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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1959)
WEATHER Few snow thowert tonight; partial clearing Thursday; low tonight 16-22; high Thurtday 40 46. LA GRANDE OBSERVER 60th Issue 64th Year LA GRANDE, ORE., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1959 8 Pages Five Cents CHIEF REEVE AND PUPILS La Grande Police Chief Oliver E. Reeves explains dangers of talking with strangers to Atkerman school children. The schools Parent-Teachers group will sponsor in struction for the youngsters in the near luture on proper precautions in dealing with strangers. From left are Katy Neely, Pa! (loss and Steven DcLashmutt. lOhservcr) Government Agency Rushes Safety Test On Cranberries m WASHINGTON U'l The Food and Drug Administration 'KIM i conducted rush tests today to find out what part of the 1 ;."! cranberry crop is safe for house wives to serve for Thanksgiving dinner. The tests also will show wheth er any oilier crops contain traces of a cancer-producing chemical weed killer. The KIM assigned KM) inspec tors and about 60 chemists to de termine the extent and manner the weed killer amiuotriazolc had been used on cranberries and other crops in Washington, Ore gon, Wisconsin, Massachusetts. Michigan and New Jersey. Arthur S. Klemming, secretary of health, education and welfare warned consumers Mondav that Bids Sought For Joseph Post Office The Post Office Department will seek competitive bids for a new post office building at Jo seph, according to word received today from Postmaster General Arthur E. Summeifield. Bids will be solicited during Nov. 12 through Dec. 14. 1959 for a building to contain approx imately 2.000 square feet of in side floor space, a 120 square foot platform, and 3.540 square feet for a parking and maneuver ing erea. Based on the use of an assign abel land option on the coiner of McCully and Main Streets (northwest), now held by the gov ernment, the terms of the con tract w ill include a ten year lease with two five year renew al options. The new building will be con structed according to I'ost Office Department specifications and leased to the department over a long period of years. Detailed specifications and other informa tion regarding the plans may be obtained from the regional real estate office, box 3703. Portland 8. Religious Colony Feared Russ Invasion When Planes Crashed I.F.WISTOWN. Mont. UPI A group of 75 religious pacifists today revealed how ti.eir little Hutterite colony reacted when it feared a nearby federal naviga tional installation was under at tack by atomic bombers from Russia. The group's fear resulted from the crash of three U S twin-jet interceptor fighters during a driv ing blizzard the previous night. The explosions lighted the sky and rellections olf the swirling siow resembled the mushroom cloud from an atomic explosion One plane crashed a quaiter of a mile from their ranch Four crewmen were killed when they crashed with their planes while two others bailed out and were rescued by the Hutterite. Joseph Stahl. the leader of the King Colony Hutterite ranch, said he heard an explosion and saw the glare of fire in the snow. Feared Atomic Attack "The sky was lit up like a part of the Washington and Ore gon cranberry crops had been tainted with residues of the chem ical, which causes Ihvruid cancer in rats. Jolts Cranberry Industty The announcement jolted the cranberry industry less than three weeks before Thanksgiving Major food chains halted sales of fresh and canned cranberries. Of Salvation Army iV.aps Christmas Activities Here Christmas activities of the Sal vation Army highlighted the mrnthly meeting of the organiza tion's advisory board recently. Lynn Bohnenkamp presided at the session. Sam Bailie report ed on the Christmas activities of previous years. He said that members of the city fire depart ment will "man trie kettles'' on downtown streets Dec. 12 and lo cal service clubs will handle the kettles Dee. 19. Also discussed at the meeting was the financial condition of the La Grande corps which in cluded the 10-month report by Lt. Oakley Summers, local com mander. Summers reported that division headquarters had approved the construction of an extra class- oom and nursery to the existing facilities at 211 Kir St. The pro posed construction will be finan ced through the territorial head quarters in San Francisco. FIGHT OVER APPLES BERLIN" a'PD Russian and East German housewives fotmht over scarce apples in the Bus- sian garr son town of Branden burg, East Germany, the "Infor mation Bureau West" reported. The private intelligence service said the fight took place Oct. 23 The Russian and German women were lined up to buy the apples at a Soviet army store. Then the Russians announced that only Russian women would be served and the Germans attacked them, it said. thousand torches I thought I he Russia-is had bombed us and I was fearful for our people." he said. "1 thought an atomic bomb attack had begun. The entire col ony shook from the blast'. The whole sky was afire and I said a prayer and then hurried to give the alarm we had been at tacked." In a firm. German - accented voice. Stalil said he aroused the other members of the colony and told them he feared handlers had attacked the navigational installa tion located on the Hutterite Ural to guide aircraft to the Lewistown Airport. Stahl said the other members of the colony, dressed in their traditional black clothing, rushed out into the blizzard and were assigned sx-cific duties. One man was sent to extinguish lights in a hog barn and chicken coops Another rushed to put out lights in other barn build ings. In a matter of seconds all ff n ficials in several cities and states ordered cranberry quarantines. Agriculture Secretary lizra T. Benson ordered his department to investigate to find out what it could do to help the hard-hit cranberry growers. He offered "tli j full resources of the depart ment'' to aid the producers. The FDA investigation was aimed at finding out if cranber ries grown in states other than Washington and Oregon were free from Die chemical residue. Spokesmen for growers in the other states hae demanded that thu. uCJtcj 'vs their tx:-tv.i a clean bill of health. Free of Chemical The Wisconsin Board of Health announced Tuesday night that cranberries grown in that state were found free of aminotriazole. Six New Jersey packing firms, which produce about 40 per cent of the nation s canned berries. a,d the Itutgers University agri culture experiment station had ruled that their cranberries were not contaminated They sa d the berries came from New Jersey. Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Labor Secretary 'Eats His Hat' On Losing Bet WASHINGTON iUPD Secre tary cf Labor James P. Mitchell announced today that unemploy molt rose to 3.270.000 in October and he promptly ate his "hat" in public. Mitchell, standing in front of the labor department, nibbled on a sliver of mocha cake male in the shape of a fedora. He prom ised last April to eat his hat if the number of people out of work exceeded the three million mark in October. lie blamed the higher than pre dated unemployment figure on the steel strike rather than weak ness in the economy. "If there had been no steel strike." .Mitchell said, "unemploy ment would be well below three million a. id employment would have risen high above the 67 mil lion mark." i:, buildings in the colony were in total darkness. Lhts Guided Airmen The two surviving airmen, meanwhile, had parachuted from their doomed plane and were us uig the lights from the Hutterite ra .ch lo guide their descent. ('apt. .lohn Budner. 31. of Blue field. W. Va . said that after he hailed out of his plane "I looked aioii I lor I ghts and saw a Inir.ch a liale way oil. Then they ill went out.'' tiicr's radar observer, Lt. daiii. s .Inhnso.i, 27, of Groesbeck. X, x . siilfered the same fate and eventually landed in a muddy ,tub!ilcticld. Sraiil said "we put out the lights in case it was a:i inva sion " After the blackout Stahl telephoned authorities in Lewis town and was told that there had Ken no enemy attack but that time IS fighter planes had run nut of fuel in the blizzard and cashed. HE'S NO BABc RUTH SHORTHEATH, England (UPI) Billy Wright, who might ba called the Babe Ruth of British soccer, wat to open a building exhibition Sunday by kicking a toccer ball through a paper door from four yards away. Wright, a 20-year veteran of kicking soccer balls, wound up and whomped the ball with all his might. ' He missed pletely. the door com- Portland Papers Publish PORTLAND H'PD two daily newspapers Portland': , the Ore gonian and the Oregon Journal, planned two editions ol their joint enterprise today in answer to a Stereotypers Union strike against both papers. The first edition of the Oiegoni an Oregon Journal was published at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, some 12 hours after stereotypers walked off their jubs at both pacrs and forced the Journal to suspend afternoon editions. The Oregouian. a morning paper, had delivered its main home edition betore the strike was called at 5 a m. Publishers of the two dailies, normally rivals, worked together to bring out the paper with super visory and non union personnel. The union called the strike after 18 negotiating sessions on issues regarding working conditions fell through. Mixed Comics Meanwhile, the joint paper vap scheduled for publication twice t day, in the morning and after noon, until the strike issues are settled. The first edition of the paper, which featured an editorial page for each paper, a mixed selection of comics, and other features normally published separately, fo cused on the strike with a front page sta.'cment saying that read ers and advertisers "will be served." No Indictments By Grand Jury; Group Backs Law Change Plea Union County Grand Jury mem bers ended their current session yesterday with no indictments re turned, but gave a blanket en dorsement to an opinion by the district attorney regarding the Ore gon Negligent Homicide law It was also announced by Cir cuit Judge W. F. Browntcn that the group would be replaced hy a new jury panel by Dec. 1. The present grand jury has been on call for the past 15 months. Jury members are Thomas Wallsinger, foreman; Lester V. Johnson. llel"n Conklin, Henritla Hoxie, Gladys Puckett, Eloa C. Zurbrick and OILa Mae Waelty. Complete Accord On District Attorney George Anderson's opinion, the jury had this to say: "We . . . are in complete agree ment with the opinion . . . that adequate curbing of traffic deaths through law enforcement and crim inal prosecutions can only be made feasible by legislative action to remove the requirement of "gross negligence" from the Oregon Negligent Homicide law, and to permit compulsory taking of blood alcohol tests from drivers sus pected of being und'-r the in fluence of intoxicating liquor. "Cases which have come to our attention during our tenure of more than a year as Grand Jurors have more than amply dem onstrated the need for such legiy lation." Anderson presented his opinion Cuban Police Arrest Trio At Radio Station HAVANA. Cuba (UPI) Cuban police arrested two men and a woman in a raid on a clandestine radio station in Havana which broadcast anti-Castro propagan da, it was reported today. The woman was identified as Berta Estevez. described as a close friend of former national police Col. Juan Salas Caniares who was executed by a revolu tionary firing squad. Police raided the "pirate" sta tion Tuesday. MOTIVES UNCHANGED LONDON UPI Some peo ple watch televised operations lor the "same motives that draw people to a bullfight, or, in ear lier days idrew them) to a pub lic hanging." the magazine ni 'di- cal press said today. My sterious ntire fit S)n hWi : '17 x; ' :'' hi:: 1 hSKnl I'm . "Mhpij GRANGE OFFICERS INSTALLED I'nion County grange officers were installed in a joint ceremony, at the P.lue Mt. Cirane hall. Two masters, shown above deft to right) William A. Webb, Catherine Creek, and Glen Muilenburg, Blue Mt., arj being installed by Mna Powell, Wolf Creek, installing marshal, and Dorothy Kipling, Wingville Grange at Baker, the in stalling officer. (Observer l'hoto) Nation Pays Respects To U.S. War Dead In Traditional Rites United Press International The ii. i! ion pauses for a minute of silome today to honor the country's war dead on Veterans Day. Traditional .Veterans Day cere monies were held at Arlington National Cemetery outside Wash ington. Gen Lyman L. Lcmnitzer, Army chief of staff, lead the ob to the jury just before they re cessed yesterday. He expressed the public's concern to increase inci dence of fatalities resulting from auto accidents in Oregon during this year. Law Inadequate II? stated, without referring to any specific cases, that it has become increasingly evident that the law of Oregon, as it is now constituted, and as it has been interpreted by the State Supreme Court, is grossly inad-quate to serve the purposes for which it was intended in at least two im po.tant respects. "The Supreme Court, in a well considered opinion in a recent case, ruled that, for all practical purposes, a person can be prose cuted for causing the death of an other person in cn auto accident only under the 'Negligent Homi cide.' statute, unless the person causing the death was under the in'luenco of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs at the time of the accident. "The Oregon 'Negligent Homi cide' statute, except for deaths caused by defectively equipped or load'd vehicles, requires that the person causing the death must -t 7 CUGAT TESTIFIES Band leader Xavicr Cu gat informs the House Legislative 0 v e r sight subcommittee in Washington, D C. that he was another of the con testants prompted while appearing on a TV quiz. Cugat won $16,000 an swering questions on the TV show "The $64,000 Challenge." Grande servance as President F.isenhow er's personal representative, plac ing the President's wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The 11 a.m. wreath laying cere mony was to be followed by one minute of reverent silence to be observed throughout the nation. This was the exact hour the guns ceased firing the first Armistice Day. Nov. 11. 1!H8. marking the have been guilty of driving in a grossly negligent manner before he can be found guilty of an offense. Reasonable Doubt "The term 'gross negligence' as interpreted by our courts involves proof by direct evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the guilty driver drove his vehicle recklessly and in willful or wanton disregard of the rights and safety of olhers. Also the obtaining of legal evi dencc of acts constituting such a state of mind in the accused places an impossible burden on investigat ing officers. "It is also a crime, under a separate statute and in certain circumstances, to cause the death of another in an auto accident whin (he person who caused the death was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs." The district attorney also de scribed difficulties of determining alcohol or narcotics p;oof of per sons involved in accident due to the "condition of shuck." "The only certain way in which it can be determined is by a blood alcohol test . . . but under present . . . law such tests may only be taken with the written consent of the person involved." POISON BLOWGUNS, SPEARS African Pygmies Join Giant' Warriors In Big Jungle Fight Illtl'SSIOLS. Hclcium L"I ' - Ruanda pygmies using poison blowgiins have joined the giant Walusi warriors in a battle with Iiahiitus tribesmen in the Helgian trusteeship territories in Africa, reports reaching Brussels said today. The Ministry of Colonies said H had received reports that more than 2IK) persons had been killed in savage fighting carried out with ancient spears and bows and ar rows and now with blowgiins in the mountainous territory in Cen tral Africa. The seven-foot-tall Walusis ap parently were losing out in the battles against the more numerous llahutus, long their serfs, and xplosion Ronde end of World War 1. Other memorial services were planned at the First Division Monument in downtown Washing ton and at the simple grave of Gen. John J. Pershing, command er of the American cxieditionary Force in World War I, in Arling ton. ' Millions of school' children had a holiday as did the nation's mailmen who made no deliveries today. Most other federal, state and municipal employes were also given the day off. Courts and most banks and public buildings were closed but grain and stock markets around the country were open. Many daily newspapers around the country suspended publica tion for the day. Wreath laying ceremonies and parades marked Veterans Day observances in the rest of the country. Jean Wick Is 4-H Winner Jean Wick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wick, La Grande, has been named one of 12 sec tional winners in national 4-H forestry competition. For her achievement she will receive an all-expense trip to the National 4H Club Congress in Chicago, Nov. 29 through Dec. 3. She will Join the Oregon dele gation in Portland and will leave on Thanksgiving for the trip east. Miss Wick is a senior at La Grande High School and an honor student. She recently received a $.KX Standard Oil Company scholarship lo be used at a school of her choice next year. This is the first time that Union County has been honored with a state and sectional winner in forestry, according to I'nion Coun ty Extension agent Jim Huber. called on the four-foot high pyg mies to help them out. Watusia Outnumbered The Bahutus outnunilier the Watusis 4.000,000 to 300.000. lie ports said most of the dead were Watusi warriors and that so far the rampant Bahutus have spared women and children. The Bahutus went on the war path because they feared Belgium's plans for independence would perpetuate Watusi domination. A battnlionnf almut 600 Colonial Army (Force Puhlique) troops sent in from the adioininf Belgian Congo has so far been unable to separate the warring tribes. The battalion split up into 24 patrols but was able to make lit ocks Valley Nature Of Boom Is Not Known A mysterious explosion rocked the entire Grande Ronde Valley area about 10:30 o'clock last night, jam mine local and State Police switchboards with telephone calls. State Police reported hearing the reverberating boom but had no ready explanation of the source or cause. La Grande police this morning could give no answer to The Ob server's questions as to the pos sible nature of the apparent ex plosion. Jet Plane? There was some speculation. however, that the explosive noise could have been made by a jet plane flying faster than sound breaking the sonic barrier. "Possible atmospheric condi tions could have contained the boom within the high mountains .surrounding the valley here," po lice said. There was also another explan ation as to the apparent explo sion. Road Crews Road construction crews work ing on U. S. Highway 30 west of La Grande could have possibly set off a large explosive charge ol dynamite at this later hour. Since today was a legal holiday and road crews were off the con struction job west of town, this could not be verified. However, this possibilty loomed strong, it was said, since a large TNT .charge of this type could have been planned for night In order to avoid daytime traffic and les sen any possiUer dai.er to mo torists. Regardless of what it was, however, it shook up La Grande from one end to the other and was felt in such outlying commu nities as Cove, about 14 miles east of this community. State Health Man To Eat Cranberries SALEM (UPI i J. D. Patterson, the State Agriculture Depart ment's chief chemist, said Tues day he would be eating cranber ries with his Thanksgiving dinner despite reports that a toxic spray was used on some of this year's Oregon and Washington crop. Patterson said his two chemists have been unable as yet to find any cancer producing chemical in the berries in tests made over the past three weeks. However, some Salem stores have removed cranberries from the East and West Coast from shelves. Some Midwest cranber ries remain. Union Boy Scooters Recipients Of Badges UNION (Special) Bud CockreU received his first class badge, and Tork Ballard, Ronnie Droke and Keith Pumphrey received their second c'ass badges at the recent court of honor and inspection held in La Grande. Mr. Naegeli, scout master of Troop 85, received the troop's God and Country Scout award for meeting their goal and ncreasing enrollment. tle contact with the fighting be-.' cause ol the mountainous terrain, and the barely perceptible Jungle trails along which the tribesmen travel. The troops armed with rifle, and machineguns usually arrive, after a battle has taken place and the tribesmen have melted away into the mountains and Jungles they know so well. The Bahutus are operating In grout of between 200 and ISO which emerge from the Jungles and strike Watusi villages without warning. After killing all who r sist. they burn the village and the surrounding coffee and banana plantations and head back Into the jungle. a.