Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 61, Number 239, Decatur, Adams County, 10 October 1963 — Page 1

VOL. LXI. NO. 239.

Labor Union Leader To Appeal Ruling Sales Tax In State Constitutional

Informer Valachi Back In Jail Cell

WASHINGTON (UPI) — With underworld informer Joseph Valachi back in his jail cell today Senate crime investigators moved on to study criminal operations in cities outside his New York habitat. Detroit was scheduled as the first focal point for the Senate investigations subcommittee. Chairman John L. McClellan, D-Ark., scheduled testimony from Detroit Police Commissioner George Edwards and a number of his aides. Testimony was scheduled for 10 am. EDT. Valachie testified Wednesday that the Cosa Nostra syndicate operated in Detroit. He said, however, that he was “not familiar’’ " with operations there and did not offer any estimate as to how many Cosa Nostra members were involved. Before McClellan excused hjm as witness, for the time being at least, the stubby Cosa Nostra alumnus, did estimate the strength of Cosa Nostra families in other cities. Recounted Conversation Valachi also recounted a prison conversation which indicated that the plush Now- York night club, Copacabana, once “belonged" to former gambling boss Frank Costello. Valachi gave the subcommittee a detailed list of American cities where he said members of the secret crime syndicate were active! Conceding there might be others, he asked senators to “call me some more cities.” Besides the 2,000 members he has said exist in New York City, Valachi mentioned these others : Philadelphia, 100 members; Boston. 18 to 20; Chicago, 150; Cleveland, about 40; Los Angeles,

Mrs. Donna Bailey Dies This Morning Mrs. Donna Jean Bailey, 33. wife of Leo Bailey of Ceylon, died at 1:15 a m. today at the Clinic hospital in Bluffton. She had been ill with acute leukemia for 10 years and in serious condition for two weeks. Born Sept. 4, 1930 in Grand Rapids, Mich., she was a daughter of Fred M. and Ethel WelchBrough, and was married at Pleasant Mills March 25, 1949 to Leo Bailey. Mrs. Bailey was employed at the Berne Overall and Shirt Cd. Surviving are her husband; her parents, who also resideat Ceylon; one daughter, Rgverly Kay at home, and three sisters, Mrs. William (Muriel) Bailey of Geneva route 2, Mrs. Clyde (Eloise) Hamrick of Decatur route 6, and Mrs. Pete (Virginia) Girod of Monroe route .1 A brother, Frederick ; was kille din a boating accident in 1953. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Yager funeral home in Berne, the Rev Rev. Orin Daniels officiating. Burial will be in Riverside cemetery, east of Geneva. Friends may call at the funeral home after 12 noon Friday.

REDDY FEATHER SAYS: AMERICAN FIELD SERVICE "TODAY'S DECATUR BOY SCOUTS v ’ COMMUNITY FUND n.m V TOTAL ,S GIRL SCOUTS K $5,798 CRIPPLED CHILDREN SOC, JBk LITTLE & PONY LEAGUES The Goal Is ’* U S 0 iSH $28,993 SALVATION ARMY MENTAL HEALTH r Y °? R e Community Fund COMMUNITY CENTER W Still Needs AMERICAN RED CROSS $23,195.” Give The United Way

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

about 40; Tampa, Fla., about 10; Newark, N. J., about 100; Buffalo, N. Y., 100-125; Utica, N. Y., about 40 to 100, and a few in New Orleans, La. He also said Cosa Nostra was active in San Francisco. At the end of Wednesday’s hearing, McClellan said the subcommittee would question Valachi behind closed doors on a number oi murder cages still under active investigation. Valachi probably will be recalled to testify publicly, McClellan said. Learned Os Ownership Valachi said he learned from Cosa Nostra boss Vito Genovese while they were cellmates at the Atlanta, Ga., federal penitentiary that Costello owned the Copacabana. Two/ other Cosa Nostra members made $30,000 in one year from the club’s hat-checking concession, he said. Valchi also disclosed that he once owned a small interest with a friend in Havana’s Capri gambling casino. He said they were forced out when Cuba Premier Fidel Castro upped their annual rent from $25,000 to $50,000 and demanded half the profits. The mobster turncoat testified that ne perspnally set up the 1952 murdef nr another underworld informer, Eugene Giannini, on orders of his angry Cosa Nostra bosses. Valachi, reputed to have a SIOO,OOO gangland price tag on his head, said it cost theoperators of a dree game where Giannini worked SIO,OOO to have his body removed /rom the gambling site where he was slain. “Isn’t it worth SIO,OOO to get rid of a guy like that?” Valachi said he asked the complaining gamblers.

INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and a little warmer tonight. Friday mostly cloudy and miid, chance of a few showers in extreme north and central portions. Low tonight 55 to 63. High Friday 78 to 85. Outlook for Saturday: Partly cloudy and cooler. All 12 Men Aboard Helicopter Killed DANANG, South Viet Nam (UPI)—AII 12 men aboard two U.S. Marine Corps helicopters which crashed in Communist-held jungle highlands north of Saigon late Tuesday were killed, a U.S. military spokesman said today. The spokesman said the bodies of nine Marines and three U.S. Navy men killed in the crash of the helicopters were being ferried back to this advance air base 40 miles north of the spot where there were killed. The Marines and Navy men died while engaged in search operations for a T2B fighter-bomber that crashed earlier, killing an American captain. The bodies of four men were recovered Wednesday from the wreckage of an H2l helicopter which crashed Tuesday night near the Bon River about 20 miles from the Laotian border in Viet Nam's Central Highlands.

INDIANAPOLIS (UPI) — Labor union leader Dallas Sells said today his organization will appeal a ruling the two per cent Indiana sales tax is constitutional and has “just begun to fight” in its efforts to wipe the tax law off the books. Sells promised a fight to the finish and blamed Democratic Governor Welsh and the two Republican presiding officer/ of the 1963 Legislature for the tax as he announced the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision that the tax law is constitutional will be challenged. First, Sells will ask for a rehearing. Then, assuming the Indiana court rejects it, he said the ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. If no reversal is forthcoming. Sells said the unions will take an aggressive part in the 1964 legislative elections, backing candidates who oppose a ‘sales tax, and seek repeal of the tax in the 1965 Legislature. The unions’ first move will be to ask for a rehearing in the state’s highest court. Then, Sells said, assuming the court denies the rehearing, he will appeal the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which he said might consolidate it with other pending tax cases and make an early ruling on whether the tax law violates the U.S. Constitution. Sells indicated the appeal will be delayed purposely until only hours before the Oct. 23 deadline set by the state’s highest court for further legal action at the time last week the court overruled a decision of Marion Circuit Judge John L. Niblack that the law was unconstitutional. Niblack Ruled in June The suit of Sells, president of the Indiana AFL-CIO, blocked enforcement of the tax law which the 1963 Legislature enacted and which was scheduled to be enforced with collection beginning last July 1. Niblaok gave his ruling June 14. Sells said at a news conference announcing the results of conferences with his legal staff and' union colleagues that no decision has been made on whether to seek a declaratory judgment which, if graated would deprive the state of the right to begin collecting the tax Oct. 23 as presently planned. It was a virtual certainty the state court would deny the rehearing, probably quite promptly after the petition is presented, thus paving the way for an early appeal to the nation’s top court.

“We haven’t decided whether to seek a declaratory judgment,” Sells said after distributing a one and one-half page news release detailing reasons why he feels the state court’s ruling was erroneous. Too Costly For Him “The governor has said he is going to ask for the maximum bond if we do. This could be as much as SIOO million. We feel they are using this to force us not to ask for a restraining order. It would be impossible for us to pay this.” Sells said he hopes Welsh will realize “he has made a pledge, arid the Democratic Party has made a pledge, against a sales tax.” Sells listed three reasons why he believes the state ruling was in error: 1— The court should not have found that the Department of Revenue's power to fix prices for collection of the tax was unconstitutional and severable from the remainder of the act, leaving a workable and constitutional remainder. 2— If the court’s ruling is correct that it must close its eyes to the manner in which the sales tax measure passed the Indiana Senate, then if directly violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by permitting the state to levy a tax without due process of law. Violates 14th Amendment 3— An exemption of sales to farmers also violates the 14th Amendment by denying equal protection of the laws to all citizens. Sells said he would write a letter to Welsh, possibly today, urging him not to seek a heavy bond when the AFL-CIO carries its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sells, said it would be impossible to pay back the sales tax to the people who paid it in the event the federal court should declard the Continued on Page 8)

OWLT DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, October 10,1963.

12 Events Slated During Horse Show

A total of 12 separate events, each sponsored by a different local firm, have been scheduled for the benefit horse show being sponsored Sunday at Bellmont park by the retail division of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds of the show, which should include some 250 horses, will go to purchase new Christmas lighting for the Decatur business areas. The twelve events are kid’s pleasure class, keg-bending, stock horse class, western pleasure class, flag race, quarter mile race, Appaloosa costume, pony race, class, speed and action, and obbarrel race, Appaloosa pleasure stacle course race. The kid’s pleasure class is sponsored by the Pioneer restaurants. Open to children 12 and under, it will be judged on horsemanship and appearance of horse and rider. Prizes of $lO, $5 and $3 will begiven for the first three places and all participants will receive ribbons. The keg bending event is a race against time in which a rider weaves his horse in and out' of a line of small barrels. This event is sponsored by Central Soya and three prizes of S2O, $lO and $5, plus ribbons, will be awarded. The stock horse class is for horses used to work cattie. Sponsored by the Adams county medical association, this class will have awards of S2O. $lO and $5, and ribbons for the first three finishers. The western pleasure class is open to western-costumed riders and their horses. This event is sponsored by J. F. Sanmann and the Happy Humpty Drive-In. Ribbons and three prizes, S2O, $lO and $5, will be awarded. The flag race, open to children 12 and under, is also a race against time and involves moving a flag from one point to another in the shortest possible time. Prizes of $lO, $5 and $3 will be awarded. This event is sponsored by Dr. Mel Weisman and Zwick funeral home. The western equipment quarter-

Orders Salesman To Be Examined Adams circuit court Judge Myles F. Parrish ordered Richard Paul Ridgeway, 19-year-old magazine salesman charged with third degree burglary, examined by two local physicians Wednesday afternoon. Judge Parrish acted on a recommendation submitted by Chris H. Muselman, who filed his presentence investigation report, as he was ordered to do last Friday when Ridgeway pleaded guilty to the charge against him. According to the pre-sentence report of Muselman, which includes various facts about Ridgeway concerning his childhood, etc., the Topeka, Kan., young man had spent a year in an institution for the mentally ill there. Muselman’s report read, "The question comes to this probation officer whether Richard Paul Ridgeway had a relapse of his mental illness and if it would not be advisable to have him examined by a psychiatrist.” Also In Report Muselman also said in his report that "to’- sentence him and actually send him to the state boys' school at Plainfield, or to the reformatory at Pendleton, or the state penal farm, does not seem to be the right treatment for this young man of 19 years.” The reporf concluded by saying "It appears to me that some faction should be found which would give greater promise for the rehabilitation of this individual.” Judge Parrish ordered Ridgeway examined by. Dr. Harold F. Zwick and Dr. James M. Burk of

niile race should be one of the highlights of the afternoon. Sponsored by Robert Heller Insurance company, the race will be run on the track at Bellmont park. Ribbons and prizes of S2O, $lO and $5 will be awarded. The Appaloosa costume event will include riders dressed as Indians and mounted on Appaloosa horses. This event is sponsored by Adams Distributing company. The prizes include ribbons and awards of S2O, $lO and $5, plus trophies and plaques donated by Mr. and Mrs. Phil Adams. ~ The pony race will be a halfmile event and is for ponies under 50 inches high. It is sponsored by Petrie Oil company. Prizes of S2O, $lO and $5, plus ribbons, will be awarded. The barrel race is a high-speed action around a tight course marked by barrels. Ribbons and prizes of S2O, $lO and $5 will be awarded in this event .which is sponsored by Bag Service Inc. The Appaloosa pleasure class will be judged on horsemanship and appearance of horse and ridis sponsored by Bill Schnepf and Hoitbouse Drug company. Ribbons and prizes of S2O, $lO, and $5 will be awarded. The speed and action event is a race against time sponsored by Joe Murphy, Robert S. Anderson and Bowers. Hardware company. Ribbons and prizes of S2O, $lO and $5 will be awarded. The obstacle course is a race against time over a course stud- • ded with special barriers and difficulty. It is sponsored by Zintsmaster Motors and Decatur Auto Supply. Ribbons and prizes of S2O, $lO, and $5 will be awarded. Ribbons for all events are being furnished by the First State Bank. Helen Deeter will judge the show. Kenneth Secaur is announcer. The names of Decatur; Implement company and William F. Schnepf, real estate broker and auctioneer, were unintentionally omitted from the list of merchants backing the show which was published earlier this week.

Decatur to determine “whether or not the defendant has comprehension sufficient to understand the proceedings,” and to determine what action the court should take lin passing sentence. They are to ! file their reports within five days. Entered Guilty Plea Ridgeway was arrested recently for burglarizing a home on Marshall St., and he also admitted to three other house burglaries hi re. He pleaded guilty to the, third degree burglary charge last Friday. It was brought in the testimony the day he entered his plea through his attorney, Robert S. Anderson, that he had used the’ money he had stolen from the feur homes to send bogus subscriptions to the home office of his magazine subscription company m Atlanta, Ga. ill Hampton Named As Muncie Candidate MUNCIE, Ind. (UPD— William i Sutton, Delaware County Republican chairman, officially named John V. Hampton today as the COP candidate for mayor ofMuncie in the Nov. 5 municipal election. Sutton said the 34-year-old Muncie attorney, whose father was a two-term mayor, accepted the candidacy after an overflow meeting of the party’s central committee Wednesday night endorsed him unanimously. Sutton said he “waited out in front" of the County Election Board offices until they opened at 8:30 this morning “so I could rush in and show them we had a top notch man for the ticket.”

To File Affidavits On Parking Tickets Affidavits against three local residents for failure to pay parking meter violations will be filed with city court Judge John B. Stults by city attorney Robert S. Anderson. The affidavits will be bfiled against Charles Keller, Hopnestead No. 2;; Warren Demond, 124 N. Second St.; and Russel Hamrick, 516 Patterson St., each of whom has received three notices of the unpaid tickets. Keller had his vehicle ticketed on Thursday, August 15, and received notices sent August 24 and Sept 4 from the city police informing him of the unpaid ticket. After the fine remained unpaid, he was notified by city attorney Anderson on Sept. 19 of the unpaid violation, but it still remained unpaid. Three Nettoes The Demond and Hamrick vehicles were ticketed Friday, August 16, and Saturday, August 17, respectively, for overtime parking. Both were notified of the unpaid tickets on August 16 and again on Sept 9. They were not paid and the two local men were notified by a letter from the city attorney written Sept. 19, but have not yet paid. All three will have two weeks in which to contact city court Judge Stults and pay the fine which is now $1 and costs, amounting to $lO, after affidavits Continued on Page 8) Mrs. Jack August Dies This Morning Mrs. Quintilia (Tye). August, 59, well known Decatur lady, of 334 Stevenson street, died at 9:30 o’clock this morning at the Adams county memorial hospital. She had been in failing health for seven years, seriously ill for six months and hospitalized for the past three 1 months. Mrs. August, the wife of Roy (JackV August, was employed at, the General Electric plant for 25 1 years until retiring one year ago] of ill health. She served as a I member of the WACs during World War 11. She was bom at Warren April 29, 1904, a daughter of William and Etta Bonafield-Lemunyon. She was first married to Lewis Frye, who preceded her in death in 1928. She was later married to Roy August. Mrs. August wae a member of the First Methodist church the American Legion, the Legion auxiliary, and the Women of the Moose.

Surviving are her husband; her mother, Mrs. Etta Lemunyon of Hillsdale, Mich.; two stepdaughters, Mrs. Orley (Virginia) Johnson of Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Betty Schmetzler of Bluffton; four stepsons, Robert L. and Harold E. August, both of Decatur, Jack E. August of Chattanooga, 0., and Claire Frye of V(Ulshire, O.; 20 stepgrandchildren and nine step-great-grandchildren. One daughter is deceased. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Zwick funeral home, with the Rev. A. C. Underwood officiating. Burial will be at Rockford, O. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Friday until time of the services. Walter R. Harris Is Taken By Death Walter Raymond Harris, 67, former Decatur resident, and a farmer near Silver Lake, died about noon Wednesday of a heart attack at his home. He had been in failing health since 1946 Mr. Harris was superintendent of the former Cloverleaf Creameries plant in this city. The family moved to Silver Lake 20 years ago. He was a member of the Seventh Day Adventists at Warsaw, and head deacon of the church. Born in Wabash county April 1, 1896, he was a son of Ransom and Clara Shippensteel-Harris, and was married to Leona Reed Sept. 16, 1916. Surviving are his wife; his mother, Mrs. Clara Harris of Wabash county ;one brother. Grant Harris of Silver Lake, and one siSlter, Mrs. Goldie Klink of near North Manchester. Funeral rites will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Dickerson funeral home at Silver Lake, the Rev. Alfred Schnell officiating. Burial will be in Lakeview cemetery at Silver Lake. FViends may call at the funeral home until time of the sWvices.

Kennedy Approves

Wheat For Russia

WASHINGTON (UPD — President Kennedy’s politically explosive approval of a "one shot” $250 million U. S. wheat sale to Russia won a measure of bipartisanbacking today in Congress. But some Republicans, including House GOP Leader Charles A. Halleck of Indiana, questioned the wisdom of the move announced by the President at his news conference Wednesday. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater. R-Ariz., had urged that the sale by made conditional on withdrawal of Soviet troops and military equipment from Cuba. Kennedy said the sale of 4 million tons (about 150 million bushels! of surplus U. S. wheat — the largest Sovet-American transaction since the multi-billion-dol-lar lend-lease deals of World War II — was a "hopeful sign” that progress toward peace is possible. He promised a Special report to Congress on the matter today. Sell At World Prices The President said the government would permit private U. S. traders to sell the surplus wheat “over the next several months” tc Russia and her Eastern European satellites at regular world prices, currently about $179 a bushel. This would be approximately 55 cents a bushel lower lower than government-supported domestic prices at present. To allow U. S. exporters to b(iy at the American price and sell at the world price, the government currently pays an export subsidy of about 55 cents a bushel. But Kennedy said that even though export prices on the Soviet sale would be below domestic prices, "there is in such transactions no subsidy to the foreign

Thousands Die As Dam Bursts

LONGARONE. Italy (UPD — A 300 foot-high wall of water, unleashed |>y a massive landslide that smashed into the world’s highest arch dam, swept down a narrow Alpine valley Wednesday night in a tidal wave of death. Rescue officials estimated that more than 3,000 persons died in half a dozen shattered villages. The landslide spilled millions of tons of water over the lip of the dam, as if a stone had been dropped into a teacup. At 10:43 p.m. Wednesday a massive landslide plopped into the reservoir behind the 860-foot vajont dam. A section of the dam gave way under the pressure, but the greatest disaster was caused by the water spilling over the top. With a tremendous roar, the 300-foot wall of water swept down the ravine in front of the dame and into the Piave Valley. This town, which had 4,700 inhabitants, was the largest inhabited area in the path of the flood. Almost every building in the town was destroyed. 3,000 Persons Buried “There are more than 3,000 persons buried under some three square miles of stone, rocks, dirt and gravel,” said Lt. Col. Eros Ortore, the chief of rescue operations. “There is no hope of survival for any of them. “The few survivors we found have been moved to Verona for attention. We don't need medical supplies because there aren’t enough survivors to strain what we already have, but we can use all the bulldozers we can get our hands on.’’ Working parties already had uncovered scores of bodies, alof them naked. Police explained that the tremendous force of the water had ripped off any clothes they had been wearing. It was likely that many of them already were in bed when the disaster struck. Piero Dalmin, a construction v/orker from Longarone who spent the night away from home, returned this morning to try to find his sister, Maria. Couldn’t Find Home “I can’t even find our home," he said. “There is nothing left, not even, a landmark I can recognize ” He said he doesn't know what happened to his sister. For miles downstream, bodies were being found buried in a tangle of mud, rocks and uprooted trees. At one point there were more than 100 dead cows. To complicate matters, it appeared the danger of deadly cyanide had been added to the tragedy of the flood. The Italian Radio warned people in the area to witch out

SEVEN CENTS

purchaser; only a savings to the American taxpayer on wheat the government has already purchased and stored at the higher domestic price which is maintained to assist our farmers.” ’ Kennedy said the sale would bring "obvious benefits” to the United States. Not the least of these would be possible sale of surplus American feed grans and other agricultural commodities to Russia and the satellites. Administration sources said the "other commodities” might include cotton and soybean oil — both also surplus in this country. Predicta Support Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana predicted that all Americans, including Congress and farmers, would -support the sale, which he described aS a "hard cash, on the barrel-head" transaction. Sen. Frank Carlson, R-Kan., whose state is the nation's biggest wheat grower, said the sale was in the national interest, adding that it was "the humanitarian thing to do." But 10 Republican House members from wheat-growing states called again for assurances from the President that such a sale to Russia or her satellites would “not endanger the life of one American here or abroad." They ask what effect a wheat sale would have on U. S. foreign policy, especially the containment of Communist Cuba. Kennedy insisted that his decision did not represent “a new Soviet-American trade policy. . . that must await the settlement of many matters. But it does represent one more hopeful sign that a more peaceful world is both possible and beneficial.”

for the possible poisoning of Om water. It said that many containers of patassium cyanide were missing and they might have been broken open ’in the flood. “Do not drink river water,” said the broadcast. “Be certain that your water supply is pure.” Landslide Hit Lake Massimo Petrin, one of the men working at the dam, said a small landslide fell into the artificial lake two months ago, sending a small wave over the edge. He added that tests made at the time showed that a large landslide like Wednesday night's could cause a major disaster. Petrin said a number of large rocks fell into the late Wednesday afternoon. "It was a warning, but nobody understood." he said. “We were even joking that sooner or later Ixingarone was going to have a bath. We never thought. . The 200-foot-wide gorge that leads downstream from the dam enters the Piave Valley at right angles. « The water came out of the gorge "like* it was coming from a high pressure hose," one witness said, and splashed up the wall on the other side ’’before roaring down the valley. Lloyd E. Stevens Dies At Hospital Lloyd E. Stevens, 57, of 1217 Patterson street, a retired mechanic, died at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday at the Adams county memorial hospital, where he had been a patient for one week. He was bom in Plymouth, 0., June 2, 1906, a son of Chester and Annabelle Rupert-Stevens, and was married to Serena Evans Sept. 6, 1926. Mr. Stevens was a member of the U. B. church. Surviving in addition to his wife' are five sons, Chester W. and Roger Allan Stevens, both of Decatur, Lloyd E. Stevens, Jr., of Van Wert, 0., Raymond Eugene and Richard Kenneth Stevens, both at home: one daughter, Mrs. Donald (Goldie May) Need of Huntington: 12 grandhildren, and one sister, Mrs. William (Ella) Thompson of St. Claire Shores, Mich. Two sons are deceased. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Winteregg-Linn funeral home, with the Rev. Fuhrman Miller otfic*i£|Lin£ Burial will be in the Salem cemetery. Friends may p.m. today until time of the sercall at the funeral home after 7 vices. •