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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1936)
The Weather Fair today and Wednes day bat fog near coast, slightly cooler with higher humidity; 3 Lax. Temp. Mon day 88, Blln. 40, northerly wind. Fire Pictures The Statesman present fan pace to pictures from d tire aone In Coos county Pe 7, In addition to Close o tills page. FOUISLOCP 1631 dGHTY-SIXTII YEAR Salem Oregon, Tuesday Morning:, September 29, 1936 ' ii Price 3c; Newsstands 5c No. 159 ni-t'ii, :il . IB? i Ares: Priests Slain Before Toledo Falls to Rebels '600 Catholic Churchmen . Slaughtered ; Alcazar Refugees Rescued "' Loyalist Losses Heavy ; . Men in Fortress Were Ahout to Give Up : : By RICHARD O. MASSOCK M CopyritBtd, 1036, by Associated Tmi) T ALA VERA DE LA REIN A, Spain. Sept. 29. Six hundred Catholic priests, supporting the fascist rebellion, were slaughtered by frenzied, socialists during the last hoars of a bloody insurgent drive on Toledo, survivors told me today. Fascist sympathizers who sur vived the terrific siege of the Al cazar" related horrible stories of looting and slaying as the guns of the driving Insurgents boomed outside the city's gates. "Everything as destroyed around the Alcazar," declared one of those who resisted government attacks on the historic fortress. He said the leader of Toledo fascists was one of the victims of the deadly barrage of dynamite, gasoline and shells which rained into the Insurgent haven. . Government forces lost 600 soldiers In the withering steel barrage . which swept through the streets of the war battered former capital of Spain. One fascist bomb, survivors asserted, killed -40 o e i a I i s t militiamen and wounded SO others. " Capture of Toledo, of ten called the "Rone of Spain." because of the large number of priests Jiv ing and studying In the city, came at a desperate moment for the self-imprisoned fascists In the Alcazar. , : "Only courage inspired by radio reports that our soldiers we ad vancing to save ns and fotJ flop ped from planes kept us "going," asserted a survivor who had spent 72 days Inside the fortress' walls. He declared women and chil dren in the Alcazar all escaped without injury after the fascist troops drove the government de fenders from the center of the city. In one wing of the Alcazar, he said, 700- survivors huddled to gether awaiting liberation by the forces of General Francisco Fran co, leader of the rebellino against the Madrid government. - Big Fire Covered By Salem Scribes Salem is well . represented among the newspaper workers on the Coos county fire front. Shel don F. Sackett,. managing editor of The Statesman and publisher of the Coos Bay Times, arrived in Marshfield Sunday morning after a brief visit in Salem Sat urday. Besides covering the story for The Times, Sackett filed stories for ;the Oregonian, the News-Telegram and with his co workers filed 25,000 ords for New York. David W. Eyre, city editor of the Marshfield paper, covered the story for the United Press." and Miss Isabel- -Childs, formerly of The Statesman staff, covered ft for the Associated Press. Wen dell Webb of the Portland -AP bureau, who worked Sunday in -the Portland office, was In Marshfield Monday supplementing the AP report. Webb has worked" on The Statesman and was for merly rity editor of, the Coos Bay Times. y Miss Rovena Eyre, of the Capi tal Journal staff, happened to be in Tlarshfleld .with her father, David W. Eyre, manager of the United States National bank here, and filed stories for the Oregon ian, the Portland Journal and the Capital journal. News coverage In the area was supplied by The Times which pub lished six extra editions, running off 16,000 copies. Enforce Blockade Around Fire Area A strictly - enforced blockade against entry to the Coos and Cur ry county fire aone was ordered by Charles P. Pray, superlntend ' ent of state police, last night. Troopers already were stationed at- the Coos and Reedsport high way, junctions to turn back mo torists who were considered not to hare emergency business on .on mast and others were told to set similar stations at New port and Waldpqrt. , . . The -blockade was designed to keep out hordes of curiosity seek ers and to prerent creation of an additional demand upon emergen cy supplies in case the forest fires should again break out of control lad shut off coamualcatlOM. DESOLATION LEFT IN WAKE '' 4 Above, brick chimneys standing desolately alone where families dwelt in homes they thought secure before Saturday night's devastating fire. Below, looking across the ruins of Bandon's once-imposing rtatli atorinm at ran lined np on the bluff overlooking the beach, waitingi Gold Beach Area Twvns Are Safe Fire Gets j Close to Port Orf ord and Langlois, Says Onas Olson Personal report of the fire situa tion at Gold Beach' and other points south of Bandon was brought Monday night by Onas S. Olson, of the staff of the world war veterans'! state aid commis sion, who, with Carl Cover of the state budget department, arrived home in Salem last night after a weekend trip to Gold Beach. - i "Gold Beach was safe," said Olson. "We left there at nine Mon day morning. J At that time a fire on Hunters creek,' about a mile south of Gold Beach, was under control. South of Hunters Creek there are fires along the highway for about 15 miles. We returned through Langlois and Port Or- ford where the residents had suc ceeded in stopping the fires' ad vance within about a half-mile of the towns.' - i -- "Fires still line the hghway for (Turn to page 2, col. 5) Menace of 'Fire and on O Forest fires became less threat ening in the Willamette valley region and in the mid-section of Oregon's seacoast late yesterday as falling temperatures and ap proaching ocean fogs gave rise to hope that the, danger , point may have passed. M Salem residents breathed tim ber smoke for the first time this season at 6:30 o'clock when the pungent wraiths ot fallen forest giants drifted northward on a brisk breeze. Inquiry at official sources indicated the smoke came from the coastal fires which raged Sunday in Lincoln. Lane and counties to the southward. . Thero were no fires of serious proportions in Marion county the state forester's office a t a t f' re ported at 9 p. m. The Detroit and Gates-Niagara fires were well un der control. Heavy fog was drifting Into the Polk county tone, District Flra Entire Area Mobilized For Protection, Relief Call for Fire Fighters Answered Readily; Care of Refugees in Hands of Red Cross; Check Families Directed by Gen. Rilea on By SHELDON F. SACKETT MARSHFIELD; Ore., Sept. 28. -(AP) As I write smoke clouds the offices of the Coos Bay Times in Marshfield, the heaviest veil since the Bandon fire tragedy started Saturday night. ; . . ; . 4 r . - The entire area is now mobilized to fight fires in all sec tions of the territory. City officials and Brigadier -General Thomas E, Rilea have already o made plans to evacuate the in habitants should the flames come closer to the cities still standing in the county. No one can accurately predict what will happen next. It pre vailing winds do not sweep fires into the tops of timber and spread embers in existing towns, the area- may stand otherwise (Turn to page 2, col. 6 ) is Reduced Coast to West Warden Hugh Walker of Dallas announced. The Black Rock and smaller fires in his 'territory were "all in good shape," he Bald. ' Depoe Bay, Tachata Fires Controlled ' The Depoe Bay and Tachata tires , were under control as an extremely dense fog drifted in last night, according to the state forester's office. .. , . -. ; - The fire which broke out west of r Grande Ronde , Saturday did not reach large size, according to J. EL Smith, former. Marion county commissioner, w h o passed through that district late Sunday. . One large fire was. burning in the Alsea region yesterday after noon but. driven by a south wind, it was not endangering the village of Alsea, V. L. Goodnight, resi dent highway maintenance engi neer, notified state police here, The fire was three miles north . JlTura to Page , CoU IJ, OF BANDON HOLOCAUST ! t n 'if! ' is' to be driven to Coquille when their decide the trip will be 'reasonably safe. This picture by L. J. Liljeqvist of Marshfield. Cuts courtesy of Disabled Veterans Give Toward Fire Relief Fund The Salem chapter of the Dis abled Veterans of the World war last night with its auxiliary voted to contribute $21 to the local Red Cross chapter for Inclusion in the Coos-Curry county forest fire re lief fund. This sun) was raised at the chapter and auxiliary meet ings at the armory. : Blast Kills Two FLINT. Mich., Sept, 28.-(jP)-Two persons were injured fatally In an explosion here today which wrecked a filling station and store of the General Tire and Appliance company, and- IS others were hurt. ' Late Sports SAN FRANCISCO, Sept, 28.-()-Ray Impelletiere, 243-pound dreadnaught of the boxing ring, punched Phil Brubaker out of the heavyweight championship Pic ture, at least temporarily tonight when he scored a convincing ten round decision .over , the Calif or nlan, who attained national recog nition during a brief career. Bru baker weighed 19 S pounds. ; DETROIT, 8ept 29.-(jP)-The Detroit Lions opened defense of their National league professional football title tonight with a driv ing S9 to 0 victory over, the Chicago gardlgalg, owners, homeless Bandon people. The Oregonian. ' " Rehabilitation of Bandon to Start WPA to Gear Streets and Property, Prepare Way For Reconstruction 1 Following receipt of word from President Roosevelt he bad in structed all federal agencies to render whatever aid possible in the coast fire situation, WPA Ad ministrator E. J. Griffith sent the district supervisor at Medford and a resident engineer to Ban don Monday night, to open re habilitation work at once. Governor Martin announced the federal agency would clear streets and property to make wayfor re construction, men to be put to work under , the WPA immedi ately.'-: ; -V ' ' ; ; .. The telegram to the . governor from the president read; I am much distressed at re ports reaching us of the, disas trous coast fires. Please keep me fully advif ed. I am instructing all federal agencies to render what ever assistance possible." Situation Better, Martin Tells F. R. ' In reply Governor Martin In formed the president that because of higher humidity and favorable winds the fire situation was im (Turn to page 2, coL 6) Bridge Approach Menaced by Fire The wooden west approach to the. Marion-Polk county bridge was saved from being damaged by tire Sunday night when a small blaze coming from a bent below the decking was discovered "by Irl S. Mc Sherry, Salem, and extin guished with a pall ot water. Mc Sherry declared the blaze was set by an ineendlarist. : - State , police Investigated the Ore after being notified by Mc- Sherry. It had been started with an oily rag, sawdust and fresh wood shavings. At police headquarters . here there was an i nnverif led ; report that other oil-soaked pieces of cloth had been discovered between Salem and Newport on a bridge and ia nearby brush Active Help to Stricken Area Arranged Here Legion's Emergency Unit Here Takes Initiative in Statewide Move ' Food to Be Delivered at Soldier Monument "on Courthouse Block Southwest Oregon's forest fire disaster yesterday b r o u g h t the first mass relief effort by the em ergency unit of Capital Post No. 9, American Legion, of Salem, aft er State Vice-Commander O. E. "Mose" Palmateer had requested 25 posts to stand ready for ser vice. - Palmateer took active command of Legion relief forces in the ab sence of Commander Guy Cordon of Roseburg, proffered the veter ans' services to Governor Charles H. Martin and announced he would drive to Marshfield today to establish-headquarters. intending to place Salem among the first cities to aid the fire stricken citizens of Bandon and nearby communities, the Salem Legion emergency committee hur riedly convened at the city hall last night and laid its relief plans. Ask Food Delivered To Soldier Monument First, the committee decided this morning to call upon all Sa lem citizens to deliver to the sold iers monument on the courthouse (Turn to page 2. coL 1) Officials Assist Disaster Relief Governor Putting in Long Hours on Job; Police, v Others Have Roles Governor Martin, after spend ing all of Sunday and a large part of that night in his office in connection with the fire situation in Coos and Curry counties, was again at his . desk shortly after 8 a. m. Monday. Prior to noon the governor had received nearly 100 telephone calls and had conferred with Major-General Simonds of the 9th Corps Area, Presidio, San Fran cisco, and other prominent army men and officials. General Sim onds yesterday made it possible to send a large quantity ot army equipment to the fire area. Slmonas, following tne conier- ence with Governor Martin, left for Marshfield where he was to confer with Brigadier-General Ri lea. He was provided with Btate police escort. Governor Mariln requested Lew WaUace," state game com missioner, and Frank B. Wire, game supervisor, to immediately issue an order closing the deer hunting season in all that terri tory ying west of the summit of the Cascade mountains. Wallace indicated that the order would be issued. Protection of wild life in the fire zone also was asked by the governor. , Governor Martin declared that at least a number of the - fires (Turn to page 2, col. 2) John Cooler Is Injured While on Hunting Trip CONDON, Sept. 28.-(;P)-An archery hunting trip cost John E. Cooter, of Salem, state farm la bor placement director, a cut face when the automobile his brother-in-law, John Huebler, was driving swerved from the roaa wane crossing a section of highway. - Graphic Story of Disaster Is Told by Biandon Refugee Persoons who are apprehensive about relatives in the Bandon tire area should not attempt : to ' go there, but should . get in touch with them through the Red Cross at Coquille. That is the word ' brought to Salem yesterday by Dr. W. S. Park of Bandon, one of the. early refu gees reaching here. He and Mrs. Park came to Salem with Rev. Lydia Berkey.5 Baptist minister living here, and Mrs. Berkey. The women are sisters. . Rev. 'Berkey, incidentally, went to Bandon for a vacation, arriving there on the eve ot the tire. Like the Parks, she spent all Saturday night and most of Sunday helping to relieve dis tress in the fire zone, ; City Is Wiped Out . -Within Four Honrs . !The fire hit the outside of Bandon about 10 o'clock Saturday night and by 2 a. m. the town I was absolutely wiped out; only a Weather & avo fable i . ' ' - - .- -. ' - ----- Wor Blaze Controls !: Loss Three Million, ta TlrkXArn Coos County; Danger Points Are Coquille and Myrtle Point Five Thousand Still Fighting Flames Is As Large Area Burns; Held Worst : Conflagration in Many Years !l MARSHFIELD, Ore., Sept.' 29i-(Tuesday)-'P)-A tog waft ed in from the sea cooled southwestern Oregon early this morn ing and brought new hopes of permanent relief in this fire bur dened country. . - The dry, dangerous east wind abated . with the moisture jfrom the Pacific If the shift in the wind continues and the i humidity rises, weather observers said other towns in the sec jlion were almost certain to escape the fate that came to Ban . Idon. H While no immediate rain was forecast, meteorological con i ditions heartened the army of fire fighters over the 400,000- By WENDELL WEBB MARSHFIELD, Ore., Sept. 28. ( At) There was hope m the once green country of southwestern Oregon tonight. !f As though answering the prayers of 200,000 persons in this smoke - blackened country of natural wonderland, the wind died down. Reasonably favorable weather conditions brought encouragement to 5,000 men, fighting the flames over a 400,000 acre section, that other cities would be spared the fate of Bandon, a heap of ruins where at least nine per sons lost their lives. " v j Coos County Judge Hugh McLain said property losses would be at least three , million dollars. Added to this was the economic loss of lumber All But One r Known Dead in Fire Identified ; MARSHFIELD, Sept. 28. The nine persons known to have been killed In the southwest Oregon fire are: Mrs. Ida Hill. Daniel Koontz, 70. - ' Mrs. Charles McCulloch, 63, sister of Koontz.i George Williams. Mrs. George Williams. Jack Bailey, killed by fall ing tree. Nina Bottom, .70. J. M. Baker, owner of sev eral Bandon houses. One unidentified. Three Injured in Car Crashes Here An automobile collision which upset and badly damaged bis new coupe, sent Francis Dunn to Sa lem Deaconess hospital at 4:45 O'clock yesterday for treatment of what was thought to be an arm" fracture. Mrs. Amos V ass, 4653 South Commercial street, 'whose husband was driving the other car, suffered abrasions about the knees. The crash oc curred at Berry street and Rural Avenue. -; I . , " - - ' ) Ray Horner, 22, 228 Court street, received bruises and a forehead laceration when his au tomobile struck a train at 14tb and Mission streets Saturday, Dea coness hospital "attendants .., said yesterday. Police had received no feport to the mishap. J An automobile driven by John T. HoblittA Silverton. was doubly damaged Sunday when it struck a parked car, belonging to John Vannlce, Albany, beside the high way south of Albany. Passersby put out the blaze. few houses were left on the hllL a bakery was the only building standing In town and across the creek, Moore's lumber plant and the International and Perry ven eer plants were safe, said Dr. Park, homeless like hundreds of others because of the holocaust. ! "When we left, the . stricken people had not had time to re cover from the shock of the tra-J gedy, the doctor said. Through out the horrible' night and the next day, Bandon people were either in a-great, daze or hysteri cal. . One - or the other of these extremes predominated. i Two baDies were oorn on. tne Bandon beach Saturday night and a third baby arrived less than 30 minutes after - Dr. Park hurried the mother-to one ot the two Co quille hospitals, he said. Dr. Park spent the hours from 2 a. m. Sat urday to 5 p. m. Sunday on num I (Turn to Page 9, CoL 2) TTimiirlit - ir TTJrrlvv In production. The majority of mills nave closed Indefinitely to permit employes to fight fires. A late revision of fatalies elim inated the name of John Reider, who was found alive. Another charred body, that of an aged Bandon WPA worker, was dis covered and identified as Nina Bottom, 70.' Search Hampered By Continued Heat Captain Lee Bown of the state police said the search through the ruins of Bandon was made dif ficult by the extreme heat. Four coast guard cutters-and a lighthouse tender rode at an chor off the coast waiting for the first sign of a desructive wind. Commanders held their crews In. readiness to evacuate re fugees should the spread of, flames resume. Chief points of danger tonight still were at Coquille, a logging town of 3,000, twenty-five mile southeast of here, and Myrtle Point, a town of 1,500 fifteen miles further on. Marshfield and her sister city of North Bend were placed out of danger for the time being by a fog. - ; CCC workers from Oregon, Washington' and California have been brought into southwestern Oregon to aid the growing hund reds of volunteers.' The -Reconstruction . Finance corporation has established a fund to enable the citizens of Bandon to undertake rehabilitation when the menace of new fires has passed. Other Sections of West .Endangered The coastal country of Oregon, while most severely hit by flames, was not alone in the forest fire picture. The gread redwood for ests of northern California were endangered. Northern California to the east looked anxiously at the weather reports. Southwestern Washington in the Turn Turn (Turn to page 2, eoL 3) Scoop Scored By Statesman ' On Fire News The Oregon Statesman was the only newspaper in Oregon which carried the news of the Bandon disas er in all of its editions of Sunday morning. No other newspaper ; delivered b e r e contained 'any Information of the destruction of Ban don. The Statesman's report came la over the Associated Press at 12 :30 Sanday morning. The news service wire' was. kept open one-half hour longer than usual, to 1:80 a. m., to give addition al news.- ' . Sanday afternoon The Statesman issued an .extra giving further reports from the fire aone together with news of organization of re lief at the governor's office here. - The Bandon. fire Is mere ly one example oat of many where The Statesman is able to supply much later news than any other morning r per distributed la tLis erea.