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About The news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1948-1994 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1956)
Sat. Jan. 7, 1956 The News-Review, Roseburg, Or. 3 Hood Eiooest Sve n No. 1 Floods Torrential warm rains enveloped Douglas County in December, bringing two severe floods in less than a week as they melted moun tain snow and saturated the wet K round. The rains were cause of damage estimated at just short of a quarter of a million dollars, and all estimates are not yet in. The floods were cause of the biggest news events for The News Iteview for 1955. And, even as more than 460 stricken families, whose homes suffered heavy dam age from the raging rivers, return ed to repair the desolation, more rains came. The floods were reason for Pres ident Eisenhower to designate Douglas as one of 10 counties in Oregon as part of a 54-country dis aster area in the Western United Mates. Initial relief for the strick en has come already from the American Red Cross, which sent trained disaster workers to help alleviate suffering. Civil Defense Director for the county Gen. J. T. Pierce, who com piled the quarter million dollar damage estimate, said the figure totalled reports from only nine communities, besides Douglas County itself. Rains pelted the county most of December. They filled mountain streams to the brink, then pushed them over their banks even as they raged down mountains to flush the North and South Ump qua. Wednesday morning, Dec. 21, residents knew the waters would inundate much of the low lands. At noon Dec. 22, the flood crest in Winston reached a high of 31.55 feet and at 2:50 p.m. in Roseburg it registered 29.10 feet at the Oak Avenue Bridge. That same day it chalked a high of 19.8 feet at the Winchester Bridge. Repair work started, but even as it was under way, the rains fell aain. A second flood hit Monday, Dec. 26. Not quite so high, the rivers were not so destructive, but their tributaries. Cow Creek, Olalla Creek and others, caused heavy damage. In all, 15.74 inches of rain, a record for any month of any year since the Roseburg Weather Bureau started operation in 1878, was recorded in December, 1955. No. 2 Remote Disaster The Neal family of Remote had returned the night before from a Christmas day spent at the home of relatives at Riddle. Torrential rains pounded at the unstable hillsides of the Coast Range along Highway 42. As the family was sleeping at about 4:20 a.m. Dec. 26, a section ot earth, loosened by a gush of water above the Neal home, smashed down a canyon and wash ed over the Neal home. Five members of the family died. They were the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marion Neal; a son. Tommy, 17; and two daughters, Mary, 15, and Becky, 20 months. But three children survived. Communications to Remote were practically lost, and the condition of the surviving children was a mystery. Aid from Coos County was out of the question because of high water and slides which covered the highway. The highway was nearly clear to a point six miles east of Re mote. A Camas Valley logger, Frank Kinnan, 21, was -summoned with his bulldozer. For five hours, until about 9 p.m., Kinnan shoved his cat at slides which covered the highway. A mercy convoy of police, loggers and first-aid people followed. Ra dio '"hams" were in the area to provide communications to Rose burg. Finally, Remote was reached and two of the three survivors J.'argaret Elaine, 13, and Billy, 6 were brought back' to Roseburg for hospitalization. Alvis, 8, was in-injured. N0 3 Pony Express When the Southern Pacific Co. announced early in the summer that passenger train service on the Siskiyou line would be suspended, the hackles of Douglas County residents were raised. Soon, with the backing of the Roseburg Chamber of Commerce, a campaign against the SP action was in motion. Part of the cam paign was plans to race horses against the lone SP action Ira in in Southern Oregon. The race between the "Night crawler" and the "night mares" started July 30 in Eugene at about 11 p.m. Roseburg ranchman John ny Spencer swung onto the back of his horse, "Sundae," and the race was on. For a long time, the horses, changed every mile or so, led the train, which was filled with report ers and photographers from sev- No. 4 Officials Resign! No. 6 Sewer Systems jNo. 8 Logs Crush F Next on the list of the top Doug- i Growth invariably means a need las County stones in 1955 were the : for costly sewer services, and 1955 resignation of two lop county of-i will lie remembered as a year in ficials Commissioner Klmer K Metziicr and Sheriff Calvin Baird Reverberations of Metzger's res ignation in November are still echoing through the corridors of county government. As of this date, remaining Coun ty Court members Judge Carl C. Hill and Commissioner Frank Ash ley have not named a successor. Hill and Ashley have been the winch major steps were made in supplying those services. In Roseburg, the hurdle of get ting approval fur construction of a new sewer system to replace the overworked present facilities was achieved. Work is expected to start early this year on the $1, luo, 1)00 construction. Even before that, the city expects to institute service charges for both business es and residences to pay off the " m. --? ,"T necessary bonds. me conn is noi Deing operaieu ei- t Ksobllf was onlv 0 - ficiently and that politics governs 1 p $;KnX om ."' (ne coumv. work, was mnuniiiiu- The Douglas County Republican Central Committee has reco m ended the names of three men as possible choices for the post. The committee also recommend ed a man Lo replace Sheriff Baird on schedule for construction of sewer system in Sutherlin and Drain, and the State Bond Com mission has agreed to buy $95,000 in bonds for construction of a sys tem at (ilendale. Winston voters four The most jotting single traffic tragedy in Douglas County dur ing 1955 killed four persons and left two children orphaned, Aug. 3, a load of logs flipped off the trailer of a logging truck south of Myrtle Creek, and the ensuing crash instantly killed Mr. and Mrs, John Victor Sheeiy of Na tional City, Calif., and Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Lenten of Seattle, Wash. The Lemen children, I'eggy, age 6, and Jimmy, age 2, survived the crash and were released later from a hospital where they were reported in '"good condition." Officers said (he l.emen car was passing the Sheeiy car, which was pulling a house trailer. After the he men car collided with the log truck's trailer, the logs flipped off and crushed the Sheeiy car. eral Oregon newspapers and Life but the court appointed Ira C. ; approved Wti5, 000 in bonds for con- Eugene City Firemen ' Want Shorter Week EUGENE W City firemen this week started circulating peti tions to win a place on the ballot for an initiative measure that would reduce their work week to 56 hours. Eugene firemen now work a 72 hour week, Fred N. O'Sullivan, president of the Eugene Firefighters, said the firemen and their wives will con duct a door-to-door drive in an at tempt to collect about 5,000 signa tures on the petitions. The firemen estimate the shorter week will require about 22 addi tional men for the department at an annual cost of about $89,000. O'Sullivan said the firemen have been asking the city council to authorize the shorter week since 19.52. lie said fire crews in Portland and Salem already have the 56 hour week. Sherry Fong's Conviction Upheld PORTLAND iff) Circuit Judge Alfred P. Dobson who set aside one murder conviction against Sherry Fong, 24, let her second conviction stand Friday. The judge turned down a motion for a new trial, saying he doubted there had been any error or preju dice in the instructions to the jury. Mrs. Fong was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Diane Hank, 16. whose body was found beside a road near Washougal, Wash., nearly two vears auo. The state charged that ' Mrs. Fong and her husband, Wayne, caused the death to seal off the girl's knowledge of the Pongs' dealing in narcotics. The husband in the first trial was convicted j along with his wife but Judge Dob-1 son said the jury failed to give mature consideration and ordered a new trial. The husband s trial pends. In refusing a new trial in Mrs. Fong's second conviction, the judge said while evidence was en tirely circumstantial and in some respects speculative, it was the jury's job to decide on that, not his. magazine, But near Drain, the train finally caught up and it was neck-and-cowcatcher for several miles. The train pulled away on Rice Hill. The "Nightcrawler' pulled into Roseburg about 3 a.m., right on schedule. Seven minutes later, Spencer, also riding the last lap of the 75-nule chase, spurred Sun dae into town.. The attempt to prove the flesh-and-blood horse was faster than the iron horse had failed. B u t chamber members and riders from several saddle groups crowed they won a moral victory. The "Nightcrawler" failed to make it to Roseburg on schedule again. A week after the race, the old, rattly passenger train went off the run as scheduled. State Public Utilities Commis sion Charley H. Hellzel still has a suit against the railroad pend ing in Marion County Circuit Court, lie charges defiance by the rail road of his order to keep the train running. Byrd instead of following the rec-! st ruction of a system there, ommendation. j These actions came off fairly The action came .in April after smoothly, but one area is still in Barid accepted a job with the fed- an uproar over sanitary facility eral prisons board. His successor 1 measures. After a preliminary sur has had several years of law en- j vey in tircen, voters approved by forcement work. a slight margin, formation of a ' ', sanitary district. Immediately aft- No. 5 Timber Hearing er petitions were filed, calling for & another election. Another election Another story of importance to ! was VdM next month, and again the region also came in November) ne measure passec aim again, when a cnneressmnnl rnmmiil.... lke clockwork, a petition is in the held a hearing in Roseburg deal-. nig with federal timber. Congress men were on hand to study var ious phases of management, etc, and hear complaints and recom- j fy0 7 PollO j the measure hands of the sanitary board j questing another election. No date for the election has been set. School Growth Told By Comparison At Myrtle Creek High With the enrollment of 420 stu dents at the end of December, Myrtle Creek High School's stu dent body has shown a 51 per cent 11 A .1 No. 9 Street Names For several years, the Rosobui'K Planning Commission had agreed street names and house numbering in the city was little less than chaotic. Late in 1 955 it and the city came up with a plan to set up a systematic house. Duplications of street names were eliminated, and practically every house number in the city was changed. Numbering was set up on a System starting from five base lines in the five delineated sections of the city. At the request of-the Douglas County Planning Commission, the county adopted measures to dovetail the numbering system and systematize street naming in the peripheral areas of the city. The county commission also hopes similar ac tions to systematize other incorpor ated areas of the county will be carried out. The new system met consider able opposition at first, primarily from merchants who prophesied great costs to themselves in chang ing addresses on stationary and advertising materials. The storm blew over, however, and the sys tem is now generally adopted. growth since the beginning of the Ruth M. Evans. rnrr.nn.l...it I . WASHINGTON The House Because 43 students have left 1 ua.--K-nK -'miee inn weeK un- $50 Million Increase ority Given No. 1 0 Conventions 1955 was a big year convention-wise for Roseburg. Hundreds of delegates flocked to town to attend the many meetings and ac tivities planned by their hosts in Roseburg. Leading the list of conventions was the Oregon Fire Chiefs Assn. and the Oregon Rural Fire Protec tion Districts Assn. meet on June 12. The following day the Assn. of Oregon Counties held a semi-annual southwest district meeting in Roseburg. June 17 and 18 saw members of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Assn. convene. The ONPA conven tion sessions were closely followed by the 40th annual conclave of the Oregon State Aerie (Fraternal Or der of Eagles) and the seventh convention of the Oregon State Eagles Auxiliary on June 23. A new stale-wide club, Oregon Arms Collectors, met at the Rose burg Rod and Gun Club building July 24. Completing the list was the Ore gon Assn. of Mounted Posses, Inc., that held its "shodeo" here Sept. 10 and 11. Scheduled for Roseburg in 1958 is the state convention of Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority in April. Plans have also been made for a1 Veterans of Foreign Wars conclave June 25 through 29. the high school since registration niiltee's report will be given later. The hearings in Oregon cdme on the heels of an announcement that marketing area restrictions would be waived in the Smith Riv er area of western Douglas Coun ty. The action, to speed removal of much beetle - infected and blow- idown timber, brought objections J from a few quarters, plaudits 1 from others. animously approved a 50 million day. Aug. 30, a brief study was I U0N:,r increase in tne small Husi- marte to determine whether or not " mii"isiiuwun amuumy this represented an unusual rate helP eue Jhe '--"ncia. tmpaet of of drop-outs. 11 was found lo be 1 rcct;nl lld am h!imcane damage typical lor the last four scll0ui m the West and East, years and apparently bears little! At the same time, the Eisenhow relationship to the status of the1'1" administration put forward a employment of parents within the ' five-year, three billion dollar flood A week - long contest between school district. j indemnity and reinsurance pro- Koseburg and Douglas high schools I At the end of December, 1952. 88 Rram aimed at easing the impact to determine which could best the P'-' cent f the students who had future Hood losses to property Young and old ahkti in Douglas County waged an impressive bat tle against infantile para I sis in UI55. Traffic Fatalities Top List Of County Deaths In 1955 County As usual, traffic accident fatal ities led the list of 1955 violent or unnatural deaths in Douglas Coun ty, News-Review records show. Uher in a March of Dimes col-1 registered were still in school. The 'lection campaign ended with both Hgure for 9;;t was 92 per cent; winning recognition from the Na-j '. 93 per cent and for this year tional Foundation for Infantile 90 per cent. Paralvsis. In determining the reasons for j Collectively, thev added $12,127.-j 'he',ttS j 4:1 ;lwlenli dunnis the !:t8 to the MOD fund. The 4!i7 Doug- ,rst I'li:i,'lt'r, "f Vl'-''; U w?s this students collected $3,325.38 for loi.in(I. lh.at( -l(had nxoyvti from line highest national student aver-1 - ' 'strict; marriage account- ae.- - $7.60 ulus. At Roseburg ''d fur he C!UI of -hool by six lihh-tw. nimik n.k-rt th hM.li.., i in Rraties 9 uirough 12, and mill owners, I'nder present law, the SBA In limited to making no more than 25 millions in 3 per cent disaster loans. Ladder Truck Stolen While Firemen Work BOSTON, Lfi While firefighters were busy battling a nightclub blaze in the theatrical district ear ly Friday, someone stole one of their bigger fire trucks. The thief abandoned the ladder truck a few minutes later when it crushed against a fence at the Boston Common. The man learned he couldn't make a t'tdl swing around the corner without a tiller man to steer the engine's rear end. MAKE PROGRAM BOOKS The Women's Assn. Program Commute of (he Olivet Presby terian Church in (ilendale met Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mrs. Myrtle Young to make pro gram books for the coming year. Mrs. Young served refreshments I after the work period. Library Well Used By Myrtle Creek Students .national single high school sum 1 $8,801.98, or $7.21 each of the J.220. t More recognition came when RUS senior Sharon Lander, lti, was ; named state "Teens Against Polio" Out of 82 deaths. 29 came as the i rh:iirm:in She is reeovenne from iCMiu oi venicie acc C ents. he n nn in al ack. number of .traffic fatalities is two; v ,.,.. rKi..ni. nf. f. !iV?nnrefi.fUH n'! f0', "ciaHy," their first Salk anti-polio 1 vaccine shuts June l. me turnout was not heavy. On June 9, the work of senior logging not approach the all-lime high of . 4.1 recorded in 19.rl. In the total number of unnatural Hip k4 in 1QM nnri iQ inuu.. 1 onunly folk was lauded. Douglas fatality ran ..onmi Thlrm ntZ had placed fifth, nationally, among 15 wood deaths in 1955 compared lo 1 unties f 50.000 population ik ,.,,. i,.r,.,. , more for- us contribution of . tary service or employment drew six away from school, Mrs. Kvans reports. The average daily attendance at the high school during the months of September, October, November and December was 372, while the I average daily membership was ' Of the original 420 who have reg istered at the high school this year, 135 are freshman. 122 sonhomores. 90 juniors and 73 seniors. T h c greatest loss to anv one class watt noted in the juniors, is having withdrawn, Mrs. bvans concluded TOPS IN NATION William L. Simpson, field represent ative division manager for Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Rose burg, is shown above proudly displaying a trophy he re ceived for having top sales in the nation. Looking on with admiration are his wife, Christene, and L. K. Bye, a North west general manager of the oranization. The award was presented in Seattle, Wash. It is called the National Sales Executives Distingpished Salesman's Award. Simpson was one of 13 Northwest to receive it from the National Sales Exectives Distinguished Salesman's Award. Simpson was and hos been connected with the local catalog store since 1953. Manager of the local store is Marion Kummer. (Vau ghn W. Floyd photo) Reporting statistics for 1 h e Myrtle Creek High School librar- fOP water rnishaos with 12 irnwn. 1 0,1(1 highest in the slate, surpassed ian has shown that the library has I jnjs being recorded compared to'"'-v "y AUmnoinah a saj.ooo. been well used by high school stu-lnnlv siv in inrj. Fivp nf ih. .irnwn. I " dents. moe occurred in millnniiHs. inr luri- ing two little girls playing near a pond at I,oon Lake. One tragedy at the coast took the lives of four fishermen. The number of suicides was I Cr down from nine to VJ:4 to six in 1955. Three persons, including two Sutherlin youngsters, died in fires. Two men died m airplane crash The approximate 400 students in the school checked out an aver age of 99 books daily for the IS school days in December, making per capita circulation virtually four hooks. Total circulation for the month was 1,493 books, Aliss Gore reports. While the state supervisor of secondary education recently wrote that the library is one of the best features of the school, it will be inadequate and have to he enlarg ed as high school enrollment in creases, Miss (lore said. Predictions based on elemen tary school enrollment will require additional building at the high school for the 1957-58 school vear. Temporary plans at the high school call lor tne new construction lo in clude lihrary facilities with the present library area being released for classroom use, the report concluded. 28,126 Families Affected By West Coast Floods I SAM KHANCIStt) f.fl The Tied said Friday 28,726 families' were alleeted by the uinsimax floods in California, Oregon and Nevada. Cecil H. Davis, relief director, said the Red Cross plans to spend eight million dollars for relief. He predicted 10,000 families would reg ister for long-term help. In the three slates, Davis sain es. ! Three died in accidental shoot j ings, including one during the , the hunting season. Two hunters i who died of heart altnrk in the I county were not included m the 1.037 homes were destroyed and total. ; 14. 424 damaged, 624 other build- Three were killed by electricity 1 ings were destroyed and 2,432 dam jolts and three in falls. There aged. was one verified case of a baby i The floods, which covered a mil suffocating in its crib, compared to lion acres, caused damage esli four in 1954. One man died of sun-1 mated at 150 million dollars, stroke. Miscellaneous accidents ac-j The death toll was 7381 in counted for four deaths. California and 12 in Oregon. Grass Fira Flares In Rain-Drenched Town SUBLIMITY, Ore. W A grass fire flared briefly Thursday in this ram-drenched Willamette Valley town. Asst. Fire Chief Delbert Dilter. said he didn't know how the blaze got started in a patch of dead grass on the property of Bernard Zuber. But tiie wind-whipped flames dried out grass in their path and syt it ablaze. An area 75 by 200 feet was burned before the fire was brought under control after threatening for a time a garage on the Zuber property. PLEADS GUILTY PORTLAND W Henry Clay Wyatt, an unemployed cabinet maker, Friday pleaded guiltv to the $1,019 holdup of the main office of the First National Bank of Port land. Federal Judge Gus Solomon de layed sentence pending a proba tion officer's study of Wyatt's background. mm mm mm wm ' y w JOHNNY'S Ready Mix Concrete! DEPENDABLE SERVICE DELIVERY ANYWHERE CONCRETE MIXED TO BUYER'S EXACT SPECIFICATIONS Estimations Gladly Given 383 N. E. Channon Ave. Phone 2-2282 Johnny Carrett . . . Owner Cecil Thompson Dispatcher Evening, coll OR 3-4704 tm o rai Don't Take It for Granted ! -Sit; tfWl ONLY THE xrZr W1 REMAiNoete of 'd&vfjfi J- 4 the tn can" i s sreeU. I THE AeiAGE fV kV YOflK CITY FAMILY SPENDS ONLY ONE-FIFTH OS MUCH FOR. CtVA(gO V16AT5 AS THe AVERAGE SCB.HNTON FAMILY IN THE WEIGUBOR-lrVS STflTS OF PE nrVSYt-VA rv I A. INTME FIRST , MONTHS OP 'SS, MEAT FISH AND POULTR.V A0VRTI5ERS INCREASED THGlR rVEWSPAPER. ADVERTISING VOLUME BY !27.0VEinnE same period mnsiDQHT take nampRS roe mmti 5'Jie Depart men t of Agriculture says 10,i)OO species oi msec. itiuitti jii the Unaea Mates are imporiani enough to bo labelled "public en emies." j BUSINESS & OFFICE SPACE DOWNTOWN AVAILABLE NOW Phone OR 3-8345 The United States NaHonol Bank OF PORTLAND RESOURCES 1 Caih on Hand and Due from Banki $ 149,802,394.07 United Slnlot Government Bondt 300,342,048.86 Municipal and Other Bands 74,128,957.36 loam and Discounts Net 309.103,253.93 Slock in Federal Reserve Bank 1.080,000.00 Bank Premises (Including Branches) 8,891,928.35 Customers' Liability on Acceptances 93,654.00 Interest Earned 2,870,013.78 Other Resources 1,399,241.00 j 841 1,491.35 LIABILITIES Capital $ 18,000,000.00 Surplus 18,000,000.00 Undivided Profits 20.790,555.57 56,790,555.57 Reserves far Interest, Taxes, etc 4,238,685.49 Acceptances 126.439.50 Dividends Declared 585.000 00 Deposits 781,492,594.39 Interest Collected Not Earned 4,396,591.80 Other Liabilities 81,624.60 $847,"711,4?T35 map orr-ic r-otiUND, oriooh DOUGLAS COUNTY'S OWN DAILY NEWSPAPER OIfCT StAMCH Of THI UNITED SIttS NMIONM BANK Of TOIIIAN OREGON'S OWN STATE-WIDE BANK m..i gw immn ..p.-in.
