Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 2

May 10. 1 CityArea Wiring, Not Arson, Caused Fire At Massage Parlor, Agents Say It I 4i 'SI By ALLEN G. HARRIS JR. PoM-Oaiette Start Writer Based on preliminary findings by federal investigators, city homicide detectives said yesterday that electrical wiring, not arson, caused a fire that killed three men in a Downtown building housing the Taurean Models massage parlor. However, detectives aren't going to stop investigating the April 23 fire at 138 Ninth according to Det.

Sgt. Frank Vetere. "Due to the fact that it's a massage parlor, we're going to keep our hands in he said, referring to past killings in the battle for control of the massage parlor business in the city. 97S In- Film-Maker's Finances By FRITZ HUYSMAN Post-Gaiette Staff Writer To the casual observer, local movie producer-writer Maurice W. Gable appears to have it made.

The owner of five companies, he once drove a Rolls Royce and still lives in a $330,000 home in the exclusive Westminster Manor section of Upper St. Clair. His film career apparently Is going strong. A current project is the production of a movie for television on the life of Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier. However, public records filed in recent weeks reveal that Gable actually is a man of rather modest income who is near financial ruin.

As a result, Gable, 49, of 2029 Blairmont Drive has filed for bankruptcy, claiming he is more than $1.2 million in debt. His financial woes include a scheduled June 2 trial in the criminal division of Common Pleas Court on charges of TOWN MEETING U.S. Sen. John Heinz, at a town bowls them over. For bis part, Heinz, one of the Senate's meeting in McKeesport, fields questions ranging from the wealthiest members, said he'd support a three-year legisla- safery of nuclear power to the future of the steel industry.

tive pay freeze. About 75 persons attended last night Heinz called on all Americans to tighten up before inflation meeting, one of several held by Heinz throughout the state. Judge Snyder Stricken, Critically 111 Downtown Theaters Face Gloomy Script (Continued from Page 1) rium and operate it as a racquetball center if the city approves. Mayor Caliguiri wants to keep the number of Downtown movie screens at its present level, and has asked Cinemette to "twin" one of its existing sites. "We've been looking at our other theaters, and the Chatham seems the most likely choice to be turned into twins," Stern' said.

"The Fulton is not structurally suited for twinning. But nothing definite is set." Any action to divide the Chatham would probably have to await completion of the office building being erected had minor heart problems in the past Snyder's two sons and his wife maintained a vigil in Good Samaritan Hospital near the judge's room in the intensive care section. Snyder, a Republican, was appointed to the U.S. District Court by President Nixon in 1973. He is a native of Greensburg, Westmoreland County, where he used to practice law as a member of the firm Costello Berg.

He is a graduate of Wooster College in Ohio and earned his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh. His late father had been an Orphan's Court judge in Greensburg for many years. Snyder ruled last Friday in federal With Survivor times between 1941 and 1944. He fears that by living he may see the holocaust again. "We are on a dangerous course.

Our government is floundering and weak and the hostages in Iran prove Crawley said. "We are today where we were in 1940 a paper army, an expendable army. We are losing alt of our good technical -people and our equipment shows it The debacle in Iran to free the hostages -proves it," he said. He said the 53 hostages in Iran "may have their bellies full and live in clean rooms, but their minds are filled with the terror that they may die. They will never be the same if they get back." Crawley knows what the scares can mean.

Now retired, he was never able to work for more than two or three hours a day as a part-time salesman siijee he was "I blew my stack too much. I fought with everyone, including the boss and customers," he explained. He described the conditions on Bataan and Corregidor as "pure hell; no, worse than hell Street Resurfacing Program Set to Resume at Full Gear Vetere said that William Petraitis and Thomas Cousins of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department told city police yesterday that the multi-alarm blaze in the four-story building was electrical in nature. The massage parlor, owned by Dante "Tex" Gill, was located on the second floor of the building that also housed a short-order restaurant and a tavern.

The three men killed in the fire had been living in apartments on the fourth floor of the building. Vetere said that the basement had a heavy concentration of electrical wiring that apparently served the three businesses. passing $9,000 in bad checks Records filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court reveal that Gable's earnings dropped to $7,000 last year after he made $35,000 plus $2,500 in rental income in 1978. Owner of Gable Enterprises Gaberock Twickingham Pictures Customark Inc.

and Gable Simulator Systems Inc. and half-owner of Arriba Productions he owes money to 161 foreign and domestic creditors. In addition to an $86,000 mortgage and more than $3,800 in unpaid federal, state and municipal taxes, records indicate his largest creditors include Chase Manhattan Bank, Keystone Bank, Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank, Equibank, and Long Island Bank, $37,000. Other creditors who have filed claims ranging from $30 to $20,000 include doctors, plumbers, hotels, restaurants, attorneys, airlines and unidentified individuals from Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, by Prudential over part of the complex. As for the Warner, Stern said, "Regardless of what happens to the theater, one thing is certain: we cannot economically justify keeping it as a theater.

"The taxes are too high to maintain it any longer." Stern is convinced that the city's 10 percent amusement tax the only one in the state of Pennsylvania will never be repealed. "They need that revenue from the baseball and football teams," he noted. But that tax does not exist in suburban municipalities, which gives the Boston-based Showcase Cinemas a competitive edge. ment funds. City workers and private contractors will do the resurfacing work.

City crews have been working on the citywide program and the contractors are scheduled to start Monday. According to Public Works Director Louis R. Gaetano, most of the resurfacing will be done through the milling process, in which the top layer of old asphalt is peeled off and new asphalt is applied to the base. In making the announcement, Caliguiri said that in the last three years the city has resurfaced over 260 miles of streets and has established a cycle of repaving every city street at least once every 10 years. Pittsburgh has approximately 1,200 miles of paved streets.

In 1977, after he was named acting mayor and then decided to run for a full term, Caliguiri paved 110 miles of streets. This was seen as a major factor in his election victory over county Commissioner Thomas J. Foerster, the Democratic-endorsed candidate. A. BARTLETT GIAMATTI talented people from all over the country.

"Traditionally," he said, "the role has not changed. What has changed is the perception of a national pool of people who will go out into some sense of public service." A product of private schools, he does not necessarily insist that they are better than public colleges. But, he said, a private school, politically independent, can manage and control its own affairs as a public university cannot It can set its own standards for enrollment and promotion and can govern itself. "But," he conceded, "the old assumption that private is better is no longer necessarily true. Private doesn't automatically mean first rate." He pointed out that all schools, private or public, are labor-intensive and affected by inflation and government regulations.

1 SI t. ru Persons who escaped from the burning building reported that they smellcd gasoline during the blaze, leading investigators to suspect arson. Vetere speculated that the gasoline odor came from tar burning beneath the basement's floor tiles. Cousins, an explosives expert, arrived here yesterday from Washington, inspected the building and examined photographs and other evidence collected at the scene by Petraitis, a Pittsburgh-based Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agent, and city police. A complete report will be turned over to the homicide bureau on Monday, Vetere said.

Near Ruin Washington, D.C., New York City, Berlin and Amsterdam. Bankruptcy records indicate Gable is attempting to save his home as well as three parcels of land in Port Malabar and Delton Lakes, which he values at $2,500 each, by declaring them exempt from his personal bankruptcy because they are jointly owned by him and his wife, Anne. Creditors have until June 8 to take exception to the exemptions and petition the court to have Mrs. Gable declared an involuntary debtor so the properties can be sold to satisfy outstanding claims. The records also reveal that the Gables assigned their interest in an Ocean City, N.J., condominium to Pittsburgh lawyer James Weisman in May 1979 to salsify four unidentified creditors.

In the same month, the Gables also assigned their 197S car to North Side Deposit Bank. The same bank is holding nearly $6,800 from the Gables' account to satisfy other debts. "It's no secret we will do something with the Warner eventually. It's in a 100 percent retail district, and we have had offers to lease the lobby area and move the theater entrance to Forbes Avenue. "But we have made plans and done research into what could generate the best business, and the logical move seems to be that it should be a mall with the entrance on Fifth Avenue." Cinemette has talked to a number of developers interested in the Warner site, but Stern did not rule out the possibility that he might develop it himself.

Under another proposal, the Warner would become a series of boutiques while retaining a small theater in the manner of the Bank. Money from the sale of the Warner could help pay off the substantial financial debt Cinemette accrued during its early expansion when Ernest Stern and his cousin George Stern sold their large Associated Theaters chain to the then-young company founded by John Harper Jr. and Paul Grossman. When Cinemette experienced financial difficulties, Harper and Grossman were relieved of their executive posts and the Sterns assumed direction of the company. At the time of the Associated sale to Cinemette, however, the city of Pittsburgh filed anti-trust action against Cinemette, which led to a consent decree in which the company agreed to sell a number of its theaters.

That consent decree is what gives the city unofficial veto power over the plans to cease operation of the Gateway, even though the competitive situation in movie exhibition has changed drastically since then. Cinemette's grip on movie exhibition was weakened by the five Showcase Cinemas in Wilkins Township, eight in Hampton Township and five soon to be enlarged to eight in Robinson Township, all showing first-run films simultaneously with the Downtown houses. He finds tenure to protect academic freedom no impediment to younger people seeking to enter the academic realm. But he sees the reluctance of older faculty members to retire as an impediment driving graduate students out of the academic world even after they have attained their Ph.D.'s. Giamatti dismisses Scholastic Aptitude Test scores because, in his opinion, they do not predict a great deal.

"They don't tell anybody anything about what a high school senior will be as a senior in college," he said. "They have no relationship to intelligence or to the capacity to perform in college but they merely point to a certain aptitude. I'm more interested in grades, in class rank, and where they went to school." Under Giamatti, Yale has a balanced budget for the first time in 10 years and while a lot of noise was made in the recent past about Yale's financial problems, that's because Yale talks more about them than other schools, be said. He waded through 38 departments and 11 professional schools, took $700,000 out of the budget of the Arts and Sciences faculty, and cut out, he said, a number of non-academic personnel to overcome a $9 million deficit "There was a lot of draconian talk in New Haven two years ago about what was going to happen but it hasn't happened," he said. Does he sometimes yearn to return to the classroom to teach, as he has in the past Italian and comparative literature or the literature of England? Or does he like being president of Yale? "I like it, I like it," the president replied and reached for another cigarette.

ALBERT FRENCHPost-Girette court here that the Thornburgh administration was within its rights in removing from the public assistance rolls full-time college students whose families lacked a history of public assistance dependency. If the ruling stands, the state will cease paying about $2 million to 2,500 students. In 1977, Snyder upheld the constitutionality of a $4 billion federal public works program that set aside 10 percent of the money for black and other racial minority contractors. Snyder also presided over the sex blackmail case involving former County Commissioner Robert N. Peirce in 1978.

of POW Camp "The malaria, disease, filth and pain were so bad that many died because they couldn't take any more suffering. They felt dying was a merciful ending to their wretched lives." What kept you going? How were you able to survive while so many around you were dying? "I made it because I had the will," Crawley said, pointing to his temple. Pittsburgh; J)D8t-6ajettt Sun-Telegraph (USPS 434-280) Main Officai 30 Blvd. of Allies. Pimburah, Panne.

15222. tuftogi: London 28 Inrno Gordent, W8; Woihington 1280 Notions! Pratt Bldg.i Horriiourg Coprtol Newt Room. 20c par single copy. Home delivery SI .20 week. By moil, aonei l.ond 2 where there is no corrier service, one' monn 14; three monthi, SI one year, S40.

Extra postage for other lonel. Secend'dosi postoge paid in Pittsburgh, Pa. Phonee: Home delivery 263.1121; meil eubechptiort 283-1317: want ada 263-1201: other depta. 263-1100. mm 1i By CARL MORRIS Post-Gaiette Stiff Writer The city's street repaving program, which lagged last year after a spectacular start in 1977 when then-Acting Mayor Caliguiri was seeking election, is scheduled to pick up again in 1980.

Caliguiri said yesterday that about 80 miles of streets will be resurfaced, 16 miles more than were paved in 1979. In explaining last year's decline, administration officials said they had less money to work with $4.5 million in 1979 compared with $5 million in 1978 and workers got a late start on the job. But this year's figure, according to a public works department official, is $4,525 million about the same as last year. Richard D. Pugh, head of the street resurfacing program, said $2.25 million will come from city bond money, $1 million from the department's budget, $725,000 from the liquid fuel tax, and $550,000 in federal Community Develop SAY IT WITH MUSIC U.S.

District Court Judge Daniel J. Snyder Jr. of Point Breeze was listed in critical condition last night in a Lexing-ton, hospital, after suffering a massive heart attack. Snyder, 64, of 6942 Rosewood St. collapsed Thursday night while walking through the lobby of a Lexington hotel after eating dinner with Judge William W.

Knox, also a member of the U.S. District Court here. They were among judges and probation officers attending a Sentencing Institute; Robert Snyder, an orthopedic surgeon who practices in Nashville, said -by telephone yesterday that his father Horror Stays By REGIS M. STEFANIK Pott-Gazette Staff Writer Dan Crawley has no fear of man or beast. His worst enemies are the recurring nightmares that distill the resentment of four years in Bataan and Corregidor.

Crawley and 200 fellow survivors of the Japanese death camps are attending the 35th annual national convention of the American Defenders Bataan and Corregidor at the William Penn Hotel, Downtown, this weekend. But Crawley, of Simsbury, said he wants to change the name of the group to the Victims of the Japanese Horror Camps; He does not bridle his bitterness when describing the' suffering and fear endured by prisoners on the two infamous islands during World War II. "Do you see these pills. They're nitro pills for the heart. Every man who survived the holocaust has to take some kind of pill for shattered nerves or a bad heart," Crawley said.

"The survivors of Bataan and Corregidor suffer seven times more heart problems than any other group. The life expectancy for us is 55," he said. Crawley says he doesn't fear dying, although he thought he might die many Train Derails, Triggers Fires Near Tarentum Twenty-two cars of a 96-car Conrail freight train carrying plywood and grain derailed four miles south of Tarentum yesterday afternoon, blocking two lanes of track and starting small brush fires. The derailment occurred close to three propane gas tanks used to heat switches during the winter, and officials were concerned for a time lest the brush fires ignite the tanks. Harrison Township police said there were no injuries and no property damage and that the fires were extinguished quickly.

Conrail officials said the overturned cars will be removed by this afternoon but track repairs may not be completed until late evening. The derailment happened at 3:55 p.m., about two hours after the freight left Pittsburgh for Harrisburg, according to Gary Fulton, a Conrail spokesman. Passenger train traffic will not be affected by the derailment, and other freight trains will be rerouted, Fulton said. Baby Drowns in Bath Special to ttie Pott-GaieMe UNIONTOWN A 10-month old baby drowned yesterday after his parents left him in an upstairs bathtub filled with six inches of water while they went downstairs, according to Jan Mosier, a state police spokesman. The baby, Timothy Joseph Boyd, 802 Sherwood Circle, Connellsville, was pronounced dead on arrival at Connellsville Hospital, Fayette County, shortly after 1 p.m.

Mosier said the baby apparently fell while in the tub, buitiped his head and drowned. Two other children, twins under two years old, were also in the tub at the time, Mosier said. A hospital pathologist ruled the drowning accidental, with no sips of foul play, Mosier said. Liberal Arts Still Preside at Yale 1 Enlarged to show detail. By ALVIN ROSENSWEET Post-Gazette Stiff Writer He is the author of "The Earthly Paradise and the Renaissance Epic, as well as "Play of Double Senses: Spenser's Faerie Queene." He is also the author of "Tom Seaver's Farewell," an account of the departure from New York by the Mets' ace pitcher, which was chosen as one of the best sports stories of 1978.

All that A. Bartlett Giamatti wanted to be president of, he said some years ago, was baseball's American League. But in 1978, at age 40, he became the 19th president of Yale University, and yesterday, while here to address the Yale Club of Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Golf Club, he offered some observations on higher education. Gi3matti, a bearded chain smoker, talks about the liberal arts college as the heart of a great university and this is why, he told the Post-Gazette editorial board, Yale under his presidency will remain undergraduate-oriented. While Yale has had to reduce the number of undergraduates for budgetary reasons, it will insist that entering students take English or a foreign language as well as courses in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.

Philosophically, this man of Italian heritage whose specialty is Renaissance epic poetry defines a liberal arts education as one that has a sense of a broad spectrum, a breadth of differences in areas of knowledge. "My sense of what a liberal education is, is that it's timeless," he remarked. As for the role of a private university such as Yale, he said, it ought to make every effort to stay open for Even if yoo can't corry tune, this lovely pendant will do it for you. Beautifully crafted in 14K gold with matching 16" chains. It's the perfect gift for that very special someone.

A delight for her eyes music to her ears. In 14K gold 76.00 with one Diamond 105.00 with Five Diamonds 21S.00 Bailey Wferld Renowned Jewelers Since 1832 335 South Hills Village 14 1 2 833-3344 Also Monroeville Greensburg Pittsburgh. PA 1 524 1 Miffim yi. 1.017 f.fiirCTiRWWTret.