Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 62, Number 229, Decatur, Adams County, 28 September 1964 — Page 1

VOL LXII. NO. 229.

Commission Report Says Lee Oswald Acted Alone In Murder Os Kennedy

No Evidence | Os Conspiracy

Editor’s Note: The author of_ the following dispatch was in the presidential motorcade when John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. He later received the Pulitizer Prize in journalism for national reporting for his account of the tragedy. By MERRIMAN SMITH United Press International WASHINGTON UPI) — The judgment for history is that Lee Harvey Oswald, a rebellious frustrated Marxist fanatic, murdered John F. Kennedy in Dallas 10 months and 5 days ago “acting alone and without advice or assistance.”' There is no evidence that he was part of any conspiracy, either foreign or domestic. There also is no evidence that the emotional climate in the Texas city had anything to do with irrational act. The motives of the 24-year-old Oswald, Who pumped three shots at the. young President from the sixth floor, of a Dallas office building, are obscure. But they appear linked to a broken home, an indifferent mother and an unsatisfactory marriage. One consequence of the day of horror has been a tightening of presidential security procedures. But much more needs to be done to protect Lyndon B. Johnson and future occupants ' of the Whi’e House from potential assassins. These are the conclusions of “The President’s Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy,” otherwise known as the Warren Commission. It was set up by Johnson immediately

Four Killed As Trains Collide

CHICAGO UPI) — Two passenger trains containing more than 400 persons crashed headon west of Chicago Sunday night. ' Four traincrew members were killed and at least 43 persons were injured. Three crew members were killed instantly when the Burlington Railroad’s Kansas City Zephyr, travelling at 60 miles per hour, rammed into the Rock Island line’s Golden State near Montgomery, 111., just before midnight. The fourth crew member died later in a hospital. A witness said the crash was “like a great roar of thunder.” The Golden Sta!e had pulled to a -halt. When the two trains hit, the engine of the Golden State reared high into the air and then crashed down on the Burlington engine. Rail spokesmen said today the cause of the crash had not been determined. It was believed a switch might have been left open. A warning signal had pulled the Golden State to a halt shortly before the Burlington Zephyr roared out of the night toward it. Four Hundred Passengers G Each train carried about 210 passengers. The Rock Island train, using Burlington tracks because a bridge was out on its • line, was a combination of the Golden State and the Corn Belt Limited, bound for Chicago from Los Angeles' The Burlington was a combination of the Kansas City Zephyr and the Ak-Sar-Ben special, headed out of Chicago for Omaha. Chris Stathis, a Montgomery

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY .

after the Nov. 22, 1963, tragedy to “evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination.” Reaches Overseas The 888 - page report was made public Sunday night after painstaking investigation. The inquiry involved most branches of government and even reached overseas into Russia where Oswald lived for a while and where he met the girl who was to become his wife. The report conceded that in view of Oswald’s subsequent death at the hands of Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby it was 'impossible to say categorically that no one else was involved in the assassination. But it—daded : - “If there is any such evidence it has been beyond the reach of all the investigative agencies and resources of the United States and has. not come to the attention of this commission.” The report failed to convince the assassin’s mother, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald. She continued to insist “there is no proof” her son killed Kennedy. And a Communist youth publication said in Moscow that the assassination was the result of a right-wing reactionary coup. No Perfect System The commission conceded it could recommend no fool-proof system for protecting a president in view of the historic need for the chief executive to mingle with .the people. But it added: >s “The commission has, however, from its examination of the facts of President Kennedy’s assassination made cer-

fireman and amateur railroad buff, watched the grinding crash occur. “I was watching when the Burlington train came barrelling out,” Stathis said. “I saw i's lights coming and then there was the crash, like a great road of thunder. The Rock Island engine jumped about 20 feet in the ait and came down "Tn“aTKua~of dust on top of the Burlington. It’was unbelievable.” Units Absorb Impact Railroad spokesmen said the diesel units on the two trains absorbed most of the impact, preventing more extensive casualties. About 10 cars of the 12car Burlington train derailed, several shearing off utility poles as they skidded along the track bed. The two front Rock Island units were knocked off the tracks. The dead were identified as Burlington engineer George Lin- V coin, Burlington (ireman w George A. Donaldson, Rock Island engineer Russell Reeves, and Burlington “pilot” Red L. Parker, who was in the Rock Island cab directing it~ over the Burlington main Both Burlington crewmen were alive when rescue work-e-s reached the scene. But one died while rescuers tried to free him from the crushed cab wijh acetylene torches, and the other died later in a hospital. A spokesman for Copley Me- , paorial Hospital in nearby Aurora, Hl., said 37 persons were trea‘ed for injuries and seven were admitted. Five persons were treated at St. Joseph Hospital and one at St Charles Hospital

- *. tain recommendations which it believes would, if adopted, materially improve on the procedures in effect at the time of President Kennedy’s assassination and result in a substantial lessening of the danger.” Johnon, who does not always abide by the security criteria laid down by the panel, announced in Johnson City, Tex., that he was appointing a four-member committee to advise him on putting the recommendations into effect. Named were Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon whose department includes the Secret Service, Acting Atty. • Gen. Nicholas Katzenbach, Central Intelligence Agency Director John A. McCone and McGeorge Bundy,' the president’s special assistant for national security affairs. Makes Recommendations The commission made 12 recommendations. Eight applied ,to the Secret Service which has been charged since 1902 with the responsibility for protecting the President. Primarily, they would put an overseer in charge of the agency and give it 205 more men at a cost of S2O million. All the recommendations were made because of the commission’s muted answer of “perhaps” to the question of whether Kennedy’s murder could have been prevented. As for the actual events in Dallas last Nov. 22-24, there were no real surprises in this fascinating, heavily documented report written for the ages. The «ven-man commission, headed by Chief" Justice Earl Warren, found that Oswald shot Kennedy and Texas Gov. John B. Connally Jr. from a sixth floor window in the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository. Guns Down Tippit It said that approximately 45 minutes later, Oswald gunned down policeman J- D. Tippit near the intersection of 10th and Patton streets, and ran off muttering either “poor damn cop,” or “poor dumb cop.” And it declared that two days later when Ruby fatally wounded Oswald in the basement of the Dallas jail, he did so acting alone and not as -part of any conspiracy. It said the two men never had known each other. In essence, this is the U. S. government’s verdict on what the report called “a cruel and shocking act of violence directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind.” The commission addressed itself to two questions — the “what” and the “why” of Nov. 22. The “what” was Oswald’s guilt, and it was stated in the report in these words: States The Evidence “On the basis of the evidence .. . the commission has found that Lee Harvey Oswald 1) owned and possessed the rifle used to kill President Kennedy and wound Governor Connally, 2) brought this rifle into the depository building on the morning of the assassination, “31 was present, at the time of the assassination, at the window from Which the shots were fired,' 4) killed Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit in an apparent attempt to. escape, 5) resisted arrest by drawing a fully loaded pistol and attempting to shoot another police officer, 6) lied to the police after his arrest concerning substantive matters, ”7) attempted, in April, 1963, to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker, and 8) possessed the capability with a rifle which would have enabled him to commit the assassination,, “On the basis of these findings the commission has concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald -was the assassin of President Kennedy.” A key piece of evidence used in reaching this conclusion was the eyewitness report of Howard L. Brennan, a fryear-old steamfitter, who was across the street from the depository

Decatur, Indiana, 46733, Monday, September 28, 1964.

building. He saw the shots fired and immediately described the assassin to police as white, slender, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing about 165 pounds. Looks For Motive Having decided Oswald’s guilt, the commission set out to find the “why” of the killing. It reached two basic conclusions. The first was that Oswald, a strange, psychotic personality, had the capability of killing a prominent man such as the president to take out a grudge against a society that he felt had frustrated him at every turn. The second was that there were deficiencies and lapses in the organizations set up to protect the president of the United States. As for Oswald, the commission conducted an exhaustive review of his life, from his lonely childhood and his strained relationships with his mother to his stormy marriage to the girl, Marina, who he had met and wed in Russia. Commission’s Conclusion This was the conclusion: “Many factors were undoubtedly involved in Oswald’s motivation for the assassination, and the commission does not believe that it can ascribe tpi, him any one motive or group of motives. It is apparent, however, that Oswald was moved by an overriding hostility to his environment. “He does not appear to have been able to establish meaningful relationships with other people. He was perpetually discontented with the world around him. Long before the assassination he expressed his hatred for American society and acted in protest against it. “Oswald’s search for what he conceived to be the perfect society was doomed from the start. He sought for himself a place in history—a role as the ‘great man’ who would be recognized as having been in advance of his times. His commitment to marxism and communism appears to have been another important factor in his motivation. “He also had demonstrated a capacity to act decisively and without regard to the consequences when such action would further his aims of the moment. Out of these and the many other factors which may have molded the character of Lee Harvey Oswald there emerged a man capable of assassinating President Kennedy.” The commission did not go into the question of whether Oswald shot at Kennedy as a symbol or as an individual. It does quote from the Secret Service report of Oswald’s interrogation by Capt. J. W. Fritz of the Dallas police department’s homicide and robbery bureau. Oswald said: “I have no views on the President.” “My wife and I like the President’s family. They are interesting people. I have my own views on the President’s national policy. I have a right to express my views but because of the charges I do not think I should comment further.” “Unanswered Questions” The commission, therefore, left Oswald’s motives in the category of what the report itself called “the unanswered questions” — saying “no one will ever know what passed through Oswald’s mind during the week before November 22, 1963." It placed him, then, in the ca*egory of other previous presidential assassinations or would-be assassins “who acted alone in their criminal act against our leaders.” Citing four — Charles J. Guiteau, Leon F. Czolgosz, John Schrank and Guiseppe Zangara — it said, “none had a serious record of prior violence. Each, of them was a failure in his work and in his relations with others, a victim of delusions and fancies which led to the conviction that socie-

ty and its leaders had combined to thwart him.” And then the commission declared, with the future in mind: “It will require every available resource of our government to devise a practical system which has any reasonable possibility of revealing such malcontents.” Dashes Hopes Os Early End For Congress WASHINGTON (UPI)-Speak-er John W. McCormack today poured cold water on hopes that the 88th Congress may wind up its work by the end of the week. “I can’t see it," McCormack told newsmen when asked about prospects that remaining legislative work could be completed by Saturday as had been hoped by congressional leaders. “When you consider the bills still to be acted on I’m not optimistic about getting through »by this weekend,” McCormack said. It did not appear that security proposals by the Warren Commission would play a part in delaying adjournment. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield sgid members probably would want to await specific recommendations of a presidential panel set up for this purpose. But McCormack listed a var-”' iety of other roadblocks in the way of final adjournment of the second session of a Congress that already has lasted longer than any since World War 11. He gave a qualified answer to a question whether it still was planned to call up in the House President Johnson’s 11 billion Appalachia development bill, passed last week by the Senate. He said "as of now” the Appalachia bill is still on the agenda but he did not list it among measures he said would keep the House busy through the latter part of the week. He did list the Social Security and medicare bill now in a House-Senate conference; foreign aid and a Senate-approved rider to the aid bill asking the courts to go slow in reapportioning state legislatures; and an extension of the National Defense Education Act. One of these was ready for House action today and as a result the House met only 17 minutes with no business on its agenda. Jennie Myers Dies Saturday Evening Mrs. Jennie Myers, 81, of Harrison township, Van Wert county, 0., died at 6:46 o’clock Saturday evening at her home on Ohio City route 2. Born in Hocking county, O , Jan. 24, 1883, she was a daughter of John and Elian Dell’ngerCampbell. She was -married to John Myers April 8, 1908. Her husband preceded her in death in January of 1956. Surviving are two sons, Harbert Myers of Ohio City route 2, and Clifford Myers of Alpache Junction, Ariz.; 14 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren, and two sisters, Mrs. Alta Parker of Paulding, 0., and Mrs. Hittie Walters of Middlepoint, O. Funeral rites will be held at 2 p. m, Tuesday at the H. D. Smith funeral borne in Convoy, 0., with the Rev Gaylord Black offic.at- • ing. Burial will be in the Convey IOOF cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home until time of the services.

President Arouses Wild Crowd Scene At Providence,, R. I.

EN ROUTE WITH PRESIDENT JOHNSON (UPl)—President Johnson aroused one of the wildest crowd scenes in his politiaal career today as he arrived at Providence, RJ., on a 15-hour campaign swing through five New England states. As his motorcade crawled through downtown Providence, an auto two cars behind the President burst into flames. No one was hurt. About 25 minutes before, two teen - age youths and a girl were seized as they stood atop the Sheraton - Biltmore Hotel overlooking the motorcade route. Police released the three after determing that they only went to the roof to get a better view of the Presiden. An automobile two cars behind Johnson’s burst into flame after the procession had gone about six miles. Johnson was standing in the back seat of an open convertible which sped quickly away from the burning vehicle. The President’s car was followed by a closed sedan carrying Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson. This car, which was immediately in front of the car that Joint School Board Meeting Next Week The three school boards of Ad<eftis county, representing North Adams, Adams Central and South Adams school districts, will meet in their second joint session next Monday at 8 pm. at the home ec room, Decatur high school to discuss improvement in trade and industrial education, especially for dropouts, Gail M. Grabill, North Adams superintendent, announced today. F.- Lee Bushong, and Donald Pound, of the trade and industrial education division of the Indiana state department of public instruction, will discuss the matter with the three boards and their superintendents. * Improved training for the 80% of the high school students who will never complete college has been called for by those interested in Unproving standards of education. Representatives from the state department will explain existing legislation and legislatlon which will be proposed to the next general assembly in 1965. Retail Division To Meet This Evening The retail division of the Chamber of Commerce will meet this evening at 8 o’clock in the Electra room of the l&M building to • discuss .important business, chakman Dan Freeby announced at noon today. A report will also be given on the horse show. Request Paving Os Township Line Road The Adams county commissioners this morning received a request for the paving of six miles of the French-Monroe township line road between state roads 124 and 118. The request was presented to the commissioners by Alvin Nussbaum, who pointed out to the board that there is no other northsouth paved road within two miles of the township line. He said that the road is a heavily traveled route, favored by stone trucks, school buses and milk trucks. The commisioners told Nussbaum that one mile of the road had already been put into the four-year road-paving plan and that present intentions call for ’ eventually paving the entire sixmife stretch. Sheriff Roger Singleton appeared at the meeting to present a plan for curbing Halloween vandalism. ' Singleton told the commissioners that he plans to use members of 1 the sheriffs reserve as a roving patrpl during the Halloween . period. He “requested permission from the commissioners to use funds from his budget to purchase gasoline for this purpose. The , commissioners approved the expenditure. The commissioners also received > a letter from a Fort Wayne sales- ’ man who frequently calls in this , area. The letter complimented the commissioners on the general ap- , pearance of Decatur and the coun- , ity, but protested the condition of I the dumping grounds located north al Decatur on U. S. 27. •

caught fire, also sped away. A wire service pool car which had been behind the burning one swung around it and followed in the motorcade — but for about 10 minutes the rest of the cars were left behind. The President’s physician, Dr. George W. Burkley, had been among passengers who scramK. E. Baumgardner Dies At Ossian Home Kenneth E. Baumgardner 58. died at 2:25 a. m. today nt his home in Ossian. He had been partially disabled for 30 years and ill for the past nine months. He was born in Willshire, 0., June 15, 1906, a son of George and Lulu Tindall-Baumgardner, and was married to Mildred McGough Oct. 22, 1927. Mr. and Mrs. Baumgardner formerly operated the Ossian Drivein restaurant, and more recently eperated the Oasis swimm'ng pool. He was a member of the Yoder Missionary church. Surviving ale his wife; his mother, who now resides in Windmere, Fla.; four daughters, Mrs. Russell Kincaid of Churubusco, Mrs. Norman Wolfe and Mrs. Max Boxell, both of Ossian, and Mrs. Kent Burris of Yoder; three sons, Jack Baumgardner of Indianapolis, Max Baumgardner of Cincinnati, 0., and Daniel Baumgardner of Ossian; 16 grandchildren; one brother. Herbert Baumgardner of Fort Wayne, and three sisters. Mrs. Bessie Goller and Mrs. Wilma Clouse, both of Decatur, and Mrs. Myrtle Putman of Rockford, O. Funeral services will be held at 2 p. m. Wednesday at the Yoder Missionary church, with the Rev. Chris Gerig officiating. Burial will be in Oak Lawn cemetery. Friends may call at the Elzey funeral home in Ossian after 7 p. m. today until 12 noon Wednesday. The body will lie in state at the church from 1 p. m. until time of the services. Horse Show Draws - Large Crowd Sunday Retail division members were quite pleased over the large crowd that attended Sunday’s benefit Horse show held at Bellmont park, general chairmen Dan Freeby said this morning. Another large crowd attended the show, held for the second consecutive year to raise funds for the purchase of Christmas lighting for the city. Feature attraction of the day was the splendid performance given by the Mizhap Shrine horse patrol of Fort Wayne. 8 Freeby and others in charge of arranging the show expressed today their thanks and appreciation to the many who attended and to these who cooperated in again making the show a success. Official tabulation of the winners of the 12 classes and the high point champion is being made today, and will be released Tuesday.

Crippled Children Are Aided By Fund

The Adams county Society for Crippled Children is another of the 10 agencies in the Decatur Community Fund drive. As its portion of the $29,834 drive goal, the society has requested SI,BOO. ,* The bulk of the money which the society has requested will be used for its summer speech and hearing clinic. The remainder is used for benevolent activities and incidental expenses. The society is chiefly concerned with children who are crippled from birth or by accident. It furnishes aid and equipment which parents cannot supply for the rehabilitation of children. Its chief work is the summer speech and hearing clinic, which was begun eight years ago. During each year since its beginning the program has had at least one and usually two qualified speech and hearing therapists to handle group and individual therapy. The teachers work in half-hour sessions with small groups of three

SEVEN CENTS

bled from the blazing car. He caught up to the President’s group by hitching a ride on a three-wheel police motorcycle. Johnson may have had bigger crowds before but members of his staff and newsmen who have traveled with him could not remember a more tumultuous one. This could be measured in literally dozens of women's and girls’ shoes which were seen scattered along the way. The biggest mob in Providence was at Kennedy Plaza, where thousands of people soliidly clogged the four block area. Police officers pushed and shoved the crowd back as those in the rear tried surging th,e other way. toward the cars. The President carried with him speeches lambasting “the faction that temporarily leads the Republican party.’’ He said voters face a choice in November of keeping a “responsible government” or changing to one "that is reckless , abroad and heartless at home.” INDIANA WEATHER Fair aorth, partly cloudy south with rain extreme south tonight. Warmer extreme north tonight. Tuesday partly cloudy and a little warmer north, rain probably ending extreme south. Low tonight in the 40s north, 45 to 50 south. High Tuesday 05 to 72. Sunset today 6:33 p.m. Sunrise Tuesday 6:39 a.m. Outlook for Wednesday: Partly cloudy, chance of showers north. Little warmer south and turning cooler north. Lows 46 to 54. Highs in the 60s north, 70s south. David T. Hinkle Killed In Crash David T. Hinkle. Jr., 36,* of 464? Weisser Park Ave., Fort Wayne, was killed instantly Saturday at 7:30 p. m. when his auto slipped off a wet road in St. Joseph county, Mich., and struck a tree. His son, David 111, 11, suffered fractures of his hip and left shoulder, and is a patient at the Sturgis, Mich., hospital. A passenger, Larry Heine, 25, of Fort Wayne, was also injured and was treated at the Sturgis hospital. Hinkle was a native of Indianapolis but had lived in Fort Wayne since 1951, moving there from Hartford township. He operated an automatic coin machine business. He was a Navy veteran, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Masons and the Scottish Rite. Surviving are his wife, the former Maxine Dubach; three other children. Cheryl Ann, WiDiam Wayne and Diane Kay, a’l at home; and a sister. Miss Phyllis Hinkle of Geneva route 1. Funeral services will be held at 2 p. m. Tuesday at the Yager funeral home in Berne, with the Rev. Veryl Roth officiating. Burial will be in the Evangelical Mennonite cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p. m. today.

or four children. The pupils are given a half-hour of therapy and then spend another 15 minutes doing writing and reading exercises. Speech Therapy The object of the. speech therapy work is to teach the students to master the specific sounds with which they have difficulty. Thus each child is instructed in particular sound, such as “s” or “th,” with which he or she has difficulty. The teaching includes speech games and reading coupled with the use of such aids as mirrors and pictures. The speech therapy course was started in 1955 With five members of the society, Deane Dorwin, Miss Marie Felber, Rev. William C. Feller, Gail Grabill and Us Sprunger, doing the preliminary organizational work. The society is able to get maximum efficiency from its funds because nearly all the services which it performs are done by volunteer • workers.