St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

(1 On Today's Editorial Page the fanate llundert Twk Choices For The Uglflaturci Ill FO FINAL 2:50 P.M. Nw York Stocks Poges 7D and 80 Vol. 100, No. 205 THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1971 15 -4- What Canied MMe9 Fatal Fall? eiLo SPATCH sky By ANN TELTHORST and ROBERT KELLY Of the Post-Dispatch Staff A safety engineer at Six Flags Over Mid-America amusement park near Eureka said today that it might take two weeks to determine precisely what caused a Sky Train cable car to plunge 75 feet to the ground Wednesday, killing three persons and seriously injuring a fourth. Bob Garrison of Dallas, chief rider engineer for the Six Flags said the trou Jpt'J.

-i tense rain and wind storm struck the park 15 minutes after the last of the stranded passengers was taken down by firemen using a "cherry-picker" rescue unit and aerial ladders. The storm caused no damage at the park. Six Flags officials said the cause of the accident will not be known until safety and mechanical inspectors for the corporation owning the amusementpark join Robert Garrison of Dallas, Six Flags corporate rides engineer, to complete the investigation. Another corporate' rides engineer, who was said to be vacationing in South America, also was called to investigate, officials said. The accident occurred shortly after the cable car began its ride toward the western end of the park.

The car fell when it reached the first large support tower, which has a steel support beam with rollers for the cable. The steel beam normally is parallel to the cable, but it suddenly snapped straight up, apparently causing the cable car to break loose. The cable itself was not damaged, and about 16 other cars remained in the air. The ride has a total of 28 cars, but several were not in the air at the time. They were awaiting more passengers at either end of the ride.

Kochan said all of the rides at the park are checked daily for safety problems. None was found at the Sky Ride when it was checked Wednesday morning, he said. "Nothing like this has ever happened he said. Kochan" said about 15 million persons have been on the ride Sf c-q 'V I ble spot apparently was in the so-called pivot box atop one of the Sky Ride's three large support towers. Killed in the accident were Trisha Weeks, 10, daughter of Mr.

and Mrs. Richard F. Weeks, 1839 Lone Trail Lane, Chesterfield; Kristen Johnson, 15, daughter of Fred Johnson of Barre, and Clark Freeman Johnson, 25, of Ri-vesville, W.Va. The two girls were cousins, and Johnson was their uncle. In critical, but stable, condition after almost two hours of surgery Wednesday night at St.

Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood was Jennine Weeks, 12, Trisha's sister. Jennine suffered multiple injuries and was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit after surgery. Meanwhile, St. Louis County police began a separate investigation of the accident. Police Superintendent G.H.

Kleinknecht said he wants to know why Six Flags officials waited two hours to notify county police of the accident. The accident occurred about 2 p.m. and county police were not notified until 4 p.m., he said. A Six Flags security chief acknowledged the delay today and said he accepted responsibility for it, police said. He reportedly told police that it was an oversight that they were not notified immediately.

The fatalities were the first at the park in southwest St. Louis County, which opened in 1971. The Sky Ride, a cable-car ride that traverses the park was one of the park's original rides. After the the accident, firemen from 12 St. Louis County fire departments worked for up to four hours to rescue about 35 other persons stranded in 16 cars on the ride high over the park.

The aid came none too soon. An in Ji Trisha Weeks Killed in crash 'i' 1 Jennine Weeks Injured in accident tT--. jfHh" after it fell. Another person is attempting to aid one of the victims. FALLEN CAR: Two security officers at Six Flags near the Sky Ride cable car shortly See INQUIRY, Page 4 Stranded Gondola Riders Tell Of Terror, Shock And Calm iff lit But Hoffmann's courage faded and Miss Adkins' quick ride turned into a two-hour one when the cable car that separated theirs on the Sky Ride cabie -plunged to the ground, killing tnree persons and critically injuring a fourth.

Hoffmann and his wife, Joyce, and Miss Adkins and her friend, Tammy Mounce, were among about 35 persons who bad to wait as long as four hours to be rescued by firemen. "I was just beginning to feel comfortable on the ride and then it jerked," said Hoffmann, 44. "At first there was a By ANN TELTHORST Of toftst-Dispatch Staff "yy Robert Hoffmann of Troy, is afraid of heights. So he was really feeling proud of himself Wednesday afternoon as he and his wife were completing second ride on the Sky Ride cable car that reaches heights of 100 feet. Dawn Adkins of Robertsville, had just applied for a job at a restaurant near the Six Flags Over Mid-America amusement park when she and a friend decided to take one quick ride on the Sky Ride before going home.

ii i Stay's Testimony Sought In Alleged Plot On Dr. King tremendous jolt and then the car bounced up and down." Hoffmann, whose back was to the falling car, at first wondered what happened. Their car, only about 12 feet from the victims' car, was moving toward It "I saw it snap and then saw a boy on the ground with blood all over his face," said Mrs. Hoffmann, 30, who was facing the car. "I was afraid we were going to fall next." Dawn, 15, and Tammy, 17, both had their backs to the car that fell and didn't really know what happened.

"I was scared tc-death," Miss Adkins said. "I thought we were falling." She said she and Miss Mounce grabbed each other but did not panic. One of the firemen who helped rescue several persons, Chesterfield assistant chief Clifford Biele, noted that "everyone was pretty cooperative and there was no panicking." Miss Mounce said she heard the car fall but did not hear any sounds at all from the victims. "Everybody was quiet," Miss Adkins added. Hoffmann said the stillness of the crowd was "amazing." "I couldn't see or hear any hysteria at all," Hoffmann said.

He noted that the other stranded persons seemed to be praying, as he and his wife were. Hoffmann said he was afraid until workmen securely fastened the cable. "I felt that with the pressure on the cable, it could twist around or fall, especially if it developed a lot of slack." But his concerns were eased when he saw workmen frantically gathering equipment to secure the cable. "Three men crawled up (the support tower) and tied a chain around the cable and se- See STRANDED, Page 7 local By GERALD M. BOYD I and J.

PULITZER Of the Post-Dispatch Staff WASHINGTON A House commit-tee investigating the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King is seeking the testimony of James Earl Ray as a result of allegations by Russell G. Byers of Rock Hill that Byers was offered to kill King, the Post-Dispatch has learned. Sources close to the investigation said that testimony this spring by Byers, 46, of the 9300 block of Fredric Court, had raised questions among committee members of a conspiracy to kill King.

But Mark Lane, an attorney for Ray, said Ray had never had any dealings Byers and had never been questioned about the alleged offer. He said sports also that the Byers' allegations were leaked to promote the idea of a conspiracy and thus shift attention from the Fedeal Bureau of Investigation, which Lane contends is involved in the King killing. Ray is serving a 99-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the shooting death of King on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. Since pleading guilty, however, Ray has denied responsiblity for King's assassination and has asked repeatedly for a new trial. Byers testified that he turned down the offer by two men from Imperial, in late 1966 or early 1967, sources said.

Byers said the men offered him the money in behalf of a group of conservative businessmen who wanted King silenced as a civil rights leader, the sourc-See KING, Page 7 features Sky Ride car. Three of the persons in the car were killed and a fourth was injured critically. (Photos by William Monroe) LIFESAVINO ATTEMPTS: Unidentified customers at the amusement park frantically at-tempting to help the occupants in the fallen UE Gets Clean-Air Delay; Illinois Challenge Likely However, the commission's decision NOT FOR YEARS: Test-tube baby conceptions are years away in the United States, St Louis doctors predict, as medical and religious leaders here give their views on the English test-tube experiment. Page IB BROCK IS BACK: Lou Brock, almost a forgotten man this season, delivered the winning hit for the Cardinals Wednesday as they defeated the San Francisco Giants. Page ID '4 inside 56 Pages THE MASTER'S GARDEN: The Impressionist master, Claude Monet, found his later years' inspiration in the French countryside near his home.

His work of that period is hanging in an exhibition that will open Aug. 1 at the Art Museum and is discussed in CALENDAR. Page 2C By BECKY McREYNOLDS Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Federal and Illinois authorities and a private group may challenge a decision Wednesday by the Missouri Air Conservation Commission allowing Union Electric Co. a variance on air emission standards. The variance, approved 4-3 by the commission, will allow Union Electric to continue operating at its current level of sulfur dioxide emissions at its Labadie and Portage des Sioux facilities.

Union Electric representatives had argued that meeting the state emission regulations would be too costly and would result in an increased cost to consumers of 15 to 25 percent. Herman Leibovich, assistant manager for public information for Union Electric, said Wednesday night: "The Air Conservation Commission recognized that the extremely high cost of compliance was not commensurate to the benefit to the public of the air quality. A Union Electric spokesman said Wednesday "the extremely high cost of compliance would not produce comparable public benefit in air quality." may not be the final word on, the variance. The issue could end up in federal court if the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Coalition for the Environment or the Illinois attorney general's office, all intervenors in the variance proceedings decide to appeal the commission's ruling. All three groups have indicated a court appeal of the variance is under consideration; Illinois authorities had contended that the emissions were polluting air heavily on their side of the river.

In addition, the federal Environmental Protection Agency must approve the variance before it will waive penalties scheduled to go into effect next year, a spokesman for Union Electric said Wednesday. Union Electric representatives had indicated that such penalties would be high enough to drive the company into bankruptcy, Leibovich said. John Levis, commission chairman, and the member who cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the said the commission voted also to re-See CLEAN AIR, Page 7 Air IJ POI.OJSIATCM WEATHER BIRO rs i Business up Calendar 1-20C Classified Advertising t-16D, HA Editorials 2B Everyday 1-1IE News Analysts 3B Obituaries ID People IA Reviews 4E St. Laufa IB Spurts I 1-5D TV-Radio 8E Weeders and Seeders 5E in todav POST-DISPATCH southwest area news in sections A LONGEST LINES: Glenn Ford has made more than 200 movies, but none had so many lines for him as a coming four-hour TV drama. Page IE WEIRDO: A rockn' roll drummer who has never tried drugs.

That's the real dope. Page 2E f'.