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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1959)
OBSERVER 250'h Issue 63rd Year LA GRANDE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1959 Price 5 Cents LA GRAND E t-'-r v; " ;.: , , t . .. BIG TRANSFORMER Bonneville Power crews slowed Fourth street traffic yesterday as they moved this 17Vfc ft. high transformer from the power substation south of La Grande to the UP tracks where it will be taken to McNary Dam by flatcar. The giant piece of equipment weighs 80 tons and has a capacity of 230,000 volts. The man on the top of the ladder used the two boards at the front to raise lowpower lines over the top of the transformer as the truck slowly moved down Fourth. (Observer) Roaring Of Centennial Exposition PORTLAND (UP!) A 100-gun salute, a shot for each year Ore gon has been a state, got the Cen tennial Exposition off to a roar ing start here today. ' Gov'lTfark' Hatfield headed . a list of dignitaries present at noon ceremonies kicking off the summer-long extravaganza. . The weather was threatening with showers likely today and Thursday. If rain continues this weekend, however, Centennial of ficials will have the last laugh. The Centennial will get $10,000 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday if more than one-tenth of an inch of rain falls on any of those days. Twenty -three nations have ex hibits at the two-week Internation al Trade Fair and the 65 acre site was crammed with attrac tions. A crash program to com COLUMNIST TAKES STAND IN LIBERACE LIBEL ACTION ' LONDON UPI) ' Columnist William Connor-took the Stand in his own defense today at the Li burace libel .trial and denied he ever had any intention of saying the. pianist was homosexual. Connor testified that Libcracc's performances had left him with 1'a feeling of astonishment to be gin with and then of nausea... because, of the flamboyant nature of his ' appearance, the actual spectacle of the man and thn be cause of the cloying, sickening nature of what he was singing and trying to put across." Liberate is suing the tabloid London Daily Mirror and Connor, who writes n column tinder the pen name of Cassandra, for li bel, charging tlicy had implied he was a homosexual. Liberacc has denied I his. The pianist is not suing for any specific amount. The judge will instruct the jury to determine whether he was libeled, after the Infant Death Toll From Plastic Bags Prompts Widespread Action United Press International A steadily climbing toll of in fants deaths prompted widespread action against the otherwise inno cent plastic bag, a United Press International survey showed to day. v : The survey revealed more than 40 Infants have suffocated when they became enwrapped in the bags. The survey also showed the bags have been used for suicide in an ominously increasing num ber. ) Practically all the victims have Been only a few months old. One 4 months, apparently pulled a bag over his face while he was in his ; i .' m.i i- ar w x v - i dLOU1. : 'H 1 Guns Signal Start plete last minute preparations was undertaken Tuesday with top Centennial officials personally tak ing charge. . Big. Crowd Sect-Parade The Centennial gates opened at noon and the International Trade Fair at 2 p.m. Gates close at mid night. The gala opening came during the height of Rose Festival week activities here. More than 100,000 persons turn ed out in downtown Portland Tuesday night for the Mcrrykhana parade, which got the Festival off to a fun-filled start. Tonight is the big wight for one of 11 princesses. She'll be picked as Queen of Rosaria in ceremo nies at Multnomah stadium. A huge 32 - by 45 foot screen will carry colored pictures of the testimony. Is completed. If the jury finds he was libeled, it will then determine, the amount of damages. Defense attorney Gerald Gardi ner asked Connor whether at any time he had "any intention " of imputing homosexuality to Liber ace." "None at all," the columnist rcolicd. Connor said that when he had wrilcn about Libcracc, "he is the summit of sex. the pinnacle of masculine, feminine and neuter," he had in mind that "by using his sex appeal he was the greatest exponent in show business and hail received audiences which were world records." Connor said that his statement "everything that he, she and it can ever want" was a reference to the "comprehensive nature of his tcchnicuc, designed to apply to the whole community the full circle." crib at Neptune, N.J., Monday. At about the same time, Bridget Led dingtoni 3 months, died in Chi cago. She was found entangled in a cleaner's bag which apparently had blown on top of her. . In many communities cleaning shops and laundries have volun tarily curtailed use of the plastic wrappings. Some legislators have considered passing laws restrict ing them in some manner. The plactics industry has held top-level conferences on the problem. At New Rochelle, N.Y., Paul Cohen, president of the Technic Tape Corp., one of the world's largest manufacturers of polyethy ' ,v -I . ' princesses during the ceremonies. . Navy In Town ' Six sleek Canadian Navy Cor vettes arrived in town Tuesday afternoon and tied up' at -the west seawall of the Willamette- river, Five U.. S Navy minesweepers were due in today and more U.S. Navy units, Including the cruisers Helena and Bremerton, are due Thursday. -. ' . Today's Centennial show, start kicked off a summer-long event which officials hope will draw six to eight million visitors to Oregon. Newspaper editors were taken on a preview of the Centennial grounds Tuesday afternoon and most comments were highly fa vorable. Many agreed it would take several days to see it all. Some exhibits still were not in place. ' . A third "Navy" joined the fes tivities. Twenty-two Coos Bay Pi rates aboard their good ship Elfin steamed into port Tuesday after noon flying the Jolly Rogers at the mast. They fired a full broad side, but the most damage oc curred to the Elfin itself. Some one charged one of the cannons the wrong way and holes were blown through two decks. Search Pressed For Missing Girl DETROIT (UPI More than 1.100 police and.. Boy Scouts stepped up the search today for a missing 14-year-old girl who had been threatened in a telephone call and received several other mysterious calls. Susan Lawrence, daughter of Mr. and i Mrs. Lester Lawrence, was last seen at 9 a.m. Monday on the way to a library to study for a final exam at Mumford High School where she was . a freshman. She never arrived.' About 200 police officers, includ ing a ISO-man trouble shooting de tachment, combed the northwest side nciehlwrhood for more than 24 hours without finding the girl. lene film, said his firm was work ing on a "breathable" plastic bag. This plastic would be full of pin holes. The company said an in fant could breathe even If caught in two sheets of It. ; The plastic people and the cleaners launched an educational campaign last month. Two mil lion folders warning of the danger have been distributed; Additional ly, the manufacturers have con ferred with representatives of health agencies, the National a, fety Council and the American Medical Association. The education campaign seemed to be the most direct, immediate answer to the problem. Problem Of Wheat Surplus Another Bumper Crop Predicted WASHINGTON (UPD-Thc na tion's mountainous wheat surplus problem landed on the House floor today. Debate was scheduled to begin on rival Democratic and Repub lican plans for cutting wheat pro duction. Incentive to come up with a solution came from government estimates of a bumper wheat crop this year. It could add several hundred million more surplus bushels to the 2,'i-ycar supply already in gov ernment storage. Storage costs alone total $500,000 a day. Taxpayers already wcro esti mated to have three billion dol lars invested in the wheat sur pluses. But there was a possibility both GOP and Democratic propos als would be killed in a bitter floor battle. The stop-gap Democratic plan would raise price supports to 90 per cent of parity and cut plant ing allotments 25 per cent for 1960 and 1961 crops. The Republican plan would not change either the present price support or acreage allotment floor for commercial wheat farmers. But it would, allow thousands of farmers with small planting allot ments to vote on whether to ac cept the wheat program. The GOP view is that these small farmers would permanently vote down the wheat control pro gram dropping price supports from 75 to 50 per cent of parity Other congressional news: jnsuranca: A compromise bill hiking Income taxes on the life insurance industry by about 60 per cent seemed assured of quick House approval. The measure, agreed upon by House-Senate con ferees yesterday, would levy about 500 million dollars in taxes on 1B5B insurance industry Income. PinancMt The House Ways & Means Committee opened public hearings on President Eisenhow er's request to boost interest rates on government bonds. Democrats have challenged the administra tion to show that such boosts would not drive up the cost-of-living. Strauss: The Senate was ready to resume debate on the nomina tion of Lewis L. Strauss as sec retary of commerce. The nomina tion battle was marked by dis closure that a Florida man had admitted signing other people's names to 47 telegrams sent to Sen. George A. Smathcrs (D-Fla.) urging Strauss' confirmation. White Fence To Be Target Of 'Painters' There's something about a blank wall that makes it impossible for would-be painters to leave it that way. And the big plain-white fence on Adams Avenue that covers the site of the recent fire is clearly no exception to the rule. Tonight at 6 p.m. a contingent of amateur artists will tackle the in viting fence and before the night is out, it will be transformed into a "beautiful mural portraying the wonders of Northeastern Oregon.' At least that s what they say. Th?y will bo members of La Grande's Lions club, who will utilize paints and supplies donated by local paint stores to illustrate prominent features of the area, like lakes, mountains and the Geo graphic Center, as the way to pro- mole Oregon s Centennial eclcbra lion. , - . But the nine men or so who will wield the colors won't exactly be allowed a fnrc hand to express their creativity; they II be follow ing a sketch made in advance by John Evans, assistant librarian and English instructor at Eastern Oregon College. . Evens will first outline the scries of illustrations on the 90-foot long fence, and then the arty Lions will follow close by to fill in the colors. When it's all over, Evans says. La Grande's main street will sport a "pictorial map depicting attrac tions of 'our area, through a scries of cartoons. This much is certain: La Grande will be minus one fence painted just plain white. WEATHER Partly cloudy tonight; in creasing - clouds Thursday; high Thursday 55-60; low to Hlgni 33-3B. WATCH DOG IS STOLEN PITTSBURGH (UPI) - Lulu Mills, woitried about a wave of burglaries In her neighborhood, bought a husky Boxer dog ad vertised as an excellent watch dog. Mist Mills returned from work Tuesday to find her apartment had been broken Into and burg. lariied of one Boxer dog. Cut Fees Ike Asks Doctors ATLANTIC CITY. N.J. (UPD Presiclent Eisenhower has asked the nation's doctors to help fight inflation by charging fees that their patients can "reasonably pay." Uncontrolled inflation, he said Tuesday night, inevitably would force Americans in mass volume to turn to the government pri marily for medical assistance and this would cause the nation "great loss." Eisenhower spoke at the Ameri can Medical Assn.'s annual con vention here. He flew back to Washington immediately after his address. The President offered nothing to differ with the AMA's basic op position to compulsory government-controlled medicine. But he coupled the threat of such com pulsion to possible run-away infla tion in which "all prices would go. out of sight and everybody would go broke." "The medical profession, as much as any other, has vital in terest in preventing inflation," Ei senhower said. "Certainly it wants to provide its services for a fee within range of that people can reasonably pay."' . He continued: 1" "If the time ever comes when large numbers of our citizens turn primarily to the government for assistance in what ought to re main a private arrangement be tween doctor and patient, then we shall all have suffered a great loss. The President focused his atten. tion on one group of Americans who are' particularly prey to the ravages of Inflation and the cheap ening dollar older people who live largely on fixed retirement income, pensions, insurance and savings. ' "To this group," he said. "Infla tion is not merely a threat it is a robber and a thief. It takes the bread out of their mouths, the clothes off their backs, and it lim its their access to the medical care and facilities they need." Andrews Picked Board Chairman Horton Andrews was elected chairman of the Board of Directors or School District No. 1 to replace outgoing board member J. Dale Standley at the board's regular meeting last night in the super intendent's office. . New vice chairman, to fill the vacancy created by Horton's elec tion, is Charles A. Reynolds Jr. District Clerk Ray Williams told the board that the district is oper ating with in the budget and would complete the current fiscal year on a cash basis. Contracts for new school furni ture were awarded to four of the eight firms bidding for tho sup plies. Contracts were awarded to McGlasson Stationary, 200 folding chairs and 24 single tier lockers for a total of $1186.40; Northern School Supply, IS desks totaling $473.25; Virco Manufacturing Com pany, 113 tables totaling $1,879.80, and Frank D. Cohan for 160 chairs totaling S792.2B. New Fire Truck Due This Month La Grande's new fire truck will be delivered about June 21, accord ing to a representative of the Western Slates Fire Apparatus Co. The new truck will be a pumpr and will add more than 1,000 gal lons per minute to the pumping capacity of the La Grande fire department. The truck was or( dcred last fall, a portion of the cost -having been budgeted for the 1958 59 fiscal year. Successful bidder for the chassis of the truck was the Gettings Lynch Motor Co., La Grande. Equipment for the truck is being built and installed by the Western States Fire Apparatus Co., of Cor nelius, Oregon, who won the con tract with their bid. The new truck will be housed in the present fire station at the City Hall. The city s two pumper fire engines will be parked in the fire station one behind the other. This procedure is in compliance with regulations governing storage of fivf-fighting equipment. -,( Big Four Conference Enters Crucial Stage GENEVA (UPD The .foreign ministers conference today en tered a crucial 24-hour period that could decide its success or failure and whether summit talks will be held. ' Western delegates openly ad mitted they were pessimistic that any agreement could be reached at this meeting. An air of crisis was evident over continued Soviet insistence the Allies quit West Berlin. The answer was up to Russia and it was expected today when Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko speaks in another of the open sessions he has used for an gry tirades against the West. - His speech was in reply to the Western ultimatum that the Eas West meeting must agree on West ern rights in West Berlin or give up the thought of a meeting of heads of state demanded by Pre mier Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev Charts Coursa The only question was whether Khrushchev had instructed Gro myko on what to say. Khrushchev Tense Crowd Watches Start Of Rape Trial TALLAHASSEE. Fla- (UPI) - Four white youths accused of ra ping a Negro coed went on trial today in a case that was rapidly building up into a demonstration of whether southern justice has a "doublo stundurd" for Negroes and whites. Shortly after the trial began in 4 small 114-year-old courthouse, sheriff's deputies herded a tense, overflow crowd of Negroes out of the ground floor of the building. They had milled into the corridor after finding no 'room left in the Negro spectators' gallery upstairs. One Negro youth, who told Sher iff William P. Joyce "it is none of your damned business" when the officer asked his father's name, was marched into the sher iff's office for questioning, , Others in the crowd reluctantly left the building but stood outside, Crowded against the entrance. The four defendants, ranging in age from 16 to 24, face death In the electric chair if they are Tryouts Set For EOC Play; Actors Wanted A call for persons to try-out for roles in "Dr. In Buckskin Clad" was sent out today by Rich ard Hiatt, director of the Cen tennial play written by Dr. Alvin Kaiser of Eastern Oregon College. "No experience of any kind Is re quired to try-out for the play, and we want all interested per sons in La Grande and area to try out," Hiatt said. Tryouts begin Monday, June 15, hi 7 p.m. in the college theatre, and will run every night during the wek through Friday. Persons who could not appear at the reg ular times can call Hiatt (WO 3- 3R90) to make special arrange ments. Some IS speaking parts arc available, Hiatt said, but extra roles will be added for qualified persons who try out. Both men and women are needed. The play, which will portray the life of Dr. Marcus Whitman, will be presented next month as part of Union county's centennial observance. s WW'' m a t EOC'S "TYPICAL" SENIOR Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Detrick, Jr., of La Grand,': both seniors at Eastern Oregon College, relax during week of finals. Bob, who re-! ceives his degree Friday, and Donna, who graduates in August, are among the 65 per cent of EOC seniors who are married. They have three daughters. Donna Is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Hollo way, and Bob is the son of Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Detrick, La Grande, met in Moscow Tuesday with East German Communist leaders and was believed to have charted the Communist course. . Again the only ray of hope in Geneva came from the long stalled talks on how to ban atomic bomb tests. Both sides met today and there was some hope of a preliminary agreement. But tho West also was faced with a crisis in West German politics that might mean the end of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's leadership and a crisis in NATO that could see France leave the organization in anger at being left out of major global strategy and deprived of Anglo-American atom, ic bomb secrets. Despite the air of futility pre. vailing among the Western dele gates, none was prepared to break off the conference as long as there was any hope of success. This was reflected in Washing ton where Senate Democratic Whip Mike Mansfield (Mont.) said it would be a mistake to give up hope and that "this is not the found guilty without a jury's rec ommendation of mercy. No white man ever has been executed in Florida for rape of a Negro. All four have pleaded innocent. SO Jurors Dismissed Judge W. May Walker already had dismissed about 50 out of a jury venire of 256. Ho said a num bcr were III or in the old age bracket where they may be ex cused if they wish. Of those still empanelled, only three were wom en and there were "several" Ne gro men. The Negro girl, a student at all Negro Florida AIM, is recovering from influenza but she intends to testify at the trial. She was asked what punishment she thought her assailants should get if they are found guilty whether it should be death, "I don't know what they should get," she said. "I just think they should get what a Negro boy would get in the same circum stances." V The defendants are Willon Col- linsworth, 24; Patrick Scorbor- 6ugh, 20; David Beagles, 18; and Ollie Stoutamire, 16. The girl's identity is widely known but it has not been pub lished because of a Florida law making It a criminal offense to print the name of any rape vic tim. Abducted- From Lovers' Lane She was parked in a car with a college boy date in a lovers' lane in the early morning of May 2, accompanied by another Negro boy and girl, when four whites carrying a shotgun and knives held the boys at bay and or dered the girls into their car. One girl broke away into the bushes but tho second was abduct ed nd allegedly assaulted seven times. The four defendants were arrested after a 100-m.p.h. auto chase after the boys called police. The two Negro boys, Richard Brown and Thomas Butterfield, were brought by police to Talla hassee Tuesday from their homes in Miami where they had gone when tho college year ended. time to scan the time tables or make preparaions for -the voyage home.'' Reds Blaming West The Communists appeared re signed to failure, of tho East-West conference and already were mak ing efforts to blame the West. The first such charge came from the East German Communist news agency ADN which said the West was trying to end the conference without results. .' ' Secretary of Slate Christian A. Herter, British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd and French Foreign Minister Maurice Couve do Mur ville placed the full blame for the deadlock on Khrushchev. They were certain by now that Gromyko had no authority to make any decisions here, even tactical ones, and that the Soviet premier was signaling the moves from Russia. Allied officials said (hey only hoped Gromyko had accurately conveyed to the Kremlin the Wcs''s - seriousness in insisting upon sincere negotiations aimed. at reaffirming the Western rights' in Berlin. They feared that Gromyko to day would only put on the public record the tedious Soviet argu ments he has advanced in private during the past week. This would mean a blistering new exchange of East-West stater ments. Lloyd was scheduled as second speaker today to answer Gromyko. Eastern Oregon Youths In Top Form In Judging V THE DALLES (Special) East ern Oregon high school boys were in top form for 'the Future Farm ers of America livestock judging contest here, Monday, at the 13th annual 4-H and FFA fat stock show and sale. Judging teams from Wallowa, Enterprise, and La Grande high, schools led the contest that nt- traded 23 high 'school 'chapter' teams from throughout Oregon. ' The young Judges scores were rated against those of official show judges in placing beef, sheep, and swine. ,' Members of the first place Wal lowa team were Perry and Robley Johnston and Gary Willet, ' all sophomores at Wallowa high school. . They scored 1677 points out of a possible 1800. . ' '. Enterprise team members Nor man Pratt, Roger Kooch, and Keith Simmons collected 1618 points to edge out the third place team from La Grande. Gary Willet, Wallowa, was high individual in judging all animal divisions, scoring 594 points out of a possible 600. Second high in dividual judge was Norman Pratt, Enterprise, with 576 points. Gary and Norman both made perfect scores in judging swino to tie for first in that division. Jerry Harms, Canby high school. chalked up a perfect score to win the sheep Judging contest. Official judges were unable to stump the sharp-eyed young stock men in beef judging, and 12 boys ended up with perfect scores in that division. . i The annual show and sale is sponsored by the Oregon Wheat Growers League - and this year attracted contestants from 20 Ore gon counties. Tho young ex hibitors brought 385 head of beef. sheep, and swine that will be auctioned Wednesday.