Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 August 1949 — Page 1

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vomscasr: Fair tonight, tomorrow. Low tonight, 90. High tomorrow, 8

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1049

Micha! Loskakil

Intent to Murder Charged In Mother's Attack on Son

Woman Throws Heavy Missile at Boy Who ‘Gets in Way’; Child's Temple Laid Open A mother who threw a heavy flower pot at her 8-year-old son because he “gets in my way” was under arrest today, charged with

assault and battery with intent The child, Michael Lookebill,

for a wide gash across his temple and was turned over to Juvenile Ald authorities with his two sisters, Martha, 13, and Penny, 2.

Police officers said they were called to the home of Mrs. Martha Lookebill, 1010 Bates St, on the report of an injured child.

Temple Laid Open.

so far that Patrolman H. E, Har-

rison sald he could “see to the bone.”

-Around:the boy wers. fragments, aw

of a broken flower pot. When policemen asked the 33-year-old mother what happened! they said she replied: “I threw a flower pot at him.” Asked why, they reported she answered:

“He's in my way. I don't want

him around.” On Welfare Grant

Police them she supported her children

on a welfare grant, while their

father serves a sentence in Michigan City State Prison. They

said she stated she had tried to place the children out for adop-

tion.

Other persons in the residence | 2 “fair kids.” The family Tivéd in two

said the children were

his condition was descri rooms in the rear of the boarding “fairly serious.” sssribed hose. SE thie cil Linked to Robberies cers sa ec was apparently “just playing” in the Discus, of English, Ind., was

yard when his mother went to the back door and hurled the

ornamental flower pot.

" In Municipal Court 4 today her

ease was continued to Sept. 2.

Bonus Applicants Urged to Hurry

Clinton Green, director. of the Indiana Department of Veterans today . warned -+former| servicemen against delay in submitting their * applications, for

Affairs,

bonus payments,

The director said & last- -minpte jam in filing claims Is expected if the slow rate of filing continues. To date only 41,238 applications

have been filed, total outside the state, Mr, Green sald.

said the mother told

and 4100 of the man stole two cars in the Peru are from veterans ‘living area shortly after he escaped from|

ex Flower: pot casualty,

to murder, was treated at General Hospitgl

New Albany Prisoner Slugs Deputy Sheriff State police scoured wide areas iof Indiana today following the escape of three men from county jails at Peru and New Albany. -At- New -Albany, Kenneth -Discus, 25, slugged a deputy snd ran from the Floyd County Jail, while Alva Van Ness, 21, and James W. Holtzapple, 24, sawed bars from a second-story window to escape from the Miami County Jail at Peru. Discus, held on charges of armed robbery in three noldups a month ago, slugged Deputy Sheriff Oda Pyle when Mr. Pyle went into the cell block to help serve breakfast to prisoners. ‘le {then ran through the open cell |door, The deputy sheriff was taken to. a New Albany. hospital, where,

arrested as a suspect in armed robberies at a cafe, tavern and filling station in the New Albany area.

Jailers discovered Van Ness and Holtzapple missing when they made a cellblock check this morning. They said the men slipped to the ground on a rope made of cell cot blankets after sawing the bars. Van Ness, a parolee from Van Buren, Ind., was held in connection with the theft of a tractor from a farm near Peru. Authorities accused him of driving the tractor to Liberty, Ky, Holtzapple was arrested a week ago in Niles, Mich., as an escapee from the Indiana. Reformatory. Authorities said the Mishawaka

Ithe Pendleton Institution,

Motion to Quash Spurlock

Indictment Is

and said she loved them.

2

filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Reeves set a hearing for Friday morning and it was indicated some*20 witnesses would be subpenaed. “I am: completely innocent of any wrongdoing,” sald Mrs, Bpur-| lock in a4 formal statement released by her lawyers. “The charges are ridiculous, - My love

for my parents was unbounded.” |their motion that Mrs. Spurlock| counsel in these daily col. |for tonight Carpenters’ Union offered a res ciaseiied 18, 20| Needlework 2. 7 After the quash ruling, Vander-| could be held for 2 Mss. Piuriock Couns Daytime temperature rises since Slatin wiging the State Fedeta Cognies suses 31 Novel vue «us. 4 burgh County officials ‘went to|q indictment and that|@ MRS. MANNERS . . . An- |Saturday, a maximum of| JH 0 SOOT the tatu ont | Crossword ., 16/Othman .... 13 Jasper, Ind, to seek a permit toa practice in Van-|° swers any type of question only 75 was recorded, have been |yp00r candidates of both Editorials ... 14| Radio se. ...22 Sm the Body of of I~ on an relations, 8 " . the weathe an said. Jor political parties who ae Fashions.... 7|Ruark Sanne 13 lock's father. Eathibs, Mrs. \der suspects on afidavits is ille-|@ YOUR MARRIAGE , . . Helps The mercury reached 86 by 3 p. m. triendly to labor Food «.ovaed , 56, Huntingburg, i couples find success in [fsmerany. ‘The dow 2t 0 8 We aia ; : Forum ..... 14{Soclety «.... 6 Ind., died last November and toxi- McDonald and a woman i today was 62, ~- PRESS |Gardening... 0215, 17 eologsts sais when they studied dopey retummed Mis. Spurlock tole YOUR J + + .. Advice on Winds will shift south "Wastin YGTON, Aug . 24 (UP) id... vital aigans from a (aroenie e late yesterday of problem. - -| today and tomorrow, the Weather | vs Bog hold a/InI shen + body that she died of arsenic|Memphis, Tenn. where she was 5 Bureau predicted. No ANE Tho a ee man Sv m,, In-|Inside Kari Wilson, 13! tor, svifien "poisoning, arrested last Saturday, >» |disnapolis time, tomorrow, »

EVANSVILLE, Aug. 24 (UP)-+A ‘judge today overruled a , motion to quash a murder affidavit against Mrs. Clarice Spurlock, | n, after she reaffirmed her innocence in the death of her parents

Overruled

Circuit Judge Ollie Reeves left the affidavit standing which charged her with killing her mother, and Mrs. Spurlock’s attorneys

24 Hurricane

Skims Past Hatteras ‘| MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. + | Aug. 24 (UP)—Hurricane “Harry”

Miami Wams

The Miami Weather Bureau warned today that a “very dan-|

Hurricane ‘Harry’

skimmed past Cape Hatteras today, pounding North Carolina's lonely outer banks with high winds and hammering seas. One person was drowned near, Charleston, 8. C. when stormtossed seas pounded against the beaches. The Red Cross Disaster Service in Atlanta flew seven staff members to North Carolina today, establishing disaster headquarters at Elizabeth City on the coast. 3 Winds at Cape Hatteras shifted from east-northeast to northwest with a velocity of 66 miles per hour, Gusts reached 80 miles per hour. Beaches along the outer banks were flooded, but the fishing villages along the isolated islands| were believed safe, Most are built well back from the sea.

Christen Files Bid For New Trial

High Court Gets Plea in Ft. Wayne Slaying

Robert V. Christen, former Ft. Wayne druggist serving a life sentence for one of the fantastic “Lobaugh sex murders,” today appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court for & new trial, Christen - was convicted by 2a Whitley County jury last April for the murder of Mrs. Dorothea Howard of Ft. Wayne In 1945 Mrs. Howard was one of three ~{8eX-slaylng victims whose murders were confessed by Ralph Lo-| g baugh, former Kokomo grave digger, who also is in prison and awaiting death in the electric - chair, Murders of the other two alleged Lobaugh victims recently were confessed by still another Ft. Wayne man, Franklin Click, when he was arrested for the rape of a 19-year-old housewife, Throughout his trial this spring. Christen’s lawyers questioned the legality of trying a man for a murder to which another (Lobaugh) already had confessed. In today’s appeal, filled by Attorney Robert Parrish of Ft. Wayne, Christen charges Whitley Circuit Judge Lowell Pefley made an error in not granting his motion for| a new trial. | Attorney Parrish said the motion for a new trial, denied last June, was based on- defense contentions that the jury's . verdict was contrary to law and not. sustained by sufficient evidence, The appeal also took exceptions to certain “improper” statements by the judge made in the presence of the jury during the trial. Lobaugh’s death sentence recently was deferred by Gov. Schricker for the seventh time. Gov. Schricker granted a 90-day stay of execution to Nov. 26 to allow time for completion of investigation into the Christen case and the Click confessions which he said “cast grave doubts. on Lobaugh’s guilt in any of these murders.”

Atlantic Pact Goes in Effect

WASHINGTON, Aug: 24 (UP) -—The North Atlantic treaty became effective today and Presi|dent Truman assured the world {that no nation need “fear the results of . .. co-operation” by the 12 signatory nations. The chief executive witnessed the depesit of the ratifications by Denmark, France, Italy and Por tugal--the last of the 12. Then, at a solemn White House ceremony, he signed a proclamation {stating that the treaty is now an operating actuality, He emphasized, in .a statement

v

.

Mrs. Spurlock’'s father, Winter Dearing, 59, died mysteriously later and Sheriff Frank McDonald has asked that his body be exhumed. Her husband, Arleigh, 39, business college teacher, has been {ll since last

five months

fall.

Attorneys Theodore Lockyear and James D. Lopp contended in

that the purpose of the pact is to establish freedom from aggression and force in the North Atlantic community and thus to promote and preserve peace throughout the world.

MIAMI, ny Aug. 24 (UP)—| |

'| Toronto, Canada.

[Truck Hits Bus; 6 Hurt

Crash Near S

Heavy Vehicle Rams

SOUTH BEND, Aug. 24 (UP) cago Greyhound bus were injured

South Bend.

Mrs, William Gromer, 26, Detroit; her daughter, Karen, 16 months old; Mrs. Frank Bennett, 56, ChiSage; Bill Denney, 14, South Bend; Fred Wright, 11, Oakwood, II, and Mrs. Christina Cannon, 59,

Driver A. L. Anderson, 40, Chicago, who was unhurt, said he stopped on the outer lane of a four-lane pavement to release a passenger. The bus was hit from behind by a semi-trailer driven by A. J. Obérdorf, 40, Clyde, O Didn't See Bus Mr. Oberdorf told authorities he didn’t see the bus until he was almost on it. . The force of the collision shoved the bus 200 feet -into a farmyard. It did not overturn. The injured passengers were believed riding in the remr of the coach, which was badly damag

Cuban President Ousts Army Chief

“In Surprise Move

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug. 24 (UP) —President Carlos Prio Socarras rsonally removed the chief of staff of the Cuban army in an unexpected shake-up today aud replaced him with another officer hurriedly summoned from vacation in New York. Maj. Gen. Genovevo Perez Damera, a career soldier and senior] officer of the Cuban army, was

by telephone from hig home in Casiaguey » Province. second in command, - Brig. es ‘Ruperto Cabrera, was appointed chief of staff and .promoted to a major general. Gen. Cabrera was on vacation in New York when he was called. back to Havana. Fear Outbreak Official explanations . for the shake-up said that President Prio felt he had lost touch with his |soldiers under Gen. Perez Da-| mera’s regime. Full precautions were taken against any ° outbreak. Troops took over thé guard of the presidential palace from national police. The president's wife, Maria, and their daughfer, Maria Antoinetta, were removed from the palace, President Prio then sped to Camp Colombia, Cuban army

Havana, and explained the shakeup to scores of assembled officers. Eyewitnesses sald Mr. Prio was cheered and that there was no sign of resentment among the officers.

Mercury Heads For 90's Again

LOCAL TEMPERATURES

6am..62 10a m.,7 Ta m.. 64 11 a m.. 88 8a m.. 68 12 (Noon) 86 Sam... 7 8 1pm. 88

August heat is | is preparing another assault on the city following a four-day respite, the weatherman said teday. A brilliant te summer sun

Pollen “count. .200 per cubic yd.

Your Problems . . .

high of 88 this afternoon and tomorrow, the

Harrison Base

Deputy Sheri Eugene Grimes inspects crash, damage.

|AIl-They Draw

Township relief records showed

Some on Relief Not Entitled to

Food Goes to Relatives; Mates May Be Dead or Missing

Further investigation of Center

Ex-Gl Sleeps Easy

could sleep easter mow that he's

outh Bend

Motor Coach as

Passengers Treated After

. {both husband and wife, a single

It Makes Unloading Stop on Highway

the rear of the coach as it stopped to discharge a passenger. The accident occurred at dawn on Ind. 2, three miles west of

Injured and treated at Memorial Hospital and then released were

Joh Outlook Better,

1 the employment outlook in a

ed. | ports he had received indicated

forced to submit his resignation

headquarters on the outskirts of|

"| federation support the Women's

in cloudless skies promised a

—8ix riders on a Detroit-to-Chi-today when a big truck rammed

Schricker Reports Ne Spes -

Gov. Schricker today sounded a cautious note of optimism over

speech before the 64th annual convention of thé Indiana State Federation of Labor.

He told more than 800 convention. delegates he wouid not call a session of the General Assembly to deal with unemployment. He added that recent re-

[that unemployment conditions in

Evansville are “improving.”

Although his unemployment statement was similar to that made recently to CIO electrical] workers from Ft. Wayne and Evansville demanding a special session of the legislature, he appeared more optimistic about the employment outlook than he did at that time.

Gov. Schricker said he did not consider legislative action to increase jobless payments the answer to unemployment. “When we impoverish labor we destroy the prosperity of the country,” the Governor said. “What we want is steady employment and a good market.” The Governor praised the “effectiveness” of the State Labor Division in settling labor disputes and praised the AFL for its stand against “dangerous doctrines” like communism.

State. Held ‘Laggard’

In another convention address, Miss Frieda 8. Miller, director of the U. 8. Department of Labor's Women’s Bureau accused Indiana of being “laggard” in labor legislation for women. “Indiana is one of the five remaining states that have: limitation at all on the number] of hours a day or week that women may legally work,” she told - the ceanvention. She said the state has no laws to © prohibit employers from working women seven days a week, no minimum wage law, no equal pay law, no law providing maternity leave and no laws to protect women #&gainst heavy lifting and carrying. Topping a list of resolutions offered yesterday at the opening business session was one renewing the organization's demand for repeal of the Taft-Hartley law. Another proposed that the

Equal Status bill before Congress but oppose an Equal Rights amendment to the federal constitution,

Ask Election Holdays

Resolutions also were proposed favoring action to make election day a legal holiday and demanding repeal of the state Utilities Compulsory Arbitration act of 1947 which outlaws strikes in public utilities, Making . election days legal holidays has long been encouraged by labor organ-

her first name was.” he

Lout,

|ago as 1940,

. |chase luxury items, These are butter at from 65 to}

noifoods, ‘half pints of cream and

izations as a way to encourage heavier voting in heavily industrialized sections where working hours might interfere with vot. Weather Bureau |!n8. .

sald. A low of 60 is'forecast| An Indianapolis local of* the

today that countless relief orders issued to husband and wife are used by only one individual whose mate has long since disappeared or died. In cases checked at random, where the relief voucher named

individual took the food order and shared it with other relatives. In one case, a middle-aged male reliefer, who is employed part ‘time, said he hadn’t seen the woman the relief records -show as his wife in 19 years. He couldn’t remember where she was.

‘Don’t Rightly Recollect’ “Don’t rightly recollect what said.

In another case, a woman, supporting five children, is meceiving a grocery order made out to her husband who was last reported! in Tennessee in 1939, she said. This kind of confusion is general in the records of the trustee's office, although Trustee George K. Johnson asserts that each reciplent is visited by an investigator once a month. Not only is marital status confused or incorrect, but addresses on relief vouchers are faulty.

Warehouse Address

In spot checking relief clients, The Times researchers discovered

lived nor was known at the address listed. One address turned fo be a warehouse, but the client was ‘discovered rooming a block away.

food order, including such staples| as flour, sugar and potatoes. The |®d the Client said the food was cooked over an electric hot plate in the hotel room. Even spot checks show apparent inconsistencies. One client was receiving coal from the trustee at the end of May.

Condemned Housing

Rents are being paid by the trustee on housing condemned as unfit for human habitation by the City Health Department as long

Food is the largest item of relief for the township's 1400 cases. Examination of food orders show that while most clients buy staples, a Targe percentage pur-

70 cents a pound, steak at 60 to 89 cents a pound, the highest quality canned fruits and fruit juices, sandwich spreads, salad dressing (although no vegetables appear on orders), soft drinks, pastries, canned boned chicken, canned sea-

strawberries, bananas, grapefruit and cantaloupe in season.

No Restrictions

There are no restrictions on food purchases. Some of the orders, however, are made up enfirely of luxury foods. Investigation of clients shows that staples are being purchased by other means. Most relief clients are in bona file need, The Times -survey showed, bat a number. of them have relatives living with them

tan parking lot where the structure sat, Mr. Birnbaum had even offered it to anyone for 50 cents,

land realtor, took over Mr. Birnbaum’s troubles by paying him $1200 for the house and $800 in |rental fees to the parking lot.

where the client neither 2°00

case _{for. supporting the ThurmanIn one va ent aia Wright, rather than . Trumanina downtown. ee hotel. This client received a $6 :

{liam H. Talbot was ousted from

‘Dream House! Goes for $1200,

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UP)~— Arthur Birnbaum. said today he

free of a $15,000 “dream house” that turned into a nightmare. The 27-year-old former GI sold the six-room model house, won on a B50-cent raffle ticket last month, to Herbert Braasch, 50, yesterday for $1200. Without the money to move the house or to pay the $50-a-day rental asked by the Manhat-

‘5 @ MR. BRAASCH, a Long Is-

He said he would have; the building ‘ dismantled and moved to a Long Island lot.

Democrats Oust Five Dixiecrats

McHale Committee Urged Removal BY, PAN KIDNEY

WASHINGTON, "ANE. 24 Frank M. McHale, Democratic National Committeeman from Indiana, turned in a perfect performance today in ousting five Dixiecrats. from the Democratic National Committee. As chairman of the credentials committee, Mr. McHale held sessions until 3 a. m. today and

Defense se Sla

Also Hits Naval

Ordnance Plant

Personnel Reduction Scheduled Here and At Crane Depot

(Local Reserve Officers Praise Economy, Page 11)

The economy ax swung

by Defense Secretary Louis Johnson struck Indiana tos day, lopping off the Tenth

Air Force headquarters at Benjamin Harrison Air Base and reducing personnel at the Naval Ordnance Plant here, Crane Naval Ammunition Depot, and other establishments. Officials of the Tenth Air Force were notified that headquarters will be movéd from Indianapolis between now and Dec. 1. New location of the headquare ters was not announced, but Air Force spokesmen said it probably will be at some air base in the 13-state area which is entirely owned by the Air Force.

Name Recently Changed Ft. Harrison has been occupied

~=iby the Air Force under arrange-

ment with the Army, which owns the base. The Air Force a few months ago changed the name to Benjamin Harrison Air Base. Air Force spokesmen said abandonment of the Indianapolis base is in accordance with Secre-

‘i's Not the WPA’

had his report ready when the|

full committee convened before]

Heand hiscommitteemen “unanimously” recommend the natipnal committeeman from {Alabama louisiana, and South Carolina all be ousted

The national committee Acceptthe McHale repoft “unanimously,” and one by one read the ‘Dixiecrats out-of the party. - — Backed by McHale The Dixiecrat presidential candidate in 1948, Gov, J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, was succeeded as national committeeman from his state by Sen. Burnet Maybank (D. 8. C.). Mrs. Albert Agnew was ousted as national committeewoman for that state. National Committeeman Wil|Louisiana and J. B. Snider and Mrs. Hermes Gautier from Mississippl. A majority of the McHale com-

Morrow from Texas. This was challenged by Byron. C. Allen of Minnesota, but speeches by retiring Chairman J. Howard MecGrath and Mr. McHale brought acceptance of the McHale findings. So perfect was the score for| Mr. McHale and his committee

thanks by the full committee upon motion of Mr. McGrath, who presided for the last time before be-

that?

mittee ‘voted: to seat H. Wright

that they were given a vote of

the firings and cutbacks or

i dered by Defense. Secretary

Johnson. But he said he was determined to go through with them “for the good of the security of America.” A lot of people in the Armed Services, he stated, “are mot doing a nickels worth of work. “There is terrific waste and extravagance and, so help me God, I will stop it. The Defense Department is not the WPA”

tary Johnson's order reducing Air Force groups from 54 to 48, eliminating 18,000 civilian jobs and releasing 3129 non-regular flying officers from active duty. The AF personnel at Harrison

now includes 1930 military peo. ple and 500 civilians. Maj L. F, Krebs, public information officer, said the payroll and local pur«

counted totaled $685,125, Soldiers To Be Moved

Military personnel will be moved to a new location, Maj. Krebs said, while civilian workers |at the 10th Headquarters will be |given the choice of moving to the new location or severing employment. The Tenth AF ‘headquarters was moved here only last Octo ber from Omaha.

ing sworn in as Attorney General this afternoon.

'Womén Dies of Injuries KNOX, Aug. 24 (UP)-

Holy Family Hospital in La Porte| today a few hours after she was|

her groceries from an auto parked in front of her house when she

or: nearby who work. Relief food is shared with relatives who ure; gainfully employed and who co tribute to the maintenance of the client, In several cases, searchers could not determine) who was getting the food—the

Jclient or the relatives, and the!

client was not sure.

house, signed it. went into the common larder. These situations presumably | are known to the trustee, his Investigators check with the| families once i’ month.

Times Index Amuses ... 8, 9 Marriage.... 5 Bridge .....s T/ Movies ..s40

Business .... 11|My Day .... 6

Times re-|

The grocery simply delivered the weekly food order to the, and whoever was home| The relief food then

Kilgore that Mr. Chase filled

8 athe Map 2}itich plank, heavy leather Williams 15 354 2 Tubber boot, All w

was struck by a car,

hep

Charles Risner, 60, Knox, py pr

Air. Force “spokesmen said

other headquarters to be moved,‘ 5

are the First pt Ft. Slocum, N. Y.: 14th, now at Orlando, Fla, nd 15th, now at Colorade [Springs. 1175 to Lose Jobs As yet no word has been re

struck by a car in front of “hericeyied that other military estabs home. Police said she was getting jishments at Ft. Harrison will

be affected (Continued on n Page $Col. 3=0ol. 4)

seriously by the

.One-Legged Ex-Gl Charges

Stepfather With Torture

. Held Prisoner 18 Months, He States,

MONTESANO, Wash,, Aug. stepfather kept him prisoner for

And Forced to Walk on Hands and Knees

24 (UP)—A one-legged Air Fores

| veteran, rescued by Américan Legion members, said today that hia

18 months, tortured him daily and

|twisted his ears until the eardrums snapped, The veteran, Heriry Chum, 29, his long hair and beard matted

posse had seized his stepfather, {Frank W. Chase, 52, at gunpoint {and turned him over to police. Mr. Chum told Sheriff Mike]

[plastic artificial leg with water

| tender Spo of his leg. { harges Beating He said he was forced over his $120 monly o

beat him for 18 months with knotted rope, a gun stock,

his to! made him walk on his hands and * 8 make it swell and pinch the knees for a stretch of 15 hours.

since| from neglect, told his story of horror after an American Legion

was covered with bruises. said he had suffered ES broken ribs. The veteran said his stepfather

He sald Mr. Chase made write “I'm a liar" and “I'm

chases for the. last month ac.