The Sun from Vincennes, Indiana • 5

VINCENNES SUN-COMMERCIAL, TUESDAY, JULY 4, 172 PACK 5 1 UC9D a re ef oofs rise 1 jf J. i 4. SAIGON (AP South Vietnamese paratroopers battled stubborn North Vietnamese on the outskirts of Quang Tri City today but did not thrust Into the provincial capital Saigon lost May 1. Front-line troops were within two miles of the city limits. Field commanders reported encountering the first bunkers of what was believed to be a heavy line of fortifications around Quang Tri.

'The enemy appears to be pulling back, but we're encoun terlng resistance from nearly every treellne, every village," said an American adviser, Capt. Gall Furrow, 32, of Ur-bana, Ohio, U.S. Jets knocked out two 130mm artillery pieces and five trucks on the western flank of the advance. Behind the front lines, officers said government troops had finished mopping up small i groups of North Vietnamese soldiers who had been "overlooked" in the rapid South Vietnamese advance. Hundreds of refugees from areas liberated by the South Vietnamese made their way south on Highway 1.

They gathered at Phong Bien, 20 miles north of Hue, where buses and trucks picked them up and brought them to Hue. South Vietnamese marines were pushing toward Quang Tri from the east and were reported within four miles of the city. Governmert spokesmen said Saigon's forces also killed nearly 200 North Vietnamese in fighting south of Quang Tri City and west of Hue. Purdue Dean Valley Unit's New Leader TERRE HAUTE The Wabash Valley Interstate Commission has elected dean David Pfendler, College of Agricul-. ture at Purdue University, chairman for the next year.

Parker Graves, of Robinson, I1L, a lumbar dealer, is vice chairman. James Raibley, with the Office of Economic Opportunity in Carmi, I1L, was re-elected treasurer. Pfendler replaces Charles French of Fairfield, 111., as chairman. The commission, created by the legislatures of both states, this past year has been concerned with developing the Patoka Reservoir site in Jasper, the Big Walnut Lake near Green-castle and final designs and plans on Clifty Creek Lake near Columbus, Big Pine Lake near Williamsport and Lincoln Lake near Charleston. George D.

Gettinger, is executive director of the Commission and maintains the office in Terre Haute, Indiana it, i yf HP si KISSING GENERALS E. Ann Hoefly, the Air Force's chief nurse, gets a kiss from Gen. Alonzo Towner, USAF surgeon general, after being promoted in Washington to the rank of general. Gen. Hoefly is the first woman in the Air Force medical service to reach the general officer rank.

(AP Wirephoto) Banker Enriches Purse, Fischer Off For Iceland 16-mile stretch along the Schuylkill River. State and federal officials don't know what to do with the sludge. (AP UP TO HIS WAIST IN SLUDGE A workman places netting in an effort to contain part of an oil spill near Reading, Pa. About 100,000 gallons of crankcase oil was lifted out of storage lagoons by Hurricane Agnes last month, coating a Crisis Frequently Bmlmptcy's Catalyst Fischer arrived in Iceland today about 10 hours before he was scheduled to meet Soviet titleholder Boris Spassky for their first game. The 29-year-old American challenger flew from New York after accepting London banker James D.

Slater's offer to match the $125,000 purse put up by the Icelandic Chess Federation. Now the winner of the 24-game match will get $156,250 and the loser $93,750. Each will also get 30 per cent of the $250,000 paid for the TV and movie rights to the match, or $75,000 each. The match, which could last two months, had been scheduled to start Sunday afternoon, but Fischer stayed in New Family EDITOR'S NOTE Thrft nothing unique (bout gotig brokt. Butinnwt and corporation faco It all tna tlm and doclart bankruptcy.

But, individual Americans can do tha itmi thing, though relativaly quick court proceeding and many do. NEW YORK (AP) Two years ago, Irish emigrant Joseph Ridge thought the American dream had come true. Working overtime, he earned almost $15,000 a year. He was up to date on all his loan payments and his company was negotiating a new wage ment in the central office. When Ridge, 43, filed bankruptcy, he owed $5,130 to two finance companies, a bank charge card, a department store and a mail order cata-ogue firm.

Another $200 owed to his employer is deducted from his salary at the rate of $10 each week and was not declared. The Ridges did not go broke on high living. They live in a $112-a-month rundown, three- Research by the Brookings Institution in Washington shows the average individual bankrupt to be a blue-collar worker, about 40 years old, earning about $130 a week, married 12 years with two children and carrying an average debt of about $5,000. If he had not been in business previously, he owes the money to 12 creditors. David Stanley, director of the research project, said the average bankrupt could have gone along making his payments if Then came a strike and the Phase I wage freeze.

Suddenly he and his family of eight children and his wife, Mary, were on welfare. The Ridges fell further and further behind on the payments. Finally, the seven-month strike ended, but so did the overtime. And Joe Ridge became one of about 180,000 persons each year who declare individual bankruptcy. Although they are the least publicized bankrupts, the Joe Ridges are typical.

York, demanding a 30 per cent cut of the gate receipts. The International Chess Federation postponed the first game 48 hours and told Fischer he had to be in Reykjavik by noon today or forfeit the match. A stewardess on the plane said Fischer appeared calm during the flight of 4 hours and 40 minutes from New York but slept for only a few minutes at a time. Another passenger on the flight, Benjamin Rauschkolb of Long Beach, N.Y., angrily reported that his wife was told at the last minute she couldn't board the plane and he learned later she was bumped to mak room for Fischer. COTTONS ENSEMBLES SPORTSWEAR DRESSES (0 TARTS TOMORROW AFTER 4TH OF JU1Y Vs -14 NOW! SAVE Va- REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) Ending his holdout which threatened to wreck the world chess championship series, American grandmaster Bobby reflects Babitt of bankrupts generally, "Oh, you get dead-beats sure, but you also get the fellow who has huge medical bills and a mongoloid child and then his wife gets sick." Babitt says he believes bankruptcy is a form of rehabilitation for the honest bankrupt.

Other people, including some poverty workers, have taken a more militant stand. One Washington civil rights workers has suggested the best way for the poor to divide up the wealth a little more evenly is to run up large bulls, then declare bankruptcy. In fact, at hearings of the Commission on the Revision of the Bankruptcy law, a lawyer testified he was finding cases of people running up bills, then filing bankrupty. According to law, if this could be proved, the debts would not be dischargable. However, Judge Babitt pointed out it virtually is Impossible to prove.

"He can go out and buy TV sets and bedroom suites to his heart's content," said Babitt. "His creditors may be gulled by their own lack of business prudence. We recognize the fraili-ties of people but the only brake and I mean b-r-a-k-e is that if he does, he'd better not do it for another six years and he'd better come back honestly." Jan Slavicek, co-author of "The Layman's Guide to Bankruptcy is a check aganinst unscrupulous merchants who load up a customer with merchandise he can't afford. He estimates there probably are 20 million people in the United States who ought to declare bankruptcy. Slavicek said he believes more people would declare bankruptcy if they only realized it was a civil, not criminal, proceeding; that their credit will not be ruined forever; that it is not a drawn out court procedure; and that it does not necessarily mean the bankrupt has to give up everything he or she owns.

Most states exempt household furniture and clothes. Some states exempt automobiles. Exemptions on homes vary from state to state. North Dakota protects a farm up to 160 acres and $40,000. South Carolina exempts only $1,000 value.

Slavicek said that in some cases a person's credit could actually improve because they have become a rare American people without debts. They do, in fact, have a low repeater rate about 2 per cent and a creditor has the assurance that bankruptcy can only be declared every six years. Sometimes credit purchasing can be done by making larger down payments. "However, most people after declaring bankruptcy don't want to ever hear of credit again," Slavicek said some crisis had not occurred loss of overtime pay, birth of an extra child, medical bills or divorce. Joe Ridge not his real name but a real person who appeared in U.S.

Bankruptcy Court in New York recently fits into this category. He emigrated from Ireland 17 years ago and began working for New York Telephone Co. immediately in an unskilled job as a frameman, connecting underground wires with equip- 9:00 DRESSES SUITS 13,12 Off Reg. Price MAIN I SALE I 1 CHILDREN'S Shorts Slacks Dresses Tops Swimwear Sizzlers MISSES PANT AND PANT Reg. $12 To $16 bedroom apartment that is furnished with hand-me-downs from neighbors.

The five girls, ages 14 to 6, share one bedroom, sleeping on a twin bed and its trundle. Three boys share another room. On the day of their court appearance, Mary and Joseph appear with their Legal Aid lawyer. The judge is Roy A. Babitt, a veteran of more than seven years as a bankruptcy referee.

He claims he can easily spot a fraud. Babitt questions Joe gently with standard questions. Do you own a car? Do you have a stamp or coin collection? Why did your income drop Do you have a bank account? How do you pay your bills? Are you due for an income tax refund? Babitt notices the Legal Aid lawyer has not exempted Ridge's pension fund from his assets and admonishes the attorney for the oversight. Then he asks Mary the same questions. In 30 days, if no creditor has contested, the Ridges' debts are cancelled.

An estimated $2 billion in debts are discharged this way each year. In open and shut cases like the Ridges, Babitt does not bother to appoint a trustee-usually a lawyer known to the court to double check for assets. Other referees appoint a trustee in every case. It would be the trustee's job to report these assets at another court session and administer their distribution to creditors. Sometimes the assets are so small they are abandoned to the debtor.

Some debts are never dischargeable taxes, alimony, child support, fines, debts incurred fradulently or those resulting from intentional injuries to persons or property. The Ridges did have one other alornative under the bankruptcy law, filing a wage earner's plan In which a court-appointed trustee administers, for a fee, an extended payment or purtial payment plan. About 30,000 people in the United States file these plans each year. Hut is is out of the question for the Ridges. Without overtime, Joe litis only earned so far this year and the prospects for higher wages don't look good "These are not had people," PLAYWEAR Reduced Up To 50 13.12 Off Reg.

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