Globe-Gazette from Mason City, Iowa • 1

BYU DOWNS CABBAGE PATCH BONANZA Page 7 MISSOURI, 21-17 IN HOLIDAY BOWL Sports, Page 13 Cold IKDL 25C Saturday, December 24, 1983 Continued bitterly cold today and tonight. Clear to partly cloudy skies with highs today 10 below zero to 20 below zero. Lows tonight will be from 20 below zero to 25 below zero. Not quite as cold Christmas Day with highs around zero. Weather details: Page 2 Copyright 1983, Lee Enterprises Inc Mason City-Clear Lake, Iowa 3252233 Aircttnc cotdl botes into GioDldlav spoHS It's dangerous to be outside MASON CITY To be blunt, it will be dangerous to be outside today.

The vicious cold spell that has punisht'1 North Iowa for more than a week will deliver another mean blow today with temperatures no higher than 10 below zero to 20 below and northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph. At its best, the wind-chill factor will be 52 below; at its worst, 68 below. Another record low was set in Mason City on Friday as the thermometer dropped to 24 below zero and never topped 20 below. The old record was 12 below in 1897, according to Globe-Gazette weather records. A record low was assured today, and another appears likely Christmas Day.

The temperature just after midnight this morning was 24 below zero and falling. The previous low for Dec. 24 was 18 below in 1920, according to Globe-Gazette weather records. Winds of 25 to 40 mph were expected overnight, causing forecasters to issue a winter storm warning for the rest of the night because of blowing and drifting snow and wind-chill factors of 79 below zero to 90 below zero. Tonight, with lows of 20 below to 25 below expected overnight, the Christmas Day record of 18 below set in 1921 also appears to be a goner.

But almost as if on cue, North Iowans may get a gift of moderating temperatures beginning Christmas Day. Forecasters say the high Sunday is expected to reach zero, with highs Monday through Wednesday reaching 15 to 25 above i- but with a chance of snow each day. After what we've been through, however, the snow may not seem so bad. No way to start tho day photographer's car wouldn't start, even with Kahler's help. However, the photographer did complete his assignment he snapped photos of Kahler trying to start his car (above).

Afterward, he took off with Kahler as he tried to start other cars; a lot of them didn't start, either. It was that kind of day for a lot of people. (Staff photo by Charles Schlosser) We sent staff photographer Charles Schlosser out in the cold Friday to get some pictures of people trying to cope with the frigid weather. He didn't have to go far. In fact, he couldn't go far.

His car wouldn't start, so he called for help. To the rescue came Jerry Kahler of Snell's Services in Mason City. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a rescue. After sitting in record low temperatures of 24 below zero, the the interstate to restaurants or shelters," he said. "There hasn't been a rash of accidents, just a rash of stalled vehicles." While batteries are sometimes to blame for the halted autos, frozen gas lines are taking their toll, too, said Cupp.

Even airplanes are having a hard time revving their engines, accord cold slows holiday Record cold can cause physical, mental stress bringing snow and the other churning from Hawaii toward the central California coast, raising the threat of flooding. In Bend, 20 families were evacuated early Friday when ice jammed the Deschutes River, sending water 3 feet deep into the downtown area. A 20-mile ice jam formed on the Salmon River in Idaho. More than 50 cities in many ecoird By The Associated Press More record cold slowed holiday travel in much of the nation Friday, as the death toll from a week of unforgiving weather reached 136. The weather service proclaimed it the coldest December in more than half a century.

Temperatures dropped to 52 below zero in Butte, and 46 below in Williston, N.D., and the cold air was spreading from the Plains to the South and the East. A freeze warning was posted for as far away as northern Georgia, and hard-pressed utilities in some states battled power outages caused by overloaded equipment or broken power lines. Gusty northwest winds plunged the wind-chill factor down near 100 below zero Friday night in several North Dakota communities. The factor the combined effect of the wind and cold temperatures hit 97 below zero at Bowman and 96 below at Roseglen. ByCarieDann Staff Writer MASON CITY Although this is supposed to be the season of good wishes and Christmas cheer, arcticlike weather appears to be turning many into modern-day Scrooges.

With wind-chill factors of 60 degrees below zero and lower, stalled autos are a leading cause of that un-Christmaslike spirit. "Emotions are running thin and tension is running high," said Lynn Cupp, regional manager for AAA auto service here. "People are getting stalled at grocery stores, shopping centers and now we're at the point where cars are dying on the interstate, just stopping where they're at," Cupp said. "These are life-threatening situations." Stranded motorists waiting for one of AAA's 15 service vehicles had to grin and bear it. On Friday afternoon, Cupp said his fleet was backed up for six or seven hours, a schedule similar to other garages.

Mason City police Friday night reported answering two to three calls an hour to assist motorists. Sgt. Roger Brown of the Iowa State Patrol post here said his troopers have continually been on rescue missions. "We've transported large numbers of families from their cars on travel cases for the fifth day in row set low temperature records Friday, including 19 below in Chicago, the city's coldest reading for the date in 111 years. It was 8 below in Detroit and Kansas City, and 25 below in Minneapolis.

For much of the nation, "it's going to be the coldest December by far in more than 50 years," said (Please turn to Page 2) $21,270 Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. about four months. Christmas requires a little explanation by Hepperly because the two older boys have a rare and incurable condition called cerebellum spinal ataxia that has slowed their physical and mental development from a few months to three years. They attend special education classes in Mason City where their progress has pleased Hepperly. Yet for them, such' things as holidays can be puzzling.

And some of the toys and presents also require some assistance to fully enjoy. He said he's not sure how Matthew will react to Christmas this year. "He's young, so it's hard to know," he said of the toddler. Hepperly and the boys will spend Christmas Day together at home, he said. However, a family party may be in the works, he added, in which case he and the boys will attend.

"I live only a half-block from my dad," he explained. Hepperly's generosity to the Cheer Fund will ensure another family also will have a special day. Globe-Gazette will publish Monday The Globe-Gazette will publish its regular editions on Monday, Dec. 26, although the day will be observed as a holiday for most of our employees. The newsroom will be staffed to handle news-related calls after 4 p.m.

on Sunday (Christmas Day) and Monday. The business and ad-vertising departments will be closed Monday. Circulation personnel will handle calls regarding delivery problems until 9 a.m. Monday. The same schedule will be followed for the New Year's Day holiday on Sunday and Monday, Jan.

1 and 2. The National Weather Service said Honolulu, came within three degrees of breaking its record low when the morning temperature dropped to 55. Most of the deaths were caused by traffic accidents on ice- and snow-glazed roadways or from the brutal cold. Authorities in St. Louis said Friday that six people had died of hypothermia this week, including a 937ear-old blind man trying to keep warm with a small electric heater because his gas was shut off in June for non-payment of bills.

In Chicago, a man and five children died Friday in a house fire where a heater had been improperly hooked up to a gas line, bypassing a meter that was shut off because of an unpaid bill. (See story on Page 5. Snow squalls spread througn the Great Lakes region, and the National Weather Service warned of two major storms heading for California one from the Northwest Christmas Cheer Fund doll, named April Alicia, at the Kmart auction on Dec. 18. Chances were sold to his customers and a drawing will be held today to determine who'll finally adopt April.

In addition to the record cash total, this year's Christmas Cheer campaign also attracted an unprecedented volume of donations of food, household and craft items, Cheer (Please turn to Page 3) Oiesr Fund total is record ing to Bob Fogarty of the Mason City Airport Flight Service. "If the plane sits in one place for half an hour, it needs heat to get started again," said Fogarty. The cold has been hard on electrical lines, too, as several black- Arctic (Please turn to Paee 2) many-layered and nonrestrictive clothing is the best. He cautioned against short trips out of doors for such routine duties as to pick up mail or take out the garbage without proper clothing. With such frigid wind chills, a person can suffer frostbite quickly, the physician said.

He also warned against leaving an infant or child in a car, even with the heater on and engine running, when it's as cold as it has been. There is not only danger of hypothermia (a generalized drop in body temperature which causes the parts of the body to slow down) but the danger of carbon monixide poisoning, he said. For some people, particularly the elderly, cold weather can be so di-bilitating that they can become disoriented, especially in the dark and even when they are close to home, said Dr. Johannesen. Regarding the mental aspect, what the deepfreeze weather is doing to North Iowans psychologically may be a good news, bad news phenomena, said Ken Zimmerman, clinical social worker and executive director of the Mental (Please turn to Page 3) buoys up Lebanon By Hugh A.

Mulligan AP Special Correspondent ABOARD THE USS GUAM (AP) Bob Hope watched from the signal deck as the helmeted Marines, waving M-16 rifles, charged off their helicopters to catch the comedian's shipboard matinee Christmas, show on Friday. "My God, another hostile audience," ad libbed Hope, 80. The Marines, living in bunkers and tents on the perimeter of Beirut airport, got up at 4 a.m. to fly out to the USS Guam, a Navy amphibious assault ship. The Marines were instructed not to bring weapons.

"Some guys didn't get the word," said Capt. David Karcher of Miami, "and a lot of them don't like going any (Please turn to Page 2) 'Pioaso sond tho monoy to another family in By Gary Grimmond Staff Writer MASON CITY Reco'rd-low temperatures which have kept North Iowa in a deepfreeze for more than a week can take their toll on the body and mind. But without a doubt, the greatest hardship is on the body at least for now, according to local health officials. Frostbite, hypothermia and putting excess stress on the heart can come with exposure to extreme cold weather, according to Dr. Robert Johannesen, emergency room physician at St.

Joseph Mercy Hospital in Mason City. In weather like this today, for instance, the wind-chill factor is expected to be somewhere between 75 to 80 degrees below zero simple tasks such as walking down the street put a greater load on the heart, said Dr. Johannesen. That's why even shoveling snow for a short time can be like running five or 10 miles, said Dr. Johannesen, who noted this can be risky for people who are not fit or who have a tendency to heart disease.

Anyone working or just being outside should wear sufficient and proper clothing, said Dr. Johannesen. He said loose-fitting, warm, Bob Hope Marines in Bob Hope 1 i ft MASON CITY Who says there's no good news? Once again, for the 56th consecutive year, North Iowans have made the Globe-Gazette's Christmas Cheer campaign a complete success. Their generosity and concern have once again assured that the needy of the community have not gone ignored at this joyous and festive season. The official accounting after Friday's final day of the 1983 campaign reveals that North Iowans opened their hearts and pocket-books as never before to their less fortunate neighbors.

That accounting shows a record grand total of $21,270 for the 1983 campaign. That is more than $1,000 over last year's previous record of $20,212 and $6,270 more than the $15,000 goal set for the fund this year. And, according to Maude Stack-house, retired Globe-Gazette employee and coordinator of the campaign, it was a good thing. More than 1,000 checks again were sent to deserving family units ranging from one to several members. And every child under 12 in those families also received a toy to ensure that they were not forgotten by Santa on Christmas Eve.

Topping the list of contributors in the final accunting is Shlll's Maid-Rite of Mason City which produced $116 raised by the raffle of a Cabbage Patch doll. Chuck ShiU, owner of the restaurant, purchased the By Patricia Morgan Staff Writer MASON CITY Ron Hepperly considers himself "better off than some others." Not only did the Mason City man return his Cheer Fund money and toy card, he added a $15 contribution. "Please send the money to another family in need and the card for toys," Hepperly wrote in a letter to the Cheer Fund. He said Cheer Fund money, food and toys were "really helpful" last year. His 32-year-old wife died suddenly of toxic shock syndrome Dec.

18, 1B82, and more family members were with him at Christmas than usual, he explained. This year, Hepperly said he is "blessed" with an income that is adequate to support his three boys Kevin, Dennis, 5, and Matthew, 3 and provide a nice Christmas. In fact, he was busy Friday wrapping presents and trying to catch up on his Christmas cards. It takes a little longer than usual to keep up with holiday activities this year because Hepperly broke his wrist in a fall from a ladder in October and probably will be on disability leave from his job at Records 2 Obituaries 2 Weather 2 Mason Citv 3 Opinion 4 Nation 5. 6 The Big 7 Clear Lake 9 Religion 10, 11 Dear Abbv 12 Sports 13-15 Outofdoors 16 RuraLife 17 Comics 18 FarmBusiness 19' North Iowa 20.