Forecast Rain Map Page 5 f - - ' -=sj—-- A 1 * * n L sßw * \. *.;*- ~A < ffiXSW *"" vhpa a -*> r 3r* ' • rr v 7 rs • ’ • /I / 1 ' r€r '*•* < jiOlr ' ' o ? otoi iiw Linda Fields (1) and Rosa Howard (r) who are secretaries in the Spalding Sheriffs Department got the thrill of a lifetime yesterday afternoon when Johnny Cash talked with them. The popular country western singer was in Griffin to shoot part of a television special on railroads and trains- It will be on ABC network in November. The van in which Cash was traveling with his father stopped for a little while near the Spalding jail and the railroad yard across the street. The word traveled fast that Cash was in town and a crowd gathered quickly to see the Gas pipeline becomes inferno GRIFFITH, Ind. (UPI) - An uncapped pipeline that spewed thousands of barrels of propane gas into the air and forced 1,000 persons to flee their homes erupted early today into a 90- foot tower of flames. Miraculously, volunteer fire men and civil defense workers in the area where the fire started, escaped injury. They quickly began watering down the raging inferno, attempting to keep the intense heat from setting off explosions in 11 natural wall gas storage tanks nearby. Griffith Chief of Police Robert J. Herod, explaining how no injuries occurred, said firemen backed off from the gas line when they sensed it might explode. “It was just like a cigarette lighter,” Herod said. “It Some 15 inmates from Spalding County at the Georgia Industrial Institute at Alto were among those tested for speech and hearing defects under a new program. There were four inmates from Butts, one from Fayette, one from Henry, two from Lamar, and 10 from Upson. It all started because Sam Richwine’s wife went to Clarkesville to take a course in patient rehabilitation. When it ended, the Departments of Human Resources and Offender Rehabilitation had done something that had never before been done in Georgia. Mrs. Richwine, a nurse, was taking a short course to learn Griffin Bears win; see Page 6 Oh what a thrill! erupted and then it died down.” Glen Reyome, Griffith public works director, said, “I jumped at least six-foot off the ground when it went up.” Firemen and officials of Contenintial Oil Co., which owns the 300,000-barrel capacity cavern located within a mile of downtown Griffith, had at tempted to recap the leaking pipeline, but pulled 200-300 feet away shortly before the fire began. “You could feel the heat from six blocks away,” said Don Watson, a civil defense worker in the area. “It was like sticking your head in an oven.” Residents in the immediate area were not in danger because authorities Friday night had ordered an estimated 1,000 persons out of Griffith and neighboring Schereville, Ind., Spalding inmates at Alto got speech, hearing tests how to help patients regain their independence. Her teacher was a young woman named T. C. Davis, a speech pathologist from the Department of Human Resources (DHR). One day, Mrs. Richwine told her husband about Ms. Davis and her work testing people for speech and hearing defects. Her husband, Sam Richwine, is a DHR vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Georgia In dustrial Institute at Alto, where youthful offenders serve prison sentences. “I knew we had a lot of in mates with speech and hearing problems, but there was no regular screening program for all inmates,” Richwine said. DAILY NEWS Vol. 102 No. 219 famous star. Cash said this was like home to him, since his grandfather had lived here. He couldn’t remember his grandfather’s first name but Cash said he had lots of third, fourth and fifth cousins in Spalding and Henry Counties. Some prisoners on the top floor of the jail shouted for Cash to come up and visit with them. Cash said “they won’t let me.” But he stood in a parking lot and had a rap session with them for a few minutes. Cash has made several records of prison songs and often does concerts in prisons. (Other Pictures Page 8) when the gas leak started. “I was down wind a half a mile from the cavern taking a reading when it just flashed up, and I turned tail and ran for all I was worth,” said Joe Szurgot, president of the Griffith Plan ning Commission. Szurgot said the reading he had been taking showed 30 per cent propane in the air. Clifford Wilkey, a local resident, called the fire an explosion. “The explosion rattled all the windows,” he said. “It went sort of whoom! Then I ran outside and you could see the flames shooting about 100 feet in the air. It was followed by several little booms.” Before the fire, the escaping gas had formed a white cloud that drifted with the wind toward Gary, Ind., 12-15 miles Griffin, Ga., 30223, Saturday Afternoon, September 14,1974 away, and residents in the Gary suburb of Glen Park complained of the odor. “The gas shot out of pipe like a geyser or a white tornado,” one witness said. The gas leak occurred at about 10 p.m. Friday while 85,000 barrels of propane gas from Wood River, 111., were being pumped into the cavern. Deward Nevins, who was in charge of the gas pumping at the time of the accident, said, “I heard something that sound ed like a slight explosion. Then I saw the gas shooting from the pipe.” He said 83,000 barrels of gas had already been pumped into the cavern. He had no idea how many barrels might have been in the cavern in addition to what was being pumped in.” “After my wife told me about T. C., I called the director of the VR Center, J. H. Scarbrough. He immediately called the top officials at Alto and T. C. to get the ball rolling.” Mrs. Davis reported the situation to her superiors in Atlanta and offered to coor dinate screening of the inmates. When she got the go ahead she made the arrangements with officials at Alto. Then one day in August, a team of eleven health specia lists arrived in Alto, ready to check all 1150 inmates. In addition to Ms. Davis and others from DHR, and Rich wine, the team included Haber sham County Public Health GRIFFIN Nurse Elizabeth Strait and several volunteers. Each inmate put on headsets and listened to tones to test hearing. Then each inmate read a short standard passage designed to detect speech pro blems. More than 600 inmates showed signs of hearing or speech problems, and were scheduled for retesting later. If the inmates actually have a serious problem speaking or hearing, Richwine will try to arrange for vocational rehabilitation to pay for correc tion of the defect. “Some of them had an easily correctable problem like dried blood or wax in their ears,” said Rabid bat bites boy Rabies treatments for Mark Smith, 11, have begun after he was bitten by a rabid bat which flew down the chimney of his home. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Smith of Route Six. The diseased bat was caught after it bit the youngster so tests could be made on it to see if it was rabid. Tests indicated the bat had rabies. A series of 23 shots will be given to the Griffin youngster by his private physician. The shots started Thursday. They are a new vaccine used to combat rabies. Anti-drug walk resumes DALTON, Ga. (UPI)-Atlan tan Ken Krautter, a determined drug fighter, was back on the road again today, walking toward Chattanooga, Tenn., in his 450-mile campaign to gain signatures on his petitions to “stop drugs at the source.” Krautter has spent four years on his project and collected some 170,000 signatures by his own estimate. He wants to get every American’s signature on one of the petitions if he can. ChattanoogaMayorKirkWalk er plans to greet Krautter at 9 a.m. Monday. Krautter plan ned to walk 17 miles today and finish the last 14 miles Sunday. Krautter says he is still wear ing the same pair of sneakers that he started out with and by the time he is through he will have been in 63 cities. “The response has been fan tastic,” he said. “The reason for the walk has been to let people know there is a petition drive. Afterwards, we are going to grammar schools throughout the state to have the children collect names.” Krautter, who kicked off his campaign in Savannah July 4, has his family with him—al most. His wife and two child ren ride in a car about five miles ahead of him when he walks. Weather ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY 89, low today 68, high yesterday 88, low yesterday 67, high tomorrow near 80, low tonight on mid 60s. ||F -7 ' • _, '.■■■• S 1 B> :^^BKi I J/ a Randy Cooper (21) takes off after catching a short pass from quarterback Willie Jordan. Cooper turned the play into a 37 yard gain to the Rockdale 29 yard line. Rockdale’s Anthony Mann chases Cooper. Griffin defeated Rockdale, 20-14. Lucky’s mother faces charge ATLANTA (UPI) - The 15- year-old mother of “Lucky,” the day-old infant who was nearly crushed to death in a garbage truck, has been charged with attempted murder. Georgia law prohibits divulg ing the name of juveniles charged with criminal acts. DeKalb County police Sgt. Jim Miller said the girl was placed in a juvenile detention Ms. Davis. “But some others, a small percentage, have tumors, deformed ear canals or other problems that must be correct ed by surgery.” Speech defect testing turned up problems such as lisping, talking too low to be understood, stuttering and others. One Chinese inmate could barely speak English and he may be eligible for help in learning how. Richwine said he first realized what a serious handi cap speech or hearing defects can be when he was trying to get job training for a young man with a tracheotomy; “I thought to myself, “Gosh, he can’t talk. How can he communicate?’ ” Then after researching the Daily Since 1872 On his way center after leaving a hos pital where she received post natal care. People from around the na tion have offered to adopt Lucky, but Miller said the teen aged mother has indicated she wants to try and raise the youth with her mother’s help. The Department of Family and problem he found out that two or three times more inmates have speech and hearing defects than the general popula tion. D. E. England, superin tendent of the Georgia In dustrial Institute, said, “We feel sure that the high percentage of inmates in Georgia and other states who have hearing and speech defects means there probably is a connection bet ween the defects and their crimes. “It’s easy to see how a person who can’t hear or communicate could become frustrated and angry and this could tend to lead them to commit criminal acts.” A Prize-Winning Newspaper Rffll 1974 Better Newspaper Contests I B “If you think habits aren’t strong, try shaving the other side of your face first.” Children's Services is presently caring for the child. Authorities tagged the 8 pound 4 ounce baby with the name “Lucky” after the infant es caped being crushed to death in a garbage truck compactor Monday. A sanitation truck dri ver heard the crying infant, bom only about an hour before, as he was about to start the compactor. England said the results of the first screening have shown beyond a doubt the need for continuing the speech and hearing tests for inmates. Now the Department of Offender Rehabilitation is investigating the possibility of making the tests routine for all prisoners in state institutions. But for Sam Richwine, the reward was more immediate. “We found inmates with problems that can be corrected. Now our staff of 11 vocational rehabilitation counselors is trying to help them. After that maybe we’ll be able to get these young men into job training and jobs — that’s what vocational rehabilitation is all about.” -
