The El Reno Daily Tribune (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 64, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 26, 1955 Page: 1 of 10
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t 25, 1955
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all brought re-
for Small, Me-
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PRICE
The El Reno Daily Tribune
igle Copy Five Cents
(U.PJ MEANS UNITED PRESS
El Reno, Oklahoma, Thursday, May 26, 1955
(/P) MEANS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vol. 64, No. 75
-mm* - j—
*****
■■
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1
Search for Storm Dead Continues-
Tornadoes Kill 20 in State,
18 at Blackwell; 500 Hurt
A
A f*
ft.,
J*r NPH
Insect Fogging
started by City
Warning Issued On
Danger to Children
10" Pairs!
HURRY!
T PRICE!
IN TIERS
^ PAIR
chcs Wide
irhes Long
lly at this new lo I
Airy, sun-reslstaiv
t, Dacron tiers was • |
Ifully . . . need jus
ig. 5'a-Inch headc
niching.
The city's annual insect sprav-
b program was started this week,
fd brought a warning from City
inager C. A. Bentley to parents,
jing them to keep children away
lm the dangerous spraying me-
line.
lentley said the machine, which
Is started its annual job in the
lir addition, already has gather-
I its usual train of youngsters.
|th afoot and on bicycles, who
|sh in and out of the spray.
Heat It Danger
’ointing out that the rear end
the spraying machine becomes
[tually “red hot” while in use,
city manager stressed that any
lild following the sprayer might
Iffcr severe burns if the machine
lould stop unexpectedly
(‘'Besides that it just doesn’t seem
fe too good an idea to let a child
lale all of that insecticide,”
Sntley added.
spraying remains to be done on
kn Foreman and Industrial boule-
jrd in the Fair addition before
(e equipment is moved on to an-
lcr section of the city.
To Collect Funds
iMeanwInle the voluntary $1
large will go on all city water
Ills this month to help defray ex-
jnses of operating the machine
lid purchasing spray mixture.
|Formerly the machine has been
:rated by the El Reno junior
lambcr of commerce with volun-
|er crews, but this year the Jay
pes, unable to cope with the finan-
|al burden of necessary repairs
the machine, made a gift of the
juipment to the city.
|The machine will be Operated by
Ity workmen, and will run until
jidnight when conditions are fa-
srable, picking times during the
ly when winds have died down.
1$ Crewmen
Killed as 6-36
Falls in Storm
Plane Believed Hit
By Tornado, Explodes
Over Texas Ranchland
SAN ANGELO, Texas, May 26—
UPI— A flaming B-36 bomber crash-
ed and exploded last night during
a violent rain and hail storm.
Fifteen crewmen were killed.
There was an unconfirmed re-
port the globe-girdling airforce
bomber may have plowed into a
tornado.
A cowboy on the Collins-Drennan
ranch watched the plane smash
into the lonely, rugged country 60
miles northwest of this west Texas
ranching center.
Charlie Davis, 21, said the plane
was on fire as it plunged to death.
After the initial impact, the plane
was ripped by two explosions.
May Hit Tornado
Major A. K. Barnes, public in-
formation officer at Walker air-
force base in Roswell, N. M., re-
ported a B-36 with a crew of 15 was
missing. A rescue crew was still
probing the smoldering ruins of
the crashed plane to see if there
; were any more bodies. There were
I no survivors.
Major Robert Nelson of Biggs
airforce base at El Paso said Cars
well airforce base at Fort Worth
had reported the B-36 had hit
I tornado.
I This was not immediately con-
E1 Reno city councilmen are due to open new bids on Park ] firmed by Carswell.
View hospital air conditioning at their regular meeting next Wreckage Widespread
Wednesday night, June 1. I The last radio contact with the
A decision to advertise for new bids was reached at a
brief special session »f the council Wednesday night, when
all bids opened at an earlier meeting were formally rejected
as too high, and a series of ‘‘deduct alternates” or changes
in present air - conditioning
i*.
AOVIE STAR EXERCISES HERE—It’s not every day that Sheriff Tiny Royse, left, gets to
fntertain a genuine movie star at his “ranch”east of El Reno. But that’s what happened
Wednesday when Highland Dale, center, came to town, along with handler Ivan Connor,
In their wav from Hollywood to a movie location in Kentucky where the sleek stallion
trill co-star with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in ;‘The Giant.” Horse-lovers may re-
member Highland Dale in the movies Black Beauty. Riding High, Lone Star, Black Gold,
typsy Colt. Black Eagle and others. Sheriff Royse was previously alerted that the black
[eauty and his handler would stop over here in a telephone call from Tiny s brother,
rosty, in Hollywood.___________________________
New Bids Due on Revised Plan
For Hospital Air-Conditioning
*
1
- TSfr'
ROUGH ON FURNITURE—Mrs. Hubert Cecil and daughter, Sandra Lee, 4, found this
scene of wind wreckage today when they arrived to open Cecil’s Upholstery shop, 2406
Sunset. A plate glass covering the entire front of the shop was shattered, causing consider-
able damage to furniture in the showroom. The Cecils have been commuting from their
home in Tuttle, but are in the process of moving to El Reno.
Legion Park
Pool To Begin
Its 20th Year
El Reno's municipal swimming
pool in Legion park will open for
its 20th season next Wednesday
afternoon.
The pool first opened in June,
1935, with C. L. McGill serving
as manager, and since that time
has been a steady favorite with
both adults and youngsters.
During the coming summer
the pool will be open daily from
2 p. m. to 9 p. m., and on Sun-
days from 2 p. m. to 7 p. m.
Individual admission prices
have been set at 50 cents for
adults, 20 cents for children
through 11 years and 40 cents for
children of 12 through 17 years.
However season tickets are
available at the city clerk's of-
fice at $10 for adults, $5 for
children through 11 years old
and $7 50 for children 12 through
17 years old.
Extensive repainting and re-
pair work has been done on the
pool during the past several
weeks in preparation for the
opening.
ipproval Sought For
;wer District Flans
| State approval of plans for
sewer district are being
hught this week by city officials.
(The plans and specifications,
jivcring proposed work in the
limberlake addition, are to be sent
the state health department for
Kamination today, City Manager
I. A. Bentley said.
'eather
State Forecast
I Partly cloudy tonight with scat-
hed showers and thunderstorms
lostly in central and east portions
|iis evening and spreading through
list portion tonight; thunderstorms
Icaliy severe this evening; fair in
lest tonight and over most of the
|atc Friday.
Highway Meeting
Slated in El Reno
El Reno will be host Saturday,
May 28, to a meeting of the U. S.
Highway 81 association, when dele-
gates representing cities and towns
from the Kansas to Texas state
lines will attend.
Jack W. Burmeier, El Reno
chamber of commerce manager,
said the meeting will be held in
the city school administration
building and was called by Norman
Shutler, Kingfisher.
Purpose of the meeting will be
to discuss proposed improvement
of the U. S. 81 route north and
south through the state.
Rupert Fogg, El Reno, is treas-
urer of the association.
plans were approved.
The changes previously had been
discussed by a committee com-
posed of Mayor Paul Liebmann,
Ferd Merveldt, Ira N. Wilson and
Opie Clancy at an unofficial ses-
sion May 19. That meeting was
placed on the unofficial list when
the council failed to have the nec-
essary quorum for a special ses-
sion.
To Lower Cost
The proposed changes are de-
signed to bring the cost of hos-
pital air-conditioning within the
$25,000 available to the city and
Park View foundation, which has
been accepting donations for the
project.
Deducted items, all representing
major changes, include revision of
plans to call for a single 60 horse-
power compression unit instead of
two units; changes in wiring and
installation and alterations in the
cooling tower.
Original plans became imprac-
tical when five bids were opened
May 11, with the prices ranging
from $36,000 to more than $29,000.
No Advance Bids
Three bidders returned, however,
for the May 19 meeting, expressing
interest in submitting lower bids
if the plans were revised. None
of the companies offered to an-
nounce its bids in advance.
A transfer of $17,260.31 from an
old Mustang field bond issue to
the air-conditioning fund was ap-
proved in a special election April
6, and the Park View foundation
has been endeavoring to obtain
additional funds to insure up to
$25,000 for the project.
bomber was at 10:44 p.m. as it
passed over San Angelo. It crash-
ed eight minutes later.
Wreckage was tossed over eight
acres.
The area where the plane crash-
ed is in the center of a rugged
area suitable only to ranching.
A photographer of the San An-
gelo Standard-Times who took pic-
tures of the crash had his film con-
fiscated by the airforce. He was
told he could get them back after
the public information officer at
Goodfellow airforce base here edit-
ed them.
Davis reported the crash to offi-
cers at Sterling City. A passing
aircraft also saw the flaming
wreckage and notified authorities.
Names of the dead crewmen
were withheld pending notification
of next of kin.
CLASSES TO ENROL
Enrolment for classes in the
First Church of the Nazarcne va-
cation Bible school will be held at
the church, 500 South Rock Island,
Friday from 10 a. m. to noon,
Bailey Cantrell, superintendent,
said today.
Russians Accept
Invitation To Talk
MOSCOW, May 26—H>t—’The So-
viet Union formally accepted to
day an invitation to take part in
a Big Four parley at the summit.
At the same time it charged the
United States was setting up pre-
conditions “which will doom the
conference to failure.”
The note specifically referred to
statements made in Washington
concerning relations with the Com-
munist people’s democracies in
eastern Europe.
DRIVER FINED $15
Vernon Robinson, Bethany, ac-
cused of speeding on U. S. 66, five
miles west of Yukon on May 21,
was fined $15 and $8.50 costs Wed-
nesday in the court of J. H.
Craven, justice of the peace. Com-
plaint was by Trooper Ira Walk
up.
Accused Killer's
Childhood Bared
Everett Not Normal,
Stepfather Claims
PANAMA CITY, Fla.. May 26—
UV—The stepfather of George
Lowell Everett today described
the youth as “not a normal child.
C. E. Ferrell, Columbus, said
Everett had many brushes with
juvenile authorities—“too numer
ous to remember.”
Everett is on trial for the Jan.
18 rape slaying of 21-year-old Mrs.
Lou Ellen Jones, former El Reno,
highschool band queen. He has
pleaded innocent by reason of in-
sanity.
Ferrell, who said he owned a
liquor store and apartments in
Columbus, testified he married
Everett’s mother when the boy
was 8. Mrs. Ferrell told the court
yesterday she and Everett's father
separated when the boy was 3.
The defense rested at 11:35 a. m
after presenting four relatives of
Everett who testified he was an
unusual child who continually stole
and ran away from home almost
from the time he learned to walk.
Those testifying were Mr. and
Mrs. C. E. Sloop, jr.. Dothan, Ala.;
Mrs. John Ratliff, Phenix City,
Ala., Everett’s aunt, and John Rat-
liff, jr., Phenix City, a cousin.
Ratliff, 37, a former attorney
now with the Red Cross, said
Everett stole his watch when the
boy was only 5. He never respond-
ed to punishment, Ratliff added.
“Whippings just didn’t affect him.”
Red Cross 'Calamity Janes'
Called for Duty at Blackwell
EXACTLY 19 minutes after they received word of the
Blackwell tornado, seven El Reno Red Cross first aid
workers were on their way to the disaster area.
The well-trained volunteers, who call themselves the
“Calamity Janes,” reported for duty at Blackwell shortly
after midnight and worked up into the morning, helping
take care of injured and wherever else needed.
The first aid group, trained by Don Eagle, assistant fire
chief, was prepared with some 48 hours of schooling before
they were ordered out on
Kansas Town
Leveled, 66
Believed Dead
Twisters Reported In
11 Oklahoma Areas,
Farmer, Wife Killed
BLACKWELL. May 26 —<#>
—Tornadoes ripped through
11 Oklahoma cities last night
and early today, taking a toll
of 20 dead and more than 500
injured.
State police counted 18 dead
and nearly 500 hurt in this
north central community
alone. Rescue workers con-
tinued to dig through debris
for other victims.
Shortly following the Black-
well storm, a tornado moved
into Udall, Kan., near the Ok-
lahoma line, and literally
wiped out the small farm
town, killing at least 56 per-
sons.
Early morning twisters hit the
south edge of Oklahoma City and
Durant, in the southeast part of
the state, leaving several blocks
of unroofed homes in their wake.
No injuries were reported.
The black funnels last night
swirled in from the Texas Pan-
handle and cut a wide swath of
death and destruction across Okla-
homa before carrying their vio-
lence into southern Kansas.
Hits Without Warning
The most vicious of the tor-
nadoes smashed into this city of
10,000 without warning at 9:30
p. m. levelling homes and factor-
ies in a,n east side area of around
36 square blocks, plunging the en-
tire residential area into dark-
Rebels Win
Season Debut
In an abbreviated contest at
Adams park Wednesday after-
noon, the Legion Rebels opened
their 1955 season with an easy
8-2 win over the Oklahoma City
Taft Exporters.
Taft scored twice in the first
inning on an error and a double
and that was it, with hurlers
Bruce Cottey and Boogie Mowcry
collaborating to set them down
there on out. The Rebels plated
four in the first, three in the sec-
ond and one in the fourth, on a
total of five hits, three walks
and three Taft errors. Mowcry’s
first inning double was the only
extra-base hit.
The Legion club handled the
ball like a pigskin the first two
innings, committing five errors,
but finally settled down.
Next game finds the Rebs going
to Hydro Tuesday night for a
7:30 tilt.
their first assignment.
Assisting at Blackwell were
Mrs. Frank Hromada, Mrs. Don
Eagle. Mrs. Richard Fairchild,
Mrs. Betty Lorcnzen, Mrs. Paul
Lynn, Mrs. E. H. Fuchs and
Mrs. Virgil Cox.
tTMlERE were three more mem-
bers of the unit who could
not make the assignment—one
was in the hospital, another was
out of town and the third could
not find a baby-sitter on such
short notice.
While the Red Cross workers
were helping bring order from
the Blackwell chaos, El Reno
and neighborhood residents were
taking stock in minor storm
damage.
Most obvious result of high
winds here during the night was
in city parks and tree-lined
streets, where h u n d r e ds of
branches littered streets and
areas.
/“HTY Manager C. A. Bentley
vv said all debris would be re
El Reno'sSchools Do Quick Job-Student Reaches College Early
rpHAT last year in highschool
just isn’t necessary — at
least for some students.
Proof of that is being offered
by an El Reno girl, Nancy Clink-
kenbeard, who this week is com-
pleting a full year of work at
Oklahoma College for Women in
Chiekasha without benefit of a
highschool diploma.
Satisfactory evidence that the
experiment is a success is shown
by Nancy's grades — she ranked
second scholastically among all
students enroled in the institu-
tion during the first semester,
maintaining an almost perfect
scholastic rating.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
T. J. Clinkenbeard, 633 South
NANCY CLINKENBEARD
Hadden, Nancy accepted an op-
portunity offered last year by
Oklahoma College for Women to
enrol on the freshman college
level at the close of her junior
year in highschool.
Her record achievements aren't
being made in any simple field,
however. Nancy is doing her
major work in the field of chem-
istry.
She will not be alone in up-
holding El Reno schools' ability
to turn out top flight students
when college classes reopen at
next term, however.
Four additional members of the
El Reno highschool graduating
class this year have earned cred-
it on college level in the El Reno
junior college.
Students who have completed
15 units of highschool work, eith-
er at the beginning of their senior
year or at mid-term, may enrol
in the junior college classes on
recommendation of the high-
school principal, providing they
have maintained a 3.0 average in
highschool.
The students earning college
credit in addition to necessary
credits for highschool graduation
are Phil Enz, with 19 hours; Nor-
ma Davison, 11 hours; Ann Eich-
or, six hours and Mike Seikel,
three hours.
Just a little more proof that
today's youngsters don’t need any
defense. They’re making their
own record.
moved by city trucks if it is
placed near the street curb where
it can be reached with least
difficulty.
Bentley said high winds top-
pled several power lines in Le-
gion park, but little other dam-
age was reported
Oklahoma Gas afid Electric
company workmen were requir-
ed to replace a big power-line
pole east of El Reno on the main
line from the Mustang plant. The
wind had snapped the pole, forc-
ing a switch to lines from Enid
for city power.
A storage shed was unroofed at
the M. B. Holmberg home north
of the country club and buildings
were damaged on the J. P. Neal
farm east of El Reno.
Trees were toppled in the Calu-
met area, wTiere about one inch
of rain fell during the storm.
At the county courthouse, the
last of four circular window
panes was blown from the spire,
leaving a spacious entrance for
the pigeons.
The Hazel Atlas Glass company
plant, a two-block factory in the
center of the storm’s path, caught
fire after being flattened but 35
workers on the night shift escaped
before the big structure collapsed.
Another tornado swirled to the
ground at Sweetwater, Okla., near
the Texas border, Killing Mr. and
Mrs. Chester Tidwell and critical-
ly injuring their 10-year-old son.
54 Dead in Kansas
In rapid succession tornadoes
then ripped into Erick, Shattuck,
Mayfield, Camargo, Lecdcy, Tal-
oga, Cheyenne, Deer Creek and
Strong City, doing extensive dam-
age. Residents of those western
Oklahoma towns, warned of the
possibility of such storms and
wary from past experience, reach-
ed their cellars in time to escape
death or injury.
As the squall line moved north-
eastward, another powerful funnel
swept to earth shortly before mid-
night at Udall, a Kansas farm
community of 750 about 20 miles
southeast of Wichita, and killed
at least 56 persons while virtually
destroying the town.
Didn't Sound Siron
James D. Willis, 27, Blackwell,
said he was outside picking up
huge hailstones that had just
fallen when he saw and heard the
approaching twister.
"I yelled, grabbed my wife and
two kids and got under a bed. We
all got out all right but there’s
no roof left on my house, no porch
and not a single window un-
broken.”
Police Chief Forrest Coffelt said
the Oklahoma City weather bu-
reau telephoned him before the
tornado hit and warned of the
possibility of strong winds.
J 8 Identified
BLACKWELL, May 26 -dT—
The following is a list of identi-
fied dead in tha Blackwatl torna-
do as of 10 a.m. today:
Mrs. Hugh Embry
Mrs. Jassia Bird
R. L. Riley
Sherry Riloy, 6-months
Mrs. Annie Ballinger
Jamas N. Ellington
Alex Butler
Terry Ray Denton, 3
Ed Hartman
Clarenca Overholt
Charles Benson
D. A. Kling
Mrs. W. A. Burris
J. H. Bartell, 60
Mrs. Eugene Stiles
Mrs. Mae McGrow
Two victims unidentified.
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Dyer, Ray J. The El Reno Daily Tribune (El Reno, Okla.), Vol. 64, No. 75, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 26, 1955, newspaper, May 26, 1955; El Reno, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc923942/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.