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Joe E. Brown
Comedian Joe E. Brown died yesterday at the age of 81.
He played professional ball before turning actor and is
shown during a benefit game in 1937. (UPI)
Joe E. Brown dies
near 81st birthday
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (UPI)
— For the troops who fought
World War 11, celebrations this
week of America’s independ
ence have been dimmed by the
loss of two great entertainers.
Betty Grable, whose enchant
ing legs raised the spirits of the
troops overseas, lost a battle
with cancer five days ago.
Friday, Joe E. Brown, a
comic who made his audiences
feel good whether they were
laughing or crying, died three
weeks shy of his 81st birthday.
Death was attributed to
complications of old age. He
had a history of heart trouble
and suffered a stroke in 1969.
He also was afflicted with
arthritis.
Brown and Miss Grable
appeared together in at least
one film, “Pinup Girl.”
One of the most respected
men in Hollywood, Brown was
a leader for years in the film
industry’s philanthropic causes
and worked tirelessly at benefit
performances. During World
War II he traveled to the
Judge allows
wire tap
evidence
Judge Andrew Whalen, Jr.
has overruled a motion to
suppress evidence obtained by
telephone wire tapping that was
used in the trial of Mr. and Mrs.
Sam Sheppard last week.
The decision was made at a
hearing yesterday at which
federal and state laws con
cerning the use of wiretaps
were read.
The Sheppard were found
guilty of gambling charges last
week and were sentenced to 24
months each in prison and fined
SIO,OOO each. They were im
mediately released on appeal
bonds.
During their trial recorded
telephone conversations were
played by State Division of
Investigation agents. Two of the
voices in the conversations
were identified as those of Mr.
and Mrs. Sheppard.
Defense Attorneys Howard
Wallace and John Goddard said
the case will be taken to a
higher court.
combat zones of the South
Pacific to entertain U. S.
servicemen. He was awarded
military citations for his
morale-building wartime ser
vice.
With Brown when he died at
his Brentwood home was his
wife of 58 years, Kathryn. He
also left three children, two of
them adopted: Joe L., general
manager of the Pittsburgh
Pirates; Mrs. Kathryn Lisle of
Tarzana, Calif., and Mrs. Mary
Fair of Bavie, Fla. Mrs. Lisle
and Mrs. Fair were adopted.
Their only other child, Don,
was a captain in the Army Air
Corps in World War 11. He was
killed in the crash of a bomber
during a training flight in
October, 1942, near Palm
Springs, Calif. He was 25.
Brown also left 11 grandchil
dren and six great grandchil
dren.
He was born July 28, 1892, in
Helgate, Ohio, and appeared in
more than 50 motion pictures
and for years was regarded as
one of Hollywood’s top money
making comedians. He had
been in retirement more than
10 years.
Despite his squeaky voice,
the cavern-mouthed Brown
easily survived the advent of
talkies after debuting in 1928.
His career prospered through
such pictures as “Hold Every
thing,” “On With the Show,”
“Shut My Big Mouth,” “The
Daring Young Man,” “Chatter
box” and “Showboat.”
A rosary and mass will be
said Sunday at St. Martin’s
Church in Brentwood. Burial
services will be held Monday at
Forest Lawn Cemetery.
• flf ilh — \
CriWl
“It’s hard to pick out a single
evil that must not be tolerated
— but we have to draw the line
someplace.”
Griffin area lawmen today
pushed their search for two
armed bandits who robbed
Wynnes-Jewelers on North Hill
street downtown late yesterday
afternoon during the business
rush hours.
The two escaped with jewelry
and money.
Taylor Wynne, operator of the
store, said the amount of money
and merchandise stolen had not
been determined.
He gave this account:
He had gone to the rear of the
store to empty trash into a
dumpster. He saw black men
who had been in the store
earlier in the morning to ask
about buying a ring. They told
Wynne they still were interested
but didn’t have but SSO.
The store operator told them
to come on in and that
something might be worked out.
Cox asks
contribution
reports
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Spe
cial Watergate Prosecutor Ar
chibald Cox has urged
businesses throughout the coun
try to come forward and report
any illegal campaign contribu
tions they may have made. One
such report, by American
Airlines, was disclosed Friday.
Cox did not promise any
immunity from prosecution in
return.
“But it is fair to say that
when corporate officers come
forward voluntarily and early
in the morning to disclose
illegal political contributions to
candidates of either party, their
voluntary acknowledgement
will be considered as a
mitigating circumstance in
deciding what charges to
bring,” Cox said.
George A. Spater, American’s
board chairman, announced
Friday that the airline gave
$75,000 to President Nixon’s re
election campaign, of which he
said $55,000 came from “corpo
rate sources” and $20,000 from
“non-corporate sources.” The
law forbids corporations from
contributing to campaigns but
allows individuals to do so.
—The New York Times,
quoting a sourse close to the
Senate Watergate Committee
reported today that soon after
Mary Jo Kopechne drowned in
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s car on
Chappaquiddick Island July 18,
1969, an illegal wiretap was
placed on the phone in the
Georgetown house where she
lived with three other girls.
Correction
A statement was mistakenly
attributed to Herbert Bolton in
yesterday’s reporting of a
merchants meeting at the
Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Bolton is owner of Griffin
Hardware and has been a
longtime Griffin business man
and active in Chamber and
merchants affairs.
It was incorrectly reported
that he said the city com
missioners were holding a
hammer over the heads of
merchants by suggesting that
they come up with alternate
ways to raise additional city
revenue.
It further was incorrectly
reported that he said finding
ways to raise money was the
city’s problem, and not that of
businessmen.
These quotes should have
been attributed to someone else
at the meeting.
The merchants met to plan a
formal objection to proposed
business license increases.
Mr. Wynne had never seen the
two until the first time they
came into the store yesterday
morning.
The two entered the front
doors and Mr. Wynne who had
gone back into the store through
a rear door, approached to wait
on them. They stuck a pistol in
his ribs and told him this was a
hold-up.
Both had pistols.
They told Mr. Wynne they
wanted diamonds and money.
They took the bills from the
cash register and directed Mr.
Wynne to open a small safe in
the rear of the store. He told
them it was empty but they
insisted he open the small safe
anyway.
One of the bandits held a
pistol to Mr. Wynne’s head. The
two threatened to kill those in
the store if they didn’t do as
directed.
While the robbery was in
progress, a woman customer
enter. When she realized what
was happening, she apparently
became frightened. She was
pushed or fell to the floor. Some
of her clothing was torn.
The two bandits got a key and
locked the front door of the
store.
Mrs. Connie Wynne, wife of
the operator of the store who
helps her husband in the
business was busy up front
gathering the diamond rings the
bandits said they wanted.
She was looking for
something to put them in.
She called to the back of the
store and asked if the bandits
still were there.
The bandits apparently
decided to leave at this point
and fled through the back.
Mr. Wynne grabbed a pistol
and went out the back, firing it
three times in the air to attract
attention.
Meanwhile, someone in the
office of Dr. Hilary Wynne next
door had heard unusual noises
in the store and called police.
Police were there within 30
seconds after they got the call.
Mr. Wynne said a black man
identified himself as an un
dercover narcotics agent and
began asking questions about
the robbery. When he refused to
produce identification, Mr.
Wynne would not answer his
questions.
When he left, Mr. Wynne
called to a policeman on the
street and told him of the in
cident. The man was picked up
and charged with im
personating a law officer.
Later in the afternoon, police
picked up two people who fit the
description of the bandits. They
were released after questioning
and after Mr.- Wynne was
unable to identify them as the
bandits.
Capt. Butler
retires
from Patrol
Capt. W. E. Butler, former
commander of the Griffin State
Patrol Post, has retired and
returned to Griffin to make his
home.
He completed 28 years of
service with the Department of
Public Safety.
While in Griffin he headed the
post with the rank of sergeant
and was promoted to an officer
when transferred to Athens. He
had headed that division since
leaving Griffin.
Reared in Barnesville, he had
made law enforcement a
career.
His retirement was effective
July 1.
His wife also has retired from
Southern Bell.
•
BRUCE, Miss.—Ground travel just isn’t safe for man or
beast anymore. While efforting to take off from the
Calhoun County Airport recently this plane piloted by
Jerry Beckett of Bruce, Miss., and passenger Mike
Judge denies venue change
Seventeen witnesses were
heard yesterday during a
hearing on several motions filed
by attorneys for Atlanta
physician, Dr. Marvin Mar
chman. His second trial on a
theft charge is scheduled to
begin Monday in Spalding
Superior Court. The hearing
lasted more than five hours
without a break.
His attorneys had challenged
the array of traverse jurors,
contending that Spalding
County residents of mobile
homes (around 1,300 such
homes) and persons of ages 21
to 23 were not adequately
represented on the jury lists.
Judge Andrew Whalen, Jr.
will rule on this motion Monday
morning before the trial. Judge
Whalen overruled other
motions, including a motion
asking for a change of venue.
Dr. Marchman was convicted
in a jury trial last October and
was given a felony sentence of
one year in the penitentiary for
stealing an aircraft radio from
the Griffin airport.
The doctor had stated that he
was innocent and the conviction
could mean the loss of his
license to practice medicine in
Georgia. The case was taken to
the Georgia Court of Appeals
which granted him a new trial.
Defense attorneys also
contended that the jury lists
which were revised in August of
1972 were taken mainly from
the 1970 lists and that the cer
tain groups were systematically
excluded.
Members of the jury com
mission, Mrs. Frank Stovall,
Mrs. Wyman Mathews, and Otis
Evansville
Dissatisfaction in the heartland
\ • (
\IEVANSVILLE )
By L. D. SEITS
The bumper sticker on the
back of the little green econo
my car reads: "Don’t blame
me. I voted for McGovern."
It’s a minority report, but
the implied dissatisfaction is a
common sentiment in Evans
ville, the hub of a quiet corner
of Middle America's heart
land.
Rising prices, particularly
for food, and talk of a gaso
line shortage are sources of
irritation if not indignation in
Evansville and the rolling In
diana-Illinois-Kentucky area
surrounding it.
There is a widespread as
sumption that major oil com
panies are "sandbagging"
crude oil, holding back the
supply to force up prices and
cut off gasoline to the inde
pendent, cut-rate stations.
“It’s a trick to beat the little
man,” says one resident.
The remark is a reflection
of a widely held suspicion of
anything that is too big. too
complicated.
Snider, Jr., were questioned on
the manner in which they
revised the jury lists. H. E.
Beall of the tax assessor’s office
was asked about the number of
mobile homes in the county, and
Joe Burson, chairman of the
Board of Registrars, was asked
to bring into court all of the
original voter registration
cards for each voter in the
county.
When defense attorneys at
tempted to go through the cards
of each traverse juror, Judge
Whalen told them that they
were being ridiculous, that they
could determine the age of
groups of those on the jury lists
over the weekend and he would
rule on that motion Monday.
Members of the news media
were questioned about news
coverage of the case. They
included Dewitt Simonton,
Emily Brisendine, A. W.
Marshall, Jr., of WKEU: Cal
Beverly of WHIE; and Larry
Donald, Bill Knight, and Gene
Weldon of the Griffin Daily
News. Quimby Melton, Jr. also
had been subpoenaed and was
on hand but was not called as a
witness.
Attorneys for Dr. Marchman
said that since previous
testimony brought out what
they were seeking to learn, that
it was not necessary for Mr.
Melton, the editor, to testify.
An attorney for Dr. Mar
chman asked Judge Whalen if
he wished to examine the copies
of the Griffin Daily News
continuing news accounts of the
doctor’s trial.
Judge Whalen said it was not
necessary, since he had already
Evansville, Indiana (pop. 138,764), is
located on a bend of the Ohio River and
is the commercial and cultural hub of a
three-county, bi-state area with a popu
lation of 232,775. The town was estab
lished in 1817 and is the home of a num
ber of major corporations.
It’s a country-smart suspi
cion, fed by years of watching
small farms being gobbled up
by corporate farm or ’agri
business" operations, of
watching big coal companies
moving in with their giant
drag lines to strip the life
from the ground in the coal
rich areas of the Tri-State.
"This bigness, it's against
everything our American heri
tage has always been for."
proclaims Ray Purcell, a
stocky refinery worker.
If it’s an overstatement,
and few people even in con
servative southern Indiana go
that far, it does strike a re
sponsive chord. There is a lin
gering suspicion that rising
food prices are the result of
fat profits for big meat pack
ers or for big Western feed
lots and vegetable farms.
"Did you read that in the
paper?”, a dentist chal
lenges his companions at
lunch. "We’re gonna be payin’
MO cents a head for lettuce!"
But in Evansville, few will.
They’ll grow lettuce and to
matoes in back-yard gardens,
and buy cheaper cuts of meat.
It’s the practical approach.
Patterson of Houlka, Miss., collided with a spike buck
which had wandered onto the runway. The results were
one dead buck and one damaged plane. Neither the pilot
or passenger were injured in the mishap. (UPI)
read them. He said they were
good accounts of what had
happened.
Other witnesses were persons
who had anything to do with the
indictment. They were Clerk of
Suoerior Court John Lindsey,
II; Charles D. Pitts, a member
of the June grand jury; Mrs.
Eron Whatley, a clerical worker
U. S. says it wont
devalue the dollar
LONDON (UPI) -Bankers
said wild rumors that the dollar
would be devalued again
caused it to plunge to record
lows in 10 overseas money
centers Friday but the United
States said it was giving no
thought to another devaluation.
It was the ninth consecutive
day the value of the dollar has
slumped on European markets.
It hit new lows against the
Belgian and Swiss franc,
Finnish mark, Austrian schil
ling, Norwegian and Danish
kroner, Dutch guilder, West
German mark, Japanese yen
and the Hong Kong dollar. The
dollar also hit a 16-year low
against the French franc.
While the dollar was losing
ground, the price of gold—
which reflects the dollar’s
performance—jumped $4 to $127
an ounce in London, home of
the world’s most important
bullion market. Friday’s figure
was only $2 off the record high
in London reached last May.
European and Asian bankers
said rampant rumors of anoth-
and they’re practical people.
If there is anything that
escapes their distrust of big
ness. it's government. Not
because they trust big govern
ment more. Because they
trust it the same.
"They ain’t any politics but
what’s crooked." a white
haired man advises a younger
companion across a table in a
shopping center coffee shop
It's a rule of thumb in Indi
ana. where a rustic humorist
once observed that every now
and then an innocent man gets
sent to the state legislature.
And so the Watergate affair
fails to command more than
passing attention. It’s a con
firmation of what they al
ready knew, that "politics is
politics."
The brevity of their interest
is indicated by the time it
took viewers to begin calling
an Evansville television sta
tion to complain that the tele
vised Watergate hearings
were pre-empting their favor
ite programs. The hearings
began at 9 a m. one morning
in the office of the clerk of
court; and Ed Melton, court
bailiff.
Robert Fincke, president of
the Air Comm Engineering Inc.,
from whom the radio was taken,
testified that the missing radio
was the same on described in
the indictment.
er dollar devaluation, which
would be the third in 19
months, were the main cause of
Friday’s crisis. But Paul A.
Volcker, U.S. Treasury under
secretary for monetary affairs,
said in Washington the United
States has no intention of
devaluing the dollar again. The
bankers said they, likewise, did
not anticipate such a move.
Asked if the government was
contemplating a new devalua
tion to help offset the latest
assault on the dollar, Volcker
replied: “It doesn’t even enter
our thinking. We have no
intention on that score.”
British government and bank
ing officials also discounted the
possibility of a new devalua
tion. They said the dollar was
much under-valued against
other major currencies and
could still easily recover from
the lows.
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY
90, low today 68, high yesterday
88, low yesterday 69, high
tomorrow near 90, low tonight
near 70.
and the calls started at 9:15.
There is little sympathy for
the losing candidate whose
campaign was the target. Few
people in the area voted for
McGovern — he drew less
than a third of the vote in
Evansville — and a lot less
would admit it.
Many voiced resentment of
the “long-haired hippie types”
who carried his banner, and
their attitude tells something
of the things that really trou
ble area residents. The new
morality and what they con
sider its attendant evils, drugs
and promiscuity, command
their attention much more
than Watergate or high prices
Lawrence Gognot, a bank
cashier, blames “permissi
veness, lack of supervision”
for such ills. He and other
parents do not cast about for
obscure villains to blame.
They are practical, realistic
people who aren’t afraid of
responsibility. “It all goes
back on the mom and dad,”
Gognot says.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.I