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About The news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1948-1994 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1949)
4 Tht Newt-Review, Roebur9, Of. Thur., Moy 26, 194t It's a Gift, Son! In the Day's News J (Continued from Page One) Published Daily Except Sunday by the News-Review Company, Inc. tnlcred i.rond cliu m.tl.r M.r 1. !. ' fJ "' ' . Uoaeburf, Orefon, under let Mercft X. J CHARLES V. STANTON -gTm EDWIN L. KNAPP Editor yia Manager Member of the Ateociated Preee, Oregon Newspaper Publlihere Atiociation, the Audit Bureau of Circulationi Beprnenled by WEBT-HOIXIDAV TO.. INC., .Illrei In New York, Chlc.i". " Sen Fr.ncl.ce. to. Aniele.. Be.llle, rorll.nd, 1. Louli. HlTRHrmpTinN iater-In Orecon Br Mill Per Veer $.(M, ilx monlhe H..in. UBSrBIPTinN ATE in ""' rrtr l'r ,r n.M lln .dv.nnel. ! then IV." 5 ".nthSl.. o" .Id. 0,'.-B, M.il-P.r ye.r M0. .1. monlhi ft. 75. Ihrt months Jt.76. LESS TALK, MORE WORK Formal opening of Roseburg's swimming pool Friday night deserves a real celebration. If all the talk, desires and efforts put forth on behalf of a swimming poirf over a long period of years could be offset by a combined expression of satisfaction in a job well done, Friday night's program would be something astounding. Formal dedication of the swimming pool marks the end of many years of wishful thinking and a comparatively few months of actual work. Success of the project, once it re ceived determined action, should provide a lesson. We can achieve almost anything we -want if we want it bad enough to work for it. Whenever we have had solidarity of purpose and cooperative action on the part of our citizens, we have accomplished deeds of impressive civic merit. Several years ago Roscburg decided it wanted a veterans hospital. Our citizens got behind the project, organized sup. port from various neighboring communities and achieved the goal in the face of stubborn resistance. Some of our people thought the County Fair should be revived, while, at the same time, the Sheriff's Posse wanted a site for a rodeo. So, getting together, an ambitious plan was worked out.- We have had an annual rodeo for several years and this year will stage our first County Fair in more than 80 years. The Roseburg Rod and Gun Club saw recreational sites passing rapidly into private ownership and envisioned the day when few spots would be available near Roseburg for public use. Through cooperation of many local residents it obtained one of the finest recreational properties in Oregon 3,500 feet of river frontage and more than 100 acres on the North Umpqua River at Winchester. The land is so dedi cated that It can never return to private ownership but must forever be available for recreational purposes. Now, the Umpqua Basin Conservation Council has succeeded in hav ing $10,000 placed in the current county budget to make acquisition of public recreational sites a county-wide project. When need for additional hospital facilities became ap parent, plans to obtain them were formulated. Opinions divided regarding the best course of action, but one group, which favored the Community Hospital idea, went ahead and raised a large sum of money through public contribu tions and is starting preliminary work on a project that will approach a half million dollars in completed stage. These are only a few of the more recent accomplishments in Roseburg accomplishments sucesRfully terminated when people quit beating their gums and started working together. It is interesting to look back and see how far we have come during the past few years. Often we grow discouraged because conditions are not to our liking and it seems that progress is altogether too slow. But when we stop to take inventory of our improvements, we have reason to be proud. Our pride in achievement, however, should not permit us to become blinded to the fact that many betterment oppor tunities remain. We have amply demonstrated the power of cooperation and determination. We have shown beyond all question of doubt that when we make up our minds a certain development is essential and decide to do something about it, we can achieve our purpose. The swimming pool to be dedicated Friday night is only one of many pieces of evidence that community cooperation knows no limit in achievement. Looking back on our swimming pool project, we can won der why we spent so much time talking and quarrelling about it when it was so quickly accomplished once the com munity got behind it under able leadership and brilliant execution. Friday night's celebration should be more than a dedica tion of a swimming pool. Those who participate, as well as thoss who do not attend, should dedicate themselves in spirit and purpose to future programs of civic cooperation and en terprise that many more important projects may be brought to successful completion through less talk and more united labor. Editorial Comment From The Oregon Press CVA CONTROVERSY The Dalles Chronicle Since President Truman's pro posal for a Columbia Vitlloy Au thority whs introduced In' Con Kress last month, there has boon considerable controversy over the measure from coast to coast. A number of eastern newspn- fiers have endorsed the proposal n principle, supporting their be lief In the project on the siev posed sureess of the Tennessee Valley Authority. There is much opposition to the plan In the Northwest, however. CVA is ardently supported by public power advocates, New Pealers and some proponents of Columbia development who re gard CVA as a more efficient method of handling construction projects. Opponents of CVA base their criticism largely on extension of absolute federal control over the area's economy. They fear that future political regimes may ex ercise clangorous powers tnat win leave the people of the Northwest with no voice in CVA administra tion. Unquestionably a centralized authority would be more effici ent than the prpsent administra tion by the army engineers, bu reau of reclamation, bureau of Indian affairs, Bonneville power administration, et al. But there Is a question of whether increased efficiency Is worth the price of extreme bureaucratic control un ,der direction of the federal execu tive department. We cannot help but feel that CVA falls short of a change lor the better. Indeed there are other proposals that would expedite de velopment of this region and at the same time provide a maxi mum of local control. I'ast policy has been to treat Columbia dams as purely appro priation projects, combining tiooct control, navigation, recla mation and power, with a specific amount allotted for each. Pesplte Bonneville's primary purpose of power generation, the Congress must appropriate funds each ses sion for operation of the admin istration. A more logical approach would be creation of a CVA by the states of Oregon, Washington Idaho and Montana, with repre sentatives from each state com prising the governing board and naming an administrator. This authority could borrow, on a businesslike basis, funds from the U. S. treasury for construc tion of Columbia projects, to be repaid over a period of years with interest. Power and reclamation should he self liquidating from revenues. Shanghai Police Wage War on Gangsterism In . determined effort to rid Shanghai of crime, Municipal Police execute five gangs "rf !, fho had t rnlaid residents of various part of the city. A total of 25 persons were executed in two days In thl city lacing Imminent Communist ieee. Red advances and war Jitters have prompted an Increase In the city's crime. Photo by Warren Lee, NEA-Acme staff correspondent. Viahnett S. Martin J J r ' Who could help enjoying "A Connecticut Yankee?" As one who has always taken delight in the stories of King Arthur and his sixth century court, I find my pleasure heightened, not lessened, as I recall Bing Crosby gaily go ing his way through the pages of history: with the help of Mark Twain, a horse that presumably catapaulted the youth of 1905 backwards into time, and a screen play that must have been fun for everybody in the making. The duel between Who-ever he- was and Sir Boss was a riot. Since the whole thing was a dream, anything went and did. After all, if it somewhat satir izes King Arthur, shall we mind? Surely King Arthur, like all the celebrities who have followed and preceded him in history, must have had his moments when so much hero-stuff palled on him. Besides, it's just a dream! It would be a pity to miss the opportunity to make the most of the picture In its relation to certain English courses, especial- of 'props,' indeed with none at all, will have no trouble under standing the funning In "A Con necticut Yankee!" Since our only source for mental pictures of life in those days is (he written word, and pictures, the film helps youngsters visualize the costumes. It Is easy enough to help them enjoy the anachronisms, such as the match, the printed almanac, and the watch, and so on. Down in Hollywood, Alice Ev ans Field, charming and efficient director of the department of studio and public service of the Motion Picture Association, sums up the evaluations turned in to her by representatives from 14 organizations who ha,ve first seen pre views of new films. The com ments are frank; there is not al ways agreement: Mrs. Field's summaries carefully include dif fering opinions, giving the name of the organization. Thirteen gave the film an all age rating, and liked it; one group was afraid that "those who cherish the legend of King Ar- ly in the lower schools; it could : thur and his Knights as a symbol even be used as a take-off into of nobility and chivalry will n.t the Tales ot King Arthur, the appreciate the mockery of the stories of the Knights of the . film." Round Table, and especially, ah, That must have astonished Sir especially, the IdUls of the King! Cedrlc Ilardwlck: it was the opin Children, who can step at once Ion of the group from the Dauglt into fantasy with the minimum Iters of the British Empire! same as railroads must pay for:antee a reasonable return on the laying their own tracks. Flood control should be financed by tax ation of the areas receiving bene fits. At present every Columbia project proposed to the Congress is treated as an appropriation, net consequently must be of the annual budget. If govern ment expenditures threaten to exceed revenues, as appears to be the ease this year, river de velopment is one of the first budget items to be cut. Construction of dams on an amortization basis is the only Navigation Improvements should , sound method of development of be paid for by the companies and ! the ureal Columbia. Power rates persons using the waterways, the must be sufficiently high to guar- Investment Construction and operation of a CVA by the Northwest States would remove the danger of ex cessive federal control hut stiil accomplish utilization ot our greatest resource. Development part I would lie expedited because con gressional appropriations would no longer have to be sought, and construction of new power prot ects would be dependent upon demand. IVwer would be sold at whole sale rales at tht point of genera tion, with public and private pow er companies building their own transmission lines tor carrying the power to consumers. Thus the government would stay 'en tirely out of the power distribu tion business, with local units of government deciding whether public or private concerns are to serve them. Perhaps our thinking Is wholly wishful, however. The powers in Washington want more federal control, and seldom treat with favor any suggestion for state or regional Jurisdiction In resource development. We challenge CVA proponents to provide a logical argument in favor of a federal authority as opposed to a state controlled CVA as outlined above. WHO OPPOSES CVAT Industrial News Review The proposed Columbia Valley Authority is a national, not a re gional, issue.. It is true that the bill applies only to one group of states. However, it is equally true that CVA, if it passes, will be the pattern for other valley authori ties covering every section of the country where there are import ant hydroelectric resources. The powers that be, fearful lest the growing opposition to CVA may prevent ils passage by Con gress, are turning the heat on In an effort to sugar-coal the pill, to hide the fact that it would mean the death of local auton omy, and to silence dissenters. In the light of that, it is important for the public to understand just who is opposing CVA. Here is a partial list of individuals and groups which have gone on rec ord against it: the governors of Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Ne vada and Wyoming; the superin tendents of the three most prom inent municipal power systems In the area, Seattle. Tacoma and Eu gene; every major newspaper and some So per cent of all news papers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho: about 100 local agri cultural, industrial and civic or ganizations, and a majority of the Northwest's Congressional dele gation. This opposition is not primarily concerned with the fate of the private utilities in the Northwest, nor in other commercial aspects of the matter. It is concerned with two salient facts. First of all, the region doesn't need CVA to get the most out of its power fa cilities. As Tom Humphrey of the Portland, Oregon, Journal, has written. "Oregon. Washington and Idaho are among the top 8 states in rural electrification, without a TV A, while Tennessee is 44th. The region has cheaper power than TVA . . ." Secondly, those who oppose the extension of autocratic socialism know that the region can handle whatever power problem it mav have without surrenderjng more motor stopped. So no news by teletype. The news is put Into type on a machine that Is run by a motor. It uses melted metal. The metal is melted electrically. When the current stops, the metal cools and solidifies. It takes about an hour to heat up and get going again after the current comes back on. e EVEN the pictures In the paper depend on electricity. The print is made from the negative in a Jigger that contains a bulb. No current, no light to print pic tures with. . When the type and pictures are finally assembled into pages, we have to cast them into round metal businesses that will SPIN FAST when they go on the press. The machines that do it are run by electricity. The metal is melt ed by electricity. You might say that only the boys who deliver the paper to you run on their, own power. About everything else depends on what comes from Copco. WE newspaper people have gone modern. We have rest periods during which we relax and restore our energy that has been torn down by the speed and nervous tension ! of our exacting duties (that's our story and we stick to It). Our chief restorative is coffee. To j save time, the coffee is made in a little kitchen of our own and served at nearby tables when : we don't carry it off to our desks, j Listen: When the power went off, we had Just absorbed most of the coffee AND THE MACHINES THAT MAKE MORE ARE RUN BY ELECTRICITY. We couldn't even sit down peacefully in the midst of the wreckage wrought in our day by the power outage and soothe ourselves with fresh, hot Java. That came darned near to being the straw that broke the camel's back. (CAN remember vividly yet the agonized howl that came from the men's wash room in the shop along about mid-afternoon. Some body had gone In to take a hot shower. There issued suddenly these winged words, freighted with exasperation: "No hot water! ????$$$!!!. What the ' DOWN IN THE DUMPS A couple of scavengers try on brand new gas masks for size in a Chicago dump. A war surplus dealer ; is having two million of them burned because he can find no market for them. The masks cost the government $3.25 each dur ing the war. The dealer paid Ave cents per mask last year and now has them piled three stories high in his warehouse. kind of a place is this anyway?" Human flesh is frail. It can take Just so much. When the hot water failed to How, the bursting point arrived. , I YOU remember Scheherazade's tale of Aladdin's lamp? If so, you'll recall that Aladdin became heally dependent on the genie that appeared and did his work for him whenever he rubbed the lamp. When he lost the lamp, he was sunk. Well, In these days were sunk . when we lose our electric cur rent, which is the modern genie of the lamp. (Especially in the newspaper business, where we're mechanized to the last degree.) ME, I'm an old-fashioned bird. I've never been able to ac custom myself to an electric type writer, and when the current went off I went right ahead and finished the column I was work ing on. AND THEN WE COULDN'T PRINT A PAPER, AND SO THE COLUMN I HAD WRITTEN COULDN'T BE PRINTED THAT NIGHT. So that ruined MY day. I'M never going to forget the sweet-voiced oldish lady who said to me over the phone: "You know, without the paper, my sup per tasted flat like I was eating it cold out of a paper sack." For me, that saved a day that otherwise was a complete failure. People are wonderful. of Its rights to the politicians. At present, it has a power pool made up of private utilities, municipal systems, and the existing Federal Dlants. The organization mav not be perfect, but it is working. It i Rot over the tight power period ! of last winter with a minimum of I dislocations. It can meet the peo I Die's needs In the futi CVA. like TVA, would be an all powerful sutler . government, which would dominate an empire. That is the alien philosophy which those who oppose CVA are trving to check. Phone 100 If you do not receive yeur News-Review by 6:1 P. M. call Mr. Waters fcefore 7:00 P. M. Phone 100 AT STUD Registered Golden Palomino Stallions King's Choice and Desert Parodist Come See Their Foals Brown House by Store Umpqua, Oregon Lloyd Sconce Douglas County State Bank Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Make This Douglas County Institution Your Bank. Home Owned Home Operated r . . , I FULLER PAINT SALE CLOSING JUNE 1st Pure Prepared, 4.89 gal. Regular Price 6.25 Gal. DENN-GERRETSEN CO. 402 W. Oak Phone 128 BASEBALL GAME Thursday Nite, May 26 8 P.M. Roseburg Umpqua Chiefs VS. TRI-CITY Exhibition Game Admission Children Adults Tax Included 30c -74c FINLAY FIELD GALVANIZED PIPE All Sizes and Any Amounts Pipe Cutters Pipe Stock & Die Sets Pipe Vices Pipe Wrenches Pipe Fittings Soil Pipe & Fittings Plumbing Fixtures Hot Water Heaters BUY WHERE YOU SHARE !N THE SAVINGS DOUGLAS COUNTY Farm Bureau Co-Operative Exchange ROSEBURG, OREGON Phone 98 Located W. Washington St. and S P R R Tracks i