The Lewiston Daily Sun from Lewiston, Maine • 1

ms 4' fe wt J-S r- a l- liwisroN-AUBURN mane Thursday morning August 1 5 1 985 30 CENTS VoL 93 7-' Fire iopptos historic Firefighters wage four-hour battle with heat exhaustion ancient timbers -0 7 I BATH (API The president of Bath fron Works said Wednesday the shipyard modified its contract offer in a faith to settle the 45- day-old strike by 4508 shipbuilders but the president dismissed the move as- the start of a BIW President William Haggett said he was by the tack of progress during a four- hour bargaining session Tuesday He said changes" the shipyard made in two crucial areas of the con- tract were met bjr an escalation of the demands Ray Ladd president of Local 6 of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers-of America conceded that the union's restruc- tured wage proposal would cost the company mote money than the shipbuilders' previous plan But BIW would save tor more money If it accepted the plan's new position on a proposed two-tier wage system said Ladd who insisted that no single issue be considered apart from the others The company offered to restore the 7 percent shift premium to all current employees up to a maximum of 50 wits an hour in what Haggett termed the modifi-catian The company also replaced its proposed permanent two-tier wage system under which new -employees would earn $3 an horn-less than current workers and pever achieve parity with a plan that would phase out wage differentials over a touryear period Haggett said Haggett described the company new offer as good faith effort to meet important concerns which had been expressed by members of the union Since the strike began" But Ladd said the Offer first since the union overwhelmingly rejected a proposal on June 30 only addressed two of five major sticking points in the dispute proposals to reduce health care benefits liberalize -job assignments and cut back paid holidays rfc-' mained unchanged Ladd characterised the new offer as concession from their earlier posi- tion frit they want to leave everything else When we counterpropoae something they say want to think they just went info the Mr gotiations to start a propaganda campaign against us because they throw anything else on the table" said Ladd Flames top creep across the vulnerable roof pf the High $traet(tongragMtonri Church on Wednesday At right the piroisss steeple sntokep agslnet the sky looks ahead with hope Worst damage confined to roof future uncertain i By Jennifer Sullivan Star staff writer By Glen Chase Sun staff writer A worker using a best gun tore-move paint near the eaves ignited a mmw a Mas lla that structure clashed to the ground at were burning paint on the outride and the fire somehow caught on the said eyewitness Ernest Pleau a lumberyard employee who'waa there to estimate clapboard requirements tor renovation work Jig done by Girardin we beard alarms and beUa" I Wednesday afternoon the roof and of the The last rays of sun shone through the stained glass windows of the High Street Congregational Church -Wednesday evening Ipriitu the church's narthex only the sound of water streaming from the rafters could be heard Sunlight itreamed through the small main window a depiction of Joseph and the goM-stained panels gently colored the room A perfectly 1 polished chandelier hung from the nighoeiling But a few steps beyond the reta- Church in High Street Coogrega Auburn Eyewitnesses and Auburn fire offi-dais said the firs did an estimated 750000 damage to the historic mirkandwM Vaused by workers Pleau said the flip spread tost was unbetteyeabie prAably became it was so dry in there (the he A And in the two areas where man- Is it did lessened its demands tiveiy untouched room a large set of Deputy Fire Chief Peter Simard said the fire which broke out fv 1 nn' doors swung into the sanctuary where a oncornate ceiling was replaced by hanging clouds of smoke and pewS lay crushed beneath four- foot piles of charred timbers The wreckage was left behind by a agement not go far enough Ladd said The restoration of the shift premium would not apply to new employees who would only be eligible for up to 35 cents an hour differential was the problem with it" at the southwest corner of the building waa reported about 1:30 pm by Robert Breton of CO High St Simard agreed with Pleau about the cause of the fire saying that prefimi-nary efforts revealed that workers church For more than four hours in WHfo-giee tempertures firefighters from tour departments fought an battle to save the church steeple Although hoses were trained oaths steeple from the start of the fire the top 4frfeet of the lOdfoot Kathy SnowSku staff HOPE on pegs 10 BIW on page 10 FIRE on peg 10- mi? Hurricane storms toward Gulf Coast I Financials Stocks posted another modest gain in quiet trading Wednesday Louisiana lowlands evacuated Weather Humid 90s Weather Details an Page IS By Ray Formanek Jr Associated Press Writer 'hmm after pulUnJmck from their best fords' of the session The Dow-Jones average of 30 industrials rose 168 to 111490- Financial report an Page 87 Nation: Standing aboard the flag-draped aircraft carrier Enterprise Vice path At 9 pm: EDT the storm's center was about 340 miles south-southeast of Lake Charka according to the National Hurricane Center at Coni Gables FIs It was moving toward the northwest at 10 to 15 mph A hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning from Freeport Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi River Gale warnings and hurricane watch remained in effect from Port Aransas to Freeport Texas the weather service said in its -advisory forecast is for the center to bration Wednesday meriting' tne end of the war with Japan 40 years ago vowing that as a nation wifi never ton prey to egmpla- cency and unprepuedness again Story an Page I V- S-' a CAMERON La (AP) Hurricane Danny pecking gusto up to S3 mph churned toward the Gulf Coast on Wednesday and prompted the evacuation of tbouunds of offshore oil workers and lowland residents Danny became the third hurricane when 'its maximum sus-tained winds reached 75 mph just before 6 pm EDT piA of thunderstorms from the fringes of the sprawling storm system bettered the Louisiana coast and flash flood warnings were issued 1 Cameron end Port Arthur Texas given the higheft probability for Maine: Insurance industry representatives issued a new blast at workers compensation system Wednesday comptaidng of 'gigantic and calling a sched- ufodrate reduction of I percent or Story aa Page I On the Inside STORM on page 10 VW IS Hsssdsl IMS LMsf If IMS OMtsariss I a naalaitBSs as a Scalar Fans as spam imi Sylvia Parlor 4 Tslivlalsa as "AFFORDABLE FLOWERS Roses 7Qt Carnations 3 Daar Dr och Sports: South Portland took a 1-0 toad in UwPortland Twilight Leaw chamniorwhip series with a 7-5 bwfo wtoover the Auburn Asm atDeering Oaks Wednesday dghL The series will continue tonight Story an Page 15 Storm surge flooding of 5 to 8 feet abort normal was expected near when the center of the hurricane landfall tidee of 3 to 3 feet wen reported along the Louisiana coast the National Weather Service aid Accumulations of up to 10 inches of rain wen expected In the hum- PREPARATIONS Workers fill laadbags In Ajharflis La Wednesday ta pwysraUsa tor the shortfall af HwrlCase Dsmiy wkkk is wpscted rwk THETUJRiSf Mtatvll AtAnrw yt-40H ROAK Lottery numbers 10 the Texss-Lseisiaaa coast early Thursday with A I ft.