the near future and in the long range we may lose more than half of them,” Peterson said. William Pennington Dies Early Sunday Retired Carpenter Is Taken By Death William H. Pennington, 83, retired carpenter and resident of Adams county for the past 70 years, died at 5:20 o’clock Sunday morning at his home, 113 South Ninth street. He had been ill of complications, for two years and in serious condition for two weeks. Born in Paris, 111., Oct. 28, 1873, be was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Pennington, and was married to lonia Amerina Dec. 25, 1894. Surviving in addition to his wife are one daughter, Mrs. Josephine Robenold, Decatur; and four sisters, Mrs. Mary A. Hunt, Mrs. Virginia McMackin and Mrs. Nora Kora, all of Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Nettie Edwards, Glendale, Calif.- One brother and two sisters preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p. m. Tuesday at the Gillig & Doan funeral home, the Rev. John E. Chambers officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur, cemetery. Friends may call, at the funeral home until time of the services. INDIANA WEATHER 5 Partly cloudy and colder north with a few snow flurries near Lake Michigan, mostly cloudy and turning colder south with chance of some rain extreme south tonight. Tuesday partly cloudy and colder north and central, mostly cloudy and colder with chance of some rataror snow extreme , south. Low tonight 10-20 extreme north to the low 30s extreme south- High Tuesday in 20s north to the 30s south. Sunset 6:25 p.m., sunrise Tuesday 7:33 a.m.

Teachers Fill Galleries Os Legislature Lawmakers Return , To Statehouse For Final Three Weeks INDIANAPOLIS (UPi— School teachers and administrators packed galleries of the Indiana Legislature today, seeking assurance from lawmakers that a new state school aid proposal will not put the state’s educational progress in reverse. Concern over a school fund distribution suggested last week by the chairman of the House Ways & Means “A" Committee highlighted the morning as lawmakers returned to the Statehouse for the last three weeks of the 61-day session. Minority Democrats hoisted a red flag on the school fund issue. They also said they would oppose a bill to raise the gasoline tax by two cents a gallon and another to impose a “right to work” law on Indiana. Buttonhole House Members Educators started filling the House chambers an hour before the session was scheduled to begin. They button-holed lawmakers returning from the weekend recess and tadicatetL according to Reps. Richard Wright (ft-Wifi Chester) and Walter Maeiding (D-Terre Haute), their concern over the school distribution plan of Rep. S. Paul Clay (R-Indianapolls). Clay proposed for House consideration, expected later today, a simplified fund distribution formula by vjhich school units would receive state aid on the basis of enrollment alone. Wright said the Clay plan favors first and second class cities and does not take into consideration the needs of communities with low property valuations which cannot raise much money through local taxes. Maehling said he fears the new plan will result in larger classes. Welsh Questions Plan In the Senate, minority floor leader Matthew Welsh in a speech questioned the need for a “sudden change” in formula and wondered if it meant the state was trying to shirk its responsibility to education. He urged senators to "consider seriously” any possibly effects of “drastic changes” in the formula. Sen. John W? Van Ness (R-Val-paraiso) replied that “there win be no hasty action on any phase of this very serious problem” and (Oontinu*" ■rot' Claude D. Kreigh Dies This Morning Lifelong Resident Os Tocsin Is Dead Claude D. Kreigh, 55, lifelong resident of Tocsin, died at his home in that town at 1:45 o’clock this morning after an illness of 20 weeks of a heart ailment. He was bom at Tocsin Feb. 22. 1901, a son of Henry Wilson and Kathryn Lepper-Kreigh, and was married to Olive Merriman Aug. 13, 1925. Mr. Kreigh had been employed for the past two years at the Commercial Print Shop in Decatur, owned by his son-in-law and daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Warthman. Mr. Kreigh was a member of the Masonic lodge in Ossian, the Scottish Rite and Shrine in Fort Wayne, the Knights of Pythias grand lodge at Indianapolis, the Pythian Sisters at Tocsin, and the Order of Eastern Star at Ossian. Surviving are his wife and one daughter, Mrs. Bonnie Lou Warthman of Decatur. One brother preceded him in death. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Elzey & Sons funeral home in Ossian, with burial in Oak Lawn cemetery at Ossian. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 o’clock Tuesday evening until time of the services. ,

Thorough Review Is Ordered In Murders Chicago's Police Head Orders Review CHICAGO (UP) - Police started over from the beginning today in their month-long effort to find, a solid clue In the murder of the Grimes sisters. Police Commissioner Timothy J. O'Connor Sunday ordered a thof- . ough review of every lead, wit- ( ness and report in the baffling ! case. O’Connor appointed a top-level , police crew, headed by his chief > of detectives and an assistant com- , missioner, to lead the review. “We hope that by going over . what we’ve gathered so far we'll be able to re-evaluate past infor- ; mation and get a definite pattern on the girls’ pre-death movements,’’ O’Connor said. The nude and frozen bodies of Patricia Grimes, 13, and Barbara, 15, were discovered in a roadside ditch Jan. 22, weeks after they disappeared. „■ . ■-. Medical authorities said an autopsy indicated the girls died the ; night they disappeared—-Dec. 28— about five hours after they left home to attend an Elvis Presley movie. > Despite intensive scientific and - police investigation, authorities • still do not know how, when or s where the girls died. ’ Police theorized that perhaps the • girls never reached the movie, ' since it appears unlikely they could 5 have frozen to death in the few B hours between the time they left ‘ the show and the doctors death estimate. I* • Harvey F. Bucher • Dies Early Sunday - Funeral Services To Be Wednesday Harvey F. Bucher, 60, prominent Kirkland township farmer, died ■ at 12:45 o’clock Sunday morning i at his home in Preble. He had • been in failing health since last I July. » He was born in Root township ■ Nov. 11, 1896, a son of Christ and Louisa Knapp-Bucher, and was ’ married to Minnie Bauermeister r Oct. 27, 1917. Mr. Bucher was an active mem- [ ber of the St. Paul’s Lutheran i church at Preble. I Surviving are his wife; one daughter, Mrs. Donna Byerly, Kirkland township: one son, Robert H. Bucher, Preble; two grandchildren; three brothers, Christ F. Bucher, Decatur, Henry Bucher, Fort Wayne, and William Bucher, Arcadia, Calif., .and three sisters, Mrs. Jacob Wagner, Root township, Mrs. Otto Nyffler, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Herman Franke, Hoagland. One brother and one sister are deceased. [ Funeral services will be conducti ed at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the : Zwick funeral home and at 2 p.m. i at St. Paul’s Lutheran church at Preble, the Rey. Otto C. Busse of- , ficiating. Burial will be in the I church cemetery. Friends may call i at the funeral home until time of . the services. The casket will not be opened at the church. 1 . : Mother Os Decatur Lady Dies Sunday ] Mrs. Robert Anderson of this t city received word yesterday of the ; i unexpected death of her thtrther, s Mrs. Beulah McDonald, 74, of New s Albany. She was found dead at her , . home at noon Sunday. j Widow of the late Harry McDon- - aid, a New Albany druggist. - is survived by her daughter; a step-daughter, Mrs. Mariann t Botts of Millersburg, and a brotht er, Forrest Dorind of Kalamazoo, i Mich. t Funeral services will be conduct- > ed at the Thomas L. Mullineaux • funeral home in New Albany Tues- . day afternoon. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery at New Albany. |

Six Cmh

71 Killed In Missouri Home For Aged Fire * Three-Story Brick Building Reduced To Pile Os Rubble WARRENTON, Mo. TO — Firemen searched through the still hot debris of a home for the aged today for more bodies of the 71 persons burned to death with fire and explosion mushroomed through the old three-story building. The charred remains of 23 bodies were taken out of the basement of the building into which all those trapped inside tumbled when a muffled explosion caused floors and walls to fall. Searchers hoped to find others as the debris cooled. The blaze, which broke out Sunday afternoon in the Katie Jane Memorial Home, was one of the worst hospital fire disasters in the nation’s history. Dr. F. H. Knigge, Warren County coroner, said 71 persons were missing in the holocaust which reduced the three-story brick building to a pile of rubble. The blaze was the second within five days to sweep a midwestern home for the aged. Last Wednesday, 14, persons perished in a fire at Council Bluffs, _ lowa. Fears No Survivors Knigge said he was convinced none of the missing survived when several explosions and high-flying flames engulfed the 62-year-old structure. • , The tragedy occurred during visiting hours and authorities said more than 225 persons, including guests and visitors, were in the building. Most of the dead were trapped in the upper stories by smoke gad flames. Although the fire was brought under control within hours, searchers were forced to halt the hunt for bodies until daylight because of the intense heat from the glowing ruins. Only 10 bodies were removed by 10 o’clock Sunday night, and they were so charred it was impossible to identify them. Disrupts Peaceful Sunday. The blaze turned a peaceful Sunday afternoon at the home, located on a former college campus, into a scene of confusion and screaming panic. Heroic bystanders climbed ladders to pull people from windows, injured persons were laid on the lawn until they could be removed 5> nearby homes and stores for mergency treatment, and a temporary morgue was set up across the street to handle the bodies. W. S. O’Sullivan, owner of the home, said he was at a loss to explain the cause of the blaze in the recently renovated building. He said they had 194 guests, and an undetermined number of visitors. “We checked in the 194th guest just a few minutes before the fire,” O'Sullivan said. He estimated the loss at $250,000. O'Sullivan said a guest gave the first warning of the fire. Os the 71 persons listed as missing, 43 were women and 28 were men. Most of them were from Warren County and neighboring communities in the St. Louis area. Warrenton is 45 miles west of St. Louis. Explosion Follows Fire Warren Stewart, a filling station operator and one of the first to reach the scene, said an explosion followed the fire. He said the blast could have been caused by leaking artificial gas used for cooking purposes. The flames were fed by the gas, Stewart theorized, because no one turned off the main valve of the tanks. “The fire just mushroomed through the building,’’ Stewart said. In a matter of minutes, flames licked 200 feet into the air, and nearby residents dropped their quiet Sunday activities and ran to the building to help the screaming residents and guests to safety. Two remaining buildings of the nursing home were filled with patients, relatives, friends, officials, attendants and nurses. Firemen later were forced to evacuate I (Continues on Page Mght).