The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 28

Pag 28 Helping A Friend Friday, July 11. WW THt INDIANAPOLIS NEWS 1 ZJ Vv --r, A RUSHVILLE, Ind. Larry Turner searches through the rubble of the Delbert Stout home south of Rush-ville that was destroyed by a tornado Wednesday night. Turner, a friend of the Stout family, was trying to salvage what he could. Stout, his wife and two children were hospitalized in Indianapolis and Rushville with injuries suffered when the killer twister touched down.

Two persons were killed and at least 25 were injured by the tornado in Rush County. The NEWS Photo, William Palmer. $2 Million Tornado Damage kV fit -r 3L 2-Alarm Blaze At Atkinson may call at Master Sons Mortuary today and after 1 p.m. at he church. Delbert Stout, one of four persons transferred to Community Hospital in Indianapolis, was in serious condition after undergoing emergency surgery yesterday, officials said.

The other three patients, and two held over at Rush Memorial Hospital, were in stable condition. All other injured persons were treated and released. Geddes said most of the residents he talked with were "still in shock. Their major concern is about where they will stay and how they can rebuild their homes. They wonder what is going to happen tomorrow." Police patrolled the county last night to prevent looting of destroyed homes and scattered belongings.

RUSHVILLE, Ind. (AP) Tornado-torn Rush County residents, faced with damage estimates reaching $2 million, continued to pull their belongings from collapsed and scattered homes today. The Farmers Home Administration declared the county a Federal disaster area yesterday, less than 24 hours after a tornado swept through the Eastern Indiana county, killing two. Twenty-four persons were injured by the twister and 65 were left homeless, officials said. "We figure the residential damage is somewhere between $1.7 million and $2 million.

That doesn't include damage to crops or businesses," Indiana Civil Defense Department coordinator Robert Geddes Jr. said. Geddes said the estimates were made after a house-by-house assessment. A building that housed a hog market was destroyed and two other businesses were damaged during the twister. Troopers said an aerial survey indicated severe crop damage.

The dead were identified as Emma Myrtle Sweet, 59, and Gail Bowman, age unknown. Mrs. Sweet was flung across a street into a cornfield during the twister Wednesday night, police said. Mrs. Bowman died when she was struck by a wind-driven 2-by-6.

Services for Mrs. Sweet will be tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in First Southern Missionary Basptist Church, of which she was a member. Survivors include her husband, Mil-ford, eight sons and a daughter. Friends Drill Helped In Emergency Smoke billows into the air as a fire fighter reaches the top floor of the Atkinson Hotel, Illinois and Georgia.

The blaze on the 12th floor broke out shortly before 10 a.m. today, filling the sky with smoke. A second alarm was sounded a few minutes later, bringing the total fire apparatus on the scene to 15. While some firemen reached the 1 2th floor via the hotel elevators, others used the outside fire escape to reach the flames. The NEWS Photo, Tim Halcomb.

RUSHVILLE, Ind. (AP) A recent routine emergency drill helped Rush Memorial Hospital officials brace against a possible tornado touchdown and treat 24 twister victims, both in record time, the hospital administrator said yesterday. "We were pretty well-primed, even though we had to activate two emergency systems. We were ready, when the injured arrived, and you didn't see anyone panic," Tom Grimes said. Because officials feared a second tornado might touch down near Rush Memorial Wednesday, the staff moved all patients to inside rooms away from windows.

At the same time the staff prepared for the influx of 24 persons injured in the twister, which also killed two Rush County residents. Of the 24 admitted, 14 were treated and released during the early morning hours and two were transferred immediately to an Indianapolis hospital. By last night, only two twister victims still were patients at the hospital, and both were in stable condition, Grimes said. "Two weeks ago we had a call-in drill, to figure how long it would take people to respond to an emergency. The average response time then was 10 minutes.

Wednesday night it took an average of eight," Grimes said. He said the response time was aided by the fact that the tornado touched down during shift change at the hospital, so employes were held over. Besides the medical staff, 35 to 40 bookkeepers, maintenance and security workers were summoned to assist during the emergency. In all, about 80 employes were in the 56-bed facility, Grimes said. There were a few minor snags, he said.

"I think we might beef up our security a bit next time. And we weren't always receiving communication from the outside. That left us unsure of how many people were coming in, or when," Grimes said. 7 I f-t i I r' 4 1 I V. JI I 4 miiiUHli'Hi "i Mi It's A Puzzle A Ho Hum Time SHELBYVILLE, Ind.

Summertime is when schoolmates have gone their separate ways, when maybe you aren't old enough to--go off by yourself in search of adventure, when there may be nothing to do at times but stare off into space BETHLEHEM, Pa. This engine is moving forward, but where it's going or from whence it came is anybody's guess. A late afternoon sun highlights the complex pattern of tracks to while away the hours between dawn and dusk. That seems to be the case of this youngster, who probably is remembering the yesterdays or daydreaming about the tomorrows. UPI.

in a railroad yard at Bethlehem Steel Corp. UPI. -A.