Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 3

i Free Press Telephones To Place Want Ads For Home Delivery i Insurance Dept. City News Desk All Other Calls 222-6800 222-6500 222-6470 222-6600 222-6400 Todsfs Chuckle One proved way to teach your children to count Is to give them different allow THE SECOND FRONT PAGE Page 3, Section A Sunday, May 18, 1975 ances. -si Tax to Rise 10 Pct. Fiffiires Property Show 5." 1. i "7 fllli Milll I I ,1 Land Value5 Jumps 9.4 Pet.

BY KIRK CHEYFITZ Frta Pratt Staff Writer State figures on the value taxable property in Michigan, indicate that the average, property tax bill will probably rise by roughly 10 percent or. more this year. The value of taxable prop-, erty statewide has risen 9.4 percent in the past year, State' Tax Commission Secretary Edward W. Kane said Saturday. This is the largest in Gas Leak Route 125 Families SpKltl th Fro Prats MASON, 125 families were evacuated from this Ingham County community of 6,000 Saturday when a pre-dawn leak in an ammonia tank spread a cloud of noxious gas over a 14-block residential area.

There were no reports of serious illness, but several persons mostly police officers and firemen received brief hospital treatment after inhaling the fumes. JD WP uffiiffel III i II HI Hlll i MM HI ill Ill' Kil I Families were permitted to return to their homes about three hours after the leak began. "Mason is safe," declared Patrick Price, administrator of the community located about 10 miles Frat Pratt Phota by JIMMY TAP0YA t-fr 'A a iiJ' Ax fM 'fl' Clean-Up Campaign Opens Beth Bannister helped kick off Pride '75, the city-wide clean-up program, Saturday, by scouring for debris in Detroit's Palmer Park. She is among an estimated 123,00 Detroiters who are expected to participate this spring and summer in the annual beautification effort. Pride '75 officials say about 1,000 city organizations will participate this year, as compared with 650 in 1974.

crease since 1970. "Historically, it Is to be expected that taxes will increase" at least as much and probably more than the increase in the value of property, Kane said. PROPERTY taxes across the state are levied on the basis of figures prepared by the tax commission. The comnris-sion each year sets the "equalized value" of real and personal property, and local governments must apply their tax rates to that value. The equalized value, by law, Is exactly half the true market value of property.

This year's equalized value for an taxable property in Michigan has been set at $56.08 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent over, 1974. The 9.4-percent Increase is a statewide average that does not apply to individual communities. In some urban areas, where neighborhoods Students Dance All Night To Benefit Health Agency south of Lansing. A temporary shelter for evacuees had been set up at the Jefferson Street School. Firemen, police and sheriff's deputies went door to door in the early morning darkness, rous-and residents from their sleep.

THE LEAK began about 3:45 a.m. when a hoseline ruptured in a tank of liquid ammonia fertilizer at the Mason Grain Elevator Co.j located on Mason's west side. Authorities said the liquid vaporized into gas when it was exposed to the air. Officials said the gas Is not deadly, but can cause intensive illness if a sufficient amount is inhaled. "If you breathe a little too much of it, it'll sure clear out your nostrils," said a deputy sheirff.

Sgt. Richard Ghinelli of the Mason Police described the gas as forming a "white cloud." said Ghenelli: "Officers said it was so thick at one point that they couldn't see two feet in front of their faces." About an hour after the leak was discovered, it was sealed off by Richard Palmer, sr UPI Phot are in decay, property values could actually be dropping. In other communities, the increase in values could far exceed the average. The final determination of tax rates rests with local governments under Michigan law. But the rise in valuation means taxes will increase on-the average even if the local government doesn't change its millagerate.

THE ONLY thing that can save most Michigan communi Graduation Day ior a Milliken It was a banner day for Michigan's Gov. Milliken Saturday as he visited the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to deliver an address and watch the. graduation of his daughter, Elaine, from the University's law school. Miss Milliken, 26, plans to do volunteer legal work this summer. In his remarks Milliken called for a return of "political candor and old-fashioned citizen involvement" to help America overcome "one of the most skeptical periods in our history." owner of the Mason Grain- I a IV Elevator Co.

Palmer was among those treated for inhalation of the fumes. "He took quite a jolt," said city administrator Price. BY LOUIS HELDMAN Fraa Pratt Staff writer Barb (Blondie) Kovach and Chuck Moore danced together all night without knowing each other's names. It was 24 hours after the Henry Ford Community College dance marathon began that they were introduced. "Well," Blondie said, "now at least I know who I'm complaining to about my poor aching feet." Blondie, 19, and Chuck, 20, were one of the ix couples left at noon Saturday, 24 hours after the marathon began in the Dearborn college's student center.

It's part of the college's "Good Times' 20's" spring celebration. THE SCHEDULED 36-hour marathon, which, began with about 20 couples, was to raise "money for Blood Pressure Control, a new southeastern Michigan health agency formed to fight high blood pressure. Each couple was sponsored by donors who pledged up to one dollar for each hour their couple danced. The champion fund-raisers were Robin Toth, 19, and Al Wierzbicki, 20, who collected more than $1,300 In pledges front about 450 sponsors. The was expected to raise about $3,000 total.

Not only did Robin and Al raise the most money, but they also prepared the hardest For the past several weekends, Robin said, they've gone dancing six hours a night. And they've played tennis almost every day to get their legs in shape. They also came prepared. Robin started the marathon with five pairs of shoes, even tops and two pairs of jeans. Al brought a couple of pairs of shoes and three shirts with him.

They agreed that tennis shoes ere the best footwear in the long run or dance. Some of the contestants also brought pil- Please turn to Page 8A, Col. 1 HE'S WOUNDED Police Seek Drowning Victim Police dragged the Detroit River off Belle Isle Saturday in an effort to recover the body of a man believed to have drowned about 5:30 a.m. Southfield Man Flees 3 Gunmen in Bedroom ties from a tax hike would be a decision by local governments to lower the millage In order to ease the burden on citizens already hard hit by inflation and recession, Kane said. He said the rise In valuation results partially from new buildings which have been added to the tax rolls during the past year.

Most of the increase, however, is due to inflation pushing up the value of land, buildings and taxable personal property. The tax commission's figures will not be finalized until after May 27, when a hearing" will be held in Lansing to give county governments an opportunity to object to the state's determination of property values. But Kane said the figures usually are not changed much by testimony at this tuuural hearing. The apparent drowning victim was identified as Elberto R. Sanders, 26, of 1809 E.

Can-field. Witnesses who were with Sanders told police he entered the river on the north side of Belle Isle, apparently going for a swim, but disappeared in the swift current. BY BILLY BOWLES Pre Prist Staff Writer A Southfield man escaped with minor injuries Saturday despite being shot three times and diving through his closed bedroom window. with a history of drug arrests, was shot to death along with a woman friend in a gangland-style execution. Authorities speculated then that Gary Kasco may have been murdered in retribution for selling bad drugs.

being withheld until his arraignment Monday, Hood said. Kasco, who served a term in Jackson Prison for the sale of heroin, is the brother of the late Gary Kasco. In 1970, Gary Kasco, a man xFrt Press Photo by JIMMY TAFOYA Dancer' Blondie Kovach urns Southfield detectives arrested an unidentified Detroit man several hours after the 5 a.m. shooting, and are seeking two others. KENNETH KASCO, 26, iold police three gunmen broke into his bedroom at 28304 Ab Ontario Town Asks Shah To Share His Oil Wealth When Crash Came, Detroit Fell Hardest Despite these hard times, the current recession is nothing like the Great Depression not as bad, not as bleak, not as threatening.

But we talk about the awful '30s anyway, comparing this time to that one, telling stories and sharing memories of what it was really like when things were bad. For those who never knew, and for those who have forgotten, here is a report on Detroit in the De erdeen and shouted that they were police officers. He said they demanded identification from him and his wife, Judy, then said they were going to kill him. Kasco said he punched one of the men, dived through a closed window and ran for shelter at a neighbor's house as the men fired at him. Bullets hit Kasco's left shoulder and both legs.

His face was cut by broken glass. His wife was unharmed, police said, and the assailants fled after the shooting. Kasco, who was released after treatment at Providence Hospital, described the intruders as white males and said they carried a rifle and two handguns. Social MthaFrM Pratt PETROLIA, Ontario If it weren't for Pe-trolia, would the Shah of Iran be where he is today? No, say the townspeople of Petrolia, which is about 60 miles northeast of Windsor, and they have written the Shah to tell him so. Their letter, accompanied by a sheaf of Petrolia photographs and a community history, is an appeal for $700,000 in exchange for Petrolia's help in getting Iran into the oil business more than a half century ago.

BACK IN THE 1860s, Petrolia and its environs experienced an oil boom. By the turn of the century, the boys of Petrolia were among the world's most skilled practitioners in the discovery and drilling of oil. In 1905, a group of Petrolia men began oil explorations in Iran, then Persia. Three years later, eight of them made that nation's first oil strike, assuring Iran's future as en oil-rich country. But as Iran's oil Industry blossomed, hard -times came to Petrolia.

Its oil fields dried fmse SHAM pression. Thts is the first of a five-part series. In a sense, Wall Street had it easy compared to Detroit during the Depression. On Wall Street, get-rich-quick had been a stockbroker's scheme. In Detroit, getting ahead had always been everyman's dream.

On the day of the crash, an article In Ladies' Home Journal told readers that "speed possesses Detroit speed and the old pioneer spirit of America; in Detroit, the lad who tinkers in the corner garage may be tomorrow's motor magnate." Detroit's dream that illiterate peasants could work hard, learn hard, and prosper in a big industrial city was grounded on a firm foundation. THE FIVE dollars a day that Henry Ford had started paying workers in 1914 was already a dream come true for the multitude of unemployed miners, lumberjacks, fanners, and immigrants who flooded into Detroit during the 1920s. Please turn to Page 17A, Col. 1 BY JIM SCHUTZE Fro Pro StaH wntor On Monday night, Oct 28, 1929, a well-dressed man in his mid-30s, walking with a slight limp and carrying a cane, paid 50 cents in advance for a room in a boarding house on Detroit's near west side. The next afternoon on "Black Tuesday," the day the stock market crashed the man shot himself to death with a shotgun.

He had carefully destroyed all documents that could have identified him. When the police found him, he had 6ix cents left in his pockets. NO ONE KNOWS how many Americans lost everything when stock prices fell out of the sky that week. For those who did, the experience was universally awful. A Wall Street broker wrote later: "Like all life's rich motional experiences, the full flavor of losing important money cannot be conveyed by literature." I Cpl.

John Hood of the South-field police said there was no known motive for the shooting, but he said detectives arrested a 24-year-old man in Detroit shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday. The man's identity was up. Construction of stately Victorian man-; sions that lined Petrolia's streets came to an end and visitors no longer checked in at the town's nine hotels. Today, weeds cluster around the old oil drills and the ornata buildings, like the Vic- Please turn to Page 9A, CoL 1.