Southern Illinoisan from Carbondale, Illinois • Page 1

1 moisffiii Vol. 66 69 10c a opy Two Sections, Comics, Family Weekly, 46 Pages SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 1958 Carbondale Herrin Murphysboro, Hlinols PUBLICATION OFFICES Carbondale, 227 W. Main Herrin, 212 N. 16th Murphysboro, 9 S. 12th (TV the 3 IT (9 Co loo 1 1 ISM Coil Showman At Peak Of Career Had Made, Lost Millions I I f-V J.

i I mm moter who didn't spend $100,000 3 Bodies Found In Wreckage In New Mexico Grants, N.M., March 22 (AP) A light private plane carrying Mike Todd, famous for "Around the World in 80 Days" and cither two or three odiers crashed and burned near here today. Three vsj Postmistress For 30 She Doesn't Read The. Postcards, Either er in Order of Eastern Star, loaded on Mon- VHf By Margaret Boswell Of The Southern Ulinoisan Mrs. Bernice Morris, New Burn-side, is in attractive brunette wife, mother, housekeeper and active clubwoman. This isn't too unusual.

But somehow Mrs. Morns combines these careers with being the official New Burnside postmaster from 7 a. m. to 5:30 p. m.

six-days a week, and has done so for 30 years. Mrs. Morris is ecltbrating her 30th anniversary this month. She was appointed posrmastfr Marcli 8, 192S, and during her sen ice has raKen oniv one week acation. New Burnside has a population of 351 persons and Mrs.

Morris is perhaps the onlv person in Hollywood, March 22 (AP) Mike Todd's death today in die crash of his private plane in New Mexico came at the peak of his ca- jreer as show business' most dyna mic, colorful producer of the day. Born 50 years ago in Minneapolis, he lost and made millions. After a string of Broadway successes, he. produced a movie "Around the World in 80 Davs" his first picture that won five Hollywood Oscars last year and has done fabulous business. He married film star Elizabeth Tavlor, his third wife, Feb.

2, 1957. His second wife, actress Joan Blondell, divorced him in 1950. His first died in 1946. Todd, often described as the modern Barnum and bov wonder producer, did everything on a lavish scale. On Broadway he was a legend as producer of extravagant tall-girl dav and broke on Tuesdav tie was known as a spectacular 1 1 gambler who could drop $25,000 in one night's gin rummy and a shrewd, but erratic showman-pro Herrin Quiet; Fans Stunned By Defeat Life looked bleak in Herrin Saturday morning.

A haze which strongly rcscm-bled a pall hung over the city. Everyone walked very quietly. Their expressions matched their steps. In the drugstores, they ordered coffee black and sat and looked at it. Upper lips had a time keeping stiff.

Nobody had much to say. The Tigers had lost. Noted Fashion Designer Dies New York, March 22 (AP) Claire McCardell. 52. interna tionally known fashion designer who introduced the "casual look," died in a New York hospital today of cancer.

In private life, she was Mrs. Irv ing D. Harris, wife of an architect. Miss McCardell, born in Frederick, Md. 24, 1905, specialized in outdoor and sports styles favored bv college girls.

Tall, slender and casual, sne insisted on clothes without "gadgets." The distinctiveness of her designs depended on line and color, often with unsual fabric treatment. Leotards were another of her innovations. She also introduced the so-called "popover" dress a full dress hanging straight from the shoulders, orn with a belt. town who knows every one ofitimate how many pieces of mail I them personally. "From the time- they are sble to walk, even one comes to the post office to get the mail," she says.

"One of the most interesting parts of my job is watching them start coming in as practically babies and crowing to adulthood as I hand them the mail." Mrs. Morris has an able assist ant as postal clerk, her husband, Paul. Morris was formerly a brake man with the New York Central He Defends It attends the Methodist Church. She had a big job the past year learning new routing directions when the mail first was sent by the Star Route instead of on the New York Central. tTl l.i iney usea to ao a jot ot mvj work for me on the mail car on the train," she laughed.

"Now I do it myself. Really learn my geography!" She thinks that if first-class mailing rates are raised to 5 cents from 3 cents, mail might drop off for a while, but that people will accept it after a while and not think anything about it. "Nothing exciting much hap pens in the post office," she said. "The only mail robbery we ever had was about four years a0 when someone broke in and took the money from the stamp drawer." Mrs. Morris exploded one commonly held myth of the postman pausing in his day's work to read the messages on the post cards.

"How silly!" she said. "If we stopped to read all those cards, we'd never get any work done. "I've certainly got enough to keep me busy, but I love it. I plan to go right on being postmaster for a good many years." Inside The Southern Ulinoisan You will be interested in: Herrin bows to Marshall in state basketball tournament, Page 9. Nursing home roundup, Page 4.

Higgerson won't talk, Jackson officials sav, Page 3. Background on mother of the vcar, Page 2. He's lived on his stomach for 24 vears, nursing home story, Page Murphysboro Unit District salan- increase tentatively approved, Page 3. where it was possible to spend $400,000. A cigar-puffing, big operator, he lived up to his 100 suits and personal telephone bill.

But a few vears ago he told an interviewer that all that was behind him. "Give me peace of mind, friendship," he said. "That's important. To do the right thing. I'm sorry for the uvs who can't do the right nothing you can buy that will give you as much satisfaction as making an honest buck.

"Like I told mv son recently, you trust everybody, but don't put yourself in the position where they can make vou a sucker. "Whv do I stick to show business? Well, supposing I had What could give me more fun a yacht, 20 dames? Naw, nothing. "I've never been poor, onlv broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is a tem- porarv situation." Dag Flies To Moscow United Nations, N.Y., March 22 (AP) Dag Ilammarskjold headed for Moscow today to discuss with Russian leaders the East-West dianna-ment deadlock and the Soviet-proposed summit conference.

The U.N. secretary general, notably successful in sensitive missions to Red China and the Middle East) left Friday night and is scheduled to fly into Moscow Sunday. He is expected to spend all next week sounding out Soviet leaders. Returning home, Ilammarskjold plans to stop off in London several days to get the Western viewpoint. Already he has given a pretty clear idea of his views on both issues at biweekly news conferences.

In these he has shown a talent at fielding tricky questions without overstepping his neutral position. His replies arc sometimes vague, but these views have emerged: 1. "It might be easier to get somewhere" on disarmament bv negotiating bit by bit die Soviet! view than through the Western package approach. 2: Both sides sincerely ish to get results on disarmament and to find some meanns to tackle world issues "without too much delay." Conference Comment: 3. A summit conference would be useless "unless very carefully prepared" Western view.

4. It would be "perfectly ap propriate to hold such a parley at the LI. S. and Hammarskjold is keeping the door open. and two destroyers in the Singa.

pore in case they were needed to evacuate Americans from Sumatra. Some U.S. citizens have left the island on commercial steam-i ships. Ten Sov let vessels bought by the Indonesian government were turned over today in ceremonies aboard one of the vessels at Tand-jung Priok, Jakarta's port. The transfer was the first step in economic and technical cooperation program with Russia.

Rebel Interior Minister' Dahlan Djambek charged yesterday that the ships brought arms for the Jakarta government when thev arrived earlier 1 this week. The government has not commented on this. bodies have been recovered, but not identified. One report said the bodies were so badly burned they could not be identified. Original reports said Todd, writer Art Cohen, and two pilots were aboard when the plane left Bur-bank, Calif.

Todd's famous wife, Elizabeth Tavlor, staved at home with a cold. Miss Tavlor collapsed when given tne news and a doctor was called to attend her. Nearby friends, including actress Debbie Reynolds, rushed to the home to comfort her. The crash was in rugged mountain country 20 miles southwest of Grants, a western New Mexico uranium boom community. The plane was on the wav from Burbank, to Tulsa, Okla.

A Civil Aeronautics Administration employe said he saw a flash in the direction of the crash at 2:05 a.m. Todd had been in Albuquerque, 78 miles east, only Wednesday as his movie etxravanganza, "Around the Wrorld in 80 Days" began. The CAA employe at Grants called Dick Lane, operator of the Grants Airport, when he saw the flash. Lane started out in a light plane with an observer at daybreak. About 20 air miles southwest of Grants, through fog, the obsener spotted a wisp of smoke rising from a small valley between cloud-shrouded mountains.

Lane said they circled, the plane was almost completely destroyed, and there was no sign of life. He airdirected state police to the spot. The officers reported no survi- vors sighted. The country is in the timbered Zuni mountains. The country is timbered, tolling, and hilly.

Lane said John Johnson, Gvil Aeronautics Administration employe at the Grants Airport, saw a flash of light and called him to take a look. Lane said Johnson told him the plane reported over the CAA station at nearby Zuni that it was en. countering moderate ice at 11,000 feet. The pilot requested approval to change altitude to 13,000 feet. "Then it readied 13,000 and reported to Zuni, and that was die last heard of it," Lane said.

Lane said Johnson had reported seeing the flash of light at 2:05 a.m. MST about 20 airline miles from the CAA Communications Station at Grants. "He called me, and I took off with Bill Hopwood as an obsen'er. "We flew the direction Johnson pointed out the flash. "After about 30 minutes, Hop-wood noticed a thin column of "We had trouble seeing very much of terrain because the ground was partly obscured by fog.

Hop-wood saw this little column of smoke down in a small valley. "It turned out to be the wreck- age. The surrounding peaks run up to about 9,300 feet. "The peaks were covered witb low clouds. "I'd guess the valley floor fs about 7,000 feet high.

"The outer portions of the wings and a small portion of the tail was all that was left. There wasn't enough left to se anything." Todd's wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor, was not aboard the plane. She was to have accompanied Todd on the flight but stayed home in Hollywood at the last minute because of a cold. Mrs. Bernice Morris Years Railroad, which runs right by the post office.

He found too much time was spent awav from home, so the Morrises started a dual career in die postal service. 'Soft' Now "When we first started, we opened the office at 6:30 a. m. and closed at 7 p. m.

There were more people in town then, too, about 500, so we reallv have things 'soft' how," Mrs. Mcrris says. The Morrises have never had to have extra help, even at Christmas. Every pcice of mail which passes (through the New Eurnsidc Post Office is canceled by hand by Mrs. A.

and she has always sent each pcice out the same day, even during the Christmas rush. I couldn't even begin to cs- have canceled," she said. "Thirty years is an awful lot of letters. Mr. and Mrs.

Morris have one daughter, Judy, 12, a seventh grade student. So far, she has shown no inclination to make postal work her career too, but keeps busy with piano and saxophone lessons. "It keeps me pretty busv doing the housework and running the 'post office, too, but I manage, she said. She also belongs to the Woman's Club, is a grand lectur- anytime, but I don't feel like spending money to get on television to lambast him." Powell said he is willing to stand on his record and "furthermore, I never made a speech at Harris-burg. He must have gotten that from.

Dreiskc's column in the Sun-Times." Powell said no candidates spoke at the Egyptian Democratic Club meet in I larrisburg Thursday night. "I backed the mudguard bill in the interests of safety," he said. Simon had quoted a Litchfield man, in opposition to bill, on the House floor, he said. "I can prove that man newr spoke to Simon," Powell said. "He says he doesn't even know him." Pow ell said his horse racing bills were designed to "encourage breeding" in Southern Illinois.

"I supported the jai alai bill because it would mean a lot of revenue for the state," Tic said. "I don't see any difference between betting on horses and iai alai, and horse racing revenue has built gicat many university buildings." Powell said he opposed early court reform bills because judges were to be appointed and not elected. "Labor opposed those bills too," he said. "When they took out the objectionable parts. I supported the rt forms, and I will neAt year.

"Sure mv secretary was on Hodge's pa roll. So were 800 other he said. "I can't see whv Simon doesn't Powell Record Attacked Elizabeth Taylor Carbondale Commission to assign a VHF educational channel to this area. Petitions denied were those filed last year bv Southern Illinois Broadcasting Partnership, operat ing Statical WCIL in Carbondale, asking for Channel 3 for commer- cial use; Turner-Farrar operators of WSIL-TV in Flarrisburg asking Channel 8 instead of Channel 22, and Mt. Vernon Radio 8c Television Co.

for channel 8 to be assigned to Mt. Vernon. The FCC order, how ever, gave WSIL-TV temporary' authority to operate on Channel 3. The permit of I STATUS The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana now has three educational broadcasting services, AM and FM radio and television. The VHF television station, broadcasting 15-20 hours each week, covers a radius of 35 miles.

is to run until the rL-L. assigns the channel permanently to some i i station. SIU has made no effort to use UHF Channel 61 Authorities felt UHF coverage would not be broad enough to justify setting up a sta tion. But the university has been working toward eventual operation of its own TV station for several years, beginning With a conference on the subject in 1950. With a VHF channel available, SIU's TV prospects arc better.

Rob- bins estimated it might require a year to 18 months or more to get a station on the air after authority was granted, depending on a num ber of variables including the university's budget and building space requirements. SIU's radio transmitter building on which construction has been 1 11 1 1 1 neia since iviarcn dv adverse weatner, will be large enough to house TV7 transmission equipment as well as radio, Robbins said. The antenna tower already erected also is capable of supporting both radio and TV transmission antennas. But space for studios and the like has not been planned for in detail. SIU's newest buildings, however, all have been equipped with electric circuits suitable for running TV cameras.

Some 40 students now arc enrolled in the radio-TV department. Robbi ns said some expansion in the schedule of TV courses probably would follow authorization for a station, and the department probably will attract more TV students. The TV station would le operat-. i i i- 1 i eu unuer ine same policies planned for radio station, Robbins added. It would carry university-planned programs, perhaps some class work for credit, and would be available for the use of area orani-zations as well as SIU.

"Like the radio station, it would be an aiea service," he said. Mike Todd and Channel OK'd For Southern Illinois University! will seek permission to operate an educational television station on Channel 8. The Federal Communications Commission Friday allocated two VHF channels to Southern Illinois Channel 8 educational) to Carbondale and Channel 3 (com mercial) to Harrisburg. Both cities previously were assigned UHF channels, 61 to Car-bondale for educational use and 22 to Harrisburg. UHF, however, offers short-range coverage.

VHF transmission will carry greater distance and is therefore preferred. Prof. Burcn C. Robbins, head of SIU's radio TV department, said Saturday "We are pleased that the FCC has assigned a broad-cov-eragc VHF channel to the area for educational use. We certainly plan to apply for permission to operate on that channel." The FCC's action also represents a denial of petitions from broadcasters in Carbondale, Harrisburg and Mt.

Vernon. It apparently results from a six-year-old proposal from Southern Illinois University, which in 1951-1952 asked the For Southern Illinois: Chance of a few light showers or snow flurries tonight. Rain or snow likely Sunday. Low tonight lower 30s, high Sunday near 40, lew Sunday night lower 30s. Low yesterday 25; 7 a.

m. today 31; 6 p. m. yesterday 41. High yesterday 46; noon today 44.

Precipitation, trace from 7 a. m. yesterday to 7 a. m. today.

In Sumatra Singapore, March 22 (AP) Shipowners here are planning to ask for British naval protection in waters near Sumatra following an Indonesian attack on a Singapore fishing boat. The vessel arrived at this British crown colony Friday night with the body of its Chinese skipper, who was shot as he stood in the wheel house. The crew said the engineer was wounded and lost overboard af ter an Indonesian gunboat fired on them in the Sink of Malacca Monday night. The shipowners claim that the Indonesian navy has been ordered to shoot on sight at any craft which appears to be heading towards Central or North Sumatra, where rebels are fighting Jakaita forces. SB Eyes TV StaifM Rain Or Snow Offer To Drop Paratroopers Reported The Powell tacked record of State Rep.

Paul (D-Vienna) has been at-in a telegram from State licp. raul 5imon. also r-v Dc mo- crat, of I rov. Simon indicated he was "replying'' to an expected attack by Poxvcll on the Democratic Federation of Illinois. Simon Ins been active in DM.

a croup which his been working outside the rcgubr i Ucmocratic organization. Simon sent the wire after read- ing news stories that terded to attack the Powell m-DFI in a Democratic meeting in Harrisburg last week. Powell said he did not speak at the meeting. Powell is seeking re-election in the 59th district. 1 1( re's the text of the ire: "News stories indicate our intentions to attack the Democratic Federation ol Illinois again in vour speech.

Mav I respectfully suggest that vou direct yourself instead to a defense of our own record, DM is not an issue in vour campaign but vour record is; namely your mudguard bills, attempts to kill court reform, vour racing bills, vour false teeth bill, vour vote for the jai alai gambling bill, and vour secretary and friends on the Hodge payroll. "DFI was organized to give more Democrats the chance to participle in politic 3nd to win more victories for the Democrat party, hither you disapprove of these purposes or vour continuous attacks on DFI are a smokescreen to cover your record. facilities' To Protect Americans U. S. Offered Jakarta, Indonesia, March 22 (AP) The U.S.- Embassy said todav it offered American "facilities" to the Jakarta government to protect American lives and property in revolution-torn Central Sumatra.

The embassy did not spell out what was meant by "facilities." The offer was not accepted and no harm to Americans or their property has bevn reported. Fhe siatcinent was made in answer to a newspaper ankle saving the guvernment turned down a U.S. offer to drop American paratroopers in the area of Pakanbaru. This center of operations for the U.S. Caltex Oil Co.

was recaptured from the rebels by Jakarta paratroopers March 12. An embassy spokesman specifically denied'a statement in the newspaper Suluh Indonesia that it wanted to send eight helicopters into the area where there arc about 600 Americans. The piper said U. Charge d' Affaires Sterling Cottrell made the offer before March 12 primarily to protect Caltex's 125 million dollar installations. Protection Assured The government had "provided positive assurances that American property and lives would be protected," the embassy noted.

An Indonesian spokesman said the embassy statement was "exactly right." The U. S. Navy announced ear her th.it it was holding a cruiser Signed: Paul Simon" want the girl to make a living Powell aid. "I'll be tojshe worked hard at her job and debate with him or Steve Mitchell earned her pay.".