Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 121, Decatur, Adams County, 22 May 1957 — Page 1

Vol. LV. No. 121.

LISTENING FOR ANYONE ALIVE V ! » ■ ""' \ ' » ■ -" 'IL. « H Lr RESCUE WORKERS due/ down on a pile of tornado debris to listen for sounds of victims still alive. This is the Ruskin Heights suburban section of Kansas City, Mo.

Death", Toll In New Tornadoes Mounts To 18

FREMONT, Mo. (UP) — The death toll rose to at least 18 today in a swarm of tornadoes that swept through eastern Missouri and virtually destroyed the little town of Fremont Tuesday night. Latest count showed nine dead at Desloge, eight at Fremont and one at Van Buren. The death-dealing weather continued to threaten the area, with high winds reported at Dexter in southeast Missouri where trees were uprooted and cars demolished early today. The Fremont tornado raced down a hollow along U.S, -88, tearing apart the community built along both sides of the highway. Only three buildings were left standing, a church, the post office and one store. Every home in the town of 207 population was levelled to the foundation. One witness said that outside of the three buildings spared by the twister, “nothing over three feet high was left standing. Homes, Businesses Damaged The funnel roared eastward, dipping to a cluster of five homes and a motel. Witnesses said the motel collapsed into rubble, leaving nothing but the concrete block foundation. The owner, James L. Wilkins, and his family took refuge in a concrete pump house. The five homes were damaged and three persons of one family seriously injured. t J . The twister then smashed into nearby Van Buren and slammed into the town square before disappearing. The twister missed a courthouse building in the square, but destroyed a number of business places and homes. Refugees from the Fr. e most storm, all of them homeless, were taken to Winona, 11 miles away, where they were housed in temporary quarters with the help of the Red Cross. The latest victims brought to 56 the number of persons killed by a series of tornadoes striking Missouri and Kansas in the last two nights. Thirty-eight died when a tornado ripped through suburban Kansas City Monday night. Property damage in the Cant-well-Desloge area alone was expected to reach 10 million dolars. The entire school system—a high school and auditorium and a grade school—was demolished. 34 Hurt at Desloge Victims still suffering shock started the back-breaking task of gathering shattered homes and families today. At least 500 homes were damaged or destroyed in the path of the tornadoes Tuesday night. , .. The midwest headquarters of the Red Cross in St. Louis reported the figure of 18 deaths. State Traffic Toll Near To 1956 Figure INDIANAPOLIS (UP) — Indiana’s 1957 traffic death toll, which has been running 5 to 15 per cent below last year’s statistics, climbed last week within a whisker of the 1956 fatality list. State Police said the total deaths through last Sunday midnight was 370, compared with 378 at the same time last year. Twenty-nine new names were added to the list last week, compared with 14 in the corresponding period of 1956. 12 Pages

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY . . ’

Ask Traffic Signal On Second Street Petition Is Filed With City Council Erection of a traffic signal at the corner of Second and Jefferson streets, in the south part of the city's signal by tfames Kane and others, was presented to the city council at its regular meeting in the council chamber Tuesday night. The intersection was branded as a hazard both to motorists and pedestrians. The matter wa< referred to the board of safety. Next step if the petition were approved would be reference to the state highway commission, which has first authority on city streets which also are state highways. If the commission rejects the proposal, then the council has a final right to act. Councilmen appeared to favor the petition. An ordinance was unanimously passed under suspension of rules legalizing a contract between the new well, east of the city, to the water treatment plant. A petition for an electric line extension to the Auer home on the Winchester road, signal by George and Kathleen Auer, was referred to the electric committee and - superintendent. The petition of Leonard T. Myers for water to his residence west of the corporation limits was reported favorably by the water committee and approved by the council. Wage scale committee reports were placed on file for both the electric line improvement and sewage disposal plant. Wages on these two projects will range from $1.83 an hour to $3.65, depending on skill and craft. A request of fire chief Cedric Fisher that a plot of land just north of the fire station, 22 feet by 88 feet, be paved for use by the fire department was referred to the board of works. Mrs. Hazel Aeschliman asked that a better drain for her land on Washington street be made and also that a tree be removed near one of her properties where wires might prove dangerous Immediate investigation was assure. Clarence Brunnegraff’s verbal petition for a cement sidewalk at his property at the corner of Elm and Line streets and that the engineer be authorized to make the line so it would meet any future walk construction, was referred to the street committee. After allowing bills and hearing reports of department heads, the council adjourned. INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and warm today with scattered showers or thunderstorms mostly south portion tonight. Turning cooler north portion tonight. Thursday partly cloudy with chance of showers. Cooler north portion Thursday. Low tonight ranging from the 50s extreme north to the 60s south. High Thursday around 70 north to the 80s south. Sunset 7:59 p.< m., sunrise Thursday 8:25 a. m.

Electrical And Wind Storms Sweep Indiana Storm Accompanied By Heavy Rainfall In South Portions By UNITED PRESS , Violent wind and electrical storms swept Indiana Tuesday night, accompanied by heavy downpours which fell on an already water-soaked countryside. One person was injured near Boonville, and a city employe was electrocuted at Indianapolis while clearing debris. More than four inches of rain fell on some southern Indiana areas during rumbling thunderstorms and brilliant lightning displays. Southwestern sections rode out a tornado alert that lasted throughout the humid, oppressive night. A twister was reported at Paradise, near Boonville, and high winds cut a 10-mile swath through Carroll County in and near Delphi. Surface waters and overflowing ditches and creeks sprouted flooding, and lightning bolts cut off power to many homes. At Indianapolis, winds measured at 65 miles per hour tore down wires and trees, and utility spokesmen said as many as 10,000 homes were without electricity at various times during .the night. Nat Vermillion Jr., 21, Indianapolis, a city park department employe, was electrocuted while clearing storm debris. He walked into a power line tangled in the branches of a tree toppled by the storm. The rain tapered off to scarcely measurable amounts in the far north. 4.20 Inches of Rain Fall But downstate, where heavy rain measuring up to more than four inches doused a wide area only two days earlier, precipitation measurements above two inches were common. They included 4.20 inches at Mount Vernon, 3.72 at New Harmony, 2.95 at Evansville. 2.52 at Noblesville, 2.59 at Shelbyville, 2.58 at Columbus, 2.31 at Martinsville, 2.59 at Scottsburg, and nearly two inches at Bloomington, Spencer, Shoals, Bedford, Seymour and numberous other southern cities. At Paradise, Mrs. Beverly Greeninger, 18, was injured when her home was lifted off its foundation and carried 200 feet by high winds. Residents believed it was a small twister, but the Evansville weather bureau said there was “no evidence it was a tornado.” Mrs. Greeninger was treated for chest injuries and lacerations in an Evansville hospital. The all-clear signal for tornado threats in Indiana was lifted soon after dawn today. But forecasts called for showers and thunderstorms over most of the 'state today and tonight, and showers Thursday. More Heavy Rain Due The five-day outlook for Indiana called for precipitation averaging around an inch in showers Thursday'and Friday. , Temperatures the next five days will average near to 3 degrees Sw normal highs of 71 to 81 and lows of 51 to 62. Cooler north Thursday and south Friday was (Continued on Pago Three)

Employment Drops Here During April Industrial Payroll Also On Decrease Industrial employment in Decatur during April, 1957, was 1,469 compared with 1,607 during the same month a year ago, seven local industries report in the monthly Chamber of Commerce business barometer. The 1957 industrial payroll for April was $494,941 compared with $507,833 a year ago, the statistics reveal. Railway express shipments declined, chiefly because of a strike in some areas. There were 892 shipments compared with 1,007 a year ago. Carloadings in showed a gain of 693 over 442 in 1957 and the out figures this year were 1,408 compared with 1,040 a year ago. * Direct poor relief increased from 18 cases this year compared with 14 a year ago, and the cost doubled. Fifty births were reported compared with 48 in April, 1956, and there were 16 deaths compared with 12 a year ago. . . , Telephones showed an increase and gas and water meter installations showed slight gains. There were six building permits issued with a value of $37,100, compared with 13 in 1956 and a value of $816,555.

Decatur, Indiana, Wed nesday, May 22, 1957.

Democratic Leaders In House Virtually Give Up Hopes Os Tax Cuts

House Speaker Rayburn Doubts Cut This Year Rayburn Revises Earlier, Hope Os Early Tax Slash •«. WASHINGTON (IP) — T h e Democratic high command indicated today it has abandoned plans to push a tax-cutting bill through the House this year. The hint came shortly after President Eisenhower told his news conference in vehement terms that he would never agree to a tax cut until a much bigger budget surplus is in sight Eisenhower added that the budget now is in a precarious state of balance and we haven’t reached the point where we can even talk about tax reduction. About an hour after Eisenhower's news conference, Speaker Sam Rayburn told newsmen the House will proceed with a study of the tax question but that he doubts now that any action will be taken before next year. - But Rayburn held fast to an earlier prediction that income taxes will be reduced, effective next Jan.-!. , It was clear that Rayburn’s apparent decision to postpone action until next year was reached before Eisenhower spoke out strongly against a tax cut at his news conference. It appeared to have been based on a report Tuesday from congressional staff tax experts that federal spending is rising faster than Congress can cut it. Rayburn’s reappraisal of his tentative plans for a tax-cutting drive this year began soon after the report warned that a smaller federal budget surplus is in prospect now tfcan envisioned by Eisenhower’s January budget message. To Eisenhower’s remark that it is too early even to talk about a tax cut, Rayburn commented: "Well, I’m talking about a tax cut, and I ve been talking about one. And I think next year we will have one.” Kendallville Voles Power Plant Sale ‘ To Sell System To Indiana-Michigan KENDALLVILLE, Ind. W — Citizens of Kendallville Tuesday voted 1,029 to 838 to discontinue operation of the city electric generating plant and sell its distribution facilities to Indiana & Michigan Electric Co. Indiana & Michigan, which services 161 communities in northern and central Indiana and southwestern Michigan, will pay the city $1,181,500 for its distribution facilities. A spokesman for the electric utility said the company will begin immediately its plans to tie Kendallville in wi|h its electric system. The city council voted last summer against spending approximately a quarter of a million dollars to construct a new cityowned power plant, with the result that Indiana & Michigan was to provide the city’s electricity no matter the outcome of Tuesday’s referendum. With application of the new service, it will mean a saving of $75,000 annually to consumers, officials said. ■» - Two Appointed To Board Os Welfare Judge Myles F. Parrish has announced the appointment of two members of the Adams county department of welfare, to serve from June 1 of this /ear until May 31, 1961. To serve on the board will be Mrs Lula E. Fruchte, 418 North Fifth street, and Francis E. Shall. 351 Stevenson street.

Showcase, Chicken Barbecue June 4-5 Open Ticket Sales For Merchant Show The first Decatur merchants showcase and chicken barbecue, will be held at the Youth and Community Center Tuesday and Wednesday, June 4 and 5. Fred Kolter, ticket chairman of the event, announced today that ticket§ far the barbecue have been placed on sale with all of the participating merchants. To date. 42 local merchants have been granted space for booths to be established in the large east room of the center. The showcase will open at 4 p. m. and will remain open until 9 p.m., each day of the event, and serving time for the complete ranch type dinner has been set at 4:30 until 7:30 p. m. A large catering firm from Glen Carn, Ohio, has been secured to barbecue the chicken. Barbecueing quarters will be established in a large tent to be placed on the east lot of the center. Where the chicken will be charcoal barbecued in open pits. Ladies of the Pleasant Mills Methodist church will serve the meal. Harry James, chairman of this year’s showcase, which is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that the planned event will take the place of the usual spring festival, which is generally conducted at this time of the year on the downtown streets of Decatur. It is the hope of the Chamber, that if successful, this locally sponsored and locally conducted project will become an annual affair. James stated that the tickets being sold are only for the chicken barbecue, as there will be no charge for persons attending the showcase. Twenty-five hundred dollars worth of valuable gifts will be given throughout the two(Contlnued on Pare Three) White House Steps Into Jap Dispute Japanese Demand Soldier Be Tried WASHINGTON (W — Presidept Elsenhower said today the State and Defense departments are working very hard to try to settle a dispute over whether an American soldier charged with manslaughter in Japan shall be turned over to a Japanese court for trial. He avoided taking sides in the dispute, which has aroused some anti-American sentiment in Japan and renewed U. S. congressional criticism of the agreement giving Japan' limited court jurisdiction over American troops stationed there. The President told his news conference that the problem is one of fulfilling international agreements between Japan and the United States and at the same time seeing that no injustice was done to the accused man, Army Specialist 3C William S. Girard, Ottawa, 111. Girard is accused of killing a Japanese woman, Mrs. Naha Sakai, at a U. S. firing range at Camp Weir, Japan, where he was assigned to protect a machinegun emplacement, ihe woman, with others, reportedly was scavenging for expended shell cases. State Department officials are concerned because the affair has caused a worsening of JapaneseAmerican relations on the eve of a visit to the United States by Japanese Premer Nobusuke Kishi. Kishi is due here June 19 for talks with Eisenhower and other officials. Army Secretary Wilber M. Brucker was said to have raised the case at a meeting he attended Tuesday between President Eisenhower and Republican congressional leaders. Brucker later discussed the matter with Secretary of, State John Foster Dulles and other State Department officials. It was decided to ask Tokyo for mon details. (Continued on Pag* Three)

Folly To Cut Aid To Foreign Lands-Dulles Joins Eisenhower -In Warning Against Any Further Slashes WASHINGTON (UP)—Secretary of State John Foster Dulles told Congress today it would be “folly” for the United States to cut foreign aid spending and weaken the free world's system of collective security. Dulles, formally launching the administration's bid for congressional approval of President Eisenhower’s scaled-down $3,856,000,000 foreign aid program, joined Eisenhower in warning against any further cuts. Under questioning by Sen. Bqprke B. Hickenlooper (R-Iowa), Dulles said he felt that ''if we were not spending dollars, we would be spending blood and I think the money is much preferable to the blood.” Eisenhower charged in a TVradio speech to the American people Tuesday night that those seeking to cut the program further are “reckless” gamblers- with the nation’s security. Build Protection Dulles put it this way in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “It would be folly now, in the absence of a safeguarded agreement for inspected reciprocal reduction of armaments, to weaken in any manner the collective security system which provides the greatest deterrent against aggression at the least cost.” He said the United States is seeking to reach such an agreement with Russia, and is making some progress, but must be certain there are “adequate means to verify performance and to gain increased protection... against surprise attack... “We do not and will not rely upon Soviet promises alone... Experience has demonstrated that agreements with the Communists are not dependable so long as they are merely based upon paper accords.” _ (Continued on Pa— Three) t May 10 Accident Takes Third tile Six-Year-Old Girl Dies Os Injuries Injuries sustained in an automobile collision May 10 resulted in the death of Margaret Baker, 6, of New Castle. The little girl died Monday at the Parkview memorial hospital in Fort Wayne, where she was taken after receiving emergency treatment at the Adams county memorial hospital. Anthony Laker, 22, of route two Monroeville, and the child’s grandmother, Mea. Mary Powell Runyon, 82, a resident of New Castle, were fatally injured in the headon crash which occurred that morning at 6:25 o’clock, on U.S. highway on the curve one mile east of Decatur. Laker was driver of one of the automobiles, and Mrs. Runyon and the Baker child were passengers in a station wagon driven by Cordie Jess Baker, son-in-law of Mrs. Runyon, and father of the deceased girl. He remains in critical condition ‘at the Parkview hospital, suffering from shock and severe injuries to his entire left side, including deep multiple lacretations to his leg, a broken wrist and internal injuries. Sheriff Merle Affolder, one of the investigating officers at the time of the accident, stated today that authorities are still unable to question Baker to determine the cause of the accident. The latest death from the accident marks the fifth traffic death for this year in Adams county. The body of the girl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cordie Jess Baker, New Castle was taken to a New Castle funeral home.

Union Sources Say Beck Must Resign Teamster Heads In Conference Today WASHINGTON (UP) — Informed sources predicted today that Teamster President Dave Beck will be out of .a job in a matter of weeks. The sources said the beginning of the end for Back as Teamster president would come today at a meeting of Teamster SecretaryTreasurer John F., English and several Teamster vice presidents. English—named Tuesday night to Beck’s place on the AFL-CIO Executive Council — said a majority of the Teamsters’ 13-man executive board will demand, probably sometime today, that Beck call a board meeting "within a week or 10 days.” English said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Beck were asked to resign at the meeting. Union sources said Beck would be asked to resign from the post he has held since 1952 and that if he refused he would be forced out. They said English and other Teamster leaders have decided that for the good of the union “Beck must go” before the union elections in September. The AFL-CIO Executive Council named English to council only a day after tossing Beck off of it for "gross misuse” of hundreds of . thousands of dollars in Teamster funds as charged by the Senate : Rackets Committee. The move ■ gave English open backing of la- • bor’s high command in his efforts 1 to oust Beck. i English promptly announced he ■ would support Teamster Vice President John T. O’Brien of Chii cago for Teamster president in ■ September. O’Brien already has : said he will run for the giant union’s top post. I The intentions of James R. Hoffa, another Teamster vice president and one-time “heir apparent” to Beck’s post as president, are not known. Hoffa has been indicted by two separate federal grand juries on charges of wire-tapping and of trying to bribe his way into the secret files of the Senate committee. Late Bulletin Gustav Kraeckeberg, 67, of Decatar route' 5, died of a heart attack at 1:30 o’clock this afternoon while doing carpenter work on the Santina farm, two and one-half miles south and one and one-half miles west of Decatur. Ike Proposes First Step On Disarming Says U.S., Russia Should Take Lead WASHINGTON (W — President Eisenhower said today the United States and Russia should take a step toward disarmament in the hope it would lead to reduction of arms spending by both countries. Disarmament, he said at his news conference, is essential to reduce world tensions. This country, the President said, must meet Russia half-way. He proposed that a first step toward disarmament be made as a test of good intentions by both sides. This, he added, could lead eventually to a situation in which both Russia and the United States could cut their huge defense budgets to something, as he put it, within reason. The President did not offer a specific plan for his proposed first step. But presumably he had in mind introduction of aerial inspection. such as has been proposed by the United States, on a test basis in Siberia- and Alaska. - • He said it would be futile to hope in the present state of East-West relations for a final answer now 1 (Costtnued on P*<« Three)

Ike Will Not Agree To Any Tax Cut Now Declares Budget Is Mow In Precarious State Os Balance) WASHINGTON (UP)-President Eisenhower said today he will never agree to a tax cut until the government has a much bigger budget surplus in sight than it has now. Eisenhower told his news conference that the federal budget is now in what he called a precarious state of balance. He said vehemently that we are not yet at the point where we can even talk about tax reduction. He said spending in some government departments is running seriously over budget estimates in spite of all the administration can do to hold down expenditures. He said he will do his best to keep the current fiscal 1957 budget and the budget for fiscal 1958, which ends July 1, in the black. But he said he would never agree ■ to tax reduction when the budget is in such a state. 1 Says Mail Favorable i Other news conference high- • lights: . •t • : r —He sharply criticized the $2.- • 586,775,000 cut in defense appro- > priations voted by the House Ap- > propriations Committee Tuesday. . The President said about half of s the reduction was nothing but a bookkeeping operation that will not reduce fiscal 1958 spending by s 1 cent. But he warned the other • half of the cut will directly affect • key defense programs, including i aircraft procurement and guided i missile development. He said he . is very hopeful Congress will restore this part of the cut because national security will suffer if it stands. —He reported that White House mail, which was running heavily against his budget proposals early this year, has gradually swung around in sentiment and today is very much in favor of his stand . against crippling economy cuts. He said he assumes his speeches to the nation such as Tuesday night's broadcast defending his foreign aid proposals may have had something to do with this shift in public sentiment. —He said he will continue taking his budget case to the nation. As long as he is in a fight, he commented grimly, he will never rest until the United States gets what he thinks if necessary for waging peace, protecting the nation and operating the government. Open Mind on Disarmament —■Die President was asked whether he might show “more enthusiasm” in the 1958 congressional campaigns in backing GOP senators and congressmen who have supported his program than those who have fought him. He said he hopes he is never accused of being so namby-pamby that, be does not have degrees of enthusiasm between those who stand with him and against him. He said he wants a Republican in Congress because he believes in party responsibility. To that extent,- he said, he is for whatever candidate Republicans of any district nominate. But he said he naturally is more enthusiastic about some than others. —He said the United States is trying to keep an open mind in the current big power disarmament talks in London and will try to meet any sincere Russian proposal half way. But he said we have to be especially careful of insuring an adequate inspection system when we are dealing with a country which has a long record of broken agreements. ■ —in response to a question, he said there is no doubt that some rich men have taken unfair advantage of the 27% per cent depletion allowance granted to oil Well owners in their federal income tax returns. But he said he is not prepared to say the allowance is evil because it has served as an incentive for necessary ott exploration. Studying Girard Case —He said he does not know of any U.S. atomic tests that are being planned for the Pacific (Conttnund cm Page Four) ,

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