O EZJ O O O ED OC30
OOOO E3 0D EDO O
DO O ODED OOO 23
OD ODE30
Weather
Max. Mia.
Sales
Portland
San Francisco
Chicago
1 XS . Jf
17 si -oo
.4 S -34
m is . l
Mew York
28 IS tra,
-4 ftrt.. - - -
Willamette river
FORECAST (from U3. weather bu
reau, McNarr field. Salem) : -,
Partly cloudy today wtUi increasing
cloudiness this afternoon and evening.
Light rain is expected late tonight or
early tomorrow moraine. Highest tern
perature today, near 4d decrees; low
est tonight, near M degrees. i
POUNDDD - 1651
iTOfTTY-SEvnrra yeah
18 PAGES
The Oregon Stotasmas. Salem, Oregon, Friday. February 6. 1948
Price 5c
No. 272
pdDirtxsdl TinriJteirfirog sis Pinna SwDOs
agUlwawro dim
13 Rescued in
Salem School
six SaJesa high school girls
V.e
w " t . . ,
; ej ,7
r , - i K v " .
fiv other Salem Janior and senior high school sta dents ta recognition of their art entries in the Ore
gen tchaUsUe art exhibit now on displiy at Mler mad Fraak Ce. la rartlxad. Wlaners of the raid key,
f which there are IS stadeata fresn Oregea scboeis. will hava their work teat to Carnegie InsUtote.
ruuhsM-gh. Pa for national romaeUtlon, the winners ta recelT art scholarships. Pictured are. left ta
right. L'aa Mae Graylesa. Dareea Ilannon, Carol Gondlach. Mxris Aaa BJorke. Chariene Webber and
Darleae CagdahL Net ptrtared are Marioa A. Carson aad Dick Secce. both two-Ume winners of the
gold key aad both ef sealer high; Donald Ferllch. Leslie Janlec high; and Charles McClelland and
Norm Jeaa Wllsea. both ef Parriah Junior high. (Pbete by Den Dill. SUtesman sUff pboUrrapher.)
OtP
RJCDGuDCi
i
Congratulatioru are due the
city of Monmouth on retirement
of all iU indebtedness. On Tues
day night Mayor Bowersox touch
ed a match to the last of its bonds,
and the city has no general debt
and no lien against its light plant.
Now it will be possible for the
city to reduce its electric power
rates. Its previous city tux levy
ef 17 mills can also be reduced or
the city may fake on additional
improvements.
Under Mayor Bowersox the
city has made a success of its ven
ture into municipal ownership of
its power distributing system.
When cheap Bonneville power
was offered the city built its own
distributing system In 1940, rath
er than buy out the existing pri
vate utility. It offered reduced
rates and still has been able to
meet all its obligations.
There were two factors con
tributing to this result: First the
low wholesale rate offered by
Bonneville; Second, the fact that
the system was tax-free. The sys
tem has been run very econom
ically, with Mayor Bowersox
keeping a watchful eye on its op
erations, and of course was spared
contributing to private company
overhead or dividends.
Monmouth's success may be
tempting to other municipalities:
but not all of them have as vig
ilant a mayor as Monmouth. Then
again there is the principle of op
position to state socialism - where
will it stop once it gets started?
Leaving that debate to one side
for the present the fact remains
that the achievement at Mon
mouth is a conspicuous example
of competent, efficient municipal
government.
SALXM FKCCIPITATION
(Sines SepC 1)
Last Year
23 SS
Average
as
7
Animal Crackers
By WARREN GOO0RICH
lf$ been one of thos days
EVERYTHING gotj
- 'Ul '111
Art Students Awarded Keys
will be gwxrdedl r14 keys Saturday
Navy Plans to Construct
Largest W arship Ever
WASHINGTON. Feb. 5 -jP- The navy plans to build the largest
warship ever a mammoth aircraft carrier of 80,000 tons.
Secretary John L. Sullivan disclosed this today as he revealed
a radical change in the navy's construction program during the next
five years.
Instead of spending $308,000,000 on converting the battleship
Kentucky and the large cruiser ,
Hawaii into guided - missile ships, ,
the navy proposes a $230,000,000 i
outlay on the following: j
1. The super - carrier almost ;
double the size of the present ;
giants the 45,000 - ton Midway, ;
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral
Sea. Bigger and faster planes will
be built for service on the super- i
carrier.
2. Four extremely fast subma- 1
rines. These perhaps would be j
patterned after the German subs !
r credited with three times the sub- !
merged speed of American under- !
sea craft. I
3. One "hunter - killer" ship, i
somewhat similar to a destroyer, I
but larger and equipped with j
elaborate electronic gadgets to
hunt down and destroy fast sub-
i marines.
j The program also provides for
the conversion of a 27,000 - ton
: carrier and two submarines. De
i tails of these changes were not
1 revealed. Sullivan did say that
one submarine would be an oil !
tanker to fuel other subs. But he '
' did not indicate whether this i
j would be a converted one or a ,
new vessel.
c . . 1 1 : .. . tv.. I
changed construction program was I a few weeks to prepare his opin
that the development of guided j on-
missiles had not progressed as fast j
as the nayy expected. I Fv-TMnv (Innof il
Butter Jumps
To 96 Cents
Salem housewives are paying 96
cents a pound for butter again
following a two-cent jump in the
price of the product here Thurs
day. The current price of butter is
now one cent under a recent re
cord peak of 97 cents which oc
curred last December, local mar-
I kets reported. Grade A butter also
hiked two cents in wholesale list
ings, reaching 91 cents a pound.
Butterfat prices advanced cor
respondingly but egg quotations
remained the same Thursday
night with the large size retailing
at 57 cents a dozen.
McKinney to File
For Judgeship
A second candidate for the po
sition of municipal judge entered
the field Thursday when W. W.
McKinney announced he will file
for the judgeship he now holds.
McKinney is serving under ap
pointment since the city manager
form of government began here
a year ago January 1. As the
Judge's duties constitute only a
part time job, -McKinney also has
continued his private law practice
in Salem.
William H. Crawford announc
ed earlier this week he would
file for city judge. Proper peti
tions signed by 200 voters would
place both names on the primary
ballots here In May.
Gorge Blizzard
arternoon la Portland along with
Supreme Court
Ruling on Tax
Surplus Sought
State officials are planning to
ask the state supreme court to
decide whether income tax sur
pluses can be used for state gen
eral fund purposes, it was report
ed at the capitol here Thursday.
State Treasurer Leslie M. Scott
said these surpluses now amount
to $30,000,000. There is an argu
ment over whether income tax re
ceipts have to be used for pro-
Perty tax reduction as has always
been done in the past.
A high state official said to
day that if Attorney General
Neuner holds that the surpluses
can be put into the general fund,
some interested taxpayer might
be found to bring suit to prevent
the state from using the surpluses.
It is hoped that the supreme
court could rule before the legis
lature meets next January.
Neuner said it would take him
Commits Suicide
As Trial to Start
NUERNBERG. Germany, Feb. 5
-(yp) German Gen. Johannes Blas
kowitz committed suicide today by
leaping from the top catwalk of
the Nuernberg prison a short time
before he was to go on trial for
war crimes.
His death did not delay the tri
al of 13 of his co-defendants all
of them former German military
leaders. They were escorted intc
a United States tribunal to answer
charges of crimes against peace
and humanity.
The 64-year-old Blaskowitz
broke away from a file of pris
oners, clambered up a seven-foot
wire fence and threw himself
over, hurtling 30 feet to a tile
floor. American attorneys said
they were surprised at Blasko
witz 's suicide because their evi
dence against him was meager.
South Called to
Political Meeting
JACKSON, Miss., Feb. 5 JP)
Governor Fielding L. Wright hint
ed at a bolt today in a call to
Mississippi democrats for a state
wide meeting to fight the party's
national leadership on the racial
issue.
It was Wright, in bis inaugural
speech January 20, who sounded
the keynote for revolt. He accused
those in control of the party of
"anti-southern' acts. Wright call
ed the Mississippi meeting Febru
ary 12 Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
Colu
Qihia
River Site
Of Storm
By the Associated Press
Thirteen persons were rescued
from the Columbia river near
Umatilla, Ore., yesterday after a
blizzard smothered the Columbia
gorge in snow, sent lumber flying
through the air at McNary dam
site and wrecked three river boats.
The tug Defiance rescued six
workmen from an island near the
damsite, then later pulled seven
persons from the tug Captain Al
James, which had been driven on
to Umatilla rapids rocks by 60-mile-an-hour
winds. All the res
cued were in good condition de
spite hours of exposure.
The storm, which also whipped
stinging sand through the air, de
posited snow througout the gorge.
The heaviest fall was at The
Dalles, where 14 inches came down
in 9Vt hours.
Western Oregon generally es
caped the snowfall, although
winds ranging up to 38 miles an
hour reached Portland. Elsewhere
the state was under a white man
tle and highway travel was dan
gerous. Colder Weather Doe
Thermometers ranged from 10
degrees at Baker to 34 at Rose
burg. The weather bureau forecast
colder temperatures Friday.
Two army engineers boats
swamped and sank in the Colum
bia near Umatilla Wednesday night
in the face of a 60-mile-an-hour
wind. The army engineers lifted
one the plywood launch Arling
ton from the water Thursday af
ternoon, and began trying to sal
vage the other, a landing craft
used to transport personnel.
The wind in that area subsided
to about 30-miles-an-hour Thurs
day afternoon, after breaking
power poles and blowing lumber
through the air at the McNary
dam site. One gust blew a pick
up truck, driving between Ord
nance and Umatilla, off the road
into a ditch. The driver escaped
injury.
Washing-tan Men Stranded
In Washington, snow stranded
eight men on a south-central state
highway for several hours yester
day and forced closure of a few
schools in the state.
The men, on their way to Sun
nyside from the Hanford atomic
works, spent the night and much
of today on the highway 12 miles
north of Sunnyside when six-foot
snowdrifts stalled five cars. A res
cue car reached them yesterday
afternoon.
Power Shortage Closes Mills
A power shortage, some of it
due to California's drought and
some due to central Oregon's
dampness, heavily curtailed lum
ber production and left some 2.300
workers temporarily jobless.
The failure of hydroelectric gen
erators in California, caused by
low water there, cut of power in
southwestern Oregon for the
fourth straight day. More than 100
lumber mills, from the California
border to Eugene, were closed or
operating on a limited basis.
Some 2,000 men in the Springfield-Junction
City-Cottage Grove
area were idled, as 54 mills shut
down. Another 300 were idle near
Roseburg.
Three other Oregon counties
crooK, jerierson, and Deschutes
were battling a separate power
shortage, which stemmed from wet
fuel and an icecap over the Des
chutes river.
The shortage there blacked out
parts of Bend for several nights,
closed down sawmill planes at
Redmond and Prineville intermit
tently. Airline to Pay
If Planes Late
ST. PAUL. Minn., Feb. 5.-OP)-
Northwest Airlines said today it
is prepared to place into effect
March 15 a five per cent rebate
on passenger ticket prices when
ever a flight reaches its destina
tion more than 30 minutes late.
The rebate will apply to all do
mestic flights and all seasons of
the year, the airline stated.
Croil Hunter, president and
general manager of the airline,
said it has filed a formal appli
cation with the ciyil aeronautics
board proposing to make the re
bate policy effective March 15.
HIGHWAY TO TOP DAM
SPOKANE. Feb. 5-0P-Plans
for the McNary dam near Uma
tilla call for an interstate bridge
atop the structure, James A. Ford,
chamber of commerce executive
secretary said today he had been
advised by army engineers.
Stalin Passed Up
Truman's Bid to
Speak in Missouri
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5.-(JP)-Premier
Stalin was disclosed
today to have turned down an
invitation from .President Tru
man in 1946 to speak before an
American audience.
The Russian leader had been
angered by Winston Churchill's
famous speech at Fulton, Mo.,
in which he criticized what he
termed Russia's desire for "ex
pansion." The invitation appar
ently was intended as an offer
to the Russian leader of an
equal chance to present his ar
guments. Presidential Secretary Charles
G. Ross said Stalin turned
down an offer to come to the
United States on the USS Mis
souri, to travel with President
Truman to Columbia, Mo., and
to speak at the state university.
He was said to have felt the
trip was too far.
Hit-Run Driver
Kills Cyclist
In Lebanon
LEBANON, Feb. 5 - (Special )
Sweet Home and Oregon State
police tonight were trying to lo
cate a 1939 or 1940 light-colored
Plymouth or Dodge sedan which
struck and killed Maurice Lloyd
Lappe, 51, Lebanon, early his
evening.
Lappe, a plywood mill work
er, was struck by the car, accord
ing to investigating state police,
as he rode his bicycle homeward
at 6:10 p.m. at the crossing of
the Southern Pacific tracks and
West Oak streets.
Death was instantaneous, said
Coroner Glenn Huston of Linn
county. Clues, other than the col
or of the car which struck Lappe,
police said, were a spotlight drop
ped by the car at the scene of the
accident and the fact that the car
went through Lebanon and turned
onto Highway 20, south toward
Sweet home.
Lappe has no known survivors.
Funeral arrangements will be an
nounced later by Howe-Huston
funeral home, Lebanon.
Bids Sought on
Improvement of
Reservists Huts
Salem contractors Thursday
were asked to bid on an improve
ment project for the three quonset
huts near 25th and Lee streets
where local army reserve activity
now centers.
Capt. Richard A. Reynolds, unit
instructor for the Salem area, said
bids are due at the Ft. Lewis post
engineer's office February 12, con
tract to be awarded within 30 days
and work to be completed within
90 days following awarding of
contract.
The work will include repairing
interiors, rehanging doors, paint
ing inside and out, installing win
dows and porches and outside
lighting.
Tentative Plans to Place Memorial Auditorium
In Bush Park, Campaign Ideas Aired at Meet
By Conrad Prange
Staff Writer. The Statesman
Tentative plans to build the pro
posed Salem war memorial audi
torium in Bush Pasture park and a
series of promotional and fund
raising campaigns were outlined
at a meeting of Salem Memorial
Auditorium association Thursday
night.
Admiral Thomas Gatch of Port
land, native of Salem, gave the
main talk at the meeting and
stressed that Salem "sadly need
ed" such an auditorium.
The association voted to accept
a proposal made by Dall Sullivan,
representing the Salem 20-30 club,
that his club be permitted to spon
sor a series of three stage plays.
The proceeds of the plays will
be given to the association. The
plays would be held at Salem sen
ior high school February 27, April
15 and May 15.
To avoid conflict with several
other local war memorial groups
the association changed its for
mer title of Salem War Memorrial
association to Salem Memorial
Auditorium association. Nineteen
of 31 group representatives pres
ent favored the change.
Reporting for Col. Phillip Alli
son, chairman of the location com
mittee, who was absent. President
Rex Kimmell declared that the
committee has several prospect
ive sites in mind. The committee,
however, "favored the Bush pas
ture location at the corner el
Grains Stage Limit
President Asks Slu
Truman Warns
Crash Near if
Curbs Ignored
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 -JPy-President
Truman warned the na
tion today that a crash is inevita
ble unless some way is found to
curb prices.
At the same time Secretary of
Agriculture Anderson asked all
consumers to "ration their food
dollars' voluntarily to bring down
the cost of living.
Also today, a senate subcom
mittee recommended a sweeping
revision of the rent control law,
with no limit on the size of rent
increase where landlord and ten
ant agree on a long-term lease.
The controls, in revised" form,
would be extended until April 30,
1949.
Mr. Truman told a news confer
ence that consumers have had to
pay more and more for daily ne
cessities since he asked congress
last November for standby powers
to check inflation. As graphic evi
dence, he brought out a chart
showing how living costs have
spiral ed.
For that reason, the president
declared he feels as strongly as
ever that congress should give the
administration authority to deal
with the situation. But leaders on
Capitol Hill have shown no in
clination to grant his requests.
Mercury Dips
Near 20 Mark
Salem area temperatures which
skidded to almost 12 degrees un
der the freezing point early this
morning, are expected to rise
today and produce rain tonight,
the U. S. weather bureau at Mc
Nary field reported early today.
The mercury dipped close to
20 degrees last night the bureau
reported. A minimum reading of
about 30 degrees was forecast for
tonight. Increasing cloudiness is
predicted for today with probable
rain today and Saturday.
Although many roads through
out the state were snow and ice
packed, they are still passable
with chains, the state highway
commission reported. Especially
dangerous areas are the mountain
passes and the Columbia river
highway between Portland and
The Dalles, because of heavy snow
drifts.
Anti-Discrimination Bill
Passed by Committee
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5-UP-A
hotly argued bill to prevent job
discrimination against negroes and
other minority groups won 7 to 5
approval today from the senate
labor committee.
It thus was started toward sen
ate debate, but may not get there
until after anti-poll tax and anti
lynching bills are considered.
South Winter and Mission streets,"
Kimmell said.
This location, it was reported,
would provide easy street travel
and would permit sharing of the
nearby parking lot of the Willa
mette university athletic field.
No legal obstacles blocked use
of the Bush pasture site, it was
reported by Allan Carson, legal
committee chairman. Carson in
dicated, however, that other op
position to use of the location
might arise. He also reported that
Salem residents voted and later
repealed a bond issue of over
$500,000 to build a war memorial
building in the 1920's.
A building committee report,
offered by Chairman William
Baillie, revised its previous design
for a building. Instead of a single
purpose structure, suitable only
for concerts, shows and cultural
programs and stage events, the
building should be a multiple
purpose affair, Baillie reported.
It should have a flat floor de
signed to also accommodate ath
letic events, exhibitions,-fairs and
large civic group affairs. The
building, Baillie reported, should
have a small concert hall and
smaller assembly rooms, a dining
room and kitchen.
In answer to a protest from Eric
Allen, representing American post
136, that plans concerning the
type of building were continually
"fluctuating," Baillie said that to
serve the community well, the
building: would have to be capa
ble of accommodating; a large va
Price Drop to Take
While to Work Way
Into Pocketbooks
i NEW YORK. Feb. $ - VP) -Bread
and batter note:
Don't be too hard an the gro
cer If his price on products from
wheat and cows don't "plunge
the limit" along with commodi
ties. Those gyrations la the com
modity markets of the nation
take a while to eddy Into the
corner store.
Wheat sold far cash at $2.7(44
a bushel In Chicago, dawn 11H
cents from yesterday.
Flour prices here were cut 25
cents a hundred pounds yester
day, which wouldn't mean much
In a loaf of bread. Besides, mill
ers and brokers have to work
off their higher-priced stocks
before the grocer gets hxs bread
cheaper. Aa an example, batter
went up H cent here today to
$L61 a pound.
Burglars 'Dig'
$9,000 from
Athena Bank
ATHENA,' Ore, Feb. 5-UPy-The
Athena bank was robbed of about
$9,000 in coins in the' night by
burglars who dug through a brick
wall of the bank vault.
The burglary was discovered by
the Janitor, J. E. Harwood, when
h came tn work this inorninfc.
The burglar alarm failed to
sound because of faulty wiring,
the bank manager said.
The burglars pried open a side
door to enter the Umatilla coun
ty bank building, then tunneled a
hole in the brick vault. Though
they got the coins, they failed to
obtain the bulk of the bank's cash,
which was kept in a steel safe
within the vault.
The bank, a branch of the Unit
ed States National of Portland, is
managed by F. S. LeGrow. He
estimated that the stolen money,
most of it in bags, would weigh
about 800 pounds.
Present Laws Said
Adequate to Gope
With Communism
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 -JP-Tighten
up some of the laws al
ready on the books and the de
partment of ustice- will be able
to cope with any red fifth col
umn. Attorney General Clark as
sured congressmen today.
"The government should not
run the risk of turning radicals
into martyrs," he explained. For
that reason he agrees with FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover that it
would be best not to outlaw the
communist party by statute.
riety of organizations and pro
grams. v
Correspondence with other ci
ties as far south : as Pasadena,
Calif,, concerning their auditor
ium buildings, is being carried on
by the building committee. Bail
lie said. He added that the Salem
auditorium 'should still contain a
seating capacity of between 3,500
and 4,000.
Coburn Grabenhorst, chairman
of the men's- promotional commit
tee, outlined a program of radio,
newspaper and service organiza
tion promotional activities "to
keep the memorial idea alive to
the people."
Silas Gaiser, member of the
building committee, reported that
the Salem Community Concert
association is beginning a cam
paign to. enroll its 1,800 members
into the $l-a-year individual
membership status of the Mem
orial association.
State Treasurer Leslie Scott In
troduced Admiral Gatch. Gatch
harked back to his childhood days
and Salem's Reed opera house'and
the Oddfellows temple which re
placed the opera house.
Guests at the meeting included
Marion County Clerk Harlan Judd
of the Reserve Officers associa
tion and Public Utilities Commis
sioner George Flagg. Mrs. Peery
Buren was . acting secretary in
place of her husband. President
Kimmell reported that the asso
ciation's next meeting was tenta
tively set for March 18.
Decline as
' . ii : ; ' -
mp Stopped
i. ! -
Drop Noted
In Wholesale
Price Index
CHICAGO. 'Feb. dm-
modify and stock rjrir hrnir
again today for the second suc
cessive aay ana some grain and
ousmess analysts expressed belief
the turninsr noint In th inflation
ary spiral may have been reached.
as nearly au grains crashed: the
Permissible limit on all Nnh
American markets and the New
York stock market retreated to the
lowest average level since June
uiese were toe major develop
ments in the price picture: f
1. The bureau of labor rtati:tir
reported a drop in wholesale
prices for the second straight week
and the Associated Press whole
sale composite of 35 commodities
recorded its sharpest daily de
cline in nine montns.- s
2. A. W. Zelomek of th Inter
national Statistical bureau in New :
York said the price break may
marx ine turning point oft infla
tion. He predicted a pronounced
price slums mizht wIpiw a tuunt
of vitally needed sond hM tw
jittery speculators . who had ex-
a a a . a I
peciea a rurtner rise. - f
Increasing Donbts , -
3. Ray Templeman of Thorn ason
and McKinnon. Chicaeo train
ccnmission ifirm, said that f con
fidence has been dealt a rude jolt,
brinemsr a situation that i nnt
likely to be cleared up overnight."
1
e added that . the grain i price
slump "possibly reflects increas
ing doubts and apprehension that
this might be the signal that the '
oft-predicted recession has start
ed with our economic , structure
wobbling." ... ,. .. ;, .
4. A senate-house budget sub
committee, asserting there' was
"grave danger of runaway tlnfla
tion," decided to set a $37,200,
000,000 ceiling on spending jn the
fiecal year starting July 1.
Wheat Drops Limit j
Wheat, the king pin In the ca
tion's commoditv ftrice Mrvim.
plunged the permissable daily lim
it oi iu cents a Dusnei in Chicago,.
Minneapolis, Kansas City re
Deatins Wednedavjc nrfnrmanc
Prices took the full fall at the
opening, attempted a feeble! rally,
and then slipped back again.
nearly all other- grains for fu
ture deliver broke the full limit
in all markets on the North Amer- -,
lean continent. "
Both New York stock and bonds -continued
to slide. , While ritivTn
losses were reduced here and there
on the New York stock exchange,
declines of fractions to 2 or more
Doints were in the maioritv urith --
virtually all groups affected? at the
ciose. I
Price Index Drop ;
The price Index for the week
ended January 31 showed a .4 per
cent decline to 187.3 per cent of
the 1926 average. J
Most business leaders and la
bor leaders throughout the nation
agreed that the break was a
healthy adjustment of the erica
structure. ' " i
Some comments: J
Donald W. Douglas. Los Ange
les, president of the Douglas Air
craft Co.: "It is: a natural and
healthy development in what had
become a dangerous situation." :
William G r e d e ; Milwaukee,
president of the Wisconsin! Manu
facturers' association:: "Very
frankly, I don't think this is it.V
inis appears to oe merely -a peri
od oi adjustment
Portland Prices Draa I
PORTLAND, Feb. 5-C-Caj-h
wheat prices plummeted 22 cents
here today, in the wake of a drop
in eastern commodity markets.
Soft varieties, quoted yesterday
at $2.72, fell to $2.50. Bids were
not recorded ori higher f protein
wheats.
The market break also was re
flected in a drop Of 30 cents a hun
dredweight on baker's flour, mak
ing a total decline in Portland
millers' prices of - approximately
90 cents since the December peak.
QUICKIES I
"Discoursing-, Isn't it - la
business for oarselves aad all
ef those opportunities In tkcV
SUtesman Want Ada! - --