Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 60, Number 289, Decatur, Adams County, 8 December 1962 — Page 1

VOL. LX NO. 289.

1 • tsrw; «H|p f v"> JH *iWMMb jpTF zjMßffin i _ami 99SR » & m - .■jgSaKjMßWMHiWirej.':' - LONDON FOG— Sun pecks through smog from behind Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square as traffic moves slowly through London’s worst fog in 10 years.

Roads Returning To Normal In County

As blizzard-like winds ceased, in Adams county, roads are slowly being returned to normal winter operating conditions, Lawrence Noll, county highway superintendent, said today. As soon as the storm started Thursday night, Noll, had an emergency crews on hand to handle trouble on the 728 miles of county roads. At first the wind made it impossible to keep the drifts down; the plows would shovel out the drifts, and 1 in half an hour no one could tell a plow had been there. 48 Hours of Work As the wind dropped in intensity, a full crew was put to work shoveling out the roads, and the crews worked in shifts, all night Thursday, all day Friday, and all Friday night. By 9 a.m. Saturday, Noll reported that all roads were now open to at least one-lane traffic, and that the crew would continue working until the road conditions were as good as possible in the winter. Drifts of 7-8 feet in depth were found in every township in the county, as the condition was general. State highway workers, with more than 120 miles of paved highway to work, were ready for the job with stockpiles of snowfighting materials at Coppess Corners and other strategic locations in the county. The high wind, however, with low temperatures, meant that early in the evening blowing snow, dusting the salt off the roads, nullified their activity, although the men worked through the storm period. Wind Dies Down By this morning salt and sand cut. the ice as the wind died down, allowing the material to. stick on the roads. During die height of the storm, blowing snow would completely obscure the loads from view. All over the state of Indiana, 76,000 tons of sand were ready for spreading, and another 25,000 tons of chemicals for melting were available. More than 14,000 vehicles were used, with 177 privatelyowned trucks on standby for leasing in the state. Both county and state units are intra-connected with their own headquarters by radio communications, for fast dispatching and trouble shooting. The workers have completed training programs in the proper application of snow materials and proper methods of snow and ice removal. Tons of Sand Here In the Fort Wayne district, there were 18,000 tons of abrasives, and 6,000 tons of chemicals for icemelting. Last year the state of Indiana spent $2.4 million for labor alone in its annual battle against the elements. While some slick spots remain in the county, generally the roads are in good condition. Area Storm News In Celina, O. k three inches of snow fell, compared to the .19 inches of moisture measured in Decatur. In Mercer county all basketball games were called off Friday night, as Thursday night the »

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

highways there were nearly closed with abandoned autos stalled in snow banks. The sheriff’s office there answered 10 requests for help in a two-hour period. Bluffton In neighboring Wells county, Ossian school closed Friday because of a broken water main: four schools in the county dis mised early. Van Wert, 0., Times - Bulletin called the storm the worst in a dozen years, with areas with 1% feet of snow on the ground. Melted precipitation measured .15 inches, equal to about two inches of snow, deepest since 1959. The record low for the date in Van Wert was 8 degrees in 1958. It was 23 degrees at 4 a.m. Friday in Van Wert. Many industries as well as schools reported heavy absences. Six of nine Jay county schools closed, and three of seven basketball games there were called off. In Adams county, where all schools except Decatur closed, two of five basketball games were cancelled. Highway 27 was closed in Jay county for a period, the storm was so severe, with about five inches of snow falling. Drifts over three feet high were common. In an accident north of Bryant on 27, Charles J. Miller of Lynn, an employe of Meshberger Stone Co., lost control of his car and overturned in a ravine. Harold Schlagenhauf and Darrell Brown were among those helping to pull him from his car, and get him to the Jay county hospital, suffering from many cuts and bruises. There were nine accidents reported in Portland itself during the 18-hour storm period, including one Frday involving Robert Earl Reynolds, 34, of route 4, Decatur. He stopped his truck at 9:32 a.m. Friday in the lane of traffic on the main street, and a car slid into the rear of the truck, causing' some damage. DECATUR TEMPERATURES Local weather data for the period ending at 11 a.m. today. 12 noon 2'B 12 midnight .. 25 1 p.m 29 1 a.m 25 2p.m; 28 2 a.m 25 3 p.m 29 3 a.m 26 4 p.m 28 4 a.m 25 5 p.m 27 5 a.m 25 6 p.m 27 6 a.m. 25 7 p.m 28 7 Am 25 8 p.m 26 X a.m 25 9 p.m 24 9 a.m ... 28 10 p.m 24 11 p.m 24 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT z (USUIS SISIS FIIMTI ESErJBjSE3? drarffegrflpiu r ' ■ A •

■ Il I Treasurer Excepts To Story On Taxes | County treasurer William L. Linn took violent exception Friday to the article on the various taxing unit rates in Wednesday’s Decatur Daily Democrat. Linn, in heated anger, accused the writer of having “tried to get’’ Linn and county auditor Edward F. Jaberg by slanting the article. ~ Three Main Pointe Linn took offense, generally, to three things: 1. Use of the word “whopping” to describe the $6.66 DecaturWashington tax rate for 1963, in the 10th line of the article. Last year’s rate was $6.30, and this was a 5.7% increase in the rate. It is the highest rate in the history of the city. 2. That the “fact that a million dollars had been taken off the assessed valuation of public utilities was ommitted from the article.” No assessed valuations were mentioned in the article, because none of them is completed by unit; the .state only made estimates of the assessed valuation by unit. Rates, which the story was about, are based on tax unit assessments. An article, headlined “Assessment of Utilities Down” appeared in the July 24 edition, in which it was stated? factually, that utility assessments in all units of Adams county were down $711,830; this represents a 1.6% decrease in the assessed valuation of the county last year. Koos Blamed by Linn 3. That the article stated that “responsibility for reassessment is split between three elected offices — county assessor Walter Koos, county auditor Edward F. Jaberg, and county treasurer William F. Linn — and a number of boards, on which the three officials serve.” This, Linn stated, is inaccurate; Walter Koos, he charged, is solely responsible as elected official, and that neither he nor Jaberg can “do anything” about getting the figures on the books until Koos finishes with the reassessment. (The term “reassessment” in the article referred to the entire legal process, from the township assessors making their reports, through the filing of these reports with the county assessor, hearings by the board of review, and the state tax board, and placing the assessments on the books, not any one of the separate acts involved. No amount of responsibility among the three responsible officers was intended, nor should have been implied — all served on one or more boards affecting the reassessment.) Linn also charged that the publisher had been derelict in his duty to call the tardiness in reassessment to the attention of the puolic. He apparently missed the article in the November 24 paper, in the August 1 edition, in which the article was headed, “Valuation for Tax Purposes Undetermined.” and in a series of headlined articles last spring, “Reassessment Job Badly Entangled,” and several others. Mrs. Mary Colter Dies This Morning Mrs. Mary Dailey Colter, 81, of 422 Jackson street, died this morning at 8:58 o’clock in the Adams county memorial hospital following a two-month illness. The widow of Ben Colter, who died March 18, 1948, she was born Nov. 1, 1881, in Blue Creek township, the daughter of Joseph ’and Samatha Robinson Dailey. She was married to Ben Colter Nov. 27, 1902. They lived in Decatur most of their lives. Mrs. Colter was a member of the Golden Age Group, First Methodist church of Decatur. Survivors include two sons, Dean W. Colter, of Kendallville and Robert D .Colter, of Decatur; six grandchildren, one great-grand-child; two brothers, Staifton Dailey of Blue Creek township, and Stanley Dailey, of oFrt Wayne; two sisters, Mrs. Weldus Fanning, Angola and Mrs. William (Leona) Carroll, Anderson. Friends may call at the Zwick funeral home after 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Services will be held’ at 2p. m. Monday at the funeral home, the Rev. A. C. Underwood officiating. r Mrs. Joe Baker Dies At Gas City Friday Mrs. Joe Baker, 80, of Gas City, died at 11 o’clock Friday night after a short illness. She was the widow of Joe Baker, former Decatur resident. There are a number of nieces and nephews residing in Decatur and vicinity. Funeral services will be held at 10 o’clock Tuesday morning at Holy Family Catholic church in Gas City.

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, December 8,1962.

Rescuers Sight Body Os One Mine Victim; Rescue Work Hampered By Gas

County Board Receives Bids For Supplies Bids were received and contracts awarded by the Adams county commissioners in a recent meeting, for materials and various supplies for 1963. Each year, the commissioner', in a December meeting, receive bids on various items that will be used by the county offices and departments, such as oil, gas, printed matter, gravel, etc. The Haywood Publishing Co. of Lafayette, received the contract on the printing contract for 1963, for printed forms, blanks, and other supplies which are used in all the Adams county offices. The Haywood company was the only bidder. The contract for stone was awarded to two companies, the only bidders. The joint contract was let to the Meshberger Bros. Stone Corp, of Hartford township, and the J. W. Karch company of Jefferson township. Vary With Size The bids from both companies ran between $1.40 and $1.55 a ton t depending on the size of the stone. The two companies are used, and stone is received from the company nearest to the location where the stone will be used in various work in 1963. A joint contract was awarded for gravel also, going to the S. & L. Gravel of Markle and the Lucius Sommers company. S. & L. submitted a bid of 80 cents a yard. The Sommers company gave a bid cf 60 cents a yard for back gravel, a type of stone which the Markle company does not have available. For bituminous material, Meshberger Bros., Brooks Construction of Van Wert, and Ayres Asphalt Paving Co. of Celina were awarded contracts. Meshberger is expected to do the bulk of the work, while Ayres will handle a blacktop paving job in Adams county near the OhioIndiana line. New Type Brooks Construction has a new tvpe of bituminous mixture, and was awarded a contract so that the new mixture may be used and observed by the highway department here. The three companies submitted similar bids. Contracts were also awarded to the Logansport Metal Co. for aluminum pipe, to J. E. Evans of

Kennedy Winds Up Base Tour

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UPI) —President Kennedy ‘ today witnesses dismantling of a radioactively “hot” test nuclear rocket motor to wind up a two-day tour of air and atomic bases that demonstrated America’s “extraordinary” might for defense and the conquest of space. As he departed from his overnight headquarters here for Nevada nuclear test sites, Kennedy was convinced that America’s progress in both military and peaceful application of atomic energy was so encouraging that the country could afford the luxury of pride. The Chief Executive planned to leave Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base for Indian Springs Air Force Base near the Nevada test site. Between Indian Springs, Nev., and the test site at Jackass Flats, Kennedy will ride a helicopter routed over the 1,200-feet-wide crater left by last July’s “Operation Plowshare’’ explosion which was the first nuclear earthmoving test in this country. At Jackass flats, the chief executive will see the dismantling of a “Kiwi” reactor which waa

Local Lady's Father Is Taken By Death Funeral services for Dr. Samuel S. Frybarger, 79, father of Mrs. John Heffner, of Decatur, will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at the Larrison funeral home in Converse. Dr. Frybarger practiced medicine for 43 years, including many years at Andrews before going to Converse in 1941. He ended his practice there in 1960, and had been jn failing health for several years. A graduate of Valparaiso University, he was bom June 16, 1883. in Ohio. In 1916 he was graduated from Loyola Medical School in Chicago. Surviving are the widow, Ruth, to whom he was married Sept. 15, 1915; two daughters, Mrs. Heffner, and Mrs. Dean Kreiger, of Huntington, and a sister, Mrs. Pearl Sunningham, of Urbana. Dr. Frybarger was a member of the Methodist church at Converse, the Masonic lodge at Bristol, and the, Scottish Rite of Fort Wayne. Burial will be in the Zion cemetery in Howard county. Indianapolis for corrugated pipe, and to Armco Metal Products' of Indianapolis for bridge planks. The Republic Steel Corp, and Wheeling Corrugating Co. also were bidders on the corrugated pipe. All three bids were similar, but the J. E. Evans company included a 10 per cent riscount. The structural steel contract was awarded to American Steel and Supply, the only bidder, and the contract for tires was awarded to Zuercher’s Mobil Service of Monroe, also a lone bidder. The Marthon Oil Co. received the contract for gasoline, in close bidding by three companies. The Marathon company submitted a bid of 18.17 cents per gallon, just slightly lower than an 18.24 cent bid of the National Oil Co., and an 18.2? cent bid submitted by Beavers Oil Service of Decatur. Also Close Bidding for the diesel fuel contract was also very close, with Marathon again receiving the contract due to their low bid of 10 cents a gallon. National Oil submitted a bid of 10.24 cents a gallon, and Beavers Oil submitted a bid of 10.75 cents a gallon. Marathon oil also received the motor oil contract on their bid of 65 cents a gallon, also D. A. Lubricant Co. was awarded a motor oil contract on their bid of 81 (Continued on Page Three’

test fired for 260 seconds last Friday. The reactor, being developed as the power plant for the first U.S. nuclear-p owe re d mi'ssile probes deep into space, still is, radioactively “hot.” Kennedy will see it in safety from behind a six-foot-thick protective panel of glass and liquid. After the Nevada inspection, Kennedy will fly on to Palm Springs, Calif. H will spend tonight at the Shadow Mountain house once used as a desert hideaway by singer Bing Crosbv, The President accompanied by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the armed service secretaries and Joint Chiefs of Staff, put in a hard day on inspecting and listening Friday. Moving by jet transport and turbo-jet helicopters the President visited the Strategic Air Command (SAC) underground control center at Offutt Air Force Base outside Omaha, Neb., the spotless atomic laboratories at Los Alamos, N.M., and finally the vast Sandia Corp., complex in Albuquerque where he saw a highly classified display of cutaway models of every nuclear bomb and weapon in the U.S. arsenal.

CARMICHAELS, Pa. (UPI) — Rescuers sighted a body in the Robena No. 3 mine today but recovery was delayed because of a recurring “ventilation problem.’’ Heavy concentrations of carbon monoxide showed rescue efforts in the Frost Run shaft where 37 men were trapped by an explosion Thursday. A U.S. Steel Co. spokesman said the body was found about 4,000 feet from an area where the men were working when the blast rocked the mine. Sighting of the body clouded hopes for survival of die others. “These men have to have their fellow men at heart,” said a mine official referring to the round - the • clock work of rescue teams since the explosion shook a sector of the huge mine near here. Still unanswered is the questions -Are some of the trapped men alive or dead? PlKup 6th pgh: Relatives Relatives and friends of the men cut off 680 feet beneath the surface continued to cling to a thin thread of hope that their husbands, fathers or brothers would survive. By early morning, a progress report said the advance units had reached a point 4,000 feet from the face or end of a passageway where the miners were caught while they toiled at their work. The majority of those unaccounted for had spent most of their working lives in the mines. But the rescue efforts clearly were .a race against time. State Mines Secretary Lewis Evans said Friday night that if the present rate of penetration the blast area was maintained, something definite probably would be known “in another 36 hours.” That would be sometime Sunday morning. “We haven’t given up hope,” he said. Rescuers Encounter Difficulty Authorities also expressed concern for the miners participating in the rescue effort in a section of the world’s largest mechanized coal operation. James B. Girod, assistant superintendent of the Robena mine, said the eight, nine-man teams are working “’under extremely difficult conditions.” Each man carries a respirator good for a two-hour (supply of oxygen in the dangerous gas-filled areas. “Walking in an oxygen mark is difficult, and physical labor is even more difficult,” Girod said. Among those aiding in the search are 44 miners who escaped from the deep underground shaft when the blast rocked the huge mine Thursday. These men have been at die scene almost constantly since ■their narrow escape, hoping to find their working companions. Four Children Die in South Bend Fire ' SOUTH BEND, Ind. (UPD — Four children died in a fire that destroyed their rural farm home north of South Bend today, but seven other members of the James Dover family escaped. The dead children, three girls and a boy, were sleeping upstairs in their home near Granger, a half-mile south of the IndianaMichigan border, when the fire began. Deputy sheriffs said a coal stove apparently started the blaze which completely destroyed the house in what they called “just an inferno.” The parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Dover and five of their children were able to get out without serious injury but the other four of their nine children were killed in the tragedy. The family was asleep at the time the fire began. INDIANA WEATHER Snow flurries, windy and cold tonight. Sunday snow flurries and colder with northwesterly winds 15-25 niph and chance of heavy snow flurries near Lake Michigan. Low tonight 18 to 23, high Sunday upper 20s. Outlook for Monday: Mostly cloudy, rather windy and continued cold with a few snow flurries, NOON EDITION _l_i — . .7.-7--J ■:

Storm Eases Part Os Grip

By United Press International The worst storm of the season eased its grip today, but heavy snows—up to two feet deep — paralyzed hundreds of communities from Indiana to the Appalachians. Skies remained cloudy in the storm area, but the snows had dwindled to flurries ’and squalls and citizens were cheered by a forecast of only light snow flurries for today The storm left at least 41 persons dead, piled drifts 20-feet high, cut off power and communications to many cities and towns and brought traffic to a standstill , on all but a few main roads. Findlay, Ohio, was completely isolated as winds during the night whipped up five-foot drifts. Seven 1 buses hauling passengers to various parts of the country were trapped in the city and about 250 passengers stranged. Thousands Are Stranded The county civil defense direc- \ tor said at least 2,000 persons were stranded in Hancock County, which includes Findlay. Roads T were not expected to open before noon. "Die Findlay Knights of ’ Columbus, American Legion, Elks ‘ Club and Findlay College provid--1 ed cots for some of the stranded • persons—others slept on the floor. , The mayor of Fostoria, Ohio, declared an emergency when it was learned at least 300 persons in the area were stranded in ! their cars and trucks. Civil defense and disaster units were organized to get the people to shelter. > More than 40,000 homes in J Cleveland, Columbus and other 1 Ohio areas were without power as heavy snows knocked down power t lines. 1 Ohioans termed the storm the 1 worst since 1954 and workers trying to unclog the Pennsylvania Turnpike called it the most severe r in the history of that superhigh- : way. 1 Late last night the 160-mile 1 snowbound section of the Turnpike wasl open and more than 2,000 persons at six service areas were permitted to resume travel. Special Train Sent ’ A special train was dispatched * to carry medicine on a mercy ' run to a snow-trapped family at Alvada, Ohio. • Cleveland received 15 inches of ■ snow, but the heaviest amount in * the state—and the snow belt — was 26 inches in Loran County. Generally the area from Indiana to Maryland received one to two feet of snow. Winds as strong as 40 miles per

Nuclear Test Ban ; Trade Is Offered L_ ... —- —

\ — ' i GENEVA (UPI) — The Soviet . Union may have put forward the ! idea of trading concessions with the west to achieve a nuclear test s ban agreement, Communist diploi matic sources said today. l Sources close to the Communist ’ delegations at the 17-nation dis- . armament conference said the So- • viets may have offered such a . trade Friday in an attempt to • learn whether the West was in- > terested. — -— ~ But—Western diplomats.. said ts ■ this was the Soviet aim, it failed, because U.S. negotiator Arthur H. Dean flatly rejected the idea of any trade. s Soviet spokesman Alexei Roschin told a news conference Friday that Russian negotiator Semyon K. Tsarapkin wanted to let inspectors of the proposed international disarmament commission on Soviet territory to inspect and control the “black boxes” which the Russians would like to use to police a test ban. In exchange, Roschin quoted Tsarapkin as saying, the West must give up its demand that compulsory on-site inspection of

SEVEN CENTS

hour whipped the snow into heavy drifts, hampering road - clearing operations. In West Virginia, state police were looking for a missing bus along U.S. 250 between Fairmont and Moundsville. Another bus, stranded with 14 passengers, was located near Moundsville and workers dug the vehicle out of a snow drift. To Name Judge For 'Junk Yard' Trial City court judge John B. Stults anounced a panel of three Decatur lawyers, one of whom will act as special judge for the “junk yard” case, at 10:30 o’clock this morning. Named on the panel were Hubert R. McClenahan, Lewis L. Smith and Richard J. Sullivan, all local attorneys. Judge Stults made the announce- > ment this morning in the presence of Miss Eleanor Wemhoff, who signed the affidavits; Robert S. Anderson, city attorney who drew up the affidavits; and Robert G. Smith, who represents Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Gallogly and Edward T. Emel, the defendants in the case. Strike one Each From the panel of three, Anderson and Smith will each strike one name, and the third and remaining lawyer will act as special judge in the case, if he qualifies, or accepts. The case was originally scheduled to be heard at 10:30 a.m. today in Judge Stults’ city courtroom, but a motion for a change of venue of judge was filed this week by Smith. Anderson and Smith are expected to strike one name each within the next few days. Three Affidavits The affidavits signed by Miss Wemhoff are against Imel, for allowing a violation of a city zoning ordinance; against Mr. and Mrs. Gallogly, owners of the - Eighth St. lot, for allowing dumping of the alleged “junk” and against all three for conspiring together to allow a violation of a city zoning ordinance to continue. Miss Wemhoff resides with her parents at 309 N. Eighth St., on the west side of the street, facing the alleged “junk yard” on the east side of Eighth St.

suspected underground nuclear blasts be included in a test-ban treaty. Roschin Withdrew his statement less than two hours after he had made it, saying Tsarapkin had intended to propose such a trade during Friday’s plenary session but did not in fact do so. However, by that time. Dean already was on his feet at the afternoon session of the conference, rejecting any such idea. Dean said the west Is always willing to discuss any proposal, including “black boxes,” or automatic detection instruments. But he said the idea of a trade such ias Roschin claimed Tsarapkin had proposed was “absolutely unacceptable,” and he added that the Soviets were trying to get toe West to “buy a pig in a poke” in proposing the idea of unmanned seismic stations. Western sources said toe West will never abandon its insistence on on-site inspection unless the Russians can prove scientifically that their own research has made such uispectton unnecessary.