Syracuse-Wawasee Journal, Volume 109, Number 28, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 2 February 1946 — Page 9

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Six More Weeks of Winter

F1 ARDUHP foft cl ,» cu? »/ \ 4Wr \3BSBMFy sg) K JR. GROUNDHOG had plenty of chance to see his shadow here on Saturday. The sun burst through the clouds early in the day and tradition says that means six more weeks of winter.

PASTOR DENIES HE KILLED WIFE Says Story of Dead Daughter False. § "Grand Rapids. Mich.. Feb. 2.—The Rev. Frank E. Siple prayed in his jail cell today, but not for forgiveness for poisoning his 17-year-old daughter in 1939. "1 am saddened only by the unusual amount of publicity that has been devoted to my case.” he said. “It is because of my wife, a wonderful woman, and my family, that 1 grieve." Siple pleaded guilty two days ago to poisoning his daughter in what he termed a mercy killing" because he believed, her mentally incompetent. * / The 53-year-old Church of God pastor, a mild-appearing man, dismissed as “malicious gossip” reports by members of his congregation that he killed his pretty daughter because “she knew too much about the death of her mother.” “I did not kill my first wife." he said repeatedly. "She died a natural death. I did what I had to in Dorothy's case because it was far better for her than to live her life under the circumstances." Ready to Take Medicine. 7 Siple was not afraid of what justice may be meted out to him. , “I knew what I was doing and I am prepared to £ake the consequences,” he said. "I devoted considerable time in prayer before 1 administered the poison to my daughter, and then 1 prayed after I had sent her to sleep, he continued. "1 did not ask forgiveness from God because what I did was morally right, no matter what others say.” Three psychiatrists named by the state prepared to give the minister mental tests to determine his sanity. Kent County Prosecutor Menso R. Bolt said that examinations probably would start today and a* report might be issued in three or four days. Sentencing would follow immediately. Siple previously was examined by three other doctors who found him sane and able to appear for trial on charges of attempting to murder an elder of his church. Lyle Doan. „by beating him on the head.Accused by Daughter. Yesterday. Mrs. Doan. Wife of the church leader Siple is. accused of attacking. said she had been told by two “reputable pastors" that the girl accused hei* father "point-blank" of murdering her mother. Mrs. Bertie Siple, at Dixon, 111., in December, 1929 Mrs. Doan quoted the pastors as saying the girl feared for her life at a church emcampment at Oregon. 111., three weeks before her death, and did not want to go back -ttf her home at Grand Rapids. She said the girl was in an “extremely nervous condition” throughout her entire stay at the camp. Siple’s terming the report “malicious gossip" recalled that Mrs. Doan once asked her husband to tell the pastor to stay* away from her home (Continued on Par* Six)

Never-Mind-the-Weather Policy Good For Mind; Proper Dress Saves Body

. “Never mind the weather” is a good watchword for mental health, according to a bulletin just released by the Indiana State Medical association —but it should be applied only after you have put on your galoshes and woolens and raincoat Actually the weather has a farreaching effect on our health and comfort, but we should not let it become a mental hazard. Ah 80-year-old woman who was out in a raging snow storm was told »he shouldn't be outdoors on a day like that Her reply was, “If I had paid any attention to the weather all these years I wouldn't be alive today.” But she was well bundled up. even to high shoes and boots. Warm and water proof clothing, and the right mental attitude, will take you through the worsi winter weather without difficulty. Extra Precautions Needed. One reason we hear so many complaints about winter weather is that we are not willing to dress for it The fleece-lined stadium boots and

Warsaw Unily (Trim's A2L£?tfc n^eS2h I wRJ 1 Warsaw, Indiana, February 2, 1946. RSi“

More Winter in Most Areas, Says Mr. Groundhog The weatherman said today fair skies and a clinging shadow would greet Mr. Groundhog when he climbed out of his hole in most sections of the nation. According to the Indianapolis weather bureau, northern Indiana is going to have spring earlier than southern Indiana.* The bureau got its dope straight from the groundhog. In all southern sections of the state a bright sun was shining and the groundhog poked his nose out once and then disappeared to remain for another six weeks. In many sections of the north half of the state, the sun was obscured by clouds and the signs call for early spring. Not so in Warsaw and Kosciusko county, where a bright sun' shone most of the forenoon. People of this community, therefore. must expect continued cold weather, even if other parts of the north are in for an early spring. Not Always Reliable. Last year, it was hard to decide whether to believe the groundhog, because the sun played hide and seek and some groundhogs saw their shadows and some didn’t February turned out above normal in temperature and March was even warmer. During most of last year, temperatures averaged above normal, according to the ’ Indianapolis weather bureau's annual report. Indianapolis had 13 days above 90 degrees and 11 days when temperatures fell to zero or below. The number of cloudy clays throughout the state was large. If you want to make a guess on this year's weather, consult the almanac and your rheumatism—the weatherman refused to comment. Snow and ram in Michigan and the Pacific northwest were all that marred an otherwise clear, but cold weather report irt most of the nation. A week-end cold wave was moving into the middle Atlantic and New England states. Temperatures which were normal yesterday were expected to drop considerably tonight and Sunday. The horth central plain states continued to bear the brunt of winter. Below zero temperatures prevailed in Wisconsin, lowa, the Dakotas and Minnesota. Coldest city in the nation yesterday was Bemidji. Minn., which registered 30 below. Miami was the warmest with 80 degrees. CIRCUS DANCER AWARDED SIOO,OOO FOR LEG BURNS Hartford, Conn., Feb. 2.—Mrs. Catherine R. Martin, 35-year-old former professional dancer. „ gas awarded SIOO,OOO today by an -arbitration board for bums sufared in the tragic circus fire here July 6. 1944 in which 168 perished and more than 600 w ere injured. It was the highest award made by the board, which has so far approved claims against the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows Inc., touting sev-eral-million dollars.

wool scarves the young girls are wearing today are sensible. t Now that we are over the hump of winter and snow storms will be interspersed with balmy days, it is necessary to take extra precautions. Colds from overheating and sudden cooling, fatigue, carelessness, may lead to pneumonia. litany of the most dangerous communicable diseases—scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria, smallpox, measles, reach their peak »n late February and March. Some of these we know how to prevent, but the immunity has to be developed now, before the danger months arrive. The cold of winter stimulates the average person to work harder, to indulge in more strenuous activity. All this uses up more mental, nervous and physical energy. Too many men have heart attacks while shoveling snow or getting a car started on the ice. Dress right, be'sensible in diet and activities, and don’t let yourself worry about the weather.

PICKWICK BLOCK BURNS

Showdown on Steel Price

MEETING AT WHITE HOUSE MAYBE VITAL Strike Settlement to Rest on Action By Truman. j. (By United Pre**) A showdown between the OPA’s price curb policy and industry demands for substantial price relief neared a climax in Washington Uday as, the number of American workers idled by strikes reached 1,526.000. < President Truman scheduled a conference with Price Administrator Chester Bowles to consider the question of higher steel prices, based on a steel fact-finding board's report on the industry's costs, wages and earnings. Pride relief in the meat-packing industry also was reported on the Truman-Bowles conference egenda. Reconversion Director John W. Snyder backed up the government’s price curb policy yesterday in implying to Henry Ford H’s request for the abandonment of price control. §nyder told Ford that relaxation of price controls “would adversely affect our industrial development for years to come.” More Industries Hit As the deadlocked 13-day steel strike resulted in further cutbacks in the automotive and other related industries. ■ however, negotiations were, resumed between the Inland Steel Co. and 11.000 United Steel Workers (CIO) at Indiana Harbor, Ind. In the major labor developments: 1» The Jessop Steel Co.. Washington, Pa., a fabricator emploj’ing about 1,300 workers signed a contract with the CIO union, granting an JS’-z-cent an hour increase demarid and the government-owned Geneva. Utah, steel mill granted wage increases of 15 cents an hour to 700 AFL employes. 2. Strike ballots were mailed to 78,000 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (Ind.). A strike by BLE members and the Bronerhood of Railroad Trainmen (Ind.), which also is conducting a strike vote, could disrupt rail traffic from coast to coast 3. United Packhinghouse Work- ’ (Continued on Page Six) HANDKERCHIEF OWNERIS FOUND Lost By Soldier in G.I. Laundry. Chicago. Feb. 2.—T-Sgt. Seymour Sherman, 22. New York, today identified as his a handkerchief found near the scene of the kidnap-slaying of six-year -old Suzanne Degnan. Sherman, enroute to the east, coast aboard a troop train, was met at Orland Park, a Chicago suburb, by police detectives, who hoped he would be able to assist in solving the three-week-old slaying. Police emphasized that Sherman himself was not a suspect and had been on a troop transport somewhere in the Pacific on Jan. 7, the day of the kidnaping. The handkerchief, bearing the name "S. Sherman” and the numbers 3168, was identified by Sherman as one he had owned and marked with his name and the last four numerals of his army serial number, 131143168. Lost in GX Laundry. Sherman told Police Detective Tim O’Connor that the handkerchief probably had been borrowed by some one in his outfit or lost in the GJ. laundry. He identified it as one of a dozen he received some months after entering service. The handkerchief, still considered the most important clue in ,the case, was found in an alley about a block from the Degnan home. It had been attached to a length of picture frame wire which, police believe, was used to strangle the child before her body was dismembered and parts of it thrown into four different sewers in the neighborhood. Sgt. Sherman said he never had been to Chicago before but had cor(CoatlaaeA oa Page Six)

Find Bodies of 21 Victims in Mountain Snow (By United Pre**) Elk Mountain, Wyo., Feb. 2.—A team of Alaskan huskies was enroute from Fort Robbin. Neb., today to aid in the removal of 21 bodies found amid the scattered wreckage of a transcontinental airliner. The bodies, sprinkled with snow and strewn over a quarter of a mile area, were discovered late yesterday by. a searching party which bucked freezing cold, snow drifts and gale-strength winds to scale the 11.000-foot Elk mountain? The United Air Lines said that a group of UAL men, civilian aeronautics authority officials and a postal inspector would set out at dawn for the crash scene, about 1,150 feet from the top of the mountain. They were to be followed by a second party, carrying tobogganning equipment, and a dog team of 11 huskies, to assist in bringing the bodies down from the peak. Five men, first to visit the frozen sepulchre of the pane's 18 passengers and three crew members, made their way down the steep slope late last night to report their find. I Scene of Frozen Death. Joseph and Ed Hicks, coal miners from nearby Hanna, Wyo., reached the spot first, followed within a few minutes by Allen Garbutt and Raj' Lefforde, Elmo, Wyo., and Stewart England, Cheyenne CAA official. The scene they described as one of frozen death and unearthly silence. The bodies were partial* covered by snow that had fallen i since the crash early Thursday, and pieces of the plane’s motors and fuselage lay cold and stark against the white surroundings. The Hicks brothers said they counted 21 bodies scattered over a wide area on the face of the slope. They said the clothing had been torn off most of the bodies, but that they were only “singed,” indicating that the shjp had not burned. “If there was a fire, it couldn’t have been a big one," Joseph said. “It looked more as if a terrific blast of heat had occurred just as the plane crashed.” The men, cold and weary after a daylong struggle against the elements, said they had encountered waist-deep snow drifts and wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour on their way to the scene of the Cash. The Hicks brothers, who were more familiar with the tr eac^erous mountain trails, rode in an army "snow'mobile” to within 3,000 feet of the summit and proceeded the rest of the way on snowshoes. Among those aboard the Seattle-to-New York transport were Robert J. Pirie, New York and Chicago department store heir, Mrs. E. 11. Blake." Richland. Wash.; H. R. Glover, Vancouver, Wash., William Petracek, New York and Mr. and Mrs. George A. Bender, Sheffield, DI. Names of 12 servicemen, being redeployed from the Pacific coast, were withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

Gen. Bradley Appears to Have Scored First Fall in Joust With Legion Head

(By United Preta) Washington, Feb. 2.—American Legion Commander John Stelle appeared to be coining off second best today in a joust with Gen. Omar N. Bradley whose replacement he demanded. Bradley, countering Stelle’s charge of a “tragic breakdown” in the Veteran Administration, by inference traced the accusation to an argument over the location of a hospital in which Stelle was interested. “I suspect that the charge comes from Stelle. not from the American Legion,” Bradley said. Stelle said in New York that he would not insist on Bradley’s removal if it was shown that congressional help was needed in cutting red tape. But he did not retreat in his attack on the VA. Stelle told a dinner meeting of the First district. New York Department of the Legion last night that an immediate reorganization of VA was imperative. “Can ‘ our young Veterans wait two years for their rights while Gen. Bradley reorganizes?” Stelle demanded. * ” Bradley Gets Defense. Meanwhile other veterans’ organizations leaped to Bradley's defense. So did Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, chief of staff, who promised to “fly anywhere, anytime,” to support him. Chairman John Rankin, D., Miss., of the House committee on world war veterans’ legislation, praised

May Rule Spain W-k 'SS I Br ' jIJI jr • A ■ ■ ; ' Prince Juan, son of the late King Alfonso and pretender to the throne of Spain, has arrived in London enroute to Lisbon where, according to a monarchist spokesman, he may demand Franco’s abdication to prevent a “new and more frightful war." Prince Juan is shown above with his children, Princess Marie, (left), 10, and Prince Jean, 8, while skiing at Gstaad, Switzerland. (International Soundphoto)..

ASKED BY NAVY TO DROP STORY Capt. Safford Hints at Pressure. (By Umted Pre*#) Washington, Feb. 2.—Navy’ Capt. L. F. Safford charged today that the Navy department tried in 1945 toget him to change his testimony that navy intercepted a Japanese “wind code” message foreshadowing war with the United States. Safford said a Navy department representative—Lt. Cnyd/. John Sonnett—“tried to make me believe I was suffering from hallucinations” about the “winds message.” Witnesses throughout the Pearl Harbor investigation have agreed that the Japanese in November, 1941, informed their diplomats

Bradley and labeled Stelle’s charges “a grave injustice.” Bradley said he would welcome w * GEN. OMAR BRADLEY. the congressional probe called for by Stelle. But he warned that time spent in digging out facts and figures for investigators w'ould be timelost in serving veterans. Bradley said Stelle had no com(Cont i n ued on P*<e Six)

abroad that if a break was imminent yi relations with the United States, the words “east wind rain” would be included in a Tokyo broadcast > The dispute is over the Japanese later actually sent the “east wind rain” message. Safford yesterday declared publicly that they did and that he saw the message. He had said the same thing in earlier secret investigations. Asked to Change Story. Today Safford testified that Sonnett came to him last year and tried to get him to change the testimony he had given in previous inquiries. Sonnett was representing ontlnued on p aj?e SIX) LABORMEASURE TO HAVE TEETH Case Substitute Is Given Backing. <

(By United Pre**) Washington, Feb. 2.—House supporters of anti-strike legislation were split sharply today on how strong it should be, but they still agreed that a sweeping measure would be passed. Some said, however, that the bickering was hu,rting their chances of pushing through a really effective bill. Most of the legislators still favored the measure introduced by Rep. Francis Case, R., S. D., and supported by an influential group of Republicans and southern Democrats. They were confident that the Case bill—or one reasonably similar —would be passed. Other supporters of strike-control legislation said they believed a more moderate bill would stand a better chance of getting through the Senate and obtaining President Truman’s signature. A few said flatly they would not vote for the Case bill in its present form. Calls for Cooling Off. Opponents of new labor legislation said they would fight any attempt to weaken the Case bill. They based their strategy on the hope that the bill would be so strong that it either would be unacceptable to the Senate or would draw a veto if passed. I The Case bill was introduced as a substitute for the House labor committee’s watered-down version of the fact-finding bill. It would make labor unions liable for contract a violations and would ban foremen’s unions, picketing violence and union boycotts. It also would provide a 30-day no-strike cooling off period.

MODERN BUILDING IN THE HEART OF SYRACUSE WIPED DOT EARLY SATURDAY WITH MOO,ODD LOSS

Fire Companies From Five Surrounding* Towns Battle Blaze For Hours, But Fail to Save Structure. A $400,000 conflagration of unknown origin completely destroyed the lavish Pickwick block in the heart of Syracuse Saturday morning. The Pickwick theater, last of the block to go, crashed through at 9 o’clock. Smoke swirled through the town, piling up additional heavy damage in the business district All light and power was cut off and with the town water supply exhausted, fire departments from all over this area were drawing water from Syracuse lake and Turkey creek to keep the blaze confined to the doomed block. Seven - businesses were burned out, two deluxe apartments destroyed and four apartments under construction were demolished. As the flames subsided, James J. Gregory, of Chicago, owner of the block, called his board of directors into session to determine whether or not there would be enough insurance to rebuild the block on a more modest scale. The amount of insurance was not immediately learned.

The building with original equipment cost $241,000 when it was erected in 1937 by W. E. Long, Chicago and Wawasee lake, as a gesture, of good-will toward the town. Losses Are Listed. Bill Blank, manager of the theater and the sandwich shop, valued the equipment of the various establishments as follows: Theater, $45,000. Cocktail Lounge, managed by Gus Penagos, $30,000. Bowling alleys, managed by Fieldon Sharpe, $30,000. Art Gallery, owned by Fletcher Marsh, well-known Wawasee artist, $30,000. Syracuse - Wawasee Journal, owned by J. B. Cox, $30,000. Sandwich Shop, $5,000. Amusement Room, equipment owned by C. C. Mason, Wawasee Lake. $20,000. Five-room upstairs apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Wilt, with a loss of furnishings, clothing and jewelry, $20,000. Five-room unstairs aoartment of Mr. and Mrs: Harry Grieger, damage unestimated, including $15,000 collection of antique glass. Four apartments under construction above amusement room, amount unestimated, but damage heavy. The first alarm was sounded at 4:45 a. m. after smoke was detected simultaneously by Joel Wilt and Peck Cline, night watchman. The blaze broke out in the cocktail lounge, and, driven by a brisk west wind, swept east through the block, taking the art gallery, the entertainment room and sandwich shop, spreading upstairs and working back west through the structure. I Joe Rapp, fire chief, began calling i for assistance from nearby towns before six o’clock. Departments from Warsaw, Goshen, Ndfrth Webster, Leesburg, Milford, Ligonier, Auburn and New Paris responded. Theater Burns Last. By 8 a. m. the blaze was roaring into the theater building, which was ■ consumed in an hour. Telephone operators, with lights cut off, were working by candlelight. Smoke was thick in all of the buildings in the business district. The Syracuse Amusement Co., controlled all of the block except the cocktail lounge which was operated by Pickwick Lounge, Inc. Gregory, owner of the budding, is president of both companies. Only Friday Gus Penagos, salesman for the Atlas Food company, succeeded John Ferris as manager of the ; lounge. Ferris planned to enter a

Hitler Mute and Deaf For Several Weeks After Attempt on His Life

By ANN STRINGER, United Press Staff Correspondent. Nuernberg, Feb. 2.—Adolf. Hitler was mute and deaf for “several weeks” after the attempt to assassinate him on July .20, 1944, Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was revealed to have told Allied officers. Kietel and Col.-Gen. Alfred Jodi, i both defendants in the war crimes: trial, also were injured seriously enough to require corrective opera-: tions, according to information made available to the United Press. “There was a blinding flash and resounding explosion,” Kietel told Allied officers. He was hurled backward by the blast which wrecked a temporary b&me hut in which I Hitler was holding a staff meeting, and Hitler was thrown into his arms. “For some reason that day the Fuehrer decided to hold a noon conference in the frame hut rather than the reinforced concrete shelter where it normally would have killed us all. , , “But the flimsy wooden walls simply splintered and burst into I

The Weather

Fair tonight; Sunday increasing cloudiness and warmer.

ABC Audited Circulation.

St. Louis hospital for a physical check-up. p—Long, advertising agency man and • head of the Holsum Bread Co., sold the block to the Gregory interests in • 1940. The establishment was one . of the most modem and elaborate business blocks in the county. The art gallery included displays of artists from Anderson, Chicago, , St. Louis and Warsaw. Warsaw’ Firemen Aid. Warsaw’s fire department was called about 6 a. m. to aid in fight- • ing the fire. Fire Chief Elza Cox, , Truck Driver Roy Hauth and Firemen James Hyde, Lozier Helvey, Ernest Hauth and William Mollenhour left with the Warsaw truck for Frank O. Rarick,' of > Warsaw, went with the department. The Warsaw pumper returned to Warsaw at 11 o’clock. The Warsaw pumper was hooked on to Syracuse’s w’ater supply two blocks distant from the fire and pumped j steadily for over three hours. A linotype, owned by the Syracuse Journal was saved through the 1 heroic efforts of Warsaw fire-fight-j ers. Combined efforts of the Milford, Syracuse, North Webster and Warsaw fire departments confined the major fire damage to the Pickwick block and were instrumental in saving many individual pieces of equipment throughout the block. Approximately 1,500 feet of hose ' (Continued’ on Page Bix) Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima Killed 78J50 (By United Pres*) Tokyo, Feb. 2.—-The atomic bomb i dropped on Hiroshima Caused 306,i 545 casualties, including 78,150 ; deaths, an official report released by supreme Allied headquarters said today. The report said 13,983 persons still are missing and 9,428 were seriously injured by the blast from the ■ first atomic bomb in history. Another 27,997 men and women . I suffered minor injuries. The report said that 176,987 persons surviving the explosion were | considered “general sufferers,” or persons who suffered from sickness, ■ minor injuries, or lack of homes, food or clothing after the bombing.

the air, permitting the blast force to escape.” ' Hearing Later Restored. Kietel said Hitler’s arm was injured, his hearing and power of speech destroyed temporarily. Some five months later Hitler underwent -an operation by the same surgeon who operated on Kietel and Jodi, and the fuehrer’s hearing was restored. _ , , , He said that after Hitlers staff assembled for .the conference, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg was presented to Hitler and placed a bnef case on the floor beside the conference table to shake hands. “Just at that moment the telephone rang,” Keitel said. “It was for Stauffenberg. He spoke a few moments, then turned and asked the fuehrer to excuse him, §ince he had been recalled urgently to his head- , quarters.” “ Stauffenberg rushed out, leaving the briefcase, which no one noticed. Then the bomb went off. Other information in Allied hands J (Continued on Page Six)