T
UfiO Weather ;.
Highest temperature, yesterday..56
Lowest temperature last -nigh t...40
Forecast for southwest Oregon:
Occasional rains tonight 'and prob
ably Tuesday,
Douglas
County'
Greatest
Newspaper
m
TODAY'S NEWS T09AY
Consolidation ol, The Evening News and
. The Roseburg Review
DOUG L AS C. O U N T X
An Independent Newspaper, Published lor
i . the Best Interests of the Peoplt.
ROSEBURG, OREGON. MONDAY; FEBRUARY 21, 1927,
'llW LRRW 0 OieS01!..'.! NO. 32 OF THE EVENING NEWS
VOL. XXVII ' NO. 271 OF ROSEBJRG REVIEW
o)fo)fl
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MOST SEVERE FLOOD IN OVER
FORTY YEARS DOES GREAT
AMOUNT OF LOCAL DAMAGE
Highways In Every Direction Blocked by Ram
pant Waters, Slides and Washouts; Riv
' "ers Running Out of Banks Inundate
: ' : Many Homes and Farms
CONDITIONS IMPROVED LATE TODAY
Slowly Receding Waters Reported This Afternoon But
Weather Bureau States That Prospect Is For
More Rain Wire Communication Is '
. -Slowly Being Restored
Floods, more severe than any known for more than 40
years, left Douglas county suffering today from complete para
lysis of all: traffic, communication arid practically all industry
Thousands of dollars of property damage has been reported but
as yet no estimate can be made of the losses incurred. -
With 4.79 inches of rain since the start of the storm on the
night of the 1 8th rivers and streams of the county, swollen to
many times their normal size, washed out bridges, flooded
homes, and did untold damage to ronds. and highways, taking
Dut telephone lines and completely demoralizing the services of
the public utilities. , '.: . ,. ', '' . -.
The storm began Friday Snight with , a heavy,, downpour
"which continued 'aH'bfey Satufdfiy and over Sunday, giving a,
; tQljal rainfall of 4.54 inches during that period. ' Last night con
tinued precipitation,' amounting to'. 25' of an 'inch,' added to the
, flood, conditions. t ' ' ' : 1 ' ' ' ' 1 ' ' " '
Slides, and washouts completely blocked, the Pacific high
way, bot,h north and: south, interrupting all .traffic while train
. service, was also- halted by washoiit3 in Cow Creek canyon and
dangerous conditions at Yoncalla. The Coos Bay highway be-
came impassable Saturday night when fallen trees,' boulders and
slides completely blocked the roadway. ' .
...... As the water continued to rise it flooded the pavement in
many places, washing around bridges, undermining the high
way and doing much 'damage, effectively halting all auto traffic.
Stages Sunday maintained connections with Eugene by trans
ferring at "Yoncalla, but even this was impossible after a late
hour last night.
Wires Are Down
Wire communication' was main
tained .until late last night when
the increasing violence ot the flood
interrupted this' service; The powei
lines went down Sunday evening
when the. swollen waters, , ot Elk
creek took out the poles op the
main line between Roseburg and
Prospect. Service was furnished
from the north for a few hours, but
this was interrupted when raging
waters in the . Willamette Valley
took out that section of the line.
This break left Roseburg and near
by communities without lights or
power, while industrial plants
were unable to secure power , to
operate their machinery. ' '
City' Without Gas
The Southern Oregon Gas com
pany's plant was flooded, shutting
off the city's supply of gas. This
Jilt the restaurants particularly
hard and many persons had a hard
time getting something to eat this
morning.
The North Umpqua river reach
ed a high peak of 18 feet above
zero this morning, the highest re-
NEWS-REVIEW LATE
WITH PAPER DUE TO
STORM CONDITIONS
,- r
The damage done to the gas
plant, power lines, and to tel-
egraph service, seriously af-
fected the News-Review to-
dnv. With no power to run
the machines, and no gas to
melt the metal and no tele-
graph lines in operation, the
newspaper office- was in a
turmoil this morning. The
' plant . was put on the enter-
gency light circuit and power
was furnished before noon,
while the telegraph communt-
cation was restored at noon.
No gas was obtainable, how-
ever, until late In the evening,
and until that time the type-
setting machines could not be
put in operation. The em-
ployees remained' on the Job
regardless, of regular working
hours and started the day's
work after 6 p. m.. getting
out the paper shortly before
midnight. The News-Review
regrets the delay and incon-
ven fence caused its subscrib-
era but tinder the handicaps
there was no opportunity to
get out an earlier edition.
corded for more than '10 years. The
water carried huge quantities of
driftwood and made a great spec
tacle for the hundreds of people
who gathered to witness the ef
fects of the flood.
The South Umpqua river, run
ning out of its banks, flooded
homes along the edge of - the
stream, some families in the Grove
section of the city, being rescued
from .their homes by means of
boats.
Farms Under Water
Many .farms on the lowlands
along trie river were flooded, a
great deal of damage being done.
Considerable broccoli was washed
out, but it has been impossible so
far to learn how much of. the crop
has been lost.
The auto camp grounds at Hose
burg suffered heavily from the
flood, the cabins being completely
surrounded by the waters backed
up into Deer creek. The cabins
were anchored, but were badly
damaged and were moved around
on their foundations.
Workmen were busy all night
last night endeavoring to prevent
damage to the buildings at the
camp grounds and the Deer creek
bridge, and their efforts were
very successful considering the
handicaps under which they labor
ed. .
Waters Thought to Be Receding
The waters continued to rise all
day Sunday, and this morning
! reached a level which old timers
claim is the highest since 1880
During the middle of the forenoon
it appeared that the peak had been
reached and that the waters were
bginnlng to recede slowly.
The weather bureau, however,
held out no hope of an abatement
of the . storm, A. W., Pugh, meteor
ologist in charge of the local sta
tion, reporting that the harometer
was still- falling. Indicating . that
more rain could be expected.
Late this afternoon conditions
were considerably improved and it
was thought that the . situation
was fairly well In hand. Wire com
munication was reiftored with the
north, messages being sent and
received between Roseburg and
Portland. The rivers and smaller
streams were reported to be drop
ping and conditions generally were
better. Unless heavy rains come to-
Inight It iabelieved that the flood
wlll abate without doing any fur-
ther great amount of damage.
wwiui
0
MORE RAINS IN
WESTERN PART OF
STATE PREDICTED
-
Despite the weather predic-
tion for continued rains In the
western part of the state It is
not expected "that there will
, be. any further damage from
the storm. The weather pre-
diction is for continued rains
in the west, and rains or
snows in the east ' portion.
Normal temperature and fresh
and occasionally strong south-
erly winds on the coast are
forecasted.
Unless the rains are es-
pecially heavy it Is not be-
lieved that the flood condi-
tions will continue for any
great length of time. Late
this afternoon the wnters
were dropping very rapidly,
and were nearly 8 feet below
the high -water level reached
this morning.
UTILITIES ARE
HARD HIT BY
LOCAL STORi
Power, Telegraph ancLTele
""' phone' Lines and .
(Washed Out. :
NO
GAS AVAILABLE
Water Backs Into Plant
Which Could Be Reach--ed
.Only by ' Boat
This Morning.
Public utilities were hard hit by
the floods over the week-end. Pow
er lines, telephone and telegraph
lins, gas plants, etc., were all put
out of commission, affecting near
ly all ot the cities and towns of
the county.
The California Oregon Power
company was unable .today to ob
tain a full estimate of the damage
done to its system, the lack uf tel
ephone communication along the
line preventing reports from being
received.
Service was maintained Sunday
until about 7 o'clock in the eve
ning, when the rising waters at
Elk Creek washed out several
poles and broke the line. After a
short intermission service was re
stored from the north, but this
lasted only a short time. The flood
ing Willamette river then was re
sponsible for the break in the con
nection on the north and the city
was plunged into darkness. The
company was unable to get crews
to the breaks because .of the
floods and so repairs could not be
made.
Breaks were located at London
Springs, near Cottage Grove, and
at Creswell, north of Cottage
Grove. The line was -washed out
at Hawk Creek, on the Jackson
county side of the Jackson-Doug-las
divide and also at Labrador
school house near Days Creek in
this county. Crews were dispatch
ed to these two latter breaks late
this afternoon making the trip over
the Roberts Mountain road and
then across country.
T. H. Ness, manager of the
Umpqua division, staled that it
will probably be 24 hours befoio
normal service can be restored.
Locally the company Is attempt
ing to supply the business and in
dustrial plants frpm tho Winches
ter plant. Because of the high wa
ter In the North Umpqua the tur
bines cannot be used and electri
city is being furnished by means
of the seam plant. Mr. Ness stat
ed that It will be impossible to
furnish lights or power for the res
idential section tonight.
The water pumps are being op
erated at Winchester to supply the
city with water for domestic use.
So far there has been little diffi
culty with the water mains but Mr.
Ness urges that water be conserv
ed so that In the event of an emer
gency that the reservoirs will not
have been emptied.
Telephone Wires Down
The telephone wires were down
(Continued on page 4.)
GREAT
DONE TO
AND BRIDGES
Highway Blocked in Nunv
erous Places by Flood i
Waters and Slides. I
TOWNS (ARE FLOODED
Approaches to Steel Bridge
at Umpqua and High
way Bridge at -,
Dillard Gone. i '
No possible estimate can be
made, it is reported, on the dam
age done to highways, bridges,
etc., by the flood waters. All traf
fic was halted Sunday afternoon
land practically every ' town and
city of the county was left isolated.
At Yoncalla the water was re
ported to be - about 6 feet deep
across the pavement. 'The water
was also over the railroad tracks
and. .'undermined a. switch track
nnd threatened tjie main line,
which was protected by sandbags
hurriedly placed by. section work
men. ' : '
..Two. auto busses which tried 'to
get through the swirling waters on
the highway .were stalled, one
turning partly over as lb slid'- off
the road. - Traffic was maintained
by the busses -Sunday nfternoon,
passengers being brought from
Eugene to Yoncalla, where they
crossed the rampant; waters by
walking the suspended switch'
track above the flood waters,
transferring to a bus which brought
them on to Roseburg.
The switch track was left above
the water when . its .ballast - was
washed away for a considerable
distance. The main line was threat
ened, but was saved after many
(Continued on page 4.)
T. 0. DIXON, WELL
Succumbs Following Several
Months Illness 1 uneral
to Be Held Wednes
day Afternoon.
Tom O. Dixon, well known Doug
las county man, died at about G :30
o'clock Sunday evening at Mercy
hospital following an illness ex
tending over a period of several
months. Air. Dixon wns horn on
the old Dixon land claim adjoining
Sunshine ranch on the North Ump
qua. March 14, 1882. He spent prac
tically all his life in Douglas coun
ty, attending the schools and mak
ing his home. on the Dixon property
east of this city.
He was the son of Enoch and
Letsey Dixon, now deceased, who
were well known here. Fq,r mnny
years Mr. Dixon had been a stock
raiser. On June '12, 1917 he was
married to Miss Hazel Jewett of
Roseburg and to them were horn
three children, two of them dying
in Infancy.
For the past several months Mr.
Dixon had been in 111 health and In
December went to Arizona, think
ing the change rtf climate might
benefit him. He returned to Ore
gon a short time later entering a
Portland sanltorium and only a few
weeks ago returned to this city.
Mr. Dixon was a member of the
Elks lodge and was well known in
Roseburg and vicinity, having a
large circle of friends. He Is sur
vived bylhis widow and a daugh
ter, Betty, and three sisters. Mrs.
Tom Jennings . of Boise. Idaho;
Mrs. A. E. Kent of Roseburg: Mrs.
Jess Shambrook of Umpqua.
The body has been taken to the
Roseburg Undertaking parlors and
the funeral will be lipid Wednes
day afternoon at 2 o'clock at the
Elks temple. T(ev. Joseph Knotts
will read the service and Interment
will take plrge at the Masonic
cemetery.
DAMAGE REVENU
ROADSIARER
E BILLS
EEORETHE
STATE
Patterson's Tithing Plan
- First Considered, Tax
on Tobacco Next.
CARKIN IS SATISFIED
House Speaker Says Work
Done Constructive in
Character; 34 Bills
Awaiting Action. ;
t(MKwintod Pnxg Leased Wire.)
STATE HOUSE, SALEM, Ore.,
Fob. 21. Governor I. L. Patter
son's so-called tithing bill, which
imposes a levy of, five per cent on
funds of Btate departments and
commissions for this year and 2J
per cent for next year, as a means
of tiding the state over a deficit,
was before the senate this after
noon on third reading.., Opponents,
of the hill predicted that' the meas
ure would be defeated. 1 f' v. 1 ' i -
Senator Bailey1 and' others' were
ready for the introduction of n to
bacco tax bill, similar to the meas
ure passed by the 1925 session, ex
cept:that It includes cigars. The
1925 measure was defeated at a-referendum.-
' 1 ' - ..-'
In the house today tho reforesta
tion bill of Representative James
Mott, of. Astoria, was under 1 de
bale. The discussion was still in
progress when the house adjourn
ed at noon.
Session Work Reviewed '
Speaker Carkln, of- the house, In
a review of the accomplishments
of the session today, said the leg
islature should be In a position
to adjourn tomorrow or Wednes
day unless the Milling bill caused
protracted discussion or Its defeat
should make necessary otlier leg
islation In Its stead.
"We can safely say that the work
accomplished in the first 40 days
of the session has not been bad,"
commented Carkln. "We have done
the things thought necessary nnd
have not put over some things
that was rumored would go over
and not be of benefit to the people
of tho slate."
Speaker Carkln pointed out that
the senate had taken caro of the
house nrogram In an excellent man
ner. There are but. 34 house bills
yet to be acted upon by the senate,
he said.
The speakor pointed out that the
Income tax. legislation providing
for a reassessment of values, the
Irrigation code and the Hoover
rules of the road code, were
among the major laws enacted.
ROSEBURG TAKES
BASKETBALL GAME
FROM CORVALLIS
Roseburg high school won a
close basketball game with Corval
lls high school Saturday night at
Corvallls. The game stalled with
Corvnllls tnklng the lead and hav
ing a margin of 14 to 7 at the hnlf.
Roseburg came back strong in the
second hnlf and tied the score 18
to 18 at the end of the time. An
extra three-minute period was de
rided unon ftnd Roseburg tossed
the basket, needed to win, Inking
the game 20 to 18.
The boys were stranded In Cor
vallls because of the storm and did
not reach town until late this
morning.
NO SCHOOL AT
SENIOR HIGH
DUE TO FLOOD
Because of the flood conditions
there was no school at the Rose
burg senior hhrh school toilav. The
Oak street bridge was endanger
ed at school time and It was fear
ed that the structure might go
out tind leave the rtuplis stranded
on the west side. Because of this
condition the school was dismiss
ed for today. Tho school w:is also
short o nteachi s as some had
gone home to Eugene, -Portland
and other places for the -week-end
and were unable to return.
SENATE
Mules Roll On
Grave Of Their
' Slain Master
(Associated Press Leased' Wire.)
OSKOSH, Neb., Feb. 21. A pair
of mules which insisted on rolling
over the barnyard grave of his
uncle, Frank Boyer, comprised the
"only thing" that caused- him to
worry, Henry Boyer said In his cell
here today. The elder Boyer was
shot and killed on his ranch in
1913 nnd his skolotou was recov-.
ered Saturday.
The mules, . Henry said, were
owned by the dead man. Every
time they were unharnessed, he
explained, they would travel from
one end ot the ranch to the other
nnd roll on the spot where Frank
was burled.
"It got my goat." Henry added.
"I always had trouble gelling them
away from tho place."
Boyer Is hold with - Mrs. Frank
Boyer, his common law wife, in
connection with the death of the
uncle whose bones wore , disinter
red from his 14 yenr old grave af
ter 38 hours, of digging on the
Boyer ranch by a posse. County
Attorney Frank Dutton plans to
cliargo them with bolng nccessory
to a minder both before and after
tho met, as ootn uociare uinr. me
slaying was done by Henry's
brother. Thomas, who Is dead. No
Inquest is planned. ,
U P ALU TRAINS
Four Trains Lost in South
ern Part of the
. State. ,i
CUT.OFF IS BLOCKED
Wire Communication De
stroyed South of City
Superintendent Leads
Work to Open Line.
Indications this nfternoon were
that railroad traffic, which has
beon completely deinorali.ed since
Sunday morning, will be restored
in a measure by" tomorrow morn
ing. Two trains, a stub doing lo
cal work between' Roseburg and
Eugene, and a freight train, went
north this morning, but. there has
been no movement to the south.
Five trains are tied up on the divi
sion, one being held in Roseburg
and four others between this city
and Ashland. Where tho trnhiB
aro marooned is not known as no
word has been received of them
since yeslerdny. First and second
sections of Number 12. Number 11
and Number 53. aro nil held up
some place on the line. Both sec
tions of Number 12 are thouuht to
he at Gold Hill and Number 53 and
Number 11 are thought to ho at
Olendale, while 15 Is In Roseburg,
hut no definite Informal Ion has
been learned as there are no wire
connections south of Roseburg.
Number 11 tried to negotiate the
Cow Creek canyon yesterday but
was stalled by washouts and slides
ahead. An attempt was made to
return to RnFcbiirg. but a slide on
this side prevented the train from
coming back.
Number 15 reached here from
the north yesterday evening nt 5 p.
ni.. and was ordered to return to
Eugene to go over tho Nntron cut
off to Klamath Falls. The train
wns reversed, hut just as It was
ready to null out an order came lo
remain at Roseburg as there has
hen a huge slide on (bo Klamth
Falls lino, making that road im
ps ssablo.
There has been no trains In
either direction today.
Local railroad officials had ab
solutely no Information as to the
number of slides and washouts in
Cow Creek canyon. There was a
slide at Carncs yesterday, but it
was cleared away. Two big drirts
went against the railroad bridge
nt Winchester, and kept crews
busy all night with poles nnd dynf
(Continued on page 4.)
WASHOUTS ID
WASHOUTS AND
UP RAIL AND
T
Willamette, Rogue and
INTERRUP
len by Torrential, Thirty-six-Hour Rain,
Forced Out of Their Banks With
' Costly Results -
SCORES OF BRIDGES TORN LOOSE
Residents of Lane County
Rapidly Rising Water, Rescued In Boats Parts of. .
Medf ord and Springfield Inundated; Property ;
Loss in Rogue Valley Around $300,000
" : (Associated Press Leased Wire.) -
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 21. Rail and highway traffic
was virtually at a standstill and wire communication was seri
ously crippled in some parts of western Oregon today, the re
sult of torrential .rains during the last 36 hours. . ,
The Southern, Pacific office here reported this morning
that all their wires, were out south- of Roseburg and that ho
trains were operating south of that point because of flood con
ditions. , . - .i ,.", .,':.'-"
. The Rogue, Applegate and Illinois rivers were at their '
highest stage in 25 years and still rising when the latest avail
able information came in late last night. A Southern Pacific
bridge at Tolo was washed, out and the tracks were covered
with water for several miles. t v.;: ' ' :'
Cottage Grove was practically surrounded by flood waters
last night and the Row river, east of Cottage Grove, had over
flowed its banks. The coast fork of the Willamette river, which
flows through Cottage Grove, was threatening to overflow. A
large section of the west side was flooded when Silk creek left
its banks. . ".'.' : ' ' '
Highways Blocked, Bridges Periled ' e
Grants Pass was -virtually isolated, with highway arid rail
traffic at a standstill and nearly all wires' down. The Western
Union had one wire into the town, from San Francisco. The
Pacific highway was under four feet of water for more than
seven miles south of Grants Pass. Bridges north of town were
threatened and several small slides were reported.
Travel over the Redwood ' highway beyond Kerby, ' 30
miles from Grants Pass, was stopped when several bridges were
endangered. Unconfirmed reports said the Illinois river bridge
and the Rough and Ready bridge on the Redwood highway had
been destroyed. A county bridge over the Applegate river
went out yesterday afternoon. .; .
A' log jam above the new California and Oregon coast
railroad bridge was dynamited to save the bridge after part of
the trestle work had been washed out. Another Unconfirmed
report said that trestle work on the new Pacific highway bridge
at Gold Hill had been destroyed. '
Railway Traffic Demoralized '
Southern Pacific train No. 13 which left Portland Satur
day for San Francisco was being held at Medford this morn
ing, unable to move in either direction. No. 53 which left
here at 1 a. m. today was stopped at Eugene. - The Shasta
Limited, in two sections, which was due here from the south at
10:30 last night, was delayed indefinitely at Ashland. Two
other trains which were to have left Portland for the south this
morning were also held up. , A big log raft broke its moorings
in the upper harbor in Portland early today and swept down
stream to the Hawthorne bridge, where it broke up. The big
logs menaced small craft iu the harbor for a time.
Huge Slides Halt Motor Traffic
Loosened by rains, ten tons of rock crashed down on the
west side Pacific highway here shortly before midnight. A near
by resident heard the noise and went out with a flashlight to
warn motorists. Two who disregarded his warnings had their
cars damaged when they drove into the obstruction.
Several unimproved streets in the southeastern section of
the city were flooded by the heavy downpour. -
Torrential rain fell for 30 minutes in the district between
Portland and Oregon City Sunday afternoon. The rain was
carried in great waves through the air by a terrific wind. Traf
fic on the highways was slowed up and many motorists were
forced to stop their cars as they were unable to see ahead.
Wlllamete Rises Rapidly.
I0UOENK, Ore., Feb. 21. Eugene
was drenched by a record rainfall
yesterday when 2.19 Inches of rain
fell In a 21-!iur period. The Wil
lamette river was a raging torrent
this morning, the stage of the river
being 16.D feet. It has risen seven
feet since Saturday.
Residents In the lowlands along
is mi
SLIDES TIE
AUTOTRAFFII
WIRE
Smaller Rivers, Swol
Lowlands. Trapped Bv
the river were forved to leave
thetr homes as the waters swept
down. A number of families were
marooned In the upper rooms of
their homes and were being res
cued today by boats.
A fairly heavy snow In the moun
tains and foot hills preceded the
rainfall, and the melting snows are
(Continued on page 4.)
SERVICE
P: