Garden City Telegram from Garden City, Kansas • Page 1

1 News in Brief Defends Anti-Audit Stand TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The chairman of the Legislative Post Audit Committee today defended his decision to block an audit into the beleagured ports of entry system, saying he doesn't think the state should be "chasing after complaints on a whim and a caprice." "As long as I'm chairman, individuals aren't going to request any program audits," said Sen. Wint Winter. "We won't have any secret audits." Rep. Fred Weaver, who had requested the audit last year while he chaired the committee, denied today it was a "secret audit." He said Post Auditor Richard Brown had told him it wasn't unusual for a chairman to personally request an audit.

Weaver said his request for an audit stemmed from reports that commercial trucks are not being checked by the ports and that many do not have the proper permits or insurance. In addition, he said the state stands to lose $1 million this year if the problems aren't corrected, according to reports. Conceding there might be problems with the program, Winter said the issue would be discussed Wednesday by the full Legislative Post Audit Committee. Confirmation Expected WASHINGTON (AP) President Carter's choice for FBI director is expected to win Senate confirmation despite questions about whether a 53-year-old federal judge has the right kind of experience to run a corps of more than 8,000 lawenforcement agents. A Senate Judiciary.

Committee source said William H. Webster's relative lack of administrative and law enforcement background appeared to be the most serious objection he would have to answer in confirmation hearings beginning today. Sources also predicted, however, that he would win committee approval and be confirmed by the full Senate without difficulty. Attorney General Griffin Bell, who recommended Webster to the president, told reporters last week, "We haven't run into any opposition yet." Webster has been a judge of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St.

Louis since 1973. Before that he served two years as a federal district judge; Peace Talks to Resume JERUSALEM (AP) military talks aimed at working out a formula for an Israeli pullout from the Sinai Peninsula will resume Tuesday night in Cairo, Israel announced today. A government statement said Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and his negotiating team will leave for Cairo Tuesday morning, where Weizman will face his Egyptian counterpart, Mohamed Abdel Ghany Gamas- sy. Carter's Economists Claim Generally, You'll Be Better Off in '78 WASHINGTON (AP) Americans generally will be better off in 1978, benefiting from a 5 percent increase in purchasing power, but the nation's economic future remains clouded by sluggish investment activity, Carter administration economists say. i The increase in purchasing power, up from a 4.9 percent increase in 1977, should help propel the economy to overall growth during the year of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent, sufficient to further reduce the nation's jobless rate.

Unemployment should decline to between 6 percent and 6.25 percent by the end of the year, down from the 6.4 percent rate in December, and inflation is likely to remain stuck at about the same 6 percent rate as last year. The administration's latest projections for this year are contained in the president's annual economic report to Congress, which was prepared by his Council of Economic Advisers, headed by Charles L. Schultze, and released today. Some highlights of the report were disclosed by the president in his economic message to Congress two weeks ago. The president's advisers gave this overall short-term assessment of the economy: Prospects for continued expansion were favorable as 1977 came to a close.

The sectors of the economy were in good balance, inventories were relatively lean and the balance sheets of businesses and financial institutions were strong." They said the projected growth in the nation's gross national product of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent depends on enactment of Carter's proposed $25 billion in tax cuts. The GNP, which measures the total output of goods and services in the economy, expanded 4.9 percent in 1977. Without the tax cuts, they said, the economy might start to slow down beginning about mid-year and extending into 1979. But they made clear the economy isn't by any means out of the woods, even with the tax cut. Inflation and unemployment are serious problems, "and great resources of the U.S.

economy are still incompletely utilized," it said. There is good news for consumers and workers in the report's projection that purchasing power, called real disposable income, will increase by 5 percent or more this year, up slightly from the 4.9 percent last year. The rise in purchasing power should result in an increase in personal consumption of goods of all kinds of about 4.5 percent. One of the biggest problems facing the economy in the long run is what the report said was a disappointing rate of investment by business in new plants and equipment. Investment increased 8 percent last year, after discounting for inflation, and is projected to rise another 7 percent to 8 percent this year.

But the investment level last year was still 2 percent below the pre-recession peak in 1973. Without adequate investment, the economy will be unable to create sufficient new jobs to return the nation to full employment and to avoid the production bottlenecks and shortages that could create new problems with inflation in the years ahead. Weather Sunrise 7:49 Sunset Clear to partly cloudy Monday night and Tuesday. Lows Monday night 10 to 15. Highs Tuesday in the 308.

Winds northwest diminishing to 5 to 10 mph Monday night. Temperatures for 24 hours ending 7 a.m. Monday. GARDEN CITY Max. 20 Mln.

19 Free. Garden City GARDEN CITY KANSAS, MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 1978 Vol. 49 24 Sections 76 15c a Copy Telegram (316) 275-7105 -No. 74 Schoolyard Sliders It doesn't take much there's been very little Garden Sass Spanking, Gus Garden says, makes a child smart in more than one way. "Estee Lauder" only at Hoovers.

snow and of it in these parts this winter to keep a kid happy. Like this group of second graders at St. Mary's School, for instance. From left, are Alvaro Arelavo, Mike Simon, Tim Roth, Jeremy Chacon (pushing), Art Rivera (being pushed), Peter McMillan and Jamie John Montre Faulty Furnace Kills 7 LAYTON, Utah (AP) Autopsies were to be performed today on seven members of a family found dead in a home where police said temperatures measured at least 112 degrees. Authorities said the seven apparently died of asphyxiation from a faulty furnace.

"It's about as tragic a thing as I've seen," said Davis County Sheriff William Lawrence. He estimated the victims had been dead about 12 hours when they were discovered by relatives about 4 p.m. Sunday. Police identified the dead as Ruben Martinez, 22; his wife Ernistina, 26; his daughter, Jessicka, his son, Zakery, 9 months; his twin brothers, Rowdy and Randy, both and his sister, Bernadine, 16. The state medical examiner, Dr.

Serge Moore, said all apparently died of asphyxiation in their sleep Saturday night. He said there was no evidence of foul play. Police Chief Lamar Chard said the victims were discovered by Mary and Janice Martinez, the mother and sister of Ruben. Eastside Garden City Couple Bound, Robbed Finney Farmers 'Inform' Ohio Snowbound Strikers Spread Word An eastside couple was bound while their house was ransacked and robbed Saturday night. Police are investigating the armed robbery.

Officers said the couple was robbed of about $20 cash and several items of jewelry, the value of which is undetermined. Identity and address of the victims were withheld by police at the victims' request Snd, they said, as a precaution against further crime of this nature against them. Police said the victims gave this account of the incident: About 7:30 p.m., they answered a ring at the front door. A young woman and two male accomplices, forced their way into the residence and demanded money. The two men wore nylon stockings as masks.

After a short period of time, the 1 victims were tied with their hands behind them. The two men ransacked the house while the woman stood guard on the victims, ages 72 and 65. One of the men displayed a small semi-automatic type handgun during the robbery. The robbers stayed less than 30 minutes in the residence, police said, but it wasn't until about midnight that the woman victim, still bound, was able to crawl outside and yell for help. The robbers had left a door open when they departed.

Neighbors who heard her cries called police at 12:04 a.m. Sunday. Police said the victims were sightly bound but were not injured. Investigation is proceeding, and suspects are still being sought. Police are being assisted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Eight Finney County farm couples, stranded four nights last week in Columbus, Ohio, with other Kansas farmers returning from a strike gathering in Washington, D.C., managed to turn the situation to their own advantage. They explained the farm strike to snowbound "They had an awful lot of questions for us and we had a lot of good answers for them since we had been to Washington," said Lawrence Miller, who returned with his wife and other local farmers to Garden City about 8 a.m. Monday, four days behind schedule. The snowstorm which paralyzed the Midwest last week convinced the busload of farmers from Kansas to stay in Columbus Wednesday evening until the weather cleared. Having spent five days in Washington with nearly 30,000 U.S.

farmers, they weren't aware they'd be spending the remainder of the week as snowbound guests in a motel. "It wasn't so bad, it was just long," said Wes Sterling, another local farmer who made the trip with his wife. Others were Mr. and Mrs. Orville Anstaett and Mr.

and Mrs. Hap Cornett. At their motel, the farmers told stories, watched an Ohio State University basketball game at the arena across the highway, and conducted a farm strike meeting for other stranded travelers. Everyone in Columbus and in Washington agreed farmers should have higher prices for their products. "Everybody we talked to was all for us because they'd rather pay for it than not have it," Sterling said.

"We sure had a good impact in Washington," he said. Sterling and others met with ambassadors from Argentina and the Soviet Union as well as U.S. Congressmen. Even taxi drivers and policeman approved of the strike. "They just told us not to bring our tractors back for a while.

They said they had enough overtime because of the traffic jams," he said. Only five to six inches of snow fell in Columbus last week, but 70 miles per hour winds made travel impossible. Utility service was cut to many areas. Even the Columbus motel was without heat and electricity for several hours after the Kansas farmers arrived. The trip home Sunday was still treacherous.

Only one westbound lane on Interstate 70 had been opened through Indiana. The roadway was littered with stranded cars and trucks. Rescue efforts were still under way, Miller said. Firefighters Blame Deaths On Equipment, Manpower KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Faulty equipment and inadequate were responsible for many of the KC Hotel Fire Death Toll Reaches 16 (Related Story Page 3) KANSAS CITY, Mo.

(AP) Firemen recovered the charred bodies of three more victims, including two small children, early today among the ice-coated debris of the Grates House hotel, raising the number of, known dead to 16. The discovery made the weekend blaze the ijiost deadly in Kansas City history, pushing the toll past the 15 killed in a 1924 apartment fjre. Twelve persons were still unaccounted for today, and searchers speculated the bodies of it least some of them would also be found. Police had listed the number of bodies found through Sunday night at 14, but downgraded that figure to 13 today before the tatest recoveries. .1 Officials earlier listed more people as missing, but police said this morning that some residents on the hotel's guest list were working elsewhere at the time of the lire.

Workers stopped the search shortly after Sunday, and it was to resume today. An all-night guard was posted at the scene. One of 10 persons injured in the fire was in critical condition Sunday night at a local hospital, and about 140 escaped unharmed but homeless. Four of the injured were treated and released over the weekend. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Fire Chief John Waas said the fire appeared to have started on one of the upper three floors.

He said that would seem to discount the possibility of arson. An investigator from the Missouri state fire marshal's office was assisting police and fire officials in the probe, which Waas said would probably last through the week. The fire swept through the six-story hotel shortly before sunrise Saturday, consuming 'the south wing of the U-shaped structure. Only an ice-coated shell remained of that wing today as the workers used heavy machinery as well as picks, rakes, shovels and hooks to poke through the rubble of the 110-year-old hotel. Waas said if some of the missing aren't found elsewhere soon, the chances are good that they will be found in the ruins.

"You never know when or where these people will show up," he added. "They might be visiting relatives or something." Most of the hotel's residents lived on meager incomes and many were elderly. Weekly rent for rooms at the once-glamorous hotel was between $12 and $17. Many residents were trapped on the upper floors and several died in leaps to the pavement. The body of one man remained frozen in a sixth story window until Sunday because firemen were unable to reach it.

Witnesses at the scene described the people screaming for help as the fire raged out of control about 4:30 a.m. "People were jumping out of windows," said Larry Finney, a tavern owner who arrived early Saturday at his bar across the alley from the hotel "Four of them were lying on my front door. I gave one old man an old pair of shoes and a blanket. They had just rescued him from the hotel, he was all covered with plaster and soot." The decaying downtown hotel, built in 1867, was a local stopping place for Presidents William McKinley, Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt. In recent years it had become a home mostly for transients and the elderly.

Twenty-three fire trucks arrived at the scene along with 90 firemen. By 5 a.m., the structure, including the girders, began to collapse under the intense heat, fire officials said. Efforts to take each resident out of the building by ladder, which normally would take only a few seconds, were hampered because people were scattered throughout the building on both sides, Waas said. A Salvation Army spokesman reported that Kansas Citians had responded with enough clothing over the weekend for all those displaced by the fire. Maj.

James Barker of the Salvation Army said $4,000 had been collected by Sunday evening by that group. The City Union Mission and the Red Cross have also established funds. Barker said the money would help pay for items such as eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures lost in the blaze. Among those listed as dead were Lawrence J. Karnowski, 59; Herbert Richmond, 45, and his wife, Penny, about 29; James Swickard, 62, and Harry Jones, 52.

deaths in the Coates House hotel fire Saturday, representatives of the Kansas City Firefighters Union charged today. "It was just a case of trying to decide which lives you would try and save when you couldn't get to all of them," Joe Galetti, one of the first firemen on the scene, said at a news conference today. Galetti and other firefighters showed up at Mayor Charles B. Wheeler's weekly news conference to make their views known on the city's two-year-old fire protection plan. The firefighters said the plan was responsible for many of the deaths in the hotel fire and that more lives would be lost unless the plan is changed.

There were 16 known dead in the hotel fire and 12 other hotel residents were unaccounted for today. John Germann, president of the firefighters union, charged that someone had falsified records that were used to determine the placement of equipment and firefighters. He said a city survey showed only 37 fires in the downtown area during a period when there were actually 71. Wheeler defended the fire protection plan but said "some heads are going to roll" if it is determined that the statistics were purposely altered. He said he would check into the allegation.

The city's fire protection plan changed firemen's hours from the traditional 24 hours on, 24 hours off to a 40-hour work week. It also juggled the placement of firefighters and equipment to locations they were most likely to be needed at various times of the day- residential neighborhoods at night and on weekends and business areas on weekdays. Wheeler charged that the firemen's main concern was returning back to their old hours. Dominick Serrone, a firefighter at the news conference, said his family loved the new hours "but I don't sleep well at night. It bothers me greatly when people die because we can't perform adequately." Firefighters noted that under the old fire plan there would have been four people on each fire truck instead of three under the new plan..