Wednesday, July 3, 1985/The Battalion/Page 5
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Associated Press
LAREDO — Yellow ribbons,
marching bands and a drill team
await freed TWA hijacking hostages
Vicente Garza and Robert Traut-
mann when they return home, city
officials said Tuesday.
“We are overjoyed to have them
back,” Mayor Aldo Tatangelo said.
Garza, 53, and his son-in-law, 37,
were due back home late Wednesday
after their 17-day ordeal in the
hands of Shiite Mozlems in Beirut.
They were among 39 Americans
held in Lebanon for 17 days by the
terrorists, who commandeered a
TWA jet bound from Athens to
Rome.
Garza’s brother-in-law, Javier
Santos, said three jets provided by
two Laredo banks would be sent to
New York’s Kennedy Airport
Wednesday to pick up Garza and
Trautmann.
TWA (lew some of the released
Americans to Andrews Air Force
Base Tuesday and reported Garza
was on that flight.
But Santos said his brother-in-law
was not on the T uesday flight and
would arrive in the United States
with his son-in-law Wednesday.
Garza’s wife Irma, 48, her daugh
ter Irma Trautmann, 31, and other
family members were to leave early
Wednesday for New York for a re
union.
Both Mrs. Garza and Mrs. Traut
mann, (Robert Trautmann’s wife),
and their daughters Adriana Garza,
13; Ashley Trautmann, 4; and Kath
erine Trautmann, 3, also were
aboard the hijacked jet. They were
released shortly after the incident
began.
Santos said the freed Laredoans
would hold a short news conference
at the local airport once they arrive,
then go home for a private family re
union.
The tnavor said Laredo residents
were stunned by the hijacking and
held 24-hour prayer vigils at local
churches.
“Every mailbox and doorknob on
city businesses had a yellow ribbon,”
he said.
Funky Winkerbean
A THIRTY-DOLLAR WAVV^INS
TICKET FOR (WJ BAND .V? NOOd
m X GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS
BACK AT SCHOOL?
by Tom Batiuk
QOO OUGHT TO TRO
WRITING IT UP !
Rowlett residents
waiting for water
Youngest U.S. battleship
sees a lot of idle time
Associated Press
The Battleship Wisconsin, slated
for renovation and reassignment at
Corpus Christi in the next decade, is
the youngest of the nation’s battle
ships hut nas been idle for more time
than it’s been in service.
The ship, launched Dec. 7, 1943,
was commissioned April 16, 1944.
Just 15 years later, it was taken out
of commission and relegated to the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where
it has remained part of the Navy’s
mothball fleet.
Emblazoned with the No. 64 on its
bow, the vessel has nine 16-inch
guns, capable of a top speed of 35
knots, and when in service, carried
95 officers and 2,270 enlisted men.
It's 887 feet long, nearly the length
of three football fields, and its en
gines can put out 212,000 horse
power.
According to Jane’s Fighting
Ships, the definitive reference book
of warships, current Defense De
partment estimates indicate it will
cost $60 million a year to operate the
Wisconsin after expenditures of
$458.4 million to relit it. The reno
vation is expected to take about two
years.
Among the changes are an addi
tion of electronic warfare systems
and modernized radar systems, re
placement of four twin 5-inch gun
mounts with two quadruple Toma
hawk missile launchers, and installa
tion of Harpoon missiles.
The Wisconsin, slated for
reassignment at Corpus
Christi, and its sister ships
are “the most heavily ar
moured U.S. warships
ever constructed.” —
Jane’s Fighting Ships
Jane’s calls the Wisconsin and its
sister ships Iowa, Missouri and New
Jersey “the most heavily armoured
U.S. warships ever constructed.”
Its 16-inch guns fire 2,700-pound
projectiles — about (he same weight
as a compact car — to a maximum
distance of 23 miles.
Jane’s notes that the Navy no
longer manufactures shells for the
16-inch guns, but has a stockpile of
21,300 of them at three arsenals
around the country.
The addition of the Tomahawk
missiles will give it a firing range of
more than 250 miles.
A 1976 history of battleships indi
cates the Wisconsin and similar ships
were mothballed in the late 1950s
because “these expensive warships
had become obsolete for the mission
for which they had been designed
and built.”
Robert O. Dulin writes in “Battle
ships: U.S. Battleships in World War
II,” that the Iowa and Wisconsin
were cannabalized in the mid 1960s
to speed up the renovations of the
New Jersey, which was assigned to
Vietnam duty.
During its war career, the Wiscon
sin was in the west Pacific immedi
ately after it was commissioned and
joined the Third Fleet Dec. 9, 1944.
It participated in all major Pacific
naval operations until the Japanese
surrencfer.
It was inactivated July 1, 1948,
then recommissioned March 3, 1951
and sent to Korea.
On March 15, 1952, it was hit by a
152 mm shell fired from an enemy
coastal battery. The damage, the
only combat damage the ship ever
sustained, injured three crewmen
and left a 24-inch by 30-inch hole on
the second level deck on the star-
hoard side.
Four days later, the ship left Ko
rea.
On May 6, 1956, it collided off
Norfolk, Va., with an escort de
stroyer, Eaton, which sank. The Wis
consin’s bow section was replaced
later.
On March 8, 1959, the Wisconsin
was placed out of commission and
assigned to Philadelphia.
Associated Press
ROWLETT — Some residents in
this Texas town are finding it hard
to live a clean life these days.
Dawla Boyd says she can’t wash
her clothes on the weekend and
some week nights.
And other residents mostly in the
western parts of Rowlett said Mon-
day that their water pressure is so
low that they have problems flushing
toilets, taking a bath or just washing
their hands.
“It takes five minutes just to fill a
glass of water,” Boyd told The Dallas
Morning News.
The problem stems from inordi
nately small pipes that allow only a
small amount of water to pass
through at any one time, officials
said.
City officials acknowledge there is
a lack of water pressure in some
areas but say that the problem
should be resolved by July 15 when
the first water lines are run to a new
two-million gallon ground storage
tank for Rowlett, located northeast
of Dallas.
Meanwhile, residents primarily in
the western part of this small city
continue to face water pressure
problems.
Resident Kathy Ladebauche said,
“We kept sticking to the pool slide
because there wasn’t enough water
to keep it wet.”
The town’s growth is partly re
sponsible for the water pressure
problems, officials said.
John Schroy, a Rowlett City Coun
cil member, said, “We’re working as
fast as we can and in a few weeks, the
water should flow easy again. Our
town is just growing faster than an
ticipated and the hot summer kind
of creeped up on us.”
Schroy told The News that census
figures predicted the city would
have about 10,000 residents this year
but the actual number is closer to
13,000. The new ground storage is
supposed to accommodate a popula
tion of 30,000.
“Our problem is not with the sup
ply of water — because we’ve got
plenty of it — but it’s the bottlenecks
in the distribution system,” he said.
Public Works Director N.L. Stew
art said pipes carrying the water are
not big enough to carry the volume
of water needed during peak morn
ing, evening and weekend periods.
Schroy said if the current system
is strained in the case of a fire, water
from nearby Lake Ray Hubbard
could be used to control the blaze.
The city first became aware of a
water pressure problem last sum
mer, when they started making
plans for improving the lines.
Cable group’s delay
costing Austin money
Associated Press
AUST IN — Austin city officials
say the delay of Austin Cablevision
in installing a cable network de
signed to help operate traffic lights
is losing the city an annual savings of
about $5 million.
Austin Cablevision said the net
work has been delayed because of a
five-year plan to expand its services
from the current 23 and 33 channels
to 54 channels.
According to a consultant’s recent
report, the city could save $4.8 mil
lion yearly in costs of operating traf
fic lights if it had access to the cable
network. That access was part of the
franchise agreement made by Austin
Cablevision.
Don Smith, city cable officer, said
an additional $1 million could he
saved if the city telephone system is
hooked into the network.
Ching Wu, assistant director of
the Austin Urban Transportation
Department, said the city has traffic
lights at 480 intersections and only
250 are controlled by a central com
puter because telephone lines are
not available for the signals.
Independence Sale
Mon. July I thru Sat.July 6
(Closed on July 4)
All books 10% Off
North Face 10199896
3 piece set
Carry-on,
Garment £
Brief.
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Great Wstn 10
Timberline Z
Pine Bluff
Nic Dome
5phinx H
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Sleeping bags
Twilight
Centaur Req.
Texas Sleeper, Junior
Texas Sleeper, Adult
All others 10% off
Shoes $ boots FWban
a*Asolo Med.Wt. Hiking Boot Woodies
159^? 109°-? SO** 39**
cT? Breeze Hiking Boots
5900
cT Herman’s Walking Shoe
59^
<? Huaraches
9 Clarks £
Rockport
Sandals
£8^32 00
Summer Specials
Squeeze Whole Earth
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\ 9 J 393
(limit one ea)\
cf 9 Shorts
Patagonia BaggieS(
24^r 16*?
Canvas Skirts j
18
Rainwear
20% off
In-stock Items
All Sales Final
Whole Earth Provision Co
Where Quality Makes the Difference
105 Boyett College Station 846 - 8794
Also starring LIGHT N CRISPY CHICKEN • FRESH BAKED YEAST ROLLS.
Cameo appearances by COLE SLAW • POTATO SALAD • FRENCH FRIES • FRESHLY BREWED
TEA ♦ CORN-ON-THE-COB * MASHED POTATOES • CREAM GRAVY * JALAPENO PEPPERS
Produced «nd Directed by DAVID TINSLEY
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SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
® 1985 Coyote-Crow Productions. All rights reserved.
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