Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

              Serhan Case Report to Be Offered Governor
A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
Cloudy, Mild
Highest Today 48
Monday—Cloudy, Some Rata
52ND YEAR — NO. 8
Mmnber Andit Bor«»aa 9i ClrcuUtioa
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY DECEMBER 15, 1957
Wlr« >'«w* SerTlct
PRICE 20 CENTS
83 ARE ROUNDED UP IN RAIDS ON FIVE LUZERNE COUNTY HORSE BETTING SPOTS
State, County Officers Join in Staging Cleanup
~ ~ |2 Estabffsftmenfs
All Calm After Troopers Near aty Haii LeaveCityGambling Dens ^'"^"^ ^^""'^ ^'*
By JAMKS D. COCtO
Staff Writer
DISLIKE CAMERAMEN—:
The prin- *c i p a 1 R
taken in raids on top horse race betting establishments were camera shy when they appeared before Justice of the Peace Wil¬ liam H. Roberts of Kingston last night. At the left .To.seph Sheer- an, identified as a key-man in area Rambling activities, makes a
hasty exit. In th« center picture Lewis A. Moyer of West Wy¬ oming is seen departing after being freed on bail. With him is State Trooper Roy Peters. Making good u.se of their big hats in the picture,at right, are Anthony Dominick of West Pittston and •Joseph A. Evans.of Avoca. In the background is Justice of the Peace Roberts.    (Photos hy Paul Bieley and George Chukinas).
Investigation Tells What Is Undone in Murder Case, Points Out Laxities Here
Visitor Is Grayer, Thinner
Paris Greets Liberator Eisenhower; President 5eis Tone for NATO Talks
^    PARIS (IP)—President*^ Eisenhower, who liberated
In the conclusion of the report of the special ^^^^^ isTars^ago. cam^ investigator from the famed Charters Associates back yesterday to lead the At- on what has heen called the "Serhan Murder lantic alliance against the chai-i Case" there is a summary.
It has two objectives.
One is intended to show why so many mur
of    "despotic"    Commu-
lenge inism.
The President   said  the Com- Imunist   threat   would    be   met
"effectively and in unity."
5 Bloomsburg Area Men Are Burned in Explosion
At two central city gam¬ bling hou.ses three hours after State Police raided the estab¬ lishments, one located a half block from City Hall, and the other one long block away, the "backrooms" in each were something like the night before Christmas when "all through the house, not a crea¬ ture was stirring not even a mouse . . ."
Yuletide shoppers were at¬ tracted by toy and souvenir window displays at Barre Cut-Rate, 7 F.ast Market St., unaware that a few hours earlier the store was the scene of a "gambling raid." A red-green neon sign out front blazed, "Coal Novelties, Greeting Cards and So\ive- nirs." Inside, a lady pur¬ cha.sed a Christmas card and a salesgirl assisted a gentle¬ man shopping for a toy.
At Merchants Smoke .Shop, 84 East Northampton St., the usual late afternoon "trade" treked into the small and nar¬ row • establishment. They in¬ cluded cigarette, soda and ice cream purchasers, and a har- rassed gentleman Inquiring about comfort facilities. None seemed aware of the State Police visit in mid-afternoon. Light Tumed Out
The "backrooms," targets of the raiding troopers, were empty and dark at both en- I tablishments. This was in ; contrast to the scene at each j when State Police arrived and i began recording the names of i  visitors.
Owners of both stores were taken away by the troopers and business was being man¬ aged at each by "a friend. '
The "friend" and two sales girls at  Barre Cut-Rate  were
nied they were in the store at the time. One of the sales¬ girls did say, "I'm going home" The friend, who did not identify himself, said he was summoned by the owner after the raid to watch over the store.
"Volunteer" Takes Over
The "friend" at Merchants Smoke Shop said he had been ill for a week and just stopped by when the State Police ar¬ rived. He volunteered to man¬ age  the  store  in  the owners
ders jfo unsolved in Luzerne Countv and the' in a 700-word arrival speech other-more specific-provides definite ^fi^^-^^^^ l^olflZJ^o^n^,^]?. tions as to what remained to be done to lead to morrow, he offered the worried a possible solution of the Serhan case. :^^f-- .."^ ItToped"^^
It gives also some possible reasons why this His voice was vibrant and roud
case has not been solved bv those who had a partlaf he spoke at oriy Airport. He
, ,    . .... ¦ 1 stumbled only twice over words
in such investigation as was made. i_the only outward sign that
Because of that, because of its importance to thejmight be attributed 'to his mild people and  because  il believes  ALL this information!stroke suffered less than three should V)e made available to the people (with some ofi^^'' '' ^P" ii being of a nature which forbids its publication in a I'¦»«='"8 "'*«'=''«"" ^    ,  ^
newspaper) the Sunday Independent will endeavor to^^^.^'t -/"^^--^^of'her.^^^he see that it gets m the proper hands.
Five Columbia County men were burned, four criti¬ cally, last night at 7 when trapped in a cinder-block service station that was destroyed by flames.
The  men  were  admitted  to   Bloomsburj:  Hospital
where the condition of four*	
was    de.<»cribed    as    "veryphoenixville,   suffered   minor serious." burns of the face. !
They    w«r«   identified    as; Gas Tank Explodes P.S.T.. and   Reck, dressed
George    Warden,    address    un-     According to State Police, the in   a   brown   suit,  accepted   the
known;  James Campbell,  RD 4 f're  started   when   a  gas . - -      . .
Bloomsburg; Clyde Ikler, address developed    m    a    sedan    •'eing-"^ f-^com^-nt.^^^^^^^ Ho/teCf
Hy
Staff Writer
Horse race betting was dealt lis most seri¬ ous blow in Luzerne County history yester¬ day   afternoon   at   the
completely in the dark when   „4,.„i._   _f   •»   „ !,„„    <•;,.. asked about the raid.   All de-   Stioke   ol    i   when   flVC
key betting establish¬ ment s simultaneously were raided by state- county police details.
.\rmed with warrants, naming all the big names in the local bookie syndi¬ cate, the details took into tow what they termed "10 principals" and took the names of 73 frequenters.
The    principals,    all    of absence.   About a dozen men   whom  were  released  after
posting $."ino bail before Justice of the Peace Wil¬ liam H. Roberts of Kinjrs- ton, were:
Joseph    "I.lttle    Mozart*
Sheeran   of   117   North   Main
I  St.,  city,  who was  Identified
by authorities as a "key man
In area gambling."
Andrew    Conigllaro,     alias I  Andrew   Candell,   alias   "Big
Andrew," of Nuangola. j       Lewis    A.    Moyer    of   428 I Holden St., West Wyoming. VIncenzo DeCintlo, fl5 Lin¬ coln St., city.
Joseph Epstine, 292 South Franklin St.. city.
George Karazia, alias George Brown, alias Brownie, of Georgetown.
Anthonv Dominick, 3 2 4 Warren .St., West Pittston.
Joseph A. Evans, 922 Clark St., Avoca.
John Wovnoski, alias John Krick. of Prospfct St., Nanti¬ coke.
Miss Julia Wolosonovltch, 259 East Broad St., Nanticoke.
were   reported   in   the   back room when the troopers hit.
"The troopers took names of everyone, even those who.just came in to buy a pack of cigarettes," he said. "They should have left the ordinary customers alone "
The hack room, with ample table and chairs, was empty.
The "friend" also com¬ mented, "the place has a stamp and still it was raided." He referred to the federal $50 stamp required by gamblers.
He added that the State should legalize horse racing. "Every weekend thousands of Pennsylvanians go to oiit-of- .state race tracks." Then he added, "Besides, there's no money in it nowadays around ' here." !
Dave Beck Found Guilty Of Embeizlentent Charge
SEATTLK (ir^l)ave Beck, president of the giant 'The S IfeT'^taged wuh- Teamsters Union, yesterday was judged guilty by ajout the knowledge of local po- jurv of seven men and five women of embezzling $L-i''^^ officials in Wilkes-Barre, 900 obtained from the sale of a union-owned Cadil lac. ^?r,'5"^5;.,r^!,'.l"*" .^.^.l ^Y."\'L*:
The   jurv   returned   its«> verdict   at   12:02   P.   M.,
Citrus Sale
unknown;   and   Raymond
Hen- lubricated men   shall   continue   to  live   injdrick Jr., RD  1  Numidia roorT'^*'
freedom    and    in    dignity    or     Wiiiiam    D.    Schell,    RD    1 whether   they   are   to   become| mere vassals of an all-powerful state."
"The heads of NATO arei meeting in this beautiful Paris to analyze the challenge we now  face,"  he  said.   "We  shall
when   a  gas    leak verdict calmly. Pressed by ncws- in    a    sedan    being '^^"   f"""   comment,   the   portly The   cars   gas   tank „„,  g,  3,, in    the     lubricating
meet   it,   effectively.   We   shall meet it in unity." Thinner, Grayer
He re-stated the belief upon which NATO was founded that the Western nations sought their own security "and above all . . . peace with justice and with honor."
It was an older, thinner and grayer Eisenhower who landed | in a cold, raw wind at Orly Air¬ port. It was his first visit to Paris in the five vears since he
To that end it is being offered to the Hon. George M. Leader, Governor of Pennsylvania.
A letter to the (iovei-nor from the publisher of the Sunday Independent will make that offer. Can Reach Proper Hands
This, it has been concluded after serious consider* tion, is to make certain the rej^ort—for whatever it may be worth—gets into tlie proi>er hands.
If it can accomplish anything in this case, it will have met some success and if it accomplishes anything to prevent future outbreaks of crimes of violence in Luzerne County it will succeed be.vond the fondest hopes of the Sunday Independent.
In previous weeks the report of the special investi¬ gation of the Rita Serhan case, made b.v Henr^^ J. Olenzak of Charteis Associates, has shown three things:
No. 1.—11 might not have been a murder. No. 2.—It might have been made to look hke a murder.
No. .3.—Practically the whole load of local in¬ vestigation was piled on the group least equipped and expected to do the work—the Wilkes-Barre Police Department's detectives.
Now what? . . . What can be done to .solve this crime and to improve our crime detection agencies so that they will be prepared to cope with the future? The Next Development
Unless   as appears extremely hkely since the State    \^^   presidential   plane   "Co-'PeS". 426 Owen St.. Swoyerville. Pohce  really  made  no mvestigation and  the distnct lumbine r- nosed down at 8:531   All three vehicles were towedj attorney's county detective practically none, the wholelA. M. (EST). Serhan case is to be dropped, there are some exceedinglv!   The plane nosed  up to the important things which still can be done. "  apron    where    President    Rene
They  should  be  done  to  solve  this  case,  which:^"*^ ^"*^ '^^^ Western digm-
LAKELAND,    Fla.     (ffl — The
Barre   Township.     Two   or   the
establishments raided in Wilkes
Barre   arp   within   a    block   of
City    Hall    and    police    head-
qu.irters
Both the county and state po¬ licemen who participated in the raids said they were conducted after several days of painstaking preparation    on    direct    orders
not a word, ask  me
10,000   questions   and   you'll   get        w-irvi i i-ii^L<        na        un   1 nr
the same answer" in     a   '^-       ' /-     ' '''""^ District Attorney Albert H.
The four men, who were cri-     .lury   foreman   Charles   Hick- '^'"'''°'  ^"'¦"'  '-""i"i"'sion   has Aston, tically   burned,   wwe   standing Unj;,   Bellevue,   Wash.,   said  the "et   up   machinery   to   halt   all     All of the warrants carried hy around the car. .jurors took otilv one ballot and citrus shipments for seven davs '*""  raiding parties were signed
Schell, who arrived to pick up spent nearly alt of their deliber-to prevent the sale of fruit dam- '^^ u^'^^ County  Detective  Jo- .- - ,a station wagon being repaired, ation time "weighing evidence."!       .  ¦    ,       ^_-.i,., tt;n non non "''"^    "   Miller.
' |was standing m the doorway be-     Beck's chief attornev, Charles ^'^'^'^  '"  ""^ "^^^ " »S0.f>O''.0f«'
I       fk   A_„   f*m.».J^       tween the office and lubricating S. Burdell, said he would imme- "¦ef-^e
in   \mi   nr  I   r/lvn       ¦¦'"""     ^^^   kicked   out   a   plate fliajely file a motion for a new      rhe   action    is    expected    to III  W   VMI    wlUiJII      iglass   window   that   enabled   all triil   and   if   a   new   trial   were create    a    severe    shortage    of
'to flee the  blazing  building.        denied he would then appeal to; graoefruit   and   tan2e-
Three    young    persons    wer«!    i^,  service   station   ooerated'''^ "*'«^ ''^"P''*'"^'' ^ourl. orangv.s.   grapefruit   and   tange
injured   last   night   in   a   three-u^^/^! J^T^^,!,;}^,^'^"'rX?\^^^     The jury delibernted  8  hours nnes    throughout    the    country car collision  near  the  MoonliteH^l^.^^k j'InJ^^^ ¦« minutes hefore advising during   the   Chnstmas   holidavs,
Drive-In Theatre in West Wvo-i"tiT ?^L   B^^m?;, L ""^^ the judge at  11:19 A. M. that it
ming.    Each of the injured was ""'''  ^'""^  Bloomsburg. ^g,, ,^3,,,,,,,  j„ ^^jj^,
in   a  different   car.  Son Found Guilty
Admitted to Nesbitt Memorial » »     II ^ Yesterdays verdict was hand
(Last Sunday the Indcprnrl- ent featured a story in which Lu/erne County's role In the gambling business was out¬ lined and it was pointed out that a Wilkes-Barre location was the headquarters for horse race betting Information.)
The   raids   were   planned  tnd 1
Hospital, Kingston, was Domi-| nick Mairra Jr., 18, of 640 Tunk¬ hannock Ave., Exeter. He suf¬ fered lacerations of the chin. He   was   a   passenger   in   a   car
108
when citrus sales normally reach their peak. |
The   immediate  effect  of  the'?'^'"'^'"^tt''^^»y   ^^."'''J^^*
Police   Detective   Victor   Nielsgft
Chief    County    Detective
Vallev/     Sr"^n^Q ^^ ''""'" '" ^^^^'^ George H. Re-ighoruge is expected to hit the ' "V V alley      •JV-CI ICO ivelles Superior Court, the same' ''""
court   wjiere  a  jury  last  month Used  car   tiUrsnian   tiUiiiy nrqunivtanres of tvnys tn dis-
Iserved   as   NATO   commanderldnve" by Francis S. Groslki, And  it  was  1.3 vears  since the'^'"coln  .St.,  Exeter. iAugust    dav.     1944, . when    Yte     Miss   Sandra   Cherba.    16,   ofi freed the citv from the German;RDI, Pittston, driver of another
army.
White House Press Secretary James C. Hagerty said the Pres¬ ident suffered no ill effects from the airport ceremony and the l.'l-mile drive to the U.S. Embassy,   despite   the   weather.
vehicle and Francis Stanulis, 20,, of ,309 Kosirk St.. Swoyerville,! were treated for injuries and discharged.
West Wyoming Police saidj Stanulis was a passenger in an' outomobile driven by John Che-1
from the scene.
ffuise jinnr paint jobs on rnrn and then quickly nffilinq, "Hut vt nfifr do thot nt nur plaff!"
Two dninkx with nut Ihouf/ht in mind—to htiy n pnrakfft ns a Christmnf prfstnt nnd then hartny thf thing esenpe on Ihem tun hloekn from   the  pet  shop.
Ashley hunter telling of a buck he shot in the moun¬ tains, "It ain't much of a deer, but tht rack i» nice."
found    Beck's    son.    Dave    jr.,; probably pay much higher prices ficial. guilty  on  two  counts  of grand for   the   Florida   fruit   reaching     Sheeran,
markets   before   the   disas-
the    'key
who was  tagged  u
man "    in   the   local
horse-betting   setup,   was  taken
Foster
Section Page
,     ,   J     ,        -,       _..     _    , ,        ...        ,     . itaries    including    John
stai-ted when Mrs. Rita Serhan was found lying dead, Dulles were waiting
in a pool of blood, in her combination store and home at     premier    Gaillard    welcomed Amusement Four
262   Stanton   St.,   Wilkes-Barre,   on   the   morning   of the ^'resident in a brief speech Around the Town... Three April 7  1957 receiving him  "on  the soil you Better English Two
There is a still more important reason. Ih"°^'^ ^*"' '^' '°*' y°" ""ce City Hall New, Five
,,„ .,    •. •    1    J u i    u        JU- ill iioeratea... Classified....    six
While it is bad enough to have this case as still one      The  people  of  France  wel-1County Nev ? Five
more unsolved capital crime which .seems to prove that come   you  with   joy,"   Gaillard Crossword Puzzl«...Six
you can "get awav with murder in Luzerne Countv,"**'? . ,   ..   „     ^ Drew Pearson .Three
V, ,.,, lu • I 'In his reply, the President went Editorial Three
there^is .still something else. ,    out of hi. Vay to praise France Frink Tripp Thre.
Thll II the matter of protection  for th« p«opl«,—unhappy over U. S. armt nhip-House Doctor Six
(Continued >¦  >>'ag« i, S«c. 1) mtata to Tunisia. Homaoftb* Waak.. Siz
> ^
INSIDE THE INDEPENDENT
Section Pa'ze
larceny ahso  involving  the  sale the
TeamsfJrfunim'""''*"'   *"   **'* '^°"^ '^'"'' ^^^'- *"*» ^"^ C'"' '"to  custody  at  the   Barre  Cut
Both cases grew out of inves- f""""'* *"<^ Texas fruit. (Continued on Page 4, Sac. I)
ligations instigated by the Senate ¦ Rackets ('ommittee The inves¬ tigation of Beck's financial af¬ fairs by the -Senate group caused a King County grand jury here to looK into the situation. The, grand jury indicted the Becks last Summer \
Beck   also   faces   trial   nextl April on Charles of federal in-i come  tax evasion Authorized Car Sale
The case went to the jury at! .3:34 P M. (P.ST) Friday after a; last ditch attempt bv the defense' to gain a mistrial fizzled out.
The   jury   deliberated   for   6
10 How Can I ??? Five
7!Indoor Gardening.. Four 9 Look and Learn One
6 Obituary One
1-4| Politics Three
7 Radio Four
1 Robert C. Ruark Three
61 State Capital Five
6|StateNews Five
7: Sports Three
2 TV  Four
2. Woman's Section... four
igihours   and   16   minutes   Friday .^'night and finally retired at 11:15 7 P. M.   The jury resumed its de- S liberations yesterday morning, (j     The   teamsters   president   ad-
K) mitted he authorized the sale of
7 the car and that the money was
g placed   in  his  private  bank  ac-j
9 count  However, the defense con-|
1-5 tended the money was used by!
11 the union for political contribu-j 1.9 tiona. I
1.500 Reported Killed By Earthquake in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran ilP—The governor of Hamadan Provinca reported yesterday 1,100 persons were buried in the town et Farsanj alone by Friday's earthquakes in northwest Iran.
The United States moved to send imnwdiate aid to Iha stricken area
The provincial governor said 200 bodies had be«o ra- covered in Farsanj, hardest hit of an estimated 60 towna and villages Reports of dead in the region ranged up to 1,500. but communications were shattered and there were no official estimates.
Tehran press report claimed 800 persons known dead. The newspapers .said 1,250 persons were injured and between 40.000 and ."iO.OOO persons were made homeless
Clark Gregory, director of U. S. Point F'our tecMical aid mis.sion to Iran, flew over the quake area yesterday to mak* a preliminary estimate of the damage to pav* the way for immediate Amencan aid.
The provincial governor of Hamadan reported to Interkir Minister Ali Jalai that Farsanj. a town of several thousand farmers and villagers, had been leveled by the quake. He said tha disaster was compounded by freezing weather.
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