Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 57, Number 148, Decatur, Adams County, 24 June 1959 — Page 1

VoI.LVII. No. 148.

Some Os American Tourists Missing After Norway Fire

VOSSESTRAND, Norway (UPD —Some of the American tourists missing in the fire which destroyed the Stalheim Hotel Tuesday may have plunged over a cliff to their death while fleeing in panic, police said today. Norwegian authorities called in experienced mountain climbers to check the steep and rugged cliff area immediately behind the burned-out hotel where 21 to 24 persons were feared killed. Rescuers have recovered the bodies ot 10 victims from the wreckage. Police said a dozen or more still were believed missing. Twenty-two were hospitalized. At the same time police questioned a Norwegian travel guide leader in belief a party in his room may have caused the fire which roared through the 50-year-old four-story wooden hotel in a matter of minutes. Withhold Casualty List Police said the Norwegian—who was not named—claimed he was not in his room when the blaze started. But he admitted having a party in his second floor room several hours before the fire. A deep precipice forms a can-yon-llke backyard for the hotel. Authorities said many of' the guests arrived only a few hours before the fire and did not know of the cliff’s existence. American embassy officials at Oslo refused to make public a list of American casualties. Police said this probably was the only accurate listing if American victims. M The hotel contained >147 tourists at the time of the fire—l3o Americans, 13 Britons, 2 Swedes and 2 Dutch citizens. Police Commissioner Johannes Haugland, heading an investigation, said the condition of the recovered bodies prevented positive identification. Many persons were injured when they jumped from their upper floor rooms or fell while trying to escape down makeshift ropes. About 35 persons were taken to the hospital at Voss. 20 miles away but ten were released after treatment Bones Broken In Leaps The victims, mostly between the ages of 60 and 70, suffered bums

State Auditor Is Speaker Last Night

“A sham which the voters of Indiana will not accept” was the description given Tuesday night by state auditor Albert A. Steinwedel to the Adams county Jefferson club at the Decatur Youth and Community Center, of the Republican pary principles proposed by Lt. Gov. Crawford Parker. ‘‘Our oppenents, under the dictation of Parker, recently rubberstamped a statement of their principles which consisted mainly of a distortion of historical facts. “Budget-balancing was one plank. Nationally and in Indiana they have been unable to submit a balanced budget for years. The balance of s7l million in the state general fund, carefully guarded■ and increased by Gov. Henry .Shricker, has been allowed to dwindle away to a mere $29 million. And this year a million dollar budget was submitted. — _ Lower Taxes “The Republican platform pledges lower taxes. This is humorous. The party of ‘High-Tax Harold Handley, which increased taxes by 50% the last time they controlled the state legislature, is now the party of lowering taxes! “Facts make a mockery of the GOP statement,” Steinwedel continued. "The Democrats, in 1960, ! must nominate men who have! stuck to -the Democrat party plat-! form and endorsed economy in government. “We beat the high-taxing, freespending Republicans in 1958, and we will do it again in 1960 by nominating candidates who have not followed in their faulty footsteps.” A graduate of the Indiana University school of business, ninth district young Democrat past president, and head of the U.S. census in the ninth district in 1950, Steinwedel is a former Seymour mer-; chant in the retail clothing busi-j ness. The present state auditor was Introduced by Dick Heller, Jr., J publisher of the Decatur Demo-'

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

and broken bones in their escape. Officials were reluctant to list the 17 missing hotel guests as dead even though there was no chance that anyone would be found alive in the ruins. They said many of the guests fled into the woods surrounding the hotel and there was a possibility that some of those unaccounted for may still turn up. A few persons were known to have been given aid by nearby Norwegian families. Sixteen of the American survivors, some still dressed in pajamas with coats thrown over their shoulders, arrived Tuesday night in Oslo from Vossestrand in the fjord country. Describe Harrowing Escape One of them, Mrs. J. R. Miller of Birmingham, Ala., said she could hardly explain how she and her husband escaped the flames. Miller, still coughing from the smoke he breathed, gave this description: “Noise from the corridor probably woke me up, and then I saw the gleam of fire reflecting against the window. Before my wife and I were able to get put of our room, the corridor on both sides was on fire, the flames spreading explosively. “It took some time before we were able to find the stairs, and that moment the fire was raging just a few yards from us. “We heard people screaming from different parts of the hotel. It was all like a nightmare. Everybody was panic - stricken, running in different directions. After we finally got out, we observed many of the guest running toward a nearby woods, dressed in their nightclothes. Hammond Youth Is Stricken By Polio HAMMOND, Ind. (UPD — William Piorkowski, 8, Hammond, was in St. Catherine’s Hospital at East Chicago today suffering from an ailment diagnosed as paralytic polio. Doctors said the boy had received three shots of Salk vaccine.

crat. Preceding the speech Gerald “Doc” Vizard, principal at Pleasant Mills, chairman of the board at the First State Bank, former Democratic county chairman, and the first president of the Jefferson club, gave a brief history of the club, and of the man for whom it was named, Thomas Jefferson. Tracing the birth of the club in the coffee shop at the Rice hotel nine years ago, Vizard explained that Jefferson had been born on ' the Peter Jefferson estate called Tuckahoe. Jefferson was the first real democrat in politics, believing in the principles and founding the oldest political party in continuous existence in the world. Jefferson himself was an accomplished surveyor, lawyer, architect, politician, composer, author, musician, and inventor. His home, Monticello, is full of numerous inventions of a practical nature. • Hartke’s Statement Following Vizard’s talk, county auditor Ed Jaberg read the following telegram from Senator Vance Hartke: “Regret exceedingly that the press of senate business and committee action on a very important bill of my own will keep I me from attending your meeting, i I would love to share fellowship | 'and politics with the great Democracy of Adams county, and to listen to the message of state auditor Bert Steinwedel. Please pass on my regrets to all members of your committee and to Bert, who ' is doing a wonderful job in the state house. I know that his talk will inspire everyone in the hall,” Roger Singleton, president of the club, was introduced, as were the Other club officers, vice-president Mrs. Walter Hofstetter, treasurer 1 Loren Heller, and secretary Mrs, i Robert Gay. Singleton also had ar- ! ranged for coffee and doughnuts fto be served after the one-hour i program.

Mental Prison Riot Is Ended Late Tuesday SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (UPD — Earl C. Taylor, 31, described as “one of the most vicious prisoners in the entire federal prison system,” was identified today as the principal leader in Tuesday’s riot at the U.S. Prison Medical Center here. Bryand D. Reed, 24, a murderer, and Carl Roberts, 19, were named as the other ringleaders in the riot, quelled after 16 hours by a bulldozer and tear gas attack which freed the five hostages. Taylor, serving a nine - year term for possession of fire arms in violation of federal statutes, assault, escape and theft, received a fractured right hand in hand-to-hand combat with one of the hostages, Robert Rosendahl, 38. Rosendahl suffered a severe laci eration of the scalp but was reported in satisfactory condition today at Burge Hospital in Springfield. Estimates oDthe number of persons injurecjzranged from several to about 50. Many Windows Shattered The blood-spattered interior of the building bore testimony to the violence of the assault. Great quantities of blood stained the floors, walls, and broken furnishings. Virtually everything movable had been overturned or broken up. One guard received a minor injury when he slipped and fell, a prison official said. Newsmen estimated 90 per cent of the corridor windows in the riot area were shattered. Officials said Taylor, a former inmate of Alcatraz, Leavenworth and Atlanta federal prisons, “apparently made the first move” in the riot. The part played by Reed and Roberts was not defined immediately. Roberts was serving a 4*4year term under the federal juvenile delinquency law for car theft. Reed, a military prisoner, is serving life for murder. Thought They Would Die What action would be taken against the ringleaders was not revealed immediately. Warden Russell 0. Settle said there still was no explanation for the riot, and probably Tjfould not be until the rioters decided to tell what set it off. He said only 50 of the 106 prisoners confined in the wing participated in the outbreak. The five guards held captive said thev had been positive they were going to be killed in the final minutes before a five-pronged asspult force of 125 lawmen broke into the wing and freed them. The prisoners had no guns. They were armed with knives. All five guards, stripped to their shorts, were injured, one seriously. Associate Warden G. V. Richardson said it wasn't known if the ringleaders and their associates were just malcontents, if they really were trying to escape or if the riot broke out because of a minor, altercation, ' “With this type of mental patient there is no way to know until they tell us what caused the rioting,” Richardson said. Damage In Cell Block As law officers unleashed their assault cm the ward, rioters overturned beds and chairs, poured liquid soap on the floors and started several small fires. y■ • . The guards were put in one cell facing the onrushing bulldozer so they would be hit first if any shots were fired. Settle said the entire assault took only 12 minutes, but that it was some time later before prisoners were herded back to their cells with orders to clean them up. As officers rammed through a heavy- metal door the patients used as a barricade, one guard, William L. Fitch, 45, slipped out to safety.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, June 24,1959.

Demand Argentina President Resign BUENOS AIRES (UPD — The armed forces put new pressure on the government today, and at least one important military figure joined opposition politicians in demanding that President Arturo Frondizi resign. The generals and the admirals who had already forced the resignation of the civilian members of Frondizi’s cabinet were now reported to be demanding: —The resignations of War Secretary Hector Solanas Pacheco and Navy Secretary Adolfo Estevez. Both men handed in their resignations Monday night, along with those of the rest of the cabinet, but Frondizi immediately announced that the military miniters would retain their jobs. —The appointment of non-politi-cal commanders of the army and navy. Under the present system, each military secretary doubles as commander of his service. At least 96 officers who opposed the aims of their chiefs were reported under arrest at various Argentine garrisons. Early today, Rear Adm. Isaac Rojas formally denounced the Frondizi administrtion as “dismal and illegal” and called on Frondizi to resign. Eighty-one Argentine trade unions, 62 led by Peronists and 19 by Communists, joined Tuesday in denouncing Frondizi’s efforts to stabilize the Argentine economy, and most of the nation’s opposition political parties have demanded his resignation. Despite the mounting pressure, Frondizi went ahead with the task of forming a new cabinet. INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy, warm and humid tonight with scattered thundershowers. Thursday partly cloudy with a few scattered thundershowers south and central. Turning cooler extreme north. Low tonight 68 to 72. High Thursday 80 to -85 extreme north to the low 90s south. Sunset today 8:17 p.m. Sunrise Thursday 5:18 a.m. Outlook for Friday: Partly cloudy, wsrm and humid with widely scattered thundershowers mostly afternoon and eve- , ning. Lows near 70. Highs from mid 80s extreme north to low 90s extreihe south.

Newspaper Service To Hospital For 20 Years

For more than 20 years, beginning this week, patients at the Adams county memorial hospital have been greeted each evening with: “Good Evening—We Hope You Are Feeling Better.” Through the generosity of 27 Decatur merchants, this message and others like >t come with 27 copies of the Democrat each evening to hospital patients who are well enough to read. Each merchant has a year’s subscription, which begins June 21, and is sent each evening to the hospital, a service which hospital personnel are enthusiastic in praising for the recreation it provides for the patients. It was 20 years ago when the service began with 21 merchants cooperating in the service. As an article in the June 10, 1939 Democrat said, “Ever mindful of the long, lonely hours that the patients spend on their hospital beds recuperating from an illness, an op“eryjtion or an injury, these merchants have cooperated in affording them with the favorite recreation of the patients—in fact with every resident of a city like Decattir; i.e., reading the ‘home town newspaper.’ Because a patient must spend a long time in bed is no reason why he should be forced to lose contact with his relatives, friends and neighbors, a contact which can be continued through the hometown newspaper, where the patient learns that ‘so-and-so’ had a shower for her newly wedded girl friend: that their neighbor’s lad was struck by an auto last evening; that a new arrival was reported at the Smiths or Jones today..

Says Human Race To Survive H-Bomb War WASHINGTON (UPD—A scientist gave assurance today that the human race would survive the heriditary damage of an H-bomb war between Russia and the United States. It might even emerge—Generations hence — “bigger stronger, wiser, gentler, healthier.” But the price would be enormous and the scientist. Dr. Robert R. Newell, earnestly advised against pay ing it. ' ~ He said the price would be “a large or major fraction of the population killed, or dying within a few months; survivors carrying many radiation-induced mutations; high infant and adult mortality for many generations.” Newell, of the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory at San Francisco, testified before a congressional atomic energy Subcommittee on the effects of protracted exposure to radiation in the aftermath of nuclear war. Theory says that any apiount of radiation, however low, can damage the genes—the reproductive cell units which transmit hereditary characteristics from generation to generation. It also says 90 to 99 per cent of changes,.or mutations, wrought by radiation in the genes are harmful. The harm shows itself in suclj. guises as defective children, stillbiiths, low fertility. In the hypothetical war between the United States and Russia, perhaps 40 million Americans of reproductive age would survive. Human beings have 20,000 to 100,000. genes. It has been estimated that the survivors might transmit between 24 million arid 9.60 million new mutations to their children. This sounds like unrelieved disaster. and many geneticists believe it would be. But Newell, an elderly man with ,sparse gray hair who wes described by a colleague as a nonconformist, said there is another wav of looking at it. “It should not be taken as axiomatic that an increase in mutation rate is bad for the human race,” he said. “A certain percentage of mutant genes in our racial inventory may be necessary for health and survival, even though they do entail a certain . selective mortality.” ’ By “selective; mortality” Newell was referring to the fact that in nature a species rids itself of unwholesome genes through the device of premature death. Deposits Increased , At State Bank Deposits in tne First State Bank of Decatur have increased by $808,362 during the past year, with an additional $680,827.98 in loans, according to the bank’s statement of condition being printed today. Deposits in June a year ago were $14,500,923.95, and this year on June 10 they were $15,309,285.95. Loans and discounts were $4,962,912.76 a year ago, and $5,643,740.74 this year. Also in the past year, $200,000 was transferred from undivided profits to surplus to make the present surplus $450,000.

Ten of the present 21 merchants have provided this service since it began 20 years ago. This year, continuing in their 21st year, are these ten businesses: Ashbaucher’s Tin Shop, Burk Elevator company, Burke’s Standard Service. Citizens Telephone company, The First State Bank, Gerber’s Super Mar-, ket. Northern Indiana Public Service company, Rentz Florists, the Suttles company, and the Decatur Democrat company. Newer subscribers to the service are the American Legion Adams Post No. 43, L. Anspaugh Studios, Cowens Insurance Agency, Decatur Rotary club, the Fairway, Dr. H. R. Frey, General Electric company, Haugk’s Heating and Plumbing, Holthouse Drug company, Home Dairy Products, Inc., Ideal Dairy Products c o_nj.p any, the Krick-Tyndall company, Arthur H. Lengerich, L. O. O. Moose Lodge No. 1311, Price Men’s Wear, Wolfe's Produce, and Yost Construction co., Inc. Each of these subscribers has s the company name on the blue and white label, along with the greetings, such as the one above or “Here’s hoping you will be up and out in just a little while,” and “We Wish You A Complete and Speedy Recovery.” Perhaps the worth of-the service these subscribers give was e??nlained best in the 20-year-old article: “Ahd to thifce who don’t believe the patients eagerly await the arrival of the paper each evening, it is advised that the skeptics in their next visit to the institution watch the interested, satisfied expression of a patient when he or she scans the pages.”

Study Closing Os Schools In Blue Creek Twp. Because of expensive repairs and ntw buses needed in Blue Creek township for the proper operation of the two two-room grade schools operated there, the possibility of closing; the Kimsey and Lincoln grade schools, and transferring the pupils to Berne, Adams Central, and Pleasant Mills, is being seriously considered, it was learned today. The two schools were built in the early 1900’s, and they have modem facilities, but are now growing old. The heating systems are corroded from long use, and extensive building repairs are needed. Two new buses are needed this fall to continue the system. While a new four-room school is. desirable to take care of the present needs and future expansion, four-room schools are no longer receiving state approval. This means that it will be impossible for a new school to be constructed in the township, unless the population there takes an unexpected upturn in* the distant future. But the more than 100 pupils there need good school facilities right now. There are four teachers employed at the schools for the eight grades taught there. It has not been possible for the schools include intensive fine .arts or practical arts programs, as the larger schools nearby have. Parents Contacted It is understood that township trustee Frank Myers and county school superintendent Gail Grabill have contacted the parents of all the grade-school pupils. Os the 109 pupils, 48 chose to attend Adams Central, 31 chose Berne, and 24 chose Pleasant Mills, with six as yet undecided. Trustee Myers explained that his decision to transfer the pupils was based on the hard, cold facts of costs per pupil. This year it cost the taxpayers ot Blue Creek township $22,217.68 to send their children to school. For the pupils in the first to eighth grades, the cost per pupil for average daily attendance was $177.93. About S4O of this is reimbursed by the state, so the actual cost per grade school pupil was about $137.93. During that same year, transfer costs per pupil in average daily attendance was sll2 at Adams Central, sll6 at Pleasant Mills, and sll7 at Berne. This means that more than $2,400 a year may be saved by transferring the pupils. In addition, the pupils themselves will get the advantage of programs in the fine arts and practical arts not now possible in the Blue Creek schools. Lowers Costs With 1 cent on the Blue Creek tax levy raising approximately $163, transferring of the pupils could lower the tax rate about 14 cents per SIOO assessed valuation. With the cost of maintaining schools raising at the unprecedented rate of 5% per year, the Blue Creek schools, as far as their program is concerned, have been “treading - water," so to speak, to keep the high cost per pupils down so that the taxpayers

could support their own schools. During the week that parents wer econtacted, only a few exi pressed serious objections to closing the schools, although many were understandably disappointed. Practical considerations of better Continued on page five Judge Bierly Will Speak To Society Judge G. Remy Bierly, of the Indiana appellate court, one of only two local men ever elected to that high office, will speak to the Adams county’ historical society next Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock at the Decatur library on early state history. Judge Bierly will speak on “The beginnings of our state government and Corydon as the first state capital.” A former school teacher; state and county official, he is eminently qualified on his subject, since he was raised in Harrison county. „ A charter' member of the local society, he will be introduced by president Gerald R. Durkin. A number of books on the early history of Indiana, including a series of pamphlets published tjy theh AUen county library, are available f<Jr those interested at the Decatur library. * The local historical society is taking part in a state-wide survey of historical clubs, and their accomplishments, sponsored by the state historical society.

,i' - f * ' 1 QUELL MISSOURI PRISON RlOT— State Trooper J. L. Hart talks with John Perkins, son of a Correction Officer at the U. S. Prison Medical Center in Springfield, Mo., while 100 rioting mental patients overpowered the guards with home-made knives and held five hostages. After sixteen hours of rioting, federal officers launched a tear gas attack freeing the hostages, all of whom were injured, but only one seriously.

No Progress At Geneva-Herter

WASHINGTON (UPD — Secretary of State Christian A. Herten's firm stand on Western, rights in Berlin left the next move squarely up to Russia today in negotiating for a settlement of the EastWest crisis over Germany. Herter told the nation Tuesday night'tn a nationally-televised report on the deadlocked Geneva foreign ministers meeting that “possible areas of agreement” exist. But he said the Soviets first must back down on their threats to force the West out of West Berlin. > The secretary also declared there had been no progress to date at the foreign ministers level that would warrant a summit conference between President Eisenhower, Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev- ; and other heads of . government. Talks •Resume July 13 The foreign ministers of Brife- . ain, France, Russia and the United States will resume talks at Geneva July 13 following the current . three-week “cooling off” recess. Herter flatly said in his speech that, “I regret to say that no significant progress was made toward settlement of the problem of the continued division of Germany and of Berlin” in the. first six weeks of the Geneva talks. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee agreed with Herter’s assessment. They also generally endorsed the secretary’s willingness to enter into another round of talks with the Russians. But Sen. Homer E. Capehart (R-Ind.>, a committee member, said the time “has just about arrived for us to refuse to have any more conferences with the Russians. They don’t" get us anywhere and they provide the Russians with a vehicle for propaganda.’’ Throws Ball to Reds Senate Democratic Whip Mike I Mansfield, also a committee member, said Herter “has in a |

Elaborate Plans For Sidewalk Sale July 7

Two street dances, a roving dixieland jazz band, an automobile auction, merchants and town folks dressed in “bye-gone” era garb, antique window displays, and even corn meal on the streets will give Decatur the “Gay Nineties” aura for the second annual “Old Fash- . ioned Sidewalk Sale and Jubilee,” Tuesday, July 7. The retail division of the local Chamber of Commerce, following through with the promotional stunt that captured the fancy of both store owners and shoppers last year, has come up with a more varied and expansive format for this year’s event. Besides keeping what proved most successful in 1958, the committee has added attractions, provoking keen interest among Decatur area consumers. ' Gifts For Winners Gift certificates will be given to the most unusually dressed shopper and likewise for one of the local clerks. According to Lucille Ruppert, chairman of the “dress up” category, the merchants are really planning to outao themselves in costumes. The response last year has led to the belief that if everyone has fun getting dressed up, the sale and jubilee is bound to be a success, she said. Jack Underwood. Fort Wayne disc jockey at WOWO, will lend his highly professioal touch to the teen-age hop at one end of Second street, while Mel Kreps, one of Adams county's best callers, will!

straightforward and courageous manner thrown the ball back to the Soviet Union.” Mansfield said it was up to Khrushchev in the next three weeks to come up with a counter proposal that recognizes the West’s legal right to be in Berlin and tends to bring “a degree of peace and stability to Germany and Central Europe,” U.S. officials belieVe a hint of Communist intentions may come late next week when Soviet First Deputy Premier Frol Koslov meets with Eisenhower and Herter here. They say the first break in the Soviet ultimatum for a time limit on Western occupation rights in West Berlin may come at those meetings. Koslov is coming to the United States to open a Soviet exposition in New York June 30. He will make Washington the first stop on a trip across the country. Herter's speech was a ringing demand that the Soviets begin ‘‘genuine negotiations.” He said the “baneful influence of statements outside the conference” by Khrushchev made attempts to negotiate at Geneva "practically fruitless.” He referred to a Moscow speech in which the Soviet premier repeated previous Soviet threats to abandon their responsibilities to the Western powers concerning Berlin. Quadruplets Born To Student's Wife NEW YORK (UPI) — Quadruplets, three boys and a girl, were born today in the Marine Hospital, Staten Island, to Mrs. Bessie Kojouras, 26, the wife of a Columbia University law student. The babies are reported in “fair” condition and\are in incubators.

do the honors at the other end for the square dancers. While all this is going on,' Charles Wester will lead his combo of New Orleans dixielanders “up the street, and down the street.” Businessmen from outlying districts have been invited to take up stands on the “midway,” and arrangements, while not complete, are being formulated to bring in as many as possible. Harry Schwartz, chairman of the auto and implement dealers division,' said that details have not been worked out fully, but old billy goats and old gray mares may be used in trade-ins for automobiles of less-than-new vintage. And Shorty Geimer is in the process of grinding the meal which will provide the precarious footing for dancers, young and old alike, the night of the jubilee. ’ Dance Sites Undecided Wayne Pripe, chairman of the street dances, said that he is getting splendid cooperation from city and civic officials in arranging the details. As bidding" for both dances runs high, the exact location of each has not been decided upon. General chairman Dave Moore, assorted that although the program seems adequate as it now stands, further arrangements for a prominent celebrity and event are about to be cemented. While not divulging just what was brewing, he hinted that the personality was in the communications field.

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