West Coast Airlines Petitions CAB To Suspend Local Airport Service
By GRADY PANNELL
officials this morning by West
suspension, the airlines pointed
Coast Mould be tppeulvd, Snod
u....i r . t..j t:... ,
ri lua.M quiHt-u UKurrs irolll
1957 a total of 17 parsons
planed for M par departure.
72 times in 1957. 139 times In 1950
and 204 times during the first nine
months of this year.
The airlines also point out that
this city is well served by sur
face transportation, both rail and
bus. and further added that due
lo the location of La Grande there
were unavoidable restrictions on
landing minimums.
Observer SttH Writar
La Grande and Union County
facet the loss of West Coast Air
lines service, the only such com
mercial air arm in this area, The
Observer learned today.
The "bombshe'l" announcement
was given to local Chamber of
Commerce and city-county airport
Coast Airlines officials.
The commercial air service has
an application before the Civil
Aeronautics Board requesting au
thority to suspend its local feeder
service, Honce Snoclgrass, man
ager of the Chamber cf Conimeicc
here, informed.
In its application for service
out that the number of enplaning
and deplaning passengers, pas
sengers per departure and the net
sales at I s Grande fur the years
1957 through the nine monlhs of
1959 full below a minimum stand
a.d set by CAB.
To Attend Hearing
Asked if this decision bv West
grass said that the chamber and
city-county leaders would be in
attendance when CAB set a meet
ing date on the airlines' susx-n-sion
request.
"There was nothing we could
say this morning. The announce
ment hit us like a bomrnhrll."
Snodgrass said.
ine Bureau 01 Air uperauong ol
CAB and its own records showing
its expense and the subsidy cost
to the government would he ro
duccd by more than $t!l.0oo an
nually in direct and ground ok-ra-lions
costs.
Statistics an passenger nr.
vica hare ravaals:
boarded; 414 deplaned for 1.07
par departure, totaling $1,
2S3.7S. ItSI a total of 470 an
planed; S7a dtplaned for .1
par departure, totaling $1,
1511.
19JS (1st Bint months) a
total of 422 enplaned; 452
totaling H.44J.5S.
West Cuast said that CAB sets
a minimum standard of five en
planed passengers per day as
warranting rontmued certification,
and that under its authority to
overfly a scheduled stop because
of no load the company's daily
flights had passed over La Grande
WEATHER
Partly cloudy tonight and
Thursday with chance few
showers north; highs 4S-7S;
low tonight 15-45.
LA
OBSERVER
GRANDE
37th Issu
$1000 UP Check
Opens United Fundi!
By BILL BEBOUT
Observer Staff Writer
United Fund was given a $1,000
sendoff here this morning when of
ficials of the Union Paci.'ic Rail
road presented a check in that
amount at a UF kickoff breakfast
in the Sscajawea Hotel.
The check from the l'nion Pacific
Foundation Fund signalled the of
ficial opening of the 1959 drive
here for a total goal $31,500.
Drive Chairman David C. Baum
assigned division quotas at the
session which was attended by
41 workers and department chair
men. Bob and Willard Carey gave a
demonstration in solicitation
technique which emphasized the
importance of showing the re
sponsibility of all members of the
community in making the drive
a success. They pointed out that
the main point of the drive was
to approach every employe of the
community with a goal of $1 per
month per person to support the
various agencies connected with
the United Fund.
Dr. Frank Bennett, president cf
Eastern Oregon College gave the
kickoff address for the 7 a.m.
breakfast and charged the as
sembled workers with the re
sponsibility of making the drive
a success.
Eight Agencies
There are eight participating
agencies in the local UF drive
this year. Some 90 per cent of
Van Doren
Is Mum On
Rigged Quiz
NEW YORK UPI Charles
Van Doren, 33, refused at a news
conference today to discuss charg
es of television rigging.
The English instructor who won
$129,000 on the defunct quiz show
"21" said he had been unaware
until Tuesday that House investi
gators had issued a subpena for
his appearance before them. The
subpena was served by a member
of tlie committee staff a few min
utes before the- news conference
summoned by Van Doren's attor
ney. Van Doren apologized to news
men for his public disappearance
after his suspension from a $50.
000 a year NBC television job
last Thursday night. He said he
didn't know he was of such inter
est to the press and had not
known reporters were looking for
him.
A Weak Off to Think
He said that last Thursday he
was "so distressed at events of
the past few days, including my
suspension by NBC, I decided to
take the week Off to think." He
and his wife went to New Eng
land, he said, "to try to find sol
ace in the October beauty of the
country."
"We walked in the woods and
climbed some mountains," he
said. "It was not until Monday
that I heard about the committee
wanting me.
. "I was not evading a subpena."
BACK FROM BOYHOOD HOME
President Jets Back To Capital
From Abilene On 69th Birthday
WASHINGTON H'PIi Presi
dent Eisenhower, flying half way
across the country by Jet plane on
his 89th birthday, returned to
Washington today from Abilene,
Kan., his boyhood home.
The flight took only two hours
and 19 minutes.
A cold rain swept the field at
nearby Andrews Air Force Base,
Md., when the plane landed failed
to dampen the President's spirits.
He flashed a big grin as he
stepped from the plane.
The President flew to Abilene
Tuesday for ground-breaking cere
monies for the new Eisenhower
Presidential Library.
Eisenhower planned a quiet
birthday dinner at the White
House with his wife, Mamie, and
64th Year
the money contributed lo the fund
stays in La Grande, providing aid
for local activities which serve
many of the local citizens and
most specifically the children of
the community, Baum said.
Ten per cent of each dollar given
is distributed to state-wide agen
cies through the Oregon United
Appeal. These programs, although
outside of La Grande, sti'l serve
local residents in various ways.
Baum said.
In the past six years 120 children
from this area received 16.110 days
of care from agencies supported
by these funds.
Included in the list of agencies
receiving support from the United
Fund dollars are Oregon United
Appeal, American Red Crass, Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts. Arthritis and
Rheumatism, Salvation Army, and
local youth activities.
Divisions and their goals are as
follows:
Leadership, $6,000: leadership
gifts and employes, $12,000: gen
eral business, $3,000: Mt. Emily
Lumber Co., $4,000 ; Union Pa
cific Railroad, $2,000; clubs and
organizations. $1,000: public
schools, $1,000; Eastern Oregon
College. $1,500: and government
employes, $1,000. The total goal
for the 1959 United Funds drive in
La Grande is $31,500.
Workers began solicitations to
day with Baum urging them to
wrap up the campaign as soon as
possible.
TV INVESTIGATON
Herbert Stompel, of For
est Hills, N.Y., who won
$49,500 on the now de
funct TV show "21" tes
tifies, before the House
Legislative Oversight
subcommittee in Wash.,
D C. The committee is
investigating charges
that some of the televi
sion quiz shows have
been rigged.
HELPFUL CROOKS
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. UPI
Three holdup men were robbing
a service station here when a
customer drove up.
While two men held the attend
ant, the third stepped out and
served the customer. Then the
bandits sped away with the mon
ey from the cash register plus
payment for 10 gallons of gaso
line sold to the customer.
other members of the family. Mrs.
Eisenhower, suffering from a cold
and sore throat, was not at the
airport to g-eet him.
He motored to the White House.
Waiting att he White House for
the President was a birthday card
measuring S by 10 feet, presented
to an aide today by the Texas
Independence Day organizations.
It bore pictures of Eisenhower's
birthplace at Dcnison, Tex., and
Ft. Sam Houston, where he was
stationed when he met Mrs.
Eisenhower.
Accompanying him on the Abi
lene trip was his brother. Dr.
Milton Eisenhower, president of
Johns Hopkins University.
The President had no intention
of holding a news conference in
BIG SENDOFF FOR UF
United Fund Drive Chairman David C. Baum accepts
check for $1,000 from officials of the Union Pacific
Railroad. The donation from the Union Pacific Founda
tion Fund was presented by John Ladd, center, road
foreman of engines, and O. D. Christopherson, train
master. The check was the first donation to the annual
UF drive here and was presented at the kickoff break
fast this morning. (Observer Photo)
U.S. In Rebuttal On
Soviet Disarmament
. UNITED NATIONS, N Y. UPI
The United States told Russia
today "there cannot be 100 per
cent disarmament with only 10
per cent inspection."
U. S. Ambassador Henry Cabot
Lodge made the statement in the
first official American reaction to
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrush
chev's proposal for total world
disarmament within four years.
Belgian Congo
Has Martial
Law Clamped
MATADI, Belgian Congo (UPH
Martial law was clamped on
this Belgian Congo port city today
following the death of six Afri
cans shot down by police in a riot
Tuesday night. ,
Twenty more Africans were re
ported injured when police opened
fire on about 300 demonstrators
in the African quarter who had
gathered there in defiance of a
curfew. Twelve Europeans were
hospitalized after being manhan
dled by demonstrators.
After the police fired on the
demonstrators the city was
plagued by a scries of running
fights between police and Afri
cans. The streets were not quiet
until dawn.
Police armed with submachine
guns patrolled the tense streets
today. Gatherings of more than
five persons were banned and a
curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. was
enforced.
Washington today, but the White
House did not close the door on a
presidential meeting with report
ers later in the week.
This was the fifth trip Eisen
hower has made to Abilene since
becoming President. He no longer
has any close family tics in this
section where he lived from ea-ly
childhood.
The sentimental ties, however,
are strong, largely because in the
family home, the adjoining Eisen
hower museum and the soon -to-be
started library, the President has
an enduring repository for the
relics and documents of his pro
fessional career, plus the physical
evidence of the surroundings in
which he , spent his formative
years.
LA GRANDE, OREGON
' I-odge told the U. N. Main
Political Committee the general
U. S. attitude toward the Khrush
chev plan, as elaborated last week
by Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister
Vasily V. Kuznetsov, could be
summed up in three points: ,
"First, the United States unre
servedly supports, and has always
'supported, the greatest possible
amount of controlled disarma
ment. "Second, in any disarmament
program, whellier it be ino per
cent or 1 per cent disarmament,
adequate and timely inspection
and control must be built into the
system, so that both sides reduce
their armaments in plain sight of
each other, every step of the way.
Such a program creates confi
dence; anything less creates fear,
mutual suspicion, increased ten
sion and increased danger of war.
"Third, we do not know what
inspection and control the Soviet
Union would accept on its propo
sal for complete disarmament.
And I am sorry to say that Mr.
Kuznetsov's general assurances
on this point in his speech last
Friday did not do much to enlight
en us. In fact, as he himself said,
at this stage it would not be ad
visable to examine details, 'in
cluding the details of control.' "
Lodge said detailed study of the
Khrushchev plan should be left to
the 10-nation Disarmament Com
mittee established by the Big Four
foreign ministers which is to begin
work at Geneva next February.
"As far as the United States is
concerned, we will join in the 10
nation committee in giving to the
Soviet proposals the most serious
scrutiny,' he said. "And the
sounder and clearer and more un
ambiguous the accompanying plan
for inspection and control, which
we have not yet seen, the more
attention the proposal itself will
deserve.
"There cannot be 100 per cent
disarmament with only 10 per
cent control."
Scheduled Flight
Of X15 Cancelled
EDWARDS AFB, Calif. L'PI
The scheduled second powered
flight of the experimental space
probing rocket ship X15 was can
celled for technical reasons today
while approaching a launch alti
tude. A spokesman for North Ameri
can Aviation, the builders, said
the flight was "aborted" by pilot
Scott Crossfield.
The pilot found difficulties in a
regulating device shortly before
he was to be triggered loose from
the B52 mother ship at an altitude
Of 38.000 feet.
The X1S Is designed lo probe
the edge of space at speeds up to
4,000 miles an hour.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14,
Civic Music Group
Launches 'Kickoff'
"Go Day" has been launched
by the Union County Civic Mu
sic Association following a suc
cessful kickoff dinner at the
Sacajawea during which volun
teer captains and committees
were named.
Neil Wilson, voice teacher at
Kastern Oregon College here.
president cf the group,
duccd the cucst speaker of the
evening, Mwa Rae SinclMre
New York representative of fivic
Conceit Service.
Heard from also were Mrs.
Charles Snyder, secretary; Merle
Beckett, treasurer; Don Nelson,
Volunteer captains are as lot
I,. Sampson, and Mrs. Neil Wilson.
Cultural Program
Wilson told of the cultural
program here and the opportuni
ty offered oollcge students who
are able to attend the concerts.
He also expressed an opinion
that the association was off to a
gocd start and viewed a highly
successful and entertaining sea
son for I-a Grande.
Miss Sinclairc gave the back
ground cn the cooperative con
cert plan and instructed workers
in the mechanics of registering
applicants for the 1959 60 scries
during this one week of limited
enrollment.
the also stated that associa
tion members are now canvassing
for prospective members in Iji
Grande and would be knocking on
doors to explain their organiza
tion, etc.
Drive Ends Saturday
Miss Sinclaire pointed out that
no membership cards will be sold
following termination of the drive
this Saturday, and reminded
that membership cards for both
adults and students may be used
for admission to any or all Pen
dleton concerts at no extra
charge.
Set Testimony
On Salk Vaccine
Fixing Charges
TRENTON. N. J. iUPI Whole-
sale drug buyers from three states
and the federal government will
testify they received uniform bids
on Salk vaccine from five big
d-ug firms now on trial for fixing
the price of the vaccine, the trial
proscculor announced today.
Lewis Bernstein, presenting the
government's case in the trial of
the five comoanics, said he would
call as a witness a New York
drug wholesaler who was told he
could not obtain the vaccine if he
submitted a hid under a certain
figure.
The government also will call
drug purchasers from New York,
Connecticut and Texas to show
that uniform prices for the vac
cine were quoted by the five
firms, Bernstein said.
Former New York Gov. Thom
as E. Dewey, representing the de
fendant Eli Lilly & Co., said in
his opening statement for the
manufacturers that vaccine prices
which were similar to the fourth
decimal point were the result of
well known percentage reductions
offered government agencies by
the pharmaceutical industry.
1959
Brush Fire Threatens
California Community
HOME AIR
CONDITIONING
PARK FOREST, III. (UPD
When Laverne Larson and his
two sons became so cold In
their homo they had to don
sweaters and even overcoats
to stay warm, ha blamed it on
unseasonably cold weather.
It wasnjt until the three ware
leaving to spend the night in
a friend's homo, much warm
er, that ha discovered his water
pipes ware frocen.
Than ha learned that a play
mate of his 13-year-old son had
turned the air conditioner con
trol to 30 dagras.
association vice president; Rev.
lows:
Mrs. Ruth Ijcer, Mrs. Bessie
Stuart, Mrs. Lee Reynolds, Don
Nelson, Mrs. Lee Thomas, Mrs.
Florence Smith, Mrs. Schrock,
Mrs. Neil Wilson, Mrs. Hugo Har-
tig, Mrs. Forrest Pitts, Mrs. Mary
Grant, Mrs. Midge WriRht, Dr.
intro-fl.ynn Bishop, Mrs. lrma Puis, Roy
Bell, Mrs. Florence Miller, Mrs.
I Betty Faulkner, Dale Vaught.
Serving as dinner chairman for
Ifhe meeting was Mrs. Lee Rey
nolds, with Mrs. George Tiss as
headquarters "chairman. The head
quarters is located at the Calif
ornia Pacific Utilities.
Nasser Scored
As 'Slave' Of
Western Powers
BAGHDAD, Iraq UPI A high
Iraqi official today denounced
U.A.R. President Gamal Abdel
Nasser as a "slave of British and
American capitalism who tries to
entrench his influence in Africa
and Asia."
The denunciation, one of the
strongest Iraqi blasts In recent
monlhs against the United Arab
Republic, was made by Fadil
Abbas Al-Mahdawi, president of
the People's Court of Iraq.
Mahdawi apparently ended the
work of his People's Court by
passing death sentences on 17
army officers and civilians con
victed of involvement in the abor
tive revolt last March.
He flew to Peiping for the 10th
anniversary celebrations of the
Communist Chinese, Intending to
remain several weeks. He hurried
back to Baghdad after the assas
sination attempt on Premier Ab
dul Karim Kassem.
His return sparked speculation
here that the People's Court
trials would be resumed.
Mahdawi told an interviewer for
Baghdad Radio that nothing had
been decided about a possible
People's Court trial of Kassem's
attackers.
Ike's Fact-Finding Board Seeks v
To Extend Steel Strike Meeting
WASHINGTON UPI Presi
dent Eisenhower's fact finding
board in the steel strike asked
him today for a three-day exten
sion until Monday for filing its
report.
In setting up the board under
the Taft-Hartley Act, the Presi
dent had told the panel to make
its report by midnight Friday.
The report will determine
whether the President will ask the
Justice Department to seek an in
junction to halt the steel strike
for 80 days.
Prof. George W. Taylor, chair
man of the three-man board, a
the same time asked for a special
meeting Sunday of representatives
of management and union to at
tempt to draw up a list of points
on which there is an agreement.
Meat Again Thursday
Taylor said the extension of
time and the special meeting
were being requested because of
the "very grave difficulty in as
10 Paget
B
RONALD WALK
School Principal
Ronald Walk New
State Official
Ronald Walk, La Grande High
School principal, Tuesday was
elected vice president of the
Oregon Association of Secondary
School Principals.
Uc fills a vacancy left by J.
Russell Achcson, Mcdford, who!
has left the ranks of principals
to become an assistant superin
tendent. .-
Medic Admits
Affair With
His Patient
PRlNEVH.LE.tUPU The sec
retary of the Oregon State Board
of Medical Examiners testified in
a malpractice suit trial here Tues
day that the defendant admitted
having sevual relations with a
woman patient.
The testimony came from How
ard Bohbitt who said that Dr. Nel
son Coleman, defendant in the
$200,000 suit, filed a letter with
the Board last November. In it
Bohbitt testified, the doctor ad
mitted having sexual relations
with Mrs. Clara Mitchell, 28.
Mrs. Mitchell has filed suit
against the 36 - year old doctor
charging him with acting ncgli
gently, carelessly and unskillfully
. . . . causing severe and perma
ncnt damage. The trial opened
Monday before a jury of six men
and six women.
No Action Taken
Bobbitt said Dr. Coleman ap
peared before the Board in July
of 1959 and admitted writing the
letter. He said no action had been
tuken on the letter and it was still
subject to determination.
The letter to the .Board of Medi
cal Examiners was written in an
swer to a complaint before the
Board.
Dr. Henry II. Dixon, Portland
psychiatrist, was on the stand
most of Tuesday afternoon.
sembling the facts and giving
them proper analysis and form."
He adjourned today's session un
til Thursday morning.
Taylor told the steel companies
that if they wish they can con
tinue their testimony through
Thursday afternoon. The steel
companies were to have com
pleted presentation of their case
by Thursday noon.
He asked representatives of the
steel companies and the United
Steelworkers Union lo be "on
call" to answer questions while
the board's report is being draft
ed. Taylor, after hearing opening
testimony on behalf of the steel
companies, drew from their chief
negotiator a statement that man
agement has been unwilling to ne
gotiate on any wage demand that
would raise steel production costs
by more than 2 per cent.
Taylor, who heads the three-man
board, emphasized that the United
Five Cents
Residents
Near LA :
'Scatter'
LA CANADA, Calif. (UPD
A wind-whipped brush fire
scorched its way on a 2 5-mile
perimeter today as 1,000 fire
fighters and water bombing
planes fought for control of
flames that forced residents
to flee their expensive foot
hill homes.
County Fire Capt. D. F. Hooper
said flames had seared 1,800 acres
of watershed by dawn in the. Las
Angeles National Forest,, just
north of this suburban Los Ange
les city. - - .'.-
The flames leaped over . famed
Arroyo Seco Canyon during; -the
night toward the Brown Mountain
area that was burned over in 1J
by a fire that blackened .1,000
acres.
Four firemen were injured, two
seriously, fighting the flames.
Others were treated for burns or
smoke inhalation. Hooper, said..''
A $100,000 home In the path of
the flames was partially burned
but shifting winds and determined
firemen, aided by home owners.
turned the blaze at least tem
porarily from-aboot "ISO' other'
homes in the area. ,
Weather Conditlant Advert-.
Hooper said the Brown Mod
tain fire line was all but Inacces
sible since the on lone fire road
was blocked by flames. ,-
Forecasts called for abnormally
high temperatures in the 90s to
day with gusty desert-born winds
up lo 35 miles an hour on ridges
and in the canyon, and low' hu
midity all deterents to quick
control. .
Thirteen water-bbrate bombing
airplanes worked the fire area
from three airports starting' at
dawn. A blanket of brown -colored
smoke hung over the mountain
area and drifted over smog
plagued Los Angeles.
The fire started late Tuesday
afternoon, apparently from a
careless discarded cigarette, and
swept over territory patroled by
the Forest Service and the Los An
geles County Fire Department.
About 400 Indian firefighters from
New Mexico and Arizona wert
airlifted in during the night to
join county and state crews from
San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Los
Angeles and San Bernardino coun
ties. Nab Transient
Htr.
On . Vagrancy.
Chart)
A transient wit arrested on
charges of vagrancy early, this
morning when La Grande police
officers found him sleeping in the
stockyards. . r
Frank Abbey, 62, was taken in
to custody by officers at 12:30
a.m. A hearing was scheduled tor
this afternoon at 3 p.m. ' ;'
Steelworkers Union has been
equally "adamant" in demanding
there should be no change in con
tract provisions regarding working
conditions. - .'
The board was set up when
President Eisenhower Invoked the
Taft-Hartley Act last Friday in an
effort to halt the I-monlh-old
strike. . ; ,
R. Conrad Cooper, negotiating
representative of the 12 largest
companies, contended in his tes
timony that the union has been
equally adamant in demanding
wage increases which would hike
production costs two or three
times the t per cent figure.. .
Wa Demands NfHlaMa -'
Taylor said "that is not my un
derstanding." He asked President
David J. McDonald of the steal
workers to answer from th au
dience whether the anion's wage,
demands wars negotiable,
"The answer is 'yes,' V McDon
ald replied.