Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 37

DECATUR DAILY REVIEW VOL. 84 NO. 13 DECATUR. ILLINOIS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1961 36 PAGES PRICE 7 CENTS I Crack Illinois Central Train 'City of New Orleans' Slams Into Gas Truck; Nine Killed -r i i 1 4 Streamliner Pickets Halt Service on N.Y. Central Navy Fire Boats Pour Water on Realistic View None i "1.

't 1 I No Response In Tower: Diver Blaze at Charleston Naval Station Alive BULLETIN New York, Jan. 17 (AP) A diver who reached the personnel quarters of the storm-sunk radar tower today reported he received no response to taps on the side of the structure. It had been believed some men might have survived in watertight compartments. Court Allows Garfield Site Acquirement Springfield, Jan. 17 (AP) The Illinois Supreme Court held today that the University of Illinois can acquire approximately 40 acres of land in Garfield Park for a Chicago campus.

The decision, involving two cases, reversed the Cook County Circuit Court which ruled the Chicago Park District did not have authority to turn over the land. The lower court held that the land was dedicated by a trust jt0 indicate anyone might be alive deed for use for park pUrposesintheundera'aterdebris- only, and enjoined the park dis- Tappings resembling the work carrier Wasp. He thus advised a vent them from setting off mag-supply ship circling about 12 netic mines. Associated Press Wirephoto Truck Hit Embezzled 2 Millions Iowa Woman Banker Admits Stealing Money Chicago Bound Magnolia, Jan. 17 (AP) The crack passenger train "City of New Orleans," barreling through Magnolia en route to Chi cago at about 80 miles per hour.

rammed into a gasoline truck at a whistle stop crossing today, killing nine persons and injuring six others. The streamliner, en route to Chicago from New Orleans, streaked 300 yards after smash ing into the truck with flames sweeping the length of its nine cars. Illinois Central authorities said the City of New Orleans was not due to stop in Magnolia, about 100 miles north of New Orleans. The truck driver, they said, apparent ly did not hear the train. Flaming gasoline from the ex plosion spewed over the workers unloading grain from three freight cars and into a warehouse.

The cars and the warehouse were badly burned. Railroad spokesmen both in Chi cago and New Orleans said there were no reports of passenger injuries. Among the dead were the train's engineer, J. A. (Jimmy) of McComb, and fire man John L.

Collins, 42, of Jackson, Miss. The truck driver, identified as Morris Piggott, who oper ates a small store near Magno lia, also was killed. Among the other dead were Bob by Gwin, a white laborer in the freight yards, and three Negro laborers unloading grain from near by box cars. The explosion which followed the crash sent flaming gasoline spewing over the workers. There was no report on how many passengers if any were injured.

The City of New Orleans, one of the Illinois Central's top passenger streamliners, left New Orleans at 7:10 a.m. and was due in Chicago at 11:40 p.m. 'Terrible Explosion Spokesmen at McComb said the gasoline truck driver apparently was unaware the City of New Orleans was due and started across the track. The train plowed into the truck with "a terrible explosion," Mrs. Wilma Gray told newsmen.

She works in a drug store near the crash scene. "Fire went everywhere," she said, "the front sections of the train was burned and killed several people. I don't guess I ever heard as loud an explosion." John Emmerich, editor of the Enterprise Journal in nearby Mc Comb, said most of the bodies were horribly burned. Dr. Claude Pettey, a dentist whose office is near the train yards, rushed to the scene when he heard the crash and saw Percy Nelson, a white train yard laborer, staggering down the tracks with his clothes aflame.

Pettey said he pulled the burning clothes from Nelson, who appeared calm and kept asking "about the other boys." Fire units from nearby Missis sippi communities McComb, Osy- ka and others rushed to the scene, along with the volunteer fire department from Kentwood, just across the state line in southeast Louisiana. City Of New Orleans" Stops In Central Illinois "The City of Now Orleans" runs daily through Central Illinois from Chicago to New Orleans with stops at Rantoul, Champaign, Mattoon, Effingham and Centralia. The train was due into Mattoon at 8:50 p.m. today on the trip from New Orleans. The Mattoon Illinois Central ticket office said the train will be running late but no word has been received on how much.

The ticket agent said another train will replace the wrecked City of New Orleans. New York, Jan. 17 (AP) The New York Central Railroad today halted all commuter and long-distance service in and out of Grand Central Terminal because of picketing by harbor craft crewmen employed by rail roads. The railroad earlier had sus pended commuter and outbound long-distance service but had said it would try to bring in trains from distant points. The Central said its last train on the road was the "Pacemaker" from Chicago and that it's run was terminating in Albany.

It had been due to arrive in New York City at 1:30 p.m. Tens of thousands of commuters were forced to seek other means of transportation. The cancellations were ordered after train crewmen who put the trains together and handle switching refused to cross picket lines of striking harbor craft crewmen. The suspension of service affected 40.000 commuters on the Harlem and Hudson divisions of the railroad who travel between the suburbs and Manhattan. JThe New Haven Railroad, which also uses Grand Central Terminal, reported normal service on its commuter lines from here into New York and Connecticut sub urbs.

The strike, which started a week ago, is by 660 crewmen of tugboats and ferryboats of 11 railroads which operate in New York harbor. Three unions and the railroads are deadlocked over contract terms. The size of tugboat crews now generally five men is the chief issue in dispute. Flint and Steel Make Fire If Used With Lighter Fluid Joplin. Jan.

17 (AP) Planning a mortgage-burning ceremony at a Boy Scout campsite, adult leaders decided it should be done in true scouting style igniting the mortgage with flint and steel. Don Roney of the Mo-Kan Council executive board stepped forward Monday night with his trusty scout kit. He struck the flint again and again. Plenty of sparks, but the mortgage was unscorched. A companion proved that fire can be kindled by flint and steel in a cigarette lighter.

Associated Press Wirephoio The kids' lack of apparel is due, in part, to temperatures in the 80s. Associated Press Wirephoto Six Missing In Navy Fire Charleston, S.C., Jan. 17 (AP) A spectacular fire, intensified by a strong breeze and two explosions, swept a pier at the naval base here Monday. The Navy reported six men missing and four injured. The missing men reportedly were working near a building on the pier that was demolished.

The two explosions leveled the building. The fire occurred at a facility known as a degaussing station, w'here ships are demagnetized. This process is necessary to pre- The Navy said it would investigate the cause of the blaze. No estimate of the damage was available. Three of the missing men were Navy men, and three were civilians.

Two officers, 19 enlisted men and five civilians were assigned to work at the station. The navy listed these men as missing: Lt. (j.g.) R. A. Horvath of Chi-cato, assistant officer in charge of the facility.

Jimmie Ronald Craft, storekeeper 2.c, of Winnesboro, S.C. John Robert Barrett, Fireman, of Flint, Mich. PROFESSOR INJURED Indiana University Man Had Been Indicted by U.S. Bloomington, Jan. 17 (AP) Glen D.

Willbern, 57, associate professor of Spanish at Indiana University who had been indicted on a charge of sending obscene material through the mails, was struck today by an automobile. Police said he ran in front of the vehicle. Willbern suffered a badly broken right leg and a shoulder separation. He was one of 51 men indicted in Chicago Monday by a federal grand jury. as he inspects damage where Pacific has flooded more than 30 homes in the past three days.

New York, Jan. 17 (AP) Salvage workers reported today that there was "no further sign of life" from the sunken wreckage of a radar tower which collapsed in the sea Sunday night. Salvage rescue operations were resumed at 6:30 a.m. At 8:20 a.m. the Coast Guard here was notified there was nothing more OI "UIlldn! naa irom below the surface Monday, giving rise to hope that some of the 28 men aboard the tower might have survived in an airtight compartment.

A sea search of the area was abandoned and rescuers concentrated on salvage and diving operations at the tower site, 70 miles southeast of New York City. The so-called Texas Tower was wrecked by high winds and stormy seas. One body has since been recovered and another sighted but lost. Rescue operations had been dramatically spurred Monday when enigmatic tappings and a sound which was likened to a human voice were heard coming from the tower. Then the rappings faded, stopped and were not heard again.

"A realistic view, said the Coast Guard, "must be that the men in the tower are no longer alive." Failure to evacuate personnel from the tower before the collapse apparently was due to a decision of the tower commander, Capt.j Gordon T. Phelan, 34, of Los An geles. Unofficial reports were that Phelan had wanted the men removed as the wind and seas rose on Sunday, but believed they could wait until daylight Monday for helicopters from the aircraft U.N. Troops Blast Rebels Elisabethville, The Congo Jan. 17 (AP) About 500 rebel Baluva tribes men launched four attacks to- dav on Swedish U.N.

troops guard ling a train in central Katanga Province but were repulsed with heavy losses, a U.N. spokesman said. The fourth attack came after the Swedes, warding off three morning attacks, took the train Unto the town of Luena and dug 'm around the station. Baluba party charged the Swedish position, ran into a storm of automatic weapons fire, said no casualties were reported among the Swedes, Report Lumumba Flown to Katanga Elisabethville, The Congo, Jan. 17 (AP) Semiofficial sources said de- posed Congo Premier Patrice Lu mumba was flown here todav from Leopoldville under close guard.

I aboard a DC 4 plane. trict from conveying the proposed site to the university, However, the Supreme Court said park land is subject to eminent domain and can be condemned. One of the cases was filed by former State's Atty. Benjamin Ad-amowski of Cook County and the other by three taxpayers who own land opposite Garfield Park. The present two-year university branch is situated on Navy Pier in Lake Michigan.

Last autumn. Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago recommended a 140-acre site southwest of the downtown district for the university's Chicago campus. Trustees agreed to study the proposed site but no decision has been reached. The site proposed by Mayor Daley is part of a Chicago Land Clearance Commission urban renewal project around Harrison and Halstead Sts.

The mayor's previous first choice was a site south of the downtown business district now occupied by railroads. However, that proposal met snags in attempts to consolidate the railroad terminals and free the area. POWELL ASKS $4 MILLION FOR HARRISBURG ASYLUM Springfield, Jan. 17 (AP) House speaker Paul Powell today prepared a bill appropriating more than $4 million for an institution at Harrisburg for the mentally retarded. Powell said Monday he was convinced the Illinois legislature will pass the bill and that it will be signed by Gov.

Otto Kerner. Powell rapped Dr. Otto Bettag, who retired Monday as state welfare director, for authorizing the release of $140,000 from mental health funds to hire architects for the proposed institution. "How did Bettag know we were going to pass a bill appropriating money for the institution? Powell asked. Kerner last week criticized Bettag for releasing the money in ad- vance of legislative action on the Institution, and hinted that the project might not go ahead.

Tf the legislature anDrooriates th monev and Kerner aonroves the bill, the institution will be con structed on a 120-acre site. Powell said $4,112,000 will be, npprtpd for construction of the in- stitution and $65,000 for purchase, of the land and a home located; on the site. Ike's Farewell Tonight Washington, Jan. 17 (AP Dwight D. Eisenhower makes a final report to the people tonight on his two terms as president.

miles away, Crew Had Feared Collapse Of Tower New York, Jan. 17 (AP) "There were times when the men lay in their bunks and practi cally cried because the thing swayed so. did feel some thing like this would happen." That was the way one woman described her brother's feelings about the Texas Tower radar island that collapsed and disappear ed in the Atlantic Sunday. Mrs. Doris Haeberle of Levit- town, said her brother, Air man I.e.

Louis M. Laino, was "afraid to go back last week after his Christmas leave. Laino is one of the 28 men fear ed lost in the tower's collapse. Families of. other missing air men also have reported that the men believed the tower was unsafe.

Airman 2.c. Leland H. Jones, 23, telephoned his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders H.

Jones of Oak Ridge, that he was afraid heavy seas would engulf the tower and it would sink. Mrs. Esther Green, wife of S.Sgt. Kenneth H. Green of El-mira, N.Y., said her husband told her in a letter received Monday that "I hope it (the tower) lasts long enough to get home and see you and the kids again." Checking the Flood Three youngsters join Harlo McNeel at the Pierpont Beach community near Ventura, 11 fit 1 fc I I IS I by Train west Iowa community of 4,251 per sons.

For 50 years the Sheldon Na tional Bank has been a financial bulwark for the town. During 45 of those years, Mrs. Geiger's father has been its president and guiding spirit. First public word of the bank's troubles came from Washington, where the FDIC announced it had taken over liquidation of the bank. Mrs.

Geiger's husband, Wallace, operates an appliance and hardware store in Sheldon. Mr. and Mrs. Geiger were ac tive in community affairs, includ ing the Congregational Church. They lived a little more quietly than many of their neighbors and friends and they entertained less than average, several Sheldon res idents said.

"Mrs. Geiger has always been a leader in giving to any good cause in this community," said her pastor, the Rev. Thomas Lut- man. "I believe she has helped many young people through schools and colleges and has been generous and kind to all in need who came to her." Cloudy Decatur and vicinity: Mostly cloudy tonight with a low around 30. High Wednesday in the mid 30s.

DECATUR WEATHER Compiled by the Review High 34 7 a.m. Tues. 31 7 p.m. Mon 30 Noon Tues. 44 Low Tues.

30 Precip. Rel. humidity Tues. noon, 54 WSOY wind 6 p.m. 7 a.m.

noon 10 5-10 10-15 Velocity Direction sw ssw 7 p.m. 12 m. 7 a.m. noon Bar. 30.09 30.11 30.05 30.50 Sunset 4:56 p.m., rise 7:15 a.m.

Degree days 32 Since Sept. 1 2,595 Same period year ago 2,579 Same period 32 yr. avg. 2,591 Lake level at noon 610.1 (Additional weather on page 31) LNDEX Radio-TV Pages Movies, Amusements Page 3 Comics Page 22 Sioux City, Iowa, Jan. 17 (AP) U.

S. Dist. Atty. F. E.

Van Al-stine said today that Mrs. Burnice Iverson Geiger, 58, had admitted embezzling $2,126,859.10 from the Sheldon National Bank of which she was assistant cashier and di rector. The U.S. attorney said Mrs. Geiger is now in the custody of federal authorities in Sioux City and has waived to the grand jury.

It will consider the charges at its next session. Mrs. Geiger is married. She and her husband have no children. She is the daughter of W.

P. Iverson, president of the bank for the past 45 years and a widely- known and respected citizen of Sheldon. The Sheldon National Bank, Van Alstine said, has been closed tem porarily. Bank officials at Sheldon said that Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials were on their way and that payments to depositors would probably be started Wednesday.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are investigating the short age, one of the largest ever re ported in an Iowa bank case, offi cials said. The FBI arrested Mrs. Geiger. Just how the reported embezzlement was accomplished officials did not say. "She had a way of covering up," the district attorney said, "but I can't give you any details." The closing stunned this north- of Georgia Campus Quiet Athens, Jan.

17 (AP) The University of Georgia pass ed a day and night of integration without serious violence and school officials hoped firm action by local authorities against rowdyism would prove effective. The second entry of Charlayne Hunter, 18, and Hamilton Holmes. 19, Atlanta Negroes, effected by repeated orders of a federal court caused no disorder among the 7,500 white students. They went back to classes to day, attracting even less attention than Monday. A plainclothesman walked about 10 paces behind Miss Hunter as she went from her dormitory to a 9 a.m.

class. Rumors spread over the city Monday that a new demonstration was planned for Monday night The campus was quiet, however, I I ifc fv if 111 If -t. 1. The speech from his White They said two other Congolese House office at 7:30 p.m. CSTjOfficials who had been jailed in will be carried bv all maior tele- Leopoldville accompanied him vision and radio networks..