The Wichita Eagle from Wichita, Kansas • Page 1

Partly Cloudy High 90 Low 60s Dtfi's 6A YlesrfwW 265-3331 Makes Her Pay Sory on Page 1 1 A Price 13 Cents 38 Pages WICHITA KANSAS 67201 MONDAY JUNE 19 -1978 One Person Still Missing Showboat Death Toll Climbs to 14 i i I Ap Photo Divers hoist another body ashore as crushed hulk of Whippoorwill lies crippled in Pomona Lake Lake Disaster Worst in State History By JERRY HOHANNING Aad LARRY FISH Staff Writers VASSAR Kan Search crews recovered six more bodies from Pomona Lake Sunday bringing to 14 the number killed in what officials termed the worst boating disaster in Kansas history One person Melissa Wright 9 still was missing when dragging crews suspended their search because of darkness at 7:45 pm Sunday Hie search for the girl whose mother Sandra and grandmother Grace Vogel were killed in the accident is scheduled to resume this morning THEY WERE AMONG 46 passengers and 13 crew members dumped into the tornado-swept waters Saturday night when the showboat Whippoorwill capsized is by far the most deaths from a single boating accident in the state's history" said Jerry Conley director of the Kansas Forestry Fish and Game Commission The US Coast Guard initially announced that an investigation was planned concerning the seaworthiness of the Whippoorwill but officials decided late Sunday that the federal agency did not have Jurisdiction over the lake 40 miles south of Topeka Instead the state Fish and Game Commission has Jurisdiction Vassar State PRK Manager Ben Streeter said the Whippoorwill had been inspected and certified by the state However Royal Elder boating coordinator for the game commission said game officials would compile a report on the accident and forward it to the Coast Guard Eider said he did not expect a formal investigation of the accident weather will be the direct cause of this Elder said can see no reason for a formal investigation because we know what caused it things happen on the high seas but we are not accustomed to such things in the state of he said THE DOUBLE-DECK paddle wheel steamboat a 12-year-old craft which its owner said made about 68 (See DEATH 6A Col 4) List of Dead United Press International Here is a list of the 14 persons killed at Pomona Lake Saturday night 1 Grace Vogel 67 Topeka 2 Pamela Nelson 29 Wichita 3 Norris Weiss 47 Wichita 4 Judy Patterson 25 Topeka 5 Mildred Lilly in her 70s Topeka 6 Sarah Reed 64 Emporia 7 Muriel Fuller in her late 60s Madison Wis 8 Charles Griffin 33 Topeka 9 Donald Hawthorn 35 Meden Calif 10 Tina Kramer 17 Quene-mo 11 Dr Norman Schwartz 48 Prairie Village 12 Sandra Wright 34 Topeka 13 Carolyn Hartwich age unknown Topeka 14 Zubaidah Isa 55 Heroism Grief Follow Sudden Tragedy yards from the marina about 100 yards off the point Ten minutes had passed The crew began serving dinner BILL FISHER SAW the funnel from his home on the south shore He saw it snake out of the clouds drop to about 200 feet off the water He saw the lake water being sucked into spouts rising to meet the funnel He saw the other funnel drop too sending up another spout Both funnels danced out of the west spinning for the dam on the east side of the lake Spinning right at the Whippoorwill Bruce Rogers saw it too as he stood in the pilot house on the boat To him it looked like kicking out on either side of some invisible swirl" (See HEROISM 8A Col 1) and 7:10 pm the night of a performance Saturday evening the crew hoped to sail early to prepare for the play So promptly at 7 the Whippoorwill chugged out of the marina its red stern wheel splashing water TWO YOUNG MEN wanted to see the engine and boiler They'd heard that the Whippoorwill was the only steam-powered boat in the state They went below Stewards began preparing the tossed green salad Each passenger had paid $15 for the dinner play and moonlight cruise They were to be well fed Saturday night: pork chops and cider fresh broccoli with lemon butter baked potato homemade French bread chocolate cake for dessert The Whippoorwill veered to port heading out of the cove toward the lake It chugged about 500 By FRED MANN Staff Writer Wind had whipped Pomona Lake into a muddy froth all day Saturday keeping restless boaters ashore Bruce and Veda Rogers owners of the Vassar Playhouse doubted that they would be able to send the Whippoorwill out The 61-foot steam-powered stern wheeler white with red trim and covered by a red and white striped awning sat at the Lighthouse Bay Marina The Rogerses bought the double-decker in 1974 to convert it to a floating dinner theater The idea caught on This summer business was booming Pomona Lake sends three Angers of water into the green hills near Osage City Kan about 40 miles south of Topeka The marina sits in a cove on the south finger in Pomona State Park Nearly 900 campers lined the south shore Saturday It was average business for the park on a summer weekend AT 5 PM the wind died The lake smoothed out and patches of sun broke through the clouds Boaters yanked at starter cords and engines Ailed the air with angry buzzing Rogers decided to send the Whippoorwill out On tap for the evening: At a lighthearted musical Members of the cast who also serve on the crew of the Whippoorwill prepared for a performance Passengers began to board the boat at 6:30 By 7 pm 59 people were on board including the 13-member crew Most of the passengers were from Topeka Normally the Whippoorwill sails between 7 On the Inside Israel Offers 5-Year Plan For Occupied Territories Andy North at left studies tiie putt he had to make to win the US Open Story on Page 1C McConnell Air Force Base opens its doors to 30000 persons Page IB Sports 1C-5C TV 14A By ARTHUR MAX Associated Press JERUSALEM The Israeli government sidestepping US pressure to decide the future of its occupied Arab territories said Sunday that it would negotiate nature of future relations" after five years of limited Palestinian self-rule The vaguely worded Israeli Cabinet statement appeared to leave open the possibility that Prime Minister Men-achem limited self-rule plan for the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip could continue would discuss permanent of the territories after the five-year transition period spelled out in peace plan The Carter administration apparently hoped such a commitment would set the stage for renewal of direct Israeli-Egyptian peace talks stalled since January over the question of the occupied territories While the Cabinet statement said Israel it vital to continue the peacemaking process" Begin op-posed a commitment that would bind (See ISRAEL 6A Col 5) The decision was a political victory for Begin and capped a month-long debate in which he reportedly threatened to quit rather than accept an outright commitment to give up the West Bank and the Gaza Strip captured in the 1967 Mideast War THE OPPOSITION Labor Party immediately attacked the Cabinet decision signaling a tough battle in Parliament today when Begin presents his policy for debate There was no immediate official US reaction Washington had sought a commitment from Jerusalem that Israel Amusements 13A Bridge 4A Business Farm' 4B Classified 5C-15C Comics 6B Editorials 2B Home Town News 12A LocalState IB Lifestyle 11A-14A Obituaries SB vy StywcMcdl City Desk 2686351 State Desk 2686411 Classified 262-4222 Gradation 2684344 Sports 2684251 Lifestyle 2684401 FTC Urged to Adopt Measures Regulation of Funeral Industry Proposed in Report that in general the practices addressed by the rules are not isolated occurrences confined to an unethical few In fact the most significant funeral problems which consumers face are practices which are widely used and even condoned by a large percentage of the nation's 20000-plus funeral homes most parts of the country funeral directors who advertise prices have been considered mavericks or renegades by the mainstream of the organized industry" (See REGULATION 6A Col 1) liners when is no state law which requires a Failing to tell survivors in clear terms the prices they are paying for various elements in funeral ritual Harassing or intimidating anyone who would buy or sell low-cost funerals that according to the mainstream of the funeral industry lack ritual or In an introduction the staff said the report "cannot provide sufficient recognition of the many funeral directors who serve their communities courteously ethically and effectively" But it added: should be emphasized Removing bodies from hospitals and other institutions without authorization and refusing to release bodies to families who want them taken to another mortuary Trying to persuade families that an expensive coffin is needed to transport bodies to a crematory even when cremation is not preceded by a ceremony or viewing erf the body Overcharging families for funeral-related services that the undertaker does not perform but helps arrange such as flowers and honoraria for clergy Misrepresenting the need for grave court challenge by the National Funeral Directors Association Royal Keith a funeral director from Yakima Wash who is president of the association said he found the report so unfair and lopsided" that he has no faith in its credibility He said the question of litigation would be decided only if the commission adopts the rule Among the widespread exploitative practices cited by the report which would become illegal if the proposals are adopted: Embalming without permission and misrepresenting its legal need and hygienic value By RICHARD SEVERO NY Tunes News Service NEW YORK The staff of the Federal Trade Commission is proposing regulations aimed at broad reform of the funeral industry In a 526-page report based on more than five years of research for publication today the staff urged the commission to adopt measures that would provide the first national regulation of the industry The commission is expected to act on the proposals by early next year If they do in fact become an FTC rule it could trigger a 4 -I A.