The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

cincinm A fomblnrd ommunintlons Newspaper FINAL EDITION FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1977 PRICK 15c Friday Price Po wer Denied House Kebuf Carter On Gas 1 1 1 ill 0 pi WASHINGTON (AP)-In a setback for President Carter's energy program, the House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to deny the new Energy secretary the power to set natural gas prices. Instead, the House gave the authority to a five-member board, despite Carter administration insistence that a comprehensive energy policy required that a single administrator have that power. The House also approved two steps to further limit the powers of the planned new department. One would prevent the President from reorganizing the price-setting board out of existence. A second step would give Congress veto authority over regulations issued by the Energy Department.

THE DEBATE on the price-setting powers centered on how much authority should be given the new energy chief. "This kind of power is too much in the hands of one person," said Rep. John Moss whose amendment giving the independent board price-setting authority was supported by House Republicans and a coalition including consumer organizations. A final vote on creating Mr. Carter's proposed new Energy Department was put off until Friday.

The Senate has approved an Energy Department bill that also creates a board with price-setting authority. The Senate would give the President the authority to veto decisions of a three-member board and the new Energy secretary could propose specific natural gas price policies. ALTHOUGH THE differences in the two versions must be worked out in House-Senate conference committee, Thursday's House action Insures that the new Energy secretary will have less authority than the President sought. The actual energy policies that the new department would carry out are also being drafted in Congress. The House energy subcommittee writing the policy bill began work Thursday with a draft that would make home insulation mandatory in most cases.

The Carter administration has said such a mandatory approach might be necessary if voluntary efforts fall. THE PANEL'S first draft would require that no home could be sold with federal mortgage guarantees after January 1, 1985, unless It met federal insulation standards. The. subcommittee suspended work for the day without voting on the draft. In considering the proposal for a new Energy Department, the House voted 236-119 to transfer from the Federal Power Commission (FPC) the power to set natural gas prices and give It to a new agency within the new department, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

UNDER THE administration' proposal, the FPC, along with the Federal Energy Administration and the Energy Research and Development Administration, would be abolished. Their powers and authority would be given to the new department. This is to have about 20,000 employees and an annual budget of $10.6 billion. The House Government Operations Committee, In earlier approv-'i lng the President's plan, had left' the authority to set prices in the hands of the new secretary, expect-; ed to be White House energy adviser James R. Schleslnger.

Before adopting the Moss amendment, the House defeated a proposal by Rep. John Conyers (D- Mich.) to keep a pricing commission outside the department and give it authority over both natural gas and oil prices. 1- trmm SP 1 i -i itiwiii. mm mui wr. Of Wrecking Ball Enquirer (Fred Straub) Photo Your Day Mostly sunny today, high In the mid-70s.

Clear tonight, low in the 50s, followed by a warmer, sunny Saturday with a high In the low 80s. No chance of precipitation today. Details, weather map Page C-6. Take advantage of the cool weather to browse the fifth annual Friends of the Public Library book sale on Fountain Square, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Smile There's this liberated woman we know. She tries her best to look like Farrah Fawcett-Majors-but she resents being called a sex object. Lottery Results Winning numbers drawn Thursday in the Ohio Lottery's Pot O' Gold are: 376-884-88557 Metro Another attempt to delay a grand jury investigation into the medical practice of Dr. Bertold Pembaur is denied in court. Page D-2.

Nation Governor Byrne signs bill legalizing casino gambling in Atlantic City, N.J., and warns organized crime to keep out. Page A-9. Indiana legalizes Laetrile, the controversial cancer drug, but the FDA warns it will never be truly "legal" in Indiana or anywhere else. Page A-5. World Conference of industrial and developing nations ends In discord after oil-producing countries refuse to discuss global energy problems.

Page A-14. Fire aboard a cruise ship forces evacuation of all 653 passengers. Two crewmen are killed and three are missing. Page A-15. Sport Columnist Bill Braucher finds the Reds are it, not only to Cincinnati buttoalarge chunk of the Midwest.

Page C-1. People Today Are religious cults the greatest exploitation of youth since the Hitler youth movement? Page B-l. "Let them talk," say professionals who deal with disaster victims. Page B-4. Business Japanese steel manufacturers export their unemployment to U.S., says Armco Steel chairman.

Page B-12. Entertainment Dave Brubeck laments the passing of his friend, Paul Desmond, alto saxophonist of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Page B-10. In Our Opinion Patrick 1 J. Buchanan finds that America's "new" foreign policy lasted exactly 72 hours.

Page A-6. Index Four Sections 137TIIYEAR, No. 55 Action B-2 Health B-2 Bridge B-6 Horoscope. B-5 Brumfield A-7 Horse B-4 B-12-15 Jumble B-5 Classified People Today B-1-7 A-7 Races C-5 Comics B-8 Society B-3 Crossword B-5 Sports C-1-6 Dear Abby B-2 Tri-State Extra. D-4 Deaths C-6, 7 A-12 Editorials A-6 Weather C-6 Weikel D-l Graham B-16 Word Game.

B-5 local and Area News Pages, D-l -4 Carter A -Policy Assailed ENID, Okla. (AP) An expert In fusion energy feels that if President Carter's policy against breeder reactors holds firm "there won't be a United States In the 21st century." Morris Levitt of New York City, director of the Fusion Energy Foundation, said, "If we're lucky, we will have a slow economic collapse. It's more likely that we'll be drawn into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union-and lose." Levitt, 37, who holds a doctorate in physics from Columbia University, Is one of 106 delegates from 25 states taking part in a producer-consumer energy congress under way on the campus of Phillips University here. Levitt said fusion energy-the harnessing of the reaction that makes a hydrogen bomb explode is vital to moving into the next century. said, will be an era of fusion energy.

If a U.S. nuclear war with Rusia takes place, he said, "the bitter. irony will be that we might find the Soviets have developed better weapons as a result of fusion energy and research." Gibson Hotel's Grandeur Is Victim some employees of the Cleveland While members of the Laborers Union accept a contract, about 150 wreckers one down and voted to strike. See photo is a view from the 11th floor of and Walnut Sts. i WHAT ONCE was one of Cincinnati's finest downtown hotels, the Sheraton Gibson, now is a ruin, ravaged by time and being dealt the final blow by wrecking crews.

Those crews are clearing the way for new buildings that someday, too, will be the object of wreckers working in the name of progress. However, a delay in the Gibson wrecking operation may well be the result of a walkout $21 Million Suit Filed In Beverly Hills Fire mm f. tion in Cincinnati General Hospital. Schuman's wife, Rosalie Ann, died in the fire. The suit, filed by Cincinnati attorney Stanley M.

Chesley, asks for $2,750,000 compensatory damage and $7,775,000 punitive damages for Schuman, who suffered burns and other injuries, and for the same amounts for Schuman as administrator of his wife's estate. STINE SAID the two bodies taken from the ruins and as yet unidentified are female whites in their late twenties or early thirties. Relatives of a Frankfort, woman On Pages D-l, D-2, D-3 More fire stories and of an Alabama woman who are missing but not known to have been at the club have asked Stine whether the missing women might be among the victims. Brandenburgh said heavy equipment will be used today to move steel debris from areas of the club that searchers say they already examined. The commissioner said he was "hopeful" that the source and cause of the fire could be determined today, adding that it was "critical that we have a definitive answer." Investigators also will try to determine the fire's deadly path through the supper club.

STATE INVESTIGATORS spent Thursday "re-examining a number of areas and having additional samples of evidence taken." They also took measurements of areas In the club, Brandenburgh said. Investigators determined expected today by Wrecking Co. Thursday voted to in the union turned story, Page D-3. In a building at Fourth By BOB FOGARTY Enquirer Reporter A $21 million damage suit, first of many expected in the aftermath of the Beverly Hills Supper Club tragedy, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Covington, on behalf of two victims.

The plaintiff is Ronald Schuman, Bright, a 34-year-old truckdriver who is in serious condi Club Death Toll May that the defendants or their employees didn't immediately alert pa-; trons to the existence of a fire and "failed to alert fire authorities of the existence of a fire until said fire was out of control." Other inadequacies alleged In the suit include lack of clear and unobstructed aisleways, lack of an emergency plan for exit and lack of an occupancy limit. Southgate and the state also are accused of not establishing or enforcing occupancy limits. THE SUIT also charges the city and state: Didn't properly supervise and inspect construction of the club. improperly approved for construction the plans submitted by the defendants for the construct tion." Didn't conduct periodic fire Inspections. Didn't cite violations of exists ing codes and regulations.

Didn't provide adequate internal iref ighting equipment and training of people In Its use. Chesley said that the suit could well end up in multidistrict litigation of the type that has resulted from airliner crashes in Northern Kentucky. In this type of litigation, suits filed in federal district courts in widely separated geographical areas are gathered Into one court for trial. The Schuman suit asks for a' trial by jury. Sheep or Dog? It you call 421-6300 when your pet needs new home, chances are you'll find one for it fast Donna Evans called us and gave us her classified advertising message.

She found her Sheepdog a new home the same day her ad started! pendent investigation of the fire prior to filing the suit. "We have interviewed several employees and customers," Chesley said. "We anticipate calling on experts to aid us." He said also that refusal of City of Southgate officials to make drawings of the club available appeared to contradict state law. "I can't believe we can't get them," he said. According to the suit, Mrs.

Schumann's survivors include her husband, one minor child and brothers and sisters. BASIS OF the suit are allegations that carelessness or negligence allowed the fire to start and to spread throughout the nightclub. As of Thursday, the death toll In the fire stood at 161. The City of Southgate and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are accused of failure to enforce acceptable standards of construction and operation of the club. Specifically, Richard Schilling and the 4-R Corp.

are charged with negligence as general contractor during rebuilding of the club. Schilling and architect Roeding "negligently designed and constructed the club," the suit contends, listing the following separate allegations: Inadequate entrances and exits. No internal firewalls. No automatic sprinkling systems. Improperly designed roof.

No outside storage facilities for flammable liquids. No windows capable of use as alternate fire exits. Noncompliance with building and safety codes of the state and city. Other allegations centering on physical equipment of the club include improperly marked exits and lack of warning devices. SCHUMAN'S SUIT also alleges NAMED DEFENDANTS are the 4-R owner of the supper club; Richard J.

Schilling, who built the club; his sons, Richard Jr. (Rick), manager, Ronald and (Raymond) Scott Schilling, all of 1110 Cleveland Park Hills; architect William R. Roeding, Blue Ridge Summit, the City of Southgate and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Chesley said he made an inde- Hit 163 Wednesday that the fire "started in the area of the Zebra Room," the commissioner said, but this did not rule out the possibility that the fire started under or just adjacent to that room. Brandenburgh said investigators were working In the basement area under the Zebra Room, used for storage, but declined to comment on evidence taken from the site.

Two employees of the club have said the fire started in the Zebra Room and was caused by a lighted cigarette dumped from an ashtray Into a table cloth during a routine cleaning of the room, In which a 23-member wedding party had taken dinner that night. THERE IS "quite a range of opinion" on the number of people who were In the building Saturday night, the commissioner said. He added that he hoped to get "a pretty definitive answer" to the question of who was there through postcards the investigators have asked Saturday night's patrons to send in. "This is a pretty critical matter, a key element In determining why 161 people did not get out," he said. "That is why the postcards are so important." By ROLF WIEGAND Enquirer Reporter The death toll in the Beverly Hills Supper Club tragedy could possibly hit 163.

The whereabouts of two women known to have been at Beverly Hills Supper Club Saturday night, Evelyn Shough of Dayton, Ohio, and Judy Bohrer of Western Hills, had not been determined by Thursday night. The two bodies of fire victims that remain unidentified are not those of Shough or Bohrer, pathological tests show. Kentucky State Police Commissioner Ken Brandenburgh said workers will begin at 8 a.m. today re-examining the ruins of the club for more victims and additional evidence of the source and cause of the fire the death toll of which now stands at 161. The two women are the only remaining persons known to have been at the supper club when it burned not yet to be found among the living or the bodies recovered, Campbell County Coroner Fred Stine said Thursday.

Stine said John Clepper, earlier reported missing, has been found alive, as has a new employee at the club who was thought to have been working there Saturday night..