European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 20, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages b the stars and stripes . Wednesday january 20,1993crash probe focuses on Crews signal7 killed on commuter lines in Gary ind. Workers remove a body found in the angled commuter rain wreckage monday Gary ind. Apr investigators on tuesday tried to determine whether a Crew error or signal malfunction was to blame for mondays crash of commuter trains that killed seven people. Both Crews said they had the Green tight the Chicago Tribune and Chicago sum times reported tuesday citing an. Unidentified Railroad official. The engineers of both trains would not comment in detail tuesday. Quot i wish i could speak to you about it because there a a lot of wrong information being said to the press a a said David Riordan the Congi Decrof one train. A. A _ the crash occurred on the City a West Side just after the monday morning Rush hour at a trestle where two tracks one for trains in each direction partially overlap in a space not much wider than a single track. Neither train left the track. The dead had been sitting next to windows. Several passengers were decapitated fire chief Ben Perry said. A the Walls were ripped open creating an effect like a big razor Blade a he said.  69 people were Hurt including two listed in critical condition. Some were trapped up to two hours in the twisted Metal. A we Hung on and there were people flying around a said Jane Mitchell who Wasny to Hurt. A fall of a sudden i heard this big loud explosion and i was thrown Side to aide a said Steven Locwin a jewelry maker from Valparaiso who suffered a minor Back injury. About 100 people were on the trains one with three cars headed West from South Bend the other with two cars eastbound from Chicago which is about 30 Miles from the crash site. The most serious injuries were in the first cars of each train. The National transportation safety Board is investigating As is the Northern Indiana commuter transportation District which operates the trains. An Nosb investigator at the site would not comment. Gerald Hanas general manager for the Railroad said it was unclear whether both the trains were moving or whether one was stopped waiting to Cross the trestle. He said he did t know How fast the trains were going. The Speed limit on that Section of track is 45 of Fin he said a we look at two factors Here either human error or signal error a Hanas said. Reached at  Michigan City Home tuesday morning Riordan would not make a specific comment about the Acci Dent. A right now in a not available to speak to anybody about this a said Mjor Aan the Engineer of the eastbound train. The Engineer of the westbound train Willard Blewett would not comment tuesday morning  wife said. Authorities would not say which train had the right of Way. Sig  either end of the trestle Are designed to give the right of Way to the first train to reach the Bridge Hanas said. The signals were found to be working monday afternoon but other signalling equipment had to be checked he said. Signal activity is recorded on paper tape inside the signals Hanas said. The tape was turned Over to the Nosb. The two engineers and two conductors aboard the trains were not seriously Hurt though Riordan said he suffered hand and leg injuries. The two were tested for drugs and alcohol which is routine after an Accident. Results were not immediately available. Riordan had been disciplined for  role in a 1985 crash in Gary that injured 85 people Hanas said. Riordan was a dispatcher during that crash and was demoted afterwards to Engineer said Hanas who would not provide More information. The Lake county coroners office identified those killed As a Eric Logan Hoffhines 10, of Lako Side Mich. A Blanche Angelov 29, of Hobart. A Julia Milencovici 71, of Berwyn 111. A Glenn Harris 37, of Michigan City. A James a. Harmon 61, also of Michigan City. A Ruby Tarpon 55, of Gary. A Douglas Willacker 50, of new car Lisle. Lesbianism seems to run in families professor reports Chicago a a lesbians and bisexual women Are up to five times More Likely than heterosexual women to have lesbian or bisexual Sisters a study says. The reports author j. Michael Bailey also led a study published in december 1991 that found genes influence mate homosexuality. His research for that study was based on male twins. A male homosexuality has been studied far More than female homosexuality so we re a Little further along in male research than in female research a said Bailey an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University. The subjects in  new stud were 84 lesbian or bisexual women and 79 heterosexual women Between Ages 25 and 40 who were recruited through newspaper advertisements. The lesbians and bisexuals had a total of 99 Sisters of whom 12 were lesbians or bisexuals for a rate of 12.1 percent Bailey said. The heterosexual women had a total of 83 Sisters of whom two were lesbian or bisexual for a rate of 2.4 percent Bailey said Quot the rates of the homosexual Sisters in homosexual and heterosexual women were different enough that it s quite unlikely they differed by Chance a he said. The findings Are to be published in the february Issue of the american journal of psychiatry. Ery Man Baltimore apr continuing a tradition dating to 1949, a mystery Man visited the grave site of Edgar Allan Poe on tuesday the authors birthday and left three red roses with a bottle of Cognac. Jeff Jerome curator of the City a Edgar Allan poc House and museum said the annual Jan. 19 tribute always comes before 6 . This year Jerome and nine others spent the night waiting for the mystery Man to appear at the grave in Westminster Church. A was we were deciding whether to leave or not we saw the Man come up to the Gate at 5 05,�?� Jerome said. The Man dressed in a Long dark coat and Black hat grave keeled at the grave briefly before leaving the Flowers and Cognac Jerome said. Witness accounts indicate More than one Man has maintained the birthday tribute during its 44-year run. Nothing is known regarding its origin. The Man who brought the items in 1990 was photographed by life Magazine from a. Distance using infrared equipment. He could not be identified however. Out of respect the Man was not confronted. Roe author of the Raven and the pit Lind the pendulum among Many other works was born in 1809 and died in Baltimore in 1849. Gun Laws urged by mayor Washington apr the mayor of a Chicago suburb where seven restaurant workers were shot to death this month appealed monday for tougher gun Laws. A heed the sound of the shots that rang out in my City a mayor Rita Mullins of Palatine hi., told a news conference at the . Conference of mayors Winter meeting. Twenty other mayors joined Mullins in calling for passage of two measures the Brady Bill to require waiting periods and background checks for handgun buyers and a Federal ban on assault weapons. Mullins acknowledged however that the tougher restrictions might not have prevented the Jan. 8 killings. Police have not charged anyone in the Case a there Are crazies out there evildoers that Are going to do this again Quot she said. A a in a saying a How stupid itty we done to even have a the Brady Bill and the assault w weapons Banshee said she also favors automatic penalties for any one who fires a gun a even in self defens Eto would be similar to state Laws that automatically Rev the licenses of Drunken Drivers. A i think there has to be consequences even if you 1 using it to protect yourself Quot she said. A it is an act  joining Mullins at the news conference was maj Joan Darrah of Stockton Calif where four years a Ltd opened fire at a school playground killing i children before taking  own life. The attack inspired a California Law restricting a Tain a diary style assault weapons such As the one us by the killer. A elect Clinton has said that he would is the Brady Bill which was part of a larger crime it blocked by republicans in Congress last year a that he also supports an assault weapons ban. The time has come Justice will be done a s mayor William Althaus of York pa., the conferee president