The News from Frederick, Maryland • Page 1

Weather Forecast Some morning cloudiness, otherwise sunny, breezy and warm, high in the lower 70s today. Clear tonight, lows in the mid or upper 40s. Tuesday fair highs in the mid or upper 60s. Middletown Goes To State Tournament Page B-l VOL. 90--NO.

124 FREDERICK, MONDAY, MARCH 12,1973 THREE A KCTIONS 66 PAGES FIRST JECTIOW SINGLE COPY 10e WEEKLY High Speed Chase Ends In Arrest A high speed chase along West Seventh Street and U.S. 15N ended Saturday evening with the arrest of a Frederick man who allegedly attempted to flee from the mobile radar unit Gerald Richard DeGrange of North Market Street was "clocked at 54 miles per hour by a radar team located in the 1200 block of Motter Avenue," according to police reports. Police said DeGrange turned west on Seventh Street and proceeded to U.S. 15 during which time speeds reached 80 mph. DeGrange was stopped on U.S.

15 near Hay ward Road and charged with exceeding the speed limit, collateral set at $44; attempting to flee a police officer, must stand trial; no license in possession, $10 collateral; and speed greater than reasonable. Hearings are set for May 8 in District Court. City police operating the radar unit Sunday evening recorded 14 arrests for alleged speed violations. Three of the arrests occurred on West South Street; two arrests each were recorded on the following streets: Rosemont Avenue, Motter Avenue, West Patrick Street, Baughman's Lane and West Second Street and one arrest occurred on West Seventh Street. Charged were: Clair Lean Meske of Riggs Terry Webb Jr.

of Ellicott City, Jerry Allan Zacharias of Beaventon, a a a of Middletown, Ruthe Ann Wright of Frederick, Harold Junior Weedon of Sagner Drive, Franklin Wayne Morris of East Sixth Street, Emily Gregg Pritchard of Berwyn, David Lee Himes of North Bentz Street, Stephen Lawrence Held of Braddock Heights, Joe Eugene Masters of Ponca City, Donald John Rodney Kline of Hagerstown, Donald Edward Hadley of Maugansville and David Roy Callahan of Rt. 5, Frederick. April 9 has been scheduled as trial day for all 14 persons charged. Two other persons were charged by city police Sunday night: George Albert Minnick, 61, of East Church Street, charged with loitering, a hearing set for April 5 and John Edward Fitze, 29, of Rt. 3, Mt.

Airy, charged i i i i a registration in his possession, and failure to grant the right of way. Collateral was set at $10 and $15, respectively, for Fitze. A hearing is set April 9. Hanoi Promises Release Of 108 POWs Wednesday SAIGON (AP) North Viet- narn today delivered a list of 108 American prisoners it will release in Hanoi on Wednesday; meanwhile, the United States again suspended the withdrawal of American troops to insure the Communists release all 286 Americans they still hold. The Viet Cong promised a list on Tuesday of approximately 30 prisoners of war captured in South Vietnam who will be released in Hanoi on Thursday.

The U.S. delegation radioed the list from the North Vietnamese to Washington for notification of the prisoners' families. The list was to be made public by the Defense Department later today. In Washington the Defense Department confirmed the list had been received and that it included the names of 107 military prisoners and one civlian prisoner. Bui Tin, the chief North Vietnamese spokesman in Saigon, said all those to be released on Wednesday were airmen shot down in late 1967 and 1968.

He said they included Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III, son of the former commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Those to be released on Thursday are expected to include Maj. Floyd Thompson, the POW who has been held longest, and Philip Manhard, the highest-ranking civilian POW. Those turnovers will constitute the third phase of the POW release, leaving one group of about 156 to be freed by March 28, two months after the Jan. 28 start of the cease- fire. March 28 also is the dead- I line for the withdrawal of all American and other foreign al- lied forces.

i A U.S. spokesman said troop withdrawals were suspended to "make damn sure we get all of the prisoners." He said he foresaw no problem and noted that both North Vietnam and the Viet Cong have said they will comply with the agreement. But "we want to make absolutely certain," he added. The spokesman said U.S troop strength in Vietnam now totals 6,935 men, compared with 23,516 on Jan. 28.

Foreign allied troops, primarily South Koreans, have dropped from 35,509 to 5,607. "We've withdrawn our troops at a steady flow, and we haven't been getting a steady flow of prisoners," the spokesman added. The Communists have released 299 Americans in three (Continued On Page A-5) WANT'A BUY A COOKIE Girl Scout Cadet Rose Marie Fitzpatrick of Troop 83, Frederick, displays Girl Scout cookies in front of Hendrickson's on North Market Street. Cookies are being sold until April 3. (Photo by Larry Lipman) Bagged Cat Strikes Back After FBI Agent Shot No Indication When Flora Will Return Ex-POW SFC Carroll Edward Flora of Frederick County is still resting at Valley Forge Military Hospital near Philadelphia, and there is no indication as yet when he will be coming home, a Ft.

Detrick officer said Sunday afternoon. Sgt. Flora, -a native of Brunswick, has been at the hospital since Friday when he returned to the United States after nearly six years as a prisoner of the Viet Cong. Commenting on reports that Flora's arm was broken, Sgt. Richard Crush, Ft.

Detrick liaison "As far as I know Sgt. Flora's arm was broken previously but the bones grew back improperly. I don't know whether they'll reset his arm although that is usually what is done." The Associated Press reported that Flora has an injured right a with some bone deformity resulting from non-use of the arm. Crush said that Sgt. Flora may come home on convalescent leave before returning to the hospital.

Dollar Up And Down In Europe LONDON (AP) The U.S. dollar dipped sharply at the opening of bank-to-bank trading today but recovered strongly in European financial centers in reaction to the revaluing of the West German mark and the derision by six Common Market rations to float their currencies jointly against the dollar. Trading was nervous but fairly brisk. Bankers and money operators appeared to have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Death and crime are usually not laughing matters.

However, a weird series of events involving the traffic death of a cat, a driver's good intentions, and a ''lady" who thought she had "ripped off" a bag of loot, was so comical that everybody had a good laugh -except the cat and the "lady." Here's how an eyewitness related the "Crime Does Not I Bet-She-Thought-It Was A Practical Joke" comedy situation: "A woman driver accidentally struck and killed another woman's cat last Wednesday on a busy street near a shopping center. "She went to the cat owner's house, told the woman what had happened, and obligingly offered to scoop up the remains of the put them in a bag and properly dispose of the cat when she got home. The saddened owner of the cat provided the (Continued On Page A-5) Spring-like Weather Comes One Week Early Fire Log Fire calls reported during the W-hour period ending at 10 a.m. 8S2-6333 CITY J35 W. ALL SAINTS house fire, 9:55 a.m.

Uniteds, I i i responded. MT. PHILLIP ROAD AND BUTTERFLY LANE, rekindle i 1:13 a.m.. Independents responded. COUNTY MD.

180, house fire, 8:40 p.m., Brunswick Fire and Bruawick ambulance responded AMBULANCE CALLS: Emergency--25 Routine--4 JAIL POPULATION: Male --4S Female--3 Juvenile--1 A I The possibility of showers will end this evening with the weatherman forecasting mild Spring-like weather for the remainder of the week. Spring officially begins March 20 at 1:13 p.m., but the mild weather has already caused an "outbreak of Spring fever." Partly cloudy skies will remain in the area through Tuesday with temperatures in the 60s, about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year. Night-time lows will be in the 40s, also about 10 degrees above normal. Yesterday's high temperature and last night's low temperature were, according to the weather bureau, exactly the same 51 degrees. The mercury started climbing at about 7 p.m.

Sunday night and reached a peak of 51 degrees at midnight which means Sunday's high and Monday's low temperature are the same. By 4:30 a.m. today the mercury had climbed to 53 degrees and by 11 a.m. had reached 65 degrees. There was .05 inches of rain measured at Frederick over the weekend which brings the month's total to 1.65 inches.

The normal expected rainfall for March is 3.53 inches. The sun will set at 6:03 tonight and rise at 6:16 tomorrow. Sunset Tuesday is 6:04. On Sunday the moon entered the first quarter at 4:26 p.m. The day's length is ll hours and 43 minutes.

i Parents Donate Fund So Others jMay Live After much thought as to how can one repay so many people, both service and civic groups in Washington and Frederick Counties, for donations for a possible liver transplant (that never materialized) for Kim Weddle, the daughter of Mr. and I Mrs. a Weddle of Brunswick, they decided to give the remainder of the fund to the two counties where Kim spent much of her time during her illness so others may live. Little Kim died last year of a liver ailment. Her name was still on waiting lists for a liver transplant at the time of her death.

The Weddles, after much consideration as to how to return the unused balance of the $14,000 Kim Weddle Fund to countless contributors, decided to turn the money over to the hospitals in the two counties where the fund had been collected. Recently, they turned a check over to the Frederick Memorial Hospital to be used toward financing an inhalation therapy unit there. The balance of the fund, $4,162.05 was then given to the Washington County Hospital to be used in pediatrics. Hopes Dim In Wounded Knee Walkersville PUD Opponents To Meet By WILLIAM E. GRAFFAM County Towns Reporter WALKERSVILLE Some 50 area residents are expected to attend a town meeting tonight in the Fire Hall at 7:30 p.m.

to form an "organized opposition" to the proposed Monocacy "planned unit development" (PUD) which will have a Frederick County Planning Commission hearing on March 15. The town meeting is a follow-up of the heavily attended town meeting of last Thursday when it I was proposed that a Walkersville I Civic Association be formed to develop and represent citizen views in the general Walkersville area. Over 50 persons at the i Thursday meeting signed up to pledge their attendance at the Winchester Hall meeting on March 15 at 7:30 p.m. to indicate their opposition to the PUD on the Hemp and Toms farms. (Continued On Page A-7) WOUNDED KNEE, S.D.

(AP) The shooting of an FBI agent and an Indian declaration that no federal officials will be permitted to enter Wounded Knee have dampened hopes for a permanent peace. Interior Department officials said they would not comment on issues until midafternoon today, and there was no indication that talks were scheduled with Indian leaders. Meanwhile, a grand jury was to convene today in Sioux Falls, S.D., to investigate the Feb. 27 takeover of the historic village by about 200 Indian militants. Warrants were issued Sunday by a U.S.

magistrate in Rapid City for the arrest of five leaders of the occupation. The Sunday gunplay came less than 24 hours after federal forces pulled down their roadblocks and withdrew from a perimeter a few miles from the center of the village. The shooting involved a small truck the Indians smeared with mud and dubbed their "tank." Several FBI vehicles maintaining surveillance on roads into the village saw the truck about five miles west of Wounded Knee, officials said. The FBI agents, who said they believed the vehicle was stolen, pursued the van, and there was an exchange of gunfire. Agent Curtis Fitzgerald of Chicago was struck in the right arm and was evacuated by helicopter.

The car in which Fitzgerald was riding had six bullet holes in the windshield--one on the passenger side and five on the driver's side, the latter apparently made by another agent firing from inside the car. Indians said bullets smashed the rear windows of the van and flying glass cut an Indian's hand. "The FBI is trying to provoke the situation," said Dennis Banks, a leader of the American Indian Movement, which led the takeover. Each side said the other fired first. It appeared briefly that the incident would detonate the ex- plosive situation that has exist- ed since the takeover --250 Indians, many of them armed, facing off against 300 federal lawmen armed with high-powered rifles and automatic weapons.

Indian reinforcements have slipped into the village since the takeover. FBI agents donned flak jackets and used binoculars to survey each vehicle that approached their checkpoints, which were set up Sunday several miles from here. The crisis dissolved after the Justice Department in Wash- ington said the shooting would not create an armed confrontation. Atty. Gen.

Richard Kleindienst said agents would remain away from the immediate area of Wounded Knee and would not shoot unless their lives were endangered. The Indians said four men identifying themselves as U.S. postal inspectors entered the village Sunday and were held in custody before being released. The Indians said three pistols were found on the men. It was later verified that two of the men were postal inspectors.

The government had no comment on the incident, but Banks said: "They didn't come here to protect no mail boxes." Russell Means, an AIM leader, announced over a loudspeaker system Sunday that the village was "now the Oglala Sioux Nation, a sovereign state." Means told a crowd of a few hundred, "If any foreign official of any foreign country, specifically the United States, tries to enter the village, it will be treated as an act of war and treated accordingly." West Murder Trial Moved To Prince Georges County The murder trial of Jesse Newlin West has been moved to Prince George's County. According to Ellis C. Wachter, Clerk of Circuit Court, a change of venue in the multiple-murders case has been granted and the trial has been removed from the Frederick Circuit. No trial date has been announced for West, accused in the Dec. 4,1971 shooting death of Mt.

Airy junk dealer Francis E. Runkles and with the Jan. 9,1973 shooting death of Edith Miles, a 52-year-old former Fort Detrick WAC at a Laurel supermarket. West, a 39-year-old Riverdale man, was arrested in a St. Petersburg, Fla.

bar on Jan 18 and delivered to the Frederick County Jail where he was held without bond. The accused man, one of three persons arrested in connection i murders, a transported to the Prince George's County Jail in Upper Marlboro late last week, according to a sheriff's department deputy. Runkles, 64, was found shot to death on the back porch of his Mt. Airy home. A customer who had gone to his residence to talk about buying some parts from him discovered the body.

West is also charged with' murder in the Jan. 9 shooting death of Edith Miles during a supermarket robbery in Laurel. Mrs. Miles was substituting for the store's assistant manager when she was shot to death by a lone gunman. Also arrested in connection with the murders were Betty L.

Cuddy, since indicted by the February grand jury as an accomplice to murder after the fact and Richard C. Fogle, who has escaped from Pennsylvania authorities and is still at large. Commissioners Hear Plan To Scrap Cars Representatives of the PMA Salvage Company, told the county commissioners today that the company could begin clearing away derelict cars within 60 days after the county presents a contract for the work. Mrs. Allen Morris, wife of one of the founders of the Maryland corporation said the company would agree to a contract by which the county would locate the abandon cars, declare them derelict, do the paper work for scraping them and obtain the state bounty to be split with the company.

Mrs. Morris also said the a would need a temporary hauling yard of about 60 200 feet which, she suggested, might be located at the present county landfill. The company would haul derelicts from this lot once or twice a week she said. Reviewing county planning staff director Larry Johnson's proposal for the removal of derelicts presented at the commissioners meeting last week, Mrs. Morris said that the scheme to provide manpower from the Army Reserves was "unworkable." She also said that land leased for collection point for the cars would soon fill up because private wreckers have no incentive to haul the cars away; there are usually no saleable spare parts in them.

She suggested that the abandoned vehicles should be declared derelict where they lie. LaVale Man POW Recounts Capture LAVALE, Md. (AP)-Back in the forties, when Jim Bell was a schoolboy in western Maryland, one of his teachers described life in Communist count i as a a a of "loudspeakers, slogans, naked light bulbs and dirt" "That pretty much sums up the way it was," the Navy pilot recalled Sunday as relatives, friends, high school classmates, politicians and folks he had never met before packed a fire hall to tell him they were happy be had come home. "As you know, I'm just another professional military man that unfortunately had one bad day that turned into thousands more," the slim 41-year-old Navy commander said of his seven years as a POW. "It was just as difficult for my family and I thank those who helped them," said Bell, his voice strained and eyes filled with tears.

His first four years of imprisonment were "pretty severe," but about the time of the first U.S. troop withdrawals in 1969, there were major improvements. During the first years. Bell said, "I only heard of the few antiwar demonstrations that had taken place before my shootdown from the North Vietnamese after I was captured." Later, he and fellow POWs heard so much of increasing antiwar demonstrations in the United States, that he discounted most as propaganda. "I think what really got to us the times we heard statements broadcast over Radio Hanoi by visiting American peace groups," he said.

"Dress styles are what is hard to believe," Bel) told the throng of 2,000 or so. He was crossed in a blue blazer, gray slacks and wide--but not too wide--striped tie. "I have absolutely no idea what is good and I bad leste," he sad, "It seems you just wear what you want." He plans to continue to wear a Naval uniform. After several more months at Bethesda Nav- al hospital where he still faces surgery on an injured shoulder. Bell will attend the Armed Forces Industrial College in Washington, D.C.

News that his marriage had ended was the low point of his seven years and three months as a captive. "It isn't a thing to be bitter about," he said, refusing to dwell on the matter. It took four years after he was shot down that the first letters began trickling home By that lime. Bell's wife had obtained a divorce and remarried. A group of Bell's classmates from the Allegany High School class of 1948 ushered him into the firehousc.

Among his classmates was Mrs. Nancy Bcall, the wife of Sen. J. Glenn Bcall R-Md. Inside, Bca'J explained why so many had turned out to greet the returned prsioner of war.

"The sacrifice made- by you. Commander Bell, on oar behalf (Continued On Page A-5) FORMER CLASSMATES HONOR RETURNING POW Navy Commander James F. Bell, of LaVale is shown greeting former classmates during a homecoming ceremony yesterday at the LaVale Fire Hall. Cmdr. Bell, who was shot down on a mission over North Vietnam, spent seven years and nearly four months in a prisoner of war camp before being released An honor guard of former classmates from the 1948 class at Allegany High School ushered Cmdr.

Bell and his family to the ceremony (APWirepboto) iEWSJPAPERf.