Big Spring Herald (Newspaper) - October 31, 1972, Big Spring, Texas Fed Officials Probing Commuter Train Crash CHICAGO AP Federal safety officials investigating the commuter train collision which killed 44 persons raised questions today about the strength of the lightweight steel cars used by commuter lines In addition to the dead more than 300 were reported injured Monday when an Illinois Central Gulf Railroad commuter backing into a South Side station was rammed by a second 1C electric commuter during the morning rush hour Transportation S e cr e t a r y John Volpe inspected the wreckage in a tour He and Hendy Wake land director of the departments Bureau of Transportation Safety said i the strength of the lightweight steel and aluminum cars would be studied i It took six hours to extricate the i last of the dead and injured from j the crumpled wreckage of two of the i cars which were crushed like empty beer cans President Nixon expressed his sor row and canceled plans for a town campaign motorcade scheduled ft for today in Chicago Sen George McGovern campaign ing in Pittsburgh called off a parade scheduled for day in Chicago Volpe headed a federal investigation team dispatched from Washington to study the collision the nations worst rail disaster since 1958 when 48 per sons were killed in NJ Gov Richard B Ogilvie ordered a state investigation Railroad officials said they could not immediately determine how fast the second train was traveling when it struck the rear of the first com muter The first commuter a shiny four c a r overshot the Street station and was backing up when it was rammed by the second train The second train was made up of six 1926 vintage coaches Each train carried about 500 passengers BIG SPRING HERALD Price Vol 45 No 129 BIG SPRING TEXAS TUESDAY OCTOBER 1972 22 Pages 2 Sections Price KILLING AT LEAST SIX PERSONS Gas Blast Rips Variety Store LAKE CITY Minn AP A search ended today for more victims of a gas line explosion that leveled a variety store about the time several children were going in and out to collect prizes for a Halloween coloring contest Six people were killed and nine injured Three of those killed in the accident Monday were children Five other youngsters were among the injured More than 100 police firemen and volunteers searched throughout the night for other possible victims but that svas temporarily called off at dawn and a Police Department spokesman said there was no indication any others were trapped in the rubble There were 10 to 15 persons in the store when the explosion occurred shortly before the 5 pm closing time I happened to be looking across the street when I saw a flash of light the roof coming and dust blowing out said Jerry a at a store across the street Then the noise came The dead all of the Lake city area were identified as Mrs Ray Kehren her son Timothy 10 who died in a Rochester hospital Kristine McElmury about 4 Mrs Ray and two clerks at the store Marjorie Freiheit about 40 and Elaine Dammann about 32 Linda Farrington who oper ated the concrete Ben Franklin store with her widowed mother Mrs MG Farrington said both were standing near an entrance when the blast occurred There was the boom she said Thats about it Thats all I want to say all I can say now Howard Holmgren the Lake City representative for the Northern States Power Co said the explosion was triggered when a bulldozer working on a nearby power com pany construction project rup tured the power firms gas main Volunteers and fire fighting units from surrounding commu converged on the little in town which sits along the Mississippi River Photo by Danny Valdes GRUESOME TWOSOME A leg and hand extend from mock graves of the dual personality created by Robert Louis Stevenson a scene in keeping with the Halloween mood in the community today This created at 404 Ryan St RECORD AT SPENCE Rain Is Spotty Within Area The continued rain has set a new record at Lake Spence of 125200 of water onehalf inch in elevation more than ever before This is after the lake has caught 4000 in ten days raising the elevation to 185898 feet At Robert Lee it rained 2 in 24 hours four inches at the dam over the past ten days At Lake Thomas some 7 fell during the past and no runoff and virtually no evaporation The lake now has 88800 with a new elevation of 223506 The Colorado River divisionary channel reported 11 inches of rainfall during the past 24 hours and Moss Creek Lake recorded one inch Apparently the hardest shower in the county fell at Forsan around 4 am today when a resident reported that rain swept in suddenly from the north and that 1 inches fell In 30 minutes in the sudden downpour At the W W Wilkinson ranch west of town they reported close to three inches since last Thursday but only a mist in the past 24 hours Mrs John Couch at Luther reported only a mist this morning but said it rained 3 of an men four miles east The Coahoma agriculture department also said there was no measurable rain this morning The experimental farm reported rainfall this morning of 16 and a temperature low of 36 degrees Texas Electrics switching station recorded 15 Farmers who had been hoping for several more weeks of hot dry weather to harvest their cotton crop have no comment on the unseasonable cold wet weather Icing In Panhandle Heavy Rains By The Associated Press An ice storm hit sections of the Panhandle early today cut ting utility lines iso lating several communities Freezing rain and sleet cov ered about 70 per cent of the Texas and Oklahoma pan handles north of Plainview Amarillo reported half an inch of sleet Jn the ground at 10 am At Groom 40 miles to the east of Amarillo trees were badly damaged by an ice storm and electrical power was cut for a time Maize crop heads were down under the weight of ice and it was feared there would be considerable damage to the crop Canadian Lefors Claude and Groom reported utility lines out Schools were closed at Tulia Groom and Claude Roads remained open and traffic continued to move throughout the area though driving conditions were hazard Ice covered all highways in the Amarillo area and many accidents were reported in the city At one time Interstate 40 was blocked by icing accidents at an interchange Firemen fought a fire at Amarillos Line Avenue Baptist Church in temperatures Meanwhile heavy rains of one to two inches in 24 hours soaked West Central Texas causing flooding in low lying areas around Abilene Flash flood warnings were issued U S Fun Available Photo by Danny Valdes Witches like this might be seen any where in Big Spring between now and midnight The well groomed bedlam is displayed at 608 Highland Shell prove an appropriate greeter for the tadpoles who go Trick or Treat ing in the neighborhood Weeps During Testimony AUSTIN AP The wife of an Abilene car dealer testified today she never knew former state Sen David Ratliff of Stamford carried her on his payroll for 20 months Mrs Virginia Moser said Ratliff told her last April There has been a lot of news paper publicity that was cru him and that I prob ably would be contacted by the Houston Chronicle He asked me to say I was employed by him Ratliff is accused of stealing one of the paychecks made out to Mr Moser He cannot be tried on more than one check at a time because the law pro hibits trial on more than one charge Ratliff 60 began weeping and his shoulders trembled dur ing the testimony of Mrs Mo sers husband Sam The wife reached over and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him He wiped his eyes with his hands and then with a tissue By CHARLES TEAGUE Construction of a community and convention facility could be financed with the aid of match ing federal funds provided the structure is used also for classroom use on the Howard County Junior College campus according to president Dr Thomas Salter The announcement came to day as a committee of about 30 Howard County citizens met in the Chamber of Commerce office to discuss the possibilities of constructing such a structure in this community designated classroom use federal monies are available As much as onethird of the cost can be obtained if the total project cost is not over million Dr Salter said Chamber President R H Weaver noted the possibilities of constructing a facility capa ble of meeting community needs were explored several years ago At the same time a bond election for the airport failed discouraging a request for further bonds on a community center The matter has now been resurrected The possibilities are to he looked at again Weaver said asking for com ments from the group FINANCIAL MATTERS Nothing should be done until financial matters have been ar ranged stated Harold Davis Relating results of research performed earlier he said a building which could ac commodate 5000 persons could be constructed for less than million The cost estimate when the idea was first discussed was around million Davis urged that the facility be conceived as a property of the junior college because many convention structures stand unused threequarters of the time encouraging vandal ism A structure used daily will be maintained more efficiently and completely and will pay for its he said AGRICULTURAL USE Asking for a positive attitude toward the convention center idea Davis noted that no town in the area which compares in size to that of Big Spring is without a center He pointed out that both Snyder and Brown wood have such facilities both of which are smaller cities than Big Spring County Judge A G Mitchell moved that the structure be studied from the agricultural angle as well whereby rodeo and stock show events could be staged in the coliseum The non urban resident needs to be attracted to the idea of a center before he can be expected to vote in favor of a bond issue A vote was called by Weaver to test the feeling of the group toward forming a committee for the purpose of exploring the problems of financing and locating the con struction Unanimous approval for the center and the formation of a work committee was indicated by a show of hands Hospital Authority Case Moved Forward A motion by the Howard County Hospital Authority requesting a speedup on the hearing of the appeal of the case of Ray Thomas vs the hospital authority in the Court of Civil Appeals Eleventh Supreme Judicial District of Texas in Eastland was granted Friday Oral arguments were set to be heard in the case in Eastland on Dec 8 rather than waiting until after the first of the year Thomas as a citizen filed an appeal that the hospital authority was unconstitutional and his cause was defeated in a hearing in district court here The decision was then appealed to the state civil appeals court The question arises around the plans to construct a hospital on North Main near the location of the present Medical Center Memorial Hospital Local High School Choir Places 37 On Regional Four Named In Charge The four Dallas Negroes charged with kid napping of Stanley Shawn of Colorado City were housed in the Colorado City jail Monday after being returned from Eastland over the weekend Charles Manoy Lawrence Leavelle Jackson Jesse Renz Sledge and Gary Jerome Mallord were charged with kidnapping and auto theft All four are 18 years old No bond had yet been set late Monday They were charged and arrested on a warrant from Judge Leonard Hendersons justice of the peace court in Mitchell County The four men were alleged to have forced the Colorado City college student into his own car at noon Saturday and took him to Loraine leaving him in the car trunk of an abandoned car there He later escaped from the trunk of the car and reported the incident to the Mitchell County sheriff The quartet were apprehended near Cisco The INSIDE News Police trying to identify pair of longhaired youths seen in car of man found slain See Page 5 Crossword Dear Abby 5 Dr Thosteson 13 Editorials 10 Gorens Horoscope 13 Jean Adams S Sports 67 Stock Market 2 Weather The Big Spring High School choir came away from regional choir tryouts in Midland Satur day with the largest number making regional choir and the largest number being in the first 10 in their section and eligible to compete in area competition The local choir placed 37 members in the regional choir out of 55 from here who tried out more than any other school in the entire region Of these 23 are eligible to compete in area competition which will be held in Big Spring Jan 5 Those who will compete in area competition include in the first soprano section Hayworth in first alto Carrie Wheeler Carol Boyd Barbara Dierkes Jane Stoker and Donna McDaniel in second alto Pam Wheeler and Pat Pearson in first tenor Joe and Kenneth Platt In second tenor there are Joel Dyer Pal Ray Bobby Rogers Kenneth Scott and Randy Taylor baritones Roy Lee Osborne Danny Roundtree David Duggan and Dick Conley and basses Robby Lloyd Van Johnson Gary Piew and Kevin Penner Others qualifying for all regional were first sopranos Pam Smith second sopranos Libby Reed Datha Workman Kay Williams and second alto Karen Fuller First tenors include Ricky Mitchell David Wright and Tommy Musgrove baritones Lance Pless and Johnny Tonn and basses Billy Nugent and Don Weeks Jack Bowers is choir director RAIN Hazardous driving condi tions resulting from prob able freezing rains to night Possible light snow and rain with temperatures through Wednesday High today in the mid Inw tonight near 30 high Wednesday low AN ABUNDANCE OF SWEETS AND GOOD CHEER James A Martin of Hobbs N M ft patient at the Veterans Administration Hospital here seems pleased to greet an army of cos children from the SI Marys Episcopal 1 Day School Monday The small fry were deliver ing candy for patients in various wards
