Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 157, Decatur, Adams County, 5 July 1957 — Page 1

Vol. LV. No. 157

HEAVY WIND DAMAGE AT PREBLE TAVERN

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THURSDAY EVENING’S tornado-like winds wreaked heavy damage at the new Preble Tavern, west of Decatur. Pictured above are two late model autos, badly damaged when the roof fell on them in the parking area at the tavern. Damage to the building, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Martin Walchle, was unofficially estimated at more than $13,000. The tavern was opened in its new location only a few months ago—(Staff Photo) »- ■ . A ’ ~ f ...

Severe Damage Caused By High Winds Thursday

A comparatively quiet Fourth c* July ended with a bang Thursday evening, as gusts of wind up to 70 miles an hour took hold of Decatur and surrounding area. The front half roof of the Preble Tavern, four miles west of Decatur, on U. S. 224. was literally lifted from the building at 7 p. m. It momentarily was suspended in the air, throwing particles of the structure about as it swayed to and fro, before crashing on the front and northeast corner of the one story building. Four cars parked along the front of the building received the brunt of the falling roof as each was almost completely demolished. Inside, the entire dining room and bar, which were overflowing with holiday visitors, was completely devastated. Miraculously, only four persons ‘■were injured in the freak mishap. Charles Christner, of Monroe, received a puncture wound on his right arm, and Thelma Christner sustained an injury to the right thigh. A falling cement block fell on the foot of Gerald Foreman, of Monroe, mashing his right large toe, and Irene Death, of Decatur, suffered a cut left forearm from flying splinters. All were rushed to the Adams county memorial hospital where they were treated, and later dismissed. At first report, it was believed that a number of persons were trapped in the building, and two local ambulances, the sheriff’s department, local police and state police rushed to the scene. George L. Atkinson, of Bluffton, was owner of one of the cars which was completely demolished by the falling roof. A late model car owned by Gerald Foreman, of Monroe, who was one of the injured, sustained SI4OO in damages, as the entire top of his car was smashed in. The top, aerial, and back seat of a new convertible car belonging to Cary Augustus McCune, .-Of Geneva, received estimated damages amounting to SSOO. A brand new car, still with dealer’s plates, and driven by Kenneth D. Neff, of Montpelier, sustained $1,500 in damages. The entire top was smashed in, and the right door and right side were extensively damaged. The tavern, which celebrated its grand opening several months ago, was owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Martin Walchle. Both of the owners were present when the freak winds struck, and Mrs. Walchle suffered deep shock and had to be treated by a physj- * rt;n W ho h?d been called to the > scene. \ ... Although an official estimate of damage to the brick and frame structure was not available today, it was believed that it would be in excess of $13,000. The I & M sub station Just east of Preble was out for ’ a short time following the stornfi, cutting off power in that area for several hours. Workers immediately -started working on the main (Continued on Par* Four)

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

; Six States Are r ; Hit By Violent ‘ Holiday Storms I Heavy Damage Done At Bryan, Ohio, Thur day Evening By UNITED PRESS Tornadoes and thundershowers ; stormed across six states in a violent Fourth of July weather out- ; burst, killing at least one person and injuring 25 others. A blazing California heat wave touched off the Los Angeles area’s worst brush fire of the season, destroying some 15 homes in the Deerlake Park highlands region. Twisters and other wild windstorms killed one youth in Minnesota, and injured 10 persons in Michigan, 8 in Indiana, 4 in Wisconsin and 3 in lowa. In addition, a tornado at Bryan, Ohio, caused damages estimated at $500,000. but no injuries. The Michigan twister ripped the Saxony subdivision east of Brighton, injuring four members of onq family when it crumpled their home. Another tornado hit near Rogers City, Mich., causing some farm damageClaims One Victim At least two homes were destroyed and more than 10 houses were damaged in the Michigan storms. Utility lines were reported down in sections of Livingston and Oakland counties. Another tornado swept the small community of Brill, Wis., churning • one-half mile path of destruction. At least four persons were injured and seven homes in the village were damaged. The only victim of the storms that raked the Midwest was Thomas Klein, 14, who drowned when squalls overturned a fishing boat on Island Lake near Duluth, Minn. The tornadic weather began in lowa during the morning when a twister roared into the community %f Lake City, injuring one woman seriously, destroying four homes and damaging 20 others. 'At Bryan, Ohio, a twister knocked the clock of the town hall, deroofed six stores, destroyed cars, uprooted trees and downed utility lines. Police Chief Richard Bloier estimated damage at $500,000. Scores Flee Fires A tornado also caused an estimated $50,009 damage when it struck near Bengal and Marietta, Ind., about 35 miles south of Indianapolis. . Violent thunderstorms accompanied by high winds also caused extensive damage in Franklin, Edinburg and Columbus, Ind- At least eight persons were injured in Franklin. In the Far West, 100 - degree temperatures baked southern California, Texas and Oklahoma, . Scores of persons were forged to (Continued on Page Two) - A ' ~

franklin Area Hardest Hit In Indiana Storms Gate Force Winds Rake South Central Indiana Thurday By UNITED PRESS Winds of gale force raked South Central Indiana in a Fourth of July display of weather violence. An area in and around Franklin was hardest hit. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped off at their trunks. Electrical and telephefcto service was disrupted indefinitely. • , At least six persons were injured slightly. The Johnson County Courthouse tower was damaged badly. Streets were blocked by fallen poles, wires and trees. Several automobiles were crushed by trees and a few homes and business buildings were damaged slightly Hurricane and Youngs Creeks went on a rampage at Franklin after nearly 3t4 inches of rain fell, and U.S. 31 was closed with overflow water at the southwest edge of the city. The violent storm swept a wide area of Johnson and Shelby Counties and touched more lightly other Central Indiana points including New Castle where two persons were injured at a tent-cov-ered skating rink. Was Storm A Tornado? The weather bureau classified as a tornado the storm when it hit Bengal and Marietta, two tiny communities between Franklin and Shelbyville. The bureau estimated damage at $50,000 in that area. Weather experts said, however, that they had received the report of a tornado second-hand and had not checked it out to determine if it actually was a twister. The squall line hit the midstate area with its fury only a week after disastrous flash floods occurred in the same general area with nearly a dozen deaths recorded, many by drowning. Heavy rains included 3.33" at Franklin, 2.40 at Indianapolis, 2.35 at Portland, 2 inches at Shelbyville, 130 at Muncie, 1.20 at Lafayette, 1.98 at Columbus, and amounts ranging from one-hah inch' to an inch at Whitestown, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Crawfordsville, Warsaw, Noblesville and other points. Whitestown was the town where nearly eight inches of rain fell a week ago in less than 24 hours. This time the measurement was i .75. The heavy rain sent streams rising again, just as they were getting back to normal in all except the extreme southwest section from last week’s torrents. The Wabash and White Rivers both were rising in their headwaters this morning. Temperatures Cool Off Cooler temperatures came in with the storms. Overnight lows were in the low 60s throughout the : state after highs ranging from 79 at Fort Wayne to 93 at Evansville on the holiday.’ Highs ranging from 75 to 80 were due this afternoon, lows tonight from 60 to 70, and highs Saturday in a “fair and pleasant” outlook from 80 to 85. The five-day outlook called for temperatures averaging 2 to 4 degrees below normal highs of 83 to 90 and normal lows of 62 to 71. A little warmer Saturday and Sunday, cooler early in’ the week, and precipitation averaging one-quar-ter to one-half inch as showers Coatiaaed aa». Pace KL*ht '• ' . ■ T— ' ' '

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY — . i i»ii i

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, July 5,1957

Biggest Atomic Device Ever Fired Inside The U. S. Is Set Off Today

Attorneys For Girard Appeal To High Court Ask Supreme Court Nullify All Status Os Forces Pacts WASHINGTON (UP)-Attorneys for William S. Girard will call on the Supreme Court today to make a sweeping judgment nullifying all this country’s “status of forces” agreements with its Allies. Defense Secretary Charles E Wilson and State Department officials have warned that if the agreements are declared unconstitutional or destroyed by congressional action the whole U.S. system of defense through foreign bases will be jeopardized. The United States would be forced to close its overseas bases and bring the troops home, they said. Dayton M. Harrington, Washington member of a panel of lawyers i representing Girard, said he would file with the Supreme Court late this afternoon a 50-page brief answering the government’s written arguments Tiled Monday. He said the brief would ask the court to declare unconstitutional President Eisenhower’s surrender of the soldier to Japan for ma#r slaughter trial in the firing range death of a Japanese woman metalscavanger. In addition, he said, the brief will challenge the right of the U.S. government’s executive branch, or the executive in consultation with the Senate, to make agreements subjecting American troops overseas to foreign courts. The status of forces agreements give U.S- authorities jurisdiction over “on-duty” offenses of U.S. servicemen in most cases. The host government retains the right to try off-duty cases and exceptional on-duty ones. Girard’s lawyers are answering a government argument, filed by Atty. Gen. Herbert R. Brownell Jr., that Japan would have the right to try the Ottawa, 111., soldier even if the high court ruled that the administration had no constitutional righ to turn him over to Japanese authorities. Any sovereign nation, Brownell (ContißiMMi Pace Five) Smith, Mogilner Accused In lowa Fraud Conspiracy Charged To Pair DES MOINES, lowa (UP)-For-mer Indiana Highway Chairman Virgil (Red) Smith and “Gio” salesman Arthur J. Mogilner of Indianapolis' Wednesday night were accused by a special lowa legislative investigating committee of “a joint conspiracy to defraud” the State of lowa. The committee said there was “no evidence” that state Democratic party officials or Democratic Gov. Herschel C. Loveless had knowledge of the attempt to “pad” bids on lowa Highway Commission equipment. But it said the names of Loveless and party officials “were mentioned frequently by the co-conspirators ” The committee report also cleared Highway Commissioner Mel Graham and the other commission members and said there was no evidence that they were “a party to the conspiracy,” The report accused Smith and Mogilner of an attempt to “defraud the state” by attempting to influence Graham to “halt or delay” the equipment letting on power mowers set for April 16, and by convincing road machinery company officials they should “pad” the bids of their equipment at the April 16 letting. The committee recommended that Atty. Gen. Norman Erbe look over testimony before the committee to see if criminal indictments could be brought against Mogilner and Smith. Smith and Mogilner now are undet criminal indictment in con-; nection with the highway scandal in Indiana.

2nd Rocket Crashes Soon After Fired Crashes 25 Seconds After Being Fired [ FT. CHURCHILL, Man. (UP) — An Aerobee-Hi rocket, the second |p be fired at this northern Canadian test site in two days, crashed rtarly today less than a minute [after it was launchedof the U.S. task force pciSßducting the firing started an s immediate investigation to deter--1 mine the cause of the failure. * v The rocket, like Thursday’s, was * aimed at the ionosphere. It was part of a rocket firing project for the International Geophysical " Year. No one was injured by the crash. s The rocket, a 21-foot device car- ' rying 145 pounds of recording * instruments in its nose, dived back * to earth just 25 seconds after 1 blast-off. I ; Thursday’s launching had been ’ a success. » Both tests were to deal with the density of electric charges in the ' ionosphere. The noon and mid- ’ night firings were to compare the * charged densities in day and night. *[Data from the rocket was to be ‘ relayed by radio waves to ground ’ recording devices. , The next launching will take ; place on the night of July 19 1 The first rocket fired Thursday r soared 160 miles into the air at a ’’Tsfleed of 4,200 mfles per hour. The e 21-foot rocket took about TO min- ' utes to make the round trip. . A total of 76 of the Aerobee-Hi 1 projectiles will be fired from this '• top-ranking proving ground the 18 r months of world-wide IGy tests. 1 Thursday’s rocket fell short of s - the 193-mile altitude record set by an Aerobee at the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, s April 20. 1 The rocket tests are being made * at the Fort Churchill Canadian ■ army testing base, 600 miles (ContiaaeO Pace Five) r . i Holiday Death Toll J Is Eight In State x - Four Traffic Deaths On Actual Holiday By UNITED PRESS Indiana counted four traffic fatalities during the 30-hour Fourth of July holiday and holiday eve, and a fifth death was recorded early this morning. In addition, two drownings and the death of an aged man hit by a train at Yorktown raised the holiday period violent death toll to at least eight Ralph H. Howell, 40, Muncie, was killed early today when his automobile hit a utility pole on Ind. 32 near Selma. A few minutes earlier, according to Delaware County Deputy Sheriff Jerry Spence, Howell’s car figured in' a collision with another automobile* on the same highway a few miles away and Howell failed to stop. Drownings killed George W. Milton Jr., 19, who fell from a bridge into a creek at Turkey Run State Park while on a church outing on the holiday, and Sidney Courtner, 23, Jeffersonville, who drowned in a pool near that city. James N. Clevenger, 70, Anderson, was crushed to death by a New York Central Railroad passenger train at Yorktown Thursday night. Crewmen said Clevenger apparently saw the train but made no effort to get off the tracks. George A Buell, 20, Reynolds, was killed Thursday when his motorcycle collided with a gasoline tank truck at the intersection of Ind. 16 and a White County road near Buffalo. The driver of the truck was Thomas Anderson, 32, Idaville. Another Fourth of July accident killed Henry Peter Maloney, 59, Indianapolis. Maloney's car collided with an auto driven by William T. Vann, 24, Lebanon, at the intersection of U.S. 52 and Ind. 334 northwest of Indianapolis in’ Boone County. State police said Vann, who was injured,' apparently fell asleep and failed to stop at the intersection. Killed in Wednesday night (CoatlaoMl si Pave Five)

Red Military Gives Support To Krushchev I d Military Leaders e Back Party Leader e In Political Move “ LONDON (UP)-Soviet military leaders threw their support today s to Nikita S. Khrushchev whose s power approached that of the late r Josef Stalin, with his chief polit--1 ical opponents disgraced and stripped of office. Khrushchev was reported plan--1 ning a major purge of Stalinists g and old line Bolsheviks in the Soviet satellites, and further purges r in Russia itself appeared inevitable, American diplomatic experts n said Khrushchev may become Russia’s new dictator. B Wild rumors swept Warsaw that e three top Soviet leaders ousted by _ Khrushchev had been arrested, but j there was no confirmation in Moscow. They were Vyacheslav M ; Molotov, Georgi M. Malenkov and j Lazar M. Kaganovich, all staunch followers of Stalin. > Arrest Reports Denied The Polish Communist organ r Trybuna Ludu in Warsaw tele--1 phoned its Moscow office to check the three were under house ari rest. However, it was noted that s the new presidium in Moscow was g whipping up popular enthusiasm against the expellees by mass f demonstrations. y Three lesser Soviet leaders were s fired from their posts in the Com- , munist Party presidium in one of Moscow’s greatest political upe heavals since the death of Stalin, ! but it still was not known whether g the six "anti party” victims would be brought to trial. Marshal Nikolai Bulganin remained in power, but any doubt of Khrushchev’s growing importance vanished today when Defense Minister Marshal Georgi Zhukov led the Soviet high command in pledging support to the new Khrushchev policies. Top Level Meetings Held TTie military leaders, at meetings in Moscow, Sevastopol, Kief and Leningrad, personally joined in the attacks on the Moldtov group Khrushchev’s greatest rival for The defense leaders supporting the new Khrushchev line included (Continual on Pag* Eight) Heart Attack Fatal To Henry Dellinger Retired Employe Os G.E. Plant Is Dead j; Henry Dellinger, 69, retired employe of the Decatur General Electric Co. plant, died unexpectedly following a heart attack at 10:30 p. m. Wednesday at his home in Willshire, 0. Although hr had been ill for five years and serious for two years, his death was unexpected. He was born in Willshire township Dec. 25, 1887, a son of Joseph and Martha Pitts-Dellinger, and was married to Harriett Koeppel July 23, 1939. Dr. Dellinger retired from the local G. E. plant .Dec. 31, 1952, after working here for 25 years. He was a member of the Zion United Brethren church four miles southeast of Willshire, and was a trustee of the church. Surviving in addition to his wife is one sister, Mrs. lola Gilliom of Portland. Two brothers and two sisters preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p. m. Sunday at the residence in Willshire and at 2p.m. at .the Zion United Brethren church, the Rev. Chester Hirschy officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Grove cemetery. The body, brought to the Zwick funeral home, will be returned to the residence, where friends may call after 7 o’clock this evening until time of the services.

Holiday Death Toll Mounting In U. S. 158 Persons Killed In Traffic Crashes By UNITED PRESS Traffic victims died one at a time or two, three and four at a clip in the Fourth of July, and alarmed safety councilors appealed today to drivers to get their travel under control. Carelessness also took a heavy f toll at beaches and in vacation r areas. But the spurting traffic - fatality lists took most of the - attention of the National Safety * Council. ” A Unied Press tally at 11 a.m. c.d.t showed 158 Americans dead ‘ in highway accidents, since the 5 holiday began at 6 pm. Wednes- ’ day. There were 91 drownings, 6 5 died in airplane accidents, and 14 * in miscellaneous mishaps, for a ‘ total of 269. ; Ohio had 16 traffic deaths, Pennsylvania 15, Texas 13, Oklahoma * 12, New York 10 and California 8. ' Ned H. Dearborn, president of 1 the National Safety Council issued * a warning during the early mor- ■ ning hours that the toll will come 1 near the pre-holiday estimates of 1 535 persons killed unless the rate slowed. Instead, the rate mounted as reports came in. 1 “We appeal to the drivers to ■ help traffic enforcement agencies ; in bringing the toll back under 1 control.” said Dearborn. “It is 5 increasing at an alarmtag rate.” ■ The rate was running haead of 1 that in the same period of elapsed 5 time in the last previous four-day ‘ holiday of the year, New Year’s. : Drastic Revision : In Soil Subsidies r .-=2 ' 1 Sharp Cuts Planned - On Soil Practices - WASHINGTON (UP) — The ! administration has quietly drafted r plans drastically revising 1958 soil * conservation subsidies to get more * for each federal conservation dollar. Farm officials plan to cut back ■ sharply subsidies for a number of ■ conservation practices which would I increase farm production and add ’ to mountain of governmentowned surplus crops. Nine previously approved conservation practices were dropped outright. These measures accounted for about 25 per cent of all payments under the program in 1955. The tipoff came in an Agriculture Department memorandum, a copy of which reached several congressmen this week. The subsidies involved are of the cost-shartog type made to farmers carrying out government-approved measures under the Agricultural Conservation ProgramNo formal announcement has been made detailing the 195 S program. Congress has appropriated $250,000,000 annually for the program in recent years and a similar amount is expected to be voted for 1958. Actual payments to farmers fall somewhat short of that total, however. Payments this year are expected to reach between $200,000,000 and $225,000,000. The new policy eliminates subsidies for limipg except when lime is applied in planting a conservation cover crop on land threatened with erosion. Other practices which would no longer be eligible for subsidies under the proposed changes include: Fencing: installing pipelines for livestock water; levelling land for more effective irrigation; drainage on land which has not been in crop, or hay production during two of the past five years; planting green manure crops; establishing vegetative cover in orchards and Vinyards; and planting orchards, fruits and strawberries on contour lines to prevent erosion. INDIANA WEATHER Fair and cool tonight. Saturday sunny and a little warmer. Low tonight 56-62. High - - Saturday in the low 80s. Sunset 8:16 p. bl. sunrise Saturday 5:23 a. m.

Six Cents

Monster Atom Device Fired This Morning S' ’ , Highly Experimental H V Bomb Rocks Western • United States Today ' ATOMIC TEST SITE. Nev. (UP) .. —American scientists, today set » off the biggest atomic device ever ■ fired inside the United States, a monster blast nearly four times as powerful as the A-bombs which j brought Japan to her knees in , World War 11. ' Yet despite the tremendous vio . lence that turned the quiet south- . ern Nevada desert into a momentary hell, the explosion failed to injure a single man or break one pane of glass. So carefully did the ’ scientists make their calculation that only minute traces of radioj active fallout were recorded in j nearby populated areas. The bomb’s violence was eatif mated unofficially at 75 kilotons, j or equal to 75,000 tons of TNT. . Today's device went off from a I platform held 1,500 feet In the sky above Yucca Flat by a giant ( helium-filled balloon- ( The blinding flash illuminated ’. the western sky before dawn and a shock wave like an earthquake - jarred California coastalcltesW"r miles away arid was felt on the ! Mexican border. , The Atomic Energy Commission, after more than five hours of figuring, announced only that “the yield of this morning’s shot was the highest ever fired on the continental United States and was ‘well over* the yield of the previous high yield shot.” Biggest in U.S. since 1953 Marine Brig. Gen. Harvey C. Tschirgi, who commanded Leathernecks in trenches almost under the giant fireball, said he felt the deafening explosion as if an artil- > lery piece had gone off in his I ear, but he said his men learned L “they could go through a nuclear ■ blast and live to tell their buddies ■ about it.” As big as the blast was, much : larger A-bombs have been tested in the watery reaches of the I South Pacific—some of them in I the range of 500 kilotons, or equal ■ to a half million tons of TNT. And, of course, H - bombs have been ■ tested' there, too, with yields run- ■ hlng well into the millions Gt tons I in terms of TNT. The biggest atomic blast previously fired inside the U.S- was a device dropped from an Air i Force bomber in 1953 with a yield I estimated at 60 kilotons. By comparison the A-bombs unleashed on > Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World i War II were small despite the I tens of thousands they killed or I injured. Their yields were only 20 kilotons. ’ • i The highly experimental bomb, ■ whose’ exact yield kept American scientists guessing until the ■ moment of detonation, sent an i unbridled shock wave over 2,000 • Marines crouched in trendies only I 3*4 miles from the hellish fireball ~ • that brightened the sky for more ; than 1,500 miles. It was in the same general I range as a previous king - size I whopper bomb set off here in 1953 and was a good 3% times as violent as old-fashioned A-bombs i that destroyed two Japanese cities in World War 11. The device was suspended from a helium - filled captive balloon some 1,500 feet above the desert floor of Yucca Flat, 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Near 60 Kiloton Shot It exploded with a blinding flash more than 500 times brighter than the sun- The flash was visible for hundreds of miles in all directions as a tremendous fireball boiled upward in a clear sky. Test Director James A. Reeves announced that hasty calculations by the atomic scientists who witnessed the blast indicated “it appeared to be in the same general range as the previous high yield shot.’* , , '- ' — This meant the bomb’s violence was somewhere in the neighbor- ’ hood of the 60 kiloton shot fired in 1953 on Yucca Flat. * Reeves said a more precise announcement as to the bomb’s yield «■ pa«» Two) --