EDITORIAL PAGE
LA GRANDE OBSERVER
Thursday, November 5, 1959
"Without or with friend or foe, we print your daily world as it goes" Byron.
RILEY ALLEN, publisher
Grady Pannell, managing
Is Education Brawl Brewing?
Largely unnoticed in the news the
other day was the report of a session
between Governor Mark Hatfield and
two members of the Oregon State Board
of Higher Education.
Board Chairman Henry F. Cabell and
another board member. went to Salem,
apparently at the Governor's invitation,
for the conference.
Cabell Said after the meeting they had
discussed a "wide" variety of subjects,
and had made no decisions.
Jim Welch of the Salem Capitol Jour
nal is the newsman in the state who is
closest to Hatfield and his administra
tion. So, we are inclined to accept Welch's
ideas on the subject of the meeting.
Part of the session, undoubtedly, re
volved around Hatfield's order of recent
days that state boards and commissions
hold open meetings. Most of the Board
of Higher Education sessions were open
Although there have been a number
of closed meetings and parts of various
sessions were shut. They were held in
a Portland hotel room.
The board suggested, after the Hat
field order, that it would meet at Port
land State College.
This, if our information and Welch's
Van Doren Couldn't Resist
'Charles Van Doren turns out to be
one of the deceivers. This is really no
surprise. He tried to hide from his
questioners and appeared only when
subpoenaed. Obviously he didn't want
to testify, if he could avoid it.
. But once called upon the carpet he
elected to tell the truth, and the public
will think better of him for that. Yes,
he said, he was in on the fix. He regrets
it now, of course, as any moral person
regrets an act of dishonesty when it is
over. The pay-off at the time simply
seemed too great. Hdw many of us would
pass up $150,000 merely to avoid par-
ticipation in a deception, especiidly when
it was perfectly legal? Not many.
Van Doren bears a proud name In
American literature and his having be
smirched it must grieve him more than
having posed before millions as a know-it-all.
If anyone had suspoctod that the
quiz show winners couldn't really be
that smart, he might have found additi
onal grounds for suspicion in something
Van Doren wrote for a national maga
zine in 1957 under the title: "Junk Wins
TV Quiz Shows." He wrote about the
truly educated man, citing Sir Isaac
Newton who, after he had finished his
greatest mathematical work, said that
he felt like a little boy who had picked
up a few shining pebbles on the seaside,
while the great ocean of truth lay un
discovered before him.
"Opposed to the dim uncertainty of
the world of the educated man," wrote
"I Had No Idea He Was So
editor George
Tom Humes, circulation manager .
Van Doren,
Heavy"
Challls, advertising director
is correct, was unacceptable to Hatfield.
Hatfield feels that Salem is the seat
of the state government, and that the
board should meet in that city. At least
one board member is .known to have re
ported the following:
Hatfield not only told this particular
board to stop meeting in private quar
ters, but to move the meetings to Salem
and at some indefinite time in the future
to establish its full-time headquarters,
now in Eugene, at Salem.
This will lead to another beef. Eugene
won't want to lose the prestige or payroll,
even though the latter is small.
Corvallis has coveted Eugene's posi
tion for years. They would like to get
the meetings there.
Salem wants it and has wanted it for
a long time.
It would be better to hold the meet
ings at Salem which would be on some
what more neutral grounds and might
prevent some of the caterwalling be
tween our two big institutions of higher
education.
It seems logical to us to have them in
Salem and feel a step In the right direc
tion has been taken by Hatfield.
$150,000
"is the bright little circle of
light in which the quiz show contestant
basks in his isolation booth. All is cer
tainly there. One need not worry or be
distressed. Only those questions are
asked which have answers, and then only,
if the answers are available, on a card
held in the M.C.'s hand. Probably fire
flies, flitting about in the spring twi
light, are as sure of their little circle
of luminescence as the contestant is of
his."
Barbs
People may laugh and grow fat, but
then what is there to laugh about?
When you're willing to just take things
as they come, the good ones usually
don't.
Selfish people are the ones who are
good for nothing when there's a com
munity fund drive on.
Some folks call it hard times when
they're not able to borrow the price of
a new car.
During a fire in a school house In' In
diana all the children marched out car
rying all their school books. Keally, kids,
was that smart?
Fall Is that time of year when Dad
wishes he had fixed that broken storm
window when he took it down last spring.
DREW PEARSON SAYS:
Public Really 'Hoodwinked'
By Quiz Show Advertising
(Editort note While Drew
Pearson it on trip through
the west, hit column li being
written by hit associate, Jock
Andtrton.)
WASHINGTON The House
committee probing television will
probably skirt gingerly around
it, but the most significant fact
about Charles Van Doren't $129,
000 winnings on "Twenty-One"
was the fact that during his 14
weeks of lip pursing, forehead
wrinkling, and question answer
ing, the sales of two products
sponsoring the TV quiz show sky
rocketed to new records.
Geritol, advertised as a pepper-
up of tired Diooa, jumped 20
per cent, while the sales of Som
inex, advertised as inducing "100
per cent safe sleep," zoomed al
most 70 per cent.
Both products are sold by
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the firm
which also advertised RDX Close
ugly fat yet eat plenty") on the
same TV quiz show. An earlier
column revealed that RDX was
exposed by Congressman John
Blatnik, Minnesota Democrat, as
being nothing but skim milk with
lemon flavoring. A bottle cost
about seven cents to produce but
sold for $3. It has now been
withdrawn from sal
Thus the public, which financ
ed the TV quiz and Van Doren's
prize money through the high
cost of RDX, Geritol and Somi-
nex, was not only fooled by the
rigged quiz show but also by the
misleading commercials.
Cur For Tired Blood
This raises the question of TV
advertising and the license it
has taken in comparison with
newpaper and periodical adver
tising. Products which would!
never get by the stricter stand
ards of newspaper advertising get
away with all kinds of gimmicks
on TV, such as pictures of a lady
eating a whopping meal and at
the same time staying slim by
means of a weight-reducing pill.
It Isn't so much what the TV
ad says, but what it shows, that
carries the misleading impact.
Geritol, the cure for "tired
blood," spends $3,000,000 a year
on advertising Umost all of it
on television. What the TV com
mercials don't emphasize is that
Geritol is 12 per cent alcohol. In
other words it has about the same
alcoholic content as a heavy
wine, and sipping it during the
day gives the imbiber about the
same feeling he would get from
frequent trips to the wine bottle
Geritols advertising has been
toned down a bit in recent years.
Originally it claimed: "In a rela
tively short time you can have
what In a true sense amounts to a
veritable blood transfusion; new
born, good-working healthy blood
cells of your own type, your own
making, filled to the brim with
vitality-carrying hemoglobin. This
can be yours starting with the first
tablespoon of Geritol you take."
Geritol'i toned-down advertising
now merely promises to make you
feel "stronger fast if you feel
down because of tired blood."
The American Medical Associa
tion has been poking an inquisi
tive nose into Geritol. So has the
Food and Drug Administration.
Says the AMA: No competent
physician consulted regarding
tired blood (anemia) would rec
ommend a medicine containing
12 per cent alcohol.
The Food and Drug Administra
tion has decided that Geritol.
along with other kindred reme
dies, can be sold as long as it
prints the truth on its label and
contains nothing harmful. Some
doctors say Geritol is not harm
ful, might even be helpful. In
REMEMBER WHEN
... 25 years ago, James Van
Zandt, national commander of the
VFW. advised the local Mt. Emily
Veterans of Foreign Wars that
one of two stops he would make
in Oregon would be in La Grande.
Fred Roberts, local post comman
der, was lining up a welcoming
committee.
Martin King, retired UP rail
road conductor, addressed 'the
Lions club here. Ralph Kngrstrom
and Ed Allen were inducted as
new members, with Harry Ander
son, Enterprise, introduced as a
guest.
Eastern Oregon Normal won its
homecoming football game
against Whitman, 12 to 6.
... IS years ago, special tri
bute was paid to Marvin C.
Shultx, 20. son of Iva M. Sine,
1904 East N Ave. The youth was
serving with the Navy at Camp
Peary, Va. He graduated from La
Grande High School.
La Grande High School girls set
their annual "Fall Froljc." with
Sibyl Smith as entertainment di
rector and Lorna Lef.'ell. chairman
of the girls' social.
Mrs. E. L. Briggs was elected
president of the Ladies Auxili
ary to the Brotherhood of Rail
road Trainmen. Others elected:
Mrs. Stanley Arnoldus. iie pres
ident; Mrs. Howard Richardson,
secretary; Mrs. Ed Coushennaw
er, treasurer; Mrs. Maurice Thie
lan, conductress; Mrs. Jack Mc
Ghean, warden; Mrs Gracie
Hess, chaplain; Mrs. Boyd Pid
cock. Inner guard; Mrs. Herbert
Dot son. outer guard and Mrs. Ju
lius Clausen, pianist.
general it's just overrated
Man Behind tho Medicine
A comparison with other prcd
ucts would indicate that it is al
so overpriced. Geritol sells foi
$2.98 per 12 ounce bottle. Geri
ban, a similar product, sells fo:
$1.70. But then it didn't have tt
pay any prize money to Charlet-
Van Doren
Matthew Rosenhaus, chairmar
of Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is no
longer as active as he once v. a
in watching all the details of his
far-flung company. He lives in
Miami six months of the year and
leaves the direction of the com
pany largely in the hands of oth
ers.
Rosenhaus is now chairman of
the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute of
Cancer Research la Denver, and
gave $100,000 to its fund. He is
also a firm believer that people
should have recourse to some
types of medicine without always
going to the expense of seeing
a doctor. There is where Phar
maceuticals, Inc., and the Ameri
can Medical Association have
their clash.
Meanwhile, Pharmaceuticals con
tiues to be by all odds the
biggest TV advertiser of patent
medicines including not only
Geritol and Sominex, but Nitron.
"a tonic appetite stimulant;" Vig
arex, a "geriatric dietary supple
ment"; Sedagel, "for heartburn;"
Nutrex. a vitamin pill, and Zar
umin, the "pill within a pill"
all sold through TV programs as
'Masquerade Party," "Life Be
gins at 80," "To Tell the Truth,'
"Sunday News Special," "The Or
iginal Amateur Hour," "Meet
Millie," and "Twenty-One."
White House Snub
Mexican high society is ruffled
over the way Mamie Eisenhower
stood up five prominent Mexican
ladies who had been invited to
attend a White House luncheon
for Mrs. Lopez Mateos, wife of
the Mexican president .
The other ladies in Mrs. Ma
teos' official party were invited
by State Department protocol
chief Wiley Buchanan. When the
group rolled up in a White House
limousine, however, only Mrs.
Mateos was admitted inside. The
other five ladies were notified
curtly that they weren t invited.
They were dumped unceremoni
ously out of the limousine and left
to catch a taxi back to the Mexi
can Embassy.
QUOTES IN
THE NEWS
United Prett International
WASHINGTON Revlon Cos
metic Co., sponsor of the defunct
"$64,000 Question" and "$64,000
Challenge," denying that it or
dered the producers to rig the
shows:
'Pressure from a sponsor to do
a better job did not give quiz pro
ducers a license to cheat.
LONDON Field Marshal Vis
count Montgomery, stating that
he himself never minded criti
cisms sucn as tnose leveiea
against Gen. Dwight D. Eisen
hower in Field Marshal Lord
Alanbrooke's war diaries:
"I accept it 11 in good humor.
I rather enjoy it."'
WASHINGTON Julian F. Har
rington, U.S. ambassador to Pan
ama, in a statement delivered in
Panama and released by the
State Department protesting the
tearing down of the American
flag over the U.S. Embassy by
Panamanian rioters:
"My government regards the
desecration of the American flag
and damage to American proper
ty as seriously endangering the
aood relations between our two
countries."
ORD1LL. 111. A worker in a
top secret Olin Mathicson Co. re
search laboratory, who asked not
to be identified, describing the
moments before a rocket propel
lant mixture exploded killing Rob
ert R. Gravalt, 35:
"Gravatt said on the telephone.
It's just starting to come out.'
Then it happened."
OBITS
United Press International
United Press International
PRINCETON. N.J.-I.A.R. Wy-
lie, novelist, poet and short story'
writer, died Wednesday of a heart
attack. She was 74.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. Rob
ert C. Vance, 65, editor and pub
lisher of the New Britain Herald.
died Wednesday.
PORTO ALEGRE. Brazil-Gen.
Flores da Cunha. 79. one of the
most legendary figures in Brazil
ian politics, died Wednesday.
NEW YORK Shelby Gordon.
40, story editor of the Columbia
Broadcasting System television
news program "Conquest," died
Wednesday.
RED BANK, N.J. Edward H
Anson, 56. of New York City, ten
ior vice president of the consult
ing engineers firm of Oidos
Hill. Inc.. New York, died
Wednesday while visiting here.
LETTERS
Maximum length M0 wordt.
Ne anonymous lettert but true
name will be withheld en re
quest. To the Editor:
We love our land. It is not just
lirt under out feet. After turn
ing your soil over and over for
years; watching things grow on
t, and harvesting the crops it
becomes part of you. When you
iave worked the ground thus year
ifter year you get to know your
oil. I hope you will appreciate
he facts and opinions we have
lathered in these years. It is
'.hrough this knowledge that we
fear seepage from the lagoon type
disposal to contaminate our wells
ind leave water standing on our
fields to ruin our crcps.
I know the voters of La Grande
have heari and read reports from
engineers and sanitation officers.
1, myself, won't argue their
ooints. But I do say they can t
know our valley like we do. We
have lived out here for 13 years
ind I'm sure Joe Harrison won't
nind me saying he has lived here
all his life.
We have our problems battling
the elements of weather and
urely don't need trouble with
man-made elements.
We have seen a lot of city res
idents come out to hunt on our
lands and hope you share some
of our cencern to keep our coun
try yielding crops that the
birds feed on.
When you vote on the bond is
sue think of us. Our lands and
homes are dear to us. We don't
want the oxidation ponds.
Selma Wing
To the Editor:
Last spring at the time the
joint meeting of the farmers in
the Blue Mountain Grange Dis
trict and the City Commission
was held, the lagoon system of
disposing of the city's sewage was
discussed. I directed the follow
ing quetsion to the State Sani
tary Engineer. "If our present
disposal plant was duplicated and
enlarged where necessary, would
it meet state sanitary standards
for sewage disposal?" His ans
wer was "Yes."
Evidently some of our City
Commissiouers have short mem
ories as at a like meeting at
Island City Monday night, thejj
made the statement that our pres
ent facility would not now or nev
er would have passed the pres
ent sanitary code for sewage
plants.
If any of our commissioners
were living in La Grande at that
time, they should remember how
proud we were of the new plant
which was built to serve a city
twice the size it was at that
time and I. for one, dislike to
have statements made about it
which are not facts according tc
a State Sanitary Engineer.
If I remember correctly our
present facilities cost approxi
mately $100,000 in 1926. Present
costs would be at least three urn
es the cost at that time. We are
told by the engineers part of the
present facilities could be salv
aged. If this a fact, why would
n't it be feasible to rebuild our
plant, enlarging it where neces
sary, instead of dumping our un
treated sewage in ponds in our
neighbor's backyard. It seems
it would warrant some investiga
tion.
C. E. Millcrins
To the Editor:
We, the undersigned, believe
that the voters of La Grande de
serve to know what they are vot
ing on at Friday's bond election
to provide a new sewage disposal
system for La Grande. We fur
ther believe that a portion of the
editorial entitled "Sewage Bond
Issue to Face Test" might be con
fusing to the voters. We there
fore issue this joint statement
on the nature of the election.
Voting "Yes" on Friday's bond
lection ballot will provide funds
only for the construction cf a
sewage .oxidation pond, this oxi
dation pond would be built at the
Griggs Ranch or some other site
northeast of La Grande. The
amount of $360,000 asked for in
this election would not be suffi
cient to any other type sewage
disposal system than an oxida
LAST LAUGHS
We cen trade these shoe from
La Crinde Shoe Store for the
whole pltnetl
LA GRANDE
SHOE STORE
1214 Adams
I ..v 1
tion pond.
If the votert of La Garnae voie
"No" on the bond issue on Friday,
another election will be held to
approve the larger amount of
money needed to construct a new
mechanical sewage treatment
plant nr tn renovate and add to
the existing treatment plant.
Gordon W. Clarke,
President. La Grande City
Commission
Joe Harrison
Edgar E. Draper
Members, Citizens Committee
for Fair Play.
To The Editor:
Official statement of the Un
ion County Farm Bureau on the
proposed La Grande Sewage La
goon: 1. The Value of homes in La
Grande and other towns is deter
mined primarily by their loca
tion. So it is in the country and
a farm adjacent to a sewage dis
posal plant would surely lose
value immediately.
2. Water is one of our most
valuable natural resources. We
do not wish to have any farm
wells or streams contaminated.
We know water returns to the
ocean by one of two methods
either evaporation or seepage.
With the gravel bed that lies be
tween Island City and Hot Lake,
seepage would be a natural
course. It would be tragic to see
farms abandoned for lack at a
fit water supp.y.
3. The county, taxwise, would
stand to lose money if the sew
age lagoon is allowed to be con
structed. 4. We would suggest anyone
questioning the evaporation pro
cess to set a tub of water in their
back yard. Each day add a quart
lof water) and watch the water
level of the tub. We feel sure
this would prove we cannot de
pend on evaporation.
Grant Henderson,
Union County Farm Bureau
To the Editor:
Having had experience at build
ing ceptic tanks of various sizes.
Corner Cedar
JOELS
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BEEF ' Stidd's Fresh Chicken
Tenderloin TAHALES
1.25"!-35c'
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Ground Beei. -
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Lunch Heals..
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- Grocery Buys of the Week
Best Foods , G(D1C
Mayonnaise qls. S3
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Medium Eggs Deviled Ham
2 Z89c 1 2 1 45'
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Half Pound Tins : 9 RUnl f
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DRY BEAMS ..:2 25
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APPLE
BOYSENBERRY.
'Pick O' the
JONATHAN APPLES lb. 9c
Snoboy Cello Carrots'. . 2 Cell6s 25c
MEDIUM ORANGES
CHERRY TOMATOES , cup 29c
SWEET POTATOES 2 lbs. 29c
and having been In the building
and wrecking game . all my life
mnuf r t i rH I anil aft nnw Kainrt
(1U ...- .. - wv(g
confronted with the Sewage ques
tion again ibuu tunc i iiii i res
iHnnt vntpr and tax naver n( I.
Grande), I feel duty bound to
offer a lew views wun reference
to the controversy now pending
ltwrn the Citv Commission anrt
neighborhood residents of La
Grande.
- Personally, I have no need of
any other sewage system. I have
a good septic tank for my bath
room and also a good cess pool for
my scapy dish water, and we
here on "Y" Avenue put up a
strong fight against joining up a
year or two ago.
. So, in sympathy with all con
cerned, I wish to suggest the fol
lowing: 'Although I have the feeling
that the people who are building
high priced homes should install
their own ceptic tanks, I realize
that we cannot show partiality in
the matter, but to avoid future
lawsuits, have every home build
er have his own ceptic tank even
if it had to be furnished by the
city. That would cut down con
siderable on both water and sew
age reaching the disposal plant.
Then add another unit like the
one now existing, at the present
site, or a better one u neces
sary (I am not familiar with any
ether methods). To build an ex- '
tra unit like the one now at the
present site has been voiced by
everyone I have talked to.
When I used to wreck build
ings and haul home the lumber, I
could not sell on the job, my
neighbors sure did not like it.
Of course it was, indeed, un
ciuhiiv Rut it did not have a
smell you could never forget.
Let us be friendly anu oDserve
the Golden Rule. It is VERY im
portant.
George. jianvigsen
1806 Y Ave.
PHONE
WO 3-3181
and Washington
4 - - . - lb
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Crov Produce-
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Sunkist