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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-01-25, Page 2School -Bus Driver Took Fatal Chance It was the kind of dazzling winter day that is ,Colorado at its best - the sky pale biue and. feathered with cirrus; the tem- perature a dry and invigorating 10 degrees. in the fertile farm- ing district of Auburn, some 50 miles northeast of Denver, the glun glittered on a fresh snowfall 'that covered the sugar -beet fields; but the road from the prosper- ous Auburn farms to the schools of Greeley, seven miles distant, was plowed clear. In such stimulating weather, and with only three classroom days left before Christmas vaca- tion, the 37 children in the school bus from Auburn to Greeley were at their most exuberant — joking, laughing, shouting, carol- ing. The cheerful din was enough to cut off sounds from outside the bus, just as the mois- ture of the children's breaths fogged the side windows, When 23 -year-old Duane Harms, the school -bus driver (since last September) approached the Un- ion Pacific grade crossing just southwest of Auburn, unmarked by warning flashes, he was en- joying the children's merriment. And he knew no scheduled train passed there between 6:15 a.m, and 10:30 a.m, It was then 7:59 a.m. Cruelly, what Harms did not know was that from Chicago all the way west the train that should have passed at 6:15 a.m. — Union Pacific's streamlined City of Denver — had been thrown further and further be- hind schedule because of the volume of Christmas mail it was picking up. By the time the train approached the Auburn grade crossing that m rning, Herbert F. Sommers, an engineer for 22 of his 64 years, had his giant diesel moaning across the prairie at 79 miles per hour. Sommers and his fireman, Melvin C, Swanson, 48, saw the Sus clearly as they bore down on the intersection. "I sure hope he stops," Swan - eon said. "There are children in 'that bus." Sommers blew three warning blasts on his air horn and slammed on the train's em- ergency brakes, "The bus slow- ed down like it was going to /toe," he said afterward, "I guess it slowed to about 5 miles an flour. Then he stepped on the gas., The City of Denver sliced the bu.s almost in half, shunting the front off to its left, dragging the rear section for a quarter of a mile. It strewed the right-of- way with the broken bodies of Children and scattered among them the Christmas presents they planned to exchange, their schoolbags and lunch boxes, their Lovable Dolls Just a pair of man's socks — a few scraps of fabric, make these cutest 'jama dolls: Boys and girls—all children love them. Pattern 736: pattern for 12 - inch dolls, pajamas, nightgown; pattern of faces, Dolts made of man's Size 12 socks, scraps, Send THIRTY - FIVE CENTS in (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern to Laura Wheeler, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St„ New Toronto. Print plainly PATTERN. NUMBER, your NAME and AD- DRESS. FOR THE FIRST TIME; Over 200 designs in our new, 1962 Needlecraft Catalog — biggest ever! Pages, pages, pages of fash- ions, home accessories to knit, crochet, sew, weave, embroider, quilt. See jumbo -knit hits, cloths, spreads, toys, linens, afghans plus free natterns. Send 250. Ontario residents must include le Sales Tax for each CATA- LOG ordered, There is no sales tax on the patterns. books * one entitled "Roads to Everywhere" In the nightmarish aftermath of the tragedy, grizzled state cops. wept as they picked up the silent dead and the wailing injured; and mothers and fathers grew hysterical as they studied the small, shattered features and recognized the faces of their children. When the toll of the worst vehicular disaster in Colorado's history (and one of the worst in the nation's) finally was counted, it was: Twenty children dead; thirteen seriously injured. 1!'ive , escaped with minor injuries, four children — and driver Duane Harms. After two days of hearings and investigation, Harms was charg- ed at the weekend with invol- untary manslaughter, a misde, meanor that is punishable by a year in jail. Under intensive questioning, he finally had ad- mitted that: (1) He might not have brought the bus to a full stop at the crossing; (2) he might not have opened his door to look out; (3) the visibility was poor because of fogged windows. Harms, in palpable misery, said: "I should have gotten clear out, because it's at such an angle there . , , because in order to see anything at all, a fellow really should get out of the bus , . Joe Brantner, whose sugar - beet farm is half a mile from the crossing, was one of the first to arrive at the scene, searching for the two of his eight children who had boarded the bus min- utes before — Kathy, 9, and Mark, 6. "I found Kathy right away," he said numbly, "I knew she was dead. .t couldn't find Mark . I looked and looked, but I couldn't find him, Then I went for my wife and when we got back I found him right away. He was tore up so bad I •hadn't recognized him at first" Brantner's neighbors, Ruben Alles, just kept repeating of his 10 -year-old daughter, Lind a: "She was going to decorate the Christmas tree tonight , .." —From NEWSWEEK U.S. Hoodlums Fleeing To Canada One thing the 87th Congress can really blow its trumpet about and there are few enough things — is the legisla- tion it enacted to help bust big- time crime. There was, as At- torney General Kennedy re- minded everyone (recently) more fresh legislation against major crime passed by Congress this year than at any time since the era of Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger, which means about 1934. Already the effect is being felt: The attorney general claims gamblers throughout the nation have been curtailing their ille- gal activities so they will be less vulnerable to federal prosecu- _ tion. Hoodlums are reported by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to be fleeing to Canada. "The new laws are well known to the hoodlums and racketeers in this country, if not to the general public," Kennedy said, Nearly all the new laws touch in some way or another on inter- state aspects of racketeering — crossing state lines to establish illegal "business enterprises" involving gambling, liquor, nar- cotic ar- cotic s, prostitution; interstate wire communications for gambl- ing, interstate shipment of fire- arms, and so on. The point the attorney general has made is that much of this big-time crime can be stopped — if the public wants it stop- ped, The public got tired of Appalachin mobsters openly flouting the law, and the outcry helped .bring about these new laws. Just as the outcry in the murky 'Thirties brought a new vigor to law enforcement thirty years ago. We have no idea how long it will be before the $2 bet is ef- fectively outlawed, but when enough people get mad enough to raise the roof about that, too, we shall see some even more radical changes, For it is the. little people, the small rackets, the "harmless" gamble that pro- vide the base on which the big rackets are built. That sort of outlawing begins right here, in our own commun- ities — not it Washingon, D.C, — Tulsa (Okla.) Tribune, "II let you kttow when the 'Doctor we you can tilos Notts mole ." TOAD HALL—Inspired by the ancestral home of Mr. Toad in the children's classic, "The Wind in the Willows," Ralph Way built his own version of Toad Hall. The 65 -year-old widower chose a huge cedar hollowed out by fire and con- structed his mountain tree house near Snoqualmie. HRONICLES '%M RFA Queer, how the sound of a voice can take you back years and years. I turned on the radio Saturday morning in time •to hear Dr. John Brown — secretary of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association. I haven't seen or spoken to John for years but he and our son Bob were great friends when they were boys, They used to have a mar- vellous time, mostly •at John's home because up there they had lovely woods for camping and an ever -running stream that could be dammed up in places to make a swimming hole, And for years John's mother and I were closely associated in W.I. work—right up to the time we sold the farm, Mrs. Brown is still active in the same Institute. I always think of the Brown's in connection with strawberries. We always got our berries there and *they were the best in the district. Now to pass on to other sub- jects. Just recently when the tem- perature dropped to five above I thought it was time to get my fur coat out of storage, That was easier said than done. Do you know it took me two days to get through to the department store where I had it stored! All on ac- count of the Christmas rush. 1 finally got through one morning at 8:30. Then Partner asked me to order him some light -weight woollen underwear which could only be bought in one particular store and it wasn't the . one where my coat was in storage. So I started phoning again, This time all I got was Santa Claus. When he got through "Ho-ho-ing" then I •got a busy signal. I was almost tearing my hair before I was through with those two little jobs. And I still haven't got my coat. Saturday morning I got a ride down town with a neighbour and did a bit of last minute shop- ping. We were in Simpspn's at nine o'clock and through in less than two hours, So it paid to go early. And ohl such lovely things to look at. I could have been carried away a dozen times but all I bought in a big way was a good pair of snow -boots, By the time they were paid for there wasn't much left in my purse. Unfortunately I can't wear cheap winter boots — but I certainly wasn't prepared to pay $20 for them! Isn't that a terrific 13rice? After lunch Partner and I got ourselves dressed and went to "Open House" at the home of the gentleman who got in for council at the last Township election. He has a beautiful estate — 65 acres — with a lovely house that overlooks the ravine with the Credit River running through it. I won't be satisfied unless I can take a look at it in the spring. 1 am sure the view must be breath -taking, Well, fan -mail letters and cards have been coming in, Some I cannot answer because there was no address but I de thank you one and all for your good wishes and your continued interest in my column. You know ;I often think about the variety of homes into which this Column goes — rich and poor, big and small, I wiit* knew more about you all—your homes, your en- vironment and your problems— because as you know everyone has problems. Right around it is new babies right new. One mother has just given birth to a baby after being three months in hospital. Today her neighbour across the road also had a baby girl—and got to the hospital with only fifteen minutes to spare! Among my mail yesterday was a letter from a nephew in Eng- land whose wife is expecting her fourth in February. I am hoping it will be a boy as Desmond and his wee 'son Roger are the last of the line in our branch of the Fitz -Gerald family so another boy will improve the chance of family survival, Then of course there are letters concerning the other side of the ledger—people passing away or going into hospital due to illness • or accidents. Too bad when the necessity arises but on the other hand how wonderful that we have— such good hospitals to care for them. One letter gave me quite a scolding. It said—"For a per- son who is supposed to take it easy I am wondering if you know the meaning of the word!" You and my doctor too, Mrs. M.! But then you know the saying —"It is better to wear out than rust out." Look at Grandma Moses—see what a full life she had. She started painting at the age when a lot of elderly people spend most of their time nursing their aches and pains — which don't become less by receiving undue attention, And there are other kinds of worries—problem children, uncongenial in - laws, houses you want to sell and can't, and other financial problems. Even a business transfer creates a problem—moving to a district where you don't know a soul. Anyway here's hoping all's well that ends well—in 1962. Q. I have been invited to a bridal shower in honor of a good friend, ' but I have a previous commitment ..that ..will ..prevent my attending. Should I send a gift to the shower? A. This is the proper and thoughtful thing to do The Day The Sea Rose 270 Feet Tearing, grinding, crashing, it swept' along the British North Atlantic coastline leaving inde- scribable scenes of devastation along every mile of its grin' wake. That was hurricane Betsy, a storm of unsurpassed fury which destroyed wherever it struck. Mountainous seas and super gale - force winds heralded its on- slaught; nothing in its direct path could survive, None who witnessed the oceans turbulence when Betsy blasted will ever forget the gigantic seas which seemed to roar up from the very depths. - But just how high were those dense and craggy walls of water? Terms such as "gigantic, "mountainous" and "towering" have been loosely used by old salts and landlubbers to describe those solid masses of ocean whose. spectacle and awe-inspiring pro- portions have so much appealed to the imagination but which have hitherto escaped a more down-to-earth mathematical ap- praisal. Winter is now on us, Storm clouds have already become fa- miliar, Beneath their dark shad- ow the seas around the coasts have risen again in all their wrathful majesty, and before spring and summer are with us once more some shall have talk- ed in wonder of the great waves they have witnessed, But as we button our coats to winter's blast or sit by a comfort- able fire we can speculate on just how high those waves will really be at the height of the greatest storms. Oceanographers are speculat- ing too. But they are going one practical step further. They are making new attempts to measure the height of waves and the news has just been released that, by means of an automatic wave recorder they have actually meas- ured a wave nearly seventy feet high. This is the highest reading they have so far taken. So now you don't have to be- lieve old sailors' stories of waves which were "mountain high." But you can believe Commander Frank Worsley, D.S.O., who noted in 1932 that the 49 -955 -ton liner Leviathan was once struck by a wave of extraordinary size. 'It came suddenly out of the general' run of the sea, seemed to tower above the vessel like a mountain, and then burst on her with terrific force," he said, "The wave threw spray over her funnels which stood 130ft. above sea level. It smashed four lifeboats, bent the heavy steel deck supports, swept away deck gear, rushed into the third-class accommodation and flooded the dining room saloon to the depth of a foot." A new spectrum analysis of sea waves has already= resulted in considerable improvement in the methods used for predicting waves from forecast weather charts, says Dr, G. E. R. Deacon, director of the National Institute of Oceanography, Almost incredible damage has resulted from monster waves breaking on the shore, At Bilbao harbour, Spain, massive waves overturned a solid length of breakwater weighing 1,700 tons. When a wave reaches shore and meets solid resistance it may fling itself to a stupendous height. At Peterhead, Scotland, a wave is stated to have reached a height of 120ft. At an Alderney breakwater a height of 200ft, is believed to have been observed. A wave observed by Sir James Douglas, the lighthouse engineer, holds the record of all properly ob- served waves, according to a me- teorologist who conducted re- search in 1928. "It threw gravel - front the sea bed '00„. to the platform of the lighthouse of the Bishop dock,. Scilly," he reported, "The plate foran 16 1201t. ebove normal sea level and tile sea there is 1.50ft. deep. As the gravel' must have been snatched from the sett bed in the sea's upward sweep the total wave itelght from trough to crest was therefore 270f1," Modern Etiquette 13y Anne Ashley q. Are correspondence cards considered in good taste? A. Yes; and they are very pop- ular for the short, informal type of note. It is becoming more and more customary for men and wo- men to use these cards, but they are not acceptable for any strict- ly formal correspondence, Q. Is it proper to mail birth announcements t o all o n e 's friends, even to those whom one bas already telephoned the good. news? A. It would seem foolish to mail announcements to those who have already been told the news. But to all others — whether in town or far away — mailed an- . n9pncements are proper. Gay' Change -Abouts PRINTED PATTERN 4991 SIZES 2-10 Gy-�"P h►�. �a...s Dress and separate pop -top two outfits in one for a little girl who's wide awake to the newest school fashions. Combine plaid 'n' plain gaily. Printed Pattern 4991: Chil- dren's Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Size 6 outfit takes 1% yards 35 -inch plaid fabric; % yard plain. Send FIFTY CENTS (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern. Please print plainly S 2 Z E, NAME, ADDRESS,, STYLE N UMBER. Send order to ANNE ADAMS, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. FALL'S 100 BEST FASHIONS —separates, dresses, suits, en- sembles, all sizes, all in our new Pattern Catalog in color. Sew for yourself, family. 350. Ontario residents must include le Sales Tax for each CATA- LOG ordered There is no sales ' tax on the patterns, ISSUE 1 —' 1962 NEW CIVIL DEFENSE WRINKLE — Leslie Palmer, civil defense director of Waukesha County, Wis , scurries out of the way after setting off a small aerial bomb as a civil defense signal, Palmer suggests using fireworks bombs to warn parents their children are being sent home from school because of an emergency, Bombs can be heard three miles, their smoke seem farther. Palmer considers his plan Instant mass communication.