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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1959)
Lots Of Paperwork' But Little Groundwork On New Sewage Plant (Editor' Not: The Observ over the proposed new fewae step-by-step process of the entire Initial work was done to reme veyed bv on engineering firm The city manager had earlier Deputy State Sanitary Engineer Spies urged La Grande officials er newspaper it presenting a series of articles rolativo to the coming bond election Oct. 2 on a now-typo sewage dis petal plant. The second of this public service series deals with the present sewage facility.) BY GRADY PANNELL Observer Staff Writer Mors work tpparently has been carried on through the Post Of fice department between the city of LaGraide. Oregon state health officials and consulting engineers treatment pia.it than actual groundwork over the matter. Beginning back in W53. con cern was shown by the then city administrator) oer the present sewage treatment plant about two miles east of La Grande. Followirg a July, loss inspec tion of the present facility by J. R. Boydston. and Harold M. Pat terso:i. association sanitary en gineers for the state of Oregon, paperwork began here. The state sanitarians collected sewage samples for laboratory analysis and checked closely the plant and filtration system. They recommended moderniz ing the system and the city con ducting an engineering study as well as some corrective construc tion. In August of 1957 correspond ence was received from Kenneth H. Spies, assistant chief engi neer for the state of Oregon, in which it was pointed out that the sewage treatment plant was not working properly as required by state law and that some type of construction be geared to remedy the deficiency. dy the problem but the system was plagued from time to time with breakdowns. Progress Needed In September of 1!56 another survey was made by the district sanitary engineer and in h s re port to city officials it was point ed out that mo.e progress must be shown at the sewage plant on existing problems or the Stale Sanitary Authority would move into the pitcture. Prior to this date, however, city officials had taken steps to have the entire sewage problem sur Corm-ll. Huwland, Hayes and Merryiield of Oregon and Idaho. Following their initial survey, the firm contacted Fred Young, city manager, and stated that the existing treatment plant for l.a Grande is completely inadequate for this task. "From our study thus tar." the letter stated, "it is o! ions thai a substantial con struction project will be neces sary to accomplish the desired results: which fact would indi ca.o the desirability of careful planning of the entire improve ment project required." informed the consulting engineers that during a period of heavy rains, water had flooded out of manholes dumping sewage on streets in the low-lying areas. Sewage Seepage The engineers sad that sew age seepage during flooding could be eliminated with stop-gap con struction of a sort, but this would be expensive and the firm recommended an overall program that could be finunced by a single bond issue that would satisfy both the needs of the collection system and the sewage treatment. Spies told the consulting engi neers and city officials in De cember of 1957 that the possible use of a raw sewage lagoon or oxidation pond in place of con ventional secondary treatment would depend upon the availabil ity of a suitable site of adequate area and proper location. However, he questioned a lagoon-type treatment facility in that climatic conditions prevail ing in this area might cuuse such a pond to become frozen over dur ing the winter and create septic conditions. to file an application with the state authority for possible fed eral financing of such a project when the city determined the type and extent of its sewage project. Handles Everything The present sewage facility if handling everything despite some breakdowns, but the pla:it is not working properly, according to George I'dy who supervises the entire phase of operation. One of the first units the raw sewage enters is the screen house where paiier and bulky objects See PAPERWORK On Page I I .-.;:.. .-V .w v v-.-f ' 1 2 CITY SEWAGE 'CLARIFIER' HOUSE This is the first main building at the La Grande sewage treatment plant located two miles east of the city. All sludge matter forms in deep pool beneath this structure from where it is "digested" in clarifier an d forced into sludge pumps for further treatment. (Observer Photo) Nehru Heaps Praise On Menon; Armed Forces NEW DELHI (LTD Premier Jawaharlal Nehru told a tense capacity crowd in Parliament to day that India's defense crisis had been eased by the withdrawal of Lt. Gen. K.S. Thimayya's res ignation as army chief of staff. Nehru heaped praise on Defense Minister V.K. Krishna Menon. making no mention of the fact that he too had offered to resign Family Of As Flames Sweep Home SOUTH GATE, Calif. (UPH-A family of four perished today when flames swept their small frame home only three hours after the husband and wife re turned from a party celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary. A baby sitter said David Sprin kle, 35. and his wife. Beryl, 27. returned home shortly after 1 a.m. after attending the party. Thelma George. 15, said she had been sitting with the Sorinkle children, David Jr., 6, and Star. 5. A neighbor called the fire de partment when he saw flam-s and smoke pouring from the mod est home southeast of, Los An geles. Young David's body was found on the flcor of the kitchen. He apparently had been overcome by smoke. The elder Sp. inkle and his daughter were found on a bed in a rear bedroom where they had suffocated from smoke, and Mrs. Sprinkle was lying on the floor of the front bedroom near a window. Assistant Fire Ch!ef Q.M. Towel! said it appeared Sprinkle Bulletins ' CENESSE, Idaho (UPI) Mrs. Mildred Reyes, 34, Imb ler. Ore., was injured fitally when a station wagon she was driving overturned on High way S about two miles south of here last night. Her husband, Clifford, and their two small sons were not hurt seriously. The family ap peared to be en route home after a fishing trip in Canada. FAIRBANKS, Alaska (UP) A Wein Airlines plane wi'h eight persons aboard, includ ing tlx young women, crashed Mar McOrath, Alaska Tues day night. The wreckage, with no sign of life, was sighted today. 1 ;rnfe Chiefs Give in in the crisis touched off by his alleged playing politics with the armed forces. The Premier also had nothing to say about the nation's other chiefs of staff. Vice Adm. R.D. Katari and Air Marshal S. Muker Jee. who handed in their resigna tions along with Thimayya's. It appeared likely, however, that they would follow the general's Four Killed mav have carried the hnv intn the kitchen and then returned to the rear bedroom for the girl when he was overcome and fell onto the bed. Harry M. Fretz, 55, (he neigh bor, said he was awakened by the smoke. "I could see the shadows of flames dancing on the wall of my bedroom and when I looked ou! I saw the fire burning out of the roof of the house," Fretz told fire Investigators. "I slipped on my clothes and ran outside, but there was noth ing I could do. The whole place was on fire. I ran back into the house and called the fire de partment." Fretz said he ran to the burn ing house and smashed a window. "The heat almost knocked me down," he recalled. "The smoke was terrible, and it was too hot to try to g.t in." He said he fought the blaze with a garden hose until firemen arrived. CRIMES OF VIOLENCE INCREASE AT DRAMATIC PACE IN NATION WASHINGTON (UPI I Mur der, rape or assault with in 'ent to kill was commitrd rvery four minutes in the United States last year, the FBI reported today. The FBI's statistical crime clock exnrcssed in graphic terms the 9.3 per cent rise in crime last year over 1957. . Fni Director J. Edgar Hoover said an estimated 1.553.922 very serious offenses occurred in 1958 an increase of 131,637 over 1957. . The figures were reached under a new uniform crime reporting system set up a year ago. They were drawn from the records of police departments representing 97 per cent of the nation'! popula tion. The FBI used seven major : -sr- -1 example and continue in their posts. Nehru said there is no truth to reports that Menon had been al lowing favoritism or political fac tors to influence army promo tions. "I myself have seen the files," he said. "There is no truth to the charge." Nehru also conferred today with the Dalai Lama, who came here from his refuge in Mussoorie to urge Indian leaders to support his protest to the United Nations over Communist aggression in Tibet. The premier has already ex pressed his opposition to a U.N. debate on Tibet, but the huge crowd which turned out to wel come the refugee god-king ap peared to indicate wide popular support for his plea. As the Lama left his special air conditioned railway car, the crowd surged forward snouting "Long live the Dalai!" "Down with Chinese imperialism!" and "Chinese, get out of Tibet!" Form Flying Wedge Police had to form a flying wedge to force a way through the cheering crowd to the car wait ing for the Dalai. The Communist conquest of Ti bet set the stage for the reported Red invasions of India and the protectorates of Bhutan and Sik kim which have caused considera ble concern here. Pakistan's President Mohammed Ayub, who talked with Neh-u dur ing a stopover here Tuesday, urged settlement of seething dif ferences between India and Pakis tan so the two nations could pre sent a united front to the Red threat. crimes as the basis for measur ing the overall 9.3 per cent boost. Under the new system, it no long er considers minor larcenies, neg l.gent manslaughter and statutory rape as part of the crime index. Forcible rape led the way last year With a jump of 13 per cent. Robbery and burglary followed closely with increases of 12.7 per cent and 12.6 per cent respective ly. Larceny over VA rose 10 3 per cent while the remaining offenses showed a smaller climb, namely: Aggravated assault, up 26 per cent: auto theft, 2.2 per cent and murder, 1.9 per cent, the lowest rate of increase. The FBI's crime clock also in dicated that a major offense was committed every 20.3 seconds last LA GRANDE OBSERVER 3rd Issue 64th Year i'Man Hurt Critically UPPER PERRY l Special Tvc men were injured, one critically in a headon collision early this morning between a station wagon driven by Lantz Wayne Trump of Enterprise and a Consolidated Freightways truck. Oregon State Police out cf La Grande investigated at the acci dent scene. Their complete report had not been filed hy Observer presstime, with no citation issu ed or name of the truck driver immediately available. Trump and a passenger. Jams Victor, were rushed to the Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande where Trump's condition was listed as "very critical." Attending physician for the "cri tical" victim said ths top part of Trump's head was practically torn off from being pierced by the steering wheel of the station wagon. ' Victor was only slightly injured in the mishap. The accident occurred near the Upper Perry bridge before 5 a.m. Ike Gains Win By Slim Edge On Works Bill WASHINGTON -&JPI) The House refused by one" vote today to override President Eisenhower's veto of the $1,206,748,549 public works bill to give him a stunning legislative victory. The vote upset all advance pre dictions and kept intact Eisenhow ers record of never having lost a veto showdown with Congress. In a setback to Democratic lead ers, the House voted 174-138 to override. This was one vote short of the required two-thirds mar gin. The narrow margin was achieved when several Republi cans who had voted to override the veto changed their votes after the roll call had been completed. They did so after some Demo crats who had voted to sustain the veto switched and voted to over ride. As the switches in votes were announced, there were bursts of applause, first from the Demo cratic and then from Republican side. The margin was so close that Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas ordered a recount before announ cing the result. No Salvage Try Due On Freighter CHARLEVOIX. Mich. (L'PP Owners of the freighter Carl D Bradley, which sank in a violent storm Nov. 18 with a loss of 33 lives, said today no attempt will be made to salvage the. ship. An underwater television cam era Tuesday confirmed that a sunken ship located off Gull Is land in Lake Michigan is the ill fated Bradley. There was no trace of the bod ies of 15 men still missing in the disaster, officials said. year and a murder occurred ever 64.2 minutes. Forcible rape war committed every 36.1 minutes; robbery every seven minutes. Each day during 1958. the FBI estimated that 22 people were feloniously slain. Also daily were 40 forcible rapes and 311 other felonious assaults; 1073 larcenies over $50; 742 stolen cars; 206 rob beries and 1.862 burglaries. Of 2.340.004 persons arrested 248.439 of them females in l'.fifl. slightly over 12 per cent were under the age of 18. almost 20 per cent were under 21 and about 29 per cent were under 25 years 3f age. The arrest of Juveniles under 18 years of age last year rose 8 1 per cent over 1957, while adult ar rests went up 18 per cent. LA GRANDE, St rong orce Menacing City ' - lit if H f -'v. .? T --V,'i LOOKS INTERESTING Mrs. Katherine Gregory, new librarian at the La Grande Public Library, is looking over one of the books in the new department entitled "Teen-Age Books," made available to the youth in this area. (Observer Photo) MRS. KATHERINE GREGORY TAKES OVER LIBRARY JOB BY MAXINE NURMI ' Observer Staff Writer Mrs. Katherine Gregory is tak ing up her duties as Librarian at the La Grande Public Library, this week. She replaces Mabel Doty who retired recently. Mrs. Gregory has lived in La Grande for a number of years, with her husband, G. L. Gregory. Before coming to La Grande she worked in (lie reference depart ment of the Spokane Public Lib rary. After making their home here she was assistant librarian at Eastern Oregon College for four and a half years. Mrs. Gregory then became a member of the La Grande Public Library Staff working in the children's depart ment, where she has been for some time. Library users will find some changes. Book shelves have been rearranged to make more space for new shelves, donated by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. This makes space available for more books to be on display. A new division entitled Teen age Books has boon added to the Rosellini Wants Custody Of Kids ROME (UPH Roberto Ros sellini is holding Ingrid Berg man's three children while he tries to persuade the Italian courts to grant him their perma nent custody, it was reported to day. The children spent the summer at the Italian director's seaside villa under the terms of a tempo rary custody agreement requiring Rossellini to return them to their mother at the end of August. Instead of returning them, Ros sellini has petitioned the courts to vacate the temporary agree ment because of Miss Bergman's marriage to Swedish millionaire Lars Schmidt, which has been described as bigamous under Ital ian law. VEATHER Fair through Thursday; high Thursday 80-85; low to night 35-40. ORE., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1959 Red North Vietnamese "inn V -:.. .l'Mt7r" classifications already in use. The library hours are back on the winter schedule of 9 to 9 o' clock on weekdays and 9 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Mrs. Gregory said she hoped to "carry on the fine library service that was attained by Miss Doty."' She also invited new res idents to make use of the services available at the library. Check out readers cards may be ob tained at the main desk," she pointed out. ' At the present time there are about 8.100 persons in La Grande and Union County who have check out cards. This includes both chil dren and adults. New books are added each month to the 32,415 now on hand. This number is the amount as of this date. Obsolete books are continualy being sorted out and withdrawn. fiPAMD TIME AT GRAND siw Frank Cook, right, sens a Chamber of commerce. ncKets lor the event scneauiea coin In ctnrne in rimrnMUfn 8 Page 80 VILLAGES CAPTURED f ACROSS 35-MILE FRONTS VIENTIANE, Laos (UPI) A strong force of Communist North Vietnamese regular troops struck across the border Sunday into Laos and are menacing the city of Samneua, Gen. Ouane Rathikone, Laos army commander, said today. The general returned Thursday from an inspection tour of Samneua, capital of the province of the same name in northern Laos bordering on Communist North Viet Nam. lie said the Communist forces i captured or occupied about 80 vil lages along the Namwa River across a 35-mile front. He said the attacking forces was 13 miles from Samneua late Tuesday. Reports received Tuesday night said the 3,500-strong Red force was still advancing. "They are not Pathet Lao reb els, they are Viet Minh and some black Thai (tribesmen)," Rathi kone said. The general said the attack second launched from Communist Viet Nam in the past two months was kicked off last Sunday at dawn in coordinated attacks on six villages. Laotian army troops withdrew Into the Jungle toward Samneua, apparently without putting up much resistance. "There is liir.e or no fighting right now, that I know of," Rathi kone said. Asked if the government intend ed to keep pulling back its troops, the general replied with an em phatic: "No, we stop now." He said royal troops would de fend strategic Samneua against the Communist invaders. The government is believed to have strong army forces in Sam neua City which are capable of blunting the Communist offen sive. Indications are that at least six battalions of the Royal Laotian Army have been concentrated there. Military planes shuttled between Vietiane and Samneua today air dropping supplies to the Laotian forces. SECRETARIES MEET TODAY PORTLAND (UPI) The state of Nevada gets about 10 million dollars a year from gambling op erations, John Koontz, secretary of state for Nevada, said Tuesday. Koontz, here to attend the an nual convention for secretaries of state, said the total income to Ne vada and other governmental sub divisions is between 20 million and 25 million dollars. v m n m "aw ticket to the urand uie upry I A CmkHo Vcq,:;Vt Five) Cents In Laos De Gaulle Ike Happy' At Talks 'i- PARIS (UPI President El senhower arrived in gaily decorat ed Paris today and received a new triumphal welcome. He promptly plunged into cold war talks with President Charles de Gaulle. Their first session was described - as "good and encour aging." 1 '"" f: - ". : ' ' Presidential Press Secretary James C. Hagerty said the two leaders were so pleased with their initial meeting that they decided to extend their talks by at least one hour Thursday. Hagerty announced that Eisen hower and De Gaulle will leave an hour earlier than planned for Rambouillet, the French Presi dent's official country residence, where they will spend Thursday night. They may drive in the same car to Rambouillet presumably to give them further time to talk. The President stepped from his plane at Le Bourget Airport into a brilliantly colorful welcome. Pa ris was bathed in warm clear sunshine that brought tens of thousands into the streets to cheer him. Welcome More Restrained - The welcome was cordial and friendly, but more restrained than those in Bonn and London where the crowds almost mobbed the President's car in Iheir enthu siasm. However, the Paris phase of the Eisenhower international peace crusade before his talks with So viet Premier Nikita Khrushchev la apt to prove the toughest of any on his tour. OLE OPRY m to ans onoagrass oi t iur ouumay mgni are lUDSerVPr V