Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 56, Number 297, Decatur, Adams County, 18 December 1958 — Page 1

Vol. LVI. No. 297.

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SQUARING UP— The NATO Council of Ministers is shown meeting in Paris to revitalie western atomic and rocket defenses. One ' touchy subject is that of sending American missiles to European bases.

Weather Aids Fire Fighters In California Complete Control Os Brush Fire Is Seen Possible Soon SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. Calif. (UPD —Favorable weather conditions today came to the aid of 2,000 weary firefighters fighting a gigantic - brush fire in southern California. Firemen said complete control of the blaze which has blackened 60.000 acres including parts of the sprawling Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base was possible by at least Friday if low winds and high humidity continue. * The five-day fire caused by a rifleman still remained out of control over more than 50 per cent of its 85-mile perimeter but>ffremen said most of the uncontrolled line was in deep, uninhabited mountain areas. Nineteen homes and summer cabins have been destroyed in the blaze which erupted Sunday and roared through the western slopes of the Santa Ana Mountains which run north-south parallel to the coast about 10 miles inland. The western extremity of the brush and small tree - fed blaze was about five miles from this historic mission twon and spreads over a three county area bounded on the north by the small community of Trabuco and to the south by 110,000-acre Camp Pendleton. To the east it extends high up into the mountains to within about five miles of Lake Elsinore. There was no present danger to any homes and the fire in an (Continued on page elx) Democrats To Back Anti-Bombing Bill Senate Whip Says Party To Back Bill WASHINGTON (UPD — Senate Democratic* whip Mike Mansfield said today Senate Democrats would vote for a "North-South” bill to outlaw hate bombings regardless of what the administration does on civil rights. The Montana Democrat announced his personal support of a stringent anti - bombing bill which would carry up to the death penalty for incidents resulting in loss of life. He referred to the revised, Ken-nedy-Ervin bill, which would deal with attacks on churches, schools, synagogues and other public buildings — including "business” structures. “There will be no dissension in our party when it comes to considering legislation to cope with these reprehensible happenings,” Mansfield said in an interview. “A North-South bill like the Ken-edy-Ervin measure will meet with approval — without regard to any other civil rights legislation the administration or others may offer.” Civil rights legislation was touched on only scantily at Monday’s d%y-long White House legislative conference with GOP congressional leaders. Atty. Gen. William P. Rogers indicated only that at this point he favors legislation to extend the life of the Civil Rights Commission for two years, and to give his department subpena power to get voting records. Republican leaders think Rogers is taking a “cautious approach” and will not outline any detailed civil rights program until he is sure of his ground.

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Grand Jury Reports On Recommendations Improvements For Court House Urged The grand jury recommended several improvements to the Adams county court house, according to the report submitted late Wednesday afternoon to Myles F. Parrish, judge of the Adams circuit court, upon their inspection of county buildings. No indictments were filed on the investigation of criminal actions. The grand jury, consisting of Lawrence Williamson, Herman Lengerich, Kenneth Roop, Alva Lawson, Kenneth Reed, and Oran Sehultz, foreman, submitted the Allowing report: *We inspected the county court hqAse and find that the public portions of the building were in need of the following repairs: We recommend that the commissioners, who have ignored three previous grand juries, be instructed to follow the previous and present grand juries* recommendations that all records in the county, which are creating a storage problem, and which may lawfully be moved and stored, as provided by statute, be removed and stored in the county home, in a room, which will be available to those lawfully entitled to it, this now is a definite fire and over-weight hazard in their present place, as the ceiling has begun to crack under one of these storage areas, and in other parts of the building the surplus records are becoming a fire hazard. “We find a fire hazard exists on (the third floor of the court house, and we recommend that the state fire marshal be requested to make an inspection and his report be conveyed to the commissioners for appropriate action. “We find that the window glass in the southwest room of the surveyor’s office, the lower section of the west window having been broken, and reported by previous grand juries, has not been replaced, we recommend action by the commissioners. “We also recommend that the radiator in the surveyor’s office be given attention, as it does not heat properly. i “We recommend that the window between the second and third floors at the west end of the building be restored to its proper place. "We recommend all windows on the first and second floors be reputtied. “We recommend that all first and second floor weight ropes be replaced with flexible metal cable. "We recommend that the glass in the lower half of the west window in the clerk’s office be replaced, as it is broken. “We recommend a new chair and desk for the attendance office, as we feel it is a necessity. “We recommend, due to the increased duties of the sheriff’s department, that the commissioners see fit to add one more deputy to his staff. “We recommend the replacement of the clock in the assessor’s office, also lights to replace two obsolete lights. “We recommend, as a safety measure, a metal screen guard be placed between the large glass window and between the front of the metal stairway at the east end of the court house, between the first and second floors. “We wish to recommend, as previous grand juries have done, that an elevator be installed in the building, as it often becomes necessary for many aged and disabled people to be in attendance in the court room. “We recommend, as three previous grand juries, or more, have recommended, that a new directory be installed in the court house lobby, of such type that interchangeable letters could be inserted. “We found that the restroom in Continued on page tivu

Drop Attempt At Setting Up Global System East, West Abandon Warning System On Any Sneak Attacks GENEVA (UPD — The East and West abandoned indefinitely today their fruitiest attempt to set up a global warning system to prevent sneak attacks. Delegates to the 10-nation sur-prise-attack conference held a four-hour meeting and then adjourned in an indefinite recess. While the delegates expressed hope that the break would be temporary, there appeared little prospect the talks would be reconvened, at least tn the near future. Both sides have refused to budge from their conflicting views on what the conference should discuss. The delegations agreed in the final session, however, to report to their governments on the substance of the six-weeks talks. Conference sources said there was general agreement to attempt, through diplomatic channels, to find a frame of reference that would make resumption of the talks worthwhile. In Paris, Secretary ot State John Foster Dulles told the NATO Council today the West Was "fairly confident” it would reach an agreement with the Soviet to ban nuclear test explosions, but he said the situation was ‘Tess satisfactory” in the parallel talks on prevention of surprise attacks. The West has refused to set a date for reconvening the conference until new negotiations between Washington and Moscow break the deadlock over the scope of the conference. The Soviets have already said new diplomatic contact was needed at the government level, but have demanded a reconvening date be set. They accused the West of trying to bury the talks for good. The conference never has been able to work out an agenda because the West has insisted the talks be held on a technical level only and the Russians want political issues also discussed. Informed sources said the Soviet delegation was ready to loose a strong propaganda blast at today's session pinning the blame for the conference’s failure on the (Continued on page four)

Man Nabbed Shortly After Bank Holdup Same Michigan Bank Robbed Second Time SOUTH BEND. Ind. (UPD — An unemployed salesman was in custody today for robbing the same Michigan bank twice in the past four months. Hugh Barr, 53, South Bend, was nabbed by South Bend police Wednesday, a half hour after a hold-up at an Edwardsburg, Mich, bank. Barr admitted, robbing the bank of $2,840 and of $5,000 last Aug. 21, police said. He confessed the two crimes in two statements to FBI agents, officer said. Attempts to link Barr, whose wife taught grade school here with three recent noon holdups here failed Wednesday night when victims were unable to pick Barr out of a lineup. But he was recognized by employes as the man who held Up the bank last August. Barr was arrested after a short chase when Det. Sgt. Russell Hunt and patrolman Leonard Pastrick, alerted for the bandit, curbed the getaway car at the entrance to the University of Notre Dame campus. Barr had stoTen a car belonging to Joseph Herremans, vice president of the bank, when his own car became stuck in a snow pile behind the bank. Herremans, three women tellers and a ban*-customer were locked in a vault briefly by Barr, but were released shortly after he left. Another teller, Mrs. Jean Krupp telephoned police while the robbery was in progress. She told police she slipped out a rear door and called for help while Barr was still inside. Barr surrendered without a fight. Officers confiscated a .22caliber target pistol and a black satchel, containing the money. The bandit’s car, left behind at the bank, bore a license plate solten from a South Bend radio station car four or five months ago.

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, December 18,1958.

Little Rock’s Write-in Election Os Alford May Grow To National Issue

Study Plan To Merge NATO's Aerial Forces Dulles Meets With Netherlands Leader On Proposed Merger PARIS (UPD — Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conferred today with Netherlands Foreign Minister Joseph Luns on a Benelux plan to merge NATO air forces and possibly navies to meet the threat of Soviet aggression. The Benelux nations—Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg—were reported urging complete logistic coordination between the NATO members as a means of cutting down expenses and of welding the NATO armed forces into a more solid team. The three-day meeting of the NATO Council of Ministers ends this afternoon with publication of a communique and then Dulles flies to Jamaica for a week’s vacation. He flew to Paris only a few hours after being treated at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington for an inflamed colon. Today’s NATO session was devoted to the Benelux plan and further talks on the cold war situation throughput the world. Authoritative Western sources said the Western Allies have decided to brush aside any idea of an. early conference at the summiL with the Soviet Unicm to try to ease world tensions. But they were leaving the way open for a conference, probably at the foreign ministers level, on Germany as a whole—including Berlin. But even such a foreign ministers' conference can come only after careful preparation, the sources said.

Vole Irregularities Charged By Fleming 16 Election Errors Cited By Fleming Developments in the recount-no recount battle between E. Ross Adair, Republican, and W. Robert Fleming, Democrat, to decide who was legally elected U. S. representative from the fourth district were again in the limelight today. Wednesday evening Adair charged that Fleming’s original court order in U. S. federal court was too vague to be answered, and asked that it be denied. This morning Fleming made the charge more specific, alleging 16 errors in the election, including that 57 Democratic votes were not counted in Adams county. I Later this morning Adair checked with the house elections committee, and found that Fleming had not yet filed for admission on the basis of fraud or errors as two others have. Adair, in his petition mailed to all newspapers in the district this morning, states that he has no knowledge of irregularity or malconduct of any members of the precinct or county election boards in said district Fleming later charged a number of irregularities. INDIANA WEATHER Fair and not quite so cold tonight. Sunset 5:23 p.m. Low tonight 18 to 28. Sunrise 8:01 a.m. Friday partly cloudy south, mostly cloudy north with chance of rain or snow extreme north. High in the 30s north, the 40s south. Low Friday night 18 to 25. Outlook for Saturday—Partly cloudy with seasonable temperatures except some snow in extreme north. High Saturday 30 to 40. ~ 14 Page* ~

Record U.S. Crops Third Year In Row Record Crop Despite Decline In Acreage WASHINGTON (UPD — American farmers produced a record crop in 1958 for the third straight year. Good weather and modern technology accounted for the increased hafvest. Despite the smallest jAanted , acreage in 40 years, U. S. farms produced 11 per cent more than last year’s record output. The estimated farm value of the crop was 8.5 per cent above 1957. ~ New high yields per here for 14 crops, resulting from good weather, better seed, improved fertilizers and advanced cultivation techniques, brought the total farm production to the record level. The Agriculture Department’s finals 1958 production report Wednesday showed this year’s prop to be 118 per cent of the 1947-49 base period and far above the previous record crops of 1957, 1956, and 1948. The planted acreage for 1958 was 330 million acres, the smallest since 1918. The harvested acreage for 59 principal field crops was 321 million acres, compared to 319 million acres in , 1Q57 and 1956. The -estimated farm value of this year's crop was $18,826,583,000. This compares with the revised valuation of $17,335,258,000! for the 1957 crop. Corn easily held its position as the nation’s number one cash crop. The record production of 3,799,844,000 bushels had an estimated farm value of $4,068,553,000. Wheat, with a record production of 1,462,218,000 bushels, was second in value at $2,509,288,000. Hay, with a record production of 121924,000 tons, ranked third in farm value at $2,207,973,000. Cotton and cottonseed combined for a farm value of to' rank as the fourth largest cash crop. Flora Man Killed In Auto Accident FLORA. Ind. (UPD — Robert Heffner, 34, Flora, was killed Wednesday in a two-car collision at a Carroll county road intersection near his home. Heffner was pinned in the wreckage.

Valdez Murder Case Evidence Finished Murder Case Goes To Jury At Celina The jury may return rs verdict this afternoon or tonight in the court of common pleas in Celina, Ohio, in the murder trial against Gregorio Prados Veldez, 36, who is charged with the murder of Jesse Gomez at a Mexican labor camp near Chattanooga, 0., last August. Celina authorities were contacted today. They reported that both the state and the defense had presented their cases to the jury, and that both sides would present their closing arguments to the jury early this afternoon, after the jury returns from the noon, recess. Valdez was called to the stand this forenoon to give his testimony of what occurred at the labor camp on August 26. His testimony alleged that the killing should be classified as justifiable homicide. He stated in court that Gomez lunged at him from the bed with a butcher knife when the argument broke out concerning a pay check. Valdez stated that as Gomez lunged at him with the knife, he pulled out the .45 automatic he had placed in his belt under a sport shirt and fired the two shots. The murder trial Monday in Celina. Jury members were chosen and the members were taken to the scene of the fatal shooting to familiarize them more with the case and the scene the crime.

New Wintry Blasts Sweep Out Os Canada Small Storms Race Over Great Lakes After Balmy Spell United Press International A series of small storms systems raced across the Great Lakes Thursday, tumbling temperatures and spreading snow flurries into the Northeast. A warming trend which earlier snapped a record early December cold wave in the nation’s interior, pushed into the Southeast and mid - Atlantic states Wednesday*, lifting readings well above freezing. The now wintry blasts sweep* ing out of Canada were not expected to be as severe or prolonged z as the cold wave which hit the eastern two-thirds of the country Dec. 6. Overnight reading skidded in the southeastern Great Lakes region and the central and southern Plains as a disturbance moved across the lakes. Behind the storm track, warmer weather was recorded from the northern Rockies to the northwest Great Lakes. - Snow flurries occurred during the night in the Northeast and the northern Great Lakes, while light rain or freezing rain extended into lowa. In the South, clear skies and continued warming were predicted, chasing the remnants of Dixie’s hard freeze. The cold Wednesday was blamed for at least 10 more fire deaths in the South, including 4 at Birmingham, Ala., 2 at Columbus, Miss., 2 at Shady Dale, Ga., and 2 at Blacksburg, Va. The latest deaths raised to at least 57 the number of persons killed in fires in nine southeastern states since the start of the cold snap over the South last week.

James Hoblet Dies' After Brief Illness 92-Year-Old Farmer Is Taken By Death James Hoblet, 92-year-old retired farmer, died at 10:30 o’clock Wednesday morning at the Van Wert county hospital. He was admitted to the hospital after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage last Thursday, at the home of his grandson, Claire Frye, one mile east of Willshire, 0., where he made his home. He was born in Willshire township May 2, 1866, a son of Boston and Mary Ann Hoblet, and was married to Aide Fryback May 2, 1891. His. w if e preceded him in death. Surviving in additioh to the grandson are a sister, Mrs. Mary Tague of Fort Wayne; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Two daughters, one son and four brothers are deceased. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p. nr. Saturday at the Zwick funeral home, the Rev. Graydon Cox officiating. Burial will be in the Rockford, 0., cemetery. Friends may call at die funeral home after 7 o’clock this' evening until time of the services. ■ " ;if ’ Propose New Highway In Fort Wayne Area INDIANAPOLIS (UPl—Proposed construction of a hew highway hi Fort Wayne area will be aired at a public hearing next Monday afternoon in that city’s Memorial Coliseum. The public will be given a chance to give views on plans of construction of 2.4 miles of duallane highway, replacing a section of Ind. 1 and U.S. 427, beginning at. that intersection with U S. 3ft and running northeast.

Killer Loses Appeal To State High Court East Gary Killer To Die In Chair Jan. 15 MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (UPD— Confesesd sex killer George Robert Brown, 26, East Gary, today began the long wait in the State Prison’s death row. Only the land’s highest court or gubernatorial intervention remained open to the condemned man slated to die in the electric chair Jan. 15 after the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the death verdict assessed against Brown on Dec. 13, 1957, by Lake Criminal Court in Crown Point. In a 4-1 decision, the state’s highest court hdld Wednesday there was sufficient evidence to convict the “Dunes killer.” Brown was convicted in the salying of Mrs. Mildred Grigonis. He also admitted the killing of 16-year-old Lana Brock.' — The former patient at the Beatty Memorial Hospital for the mentally ill was convicted of killing Mrs. Grigonis, a 25-year-old Gary beauty operator, Aug. 17, 1956, after offering to help her. Mrs. Grigonis’ car had stalled during a rainstorm. Instead, Brown admitted he tried to rape her and then choked her to death when he saw approaching car lights. He buried her body near an airport. Cole’s Sky Randi, near New Chicago. Brown chose the same burial ground for his second victim. On Sept. 24, 1956, Miss Brock of New Chicago, also was buried there. However, an autopsy showed that the teen-aged girl was buried alive and suffocated to death. In his confession, Brown said he thought he choked the girl to death to prevent her screams from being heard. Brown's death date was delayed twice by the Supreme Court while it reviewed the case. Brown first was destined to die April 17, then Oct. 15 and now Jan. 15. Brown’s arrests for rape date back to 1949. While held for trial last year. Brown and six other prisoners broke out of the Lake County Jail, which had come to early notoriety when John Dillinger escaped in 1934. Brown was re - captured last November and returned to face trial. The defense claimed there was (Continued on page two)

East Germany Reds Issue New Warning Declares Western Allies Must Deal BERLIN (UPI) — Germany’s Communists declared today that the Western Allies must either deal with them or choose between starvation and war. Politburo member Albert Norden told the U-S., British and French defenders of West Berlin that there is not alternative to local Communist control of the city’s land, water and air lifelines. A few hours earlier, the Red radio in Berlin had rebroadcast a similar Soviet threat. Norden told a meeting in Halle that the decision to hand over control of Berlin to 'the local Reds had been reached by the Communists in Russia and Germany, and that no Western argument could affect it. He said the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Berlin and the transfer of control over the city to the Soviet - zone regime would go ahead on schedule. If the local Reds should succeed in cutting the air lifeline that saved West Berlin in 1948, the Allies would either have to yield to the Berlin regime’s demand for recognition or break through by force. The Russians and their European satellites have declared repeatedly that any forcible attempt to break the Red stranglehold on West Berlin would mean war—perhaps World War 111.

House Group Opposes Seat To Dr. Alford Recommendation By House Committee To Reject Alford WASHINGTON (UPI) — Little Rock’s write-in election of a segregationist congressman was boiling up today into a* national issue almost certain to split the House in a bruising fight at the opening of Congress on Jan. 7. The issue was drawn by an elections committee’s 3-2 recommendation Wednesday that the House refuse to seat Dr. Dale Alford pending a “thorough investigation” of his Nov. 4 election victory over veteran Rep. Brooks Hays, an avowed moderate on the school integration question. Opinions were divided on the probable outcome of the House test. There was general agreement, however, it would be difficult now to avoid it, and that sectional and racial considerations, rather than alleged irregularities in the election, might decide the issue. Can Reject Member TTie House practically always accepts whatever members the voters may send. But, it does not have to. Under the Constitution, each house of Congress is the judge of its membership. A clue to the probable cleavage on Alford's seating came in Wednesday’s split decision. Two Northern Republicans and one Northern Democrat voted in effect against Alford while two Southern Democrats voted for him. House Democrats, at their caucus on Jan. 6, also face a probable row over the Alford case. Caucus Chairman Melvin Price (D-IH.) did not invite Alford to the party session, presumably because he ran against the recognized Democratic candidate. Hays, who had won the party primary. Denounces Decision Alford, in Little Rock, denounced the committee decision and said, “further action will be taken in my behalf immediately.” He declined to say what this action would be. Hayes welcomed the committee’s call for a full investigation, but continued to insist he was “not a contestant.” He pointed out that the complaint was filed not by him but by John F. Wells, a Little Rock weekly newspaper publisher. The Little Rock moderate did not close the door, however, to the possibility he might accept the House seat should the House eventually declare him entitled to it. | Catholic Schools Will Close Friday The Decatur Catholic schools will close Friday afternoon for a Christmas vacation of two weeks, with classes to be resumed Monday morning, Jan. 5. The Decatur public and Lutheran schools will close at noon Wednesday, and students will also return to school Jan. 5. Rural schools of Adams county will close Tuesday afternoon and will a 1s o resume classes Jan. 5.

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