The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 167, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 29, 1958 Page: 1 of 28
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OFFENSE TO FRIENDS OR FOES WE SKETCH YOUR WORLD EXACTLY AS IT GOES"—Byron
78TH YEAR, NO. 167 Associated Preu AP) ABILENE,
TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 29. 1958—TWENTY - TWO PAGES IN TWO SECTIONS
AWOL THIRTEEN YEARS — Carlton Vance Mings, 37. left, confers with his
attorney, Henry C. Todd, at the Treasure Island brig after he was returned to
Navy jurisdiction by the FBI from his home in Porterville, Calif. The Stonewall
County native, who has fathered three children since missing his outbound ship
prior to V-E Day in 1945, is charged with desertion in time of war and faces a
court-martial and possible death sentence. (AP Wirephoto)
STONEWALL COUNTY NATIVE
Sailor Surrenders After
Being AWOL Since 1945
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The
double life of a Navy sailor—who
missed his outbound ship just be-
fore V-E Day in 1945—was dis-
closed Friday.
Carlton Vance (Jiggs) Mings,
37, born at Swenson, Tex, is in
the brig on Treasure Island in San
Francisco Bay, facing courtmar-
tial for his 1312-year absence. He
is charged with desertion in war-
time.
The charge against Mings, who
fathered three children during his
4,841-day AWOL. could, technical-
ly, have meant the death penalty.
No date for the court-martial
22
PRICE DAILY 5c, SUNDAY 15e
Eagle Plane Barely
MA* I d V *
Misses Jet Trainer
EL PASO — Tragedy brushed
close to the Abilene High School
football team en route here Friday
afternoon, in a near-collision be-
tween airplanes at Big Spring
One of two chartered airplanes
carrying the Abilenians missed a
T-33 jet plane by about 25 feet.
Pilot Charles L. Kageler quick-
ly shut off all his engine power.
rolled his craft to the left and
dropped about 1,000 reel to avoid
a mid-air crash
Line Coach Wally Bullington
and five Eagle players bumped
their heads, and stewardess Val
erie Williams bruised a shin The
Fred Sanner, aboard with the about an hour out of Abilene at
players, 3:38 p.m.. when the incident oc-
The 39 Abilene players are in curred. The American Flyers ship.
El Paso to play suburban Ysleta based at Fort Worth, carries 28
High School at 2 p.m Saturday passengers.
hasty dive threw most of the
passengers into the aisles, said state.
Reporter - News Sports Editor The twin-engine
in the first round of AAAA Cham- The shaken passengers first
pionship playoffs. Abilene is rank- thought the craft had slipped in
ed generally No.| 1 team in the an air pocket
DC-3 W»s
6,000 Mile Atlas
Appears Success
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)
—A mightly Atlas missile blasted
into space Friday night and there
were unofficial indications that it
may have flown the full 6,325 mile
intercontinental range.
has been set 1 said he sought solace in drink be-
Mings a ranch worker, did not cause of tensions from the Ches
marry Wilma, his children’s moth ter’s heavy action in the Pacific,
er, his attorney said, because he including several bombardments
thought it was wrong to do so of Japan and damage by the ene-
under a false name.
my.
When he returned to the dock.
They finally were wed. however,
by the Treasure Island chaplain the Chester was gone.
early this month.
Mings, a lanky, slow-talking and
slender 6-footer with greying
brown hair, said he was in a
dazed condition when the cruiser
Chester returned from the Pacific
war zone for repairs early in 1945
He was given leave just before
Mings figured he was in trouble
and began drifting. He met Wilma
Edna Baren of Yuma City, Calif.,
and they set up housekeeping -
eventually having three children.
Carl, now 11, Joseph, who will be
9 on Christmas Day and Angie, 2.,
The mother and children are in
the ship was to sail again He Porterville, Calif., where she is an
Season's Coldest
Snap Chills State
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The coldest weather of the sea-
son covered most of Texas Friday
and forecasts promised lower tem-
peratures for the night
Vegetable growers in the Lower
Rio Grande Valley expressed
concern when the forecast for the
The mercury slid to * degrees
above aero before dawn at the
upper Panhandle town of Dalhart
ft was 13 at Amarillo. 18 at Lub-
bock and 20 at Childress before a
warm, dry westerly wind — called
a Chinook - brought relief to the
Panhandle, much of it snow
evered.
High temperatures for the day
ranged from 36 at Alpine to 55
at Presidio.
The chinook hoisted readings at
Dalhart to 40 by early afternoon,
and melted much of the snow,
three inches deep st Childress and
two deep at Amarillo. The snow
belt extended as far south as
Weatherford, near Fort Worth,
and Abilene Electra near Wichita
Fallas had an inch.
night predicted temperatures as
low as 34 degrees Farm experts
said they expected no damage,
however, because of cloudy skies
and strong north winds
Northerly winds up to 30 miles
an hour caused small craft warn
employe of the Porterville State
Hospital. .
Mings brooded over his double
life and consulted a relative about
how to turn himself in The rela-
tive notified the FBI who picked
Mings up in Porterville.
(Mings grew up in Peacock,
seven miles from Swenson in
Stonewall County — west of As-
permont. He entered service late
in 1942 or early in 1943 His fam
ily reportedly has since moved
from Stonewall County.)
"I can’t tell you anything offi-
cially,” an Air Force spokesman
said an hour after the launching,
"but we’re mighty happy about
what happened tonight.
"It will be some time tomorrow
before we get the full story, when
the signals from the missile are
fully analyzed.”
The president of the Convair
Division of General Dynamics
Corp., which produces the Atlas,
was jubilant.
"There were no fundamental
question marks left in the Atlas
program," said J. V. Naish.
His statement was issued so
soon after the Atlas shoot, how-
ever, that it could not be taken
as a definite indication of the out-
come of the test.
Another Convair spokesman on
the scene told newsmen he ex-
pected “to have a story some
time tomorrow morning.”
If the "Beast,” as the Atlas is
known, dropped its nose cone on
its terget in the South Atlantic
Ocean, the United States is on the
verge of perfection of its first In-
tercontinental Ballistic Missile
(ICBM).
Such a flight would deliver ■
tremendous booster shot to free-
world morale, for Russia is be-
lieved to have developed an opera-
tional ICBM and to have used it in
launching the massive Sputnik III.
There was no immediate official
word on the outcome of the Atlas
test. The flight, starting at 9:27 p.
m. EST, would take only 30 min-
utes if all went well.
Ordinarily, the armed forces say
nothing about how their military
missiles make out, unless they
blow up in sight of onlookers in
the heavily populated Cape
Canaveral area.
Propaganda Value
However, details of a successul
ICBM shoot might be released be-
down, leaving the Atlas to con-
tinue on a ballistic course. The
silver-tipped nose cone separated
from the rocket shell and con-
tinued on toward the impact area,
while the now-useless rocket
plunged earthward to be consumed
by friction heat in its dive back
through the atmosphere.
An unidentified student pilot
was at the controls of the jet
trainer, said Capt. Allen R.
Robertson, information service of-
ficer at Webb Air Force Base
near Big Spring
"The way it looks to us,” Capt.
Robertson said. “Both pilots were
flying proper course and alti-
tude . but the non-scheduled
pilot flew across a reserved
area.”
He explained as follows:
•8000 Feet Deep-
On a periodic basis, “A space
8,000 feet deep and 30 miles
across is reserved for student
fliers here."
Altitude of the Abilene plane
was 6.500 feet, the pilot said
When students are going up,
Webb AFB notifies the El Paso
. _ „ ___.__,--p=e___This was the 15th Atlas to be
value of such an achievement, fired from Cape Canaveral.
cause of the great propaganda
THE WEATHER
U. s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
ings to flutter all along the Texas ABILENE END VICN TV 4mie ra
coast dius) — Fair and cold Saturday, partly
coast cloudy and a little warmer Sunday High
Saturday 45, low Saturday night 30, high
a MBS Sunday in the 60s
T NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS — Fair and
ARAIAF continued rather cold Saturday and Sun
D00W OIL,WEST TEXAS: Fair and cold say
" ruday. Lunday partly cloudy, warmer in
Warmup Due
Fair, cold weather Saturday
and a slight warmup Sunday is
predicted to follow the first snow
of the year recorded at Munici-
pal Airport
A trace of snow, falling be
"SOUTH CENTRAL and EAST TEXAS-
Fair and cold Saturday and Sunday
TEMPERATURES
Fri. a.m. _ Fri. p.m.
S .........4.00............39
Fire Captain
Injured as
Ceiling Falls
Such an announcement was not
expected before Saturday morn-
ing 1
A twin-chambered booster en-
gine at the tail of the 85-foot-long
Atlas and a sustainer engine in-
side its massive shell built up 360,-
000 pounds of thrust before clamps
holding the straining war rocket to
its launching pad were released.
Then the Atlas roae ponderous-
ly. The dazzling white lights of its
exhaust flames lit up miles of the
Florida east coast. The roar of its
engines swept out like a great roll
of thunder.
The Beast gathered speed grad-
ually as it broke clear of the
heavy drag of the earth’s dense
atmosphere Then, quickly, it be-
gan to build up toward its blazing
top speed of 15,000 m.p.h.
Sixty seconds after the Atlas
lifted off its launching pad, it be-
gan to leave a white vapor trail
across a clear Florida night sky in
which it vied with a full moon for
prominence.
In another minute, it resembled
a flaming meteor Then its burn-
ing tail vanished and for a time
it looked like one of the many
bright stars hanging in the south-
eastern sky.
4 Minutes In View
It was a full four minutes after
the blast-off before the Atlas dis-
appeared from view of newsmen
watching the spectacle from a dis-
tance of about three miles from
the Atlas launching site
If the Atlas performed perfectly,
the booster engine which provided
the bulk of the initial thrust away
from the earth was jettisoned aft
The first eight, primitive test
vehicles using only the booster en-
gine. were aimed over ranges of
about 600 miles. Four of these
flew successfully, the others ex-
ploded.
Last July 1* the first fully-pow-
ered Atlas wobbled in flight and
was blown apart 25 seconds after
launching due to failure of the
control system.
The next three reportedly were
good over a range of about 3.000
miles.
On Sept. 18, the first Atlas
aimed over the full intercontinen-
tal range blew up 80 seconds after
liftoff. On Nov. 17 an Atlas was
reported to have performed suc-
cessfully over a 3,000-mile range.
flight control center a half-hour
ahead of time. This procedure is
followed daily or oftener, when-
ever flying weather is good.
The El Paso center then warns
all planes flying on instruments
or omni range director to steer
clear of the reserved area.
But since the Abilenians were
on "visual flight" instead of 00
instruments. El Paso didn’t know
their plane was in the area .,
hence didn’t warn the pilot.
"He (the commercial pilot) was
flying on a proper course, but he
apparently didn’t remember
about this reserved area," Capt.
Robertson said
Pilei Angry
The pilot, however, was indig-
nant about the incident and after
radio conversation with the Webb
base, proceeded to El Paso. He
RONNIE CONKLIN
. . . re-sprains ankle
planned to file a report with the
CAA.
Sophomore fullback Mike Way-
man was among the several who
got head bumps from striking the
ceiling.
Fullback Ronald Conklin, who
had a sprained ankle previously,
further injured it when another
player fell across it, Sanner (the
sports editor) said.
"Looks like Conklin isn’t going
to be able to play Saturday.”
Sanner said. But it was uncertain
whether the injured ankle would
have allowed him to hit the field
anyhow.
"It was so swift that some of
the boys wearing glasses left
them up in the air,” the sports-
writer reported. None were brok-
en
A domino game was scattered.
About half the 28 pieces were
later discovered lying up in ths
opposite luggage rack, overhead.
"Everybody’s in good shape,
' See EAGLES. Pg. 7-A, Col. 8
19 Colorful Floats, Santa,
9 Bands to Parade at 10
Thousands of West Central Tex-
ans are expected to line Abilene’s
decorated streets Saturday for the
10 a m renewal of the city’s beau-
tiful Christmas Parade
The non - commercial parade,
featuring 19 gayly - colored floats
on the theme of "Yuletide Greet
ings." should be the "best yet."
said Harry Dobbyn, parade mar-
shal The floats are sponsored by
100 Abilene business firms, but no
Oak St. and then east to the Fair
grounds.
Floats have been prepared by
the following groups: U. S. Ma-
rine Reserves. American Business
Women’s Club, Taylor County
Democratic Women’s Club, Hu-
mane Society, Girl Scouts, Komas
Club, Longhorn Round-Up, Square
Dance Club, Siwamasis, Future
mus. Cross Trail Square Dance
Club, Wagon Wheel Club, Themus,
Amote and Eastern Star.
Bands from the following
schools will participate Abilene
Christian College, Santa Anna
High School, South Jr. High
Business Leaders of America. Phi
Beta Mu. Ta Te, Supremus, Ulti- High School.
School, Wylie High School, Lin-
coln Jr. High School, Rotan High i .
School. North Jr. High School,
Woodson High School and Gorman
High and low for 2 hours ending »
tween 4 and 6 am. Friday, was "In Mees same date last year
recorded by the Weather Bureau Sunset last night: 5:21, p.m.
at the airport Friday as the "promeuer reading a
temperature dipped to a low of Hum
26 degrees at 9 a m
The forecast called for zero
weather in the Panhandle where
enow lingered and for readings of
10 to 20 elsewhere and in the
South Plains North Central Texas
was threatened with 18 to 28
degree freeze, the rest of West
Texas with readings of 20 to 35
degrees. The forecast was for 22
to 32 degrees in the northern part
of East Texas and 32 to 42 in the
extreme south South Central Tex-
as faced 24 to 32 degree cold in
the north and 32 to 42 degrees
near the coast. ___•
For all of Texas, the long range
weather forecast was for tem-
peratures 5 to 10 degrees below
normal through Weripendav, rain Low Saturday night * expect
.Moderatas rolecast tor al areas ed to be 30. A warmup Into the
So Monday or Tuesday. 60s is forecast for Sunday.
The overnight low, recorded
about 9 am Friday, was the
same temperature reading the
Weather Bureau showed at 9
p.m. as a low of 18 to 23 degrees
was expected.
The thermometer had fallen to
36 again by 9 p.m. Friday and
was expected to hit s season low
of near 20 early Saturday morn-
ing before climbing to a high of
I about 46 Saturday afternoon.
BUY
Mr cent
elcome
er lifting the missile to an altitude
o( about 800 miles
The sustainer engine carried on :__. ..
to build up the missile’s speed and Dobbyn said Climaxing the pa-
to maintain its directional stability rade will be the traditional Santa
__Is it raced through the thin outer Claus
. s — * atmosphere of the earth Two Slated to form at 9 am. on N.
Fire Captain e hark Fridav Vernier engines mounted on the 1st St. between Grape and Cedar
fered a sprained back outer shell went into operation to
about 9:20 p.m. when a piece of control the roll of the missile
ceiling fell on torn while he was when top speed was reached
fighting a fire at 407 Peach S i the sustainer engine was cut off
Fire Marshal Len Blackwood Then the Vernier engines shut
said Lockhart was struck by a:—_
advertising is permitted TIPS TO GRID FANS
The 19 decorated floats and nine JIT- IU ON TANS
area bands will make up the ma-
jor portion of this year's parade.
Sts. the parade will swing out in
an eastwardly direction down N
Throng Expected;
Here's How to Go
piece of sheetrock and insulating
material weighing about 75 Federal Employes
pounds. To Get Dec 26 Off
“The slab hit Lockhart edge 10 der Prec 40
wise.” Blackwood said, "knocking
1st to Cypress St at 10 a m
The route will continue north
down Cypress to N. 6th St where
it will veer east to Pine St.
The streets of Abilene will be reminded. "Keep your car under
stacked three-deep with people I control, so that you can stop for
and cars Saturday, so here is the —4-- 4-4 5---” he wan
wise word on how to buck it all
anything that happens." he warn-
him to the floor
The injured captain was taken
a to Hendrick Memorial Hospital
AUGUSTA. Ga ! AP —President
Eisenhower Friday signed an ex-
ecutive order giving federal em-
There is a parade at 10 a m
downtown, expected to draw some
AST
where he was X-rayed, hospital
- officials said. He was kept in the
hospital overnight for observation.
The fire was confined to one
corner in the front room of the
duplex apartment. Blackwood
said. No one was in the house at
the time
Going south on Pine, the route
continues through the underpass 15.000 to 20,000 people, guessed
to S. 1st and Chestnut Sts., south Glenn Biggs, assistant Chamber
on Chestnut to S 4th St. east on of Commerce manager. It could
S 4th to Oak St and south on Oak run even higher
to S 7th St | Then at 1 p.m. in Fair Park ,
Assisting traffic captain F M there is a high schoolfootball 1
Pruitt with policing of the parade game pawithuprdbablyieene *
■ - - military units from 6,000 fans due. In a moment
ployes the day off Dec 26. the
day after Christmas. .............
Eisenhower also urged all feder- route will be military units from---- - - ,, ,_. .
al agencies to adopt a liberal Dyess AFB, 142nd Infantry and adv ice on which streets to take to
policy in granting annual leaves...-. 114 A-+11ee (Netinnal the stadium
to workers who want more time
at Christmas and are entitled to it.
NEWS INDEX
SECTION A
Women’s news .......4
Origin of the fire was through
to be a spark in a large stuffed
chair, Blackwood said. Three Church news
pieces of equipment answered the Sports
call * SECTION B
Mrs William Henry Smith Editorials........
owns the duplex, Blackwood said, 2mm** .......
but the 407 apartment is occupied Redie-Tv M.
by James Woodyard The 4B0 Ferm news .........
apartment is vacant, he said. I oi news ..........
131st Field Artillery (National e. __. m
Guard), Naval Reserve and a spe- For the parade, police traffic
cial infantry company of the Ma- Capt. F. M. Pruitt has put on 30
rine reserves extra policemen to help handle
No normal traffic will be allow traffic, before and after. In ad
N 1. Crane Carter dition, local military organiza
ed.
Here’s a list of suggested routes
to Fair Park stadium for football
fans bound for the Stamford -
Cisco game at 2 p.m. here:
If you’re already downtown for
the big 10 a.m Santa parade sim-
ply head west on any of three
streets — N. 1st. S' 1st, or N. 6th.
Ride it to Mockingbird Lane, turn-
ing left there and shoot straight
out it to the stadium.
To avoid downtown traffic, as-
sistant traffic engineer Russell
. 8-11
9
ed on N. 1st from Grape to Cedar
Sts. from 9-10:30 a m , Capt. Pru-
lions will help
“Be cautious,” Capt. Pruitt ad-
vised. Out - of- town motorists
should watch for one-way streets
and unfamiliar traffic controls
itt said. The Cedar St. crossing at
N 1st and the intersection at S
1st and Chestnut SU will be
closed during moving of the pa
rode, he said. You can avoid a bad bang and
Taylor suggests:
Coming from STAMFORD -
Ride Pine St straight into town
'ignoring Treadway Blvd. where
it turns to the left), turn right
from Pine at N. 18th Go on west,
on N 18th to N Mockingbird,
then turn left and on to the sta-
dium
From CISCO — Enter Abilene
on U. S 80, getting on S. 1st St.
at the interchange, then turn left
on Mockingbird and staying on *
Following the parade, floats will other traffic troubles by cutting
move under police escort from S your driving speed in towa t .
Th and Oak Sts. to S. 11th and match conditions around you, he until the stadium.
isco and Stamford Teams, and Fans
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The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 167, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 29, 1958, newspaper, November 29, 1958; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1659366/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Public Library.