Newspaper Page Text
T I 7 GOOD
J VENIN \JF
By Quimby Melton
Here is another summary of
what’s happening at home that
may interest men and women
away from home in the Armed
Services.
The DAR announced Miss
Emily Brisendine recipient of
their Good Citizen’s award. Pre
viously Miss Brisendine was the
winner of the Elk’s Girls Lead
ership contest.
The Griffin Lion’s Club an
nounced Miss Jan Hammock,
Griffin, as winner of the Lion’s
Peace essay contest; with Miss
Ann Blakeney, Brooks, as first
runnerup. The winning essay will
be entered in state competition.
Eventually state winners will
compete in a national contest
with a $25,000 scholarship as the
prize.
Numerous Boy Scouts were gi
ven awards at the Scout Court
of Honor.
The Junior Chamber of Com
merce chose C. A. (Lon) Know
les, president of the First Na
tional Bank, as Outstanding
Young Man of 1966; and Tom
my Jones, principal at Beaver
brook School, as Young Educa
tor of the Year.
Also in Griffin: Rev. Edwin
E. Bailey will assume duties as
pastor of the Highland Baptist
Church next week. He comes to
Griffin from Baconton, Ga., and
succeeds the Rev. Bennie
Rhodes.
The Spalding Tax League pub
lished an advertisement in The
Griffin Daily News explaining
its interest in ad valorem tax
es in the county and said that
though they have sufficient in
formation to warrant a court
suit they would not at this time.
A young Barnesville man,
Charles Otis Parks, 19, who
worked at the Holan Corporation
plant in Griffin was killed in an
automobile accident near Bar
nesville. »
- * —
Once upon a time Griffin
High’s football and basketball
teams were called “The Gold
Wave”; and the Spalding High
teams The Wolf Pack. Then the
two schools were consolidated
and teams became known as
The Eagles.
Since the two schools were
merged there have been several
great Eagle teams but none that
seems destined to win more
fame for Griffin than the pre
sent team of basketball players
with Big Eagle Chris Jones as
coach.
They are perched atop a peak
of 21 wins against a single loss.
Last Saturday they beat Milner
71 to 40, Tuesday they won from
Southwest 74-45 and Friday night
demonstrated to visiting Wood
ward Academy how champs play
basketball, winning 85 to 58.
And to make the basketall
week more pleasing The Eaglet
tes took their two games win
ning from Milner 56 to 52 and
Southwest 61 to 40.
Tonight the Eagles will go
to Covington to play New
ton County, a team that has
not lost a game played on their
home court in 10 years. Their
home court record is 119 straight
games. Griffin defeated them
earlier this season in a game
played here 58 to 44.
- * —
The House Appropriations
Committee continues to study
the proposed Maddox budget for
the next two years. Various or
ganizations are offering their
reasons why the budget should
not be cut.
The Reapportionment commit
tee also is meeting. Georgia
must reapportion the General
Assembly by May 1. Governor
Maddox says he will call a spe
cial session to act. However
Speaker George Smith, of the
House, is of the opinion the As
sembly will have plenty of time
to take it up during the regular
session, once the appropriations
bill has been appproved.
State Attorney General Arthur
Bolton has said regardless of
when Reapportioning is taken up
the General Assembly faces “A
Whale of a Job.”
Governor Maddox has asked
two members of the House,
Lane (Statesboro) and Matthews
(Moultrie) to prepare a resolu
tion to be Introduced when the
Assembly reconvenes in Febru
ary, inviting Governor Lurleen
Wallace, of Alabama, and her
husband former-Govemor Geor
ge Wallace, to speak to the Gen
eral Assembly.
Georgia Baptists, according
to an official report, contributed
nearly $ll-Million for missions,
educational and benevolent en-
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
5-STAR WEEKEND EDITION
GRIFFIN
DAILY £ NEWS
Established 1871
High Security Probe Seeks
Cause Of Astronaut Tragedy
Made Home In 9 Countries
New Hotla Family
Moves To Griffin
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Ro
da who have made their home
in nine different countries for
the past 36 years have moved to
Griffin and will make their
home here. Mr. Roda for 36 ye
ars has been with the Interna
tional Division Ford Motor Com
pany. They moved to Griffin
from Portugal where for the
past four years Mr. Roda has
been manager or all Ford opera
tions there..
During his overseas Ford con
nections Mr. and Mrs. Roda
have lived in Egypt, Argentina,
Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Por
tugal. For the present the Ro
das are living with their son,
E. W. Roda and his family who
live on Laramie drive. They al
ready have selected a site for a
home and expect to start build
ing immediately. The younger
Roda is a nexecutive with the
Ford Motor Co.
While in Portugal Mr. Roda
met and formed a friendship
with the newly appointed ambas
sador, W. Tapley Bennett, Jr., a
native of Griffin.
When asked if Ambassador
Bennett, a native of Griffin,
had anything to do with
his choosing G r i f f in as a
home following his retirement
from Ford, he smiled and said,
“Of course, Young Bennett is a
mighty big booster for his home
town and spoke very highly of
Griffin, but after all I not only
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“You can get to the other
side of the world about as
fast as my grandfather could
get to town—but you won’t
see as much along the way.”
Memories To Linger
Astronauts’ Families
Face Together
By DARRELL MACK
SPACE CENTER, Houston
(UPI)—The wives and families
of the Apollos astronauts are
steeled to death but are never
prepared for it.
How do you prepare 5-year
old Steve Chaffee, who never
again will be able to chase frogs
and bugs while his father works
in his yard and rose garden?
Roger Chaffee was a meticu
lous gardener.
How do you prepare 16-year
old Scott Grissom, who never
will be able to take the shotgun
his father gave him for
Christmas and go hunting with
his dad?
Virgil (Gus) Grissom was an
avid hunter.
How do you prepare 13-year -
old Ed White Jr., who won’t be
able to wrestle in the back yard
or go bicycle riding with his dad
again?
“Ed’s Sundays with his
children were sacred,” said a
close friend who had known
White more than 10 years.
“There was no hunting on
or else.”
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Sat. and Sun., Jan. 28-29,1967
have a son living in Griffin, but
I have grandchildren, and gr
andchildren, you know are migh
ty dear to grandparents.”
Six Killed In
Wreck Near
Cartersville
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (UPI)
—Six persons, including a Dal
ton man and five Florida-bound
college students from Indiana,
died in a fiery head-on collision
today on U. S. 41 just north of
here.
State troopers said four of the
college students were burned
beyond recognition, one was
thrown from the car and one
survived in satisfactory condi
tion. Another man in the Dalton
car was in critical condition.
Troopers identified three dead
as George M. Clure, 32, of Dal
ton, David Merk, 21, of La
conia, Ind., and Steve Maugan,
one of the students. The other
dead students remained un
identified.
“There wasn’t much left of
of them,” said a trooper. “I
don’t see how they can identify
them.”
Injured was Ken Heinner, 20,
of Columbus, Ind., and Peter
Demetriades, 28, of Dalton.
Heinner said the students were
on their way to Florida, but
troopers said they were unable
to say how the accident hap
pened.
Power Outage
Set Sunday
The Light and Water Dept, re
minded Griffinites that a power
outage is scheduled here Sunday
morning. The area affected will
be roughly bounded by O a k st
reet, South Sixth, Milner an d
South Hill. In addition Hillan
dale and Terracedale will be in
cluded.
The outage is scheduled for
6:30 till 7:30, weather permit
ting.
Eddie Jr., who also recently
received a new 6hotgun, had
experienced the thrill of hunting
with his father and few times
during the winter,
Grissom also has a 13-year-old
son, Mark, and White has a 10
year-old daughter, Bonnie. Chaf
fee has a daughter, Sheryl.
The wives and families were
holding up “extremely well’,’
according to NASA officials.
All three families were at
home when they were notified
of the tragedy Friday night. In
each case an astronaut neighbor
or wife of an astronaut told
them.
Mrs. Donald (Deke) Slayton
notified Mrs. Grissom. Michael
Collins notified Mrs. Chaffee
and Charles P. Conrad
notified the Whites.
“As soon as he heard the
news he didn’t say anything
except ‘Im going to the
Whites,’” Mrs. Conrad said.
“He spent most of the evening
there answering the phone.”
Together In Crisis
The astronauts and their
families are close-knit
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(NEA Radio-Telephoto)
Here’s Mud • • • •
IN RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, an unidentified man gives a mired woman a helping
hand. They met as lucky survivors in the wake of a rain-flood-mudslide that
struck the area, causing death to an estimated 500 persons.
Land Sought For
New Post Office
The federal government will
nail for offers of a site on which
to construct a post office in Grif
fin Monday.
Rep. Jack Flynt of Griffin said
that the Geneial Services Ad
ministration would advetise to
purchase 105,225 square feet of
land.
It must be located within the
boundries of Broad, Fourth, Pop
lar and 11th streets, he said. A
total of 345 front feet must be on
a public street.
The government will consider
exchanging the present post of
fice building at Solomon and
Eighth streets as part conside
ration toward the purchase of a
site for the new building.
A land acquisition team will
be in Griffin March 1-3 this year
to receive offers to sell and ne
gotiate with the low bidder or
bidders, the Griffin congressman
said.
Construction of a $1.5 post of
fice, federal building is expec
ted to begin sometime this year,
and they stick together in crisis
situations.
All seven of the original
astronauts or their wives called
on Mrs. Grissom whose husband
was one of the seven. The esprit
de corps was as evident at the
other homes where at least a
half dozen astronauts visited.
The callers are helping them
bear the burden and the initial
shock but the memories will
linger forever.
They will return for Martha
Chaffee especially at Christmas
time when she and her husband
shared the exciting experience
of making their home the most
beautiful in the Nassau Bay
community. The Chaffee home
was judged the best decorated
in the community last month.
They will return for Betty
Grissoms when the first man
lands on the moon because her
husband was the pace setter in
the Mercury and Gemini
programs and was to have been
the commander of the first
Apollo flight.
They will return for Pat
White everytime she goes to
church.
Flynt said, to Congress last week. The re
He said the building had beenl | quest included $520,000 for the
in the U. S .budget sent site.
Storm
Mercury
To Zero
. By HOWARD FIELDS
United Press International
Temperatures dipping close to
zero mark posed a new
today to Chicago and
and Flint, Mich., as the
attempt to recoup from
worst snowstorm ever to hit
area.
Although “one of the biggest
of this century” moved
the Northeast and Canada
mained behind in two - foot
drifts.
Nearly 50 persons died during
the long siege which claimed
lives at the rate of a death an
hour in the Chicago area where
snow fell for 29 straight hours.
Guardsmen Out
National Guardsmen were
called out to aid in emergency
snow clearings and search for
stranded motorists in northern
Illinois and Indiana and south
ern Michigan. Officials feared
for the safety of some motorists
forced to spend at least a day in
their cars, heated by ever
decreasing gasoline.
Sheriff’s deputies in Michi
gan’s Genesee County reported
500 cars stranded on interstate
75 in the Flint area and
estimated at least 1,000 persons,
including women and children,
stuck in cars.
All snowmobile owners in the
southern third of Michigan were
urged to carry food and offer
aid to the stranded areas.
Friday many of the owners
transported doctors to emergen
cy sites.
Run On Groceries
Fear of a food shortage rose
in Chicago where the few
grocer’s who were open for
business Thursday and Friday
reported a "run” on the stores
by housewives stocking up for a
weekend of seclusion.
By Friday evening most
stores had cleared their shelves
of bread and milk. Restaurants
resorted to melting ice cream
for coffee when
Vol. 96 No. 23
ran out. In hospitals adults
were denied milk.
Widespread looting was re
ported on Chicago’s west side,
which, like the rest of the city,
was like a ghost town. One
young girl was shot to death in
an exchange of fire between
police and at least two of 50
looters taking advantage of the
enforced immobility of the
police force.
Ice Storm Hits
tions ran rampant in the
northern part or the state,
central Illinois was smacked
with an ice storm. Similar
conditions prevailed in north
western Ohio.
Southeastern Wisconsin was
blanketed by more than a foot
of snow.
The storm took a swipe at the
Northeast today before moving
into Canada but the Weather
Bureau said wet snow, sleet or
cold rain could be expected as
the system joined another
storm development on the north
Atlantic coast.
Freezing temperatures were
reported in most of the states
today, reaching deep into Dixie.
Precipitation continued in the
rain-drenched Northwest.
Temperatures were expected
to dip to around 5 above zero in
Chicago before a warning trend
sets in Sunday. The forecast
called for a chance of more
precipitation today. Flint and
Lansing temperatures were
expected to drop to 10 above
with snow flurries continuing.
Weather:
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN
AREA Fair and cantinued
cold tonight. Sunday fair and
slightly warmer.
LOCAL WEATHER — Maxi
mum today 48, minimum today
27, maximum Friday 63, mini
mum Friday 35. Sunrise Sunday
7:37 a.m., sunset Sunday 6:10
Three Apollo Men
Perish In Flames
By AL ROSSITER Jr.
United Press InternaHonal
CAPE KENNEDY (UPI) —
With America’s moon program
at stake, top space experts
investigated charred debris and
blockhouse records today in a
high-security search for the
cause of a flash fire that
snuffed out the lives of the
nation’s first three Apollo
astronauts.
Meanwhile, the ‘‘badly
burned” bodies of spacemen
Virgil (Gus) Grissom, Edward
White, and Roger Chaffee, who
perished instantly when their
Apollo mooncraft cabin turned
into an inferno during a routine
test, lay at a base dispensary
here awaiting funeral plans.
All indications pointed to an
electrical spark as the tiny
villain that touched off the
"explosive fire” aboard the
Apollo at 6:31 p.m. EST Friday
and probably made the astro
nauts’ last breath a sheet of
flame.
But until the space detectives
could track down the exact
cause so that it can be
prevented in the future, the
resumption of. America’s drive
to place a man on the moon by
1969 hung in the balance. Even
assuming a quick solution, a
delay of at least several months
was being widely forecast.
Searching cabin
In their search, the experts
were going through the fire
gutted cabin of the Apollo craft
itself, interviewing all personnel
in the blockhouse at the time of
the tragedy, and studying tapes
of the last conversations be
tween the doomed astronauts
and the blockhouse. Also
available was a videotape of the
television monitor that kept an
eye on the three spacemen until
“there was a sudden flash and
that was that.”
It was determined that
disaster struck while the “dress
rehearsal” for the Apollo’s
scheduled Feb. 21 launch was in
a “hold” condition at T-minus-
10-minutes. The hold has been
called because of communica
tions problems, presumably
between the spacecraft and the
blockhouse. A space official said
the “hold” was about to end
and the count resumed when
the fire flared.
While the search went on,
officials banned newsmen from
coming within three miles of
Launch Pad 34 where the
Saturn rocket still stood in its
gantry with the Apollo space
craft on top, 218 feet off the
ground. All flights over the
Cape, both civilian and military,
also were barred.
Grissom, 40, White, 36, and
Chaffee, 31, were believed to
have died instantly when fire
blazed up without warning in
the pure-oxygen in their sealed
cabin.
Twenty - seven launch pad
workers were felled by smoke
in a desperate attempt to
rescue the astronauts.
In Position
Rescue teams found the
charred bodies of Grissom,
America’s second man into
space; White, the nation’s first
spacewalker; and Chaffee
strapped in the couchlike seats
of the blackened Apollo cabin
perched 218 feet atop a two
stage Saturn rocket.
The bodies of the astronauts
remained in the spacecraft for
more than seven hours while
technicians tried to find out all
they could about the reasons for
the tragedy. They finally were
removed at 1:55 a.m. EST and
taken to a dispensary at the
base.
Although three other U.S.
astronauts had been killed in
airplane crashes and several
Russian cosmonauts were ru
mored to have perished, the
deaths were the first to be
recorded in man’s attempt to
conquer space.
President Johnson mourned
the deaths as a “tragic loss”
and said the “three valiant
young men have given their
lives in the nation’s service.”
Continue Program
James E. Webb, administra
tor of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration
(NASA), vowed “We will go
ahead with the spaceflight
program.
-Although everyone realized
that someday space pilots would
die, who would have thought the
lirst tragedy would be on the
ground?” he said.
Tlie wives of the dead
spacemen were informed of the
tragedy one hour and 15
minutes after it happened, and
went into immediate seclusion
with their children. Each of the
astronauts had two children.
One of the first persons to
visit Martha Chaffee after her
husband’s death was Nassau
Bay, Tex., Police Chief Jess
Youug. He said later, “Martha
is taking it real well.”
Alan Shepard, America’s first
man in space, rushed to the
Chaffee home to comfort the
family and Jim McDivitt, a
Gemini astronaut, visited
White’s family. A third astro
naut, not identified, went to
Grissom’s home.
Aim At Moon
The astronauts were the
nation’s first three-man space
crew in the Apollo program
designed to put men on the
moon in 1969.
There was no immediate word
on just how far the explosion
set back the timetable but early
estimates were a delay of at
least three months. Astronauts
Walter Schirra, Donn E. Eisele
and Walter Cunningham were
the backup team for Apollo 1
and presumably will move into
the void left by Grissom, White
and Chaffee.
The program, which originally
called for two orbital flights,
has been plagued with troubles
and last November the second
flight was cancelled to keep
Apollo on schedule.
The command module (astro
naut’s cabin) apparently was
destroyed, but the service
module just below it appeared
undamaged. If the command
module for Apollo 2 is
substituted for the burned
cabin, it will require several
months of extensive testing to
make it ready for flight.
Seek Cause
Engineers must pinpoint the
cause of Friday’s tragedy
before committting other astro
nauts to the spaceship.
An electrical spark which
ignited the pure oxygen of the
pressurized cabin was the
apparent cause of the fierry
explosion aboard Apollo 1.
Technicians in the Saturn
blockhouse a few hundred yards
from the launch pad were
watching Grissom, White and
Chaffee go through their test.
“Suddenly there was a flash
and that was it,” a spokesman
said.
Dense smoke poured from the
hatch while ground crewmen
rushed up a high speed elevator
in a rescue attempt.
Oxygen Fire
Because of its intensity and
spontaneity, the fire “had to be
oxygen tire started by an
electrical flaw,” a NASA official
said. “I don’t see how it could
have been any other way.”
Grissom, an Air Force
lieutenant colonel from Mitchell,
Ind., had flown the second
Mercury spacecraft through its
suborbital flight in July 1961.
and took the first manned
Gemini flight for three orbits
March 25, 1965.
White, also an Air Force
lieutenant colonel, took the first
U.S. spacewalk on the Gemini 4
flight June 3, 1965. The son of ft
retired Air Force Gen. Edward
White Sr., White was a native of
San Antonio, Tex. /
Chaffee, of Grand Rapids,
Mich., never had been in space.
The Navy lieutenant comman
der as a ground controller on
previous space missions had
conversed many times with
astronauts in flight.