The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 33

Mm Wei An Indepe llIlfPera Peopl VOL. 240. NO. 135 PHILADELPHIA. SUNDAY MORNINft.

MAY IS. 1040 Copyright. 1MH. by rrtanjrl ruhlipllrn. Inc.

FIFTEEN 'CENTS Prosecutor of Tax Case Against Taylor Charges Phila. Man Drowned in Saving Youth 2d Resident of City Loses Life in Creek Near Williamsport 33 Injured As Stand Falls At Speedway Trials Are Delayed As 2 Boxes Collapse; Two Hurt Seriously lis Life Was Threatened 0 ft 5 i fy I i I yA-yy I xr cr rJ 1 1 jo ryS i r' "Sy1 I 7 is i "--sn. I -i rv Warrant Out For Vesper Club Steward Duff Signs Bill to End Phila. Magistrate Abuses By GERSON LUSH Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau IIAHRIsnURG. May 14.

Gov. James II. Duff today signed the Meade bill giving the Attorney General supervision over Phlladel-uhia's magistrates and ending abuses uncovered in the recent State investigation of the Magistrates' Courts. The new law was drafted by the Attorney General's office In cooperation with trje city's Republican organization. It was spon- (AP Wirephoto) RESCUING MAN INJURED IN GRANDSTAND COLLAPSE Emergency crew reaching: William Doll (in striped sweater), of Indianapolis, amid wreckage of a grandstand that collapsed yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Doll was one of 33 spectators injured in cave-in while watching auto races. Girl, 6, Badly Burned Playing 4Movie Mother Hurt in Rescue Six-year-old Dorothy McLaughlin was burned seriously yesterday when her dress caught fire while she and two other small children were playing "make believe" in a garage at the rear of her home, 729 Billings Paulsboro, N. J. The girl's father, John, an unemployed machinist, said that his daughter, one of nine children in the family, and two other chil TNTMANAPOt.TS, May 14 (AP. A section of a grandstand collapsed beneath the weight of Indianapolis motor pedway fans today, causing arioua injury to an Indianapo-lia man and a boy and cuts and brut to 31 other.

Approximately 5000 of the. more than 50.000 persona matching the opening of qualifications of the 500-mile race on May 30 were crowded Into the old wooden tructure on the Ion aouthwest turn when the cave-to occurred. OPENED LIKE ZIPFER' The collapse took place in two trnrea on the first level of the stands, and the other fans in the area were not affected by the accident. On eyewitness said the floor opened up like a ripper." Speedway eacila blamed the collapse on overloading by fans seeking the best seats a Inn the edge of the track. Thirteen of the injured were taken to Indianapolis General Hospital.

The other 16 injured were treated at the emergency hospital which is set tip on th infield of the big two and half mile oval. RACING TRIALS INTERRUPTED The qualifications were Interrupted briefly by the accident. Joe Quinn, speedway safety director, said the injured persons fell about 15 feet to the ground. He said the wooden stands had been inspected and approved before open-Ins the grounds to the public. General Hospital listed Leslie Clark.

42. and 14-year-old Kurt Mahrot. both of Indianapolis, as the two most seriously Injured. Both uffered severe head injuries in the l-foot drop to the ground. GRANDSTAND OVERTAXED The other injured taken to the hospital were Richard Mahan.

17; James Mahan. Albert Turk. 22: Albin Turk. 26: Earl Moore. Earl Moore, 17; Irwin Herdon.

44; Eodie Wetzel, 4. Harry Bennett. 37. Joe Moscrella, SO. and Mildred Moore.

33. all of In-iianapolis. Albert Bloemker. director of public relations for the speedway, said the accident was caused by "overtaxing" the grandstand. There were as many as IS to IS persons crowded into boxes that were built to normally bold six to eight persons." he said.

Milk Fills Ditch In $25,000 Upset Milk flowed In a. drainage ditch after a 3000-gallon tank-truck up-et lat night at New Centervilje. Chester county, causing a loss estimated by the vehicle's owner at 2S.000. The driver. Major W.

Logans. 23, nf Washington Phoenixville. was trapped In the cab of the big tractor-trailer briefly until witnesses ran from a nearby filling station and pried open a door. He was uninjured. BLOCKED BY BARRICADE Logans had set out with a cargo ef Grade Double.

A milk from Frazer, near Malvern, for New York. At the Intersection of Routes 83 and 202, half a mile south of Valley Forga Park, he brought the big highway; ranker to a tuu stop, men started right turn into Route 202. State Police said Route 202 was under repair and partly blocked by a wooden barricade. Logans, they said, drove the truck through a narrow gap between the roadblock and the highway's edge. The right wheels of the tractor Mnk into the road's muddy shoulder.

The tractor fell nver, twisting the Cmttaaed en Page Column dren, Andrew Catusso, 3, of Bea- sored by Senator John R. Meade Philadelphia), brother of William F. Meade, Republican city chairman. ONE BILL IS VETOED The Governor signed 14 other measures today and vetoed one. To date he has approved 403 of the 711 bills enacted by the 1949 Legislature and vetoed four.

He has until May 28 to complete action on the remaining 304 bills. Attorney General T. McKeen Chidsey said the new magistrates law, which amends a 1937 act. would provide 'a competent magistrates" court system in Philadelphia." PUOVISIONS OF LAW Under the new law, which becomes effective immediately, the Attorney General is empowered to take into custody the dockets of Magistrates for inspection, auditing or investigation purposes. The Board of Magistrates is required to keep "complete and permanent minutes," and make these accessible to the Attorney General.

Other major. provisions: Give the Chief Magistrate complete supervision over assignments in all magistrates' courts, including the Central police court. Previously the Mayor could assign the magistrates to the Central police court. No magistrate is permitted to serve in the City Hall court more than one month of every six. MUST KEEP OWN DOCKET Require each magistrate to keep his own docket on all cases, whether heard in Central police court or any other magistrate's court.

Make legal the holding ot traffic courts, and clearly put such courts under the supervision oj the chief magistrate. Require official decisions to Continued on Page 5, Column 1 1 Woman's Cries Rout Thug at Car An armed man last night attempted to force a woman into her parked automobile on 22d st. near Locust but w-as frightened oft! by her-screams and the approach of a police Miss Betty Kay. 33. of 229 S.

22d operator of a woman's specialty store, reported the incident to the patrolling policemen after the thug; fled. Miss Ivay said she had parked her automobile near her home and was preparing to remove a package from its rear seat. As she leaned into the vehicle, she felt a pistol placed against her back. "Get into the car," a man, wielding the weapon, directed. Instead of complying.

Miss Kay screamed and turned to face her assailant. As she did, a patrol car, containing Patrolmen William Ben-don and James Lynch turned, into 22d st. from Walnut. The thug turned and ran. He disappeared In a series of alleyways in the neighborhood.

A Juniata Park man and an Fast Germantown resident drowned yesterday in separate week-end tragedies. Boniface Piccoli, 21, of 1407 E. Hunting Park drowned in the inland waterway near Margate, N.J., after he had saved another youth. Piccoli and five others had been spilled overboard when a rowboat capsized. DROWNS WHILE FISHING The East Germantown victim Charles Edwin Bill, 28, of 6531 Beechwood an electrician, drowned while fishing in a mountain stream near Williamsport.

His body was recovered 10 hours after he was last seen. Piccoli. a waiter, failed to respond to artificial respiration, although it was applied for more than an hour. He was pronounced dead in Atlantic City Hospital. Margate Police Sgt.

Willard Clarion said Piccoli had been in a rowboat with Fiward Burns, 18, of 1543 E. Hunting Park and Thomas Doling, 18, of 4141 May-wood st. BOAT'S WAKE RESPONSIBLE They were rowing near another boat, occupied by three friends. Occupants of the second boat were Charles Judge, 19, of 4216 Markland Harry P. Titano, 16, of 1410 E.

Hunting Park and Edward Shearon, 20, of 4038 Castor ave. A motorboat passed the others. Its wake sent water surging into the second rowboat. Judge, Titano and Shearon rowed to the boat containing their companions and tried to transfer to it. But the first boat upset as they tried to get into it and all six were thrown into the water.

RESCUER COLLAPSES, DROWNS Police said none of the youths was a strong swimmer. Piccoli towed Shearon toward the meadows on the mainland side of the waterway, but collapsed as he neared shore. Doling then brought Piccoli ashore. The others, meanwhile, managed to reach land. An attendant on the Jerome ave.

bridge, which connects Margate with the mainland, saw the accident. He telephoned a rowboat concessionaire in his establishment nearby. The concessionaire helped get the young Continued on Page 6, Column 3 Methodists Rap Bok Book Ruling n.v OSCAR n. TELLER Inquirer Staff Reporter ALLENTOWN. May 14.

Pennsylvania Methodists achieved success in the recent legislative session by helping to defeat nine bills that would have relaxed this State's Sunday laws, delegates to the Philadelphia conference of the church were told here today. Rev. Dr Smith Stull. pastor of Old St. George's Church.

4th st near Vine. Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Sabbath Legislation and Reform, said: "The trend toward extreme liberalism in Pennsylvania seems to have reached its height and the tide is now returning in the direction of the moral and spiritual foundations of our State." ASSAILS BOOK DECISION He assailed the decision of Judge Curtis Bok, of Common Pleas Court No. 6, which recently cleared authors and publishers of several books of obscenity charges. His entire decision was based on what we believe to be a mistaken Continued on Page 9. Column 4 Fund Raised to Aid Phila.

'Blue Baby' Sympathetic neighbors of Antoinette Vassalluzzo, 10-months-old baby" who has spent most of hPr snort iife in an oxygen tent, have raised $250 towards the amount necessary to attempt a "last chance" operation on the child, her parents announced yesterday. Mr. and Mrs Pasquale Vassalluzzo. of 1040 Rosalie have been told by physicians that the child cannot live. However, in desperation, the couple sent the medical history of the child to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

Physicians there said an operation may save the child's lite. The girl was born wit a congenital heart malformation which produces a bluish tinge on the skin suf-face and is generally fatal. Asserting that his life had been threatened because of his prosecution of Herman Taylor. Philadelphia boxing promoter. Assistant City Solicitor Abraham Wernick yesterday obtained a warrant for the arrest of Peter C.

Tyrrell, steward of the Vesper New Year Association, a private club frequented by many of the city's political leaders. Tyrrell is not related to and has no connection with Peter A. Tyrrell, president and general manager of the Arena. Through his counsel, Tyrrell said he never knew Wernick, never threatened him and was the victim of a "comedy of PHONE THREATS CHARGED Wernick obtained the warrant from Magistrate Hobson R. Reynolds, at the 12th 'and Pine sts.

station, after charging that Tyrrell had threatened him In one early morning telephone call and renewed th threat fh a later telephone conversation. The assistant city solicitor, who has handled the city's action to recover $140,000 In amusement taxes and penalties from Taylor, said Tyrrell told him: "If you don't lay off Herman Taylor, your body will be found in tht river." REPRESENTED BY WITKIN Late yesterday, fter Wernick and Receiver of Taxes W. Frank Marshall had conferred with Assistant Superintendent of Police George F. Richardson, the police official announced that he had taken personal charge of the investigation and that he had assigned detectives to find Tyrrell. County Commissioner Morton Witkin.

who identified himself as attorney for Tyrrell, said his client would surrender at 9 A. M. tomorrow at the 12th and Pine sts. station for arraignment before MagistraU Reynolds. Witkin issued a flat denial of the allegations.

"The charges are Just plain silly." Witkin asserted. "Mr. Tyre 11 wouldn't threaten moody. Wernick also conferred with Deputy Attorney General John C. Phillips, who is conducting th Grand Jury investigation of the amusement tax office shortages.

Phillips said he would summon Tyrrell befort the Grand Jury on Tuesday for questioning. Phillips said tills action was based on Wcrnick'a statement that Tyrrell told him he "knew ail about the tax office shortage and who got th money." Bristling with indignation, Wer- Continued on Page 6, Column Two Fire Engines Damaged in Crash Two fire engines collided U.t night at 2d and Carpenter sts. while responding to a false alarm registered from a firebox at Front and Federal sts. No one Injured. The crash occurred at 10:40 P.

M. Engine 22. from 2d and Pine sU traveling south on 2d collided with Engine 48. from 7th and Carpenter sfoing east on Carpenter st. Both drivers were proceeding at moderate speed in view of met streets.

The engines were damaged, but not disabled. 'Cannonbair Hurt As He Misses Net Special to The tnquirer TRENTON. May 14. Henry Dubois. 31.

of St. Johnsbury. Vt, human cannonball with the W. W. Dumont Carnival, no at Olden and Princeton here, was injured this afternoon when strong winds threw him off his course as he was shot through the air and he struck ropes holding the landing net.

Dubois was taken to McKinley Hospital by Patrolman Charles Whitehead. Physicians said his injuries were not serious Dubois said it was the second time this year he had hit the ropes holding the net. During the act, Dubois is lowered into the cannon which is then fired. He is supposed to sail through the air, over the ferris-wheel and land on a large net. 4 Hurt as 7 Cars Figure in Mishaps At Same Spot Four persons, including a policeman and two girls, members of socially prominent families, were injured last night in two accidents at the same location in Wynnewood.

The mishaps, which occurred on Montgomery ave. near Essex, in Lower Merion township, were part of a series of accidents in this area. In another, a man and his wife were hurt seriously when their car collided with a milk truck near Ham-monton, N. J. AUTO HITS POLICE CAR At Wynnewood, Police Sgt.

Daniel McGce, of 137 Arnold Ardmore, suffered injuries to both legs when he was pinned between two police cars while on duty at the scene of a previous crash. An automobile struck one of the cars. The girls, who were passengers in this machine, were listed as Miss Ann S. Pew, 14, of Andover Havcrlord. and Miss "Sally A.

15, of Mt. Moro Villanova. The victims were treated for cut and bruises at Bryn Ma wr Hospital. Miss Pew is the daughter of Mrs. Donaldson L.

Lambert. CHAIN OF CRASHES The fourth victim, George P. Henderson, 17. of Ithan Rose-mont, was hurt in the first accident, which involved three automobiles in rear-end collisions. The cars were operated by Henderson, Jay Dee, 18.

of Edge Hill Bala-Cynwyd, and Walter V. Medlin, 31, of Haverford Ardmore. Police said the girls were, riding in car driven by Lyman Missfmer. 18, of Old Gulph Penn Valley. This car first atruck one operated by Harry W.

Till, 50, of Wyoming Ardmore, and then careened into the police vehicle, authorities said. Hurt in the crash on Route 39 at Hamnfonton were Max Leuchtcr, 53. editor and publisher of the Vtneland Times-Journal, and his wife, Cecilia, i 50. She is manager of the news-1 paper. Physicians at Burlington County Hospital said Leuchter suffered a broken left leg.

a broken knee cap and a possible fracture of the back. His wife's legs were broken. Two sailors. Allred Fala and Paul Rochon, attached to the Atlantic City Naval Air Base, who were hitchhiking to New York City and had accepted a ride with the Lcuchters, were uninjured. Russell Linton, 37, of Main st Mount Holly, driver of the truck, reported the rear dual wheels were thrust from under his heavy vehicle in the He escaped iniurv.

The Leuchtcrs. who live at 1141 Park Vincland, were en route Princeton University to visit a son. Joel, a freshman there. One automobile was in successive collisions with three others last Continued on Page 2, Column 6 Bullet Kills Captain In Fiancee's Home EL PASO, May 14 (UP). An Army captain died of a bullet wound early today in the apartment of his fiancee, she saaid he shot himself.

Catherine Marie Hendricks, 25. of Trenton. N. said the weapon used was a .25 caliber Italian pistol which Capt. Shelton A.

Magwood, 26, her intended bridegroom, presented to her several weeks ago. Magwood's home was in Buffalo, N. Y. Barrington Man Falls Dead in Store Robert Chatham. 65.

of 3702 Davis Bariington. N. collapsed yesterday in the Sears Roebuck store. Mount Ephraim ave. and Admiral Wilson and was dead on arrival at Cooper Hospital.

Coroner Joseph F. Inglesby said death was apparently due to a heart con and Douglas Olsen, 2, of Broad both of Paulsboro, were playing they were movie stars, and that he believed one of the children struck a match. A blue satin costume dress worn by Dorothy began burning. Screaming, she ran 30 feet to the rear door of her home, where he- mother, Jessie, tore off the burning dress. The mother then wrapped the child in toweling and carried her to the nearby office of Dr.

Anthony J. DiMar'no, who gave her emergency treatment and sent her to West Jersey Hospital, Camden. Hospital doctors said she had suffered burns of the right side her body, the right, arm and right leg. The mother, whose hands were burned when she tore rtft the dress, also was nven treatment. Airport to Reopen At Resort Today WILDWOOD.

N. May 14 (AP). A former $3,000,000 Navy airfield near this South Jersey city will be reopened officially tomorrow for civilian service. Wildwood Airport, which covers 819 acres, will link this community with major fields in the country for the first time in its history, airport officials said. The field was commissioned in 1943 after 1200 men transformed a forest into an airport in one year.

Action was taken last year to reactivate the field and in December Cape May county formally took possession of the field. All-American Airways announced it would make scheduled flights from Washington and Philadelphia to the new field. Lightning Rips Quarter-Mile of N. J. Shore Road ASBURY PARK, N.

May 14 fAP. A freak lightning bolt tonight damaged a quarter-mile section of the main highway along the New Jersey shore. Heavy traffic had to be routed along the shoulders as a patch of Route 35 six miles south of here was rendered unusuable. State police said that a very heavy charge had-apparently struck an expansion Joint between sections of concrete and traveled a quarter mile along the steel reinforcements, hurling slabs of concrete into the air. Holes along the damaged stretch were as large as two feet across and eight inches deep.

Road crews went to work at once. T. E. Olscn. assistant district engineer of the Survey and Plans Division of the Highway Department, said he had 'never heard of anything like it" in his 32 years of service.

Police were unable to determine whether any cars werfe on the road when the lightning struck, but they said the route is the main road to Atlantic City and other shore points and is heavily traveled. No injuries were reported. The damaged section is located in Wall township. Woods Searched For Missing Man Special to The Ivqutrer POTTSVILLE. May 14.

Led by State Police, nearly 300 men and boys today were conducting a search in the woods around Pottsville for a 65-year-old man who disappeared from his home last Tuesday. The man. August Zelinsky. of 911 Davis is believed to have wandered into the wooded area, according to Sgt. William Keuch.

of the Schuylkill Haven barracks. Zelinsky. Sgt. Keuch said, was recently discharged as a patient from Werners-ville Hospital. With Dry Ice GIRARDVILLE.

May 14 AP). A ton of dry ice was dropped into the Packer No. 5 mine of Gil-berton Coal Co. in the fight to halt an underground fire that killed four men; The dry ice. when heated, yields large quantities of non-poisonous carbon dioxide gas which does not provide sufficient oxygen to keep a fire burning.

All previous efforts In the two week job of extinguishing the blaze have been unsuccessful. At one time workers pumped water from a nearby creek into the mine in an attempt to drown the fire. Four miners were found dead in ithe shaft where they were trapped by the blaze May 3. More than 100 workers took part in frantic efforts to rescue the men. Suitor Kills Girl And Ends His Life MILFORD, May 14 (UP).

A jobless, rejected suitor fatally shot his 17-year-old sweetheart today in a rage of Jealousy as they sat on a living room sofa in her home. He fled to a pasture and killed himself as police closed in. Arelene Harris, red-haired high school student and part-time telephone operator, was shot in the head as she and Raymond Cretton. 22, argued about her attentions to older men at a telephone operators party. She died in a hospital tonight without regaining consciousness.

KILLED BY SINGLE SHOT Police said Cretton fired a single shot from a 2b caliber pistol at the girl whom he had wanted to marry. At the party last night she had had a good time dancing with men old enough to be her Jather while he sulked in a corner. Arlne's brother, Kenneth, said "she was fed up with him: she wanted him to get a job and fie wanted to go into the Air Force. Last night she told him she was all through with him." Arlene was shot shortly after she and Cretton returned to her home early this morning after the party. TOLICE NEAR, ENDS LIFE Cretton ran from the living room.

After a 45-minute search police spotted him in a pasture a block from the Harris home. As they advanced cautiously he shot himself twice in the head. He died four hours later without regaining consciousness. Police listed the shootings as murder -and suicide. Man Is Absolved In Killing of Boy Henry C.

Saulnier. of Media, who shot and killed Henry Donald Noble, 15. when he surprised the intruder in the pantry of his home! was absolved of any criminal charges yesterday by Fred Jack, chief of Delaware county detectives. Jack said the killing was "justifiable homicide" and added that, as a matter of formality, an inquest into the case would be held at a later date. Jack quoted Saulnier as saying that the boy was pointing a .22 caliber rifle at him when he fired.

On WFIL Today Sffll KIR ST ON fOl'R DIAL 11:30 A. M. Within Our Gates 12:30 P. M. Catholic Hour 3:15 P.

M. Betty Clark Sings 3:30 P. M. Choral Festival 8:15 P. M.

Stop the Music 9:30 P. M. Theater Guild on the Air WFIL TV CHANNEL 6 3:15 P. M. Sunday Inqic 'er Comics 6:30 P.

M. Irene Wicker The Singing Lady 8:30 P. M. Celebrity Tim Bigger Staff, More Pay Look, No Horse! 30 Aged Autos Wheeze to Shore For Traffic Unit Urged Although the duties and responsibilities of the city's Bureau of Traffic Engineering have increased two-fold since 1941, when it was created, "no appreciable Increase has meanwhile been provided in Zoo to Mark 75th Year With Gay 90s Pageantry Philadelphia's famed Zoo, oldest in the United States, will celebrate its 75th anniversary today with gala festivities at the Zoological Gardens, 34th st. and Girard aye.

Zoo officials, hoping for what they called weather, announced that the dia- Lx mond jubilee anniversary day Mine Tire rOUgnt Illustrated on Page 2' Before a crowd of nearly 3000 curious spectators, 30 ancient automobiles manned by drivers clad in dusters, caps and goggles, chusrged away from Reyburn Plaza at 11:30 A. M. yesterday in a either personnel or supplies ap- propriations." As a result, the bureau is "lacking in manpower and equipment with which to do a satisfactory job." Those statements are contained In a newly completed report of the Philadelphia Highway Traffic Board's committee on engineering and accident records, headed by R. F. Tvsoh, executive vice president of PTC.

The report, made public yesterday, will be submitted to the Traffic Board at its regular meeting tomorrow, Tyson said. HIGHER PAT URGED Tyson's group also found that the city bureau is "undermanned and underpaid from top to bottom," and accordingly recommended that a survey be made in order to correct that situation. The committee further suggested that $159,070 in additional budget appropriations and $425,000 in loan Continued on Page 5, Column 1 revival of the "Quaker City to Atlantic City Tour," last held in the 1900s. Scheduled to be an annual affair, the revival was one of the preliminary features of the 1949 Phila delphia Automobile Sho-v. opening here June 11 in Commercial Museum in conjunction with the National Antique Anto Show.

The new-car exhibit also is a revival, the last snow of its kind having been held here back in 1939. REAL OLD-TIME STUFF The wheezing machines taking part in the jaunt to the seashore included a 1902 "one-lunger" Orient buckboard. complete with tiller, owned by G. H. Gest, of Montreal; a 1909 Model touring car.

one of the original Tin Lizzies," owned by C. W. Moyer, of Dublin. and a 1909 Winton, resplendent with right-hand drive, brassy bulb horns Continued on Page Column 4 would featured witn a recrea- i tion of some of the atmosphere that prevailed at the Gardens! many, many years ago. TO SHOW OLDTIME MODES There will be a pageant with many ef the Zoo's employes attired in costumes of the gav nineties.

The Zoo has borroweo old-fashioned horse carriages, early automobiles and high-wheel tandem bicycles to illustrate how people traveled to the Gardens just before the turn of the century. GERMAN BAND TO FLAY There also will be a six -piece German band, with the musicians- wearing uniforms and handle-bar mustaches. This type band was a big attraction in the early days 300 officials said Another feature will be demon- CmtUBBed en Page 9. Column 3.