Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 59, Number 24, Decatur, Adams County, 30 January 1961 — Page 1

Vol. LIX. No. 24.

President Kennedy Asks Swift Action To Shore Economy

Welsh Refuses To Halt Execution

INDIANAPOLIS (UPl>—Governor Welsh today refused to halt the execution of Fort Wayne wifeslayer Richard E. Kiefer, who is scheduled to die early Tuesday in the electric chair at Indiana State Prison. Welsh announced at a news conference that he was “unwilling to interpose my judgment and substitute it in lieu of the verdict of two juries and the courts.” Welsh declined to issue an executive order sparing Kiefer’s life on grounds that Kiefer had had full recourse of the courts on appeals, that all of his legal rights were observed, and Indiana’s legal representatives advised the governor that a letter from Fort Wayne attorney Barrie Tremper seeking clemency for Kiefer “contained no new Triaterial Welsh said he received the Tremper letter at 8:10 a.m. CDT today, along with seven letters and telegrams all urging him to grant clemency to Kiefer. Advises Kiefer Lawyer “I am calling the attorney for Mr. Kiefer and am advising him I am taking no action,'' Welsh said. • The governor conferred with Arthur Campbell, chairman of the State Board of Correction, before reaching his decisior. He also asked deputies Richard Givan and Frank Spencer of the attorney general’s office to review Temper's letter. Kiefer is scheduled to be executed at Michigan City at 12:01 a.m. CST Tuesday for the 1957 slaying of his wife. Pearl. He also allegedly killed his 5-year-old daughter. Before the governor acted, sev-

Sheriff's Son Is Attacked By Pair Fred Ellsworth Williams, 22. route 6. Decatur, and Donald William Dague. 19. who resides near Pleasant Mills, were arraigned in the Adams circuit court this morning on charges of robbery and assault and battery with attempt to rob, after beating and robbing Michael Afiolder. son of sheriff and ’'is. Merle Affolder Saturday night. After reading their constitutional rights. Judge Myles F. Parrish remanded the two to the Adams county jail, each under SIO,OOO bond, until they wish to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty and to give them sufficient time to acquire an attorney if they so desire. Leaving From Work The incident occurred last Saturday night when the young Affolder was going home, after getting off work at the Kroger store, where he is employed. He had two hams which he had purchased at the store, and was taking them home. As he was walking along the east side of Second street, Williams and Dague drove up in the alley and asked him what he had with him When Affolder told them “ham.” for reasons unknown the got out of the vehicle and proceded to beat him up, and bady injure the youth. Left In Street Some neighbors saw the happen- * ings, watching them beat the youthful Affolder and leave him in the middle of Second street in a state bf semi-consciousness. The neighbors quickly hurried outside, as the ear sped away, and took the youth into their house. They immediately called sheriff Affolder, told him what had happened, and gave him the license ’ number of the car. Williams and Dague had taken one of the hams, and apparently* were returning to obtain the other, j when sheriff Affolder nabbed them at the scene. Hie two youths were taken to the Adams county jail, but they would not admit the beating, saying that they only “slapped him around a little bit.”

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

eral opponents of capital punishment said they would seek clemency for Kiefer.

Judson F. Haggerty of Indianapolis, who, as a state representative in 1949, almost obtained passage of his bill to repeal capital punishment, said he would ask Governor Welsh to commute Kiefer’s sentence to life imprisonment. Both Welsh and Haggerty are Democrats. “Capital punishment never has solved the problem of murder,” Haggerty, a former Marion County deputy prosecutor, said. Quakers Urge Reprieve Welsh also considered a letter from a Quaker group, the Friends’ Cooperating Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment in Indiana, urging commutation to life imprisonment and calling the scheduled execution of Kiefer “a frightening thing." Another Indianapolis Democrat, former State Sen. Greyble McFarland. likewise protested the execution. He was unsuccessful in 1951 in obtaining passage of his bill to abolish the death sentence. The situation centered attention on a current bill by Rep. Anthony J. Adolf i, R- Indiana polls, who seeks to obtain a 1962 voter referendum to determine sentiment on capital punishment. It was a grim decision for Welsh to make—perhaps the most trying of his regime to date. The last two governors—George N. Craig and Harold W. Handley —never permitted a man or woman to die in the electric chair. In fact. Craig commuted the sentences of a number of doomed slayers to life imprisonment in 1956. just before he left office. No Clemency for Watts Henry F. Schricker was the last governor to sanction an electrocution. The victim, Robert A. Watts. Indianapolis Negro, was convicted of the brutal murder of an Indianapolis woman. He also killed another woman, according to police. He was electrocuted on Jan. 16, 1951. Many state governors have said ■that the dread of having to decide whether a human being shall be slain by the government almost deterred them from aspiring to the gubernatorial chair. Despite all the arguments that Kiefer deserves the utmost punishment for the unmerciful slayings of his wife and daughter, there must have remained in Welsh’s mind the thought that he alone was responsible for a man’s life.

Local Lady's Sister Is Taken By Death Funeral services were held this afternoon for Miss Agnes Foor, 73, of Ohio City, 0.. who died Friday night at the Van Wert, 0., county hospital. She had been ill of complications for 10 months and in serious condition for the past month. She was born in Liberty township, Van Wert county, Nov. 28, 1887, a daughter of William J. and Anna Belle Cunningham-Foor, and was a retired employe of the National Seal Co. at Van Wert. Miss Foor was a member of the Bethel Evangelical United Brethren .church near Glenmore. 0., the Happy Harmony club and the ladies hospital auxiliary. Surviving are one brother. Dr. Clifford Foor of Hillsboro, 0.. and six sisters, Mrs. John Spahr of Decatur, Mrs. Fred Akom of Ohio City, Mrs. Carl Stover of Rockford, 0., Mrs. Bernice Brubaker and Mrs. Inez Schaadt of Van Wert, and Mrs. Vance E. Cribbs of Middletown, O. Services were held this afternoon at the Bethel E.U.B. church, the Rev. Albert Straley and the Rev. Albert Swenson officiating. Burial was in Woodlawn cemetery at Ohio City. Xs,

WASHINGTON <UPI) — President Kennedy asked swift action today to shore up a receding U.S. economy, thwart Soviet - Chinese designs for world domination and thus lead America Safely through the onrushing “hour of maximum danger.” The 43-year-old Chief Executive in his first State of the Union message, delivered personally to a joint sessionmf Congress, confessed he staggered” in the 10 days since the inauguration by “the harsh enormity of the trials through which we must pass in the next four years.” ‘‘Each day we draw nearer the hour of maximum danger,” Kennedy said. He reported “The American economy is in trouble,” and that crises produced by tense relations with Russia and Communist China multiply daily, with solutions increasingly difficult. He warned that life in 1961 “will not be easy” and “there will be further set-backs bel o r e the tide is turned.” • Tide Must Turn “But turn it we must.” he said in a prepared 4.600-word address, disclosing in rapidfire order a series of executive actions he has taken, plus recommended legislation he wants promptly from the House and Senate. While his message bore a clear Stamp of concern over the bleak foreign picture, Kennedy turned first to the state of the national economy and what he intended to do about the continuing slump. Refusing “to stand helplessly by” while the situation worsens. Kennedy informed Congress of an omnibus anti-recession program to be submitted within two weeks. He said he would ask for larger and longer unemployment compensation benefits, more food for the unemployed and their families, a new housing program under a new housing and urban affairs department, a higher minimum wage and a tax break for companies spending money on “sound” plant expansion. The President welcomed open, peaceful competition with Russia and Red China, but warned Americans against being “lulled into believing that either power has yielded its ambition for world domination.” Must Remain Strong Counseling the free world to remain so strong that aggression by any nation would be “clearly futile.” Kennedy said his administration still planned “to explore promptly all possible areas of cooperation with the Soviet Union. He specifically invited Russia, with other nations, to join the United States in preparing for space ventures to Mars and Venus and in mutual development of satellites for weather forecasting and communications. "Both nations would help themselves as well as other nations removing these endeavors from the bitter and wasteful competition of the cold war,” he said. To lead America through deepening world tension. Kennedy disclosed he had ordered Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara “to reappraise our entire defense strategy.” He directed McNamara to submit preliminary conclusions by the end of February with a view to quick budgetary, legisla(Continued on page six) Advertising Index Advertiser Page A. & P. Tea Co., Inc 3 Adams Theater — 8 Beavers Oil Service, Inc 5 Burk Elevator Co - 5 Bower Jewelry Store -- — 3 Budget Loans 7 Cowens Insurance Agency ■. 7 Church of the Nazarene — 2 Evans Sales & Service 5 Evans Grocery ———— 2, 4, 8 Fairway -3, 7, 8 Holthouse Drug Co —— 4 Holthouse Furniture 5, 8 Haugks -in--— — 4 International College --- 2 Myers Cleaners - t —— 4 Niblick & Co — 2 Old American Insurance Co — 2 L. Smith Insurance Agency, Inc 5 Sutton Jewelry Store --7 Smith Drug Co 3, 6 Stewarts Bakery —_r 6 Teeple Truck Line 5 Tony’s Tap 7 Universal Equipment Operators "School ... 5 Zintsmaeter Motors 8

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, January 30, 1961.

Two Men Fined Here For Slot Machines Donald Reidenbach and Hobart Hutchison were fined $25 and costs, totaling $42 each, in city court this morning on charges of possessing slot machines. Reidenbach, commander of the V.F.W., and Hutchison, employed only a week at the service club as a bartender, were arrested Friday night after an anonymous letter had informed two excise officers out of Columbia City that the V. F. W. had siot machines in the building. Upon inve. '.gation, the excise men found five slot machines, why:h weren’t in use at the time. Upcn passing the fine, city judge John Stolts ordered the sheriff Merle Affolder, to destroy the machines and that any money in them should be turned over to a charitable institution by the sheriff. Eugene Painter, arrested Sunday for public intoxication, was fined $5 and costs, totaling $22. Painter was arrested by sheriffs department authorities on county road 15. The case against Jack McDonald, in which an affidavit for reckless driving was signed by Dick Simmerman, was dismissed by Judge Stults, as Simmerman. who had signed the affidavit against McDonald, didn’t appear in court. Judge Stults explained to McDonald that courtesy and caution should always be shown while operating any motor vehicle. Automobile, Buggy Collide Sunday Night An automobile and a horse and buggy were involved in an accident at 10:45 p.m. Sunday on highway 118, three miles east of Berne. James Lester Sipe, 18. Monroe, was eastbound on 118 when he ran into the rear of a buggy operated by Jacob C. Christner, 17, Berne. Sipe explained that he was blinded by the lights of an oncoming vehicle and didn't see the buggy in time, which was also traveling east. There were no injuries, but the car received damages of approximately $350 and the buggy received only S2O damages.

RendezvousOn Santa Maria

RECIFE, Brazil (UPD—A U.S. admiral today arranged a rendezvous at dawn Tuesday aboard the hijacked liner Santa Maria to negotiate with the ship’s rebel commander for removal of the 620 captive passengers. Rear Adm. Allen Smith Jr., commander of the Navy’s Caribbean Sea Frontier, will board the U.S. destroyer Gearing for the meeting with Capt. Henrique Galvao on the Santa Maria 35 miles off the 4 Brazilian port of Recife. The Navy's announcement indicated that the passengers might be taken off at sea by U.S. warships rather than landed in port. Four U.S. Navy destroyers were ordered to the area where the Santa Maria was circling today. Doubts about Haven In Sao Paulo incoming Brazilian President Janio Quadras cast doubt on reports that he would offer Galvao and the stolen ship safe haven after he is inaugurated Tuesday. A dispatch in the rio de Janeiro newspaper Diario de Noticias had quoted Quadros as calling Galvao an "old friend” and saying he would give the ship and the rebels “all guarantees” of sanctuary. But when UPI correspondent Gary Neeleman showed Quadros the story, the president-elect read it and then snapped indignantly : "When I have something to say about the Santa Maria, I will not say it in this manner. I have nothing else to say right now.”

Mrs. Geiger Pleads Guilty To Embezzling SIOUX CITY, lowa (UPD—Mrs. Burnice Geiger, confessed embezzler of more than $2 million, calmly pleaded guilty today to 35 counts of embezzling funds from her father’s bank. The 58-year-old banker’s daughter, speaking in a clear, distinct voice, solemnly replied “guilty” 35 times as Federal Dist. Atty- F. E. Van Alstine read off the list of charges. — Sentence was delayed pending investigation and Mrs. Geiger was returned to the Woodbury County jail where she has been held since Jan. 16, steadfastly refusing to post the SIO,OOO bond under which she was held. She could be sentenced to a 175year prison term since each count carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both. The 35 counts specified embezzlement of only about SIOO,OOO during the past three years although Mrs. Geiger had confessed stealing $2,126,859.10 from the bank. Presumably a good share of the rest occurred prior to six years ago, when the federal statute of limitations went into effect. Mrs. Geiger, who had shied away from photographers and newsmen ever since her arrest for the largest bank embezzlement in history, stood with her head bowed slightly as each of the counts was read. The largest count involved 513.478.77 and the smallest was $146.25—b0th in November of last year. Mrs. Geiger. 58. assistant cashier of the Sheldon, lowa, National Bank, was arrested Jan. 16 on a specific charge of “embezzlement in excess of $100” after a bank examiner uncovered an SB,OOO error that led to her $2 million admissions. Federal attorneys, working with officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, spent two weeks preparing formal charges and Van AJstine’s entire legal and clerical Mass worked until Sunday night on the final draft. The government's case was expected to center on Mrs. Geiger's financial dealings in recent years and particularly during the last 12 months, when she became principal stockholder in Sheldon’s infant Northern Biochemical Corp. Audits since her arrest indicate the embezzlement extends back to 1930 or before, almost to the day Mrs. Geiger went to work for her father, now 84. at the Sheldon National. FDIC officials have said the embezzlement was concealed by crediting bank statements, pocketing the money, and then withdrawing the statements from active records. INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and a little warmer tonight and Tuesday. Low tonight 8 to 15. High Tuesday 7:54 a. m. Outlook for Wednesday: Partly cloudy and slightly warmer. Lows 13 to 23. Highs 30 to 43.

The announcement said Smith would receive sealed orders this afternoon when the U.S: destroyer Gearing arrives here from Africa. The Santa Maria last was reported steaming in slow circles about 60 miles northeast of Recife. Galvao Agrees to Meet L Cmdr. Charles Rainey, Navy public information officer, said Smith was at breakfast this morning when he received a message from Galvao definitely agreeing to the meeting. He said Smith and two or three aides will board the Santa Maria for discussions with the leader of the Portuguese rebels who seized the ship in the Caribbean. Three other destroyers due here shortly will assist the Gearing in case Galvao agrees to the immediate transfer of the passengers. They are the Vogelgesang, Wilson and Damato. Two Navy oilers —the Canisteo and the Mispillion — also are due here to guarantee sufficient fuel for the destroyers. Rainey said that under no circumstances would the U.S. Navy agree to supply oil to the Santa Maria. The luxury liner was estimated to have sufficient fuel for three weeks at sea when it was taken over by the rebels in the early hours of Jan. 22. Reporters Won’t Board Rainey said reporters will be taken to the rendezvous at sea, but will not be permitted to board the Santa Maria during the talks.

1 B JB ® ' ■ in* BtJbß mm 1”* M *** I **u ITw Ibl' STORES TO CONSOLIDATE— Pictured above js The Schafer Store, on North Second street. Announcement was made today of the consolidation of The Schafer Store and Habegger Hardware, effective in March. A photo of the Habegger store on Monroe street is printed on page 8 of today’s DailyDemocrat.

Schafer And Habegger Stores To Consolidate

The consolidation of the Schafer Store and Habegger Hardware was announced this morning by Ralph T. Habegger, owner of Habegger Hardware, and Fred Schafer, president of the Schafer Store. The merger of the two stores will be effected early in March, at which time the Habegger inventory of merchandise will be moved to the present Schafer Store location on North Second street. The consolidated store will have the trade name of HabeggerSchafer and Rah* Habegger has been appointed general manager of the retail store by the directors of the new company. 'Die directors are Habegger, Fred Schafer and Daniel Schafer. Century of Service The two stores represent nearly a century of continuous service to the Decatur community area. The Schafer Store was founded by the late Fred Schafer. Sr., in 1874, while Habegger Hardware has been a growing business in Decatur since 1949. The location of the new store is the huge, three-story Schafer building, measuring 66 by 125 feet and includes a full basement sales room. Present lines of hardware, housewares, furniture and appliances handled by the two stores will be enlarged. Separate Companies The Schafer Company, Inc., local wholesale hardware distributor and glove manufacturer, is a corporation separate from the Schafer Store and will be continued and expanded under Schafer management. The Schafer Company, Inc., offices, warehouses and glove factory are located on First and Madison streets. The consolidation affects only the retail Schafer Store. Store History The late Fred Schafer, Sr., founder of the Schafer Store, was born in Medina county, Ohio, in 1851 and was brought to Adams Mrs. Pearl Reffey Dies Ai Noon Today Mrs. Pearl Reffey, 78, of Decatur, died at 12 noon today at the Davis nursing home in Bluffton following an illness of nine years. She was a lifelong resident of Adams county. Born in Monroe township Feb. 17, 1882, she was a daughter of Samuel and Mary Jane WagonerBaker, and was married to Lee Feffey Oct. 29, 1899. Her husband preceded her in death June 26, 1952. Mrs. Reffey was a member of the First Christian church. Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. Adrian (Gladys) Baker, Mrs. Leland (Luetta) Smith and Mrs. Glenola Sovine, all of Decatur, Mrs. Marie Brandyberry of Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Harry (Lola) Merriman of Kankakee, Ill.; six grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p. m. Wednesday at the Zwick funeral home, with burial in the Decatur cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 10 a. m. Tuesday until time of the services.

county iij 1855 by his father, Christian Schafer, great-grand-father of Fred and Daniel Schafer. The Schafer family settled on a large farm in Washington township, which was later sold to the Adams county commissioners for use as the county farm. In 1874 Schafer first engaged in the hardware business and the business has grown through three, generations to the present sizable firm. Second street has always been the home of the Schafer Store, but several times it was destroyed by fire. In 1914, following a disastrous fire which totally,destroyed the then ■ existing building, the present three-story brick building was constructed. Jacob R. Schafer, a brother of the founder, was a partner in the firm in its early days. He retired to Dallas. Texas in the late 1890’s. Fred Schafer, Sr., learned the trade of tinner as a young man. and spent two years as a journeyman worker in the west prior to the founding of the Schaf-

Mrs. Anne Smith Killed In Accident

Mrs. Anne K. Smith, 51, a resi-. dent of Decatur most of her life, and prominently known in this city, was killed almost instantly in a two-fatality traffic accident at 9:45 p. m. Saturday on U. S. highway 27, two miles south of Fort Wayne near the Hessen Cassel church. * Clyde W. Thomson, 47, of Harrisburg, Pa., driver of the car in which Mrs. Smith was riding, died at 3:30 a. m. Sunday at the Lutheran hospital of a crushed chest and other injuries. The traffic victinis, who planned to be married in February, were enroute to visit friends and relatives of Mrs. Smith in Decatur when the tragedy occurred. Others Serious Three occupants of the second auto are reported still in serious condition at the Lutheran hospital. They are the Rev. Kenneth T. Watkins, 39, of Columbia City, the driver; his 38-year-old wife, Betty, and their son, Ken D., 7. A daughter, Jean Ann, 11, was released after treatment. The Hawkins family was returning home after attending funeral services at the Bethel Brethren church, east of Berne, for Mrs. Donald Haines, a relative of the family Rev. Hawkins is a brother of Al Hawkins, of Decatur route S, Decatur General Electric Co. employe. State troopers Sam Platt and Darrell Bauer, and Richard Shull, Allen county deputy sheriff, who investigated, said evidence indicated the Thompson vehicle was apparently turning around on U. S. 27 and pulled into the path of the Hawkins car. Herman Mason, 54, of Fort Wayne, and his wife, Eva. 54, were Reported in serious condition at Parkview memorial hospital, suffering from injuries sustained when Mason’s car crashed into two parked cars at the scene of ' the mishap. With Central Soya Mrs. Smith, who was recently i

Seven Cents

er Store in Decatur. The Adams county pioneer businessman died in 1932 and his son, Chalmer C. Schafer, succeeded him as manager of the store. Chalmer C. Schafer was also the founder of the Schafer wholesale hardware business which is now incorporated as the Schafer Company, Inc., and which had its early beginnings as a manufacturer of •saddlery. In 1947 Chalmer C. Schafer died, and the third generation of Schafers. Frederic and Daniel, took over the operation of the Schafer Store, and the operation at the Schafer Company. Inc. Habegger Store In 1949, Ralph Habegger founded the Habegger Hardware store on Monroe street. The hardware store was by then a landmark on Monroe street, having been founded half a century before by Henry Knapp and continued by his son, Charles Knapp. A native of Adams county, Habegger was reared on his father’s (Continued on page eight)

given a 25-year service award from the Central Soya Co., for many years was in the traffic department of the company’s offices in this city, and has been secretary to Central Soya’s rail traffic management in the Fort Wayne offices for several years. Thompson was a division sales manager'of Central Soya’s McMillen Feed division in Harrisburg, Pa. He had previously held several sales positions with Central Soya and from 1958 to 1959 was in the Fort Wayne office. Mrs. Smith, a native of Brooklyn. N. Y.,’ was the adopted daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William. Colchin. and lived in Decatur, until moving to Fort Wayne two yehrs ago. Funeral Wednesday Mrs: Smith was president of the Fort Wayne Women’s Traffic club, and was a member of the Queen of Angels Catholic church in that city. Her husband, Othmar Smith, preceded her in death in 1945. Surviving are two daughters. Miss Kathleen Smith of Sandusky, 0., and Mrs. George Liscopoulos of Columbus, 0., and a granddaughter. Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a. m. Wednesday at the Chalfant-Perry funeral home and at 10 a. m. at the Queen of Angels church, the Rev. Denis H. Blank officiating. Burial will be In the Fort Wayne Catholic Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 4p. m.'today. Rosary services will be at 7:30 p. m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Thompson, a native of Illinois, had been a Central Soya employe about 16 years. He was a member of the Fort Wayne Elks lodge, the Masonic lodge at Gibson City. 111., and the Scottish Rite at Bloomington, 111. Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Grace Thompson of Champaign, IH. Services will be held Tuesday at Deeatnr, Rt ... ... ......