Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 59, Number 1, Decatur, Adams County, 3 January 1961 — Page 1

Vol. LIX. No. 1

87th Congress Convenes In Backdrop Of Liberal, Conservative Conflicts

Portland Game Officer Slain In Jay County PORTLAND. Ind. (UPI)--A posse of 50 officers, including at least one FBI agent, today found a warning ticket book belonging to a state conservation officer slain under mysterious circumstances. Authorities said the book belonging to James E. Pitzer, 54, Portland, was found in a culvert, about half a mile from the murder scene. The body of Pitzer, his face blasted with a shotgun charge, was found along a remote Jay County road Monday afternoon. Police believed he may have been shot by hunters he stopped to question. The book contained the name of a person who received a warning ticket from Pitzer, police said, but identification was withheld pending additional investigation. Still missing were Pitzer's arrest book and his service revolver. “We have a lot of hot leads, but nothing conclusive yet,” said police chief Fred Pensinger. Police said they were checking oil panel trucks made between 1950 and 1953 and all persons known to have hunted in the area Authorities said Pitzer may have been toe first state conservation officer in history to be slain in line of duty, although there are records of other officers being wounded. Three or four Indiana State Police troopers, the Jay County sheriff, several of his deputies and 10 conservation officers planned to go over the slaying scene inch by inch in a concerted search tor anything which might give them a clue as to the slayer’s identity. Authorities assumed Pitzer may have been shot when he stopped a motor vehicle to question the occupants about illegal hunting. Police said they wore told by several motorists who passed the area earlier in the day that they saw a panel truck with Indiana license plates parked along the road. One motorist said he saw a conservation officer talking to some men in the truck. One report said a vehicle containing two men, one appearing to be a teen-ager, was seen in the area. Dr. J.C. Badders, deputy coroner for Jay County, said Pitzer apparently died about 4 p.m., not long before the body was found Pitzer's service revolver was missing.

Castro Orders Cut In Embassy Staff

HAVANA (UPI)--Premier Fidel Castro ordered the United States Monday night to reduce the strength of its embassy staff by Wednesday to 11 persons--the number of diplomats Cuba has in Washington--to "stop spying.” State Department was expected to comply with the Castroite demand, which early today had not yet been presented formally to the embassy. An announcement issued shortly after midnight said the embassy was planning to close its visa section today. Only New Feature The embassy demand was the only new feature of a 3-hour-and-Castro telethon following a massive display of his regime’s Communist-made military might. The bearded Cuban charged that the U.S. Embassy had a staff of more than 300 persons, “and more than 80 per cent of them are spies." “The revolution has had much patience about this plague of agents, disguised as diplomats, who have been conspiring and implementing terrorism,” Castro said.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

A farmer found the body in snow along a road about two miles northeast of Salamonia. There were marks in the snow indicating Pitzer struggled with his assailants. Pitzer was a native of Carroll County. He was a conservation officer since 1939 in Jay and Blackford Counties except for a four year period beginning in 1945 when he operated a Portland restaurant and served on that city’s police department. Custer Infant Dies Here This Morning Anthony P. Custer, two-month-old son of James A. (Tony) and Honora Braun-Custer, died at 8 o’clock this morning at the home of the parents, 521 S. 13th street. The infant was born in Decatur Oct. 20, 1960, and was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic church. Surviving in addition to the parents ate one sister, Cathleen Rose, at home; the maternal grandmother, Mrs. Margaret Braun of Decatur; the paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. D. Burdette Custer of Decatur, and the paternal greatgrandmother, Mrs. C. L. Custer of Pleasant Mills. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Catholic cemetery, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Simeon Schmitt officiating. Friends may call at the Zwick funeral home after 7:30 p.m. today until time of the services. Mother Of Decatur Lady Dies Sunday Funeral services were held this afternoon for Mrs. Margaret Estelle Kizer, 78, of near Keystone, who died Sunday morning at a rest home in Bluffton. She had been in failing health five years. Mrs. Kizer was a member of the Domestic Church of Christ. She was the widow of Orlando Kizer, who died in October, 1957. Surviving are three sons, Floyd M. Kizer of Ossian, Thomas W. Kizer of Fort Wayne route 8, and Cloyd D. Kizer of Bluffton; three daughters, Mrs. Bertha Mansfield, in Arizona; Mrs. Daniel Beeler of Geneva route 2, and Mrs. Dale Whetstone of Decatur; 24 grandchildren; five greatgrandchildren; two brothers and a sister. One son. Homer, is deceased. Services were held this afternoon at the Domestic Church of Christ, with burial in the Stahl cemetery.

Them Go” “The revolutionary government has decided that before 48 hours have passed the United States will have no more officials here than we have there...if they all want to go, let them.” The crowd took up the cry, chanting “Let them A spokesman at the embassy said any reduction of its staff of 87 would have to be ordered from Washington. “A great deal remains to be clarified,” he said. Rehashes Old Charges Castro’s speech was largely devoted to a rehash of his charge that the United States is planning to “invade” Cuba, presumably sometime before President Eisenhower leaves office Jan. 20. “The world hopes that the putrid leadership of the present administration will not carry the United States to the most criminal, shameful, cowardly and repugnant of all its acts--the invasion of Cuba...” he said. “We hope the new administration will rectify the U.S. attitude somewhat...or else the world will be carried to the catastrophe of war.”

WASHINGTON (UPI)--The new 87th Congress, which will write the legislative record during the first two years of the Kennedy administration, convened today against a backdrop of liberalconservatiive conflict. Both the House and Senate again were firmly under Democratic control. The make-up of the Senate was 65 Democrats; 34 Republicans. There were 262 Democrats in the House--2l fewer than last year--and 175 Republicans. There was a surface note of party harmony among the Democrats. But even before the opening gavels fell, there was intramural battling backstage on efforts to change congressional rules to smooth the way for Presidentelect John F. Kennedy's program. In both the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans held party strategy meetings before the opening session. Move to Purge In the House, the parliamentary controversy centered on the first serious move in years to “purge” from the key Rules Committee one or more Democratic members who bolted the party’s presidential ticket in the November election. The possible “purge” was aimed at breaking the power of a coalition of committee Republicans and southern Democrats to block legislation sought by Kennedy. In the Senate, the fight loomed over a liberal-backed effort to change toe rules so filibusters might be halted more easily. Even though Kennedy does not take office until Jan. 20, the outcome of the two showdowns might hold the key to whether Kennedy can win congressional approval, as is, of his five-point priority program. The five-point package includes aid to schools, housing and economically depressed areas, an increase in the minimum wage and medical care of the aged under the federal Social Security system. Bills into Hopper House members started filling the hopper with bills. These included measures on civil rights, farm, aid to distressed areas, establishment of a national science academy and safety devices on automobiles. The parliamentary battles in both chambers did not begin immediately. First there were the formalities of opening prayer and the swearing in of new House members and senators. As expected, Senate Democrats at a caucus selected Sen. Mike Mansfield of Montana as their new floor leader. He succeeds Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, who will become vice president under Kennedy. Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota was named assistant Democratic leader, the post which Mansfield formerly held. Sen. Goorge A. Smathers of Florida was chosen as secretary of the Senate Republicans unanimously re-elected their entire leadership slate, headed by Sen. Everett M. Dirksen, Ill., as GOP leader, at a conference of all 35 GOP senators. Also re-elected were Sens. Thomas H. Kuchel, Calif., as GOP whip, the party’s official title for its assistant leader; Styles Bridges, N.H., chairman of the Senate GOP Policy Committee; Leverett Saltonstall, Mass., chairman of the conference, and Milton R. Young, N.D., conference secretary. The Republicans discussed the pending rules change informally but took no official stand and reached no agreements. Sens. Jacob K. Javits, N.Y., and Kenneth B. Kating, N.Y., and others urged a modification of the rule during the closed door session. All Republicans were present except Sens. Homer E. Capehart, Ind., who is in a hospital with a back ailment, and Sen. Winston L. Prouty, Vt., whose wife died recently. Among the notable absentees in the new Senate lineup was Theodore Francis Green of Rhode Island, who retired at the record age 93. Kennedy, until last month a senator from Massachusetts, also was missing from the chamber. He will take his oath of office as President Jan. 20. But Vice President Richard M. Nixon still was on the job. He has 17 days to go as the Senate’s presiding officer and is in the thick of the fight to change the

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, January 3, 1961.

filibuster rule. Rayburn Threatens “Purge” Speaker Sam Rayburn joined publicly in a round of Democatic forecasts that the session would be fruitful and peaceful. Privately, however, he tossed out the fighting word “purge” that had

McCloy Named To Top Spot

PALM BEACH, Fla. (UPI)--President-elect John F. Kennedy has given top responsibility for disarmament policy planning in his administration to John J. McCloy, a New York banker. McCloy, a Republican who also occupied positions of trust to the Democratic administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, was selected by Kennedy to be director of the United States Disarmament Commission. Other appointments to the new administration were expected at Kennedy headquarters here before the President-elect leaves Wednesday for a crowded working schedule in New York, Washington and Boston. Watches Bowl Game Kennedy had no announced list of engagements for today. His press secretary, Pierre Salinger, scheduled a meeting with reporters for 11 a.m. EST. The President-elect left his Palm Beach headquarters Monday long enough to attend the Orange Bowl football classic in Miami where he was unsuccessful in rooting Navy over Missouri. Kennedy attended the game as guest of Sen. and Mrs. George A. Smathers, D-Fla., and their combined rooting efforts could not save Navy from a 21-14 loss. The disarmament administration was established last summer by Secretary of State Christian A. Herter as the central planning agency in the field of disarmament. There had been no similar functioning group since 1957 when Harold E. Stassen served as special disarmament representative. Study Arms Control Purpose of the disarmament adINDIANA WEATHER Mostly cloudy tonight with occasional light snow. Partly cloudy and a little warmer Wednesday north, colder south and central. Low tonight 10 to 15 north, 13 to 20 south. High Wednesday 25 to 33. Sunset today 5:33 p.m. Sunrise Wednesday 8:06 a.m. Outlook for Thursday: Partly cloudy and a little warmer central and south. Snow flurries near Lake Michigan. Lows 15 to 24. Highs in the 30s. Advertising Index Advertiser Page Ashbauchers’ Tin Shop 2 Adams Theater 8 Beavers Oil Service, Inc 5 Bower Jewelry Store 3, 8 Bowers Hardware, Inc. 2 Budget Loans 7 Burk Elevator Co. 5 Cowens Insurance Agency 7 Decatur Equipment, Inc. 6 Decatur Lumber Co. 5 Decatur Ready-Mix Corp. 2 Ellenberger Bros., Auctioneers 5 Fasteeth 4 Evans Sales & Service 5 Holthouse Drug Co. 3 Holthouse Furniture 5 Haflich & Morrissey 3 Haugks 2 Indiana & Michigan Electric Co. 4 Kocher Lumber & Coal Co. 2 Kent Realty & Auction Co. 5 Kohne Drug Store 4 Kohne Window & Awning Co. 2 Myers Cleaners 4 Niblick & Co. 3 Old American Insurance Co. 6 Petrie Oil Co. 7 Quality Chevrolet-Buick, Inc. 5 L. Smith Insurance Agency, Inc. 5 Smith Drug Co. 3, 6, 8 Teeple Truck Line 5 Tony's Tap 7 Uhrick Bros. 8 Yost Gravel-Readymix, Inc. 2 Zintsmaster Motors 8

Democrats in an uproar. Rayburn said Rep. William M. Colmer, D-Miss., who bolted the party’s national ticket and backed unpledged presidential electors to his state, would have to give up his post on the powerful House Rules Committee.

ministration was to initiate research into arms control problems and develop policy for the guidance of American negotiators at Geneva and in the United Nations. The disarmament administration has not had a director since its inception under Herter. Edward Gullion, deputy director, conferred with Kennedy in Washington last month. A staff of less than 30 persons drawn from the State and Defense departments and the Atomic Energy Commission worked with Gullion. Under Kennedy, it was understood that McCloy will have top responsibility for disarmament policy, but some other official of the government probably will head up U.S. negotiations. Allied High Commissioner McCloy currently is board chairman of the Chase-Manhattan Bank. During World War II, he served as assistant secretary of war under Henry L. Stimson. He went into private law practice to 1946, but returned to government in 1947 as president of the World Bank. He served in this post until 1949 when he became the first high commissioner of Allied forces in Germany. In 1952, McCloy turned to the private business world again and became board chairman of the Chase National Bank, and later board chairman of the merged Chase-Manhattan Bank.

Laotian Crisis At Grave Point

VIENTIANE, Laos (UPI)--The pro-Western government announced today that its troops recaptured the vital northeastern outpost of Xieng Khouang from pro-Communist forces late Monday. The announcement said fighting was still going on around the town. There was no immediate word as to the fate of northern Phong Saly Province, which earlier had been reported in Communist hands. The sketchy report of Phong Saly’s capture had not been confirmed and was regarded as doubtful. No details of the military situation could be obtained immediateThe National Assembly met in special session to give pro-Western Premier Boun Oum a vote of confidence and probably to indorse Laos’s protest against Soviet shipment of arms to Red guerrillas. Pro-Communist rebels said today they would regard any armed intervention in Laos by the United Nations “under the United States” as aggression. The United States already has put military forces in the Pacific on the alert as the result of reports of increasing foreign Communist intervention in the Southeast Asian kingdom. Diplomat observers said the crisis had reached its “gravest” point. The warning was made by the Communist Pathet Lao radio and relayed by the official Chinese Communist New China News Agency. Russia’s official news agency, Tass, reported that the pro-Com-munist “government” had cabled a warning to U.N. Secretary-Gen-eral Dag Hammarskjold against

William Amstutz Dies This Morning William Amstutz, 83, retired farmer and former resident of Decatur, died at 9:45 o’clock this morning at the Lawton nursing home in Fort Wayne, where he had been a patient for two months. He had been in failing health since suffering a stroke three years ago. He was born in Adams county March 7, 1877, a son of Christian and Marian Nussbaum-Amstutz, and was married to Sophia Zbinden April 29, 1898. Mrs. Amstutz is a patient at the Irene Byron pital near Fort Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Amstutz resided at 1045 Elm street until recently. Surviving in addition to his wife are four daughters, Mrs. Ernest (Estella) Hall of Fort Wayne, Mrs. Neil (Rose) Kaiser and Mrs, Bernard (Ruth) Scheiman of Sarasota, Fla., and Mrs. Richard (Frieda) Lewton of Decatur; four sons, Ervin Amstutz of Fort Wayne, Fred stutz of New Haven, and Kenneth Amstutz of Harlan, Everett AmAmstutz of Avilla; 29 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren. One son, six brothers and six sisters preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Zwick funeral home, with the Rev. F. Hazen Sparks and the Rev. Gerald Gerig officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Wednesday until time of the services. Mrs. Myrl Barger Dies Early Sunday Mrs. Myrl G. Barger, 60, of near Craigville, mother of Wayne Barger of route 2, died early Sunday at her home in Wells county. Mrs. Barger was a member of the Tocsin E. U. B. church. Survivors include her husband, Floyd; two sons, Wayne, of Decatur, and Donald, at home; two sisters, Mrs. Dwight Jackson and Mrs. Wendell Wasson, both of Fort Wayne; and a brother, Earl Plummer, of Fort Wayne. The body is at the Elzey funeral home, Ossian, where friends may call. Services will be held at the Tocsin E. U. B. church at 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Rev. Fred Pflugh officiating. Burial will be in Oak Lawn cemetery. Late Bulletins Mrs. Melvin Mallonee, of Decatur route 4, died late this morning at the Clinic hospital in Bluffton. She had been ill for some time. The body was brought to the Gillig & Doan funeral home. Funeral arrangements have not been completed.

“actions in the United Nations by unauthorized persons.” There were reports that the government of Bonn Oum had instructed Laotian delegate Sisouk Na Champassak in New York to protest against foreign Communist intervention in Laos. (The U.N. overnight duty officer in New York said he knew of no such protest being filed.) According to Tass, Hammarskjold was informed that Champassak “no longer represents Laos at the United Nations,” and that any action he took would be considered "invalid.” President Eisenhower approved an increase in “military readiness” of U.S. forces in the Pacific following an unusual holiday meeting with his top military and diplomatic advisers in Washington. U.S. Alerts Forces The United States was reported ready to move military forces "within hours" into the landlocked strategic country if the situation warranted. In Moscow, Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev warned that the “dangerous hot bed in Laos” could lead to expanded war. He called for the immediate reconvening of the International Control Commission set up after the Indochina War. The British and French governments also held urgent consultations on the Laotian situation. Reports from London said Prime Minister Harold Macmillan backed the recall of the International Control Commission. France called for “urgent and concerted action” by the Western powers to restore peace in Laos (Continued on page 8)

Norman Kruse Dies After Heart Attack

Norman F. Kruse

Norman F. Kruse, 53, vice president and technical director of the Central Soya company, died suddenly in his sleep this morning at 2:20 o’clock of a heart attack. A pioneer in the American soybean processing industry, Mr. Kruse and his family moved to Decatur in 1936. Late that year he made a trip to Germany to arrange for the purchase of a solvent plant, the first of its kind in the United States, for Central Soya. Born April 11, 1907 in Davenport. Iowa, he was the son of F. F. and Ann Schroeder Kruse He was married to the former Doris Sherman June 11,1929 at Ames, Iowa, where he obtained his bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State College. Children He became a chemical engineer with the edible division of Proctor & Gamble, Ivorydale, O. and was there until 1933, when he was named the head of the edible oil development lab, where he served Home Badly Damaged When Hit By Auto Roger Alan Walburn, 21, Fort Wayne, was fined $10 and costs in circuit court this morning on a charge of reckless driving levied against him early Sunday morning following an accident in which he totally demolished the kitchen of the Wayne Gaunt residence on route 5, Decatur. The accident occurred when Wilburn was traveling toward Decatur on U. S. 224 at 2:15 a.m. Sunday. Walburn failed to negotiate the curve approximately six and one-half miles east of Decatur, going off the south side of the highway. His car, a 1956 Dodge, struck two steel posts, jumped the ditch, shot through a fence, sideswiped a tree, crossed a field, hit a couple more posts, and smashed into the Gaunt kitchen. The vehicle turned around inside the house and continued into the garage before finally coming to rest. Wayne Gaunt stated he had no idea as to total damages done. The kitchen was entirely wiped out, including a deep freeze full of food, stove, refrigerator, cabinets, and all other furniture in the room. The garage was damaged, incluidng a tractor and a 1957 Chevrolet owned by Gaunt’s son, Roger. Gaunt explained that approximately 10 minutes before the accident, his wife had got up to get a drink of water. As she returned

THE KITCHEN OF THE Wayne Gaunt house, located six and onehalf miles east of Decatur, is shown in the above photo as it looked after a Fort Wayne youth lost control of his car early Sunday morning and tore into the house and garage before getting stopped. Pictured is the rear, or south side, of the house. The car was traveling west and left the road to the right of the picture, striking the southeast corner of the building.--(Staff > photo).

Seven Cents

for three years. During that period two children were born to the Kruses, Norman F. Kruse, Jr., now of Park Forest, Ill., and Joan Kruse, now Mrs. Robert Nelson of Bloomington. In addition to the wife and two children, six grandchildren survive, together with a brother, Clarence Kruse, of Davenport, Iowa; and three sisters, Mrs. Leota Brus, of Blue Grass, Iowa, Mrs. Erma Cawiezell, of Davenport, Iowa, and Mrs. Anita Butler, of Davenport, Iowa. With Soya 25 Years Mr. Kruse, a resident of 416 South First street, had administrative responsibility for the research and development programs of Central Soya. He started with the company as technical director in 1936, and in 1947 was named vice president and technical director. In 1939 he obtained a professional degree from Iowa State College in chemical engineering. In February, 1948, he published a staff report on solvent extraction of oil from soybeans, in Industrial Engineering Chemistry, Volume 40. p. 186. As one of three or four real pioneers in the soybean processing industry, he was responsible far many new technical developments in soy meal, and improving it for feed uses. He was a member of all the leading technical societies, including the American Oil Chemists Society. Funeral Arrangements A member of Zion Lutheran church in Decatur, he was prominent in the Lutheran Laymen's League. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the Zwick funeral home, the Rev. Richard C. Ludwig officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in the Memorial Gardens, Ames, Iowa, following services ati the Adams funeral home, Ames, Saturday afternoon. to bed, she heard the auto coming and told her husband that someone was going to hit the house. Walburn received a cut to the right eye brow and a broken finger on his right hand. A passenger in his car, Richard Patrick Britten, 20, Fort Wayne, suffered a broken left wrist. The automobile which Walburn was driving was totally demolished. State trooper Al Coppes and Adams County sheriff Merle Affolder investigated. Dag Hammarskjold Flying To Africa UNITED NATIONS (UPI)--United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold flies to Africa tonight for consultations with Union of South Africa government officials. Hammarskjold will stop off in Leopoldville en route to South Africa to discuss the explosive Congo crisis with U. N. officials there. The secretary general also planned to visit the Salisbury, Northern Rhodesia, Cairo, U.A.R., and Bombay, India, during his 19-day tour. Late Bulletins Mrs. Anna D. Lehman, 93, of Berne, died at 1:10 o'clock this afternoon at the county memorial body was removed to the Yager funeral home at Berne. Funeral arrangements have not been completed.