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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1962)
Plge 20 EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Sunday, Jan. 21. 1961 I .... : vTocoRVAim Ljsanoewater - TO gJ K6 W . . r 1INCOIN 1 tf-'S- l IINTON IANI "r,; IAN I j VALLEY ILACHIY TO TUAtWIL.. JUNCTION jai u - c,Ty (J -J Wmdy PMk El 2052 ; "0EADWOOD TO EUGENE - v' v r J MAPIETON . 7 ? TO FLORENCE Isolated Valley There is no easy way to arrive at Lane County's Lobster Valley, above. For persons with patience and steady nerves, the coun ty's Deadwooa Road from Highway 36 is recommended. Luck ily, visitors to Paris, a small community near the valley, do not have to rely upon this sign, below, to know they have arrived. The town has a prosperous mill, lower right, surrounded by many homes but the only store is now closed and empty. Youngsters go to Alsea for school and there is not a foot of paved road fon many surrounding miles. I1 i' 'H"'I,J!M I 1 i' I I I m i n ! iiiiiiiwi i u II in liwiii in, , II J b y x n " h : su A' ' -1 - - . 1. 1 . . 1,1" n - Mr Most everyone in Lane County' portion of v iiiuai cvui vuiio ju xtuv vuuuiv uuiuuii ul i access iv I Iqjyjpc Lobster Valley lives in this small group of and there are no maps that will admit a road to nomes once ownea Dy xne local mm. xne only ine utile valley even exists. . Lobster Valley: The Plaee the Map Forgot access to the valley is through Benton County, s are no maps that will admit ; the little valley even exists. By SAM FREAR Of tb ReglsteMitimrd Tucked away in a mountain fold along the northern bound ary of Lane County is a littla valley that isn't marked on any map, nor is it given credit for being connected to anyplace by road. There is no pnstoffice, no store, no gas station and no church. There is no way for persons on Sunday drives to enter it by way of Lane County. And al though it lies within Lane Coun ty lines, its children go to school in Benton County. The valley is called Lobster, It is a pretty little valley, with rich farmlands beside small rivers, and backed up against hills thickly covered with em erald green trees. But it is a place few people in Lane County have heard of. It is not difficult to imagine why. If you want to go to it by way of the closest entry point with in Lane County there is a coun ty road (of sorts) called the Deadwood Road which parts from Highway 36 near Triangle Lake. The road goes through Alpha and Paris. These two Lana County areas are almost alwavs marked on maps, but for Alpha this is the only claim to fame. The days of its importance as a stage stop are past. A person knows he has been there only after pass ing its map location and realizes he didn't notice anything except a farmhouse or two. But it's different when en tering Paris. After carefully passing over the razor-backed Deadwood Mountain on a wind ing road barely wide enough for a small car, there is a sign in a tangle of blackberry vines at the bottom of the mountain: "Enter ing Paris. Population 133." Even though Paris has no store, no gas station, no post office, nor a church, there is a prosperous - appearing mill owned by the Coquille Valley Lumber Co. and a cluster of houses and trailers. From Paris the road signs begin to point the way to Lob ster Valley here county lines lose significance as the road winds in and out of Lane Coun ty. At the end of a short littie valley ' there is a cluster of homes. A woman, Mrs. Robert Royse, was standing on her porch. "Is this Lobster Valley?" "Part of it," she replied. No one is quite sure how Lob ster Valley got its name. It is assumed that someone tagged is such after observing the na tive crawfish around these parts. And, of course, Lobster Creek runs through Lobster Valley. It's a long way from Lobster Valley to Eugene. The valley is naturally turned toward Benton County. Folks do most of their business in the small town of Alsea. or travel 35 miles into Corvallis. This natural affiliation of the area with Benton County pro duced a secessionist movement in the fall of 1948 and the Lane County Court agreed that it should be annexed by Benton. But twixt the agreement and the opening of the legislature in 1949 something happened. When a permissive bill was en acted in Salem, it pertained only to that portion of Lobster Val ley within Lincoln County. This was transferred to Benton Coun ty, but Lane County has re tained the remainder. "When you first come out here it does seem kind of re mote," Mrs. Royse admitted, "hut you get used to it. It is nice and quiet out here." There are about 40 persons living within Lane County's share of the two-mile southern end of the valley. Children travel 13 miles to Alsea for schooling. The Alsea Lumber Co. mill, where many of the men work, is located in the Benton County end of the little valley. Mail if addressed to Alsea. But Mrs. Royse said that sha is very conscious that she lives within Lane County despite her isolation. For one thing, she and her husband are never forgotten by the tax collector. And if tha road needs work, Lane County is asked to fix it. She said she has never voted in the 10 years she has lived in the valley. Registration and vot ing is conducted in Paris. "And you know, by the time your husband gets home at 5 or 6 p.m. you just don't feel like going over the mountain to Paris," Mrs. Royse said. Some people have moved out of houses they rented from tha Royses. "It's not that they minded the isolation," Mrs. Royse said. "They just didn't like the inconveniences." But she has adapted to them. She has two freezers to store food in, and has become ad justed to planning ahead for all needs. Besides, the valley may seem remote, but it has the basic con veniences of modern life. "Peo ple come way out here and ara surprised that we have tele phones, running water, electri city and television," sha noted. 1 """"" ii-'.?h Johnny Isn't the Only One Who Can't Read Pioneering Texas Program to Challenge State's Adult Illiteracy Program EDITOR'S NOTE Johnny isn't the only one who can't read. Some of his parents can't, either. Ten per cent o adult Americans are illiter ate. To remedy this blight, a Texat university u pioncerinu a program in hopes it tcill teach everyone the dxflerenct between A and Z. By FINIS MOTHKRSHF.AD Of Iht Anocuted Prrti WACO, Tex. Wl Suppose you're In a bus. You casually (lance up to read a poster or Do smoking sign. If your bus is a typical cro.is ectlon of the United Slates, one out of every 80 passengers aboard can't read the signs, lie's illiterate. For two out of 100 adults in the country are unable to read with comprehension, a surpris ing figure for a nation that prides Itself on Its universal aducatlon. Worldwide the problem is worse. Seven out of 10 can't read. To challenge this appalling blight Is the task of the first literacy center of its kind in the United States. It is located at Baylor Univorsily, has been operating four years. "Since then," said Richard Cortright, until recently direc tor of tha literacy center, "a stream of people have come from Malaya, Cambodia, Indo nesia, Jordan, Hong Kong, Tan ganyika, India and all over the United States. They have coma to share information and prob lems concerning Illiteracy in the world. Soma have stayed to study and teach." In the world illiteracy is com monplace. In the United States it is not only a major impedi ment to a career. Often the il literate lives in agonized fear of embarrassment lest friends find him out. Soma hava man aged to keep the deficiency se cret for years. One case the center came across was a Dallas painting contractor. In his 80s, he could neither read nor write. Yet he earned more than $100 a week, owned his own homa and car. GOP State Legislators Advised to Give More Speeches to Create Winning Image SAI.EM (Pi Republican state legislators were told Sat urday they must make more speeches in order to create an image that would win this year's elections for the (iOP. The advice came from Wally Hunter, executive director of the State Republican Central Committtee. He spoka at a con ference of Republican members of the Legislature. ' As a starter, Hunter an nounced that panels of GOP legislators arid other officials will apepar at luncheons and dinners of Feb. 14 in 12 cities. He called this "Alert Orec.on Day." These panel meetings will be held in Portland, Salem, Ku gene, Rnjehurg, Medford, The Dalles, Bend, Klamath Falls, randlelon, La Grande, Baker and Ontario. The meetings at Portland. Sa lem and Baker will be luncheon dates, while the other appear ances will be at dinners. The purpose of these meet ings, Hunter said, is to "alert tha voters of Oregon to tha need for electing a Republican controlled House and adding further GOP strength to the Senate." The Democrats held a 31-29 lead In the 1961 House, and 2010 In the Senate. Feb. 14 was picked because that is the anniversary of Ore gon's admission to the Union. Hunter said lots of hard work must he done to get people to register in the Republican par ly. And. he went on, tha GOP legislators can help greatly by making many public addresses. He pointed out that the Re publicans trailed hy 78.000 in registration in I960, and said this deficit could reaih 100.000 this year unles the parly goes to work. But he said ha thought the Republican deficit could be re duced to less than 78.000. The Republicans hava a regis tration lead In only eight of the 36 counties. Hunter told the legislators how to conduct their campaigns more effectively. Rep. F. F. Montgomery. R KuRcne. House GOP leader, con ducted the meetings. Hunter spoke In plare of Rob ert G. Davis. Grants Tass. slate Republican chairman, who was unable to attend because of ad verse weather. Since he could not read signs, he memorized the appearance of stores and streets. Close atten tion to television, radio and the conversation of friends kept him surprisingly well posted on current events, which he would pretend to cull from news papers. Playing a Role When he finally raised the courage to ask instruction, he confessed: "For more than 40 years I have been playing a role, afraid of my friends, my wife, my bus iness associates and finally my own 6-ycar-old daughter." Another noureadcr told of at tending a Sunday school class where the practice was to pass about various periodicals for quick perusal and discussion. Carefully he would observe how long it took othera to scan the printed matter, and then time himself accordingly. "If there weren't any pictures on the page, I would be scared to death I might be holding it upside down." The center at Baylor has a twofold program: to train spe cialists as specialists in literacy work and set up community and area workshops for training vol unteer teachers and writers. Already tha center has been able to cite progress. So far, 1,738 Texans have been taught to read. Another 1.068 are be ing taught and 483 are learning English as a second language. It is estimated, however, that the stale still has 800,000 func tional illiterates. Baylor has turned out 2,286 literacy tutors, either on the campus or in Txas community workshops coordinated by the nation's first statewide council for this purpose. Area or local councils have been established in 84 cities or towns. An im portant purpose of the Baylor program is teaching people to read well enough to understand the Bible. Workshops and councils have been established In a dozen other states, mostly in the South. And in an "each one teach one" crusade, individuals, with out waiting for further instruc tion, are asked to teach someone else a lesson he has just learned. Missioner's Methods Baylor's literacy program em ploys methods evolved by Frank C. Laubach, Congregational EWEB Audit to Comply With Thorntons Opinion Byron Trice, superintendent of the Eugena Water & Electric Board, said Saturday the board will comply with an attorney general's opinion on how EWEB docs its annual financial audit. The opinion, made this week by Attorney General Robert Y. Thornton, said that the audit of the City of Eugene should in cluded the audit of the munici pal utility. EWEB has never submitted its audit to tha secretary of state. This year, the secrctary'a audit division refused to accept tha city'i audit unless It con tained the utility's figures. This led to the attorney general's opinion. Price said that EWEB will probably continue to employ its own auditor and that the audit will be "certified" to the city's auditor. This would amount to a certificate that the EWEB au- Idit had been made. Church missionary who founded World Literacy Inc. The organi-' zation is credited with helping IS million persons in 64 nations to read. Instruction is keyed to charts, each bearing a letter of the alphabet superimposed on the picture of a familiar obiect. Tha name of the object begins with the same letter. The teachers use whatever fa cilities are available. One in Abilene used church basements, vacant elassrooms, private homes and once even used cars during a sandstorm because no other shelter was readily available. At Rotan, Tex., a graduation class for newly taught adult readers contained the first Negro to finish a course there. They held a graduation banquet in a public restaurant. "We considered the integrat ed banquet a fine exampla of what literacy work can do to break down barriers," one of the leaders said. One 70-year-old woman, who never went to schools and could ; only write "I am fine," came to j a teacher because she wanted to "know more about figuring." She was a quick learner, spurred hy her ambition "to read the Bible and write letters to my daughter." r
