St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

JUL 27 1978 On Today's Editorial Page Th Senate Blender Twice fthlttrial Choices For The Legislature: III t.iiiliniul THURSDAY, Jl LY 27, 1978 Vol. 100, No. 20. f)nH H71. Law PosMHipuetj OKI MoMk a cr PATCH a 3 3 is Kide9 Fatal Fall Under Inqiiiry By ANN TELTHORST and ROBERT KELLY Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Safety engineers today began investigating the Sky Ride at the Six Flags Over Mid-America amusement park near Eureka, trying to determine what caused a cable car to plunge 75 feet to the ground, killing three persons and seriously injuring a fourth.

Killed there Wednesday were Trisha Weeks, 10, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Weeks, 1839 Lone Trail Lane, Chesterfield; Kristen Johnson, 15, daughter of Fred Johnson, of Barre, and Clark Freeman Johnson, 25, of Rivesville, W.Va. The two girls were cousins, and Johnson was their uncle.

In critical, but stable, condition after nearly two hours of surgery Wednesday night at St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood was Jennine Weeks, 12, Trisha's sister. Jennine suffered multiple injuries and was placed in the hospital's intensive care urfit after surgery. The fatalities were the first in the history of the park in southwest St. Louis County, which opened in 1971.

The Sky Ride, a cable-car ride that traverses the park, was one of the park's original rides. After the accident, firemen from 12 St. Louis County fire departments worked for four hours to rescue about 35 other persons stranded in 16 cars on the ride high over the park. The accident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. An intense rain and wind storm struck the park 15 minutes after the last of the 13 park are checked daily for safety problems.

None was found at the Sky Ride when it was checked Wednesday morning, he said. "Nothing like this has ever happened, before," he said. Kochan said about 15 million persons have been on the ride since the park opened in 1971. The ride is manufactured by Von Roll Brothers Ltd. of Berne, Switzerland.

The car fell behind a snack bar and onto a wooden fence. No one on the ground was injured. The park remained open for three hours after the accident, but the area stretching the length of the cable car ride was closed off to the public. The Screaming Eagle roller coaster and Sky Chuter parachute drop were shut down by park officials after the accident. David L.

Paltzik, vice president and general manager of the park, said this was done because, "We didn't want people on those rides distracted trying to see what was going on." About 12,000 persons were in the park when it was closed at 5 p.m., officials said. Kochan said that customers still in the park at the closing were given corn-See INQUIRY, Page 4 7 I fy w-a 1 "SSv, I I Another person is attempting to FALLEN CAR: Two security officers at Six Flags near the Sky Ride cable car shortly stranded passengers was taken down by firemen using a cherry- picker rescue unit. The storm caused no damage at the park. Six Flags officials said the cause of the accident will not be known until safety and mechanical inspectors for the corporation owning the amusement park join Robert Garrison of Dallas, Six Flags corporate rides engineer, to complete the investigation. Another corporate rides engineer, who was said to be vacationing in South America, also was called to investigate, officials said.

The accident occurred shortly after the cable car began its ride toward the western end of the park. The car fell when it reached the first large support tower, which has a steel support beam with rollers for the cable. The steel beam normally is parallel to the cable, but it suddenly snapped straight up, apparently causing the cable car to break loose. The cable itself was not damaged, and about 16 other cars remained in the air. The ride has a total of 28 cars, but several were not in the air at the time.

They were awaiting more passengers at either end of the ride. Bob Kochan, park public relations manager, said all of the rides at the 1. 1 Stranded Gondola Riders Tell Of Terror, Shock And Calm By ANN TELTHORST Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Robert Hoffmann of Troy, is afraid of heights. So he was really feeling proud of himself Wednesday afternoon as he and his wife were completing their second ride on the Sky Ride cable car that reaches heights of 100 feet. Dawn Adkins of Robertsville, had just applied for a job at a restaurant near the Six Flags Over Mid-America amusement park when she and a friend decided to use their season passes for Rays' Testimony Sought In Alleged Plot On Dr.

King victims. able on the ride and then it jerked," said Hoffmann, 44. "At first there was a tremendous jolt and then the car bounced up and down." Hoffmann, whose back was to the falling car, at first wondered what happened. Their car, only about 12 feet from the victims' car, was moving toward it. "I saw it snap and then saw a boy on the ground with blood all over his face," said Mrs.

Hoffmann, 36, who was facing the car. "I was afraid we were going to fall next." Dawn, 15, and Tammy, 17, both had their backs to the car that fell and didn't really know what happened. "I was scared to death," Miss Adkins said. "I thought we were falling." She said she and Miss Mounce grabbed each other but did not panic. One of the firemen who helped rescue several persons, Chesterfield assistant chief Clifford Biele, noted that "everyone was pretty cooperative and there was no panicking." Miss Mounce said she heard the car fall but did not hear any sounds at all from the victims.

"Everybody was quiet," Miss Adkins added. Hoffmann said the stillness of the crowd was "amazing." "I couldn't see or hear any hysteria at all," Hoffmann said. He noted that the other stranded persons seemed to be praying, as he and his wife were. Hoffmann said he was afraid until workmen securely fastened the cable. "I felt that with the pressure on the cable, it could twist around or fall, especially if it developed a lot of slack." But his concerns were eased when he saw workmen frantically gathering equipment to secure the cable.

"Three men crawled up (the support tower) and tied a chain around the cable and se-See STRANDED, Page 4 local Trisha Weeks Killed in crash 5.v v. v. X' i SBVfru! 1 Jennine Weeks Injured in accident Vr A S-if 4 4v "4 i 1 411 may not be the final word on the variance. The issue could end up in federal court if the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Coalition for the Environment or the Illinois attorney general's office, all intervenors in the variance proceedings decide to appeal the commission's ruling. Illinois authorities had contended that the emissions were polluting air heavily on their side of the river.

In addition, the federal Environmental Protection Agency must approve the variance before it will waive penalties scheduled to go into effect next year. Union Electric representatives had indicated that such penalties would be high enough to drive the company into bankruptcy, Leibovich said. John G. Levis, commission chairman, and the member who cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the variance, said the commission voted also to require Union Electric to improve its monitoring system within the next year in order to meet federal and state standards and to report regularly to the commission on its emission rates. The variance approved Wednesday See CLEAN AIR, Page 7 A after it fell.

aid one of the one quick ride on the Sky Ride before going home. But Hoffmann's courage faded and Miss Adkins' quick ride turned into a two-hour one when the cable car that separated theirs on the Sky Ride cable plunged to the ground, killing three persons and critically injuring a fourth. Hoffmann and his wife, Joyce, and Miss Adkins and her friend, Tammy Mounce, were among about 35 persons who had to wait as long as four hours to be rescued by firemen. "I was just beginning to feel comfort- a conspiracy and thus shift attention from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which Lane contends is involved in the King killing. Ray is serving a 99-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the shooting death of King on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn.

Since pleading guilty, however, Ray has denied responsiblity for King's assassination and has asked repeatedly for a new trial. Byers testified that he turned down the offer by two men from Imperial, in late 1966 or early 1967, sources said. Byers said the men offered him the money in behalf of a group of conservative businessmen who wanted King silenced as a civil rights leader, the sourc- See KING, Page 7 features ft 1 5 By GERALD M. BOYD and J. PULITZER Of the Post-Dispatch Staff WASHINGTON A House committee investigating the assassination of the Rev.

Dr. Martin Luther King is seeking the testimony of James Earl Ray as a result r' allegations by Russell G. Byers of Rock Hill that Byers was offered to kill King, the Post-Dispatch has learned. Sources close to the investigation said that testimony this spring by Byers, 46, of the 9300 block of Fredric Court, had raised questions among committee members of a conspiracy to kill King. But Mark Lane, an attorney for Ray, said Ray had never had any dealings with Byers and that the Byers' allegations were leaked to promote the idea of sports LIFESAVING ATTEMPTS: Unidentified cus- Sky Ride car.

Three of the persons in the car tomers at the amusement park frantically at- were killed and a fourth was injured critically, tempting to help the occupants in the fallen (Photos by William Monroe) UE Gels Clean-Air Delay; Illinois Challenge Likely NOT FOR YEARS: Test-tube baby conceptions are years away in the United States, St. Louis doctors predict, as medical and religious leaders criticize the English test-tube experiment for different reasons. Page IB BROCK IS BACK: Lou Brock, almost a forgotten man this season, delivered the winning hit for the Cardinals Wednesday as they defeated the San Francisco Giants. Page ID inside 52 Pag By BECKY McREYNOLDS Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Illinois authorities are expected to challenge a decision Wednesday by the Missouri Air Conservation Commission allowing Union Electric Co. a variance of air emission standards.

The variance approved 4-3 by the commission will allow Union Electric to continue operating at its current level of sulfur dioxide emissions at its Labadie and Portage des Sioux facilities. Union Electric representatives had argued that meeting the state emission regulations would be too costly and would result in an C3st to consumers of 15 to 25 percent. Herman Leibovich, assAUant manager for public information for Union Electric, said Wednesday night: "The Air Conservation Commission recognized that the extremely high cost of compliance was not commensurate to the benefit to the public of the air quality. "The customers will benefit because of the savings of $180 million a year that it would have cost to comply with the state standards." However, the commission's decision Clear, Mild Official forecast for St. Louis and vicinity: Clear and mild tonight with the low in the mid 60s.

Winds light and variable. Sunny tomorrow and a little warmer with the high near 90. Generally fair Saturday with a chance of thundersnowers Sunday or Monday. Continued hot and humid over the weekend Oltiw weotlwr lirfof motion fo 1A Air waves, Mi THE MASTER'S GARDEN: The Impressionist master, Claude Monet, found his later years' inspiration in the French countryside near his home. His work of that period is hanging in an exhibition that will open Aug.

1 at the Art Museum and is discussed in CALENDAR. Page 2C LONGEST LINES: Glenn Ford has made more than 200 movies, but none had so many lines for him as a coming four-hour TV drama. Page IE WEIRDO: A rock 'n' roll drummer who has never tried drugs. That's the real dope. Page 2E THE CRITIC: That's what Tony Randall becomes when he talks about newspaper critics.

Page 3E Business 6-9D Calendar 1-20C Classified Advertising 9-I6D, II A Editorials 2B Everyday HOE News Analysis 3B Obituaries 9D People 8A Region 10A Reviews 4E St. Louis IB Sports 1-5D TV-Radio 8E Weeders and Seeders 5E.