St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 39

Aug. 12. 1955 2D ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH The New Films Embezzler and His Fugitive Family Bank Teller Hid Out in Dingy One-Room House With Wife, 3 Children Until He Was Caught By Standlsh Contract Bridge By Ely Culberfion i ARTT hlch Pens he PAGEANT and RICH- lyl MOXD THEATERS tonight, not only is a heart- sensitive and touching film. It is an ex ploration into a subject which Hollywood has hitherto shunned on realistic terms.

Several astute and progressive producers, among them Darryl Zanuck and Dore Schary. haven't hesitated to plunge outspokenly into controversial themes, but these have always had a dramatic excitement. But few producers, if ever, have had the courage to present an example of some of the many THE hand below offers striking contrast of shrewd defense vs. bad declarer's play. North, dealer.

Neither side vulnerable. VJ63 AJ10974 KQJ NORTH A98743 82 A753 Q5 Q108752 10964 SOUTH I 4 I 1 By Virginia Irwin A Sff Corrctpondtnt of Th Fost-Dispttch. NEW YORK, Aug. 12. WHILE his luck held, John Calvin Siemer had a source of ready cash.

Authorities charge that whenever he wanted money, mostly to indulge his passion for playing the ponies, he simply took it from the West Brighton branch of the Staten Island i.VY.) National Bank Trust Co. A teller and trusted employe of the bank, John found it so easy to transfer bank funds to his own pocketbook that he embezzled an estimated $93,780 before he lost his nerve and decided last September 28 to disappear. With some of the same luck that enabled him to dip without detection into the bank's till, 23-year-old Siemer pulled a disappearing act along with his whole family that lasted for 10 months. He might still be dodging authorities but for a strange quirk of fate that led the FBI to the family's hideout in South Amherst, on July 20. Siemer's ur doing came, not as a result of the unrelenting search by the law, but through the exceptional memory of an Ohio housewife who recognized Mrs.

Henrietta Siemer as a person hose picture had appeared in the account of some theft in New York. The housewife called the FBI in Cleveland and the FBI, with little further trouble, picked up Siemer who still had some $25,000 of the stolen money hidden in a suitcase in the attic of the cheap one-room cinder block house where he, his wife and three children had been living for some time in the little town just 35 miles west of Cleveland. Returned to New York after his capture in Ohio, Siemer pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to an indictment charging two counts of embezzlement and one 9f making false entries. Unable to raise bail set at $35,000 he is set to stand trial on August 17. If convicted he faces a maximum of 15 years' imprisonment and $15,000 fine.

Mrs. Siemer, expecting her fourth child within a matter of weeks, has been released in $1000 bail to await the action of the Federal Grand Jury on a charge that she accompanied her husband while he had part of the stolen money in his possession. Siemer's alleged $93,780 theft and baffling 10 months disappearance with his family provided Staten Island banking circles with the biggest shocker since another embezzler, Rich band and their three children. Bare mattresses, without springs, were placed on the floor of the one room partitioned by a curtain. But there was a television set and an electric icebox, which was virtually empty except for a store of frozen waffles.

Water came from a well on the porch and the toilet was outside. Occupying the one-room house ith the Siemers and their three children were six mongrel dogs and a pair of chinchillas, costing $1300 each, which Siemer hoped to breed. While in jail in Cleveland after his arrest, Siemer told FBI men that he helped himself to ihe bank's money because ef little things like the bank's refusal to raise him $5 a week. He denied however that he took anything like the amount he is charged with lifting. "It never got that high," he insisted.

"I'll confess right here if they want me to, but it never got that high." Siemer admitted that he started taking money "to make a bet on the horses." "After that it was easy," he said. "I took bank money and made bets everywhere Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island usually with the Dookies, but once in a while 1 got to the races. When I was $7000 short in July (1954) I really had to manipulate not to be found out." SIEMER is said to have admitted that he took $30,000 on his last day at the bank. Where the additional $50,000 went would then be a mysteny a mystery broadly hinted at by Siemer's attorney in the pleading for bail reduction for Siemer. "Someone else has taken advantage of this young man's position," Richard Reigi, the attorney, said.

"Someone else has taken $25,000 to $30,000 of the amount he is accused of having embezzled." While awaiting outcome of the case, the Siemer young ones and Mrs. Siemer are living with her parents in Fair Lawn, N.J. Said Mrs. Siemer as she awaits the hirth of her fourth child: "I'm glad that it is all over. But I am fearful of the future.

I didn't know anything about the stolen money until that morning last September when my husband told me he was going to run away with a lot of the bank's money." Said Mrs. Siemer's mother, Mrs. Edward K. Bacon: "It's just too bad, since he took the money, he didn't spend some of it on his family, giving them some of the things they never had." If convicted on the three counts with which he is charged, 23-ycar-old John Siemer stands to spend 15 years in jail, during which time he will have ample opportunity to consider that people living dull, aimless lives made drab by their own paucity of stimulation, intelligence or Imagination, and to touch the spark of sentiment, sadness, poignancy and humor therein. Hollywood has been a land of heroes either handsome or virile or gay.

No hero, unless comic, Is fat or bald-headed. If the hero or heroine in a romantic story wears glasses, he or she usually removes them after a few scenes. If the heroine is an ugly duckling, lo, she is transformed Into a physically radiant creature by the denouement. A background of poverty or lower-middle class plainness is usually immediately enlivened by violence, crime or other dire melodramatic approach, by the Cinderella story, or a sudden rise of the hero to success and affluence. Very few writers and directors have ever faced the depicting of monotonous lives with any sort of candor.

Paddy Chayefsky did in his television drama, "Marty," and, also doing the screen play with Delbert Mann's perceptive direction, has transformed it into a small-scale, intimate and quite real film, keeping Intact all its validity and honesty. Marty, as wonderfully played by Ernest Borgnine, whose specialty heretofore has been brutal heavies, is a 84-year-old bachelor, a butcher of Italian descent living in the Bronx, a pudgy, plain, inarticulate and very kind-hearted man. Marty lives a life of loneliness. Girls don't go for Marty. He has no glibness nor "line" nor looks to attract them.

When he's not at home with his mother after work, he has a boring existence hanging around the neighborhood beer tavern or making exploratory forays to dance halls with his tinhorn friends. His pals are unstimulating desultory talk of "what'll we do tonight?" the discouraging business of trying to line up some dames for the evening, a listless leering through girly picture magazines. Then, at the Stardust dance hall, Marty meets a plain girl who also Is lonely. She Is a school-teacher over 30, as unattractive outwardly as he is, who has been ditched by her date who describes her ungallantly as a "dog." The girl, played with fine Insight by Betsy Blair, has an Intelligence, inner warmth and sensitivity which are smothered under lack of personality and confidence. Their mutual attraction Is immediate.

Their excitement and joy at the contact with a kindred spirit make them gush with pathetic and amusing eagerness and foolishness as they come out of their shells. And this Is shadowed with a touching dread this thing might not really be so. Marty's empty world has become lighted. Their radiance is from within. Chayefsky, In his depiction of Bronx life surrounding Marty, has given us the same gentle but unrelentingly real and unadorned picture of a social pattern.

There are some sidelights on old age in people of narrow outlook a whin- Jlub2 JAK94 4653 82 The bidding: North East South West 1 2V Pass 2e Pass Pass 2N.T. Pass 3N.T. Double All pass It is plain that East went in for some pretty fancy maneuvering in this auction. His jump overcall in hearts was standard practice in his system, and known by all the other players to be a weakish call, but his double of three no-trump was a sheer stab, and it was this, no doubt, that sent the declarer so far astray In the play of the hand. Incidentally, South's bidding at any rate, was good.

West opened the nine of spades and East made the very farseeing unblock of the queen on dummy's blank king. South studied the situation, then led the heart jack. East covered, South won, and West discarded a club. Declarer now led a diamond to the nine; East won and returned the spade five. South put in the jack; West won and knocked out South's second spade stopper.

A heart and a club were discarded from dummy on these spade leads. Now South led another diamond and the critical point had arrived. Should he finesse again, or should he play East for an original diamond holding of K-Q? In view of the fact that East would have had a sound one-heart overcall in his system if he had held the club ace, the spade queen and the sixreard heart suit he had shown. South was convinced that West had the ace of clubs, and this made him decide that East's double must have been based on a sure diamond stopper, not on the singleton king. So South went up with the diamond ace and the roof fell in on him.

Down 500. South didn't use good judgment about the opposing distribution. If West had had six spades to the ace and five clubs to the ace, he surely would have made another bid, over the two no-trump. And East's bidding was obviously psychic, with or without the diamond queen. JOHN CALVIN SIEMER WENT INTO EXILE WITH HIS FAMILY AND LIVED MEAGERLY IN ONE-ROOM HOUSE IN SOUTH AMHERST, (INSET) BETTING ON HORSE RACES STARTED IT.

fJ J-- v. I 3 Mi? Jr customer in the shop recognized Henrietta from a newspaper picture, despite the fact that Mrs. Siemer had dyed her hair in an effort to change her appearance, and the jig was up. FBI agents, acting on the woman's tip, found the Siemers living in a shell of a house for which they had paid $3500 and on which John had been making repairs. Living under the name of Mr.

and Mrs. Charles Mac-Tavish, both had attempted clumsy disguises Mrs. Siemer by dyeing her hair and her husband by growing a bushy mustache. Siemer had done some work as a real estate salesman and Henrietta Siemer had worked for a time in a dime store in a nearby community. In the dingy one-room home, there was only a one-burner hot plate on which Mrs.

Siemer evidently prepared all the food consumed bv her fugitive hus ing aunt who makes herself hard to live with by her self ard H. Crowe, walked off with pity, selfishness and general social Inadequacy, Marty's own $883,000 from another bank five Crowe gave himself amiable mother who is stabbed with fear of heini? left lnni. ears a 1 and with jealousy even with the first hint that Marty has found a girl he might want to marry. But this slice of life is heartening becau.se of its humanity; utter honesty doesn't have to be depressing. up in Florida.

Another New York bank teller, William G. Gravius, is accused of embezzling $46,000. He reportedly admitted taking to bet on horse races in order to make up an unexplained shortage of $20,000 in his playing the ponies is no way to make a killing, and the best way on earth to lose your shirt. He will also have time to read up on the art of raising chinchillas for profit, which was, from all indications, his latest scheme for making a lot of money with a mimimum of work. baby-sitting with the three Siemer young ones.

In investigating the case after Siemer's disappearance with his family, authorities found reason to believe that the horse-crazy teller started helping himself to the bank's cash as far back as the spring of 1954. In an indictment returned in June it was charged that Siemer took in sums of various amounts by making false entries and then dipped into the till for the whopping sum of $82,080 before he pulled his disappearing act. On September 27 John and Henrietta Siemer made their last known visit to a race track. Siemer's sister put their children to bed that evening and went to sleep herself as soon as the children were quiet. She was awakened the next morning by "the sound of an argument" and rose just in time to see Siemer leaving the apartment with the two oldest children and a suitcase.

Siemer's wife told her sister-in-law that they had decided to go to the lake, and then she too departed with the youngest child. The sister-in-law later told police that she simply assumed her brother and Henrietta and the children were going to visit relatives who own a lakeside cottage. With their departure from the Stapleton home, the Siemers simply disappeared. Bank officials believe that a call they received on the morning of September 28 came from Mrs. Biemer.

The woman said: "I just want to tell you that John overslept; the alarm didn't go off." Because Johnny was a trusted employe, the officials thought nothing of the call. But an hour later when Johnny was still missing, they looked in his The Retarded Child By Frances M.D. and Louise Ames, Ph.D. NVESTIGATION at the time of Siemer's disappearance established pretty thoroughly I th Gtitll Instltutt of Child Development HOW does a family react when it has been given the grave diagnosis that one of its members is mentally retarded? Each, of course, reacts in its own way, but there are many problems and concerns which all such fami MRS. SIEMER WAS RECOGNIZED BY HOUSEWIFE IN CLEANING SHOP.

cash box and got the shock of their banking lives. Instead of the $102,000 the box should have contained, there remained just $20,000, they reported. After the alarm was sounded, police and FBI found something strange a wad of $5500 in bills discovered by Ellenbeth in the Siemer icebox. It still is not known whether the absconding teller forgot this part of his loot or left it in the icebox to delude the authorities into thinking he would return for the money. FOR 10 months John and Henrietta Siemer, along with their youngsters, John 5 years old, Mark, 3, and Claire, 2, successfully evaded recognition.

Then one day last month in South Amherst, where they had settled down, Henrietta walked into a dry cleaning shop to pick up a pair of John's pants. A CRAIG THE FINEST J5 that the young teller had for some time been betting on the ponies far beyond what he could afford on his $60-a-week salary. According to investigators, he not only bet with the bookies but was a frequent visitor with his wife to various tracks where he generally patronized the $50 window. But aside from this splurging at the tracks, the Sie-mers lived simply in a sparsely furnished four-room home in Stapleton on Staten Island. When Mrs.

Siemer accompanied her bank teller husband to the tracks, Sieier's 17-year-old sister, Ellenbeth, who lived with them, took care of the chore of lies share. One such mother tells us: "One thing you can be sure of. When you throw the shock of the discovery that a child is mentally re-tarted into a family, some sort of overt problem is going to arise, sooner or later, out of the psychological turmoil which results. Knowing this, some authorities seem to think psychiatric care for the whole family a must. But Rafular Stori Hours 9:30 to 5:30 COMPLETELY AIR CONDITIONED 809 SOUTH BRENTWOOD AT CLAYTON ROAD Open Mondays and Fridays Until 1.30 p.

m. A Designing Woman Long, Lean Look in Sofas By Elizabeth Hillyer COMBINATION OFFER! EW sofas stay long, and lean, and off-the-floor, but they have a special luxury look. Brain Game YOU should be able to skip right through this quiz. Six correct answers is excellent. 1.

From which country did we get the tango? 2. What country originated the Highland ling? 3. The waltz originated in what country? 4. The Mazurka is associated with which country? 5. Which country originated the 6.

Is the Poloralse French or Polish? 7. In which country did the Roger De Coverley originate? 8. Where did the Minuet originate? ANSWERS. 1. Argentina.

2. Scotland. 3. Germany. 4.

Poland. 5. Italy. 6. Polish.

7. England. 8. France. Jfetei the dcoop id wan The plainness is gone from many top trendmakers.

It disappears with fine details, as in these three. At top, with artfully simple stitching and back shaping; at center with quilting, extra cushions, and a carved and caned frame; below, with sculptured wood parts showing, separated back cushions and unusual fabric pattern. Fabrics play a big part and are elegant, although they may be widely different, as are the quilted velvet, center, and the printed linen, below. New fashion moves past the or serving Ice treom fancy deuerts salads mohed potatoes cottage cheest vegetables. In fact anytime an attractive serving Is desired.

This as this seems entirely impossible to provide, let us hope that simpler measures can help, and try to Invent and apply them." ONE SUCH SIMPLE MEASURE has already been de-Vised, as some of you know. The November 1954 issue of the Training School Bulletin, Vineland, N.J., reports the following. The Department of Institutions and Agencies in New Jersey as long ago as 1943 initiated a program of home training to help parents who had retarded children living at home. The hope of this program was that by bringing a "home teacher" into these homes, parents could be given aid and understanding in taking care of such children at home, and help in understanding just what the problem of having a mentally retarded child really meant. In the experiment, the home teacher soon found that practically all parents needed some kind of help and that her visits were most welcome.

Despite the fact that such parents had usually seen countless doctors and had talked to many professional people about mental deficiency, they still often found it hard to comprehend the full meaning of this term in relation to their particular child. THE HOME TEACHER CAN HELP a great deal here. She can usually obtain copies of the psychological and other reports and can explain them fully to the mother. She can help the mother to come to a full acceptance of just how much she can and cannot eventually expect of her child. She can help the mother with the self-help training which Is necessary for these children.

Sometimes mothers find it hard to teach self-help effectively or need encouragement to continue this often tiring training. full size, professional type scoop Is tasy to use and easy to clean. Sturdy plastic handle Is available in black or red. Nowl for on week only, you can get a half gallon of "sweet cream formula" Velvet Freeze ice cream and a professional scoop for less than the regular cost of the scoop alone. FROM NINE TO FIVE By Jo Fischer Special ai ONE WEEK ONLY Scoop Half Gallon THE NEWEST IN FASHION.

recent point where a large seating piece was so often a well-tailored slab with minimum back and arms. Pattern and outline shape are important there's no more counting on color alone to help decorate the room. The new sofas are very decorative pieces in themselves. Foam rubber still does its fine job of minimizing bulk, but other fillings and springs take new ways of handling the problem, and there's even some increasing favor for down. The surest way to keep your home out-of-date is to keep it in year-bef ore-yesterday colors.

Send today for Elizabeth Hill-yer's bopklct "Color Schemes for Every Room" and learn how to choose a color scheme and how to make it work. Address Miss Hillyer at the Post-Dispatch and enclose 15c in coin, please, with a stamped, self-addressed envelope. My Neighbor Says: Ever serve spicy prunes with cold meats? Delicious witii ham and smoked tongue! Just cook the prunes with stick cinnamon, whole cloves and thinly sliced lemon slices. Add sugar to taste and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to develop. Ever marinate ripe olives In garlic-flavored French dressing? After draining the olives, before serving, the dressing may be used in a salad.

REG. $3.10 VALUE 1 mVI ice ctgamr $149 SHE CAN ALSO HELP by showing the parent how to teach the child such simple things as how to cut, color and trace. She can demonstrate ways to teach colors, number recognition and concepts, and simple crafts. She can, in many instances, try to arrange that a retarded child have at least some opportunity to get together with other retarded children. Often normal children, whether siblings or neighbors, are not too much Interested In playing, for long, with retarded children.

Thus it is very important to arrange that the handicapped child have social opportunities with other children who will enjoy him and whom he will enjoy. In some instances, the home teacher ran even be Instrumental in seeing that community classes are arranged for these children. Such classes are most important and should exist In every community. We hope to see the day 'hen not only such classes but also home teachers are available wherever retarded children are to be found. Velvet tyteee Sfoiel ICI CREAM (jj 1 "YOU MIGHT SAY MY HUSBAND IS RETIRED.

HI NEVER HAD A JOI." it-ii if lift fT iftfcAjf fm-ae lT Ti it ilSn- litiift ASur rf P-i-fPltt---t, ftrtiA ft.