Scott confirms retirement PITTSBURGH (AP) Senate Republican Leader Hugh Scott, a power in Washington politics for 33 years, announced yesterday he will retire when his curreht term ends in January 1977. “Because there are numerous persons qualified to succeed to the office I will not be a candidate for re-election to a fourth Senate term in 1976,” Scott said in a statement issued by an aide. Scott’s statement made no mention of recent controversy involving alleged contributions from Gulf Oil Corp. “I will say only that.l have done my level best to be an honest, conscientious public servant conscious of the laws and tbiding by them,” his statement read. “Only those of you who have shared he experience of public service can realize the effect upon one’s personal and family life, the difficulties of living wi* Min the limelight of full and proper examination of one’s entire record.” he continued. Scott was in town along with Vice President Rockefeller to attend a GOP dinner honoring veteran state party eader George Bloom. But the night belonged to Scott. State Republican Chairman Richard C. Frame, emerging from a reception for the senator, said “There were tears rolling all over the floor” when Scott told party leaders of his decision to step down. “His urbane wit, his keen insight, his judgment and' his ability to get things done will be sorely missed in the United States Senate,” Frame said. Rockefeller, calling Scott “one of Ihe outstanding public servants in this country:’’ said “His depth of vision, his breadth of human concern, his dedication to this country ... are almost without equal.” Scott •'.himself did not meet with newsmen, and the only .'thing he said about ; his future, was that he would campaign in 1976 “to elect President Ford and our Republican; candidates of Pa. Mirror declares it may have to fold The Pennsylvania Mirror an nounced yesterday it will stop publication if the newspaper does not become self-supporting within the next six weeks. In a front page editorial, the Mirror asked subscribers to persuade merchants to advertise in the paper, and to purchase subscriptions for friends. Noting the newspaper’s role in the community, the Mirror stated, “We have tried hard and the venture has been a success from all but a finan cial standpoint.” Blair Bice, publisher of the Mirror, termed the editorial “an honest assessment of the paper’s position.” “We had an encouraging response from advertisers in State College and Bellefonte. We had some emotional phone calls and some flattering ones too,” Bice said. He said the response may grow to the extent that the paper can con tinue.” Bice said he has been approached in the past by potential buyers for the Penn Tower shown not to meet fire standards By PHIL STOREY Collegian Staff Writer A recent study commissioned by State College Borough Council found that Penn Towers, the borough’s tallest apartment building, was not meeting present borough fire standards in two areas. Council commissioned Tressler- Lutheran Associates, a research com pany based in Camp Hill, to find the cost of converting Penn Tower into housing for the elderly. Council voted down the proposed conversion after hearing a preliminary report from Tressler- Lutheran. According to the research firm, new fire doors cast iron doors on garbage chutes would have to be installed and beam coverings- fire-resistant material around steel beams would have to be changed. Those alterations would be made in addition to changes needed for the elderly. To change the fire doors and beam coverings alone would cost more than $350,000, the study estimated. When Penn Tower was built, the borough was using the L&I set of Bruce Kelly, general mangerof Penn building codes. Now the borough has Tower and eight other A. W. and Sons incorporated, both the L&I codes and Enterprises’ buildings in State College, codes written by Building said that because the building would be * Organization Conference of America used for a different purpose, different (BOCA), using the most stringent code standards of fire safety would be im- ' ttetween the tw o in each individual part piemen ted. of construction. “The fire standards far; elderly inusing are three to four times greater !than in any apartment building,” Kelly Ron Stehman, staff specialist for Tressler-Lutheran, said that apartment buildings come under the Pennsylvania Collegian the daily all levels. A former Republican national chairman, Scott served eight terms in the House and became Senate Minority Leader after the death of Everett M. Dirksen in 1969. His announcement contained no in dication of support for any potential successor, either for the leadership post or for his Pennsylvania seat. In Washington, speculation on a replacement centered on Sens. Robert P. Griffin, R-Mich., the assistant leader, and John G. Tower, R-Tex. A number of state Republicans have already started testing the waters for next year’s primary: Mayor Peter Flaherty of Pittsburgh, a Democrat and also a possible candidate, called for Scott’s immediate resignation rather than retirement. Flaherty made his statement several hours prior to Scott’s arrival here for a $l5O-3200 a plate GOP fund-raising dinner. The mayor; said the senator’s retirement wouldn’t remove the “scandal over his head.” “Sen. Scott can no longer be effective for Pennsylvania ok- the nation and he should step down rather than serve out the remainder of his term,” Flaherty said. I He added that “retirement ... will permit him to remain in office as a lame duck for another 13 months with a scandal over his head. “Sen. Scott does not deny that he has been receiving cash payments from Gulf Oil, and has been on the payroll of this giant oil company for-years,” Flaherty added. “The failure to deny the Gulf payments raises the question of whether he is on the payroll of any other giant corporation.” A Gulf attorney reported recently that Scott received $lO,OOO a year from Gulf. In a statement issued from his office, Scott said, “I have never knowingly received any corporate funds from paper, and did not rule out the possibility that the Miijror could continue under another owner. He said any sale of the .gaper will be discussed by the Mirror’s Board of Directors. In any case, Bice said the closing of the paper would, not affect Himes Printing Co., 1015 Benner Pike, printer of both the Mirror and The Daily Collegian. Bice called Himes “a profitable, growing printing business.” Rumors of the Mirror’s demise have circulated almost since the newspaper was first published on Dec. 11,1968. The lack of advertising has grown acute in recent months, causing increased speculation that the paper would fold. A reliable source indicated that the paper must cut operating losses by $30,000 a month to survive. The Mirror publishes seven morn ings a week and serves Centre County. Its circulation averages 8,468, according to Postal Service estimates. Department of Labor and Industry (L&I)., C-2 Occupancy Code, while elderly housing comes under the L&I Life Safety Code. Stehman added that the codes have changed since Penn Tower was built in 1972. But Bob Nellis, a building inspector for the Centre Region Council of Govern ments, claimed the- fire doors do not meet the standards because they are not fire-tested. < Nellis said he and the L&I inspector approved the fire doors and beam covering because they felt that the materials used were adequate. Nellis said he is dftfident that both the fire doors and the behm covering would stand up under intense heat for up to two hoyrs. Richard Kummer, councilman and a professor of architecture,! disagreed. “There is the basic fact: if' a fire door doesn’t meet the standards, it’s not a fire door,” he said. Both sets of codes require that all building materials be fire-tested and rated by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, a group that sets fire safety standards oh building materials for insurance companies. Nellis’ said he checked several dif- anybody, anytime. I am pot going to have any further statement.” The Watergate special prosecutor’s office is investigating the allegations, along with other 1 money matters in volving Gulf. Hugh Doggett Scott has been minority leader since-1969. He was in the House for 16 years and has been in the Senate for 17. Throughout his career, Scott, who served in the Merchant Marine and Navy during World War 11, has carried his knowledge of tacking and veering into the political arena. It was never more evident than during the Nixon years in the White; House and the days of Watergate during 1973-74. Scott stuck out his neck! to defend Nixon, claiming the President was viciously and unfairly attacked. When t|ie tapes finally did Nixon in, Scott quickly deserted, saying the President had “lied” to him. He led the move to force Nixon to quit which ended a two-year era he likened to “pure hell.” Scott was born in Fredericksburg, Va., but went to Philadephia after law school in 1926. His public career has continued ever since with only one interruption in 1944 when he was defeated for re election to Congress during the sweep of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served as assistant district at torney in Philadelphia from 1926 to 1941 when he first ran for the U.S. House: He was chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1948-49, was a key organizer of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential campaign in 1952, and played a leading role in Nixon’s first White House battles in 1960. An Episcopalian, Scott and his wife Marian have one daughter and five grandchildren. - 1 Weather ; Jce and snow will; melt today under sunny skies and niild temperatures. Brilliant sunshine will arrive after some early morning fog. High 52. Increasing cloudiness tonight and not as cold. LoW 37. - Mostly cloudy tomorrow with shpwCTSjdevelpping during the day. High 56* Cloudy and colder Sunday with a few snbw flurries. I ,1 Car impoundments questionable By MIKE SCHWARTZ Collegian Staff Writer State College landlords and Natale Brothers, a towing firm in the borough, asked Centre County Court last wedMo reconsider a recent decision on a towing question. j The landlords feel the decision handed down by Clearfield County Judge John Cherry did not clarify the legality of impounding an illegally parked car uqfil its towing costs are paid. Ben Novak, attorney for the apart ment owners and the towin| firm, told the court the order means “that persons can, with impunity, park on private property.” Novak added that suing the car owner to recover the towing charge “is not a realistic remedy” for apart ment owners. ferent testing laboratories and that no weren’t tested in a lab but we think one had tested the fire-retardent lumber they’re safe,’’.said Nellis, that is used as beam coverihg in Penn “Opinion, has nothing to do with it,” Tower. : f 1 Kummer Said. “I would have liked to “The fire doors and beam covering haveseeti the materials tested.” Not fire-proof? PENN TOWER, a 12-story apartment bonding on Beaver Avenue, was the subject of a recent stndy that showed the building is not meeting Are laws.: Winter's debut YESTERDAY, MOST OF US woke up to find snowflakes dancing on our windowsills. But it won’t be a long-running show...warm temperatures are scheduled for the weekend.j > - __ In his "decision, Cherry ruled that a Motor Vehicle Code provision giving property owners the right to remove illegally parked.cars does not give the property owner or his agent the right to hold the vehicle until the fee is paid. However, Cherry declined to rule on whether a refusal to return the vehicle until the charge is paid would constitute theft. Cherry said a decision on this matter should await an actual alleged violation of theft statutes. Novak argued before Cherry that the court “refused to decide the issues raised.” Novak is representing Natale's Towing Service, which was once em ployed by most parking lot owners to remove illegally parked vehicles. He said that unless Cherry reconsiders, it nr. " ■ "i —ill rs r • wi E ME 'M MM li MM U ■HP -IT ; .£$ binder* v 202 PATIEE Alpha Fire Co. Chief Ron Ross is not worried about the height' .difference between the borough fire equipment and •; the top of Penn Tower. • “What about a place like Pittsburgh?” he asked. “They have buildings thirty to forty stories high. What do they do? ” 5 COPIES Ten cent* per copy Friday, Decembers, 1975 , Vol. 76, No. 81 20 page* University Park, Pennsylvania Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University constitutes carte blanche to park landowner has the right to remove a anywhere, without fear of removal, with vehicle and charge for this.” a guarantee that towing costs would be Natale’s, Blasko said, wants to go refunded to the trespasser. beyond this. They “want the right for “In no otjier field of law do the courts storage a possessory lien.” order an individual to extend credit for _ , , goods and services,” Novak said. When Count y P'^ nct Attorney Charles an illegally parked car is towed, the Brown declined torenterthe.arguments. owner is entitled to refuse to pay for the beca l the ,n service, and can be billed foT&e cost, Hilary, 1974 when he told a committee under the court’s ruling that no claim meetlng °f apartment owners and can be made on the car, Novak added. m r anage ”L hat cars for Attorney John Blasko, representing a fee could be prosecuted as theft. the man who sued Natale’s two years Nat^ le s s PPP? 1 l ™ lng ,Uega y ago and helped to bring the case to a Pf r * ed after Brown s comments on head, said that Novak’s cUents “want theft and the development of the case, the criminal courts- to become a Property owners have not been able to collection agency to enforce this.” set up any other system for removing Blasko said Novak’s arguments illegally parked cars that also ensures “ignore the thrust of the order that the the payment of towing costs. Penn Tower has one big plus in its favor there is a wet standpipe with an outlet running from ground to roof on every floor. A wet standpipe is a watermain that provides enough water for fire hoses on each floor by turning on the faucet. Most State College buildings have a dry standpipe that, according to Nellis, has to be hooked up externally to a pumper truck and turned on in the basement of the building. There is also a minus for Penn Tower the building is more than 110 feet tall while borough fire equipment only reaches 85 feet. Each of Ross’ men have gqne through training courses and attended fire school each year. He claimed that, the men know how to fight apartment blazes and that they have even gone to special seminars on fighting “high-rise fires.” Ross added that Penn Tower resi dents had “nothing to worry about” be cause there are fire exits at each end of the hall. “And there’s no damn way a fire is going to get out of an apartment,’’’Ross continued, i “Those .newer :apartment buildings are fire-proof. ’ ’ J Kelly echoed Ross’s comments saying that in the past few years: two apart ments have burned up at Beaver Hill Apartments, which are also owned by A. W. and Sons, without affecting the surrounding apartments. Penn Tower has a steel skeleton of girders and beams while Beaver Hill does not, but the buildings are similar in construction. “Steel bum,” said Rummer, “but it fails and bends at extreme temperatures.” Rummer‘doesn’t see any way the beam covering in Penn Tower can be tested to see if it holds down tem perature because the building has been approved of and built. Meanwhile, Ross is mainly concerned about fire insurance and tenants tam pering with equipment. “Many students don’t realize that they should have insurance on their personal belongings,” Ross said “Most people think they’re covered enough by the landlord’s insurance” Tenants tampering with apartment fire equipment is an “every weekend occurence, ’ ’ Kelly said. Ross said fire extinguishers are “brought into State College by the truckload “because so many of than are stolen.” The fire chief added that all apartment buildings in the borough have the same problem stolen and discharged fire extinguishers, pulled alarms, broken alarms and cut hoses. “No one worries about Gres until there’s a real Ere,” Ross said If there is a real Ere and the Ere exit is blocked Ross cautioned go back into the aparment, shut the door and stuff something into the openings at the top and bottom of the door tn keep the smoke out. The emergency number for fire is 234- 0234.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers