Alton Evening Telegraph from Alton, Illinois • Page 1

LIGHTER SIDE Somebody's inventing new things every day. They have new traffic lights in Las Vegas: Stop, Go, and Eight to Five You don't Make It. Established January 15, 1836 ALTON Vol. CXXXII, No. 9 Serving the Alton Community for More Than 131 Years EGRAPH COOL THURSDAY Low 28, High 42 (Complete Weather A-fc) WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 19(i7 30 PAGES 7c Per Copy Member of The Associated Press.

DEVASTATION This subdivision In Creve Coeiir has the look char- ftcteristic of the tornado's path. The houses in the subdivision almost literally exploded. In this area there were more houses destroyed than in any single location St. Louis County, Debris from destruV faon like this was dumped in Alton, Wood River and Bethalto. (Telegraph airphoto by Robert K.

Graul) St. Louis County Gets Tornado's Full Force; Alton Area Brushed Minor Injuries Reported Here U.S. Troops Move Into Mekong Delta By ROBERT TUCKMAN SAIGON, South Vietnam (AP) A reinforced battalion of American infantrymen moved into the Mekong Delta today, becoming the first 'large contingent of U. S. combat troops based in the area where some commanders say the Vietnam war will be won or lost.

Gen. William C. Westmoreland's headquarters announced that an artillery-supported battalion of the U. S. 9th Infantry division moved into a base camp 40 miles southwest of Saigon near the delta city of MY Tho.

The contingent estimated at 1,000 men also included elements of a brigade headquarters in the start of a buildup of American strength in the rice bowl where until now operations Vietnamese Junta Faces Crisis Again AI £ON, South Vietnam (AP) South Vietnam's military Junta toed to head off another political crisis today following the ouster of Lt. Gen. Nguyen Huu Co. He had been deputy Te mier defense minister and the leading southerner in the iunta dominated by refugees from North Vietnam. Informed Vietnamese source said 20 to 30 supporters of Co most of them military person nel, had been put under nous arrest, and assistants of his 01 the defense staff were transferred or watched by secu rity police.

Saigon, although filled with rumors, was quiet and there was no indication that the direc INSIDE Today EDITORIAL A-4 Are property taxes going to keep pace with costs this year? STEP SKIPPED A-2 No primary election necessary for Wood River. AFTERMATH A-S Picture study by Telegraph photographer Don Hayes of the damage done to Godfrey apartment by ROWAN A-5 Panama Canal is hottest U.S. problem in Latin America. FAMILY A-14 Even seamstress who made robes for "Rex" doesn't know name of Mardi Gras king. SPORTS B-5 Philadelphia's long home streak comes to an end.

BARRETT B-9 How to begin a coin collection. tory of ruling generals was breaking up. But some disgrun tlement al the ouster of the southern general was reportec among southern leaders in Sai gon who resent the northerners domination. No troop movements were reported. Some officers of the 7th Vietnamese Division headquartered at My Tho, 30 miles south of the capital, were among those arrested, sources said.

Chief of State Nguyen Van Thieu was reported traveling in the Mekong Delta. Premier Nguyen Cao Ky was winding up a tour of New Zealand and was expected back late Thursday or Friday. Despite Ky's statement to newsmen Tuesday that no governmental reshuffle was taking )lace, Vietnamese sources said Ky was present when the junta net before he left and decided to fire Co. have' been largely by South Vietnamese forces. The infantry contingent, described by a'U.

S. spokesman as a "maneuver battalion," joined engineer and support units which had moved into the delta" base camp Jan. 10. The entry U. S.

combat Forces into the delta, where large sections are under Viet tong domination, came during one of the periodic lulls in fighting in the Vietnam war. The U. S. and South Vietnam-! ese military commands reported only small ground skirmishes in widely scattered sectors. Over North Vietnam, monsoon rains and heavy cloud cover once again hampered U.

S. air raids. American bombing pilots flew only 41 missions Tuesday. The bad weather is expected to continue for the next six weeks. As it closed in, one of President Johnson's special advisers called for a continuation of American raids against the north.

Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor former U. S. ambassador to Saigon, told newsmen the bombing of North Vietnam is an essential part of alllied strategy.

"It is a blue chip for negotiations," Taylor said as he left for Washington after a five-day visit. "It would be a 'mistake to stop it." In war developments, U. s. Air Force B52 bombers attacked the demilitarized zone this afternoon for the second day in an effort to cut infiltration of North Vietnamese troops into the south. The big Stratoforls unloaded of high explosives on infiltration routes, a bivouac area and a storage area in the six- nile-wide buffer area between 'torth and South Vietnam.

A U. S. spokesman said the bombs straddled the demarcation line SPANISH LAKE AREA int de st tio to J2S I lISi the Spanish Lake area Proposal to Expand L-C Park Presented A proposal to expand a snial park south of Hartford to approximately 350 acres was submitted today at the first statewide meeting of the Illinois Lewis Clark Trail Committee. The meeting, which was to be held in the offices of the Department of Business and Economic Development, was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. In addition to the expansion of the park, the proposal also contained provisions for a harbor sought by proponents of a industrial park north of Granite City, the Telegraph learned.

Thus, a controversy that had ranged between conservationist and business groups for more than a year over land usage was resolved. Local members of the trail committee, which represented both types ot organizations, had gotten together in a series of unofficial meetings, hashed out their differences, and arrived al what they considred a workable proposal that would satisfy at least the minimum requirements of both sides. All nine local members had agreed, the Telegraph was told, not to release the exact specifications of the proposal prior to he statewide meeting. The fact that they were an ''unofficial" group, that the proposal was "subject to state approval, and the rejection of proposal might prove an eni- jarassmenl, were among the By En POUND Telegraph Staff Writer Al least two persons killed, 208 injured and over 20. homes demolished or exlensive ly damaged by a crushing tor nado that devastated parts north and west St.

Louis Count; Tuesday night, but barely touch" ed the five-county area. There were scaltered reports of minor damage in the Tele graph circulation area. Harcles hit was a four-family apartmen building in Godfrey and a ban and tool shed in Hartford. Four pei-sons suffered minoi injuries when a trailer was blown over near Fosterburg. Debris, apparently carried the tornado that struck Louis County, was strewn about the Alton area.

The tornado left a path of death and destruction in parts of north and west St. Louis County. The dead were Identified by county police as: Diane Schlegel, 4, daughter Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Schlegel 12413 Glengate Drive, Glenwood and Jeri Allison Cannady, daughter of Mr.

and Mrs. R. Cannady, 2331 Green Boug Drive, Creve Coeur. "I don't know what happen ed," Mrs. Evelyn Cannady said "The house just caved in." He husband, Roy, was injured.

The Schlegel girl was under a pile of debris in the home. "We heard a great roar Everything went black," her father, Arthur Schlegel, said. While St. Louis County was the hardest hit In the Metropolitan area, at least four other persons were killed and many Injured in tornadoes which shattered parts of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The tornado, which touched down in St.

Louis County about walls" were' leff'standTnV'lPreaWswfv" 7:05 P- Tuesday, uprooted trees, felled power lines, caved in roofs, demolished or destroyed homes. Damage was estimated at upwards of $6 million. A Telegraph reporter and a photographer spent several hours last night touring the devastated areas in north and west St. Louis County. Many of the homes destroyed or damaged were in the to $50,000 bracket.

Among the injured in the plush River Bend Estates, west of Creve Coeur, was Mrs. Edie Wunder, 59, who suffered a broken leg and bruises when her home at 149 River Bend Drive was the photo. Some houses were com- blomi a art ot reasons for their agreed-upon silence. Representing Madison Coun ty and various organizations in it on the state committee are Mrs. Austin Lewis, Mrs.

Petei Klunick, Elmer Hart, Ralpl Stauder, Clarence Decker, La mont Heidinger, Carl Ranft, C. S. Mathias, and Jerome Klein. The stale committee was created by Gov. Kerner Aug.

1 to recommend the appropriate amount of land for the park, to formulate plans for Illinois' participation in the national program, to develop an educational program for Illinois residents and out-of-state visitors to the site, and to cooperate with public and private agencies in (Continued On Page 2, Col. 4) Damaging Wind Lashes Farms By ART THOMASON Telegraph Staff Writer Winds of tornadic force lashed through rural communities in the Telegraph area, ripping open barns, uprooting trees, and knocking down power lines. Accompanied by hail and driving rains, the high winds were whipped up from the aftermath of a lornado that caused death and destruc- lion in St. Louis County. destroyed.

She was pulled from the debris by neighbors. Her husband, Ferd, was at work at the time. "Some friends of mine took Edie to the hospital," Wunder told the Telegraph. "Thank God she's alive." "It's too bad I wasted my time working on the shrubbery bushes Saturday," said Wunder, nervously wiping the mud off a pair of boots. At least fifty homes were smashed in the River Bend Estates by the tornado.

"It was a tornado," Frank Dansz Greene County farmer told a reporter. "I heard a loud rumbling sound before the storm hit." Dansz is a neighbor to the Bud Schutz farm, southwest of White Hall, where the wild winds splintered two hog barns and damaged a third. Splintered pieces of the barns were strewn- for a quarter mile on the road, west of Rt. 267 where the Schutz farm is located. A Telegraph reporter and photographer saw a string of telephone poles were knocked down for a half- mile distance along road.

Some poles were pulled out of the ground by the force of the howling winds. Telephone workmen of General Telephone Co. were on the job this morning in an attempt to restore tele- phone service. Lightning struck a tree, spewing limbs and pieces of the tree into the air. Debris narrowly missed the home of L.

E. Kistner, southwest of White Hall. In White Hall, evidence of the 1 storm damage is prevalent. Tree limbs and debris were scattered along street. Lightning a large tree trunk which split and fell, narrowly missing a home at 'l3U ('arrollton Street, White Hall.

Force of the storm a felt in Bunker Hill where the town was blacked out for over three hours, except for street lights, police said. Authorities in Hardin and Macoupin County suid there was some hail during Die storm, but no damage occurred. (Continued On Page 2, Col. 5) The tornado, which apparently lasted about five minutes, cut an erractic course. Some houses were demolished while nearby structures were untouched.

Many expensive houses in the p.ush residential areas of Norlh and West St. Louis county were leveled to the foundation. Others had only one or two wails standing. Glass, bricks and other debris were scattered in yards and streets in every residential area viewed by the reporter a cl photographer. In the expensive Old Farm Estates, also near Creve Coeur, the Telegraph reporter and photographer observed wide spread damage.

Of the 20 new homes under in the subdivision, 17 were leveled or damaged ex- This did not take into account he many occupied homes hit )y the storm's vicious winds. Other areas reported hit by tornado included Crcvc Coeur, Maryland Heights, Bridgcton, Ferguson, Edmnndson, and Spanish Lake. The Edmundson Terrace area tvas reportedly among the hard- ist hit. Victims buried in the debris were pulled out by rescue workers, and moved to St. Louis hospitals by ambulances.

By 10:30 a.m. today, St. Louis county police said 208 persons had been treated or admitted to area hospitals. Many were believed seriously injured. Ambulance drivers were hampered in getting in and out of the subdivisions, by congested traffic and sightseers who rushed to the devastated areas, a (Continued On Page 2, Col.

7) Wind Rips Open Godfrey Building, Occupants Flee By JOHN STETSON Telegraph Staff Writer Occupants of a four-unit Godfrey apartment building on bouth Street miraculously escaped injury Tuesday night when a tornado that devastated north St. Louis County touched down and tore off the roof and one end of the structure. Huge pieces of the roof were strewn 30 yards in front of the building and the entire east end of the solid masonry structure lay in a heap below gaping walls on the east end where onlookers could see the interior much like one views a child's doll house with one end gone Other damage in the. ed cars had been broken by Greater Alton area was confined to a trailer blown over near Fosterburg and more minor dainage to farm buildings and a few homes. At the Godfrey apartment building, 213 South a bed in the second floor bedroom of Mr.

and Mrs. E. K. Apple hung precariously out the end of the building. A wall clock, still plugged into a receptacle, dangled close to the ground as the metal tubing holding the wire leading to the wall plate stood bent in the darkness.

The clock had stopped at 7:13 p.m. The Godfrey Fire Department arrived just before 7:30 p.m. with two trucks. Firemen Clarence Straube, 5101 Staten Drive, said, "When we got there, people were staggering out of the building. Some looked shocked; others were apparently just plain scared." The windows of two park- falling debris.

A third car, parked at the home of Miss B. J. Dyer, who lives in a two-unit apartment structure close to the one that was hit, had window damage without anything hitting them. In the Apple apartment, Apple and some guests were playing pinochle when the storm hit. "The whole roof suddenly went off and it happened so fast there wasn't time to be frightened," he said.

Mrs. Forrest Yeager, 215 South another occupant, said her husband had gone next door to a neighbor's apartment for a minute when the tornado hit. "I heard a concrete block rolling down the steps from upstairs and it just missed my feet," she said. At nearby Owens-Illinois machine shop, the wind tore (Continued On Page 2, Col. 4) RAISING THE ROOF Telegraph air photo by Hubert K.

Graul only a very lew root rafters remain on this Godfrey apartment house where a tornado plucked off the root and deposited it in the trout yard Tuesday night. Debris from the building Ls shown strewn out to the upper part of Hie picture. The far end of the build- nig (not visible) uas also knocked out. (More God- irey photos Page A-3.).