Comedian Injured In Desert Mishap Reported Better

Comedian Pat Buttram, screen saddle pal of Cowboys star Gene Autry, apparently has passed the crisis and will recover from severe injuries suffered during a film location accident, doctors said yesterday at Twentynine Palms.

His physician at the Twentynine Palms hospital says Buttram’s condition no longer was critical and that he was resting comfortably.

The comedian was wounded in the chest Tuesday when a property cannon exploded in a cabin near Pioneertown, where Autry’s company was shooting scenes for a television film.

Although Autry was blown out of the cabinet by the blast, he escaped injury. Two other members of the company received slight injuries.