Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 60, Number 142, Decatur, Adams County, 16 June 1962 — Page 1

VOL LX NO. 142.

Two U.S. Army Officers Killed When Communist Guerrillas Hit. Convoy

Rejects Appeal To Cancel Red Tests

MOSCOW (UPI) — Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev has rejected an appeal from British Labor Party members to cancel nuclear weapons tests by the Soviet Union, it was disclosed today. The premier, on the contrary, predicted a new "chain reaction” of testing “involving the Soviet Union.” The Soviets have warned they would carry out a new series of such tests if the United States resumed atmospheric tests. The American tests began in the Pacific last month. Khrushchev’s letter to 65 British Labor party members of parliament who had urged him to end all tests was sent before the Soviet leader left Moscow by train Friday for Romania. It was released today by the Soviet news agency Tass. As- in his recent letter to . Japanese Premier Hayato Ikeda, Khrushchev accused President Kennedy of considering a firststrike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. He again flatly rejected the Western proposal for on-site inspection of a nuclear test ban by calling the plan “tantamount to setting up an espionage system.” He claimed that means of detecting test blasts through seismographs is sufficient. Khrushchev said the Western leaders “are deliberately involving the Soviet Union in another round of the competition in the sphere of improving nuclear weapons.” “They are splendidly aware,” he said, “that their decision to resume the tests will set off a chain reaction.” “If we are compelled to do this Decatur Temperature. Local weather data for the period ending at 9 a.tn. today. 12 noon 69 12 midnight .. 54 1 p.m 74 <1 a.m 51 2 p.m <8 2 a.m 49 3 p.m 70 3 a.m 48 4 p.m 72 4 a.m. 48 5 p.m. ......r 68 5 a.m. 47 6 p.m. .: 68 6 a.m. ...„ 50 7 p.m 66 7 a.m.'..... 64 8 p.m 63 8 a.m ... 68 9 p.m. ... 60 9 am 68 10 p.m 58 11 p.m. 55 Hain Total for the 24 hour period aading at 7 u.m. today, .0 inches. The St. Mary’s river was at 1.65 feet.

Burn Schools

In Algiers

ALGIERS (UPD—Secret Army (OAS) commandos burned schools and government buildings and battled Moslem auxiliary troops in the Foreign Legion headquarters city of Sidi-Bel-Abbes Friday, reports reaching here said today. There were no reports of casualties in the fires or in the clash. The reports said several schools, two government offices and the Palace of Justice were put to the torch by the OAS which has sworn to destroy 100 years of progress in Algeria and leave nothing but ruins for the independent Moslem-dominated nation. ' -i In Algiers, salvage crews searched through the wreckage of the city hall for the bodies of victims of a bomb that shattered part of the heavily-guarded building Friday night. At least one French soldier was killed and 43 wounded in the bombing, the worst thus far in the OAS "scorched earth” campaign. Several other bodies were believed buried in the rubble. —Sidi-BeKAbbes was one of the five cities in western Algeria the OAS announced earlier this week would be turned into armed European enclaves. The reports said the commandos set fire to schools and two gov-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

(resume tests),” he said, “there must be no doubt that the responsibility rests with the NATO powers and only with them.” Khrushchev said a test ban treaty can now be signed on Soviet lines because “it has been proved irrefutably that national facilities of detection can assure proper observation. . . “There are now absolutely no foundations for the U. S. and British demands for international control and verification which would be tantamount to setting up an espionage system,” he said. “As you see," he wrote the Laborites, “a solution of the problem of banning tests does not depend on us.” Local Man's Mother Dies In Arkansas Mrs. Ellen Barr, 78, mother of Willard Barr of this city, died Friday afternoon at Murfreesboro, Ark. Surviving in addition to the son are her husband, Sam Barr; three daughters, Mrs. Opal Elzey of Murfreesboro, Mrs. Fred Faulkner of Little Rock, Ark., and Mrs. John Mason of Lubbock, Tex.; seven granchildren; eight greatgrandchildren; one brother and two sisters. * Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at the First Methodist church in Murfreesboro, with burial at that city. The body was taken to the Latimer funeral home at Nashville, Ark. Drunken Pilot's License Revoked WASHINGTON (UPl)—The Federal Aviation Agency Friday lifted the license of a Wisconsin pilot who was charged with drunken flying after a crash earlier this week at Kentland, Ind. Louis Belsha, Milwaukee, and his two passengers escaped serious injury Monday when th i e r light plane struck a power line, went out of control and crashed. Belsha was arretted and fined for flying while intoxncated. Belsha may appeal the two-year license revocation to the Civil Aeronautics Board.

eminent offices during the day and then defied >the curfew to burn down the Palace of Justice. One of the schools was set afire again this morning. During the day, the reports said, OAS commandos attacked Moslem auxiliaries with mortar and rifle grenade fire. The Moslem troops opened fire in return. There was no immediate report of casualties, if any. In other actions Friday, the OAS bombed two hospitals here, ambushed a police-riot squad outside Oran and attacked two Algiers police posts. Ten men were wounded in the Oran attack. OAS dynamiters ordered the hospitals cleared of patients and employes before setting off their bombs, and no casualties were reported in those attacks. A “pirate broadcast” Friday night said the OAS has issued orders for “the destruction of Algeria's economic potential” before President Charles de Gaulle gives the country back to the Arabs. ment announced Friday night that seven parties, including the Communists, have been authorized to take part in the campaign for the July 1 independence referendum.

SAIGON, Viet Nam (UPI) — Two U.S. Army officers were killed today when Communist Viet Cong guerrillas ambushed a military convoy north of here and riddled It with bullets, a U.S. military spokesman announced. The spokesman said the attack took place along a tree-lined road near the town of Ben Cat, about 25 miles from Saigon. The Americans—a captain and a first lieutanent—were advisers with the special U.S. force in Viet Nam to train the Vietnamese troops. “ They were not identified immediately pending notification of kin. The spokesman said the two officers were the only Americans traveling with the convoy at the time of the withering attack. He said they were found lying amid a number of wounded and dying Vietnamese soldiers. The ambush apparently began when the guerrillas set off electrically detonated mines, probably fashioned from old artillery shells, under the passing vehicles, the spokesman said. The attackers then opened up with fierce fire from automatic weapons, he said. The spokesman said the men in the convoy probably could not see the hiding guerrillas because of the thick tropical growth and rubber trees along the road. He said the attacked convoy radioed for help when the shooting began. A relief column of Vietnamese troops was dispatched down the road but was delayed by a guerrilla road block. When the rescue unit arrived at the ambush site, it found only three burning vehicles and the bodies of the dead and wounded soldiers, the spokesman said. The convoy apparently included both armored cars and jeeps, but the spokesman was unable to give the exact number of vehicles attacked. Two days ago U.S. military sources reported that one American military man was killed and two others were wounded by Viet Cong guerrillas in a clash near the Laotian border 375 miles north of Saigon. Earlier today Gen. George H. Decker, U.S. Army chief of staff, pledged that the United States would support south Viet Nam with “whatever means are necessary to achieve final success” in the struggle against Communist guerrillas. But he warned that the fight against Viet Cong forces still was “in what might be called the development stage” and no immediate spectacular results could be expected. Local Lady's Brother Dies This Morning Samuel Wittwer, 85, retired plasterer and upholsterer of Berne, died at 4:45 o’clock this morning at the Berne nursing home. He had been bedfast for the past two months. He was born in French township Feb. 1, 1877, a son of Mr. and Mrs. John Wittwer. His wife, the former Mary Zimmerman, died in 1957. Mr. Wittwer was a member of the First Missionary church at Berne. Surviving are six daughters, Mrs. Felix Yoss of Fort Wayne, Mrs. Lester' Reynolds of Linn Grove, Mrs. Frank Liechty of near Berne, Mrs. Elvet Dawe of North Ridge, Calif., Mrs. Robert Welch of Monroe, and Miss Phyllis Wittwer, of Berne; five sons, Vilas Wittwer of Richmond, John Wittwer of North Manchester, Jesse Wittwer of Fort Wayne, Weldon Wittwer of Berne, and Kenneth Wittwer of Sebring, Fla.; 31 grandchildren; 31 great- grandchildren; one brother, Hiram Wittwer of Monroe, and one sister, Mrs. Rosina Neukom of Decatur. Two sons are deceased. Funeral services Will be held at 2 p. m. Monday at the First Missionary church in Berne, the Rev. C. H. Wiederkehr officiating. Burial will be in the MRE cemetery. Friends may call at the Yager funeral home in Berne after 10 a. m. Sunday.

lamii— ■— ■ iwiiwiyw K..... Decatur, Indiana, Saturday June 16,1962. - ~ .... - -- - .. -

Billy Estes' Creditors To Meet Lawyers EL PASO, Tex. (UPI) — Billie Sol Estes* creditors agreed Friday to meet with the indicted farm magnate’s attorneys next Tuesday in Dallas in a last-ditch effort to avoid placing Estes in bankruptcy. U.S. Dist. Judge R. E. Thomason ordered a hearing for Friday, July 13, on a creditors’ petition to declare Estes an involuntary bankrupt. However, there is a possibility that Estes may be forced into bankruptcy long before July 13 and possibly within a week. The informal session in Dallas will bring together a creditors’ committee headed by J.F. Hulse of El Paso and attorneys John Cofer of Austin and John T. Dennison of Pecos, representing Estes. Thomason said if no progress is made in Dallas, he might advance the date of the El Paso hearing and adjudicate bankruptcy. Hulse, chairman of the sev-en-man committee, said Xhe crpd» itors will go along with an acceptable plan to pay them off, if Estes can present one. Lawyer’s Outlook Dark Cofer’s outlook on - avoiding bankruptcy for Estes was gloomy. “It appears from this morning’s (Friday) hearing,” he said, “that unless something is done in the next two weeks, bankruptcy cannot be avoided.” Hulse speculated that - Thomason would move the July 13 hearing to June 29 and that he would declare Estes bankrupt. A group of creditors opposed bankruptcy for Estes on the ground that his grain storage and other enterprises should be allowed to continue in operation and thus provide a greater return to them on debts owed by Estes. Under bankruptcy, Estes’ assets would be sold at auction and the proceeds would be divided pro rata among creditors. Estes Offers Plan Estes told about 150 of his 564 creditors Friday that he has no assets hidden in Swiss banks or

Call Former Ag Officials

WASHINGTON (UPD —House investigators plan to call former Agriculture Department officials from two administrations for questioning about their connection with Billie Sol Estes. House intergovernmental relations subcommittee Chairman L. H. Fountain said he would probably resume the Estes hearing Tuesday or Wednesday. The North Carolina Democrat indicated that the subcommittee expected to quiz these three witnesses : — James A. McConnell, who was an assistant secretary of agriculture and consultant to Secretary Ezra Taft Benson. McConnell is now connected with the Commercial Solvents Corp., which gave Estes more than $5 million credit. — Walter C. Berger, another "administrator of the Stabilization and Conservation Service in the Eisenhower administration and how on Commercial S o 1 v e n t s’ board of governors. — William Morris, a special assistant to a top Democratic Agriculture Department official, who was fired after he refused to answer to questions about his connection with the Texas financier. His former boss, James T. Ralph, was also fired for making telephone calls on a credit card which belonged to Estes.

Eli Kipfer Dies At Home Friday Night Eli S. Kipfer, 62-year-old Adams county farmer, died at 7:20 o'clock Friday evening at his home one mile east of the Apostolic Christian church. Death followed an illness of eight months of leukemia. He was. born in Adams county Oct. 12, 1899, a son of William and Elizabeth Speheger-Kipfer, and was married to Mabel Kipfer April 6, 1930. He was a lifelong resident of Adams county. Mr. Kipfer was a member of the Apostolic Christian church. Surviving in addition to his wife are one daughter, Mrs. Edson Ivins of Bluffton; two sons, John W. Kipfer of Bluffton route 4, and Theodore J. Kipfer, at home; two grandchildren; four brothres, David of Bluffton, Alfred of Sebring, Fla., William and Raymond, both of Bluffton route 4, and four sisters. Miss Dina Kipfer of Bluffton, Mrs, Emil Steffen of 1 Decatur, Mrs. John L. Moser and Mrs. Elmer Isch, both of Bluffton. One brother is deceased. Funeral services will be held at 1 p. m. Monday at the Goodwin funeral home at Bluffton, and at 1:30 p. m. at the Apostolic Chris■tian church. The Rev. Samuel Aschliman will officiate, and burial will the church cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p. m. today. anywhere else in the world. He proposed a complicated plan of paying them off. Under the plan some creditors would have had to accept 50 cents on a dollar and waive service charges and lawyers’ fees. He filed a document showing that he owes $38,387,935.87 and claiming assets of $20,793,155.95. Hulse told Estes that he had failed to list as liabilities about $2 million in claims. “This is merely an oversight,” Estes said. Harry Moore Jr., a court-ap-pointed receiver, is operating Estes’ businesses. Under involuntary bankruptcy, Moore would become a referee. NOON EDITION

Bass Indicates Collu ion Rep. Ross Bass, D-Tenn., charged at Friday's hearings that Estes made an “iron clad commitment” to owe his government grain storage fees to Commercial Solvents five days before he got the storage contract. Bass, a member of the subcommittee, said this indicated the firm had inside information that the department was going to give Estes the contract. Estes assigned his future grain storage fees to the company in return for a $900,000 loan to get the business started and pay other expenses. Wheeler Denies Allegation Maynard C. Wheeler, president of Commercial Solvents, denied Bass’ charge that Estes, Commercial Solvents and the Agriculture Department were in “collusion.” He specifically denied that the agreement to take over Estes’ grain storage fees was implemented before the Texas financier got the storage contract. Whether testified that Estes, now under indictment on fraud charges, signed his grain storage contract with the- government on March 9, 1959, while Commercial Solvents did not mail out copies of the fee arrangement until April 1, 1959.

Sharp Rally By Stock Market At End Friday NEW YORK (UPI) — Teletype machines in 40 branch offices of a major Wall Street brokerage firm came alive at mid-afternoon Friday with a message from headquarters in New York. “From a strictly day -to - day trading point of view,” the branches scattered across the country were advised, “the very active, very volatile stocks of the type of IBM, AT & T and Xerox should have a worthwhile rally ahead of them.” The trader who sent the “flash” clicking across the wires had noticed an “unprecedentedly high percentage” of short sales taking place. A short sale occurs when a stock* purchaser sells borrowed stock, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price and realize a profit. IBM Helps Surge The three stock mentioned In the message staged late rallies, IBM gaining 27 Ms points for the day, and helped the stock market to its best gain in two weeks Friday. Volume soared to 7,128,710 shares, a gain of $8.2 billion in paper values was made and brokers went home for the weekend with hopes of a break in the recent slump. It had been another bad week for investor , prices hitting new 1962 lows on Thursday. The overall loss for the five days in paper values was placed at about slO.l billion. Wall Streeters were encouraged by Friday’s advance and die fact that overall business news looked generally favorable. The Federal Reserve Board reported industrial production in May was up — to a new record high — despite a decline in steel production. Some'Analysts Cautious More cautious market analysts felt it would not be determined until next week whether stocks have dropped as far as they will or whether the market will face further tests. - It was the first Friday since May 18 to close on a definite upward trend. The Dow-Jones average of 30 industrials was up 15.18 points for the day, to 578.18. Standard & Poor’s index of 500 top tocks closed at 55.87, up 1.56. However, the Dow-Jones figure was still 23.43 points below last week’s close and S & P was down 2.58. Clerks operating the stock tickers stayed overtime again. The last prices tapped off the tabulators 44 minutes after the market closed. At times during the day, the ticker had run as much a 22 minutes late. Recreation Area Open At Worthman Announcement was made today that supervised recreation will be started at Worthman field Monday morning, under the supervision of Miss Becky Maddox and Miss Julia Ellsworth. The recreation area will be open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Available will be craft work, such as making hot pads, etc., a wide variety of games, puzzles, books to read, and recreation such as tennis, shuffleboard and horse shoes.

■» . v /{Si 19 ki bL 7, ■ ■B km* * My' - ■ wfel 1 2Mv . MIR , , ■WWW ' r < I W v i Rgw I MMI •-, > V \ I rQI MKhk jW gi??gSlWr ESCAPEES AT TIME OF ARREST— This 1958 file photo at the time of the arrest of the three Anglin brothers in Hamilton, Ohio, In connection with a $19,000 holdup of a Cslumbia, Ala., bank shows John Anglin, far right, and his brother Clarence who with a third convict may 'have become the only prisoners to escape Alcatraz in its 28-year history. Another brother, Robert Anglin, is in the dark suit, his wife Janet is center. Fern Taylor and his daughter Helen Taylor Mclntosh, a friend of John's, were also captured at the time the Anglin brothers were arrested. Ed Mason, Cincinnati FBI chief, is shown at left .rear. . , " ', ■' '

654 Are Enrolled In Reading Program

A total of 654 youngsters are registered to read in the summer reading program this year at the Decatur public library. The total number registered to read last summer was also 654. This program is an important part of the summers of many pre-school through eighth grade youngsters. Two programs are being offered this year. One program is for the pre-school through third grade and the other is for the fourth through eighth grades. Several children have completed their 10 books that are required to receive a certificate from the reading program. Friday was the first day that they could complete this number as they were only allowed one book a day until they had the first 10 books read. In the storybook parade, Janet Brunton, Alyce CarU, Mary Ehinger, Dianne Franz, Wayne Franz, Carol Germann, Jeffrey Kane, Kathleen Knudsen, James Miller, and Stephanie Sutton have completed their 10 books. Complete First Phase Joella Carll and Judy Hake have completed their first 10 books in the Civil War program. Ribbons are being issued to each child upon completion of his 10 books. The ribbons correspond to the program in which the child is registered. In the fall everyone who has completed his 10 books will receive a certificate. Die storybook parade is for preParade On Tonight, Horse Show Sunday The Adams county sheriff’s posse will sponsor an open parade through the downtown section of Decatur this evening, and will hold a horse show at Bellmont Park Sunday afternoon. The parade will begin this evening at 7 o’clock, starting from the Bellmont park grounds and moving up U. S. 224 to Second street, south on Second to Five Points, east to First street, north on First and back to the park. Sheriff Roger Singleton will lead the parade and officially open the horse show. First prize winners in the open parade will receive trophies. The horse show will begin at 12 noon Sunday at Bellmont, with chariot races, quarter horse races, barrel races and flag races featured. Horsemen from Wolcottville, Marion, Celina, Lima, Mt. Etna, and other parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, will participate in the various races. Jerry Swygart, president of the posse, has announced that cash prizes will go to the winners in the horse show competition. Admission to Sunday’s show Is 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. ( INDIANA WEATHER Fair and mild tonight. Partly cloudy, warm and humid Sunday. Chance of thundershowers in afternoon. Low tonight 82 to 87. High Sunday in upper 80s. Outlook for Monday: Scattered thundershowers. Continued warm and humid central and southern sections and turning a little cooler northern sections.

“SEVENCEHts

- .!■'' I l * l , * >..». school through third grade children. Each chjld receives a card decorated with clowns and with spaces . provided for the stickers of* books. When all or the spaces for the stickers are filled, he can earn a star for every five extra books that are read. On thej>ack of the card, space isavailatie to write the names of the books and their authors. There are 310 children registered in this program but oply 166 haye begun reading. For children in the fourth through eighth grades the Civil War program is available. Os the 344 students who registered, 170 have begun reading, A card is given to each reader upon the completion of . his •fi«4*4»ook. Stickers that have pictures of Civil War scenes are placed in the numbered squares. A description of the sticker corresponding to the numbers is given on the back of the card. Space is also provided for the names of the books and their authors to be recorded as books are read, Free Loan Service The librarians would again like to stress that quality of the ‘ books is more important thap the 1 quantity of books read. The library service act has made it possible for the libraries in Adams county to offer free loan service to the rural people for a year. People in the county seem to be very interested in this program. As of June 1, there was a total of 607 rural persons with library cards. This figure is separated into 337 adults and 170 juveniles. Any library card from this county will be recognized in the Decatur, Berne, and Geneva libraries, Beginning July i the new library hours will be 12 noon until 8:30 p. m. Monday and Friday. Tuesday, Wednesday, 1 Thursday, and ■ Saturday, the hours will be 12 noon until# p. in. i rliS. Jaian KuCluiiaii Is Taken By Death ■ Funeral services * win be held : Monday for Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth ! Ruckman, 90, who lived in the McConnell apartments on North I Third street, and who died at . 12:15 p. m. Friday at toe Adams county memorial hospital after a long illness. She was born in * Washington township Nov. 1, 1871, a daughter of Joseph T. and Minerva Rey-nolds-Johnson. Her husband, George Ruckman, preceded her in death. 1 Mrs. Ruckman was a member 1 of toe First Methodist church, toe W.S.C.S. of the church, and the Everready class of the Sunday school. Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Rose Weldy, with whom she made her home, and a brother, Charles Johnson of Decatur route 3. Two brothers and six sisters are deceased. Services will be conducted at 2 p. m. Monday at the Gillig & Doan funeral home/ the Rev. A. C. Underwood officiating. Burial will be In the Decatur cemetery. Friends may caff atthe funeral home after 7 p. m. today until time of the sendees.