La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968, June 24, 1959, Page 1, Image 1

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    LA GRANDE OBSERVER
260th Issue 63rd Year
LA GRANDE, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1959
Price 5 Cents
ritish Want Summit
. ' v - iy 1 r
M I ' V ' .
WANDA SCHAURES
Queen Candidate For Rodeo. '
QUEEN CANDIDATE WANDA
SCHAURES LIKES RODEOS
BY VIRGINIA ANDERSON
Observer Staff Writer
La Grande's candidate for queen
of the 13th annual Elgin Stampede,
Wanda Schaures has been attend
ing rodeos since she was a year
old. 1 Miss Schaures is the daugh
ter of Mr. q-id Mrs. Jesse Schaures
of 605 4th street.
Dark-haired Wanda who will be
a senior this fall at La Grande
High school has been riding horses
for six or seven years. Her horsed
Chico, is an eight-year-old sorrel
mare that she has had for four
years.
Long's Wife
Flees State
Out Of Fear
RATON ROUGE, La. UPD -
The first lady of the state of Lou
isiana Tuesday night fled its bor
ders and her husband's fight to
regain his executive powers irom
' a mental hosnital.
Mrs. Blanche Long, whose des
tination was not known, was
known to fear what a psychiatrist
termed the "homicidal tenden
cies" of her husband, Gov. ,Earl
Lone.
Her departure was not expect
ed to interfere with a sanity hear
ing for Long scheduled for rri
day, although she signed the com
mitment capers and had been
subpenaed as a witness at the
hearing. ,
As. Mrs. Long fled, the props
were being carried in for a drama
to be played beneath a basketball
hoop to determine whether her
husband is fit to be governor.
Head Set To Roll
The scene was set for heads to
roll if the answer is "yes."
The decision weighed on the
shoulders of a soft-spoken judge,
his, face deeply lined and wearing
horn-rimmed glasses, who was an
appointee of Earl's brother Huey's
hand-picket successor In 1936.
The judge's name is Robert D.
Jones. Whether he is a "Long
tman" is a moot question. He has
been 23 years on the bench, ap
pointed first and elected three
times without opposition. In Lou
isiana, if he has Earl Long's dis
favor, he would have been, op
posed. He has just heard two murder
trials and, for the first time,
passed the death sentence.
"When it rains it pours." he
told this correspondent Tuesday.
Gilbert Holler
Resigns Position
The resignation of Gilbert Hailcr
as superintendent of public school
district 11 was accepted Monday
night at a special meeting of the
Imblcr school board.
Hailcr has been in charge of
schools in Imblcr for four years.
He has not made definite plans as
yet, but they will be announced
soon. ,
John Dodson, coach and social
science teacher for the high school,
has also announced his resignation
and will be teaching in Brookings,
Ore., next fall.
URGE CHARTER OVERHAUL
WASHINGTON UPI Sixteen
senators headed by Sen. Joseph
S. Clark (D-Pa.) introduced a
resolution Tuesday calling for re
view and revision of the United
Nations charter. Fourteen House
members introduced the same
proposal in that body.
Wanda plans to work a year
after graduation from high school
and then go on to college. Since
she is very interested in phases
of agriculture, she has decided to
attend Cal.-Poly which is a type
of agriculture school. She believes
that the school will help her decide
just exactly what phase and to
what extent she is interested in
agriculture as a vocation.
Although she feels that working
with young people is her favorite
pastime, she also lists swimming,
tennis, dancing, and horseback
riding as hobbies. She is a junior
leader of the 4-H horse club and
an all-boys cooking class, and she
is also president of her 4-H riding
group. . '. ,
One of her duties, as program
chairman of 4-H is th!' direction
of a radio program every Satur
day. Wanda said she enjoyed
interviewing the younger 4-H'ers.
She said they often come up with
some unexpected remarks.
Wanda referred to herself firmly
as an "outdoor" girl when she said
that she often spent summers at
her grandmother's ranch in the
Wallowa Mountains. Occasiona'ly
she councils at summer-camps and
always takes a 4-H group to the
high Vallowas for a week's trip.
At school La Grande's queen can
didate belongs to Pep club, Thes
pians, Tri-Hi-Y- and Girls' League.
Wanda, earns extra money by baby
sitting and said that this was the
first summer in four years, that
she hadn't worked.
John De Merchant
Concert Tonight
John De Merchant will present
a concert at the LDS tabernacle
tonight.
The program will be divided
into four parts, and will include
numbers by Haydn, Beethoven,
Moussorgsky, Warlock, von Fie
litz, Crcston, Manning, and Guion.
Erma Puis, who will accomp
any De Merchant, will also pre
sent two piano numbers. They arc
Nocturne in F Major by Chopin,
and Scherzo by Griffes.
Tickets for the progam may
he obtained at the door before
the performance.
p: p n
J,-: mJ. i
HITTIN' THE BOOKS 271 people registered on Monday for summer classes at EOC.
and 350 are expected by the end of registration. These three women, all graduates
in education, were among a spattering of summer school students already working on
summer projects in the college library.They are from left, Carol Spence, Portland;
Mildred Skaar, Bend; and Mrs. Margaret Lewys, Boardman. Mrs. Iewys is working to
wards her masters degree.
Despite Geneva Talks
Plane Crash
Near Burns
Kills Five
BURNS, Ore. (UPD Five civil
ian employes of the Boeing Air
plane Company were killed yes
terday in the flaming crash ot an
Air Force B-52 bomber 35 miles
west of Burns.
The victims were identified as
Pilnt t.pwts'F Mnnrp 44. Kirk
s' land, Wash.; co-pilot Joseph Kel
ler, 37, Bellevue, Wash.; naviga
tor Harold G. Green, 37, Kent,
Wash.; and technical engineers
Neil Johnson, 28. and Charles H.
McDaniel. 29, both of Seattle.
The huge eight-jet bomber de
parted from Seattle yesterday
morning on one of a scries of low-
level experimental flights. It was
scheduled to fly at about 500 feet
above the ground on a course to
ward the 34th Air Squadron Ra
dar Station near here.
The first report of the crash
came from an unidentified ranch
woman who notified the radar
station and the Oregon state po
lice.
Investigating officers said the
plane apparently crashed and then
exploded, touching off a fire which
burned about 200 acres of brush
at the edge of Ochoco National
Forest.
A security guard of personnel
from the radar station, state po
lice and the Malheur county sher
iff's office was posted around the
crash area pending the arrival of
investigators from the Boeing
Company in Seattle.
One report said the plane burst
ir.' i flame in flight. Leslie Heinz,
a u leman for trio Harney County
Electric . Cooperative, was quoted
as saying the-plane became "one
big ball of fire" -and then struck
a small hill and exploded.
Wreckage was scattered for a
mile and a half, and a pilot who
flew over the area said "there
isn't a piece of the plane as big
as a wasntuD.
The plane crashed amid brush
and scraggly pines, starting a
fire that threatened important
timber stands before it was con
trolled by crews of the Hines
Lumber Company.
The shattered bodies of the oc
cupants were scattered through
the timber and several hours were
required to recover them.
An air rescue helicopter from
the 337th Fighter Group in Port
land arrived last night to assist
in cleanup operations. An Air
Force investigating team and Boe
ing experts' were due today.
Heinz, believed to have been the
only witness, said:
"I saw this big plane flying so
low that I stopped to stare, won
dering what was the matter. He
was coming up a canyon below
the level of the hills. About that
time I saw things begin to fall
from the airplane. Then I could
see the plane atch fire. It was
one big ball of- fire. Then it hit
this hill and exploded."
WEATHER
Considerable cloudiness
through Thursday; a few
showers tonight; high Thurs
day 76-82; low tonight 53-58..
SILVER LINING
TO CAR THEFT
LONDON (UPD Jim Scott
got his stolen car back Tues
day with a new coat of paint,
new bumpers, de-dented fen
ders and a reconditioned en
gine. Scott's five-year-old car
apparently was abandoned in
a London square by whom
ever stole it, A garage man
mistook It for the one he had
been ordered to pick up,, in
the tame square, for the re
novation job.
Sewage Issue
Is Commision
Topic Tonight
Setting the date for an election
on the sewage disposal bond is
si c and recommendations for the
purchase of an electric typewrit
er will be the main business on
the agenda at tonight's city com
mission meeting.
October 2 will be the date rec
ommended for the eclction by
Fred Young, city manager. Final
approval of the date will rest with
the commission.
Three bids on the typewriter
were opened at the commission
meeting last Wednesday but fin
al action was postponed until
tonight pending the investigation
by the city - manager.
The companys bidding on the
contract are Halls Typewriter
Service, Hill's Office Machines
and Shorb's Typewriter Exchange
The bond issue, if approved.
will be used in the construction
of oxidation ponds for city sew
age. Site of the ponds has .not
yet been ' determined . u
It is partible, to get 30 per ci-il
of construction costs for the
ponds from state sanitation anlh
oritics.
"State officials seem to be fav
oring towns who have pond is
sues ready to go," Young said.
There was a meeting of depart
ment heads in the city manager's
office at 6:30 this morning. The
meetings, held monthly, arc to
promote intra-department cooper
ation and to integrate tne tunc
tions of the departments.
Parents Fight
To Save Killer
As End Near
LINCOLN, Neb. (UPD Mass
killer Charles Starkweather stoi
cally sat out what may be the
last full day of his life today
while his parents fought to win
him a new reprieve from the
electric chair.
The 20-year-old ex-g a r b a g e
man, who killed 11 persons dur
ing a two-day rampage, was
scheduled to be electrocuted In
Nebraska State Penitentiary
sometime Thursday probably
shortly after midnight unless
he gets a dramatic pew lease on
life.
His father Guy, who won a mid-
dlc-of-the-night appeal for a stay
a month ago minutes before
Starkweather's head and legs
were to be shaved in preparation
for electrocution, was expected to
renew his battle today
Western
Allies
Disagree
LONDON (UPD The British
government came out strongly
again today for a Summit Con
ference regardless of progress at
the Geneva Foreign Minister's
meeting, a stand opposed by the
other western allies.
Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd
told the House of Commons he
hoped the recessed Geneva parley
finally will lead to an East-West
Summit, thus echoing the views
of Prime Minister Harold Mac
millan Tuesday.
"With regard to the Summit
conference. I repeat what the
Prime Minister said," Lloyd said
in a report to Parliament on the
recessed Geneva talks. "It is also
my hope that our resumed con
ference will lead to a meeting of
heads ot government.
Macmillnn told Parliament
Tuesday that he hoped the Gen
eve sessions, due to reconvene
July 13, eventually would lead to
a Summit conference despite the
slow going to date.
The government s stand was
backed today by a statement from
the opposition labor party, which
also called for an immediate Sum
mit Conference in spite of the lack
of progress at Geneva.
However, Britain's French,
American and West German allies
have not been so optimistic. They
want progress at the foreign min
ister' level first, and even then
they arc not so keen about a top
level meeting with Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev.-
Secretary of State Christian
Hcrter said Tuesday night that
tho Geneva talks to. date have
been generally without gain, al
though he conceded there might
be "possible areas of agreement.
But he said there has not been
enough progress to date to justify
a Summit Conference.
Military Aid
Reorganization
Urged By Ike
WASHINGTON (UPD Presi
dent Eisenhoweer asked Congress
today to place U. S. foreign mili
tary aid on a long term basis and
shift Its control to the Defense
Department to end' "contentious"
bickering.
These were two of 12 recommen
dations for a sweeping reorgani
zation' of the aid program made
in a 36 page report by Eisenhow
er's special Committee on Mili
tary Assistance. The President en
dorsed the proposals in letters to
Speaker Sam Rayburn and Vice
resident Richard M. Nixon.
The chief executive said he
probably would put into effect by
executive action all the recom
mendations which did not require
legislation. These include the plan
ning of military aid to allied na-
uons on a three-year and eventual
ly a five-year basis.
Eisenhower asked Congress to
amend the Mutual Security Law
so ho could carry out these other
i-ey proposals:
Mail Schedule
Changes Given
Postmaster Victor Eckley an
nounced today a change In the mail
schedule to Joseph. The change
was effcctlvo Monday.
The bus carrying the mail will
leave La Grando at 6:30 a.m. and
arrive at Joseph1 approximately 3
nours and 15 minutes later..
On the return trip, the bus will
leave Joseph at 2:30 p.m. and
arrive in La Grande at 5.
Max Livingston, owner of the
bus line, and Eckley agreed on tho
change to provide better service
fpr both the moil and persons wish
ing to visit Wallowa lake.
Family Seeks Return
Of Pasteboard Boxes
Two weeks ago a family mov
ing from Idaho to Warden, Wash,
rassed through La Grande. Some
place they lost 'two pasteboard
boxes containing family pictures,
dishes and miscellaneous items.
A reward is being offered for
the return of the boxs. If any
one knows the whereabouts of
the lust items they can contact
Police Chief Oliver Reeves or no
tify Box 1104, Warden, Wash, j
U$ DANGER TODAY
mm -iThr iif-mii 1 -- i Mian
FIRE DANGER, HIGH John Kretschmcr, 1611 Washington St. checks the fire dan
ger indicated on the board installed recently at the corner of Spruce and Adams.
The board was put In place last week by the State Forestry department. (Observer)
Police Questioning Hotel Guests
In Effort To Learn Fire's Cause ?
VOSSESTRAND, Norway (UPD
Police questioned a Norwegian
today in belief a party in his
Stalhcim Hotel room may have
caused a fire which destroyed the
building and killed possibly 24
persons, mostly Americans.
Seven bodies were- recovered
from the wreckage of the 50-year-old
wooden tourist hotel SO miles
northeast of Bergen on Norway's
Atlantic Coast and 17 persons
were missing and feared dead.
The four-story. 100-room hotel
was crowded with 147 tourists, 130
of them Americans, and Its Nor
wegian staff when the fire flashed
through the' structure at 3 a.m.
Tuesday, trapping, many persons
in their rooms, r-. .-
Many persons were injured
when they jumped from their up
per floor rooms or fell while try
ing to escape down makeshift
ropes. About 35 persons were
taken to the hospital at Voss, 20
miles away but ten were released
after treatment.
The victims, mostly between the
MENTAL PATIENTS LED
BY VICIOUS PRISONER
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (UPD
Earl C. Taylor, 31, described as
"one of the most vicious prison
ers in the entire federal prison
system, was identified today as
the principal leader in Tuesday's
riot at tlia U.S. Prison Medical
Center here.
Bryand D. Reed, 24 year old
murderer, and Carl Roberts, 19,
were named as the other ring
leaders in the riot, quelled after
16 hours by a bulldozer and tear
gas attack which Treed the five
hostages.
Taylor, serving a nine year
term for possession of fire arms
in violation of federal statutes,
assault, escape and theft, . re
ceived a fractured right hand in
hand to hand combat with one of
the hostages, Robert Roscndahl,
38.
Roscndahl suffered a severe
laceration of the scalp but was
reported in satisfactory condition
today at B u r g o Hospital in
Springfield.
Estimates of. the number of
'NO SIGNIFICANT
Sec. Hotel's Firm
Leaves Next Move
WASHINGTON (UPD Secre
tary of Slate Christian A. Hcrler's
firm stand on Western rights in
Berlin left the next move square
ly up to Russia today in negoti
ating for a settlement of the East-
West crisis over Germany.
Hcrter told the nation Tuesday
night in a nationally-televised re
port on the deadlocked Geneva
foreign ministers meeting that
"possible areas of agreement" ex
ist. But he said the Soviets first
must back down on their threats
to force the West out of West
Berlin. " '
The secretary also declared
there had been no progress to
date at the foreign ministers level
that would warrant f summit con
ference between President Eisen
ages of 60 and 70, suffered burns
and broken bones in their escape.
Police did not disclose the name
jt the Norwegian they were ques
tioning but they said he gave a
party in his first floor hotel room
a few hours before the fire start
ed and that a cigarct may have
caused the blaze.
Officials were reluctant to list
the 17 missing hotel guests as
dead even though there was no
chance that anyone- would he
found alive in the ruins.
They said many of the guests
fled into the woods surrounding
the hotel and there was a possi
bility that some of those- un
accounted for may. still turn up.
A few , persons were known to
have been given aid by nearby
Norwegian families.
Sixteen of the American surviv
ors, some still dressed in pajamas
with coats- thrown over their
shoulders, arrived Tuesday night
in Oslo from Vossestrand in the
fjord country.
One of them, Mrs. J. R. Miller
persons injured ranged from sev
eral to about SO.
The bloodspattercd Interior ol
the north 10 building bore testi
mony to the violence of the as
sault. Great quantities of blood
stained tho floors, walls, and
broken furnishings.
Virtually everything movable
had 'been overturned or broken
up, numerous small fires were
started, fire hoses were torn
loose, plumbing was ripped out
and liquid soap was poured over
floors in a attempt to make
looting nazaroous lor me assault
force.
Officials said Taylor, a former
inmate of Alcalraz. Leavenworth
and Atlanta federal prisons, "ap
parently made the first move in
tho riot.
Tho part Played bv Reed and
Roberts was not defined immed
iately. Roberts was serving a 4 "4
year term under the federal ju
venile delinquency law for car
theft. Reed, a military prisoner,
is serving life for murder.
PROGRESS'
hower, Soviet Premier Nikita S
Khrushchev and other heads of
government.
The foreign ministers of Brit
ain, France, Russia and the Unit
ed States will resume talks at Ge
neva July 13 following the current
three-week "cooling off" recess.
Hertcr flatly said in his speech
that, "I regret to say that no sig
nificant progress was made to
ward settlement of the problem of
the continued division of Germany
and of Berlin" in the first six
weeks of the Geneva talks.
Members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee agreed with
Herter's assessment. They also
generally endorsed the secretary's
willingness to enter into another
round of talks with the Russians.
But Sen. Homer E. Capehart
?-.ti.-w.-.?-A7. 1
of Birmingham, Ala., said she
could hardly explain how she and
her husband escaped the flames,
Miller, still coughing from the
smoke he breathed, gave this de-
scription: -.:
"Noise- from the corridor prob
ably woke me up, and then I saw.
the gleam of fire reflecting
against the window. Before my 1
wife and I were able to get out
of our room, the corridor on both
sides was on fire, the flames
spreading explosively. -
"It took some time before we
were able to find the stairs, and
that moment the fire was raging
just a few yards from us.
"We heard .pcoi'le wreartUt
from different parts-of the hotel.
It was all' like .a nightmare.
Everybody was panic - stricken,
running in different directions.
After we finally got out, we ob
served many of the guests running ,
toward a nearby woods, dressed
in their nightclothes.
"Other guests were hanging out
of their windows, screaming that
they were not able to get down
stairs. As I stood there, three
jumped from the second" floor, andi
I was almost hit by one of them.
They wore all badly hurt and
were carried away' at once by the -rescuers.
i .
Former Minister
Admits Wrecking
Car In Fraud Try
PASADENA, Calif. (UPD-l
Ronald T. Field, 27, former
Methodist minister, admitted
Tuesday that he wrecked his car
near Pittsburg, Pa., May 27 to
make it appear he had died, i
Field, reported missing sine
the accident, was found at thj
home of an uncle, Walter Field,
who told newsmen Field wap
out. Police said they would not
take any action against him urt
less Pittsburgh authorities re
quest it. ; i
Charges of desertion and fail
ure to support their two small
daughters were filed in Pitta
burgh by Field's wife, Jeaii
Pennsylvania officials said extra
dition proceedings on the charges
would be started if any indict
ment was obtained. - t
1
Stand
To Reds
(R-lndJ, a committee memberi
said the time "has just about ar
rived for us to refuse to have any
more conferences with, the Rus
sians. They don't get us any
where and they provide the Rus
sians with a vehicle for propa
ganda." Snatc Democratic Whip Mike
Mansfield, also a committee
member, said Hcrter "has in a
straightforward and courageous
manner thrown the ball back to
the Soviet Union." .
Mansfield said it was up to
Khrushchev in the next three
weeks to come up with, a counter
proposal -that recognizes the
West's legal right to be in Berlin
and tends to bring "a degree of
peace and stability to Germani
and Central Europe." :
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