Mt. Vernon Register-News from Mt Vernon, Illinois • Page 1

TEMPERATURE Thursday high 70, low 48. ttspO a.m. today 32. Downtown at noon today 47. MT.

VERNON REGISTER-NEWS MEMBER AUDP BUREAM OF CIRCULATION SQUARE DEAL FOR ALL SPECIAL FAVORS FOR NONE A NON-PARTISAN NEWSPAPER WEATHER Cool tonight, warmer Satar- day, mostly clear eldeB. Low tonight 25 to SO. High Saturday low to mid 50s. VOLUME 146 MOUNT VERNON, ILLINOIS, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1969 40c per Week Single Copy 7c OF RUNNING 52-46 John C. Garrison Oldest Mt.

V. Ramfan Is Dead At 97 Mt. Vernon's oldest basketball fan died this morning only a few hours before his favorite Rams started battling at the University of Illinois for the state championship. He was John Carroll Garri son of 828 Pace Avenue, who observed his 97th birthday last December 15. He died at 7:50 a.m.

today at Good Samaritan -Hospital. Mr. Garrison, who didn't retire until he was 89 years old, lived an active life in which he worked as a farmer, a bookkeeper, a grocer, a shipping clerk and a painter; Mt. Vernon's Rams were Mr. pride and joy.

He attended the games until he was 96 and was a rabid rooter. Even when advanced age finally prevented his attendance he sat at home and rooted for the team, from his rocking chair, as he listened to all-the broadcasts. Remembers 1888 Cyclone Mr. Garrison was one of the few remaining old- timers who remembered the great Mt. Vernon cyclone of 1888.

From their farm southeast of town the Garrisons, watched the ominous clouds that day, but it was not until the next day that a horse back rider reported what had happened in Mt. Vernon. Garrison and his father and brothers drove to town in their wagon and, for a week, helped in cleaning up the debris. Mr. Garrison was born December 15, 1811 in Jefferson county, thfc son of William Carroll and Mary Jane (Mills) Garrison.

He was the nephew of Uncle John Mills, who died at the age of 103. Uncle John's old log house still stands at the curve on Route 460 southeast of town, which is known as Mills curve. Qn: November 11, 1896 Mr. Garrison was married, in Mt. Vernon, to Emma Hill, who pre- IContinued Oh.Page 2 Col.

7) Report: Serious Casualties Cong Hit U. S. Bases With Renewed Fury Pioneer Residence Is Passing On SAIGON (AP) The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese smashed at American bases with renewed furytoday.hitting them with rockets, mortars and infantry assaults that caused se rious casualties and losses of aircraft, vehicles and fuel. In one of the heaviest series of blows since the opening of the spring offensive 27 nights ago, enemy rockets and mortars hit 65 allied bases and towns, and infantry assaults ripped into three of the bases. It was the largest number of attacks since last Friday, when 70 bases and towns were hit.

AU of the enemy infantry, attacks were on American bases along the northwest; approaches to Saigon, between 31 and 51 miles from the capital. Twelve Americans were, killed and 47 wounded, while known enemy losses were 38 dead, U.S. spokesmen said. Ten of the Americans were killed and 28 were wounded in one attack on an artillery base, Spokesmen said only five enemy bodies were found after an estimated 400 North Vietnamese attacked the U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division's Fire Support Base White behind a 150-round mortar barrage.

However, the Americans said many blood trails and drag marks were found, indicating the. enemy took a number of wounded and dead with them when hey pulled back toward the Cambodian at The attack-began shortly before 3 a.m.-when mortars, ba- zobkaitype rockets and small arms hit American camp 50 miles northwest of Siagon. The 250 American troops called for help, hurriedly donned their gas masks as the North Vietnamese fired tear gas grenades, and turned the base's eight 105mm and 155mm guns on the enemy positions. Helicopter gunships fired rqckets as one of the camp's a guns illuminated the enemy batteries with flares. All the Americans killed were -o- -o- -o- victims of the bombardment.

Six were members of a mortar platoon trying to hit the enemy mortars. The other four were riflemen in a bunker that took a direct hit. Two infantry assaults were made on the south and east sides of the base within 90 minutes, but they were small, officers said. Thirty enemy troops were repulsed in the first thrust, while 15 to 20 North Vietnamese failed to find an opening in the second assault. Only 12 of the 28 Americans wounded had to be evacuated The rest were treated and returned to duty.

The base is one of four artillery and patrol camps along the southern edge of the Viet Cong's War Zone which impede, the enemy approach to Saigon from the northwest. White Bsae is just north of the Michelin rubber plantation where more than 10,000 Ameri can troops and scores of tanks are trying to root out an estimated 7,500 North Vietnamese threatening Saigon. U.S. intelli gence officers said the purpose of the attack on the base apparently was to tie down the artillery batteries while North Vietnamese troops tried to maneuver away from American ground forces closing on them, AP photographer Horst Faas reported from the area that the bulk of the North Vietnamese believed to have been in the. Michelin plantation area apparently had escaped to the and east.

Only one major contact was reported the big U.S. counteroffensive, known as Operation. Atlas Wedge. Troops of Col. George S.

Patton's 11th mored Cavalry Regiment and men of the 1st Air Cavalry Division fought a day-long battle 45 miles northwest of Saigon Thursday, and 'killed at least 72 North Vietnamese, U.S. headquarters said. mm. Sen. Gore Blasts Nixon Plan Defense In WASHINGTON (AP) A ranking Senate foe of President Nixon's Safeguard missile defense system confronted Secretary of Defense Melvin R.

Laird today with the argument that it is "a' defense in search of a And the critic, Sen. Albert Gore, said that mission yet been discovered. Gore said: "It is my serious conviction that the program which you recommend would further endanger our security, it would make an armament limitation agreement more difficult, if not impossible to obtain, and thus ultimately could degrade our deterrent." Laird, fresh from two days of testimony in favor of the Safeguard ABM system in the friendly confines of the Senate Armed Services Committee, immediate resistance in the foreign relations subcommittee dominated by AMB opponents. Gore issued a lengthy'critique -o- -o- -o- of Laird's testimony Thursday and said "it has been well said that this ABM system is a defense in search of a mission. We have heard possible kind of argument for it and many of these are.contradictory.

"Our real security rests in stopping the nuclear armament race, and not in promoting it," the Tennessee Democrat added, -o- -o- -o- saying the subcommittee is interested in knowing why a promised disarmament talk with the Soviet has not yet started. One of the few rough spots Laird had before the Armed Services Committee was a set of questions from Sen. Stuart Symington, who noted he was "the only gentleman here who is Mt. V. Town Meeting April 1 SET $103,000 TAX LEVY IN TOWNSHIP SIMPLY MAKE CAN'T IE AOS OR' TAILS OUT OF HIM I Tax.

levies totaling $103,000 will be up for approval at the annual Mt. Vernon town meeting on Tuesday, April 1. The proposed town fund levy is $56,000 and the proposed general assistance (relief) levy is The town fund levy is $3,000 above last year's levy of $53,000 and the relief, fund levy is $700 over last year's levy of $46,300. All adult residents of the township are eligible to attend and vote on affairs of the township. The meeting, at 2:00 p.m.

will be held in the supervisors room in the basement of the county court house. At' the town meeting electors, will also act on a proposed $72,000 township road budget arid appropriation. ,000 For Belief was taken after suffering The budget 6 attack for the relief program, for the period; March 25, 1969 through March 24, 1970, totals $283,000. Of that amount the state is expected to furnish $236,000. The budget estimates ex- pen- ditures'of for honae relief, $68,000 for hospitalization, -O-.

-0- for burial expenses, $39,000 for administration and $7,200 for a work program. $66,000 For Town Fund The $56,000 appropriation for the town fund includes $39,390 for salaries for town officers, $6,200 for elections, $2,985 for expenses of town officers, and $2,800 for expenses of the township assessor. THIS STATELY OLD HOUSE northwest of Waltonvllle was built 98 years ago of lumber hauled from St. Louis by mule train. It was built by Jesse Dees and he and his wife, Naomi, lived there until their deaths In the 1890's.

-o- Was Residence Of Pioneer Jesse Dees House Near Waltonville, Built In 1870, Going Down By Jerry Ellistpn After serving as an impressive landmark for nearly a hundred years the old Jesse A Dees house northwest of Waltonville is now abandoned and is due to be demolished very soon Although the porches are sagging and, the eaves are the old house still has an air of dignity about it and looks as rugged and dependable as trie old pioneer who built it a centruy ago. Constructed in 1870 of materials hauled from St. Louis by mule train, it has served as lavish residence for several generations. Because folklore says that Mr. Dees always converted his money into gold, and as there were no banks in the area at that time, there is a persistant rumor of money being buried around the place.

The forlorn and mysterious ap pearance of the old house today does nothing to discourage a belief in the old tales. Early Settlers Jesse A. Dees was one of the earliest and most colorful pioneers to settle in this part of the county. He was born in the Abbyville District of South Carolina on June 11, 1808 arid came, to Jefferson county at the age of twelve, according to the historical record. When he was a small lad his mother married Lewis Green, and he lived with his mother.

and step-father until he was grown. They came to knob Prairie Precinct, now Blissville Township, in 1824. They were among the first to come there. They later moved to and then to Perry county, Missouri, where Jesse attended a subscription school for four and half months, paying his way by trapping and finding bee trees. He sold the honey to a Catholic seminary.

That is all the schooling he ever got. The year Jesse was 21 he worked in St. Louis. He Was hod- carrier during the construction of the now famous old courthouse near the Gateway -o- -o- -o- Arch. He carried mortar all the way to the fourth floor.

He returned to Jefferson county as. a young man and settled in Blissville Township where he spent the remainder of his life. There he married Naomi Booth and both lived to a ripe old age. They were childless, but raised several realtives. Took Furs to St.

Louis As a young man Mr. Dees trapped, and hunted. He his furs and hides to St Louis by pack horse. In the winter time he packed deer carcasses to St. Louis and sold them, also One time while he was camped with some hunters on West.

Muddy, now called Rayse Creek a freighter engaged him to guide his wagons toward St. Louis And so it was that Jesse laid out the first wagon road from Mt. Vernon to St. Louis. A great deal of the rough winding ribbon of route 15 from Ashley to Nashville is really a part of that old road.

Lumber By Mule Train By 1870 Mr. Dees was quite wealthy and decided to build a house befitting his station in life. He hauled the lumber from St. Louis by mule train. It took a week to make a round trip.

Rev. Jesse W. Dees of Homer, 111., says Mr. Dees built the house with money he made sel ling mules to the government during the Civil War. When Mr.

Dees retired he owned 1,400 acres of land and so much livestock, mostly mul es, that the sale lasted three days before it was all auctioned off. Mrs. Naomi Dees died on Dec. 1, 1896 and Jesse died four months later, March .4, 1897. Both are buried in Grand Arm cemetery in a plot surrounded by.

an iron fence and marked by a lofy monument topped by the figure of an angel. Several children stayed for while in the Dees home, and some were raised until they were grown. Ida Hodges and Kate Hall were two of those. Kate married Edgar Dees, whose descendents still live in the Waltonville area. Mark Van Doren Has Heart Attack TORRINGTON, Conn.

Van Doren, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, was listed in good condition Thursday in Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, where lie Van Doren, who lives in Falls Village, was admitted to the hospital March 10, a hospital spokesman said. The 74-year-old critic and poet Won the Pulitzer in 1939 for his Collected Poems. He is a native ot Hope, 111. Team Arrives From State At 2:00 Sunday Win Or Lose, Rams Will Get Royal Welcome Home Dan Malkovich Gets State Post Gov. Richard Ogilvie today appointed Daniel L.

Malkovich of Benton as assistant state conservation director. Malkovich, 42, is founder and editor of'. "Outdoor Illinois" magazine. He is a director of the Illinois State Historical Society, Lincoln Heritage trial Foundation and Illinois Nature Cor servation Association. Illllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllll! Snicker-A-Day Sodden Thought: Marriage changes many a sofMspokcc girl Into an oft-spoken woman, ilillllllllllllll.llllipillllllllllllllllllllllllf^llllllllll Win or lose, Mt.

Vernon's Rams will get a royal welcome when they arrive home from Champaign Sunday afternoon. The team is scheduled to arrive between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. The fire truck will meet the team at Borden's Market, on Salem Road, and the players and coaches will get seats of honor on the truck. They will lead a parade from that point to the high school gymnasium for the King City's official reception for the high school's great 1969 basketball team. School authorities said that "short speeches" have been scheduled.

There will be coffee, Pepsi- Cola arid cookies for' everyone. JESSE AND NAOMI DEES had no children, so this elaborate monument in Grand Arm cemetery and a page in Perrins history is all that remains to mark the passing of an important Jefferson county pioneer. First Of Year Rabid Skunk Is Killed In This County The first rabid skunk of the years has been killed in Jefferson County. Merle Williamson, rabies control officer, said that the skunk was killed this week at the home of Roy Hayes, Route 3, Mt. Vernon.

The state laboratory at Centralia reported yesterday that the animal had rabies. The skunk was killed after it fought with the pet dog of the Hayes family. "It was necessary for us to put the pet dog to sleep because it had not been vaccinated," Williamson said. 3 Mt. V.

Candidates Bolerjack In Race For Grade School Board A race for positions on at least one Mt. Vernon area school board developed this morning. Eugene Bolerjack, 3217 Cherry street, filed his petitions as a candidate for the District 80 (Mt. Vernon grade' school) board of education. Two other candidates had previously filed J.

Russell Stewart, an incuriibent, and John Lipps. Two members will be elected to the seven- member board on April 12. Tomorrow is the last day for to file for the grade school, high school and Rend Lake College boards, li Recognize Red China" NEW YORK (AP) Sen. Ed- M. Kennedy has called for an overhaul of U.S.

policy toward Communist China, including pulling U.S. troops off Formosa and giving Communist China a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Kennedy, in a speech Thursday niyht, also called for removing all travel and nonstrate- gic trade barriers with, mainland China and opening consular missions there until diplomatic relations are established. The Massachusetts Democrat told the National Committee on -China Relations, "Surely, in the entire history of American foreign policy, there has no fiction more palpably absurd than our official position that Communist China does not exist." Kennedy, the Senate assistant majority leader, called on the Nixon administration "to rectify the errors of the past" by offering Peking "a clear and attractive alternative to the existing impasse in our relations." Negotiations with the Communists should begin "at the earliest opportunity," Kennedy said.

The senator proposed that the China seat in the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly be given to the Communists. He said Nationalist China might.re­ tain General Assembly membership and that diplomatic recognition should be maintained with the Nationalists. He also prqposed the "demilitarizatioh'' of Formosa. EAST AURORA SURPRISES MT.

VERNON CHAMPAIGN, East's scrappy Tomcats, lead by Algie Neal and Tom Kivisto, outhustl- ed Mount Vernon 52-46 today in the quarterfinals of the Illinois state high school basketball tournament. After cruising to a 32-20 halftime lead on the booming 25-footers of Neal, the Tomcats kept their cool although Mount Vernon narrowed the lead to two points in a harrowing fourth quarter. BOX SCORE Mt. Vernon (46) James Hawthorne 3 Sledge 5 Strickland 3 Sanders 2 Gray 2 FG FT TP ..3 2 8 3 9 0 10 2 8 3 7 0 4 TOTALS 18 10 46 East Aurora (52) Neal B. Patterson 0 Lowrey 3 Kivisto 4 C.

Patterson 3 FG FT TP ..9 0 18 3 4 5 2 3 10 13 8 TOTALS 19 14 S2 Score By Quarters: Mt. Vernon 9 11 14 East Aurora 13 17 12 The taller, Rams, averaging nearly 6 feet 6 inches in the front line, couldn't use their superior height to any advantage as Kivisto, son of coach Ernie Kivisto, quarterbacked the game and nursed the Tomcat lead with remarkable passing. Mount Vernon took a 2-0 lead to open the game and held an 8-6 edge early in the first quarter before Neal opened up with three long jump shots from the corner, and Aurora East held a 15-9 lead at the quarter. Hawthorne Closes Gap Nate Hawthorne hit on three quick points early in the second quarter to pull Mount Vernon within two points of the lead at 16-14 and again at 18-16 before the Tomcats went on a spree to lead 24-16 and finally 32-20 at the half. Neal was the gunner as he hit on eight shots to score 16 of his total 18 points in the first half, while Kivisto chipped in with seven of his total 14 in the first half.

13 Point Margin Early in the second half, Aurora East pushed its lead to 13 points before the Rams came alive and whittled the margin to 10 points at 44-34 going into the final quarter. With Eddie James and Terry Sledge leading the Ram attack, Mount Vernon cut the lead to two points at 44-42 on a push shot by Sledge. But Aurora East came right back as Rich Lowrey scored on a jumper and Cliff Patterson and Kivisto hit on free throws. In the closing minutes, Bill Patterson hit on a pair of free throws for the final six-point margin as the Tomcats worked, the ball effectively in killing time. The victory boosted Aurora East record to while Mount Vernon stepped out with a 23-5 mark.

Faubus Divorced, Will Marry Again SALEM, Ark. (AP) Orval E. Faubus, the former six-term Arkansas governor who was divorced three weeks obtained a marriage license here Thursday, County Clerk L. W. Love said.

There was no indication of when a marriage might take place. The license was listed for Faubus, 59, and Mrs. Elizabeth Westmoreland, a native of Holyoke, who had lived at Duluth, and Madispn, Wis. The license lists, her age as 30..