Oklahoma City Times (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 79, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 27, 1968 Page: 1 of 40
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Ed’s Bad Back Real
Headache for State
R.v <11111 Standard
Kd is a 63-year-old Okla-
homa City man who occa-
sionally gels his back hurt.
In three years, he has
collected more than $4,300
from alleged injuries that
occurred on three different
jobs.
His own doctor, who reg-
ularly prepares medical
evidence for workman's
compensation, has filed re-
ports showing Kd Is 50 per-
cent permanently disabled.
An insurance company
doctor, who examined Ed
after one alleged Injury,
says he has arthritis and
that injuries have not
Tourist Tax
Plan Riddled
WASHINGTON (API — !|pp session he does not know
The house ways and means when thp trade recommen-
ce m m i t t e e approved dation may be forthcoming,
Wednesday a minimum tax or even for sure whether
program designed to reduce there will be any.
caused the back troubles.
Nonetheless. Kd contin-
ues to find work, get hurt
and collect money under
the state workman's com-
pensation law.
"It's nothing but a rack-
et,” said an Oklahoma City
businessman, who hap-
pened to be the last em-
ployer to gel stuck by Kd’s
injury-prone back.
As a rpsult of Ed’s mis-
fortune, the businessman’s
workman's compensation
Insurance was canceled by
one company and he had to
pay a higher rate to get
ihe insurance from another
company.
Owner lAteked in Trunk
City Fugitive Steals Truck
Victor Lawrence Taylor
An escaped slate prison
inmate stole a pickup
truck Wednesday in Okla-
homa City after locking its
owner in the trunk of a car
the fugitive had stolen ear-
lier.
Oklahoma City police
said Victor Lawrence Tay-
lor. 24, who overpowered a
guard at University Hospi-
tal Tuesday, abandoned
the stolen car near NE 63
and Sooner Rd. Wednes-
day morning.
The fugitive then fled in
the green, 1967 truck, po-
lice were told by its owner.
It took the man nearly
three hours to pry himself
out of the trunk, he told of-
licers.
Owner of the truck,
whose name was not
immediately known, said
the man took the truck at
gunpoint. The driver was
not harmed.
Ll. Jim Watson, a de'cc-
tive, said iits thief "ft s
perfectly the description of
Taylor. Tl.a's the .?m
trace we've had on hjm."
"He's probably out of
the city by now.' one offi-
cer said, "but he could be
holed up in those black-
jacks out iherp.
"Or he could have gone
back to Dallas, where he
came from."
Taylor snatched the
snub-nosed .38 caliber re-
volver from his prison
guard. L. C. Weiher. in a
corridor of University Hos-
pital and fled from a back
door.
A block away he shoved
the pistol at Harold G.
Jones. 26, a night club
singer who was silting in
his auto near NE 13 and
(See ESCAPEE—Page 2)
Paid Circulation 310,244 Evening-Morning Daily Average February
Oklahoma City Times
ENTIRE CONTENT* COPYRIGHTED 1*64 ONL4HOV.A PUBLISHING CO.. M N BRGADAAV
U. S. tourist' spending
abroad but postponed action
on President Johnson's ma-
jor recommendation in this
field.
The committee sent to the
house a hill calling for a 5
percent tax on airplane tick-
ets to destinations outside
thp United Slates and for a
Intensive negotiations are
now in progress, he said,
with the major U. S. trading
partners in Europe trying to
work out freer access for U.
S. goods.
Barr estimated that 1he
limited bill approved today
would result in a balance ol
payments improvemeni
on
reduction in the amount of'the order of $100 million a
goods returning tourists may|year.
bring in duty free.
It said, however, that ac-
tion on the expenditure tax
that W'as to provide most of
the balance of payments
savings in Johnson’s pro-
gram will be postponed until
the administration comes up
with recommendations on
special import duties or oth-
er international trade meas-
ures also designed to correct
the imbalance in internation-
al payments.
Undersecretary of t it e
Treasury Joseph Barr told
reporters after the commil-
The original Johnson pack-
age, including a tax up to 30
percent on the spending of
U. S. travelers abroad above
a minimum, had been calcu-
lated to result in a $300 mil-
lion payments saving. The
administration had hoped for
another $200 million by a
combination of encouraging
foreign tourism in this coun-
try and urging Americans
traveling abroad to spend
cautiously.
The committee agreed
(See TOURIST—Page 2)
County Road
Freeze Ends?
By Mary Jo Nelson
A deadlock that has frozen
county bond funds and
blocked construction of in-
terstate highway projects in
the Oklahoma City area may
have been broken Wednes-
■ day by action of the county
commissioners.
The three-man board
unanimously approved a res-
olution to free $144,123 owed
the state highway depart-
ment for right-of-way to
build the proposed 1-240
soulh of Tinker Air Force
Base.
The resolution marks the
first payment toward a
$905,000 deficit owed the
state department for inter-
state routes already con-
structed or planned in metro-
politan Oklahoma City.
Hubert C. Gragg, District
5 commissioner, has said the
stale highway commission
can not approve any more
funds for interstate projects
in Oklahoma County until
the deficit is paid.
While Wednesday's action
covers only part ($400,000) of
the total amount the county
reporledly owes the state,
Gragg said he thinks one
provision may clear up a
disagreement lhat has dead-
locked payment. The final
paragraph of the resolution,
it reads:
"It is further agreed that
the state will bill the county
progressively as the
amounts (spent by the stale
and therefore owing by the
county) become due.’’
"I take this to mean the
county commissioners intend
to pay accounts they are
billed for and for which they
are committed." Gragg said.
Until the action Wednes-
day, the state highway de-
partment billed Oklahoma
City only for funds which are
owed under the county's
long-standing agreement to
assist the city in its financial
(See ROADS—Page 2)
Relax, Driver
A Real
Switch
Need help? Write to Oklahoma City Times, P. O.
Box 25125, Oklahoma City 73125 or telephone CE 2-3311
between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday
and ask for “Action Line."
The street corner markers at NW S4 and Dreiel are
reversed according to tho blocks. The S4th street sign
says $500 Mock and the Drexel street sign says S100
block. T.L.O.
We reported this to the office of traffic control and
these signs have now been corrected.
We ordered oar state driver licensee September S bat
have never received them. Oen you help? Mrs. C. W.t
Weatherford.
A spokesman for the department of public safety
says your licenses were first mailed last September and
because they were not returned, it was assumed you had
received them. Upon receiving notice they had not been
delivered, duplicate licenses were mailed In February to
the address you gave In Weatherford. These licensee
were not returned. If you have not received them, eon-
(Hoe ACTION LINE-Page *)
Disproportionate awards
lndirpclly affect the con-
sumer. He must pay in the
form of higher prieps the
increase in insurance rates
experienced by business.
Rising cost of doing busi-
ness ultimately affects the
price the consumer pays.
Drunkenness Cited
The businessman claims
even F.d's own doctor told
him there was nothing
wrong with him.
"The doctor told me noth-
ing was wrong with him
and that he would drop his
claim If 1 would hire him
back and pay him hack
wages," the businessman
said.
The businessman refused
to re-hire Ed. He said he
had fired him for "getting
drunk and failing to report
to work,” according to rec-
ords before the state indus-
trial court.
Percentage Change*
If ihe businessman is
telling the truth. Ed's doc-
tor reconsidered the extent
of his injuries after he
couldn't get Ed’s job back
for him.
When the physician filed
a medical report with the
state industrial court, it
showed Ed had 15 percent
permanent disability.
It was good enough for
Ed to walk away with $1,-
600.
"He got drunk after he
got the money and called
and bragged about how he
was going to take a trip to
California," the business-
man said.
The employer didn’t
know when he hired Ed
that hp was already .35 per-
cent disabled from an al-
leged previous injury to his
back. The same doctor had
made ihe 35 percent report
when Ed worked for a ho-
tel.
An insurance company
doctor, employed by the
hotel's insurance firm, had
examined Ed and found he
had no permanent disabili-
ty and that his alleged
back trouble was caused
by arthritis and not an in-
jury.
The stale industrial
court approved a $2,400
lump sum payment to Ed.
Ed promptly got another
job and collected $325
when he slipped carrying a
basket. The industrial
court approved that
aw'ard. too.
Ed’s story is all too com-
mon at ihe slate industrial
court, which annually
awards more than $13 mil-
lion to workmen injured on
the job.
"Under rules laid down
by the supreme court, if
there is any doubt, we
have to rule in favor of the
claimant," said A. R.
Swank jr., presiding judge
of the five-man court.
A Joking Matter
The truthfulness of some
medical reports is a joking
matter around the court.
One Insurance company
representative told the
Times that he can get a
“zero" report from his
company’s doctor anytime
he wants one — even when
1he claimant has a legit!
mate Injury.
"We know the claimant's
doctor Is going to double
his report, so we ask for a
zero report and then try to
split the difference,” the
Insurance spokesman said.
Hard to Believe
Judge Swank confirms
that some of the medical
evaluations are hard to be-
lieve. ‘Tve told these doc-
tors to forget who Is pay-
ing the bills and just give
us the facts,” the judge
said.
The court la empowered
to hire a ‘‘neutral" physi-
cian and sometime* doea
to settle medical argu-
VOL. LXXIX, NO. 32
40 PAGES—OKLAHOMA CITY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27. 1968
5c IN OKLAHOMA—10c ELSEWHERE
Infantry Battling Reds
For Control of Hamlet
U. S. Drops
Napalm
Near GIs
SAIGON (AP) — Ameri-
can infantrymen supported'
by tanks, artillery and
planes batiled the Viet Cong
Wednesday for control of a
tiny hamlet northwest of Sai-
gon in ihe fourth straight
day of heavy fighting in the
area.
Men of Ihe U. S. 25th In-
fantry Division called in ar-
t 111 e r y and napalm air
strikes only 50 to 100 yards
ahead of them as they ad-
vanced into the hamlet of Ap
Long Muc about 30 miles
northwest of Saigon near Ihe
district town of Trang Bang.
.396 Beds Killed
U. S. and South Viet-
namese forces have reported
killing 396 enemy in the
Trang Bang area since Sun-
day. Allied casualties were
described as light.
The Viet Cong were well
entrenched in ihe hamlet and
greeted the advancing infan-
trymen with heavy ma-
chine-gun fire and a barrage
of rocket-propelled grenades.
Meanwhile. U. S. head-
quarters said in another
fight in the Trang Bang sec-
tor, 25th Division units killed
17 enemy after making a hel-
icopter assault Tuesday four
miles northeast of the town.
Viet Cong Waiting
As the American infantry-
men hit the ground, ihe Viet
Cong were waiting for them.
From trenches and bunkers,
the enemy opened up with
machine guns and rocket-
propelled grenades.
By midaftemoon Wednes-
day, sporadic fighting was
reported continuing. Head-
quarters did not disclose U.
S. casualties but said no
Americans had been killed
Officer Faces
Firing Squad
SAIGON (AP) - A South
Vietnamse army second
lieutenant has been sen-
tenced to die before a firing
squad for embezzling more
than $28,000 from military
funds, the fourth such sen-
tence in the past six months,
the official Vietnam press
said Wednesday.
The Saigon special court
also sentenced 2nd Lt. Do
Van The to repay the funds
and confiscated half of his
property, the agency said.
IV - * ~
Hank Wade has big smile for capitol visitors.
Hands Aren't Everything
Puffers Face
54-Cent Hike
For Cartons
By John Bennett
Oklahomans will pay 54
cents more per carton of
cigarets next week — not
just ihe 50 cents extra
brought on by the new tax
hike — and cigaret sales in
Oklahoma City have dou-
bled in anticipation of the
levies.
Wholesalers reported
Wednesday wideseale buy-
ing has skyrocketed ciga-
ret sales as much as 100
percent.
Who’s Handicapped?
By Hugh Hall
They call Henry F.
"Hank" Wade a handicap-
ped person just because he
doesn’t have any hands.
Truth is, however, the
capiiol guide is about the
most unhandicapped fel-
low in the world, if you
ignore the normal comple-
ment of appendages.
For his accomplishments
in overcoming the loss of
his left arm below the el-
bow and all of his right
hand except the thumb,
Wade will be crowned
Oklahoma's 1968 "Handi-
capped Man of the Year"
next Wednesday at the
capitol.
The letter telling Wade
of the award said it is be-
cause of his own rehabili-
tation "as well as helping
other handicapped persons
to adjust and become reha-
bilitated."
You really never notice
Wade's artificial left arm
and stub of a right hand
because you're watching
his face.
He has a personality that
cuts through everything
else like a laser beam and
compels your attention.
That probably is why he
is so successful in helping
others who have lost a
limb to overcome the
depression and discourage-
ment that usually accom-
pany such a loss.
He is willing to go any-
Local: Partly cloudy,
windy and warm with
slight chance of scattered
showers through Wednes-
day night. Cooler Thurs-
day. Overnight low 46.
High Thursday 67. (De-
tail1*, Page 19.)
HOURLY TEMPI RATURB
7:B0 P.m. 45 1:00 o.m.
41
41
g
»;3 SS:
j*:N P.m.
!i;8 5:51:
liS !:K:
IS iS:
||
♦:{{ o'.mi
10:00 a.m.
11:00 o.m.
11:00 noon
1:00 P.m.
where at any time to help
a fellow amputee master
use of a prosthesis.
Why? Probably because
he still recalls vividly his
own mental state 31 years
ago after a 2,300-volt
"highline" in Frederick
charred his hands while he
worked as a lineman.
He used to stand around
with his artificial arm be-
hind him pressed against a
building.
That is. he did until a fel-
low amputee came along
and said, "Henry, you'll
never learn to use your
arm because you haven't
got the guts."
He rose to the bait —
and sometimes uses it now
as he passes on to others
the determination he de-
veloped that day in Fred-
erick.
Wade claims he can de-
velop a grip of 150 pounds
in his artificial arm. He
writes with it, dresses and
undresses, and drives a
car.
He's got a quick answer
(See WHO’S-Page 2)
fa* IN JUBY-PmM *)
What98 Inside
Amusement* $8, 28
Bridge 77
Buxine** New, $2
Classified Section $8-39
Comics 80
National Affairs 5
Oil Report* 18
Our World Today 10
Sports 24-26
TV Tidbits 81
Vital Statistic* 18
Women's News 14-Id
m
Want Adi GCWTB
Otar onto CdM&l
Congressman Questions Trip
City Jet Fuels Furor
An Oklahoma City-based
federal jet plane rated
some supersonics in the U.
S. House of Representa-
tives Wednesday.
And the Federal Aviation
Administration boomed
right back at Rep. Fletch-
er Thompson (R-Ga.), who
questioned a ride 26 wom-
en took last October 26 on
the 83-passenger Boeing
727.
In a speech prepared for
delivery Wednesday, Rep.
Thomson requested a
house government opera-
tions committee investiga-
tion into why Ihe FAA
needs a 101-plane fleet.
He cited the October
flight from Oklahoma City
and Washington. D. C., io
Atlanta and return, in
what was logged as a
training flight.
An FAA spokesman In
Oklahoma City said il was,
Indeed, a training flight.
The 727 is aloft much of
the time for training of In-
sprrtorn who make
check-out flights on similar
craft used by commercial
airlines, he said.
The women, as Thomp-
son noted, were members
of the Women's Advisory
Committee on Aviation.
The congressman said the
Government Accounting
Office told him their use of
the plane wa* within ihe
agency's guidelines for air-
craft use.
"This is an official com-
mittee, selected by ihe
(Bee CITY—2)
The five-cent-per-pack
tax hike goes into effect
next Monday. It raises the
total state tax to 13 cents.
Wholesalers pointed out
the price increase to the
smoker will be about 54
cents pr,r carton because
the retailer also must
maintain a 6 perceni profit
above wholesale cost.
This means the taxpayer
will be paying four cents
per carton above the tax
hike.
.1. J. I^ehman, president
of Consolidated Wholesale
Co., said his firm has had
a 100 percent increase in
sales io supermarkets and
drugstores.
Lehman predicted ciga-
ret bootlegging in Oklaho-
ma.
"I think the tax is exor-
bitant and will bring about
some bootlegging." I<eh-
man said.
Tom Frazier, cigaret
buyer for The Fleming
Co., Inc., said thp firm is
selling twice the number
of cigarets as usual. Nor-
mally Ihe company sells
25.000 cartons a week
statewide.
"We've noted that the
storeowners are stocking
up this week." Frazier
said "They anticipate a
big run this weekend."
Frazier said warehouse
workers have had "some
difficulty" keeping carton*
stamped with the tax
stamp.
“They can just stamp tn
fill orders, but they can't
get ahead," Frazier said.
Yale Bailey, owner of
Bailey's Candy and Tobac-
co Co., said cigaret sales
have jumped 50 percent
this week.
Bailey also predicted
some bootlegging, particu-
larly on the state borders.
"But it probably won’t
be on a big scale,” he said.
With the new 13 cent
state tax in effect next
week, only Florida will
have a higher state cigaret
tax than Oklahoma. Flori-
da has a 15-cent state tax,
Oklahoma, however, will
have the highest state cig-
aret lax of any surround-
ing states.
Texas presently ha* an
11-cpnt tax: Colorado a
5-cent tax; New Mexico
will soon have a 12-eent
tax: Kansas and Arkanaaa
have eight cents.
Missouri has a 4-cent
tax. although Its munici-
palities also tax cigaret*.
I^ehman predicted th*
low Missouri tax will en-
tice Oklahomans over ihe
border for wholesale ciga-
ret buys. <|
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Gaylord, E. K. Oklahoma City Times (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 79, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 27, 1968, newspaper, March 27, 1968; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc993292/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.