The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 12

HniMWt' TEW KNOW 12-A TOE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, Wed Oct. 31, 1973 Real Halloween New Benefits Await Aged Murphysboro Monster Baffling, Terrifying themselves and a good number of God-fearing families decided to curtail the traditional Halloween trick-or-treating rounds. "A lot of things in life are unexplained," said Toby Berger, the police chief, "And this is another one. We don't know what the creature is. But we do be- lieve what these people saw was real.

We have tracked it. And the dogs got a definite scent." It all began shortly after midnight June 25. Randy Needham and Judy Johnson were conferring in a parked car on the town's boat ramp down by the Big Muddy. At one point the couple heard a loud cry from the woods next to the car. Many were to describe the sound as that of a greatly amplified eagle shriek.

Needham looked up from the front seat. There, lumbering toward the open window was a light-colored, hairy, seven-foot creature matted with mud. i Needham, the police report calmly notes, "left the area." He proceeded to the police station and filed an "unknown creature" report Judy Johnson was married at the time, according to police, but not to Needham. So when the two reported the monster, authorities took it seriously. "They wouldn't risk all that if they weren't really scared," said one.

Later, as officer Jimmie Nash and Deputy sheriff Bob Scott inspected some peculiar footprints in the oozing mud left by the receding river, Nash became a believer in the monster. Ray and Randy Creath, who drew a pic-ture of the "He was as tall as that tree," said the 17-year-old Creath, the son of a state trooper. "It took me 15 minutes to get scared. But then it really hit me." That did it for Chief Berger. He ordered his entire 14-man force out for a night-long search.

And Jerry Nellis, a dog trainer, brought Reb, and 80-pound German Shepherd. With floodlight officers discovered a rough trail in the brush. Reb found gobs of black slime, much like that of sewage sludge, on a direct line between the river and the Ray House. Quickly, Reb was off down the hill, around the pond and into the woods toward the old bullar farm. There, Nellis and officer Nash, his .357 magnum drawn, approached an abandoned bam.

Then, at the door the. dog yelped and backed off in panic. Nellis threw it in the door, The dog crawled out whining. The men radioed for help. 4 Fourteen area police cars maneu-, vered the mile-long, rutted, overgrown road.

But the barn was empty. "These are good honest people," said Chief Berger. "They are seeing something. And who would walk through sewage tanks for a "I know it's out there," said Young" Randy Creath, "It would be fascinating to see it again and study it But, you know, I ktada hope he doesn't come back. With everyone running around with guns and sticks, he really wouldn't have much of a chance, would he?" By ANDREW H.

MALCOLM MURPHYSBORO, 111. (NYT) -Mrs. Nedra Green was preparing for bed in her isolated farmhouse near here the other night when a shrill piercing scream came from out by the shed. "It's it again," she said Four-year-old Christian Baril was in his back yard chasing fireflies with a glass jar. He ran in the house.

"Daddy, Daddy," he said, "There's a big ghost outback." Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray were talking on her darkened porch when something moved in the brush nearby. Cheryl went to turn on a light; Randy went to investigate. At that moment it stepped from the bushes. Towering over the wide-eyed teenage couple was a creature resembling a gorilla. It was eight feet tall.

It had long shaggy matted hair colored a dirty white. It smelled foul like river slime. Silently, i the trio stared at each other 15 feet apart then, after an eternity of perhaps 30 seconds, the creature turn ed slowly and crashed off through the brush back toward the river. It was the Murphysboro Monster, a strange 'creature that has baffled and frightened police and residents for weeks now in this southern Illinois town on the sluggish Big Muddy River. It is a creature that has brought a real kind of Halloween to Murpbysboro's 10,000 citizens.

And although the hobgoblin is so far benevolent, no one here is taking any chances. Many have armed "I was leaning over when there was i By BEAU CUTIS Federal officials handling a new welfare program are disappointed that so few persons are signing Millions of dollars are waiting, but claims for the money are far below expectations, according to James Demer, Social Security Administration district manager in Atlanta. To help spread the word on eligibility, the Social Security office here held a meeting Tuesday to provide information on the new program to, persons In poverty and community organizations that deal with poor Demer said the new program replaces the present joint, state-federal programs of public assistance for the aged, blind and disabled. The effective date of the totally federal effort is Jan. 1.

"We're looking for people and they just haven't come in yet," Demer Because the federal takeover also provides for more liberal benefits and rules of eligibility, the national estimate for growth in this type of welfare roll places the increase at 100 per cent. Demer said the number nationally is expected to jump from 3 million persons to 6 million. In Georgia, the proportionate growth is expected to be far less. About 7,700 Georgians have applied for the new assistance to date, Demer said. Another are! eligible to join the 130,000 persons 'currently getting assistance, according to estimates.

Persons now receiving benefits through the-state do not have' to apply, -said. "They will automatically be carried over," he Under the new program, a Eerson who is 65 -op tolder, lind, or disabled.Larid.who has limited income 'and property will be eligible for a basic monthly payment of $130, or $195 for a couple, Demer said. Generally, personi J4 1 1 homes valued at more than $25,000 or with household property of $L200 talue or more are not eligibleY But Demer cautioned that many exceptions on property and income For additional information, he suggested Atlanta area residents call Jhlbrma-tion is also available 'at any Social Security office In Georgia, Since the program is being administered by the Social Security Administration, persons should not contact or county welfare offices' for information, he said. Excluded from the program are persons receiving- more than $150 a month ($215 for couples) from Social Security retirement benefits, Demer said. Persons who are eligible for assistance to the aged, blind or disabled will not be given retroactive payments If they wait until after January to sign up, he said.

After the program begins in January, eligible participants can begin receiving the money but ionly from the date of their Acceptance, Demer said. t' the most incredible shriek I've ever heard," he said. "It was in those bushes. That was no bobcat or screech owl and we hightailed it out of there." i Officers searched the riverbank for hours, following an illusive splashing sound, but found nothing, 'i next day the Southern Ulinoisan published a small 200-word account of the "critter," omitting the embarrassed couple's name. The next night came young Chris-tian Baril's encounter with the "bg ghost," and the experenoe of Cheryl nvifirr DOWN IN V.S.

State Welfare Increase Rolls i CZ0 VSM I il tin. I i i.ij..- -li i ill i i'itm X-A Staff Photot Chuck VollerUen 7 However, the Georglai figures do show that the.jate of increase has slowed! over the past couple of years, said Mrs. Betty Bellairs of the state Department of Human Resources. The last time theration's welfare caseload decreased was in 1967, when a net loss of about 100,000 recipients dropped the total. 1.2 per cent to 7.7 million persons.

The HEW figures for fiscal 1973 also show a marked slowing in the rise of expenditures. Cost for federal-state welfare programs totaled $19.4. billion for the year, an increase of $1.1 billion, or 6 per over fiscal 1972, when spending shot up 17.4 per cent In Georgia, a similar "slowing of spending was JiMced, Fiscal 1973 expenditures totaled $17,938,798, compared to $16,897,417 in fiscal-1972 and $14,794,910 in fiscal 1971." Becky Stephens Shows Nightie Left Behind Someone Else Lost a Plastic Train IN HOTEL LOST, FOUND Dentures May Be Safe Those Forgotten The nation's welfare rolls edged downward in fiscal 1973 for the first time in seven years, according to a report released Tuesday in Washington, but the figures for Georgia did not follow the national trend. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare figures show that 14.8 million persons were receiving public assistance at the end of last June, a decrease of 249,000, or 1.7 per cent, a year In the figures showed 463,898 receiving assistance in fiscal 1973, compared to 443,446 in fiscal 1972.

The bulk of the national fiscal 1973- reduction occurred among the elderly, who were shifted off welfare when they began receiving higher Social Security benefits, and persons on general assistance, which Involves no federal funds. The Old Age Assistance caseload dropped 180,000, or 8.9 per cent, to 1.8 million persons. A similar decrease in Old Age Assistance was noted in Georgia, where fiscal 1973 cases declined from 90,874 in 1972 to 87,030. Nationally; the 10.9 million recipients of. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) represented a small decrease of 5,000 persons, but was a marked improvement over the previous year when the AFDC caseload mushroomed by nearly 700,000 persons.

The AFDC caseload in Georgia continued to swell in i 1973, rising to 333,133 persons, compared to 309,701 in 1972 and 261,500 in 1971. But at the Sheraton-Biltmore, the non-seasonal forgotten items include wedding bands, marriage licenses, plane tickets, watches, assorted undergarments and shaver cords. If you belong the unexclusive ratern- ity of Americans who leave things forget a medicine cabinet cure-all bottled elixers won't absorb the acids of your anxiety. But a check with the hotel lost and found might' Atlanta hotels generally keep articles of small monetary value for 30 days; however, if an item's estimated worth exceeds $10, it gets a free 90-day stay in most lost and founds. Guests must get in touch with the hotel if they get that sinking feeling, instead of the other way around.

After 90 days, according to several Atlanta hotel spokesmen, the forgotten item passes into the hands of the maid who turned it in, under the presumption that after three months, "finders keepers, losers "Someone left a granite tombstone in a room here once," laugher Joyce Sewell of the Marriott. "It looked like it had just been taken out of the ground. We never found the 'owner." The slab rested in peace for months in the motel's lost and found until a Marietta woman discovered that nobody, had claimed it "She made buttermilk candy and asked us if she could have the tombstone to lay her candy on to dry," said Miss Sewell. Then there was the little old lady who forgot a small glass, an accessory to her pill-swallowing. "We told her we couldn't find it and she wrote back and said that we'd better because it had been in her family for years.

We're still trying to figure that one out," said Miss Sewell. "Once a south Georgia politician left his wallet with $300. He called and said it was under the mattress, and that's where we found if she added. During Atlanta's monsoon season, umbrellas clutter hotel lost and founds. By ART HARRIS It comes on suddenly, that sinking feeling deep in the pit of your stomach.

It hits the unwary on planes during takeoff, on trains chugging away from the station, on ships that have just cast off. "I know I've forgotten something," you mumble softly, not wanting the passenger in the next seat to know you've forgotten something. Then comes the low moaning the next symptom followed by your open palm's reflex slap to the forehead. The "fasten seat belt" sign dims and the stewardess sets down your dinner tray. "MY DENTURES!" you scream, clutching the armrest with one hand, while you frantically search your pockets with the other.

Where did you leave them? The tiny French Cafe? The YMCA men's room? The hotel? The hotel bathroom! But it's 30,000 feet below and 500 miles behind, and alas, too late to heal thyself by turning back now. Calm yourself; get a firm grip; cool it. Your teeth are safe in the hotel lost and found. 'Lots of guests forget their false teeth," confides the Regency's assistant hbusekeep- -er as he unlocks the hotel's repository of or-getfulness, a small, seemingly, forgotten room three floors below the "This is the lost and found," he says, waving an arm at shelves lined with a cornucopia of forgotten or deliberately abandoned possessions. There is a child's red plastic 'fire truck which goes "HONK" when squeezed.

There is a nice, but not-so-new leather suitcase, which according to the housekeeper was probably abandoned by a guest after he bought a new one; There is a paperback book, "Ten Great American Mystery Stories," in Japanese. And on another shelf, lies a crumpled white satin pillowcase, monogrammed with a maroon "Uany people bring their own pillowcases on trips," adds the housekeeper, "we've got quite a collection." So do most other Atlanta hotels, a Constitution telephone survey revealed. Canada to Send Mideast Troops OTTAWA (UPI) -Cana-da's contingent on the. United States emergency force in the Middle East could total 1,500 men and the first troops will leave In a Defense Minister James Richardson said Tuesday. External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp announced Canada would supply a "logistics component" to the Mideast peacekeeping force! and Richardson later released fur-' ther details on Canada's State Retailers Group Vows To Seek Blue-Law Revisions fit! rri if!" i I' I 111 tSP XI- BY MILO DAKIN The Georgia Retailers Association signaled Tuesday that it will push for revialon in state blue laws that will force restaurants and movies to shut down on Sundays if retail stores are to be padlocked then.

Without issuing an ultima-turn, association President Bill McBrayer told a legislative subcommittee to get the law straightened out if voluntary compliance is to be expected from large merchants. "If the retailer must rest on Sunday, then everyone should rest," declared McBrayer, identifying restaurants, movie theaters and even convenience stores as targets for large retailers who face arrest in some areas of the state for opening their doors on Sunday. McBrayer was clear in his argument that the association itself was not pushing for open doors or closed doors on Sunday. "Some of my members are for it and some are against it," he told the special subcommittee, which must make a recommendation to the full House Industry Committee before January. "If a person is desperately ill, you want him to wait and get his drugs on Monday?" asked Rep.

Sam Allen of Savannah. "You know better than that!" McBrayer shot back. "What you're talking about is drug stores that open on Sunday and sell hardware," interrupted Hep. John Adams of Rome. "That's right," McBrayer replied.

"And Im talking about the other businesses that have no more right to be open than the retail merchant" "You're not talking about the law, you're talking about selective enforcement of the law," asserted Rep. Bob Berlin of Macon, summing up what is generally viewed as the basic flaw involved concerning Georgia laws restricting Sunday sales. Contained in the subcommittee files is a piece of legislation that would abolish all blue laws except those regulating the sale of whisky. "You might say I'm partial to that one," asserted subcommittee member Rep. Vince Moyer of Warner Robins.

"I wrote it and I'm going to push it." Moyer wants all the laws struck from the books "to get an even start" at rewriting Sunday codes. "Let's take them off the books, then let the local governments that want blue laws pass them so they can be enforced," Moyer argued. The Rev. James Wesberry, pastor of Morningside Baptist Church in Atlanta, pleaded for a legal holiday on Sunday, calling the Sabbath "indespen-sible. "Man needs a day of rest," he said.

"It corresponds to his physical and moral nature." f-l Charred Framing Remains A Tuesday afternoon fire at 619 Cedar off Baker Road in type smoke." A trailer next to the wood frame buildlng with west Atlanta, destroyed a junk warehouse. Battalion Chief metal siding was also apparently destroyed by the Maze. Bill Jenkins said the building contained many 50 gallon drums Jenkins said the owner of the property had not been Identified and five gallon cans, and the fire emitted "a yellow, chemical- Tuesday afternoon. (Staff Photo-Billy Downs).