Lebanon Daily News from Lebanon, Pennsylvania • Page 40

Pay 40 Lebanon, Friday, Decmibtr 15,1972 Notes From A Newsman's Notebook By TED GRESS Ah for the life of a writer! No time clocks. No slave-driving boss. Write when you feel like it and take off whenever you want. If that's the picture any of you aspiring writers have of this honorable profession, forget Take the word of one who knows, writing can be a tough, demanding job, particularly if there is a lot of research involved. The writer in this case is Richard Wheeler of Pine Grove, whose third book, "Voices of 1776," recently was published to very favorable reviews, other week I visited him at his cabin located about a mile or two outside of Pine Grove.

We talked about writing and I inquired into his work habits. "Writing 'Voices' wasn't easy," he said. "I worked ten hours a day, seven days a week, and in the process I lost ten pounds. I was.getting awfully tired toward the end. Writing is hard work." Losing that much weight may be a boon to some people but to a guy who weighs only 140 pounds it's more than he can spare.

Wheeler is a slender man who stands five feet, seven and a half inches tall. He wears a neatly trimmed beard. It I gives him a "literary look," but more important it hides the part of his jaw which was badly torn when he was wounded on Mt. Sirubachi I during the battle for Iwo Jima in World War Two. He was a U.S.

Marine corporal fighting to drive the Japanese off the island. After taking the slug in the face which broke the jaw badly and tore away a couple of teeth, he was hit in the leg, and that ended his fighting days. Both wounds have given him a lot of trouble ever since and for some years he was forced to walk with a cane. The jaw never healed properly and he still has trouble chewing. He gets a small disability check from the government and it was a good thing he did when he was trying to eke out a living as a free-lance writer of light verse early in his career.

Let's start at the beginning. He spent his early years in Laureldale, Berks County, and graduated from Muhlenbcrg Township High School. After getting his diploma he went to work on the Reading Shopping Bulle- a giveaway newspaper. Then came World War Two. He enlisted in the Marines.

On his return home from the war he returned to the shopping bulletin, but decided to launch a career as a free-lance writer. He had been interested in writing as long as he could remember. "Writing is all I ever wanted to do," he recalled. "I still have a little thing around that I wrote when I was five years old. I even bound it by sewing it together." Daily NEWS Pkoto TAKING IT EASY Richard Wheeler, of Pine Grove RD 1, is relaxing from a busy period of writing.

Wheeler is the author of "Voices of 1776" an account of the Revolutionary War which took him more than two years to write. Reviews of the book so far have been enthusiastic. ed my head on one partition, he explained that he built it to fit a man of his height. The cabin has one distinction. It has what must be the only inside-outside toilet in existence.

Let rne explain. It is a typical one- holer, neatly made but joined to the wall of a hallway. Access to it is gained from the inside of the cabin by means of an airtight door sealed with felt strips. His kitchen too is on the primitive side. Here there's a claw-footed bathtub.

It doubles as a kitchen table when a hinged plywood top is lowered. Water for drinking and bathing is carried from an adjacent stream which wanders through his land. It may not be a mansion, but it is warm, comfortable and tailored for the use of a man who's busy writing, and doesn't want to waste time on nonessentials. In fact, he said, half apologetically, that most of the time he has a chain stretched across his driveway to discourage visitors. "I call it my unfriendly chain," he said.

"I don't like to do it but it's the only way I can get any work done. "So many people think I have nothing to do but visit. They'll bring out their chess boards or just come to talk because they think I don't have a job." It's been a tough battle since Wheeler decided more than 12 years ago to write light verse for a living. "I had to keep hundreds of them in the mail to eke out a living," he said. "And a lot of times my disability check was the only thing which enabled me to eat." (CONTINUED TOMORROW) He liked the Pine Grove area, so he bought three and a half acres on which he and his mother built a little cottage.

Later on he built a cabin nearby in which he still lives. It is rather primitive by suburbia standards, but very comfortable. Life in the cabin centers around a large but crowded workroom. Here he has his work table, typewriter and copy machine. The walls are lined with books.

The ceilings are rather low, and after I bang- Wild Rider Reg. 14.55 7 99 JCPenney The Christmas Place. OPEN TONIGHT 'TIL 11 P.M. Driver In Crash Flees Stolen Car Jonestown state police recovered a stolen car Thursday after it was involved in an accident on a rural road between Inwood and Lickdale. The driver fled the vehicle on foot and escaped.

Police said the car, a 1967 Buick sedan, was reported stolen to city police at 9 a.m. Thursday by Richard Copenhaver, 538 N. Ninth Lebanon. The vehicle was discovered at about 9 p.m. on Township Route 470.

State police said the driver had apparently failed to follow a right turn in the road and struck two trees before coming to a stop. Anyone who may have picked up a hitch-hiker in that vicinity between 9 a.m. and noon or who may have seen anything suspicious is asked to contact Jonestown state police. Recuperating Mrs. Julius Angela, Cornwall, is a patient in the Lebanon Valley General where she is recuperating after surgery.

"The Greatest Love" See Ad On Page 2 KUGLER'S SEAFOOD 123 Nortfc Sth Special Until Christmas COOKED SHRIMP Friendship Fire Co. Elects Election of officers highlighted a meeting of the Friendship Fire Co. Thursday in the fire hall. New officers are: Stanley Tcmplin, president; Austin Herb, vice president; Paul Krause. secretary; Henry Steckbeck; financial secretary; Ray Krumbine.

treasurer; Ralph Lehman, fire 'chief; Charles Boyer, assistant fire chief; Robert Lehman, hose captain, and Richard Hetrick. chief engineer. Two members were also added to the board of directors. They are Bernard Orner and Joseph Nordai Jr. Other members of the board are George Kunder and Ned Keath.

In other business, 128 new members were accepted bringing total membership for the year to 5,188. Templin, who was re-elected, presided at the meeting. Chief Lehman reported the apparatus responded to one fire in the past month. Coach Charles Klahr presented a trophy from the Lebanon Valley Midget League to the company for its league team. A social hour followed the meeting.

LHS Brass Band Plays For Club A musical program by the Lebanon High School Brass Band was presented Thursday during a meeting of the Kiwan is Club of Lebanon in the Treadway Inn. The band was. under the direction of Larry Arnold. Officials reported the annual 'Christmas party for underprivileged children will be held Thursday, Dec. 21.

E. Irvin Peiffer, a member since 1938, was booster for the day. Bombers Hit Targets In. Viet SAIGON (UPI) -A record number of B52 bombers hit targets in North Vietnam and jet fighter-bombers flew their heaviest raids in more than a month in South Vietnam, military spokesmen said today. About 50 B52s flying in waves of an average three planes each dumped more than 1,400 tons of bombs on lower North Vietnam in the 24 hours ending at noon today, military sources said.

The 16 raids against the North by the big jets were the most ever recorded in the Indochina war. The U.S. command, apparently apprehensive of a Communist military threat to the Saigon area, ordered 324 fighter-bomber strikes South highest single- day raids since the 352 reported Nov. 9, spokesmen said. Spokesmen listed the B52 targets as "enemy supply caches" but other sources said the raids just above the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Vietnams were aimed at Communist troops and war materiel on the move toward South Vietnam.

In the Saigon area, Communist shelling and terror attacks were on the mcrease. To help counter the threat, spokesmen said today, the U.S. Navy has moved the aircraft carrier Ranger from its normal station near the DMZ and ordered it 300 miles south off the coast east of the capital. Military officers said U.S. helicopters today spotted a Communist tank on the move just 40 mfles'north of Saigon.

It was the first tank sighting in that area in about five months. A U.S. fighter-bomber destroyed the T54 tank, they said, but pilots were searching for others in the area. To the southeast only 20 miles northeast of the capital, South Vietnamese troops reported intercepting and killing 10 North Vietnamese soldiers in two separate battles near Tan Uyen district capital. The government soldiers suffered one dead and six wounded.

Communist gunners today fired rockets and mortars at the huge Bien Hoa airbase housing 1,000 U.S. servicemen and at two nearby villages and a fuel storage dump. No Americans died but six villagers were killed. Spokesmen said at least 16 Soviet-made 122mm rockets, each weighing 100 pounds, smashed iito the airbase just outside Saigon. No damage or casualties were reported at the base but two of the rockets slammed into two villages near the facility and killed the civiians.

Space-Age Update Of Old Poem (Continued from page 1) loop there rose such a chatter I sprang from my hammock to see what was the matter. "Down on the breadth of the surface below is the luster of objects as if in snow. "And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature Rover and eight tiny reindeer. And a little old driver so lively and quick I knew a moment it must be Nick. "I heard him exclaim as over the hills did speed Merry Christmas to all, and to yon all, Godspeed." So after he finished it came to our mind: Now THAT'S what has happened to cars left behind.

Hijacker Of Airliner Surrenders MONTREAL (UPI) unemployed construction worker hoping "someone wfll realize now that I need help" hijacked a jet with 62 persom aboard Thursday, but surrendered 10 hours later to his father and a psychiatrist. The hijacker, dressed in an olive drab jacket and slacks against 22-degree below zero temperature, took over the Quebecair plane at the Wabush, Labrador, airport as it prepared to take off with fts 57 passengers and crew of five. Corp. Earl McLeod of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the hijacker, identified as Larry M. Stanford, 21, Saint John, N.B., came to the terminal carrying only a box.

"We don't search people at an airport this size," McLeod said. He said the hijacker took a rifle from the box, ran aboard the plane, and took a stewardess hostage. He ordered the jet flown to Montreal, its scheduled, destiiation, where he allowed' the passengers and a stewardess to get off. The skyjacker then ordered the plane to Ottawa, made a 20-minute stop, and returned to Montreal. There, his father John to Montreal from Wabush in a government jet Montreal psychiatrist, Eh-.

Bruno Cormier, climbed to the top of the boarding stairs and persuaded Stanford to give up his gun and release the four hostages. Report Burglary At Robins' Club City police are investigating a burglary reported Thursday at the Robins' Club, 1001 Willow St. Police said the burglary occurred between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday.

Police reported entry was made through a window on the west side of the building. Vending machines were broken open and the bar area was ransacked. Preliminary inventory indicates the thieves got about $22 from a cigarette machine, from a box in the bar area and a quantity of whiskey valued at $70. Patrolman George Dontori, city police, made the preliminary investigation. Girl Injured In 2-Car Accident A Lebanon girl was injured Thursday evening as the result of a two-car accident on North Seventh Street in the vicinity of Bargaintpwn.

She was identified as Rose Wenrich, 17, 536 Jones St. She was taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital in the First Aid and Safety Patrol ambulance and was treated for a back injury and released. Miss Wenrich was a passenger in a car driven by Lettie M. Lane, 36, Glen Burnie, Md. Police said the Lane car and a vehicle driven by Porfirio Estrada, 32, 627 Elizabeth were traveling south on Seventh Street south of Kimmerlings Road when the mishap occurred.

Damage was estimated at $600 to the Estrada car and $100 to the Lane vehicle. Patrolman Charles Burkholtz of the North Lebanon Township police- investigated the accident. Truman Is 'Very Seriously' III KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI)' Former President Harry Truman, 88, was "semiconscious" today, suffering from a weak heart, congested right lung and blocked kidneys. Doctors shifted their emphasis of concern from his heart to the kidney ailment.

The former president's condition deteriorated to "very serious" Thursday. Doctors said Truman was not placed on the critical list because "his vital signs remain fairly stable." "Kidney output continues to be somewhat inadequate," Research Hospital spokesman Wayne Conary said late Thursday. "The kidney condition is of concern and is being watched very closely for change. It has not responded adequately to medication administered at this time." Northern Lebanon Christmas Concert by The Concert Choir and The Senior Band Dec. 16th, I P.M.

High School Auditorium FREE ADMISSION Given Award Lazin Receives Natl. Recognition The work of Lebanon's Malcolm L. Lazin in helping to uncover and prosecute housing administration frauds in Philadelphia during the last year didn't go unnoticed in the top echelon of the United States Department of Justice. The 29-year-old Lazin received national recognition within the Justice Department Wednesday when he was presented with the department's second highest annual award. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst presented Lazin with the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding work as an assistant United States attorney.

Lazin is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Norman Lazin, 1151 Nowlen St. He has been serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania since July of 1970.

The award included a plaque and $500. The presentation was made In the Great Hall of the Department of Justice in Washington following an hour- long reception for families of top award recipients. Dr. and Mrs. Lazin were among the guests present.

The top award is the Attorney General's Exceptional Award which carries with it a plaque and $1,000. The second category, in which Lazin participated, was given to Justice 'Department employes, two of them assistant U.S. attorneys. The other attorney recipient, from Missouri and for long service with the department, died after the award was announced earlier this month. The citation that accompanied the award to Lazin states: "In recognition for a special service in the public interest which is over and above normal requirements and of outstanding and distinctive character in terms improved operation, addition, Mr.

Lazin has made an exceptionally outstanding contribution in the accomplishment of a major TT criminal investigation nd Geor Guen ther, Women Malcolm L. Lazin Completes Sweep Of Labor Dept. WASHINGTON (UPI) has completed a sweep of top officials in the Labor Department by accepting the resignations of six executives the head of the economically sensitive Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Labor Secretaries W.J. Usery Jr.

and Michael H. Moskow will apparently be the only holdovers in Nixon's second administration. White House Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler said Thursday that the President had accepted the pro forma resignations of these Labor Department officials: Under-secretary Laurence H. Silberman, 0 Assistant Manpower Secretary In Malcolm R.

Lovell Assistant Employment Standards Secretary Richard J. Grunewald, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety nd program. The award in part honored 1 Lazin for the part he played in a probe of the Philadelphia office of the Federal'Housing Administration. His work largely devised and implemented the format for the probe. Lazin went to Washington for the awards ceremony from Seattle, where he was on special assignment.

This assignment is that of instructing the U.S. attorneys in the Seattle area relative to the procedure set up in handling the Philadelphia probe. It is known as the Philadelphia Plan. The award to Lazin was the highest ever received by the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia.

He is also the youngest recipient of the honor. Recipients of the top awards were selected by an incentive awards board that comprised Ralph E. Erickson, deputy attorney general, as board chairman; L. Patrick Gray, acting director of the FBI; Harlington Wood assistant attorney general, civil division; Scott P. Crampton, assistant attorney general, tax division; L.M.

Pellerzi, assistant attorney general for administration, and Kenneth J. Stallo, director of personnel and training. A graduate of Lebanon High School and Lebanon Valley College, Lazin received his law degree from Boston University in 1968. He served his clerkship under Judge G. Thomas Gates.

Prior to becoming an assistant U. S. attorney he was associated with the Housing and Urban Development office in Philadelphia. Bureau Director, Elizabeth D. Koontz and BLS Commissioner Geoffrey H.Moore.

Moore's bureau is responsible for compiling and releasing monthly reports on unemployment and consumer prices. Two years ago when unemployment was over 6 per cent and the consumer price index was the President cancelled the BLS analysis that accompanied the reports. Ziegler said all exceptSilber- man, who had asked for another post in the administration, would be returning to private life. Labor Secretary James D. Hodgson was replaced by New York union chief Peter J.

Brennan Nov. 29. Nixon asked for resignations of cabinet members and other appointed officials the day after his re-election Nov. 7. In other changes announced Ziegler said Kenneth R.

Cole Jr. would head the Domestic Council with new responsibilities for liaison between the White House and officials of local and state governments. The liaison function was handled by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew in the first administration. Ziegler said Nixon was making the change on Agnew's recommendation.

NOTICE THE UNION WATER WORKS FIRE CO. CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY WILL BE HELD ON DEC. 18 At 7 P.M. IN THE FIRE HALL ALL AREA CHILDREN INVITED MINCE PIE SPICE LAYER CAKE FRUITCAKE PUMPKIN PIE HOLIDAY GOODIES Brondy Mince Sandwiches Ro er uIar Belles Cookie Blotk Wolnut Kisses California Nougats Turtles 7, Decorated Honey Boys Dote 1 Nut Bread Michigan Rocks Christmas Stollen Brownies Cherry Winks Toll House CLOSED MONDAYS New Christmas Open Thru Frl, Till 9 P.M. Sat.

THIS P.M..