50 Years Ago
Monday, June 15, 1970
‘Bloody leg’ kept by police
A belated “April Fool” incident confronted county patrolmen Larry Vaughn and Don Vick Sunday night when they answered a call to Wilkerson Road, where the finding of a body in an abandoned truck had been reported.
They found several persons waiting near the truck, but no one had gone closer to investigate. A bloody leg protruded from an opening formed by broken boards in the truck body, and a knife was in the leg.
Investigating, officers Vick and Vaughn found that the leg was an artificial one on which someone had placed a pair of trousers and sock, implanted the knife and poured ketchup over the area.
Monday, June 15, 1970
National Guard unit from Rome at summer camp
FT. STEWART, Ga. (UPI) – Some 6,000 Georgia National Guardsmen, consisting of 66 units from 46 communities, are undergoing two weeks of field training exercises here.
The Guardsmen gathered Sunday and will finish their activities June 28.
Company A. 1st Battalion, 102nd Armor, Georgia National Guard, of Rome, commanded by Capt. Jerre Field, is participating in the training.
A highlight of the training will be Governor’s Day, June 20, when awards for outstanding units and individual Guardsmen will be presented and the Guard will pass in review for military and civilian dignitaries.
Georgia’s National Guard, commanded by Maj. Gen. George J. Hearn, who is also adjutant general of Georgia, has three major components.
Tuesday, June 16, 1970
Viet Cong frees three newsmen
SAIGON (AP) – Three American correspondents captured last month by the Viet Cong in Cambodia have been released.
They are Richard B. Dudman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Elizabeth Pond of the Christian Science Monitor and Michael D. Morrow of Dispatch, Inc.
Dudman said they were released on Monday night. They were taken captive May 7.
“We’re safe and healthy and in good shape,” Dudman tonight.
He added that he asked their captors about the fate of some 20 other newsmen captured by Communist command troops in Cambodia and missing since April 3.
He said “we received no reply,” and that neither he, Miss Pond or Morrow saw any of the missing newsmen while they were in captivity.
Tuesday, June 16, 1970
Bum ankle slows Pistol Pete
ATLANTA (AP) – It was a rough first scrimmage for Pistol Pete Maravich as the Atlanta Hawks opened their 1970 rookie camp here.
Maravich , the National Basketball Association team’s $2 million sensation, was slowed by a sprained ankle at the scrimmage Monday.
“I sprained my ankle last week at a (basketball) camp in North Carolina and I’m having a tough time going hard on it,” he said apologetically at the workout.
“What happened was that I came down hard on my shoulders and head and my foot somehow twisted and jammed on the floor. Oh, well, I’ll be ready by the end of the week.”
Maravich, who led all scorers in collegiate basketball the last three years and signed with the Hawks for an estimated $2 million over a five-yearperiod, was the center of attraction as the 17 Hawks rookies went through a two-hour drill on half court.
Maravich was known as a “gun” or frequent shooter at Louisiana State where he played his collegiate ball.
But he surprised onlookers Monday with his defensive efforts.
“It’s not that I can’t play defense,” he said. “Defense is all in a man’s mind and stomach. And, speaking of guts, one of the greatest displays I ever saw Richie Guerin several months ago, scoring 31 points against Los Angeles. Defense is just a matter of pushing yourself.”
Thursday, June 18, 1970
Rome Transit posts 8-7 softball victory
Rome Transit scored the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday night and posted an 8-7 victory over Brannon Brothers in the National slow pitch softball league.
In other league encounters, Nellie Ryun rolled over Rome Police, 16-1, and Waters Motors whipped Hermitage, 15-9. In other games, Valley View defeated Auto Beauty, 16-5; Shelley Brothers upended Star Jewelers, 13-3, and Floyd Police posted a 7-0 forfeit victory over Darlington.
Rome Transit had to overcome a 0-7 deficit to post its victory. Brannon scored a run in the first and then came up with six runs in the second to jump out front quickly.
However, Rome Transit finally dented the plate in third and then by the fifth inning had pulled into a 7-7 tie. That set the stage for the sixth inning when three hits produced the winning run.
Goosby banged three hits and Holloway two for the winners, while Baker, Burkhalter and Johnston garnered two hits each for Brannon.
Nellie Ryun clinched its victory with a sevenrun outburst in the first inning and from then on it was all downhill. Winston, Towers, Williams and Kinnebrew slammed homers for the victors.
Waters Motors took a 2-0 lead in the first and made it 13-4 after three innings to settle the issue early. Little had four hits and Early three for the winners with both hitters and clouting homers. For Hermitage, Junior Casey had three hits, including a homer, while Bratcher and McBurnett picked up two hits each.
Valley View jumped ahead in the first frame, but then trailed by a run in the third before breaking the game open with a 10-run-rally. By the time the end came, Valley View had the situation in hand.
Richard Nelson and Jimmy Dudley rapped four hits apiece for the Valley View club. John Fortune had three hits for Auto Beauty.
Shelley Brothers used four run rallies in the third and fifth frames to take the measure of Star. The winners collected 13 hits, including to each by Stork, Cash, Price and Finley. Leading the way for Star and two hits each were Studdard, Wigley, Beverly and Turner.
Thursday, June 18, 1970
Cost of living goes up again
WASHINGTON (AP) – Living costs rose fourtenths of one percent last month, continuing the nation’s worst inflationary rate in 20 years of more than 6 percent annually, the government reports today.
Costs of all major categories were up, with transportation and clothing posting the largest price hikes in May, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau said food prices rose three-tenths of one percent, housing and medical care fivetenths of one percent each, clothing six-tenths of one percent and transportation eight-tenths of one percent.
The May report said living costs were 6.2 percent above a year earlier, continuing the more than 6 percent annual rate of climb that has prevailed for more than a year.
Friday, June 19, 1970
Soviet spaceship returns to earth
MOSCOW (AP) – The Soviet spaceship Soyuz 9 returned to earth today after its record-breaking space endurance flight with two cosmonauts aboard, Tass news agency reported. It was in orbit for more than 17 days.
The Soviet news agency said Soyuz 9 landed at a predestined area 45 miles west of the town of Karaganda. Cosmonauts Andrian Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastayanov were in good shape on landing, it said.
The spaceship had been orbiting the earth since June 1, four days longer than the American record for time in space set by Gemini 7 in 1965.
Soyuz 9 was launched June 1 and spent 17 days and 16 hours and 59 minutes in orbit around the earth.
Soviet press reports had indicated that the purpose of the long solitary Soyuz flight was to test man’s working ability in an extended state of weightlessness and practice manual navigation without help from ground control.
Data obtained by the two cosmonauts will undoubtedly help Soviet scientists in their longrange goal of building an orbiting space platform for scientific research and deep space probes.
Friday, June 19, 1970
Dads are ‘big deals’ Sunday
Fathers in Rome should put a little red mark on their calendars Sunday.
That day, of course, is the third Sunday in June, the traditional “Father’s Day” in the United States.
Father’s Day was originated in 1910 by Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Wash. Later the custom spread throughout the country, until today children of all ages in all states annually pay tribute to their fathers, with cards or perhaps a long-distance telephone call.
In 1936, a national Father’s Day Committee was formed with headquarters in New York. Since that time, a Father of the Year has been elected annually. Among men chosen have been Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman.