Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 56, Number 28, Decatur, Adams County, 3 February 1958 — Page 1

Vol. LVI. No. 28.

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FIREMEN ANDcPASSERSBY work at the rear of the fuselage (top), searching for members of the seven-man crew of a US P2V Neptune bomber which crashed near Los Nietos, Calif., after colliding ft mid-air with a Military Air Transport plane over southeastern Los Angeles. Wreckage from the MAT plane lies against a service station (bottom) in downtown Norwalk, Calif., three miles from the Navy plane. Forty-eight persons were killed in the crash. *

53 Are Killed In Air Crashes In California Mid*Air Crashes In California Probed After 53 Are Killed LOS ANGELES (UP)-A doubly mysterious aerial tragedy- faced investigators today—what caused , four planes to collide in two separate crashes in this area within 24 hours, killing 53 persons? A Cessna. 180 with four persons aboard and a Piper Tri-Pacer smashed together Sunday in overcast skies near Yorba Linda, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. All five persons in the two planes were killed. Less than 24 hours earlier, 48 were killed wKen a four-engine Military Air Transport Service (MATS* plane, carrying 41 persons, and a multi-engine Navy Neptune bomber with eight reservists aboard collided over suburban Norwalk. All aboard the transport, a C-118 Skymaster, and six aboard the Navy P2-V patrol craft died as the smashed planes screamed to earth from 2,500 feet, slam- ’ ming wreckage over a heavily populated area. Cut In Half A 23-year-old —mother, Mrs. Edith Hernandez, was cut in half by a piece of wreckage when she walked from her house more than a mile from where the transport . crashed. Two reservists, Leslie Van Dyke, 23, Laguna Beach, Calif , and Sanford L. Fenton, 23, Los Angeles, escaped death when the Navy plane crashed near Santa Fe Springs, about three miles from the transport. Civil Aeronautics Administration and military official? immediately opened an investigation into the Yorba crash. While CAA investigators probed through wreckage of the two planes in a sparsely populated country area, coroner’s deputies worked to identify the bodies of the five victims. The dead aboard the Cessna were Identified as the pilot, Paul N. Bell, 40, of North Hollywood; Philip Kostman, his wife, Rosalee, and their son Craig, about 2, of Los Angeles. Pilot of the other plane was tentatively identified as George Turner, 51, of Long Beach. Wing Torn Off Investigators said the right wing of Turner’s plane was * ripped off when it and the Cessna cbllided at about 5,000 feet. <Thfe Tri-Pacer crashed and burned after diving into the ground. The pilot of the other craft attempted to land on a fire-break road in the brush-covered hills but crashed about 200 yards (Continued on page five) 16 Pages

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DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

—— —... . ■ .... . - I. Missouri Trooper Is Freed From Gunmen Held 28 Hours As Hostage By Pair , PADUCAH, Ky. (UP)—Missouri State Trooper William Little, 31, who gave himself for 28 hours as hostage to two gunmen to protect a young woman, was free and unharmed today because one of his kidnapers preferred suicide to another prison term. One of the kidnapers, Carl Edward Burton, 24, was still at large. The other, Harold Wayne Davis, 33, was in critical condition at a hospital here from a self-inflict-ed bullet wound in the abdomen. “I thought I was a goner,” said Little, as he described the harrowing hours during which he drove at gunpoint through three states, had his hat shot out of his hand during a wild chase through Paducah streets Saturday night, and lived for almost 24 hours in a farmhouse at nearby Melber, Ky., much cf the time shackled with his own handcuffsThe nightmare ended when the two gunmen quarreled last night and Burton left the home of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Shelton, where they had forced an entry and holed up. A few hours later, Davis, disillusioned with Burton’s leadership and fearful of another prison term walked into the Shelton farmyard and shot himself. Davis and Burton, married to sisters in Redwood City, Calif., were charged by the FBI with kidnaping and taking a stolen car across a state line. Davis, the FBI said, once served five years at San Quentin for assault to murder. Little said his long day spent with death staring him in the face started Saturday evening, when he and the sheriff at Van Buren, Mo., Investigated two men in a car with California license tags. Little found two guns in the glove compartment, but the two men suddenly produced a sawed-off shotgun. They forced the officers to drive to a nearby filling station, which they held up, taking gas and money. Little said, “Burton wanted to take the girl (Mrs. Tommy Foster, 15, wife of the service station attendant) as hostage, but I said they could take me if they wouldn’t harm her.” The bandits agreed and forced the trooper into his police cruiser, but did not notice that his radio transmitter was turned on. Through conversation with the gunmen, Little was able to give state police an inkling of what had happened. State police cars began to pick up their trail, and Burton told Little, “If any Car comes near, you’ll be the first to go.” They drove to Cairo, 111., and on to Paducah, where Burton took the wheel. A wild chase through the Paducah streets followed, with Burton driving and firing a pistol at (Continued on page five)

Shot To Moon Looms As Next U. S. Project First Satellite By United States Is In Orbit Os Earth WASHINGTON (UP)— Dr. John P Hagen, chief of Project Vanguard, declared today "We know how to put the things together to go to the moon.” All that is needed, he told the United Press, is an official goahead plus the time needed to assemble and prepare the necessary "hardware.” Official estimates of the time required to fire oft a rocket to or around the moon have varied. Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Wash.), a member of the newly-created Senate outer space subcommittee, said Sunday night the United States should be able to send a rocket to the moon "within a few months.” A shot to the moon loomed as a possible next major U.S. effort as the first American earth satellite girdled the globe in its third day of existence, emitting a stream of information-laden radio signals. Explorer Praised The satellite, dubbed “Explorer” by its proud Army “parents’’ but officially called “1958 Alpha” was reaping a harvest of praise at home and abroad as the first U.S. entry in the space race While admittedly not as impressive as Russia's two Sputniks, Explorer was a tangible sign this country was in the race for space, and an omen of more exploits to come. Next on the schedule was another -attempt to launch a small man-moon via the Navy’s Vanguard rocket which exploded at its first launching and has been plagued by difficulties. A new try with the Vanguard was expected any day. In addition to the Navy, the Army is said to have proposed i using its Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) ; (not to be confused with the Jupit ter-C) to hurl a satellite high • enough to circle the moon. The i Air Force has officially revealed . it is thinking of using its Thor IRBM for flights to outer space. Sends Stronr Signals t A spokesman for the tracking center here said Sunday night Ex- , plorer was sending back “good t strong signals” that provided “a ■ lot of valuable information.” Another scientist said, however, the I information has not yet been pro- • .essed. Dr. Ernest Stunlinger, chief of the research project for the army 1 ballistic missile agency, said the satellite now has tentatively been determined to be ranging from about 212 miles to 1.828 miles above the earth. It was taking 115.1 minutes to make each round-trip Only one of about 130’ world "Moonwatch” stations apparently had made a visual sighting of Explorer as of late Sunday night. That was the station at Holloman Air Force Base,- N.M., which spotted it Saturday night. Two Escape From take County Jail Accused Murderer, Cellmate Escape CROWN POINT (UP)—A house-to-house search by more than 30 lawmen was underway today for an accused murderer and his cellmate who escaped from the Lake County Jail Sunday. It was the second break' at the jail in 10 weeks. Sought were Arthur Raymond Karr, 40, and John Stilinovich, 46, both of Gary. Karr was charged with the fatal stabbing of his uncle, John Karr, 61, in the latter’s Gary tavern last October. Stilinovich was held for attempting to crack a safe in a Gary branch postoffice recently. Chief Deputy Sandor Singer said the two men used a large steel bar which served as a ceiling supi port to pry bars loose from the cell windows. They dropped 10 ■ feet to the ground outside and fled in sub-freezing temperatures. The men were dressed in light clothing which led authorities to : believe they may have holed up ■ in a nearby house and possibly are holding hostages. They said they had not received any reports of stolen cars in the area Karr and six other men, including “Dunes-killer” George Robert Brown, escaped from the jail in the same manner last Nov. 18. All (Continued on page five)

WIT DAILY NEWRY4PEH IN AD AMR COUNTV

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, February 3, 1958.

Bulganin Rejects Ike Proposal For Parley Os Foreign Ministers

Chairman Os FCC Denies Wrongdoing Protests Charges . Os Misconduct As Made By Committee WASHINGTON (UP)-Ghairman John C. Doerfer of the Federal Communications Commission protested today that he has been put through a “trial by ordeal” in the nation’s press on "vague” charges of misconduct. Doerfer told a House commerce investigating subcommittee he had been subjected to “torture ~. (of) medieval times.” While he was not permitted at once to answer the charges directly, he denied any wrongdoing. Commissioner Rosel H. Hyde, also charged with accepting favors, told the subcommittee: “I emphatically deny that any of my acts as a government official warrant charges of official misconduct-” Robert T. Bartley, another FCC member, told the subcommitted that he also had done nothing wrong. ...... ....r Promise Full Investigation Doerfer, Hyde, Bartley and two other commissioners — Robert E. Lee I and Richard A. Mack—were summoned before the subcommittee to answer charges by the Subcommittee staff that they accepted color TV sets and other costly "favors” from the broadcasting industry. Chairman Morgan M. Moulder (D-Mo.), in opening the initial hearing today, promised a “thorough and full” investigation of the staff’s finding that the five FCC members had been guilty of_“official personal misconduct” and had permitted the broadcast industry to exert a "wrongful influence’’ on them. Hyde denied that the broadcast industry had paid any living expenses for him and said that any expenses he charged the government were "more than justified to cover actual costs incurred by me.” He also denied that industry officials paid living expenses for his wife or that anyone “has presumed to attempt to influence my official actions in any matter be(Contlnued on page eight) Merlin Venis Dies Unexpectedly Today Heart Attack Fatal To Local Resident Merlin Venis, 48, of 722 Mercer avenue, a lifelong resident of this community, died at 9:15 o'clock this morning at the Adams county memorial hospital of, a heart attack suffered earlier this morning. He had been employed at the Central Soya Co. in this city for the past 15 years. Born in St. Maty’s township Sept. 15, 1909, he was a son of Thomas and Minnie Venis. Mr. Venis was’a member of the Trinity Evangelical United Brethren church. Surviving are his wife, Violet; four stepdaughters,’ Mrs. Eloise Carter of Elkhart, Mrs. Onna Lee Dennis of Middletown, 0., Mrs. Maxine Kennedy of Pryor, Okla., and Mrs. Eleanora Sinacola of Columbus, O.; two brothers, Everett Venis of Anderson, and Ray Venis of Decatur, and four sisters, Mrs. Floyd Cook and Mrs. Raymond Eyanson of Decatur, Mrs. James Longfellow of Warsaw, and Mrs. Jennie Amerine of Fort Wayne. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Gillig & Doan funeral home, the Rev. Carl THawkins officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Tuesday until time of the services.

Young Mass Killer Faces Arraignment Authorities Unsure Os Charge On Girl LINCOLN, Neb. (UP) — Confessed mass killer Charles Starkweather faced arraignment today on a first-degree murder charge, but authorities were uncertain what charge to lodge against his 14-year-old girl friend. They questioned Caril Fugate intensively Sunday and Sunday night in an attempt to get a written statement from her. County Atty. Elmer Scheele said Caril also would be arraigned today after it is decided whether tc return the first degree murde. charge already filed against her or file some other charge. Both Caril and Starkweather, 19, were charged originally with the sex murder of Carol June King, It The bodies of. the King girl and her boy friend were found last week in an abandoned storm cellar. The girl, a pretty high school cheer leader, had been the victim of an “unnatural sex act,” pathologists said. Starkweather, a red - haired marksman, signed a 213 - page ; statement Sunday night admitting ' 10 murders in Nebraska. The young hoodlum also has admitted an 11th s.’.ying in Wyoming. Scheel aid Starkweather made a numl. of changes in the transcript ’ fore signing. Sheriff Merle Karnopp, who wit- ‘ nessed the signing at the Nebraska Penitentiary, said the youth ' dictated a detailed confession about each of the murders in his ■ five-day killing ramp age last week. Karnopp. sale Starkweather ad--1 mitted his first victim was Robert ' Colver, £l. a service station at- • tendant, who was killed last Dec. ' 1 with a shotgun blast in a mur- ’ der-robbery. Authorities saiu he also admitted murdering Caril's mother, step-father and half-sister, the King girl and her boyfriend, a \ 70-yqar-old bachelor farmer near ’ Bennet, Neb., a prominent Lincoln _ industrialist and his wife and (Continued on page eTffht) I _ Russia Again Fails To Reveal Details No Details Given On Sputnik Data BRUSSELS; Belgium (UP) — Russia failed again today to reveal what information its “sputniks” have extracted from outer space. A long-awaited Soviet report to world headquarters of the International Geophysical Year, purporting to contain scientific information about Russia’s artificial satellites, actually consisted entirely of communiques published weeks ago in the Moscow press. “The report comes as an anticlimax,” said IGY Secretary General Marcel Nicolet. “There is not a single result or conclusion in the entire 20 pages—only the satellite characteristics, radio frequencies, orbit angle and other details we have known for weeks.” IGY officials had hoped that the report would include details of the temperatures and cosmic ray intensities the sputniks had encountered in space, along with information on meteor impact and other technical data. In fact, the report did not even reveal such minor matters as where the satellite was launched—information that the United States made available immediately after its “Explorer” went into orbit As a matter of routine, Nicolet handed the report over to IGY coordinator Sir Archibald Day for distribution to scientists in other nations taking part in International Geophysical Year activities. Day’s staff received the report without enthusiasm. “There’s no point in breaking our necks distributing this re- ' port,” one secretary said. “Everybody has it already.”

—. «_ n..J*... Senate Debate Is Opened On Detense Bill Emergency Bill For Defense Speedup Up To Senate Debate WASHINGTON UP)—The Senate was scheduled to begin debate today on President Eisenhower’s request for an extra sl,260,000,000 for emergency defense spending. The bill, already passed by the House, would step up missile development, expand the Strategic Air Command's dispersal and alert facilities and give the government an undisclosed number of additional scientistsRepublican Sens. Prescott Bush (Conn.) and John Sherman Cooper (Ky.) offered separate bills for carrying out reorganization of the Defense Department. In Philosophy Bush said his bill was in line with President Eisenhower’s “general philosophy” on Pentagon reorganization. It would make the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff the top strategic planner for the armed forces — one of the majoy changes urged by the Rockefellqr Report. Copper said his legislation followed recommendations of both the Rockefeller group and the Hoover Commission on government reorganization. It would demote the Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries to the rank of undersecretary, with the defense secretary taking over the service secrete ries’ powers. A House commerce subcommittee called in Chairman John C. Doerfer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCCk and four other commission members to answer charges of “personal, official misconduct.’' Denial Expected Doerfer and Commissioners Robert E. Lee, Rosel H. Hyde, Robert T Bartley and Richard A. Mack were expected to deny any wrongdoing. — A secret subcommittee staff report said some of the commissioners have accepted color TV sets and other “favors” from bbrOadcasters. Secretary Marion B. Folsom of Health, Education and Welfare and other officials were summoned to testify before two House Contini.w'' <- “um* *’!»•> I Mallissa J. Went Is Taken By Death Lifelong Resident Os Decatur Is Dead Mrs. Mallissa Jane Irelan Werst, 76, a lifelong resident of Decatur, died at 9:30 o'clock Sunday morning of a heart attack at the home of a son, Chester Werst, in Geneva. She had been ill for several weeks. She was born in Adams county, Sept. 3, 1881, a daughter of Perry and Jane Frisinger-Irelan, and was married to James Fredrick Werst Sept. 20, 1900. Her husband died in March of 1942. Mrs.. Werst was a member of the First Methodist church and the Women, of the Moose. Surviving in addition to the son at Geneva are three other sons, Olen Harden of Bell, Calif., Perry Werst of Rockford, 0., and Chalmer Werst of Decatur; 10 grandchildren; ’ 10 great-grandchildren, and one brother, Thomas Irelan of Celina, O. One daughter and three brothers are deceased. Funeral services will be conducted at l;30 p. m. Wednesday at the Gilllg & Doan funeral home, the Rev. Virgil Sexton officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 5 o’clock this evening until time of the services.

Eastern U.S. Hit By Zero Cold Wave Cold Air Pushed To Gulf Coast States By UNITED PRESS TA zero cold wave swept the eastern half of the nation on winds of 30 to 40 miles an hour today, pushing the cold air as far south as the Gulf Coast states The cold air mass arrived as groundhogs in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin unofficially predicted six more weeks of winter weather. Sub - zero overnight readings were reported in the upper Mississippi Valley and the eastern Dakotas today while temperatures near 10 degrees extended into southern Illinois and central Missouri. Freezing temperatures occurred into Georgia and Alabama and readings dropped into the 30s in northern Florida. Widespread snow flurries continued during the night across the southern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley into New England and south into northern Alabama. Rain r.it much of California last nigh’ and today, ranging up to about Vz inch at San Francisco. Light showers doused southern Oregon and Western Nevada. Forecasters predicted more snow today in the northeast from the Great Lakes into New England and south to, the southern Appalachians. G e n'e rally fair weather was expected over most of the plains and the Southeast, and rain was seen for the Northwest. F. Dean Bechtel Is Congress Candidate Seeks Democratic Nomination In May F. Dean Bechtol, of Garrett, , prominent in American Legion circles throughout the state, Sunday announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for congressman from the fourth district. Bechtol was the Democratic nominee for the same post in 1956. los.hg in the general election to R?r F. r oss Adair. s a retired postal employe r i past commander of the Indepartment of the American 4ion. Bechtol is a former mem- . >er of the Garrett school board, former president of the Lions club in that city, and has been active in Bov Scout work since 1925. During World War 11. Bechtol was appointed by Gov. Henry F. Schricker to serve on the Indiana state civil defense committee, and he is currently vice chairman of the rehabilitation commission and as chairman of the general hospital committee for the Indiana department of the Legion. ... Five Persons Killed In California Crash WESTMORELAND, Calif. — Five persons, including an Indianapolis serviceman, were injured fatally Saturday night in a twocar- collision on U.S. 99 16 miles west of here. A2-C Joseph Farrell Jr., 20, Indianapolis, driver of one of the cars, died in Pioneer’s Hospital at Brawley early Sunday. Also killed in the crash were two airmen passengers in the Farrell car and an Indio, Calif., couple. The airmen were stationed at George Air Force Base, Victorville, Calif. INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and continued cold tonight and Tuesday, chance of snow flurries continuing near Lake Michigan. Low tonight 8-18. High Tuesday mostly in the 20s. Sunset today 6:07 p. m. Sunrise Tuesday 7:50 1. m. Outlook for Wednesday: Partly cloudy and cold. Lows Tuesday night near 10. Highs Wednesday near 30.

Conference As Preliminary To Summit Parley Premier Os Russia Suggests Usage Os Diplomatic Channel MOSCOW (UP)—Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin’s letter to President Eisenhower flatly rejected a foreign ministers conference as a preliminary to a summit conference, it was disclosed today. Instead, the Soviet premier suggested that the agenda and procedural questions could be proposed through diplomatic channels once the great powers agree to a meeting at the summit. — Bulganin’s latest letter to Eisenhower was delivered in Washington Saturday. The text was released here today. The Bulganin letter was in reply to Eisenhower’s answer to earlier Soviet proposals for a conference of the heads of state. The Soviet Foreign Ministry released the Bulganin note at a news conference this afternoonBulganin proposed nine points as a possible agenda for the conference. These already have been - given in numerous previous Soviet declarations and announcements. They Included: —Termination of atom and nuclear tests. —Renunication of the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union. —Creation of an “atom-free’’ zone in Central'Europe. —A non-aggression pact between NATO and Warsaw Pact powers. . —Reduction of the number of foreign troops stationed in Germany and other European nations. —Discussion of questions connected with preventing surprise attacks. —Expansion of inter national trade. —Prohibiton of “war propaganda.’’ —Measures to reduce tension in the Near and Middle East. Studied By Ike WASHINGTON (IP) — President Eisenhower today received and studied a 17-page translation of the latest letter from Soviet Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin. ( Officials said that although Bulganin did not change any major Russian position, his letter significantly did not press sos a summit conference with the same sense of urgency he used in previous notes. The President had hoped to confer with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles this morning, presumably, about the letter, but Dulles was confined to his home with what the White House described as a “slight” cold. Press Secretary James C.Hag-— erty said it may be another day or two before Dulles and the Presi- • dent get together. Dulles studied the Bulganin note at his home and discussed it with Lewellyn Thompson, U. S. ambassador to. Russia. Thompson had attended a White House staff meeting earlier in the day but did not see the President. In his last previous letter to Ei(€„ntinued on Page Five) Fort Wayne Records First Traffic Death FORT WAYNE (IP> —Mrs, Minnie Prumm, 61, Columbia City, today became Fort Wayne’s first traffic fatality in 1958. Mrs. Prumm died in St. Joseph’s hospital this morning from injuries sustained Jan. 27 w when an automobile struck her as she left work at a General Electric Co. plant here. Roy S. Miner, 60, Fort Wayne, driver of the car, was charged with failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian and driving a car with the windshield obstructed by ice and snow.

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