The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 1

Hundreds in Bossier City, La. Killer twisters ravage southern states Memberi of the Don Bolyer family salvage belongings from the kitchen of their home, left roofless by Bossier City tor- By United Press International An unusual late-autumn tornado ravaged Bossier City, Sunday, causing an estimated $100 million in damage and leaving 1,500 people homeless. But city officials considered the death count of two to be miraculously low. "He (God) must have been with us," Mayor Marvin Anding said. "I can't believe we had only two deaths with the miserable, miserable mess we have out there." The tornado that touched down at 1:50 a.m.

Sunday was one of a series that struck scattered communities in northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas and western Mississippi. Four people died, more than 200 were injured and hundreds of homes and other buildings were damaged or destroyed. National Guardsmen armed with rifles and billy clubs patrolled Bossier City, where a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed. To prevent another outbreak of looting, the city was closed to all except residents and emergency personnel. Two sisters, aged IS and 8, died when a car blew through their bedroom window and crushed them.

Their parents were among the 34 people Injured seriously In the city. Another fatality was reported at Heflin, a small fanning community near Bossier City where six people were injured. In El Dorado, about 100 miles to the northeast, a tornado swept out of a storm about 3:30 a.m., killing Lurlene Helms, 53, and injuring six people, including five members of her family. The winds drove a dozen pine and oak trees into the Helms' small frame house, police said. At least four tornadoes touched down in the Mississippi communities of Rena Lara and Poppersville.

One person was injured, two house trailers were overturned and several buildings damaged. Still more tornadoes ravaged Taylortown, and Marianna, Ark. Bossier City clearly was the scene of the worst destruction. Authorities said the death toll might have been much higher if Louisiana Downs race track, which ended its season 'one week earlier, had been open. The Best Western Motel in Bossier City was demolished in the twister and.the nearby Sheraton Bossier Inn heavily damaged.

Had the race track been open, both would have been packed with tourists. Former Salinan unhurt in twister The family of Mrs. Ilene Hartley, a former Salinan who lives in Bossier City, has received word that she was not injured in the tornado. According to Mrs. Hartley's mother, Mrs.

William Kurtz, 904 Custer, her daughter called her brother, Jack McGeary, 756 Sherman, Sunday afternoon to say that she was all right but that her new car was smashed. "It took all of the windows out of the apartment complex where she lives and tore off part of the roof," said Mrs. Kurtz. "We're just thankful she is okay." Twister's playthings Automobiles were tossed about like jackstraws, and buildings like the apartment house in background leveled when a tornado struck Bossier City, leaving $100 million in damage behind. (UPI Photos) 15 CENTS The HOME EDITION Salina Journal 107th YEAR No.

338 SALINA, KANSAS, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4,1978 24 Pages House GOP likes Lady Freezing drizzle which fell over the weekend in Salina left tree limbs and fences encrusted with Icy wonderland crystal-clear ice. When the sun came out, this pasture was turned into a glittering display of winter's beauty. For another picture, see Page 10. (Journal Photo by Bob Kelly) Big storm bypassed us (Detailed forecasts, Page 11) massive winter storm system which was supposed to dump four to six inches of snow over northern Kansas last weekend moved just to the north of the area, sparing most of the state from substantial snowfall. Although many stations around the state reported traces of snowfall late Saturday and early Sunday, the only accumulations were in the Northwest.

St. Francis received total snowfall of about four inches Friday night and Saturday, Goodland reported three inches and Smith Center had about an inch. Skies cleared over most of the state Sunday, though temperatures remained extremely cold. Goodland's temperature dropped to one above early Sunday morning to set a record for Dec. 3.

The old mark was four above. Salina's temperature reached 26 Sunday, dropping to an overnight low of 17 Monday morning. High temperatures over most of the state were in the mid- 208 Sunday. While the storm skipped past most of Kansas, it did not miss Nebraska. Accumulations totaled up to 14 inches in northeast Nebraska and roads over most of the state were still ice-covered and snowpacked Monday morning.

Roads in Kansas were near normal Monday, although the Highway Patrol reported some isolated icy spots, mostly on secondary roads. Skies will be partly cloudy to cloudy Monday night and Tuesday with highs Tuesday reaching into the 40s around the state. Lows Monday night should be in the upper teens to low 20s. TOPEKA, Kan. (UPI) Newly elected Republicans in the Kansas House Monday nominated Rep.

Wendell Lady of Overland Park as Speaker of the House during the selection of leaders for the coming legislative session. A vote was set later Monday among both Democrats and Republicans for the official election of speaker. However, the GOP majority ensures that Lady will be the Speaker during the 1979 session. Lady who has served as House minority leader for the past two years defeated Rep. Carlos Cooper of Bonner Springs by a 37-32 margin.

Members of both parties met in Topeka during Legislative Organization Day to choose leadership for the com- ing session, which starts in early January. In other elections, Rep. Robert Frey, R-Liberal, defeated Rep. Ben Foster of Wichita for majority leader. On the third ballot, Frey tallied 40 votes to 29 for Foster.

Rep. John Stitis of Manhattan withdrew from the three-way race after he trailed on the second ballot. Rep. R.E. Arbuthnot of Haddam defeated two other GOP contenders for the nomination as House Speaker pro tern.

On the third ballot, Arbuthnot defeated Harold Dyck of Hesston and Rex Crowell of Longton. Final vote totals were Arbuthnot 37, Dyck 28 and Crowell 4. Rep. Fred Weaver, D-Baxter Springs, defeated Rep. Phil Lamed for House minority leader.

The vote was 36 to 19. Rep. James Holderman of Wichita was elected assistant minority leader, defeating Rep. Mike Glover of Lawrence on a second ballot 33-21. Rep.

Don Mainey of Topeka was elected minority whip, defeating Bill Wisdom of Kansas City, by a 31 to 24 vote. The Senate did not meet because it is organized for four years. Home fires fatal Inside today Area News 18 Comics 23 Courts 11 Crossword 16 Deaths 11 Fam. Circus ..17 Hospitals 11 Local 10,11 Opinion Sports Thosteson. ....11 4 13-16 24 ....19 Weather 11 Women 8,9 HOUSTON (UPI) A fast-moving fire, possibly started by a leaking hose illegally rigged to provide gas for heat, broke out early Monday in a ghetto home killing nine members of one family including six children.

Arson investigators said four members of the family escaped the blaze which broke out at about 2 a.m. "It apparently started from the gas," an investigator said. "The meter had been removed and they had used a radiator hose to get the gas directly to the house. Their service had been dis- connected." The dead were identified as Carol Boyd, 28 Gloria Boyd, 29; Carl Boyd, 22; Charles Boyd, Daniel Boyd, Willie Boyd, Paula Boyd, 10; Shante Boyd, 4, and Kimberly Boyd, 5. MAYVILLE, Mich.

(UPI) Three persons were killed and six others injured early Monday when fire destroyed a house, authorities said. The dead were Dennis Grimshaw, owner of the home, his teen-age daughter, Karen, and Rick Putnam, a teenage friend of the family. Luxurious Southern Crescent derails Flushed with anger over test schedule BALTIMORE (UPI) Women students at a dormitory at the College of Notre Dame, who said they opposed exams scheduled as late as'three days before Christmas, flushed 68 toilets at once temporarily shutting down the building's sanitary facilities. Students at Doyle Hall synchronized their watches and flushed all toilets Sunday night simultaneously to protest the scheduled exam week, which ends Dec. 22.

There was no flooding but the -toilet facilities were not working Monday, students said. Dear Sal: I didn't know they offered college-level courses in toilet-training. Yours, Ina ELMA, Va. (UPI) The luxurious Southern Crescent, queen of America's passenger trains, derailed in rural Virginia Sunday, its gleaming silver cars, in a wild tumble down a steep embankment, piled on top of each other like toys. At least six people were killed and as many as 60 others injured, five critically.

A Crescent cook, Roosevelt Martin, was in the kitchen and had just begun to prepare breakfast bacon, eggs and sausage, bran muffins and grits over the train's wood stoves. Suddenly, three of the train's four locomotives and all eight passenger cars jumped the tracks near Elma, a rural town halfway between Charlottesville and Lynchburg. Martin, 26, was treated for minor injuries. Among the passengers up early, savoring the warm odors from the was Edward Franklin Shaw, 14, of Wilmington, who was on the train with his sister and a friend. He was walking through the dining car and was killed in the wreck.

The dining car was split in half. Two cooks were trapped beneath the stove. One of them Lewis Price, of Atlanta, died. The other, Med Haynes, of Atlanta, was the last person pulled from the wreck more than 11 hours later. The dining car and the baggage car were telescoped and rolled down the embankment, parallel to the track.

A sleeping car plunged into the dining car perpendicularly. Rescue crews worked throughout Sunday, at times in a driving rain, to remove the dead and dying, some of them pinned under the twisted metal. Rescue efforts were hampered by the rugged terrain and the steep embankment, which dropped sharply from the tracks into a 40-foot gully. The wreck is about two miles from the nearest highway. The University of Virginia Hospital identified three of the other dead as Howard Lewis Jackson, 57, of Alexandria, a flagman on the train; and Jackson Homer Hume, 60, and his wife Edith Carol Hume, 58, of Madison Heights, Va.

The name of the sixth victim, a woman whose body was severed by the train's wheels, was not immediately available. The whole idea behind the Crescent, the last of America's long-distance privately owned passenger trains, has been to keep alive a dying tradition of quality passenger service. Since 1926 the Crescent has plied the rails between Washington and New Orleans. Its dining car, with silver tableware and pitchers, was its trademark. It had crisp, white linen tablecloths, fresh carnations on each table, and excellent Southern cuisine.

Where six died Rescue workers clamber over wreckage of the Southern Crescent, which derailed Sunday near Elma, Va. At least 60 were hurt in addition to the fatalities..