Vidette-Messenger, The (Newspaper) - April 1, 1954, Valparaiso, Indiana HM Weather Mostly fair not quite BO low 25 to partly somewhat warmer high 42 to 80 HOME or VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY VoL 229 Telephone and April United PMM Leased Win FlYt Well Drilling Company's Building At Lake Eliza Destroyed By Fire Today WHEELER FIRE CHIEF Earl Stowers the white and Tom on his survey the ruins of the Fitzgerald Well Drilling and Plumbing company building at Lake Eliza which burned to the ground after catching fire from an exploding oil heater at o'clock this morning who owns the building in partnership with his estimated the damage at A south wind fanned the flames to intense but Stowers said that had the wind been from another a nearby group of cottages might have also been destroyed All equipment stored in the combination warehouse and showroom was lost Staff WHERE DOES INDIANA STORY BEGIN OR END of the Hoosier Day columns deal with the as apart from columns out of Hollywood or those glorifying New York night life The Indiana angle is a major factor in any successes this column has enjoyed Just where does the Indiana story begin and We have become so closely knit in the USA and world that our boys went miles from Indiana farms to fight in Korea Iran gets in a ruckus with Great Britain and price of oil and gasoline goes up in Indiana because good hearted Uncle Sam chips in some of our supply to keep British industries essential to world de- fense going Just what do we as Hoosiers have in Secretary of State Dulles remark before the Overseas Press club in New York this week that free tions should to keep the Chinese communists backed by cow from taking WE CANNOT HIDE OUR HEADS IN THE SANDS The 200 Hoosier civic businessmen and publishers of some of the papers using the ier Day columns who attended the conference on foreign affairs last summer at Indiana know what Dulles is talking about This conference brought to Indiana and consuls from the Far East involved in this titanic gle Those attending could first hand ask our State department for the intimate background that never gets in the papers What is happening to the be- leaguered French in Indo-China is more important for the survival of our sons and daughters than ticking on the Hoosier front From an excellent resume of the IU workshop foreign relations ences written by Scott B of The in New and from my own notes here are some observations President Eisenhower manifestly had a since his Warehouse Is Lost In Blaze By BIRCH STORM A blaze which began with the explosion of an oil heater razed the Fitzgerald Well and Plumbing warehouse and showroom at Lake Eliza at about o'clock this morning The loss was estimated at by Tom one of the partners of the firm were there Germany in whipping on the other framed the Japanese peace and is awake to the Now Eisenhower is ing conscious of the Indo-China threat It is impossible to hide our heads In the sands FAR EAST SUPPLIES FREEDOM ESSENTIALS Why should we be interested in anything as far away as Ninety-five percent of the world's supply of raw rubber is in the area that the communists are fighting for now Sixty-one percent of the world's tin deposits are there We use rubber in Indiana that comes from there and we need tin as one of the essentials in sing a big Indiana industry The area on attack by the the only one in the Far East producing more rice than natives eat Rice is more precious than out there Many other such as 99.44 percent of the world's tapioca and spices for our shelves come from the region i the Indo-Chinese and allied areas of more than square miles of sit astride the lifelines of Australia and the as can be seen by looking at a globe of the world It would bo bogging the issue not tay that tho white man's on page comma i Tax Cut On Phone Calls To Save The reduced excise tax rates on telephone service which went into effect today will save area sub- scribers an average of about per year or more than for all the firm's phone J H Valparaiso manager of the General Telephone company of In- reported today These estimates were based on the firm's 1953 the ager stated The new rate of 10 percent federal tax in both local and toll billings will be reflected in all telephone bills dated on or after today Lorditch said that in GTC paid taxes of million and in ad- dition collected from its customers and turned over to the federal million in federal excise taxes Based on the average number of in service this amounted in federal excise tax per telephone per year About of this was for local service and toll most of which was axed at the 25 percent rate then in effect Most Disliked to a nationwide sur- vey conducted last year by the American Institute of Public the excise taxes on telephone calls are the most disliked by the public of all the excise taxes Lorditch stated relatively high excise taxes on telephone service have long been a subject of controversy The first federal tax on telephone service was imposed with the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1932 This act imposed lOc to levied on calls for which the charge was from to and over 1941 the taxable toll charge minimum was reduced to and the maximum tax was removed In a 6 percent federal was levied on local service billing Effective with the enactment of the Revenue Act of the federal excise tax on cal service billing was raised to 10 and a 20 percent excise tax was levied on all toll calls for which there was a charge of and over May 1944 the excise tax on telephone service was again and for the past 119 months the public has been paying a 15 percent tax on local service a 25 percent excise tax on toll calls charged at or and a 15 percent tax on toll calls charged at less than reduction in the excise tax on telephone usage is tion of years of effort by the lic and the telephone industry to maintain the telephone in its ful status as a service that is tial to our American way of Lorditch concluded IT COULD April 1 Wiley had five minutes of freedom from the county jail day He slipped out a window and ran right to a ant where a dozen sheriff's deputies were eating lunch I Fitzgerald and a Frank were in the building when the stove exploded They grabbed the heater and ran outside with but by that time the flames had gained such momentum that they were unable to re-enter the ing Wheeler fire apparatus answered the but Fire Chief Earl ers said the building down when we got here He also said that it was fortunate that the wind was not blowing in the other di- rection toward a group of cottages The warehouse had just been newly painted and decorated in preparation for the spring of construction and well digging whose is a said that they will rebuild immediately at the same spot One Story Building It was a one story building con- of walls of concrete blocks and wooden construction above that The building was in 1946 and had been used since then as the headquarters for the Fitzgerald brothers firm partly ered by insurance The plate glass windows of the showroom were melted by the in- tense heat of the and all the brothers construction equipment was lost except trucks which had been parked outside Also destroyed in the tion were 25 purebred New land red and white rabbits which Fitzgerald said were the kids and were just right for show The rabbit pens were on the east side of the ing who suffered slight burns from his attempts to First Swim Meet To Be Held Friday At least five schools will com- pete Friday in Porter county's first swimming meet YMCA Boyd N Liddle reported at noon today that entry lists had been received from paraiso High school and four ty schools and that tional lists would be submitted County schools entered to date are Boone Liberty and Portage The meet will begin at p m Friday in the new Y where the week's series of dedication programs will close Swimming meet events free 40 yard breast free style back fancy diving and a relay A trophy will be awarded the winning team and ribbons will be given to the first three winners in each event Entries received by noon today in- Entries Listed free style and Jack free style and Har- ry diving and Gary backstroke and Bob breaststroke Boone yard free style and breaststroke and Jack free style and Don stroke and relay free style and Pat Jerry yard free style and Dave Bob Vern relay yard free style and Ed breaststroke and Mike free style and John Charles diving and relay yard free style and Wally breaststroke and Dick free style and Boyd Liddle Mike relay the replied in ques- tion to how the fire spread through the don't it just went up in no time The Valparaiso fire department received an alarm at 11 but referred the call to the ler which was nearer the scene J County Commissioners To Meet This Monday Routine matters only are on the calendar for the April meeting of the county commissioners at 10 a in County Auditor the C Lee commission said today Science Fair Will Attract 100 Entries April 1 Robert D head of the science department at Chesterton High and adult director of the western Indiana Regional Science today ed details of the fair ed for April 10 Biology exhibits will bo ed in the old Chesterton High school chemistry and physics exhibits in the new tion Students from LaPorte and Starke counties have been invited to and McCord said he expects close to 100 entries This is the only regional fair in United States to be heid m a high school Others throughout the nation are being conducted at museums and industrial laboratories Winners will be sent to the National ence fair at Purdue university by the sponsoring the Porter County Medical society Exhibits will be set up from 3 to 5 p m Friday April and Saturday morning tion of exhibitors will begin at 8 a m Saturday From 9.30 to 10 a m free refreshments will be served to exhibitors and sponsors by the Chesterton Retail Merchants association To Present Program From 10 a m until while exhibits are being bers of the Valparaiso university from the departments of chemistry and will present a scientific after which the group will adjourn for lunch Those who wish to do so may purchase their lunch at the Lions building east of the high where the PTA will serve From noon until 4 p exhibits will be open to the public free of charge McCord pointed out today that all students and other inter- ested persons are invited to whether or not they an it entered in the High schools planning to send their to participate in the event include Griffith Calumet Hammond ton and Michigan City Presentation of awards will be- gin at p m in the CHS Exhibits are to be ed between 4 and Excise Taxes Cut By Billion Dollars Pass Project Deadline Butter Costs Come Down Butter prices were falling today in some stores Cuts of from 10 to 12 cents per pound were reported in some in- further price slashes were and one the drop is news to The price cut was brought about by the government reducing its parity payments from 90 to 75 cent today In other it is buying 15 percent less butter sur- plus to support prices National Food store said it has cut its price 10 cents to 59 cents for butter it may be even less ter is the one-pound as com pared to the four Flowers IGA store said it has cut its price 12 cents per from 71 to 59 cents Store managers said there was no flurry in butter purchases because of the price cut nor do they plan to feature butter in their weekend newspaper ads Rites Planned LETTER FROM NUT Circuit Judge G L Burns chest began to expand as he read the fancy salutation to a voluminous County De Top Boss The Chief of the The jurist read only that far to realize it was another lengthy treatise on nothing from Chicago Come On The SOME OP THE 107 Porter county high school students who enjoyed swimming at the YMCA pool Wednesday night are shown above Many were on hand to practice for the first Porter county high school swimming meet to be held Friday evening at Studio Biology Students Sign With March 31 Is Over By KAREN ANGLE Many students at Valparaiso High school look forward to April 1 with great expectation And that's particularly true this year of the 204 members of the biology for its activities vere climaxed the day before when they turned in their semester projects to Instructors Paul Miller or Mrs Bush These projects included made articles or reports on any ic having to do with life or living things Some of the articles which were constructed will be mounted in the biology such as the conservation pledge mounted on a four-foot plaque This was made by Lightcap A magazine the work of Bob Meyer and John is already in use Ken Stedman displayed his inter- est in art by submitting a painting of wild ducks in flight sized the work of this year's biology will be hung in the vicinity of the school so that their future inhabitants may be observed by succeeding bi- ology classes During the past Nancy Howard conducted an ex- periment with white mice From March 1 to she fed one of the mice on the solitary diet of Coke and potato chips The second kept in a separate was fed on dog food and water The fur of the latter is much and in healthier than the fur of the first mouse Many Topics Chosen Some of the topics reported on were national house and the different species of and snakes Mounted samples of wood were submitted by Randy Nancy and Matt Neal Matt's was constructed in such a manner that when a screw next to the block of wood was touched with one and its correct name was touched with a second a bulb would light A gigantic prepared by John was the only pro ject of its type submitted this year It was the skeleton of a and its height did not exceed inches All of the minute bones were still intact Three student teachers from paraiso university are helping in the grading of these projects They are Bob and Bob Genzen After the written re- ports are the students may submit them to other teachers for extra especially English teachers MICKEY HORAN Funeral services for Richard Thomas Valparaiso sailor who was killed in the Philippine Islands on March will be held at St Paul's Catholic church at 10 o'clock morning The Rev Raymond Derrick will officiate The decedent was killed when the an earth-moving which he was over- turned He was born May 1933 He was graduated from Wheeler High school in 1952 and in the navy in August of that year A rosary will be said at o'clock Friday night and the body will lie in state at Funeral home and may be viewed after 2 p m Friday Survivors include the mother and Mr and Mrs John S two and Ken four Mrs Frances Mrs Genevieve Downing Mary and Rosetta Burial will be at St Paul's ceme tery Toll County Officials To Meet H D Hartman and Ralph chief engineer and re- of the Indiana Toll Road commission will meet with county commissioners and other county officials at p ra Friday County Surveyor W E land said purpose of the meeting is to air any complaints relative to the proposed toll which will cross Porter county between Valparaiso and Chesterton Domestic News Briefs WASHINGTON An in formed source said today have found a way of making at a fraction of what we had ex them to found a cheap he costs a matter of dollars a pound which can be used to replace a substance that costs thousands of dollars an NEW YORK ants here expressed the belief day that the reduction of federal excise taxes would touch off a buying spree Retailers hailed the cuts as a needed sales stimulant and prepared for a strong surge of Easter buying WASHINGTON The House Ways and Means ee opened hearings on President Eisenhower's liberalized social curity program today and cans predicted early WASHINGTON Civil defense officials hoped today the awesome prospect of a single bomb knocking out a major city would help their campaign to prepare the nation for the H-bomb era PITTSBURGH bers of the United Mine Workers union across the nation took a holiday today in a tion marking the anniversary of the eight-hour day and ing veteran UMW President John L Lewis vors of tho Cheektowaga school fire said today the suddenness of tho and panic apparently counted for the grim toll of 10 dead and 25 Injured Coeds Have Fun As Firemen Are Tooled City firemen were in considerably more of an expansive mood this morning at 11 o'clock than they were at a they answered an April Fool Day alarm to Dodge hall on Monroe Valparaiso university freshman girl's dormitory And Fire Chief Wilbur Cowdrey was laughing about the in- when a reporter talked to that the greeting ed the firemen and trucks when they pulled up in front of Dodge hall on Morgan street was keynoted by a festive spirit sure had a good time They were swarming all over the even taking our pictures with flashlight But he also somewhat know I was sure pounding my ear when the call came Bulletin The received a telephone call this afternoon in which the party on the other end of the line reported that she had been advised that the city of Valparaiso was at long last going ahead with its ing plans Said tho understand that the property on the southwest corner of Washington and Indiana streets has been sold to the city and that the city plans to build a car port after the necessary have been Asked how many cars the city planned to have room for me caller said she had understood that perhaps there would bo room for 100 to 200 ears She said she had no idea what me cost of such a project would nor where tho money would come from city Is tired of the stalling oa pago Some Firms Pass Savings To Customers President Hopes measure To Spur Buying By People By RICHARD E MOONEY Press Staff By RICHARD E MOONEY Press Staff April 1 excise taxes were reduced by a billion lars a year today on dozens of items and some business firms passed the savings along immediately to con- sumers Lower excise or sales taxes went into effect at midnight on such items for as golf sport and en tickets telephone transportation and electric light bulbs Price cuts were close behind for some of these items And the In- ternal Revenue Service said some persons are entitled to a partial re- fund of taxes they paid in the chase of advance and travel tickets Eisenhower Signs President Eisenhower signed the excise Cut into law Wednesday and said he hoped the reductions would help spur more buying The same measure cancelled today's scheduled tax cuts on automobiles and cigarets Internal Revenue Service labored into the night ing new rules to fit the law The job is expected to take another day or so to complete There are still some unanswered questions about how the reductions would be plied Some business firms beat the government to the punch by an- nouncing lower prices on products affected by the tax cuts Firms Plan Action Corp makers of re- and other household was first It sent its dealers new price schedules shortly after Mr Eisenhower ed the Spokesmen for other industries said they planned lar action Price cuts are by no means under the new ever The law only cut taxes Each business can decide whether to pass savings on to consumers or pocket the savings itself The rules are less flexible for in- stalment plan purchases of luggage and furs which are in progress but not complete and for tickets already purchased for el or entertainment and sports events scheduled for today or later SUBSTITUTE PLAN LOSES April The senate today defeated a posal to give Hawaii and Alaska commonwealth status instead statehood The vote was 60 to 24 On World News Fronts WASHINGTON ican officials heaped ridicule on Russia's bid to join the North At- pact today and predicted the allies will turn it down cold The State department informally re- the surprise proposal calling it a trick to Western unity and security Authorities expect the United Britain and France to agree quickly on a formal down PARIS France fired Marshal her most respected from all of his national offices today for an act of insubordination that ed his criticism of the European Defense community project NEW India Thirty-one persons were reported killed and 32 injured Wednesday night when ammunition exploded aboard a third class passenger train near authorities announced today RIO DE lice Inspector Carlos leader of a drive against torrid kissing on parks and beaches hat issued this whether on the face or will be permitted But so-called Hollywood which other intentions and is shocking when practiced in will military commanders reported day that French flying supplies to besieged DIM Bien Phu were shot down by anti-aircraft fire and wanti pilou to attempt M
