The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

Weather Mostly sunny and warmer today, fair and not as cold tonight; high today near 40, low tonight in upper 20s. ibmmram City Edition VOL 160 NO. 152 WILMINCTON, DELAWARE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1961 26 Pages 7 Centi ill State Free Eno Costs $11,000, Colombia Bombing Kills 50 Scores of Suspects Held; 110 Injured By Yule Rites Blast Kickb ack Litigation Of Road Fatalities Snow, Ice Curb Travel; Over 15 Hurt in Crashes j0 mMm SSfW' 1 rfr 1 i 'i i CS- ft I I I SF Delaware came through the BOGOTA, Colombia holiday weekend without Scores of suspects were hauled '1 traffic fatality having been reported by early today, de- spite a wintery "gift" of five in for investigation last nighl in the tragic Christmas Eve terrorist bombing among a crowd of 500 worshippers at an army barracks at Buga. At least 50 persons were inches of snow on the high' ways. Delaware, Alaska and Rhode Island had no fatal ities as of early today.

4W i 1 killed and 110 were injured by the blast, officials at Buga said. News dispatches indicated an additional three to 12 persons died of injuries in neighboring Although a total of five inches of snow fell in Delaware's 16th white Christmas since 1894, the greatest amoun aP Wlrephoto on the ground at one time was Thompson's Lavyers, Bove Come to Terms By HARRY TIIEMAL The beach concession kickback case ends today when Robert D. Thompson of Re-hoboth Beach, former state highway commissioner, agrees to pay the state and court costs. Atty. Gen.

Januar D. Bovo Jr. yesterday announced that he and Thompson's attorneys have agreed to three stipulations closing the 16th-month-old battle in two BOVE SAID THE stipulations are: 1. A civil suit filed by the state against Thompson for the recovery of $14,000 is being settled for $10,000 plus costs to be paid by the former commissioner. 2.

Thompson will pay a $1,000 fine on a conviction for nonfeasance in office. 3. A conviction for malfeasance in office is being dismissed. The state charged that Thompson entered into a secret agreement with Alvin E. Sim- about four inches.

-r It MSW I n- liTv liSMiiM a irt-MiIM WMM THE SNOW started falling here about 2:50 Saturday after towns where they were taken for treatment. War Minister Maj. Gen. Rafael Hernandez Pardo said "a few" persons were seized for investigation. But official sources said 80 persons were being held in connection with the blast.

The explosion occurred in the square of an artillery battalion barracks at Buga as a noon and continued until about 9:30 that night. Most of th White House Carolers Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy, wife of the attorney general, and three of her children join with other youngsters in singing Christmas carols yesterday in the East Room of the White House. The occasion was a Christmas panty for orphans.

The Kennedy children are: Joe, standing besido his mother; Courtney and Michael, in front of their mother. The others were guests at the party. Mornlnr News Photos by Frank Fahey Marine Terminal. From left are: Damiano Squeo, Antonino Bagnato, Cosimo Cofiero, Sergio Altamura, Pio Zcni and Giuseppe La Forgia. total accumulated piled up dur NO SHORE LEAVE Agoinst the background of the Union Jack, six Italian crew-members of the British merchant ship Montrose prepare to spend Christmas aboard their ship at the Wilmington procession of worshippers was bearing a figure of the Infant Jesus to be placed in a manger The blast nearly destroyed the infirmary, the officers' club and other installations.

Lt. Col. Gustavo Delgado Wilmington Yuletide Leaves Seamen Bitter Poet Hillyer Dies Of Heart Attack Nieto, a member of the Buga garrison staff, said the bomb ing this period, although mixtures of rain, snow and sleet added to the total on Sunday. Driving was deemed hazardous enough at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the city to declare its first "snow emergency" under the new snow regulations.

Crews salted and sanded the main roads, but little plowing was done due to the small accumulation. No cars had to be towed away for blocking the snow routes without chains or snow tires. The emergency was declared over at about 11:15 Saturday night. The whole plan worked "very well as f3r as I know," city engineer Robert A. Mitchell stated last night.

AFTER BLANKETING New was homemade and consisted of explosives packed in a water-pipe. He said it was timed to go off just as the crowd had By CHARLES P. WILSON lout the Christmas holiday in a. CAPT. OGDEN was particu-'nler.

also of Rehoboth that left devotional services and The needle of a compass jn 'herth at the Wilmington Marine iarly bitter about the plight of Thompson would get Simpler Pulitzer Prize poet Robert moved into the square. stead of a star led a group of! terminal. six Italian crewmen who are, the Indian River Inlet Park Gen. Alberto Ruiz Novoa, Silliman Hillyer died of a heart attack Sunday at the Delaware concession from the State Carrying a load of pulpwood not allowed to leave the ship which it picked up in Quebec, I in any American port under commander of the Colombian armed forces, charged the Hospital. He was 66.

orders of the U.S. Immigration Hillyer retired last year from the faculty of the University of Delaware, where he had taught bombing was a criminal act by persons who took advantage of the Christmas Eve celebrations to gain entry to the military and Naturalization Service. The men had committed offenses in the past such as jumping ship or crossing the U.S. border unlawfully, the captain the Montrose pulled into Wilmington Sunday to unload Before departing for Mobile on Wednesday. Although she flies the English flag, half the Montrose's crew is made up of Italian installations.

travelers into Wilmington on Christmas Eve, but they found no reason for rejoicing here. For the 37 Englishmen and Italians aboard the British merchant ship Montrose, Wilmington had nothing to offer for Christmas. "WE PLOWED our way across the Atlantic to get here on Christmas Eve and we find the whole blasted town shut down," her captain said. since 1951. He was admitted to the hospital Saturday morning after complaining that he was having England with up to 26 inches Christmas Eve, the snow storm, which had previously buried the Great Plains and the Midwest, moved out to sea.

On the local scene yesterday. explained, but had never com Highway Department. In return, according to a Court of Chancery suit, Thompson would "be assured a share of the profits or a kickback." SIMPLER WAS leased the area in the spring of 1957 by the highway commissioners, who testified they knew nothing about Thompson's financial interest in the matter. Bove said yesterday that Thompson has already paid the $10,000 settlement for the Chancery suit which had also trouble breathing. He died 24 A WOMAN said she saw a man carrying a bundle through the crowd and that he was one of the victims of the blast.

It 202 persons ate a turkey dinner Ji K'a 3 I ft! 7r hours later, at 8:35 a.m. Sunday. Funeral arrangements have not been completed. mitted a crime here. "These men have all done something wrong at one time or another and it seems they are never going to be forgiven for it," he said.

"It's a shame that men who arrive in an American port at Christmas time have to be This was the plight of the crew of the Montrose, sailing out of London, which must sit at the American Rescue Workers Mission, 413 E. 4th St. Included in the group were 142 underprivileged children, who enjoyed a Christmas party afterward, at which 75 toys, 120 boxes of candy and 150 bags of fruit were distributed. HILLYER CONTINUED his literary career while teaching at the university as H. Fletcher Brown professor of English literature.

His work, "In Pursuit of Poetry," appeared last year and his last book of verse "Col been directed against Simpler. The settlement means the end of this case. A HOLIDAY spirit seemed to prevail on board the ship yesterday following a special Christmas celebration arranged by the captain, R. G. Cgden, but there were overtones of disappointment and bitterness as the crew discussed Christmas in Wilmington.

"We think it stinks, if you want our feelings," said Capt. Ogden, a native of Lancashire, England, and a veteran of 27 years service in the Royal Navy and the maritime service. "There is not a thing to do The surge of homebound holi Thompson will also pay the day traffic was reaching its lected Poems," was published this year by Alfred A. Knopf. $1,000 fine imposed in the Sus treated in this way.

In every other country, even in Russia, they would not be treated this way. It is certainly not helping the relations between America and her Allies by treating seamen this way," he said. Fire 'Dooms1 Maxwell House Hotel peak at the Delaware Memorial Bridge last night. A bridge sex County Court of Common "Collected Verse," published in 1933, won Hillyer the Pulit spokesman reported that the Pleas by Judge Isaac D. Short II, now a vice chancellor.

was first believed the explosion was caused by fireworks used in Christmas Eve celebrations in Colombia. However, authorities said an investigation quickly showed it was a bomb. A flying piece of debris killed a man in a car. A report from Cali, 47 miles from Buga, quoted officials as saying many of the victims were mangled by nails and other metal fragments. Political strife in Colombia nominally was settled in 1957 by a truce between the warring Conservative and Liberal Parties after tens of thousands had been killed.

But feuds and banditry have continued in many areas. BUGA, A flourishing town of about 70,000 population, is about 300 miles southwest of Bogota in the sugar plantation area of Valle Department. zer Prize for poetry the follow cars were "running west" yes Thompson's appeal of this conviction to the Superior Court ing year. terday. lie said total traffic SO THE CREWMEN of the Montrose yesterday sat down Before his death, Hillyer was over the bridge this Christmas had been heavier than last.

Robert S. Hillyer last eight years at Harvard, he was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory, a distinguished post. The University of Delaware presented him with an honorary degree of doctor of letters in 1954. reported working on his mem to "a good Christmas dinner and oirs. He lived with his third wife, the former Mme.

Jeanne MORE THAN 15 persons nor a place to go in this town the necessary ration of alcohol today for our men so they have and had a delightful Christmas Hinternesch Duplaix, whom he married in 1953. were injured in a series of accidents from Saturday until last night with one mishap causing injury to 10 persons. is being dismissed. The cases stemmed from Bove's investigation of the State Highway Department. The attorney general pointed out yesterday that the litigation "has been pending well over a year and has been under investigation for six months before that.

Further prosecution of these civil and criminal NASHVILLE, Tenn. UP) Flames raced unchecked through the five-floor Maxwell House last night, apparently dooming the century-old hotel in downtown Nashville. Everyone in the building was reported evacuated safely. All off-duty firemen were HE IS ALSO survived by a son, Stanley Hancock Hillyer, This occurred at the intersec HE RECEIVED a number of other prizes for his poetry. His first book of poems, "Sonnets celebration of their own," according to Capt.

Ogden. "A port town like Wilmington should have a seaman's mission or something like it," the captain said "because it sure is a pity of a place to come to on Christmas." all decided to spend Christmas on board," he said. "I spent Christmas Eve touring Wilmington in a taxicab, Capt. Ogden said. "After the meter registered $10 and I still hadn't seen a sign of life, I de-cided to return to the ship." born to his second wife.

and Other Lyrics," was pub ordered to the scene to join 68 Hysterical relatives mobbed lished in 1917, the year of his graduation from Harvard. He also had served as president the barracks area seeking news others as the flames broke tion of Routes 10 and 16, about three miles east of Milton, Saturday. Yesterday two persons were injured in a collision at Tenth and Spruce Streets with one of the vehicles striking a tree and the wall of a house. Police said the cars were of the Poetry Society of Amer mrougn me roor ana leapea du feet into the Christmas night sky. ica and six times was a Phi Beta Kappa poet.

Robert T. Jones, Newark funeral director, said arrangements for the funeral are awaiting arrival of the son from New England. Hillyer first came to Delaware University in 1951 to teach at the summer session while he was still a visiting professor at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. He was appointed to the regular Delaware faculty in 1955 and taught lyric poetry and creative writing until his retirement in Other volumes of his poetry operated by Josephine F. Heller included "Variations on a Caution -Safety Record Ahead Theme," "A Letter to Robert Frost and Others," and "The "It looks like it's gone," said Morris Shutt, drill master for the fire department.

POLICE SOUGHT to disperse approximately 1,000 persons who gathered in the 30-degree weather to watch firemen play of their families. Many families spent Christmas Day making preparations for funerals. The injured were taken to neighboring towns and authorities issued urgent appeals for doctors, nurses and volunteer blood donors. An international sugar fair, which was to have opened in Cali yesterday, was postponed as a sign of mourning for the victims. I BOGOTA, the government ordered the Red Cross Seventh Hill." He also pub lished three novels, a textbook on verse and translations of Polish and Danish poetry.

June, 1960. cases would probably cost the state several thousand dollars." ON AUG. 30, 1960, Bove and Edmund N. Carpenter II, a special deputy attorney general, filed the Chancery suit against Thompson and Simpler, alleging that the commissioner received $14,000 in kickbacks from Simpler for arranging that the latter get the beach concession from the highway agency. Two weeks later, on Sept.

14, four criminal counts were filed against Thompson in the Sussex Court of Common Pleas. Three charges involved malfeasance in office and the fourth nonfeasance, all under common law since they were not covered by state statute. Thompson pleaded innocent to all four counts on Oct. 26, 1960, through his attorneys, He served as an ambulance 34, of 1521 E. 27th and Everett S.

Hutchins, 51, of the 900 block Kirkwood St. Hut-chins car, they said, was forced into a tree and then into the wall of a house at 705 E. 10th by the impact. THE WOMAN suffered possible hip and shoulder injuries and Hutchins, possible injury to a wrist. Property damage totaled more than $900.

Tolice arrested the woman See HOLIDAY Page 2, Col. 7 driver in the French army streams of water on the burning brick and wooden structure. Construction of the hotel was begun in 1859. The work was A NATIVE OF East Orange, N.J., Hillyer was a cum laude graduate of Harvard Univer during World War I and later as a first lieutenant with the American Expeditionary Force. to mobilize a disaster force, interrupted by tne Civil War sity.

He served on the Harvard but the hotel was completed In Hillyer was seriously injured faculty from 1919 to 1945, except for a two-year interrup six years ago when his car and started to aid the victims. President Alberto Ileras Ca-margo interrupted Christmas truck collided near Milford tion to teach at Trinity Col Crossroads. lege, Hartford, Conn. In his with his family and rushed 1869. The Maxwell House quickly became a show place in the South and eight presidents of the United States have been its guests.

The hotel was used by the federal forces to house back to the Presidential Palace to take personal charge of the investigation into the explo Many Gifts Still Untallied sion Diamed on "criminal hands" possibly an under Houston Wilson of Georgetown and David B. Coxe Jr. of Wil ground terrorist organization. Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. The fire began In a fourth floor hall and quickly broke Needy Fund Hits $17,827 mington.

The president ordered doc tors and medicine rushed to Judge Short presided over the trial from Jan. 27-30 this the disaster scene. The victims mangled by the bombs were so many, the medical staffs at 13.75 year, at which dozens of witnesses and exhibits produced through to the third and fifth floors. Thick black smoke poured from the windows as firemen poured water on the upper floors. Other donors since Saturday morning's listing are: Employes.

Flnncll State Bogota were unable to care for See THOMPSON Pg. 2, Col. 5 the wounded. Social Security Administration Technical Section, Du Pont Edge Moor Anonymous Adam Clark Members, Order Division, Hercules Powder Harrison. Bunny and David I.B.M.

Corp Textile Fibers Patent Dlv. and Delaware will chalk up the most remarkable traffic safety record in 35 years of accurate statistics if the state's highways remain safe the last six days of 1961. So far this year, 61 fatalities have been recorded on Delaware highways. Never since the Delaware Safety Council started keeping an exact count in 1927 has there been a year with fewer than 67 highway deaths. That previous low figure occurred in 1929.

This year's record is even more remarkable when one takes into account the skyrocketing rise in the number of motor vehicles, miles of highways, miles traveled within Delaware's boundaries, higher speeds of cars and trucks. LATEST STATISTICS FROM the safety council show that Wilmington streets have seen the deaths of seven persons three pedestrians and four passengers. Highways and streets outside the city have been the scene of 54 other deaths seven pedestrians and 47 passengers. With no other fatalities this year, Delaware would show a reduction of nearly 30 per cent from last year's total of 86. Safety council figures dating back to 1927 include only three years in which there have been fewer than 70 traffic deaths in Delaware: 67 in 1929 (the start of the depression) and 69 each in 1943 (a gasoline-scarce year) and 1947.

In the 34 years of statistics through 1960, Delaware averaged just under 83 deaths a year. CURIOUSLY ENOUGH, Wilmington's safest record and the rest of the state's worst occurred in the same year: 1953. The Delaware total of 111 fatalities included only three in Wilmington but 108 in the remainder of the state. Wilmington's worst year was 1936 when 23 of Delaware's 85 fatalities occurred in the city. Complete figures are not available on the number of vehicles traveling through Delaware, a highway corridor state, to make an accurate appraisal of the tremendous increase in motor vehicle miles traveled since 1927.

Delaware's vehicle registration has nearly quintupled in that period. In 1927 there were 47,124 motor vehicles registered in the state. This figure had climbed to only 54,960 by 1929, the best previous traffic safety year. Latest statistics from the Motor Vehicle Department reveal that 224,568 motor vehicles were registered as of June 30, 00 10.00 2.00 55 00 10.00 45.10 MRS. JIMMY HALE, the A PRESIDENTIAL com Christmas Day found the Needy Family Fund at $17,827 with still a lot of unopened gifts to be added before the final count.

Today's report, however, will be the last itemized acknowledgment of contributions. The News-Journal which sponsors the fund in cooperation munique said the tragedy "has no precedents in the history 50J0 10. 00 1.1) 57.50 1500 Today's News ments section. Treasurer I Du Pont Co Mr. and Mrs.

Sam Eisenstat Cub Scout Pack 23 Elastromeri tab. Employes, Chestnut Run, Du Pont General Services Du Pont Co Tau Eplsllon Chi Sorority, Economlo Studies Bectlon, Du Pont Center Road Bids 133.00 of Colombia even though for some time a terrorist under 14 00 Kappa Chapter uith thi Wplfarp Council Of The DeLiney ground organization has been attempting similar acts of terror in sparsely populated housekeeper, said 70 to 75 guests were in the hotel and all got out safely. "I looked up and saw flames racing down the hall," Mrs. Hale said. The guests were notified and everyone got out.

There was no panic." The night manager ran through the hotel rousing the guests, most of whom are permanent residents. R. i r.n! iMtchatl, Ann nd ieiawaie, wiu maive a imai Products Lab, Du Pont Co. places." report in several days Denlse Olrard Jean and John 01 Delaware. Stale Oolf Associa Hotel Du Pont Employes In memory of Harry E.

Messlck Louis Llnsteln Oiorl Kitchens H. Kosowsky Si Sons Employes, Beneficial Finance Co Mrs. Arthur Barry In memory of my mother Anonymous Technical Library, Du Pont Company Maynard S. Raawh 5 00 10 00 1.75 44 21 1 00 500 2500 10 00 4 00 1000 The communique said pre Because of the pressure Pages 19 12 23 to 25 18 8 13 19 12 ion 20 to 23 5 00 10 00 25 00 3 00 7 00 10 00 i 00 10.00 15 00 5 00 10 00 15 00 Amusements Bill Frank Classified Comics Daily Record Deaths Earl Wilson Editorials Obituaries Sports te holidays, it was impossible uo to process the heavy memorr or'DuVchessV Aiicei liminary investigations indicated the government would be Joshua ti A Dad able to find the perpetrators of the mass killing. returns, the fund administrators explained.

In the last group processed, there was a $67 check from jSnma Tau Omesa Anonymous In memory of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Riddle, Sr. and Mr.

and Mrs. Roy A. Thomas, Sr. Anonvmoui Mario uarcia, Improvd Order ot Red Men 25.00 BenefjcialjClvUian and officer personnel employes of the of Delawara 25 00 The Spirit of Christmas 10 00 Anonymous 15 00 Minister of Interior Fernando Londono interrupted his Christmas vacation at Mani-zales and sped to Buga with an army of official investigators. Gen.

Pardo also blamed "criminal hands" for the ex- Finance the Improved Or State Police 35 00 100 Escapee Nabbed TRENTON, N.J. (LTD Francis Stankiewicz, 21, who escaped Oct. 2 from a Washington, N.C., prison camp, was arrested Christmas Day by the FBI at his home here. Television and Radio 22 The Feminine Side 16-17 Things to Come 5 Tom Malone 13 Of memory o' H-A-B- der of Red Men Today's total I 59.4 Balance brought forward (16.867.44 Section. Oeneral Serylcea Du Pont Co gave $25, the Du Pont Technical Library, $16, and Hotel 40 JO 1000 1000 John and Dtbbn Total 17.8J7.38i plOSion.

UM tOTit Employes, 514. lEllth and John 3.