Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 57, Number 129, Decatur, Adams County, 2 June 1959 — Page 1

Vol. LVII. No. 129.

11 Persons Are Killed As Burning Truck Is Exploded On Highway

POTTSVILLE, Pa. IUPII — A burning tank truck loaded with propane gas exploded on a highway today, hurling firemen and spectators hundreds of feet away. Eleven persons were killed and 10 were injured. Five of them badly. The drivers of two school buses, carrying a total ot 85 children, managed to speed their vehicle away from the scene before the blast occurred. I Ronald Kramer, 33, Auburn, Pa., driver of a Blue Mountain school bus carrying 40 pupils to classes, said he was driving south in a light rain on the Potts-ville-Reading highway behind a trailer truck owned by the Branch Transportation Co. of Pottsville. Kramer said the truck-trailer skidded when it tried to slow down and crashed into the rear of the tank truck owned by the Sun Gas Propane Co. The bus driver said flames shot up from the rear of the tank. Fearing an explosion, Kramer turned his bus off the highway and drove through a field to get away from the scene. He said another school bus was going south in front of the tank truck when the accident occurred. Russell Klahr of Schuylkill Haven, the driver of the other school bus, said he saw flames and stepped on the acelerator to get away from the fire. . About a half hour after the collision, the.blast blew out the back of the tank truck. Witnesses said the force thrust the entire trailer like a rocket into the air. The trailer, spewing flames, soared about 75 feet before it landed in the field. State trooper Earl Klinger who was sitting in his patrol car 300 feet away when the explosion burst in a “tornado-like ball of fire.” He said flames shot 300 feet in the air and enveloped firemen and spectators. Two bodies hurled from the scene crashed into his patrol car, shattering the windshield, Klinger said. The trooper said he saved himself from injury by “ducking under the dashboard.’’ Police believed the accident occurred when the school bus preceding the tank truck along the highway slowed down to pick up a pupil. The tank truck slowed down behind it cm the slippery, rainswept highway but the trucktrailer behind it could not stop in time. The force of the blast ripped some of the victims into fragments. Arms, legs and other parts of their bodies were scattered. Work Is Underway On Swimming Pool The Decatur swimming pool is being readied for opening, possibly in a week or ten days, Bernard Clark, city street commissioner, said today. The entire city street department worked all day Monday and hoped to finish up today. First, a dying elm tree that hung over the shallow end of the pool was removed. All the cracks in the bottom of the pool were sealed, and the pool walls and bottom are being painted with green waterproofing paint. About Friday the pool will be filled, and allowed to warm up for several days before swimming is permitted. Work on the pool is usually done by- both street department and electric department workers, but because all the electric crew was needed at the steam plant the street department did the entire job this year. Workers there included, besides Clark, Theodore Baker, Raymond Johnson, Thomas Lambert, William Cravens, and Ben Hower.,, ‘ -As Army Draft Call * 7,000 For August WASHINGTON (U P I) — The Army will draft 7,000 men in August, tire Defense Department announced today. The August call is 1,000 fewer than the July draft and 1,000 more than drafted in May and this month. k

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Catholic High, Grade School Rites Friday V. Graduation exercises will be conducted for 20 Decatur Catholic high , school seniors and 46 eighth graders from St. Joseph’s grade school Friday at 8 p.m. in theDCHS auditorium. The Rev. Edmund Moore. OFM, of ttie Bishop Luers high school in Fort Wayne, will be the main speaker. The program will open with Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the high school band, followed by the senior class rendition of “One Little Candle,” by Mysels-Roach. Rev. Moore will then deliver his address. The Rev. Robert Contant. pastor pro tern, and assistant pastor, the Rev. Robert Jaeger, will distribute the diplomas and awards to the high school graduates. The school band will offer a number before the eighth grade graduates sing “The St. Francis Hymn,” by Kirchengesange. The pastors will then distribute the 46 diplomas to the elementary pupils. The school band will follow with the “Russian Choral," by Tschaikowsky, before the rose procession and consecration to Mary. The high school graduates will lend the choral assistance to the processional with the “Ave Maria,” by Sister M. Carola, CSA. The school band, under the direction of Joseph Morin, will conclude the program with “A Summer Evening Serenade,” by Issac-Lillya. The members of the 1959 graduating class of Decatur Catholic high school are: Angela Andrews. Gerald Baker, Kathleen Baker, Michael Durkin, Jane Geimer, Paul Gross, Carl Heiser, Mary Ann Jackson, David Kitson, Dolores Kohne, Kathleen Kohne, Judith Koors, Edward LaFontaine, Theresa Laurent, Anthony Lengerich, Leonida Mies, Robert Murphy, David Schultz. Stephen Sutton and Glenn Wilder. The members of the St. Joseph’s graduating class are: Michael Baker, Mary Frances Beckman, Robert Boch, Edna Bowers, Carol Braden K Ronald Braun, John Burroughs, Elias Caciano, John- Carroll, Judith Cook, Janet* Gase, Gerald Geimer, Jerome Geimer, Joyce Geimer, Mary Lou Geimer, Patricia Gerardot, Agnes Therese Hain, Lawrence Hake, Hedwig Halikowski, Iris Hebble, Martha Kable, Mary Kable, James Kaehr, Thomas Kitson, Ruth LaFontaine, Myrna Laker, Mary Lou Lengerich, Rose Marie Loshe, Thomas McKean.Carmen Mendoza, John Mendoza, Daniel Meyer, Kenneth Miller. Sharon Miller, Virginia Mills, MaHa Morales, Nancy Murphy, Margaret Rickord, Mary Schurger, Judith Selking, Sarah Sutton, Carol Tricker, Joyce Vian, Alice Villagomes, Louise Wilder and Thomas Wiseman. Emil Christener Dies Monday Night Emil Christener, 63, route one, Monroe, and a native of Adams county, died Monday at 10:40 p.m. at the Adams county memorial hospital of cardiac failure. He had been bedfast since Friday. He was born the son of Christen and Maria Streum - Christener, June 25, 1895, in Monroe township. His occupation was that of a farmer. He never married. Surviving are two Brothers, Fred Christener, of Decatur, and Charles Christener, of route one, Monroe, four nieces and four nephews. Two brothers and two sisters preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 o’clock Thursday afternoon at the Yager funeral home in Berne, with the Rev. C. A. Schmid, officiating. Burial will be in the M. R. E. cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 o’clock tonight.

District Governor Is Lions Speaker The impressive picture of 92 flags, each representing a country in which Lionism flourishes, with 567,465 active members engaged annually in 180,861 activities of community betterment, was brought to the Detatur Lions club Monday night by Walter Kessler, of Tri-Lakes, district governor. Kessler is one of seven governors elected annually in Indiana for the seven districts. He was scheduled to speak at Decatur about six weeks ago, but was taken to the hospital for Emergency surgery shortly before. Kessler has served in various district and state offices for a number of years. He was introduced by Roy Price, former district governor. Dick Anderson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson, led the group in the pledge of allegiance. President Glenn Hill gave a full report of Lions activities during the past year. Next week, D. Burdette Custer, local attorney who is a colonel in the air’force reserves, will speak on his experiences; the election of officers will also be held next week. Monday, June 22, will be a ladies night, with Noah Steury providing a nationally known humorist as entertainment. Kessler explained that before becoming district governor he attended a special indoctrination school, during which he heard 51 speeches in 2% days on Lionism from the world leaders to the 314 district governors. The meeting, held last July at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago, was conducted like a United Nations meeting, with foreign delegates having each speech translated into his native tongue through earphones at his chair. “You really feel the internationalism of Lions when you sit down at a table where dozens, of nationalities and languages blend,” he explained. Os special interest was the group of 245 Australians who brought a baby kangaroo with them, flying to San Francisco, and then proceeding across country by bus. Mexico and Cuba sent large delegations, and 12 from Sweden chartered a private plane. The importance of Hoosier Lionism in cancer research was pointed out by Kessler, who told how the Lions, since 1947, have contributed $101,834.13 in 11 years, to the IU cancer control clinic at Indianapolis. The Lions gave the center its first large piece of equipment in 1947, and many other items since. Each year 20 specialists are trained in detection and control of cancer. Persons may be referred to the center by their physicians if cancer is suspected. Another important Lion project is the leader dog for the blind program, operating from Rochester, Mich. Kessler visited the school, and saw how dogs are selected: all animals used are German police dogs, given as gifts to the center. To qualify, the trainer must be able to approach the dog in his master’s car without exciting the dog to growl or bite—this instinct, if present cannot be trained out of a dog. Then the dog must be able to sit quietly at its master’s feet when brought from the car. The third test is a walk up and down a busy highway, as a dog that panics or cowers in traffic would be worthless to a blind person. Any blind person who applies at the center will be given a dog, and no charge is made for the dog, or the 30-day training period: all this is paid for from Lions club funds. INDIANA WEATHER Fair and cool tonight. Wednesday fair and pleasant. Lows tonight 50 to 58. Highs Wednesday 75 to 82. Sunset today 8:07 p.m. Sanrise Wednesday 5:19 a.m. Outlook for Thursday: Fair and » little warmer. Lows * in 595, highs in 88s.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, June 2,1959.

Stale Trooper , Is Wounded By Shot From Car ' BEDFORD, Ind. (UPI) —An Indiana State Police trooper and ’ the elderly woman postmaster of Avoca were wounded today by ' shots fired from a car the trooper 1 had stopped. 1 State police said about three hours after the shooting that the ’ suspects, one of whom earlier was ’ described as a “girl with a pony ’ tail hairdo,” had been captured. 1 ’ Trooper Robert C. Gillespie, 30, of the Bloomington post, was hit in the leg by one or more bullets from a revolver when he stopped a car which sped away from a ’ filling station leaving a gasplhw bill unpaid. Mrs. Stella Baker, 67. the postmaster, was nicked on a finger ; by a bullet as she stood near toe ’ postoffice, apparently watching the officer apprehend the car occupants. Police combed a wooded area seeking a six-foot dark-haired man ’ in a white T-shirt and levis, and ' a girl in a white blouse and dark ’ skirt seen fleeing on foot from the oar after the shooting. . < woman’s purse was found jp s the car. It contained a woman’s - name and a Clinton, Wis., address, i Gillespie apparently was not hurt L badly. ! Fellow officers reported that [ Gillespie apparently was shot by one of two persons in a car he i stopped on Ind. 54 near Avoca, I a small town northwest of Bed- , ford. L The occupants of the car, which > carried an Illinois license plate, j were reported to have fled on fool . after Gillespie was.shot. t All troopers operating on patrols f in the Bloomington post area were . notified to be on the lookout for a car whose driver pulled away from a gas station two miles west of ► Bloomington without paying for a * tankful of gasoline. Gillespie saw the car near Oolitic and chased it, overtaking it near Avoca.

West Nations I Warn Gromyko

■ GENEVA (UPI) — The West i warned Russia’s Andrei Gromyko ; today to drop charges of “subversion” in West Berlin or face a . grim playback of tape recordings exposing East German Communist intrigues. Authoritative sources reported t new recordings of inflammatory . broadcasts by a disguised East . German “underground station” ’ had just reached Geneva and might be brought to the Big Four ' foreign ministers’ conference table to refute Gromyko’s charges against the West. The Soviet foreign minister demanded Saturday that the Rias (radio in the American sector) transmitter in West Berlin be si--1 lenced- as one of the prices for any interim Berlin settlement. Insists on Good Faith Secretary of State Christian Herter flatly rejected this propos- ■ al at Monday’s secret meeting. •Hi g U.S. officials said Herter plans to sit tight indefinitely until the Russians either guarantee > Western rights in Berlin or break up the present conference. i The decision was made in the . face of Gromyko’s proposal made at another secret meeting last Saturday in which he said the Western powers must "sooner or later” get their troops out of Berlin. U.S. officials said Herter believed Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev still wants a summit conference and will order Gromyko to get down to business once he is convinced the solid Western front cannot be cracked. nsists on Good Faith President - Eisenhower has insisted the Russians show some

Ig-'.fffe-? Employment And Payrolls Increase Industrial payroll for April was reported $49,263 over toe March payroll, and $126,209 over the April figure a year ago for the nine local industries reporting, according to the monthly business baro- ' meter issued by the Decatur Chamber of Commerce. , Industrial employment was also reported as up over the previous month, with April showing 1.653 Employed, compared with 1,631 in ’ March, and 1.457 a year ago. Electrip meters, including rural, increased slightly in April wer the March figure, and is reported up over the April of 1958 ' figure. Meters for April of this ’ year was reported at 4,008, as ! compared with 3,998 in March, and 3,976 a year ago. Water ‘ meters decreased in April show- • Ing 2,442, while in March the figure stood at 3,564, and 2,553 a year . ago. Gas meters increased only three. The April figure is 2,442, , as compared with toe March fig- ; ure of 2,445, and the April of 1958 figure of 2,345. Telephones, including rural, in- ‘ creased sharply in April showing i 6,413, while in March, telephone . were reported at 6,365, and 6,216 a year ago. J Direct poor relief dropped nine y ■Kases over the previous month, s pSt?creased toe numberfof persons involved, but was reported at a i higher cost over the March figure. In April, 21 cases, involving 48 t persons, at a cost of $1,893, com- , pared with the March figures of , 30 cases, involving 101 persons at a cost of $1,510; and the April ’ figures of 1958 of 27 cases, involving 108 persons at a cost of t $1,711. Births were down 29 over the > March figure, but was even with, the figure a year ago. Births ; were recorded at 50 in April, J compared with 79 in March, andi i 50 a year ago. i Deaths recorded in April declin- • ed three over the March figure, i but increased one over a year ago. In April, nine deaths were . recorded, as compared with 12 in ; March, and eight in April of last Continued on page five

good faith at the foreign ministers conference' before he attends a summit conference. Two sessions were scheduled today, a plenary session this afternoon asked for by Gromyko to let the East Germans talk again, and a private session restricted to the Big Four after dinner tonight. The U.S. delegation toughened its attitude, both publicly and in private, as the foreign ministers conference ground deep into the fourth week with little accomlishment apparent. « Diplomat sources said Gromyko told the Allies in a private session Saturday they must withdraw their troops from Berlin eventually and agree to a symbolic unit of Communist troops in West Berlin until that time. He said Western troops never would be permitted in East Berlin. Western Proposal Rejected This amounted to a complete rejection of the Western proposal that all Berlin be treated as a single unit with one city administration supervised jointly by Russia, Britain, the United States and France. ~ i Asst. Secretary of State Andrew H. Berding said only a “very? very small amount of progress" had been made in secret talks on Berlin with Gromyko but that Herter had no intention of letting impatience pressure him into breaking off the talks at this point or making undue concessions to the Russains. Berding said Herter will stay ‘/as long as there is a reasonable chance” of making progress.

Basham Head Os Community Fund Campaign ■ James C. Basham, chief draftsman in the engineering department of the Central Soya company, has been named chairman of the Community Fund drive for 1959, Carl A. Braun, new president of the next meeting, and plans set up well in advance for the drive. Each Basham succeeds David Moore, Sears Store manager, as drive chairman. Moore served for the 1958 drive. A graduate of the Missouri mines in mechanical engineering, Basham joined Central Soya in Decatur in 1951. Braun, a local insurance agent, succeeds Ralph Habegger, of Habegger Hardware, as president of the fund. Both Basham and Braun, and other fund board members will meet in the near future to complete plans so rthe next drive. Workers will be appointed at the nex meeting, and plans set up well in advance for he drive. Each worker win be contacted, and lists announced in the newspaper. “This is a real chance for every resident of Decatur to really pitch in and help his community,” Basham and Braun stated. “Volunteer to help if your name is not on the list. Every worker is urgently needed.” The Community Fund drive collects, in one drive, funds for the members agencies, which "will include toe Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Youth Center, Salvation Army, United Service Organization, Red Cross, and Crippled Children society. Its existence does away with seven separate and independent drives, which duplicate efforts on the part of many individuals.

Contracts Awarded By Commissioners • Contracts for gasoline, and three carloads of coal, were awarded : Monday by the Adams county com- , missioners at their meeting held » at the county court house. i Beavers Oil service was awarded the contract for gasoline on a bid I of 19.90 cents per gallon. Other bids submitted include: Ohio Oil ' Co., 20.3 cents; Petrie Oil Co., 19.95 cents; and Eastern Indiana Oil Co. 20.3 cents. Adams County Farm Bureau Cooperative, of Monroe, was given the contract for two carloads of coal on a bid of $13.25 per ton. . Monroe Grain & Supply Inc., was awarded a contract calling for one carload of coal at $13.45 per ton. . One other bid was submitted by Burk Elevator calling for $13.65 . per ton, t Other business matters discussed at the weekly meeting included a , drainage problem in Union town- , ship. Glen Roughia consulted with the.commissioners of the problem. He was informed that interested parties concerning the ditch should prepare a petition and file it with the commissioners upon its completion. ? The commissioners designated the First State Bank of Decatur the depository bank for the recorder’s office who will in the future make daily deposits in pursuant to,a new law passed by the 1959 legislature. The new law takes effect, July 1. Lawrence Noll, county highway superintendent, and Walter Gilliom, engineer, consulted with the commissioners on the reinforcement of-county bridges which they feel will be necessary in the near future. A.resolution concerning the matter was drawn’ and filed with the board. Residents of Wabash David Moser, David Schindler, Jerome Hawbaker, and Dan Hix, discussed the cleaning of the Schug ditch in Wabash township. No defContlnued on pa.se five

; ‘ —- ' — • 1 Colin I, Finlayson J. Wartl Calland Ears c EARL C. FUHRMAN, has been elected president of the Decatur Memorial Foundation, Inc. He succeeds J. Ward Calland, president for six years, during which time the Decatur Youth and Community Center was built. Colin I. Finlayson, who is moving to Fort Wayne, resigned from the board, and is replaced by W< Lowell Harper,

I l«*W' 1 Ar > B 1 BbEm * flb , .&& JCr, ' JsKr A '■\ ' I James Basham Cari Br « un J JAMES C. BASHAM has been named chairman of the Deca- ’ tur Community Fund drive for next fall. The appointment was » announced by Carl Braun, president of the Fund. Earl Fuhrman Heads } -.- _- .. - - ■ • ■ ,=■ ---.-- , - . - : Decatur Foundation r

Earl Fuhrman, present first vicepresident of the Decatur Memorial Foundation, Inc., and chairman of the county Red Cross board for the past two years, was elected president of the foundation- Monday night, succeeding J. Ward Callaiid, who served as president for the past six years. Calland was president of the foundation during the last two years of its fund-raising drive to build the Decatur Youth and Community Center, and since its construction has led in the annual fund-raising program to assist toe center. He declined to run for another one-year term of office because his present plans include numerous periods of absence from the city. C. I. (Scotty) Finlayson, a member of the board since 1947, resigned, as he plans to move to Fort Wayne in the near future. W. 1 Lowell Harper, president of toe 1 Bag Service, Inc., was elected to ■ replace him on the board. Also 1 reelected to the. board for four-year terms were Earl Fuhrman, Dick I Heller, Jf., John Welch, and J. I Ward Calland. Officers elected include first vice-president, Cal Yost, presently second vice-president; second vicepresident, M. J. Pryor; reelected secretary, Mrs. Roy Kalver, and reelected treasurer, T. F. Graliker. Richard Linn, director of toe center, pointed out that on April 30, a year ago, toe center was still this year the center was $7,498 in his year the center was $7,498 in the black. The recently installed cement driveway and improve- ■ ment of the center entrance was described. A survey of electric outlets in the building, and the possibility of drilling through the floor behind the paneling to permit more outlets, is being made. The present wiring is not heavy enough to carry the load required when numerous attachments are plugged in 1 for large dinners, or entertainments. The roof is presently blistered, with water present under the surface, and re curling around the edges; this will be repaired to prevent a future complete re-roofing job, Linn explained. Kitchen equipment is being purchased as needed to bring the serving sets up to the required 500 limit. More tables, to help serve larger dinners, are needed. * Plans tor stage- lighting on pulleys, which could be used at either end of the main auditorium, are being designed by Watson Maddox. The shuffleboard court has been repaired, and one new horseshoe court built, with another planned. Scrub oeds are being maintained. While the center is closed on Monday evenings during the summer, the interior of the center, including the youth rooms, will be

Six Cents

painted. This is the only suitable time to allow drying for reopening the next day, without closing the center for several weeks. The possibility of purchasing a coffee urn large enough to make coffee for the Increasing numbers of large dinners was discussed. Jhe present two 50-cup urns are not-satisfactory; for example, for the Kennedy dinner, the kitchen workers started making coffee at noon for the 6:30 p.m. dinner. Linn attributed the better finan- " cial condition of the center to the increase in tax moneys, enforcing the rates originally set up, and the a increase in large dinners. The board was unanimous in praising Linn for his management of the center during the past 1% years. ’ The operation of the soda foun- ’ tain at the center was discussed, ' and the fact that it was now paying ’ for all the materials used, but was still operating in the red. This can 'be expected, Linn said, because the majority of sales are the 5 • cent and 10 cent drinks and ice , cream which the .young people desire. Cal Yost was named chairman of a committee to investigate improvement costs, and M. J. Pryor and Dick Heller, Jr., were named ■ with him on the committee. • Steam Generator Is Closed Down Monday ; The steam generator at the city ’ electric plant, started Friday at } 9:46 p. m., was closed down Monday afternoon about 4 o’clock for ' repairs when the condensate pump on the condenser failed to operate properly, L. C. Pettibone, supervisor, announcde. The generator is working very . well since it was repaired, and . about two days of adjustments ; on the pump should have it in . working order, Pettibone added. I At the diesel plant, three of four damaged pistons have been fitted > with new crowns and rings, and a ». fourth was expected to be completed today. It is expected to be i back tn working order in a short : time, with work going according ‘ to schedule, Pettibone said. i The steam generator went out ■ of order about the first of April, ’ and the diesel went out with a cracked liner about two weeks : ago. The city is presently operating on purchased power through i a semi-permanent transformer at ■ the steam plant and a portable • unit near the diesel plant. s