31 Dec 1955
Page 1
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Newspaper
Washington Evening Journal
Location
Washington, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Dec 31, 1955
Page
1
Claude T. Yerkes of Kalispell Montana captured the Burlington Liars Club World Championship for 1930s style tall tales. Judges cited multiple honorees with far fetched wind and prairie wind yarns from service members and Canadian, Alabama, and Texas writers.
Arthur Ross Brown admitted a federal kidnapping charge for the shooting death of Wilma Allen a Kansas City car dealer's wife. Allen was abducted at gunpoint, taken to a rural site, and found murdered on August 7. Trial set for January 23 after psychiatrists deemed Brown sane.
World War II vet James Kutcher of Newark New Jersey seeks to retain his $329 monthly disability payments after the VA froze them over alleged Socialist Workers Party membership. A three member VA committee held a two hour hearing with attorney Joseph Rauh challenging the loyalty action as unlawful. The panel planned careful consideration and could issue a ruling next week, while Kutcher argued the case reflects a star chamber precedent.
U.S. farmers face a 1 percent monthly drop in mid-December prices and a parity ratio of 80 percent, the lowest since 1940. Republicans blame surpluses and Democrats fault Benson price supports. Congress ready to clash. Rice acreage and price supports for 1956 cut to 1.64 million acres and 75 percent of parity. Hog and cattle prices slide while eggs fruit corn and tobacco rise slightly.
Grand Rapids fireman Richard Greenhout Friday claimed an unofficial world speed record for waking, dressing, sliding the pole, and starting the engine in five seconds. The feat was described as an out of bed to fire engine sprint achieved at the station.
The United Press reports a major safety campaign aiming to curb New Year traffic deaths. By 6 pm Friday only 11 total deaths were recorded, with Massachusetts and California leading early counts. Officials warn danger will rise as crowds drink and drive tonight.
Communist China accuses Nationalists of intensifying air and naval raids along the South China Coast amid claims of 105 air groups in 348 sorties from Dec 13 to 29. Peiping Radio says raids intruded over Tunghsa Island Santuao Shachenga and Swatow with strikes on fishing boats ships and coast villagers.
The 504 page Iowa Official Register featuring census data and sketches of state officeholders is now available. S.W. Needham announces 9,000 cloth bound and 11,500 paper copies plus 11,000 abridged editions printed, free on request for Iowa pupils. The edition adds special committees voting records from 1846 to present and updated data on senators and congressional districts.
Mrs. Edith Wittmer of Washington files a damage suit in district court seeking 35000 from the Washington County Hospital Board of Trustees the hospital superintendent and county over injuries claimed from a January 14 1954 fall in a slippery hospital corridor alleging improper floor maintenance and requesting a jury trial
Funeral services for Mrs. Cora E. Stevenson 83 will be held Sunday at 2 30 p m in Sherman s Funeral Home with Dr William J Grossheim in charge Burial will follow at Woodlawn cemetery She died Friday at The Pines Nursing Home where she had been cared for since September 1953 Born January 3 1872 in Glen Haven Wisconsin she lived in Washington about 40 years She was a Presbyterian Church member Survivors include one stepson J W Stevenson of Baraboo Wisconsin
Burlington will host a Champion Spark Plug Co. assembly plant to open next fall. The Iowa Industries unit of Champion will operate the facility, which will employ about 300 workers at full production.
Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin says thermonuclear war is not automatically excluded despite both sides holding atomic and hydrogen weapons. He calls for an unconditional ban on such arms and stronger international control, while expressing guarded hope for peace in 1956. Radio Moscow aired his Telenews interview summaries.
Des Moines painter Walter Thode, 56, reports two men robbed him of 900 dollars on a road north of Des Moines on Friday night. A car followed from Des Moines toward Saylorville as he visited fellow painter Henry Christianson. One robber blocked his car, flashed a light, and brandished a gun demanding cash.
The Washington Ministerial Association announces a week of prayer in Washington from January 8 to January 15. Services occur each evening at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. weekdays at Washington Presbyterian Church. Theme is A Pilgrimage in Prayer with nightly emphases including men’s night school night church officers and Sunday school teachers night community night and women’s night. The closing Sunday January 15 features offerings from participating churches for CROP.
In Jerusalem two public works officials were killed and their driver seriously injured when six Arab death squads ambushed a government vehicle on the Beersheba to Elath highway. Israeli and UN observers pursued clues as police deployed bloodhounds to locate the attackers.
Schoolboy Eugene Demers and Conservation Officer Jesse Scott spotted two bucks in a brook with locked antlers. One had drowned while the other, winner of the fight, faced a similar fate until they roped and freed him.
President Eisenhower pledges peaceful liberation of captive peoples as a major U S goal in foreign policy. White House statement and Khrushchev reaction heighten East West propaganda clash with Moscow. Voice of America broadcasts the pledge to Russia and Eastern Europe as tempers flare over satellite control.
Lincoln, Nebraska UP. Darrel Parker, a young husband, repudiates a confession that he strangled his wife Nancy Parker because she was cold toward him. His attorney Max Towle says Parker was coerced into signing the confession and insists on his innocence. Authorities had said Parker strangled Nancy with a rope after she refused to make love, then led officers to the bungalow scene.
Maurice Libe of Washington was elected county chairman of the National Farm Organization at a Friday meeting of township delegates. Other officers include Grove Letts of Ainsworth as vice chairman, S. A. Stephens of Ainsworth as secretary, and Orville Griggs of Keota route 3 as treasurer. An additional meeting of township chairmen was set for January 15.
Twin sisters Delphine Boulrice and Josephine Boulrice of Springfield observed their 80th birthday. Natives of Quebec, they married brothers.
London announced an urgent inquiry into shipments of British surplus war equipment to the Middle East amid protests over old Valentine armored vehicles and disarmed Sherman tanks. A Foreign Office spokesman cited 415 Sherman tanks sold to Belgium and possible reconditioning for Egypt and other Arab states.
United Press Iowa reports a mild, dry weekend with little temperature change. Low temperatures range from 15 to 25 across regions and highs reach 30s to 40s, followed by partly cloudy, mild conditions Monday.
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