Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 1

-m mi 11 iccipolS CH T1 Ij Thursday 15c A ---i I December 21 3 Sections I I 1972 I Volume CVI JLrSx I I jumber 211 North Central jet crash kills 9 at Chicago Nixon flies to Florida after physical exam New York Times Service Key Biscayne, Fla. President Nixon flew to Key Biscayne, FIa Wednesday for a brief Christmas vacation after earning an "excellent" rating on his annual physical examination. Mr. Nixon spent two hours at the National Naval Center in Bethesda, emerging to comment jokingly: "They told me I feel fine." The President's personal physician, Air Force Maj. Gen.

Walter R. Tkach, told reporters that Mr. Nixon is "in excellent health the same as last year." Nixon Continued on page 4A ture, the officials said. According to the officials, Mr. Nixon told Thieu that if he refused to go along with the Nixon plan, the United Slates would terminate economic and military aid to South Vietnam.

Thieu convened the South Vietnamese National Security Council yesterday to discuss the letter. He also made a reply, the officials said. The contents of Thieu's letter were not disclosed. Associated Press Saigon, South Vietnam Senior South Vietnamese officials reported today that President Nixon has given both North Vietnam and South Vietnam an ultimatum to sign a peace agreement, threatening Hanoi with continued bombing attacks and Saigon with a cutoff of economic and military aid. The officials said Gen.

Alexander Haig Mr. Nixon's emissary, carried a personal letter from Mr. Nixon to South Vietna mese President Nguyen Van Thicu during his trip to Saigon Tuesday and Wednesday. Thieu gave his reply to Haig, the officials said. (Additional dispatches on pages 2A and 3A.) According to the officials, Mr.

Nixon told Thieu not to make any more separate peace proposals such as the one he made Dec. 12 calling for an indefinite cease-fire beginning during the Christmas season, release of prisoners of war and direct negotiations be tween North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Mr. Nixon was reported to have told Thieu the proposal was untimely and would not help the U.S. peace effort.

Mr. Nixon said he disapproved of it, the officials said. North Vietnam also publicly rejected the proposal. In his letter, Mr. Nixon reportedly told Thieu he plans to force Hanoi to sign a fair peace agreement and predicted such an agreement would be concluded in the near fu Haig briefed Thieu in detail on the Nixon plan for ending the war.

According to the South Vietnamese officials, after Henry Kissinger and Hanoi's thief negotiator, Le Due Tho, broke off their negotiations in Paris last Wednesdaywithout reaching an agreement, Mr. Nixon gave North Vietnam 72 hours to sign an agreement or face a resumption of bombing and mining of its ports Ultimatum Continued on page 4A Tribune Wire Services Chicago, III. A North Central Airlines DC9 jet crashe-d and burned at fog-shrouded O'Hare International Airport Wednesday night. Nine persons were killed in the plane, which was taking off when it clipped the tail of a Delta Airlines jet that had just landed. Deputy Coroner Sidney Berman said nine bodies, all burned too badly to be identified, had been brought to a temporary morgue at the airfield and "we have accounted for everyone." The dead were U.S.

reports 'bomb damage is 'significant' i -4 t. 4,1 III six women and three men, he said. Nearby hospitals treated at least 15 injured persons. Names of the victims were not released last night pending notification of relatives. North Central said six of the nine victims were bound for Madison, and three for Du-luth.

All of the dead were aboard North Central Flight 575 taking off at 6:01 p.m. on a flight to Madison and Duluth with 45 persons aboard. Visibility was one-quarter of a mile. As the plane, already airborne, came down one runway, it struck the tail section of a Delta Airlines Convair 880 which had just landed on a flight from West Palm Beach and Tampa, with 93 persons aboard and was taxiing down an intersecting runway. An instant after impact, flames and smoke billowed from the nose of the North Central plane.

The fire burned out the interior of the plane. Choking and crying, the passengers surged toward an exit and jumped six to eight feet to the ground. Richard Ojakangas, 40, of Duluth, and his 13-year-old son, Greg, were sitting about one -third of the way back on the North Central jet. "It seemed to me to be a slightly steep takeoff," he said. "It kind of rumbled.

I don't know if the tail left the ground. I Just don't know. Crash Continued on page 4A i K' ii I Staff Photo by Earl Seubert Juniors Jane Gleason, left, Patty Hren, center, and Molly Cavanaugh are among the underclass students who won't graduate from Our Lady of Peace High School, St. Paul, which Is to be closed in June. three more American planes, including a fourth B52 bomber.

It was also announced that Communist shore batteries in the Thanh Hoa area hit the Goldsborough, killing two sailors and wounding three others. The destroyers continued its combat operations. For the first time since the intensive bombing of North Vietnam was resumed Monday, following the breakdown of the Paris peace negotiations, the Defense Department gave the general categories of targets. From the Defense Department description, the emphasis is entirely upon "military targets which support the continued North Vietnamese infiltration into and aggression against South Vietnam." At the Pentagon's daily news brief ing, Defense Department spokesman Jerry W. Friedheim said that the military targets include such categories as: Railyards, shipyards, command and control facilities, warehouse and transshipment areas, communications facilities, vehicle repair facilities, power plants, railway bridges and cars, truck parks, air bases, air defense radars and air defense gun and missile sites.

Bombing Continued on page 4A Catholic girls' high school in St. Paul to be closed Plane crash kills 4 in Eden Prairie trend," she said, "the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary have decided to close the Our Lady of Peace complex in June 1973." The students took the news in stunned silence, even though many had realized that financial difficulties probably would Catholic Continued on page 8A By John W. Finney New York Times Service Washington, D.C. The Defense Department said Wednesday that the intensive American bombing of North Vietnam has caused "very significant damage" to a broad range of "military targets." At the same time, the Defense Department insisted that civilian targets are not being struck, as claimed by North Vietnam, and dismissed suggestions that the United States is engaged in "terror bombing." As the bombing went into its third day, the Defense Department and the U.S. military command in Saigon announced the loss of 1 Pete Rozelle NFL keeps blackout; Nixon asks legislation Associated Press The Nixon administration threatened to attack professional football's antitrust exemption Wednesday after the National Football League (NFL) refused President Nixon's request to lift the local television ban on play-off games during the next two weekends.

Atly. Gen. Richard Klcin-dienst said in a statement in Washington, D.C, that ho asked Commissioner Pete Rozelle, at Mr. Nixon's request, to make arrangements to televise the games locally in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Washington and Miami this weekend and the championship games Dec. (31 if they are sold out 48 hours prior to klckoff.

"Commissioner Rozelle advised me this morning that it would not be possible for tho NFL to comply with tho President's request," said Kleindienst. Football Continued on page 8A 1 i 71 1:3 Iff- By Brian Anderson Staff Writer It is a tradition at Our Lady of Peace High School in St. Paul to sing carols in the halls after the Christmas program each year. After Wednesday's programs, the school's 563 girls didn't go caroling many had lumps in their throats and tears in their Today's weather Cloudy Details page 9B 6 22 6 26 7 22 7 26 8 It 8 26 9 23 9 26 11 23 11 27 Noon 24 Midn 27 Almanac Index Casey Jones is derailed years as TV performer Poison mounts in Truman blood Associated Press Kansas City, Mo. Harry Truman's kidney output increased slightly Wednesday, but doctors said the poison in his bloodstream is mounting to a dangerous level.

He remained in very serious condition. Research Hospital and Medical Center said that Truman, 88, spent a quiet day. The hospital said his bloodstream was toxic but his level of consciousness remained Stall Photo by Donald Black i I 0 i ill Thursday December 21 1972 356th day 10 to go this year Sunrise: 7:48 am Sunset: 4:34 pm Wednesday's temperatures am temp pm temp 1 2 3 4 5 22 1 25 21 2 25 23 3 26 22 4 26 21 5 26 A couple from Bellevue, and two of their three children were killed Wednesday night when their single -engine airplane crashed on landing at Flying Cloud Airport, Eden Prairie. Authorities identified the victims as Dr. John D.

Smith 37, a dentist; his wife, Janet, 36; a son, Bradley, 12; and a daugh- "ill eyes and singing. didn't feel like Instead of the caroling, the program ended with Sister M. Michaeleen Gibbons, the principal, reading from a letter she had sent to the students' parents: "Because of continued declining enrollment over the past several years and little hope of reversing the WTCN's after 19 By Irv Letofsky Staff Writer The end of an era. Casey Jones, the father-figure for a generation of Upper i dw kiddies, was fired by WTCN-TV Wednesday, effective next week. Roger Awsumb, who says he has probably eaten 85,000 peanut butter sandwiches as Casey on his popular noontime "Lunch with Casey" show, joined Channel 11 two weeks before it went on the air in 1954 and played the railroad engineer for almost 19 years.

Along with him goes his sidekick, Lynn Dwycr, who joined the station 18 vcars ago and has played Roundhouse Rodney (at an even 5 feet, a brother figure in the act) for the last 13. WTCN general manager Robert Fransen, praising the performers for "the fantastic job they've done for us for years," cited a sharp decline in ratings, "only slightly better than 50 percent of what it was a year ago." ter, Michelle Ann, 10. Another child, 8-year-old Scott, was in very critical condition last night at Fairview Southdale Hospital. The Smiths were on their way to the Twin Cities to visit relatives, according to neighbors in Washington. Mrs.

Smith's brother-in-law was waiting at the airport, an official of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office said. The plane crashed at 7:11 p.m. into a field about half a mile from the end of the airport runway. Flashing red lights on the runway were visible from the scene of the crash, said Ben H. Taylor, chief supervisor, Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Taylor said the Cessna 20(5 hit the ground and skidded about 300 feet across the snow-covered field. Visibility was limited by mist. The dispatcher in the control tower said at 7:30 p.m., "There's so much fog I can't see it (the wreckage) Some ice was on the wings of the plane, Taylor said, and this may have been one of the contributing factors to the crash. A former Washington associate of Smith, Dr. De-Wayne Brisco, said Smith was graduated from the University of Minnesota's School of Dentistry in about 19(0.

lie was a dental officer in the Air Force and did further study in oral surgery at the University of Washington. Smith was president of the Northwest Society of Oral Surgeons, a group covering several states and parts of Canada. (Picture. Page IB.) Cloudy skies and light and variable winds are forecast for the Twin Cities and vicinity today. The high temperature today will be near 30, the low tonight 12 to 18 and the high Friday in the lower 30s.

Other predicted highs today: Minnesota, upper teens to mid 20s; North Dakota, low 20s cast to low 30s west; South Dakota, 25 to 30 northwest to near 50 extreme southwest; Wisconsin, 25 to 35. That decline may be caused by a decrease in the kiddie audience particularly at noon because of an increase in school lunch programs and because of an increasing number of pre-school nurseries and day -care centers and possibly because KTCA-TV has been rerunning its popular educational television kids' show, "Sesame Street," at noon. It will now be the only kiddie show on at noon. But he said the decision was necessary; "it's what we always do. try to get a stronger lineup on the air and increase our share of the audience," Awsumb, who has seven children, still may stay on the station as a booth announcer despite, he said, "extremely sad feelings." "I really am not sure about the future," Awsumb said.

"I'm really kind of a corny guy and I care about kids. I really tried to do a good job and I feel I let the kids down." Casey Continued on page 4A 1 Hi 1 They run on a tight schedule The Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), which runs the buses In the Twin Cities, seems to be taking Its business seriously. An announcement for a recent MTC meeting said the meeting would start at 3:43 p.m. Business Comics Editorial 12-15A 8B 10, 11A Telephones Sports Theaters TV, Radio 1-5C 5-7B 11B 372 4141 372 4242 372 4343 News General Classified Circulation Lynn Dwyer (Roundhouso Rodney), left, and Roger Aw-sumb (Casey Jones) In the midst of "Lunch with Casey.".