WEATHER
Partly cloudy tonight and Sun
day xcopt cloudy periods and
few scattered showers eastern
portion.
LA GRAND
OBSERVER
E
22nd Issue
64th Year
WF ?: WW-'" !;
vMp -' $
SOROPTIMIST CONVENTION OPENS
Heading and speaking at various sessions here will be (left to right) Borgehild Hel
gesen, governor of the Northwest region; Betty Faulkner, publicity chairman; El
oise Hamilton, director of district 2; Hilda Fries, district secretary; and Raema Lau
rence, president of the local club. (Observer Photo)
Typhoon Vera Roars into Japan
With Heavy Casualties Feared
TOKYO i UPI i Typhoon Vera
packing 138 mph winds hit the
heavily populated mid-section of
Japan tonight and first reports in
dicated casualties and damages
would be heavy.
At least 13 persons were dead,
69 injured and there were 47 miss
ing. But communications were
La Grande
UF Drive
Date Set
Initial planning for the 1959 La
Grande United Fund campaign
was completed Friday at a meet
ing of the UF committe, and it
was announced that the drive
would open Oct. 14.
The annual leadership gifts cam
paign, however, gets underway
Thursday. The overall United
Fund goal of (31,484.54 is hoped
for.
. The kickoff br-akraft for cam
paign workers is scheduled at 7
a.m., Oct. 14. at the Sacaiawea.
A house-to-house canvass is in
cluded as part of the regular
fund drive. All participating agen
cies arc taking an active part in
this year's app-a!.
Committees Named
Assisting campaign chairman
Ed Watts in the UF organization
are the following:
David Baum and A. B. Olson,
co-chairmen of leadership gifts:
Lee Stoner and Bob Carey, lead
ership emp'oye's gifts: Willard
Carey, clubs and organizations!
Milo Blokland. Mt. Emily Lumber
Company; O. D. Christopherson
and J. C. Ladd, Union Pacific Rail
road: Harvey Carter, public
schools; Dr. Ernest Anderson,
Eastern Oregon College: Ralph
Seck. general business and em
ployes; and Dr. Martha Addy,
house canvass.
- UF president June McManus an
nounced that campaign head
quarters will be in the lobby of
the Sacajawea, with Florence
Hardy. UF secretary, having her
office there.
10 Navy Airmen
Are Rescued Off
Oreqon Coast
SEATTLE, Wash. UPI -Ten
Navy airmen were picked up
from two life rafts off the Oregon
Coast earlv today by the Coast
Guard shiD Yacoma.
Th Yarnma. and the freighter
Olympia Pioneer were directed to
a position 11 miles wesi-suum-west
of the Columbia River mouth
"Friday nisht after the Navy men
ditched their P5.M seaplane in the
Pacific Ocean. A Coast Guard
nlane tootled the survivors.
dropped a portable radio sei ana
determined that all 10 men es
caped their disabled plane without
Injury.
Both rescue ships reached the
area where flares marked the po
sition of the rafts but the Yacoma
reached the scene first and made
the pickups.
During the night, search air
planes circled over the life rafts,
keeping tab on their position by
the flares kept burning aboard the
rafls.
knocked out over a wide area
and these figures were believed
to be only a fragment of the total.
First reports said 173 houses
were destroyed, 28 of them com
pletely washed away. More than
12.000 homes were flooded and
more than 40,000 acres were un
der water.
The city of Nagoya, 130 miles
west of Tokyo was knocked out
with a complete power failure.
All telephones and public trans
portation were disabled.
The British owned vessel,
Changsha, , capable of carrying
more than 100 persons, was re
ported- -aground near Nagoya- and
in danger of being pounded to bits
by typhoon tossed seas. Most of
the passengers on the Melbourne-to-Japan
ship were believed to be
Australians.
The typhoon was one of the
most powerful, broad and danger
ous in recent yca-s.
It was expected to spare this
Red Rebellion
In Laos Is
Said Increasing
VIENTIANE. Laos, UPP-The
Communist rebellion against the
royal government of Laos has
spread to the southern regions of
the country, it was disclosed to
day. ' 1
Acting Foreign Minister Sisouk
Nachampassak said five Commun
ist Pathet Lao rebels were wound
ed and two captured in skirmishes
with government troops in south
ern provinces. .
He said the skirmishes were at
Ban Dontalat in Champassak
Province and at Ban Van Mohn
in Thankhek Province.
Up to this week the fighting has
been centered in the northern
provinces of Phongsaly and Sam
neua. But the government reported
Friday that Pathet Lao rebels
had ambushed government troops
east of Vientiane City Thursday
in one of the fiercest clashes in
Vientiane Province so far.
The government was said to
have suffered a number of cas
ualties in the engagement but
there were no further details.
In the north, the government
was said to be holding fast to the
outposts of Xieng Kho, Sop Sai
and Sop Hao which the Reds cap
tured Aug. 30 and then lost back
to the government troops.
Military officials said, no "im
portant activities" were reported
from the area.
Motorist Collides
With Pickup Truck
a i-a stranae driver . collided
with a parked pickup truck and
pushed it approximately 3S feet
into a yard early this morning,
according to police.
Gerald Wesley Taal. 1609 Wash
ington Ave., was traveling east
on Adams Avenue when he
swerved to avoid a bright flash,
police stated.
The pickup truck belonged to
Mellon Dale Taylor, 19064 Adams
Ave., and the vehicle was parked
in front of his residence at the
time of the accident.
No injuries were reported in the
accident that occurred at 2 5S
a m.
capital city the full brunt of its
power as it curved to the north
east. The storm was curving north
east at freight train speed of 43
m p h. It was expected to hit the
Sea of Japan, curve back and
pass close to the foreigners re
sort colony of Karuizawa, 100
miles north of Tokyo, and then
pass out into the Pacific ocean
by noon tomorrow. -
The storm's 450-mile wide front
brought virtually all of Japan with
in range of its winds and torren
tial rains.
'Gracfe'No Threat
MIAMI ( UPI ) Hurricane Gra
de, who apparently didn't have
her picture taken yesterday by a
camera-carrying rocket, wallowed
frowzily in the Atlantic today
well off the Florida east coast.
The U.S. weather bureau here
reported that at 11 p.m. (est) the
hurricane, with winds up to 75
miles per hour, was about 350
miles east of Cape Canaveral
and moving northward at about
5 miles per hour.
The bureau said Gracie was ex
pected to maintain her northward
movement during the next 12 to
18 hours, but said there was
some likelihood of an increase in
forward movement and a trend
toward the north-northwest there
after. Little change was indicated in
size or intensity, the bureau said.
Though Gracie remained vir
tually stationary late last night,
the bureau warned interests along
the Carolines coasts to keep in
touch until it is definitely estab
lished whether the hurricane will
affect them or remain at sea.
Probers On New Leads Over
Mystery Death
BOSTON (UPI I A packet of
love letters and information from
veteran harbor pilots today sent
investigators off on a new course
in the death of pretty Lynn Kauff
man. The latest information from
Capt. James V. Crowley, the po
lice harbormaster, further con-
HEADS STATE MEDICS
Dr. Louis J. Feves of
Pendleton was installed
as president of the Ore
gon State Medical So
ciety at the organiza
tion's 85th annual con
vention held in Medford
this week. Conference of
doctors reported and
ailed on a busy agenda.
r -- '
LA GRANDE, ORE., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1959
Killer'
Insect
Loose
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. UPI
A disease that acts like polio
and meningitis and is transmit
ted in tlie bite of "killer" mos
quitoes spread uneasiness today
through parts of rural southern
New Jersey.
It may have been responsible
for the deaths of nine persons,
mostly children, and the hospitali
zation of at least eight others. Two
cases have been confirmed, in
cluding one death.
The disease is eastern equine
encephalitis, according to the
the state Health Department. Un
til Friday, it had not been iden
tified because of the slowness in
isolating the deadly virus.
The suspense of not knowing
what they were up against had
heightened the concern of most
south Jersey residents. It may
ease their worries now that they
know, but the end still is not in
sight.
Health officials face the task of
stamping out the disease before
it kills others or before it be
comes a full-blown epidemic.
Some state officials feel that
it already has reached that stage
in a three-county south Jersey
area which has been hardest hit.
Students
Register
At EOC
This weekend will find approxi
mately 500 more students on the
Eastern Oregon College campus as
upperclassmen began to register
Saturday.
According to Dr. Lyle H. John
son, EOC registrar, returning stu
dents began to register at 8 a.m.
Saturday, in Walter M. Pierce li
brary. "The Student Days" officially
Idrawsto a cjose Sunday as each
aiuiiua i& iiivui-u io aiienu ine
church of his choice. ' Saturday,
the last full day in the orienta
tion program, saw:
9 a.m. La Grande-Union County
Chamber of Commerce assembly;
10 a.m.-4 p.m. La Grande Busi
ness Day; t p.m. football game,
BOC vs College of Idaho.
Monday at 7 a.m. marks the of
ficial beginning of the fall term
as classes get underway.
Local FFA Boys
Judge Livestock
At Pendleton
Participating in the livestock
judging contest at the Umatilla
Fat Stock Show at Pendleton Sat
urday was the livestock judging
team from La Grande High
School.
The local FFA chapter members
making the trip were Mike Camp
bell, Larry Courtright, Bruce
Rynearson, Larry Campbell and
Tom MacGregor. Taking the boys
to Pendleton was Mrs. Dennis
Campbell.
Of Divorcee
fused the case which Capt. Jo
seph B. Fallon, who is heading
the investigation", has already ad
mitted to be the most perplexing
in his 21 years of police work.
Crowley Friday rounded up sev
eral veteran harbor pilots and
conferred with them throughout
the day. Late Friday night he
filed a report which said he and
the pilots agreed it was impos
sible for the giri to have gone
overboard from the Dutch freight
er Utrecht at the time originally
believed.
Crowley's detailed report, which
considered tides, currents, the
weather and other data, conclud
ed that Mrs. Kauffman was al
ready in the water when persons
aboard ship reported talking with
her through a cabin door.
The body of the 23-year-old di
vorcee was found near Spectacle
Island last Saturday. She van
ished from the Utrecht tha night
before after it left here for New
York.
The skipper of the Utrecht re
ported he spoke with the girl aft
er 7 p.m. when the vessel was
well beyond Spectacle Island. Mrs.
Juanita Spector, Mrs. Kauffman's
traveling companion, also spoke
with the girl again through a
closed door about the same time
Fallon Friday night indicated he
was considering the possibility
that neither Mrs. Spector nor the
skipper spoke with Mrs. Kauffman
but with some unknown person
who impersonated her.
LONE SOVIET
'MOUTHPIECE'
CAMP DAVID, Md. (UPI)
What happens in the middle of
Hit night if Premier Khrush
chev wakes up in President
Eisenhower's cottage and
wants something?
Khrushchev would have to
get out of bed, pad across the
hall and knock on the door of
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei
Giomyko who C2.i speak Eng
lish. ,
The Arrericen and Russian
interpreters are sleeping in
other cottages
Ex-Miss America Beauty Gunned
To Death
NEW YORK iUPH-A honev
blonde former Miss America can
didate and "Little Aucie" Pisano.
for years one of the nation's
most notorious crime overlords,
were shot gangland style in the
mobster's Cadillac last night in
a quiet Queens residential neigh
borhood. Two assassins were seen run
ning from the death car and fled
either in a taxi or a waiting get
away car.
Residents of the neighborhood,
hearing a fusilade of shots, ran
out and found the 61-year-old
hoodlum slumped over the steer
ing wheel, blood streaming from
his head.
Alongside him was Mrs. Janice
Drake, 32. the beautiful honey
blonde wife of Comedian Alan
Drake, who won 32 beauty con
tests in her teens and reigned as
.Miss lew Jersey in 1944.
She was then known as "the
girl with the most beautiful lees
in the world '. Following her fail
ure to win the Miss America title,
she drifted into obscurity and ap
parently became friendly with
gangland overloads.
She was questioned in the mur
der of Nat (The Manufacturer)
Nelson who was shot in 1952 two
hours after a date with the curvy
blonde. She also was questioned
FFA State
Officers Here
For 'Degreed
State o ficcrs of the Future
Farmers of America will be in
La Grande Sunday to conduct the
fornu'l Greenhand" and Chapter
Farmer Degree initiation for all
Union County chapters.
The special ceremony, open to
the public will be h- Id at the
La Grande High School auditorium
at 7:30 p.m.
Ed Glenn, Lostme. slate presi
dent; Lonny Fendell, Newberg.
state vice presid"nt; Paul Seiquist,
Vale, state reporter; and Dick
Wooten, St. Helens, secretary, will
arrive in La Grande early Sunday
afternoon.
The stat? o.'ficers will make a
tour of the valley and will be
guests of the Union County Agri
cultural Instructors and FFA
chapter presidents at the Norman
Kcopman home for dinner.
On Monday, the group will attend
the noon meeting of the Lions Club
and will then visit the La Grande
FFA chapter.
High School
Gets Special
Sewer Charge
A motion to allow La Grande
High School a special rate on the
soon-to-be discontinued storm sew
er charge has been approved by
city commissioners.
A letter to the commission signed
by Superintendent Lyle N. Itiggs
requested the rate during the sum
mer months since the water piped
through the school's meter is used
only for irrigation of lawns.
The letter stated that of the
school's July bill. W7 05 of the to
tal $251.95 was for the storm sew
er fund. This is the highest rate
ever paid by the school and the
increase was primarily due to ir
rigation during the montn.
The commission will cancel next
month's charge against the srhool
and accept the $67.05 as payment
for August's charge in addition to
July's.
Improvement District
City commisioners also have ac
cepted and placed on file a petit
ion for water main extension im
provement district No. 11. The pro
posed district will be on Walnut
Street between Grandy and Pal
mer Avenues. Persons signing the
petition represented 100 per cent
of property ownership in the area
that will cover approximately three
blocks.
An ordinance giving the city
manager power to enter into a
lease with the Maverick's Riding
Club has been approved by the
commission. The agreement will
rap for five years and the city will
pay an annual rental fee of $100
ax a site for their rock crusher.
lice,
Cold
Over
With Notorious Hood
in the r.)37 muruer oi Aiuen
Anastasia, onetime high execu
tioner of Brooklyn's Murder, Inc.
gang.
Her relationship with the over
lords of crime never was made
clear.
Pisano. for years an associate
of the nation's most notorious
gangland figures included Al Ca
pone and Anastasia, was shot
three times in the head. Mrs.
Drake was shot twice, also in the
head.
No Motive
Police, admittedly without a
motive for the double-slaying. Im
mediately began a roundup of un
derworld associates of Pisano. He
was known to have been active
in a wide variety of rackets.
A red address book, found on
Pisano, was believed to have con
tained a veritable "who's who of
the underworld." many of whom
were to be questioned by police.
Police also were interrogating
Mrs. Drake's husband, a televi
sion and nightclub comedian who
was appearing in a Washington
night sX)t with Singer Tony Mar
tin at the time of the slayings.
He hurried here from Washington.
J
& I m . . I ml
3 '
i 1 awgii - '-
JUDGE AT HIS DESK
Judge C. K. McCormick, Union County juvenile and
. probate jurist here, has devoted more time in public
office than any other Union County official 25 years
as court clerk and now serving on his third six-year el
ective post as judge and shares continuous, long-term
public service honors with only two other Oregon coun
ty officials. Although much of his work is of routine na
ture, he enjoys every minute of it. (Observer Photo)
'DEAN OF THE COURTHOUSE'
Judge C. K. McCormick Looks
Back At Lengthy Public Caresr
By GRADY PANNELL
Observer Staff Writer
Union County Judge C. K. 'Ken
neth) McCormick ranks as the
dean of the courthouse here in La
Grande, and there's a good rea
son. The judge has been in the pub
lic pictures for more years than
any other person at the county
seat and holds the record and
then some of any county official
in terms of longinpuity.
The courthouse "dean" also is
tied, as far as can be determined,
with one or two other public coun
ty officials in Oregon.
Judge McCormick's career as a
public oflicial began during the
outbreak of World War I. He was
first elected to office here as coun
ty clerk in 1916 but had served
as a deputy clerk several years be
fore. ... . .
First Appointed
His judicial life began in April
of l'M.1 when he was appointed to
6 Pages
Khrushchev Air
War'
Breakfast Table
Authorities quoted Drake as
saying Pisano, whose real name
was Anthony Carfano, was a
friend of his and his wife.
Long Criminal Career
Pisano's s'aying ended one of
the most notorious criminal ca
reers in the annals of American
crime. A onetime eastern "lieu
tenant" of Al Capcne, the short,
stocky crime lord had, over a 30-
year period, been a partner-in-crime
with such underworld fig
ures as Lucky Luciano and Frank
Costello.
Pisano's record showed scores of
arrests, several for murder, but
not one conviction. In recent
years, his activities were under
stood to have dwindled, and he
had become regarded as some
thing of an elder-statesman in the
underworld. He kept a stable and
was known for his interest in
horse racing.
Police said Pisano and Mrs.
Drake had dined earlier in the
evening with "other people" at
Marino's Restaurant in midtown
Manhattan. From there, they ap
parently drove to the murder site,
about eight miles from the restau
rant. fill the unexpired term of his pre
decessor, who died, and he has
been acting on juvenile and pro
bate cases ever since.
Ho was elected to the judgeship
in 1944 i terms run for six years),
and is now serving his, third elec
tive term.
His 25-year role as county clerk
is unmatched, however, in Union
County, and it was through this
type of work that he picked up a
vast and thorough understanding
of law.
Judge McCormick is not a barris
ter, but he handles the type of
legal work his office requires with
finesse and foresight, courthouse
friends say.
Born and raised in Kansas City,
Mo., he came to this area to live
at the age of 21 that was back in
1909. Today be is a spry man with
graying hair and fond memories
of his role as a public official.
Work It Routine
"My work prelty much is rou
Fivt Cants
ii
roDiems
FORMAL
CONFAB
SLATED
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (UPI)
President Eisenhower and
Soviet Premier Khrushchev
resumed their crucial cold
war talks over the breakfast
table at Camp David, Md.,
early today, seeking to de
termine whether they can
chart a course to ease east
west relations.
The President and the Soviet
leader met for breakfast at 8:15
a.m. edt, in the President s cot
tage overlooking a Maryland
mountain valley which today was
shrouded by dark, low lying
clouds.
According to the White House,
Eisenhower and Khrushchev re
sumed at the breakfast table the
informal conversations begun last
evening at the presidential moun
tain retreat.
A more formal business session
including Secretary of State Chris
tian A. Herter and Soviet For
eign Minister Andrei Gromyko got
underway on the long sun porch of
the cottage shortly after 9 a.m.
Vice President Richard M. Nix
on, originally scheduled to reach
Camp David by helicopter at
a.m. drove from Washington,
making his arrival at the camp
about one hour late.
Other conference participants
were expected by automobile lat
er in the morning.
IT C nfriirita avnArllwl Ihn
morning meeting ' wn- Deiween-
2"n and 3 hours, followed by a
break for lunch and possibly sep
arate conferences by the Ameri
can and Soviet delegations before
I joint business sessions resume in
tne eariy auernoon.
Eisenhower and Khrushchev
were probing each other's minds
to determine whether any solution
of cold war tensions is really pos
sible. By nightfall, they should know.
The early propaganda skirmishing
was over. The position papers pre
pared by their foreign ministers
were before them..
It was up to Eisenhower and
Khrushchev, lounging in the club
by luxury of the President's cot
tage on a Maryland mountain top
26 miles south of here, to work
out of the diplomatic morass that
has marked American-Soviet rela
tions since World War II.
Others Expected
Later in the day, experts from
the fields of defense, atomic ener
gy and foreign trade were expect-
l r-nmn fta,,,! TtlAt, MTM.
scnted the top echelons of both
governments.
The Russians were content for
the moment to let White House
Press Secretary James C. Hagerty
secretary of state for public af
fairs, do all the talking. Official
Soviet siskesmen were mum. -
tine," he said, and he couldn't re
call any phase of his courthouse
life which was nothing but routine.
hut he has treasured every moment
of it.
He remembered that when he
first went to work at the court-
hnnji as a rienutv rterk. nnd IaIm
Decame us lunK-iiiiie ciet k. vn
looking ahead to the future in
nithlir work with no Manx Inr i
ing down at the county courtlw
grind.
About the only excitement tv
remember at the county sea
when a fire burned oft mi
the roof of the institution I
He was a clerk then and h'
had to be moved until ttw
out structure could be rer
The judge is a past pp
the Association of Oreg
Judges and attends the '
ings. He has hosts of frV
lie role throughout Of