davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Soldiers Father Dies in Mine,
Storm Kills Mother, Sister

horror which beset them. Some
faced life Disagreement.
The tornado swept an area 300
yards wide and more than a mile
long. A dozen gigantic "bulldozers"
seemed to have run over the miners
neat homes.
Not stick of wood remained up
right. A piano had been flung from
a home to highway. An automo-
bile lifted, into the air, was half
buried In the ground where 1t fell.
Huge chunks of brick foundation
had been tossed SO feet. The door
of a refrigerator, ripped from its
higes, lay on hillside mile away.
Acres Of Trees Uprooted.
Acres of huge trees were uprooted.
Miners automobiles were battered
by flying lumber.
Scantily clad parents sought
vainly for such treasures as chill
dren'S pictures. Survivors grimly
went about the business of digging
into the rubble.
A tiny white dog, apparently un-
injured, lay in the debris of what
had been reimbursement, his nose
on his outstretched paws. He re-
fused to move or be moved. His
master, his mistress and the 19-
month h-old girl with whom he had
romped were in hospitals, seriously
hurt.
The storm left in its wake things
almost unbelievable. After dawn
an old hen strutted through the
ruins, clucking to her brood Of II
chicks. A Jersey cow chewed her
cud calmly. A group Of men seek
ing bodies released a chicken from
the corner Of basement where q
huge timber had saved it from in
jury. .,,..,s....c-.
Evening star., 1944-06-25

were 1eveled, while toward Thomas,
w. Va, 20 homes and q brick West
ern Maryland Railroad station were
destroyed.
A barn near Deer Creek was
struck by lightning and burned to
the ground. Oak trees two feet in
diameter were snapped OF like
match sticks.
Storm at Cambridge.
The storm at Cambridge was just
as spectacular.
Accompanied by torrential rain,
twisting winds split colored high
school building in two, leveled two
nearby blocks OF homes, two ware
houses, a filling station a mile from
town and large cattle barn at the
Eastern Shore State Hospital.
Electric power lines were severed,
roofs lifted off houses, countless
windows shattered and trees torn
out by the roots.
Police and fire companies rushed
emergency lighting apparatus to
Cambridge Hospital after injured
began to arrive.
The armory later was opened to
the homeless while the Red Cross
set up emergency first aid stations
and shelters.
The Cambridge twister dropped
suddenly on the town, then raised
again. Surrounding areas reported
little damage.
Cambridge property damage was
estimated unoficially at between
100000 and 100000.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Lincoln Firm Suit
Testing Renegotiation
Act Opens tuesday

A case which may have q far
reaching effect on operation of the
Renegotiation Act is to come up
before a three Judge tribunal of Dis
trict Court on Tuesday.
The case to be considered is suit
brought by the Lincoln Electric Co.
of Cleveland in which the firm seeks
an injunction to prevent the Gov
ernment from withdrawing moneys
allegedly due the company on con-
tracts. This, the suit says, the Gov
ernment has threatened to do unless
the firm turns over the $3.50 900
alleged excess profits for 1912 to the
Government.
First Real Challenge.
Immediately at issue before the
court will be q Government motion
for a summary Judgment against the
Arm, which. If granted, would be the
equivalent to dismissal Of the firms
suit. At the time the suit was filed
last fall, 1t was described as the first
real challenge to the Renegotiation
Act of 1912.
Among the issues, to be decided
is whether District ourt has juris-
diction in the case. While the
Lincoln Electric Co. contests the
constitutionality Of the act, in its
form prior to amendments of Feb
ruary Is. 1914, the latter will not
be the first issue before the court,
it was said. The court, however,
will have the power to pass on the
constitutionality Of the act, and it
was with that idea in view that the
three Judge tribunal originally was
named.
In general, the act provides for
renegotiation of Government con-
tracts and for return of profits
which the Government believes to
be excessive.
Amount Is Disputed.
In its suit the firm declared that
"after adjustment for Federal in
come and excess profits taxes, the
amount involved In the order and
decision of the defendants does not
and cannot exceed 100000, but de-
fendants nevertheless threaten to,
and will, unless enjoined and re-
strained, order the withholding Of
sums Of money up to, and in GER
tain contingencies, In excess of the
sum Of $3.50, ,000." The Govern
ment contends, however, that the
smaller sum would be involved.
The three Judge tribunal is to
consist of Chief Justice D. Lawrence
Groner OF the United States Court of
Appeals, Justice Jennings Bailey
and Justice T. Alan Goldsborough
of District Court.
The Government is to be repre-
sented by Asst. United States Attor-
ney General Francis M. Shea.
The Lincoln Electric Co., described
in the suit as the largest manufac-
turer Of electric arc welding equip
ment, Is represented by four Cleve-
land attorneys and by Attorney
Charles Efinger Smoot of this city.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Storm
Continued From First Page.)

were reported missing. Many dead
were unidentified Wrecked COM
munications and clogged roads kept
some communities from reporting
their casualties for hours.
Highways Uttered.
Dwellings, farm buildings and
other structures by the hundreds
were demolished, littering streets
and highways with wreckage. The
twister, of only brief duration, lifted
houses from their foundations and
smashed them to bits, uprooted trees
and tossed them around crafty.
Red Cross units, equipped with
food, blankets and medical supplies
were dispatched to the paralyzed
areas. Soldiers and civilian defense
workers worked alongside police
f1remen and other rescuers.
The storm lashed out hardest
against little Shinnston, a coal min
ing community of 1890 near Clarks-
burg, w. Va, where So were reported
killed, and took its heaviest Penn
sylvania toll around Charters and
ClarkSville, 40 miles south of Pitts
burgh, and at other communities
within 20 miles of Pittsburgh.
Government weather observers ad.
mitted they were puzzled by thu
freakish pattern of the storm. The,
said preliminary studies indicated
there might have been at least &
dozen different storms, each strik.
ing compact areas within a rela.
lively few minues of each other.
In addition to the single tornad,
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Canadian Newsprint
Leader Praises Report

MONTREAL, June "a (P. -
Charles Vining, president of the
Newsprint Association of Canada,
tonight praised the report of a
committee of United States news
paper publishers recommending
that the United States abandon use
of new lightweight newsprint. He
said the report represents an integ-
rity and sense of duty which will
command respect in Canada as well
as in the United States"
In a letter to William c. Chandler
of the Scripps- Howard newspapers,
member of the committee, Mr.
Vining said: "It is clear that your
committee has made a conscien-
tious and competent effort to shape
"a plan for the greatest good Of the
greatest number of United States
newspapers and that members Of
the committee, including yourself,
have put aside advantages which
they might have sought as individ-
iual publishers"
Evening star., 1944-06-25
z Maryland Areas Suffer
Heavy Property DAMAGE
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
Two Maryland areas, the city of
Cambridge on the Eastern Shore
and Garrett County in the far West,
felt the wrath of Friday nights
tornadoes, suffering property damage
running into hundreds of thousands
Of dollars.
The storms struck about az hours
apart, the storm breaking over Gar
rett County about 8 pm. while
Cambridge was pounded between
l 1:30 pm. and midnight
Other sections of Maryland felt
the lash of heavy winds and driv-
ing rain, minor damage being in
Cured near Baltimore and in parts
of Anne Arundel County.
An Army plane, beset by the heavy
weather and a dwindling gasoline
supply, was set down in Chesapeake
Bay near Annapolis by its pilot,
Capt. A. H Nylon, while the other
crew member, Staff Sergt. E. E.
Wood, parachuted.
Sergt. Wood swan to shore from
the sinking plane. Both were from
Boiling Field, Washington. They
were uninjured.
Garrett County Cut Off.
Garrett County virtually was
sealed off from the world for Is
hours after the storm hit, road and
wire comunications not being fully
restored until after noon yesterday
The town CT Oakland just missed
the full force of the storm, adjacent
highways and communities being
strewn with splintered trees, tele-
graph poles, dead animals, roofs of
houses. twisted storm wreckage and
land slides.
Areas approximately one mile
wide were swept clean at some
places.
Eight or 10 houses along Route
2l9. two miles north Of Oakland
Evening star., 1944-06-25

CHARTERS, Pa, June 24.-Pvt.
John Barnish came home on what
he expected to be a happy furlough
and encountered instead gaunt
tragedy such as visits the lives of
few men.
The body of his father, Stephen
Barnish, lies in a sealed-off section
OF Charters mine. He was one of
six coal miners who lost their lives
recently when fire swept the pit.
From the wind-torn wreckage of
Pvt. Barnish's home, rescue workers
yesterday took the lifeless bodies of
his mother and sister, Agnes, H.,
one of twins.
Seriously injured in the tornado
which reduced this village to rubble
were three other sisters of the SOL
dier, including the other twin, Rose.
The misery which visited this SOL
dier only emphasized that of hun
dreds OF other men and women here.
So Homes Razed.
Pathetic figures probed the ruins
OF what once was a tidy mining
community, seeking valued possess
sione and ksepsakes lost in the
tornado which leveled So homes and
tossed furniture, clothing and even
entire sides Of houses over an area
Of several square miles.
At least II persons were killed
when the sudden, terrific storm
struck with such fury that most res
idents were trapped in their homes.
More than 100 were injured Sc
riously enough to require hospital
izatons Several still aie missing. !
AS they sought to salvage what
they could from the wreckage, their
taut faces still reflected the stark
Evening star., 1944-06-25

tire sidewalks of houses were scat
tered over a area of several square
miles.
The Charters survivors continued
late today to search through the
ruins of their homes. One boy car
ried 1858, found in the wreckage Of
a little frame house, to State po-
lice sergeant. Some residents ap-
peared still dazed.
Mr.. and Mrs. Grant Rankin and
their daughter, Dorothy, ate their
noon meal in the one remaining
room Of their wrecked home. Their
food was bread and orange soda.
Police blocked roads, keeping sight
seers out of the devastated section.
Pvt. F. E. Randall of the West vir-
ginia State police stood before a
window at the Shinnston barracks
and saw the tornado approaching.
THE cone-shaped affair was rush
ing toward the building and in the
center of it was a house and a lot
Of boards" he recalled today. The
house struck our radio tower and
broke it almost in half"
Gov. Nicely Inspects Area.
Gov. Matthew M. Neely arrived
at Clarksburg, w. Va, late In the
day for a personal inspection Of the
disaster area.
Doctors administered to patients
last night in some hospitals under
emergency lighting. Long lines of
cots crowded corridors. The Army
set up relief stations at Shinnston,
Elkins and Philippi. State Police
Superintendent H. Clare Hess and
Capt. Dorsey Bailey deployed so
State troopers over the devastated
area to make a thorough search
for bodies.
BY nightfall relief agencies had
the situation in hand with shelter
for the homeless assured.
Storm damage at Mckeesport, Pa,
was estimated at upwards of
$1,000,000 by Fire Chief Paul G.
McCatee. He estimated 500 proper
ties had been damaged or destroyed.
Two War Plants Closed.
Effects of the storm were felt In
Marietta, Ohio, across the river from
Parkersburg, w. Va, when a short
age of electric power caused 1000
war workers at two plants to be
sent home. Marietta is served by
West Virginia power company.
Both plants expected to resume work
within "a hours.
Clarksburg was plunged into dark
ness last night when a 132,000-volt
line into the town was knocked
down. In Allegheny County, Pa,
so power poles were blown down in
the McKeesport and Glassport area.
Practically all utility service was
restored today.
The Hope Natural Gas Co.'S new
compressor station at Boothsville,
w. Va, which served war plants in
West Virginia, Pennsylvania and
Ohio. was destroyed.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Navy Plans 10 Train
Fewer Flyers Due 10
Low Casually LIST
BY the Associated Press.

bS tae AsSocfated PrssS.
Unexpectedly low casualties. tha
Navy announced yesterday. win
permit q substantial REDUCTION In
the training program for naval
pilots.
Principal reductions will be made
among the thousands Of young men
enrolled In 11-week prefiefft
courses. At the end OF each course
hereafter, only about so per cent
of, the students will move on for
flight training.
The Navy explained that the net
effect OF the reduction In the train
ing program win be that "the OUT
put OF naval aviators win grad
ually be reduced until in about a
year this output will be about one
third Of the present output"
Reporting that the unexpectedly
low attrition rate" in actual COM
bat was determining factor lead
ing to revision Of the quotas, the
Navy said.
"Gratification at this splendid
showing is tempered by the knowl-
edge that the imminent downward
revision Of the training program will
bring disappointment to thousands
OF young men who volunteered for
service as Navy flyers, embarked on
arduous preparatory training and
now must turn elsewhere to serve
their country"
The Navy added that its 'imme-
diate concern" is to offer these
cadets wide choices of future service.
either within the air service as
crew men on planes or as seamen
on carriers, or by remaining in
the college training program Cv-12)
to qualify for commissions In nom
aviation branches. Each cadet also
will be offered an opportunity to
serve in enlisted ranks In nonavia.
ton branches or In some cases to
withdraw entirely from the service.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
U.S.. Planes DESTROYED
|Af Russian Bases

A number of American planes
were destroyed In a recent German
air raid on two Russian airdromes
used by the American Air Force
III sDMEfs bombing operations over
Europe. the War Department an
nounced last night.
Three crewmen also were lost as
a result of the attack on the fields.
apparently those used by Italian
based and Britain based bombers in
the shuttle flights over Axis targets.
While the type of the destroyed
planes was not specified, they pre-
sumably were Flying Fortresses or
other heavy bombers.
The text of the department's
announcement:
"A recent raid on the German
Air Force on two airdromes In
Russia used in shuttle operations
by our strategic bombers caused
the loss of three crew members and
a number Of American planes"
Evening star., 1944-06-25

which left the greatest destruction
In its wake, scattered storms were
reported over Wellsburg, w. Va, in
the vicinity OF Cumberland, Md, and
around Ravenna, Ohio, near Akron
Viewing the devastation in the
Shinnston area from a low-flyinR
plane, Charles Armentrout, Asso-
ciated Press staff writer, said:
Houses looked as If they had been
stepped on.
"Ihe tops of tall trees on the
mountainsides were neatly sheared
of - along the rolling, noun
famous terrain. The twister SEEM
ingly had followed the contour of
the earth as closely and accurately
as a qlowman."
While most hospitals still were
crowded with the more seriously in
jured, those with minor hurts were
being discharged as rapidly as they
could be treated.
Blood plasma and tetanous anti
toxin was rushed by plane to hos
pitals in Waynesburg, Pa, and
Clarksburg, w. Va, from points as
far away as Columbus, Ohio.
50 in Waynesburg Hospital.
Fifty injured were reported in
Waynesburg Hospital and dozens
more were treated at station set
up in the National Guard armory
Corridors of both Clarksburg hos
pitals were filled, and patients over
flowed into churches, hastily opened
as emergency annexes.
Many of the Shinnston injured
were sent to Fairmont, IS miles
away. There were 167 patients In
hospitals in Fairmont, Clarksburg
Warrington, Phillippi, Elkins anc
Grafton.
Between so and 60 persons were
reported treated at the Brownsville
(PaD Hospital and many others al
scattered hospitals and improvisec
quarters.
Hundreds of soldiers patrolled the
stricken areas and four companies
of West Virginia State Guards were
on duty in the Shinnston vicinity
The story of 23-year- old Lawrence
Barnett of hard-hit Shinnston reads
like the account of a nightmare. He
was in the yard at his home with
his parents, two brothers and 9
sister when he heard the vino
coming over the hill, Like a street
car in the sky, only somehow l knew
1t wasn't"
The air got hot" said Mr.. Bar
nett. eve all became frightened
and rushed to the house. The win
dows and doors ratified with the
wind.
Kitchen Cabinet Fell on Him.
Then the kitchen cabinet fell
on me and it seems as If the whole
house started to fall toward us
actually in splinters.
In few minutes it seemed tc
be all over and I dug myself out
I pulled away the timbers from my
father, mother, brothers and sister
| When got to my 5-day-old nephew
] found him dead. l pulled him
out and was so exhausted I fell tC
the ground"
Red Cross workers found Mr.
Barnett unconscious, suffering from
a dislocated shoulder and severe
cuts.
At Charters. at least II persons
were killed, more than 100 injured
and SO homes-most of the com.
munity's dwellings-leveled. Search.
ers dug at the runs for several still
missing.
| W0man's Body Found in Tree.
Hardly building remained intact
In the little mining village. The
body Of one woman was taken from
a tree 100 yards from her home
Clothing, furniture and even en-.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Mergner Asks New Trial,
Charging That Judge Erred

: Fred c. Mergner, convicted Of
frst-degree murder last week in the
slaying of Mrs Charlotte Robinson,
asked for new trial yesterday in
q motion filed in District Court by
Dis attorney, John H. Burnett
> The motion contends that Justice
James M. Proctor erred in admitting
into evidence statements Mergner
made to the police shortly after his
arrest. During the trial the defense
argued that Mergner was too drunk
at the time OF his arrest to make an
coherent statement to police,
' Should the motion be denied, JUS
tice James M. Proctor will impose
the death penalty. Under District
law the penalty is mandatory on a
6rt-degree murder conviction.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Coventry Cleric Urges
Church of Action
By the Associated Press.


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich, June "a.
The Rev. Leslie Edward Cooke of
much-bombed Coventry, England,
urged upon the 1900 delegates to
the biennial meeting OF the general
council Of Congregational Christian
Churches tonight development of a
church OF action-a church useful
in everyday Christian living.
Il think we deceive ourselves, !"
the speaker asserted, "if we expect
the world to listen to what we have
to say about the problems of peace,
economics and race when we show
so little evidence that we have
solved those problems or even begun
to tackle then.'
Evening star., 1944-06-25
On the Roll Of Honor
On the Roll OF Honor
Air Raids and Sea Crash Cost
Lives of Three From D. G. Area

Two Washington area Army
flyers now are listed as killed in
action after being reported missing
in raids over Europe, while a Navy
bomber crewman has been killed
in a crash at sea. Three other area
servicemen, including the first
Fairfax County casualty in the In
vasion of France, have been
wounded in action and fourth Is
recovering from injuries received
when he parachuted from his
bomber in Italy.
1t. John S. Fults, jr., "a, son Of
Mr.. and Mrs. John S. Fults, 1919
st. Elmo avenue, Bethesda. Md,
previously listed as missing over
Evening star., 1944-06-25

Coast June 10,
his parents, Mr..
and Mrs. John
s. Rhodes, have
learned.
The youth was
one of nine
aboard a Martin
Mariner patrol
bomber, which
exploded an d
crashed 5 miles
outside Of San
Francisco Bay.
Young Rhodes,
a ative Of
WASHINGTON. was
Evening star., 1944-06-25

dltd he naQ
been forced to
bail out of his
plane on June
6. The family
previously had
received ord
t h at he was
missing In ac-
ton.
A native of
Washington, 1t.
Harris was work
Ing at the Navy
Yard as a ma
chinist at the
time he entered
the AAF in Oc-
toher. 1912.
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Fascist Chief Reported Slain

NEW YORK, June a R.-The
United Nations radio at Algiers
said today that Italian patriots
had captured Pietro Caruso, Facist
chief Of police in Rome during Ger
man occupation at Bagnoregio
near Viterbo. The broadcast was
recorded by the Federal Communi-
cations Commission.
Evening star., 1944-06-25

to be nome Tor
his birthday on
June T." The Red
Cross informed
the family Fri
day that he had
been killed In
action over Bel
giun on May II.
A member OF
the N a tion a !
Guard duri l n g
his high school
days, he left the
Hecht Co. De-
paftnent Store
here to return to
the Guard in
Evening star., 1944-06-25
Publishers Group
Wants 10 Halt Use Of
s.
/. Lightweight Newsprini
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
A committee of 10 newspaper ex-
, ecutives. after comforting with Cana
dian newsprint manufacturers In
. Montreal, recommended yesterday
! that this country abandon the use
of the new, lightweight 30-pound
newsprint.
The committee recommended that
. Arthur r. Treanor. director of the
War Production Boards printing
and publishing division, request the
. Canadian government to return to
the earlier arrangement under
which the Dominion government
, guarantees shipments of 100000
tons of regular 32-pound newsprint
, month,
Unless this is done, the commit
tee reported unanimously, total Ca
+ madam production will suffer and
new cuts will have to be made in
, the quotas of newsprint allotted to
, American publishers.
, "Keenly Disappointed"
! The findings are expected by the
; WPB and the publishers group to
/, put an end to the lighter paper,
> which now Is used by about 20 per
+. cent of United States publishers.
, The committee, named bv Mr.
J Treanor, reported a keen sense of
/, disappointment" over it's conclu-
, sions. Use of the 30-pound paper
I. would give each publisher greater
: yardaRe of paper under his ton
: mage quota.
A. The committee asked that its
, recommendations be made effective
July and WPB officials indicated
this would be done.
'-s This means that If Our recon-
are approved" the re-
port said, publishers who have
ordered 30-pound paper for July
should be advised that unless their
ssorders are changed to 32-pound
paper, it will be necessary to adjust
their 30-pound orders to compen-
safe for the yardage differential.
g. Lightweight Costs More.
: WPB officials explained this as
meaning that publishers may let
atheir orders for 3o-pound paper
stand, but they will receive only the
ssame printing area as If 32-pound
snewsprint were ordered. The light
weight paper costs $4 ton more.
!, At the Montreal meeting on Tues
sday, Wednesday and Thursday,
.Canadian producers presented fig
sures on results of a 60-day trial
period to show that it was impos-
. sible to make both 80 and 32-pound
paper in their mills without a net
,, loss in production.
! If this program were continued,
the Canadians stated, the Dominion
could guarantee only 10000 tons
q month for this country's news
papers. If 32-pound paper alone
is produced, the Canadians said they
could guarantee 100000 tons a
month. This is possible through
the use of filler" material which
can be used in the heavier paper.
The report was signed by w. G.
Chandler, Scripps-Howard News
papers, New York; Buell. w. Hud-
son, Woonsocket Call, Woonsocket,
r. l.; II. M. Bitner, Pittsburgh Sun
Telegraph; Robert B. Choate, Her
d-Traveler Corp, Boston, Mass;
F. M. Flynn, News Syndicate Co.,
Inc, New York City; Irwin Maier,
Milwaukee journal; Earle McCol-
lum, Kansass City, Star, KanSaS City,
Mo-; Herbert Porting, Detroit News;
Franklin D. Schurz, South Bend
Tribune, South Bend, Ind, and
Harry s. Webster, San Bernardino
TELEGRAPH. San Bernardino, Caln. :.