The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 1

Departmental Index Butineii A-1 1 Entertainment B-5 Comici Obituariei A-5 Dr. A-10 Editorial A-4 Sportt A 6 Wont Adi 8 Vol. XCIII-No. 8 limit Weather Forecast Alexandria-Pineville and vicinity: Partly cloudy through Tueidoy with coal nighli and warm olternoom. High Tueidoy in middle 70'i, low tonight near 40.

(Map, details on Page A 2). Two Sections Twenty-Four Pages Alexandria-Pineville, Monday, March 24, 1 975 AP, UPI, Newspaper Enterprise Los Angeles Times, Washington Post Price 1 5 Cents Killed in Atlanta Tornado yXAy jiMt Ml 11.11 OlWf I ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) A tornado killed three persons and injured scores of others early today, and rescue workers probed the rubble for other victims. The third victim was pulled from the wreckage of a commercial building more than four hours after the twister ripped across homes and businesses in northwest Atlanta. Two other bodies were found almost immediately after the storm.

At least 50 persons were treated at hospitals and numerous others suffered cuts and bruises as the twister tore off roofs and battered out windows in a widespread section. "There's just a lot of destruction," said Police Sgt. Jerry Price. "It looks pretty bad." Hard rain continued through the morning as rescue workers concentrated in a three-block section where the twister wiped out several buildings and demolished a U.S. mail terminal.

Thirty to 40 tractor trailers used to haul mail and parcel post were overturned or crushed. Some were ripped apart and strips of aluminum were scattered. B. F. Monroe, who works in a warehouse adjacent to the terminal, said he ran out of the warehouse when he heard "a roar like an airplane." "A piece of roof caught me.

It threw me about 50 feet," he said. "When I was getting up I saw a Pontiac coming down the street roling like a matchbox. I saw a woman fall out. It didn't even look like she was hurt." The car was crushed seconds later when a truck was flipped over on top of it by the wind. "What we're doing now is evacuating all these damaged buildings.

We're concentrating on life now," said Deputy Police Chief A. T. Hornsby. "We're looking for more victims." The twister struck at the beginning of the morning rush hour. It demolished several commercial buildings, ripped the roofs from public housing units, knocked down power lines, over turned cars and trucks, and inflicted heavy damage to the $1.4 million Georgia governor's mansion.

Rescue workers digging through debris to rescue a trapped and injured man discovered the body of another man who apparently was killed when a collapsing wall crushed his car. A hospital spokesman also reported that a woman injured in the tornado was dead on arrival at the hospital. Neither of the victims was identified immediately. Gov. George Busbee reportedly was in the shower when the tornado thundered across the two-story mansion, and he screamed for his family to get to the center of the house.

No one was injured there. The fire department battled blazes apparently caused by ruptured gas lines at the Perry Homes public housing complex, where the twister shattered windows and ripped off roofs. UJiiiifiiiiiiiiiijtiiiitJiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiBiiiiiiiiitiiiitiif jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiLL I Udall Expects Ford Will Sign I Tax Cut Bill Within Two Days wrap it up by late Tuesday. Youths inspect an overturned car and other debris in the wake of a tornado that hit Atlanta, this morning. Area seen here was an industrial complex.

In background is the rubble of a factory. One person was reported killed and at least 30 Injured by the twister, which touched down on the city's northwest side. (UPI After Twister FHF Owes State BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) The legislative auditor reported today that the defunct Family Health Foundation owes Louisiana nearly $3.2 million for unauthorized spending under a state contract. Earlier this month, the foundation's two top officers, Dr.

Joseph Beasley and Oscar E. Kramer were convicted of conspiring to defraud the federal government. FHF supplied birth control information and health sen ices with predominantly federal money under state-supervised contracts. It has been placed In federal receivership, and the state has taken over its family-planning functions. Hue's Defenses Falling crease as the resources dwindle.

He questioned what would be used in place of the severance tax on oil and natural gas. "Sales tax? That's the last route I'd want to go," he said. Concerning increasing state income taxes, Edwards said "a hundred times no." He said he also does not agree with putting heavier taxes on homes. The governor said the state would be $2 billion ahead if it had fully implemented oil and gas taxes years ago. The state would not have been $900 million in the red when he took office if those taxes had been used, Edwards claimed.

Edwards noted his opponents have called for budget cuts but said he wonders where they propose to make (Turn to Page A-9) By Tom Delery (Town Talk Staff Writer) BATON ROUGE, La. Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.) predicted today President Ford will sign a compromise tax cut measure within two days. Udall made the forecast in a press conference shortly before Gov.

Edwin Edwards defended his administration at the 20th annual convention here of the Louisiana AFL-CIO. Udall was to address the gathering this afternoon. Udall, seeking the Democratic presidential nomination next year, said the compromise bill would probably be nearer the $19.9 billion tax cut approved by the House than the Senate-approved $33.1 billion measure. House and Senate negotiators today began drafting a final compromise tax cut bill and were expected to "The day of unlimited oil depletion allowance is over," Udall added. Amendments to the House bill abolished the allowance while the Senate has approved it for independent oilmen.

"I am committed to finding an equitable formula to give coastal states a portion of oil revenues derived from drilling past the three-mile limit," he said. He also urged government action in oil exploration, saying it should find the oil and then make leasing arrangements with private enterprise. Later, Edwards told about 2,000 delegates and guests at the convention's opening session he prefers to look to natural resources to provide tax revenue despite criticism from opponents that severance tax income will de- iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiitiifiiinim Envoy's Kidnapers Cornered NAIROBI, Kenya (UPI) Heavily armed police today cornered the kidnapers of a French ambassador and their hostage in a villa in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, diplomatic sources said. Jean Gueury, 57, the French ambassador to Somalia, was seized by a group of gunmen Sunday night after leaving mass in Mogadishu. The kidnapers demanded the release of two alleged political agitators jailed in France as the price for the safe release of the diplomat.

The diplomatic sources in Nairobi, capital of neighboring Kenya, said scores of police surrounded the building near the cathedral. The Italian ambassador to Somalia has begun negotiations for the release of the French diplomat, the sources said. DA NANG (UPI) The outer defenses of Hue crumbled today under North Vietnamese tank and infantry assaults and the Communists opened fire on 80,000 refugees trying to escape by sea. To the south, the Communists captured the seacoast provincial capital of Tarn Ky, cutting South Vietnam in two. Capture of Tarn Ky gave the Communists control of Quang Tin Province and extended Communist control across Vietnam from the Laotian border to the sea and isolated both Hue and Da Nang.

The thousands of refugees trapped on Highway 1 between the two cities were reported under fire and unable to proceed to Da Nang or retreat to Hue. The coastal enclave of Quang Ngai, 22 miles south of Tarn Ky, also came under heavy assault. Many refugees from the Central Highlands were reported heading for Quang Ngai, taking so many casualties they changed the name of their group from the convoy of tears to the convoy of death. A senior government official in Saigon said so far more than 1,000 refugees have been killed and that as many as 800,000 were on the roads. Another 100,000 refugees also begain pouring into Saigon from threatened areas directly north of the capital.

The situation at Hue was described as "critical" and the threat to Saigon was growing. The government bolstered the Saigon defenses, setting up a new defense perimeter by stationing two full divisions in an arc 15 miles from the city. Self-defense militiamen inside the city were on full combat alert. Airlift Threatened BANGKOK, Thailand (UPI) Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj threatened today to halt the U.S. airlift of arms from Thailand to Cambodia but said food and humanitarian aid would continue.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials today reopened the airlift of food, fuel and ammunition to Phnom Penh despite continued and increasingly more accurate Communist rocket fire on the city's airport. The airlift had been halted Saturday after two planes were hit by shrapnel. Ford Reviews Mideast Policy lifting about the Claiming to reflect views expressed by both Ford and Kissinger, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield told reporters he came away from the meeting with the "understanding there will be a reexamination and reassessment of the U.S. policy in the Middle East." He added that the meeting was "depressing and disappointing because of the lack of success on the part of Secretary Kissinger, whose efforts we fully support." The question which the President raised, according to House Republican Leader John Rhodes, was "where do we go from here?" But Rhodes quickly added, "there was no feeling of despair that, war was imminent." "Geneva will be the next step," Mansfield said, "and will be much more difficult." The others concurred.

WASHINGTON (UPI) President Ford told congressional leaders today he was re-examining U.S. policy in the Middle East following a breakdown of Arab-Israeli peace initiatives. But the leaders said Ford expressed no fear of imminent war in that part of the world. Emerging from a grim, l-1 hour White House meeting with Ford and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Republican and Democratic congressional leaders alike expressed support for Kissinger's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

They also agreed that the only alternative left for solving tensions in the Middle East would be to revive peace, talks in Geneva, a more arduous course than the step-by-step, shuttle diplomacy which Kissinger tried over the past 16 days. Ban on Abortion Regulations Upheld which operates an abortion clinic, and by Dr. T. R. M.

Howard, president of Friendship and a physician practicing at the clinic. The circuit court based its decision on the 1973 ruling of the Supreme Court that the abortion decision must be left to the woman and her doctor in the first three months of pregnancy and may be prohibited by the state only after the fetus becomes capable of life outside the womb. Under this rule, said the circuit court, states may impose no regulations on abortions during the first three months which would be "burdensome on a woman's right to decide to abort a WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court today let stand a ruling that states may not impose burdensome regulations governing abortions in the early months of pregnancy. The court, over the dissent of Justice Byron R. White, declined to review a decision of the U.S.

circuit court in Chicago striking down regulations adopted by the Chicago Board of Health. The regulations spelled out requirements for equipment and sanitation in abortion facilities and required certain preoperative procedures and a 24 -hour waiting period between the initial examination and the abortion. The abortion regulations were challenged by Friendship Medical Center, School Board Leans Toward Letting Staff Decide on Hiring Good afternoon, Michael Garson became a devotee of the Guru Maha-raj Ji's Divine Light Mission in May of 1974 and resigned nine months later because he said he "could not tolerate the contradictions." In a story on Page A-12 he says the group is in poor financial condition because of the leader's material wishes. D.C. Leads in Male Cancer Deaths The highest cancer death rate among American males is found in Washington.

The rate among blacks is higher than among whites. Today's Extra on Page B-4 tells of a study project to find out why. Same Old Stuff There is nothing new in a run-off candidate helping an also-ran pay off his campaign debts, as in the Edwards-Long case hitting newspapers nearly four years after the fact, Adras LaBorde notes in his column on today's Editorial Page. Full School Year Studied Some Acadia Parish high school students could go to school through the summer next year and vacation in the fall under a plan that will be recommended by a task force set up by Supt. of Education Louis Michot.

A story on Page A-3 says the task force will recommend the quinmcster plan which would break the school year into five nine-week periods. A student could take any one period off. Taxpayers' Pay for Trips Fourteen generals took costly hunting and fishing trips at taxpayers' expense while they were supposed to be on duty elsewhere, according to evidence uncovered by the General Accounting Office. A story on Page A-ll says this practice may be very widespread. jg LIME gkg "We're trying to get less involved in hiring.

Most of the board doesn't want that kind of responsibility as long as they know who the staff is hiring." In the past, Bates said, "we had more authority when it came to hiring." But, Bates said, as time goes by the board is giving the staff more authority. "That's the way it ought to be because they are specialized in this area." Board members still occasionally exercise their right to object to any person about to be hired in their district. Bates said, "You may ask who am I to determine who is best qualified? And I would agree, I'm not the one who should." He said, though, that if two applicants have equal qualifications and "I know one of them and not the other, I'd be inclined to favor the person I know." But, (Turn to PageA4) By Robby McCorkle (Town Talk Staff Writer) (Second of Two Stories) Rapides Parish School Board members' influence on hiring of school personnel is minimal and that's the way the executive committee thinks it should be. All three executive, committee members expressed a similar feeling: hiring should be left to the professional staff but board members should be informed about any person being hired in a school in their districts. Board president D.

C. (Bill) Bates, who sat on the board for several terms before reapportionment, said the hiring trend is "getting more and more toward letting the staff at least recommend who should be hired." He said as long as he is informed of a pending appointment, he is satisfied. Action Line answers questions, solves problems, explores complaints, penetrates red tape. Write Action Line, The Town Talk, P.O. Box 7558, Alexandria, 71301, or telephone Alexandria 442-1331 (8 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday). islative auditor and are public records which can be examined by anyone. Some Price Increases Are Disguised DIDN'T GET JOB I know I was not hired recently because of my age even though I am in good health and capable of doing as good a job as someone younger.

Is there a rule or law against this practice? Mrs. A.P., Alexandria. There is a law, or laws, pertaining to hiring practices. But without having more information, particularly your age and the place where you sought employment, it is impossible to tell whether a law was violated in your case. A federal attorney said even the federal government has an age limit of 70 on hiring.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Why is it that Central Louisiana sheriffs and tax assessors do not publish annual financial statements of their receipts and expenditures in the official journals? G.A., Dry Prong. There is no provision in the law requiring such publication, said Rapides Sheriff Marshall T. Cappel. And, he added, "there is no neccessity." He pointed out such records are examined by the leg FUNERAL ESCORT SERVICES Is it true funeral homes here charge $25 for escort services for a funeral when such services are provided free by the sheriff's department? W.T., Pineville. No, that is not true, said manager of one of the larger funeral homes here.

He said no extra fee for escort is charged. RIGHT ON RED Concerning turning on a red light after you have stopped, can you or must you wait until light turns green? Recently there was an article in The Town Talk which said you could turn on red. Could this be clarified? J.S., Alexandria Apparently you refer to the turn rule in Alexandria. According to the city's code of ordinances, you can turn right on red "providing that the way 'is clear and such movement does not interfere with vehicles crossing on the green light, (Turn to Page A-9) Government statisticians who compile the Consumer Price Index attempt to adjust their figures for changes in quality and quantity, but a suspicion exists that so widespread are disguised price increases that they're not geting them all. Shrinking the size of the product remains the most typical disguise, practiced most noticeably by candy bar makers but also by car makers, ice cream scoopers, sandwich makers, bartenders and home builders.

Does the latest house in your development seem a bit smaller than the ones built earlier? Surely your must be deceiving, you say, but it does seem a bit smaller, although it is precisely the same in all details. You're right. Some builders simply shrank the size of their product to hold the price line. The same designs, the same specifications, but an end product a foot or two smaller in almost every dimension. Some sellers simply give up attempting to hold down prices.

They might, like some candy manufacturers, feel they have shrunk the size of their product to an unshrinkable minimum, and so they go in for a whopping increase. To make the big price increase seem justified, these candy makers at the same time enlarge size of their bar. But whereas the price might double, the contents are enlarged only 1.5 times. Occurring throughout the market place are practices quite similar to the a la carte for fixed prices substitution: Standard equipment and services become extras for which there is an ad- (Turn to Page A-9) By John Cunniff NEW YORK (AP) At midafternoon the flower seller outside the commuter station is selling roses for $2 a bunch, 12 to the bunch. At 5 p.m.

the price is the same but the bunch now consists of four roses. This salesman is only doing what thousands of other hard-pressed entrepreneurs are at-tempting-disguising price increases. A medium-priced restaurant is forced out of business by its inability to keep prices moderate. A month later, after a name change and redecorating, it opens as a high-class affair, seemingly justifying higher prices. The food's the same.

Another restaurant with a long tradition of fixed price dinners goes a la carte. Individually, the price of each a la carte item doesn't seem too nigh, but the bill adds up to a lot more. ''i i.