Today's Weather -7 Cloudy and Warmer VOL. 55, No. 56 TWO STATE COLLEGE youngsters overlook the scene of destruc tion left in the wake of Saturday night's $600,000' fire at 0. W. Houts& Son, Inc., local department store. The fire, the costliest in State College history, leveled the store, but Howls, aided by fellow merchants, has been able to reopen for business.. Display Window Blamed For $500,000 Fire The $500,000 blaze that struck 0. W.. Houts & Son,. Inc. Saturday night is beliec.Ted to have started in the display•win dow next to the front entrance investigators said yesterday. The window had displayed Christmas decorations. Investigators of the fire, which was the worst in State College history, disclosed that . it was in the display window that Harvey Baisor, the night watchman, first discovered the flames. Baisor was first to tele phone the alarm to fire-fighters. At the State College Borough Council meeting Monday night, t own officials heartily com mended the Alpha Fire Company and the crews from Bellefonte for their work in preventing the fire from spreading to other buildings. Parts Undamaged Parts of the Houts structure which were not damaged by the flames were open for business yes terday. New merchandise is being sent in from other cities. Most of the Houts employees were back on the job yesterday. The State College Area Chamber of Commerce has been rapidly endeavoring to find jobs for the few out of employment. .Many businesses in the borough have already offered to help the un employed $5006 Saved Out of yesterday's findings came a safe protecting nearly $5OOO in checks and currency. Traffic on W. College Ave. was back to normal after the many sight-seers had a look at the fire's debris. The $500,000 destruction esti mate was made by Houts and h'is top officials. The exact• cost of the blaze is not known and won't be until after a closer check of the findings. Outing Club to Give Skating Exhibitions The Penn State Outing Club, in cooperation with' the College of Physical Education and Athletics, is•making plans for several figure skating exhibitions .on . the .new skating rink in January. The exhibitions, which will be open to the public, will be given by members of amateur figure skating clubs in Hershey, Phila delphia, and Pittsburgh. Caps and Gowns • • Seniors and graduate stu dents expecting to be grad uated in January who have failed to sign up for caps and gowns, invitations, and an nouncements may, do so today at the. Athletic Store. Today is the, deadline. 1 - • ..1:.1 11 '`-_.,..,.. . .. . . 4 . •%. ..,:,--... --A , .1 . ~ •.1 6 ' :'' . t . STATE COLLEGE, PA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 8, 1954 Gym Meet Seats Are Still Available Approximately 1000 general ad mission tickets are still available for the Swedish gymnastic exhi bition at Recreation Hall Jan. 15, according to Edward Czekaj, tick et manager. The tickets, for un reserved bleacher seats on the main floor, will go on sale at 9 a.m. at_the. Bee Hall ticket office. Price is $l. • The balcony, consisting of 2422 reserved seats, was sold out yes terday in the first day of the sale. Fifteen hundred main floor tickets were also sold yesterday. Forestry Convocation Sven& B. Rondum, a graduate of the University, and an associ ate of the T. A. Hardes Lumber Co., Bradford, Pa. will speak on "Small - Sawmill Operations in Pennsylvania" at the Forestry Convocation -at 11 a.m. today in 121 Sparks. University Considering Plans For Future Military Building A new military building is be ing considered by the University in long-range plans, Wilmer E. Kenworthy, director of student affairs, said yesterday. The new armory, which would probably house the three Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University, will not be constructed in the near future, Kenworthy stated. The armory is inadequate, he 'said, but a new armory would be of great cost to the University. Physical plant workmen are also completing several small construc tion projects already underway. Seven small poultry buildings are being ' constructed 'near the Animal Disease Laboratory on Ag Hill.. The buildingB .-- Will - be: used FOR A BETTER PENN STATE Wildcat Bagged By County Youth Although no one has yet shot any of the "black panthers" which have frequently• been reported seen in Centre County, one hunt er recently did bag a distant rela tive; a large wildcat. The wildcat, weighing approxi mately 40 pounds and measuring 50 inches, was shot by David Chambers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cordes, Chambers, of Snow Shoe, Monday morning on the Ridge road between Snow Shoe and Re novo. The animal, whose color was described as ' grey with white spots, was shot at "Ten Acres," an area in the Alleghenies about 12 miles from Snow Shoe. Pollock Men Get Food Changes Ronald Humphrey, chairman of Pollock Council's food commit tee, told council last night that the Food Service has agreed to post menus and to repair the loud speaker system in the Nittany- Pollock dining hall-. Other changes agreed upon. by Food Service, Humphrey report ed, include allowing Pollock resi dents to work in the dining halls. Food service also agreed to decor ate the dining halls for special meals. Previously, only students who reside in the borough were al lowed to work in the dormitory dining halls. In other actions, Council de cided to request that dormitory counselors be in the dining hall during all meals in order to keep order. In other action, council ap proved a report from its physical plant committee. The report•point ed out certain parking areas and walks that were badly in need of repair, and recommended that ap propriate action should be taken. This report was forwarded to the Dean of Men's office. Council then took up the ques tion of finances for dormitory functions. Council allotted $lO to each hall for the purpose of help ing these living units to finance their social functions. The group allocated money for a $25 first prize, a $l5 second prize, and a $lO third prize, in the Christmas decoraitons contest be tween living halls in the area. Conflict Deadline Friday is the last day stu dents who have two final ex aminations scheduled for the same time or three on one day may file a conflict card in the scheduling office, 2 Willard. to house diseased poultry under observation. A small blacktop driveway has also been constructed- from Curtin road into the Animal Disease g ab. • Workmen from the grounds and maintenance division of physical plant are clearing the,leaves and fall debris from campus before heavy snow falls. They have also finished planting shrubbery around the Nittany Lion Inn and Buckhout Laboratory. Cold weather, however, has forced most physical plant 'activi ties indoors. • Lab equipment is being installed in two • large laboratories on the' 'first floor of Whitmore Labora tory and some plumbing and elec trical work is being done. Workmen are• also doing general interior. painting. in. Osmond. Lab-, gAiatt U.S. Requests Votek Favoring Airmen Release UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Dec. 7 (R)—The United States and its Korean War Allies pushed hard today for the largest possible UN vote favoring , their resolution seeking release of 11 American airmen held as spies by Red China and condemning their detention. • The resolution denounces the trial and imprisonment of the air men as well as "the detention of all other captured 'UN personnel, as Re violation of the Korean armis tice. It call g on Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold to • work for their release and report back by Dec. 31. Lodge Delivers Resolution Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., chief American delegate, today handed Hamm a r skjold the resolution, which was agreed upon yesterday by the United States and the 15 other UN members who fought the Reds in - Korea. At the same time the machinery of • these dele gations was set in motion to ob tain a large .vote as a demonstra tion to the Communist •Chinese of world disapproval. The Assembly will convene at 3 p.m. tomorow in an unusual meeting to take up the resolution, sponsored by the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Col ombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the - Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, .South Africa and Britain. A final vote is ex pected later in the week. Omits-Two Prisoners The resolution does not mention two other men who - se sentences were announced by the Chinese at the same time as those of the 11. Those two were not under the UN command. • The resolution avoided a direct condemnation of China • for the sentences :of the 11 men but it lumped the case of the 11 and an undetermined number of other prisoners in a • general condeinna tion as a violation of the armistice. To Seek Release It requests Hammarskjold tin the name of the United Nations, to sek the release, in accordance with the Korean armistice agreement, of these 11 United Nations Com mand personnel and all other cap tured personnel of the United Na tions command still. detained." Hammarskold, asked at a news conference if he would go to Peiping, if necessary, to intercede for the fliers and other personnel, would not give a direct answer and he would not discuss the role set for him in the resolution, say ing he had. not had time to study it. Soviet Delegate Jacob A:Malik fought the item every step of the way yesterday in the meeting of the Steering Committee. Players Ad Crew to Meet Players advertising crew will meet at 6:45 - tonight in the Schwab Auditorium loft. oratory, Walker Laboratory, and Electrical Engineering. The' old . Athletic Association office, 107 Old Main, has been redecorated and taken .over by the Penn State Foundation. The Athletic Association office moved to the new - wing of Recreation Hall when it was opened this fall. The old office of the Penn State Foundation, 303 Old Main, will be used by. the . University Christian Association. Work will start soon on a small bore rifle range in the basement of the new wing of Rec Hall, ac cording, to Charles A. Lamm, sup ervisor of building maintenance and operation. 'The new range will have 10 fir ing points and will be used by the College of. Physical Education and Athletics. Apathy See Page 4 Debaters. Place 4th In Contest The Penn • State Men's Varsity Debate Team placed fourth out of 15 colleges in the Allegheny . De bate Tournament Saturday. Benjamin Sinclair, seventh se mester arts and letters major; and Sidney Goldblatt, seventh semes ter pre-medical major, debating the affirmative of the national de= bate topic "Resolved: That - the U.S. should extend diplOmatic rec ognition to Communist China"• won three victories and lost none. Taking the negative thide David Meckler, seventh semester pre medical major, .and Edward Kld vans, third semester electrical en gineering major, scored one win and two losses. The tournament was won by Westminster College. One hundred and forty-four teams were represented at the Temple Novice Tournament. Uni versity debaters Ernest Famous, seventh semester arts and letters major, and Jerry Donovan, sev enth semester labor-management relations major, debating the - af firmative side, scored three wins and one loss. John Yeatman, seventh semes ter arts and letters major, and Nathan Supnick, seventh semes ter arts and letters major, debat ing the negative won two victories and suffered two defeats. Phys Ed Group Conclave Set The Physical Education Student Council has set Jan. 12 as its convocation for all students in the College of Physical Education. Movies of the Swedish gymnastic team will be shown and Gene Wettstone, gymnastic coach, will speak. The student council approved the newly organized student fac ulty relationship commit tee, which consists of three faculty members who will serve to further relations between faculty 'a n d students and aid the council. Patricia Farrell was appointed chairman of the open house corn mittee. The open house will be held in April. Rink on Schedule, Wiegand Reports Walter H. Wiegand; director of the physical plant, has an nounced that work on the ice skating rink is progressing on schedule. He said workmen were still aiming for the proposed Dec. 15 opening- date. He added that workmen are still completing painting and miscellaneous carpentry work on the interior of the building. The winter sports division of the Cull& C 1 u b hopes to schedule figure-skating exhibi tions by amateur teams from Alt oon a, Philadelphia. and Pittsburgh during January and February. FIVE CENTS
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers