Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 58, Number 66, Decatur, Adams County, 18 March 1960 — Page 1

Vol. LVIII. No. M

Push Through Wasteland Os Horror Seeking Cause Os Air Crash Killing 63

TELL CITY. Ind. (UPD—Civil Arronautlcs Board experts and the FBI dag into ■ blackened 50foot crater today to team whether a bomb or some other instrument of sabotage sent 83 persons falling 18.000 feet to their deaths aboard a new Northwest Airlines passenger plane. A CAB spokesman said the 82.400,000 turbo-prop Jet. carrying 57 passengers and six crewmen from Minneapolis and Chicago to Florida. “otnpously broke up in the air.” He" said searchers would "investigate ail possibilities, including a bomb " Edward Slattery, information chief of the CAB. said the agency’s men also would check whether •’metal fatigue or some other undue stress in the plane” caused the craft to disintegrate over the Ohio River Valley and plunge into a soybean field at 4:20 pm. e.s.t Thursday Slattery said the airliner was "a new plane. It had been in service only a few weeks. FBI agent - in - charge Edward Powers, heading nearly a score of G-men at the scene, said the FBI was there "to determine whether there were any violations within our jurisdiction, principally the possibility of sabotage.’’ Identification Is Dtfflealt State troopers still were gathering up bodies in bags today and carting them away to a high school gymnasium in nearby CanThere they were laid out on the polished floor where the teen-agers usually play basketball FBI men prepared to take imgerprints or otherwise establish identity. . . 'Slattery said it would be difficult. "In a high speed airplane crash there’s usually not much in the way of whole bodies," he said. Melting snow caused sides of the crater to cave in under searchers’ feet and authorities debated whether to use teams of shovelers or earth-moving equipment to remove the fragments of plane. „ , Continental Casualty Co., underwriter for airport sales, started checking carbons today of flight insurance policies sold at Chicago's Midway Airport Thursday and for several previous days. Mutual of Omaha, another underwriter, said it had not started a check to determine whether any suspiciously large policies had been taken out on the lives of persons aboard the flight. Mystery Telephone Call In Washington, Sen. A.S- Mike Monroney (D-Okla), chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee, urged any persons living near the crash scene to tell authorities of any wreckage they spot no matter how small —and not to carry it away as a souvenir. “In determining the cause, ana electing ways of correcting difficulties in the future, it is vital that investigators have available for the mockup all possible parts of the plane,” he said. He stressed that it was very important” that investigators see the parts in their original locations so “the pattern of disintegration can be determined. The chance of bomb sabotage was raised after a man telephoned Chicago police to report there was a bomb on a plane at Midway" Airport The call came a few hours after the airliner, which originated in Minneapolis, left Midway at 3:39 p.m. on its last, non-stop hop to Miami. x . .. Police were unable to trace the

ejCenten (By Rev. Wayne A. Smith, Nuttman Ave. United Brethren) “INCENTIVE” r . .... . . ■ . r f '~ .■ Matt. 6.27-34 . If vou have been searching for an incentive for real living and not yet found it. possibly it is because you have been focusing your ambition towards the wrong objects. Jesus not faif to establish in the heart and mind of J"® d isciply s . fact that neither wealth, pleasure nor power would be a satis factory incentive for real living. . For those who have sought these as a means to an endl ha e only come to the realization that they do not the* need for all of life. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you.’’ This is in auctual reality the only incentive for life and its goals. „

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT OWLT DAILY NEWBFAFMIW ADA 5 <TY —

good weather over southern Indiana. the plane disintegrated with a terrific blast that sounded to several witnesses like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier. In Soybean Field The Electra plunged 18,000 feet in pieces to the frozen Ohio River bottomlands and wooded bluff country Wreckage was strewn for five miles. There were no survivors. . , , The fuselage fell in a farmer s soybean field and dug a deep crater in the rich Indiana bottomland. A wing hit five miles away The tail section landed in a state KMunk* Indiana state police and National Guardsmen blocked off a 20 square mile area to keep away spectators. Six helicopters flew over the rugged countryside in search of more wreckage. The farmer’s field where the fuselage landed was like a picture from a book of horrors The sides of the crater were soaked with frozen blood. The biggest recognizable object was a piece of metal, 8 feet long and 4 inchei wide, about half way down. Flesh and tattered pieces of clothing hung from trees. A rescuer picked up a pate of shoes with the laces still tied but no feet in them. Among the litter was a Roman Catholic prayer book opened to the litany “Lord have mercy on us ... Christ have mercy on us ” in the rich Indiana bottomland. Smoke curled from the cr^ L ’ r during the night Floodlights cast a vellow glow over the scene. Cranes and large earth moving equipment were called in to remove the wreckage and to recover any bodies that might be imbedded in the ground. “The plane is so deep in tne ground it’s almost out of sight, a coroner’s official s*™' Five Children Killed The dead included five children. Most were from Minneapolis and Chicago. Among the victims were: —Judge John A. Sbarbaro of Chicago. 71-year-old jurist who helped prosecute Nathan Leopold Richard Loeb /he “enme of the century murder of little Bobby Franks in the 1920 s. —The wife and three children of (Continued on page eight) James Newton Heads Decatur Elks Lodge At the annual election of officers conducted at the Elks lodge in Decatur Thursday night. James Newton was named exalted ruler. George Bair, Sr., the immediate past exalted ruler, made the announcement. He was elected as alternate to the grand lodge. George Bair, Jr., was elected esteemed leading knight, with Denzil Dowell being chosen as esteemed loyal knight. Franklin Lybarger is the esteemed lecturing knight. . . . V J Bormann was reelected as secretary for the local group and B. J. Clark was re-elected treasurer. Cal Yost was named to the three-year term as trustee. Roger Blackburn will be the tiler. The new officers will assume their duties at the first meeting in April.

Floridians Forced i To Evacuate Homes ._-A' ' - 11

tatted Froaa toteteattMwl A record seige of rain. wind, and tornadoes moved out of central Florida today, leaving behind hundreds of homeless residents and a critical flood threat at Tampa Three days of torrential downpours forced a six-inch crack in an earthen flood Control dam at Lake Magdalene Officials said the break threatened to send floodwaters cascading over 28.000 acres in the Forest Hills section, where heavy rains did a million dollars damage last Authorities asked National Guardsmen and volunteers to help plug the break in the dam. A snowstorm moving north from Dixie struck New England and the Northeast, but predicted foot-deep snows failed to materialize. High water forced hundreds of Floridians from their homes at Orlando. Plant City, Dade City and Zephyr Hills. Officials said mOre evacuations may be necessary if the water keeps on rising.

School Census Is at . 8. - Im f A stn4v UfiuCiWoy nt vUUniy The school census of Adams county has already started, and all residents of the county are asked to cooperate fully with the workers who call on them, Harold Schwartz and Elmer Johnson, cochairmen of the committee, said today Rural census takers will visit each home located in the county as directed by their township chairmen, and Decatur census workers are directed by James Cowens and Harry Dailey. Each worker is taking four or five city blocks. This is not the federal census, which will be taken later, but a school census, taken under the provisions of state law, as provided in the 1959 statutes, Schwartz and Johnson explained. Information about the children in the family, their ages, and where they go to school, will be gathered. A form will be filled out about each family. This work must be completed within a month, the chairmen stressed, and everyone is asked to cooperate fully with the area workers. $2,310 Yel To Be Raised By Red Cross With the month of March more than half over, $2,310 remains to be raised in the Red Cross rural fund drive, Homer Winteregg and Silvan Sprunger, co-chairmen of the fund drive, warned today. A total of $182.50 was reported this past week, with four section leaders reporting 100% of the residents contributing. Honor sections this week were: section 7 of Washington township, solicited by Mrs. Oscar Geisel, $22 and 100%: section 14 of Preble township, Albert Ewel, $lB and 100%: section 6of Union township, Virgil Barkley, $9 and 100%, and section 12 of Monroe township, Glen Workinger, $6 and 100%. A total of $7,783 has been raised so far, including the cities of Berne and Decatur. Red Cross section workers this week included: Mrs. Forrest Dryer, Anthony Wayne Meadows, section IB of Washington township, $10; Mrs. Clara Rumschlag, sec. 7, Washington township. $7.75; Harvey Haggard, Kirkland, sec. 12; Robert Burger, Union sec. 18, $10; Glen Workinger, Monroe sec. 11, $7.50; Alfred Grote, Union, sec. 29, $10; Herman Ehlerding, Preble, sec. 23, $5; A. W. Adams, Preble, sec. 33, sl7; Leroy Werling, Preble, sec. 27, $6.75; Mrs. Wilbur Stanley, Washington, sec. 26, $8; Ernest Thieme, Union, sec. 22, sl2; Arnold Scheumann, Preble, sec. 16, $9; Raymond Heimann, Washington, sec. 10, sl3.

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, March 18, 1960.

At least two deaths wej-e blamed on the thunderstorms and high winds which raked the Sunshine State. The Weather Bureau said the drenching . thunderstorms would move out of Florida up the southeastern Atlantic coast today, but predicted a few isolated downpours and damaging windstorms during the day. The storms that buried the Midwest and southern Appalachians under mountains of snow peter I’d out as they retched the Northeast Thursday * Light snows covered most of the New England, but heaviest snowfalls Thursday night were the two inches at Lebanon, N.H., and the one inch at Portland. Maine. The Weather Bureau predicted mostly dry weather for the nation today, with light rain along the Carolina coast and snow flurriy over the northern Great Lakes, West Virginia mountains. New York State and northern New England.

35 Head Os Stock Destroyed In Fire • JASPER, tod. (UPD—A fire in a barn owned by EmH Burg.tt near here destroyed 28 head of cattle and 7 cows Wednesday night. $150,000 Fire Loss At Anderson Today ANDERSON, Ind. <UPI) —Fire today destroyed an auto agency with a loss. estimated at more than $150,000. The fire at the Hunter Chevrolet Co. began in the parts departimeht and spread to the paint shop. Paint and thinner fed the flames and the blaze soon engulfed the entire building. Strike Continues At Casting Plant The strike at the Decatur Casting Co. continued into its second day today*" as members of local 1932 United Steelworkers have set up a cardboard windbreak in front of the plant to picket. A wood fire within the cardboard enclosure keeps the four or five men warm as the 60 employes take turns keeping a vigil. No reports on contract negotiations have been given by either side in the strike issue. It is reliably reported, however, that the main issues of the strike are other than wages. “On Strike” signs are painted on the coardboard windbreak, but no walking pickets have been viewed at the strike scene. Marley Purvis, district repesentative of the union, and Charles Mann, president of the local union, spent most of the morning with the men at the improvised enclosure.

Hunt Down Clu>es In Triple Slaying

By IRA LURVEY United Fess International STARVED ROCK STATE PARK, 111. (UPD—Authorities said today a roll of color film had furnished them ‘‘a real lead” in the sex killing of three prominent Chicago women. Harlan WarrCn, La Salle County state’s attorney, refused to let newsmen view the photographs but said they gave him a completely new line of investigation. A Sheriff’s deputy /disclosed that the pictures showed two of the women standing in front of the cave where their raped and bludgeoned bodies were found Wednesday. Police theorized the women must have been surprised in front of the cave by their killer or killers shortly after they took the photographs. Officers mounted an Intensive search for the assailants. Illinois State Police Chief William Morris

Fort Wayne Senior Oratorical Winner James DeVinncy, a senior at Central Catholic high school in Fort Wayne, won the Knights of, t Columbus regional oratorical content at Marion Bennett high school Wednesday. DeVinncy will appear ‘ in the state finals at Indianapolis I -against five other regional winners throughout the state April 24 ' Severin H. Schurger. Jr., who represented the local district, also appeared in competition with DeVinney and the representatives from Huntington and Marion. Schurger, a senior at Decatur Catholic high school, won the, local contest a few weeks ago at thei local K. of C. hall. Accompanying Schurger to Marion for the contest were Sev-I erin H. Schurger, Sr., the Very Rev. Simeon Schmitt, pastor of I St. Mary’s Catholic church, the j Rev. Robert Contant, assistant pastor, and Gene Braun, grand . knight of council 864, Decatur. Arthur Stauffs, Jr., represented Huntington, and Steve Wersning represented Marion. r - DeVinney was runner-up last year at the Fort Wayne contest, and is in his second year of speech class work at C. C. te ■ I Lost Os 18 Bodies Recovered At Mine LOGAN, W. Va. (UPD —A combined state - federal investigation was ordered today in the deaths of 18 miners at the Holden No. 22 mine. A nine-day search for survivors ended late Thursday afternoon when the last of 18 men trapped by a slate fall and fire was found dead. All had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, probably within hours after they were entombed early March 8.

Indiana Farmer Relates Horror Os Plane Crash ’ ~~~ ~ ~~ - « i T 4 tunc on

Editor’s Note: Ted Wilson, 47. was in his farm home near Tell City, Ind., when a Northwest Airlines Electra with 63 persons aboard exploded and crashed in flames. Here is his story. By TED WILSON As Told to UPI TELL CITY, Ind. (UPD—I was sitting in the house when I heard an explosion that sounded like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier. It was about 3:20 p.m. About five seconds later there was another explosion. I ran to the front porch and stood there for about 10 seconds looking for a jet or whatever had made the terrific noise. The next thing I knew, this plane came in and hit about a hundred yards from my house. There was about a five second delayed reaction after it hit, and

said police were criss-crossing the state in a hunt for suspects. - Morris said officers planned to question three “possibly good” suspects today- Several other pe_r- , sons were picked up, questioned and released Thursday. Among those police talked to were a pimply faced youth coni nected with earlier sex crimes and INDIANA WEATHER Mostly cloudy with little ’ ah d ~ Saturday. Some light temperature change tonight. snow likely north and central tonight and Saturday morning. Low tonight in the 20s. High ‘ Saturday in the 30s. Sunset today 6:55 p.m. c.d.L Sunrise Saturday 6:51 a.m. c.d.t. Outlook for Sunday: Considerable cloudiness and a little warmer. Lows 15 to 25. Highs 33 to i 43. -' ' .

I fl X-a, I w SB IL ’■**- wk 1 W x -fl I . * JIF * wu * < -r jfl JIK '•Ji' IL'JI jff- J ■< ■ -At I ™ XkLSI V- >?Zkiik 11: ' -** SLAYING VICTIMS—The bodies of three women were found In a desolate. JS e * ncru ’] <?<l . £? V £j’’ Starved Rock State Park near Ottawa. 111. The women, wives of prominent .2’, ,c "42f M IJ St bludgeoned in a bitter struggle against their killer*. The victims, left tn right, Mrs. Lillian Oetting 50 Mrs. Frances Murphy. 47. and Mrs. Mildred Lindquist. 50. _

George C. Thomas Heads Rotary Club A full discussion of the Castro’s Cuba by Jack Heller, vice-presi-dent of the Decatur Daily Democrat and a recent visitor in that country, entertained the Decatur Rotary club Thursday night. [ George Thomas, of Thomas Realty Auction and Securities Co., was elected president of the club for the coming year, succeeding H. P. Schmitt, Jr. Also elected were: vice-president, Tom' H. Allwein, Central Soa plant manager; secretary, David Moore, Sears manager: treasurer, George Auer, General Electric plant manager; directors, Roy Kalver, Adolph Kilter; and H. P. Schmitt, Jr. _ . Guests Present oicar Lankenau, Earl Sheets, and David Moore were honored for birthdays this week. Guests Included Robert Retter, of Cincinnati, 0.. regional post office official; Chris Lehman, of Berne, and David Brumbach, of Van Wert, O. Student guests were James Reidenbach of Decatur high school and James Heimann of Decatur Catholic high school. Roy Kalver, program chairman for the month, introduced Heller, who explained that he was no expert on Cuban affairs, having spent only ten days there, but would like to give a few of his impressions of the country. Heller explained that he had been there on the 1960 Presbyterian traveling seminary, and had visited numerous churches,schools, and missions in all parts

then the plane blew up. It was an awful explosionDebris was flying all over and clothing was blown up into the trees. Stuff was hanging on trees all over my farm. Little pieces of flesh were scattere all around — nothing big enough to identify as a body- I didn’t even see anything that resembled a man’s limb. ~ J The first thing I did was run inside and telephone a newspaper at Cannelton. Then I called the state police at Jasper. A police car was here in 1U minutes. The main fuselage hit across the road on a neighbor’s soybean field The bottom land is about a quarter mile north of the Ohio = =Rivers=---— —— There’s almost nothing there that you can see—just a big hole in the ground. "* ~ ~ ’ o' r

three Pontiac,' 111., laborers, one of whom had a bloodstained jacket collar. Victims of the attack;were: PIKUP 9th pgh: Mrs. Frances - —Mrs. Frances Murphy, 47, wife of R. W. Murphy, vice president and general counsel of BorgWarner Corp, in Chicago. -Mrs- Mildred Lindquist, wife of Robert Lindquist, vice-presi-dent of the Harris Trust and Savings Bank, Chicago. ——Mrs. Lillian Getting, 50, wife of George Getting, general supervisor of internal audit in the accounting department of Illinois Bell Telephone Co. Searchers found their bodies in a corner cave of St. Louis Canyon at picturesque Starved Rock State Park on Wednesday. Two days earlier, the women had arrived at the park, eaten lunch and set out on a hike from which they never returned.

of the island. Not Police State “Is Cuba a police state today?" Heller asked. He answered by explaining that he had seen fewer police in Havana than in most large American cities; that Rotarians. Lions, Odd Fellows, and Masons met regularly without and interference, that everyone discussed politics freely, and told whether or not they liked a particular leader, In spite of the nearness of the revolution. Living in Cuba is quite inexpensive. with the best meals in good restaurants and hotels costing only $1 20. ... Lottery Explained Explaining some of the changes, Heller mentioned the national lottery. Under Batista, the former dictator, the lottery had been run by a syndicate, with the syndicate getting all of the profit. Now, the lottery grosses $900,000 a Week, with $700,000 going into the national treasury to pay for slum clearance and housing projects, with $150,000 going for prizes, and the rest for expenses. The most conservative estimates of brutal political executions under Batista, by the American press, Heller pointed out, range from 10,000 to 15,000. The greatest number of executions under Castro for anti-revolutionary activity are 850-900. Heller also mentioned that the war crimes trials following the second world war were quite similar to the Cuban trials. School Problems Heller discussed the Cuban school problem, where only onehalf of the people can read and write at all, and only one-third can read and write well. Castro has instituted a crash education program to bring more universities and schools to the people. (Batista had closed the country’s only university for two years previously). Following the talk a spirited discussion took place, with many Rotarians asking questions. A new Rotary club will be chartered at Chesterton April 7, and Clarence Ziner, past district governor, and H. P. Schmitt, Jr., local president, plan to attend. New Police Auto Is Delivered Thursday Chief of police James Borders announced today that the department received the new 1960 Chevrolet police car Thursday. It will supplement the 1959 car which is also used by the local law enforcement agency. Advertising Index Advertiser Pag ® Adams Theatre --- » Ashbauchers’ Tin Shop ‘ Beavers Oil Service, Inc f Burk Elevator Co -----— —» Butler Garage, Inc ——’ Budget Loans — * Fred W. Corah, Insurance —— « Cowens Insurance Agency —— 2 Chevrolet _ _ Conrad’s "66” Service 7 Dixon, Ohio Lions Club 2 Ehinger’s "Boston Store Fager Appli. & Sporting Goods 6 Gambles —— ——— Holthouse Drug Co ’ Haugks —— * - Hammond Market ------—— « Pauline Haugk Real Estate —-- 5 Kohne Drug Store 3. 5 Klenks ———• Lengerich Awnings & Railings 5 Moose ? Masonic Lodge ° Model Hatchery — ’ Maico Hearing Service ———7 Petrie Oil Co —-— — J Poe Farmers Mutual Tele. Co. 6 Schafers ——r—s L. Smith Insurance Agency, Inc 5 Smith Drug Co 3 Shaffer’s Restaurant >-— 4 Singleton Radio & T.V. Service 4 Stop Back News Stand 4 Sonotone of Eastern Indiana -— 2 Teeple ——— 3 Victory Bar 7 Church Page Sponsors 6

Six Cents

Merle Affolder

Merle Affolder Is Candidate For Judge Merle Affolder. prominent Decatur Democrat and currently serving as sheriff of Adams county, filed late Thursday as a candidate for judge of the Adam* circuit court, subject to the Democratic primary May 3. Affolder filed his candidacy with the secretary of state as required by law.7_: He previously had obtained an official attorney-gen-eral’s ruling that he Is eligible to run. Law Student Affolder was born in Adams county and raised on farms in Wabash and Hartford townships. He attended the Geneva and Hartford schools, graduating from the latter. He is a student of the LaSalle school of law. A veteran of World War IT, where he served in the U. S. Navy, Affolder returned to Adams county, and has farmed, worked as a laborer at International Harvester, and owned his own restaurant in Geneva. FlVi> Children Married to the former Doris Diehl of Lancaster township, Wells county, Affolder has five children, now pupils in Decatur’s public schools: Michael, 16: Sandra, 13; Brad, 9; Kevin, 6; arid Taya, 4. Affolder is a member of the Bethany Evangelical United Brethren church, Adams Post 43, American Legion, B. P. O. Elks, K. of P., a charter member of the Jefferson club of Adams county, a past president of the Young Democrats of Adams county, and a member of the executive board of the Indiana sheriffs association. Affolder also served as a conservation officer with the Indiana department of conservation, and attended the conservation schools .... at Versailles, and FBI conforcement schools at Fort Wayne* Bluffton, and Indianapolis. — - On Law Committee Affolder was a member of the * corhmittee that published the booklet. ‘‘lndiana Sheriff’s Laws and Practice.” , Affolder pledged that if nominated and elected, honesty and integrity in every case, problem, and decision would be his policy; He promised an active and open campaign to win the Democratic nomination. Affolder stated that he plans to bring practical experience in law, with a rich backgound of common experiences in? the legal-social field in Adams county, to office of judge. 1 .... - ----- - - - ■ J ft W. sfu