Globe-Gazette from Mason City, Iowa • 1

MOHAWKS VAN DYKE, CAESAR TEAAA IN MOVIE FIRST SHUTOUT Sports, Page 14 Page 21 jcn)L 25c jT N. Monday, December 19, 1983 Mason City-Clear Lake, Iowa Copyright. 1983 Lee Enterprises. Inc. WMHmmmmmmmmmmmmammumummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmM E9ercytrv dips to tnw flows Blackout hits Rockwall 1.

1 I I Over 200 people watch and bid at Cabbage Patch Sunday, night at Kmart in Mason City Cold, snow Cloudy today with a 40 percent chance of snow developing by. afternoon. Highs will be around 5 below zero. Tonight there is a 60 percent chance of snow, lows will be around 10 below zero. Tuesday will be cloudy with snow.

Highs will be around 5. Weather details: Page 2 blamed for the death of an elderly Popejoy man Friday night. Authorities said Theodore Hart-kopp, 79, died of a heart attack while trying to dig his pickup truck out of a snowdrift on a gravel road. Franklin County Medical Examiner Dr. Keith Hansen said Hart-kopp was trying to drive to Williams or Friday and was about two miles south and a mile west of Popejoy wheathe truck plowed into the snowdrift, Hansen said.

"There was a farm place nearby but there was nobody home," Hansen said. "He shoveled quite a long path backwards. But he did too much in the cold and collapsed." (Mr. Hartkopp's obituary appears on Page 2.) Statewide freeze Record low temperatures were reported across Iowa on Sunday, The Associated Press reported. The warm spot in the state was in Burlington, where it reached just 1 above zero.

The National Weather Service reported sub-zero highs at all of its other major recording stations in the state. The coldest temperatures were recorded early Sunday morning. A low of 28 below was recorded in (Please turn to Page 2) Cabbage Patch Kid auction nets $4,325 for Choor Fund ROCKWELL In the midst of the coldest temperatures on record, Rockwell residents shivered for three hours Sunday night during a blackout caused by the brutal weather. Record low temperatures were set in North Iowa on Saturday and Sunday, with a another record assured today. The weather was blamed for Sunday's blackout in Rockwell when a power line stretched by the snapped about 7 p.m., sending the entire city into the dark, according to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department.

Iowa Public Service crews found the broken wire about 9 p.m. and power was restored shortly after 10 p.m. Ardella Oldag, whose husband, Dean, is the IPS lineman for Rockwell and Dougherty, said her husband called in a crew from Hampton to assist him in restoring the power. She said she had numerous calls to her house about the power outage. "Some of the houses are getting cooler" but no one reported any problems, she said.

The sheriff's department also said no problems were reported. Record lows Elsewhere across North Iowa, it was a matter of trying to stay warm and keep cars running in the midst of the cold spell which started Thursday. Record low temperatures were set in Mason City on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the low of 18 below zero at 8 a.m. broke the record of 17 below set in 1917.

Sunday's low, 25 below zero early in the morning and late in the evening, snapped the previous record of 24 below set in 1922. A record was assured for today, too. Forecasters had predicted lows of down to 30 below by sunup today; the previous record for Dec. 19 was 16 below in 1924. Other than assisting stalled motorists, Mason Citpolice and other area law enforcement agencies reported no serious weather-related problems over the weekend.

However, the weather was Kym Sutton shows the both were bought by 9 By Patricia Morgan Staff Writer MASON CITY Gus Kantaris was matter-of-fact in explaining why he spent $375 Silhday for two Cabbage Patch Kids dolls that were at one time advertised for sale as low as $19 each. "My granddaughter gets what she wants," the Mason City man explained as his daughter, Kym Sutton, gathered up the two soft-sculpture dolls named Rikki Muriel and Zarah Irisa. In all, the Cabbage Patch Kids auction at Kmart in Mason City raised $4,325 for the Globe-Gazette Cheer Fund to help needy people this Christmas. That puts the fund at $13,286.49 or $1,713.51 shy of the goal with three days to go. Six dolls were sold each hour starting at 6 p.m.

until all 36 dolls were sold after II p.m. The average price bid for the dolls was $120.14. I'm overwhelmed by the gener- 'he pPle didn 1 tn (the dolls) would sell for so much. I hope it helps make the Cheer Fund go over its goal," said William Mal-lory, manager of Kmart. "This was really a nice thing and will help a lot of people," added Jerry Kilian, assistant manager of the store.

Both men praised the bidders for making the event so lively. "They really cared," Mallory said. The crowd that braved subzero temperatures for the first session easily topped 200 and the average was between 150 and 200 people at each session. One buyer came from as far as Cottage-Grove, for a chance to buy a doll. Many were curious bystanders just out to see what the hubbub is surrounding these cute little dolls that carry their own adoption papers and are said to be unique.

Stores in other parts of the country have had problems with crowds storming in for the dolls and a couple of Mason City police officers were on hand Sunday just in case. Attack on U.S. jots loads to sholling of Syrian targets him rJffli 'iM-iiira btaifphotos Jetf Heinz first two dolls sold; her dad, Gus Kantaris maintain order until all foreign troops can be withdrawn from Lebanon. The cease-fire was called by the Lebanese army and militias of the leftist Druse, Shiite Moslems and the rightist Christian Phalangists. The truce allowed Beirut airport to open after a 17-day shutdown.

Israel's attack on Tripoli was its fifth gunboat strike against Arafat's loyalists in 10 days. After weeks of warfare, the PLO rebels cornered Arafat's fighters into Tripoli, his last stronghold. Arafat's top military aide, Khalil Wazir, told The Associated Press that an Israeli destroyer and four gunboats "opened up with 76mm cannons and a variety of heavier artillery" on Sunday for 40 minutes. Portrait EDITOR'S NOTE Down throueh the centuries since the coming of Christ, great pillars of faith have arisen to extend and illuminate it. This first installment of a five-part Christmas series about these faithful deals with the restless saint Augustine.

By George W. Cornell AP Religion Writer The itch for something more gnawed at him. He hunted for it desperately in status, acclaim, entertainment, money, carousing, fantasies, astrology and sex. But he says, "I was wrenched." He was an eager, sociable, brilliant young man, a big talker, full of "my windy pride," he calls it, always straining to impress people, his main idea of success "to please to win approval." "I pursued the emptiness of popular glory and the applause of spectators," he says. But the inner insufficiency plagued him.

He immersed himself Kids auction Christmas Cheer Fund But the crowds were polite and the officers seemed to enjoy the event as much as everyone else. Each doll brought an "Ahhh" from the crowd as well as a few "Isn't it cute?" remarks. A bald doll was particularly popular. The crowds began buzzing each time the price hit about $75. "I bid $100 and I still didn't get one," one man lamented.

"I've had one on order for 2Vz months. You just can't get one," Sutton said of the dolls. Sutton was excited just thinking about how happy her daughter, Mary Jordan, will be to get the dolls. "It's all she wants for Christmas," she said, then paused, considered the 7-year-old and added with a smile. "It's one of the things she wants for Christmas." Kantaris said he had planned to spend up to $500 for a doll and was surprised the bidding didn't go that high.

(Please turn to Page 2) Records 2, 3 Obituaries 2 Weather 2 Mason City 3 Opinion 4 Nation 5, 6 World 7 You Asked for It 9 Dear Abby 12 Sports 13-17 Engagements 18 Weddings 19 Comics 20 North Iowa 24 of Faith Roman Catholic scholar John J. O'Meara. Sixteenth-century reformer Martin Luther said he not only read Augustine but "swallowed him whole." The "Father of the he sometimes is called because of his influence on Western civilization. Because of the artistry of his prose, he's also called "the greatest poet of Christian antiquity." Augustine was a prodigious writer, turning out about 100 books, 800 sermons and 200 letters, some of them almost book-length, to the great and lowly of his times. "He is the truer friend who by his censure heals me, than the one who by flattery anoints my head," he wrote in his lengthy, sometimes Portrait of a restless (Please turn to Page 11) Eating poinsottia loaves won't kill you, exports say of a restless saint BEIRUT.

Lebanon (AP) U.S. Navy ships shelled Syrian positions in Lebanon's central mountains Sunday in retaliation for an attack on two American reconnaissance flights, U.S. military spokesmen said. No casualties were reported on either side. Israeli gunboats bombarded Palestinian guerrilla positions in Tripoli on the eve of the scheduled arrival of five Greek ships that are to evacuate PLO chief Yasser Arafat and his 4,000 fighters.

Syrian-backed PLO mutineers, who waged a bloody month-long battle against Arafat's forces, surrounded him and his loyalists. France agreed to provide an escort of warships for the evacuation, said a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuel-lar. The Greek ships will fly the U.N. flag for safe conduct, In Damascus, foreign ministers of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria met to discuss the resumption of talks in Switzerland to reconcile Lebanon's warring factions.

The future of a May 17 troop withdrawal agreement between Lebanon and Israel is also a crucial issue. The attacks on U.S. jets Sunday and the U.S. response were the first reported major violations of a cease-fire worked out Friday. An attack on an Israeli convoy in southern Lebanon and sniper fire in the hills above Beirut on Sunday further strained the pact.

A Syrian military spokesman, quoted by Syria's official news agency, said Syrian anti-aircraft defenses fired at the U.S. F-14 Tomcats. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said the USS Ticonder-oga and the USS Tattnall fired a total of 60 rounds from their 5-inch guns. The jets were not hit and returned safely, he said. U.S.

Marines and French, Italian And British soldiers make up a multinational force in Beirut to help Carie Dann Staff Writer MASON CITY Could it be that the poinsettia plant you just brought home to boost your holiday happiness is actually a potential killer? The myth that poinsettia leaves are poisonous when ingested into the human system apparently is just that a myth according to Mick Baker, owner and manager of Kieter's Floral Shop. "Every year there are reports that poinsettias are poisonous, and every year we fight it," said Baker. "We feel bad because it's such a beautiful plant." A recent "Hancock County Lines'' article in the Globe-Gazette reported that eating one leaf from the red and green plant could kill a child. However, a 1971 Ohio State University study concluded that it's not so. Researchers fed parts of the plant to rats, and the rodents experienced no toxic symptoms.

Backing the report are such agencies as the USDA, the Poison Control Center of the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. And the antics of a horticulture professor at Iowa State University certainly support the non-fatal position. "One faculty member here feels so strongly about it that each Christmas he eats a couple branches off a poinsettia to prove it," said Jim Midcap, horticulture specialist at ISU. "He seems to stay alive from year to But that doesn't mean the plant should be added to the list of holiday delicacies.

"Like any other green or flowering plant, poinsettias are non-food substances," said Baker. ISU's Midcap warned that the poinsettia's milky sap may be an irritant if it comes in contact with the skin. James Hill, Hancock County Extension director, said he was not aware of the Ohio State University study when he wrote his "County Lines" column. Information sources he used including an Omaha, chil-drens' hospital poison center publication, a chemical company publication and a magazine article and others included apparently outdated information although the publications were current, Hill said. Many other sources also apparently aren't aware of the Ohio State study, Hill said, citing several other current publications carrying the same information.

He noted that an article in the January 1984 issue of the widely circulated Parents Magazine also states that the plant is poisonous. A study conducted by an Extension service veterinarian in 1980 also showed that the poinsettia can be fatal to pets, Hill noted. Although he said the potential danger of the poinsettia may have been overstated in his "County Lines" article, he maintained that some caution should be exercised when children are around the plants. Now all you have to worry about is the mistletoe lurking above your head. According to experts, the berries are fatal if swallowed.

Giants in sexual affairs, the theater, games, fads and ambition. Somehow, he says, his obsessions "divided me against myself." It was much later, in his middle years, that Arelius Augustinus, the ancient reveler who became esteemed as a saint called Augustine, penned the lines that have touched a universal human ache ever since: "Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee." Augustine, a towering intellect of fourth-century Christianity, illuminated ideas that dominated church thought long afterward, that flamed in the rise of Protestantism and remained a challenging storehouse of insights into life. "He set the mode in which Western Christendom was laid," writes.