Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 58, Number 64, Decatur, Adams County, 16 March 1960 — Page 1

Vol. LVIII. No. 64.

Appraisers Set Valuation Os Electric Utility Below Offer-Election April 26

• The court-appointed teppraixer* ol Decatur’s electric utility returned an appraisal Tuesday afternoon fixing the value of the - utility at 12.051.1 M. $48,109 U’»» than the offer of $2.099,300 from Indiana-Michigan. This means that Decatur voters themselves wiU decide April 26 whether or not they wish to sell the electric utility. The appraisers called a meeting at 4 p m. with the electric committee of the city council, the mayor, city attorney, 1 4 M attorney. and the press. At that time, tdwin Reifsteck. acting, for the appraisers, read their report, which gave the value of the plant. Delmas Bollenbacher and Elmer Isch. the other two members of the appraisal committee. also spoke briefly. Appointed Feb. 1 They explained that they had been named as appraisers February 1. and were sworn into office February 9 On the 10th they met. and the following da> were able to hire a registered engineer. Frank Warner, of the Huntington county R. E.M . C to help them with their appraisal. The group emphasized the fact that they worked without any pressure from any group, person, or persons, and talked with no, one except officials called give them information. They made no contact with the press until the final meeting, so that their deliberations could be entirely without pressure from the public. Inspected Lines The appraisers, accompanied by their engineer, visited the steam and diesel plant. V l6 hall where they obtained the book records, the warehouses, and personally inspected all of the lines. They also talked with the public service commission officials in Indianapolis. Warner was asked directly by Von Livingston, attorney for In-diana-Michigan, whether or not he felt- that their estimate of cost to repair and rebuild the lines to serve the rural customers was accurate. The REMC official replied that he thought that it was quite close to the actual cost. Both attorneys thanked the appraisers for their fine work, and both stated that they had felt, from previous meetings, that regardless of the figure, the final appaisal would be a fair one. Third Appraisal This was the third appraisal of the electric light plant in the past year. The first offer from Indi-ana-Michigan was $2,102,100, and three appraisers appointed at that time found that this was a fair price for the plant. In the election which followed, however, the sale was defeated, 1,500 to 1,227, or by 273 votes. Public indignation, following two failures by the steam and diesel plants, plus the wrath of the farmers and industrial plants affected by the high rates and varying power, led to a second consideration of the matter by the Ci’y council. A second appraisal group was appointed by Judge Myles F. Parrish, and ordered to report back to him. Their appraisal, which was made just before the Nov. 3 election, was z , for $2,275,100, or

&£enten Wleclitation - ( By R ev . j- o. Penrod, Trinity Evangelical ~ United Brethren Church) “The Way The Wind Blows” Job 38:1 “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind.” A salesman was telling about a house in an industrial neigh-’ borhood “The stockyards are half a mile west. North is a rubber factory ’ ’’’wo blocks east there’s a hide and tallow Tenderer. And not far so th is the vinegar works.” He claimed t>s location -was an advantage. “You can always tell which way the wind is bl °'sometimes things took bad all over. Just when they appear to be their very worst, we discover that they are not so baa after all God appears on .the scene in one form or another. This was the case fdrthe great Bible character. Job. The foul winds seemed to be blowing from every direction when he suddenly became aware that God was present and that He was speaking to him. Job. God appears to us out of the whirlwinds of life if we look for Him And when He Speaks, He reminds us.how great God is and how small we are. This is what we need when things pile up on us. We need to know that God is great and good no matter which way the wind blows.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

$175 800 over the offer. In the election that followed, however. 2.040 voted to sell the plant, as compared with 1.263 voting against the sale, a majority of 777 favoring the sale A total of 3.303 cast ballots in the second election as compared with 2.727 in the first, or nearly 600 more of the city’s 4.624 registered votcrs. The appraisers will receive SSOO each this time, with 11.000 going to the engineer. This was fixed by' resolution of the city council, after the second group of appraisers submitted a bill of SI,OOO each. The first appraisers received $175 each, plus, expenses for the appraiser brought from Florida. Fifth Actual Appraisal Actually a total of five appraisals of the electric utility have now been made by qualified engineers. First. I&M made a complete survey, upon which the present offer is based. Second, the city hired Consoer-Townsend. an engineering firm from Chicago. 111., to appraise the plant, and they found that the offer was a fair one. On the first appraisal team was a registered engineer, who gave the opinion that the actual value of the city utility was about SIOO.000 less than the offer made by I&M. which he considered very fair. The second appraisal group hired a Portland REMC engineer who gave them a value that was also less than the I&M offer. And the third appraisal group hired Warner, whose appraisal of $2.051,191 they submitted to the city. Resolution Adopted On Southeast Sewer Most of Tuesday night’s short council meeting was spent on an ordinance and resolution concerning the new southeast relief sewer , project, but a few moments were spent on movies -being taken for the new film “Decatur 1960." The council also approved the bills of SSOO each for the third ap-1 praisal team of the city-owned, electric utility, and allowed Huntington REMC engineer Frank Warner SI,OOO for his assistance. The, team had earlier Tuesday delivered its evaluation, paving the way for the special election April 26. They set the plant’s worth at $48,109 less than the I&M offer of $2,099,100. Ordinance Passed To conform to law, the council passed an ordinance listing the starting date of the new southeast, relief sewer, which will serve the area of the new school in that district. The sewer will be the chief source of drain in that area,, and has already been started. Because penalties are inflicted on the construction company if it fails to complete the work in the given amount of time, the ordinance was drafted. The Yost consfruction Co. of Decatur, has 300, days to complete the sewer pro-i ject. The law on this states that pen-; alties -win be inflicted if other. projects in the area are held up because one facet of the work fails to uphold its end of the bar(Continued on page three) j

Only One Os County Schools Closed Today Only one Adams county school is closed thia morning, but as the snow continues to fall, making driving conditions perilous, others may close their doors tomorrow County highway department personnel report that the southern part of the county had roads with varying sized drifts at noon today. Two of the plows were being repaired. leaving only two available immediately for snow removal. Highway Crews Out Lawrence Noll, county highway supervisor, said that his crews were out widening the roads that had drifted heavily. The county trucks were also out this morning assisting in snow clearance. City streets in Decatur were in good shape this morning, but regarded as slippery. City officials stressed this fact, and warned motorists to reduce normal driving speeds. • Main highways were In no danger of being closed, but the sheriffs department warned that the roads were slippery. Decatur weather observer listed a little more than an inch of snow here at 7 a m. The snow started falling baout 5 a.m.. according to one housewife. Pleasant Mills Closed Pleasant Mills school was closed today, but not on account of the snow. Boiler trouble at the school forced a special recess. Basketball fans hope the trouble is rectified by Friday so the county jun-l ior x high championship game be-1 tween St. Joseph’s of Decatur, and ■ Hartford Center can be played. Sheriff Merle Affolder added that as of noon all county and state roads in the county were open, but additional snow might alter this. He urged drivers, especially around schools, to exercise good common sense and exireme caution. He reported no accidents, pot even of a minor nature, because of road conditions. A similar report was received from the city police. Nixon Name Entered In Indiana Primary

INDIANAPOLIS (UPI) — Vice President Richard M. Nixon's name was entered today in the May 3 Indiana Republican presidential preference primary and his backers said they would begin immediately to campaign on his behalf. — Petitions bearing the names of approximately 9,000 voters were submitted with Nixon's declaration of candidacy by Vernon -C. Anderson, chairman of the Indiana Nixon-for-President Committee. Indiana law requires 500 signatures. The filing took place before newsmen and television cameras in the Statehouse office of Secretary of State John Walsh - Anderson, ex-Hammond mayor and former administrative assistant to Governor Handley, was accompanied by former Gov. Ralph F. Gates: George Stark, treasurer of the state GOP commifteeT’and Mrs. lone Harrington, vice chairman of the Nixon committee. Nixon’s name was the first entered formally in either the Democratic or Republican primaries. The petition was filed eight days before the deadline for candidacies. -L-' -— —- Sen. John Kennedy intends to enter the Democratic primary next Monday during a personal visit to Indiana. Handley, Nixon’s chief backer in Indiana, was not present for the filing. Indiana’s delegates to the GOP national convention*: in Chicago in July will be bound on the first nominating ballot by the results of the primary. Nixon was»not expected to meet any noteworthyopposition, either in the state primary or the national convention

OHLY DAILY HEWSPAincn W ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, March 16, i 960.

New Snow Adds To State Woes

United Press International A new storm howled across northern Indiana today, spreading a deep blanket of snow over the area and blocking roads with gust-blown drifts. Four or five inches of snow fell before noon over parts of the northwest corner of Hoosierland Forecasts warned the fall might be as great as-eight inches and that considerable blowing and drifting by gusts of nearly 44> miles per hour would make highway travel "extremely difficult.” All country schools in several counties were closed, including Porter and Cass Counties. Heavy snow was expected to miss the lower half of the state, but more than an inch was recorded as far south as Indianapolis before dawn. 1 At least three traffic fatalities I were blamed on winter’s latest I assault. John E. Hunter. 60. and Lawj rence W. DeMougin, West Terre | Haute. were killed today near I Brazil when a car skidded out of j control on icy Ind. 46 and collided I with another car. Anna Mae Smith of New Castlq I was killed on her first birthday ! anniversary today when a car ' driven by her teen-age mother | skidded in slush-covered Ind. 38 I near New Castle and was struck broadsides by another car. Near Valparaiso, 5 - year - oold i Judy Williams burned to death ' when her family’s house trailer | caught fire from an oil heater exI plosion. Drifting snow delayed the I arrival of firemen traveling over j country roads for more than an I hour. After two days of delays and altered courses, the latest weather assault hit Hoosierland overnight with a barrage of blowing snow, freezing rairt and drizzle. By dawn, the South BendGoshen area was getting blowing snow, the Fort Wayne and Lafayette areas were getting snow, Indianapolis was having freezing rain and Evansville recorded drizzle. By midmorning, 2 to 3 inches of snow had fallen in the northern third of the state and roads there and in central areas were slick from snow, sleet and slush. Drifts already were blocking country roads, and Cass County around Logansport hurriedly cancelled, plans - to hold school.

Bodies Os 13 Men Recovered In Mine

LOGAN, V . Va. (UPI) — Rescuers trudged past the canvas-en-cased bodies of 13 miners today to search the depths of Holden No. 22 mine for five more men trapped in the coal pit eight days ago. There was little hope the five would be found alive. Discovery Tuesday of bodies of 13 of the 18 men trapped in the mine since March 8 saddened this community. Rescue squads at the mine entrance bowed their heads. Salvation Army workers led them in prayers and hymns. The seven-day, round-the-clock search had been sparked by optimism until Tuesday afternoon when West Virginia mines director Crawford L. Wilson emerged from the mine with tears streaking his face. _ _ Bodies Huddled Together In a voice quivering with emotion, he announced that some of the men had been foun ddeadThe 13 bodies had been found huddled together in a partiallyfallen, crumbling tunnel three miles from the pithead. “All the men are presumed dead.” Wilson told newsmen who gathered about for the first announcement of the miners fate. The hews stunned all those connected with the rescue operation. In the community of Holden, where mine families had feared j

Other county schools across the northern portion also closed, some of them for the third time since a barrage of bad weather beginning Feb. 25 ended a previously; mild winter. Latest forecasts called for heavy snow in the extreme north and northwest portions of the state.{ accumulating in excess of four I Inches by evening and diminishing to flurries tonight and Thursday. Snow mixed with sleet or freezing rain and changing to snow again was expected over the central third of the state, accumulat-1 ing to a depth of 1 to 3 inches in the western two-thirds of the area. Downstate, rain was expected to change to snow late this evening or tonight, diminishing to flurries. More snow wa< mrpocted Friday. or Saturday, once the current i dose ends, according to the fiveday outlook. Furthermore, n o significant j warmup in temperatures was expected by early next week. Thc| five-day outlook said temperatures will average 10 to 12 degrees below normal with only nynot day-to-day changes through ♦he, period The mercury finally climbed one tiny notch above 32-freezing in Indianapolis Tuesday afternoon after 19 consecutive days of subfreezing waves and came within three days of setting an 89-year record for all months. Temperatures climbed into the 30s throughout the state Tuesday afternoon, including 31 at Fort Wayne, 33 at Indianapolis, 34 at South Bend and 37 at Evansville. They dropped only a few degrees during the night and lows included 23at South Bend,2Bat Indianapolis and 30 at Evansville Highs today will range from 30 to 40, lows tonight from 15 to 28. and highs Thursday from the upper 20s to the mid 30s»Thursday was expected to be" snoW-free except for a few flurries in the far north. Warmer temperatures Tuesday melted down some of the snow cover but the decrease was partly offset by the new snow today. The Weather Bureau said 7 am. snow depths included 7 inches at South Bend. 5 at Evansville, 4 at Indianapolis, 3 at Fort Wayne. Gusty winds buffeted upstate areas this morning with-gusts up to 37 miles per hour.

terms, the dead men’s relatives the worst but spoke in hopeful grieved behind closed doors. Island Creek Coal Co. President Raymond Salvati, who had kept a vigil in his office only 100 yards from the mine head, had to be helped to his automobile by a state policeman. Retraced Steps Rescuers theorized that the 13 miners whose bodies were found in the rock-strewn, three-fOot high passageway were trying to crawl back to the last of three mine pockets in which it had been hoped they barricaded themselves against deadly carbon monoxide fumes. Apparently the men tried to escape through the rear of the mine but then decided to retrace their steps- Deputy state mines chief Paul Lingo sorrowfully noted the dead men had failed to reach area three. “We Know if they had made it. they would have been safe," Lingo said. "There is fresh air ia that section all the time.” The men were sealed in the mine by a slate fall and fire. Two men managed to crawl around the fire and debris to safety soon after the accident occurred. They said the others refused to join in their escape attempt.

Local Lady’s Mother Dies Al Huntington lha May Warr. 62 moltar of Mt< ; •tnwt. will bo held Thursday Bill the Flruannt Chapel church n«-arL Roanoke, «ta Rev Mr M>-Klnl<-*h Mri Ware died at II 35 p m | Morulav nt the Huntington countybmpital nf a kMncy Infection She!had been 111 one month, and whi taken tn the hospital Monday |i Mr* Witre »a« born In May. ' 1897 in Clear Creek township.., I Huntington county, the daughter us,. John and Aminda Hartman In IMT Lhc »■” mariuxt to Albert E | Ware, who survive*. They lived In Allen county for several year*. rc-| I turning to Huntington ocunty In! 1943 A member of the women’s so-' | defy of Christian service. Mrs ! Ware was a member of the Hcthlesda Evangelical Unitid Brethren church. Survivors include five children: Mrs. Woodie H Burtrum, Spring-j field, Mo; Wayne F. Ware, Hunt-i land. Tenn.; Hugh If. Ware, route' 9. Huntington; Orrvn Ware, route 2. Columbia City: and Mrs. Gage, of Decatur; two brothers, and one' sister. One sister preceded her in' death 17 grandchildren survive. The body was taken to the Dailey funeral home in Huntington. where friends may call until noon Thursday. Costello Twins Die At Hospital Tuesday Twins born Tuesday morning at' the Adams county memorial hospital to Henry and Dorothy Ball Costello, died Tuesday evening.: Services for the twins. Harry Cos-; tello, were held this afternoon at the Gillig & Doan funeral home, the —Very Re v. Simeon Schmitt officiating. Burial was in the Catholic cemetery. Surviving in addition to the parents, who reside at 701 Dierkes street, are a brother, Thomas, at home the maternal grandparents, I Mr. and Mrs. Quincy Ball, and the j paternal grandmother. Mrs. Louisa i Costello, all of Decatur.

Soviet Russia Proposes Cuts

GENEVA (UPI) — The Soviet Union proposed today that Communist China, join the United States and Russia in trimming their armed forces to 1,700,000 men each in a 12 to 18-month period to get disarmament underway. Soviet delegate Valerian Zorin presented the proposal in a threestage Communist blueprint at the second* session of the 10-power ! East-West disarmament confer- | ence and later read it to newsmen. It asked France and Britain to cut their armed forces to 650,000 each. Zorin thus introduced Red China at the beginning of the conference although the Peiping regime was not invited to participate. Red China has said it would not go along with any disarmament agreement it does not help write. Four Year Limit Zorin said the troop reductions would comprise the first stage of the Soviet plan for "complete and general disarmament in four years,’ proposed by Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev last September. The West already has attacked Khrushchev’s proposal as thoroughly impractical. The Russians lost no time in attacking a rival Western plan as meaningless even before they received it officially Zorin said that at the time the reduction begins an international control organization should be established to gather information about the armed forces of every nation and guarantee the discharge of obligations. "The organization should be able to check up on the implementation of disarmament,” Zorin said. ~. __ - ~ " INDIANA WEATHER Four to eight , inches new snow northwest and extreme north this afternoon and early tonight accompanied by considerable blowing and drifting will make highway travel extremely difficult. Some light rain or snow south this afternoon with diminishing snow entire state during night. Thursday partly cloudy to cloudy, not much temperature ~ change. Low tonight in the 20s. High Thursday 27 to 32. Sunset today 6:53 p.m. c.d.t. Sunrise Thursday 6:54 ajn. c.d.t. Outlook for Friday: Considerable cloudiness, some rab likely south. No important temperature changes. Lows 15 to 25. Highs 25 to 35.

Elks Will Dedicate New Home Mar. 26

The beautiful new ta>me at the j Decatur EIM hrigv will he farmally d<dlralcd Saturday atternmn. | March N. •« the feature of a threeday dedication program planned ; Construction of the mw home, 'with one rtnry and boacnwM. was ; •'omplctrd late in December, <*i - the fn<nt nt the property owned by the lodge on North Second street The n«w quarter* n placiri the lug colonial type residential building. <mce of the showplaces of De ratur, which hud been the fraternal organization'll lodge home since 1925. The large frame building, affectionately known by the mem- * ta rs as ’ The Big House.*’ is presently being razed, and the area will be used for parking facilities 1 for members and guests. Opens On Thursday i The dedication celebration will open Thursday evening, March 24, I with registration at 4 p m., a amorigasbord served beginning at 6 o'{clock. and a variety of entertain- ' ment planned for the first night. [ which will be a stag affair, limited strictly to members of the Decatur lodge and visiting Elks from jother lodges of the area. Friday, March 25. has been dev ignated as Decatur fraternal or- | ganizations day. Members of the various organizations in the city will be invited to attend the proI gram and inspect facilities of the I new home. Registration Friday will open at II p m. The Emblem club, ladies { auxiliary of the Elks, will have i entertainment for the ladies, start- | ing at 2 o'clock. An elaborate i smorgasbord will be served from 6 to 8 p m., and a dance from 9 pm. until 12 midnight will close the day's program. Registration Saturday will open at 10 a m. The official dedication program will be held at 2 p.m.. with a representative of the grand ! lodge' as the "dedication speaker { Special entertainment for the la- ! dies will get underway at 3 o’clock. | and a cocktail hour will be held I from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Western plan calls for a step by step disarmament program. In the first step an international disarmament organization would be set up and the Soviet Union and* the United States would cut their troop strength to 2,500.000 men each, later to 2,000,000 each. The Western plan was made public Tuesday and formally presented to the conference by British Minister of State David Orms-by-Gore today. This morning’s session lasted less than IVz hours Delegates for each of the 10 nations —five West and five Communist—made opening statements at a public session Tuesday. The West chose Ormsby-Gore to make the formal presentation of the Western plan at the closed session today. The plan calls for controlled scrapping of arms and armies and banning of military space satellites, nuclear rockets and other weapons df mass destruction on ’ a carefully supervised basis. It proposes creatiop of an international disarmament organization and a world peace army. The Communist bloc hastened to condemn it even before the West had time “to explain at the conference” fable.

f IE 1 A -3 GUARD LABOR LEADER— Teamster Union President R. Hoffa is surrounded by special police as they escort.him from New York’s Madison Square Garden where he staged a labor rally. Hoffa attacked the Landrum-Gritfin labor reform bill and its backers before an audience of 8,000.

Six Centi

Tbo dedication banquet will be served at •:» o’clock. • f * l " damw from 10 p m until I s wt will close Ihr dedication rmmw ’ Art angemcnt* for 'hr fntwil dedication are under the suprrvi■inn of George Bair. Sr , exalted ruler. General co-chairmen fr»r the thm-day acttvilie* are L V Baker. Jeeaa G. Niblick and O. W. P. Macklin Other committee* are a» follow* Variety entertainment - G.’org” F Laurent and J. K. Eady, cochairmen; Robert Hammond. M"’ • tan Keller. Waiter Schug. Bernard Hain. Jack Bair. George Bair. Jr , Francis Faumte. Anthony Murphy, and Lloyd Ahr. Registration — Inland Smith, chairman; Robert Heller and Jack Nelson. Entertainment —• Oran Schultz and Earl De Weese, co-chairmen; James Newton, Robert Yost. Dr. H R Frey and Clement Snell. Food — Hubert Schmitt. Jr, George Alton and Don Harmon, co-chairmen. Publicity — Hugh HoHhnusc. chairman; Pete Reynolds. Brochure — Jack Heller and C. E Holthouse, co-chairm.cn. Housing — V. J. Bormann and Richard Miller, co-chairmen. Decorations — Albert Colchin, chairman; Joe Gray and .Don Forst. . - , Parking — Wilbul Petrie, chairman; Merle Affolder and Charles Arnold. Check room facilities — Bernard Hain, chairman; Clifford Steiner, W. J. Patrick, William Gass and Jack Gordon. Finance—B. J. Clark, chairman; V. J. Bormann, and Walter GilUom. Emblem club — Mrs. James Baker and Mrs. George Laurent, co-chairmen; Mrs. Harry King, Mrs. V. J. Bormann, Mrs. Oran Schultz and Mrs. H. R. Frey. Master of ceremonies — J. J. Baker. Elks 11 o’clock toast — August Heimann. _______ bulletin Martin Fruechte, of Prebte township, died at 11:40 a.m. today at the St. Joseph hospital In Fort Wayne, where he had been a patient since Feb. 23. The body was removed to the Zwick funeral home. Funeral arrangements have not been completed* Advertising Index Advertiser Page A & P Tea Co —- 3 Beavers Oil Service, Inc 5,7 Butler Garage — ——- $ Burk Elevator Co .... 5 Bower Jewelry Store 2 Budget Loans J Cowens Insurance Agency 7 Culligan Soft Water Service 3 Fairway ----2, 7 Gerber’S Super Market 8 Holthouse Drug Co—<2, 7 Holthouse Furniture Store 4 Pauline Haugk Real Estate ----5 Jack Hurst —— r 5 Owen Hall. Auctioneer 7 Kohne Drug Store 5 Kiddie Shop 2 Kroger 6 Model Hatchery 5 Glenn C. Merica, Auctioneer — 5 Myers Flowers ——2 Niblick & Co 2 Schafers — -3, 6 L. Smith Insurance Agencv, Inc 5 Smith Drug Co 2,7 Shaffer’s Restaurant 3 Teeple 9 — 5