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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1959)
WEATHER Sunny and warm today; variable clouds tonight and Thursday with chance of iso-' lated thunderstorms in moun tains tonight; high today 83 88 and Thursday 70-75; low tonight 47-52. o Established 1896 228th issue 63rd. Year LA GRANDE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1959 Price 5 Cents k t-Hi' -V,.'-" ,",'-vi"'"lv'' NEW BRIDGES TO CROSS Highway 30 travelerawill have a new four-lane divided highway to drive, and sever- " al new bridges to cross when work is completed on sections now under construction between Dead Man's Pass and La Grande. Highway 30 Construction Moving Ahead On Schedule BY H. E. PHILBY ' Observer Staff Writer With snow still showing on mountain peaks, but with a long t .... l. t J ,.... UWBllCU MlCdA iii.wiuvci uiiu MIC spring weather. Highway 30 con struction between Dead Man's Pass east to La Grande, is now building up to an intensive sum mer schedule. Heavy equipment drivers, scur rying around in an apparent hap hazard manner but actually fol lowing pre-planned patterns for safety and construction accom plishment, are rapidly picking up threads of highway building on $7,350,00 worth of construction which was brought to a halt by winter snows. Most of the work will be com pleted in late I960, making a four-lane, divided highway from Pendleton to Dead Man's Pass atop Cabbage Hill. The improved stretch between Dead Man's Pass and La Grande will not eliminate many miles, but it will eliminate numerous dangerous curves and the high way will be divided either by o cation of two road beds separat ed by terrain or by a metal guard rail, State Department of High ways reported. Construction work this sum mer will consist of cutting the new highway to grade in some areas, raising the grade in others, cutting through rock covered peaks and installation of bridges over the Grande Rondo river and Union Pacific tracks. DEATHS OF BALTIMORE, Md. (UPP-Capi-tal Airlines revealed today that the weather radar of its Viscount airliner was not operating at the time it tfrashed in a severe thun derstorm near here Tuesday, kill ing 31 persons.' The plane, en route from New York to Atlanta, exploded in the air. A Capital official said the ra dar equipment which warns pilots of storm turbulence as far as 150 miles ahead was "inoperative" be cause of mechanical trouble. This was brought out as govern ment investigators sifted the scat tered wreckage of the jet pow ered transport, seeking the cause of the explosion. They were alert for any signs that the disaster was caused by sabotage or struc tural failure although Civil Aero nautics Board Safety Director Os car Bakke said "it's too early to speculate." Eyewitness stories indicated the British-built plane may have suf fered structural failure in the vio lent turbulence. One report from the scene said one wing of the plane was found some distance from the wreckage. Thunderstorms are regarded as one of an aircraft's deadliest en emies, and airborne radar as the best weapon against them. Radar enables piiuia to pinpoint the least 4 Construction cjews employed byi various private contractors will be working on about 30 miles of new highway and six bridges ov- er the river and railroad tracks, ixojecvs'Just ' completed, "Thbw underway or about to be started working from Dead Man's Pass to ward Lit Grande, are in the fol lowing construction status: Rogers Construction, Inc., of Portland, last September complet ed grading the new section from Meacham to Glover at a cost of $590,000 (not included in the $7, 350,000 figure above). The Rog ?rs Construction Company of Portland, a different firm, now has a contract for paving this 10- mile portion of the highway. This 31,273,000 contract, about 10 per cent completed, is scheduled for completion this fall. The Morrison - Knudson con struction combine has the $1,417, 000 contract for cutting and grad ing a 7'4-mile section of the high way between Glover and Perry. This contract, let Aug. 22, 1958, is about two thirds complete. A paving contract for this section will be let May 26, along with a contract for construction of a Grande Rcnde river bridge at Perry. A grading contract was let Feb. 17, 1959 to Rogers Construc tion Company for $1,900,000 in ihe Dead Man's Pass to Meach am area. Clearing has started and actual grading work is about to be started. This grading con tract is slated for completion nixt summer. 31 IN AIRLINER RADAR FAILURE turbulent path through storms, or avoid the storm altogether. The CAB called a morning con fcrence of investigative teams to analyze the findings of experts who were rushed to the scene 17 miles northeast of Baltimore shortly after the crash yesterday afternoon. The jet-prop plane, Capital's flight 75 from New York to At lanta, disintegrated in the air. The mangled bodies of its 27 passen gers and four crew members were scattered over a quarter mile area. It was the second disaster to strike the airline in less than an hour. A Capital-operated Constel lation, also bound for Atlanta, skidded and crashed on landing at Charleston, W. Va., killing two of the 43 persons aboard. The plane fell off " a 250-foot embankment and burned. Twenty-eight occu pants were injured. This was believed to have been the first time that a commercial air carrier suffered two fatal crashes in the same day Eyewitnesses to the Baltimore crash recounted a graphic story of how the airliner broke up into flames at 14,000-feet altitude and fragments began falling to the ground. Bernard Pope, an 18 year old In the Perry to Oro Dell sec- tion, the Durbin Brothers con- struction firm has a $1,200,000 contract for 2V4 miles of the highway. This gra.dii. paving and bridge- construction : project is about 70 per cent complete according to the Highway De partment. Bechtel Brothers of La Grande have a $245,000 contract for con struction of three bridges in the Glover-Perry section of the high way. The construction firm is about ready to start building the structures. In the Perry-Oro Dell section, the Schrader Construction Com pany, Inc., Portland, holds a con tract for construction of two bridges. The bridge building will cost $713,000, willTthe Schrader t'irm getting $674,000 and the highway department paying the remainder to Union Pacific for work on their bridges. The Port land company'is starting to put footings in for, their bridges. The Tom Lillebo Construction Company of Reedsport, has a $570,000 contract for the con struction of two structures three miles west of La Grande over the Grande Ronde river. These structures are now 43 per cent complete. Highway Department resident ngineers oq the various projects include Lylc Peterson on bridges; J. C. Hiatt on highway construc tion from Oro Dell to La Grande ind other sections, and John Walker on highway work In the ,)ead Man's Pass section. volunteer fireman, witnessed the accident while riding in the back of a pickup truck. "We were driving along and I was looking skyward and I saw this plane suddenly break up in a big ball of flame, he said. "The fragments began falling in flame, leaving a cone-shaped area of smoke in the sky." Edgar Amos, 32, another occu pant of the pickup truck, said, "There was a lot of smoke and several pieces of the plane ap peared to flutter down and burn out on the way." The plane was piloted by Capt. N. C. Paddock, 52, of Grosse Pointe, Mich., a veteran of nearly 29 years service with the airline. Capital said he had never been in an accident. The co-pilot, M. J. Flahaven of Dearborn, Mich., also had an accident-free record. The four-engine airliner appar ently was flying through "high turbulence" extreme up and down air drafts just before the crash. There also was lightning and rain. j But CAB officials discounted the possibility that lightning might have caused the accident. The only recorded accident in which lightning has figured was the crash of an airliner near Lovetts- ville, Va., in 1940. Russian Strategy Thwarted Herter Breaks , Through Barrage GENEVA (UPD Secretary of State Christian Herter broke through Russia's propaganda bar rage today to bring the Big Four Foreign Ministers' Conference to grips with its main problems, of German unity and European se curity. Herter was chairman as the third session of the parley began. By the time it ended, he had hurled a challenge 'at Russia to join in "deadly earnest" talks. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko's two-day filibuster to win admission for Communist Po land and Czechoslovakia's "full and equal partners of the ma jor powers collapsed, at least temporarily, under a demand from Herter to let the Big Four get down to brass tacks. Calls For Agreements "I should say the United States is in deadly earnest about want ing to reach agreements," Herter said. 'He pledged American willing ness for a summit conference and proposed these targets for getting there: Reach agreements right now "over as wide a field as possible." . "Narrow the differences." "Prepare constructive propos als" for President Eisenhower and the other summit leaders to consider. In Washington, Eisenhower told his news conference today that he Doped the Russians would stop us ing the Geneva talks for a propa ganda platform so the meetiits could start producing fruitful re sults. Herter pledged that there will be no backtracking on western determination to guarantee the freedom of West Berlin and West Germany and its aim to restore freedom in the East Zone. 'The root of the problem re mains the same" as it was when Eisenhower came to the, Summit in this same city In 1955, Herter said. Tough Negotiator 'The problem will remain un til the entire German people can express their will freely." Hign American officials said Herter was convinced that Gro myko, despite- his harsh words, was prepared to give ground soon in order to permit the conference to proceed with its work. The new American secretary. who so far has shown himself to be a tough negotiator, was report-, ed to be operating on the as sumption the Russians are too anxious for a summit meetimr to jeopardize the Chances of holding une. Injury Trial Jury Picked A Circuit Court inrv snlprlprf this morning is hearing evidence in a Feb. 9, 1958 two-vehicle acci dent involving William Bohnen kamp Jr. adn his parents and W. . Allen of M ton-Freewater. Allen, according to complaints on file and ODenine arguments before the jurv. sustained lee In juries when a car driven by young Bohnenkamp slid on ice and snow and struck a parked pickup truck in which Allen was a passenger. Allen, who is asking tG.OOO een- eral damages and $92 medical ex pense damages, was standing to ward the rear of the truck at the time of the accident. The Bohnenkamp family main tains that the pickup truck, driven by M. O. Coe of Milton-Freewatcr, was partially blocking the highway as Bill Bohnenkamp was returning to La Grande with friends from a skiing trip at Sprout Springs. The accident occurred near the top of the grade of the Elgin-Tollgate highway on a sweeping curve about 5 p.m. Allen, and Coe and his son had stopped the truck and were putting on chains at the time of the acci dent. Attorneys Willard Marey and S. H. Burleigh, lawyers for Allen, were turned down in their request to have the jury visit the scene of the accident. Judge W. F. Brown- ton is hearing the case and tan Helm is attorney for the Bohnen kamp family. Mr. and Mrs. William Bohnen kamp were listed as- defendants because of their ownership of the car driven by their son. MYRNA WEALTY Valedictorian TOP SCHOLASTIC HONORS GO TO TWO ELGIN GIRLS ELGIN (Special) Myrna Wealty, "who has attained the highest scholastic standing of her senior high school class will be valedictorian during graduation exer cises the last week of May. Sandra White, with the second highest grade point average for the class, will be salutatorian. Baccalaureate services will be held Sunday night, May 25 with Dr. Virgil Bolen of Eastern Oregon College as speaker. The Christian church will be in charge of music and other churches will participate in the cer emonies. Graduation will be held Thursday night, May 28. Dr. Lee Johnson of EOC will be guest speaker. The two ev ents will be held in the school auditorium. Miss Wealty, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wealty, has been active in numerous school activities. Miss White, daughter of Dorr White, was a Union County Fair Maid last year. She was. also active in school affairs and is past Worthy Advisor of the Rain bow Girls. Commission Morgan Lake Planning BY BUCK BUCHANAN ' Obwrver Staff Writer City Planning Commission mem' bers discussed Morgan Lake and changed dates of planning Com mission meetings last night at City Han. Dates for future meetings of the commission were changed from the second Tuesday in the month to the third Tuesday of each month. Next meeting for the group will be June 16. The commission made no formal vote on any issue involving Morgan Lake but discussed informally the Lily Commission s recommends tions that only minor improve ments be made at the lake this year. Last week City Commission members had recommended that only sanitary facilities, cattle guards on tne access road, and city improvement of the access road, be completed this year. Commissioners are expected to discuss the issue further at their regular meeting at 7:30 at City Hall tonight. The public is invited to attend the meeting and present their views- on the development of the lake. Ac last night's meeting Bob Fallows reminded the commission that service organizations had volunteered to provide some neces sary recreational facilities such as, for example, picnic tables. Property Tax Deadline Friday County Sheriff H. A. Kllngham- mcr reminded tax payers today hat third quarter property tax deadline is this Friday, May IS, Taxes paid after that date will jarry an interest charge, he said. The tax rate is two-thirds of me per cent per month or a fraction thereof. y If payments are mailed they must be postmarked the 15th to be free from interest charges, Sheriff Klinghammer said. Fire Claims Woman's Life OREGON CITY (UPI) ' A woman died .today in a fire whi?h swept through the upper part of a large frame house here. The victim was Mrs. Harriett McKinney, about 40. Firemen said she apparently suffocated. Her husband, Albert, suffered cuts and burns. The blaze broke out about 5:30 a.m. Its cause was not determined immediately. The McKinneys occupied the upper part of the house. The low er part was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Neils Poulson and their six children. None of them was hurt. COMMISSION MEETS Morgan Lake will be the major item of business on the agenda at the regular City Commission tonight. The meeting starts at 7:30 In City Hull. jcst-v mm SANDRA WHITE Salutatorian Discusses Jerry Bingner, ..Izaak Walton member, said the' league would provide and construct the sanitary facilities. Commission member Loren Hughes said that he felt that a tentative plan for the future of the lake be developed by a committee that the planning commission had suggested be appointed by City Commissioners. He said the com mittee as suggested was to be appointed to formulate plans for the future. He said this would not cost the city any huge amount of money. Dr. Roy Skeen, chairman of the commission, recommended that the suggestion that a small amount be charged per automobile, be investigated further. City Manager Fred Young out lined costs of the city to the com mission, stating that all essential services of the city, at the present time, need every cent the city could muster. He said the sewage system must be overhauled this year. Pow Wow Meeting Set For Tonight Representatives of . local clubs and organizations were urged to day to attend the citizens' meeting tonight to consider the future of the La Grande Pioneer Pow Wow. Chamber of Commerce Presi dent Powell Graham said the pur pose of the meeting is to deter mine if the people of La Grande want to repeat the Pow Wow next year. The Wednesday meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the small ballroom of the Sacajawea hotel. MORE THAN QUALIFICATIONS Opposition To Appointees Is Baffling To Eisenhower WASHINGTON. (UPI Presi- dent Eisenhower today said Sen ate opposition to his key .nomina tions obviously is a delaying tac tic based on something other than a mere examination of the quali fications of the appointees. He told a news conference that quite frankly he was baffled by the difficulty he was having in ob taining approval of his appointees. Eisenhower has run Into trouble getting confirmation of Lew6ls L. Strauss as commerce secretary, C. Douglas Dillon as undersecre tary of state, and Ogden R. Reid as ambassador to Israel. There was such a squabble over the nomination of Clare Boothe Luce as ambassador to Brazil that she resigned after she was confirmed and before taking over thd job. Ike s Message Seeks Act From Co WASHINGTON (UPI) President Eisenhower demanded today the Congress deal with "critical" problems involving federal highway, housing and farm programs. In an extraordinary message to Congress, the President chided the lawmakers for failing to act on his recommenda tions of last January to deal with all three issues. He referred specifically to his proposals for raising the federal gasoline tax by a cent and a half a gallon, to enlarge government authority to guarantee mortgages on homes, and to deal with the growing surplus of wheat. "Since these recommendations were made," Eisenhower said, "time has grown steadily and increasingly critical." Democratic leaders already have all but doomed the gasoline tax proposal. They hope to com plete congressional action within the next three or four weeks on a bill that would include provisions to keep the FHA mortgage pro gram going. They still have some hope of revamping the wheat price support program to cut costs, but not along the lines rec ommended by the administration. The President recalled that the 1956 law authorizing the interstate highway program provided for a pay-as-you-go system financed by gasoline and other highway user taxes. He also noted that a bill passed last year stepped up the rate of highway spending, but failed to provide more money for the highway trust fund. "Because the (original) law wisely requires that the fund's expenditures not exceed its re ceipts," his message added, "it will be impossible this year, with out congressional action to appor tion funds so that the Watts may make commitmerfts for future highway construction. "Apportionments in the follow ing year would also be far below those needed to carry forward the road building schedule, now contemplated by law." 100 Attend Fair Event Over 100 persons attended the Island City Community Fair held at Island City School Tuesday night where exhibits were shown by many clubs. The program Included demon strations by various clubs, skits, square dance and a dress revue. Participating in the dress revue were Carolyn Skilling, Sharon Schooler, Ranee Bates, Anita Kcltz, Dorothy Peterson, Corene Lyons, Melonie Fugit, Mary Lynn Berry man, Judy LeGore, Susy Pcyron, Linda Dillman, Yolanda Jones, Sandra Brown, Charlene Lyons, Barbara Hyde, Martha Kuntz, Francis Peterson and Martha Bcr gerson. Exhibits were made by the Jiffy Cooks led by Mrs. Henry Peterson: Flying Needles by Mrs. Homer Case; Healthy Beavers by Mrs. Lyle Crouser; Mix and Stir by Mrs. Stanley Lyons; Island City Variety Livestock by Henry Peterson; Sew ing Two by Mrs. Ernest Keltz and Island City Leathercraft Club by Ronald Lovely. Mrs. Ivan Dili- man's Grande Ronde Sewing Club from Greenwood School also par ticipated. Eisenhower discussed the situa tion as the Senate Foreign Rela tions Committee questioned Dillon behind closed doors about secrecy in the foreign aid program. Chair man J. William Fulbright (D-Ark) said he hoped the committee would act today. The Strauss nomination has been bogged down in lengthy Sen ate Commerce Committee hear ings. Eisenhower was asked If he thought there was a pattern to the opposition of his nominations. He said the present brand of attacks and delaying tactics must have some kind of purpose other than the . mere examination of the competence of his appointees. - For example, he pointed 'out, Strauss had been confirmed for ion OSS He Wants Reduction In Debt WASHINGTON (UPI) Presi dent Eisenhower said today that he wants not only a balanced budget from Congress, but enough federal revenue to start reducing the staggering public debt. In discussing federal revenues at his news conference he did not ask for any new income taxes. He also told reporters he was sending an immediate request to ' the House and Senate for speedier action on badly needed legislation to increase the federal lending au- thority for insuring mortgages, raising the gasoline tax for high way construction, and legislation to cope, with the mounting wheat surplus. The President said that unless Congress speeded up its action in; these three vital areas, the coun try would suffer.- --- '.- '- In talking about the budget, Ei senhower called on not only Con gress, but labor and business man agement for sensible, reasonable action to combat inflation, hold down government spending and start reducing the towering fed-' eral debt. Dbt Above 234 Billions Latest treasury figures show , that as of May 8 the public debt was $284,824,191,460.18. Eisenhower said his balanced budget proposed for fiscal 1960 ac tually was a minimum target. He said that the government, without delay, ought to be building up a surplus to whittle down the debt and thus reduce what he called the unconscionable annual cost of -interest on the public debt. Other conference highlights: The President felt that some ' of the Russian tactics in the open ing phases of the Geneva Foreign Ministers Conference were moti vated by propaganda goals. He expressed the hope that this stage would pass quickly so the minis ters could get down to fruitful ne gotiation. He said continued Senate op position to confirmation of some of his major- nominations was ' baffling and obviously was a de laying taotig, based on something . other than searching out the com petence of his selections for high' federal office. He summarized his feelings on proposed repeal of the 22nd amendment, which prohibits more than two terms for a President, ; by saying (hat he thought the ': amendment should be left in force for the time being to test its work-1 ability. other federal posts. He would not ,: discuss a report that Strauss, when he was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, rec- . ommended that he not be reap- . pointed for fear he would be . turned down by the Senate. , The President said that quite ; aside from any personal conver- ,; sations he may have had with Strauss, it was true that all mem-' bers of his Cabinet had the same attitude they were ready to re- i move themselves from office im-;: mediately if they became a debit , rather than a credit. Dillon appeared assured of con firmation despite the surprise criticism in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which had . ' been expected to okay him with out a hitch. . 1 : f. ? '