Univ. of Oregon Library
euustis, oascoH
TIE BEND-BULLETIN
CENTRAL OREGON'S i DAILY NEWSPAPER
Sf ate Forecast
OregonPartly cloudy with
scattered afternoon and eve-,
n)ng thundershowers today
and Saturday. High 82 to 92
both days. Low 45 to 55 to
night.
LEASED WIRE WORLD
; NEWS COVERAGE
33rd Year
Boy Scouts Complete Plans
For Redmond Circus Program;
Three Counties Represented
Final plans for the Boy Scout circus, scheduled fnr Kntur.
day evening at 7:30 at the Redmond fairgrounds, were made
last evening at a three county meeting of scout officials and
leaders, in Redmond. W. M. Romine, Prineville; district activi
ties cnairman in cnarge ot the
all acts were in readiness and
promptly at 7 :30 p.m. Romine
circus program for all Cub
scouts or the rremont district
to take place immediately fol-
t through Redmond.
1 Rupert E: Park, Kiwanian
from Redmond, will be grand
marshal for the parade which
will present the Cub scouts in
their animal act costumes leading
the procession. The, parade will
form in Redmond on "B" street
between 6th and 8th streets.
Feature Chariot Race
The chariot races, in the style
of the old Romans, promises to
be a big feature of the parade and
circus. Prizes are being given for
. the best decorated chariot in the
parade, and for the fastest char
iots in the three groups for Cub
scouts, Boy Scouts, and senior
scouts in the races at the circus.
P. M. Houk, Redmond, vice
president of the Modoc area Boy
Scout council, was in charge of
the meeting of the Fremont dis
trict committee, at which session
Robert E. Cargo's appointment as
commissioner for the area in and
around Warm Springs was ap
proved. Cargo has many years
service in scouting, having just
recently been district commission
er for the entire northern part of
New Mexico before moving to
Warm Springs. At the meeting of
the district committee, Robert E.
Johnson of Bend, chairman of or
ganization, reported that scouting
in the Fremont district was grow
ing steadily and that there are at
present 265 Boy Scouts and 275
Cub scouts registered. Henry C.
Hulett, commissioner from Prine
ville, announced the formation of
troop 36 of Prineville at a meeting
W Tuesday evening at which 25 Boy
1 1 -
Scouts were recruited.
Directs Leaders Session
George Fulton, commissioner
from Bend, was in charge of the
Cub scout leaders' session at last
night's gathering. These leaders
made plans to extend the leisure
time activities of Cub scouts
throughout the summer months.
Fremont's Cub scouters in attend
ance were: George Thompson,
cubmaster of pack 27; Al Jorgen
son, cubmaster pack 25; W. H.
Myers, chairman, William Durfee,
committeeman, and Don Fahey
secretary-treasurer all of pack 23,
Bend; Len Dixon, chairman, and
Eldon Ball, cubmaster of pack 28
of Prineville and Robert Moore,
cubmaster of pack 37, of Madras.
Herbring In Charge
Leo Herbring, of Bend, district
scout commissioner, was in
charge of the Boy Scout leaders'
session, and was assisted by com
missioners Bill Bevans and Don
ald Shinglcr, Bend, and Henry C.
Hulett of Prineville. Scouters in
attendance were: Jerry Dalken
berg, and Kelly Swafford of troop
21, Bend; William White, and L.
R. Carpenter of troop 23, Bend;
Ray L. Howard of troop 60, Bend;
Ivan G. Marsh of troop 27, Bend;
Donald Palmer, and Robert Max
well of troop 2fi, Redmond; and
R. H. Denman chairman troop 27,
Bend.
(Continued on Page 5)
Eisler's Escape May Jolt
Courts Into Tougher Policy
Bv Lvle C. Wilson
(United Prw. Staff Correspondent)
Washington, May 13 Gerhart
Eisler's bail Jump may jolt some
American judges out of their
habit of permitting subversive
characters or aliens convicted of
criminal offenses to roam around
the United States.
It also may persuade congress
to give the justice department
some new legislation to deal with
deportable aliens who engage in
subversive activities in this coun
try. Eisler is a top-drawer commun
ist skilled in deceit and subvers
ion. A person who seems to be
identical with him In all charac
teristics so far explored is aboard
the Polish passenger liner Batory
approaching Great Britain and en
route, he hopes, to safety behind
the iron curtain in Poland. If it is
not Eisler, the resemblance is
remarkable. The Immigration
service says the stowaway is
Eisler.
Under Bond
The fast-talking little red is
under $23,500 bond, having been
convicted on criminal charges of
contempt of congress and making
false passport statements. He is
out of jail on appeal. There re
cently were more than 2.000 de
portable aliens on the justice de
partment books for return to
countries behind the Iron curtain.
circus, announced that nearly
that the circiis would begin
has called a rehearsal of the
scouts, Boy Scouts and senior
i c '
yyianr o equoia
Exhibited in
Rock Garden
Central Oregon's trees of an
cient days were giants.
This is the opinion of Rasmus
Petersen, and in support of his
belief he has hauled a 3 'A ton
slab of petrified wood from the
Antelope country,, and has the
massive specimen on display at
his rock gardens, in Deschutes
county halfway between Bend and
Redmond.
The huge slab of agatized and
partly opalized wood is believed
to represent a species of sequoia
that grew in Oregon millions of
years ago, before the rising Cas
cades dehydrated clouds that
rolled eastward from the Pacific.
Curvature of the slab indicates
that the tree was 12 or 15 feet
In diameter.
Found by Rancher
Petersen first heard of the mas
sive chunk of petrified wood sev
eral years ago, following its dis
covery by Sam ulover, an old-
time rancher of the Antelope
country. Glover found the speci
men in the Indian creek area.
Only about a foot of the surface
was exposed. Extensive excava
tion revealed the rest, and the
weight was estimated at 3V4 tons.
A tractor was used in hauling
the slab from its age-old resting
place, and block and tackle were
required to load It on a truck;' It
was then hauled some 90 miles to
its resting place, under a poplar
tree at the far-tamed rocK gard
ens. - :
Aridity Shown
Rings of growth are in evidence
in various pahts of the specimen,
and persons who have- studied
these rings say there is evidence
that it grew under conditions of
that epoch when the ancestral
Cascades to the west were becom
ing imposing peaks. The rings
of growth are not as thick as
those found in redwood stumps
of the now-vanished Brink "fossil
forest near Prineville.
Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, Univer
sity of California paleobotanist, is
authority for the statement that
redwoods were abundant m this
part of the state in remote ages.
He has found sequoias abundant
ly represented in rain-belt forests
of the Bridge creek region.
'Living fossils" of Uregon'c pre
historic redwood forests are now
found in an isolated area of inter
ior China. These are known as
the "dawn age" redwoods. .
TAX PLAN ABANDONED
Portland, May 13 (IP) City
Commissioner Kenneth Cooper
said today he has abandoned at
tempts this year to raise addi
tional city revenue through a
tax or license fee on water use.
Attorney General Tom C. Clark
told the house un-American ac
tivities committee more than a
year ago that upward of 100 of
these persons had been convicted
on charges of subversive actlvt
tics.
But the department has trouble
keeping such persons In jail or
even under surveillance. It has
even more trouble trying to send
them home. The records are full
of cases In which aliens, some
communists and some fascists,
have worked the federal courts
for habeas corpus writs or bail
not once but often to get out of
clink. The countries to which
they belong, notably the Soviet
Union and its subject states, balk
the United States government by
refusing to accept their native
sons and daughters when we try
to ship them home, postpaid.
The answer to that is that a
subversive communist frequently
is more useful to Moscow in the
United States than back home in
Russia. The department can hold
such a person for a limited period,
but the courts never have Indi
cated what should be regarded as
a reasonable period of detention.
Under such circumstances the
rits of habeas corpus or bail
more often than not are granted
to Individuals whose sole mission
here is to destroy the public
I peace.
BEND,
Redwood Slab
Discovered
in an ancient
southwest of Antelope, this massive slab of petrified redwood Is
now on display at the Petersen rock gardens. Petersen is pictured
standing beside the 3'4 ton specimen.
Survey of Water Loss Areas
Set for Upper Deschutes
A survey of water loss areas along the Deschutes river up
stream from irrigation diversion points will be conducted this
summer by bureau of, reclamation personnel, ana plans will
be prepared for sealing off some of the areas, it was reported
today by J. W. Taylor, Deschutes project engineer. The pur
pose of the project, according to Taylor, will be to increase
the amount of water flowing into irrigation canals.
Through studies already made, it appears that over 50,000
General Clay
Blockade Letup
Berlin, May 13 (IB Gen. Lucius
D. Clay pronounced the lifting of
the German blockades a success
today, thus reflecting soviet
cnarges tnat tne western powers
failed to live up to their part
of the agreement
The retiring U. S. military gov
ernor said in a final press con
ference that he was satisfied
"there was good faith on both
sides" in putting into effect the
four power agreement removing
the soviet blockade of Berlin and
related restrictions.
Both Russia and the western
powers have kept, their promises
to lift regulations aimed at block
ading each other, Clay said. He
spoke after the Soviets, tnrougn
their official organ here, had ac
cused the western big three of
failing to erase completely their
counter-blockade of the soviet
zone.
Technicalities Remain
"There are always technicalities
to be resolved, Clay said, "but
nothing of a serious nature has
arisen.
Among the technicalities he
mentioned was the shaking down
of the present application of an
agreement for shipment of iron,
coal and steel from western Ger
many to the soviet zone. The
agreement expired during the
blockade.
Clay refused to say whether he
believed a united Germany would
emerge from the big four meeting
in Paris, or whether the foreign
ministers would come to any
agreement there.
Clay emphasized that there
would be no early withdrawal of
u. s. troops irom Germany, even
though the Russians might pro
pose a complete evacuation of
occupation troops at the Paris
meeting.
WILL CONDUCT MEMORIAL
At the meeting of Deschutes
county Pomona grange Saturday
at the Redmond grange hall, Mrs.
Vern Lantz, chaplain, will con
duct the organization's first an
nual memorial service. The Bul
letin was in error yesterday in
listing Vern Lantz as chaplain.
Principal speaker at the lectur
er's program In the afternoon will
be James F. fehort, Redmond,
state legislator representing' Des
chutes and Lake counties. The
afternoon session is open to the
public.
IJOS ANGELES HAS QUAKE
Los Angeles, May 13 IIP) A
minor earthquake was felt in the
Los Angeles area at 2:19 a. m.
fst today, Dut no damage was
reported.
Police said the tremor appar
ently centered In the Glendale-
Pasadena Montrosc area.
DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON, FRIDAY, MAY 13. 1949
Weighs Vh Tons
ami i.sw$84s
f-v
formation overlooking Indian creek,
acre feet of water is lost an
nually from the main river
channel at several points in a
15 mile area upstream from
Bend. Evidence indicates that
some of the water returns to
the-'river above -Bend and is
available for irrigation, but inves'
tigation has shown that a great
amount of the water does not re
turn to the river channel above
the Irrigation diversion points.
"Lost" River Involved
A major loss point on the river
above Bend is known as "Lost
river" among bureau personnel.
It is situated on the east bank of
the Deschutes river upstream just
above Lava island. Records indi
cate that, at times, 50 acre feet of
water a day flows into Lost
river" from the main river chan
nel, and only about 20 per cent of
the loss returns to the Deschutes
river above the diversion canals.
Water flows into "Lost river" ap
proximately five months each
year.
in an article in tne May issue oi
the magazine, "The Reclamation
Era," Harold Sexton, bureau engi
neer who has been studying the
water loss problem here, describes
an experiment made to trace the
run of "Lost river."
He states that "Lost river
flows from its source into several
small streams which terminate in
the porous lava flow of Lava
butte.
Dye Used
In the experiment a dye called
Uranine" was used. It is a red
powder which is easily dissolved
in water and is easily detected in
great quantities of water.
Dye was introduced Into "Lost
river" at a rate of one pound to
each 30 million pounds of water
flowing in the Deschutes river
proper. Twenty-five pounds were
released over a 100 minute period.
Samples were then taken at
hourly Intervals at three main
points along the river. They were
at: one and one half miles down
stream from "Lost river" where
the elevation is 100 feet lower and
just below the lowest point where
the Lava butte flow reached into
the old river ciiannol; upproxi-
(Continued on Page 5)
Woodworkers
Get Contract
Portland. Mav 13 HI'' The CIO
International Woodworkers of
America today agreed on a new
working contract with the lum
bermen's Industrial relations com
mittee.
Commissioner George Walker
of the federal labor mediation and
conciliation service said an ac
cord was reached and will affect !
25,000 woodworkers between Bel-
lingham, Wash, and Central Ore-;
gon.
Demands had been made by the
union for an unsnerifierl wnvn In-
crease, a health and welfare pro- i
gram, six paid holidays, six hour j
day and a hike In the night shift
differential of 10 cents. i
A differential Increase of four !
cents an hour was agreed upon, j
Other provisions of the contract j
were not released pending ratlfica-,
tion ny union members in the two I
states. i
Pension Bill
Referendum
Move Starts
Salem, May 13 HP The old age.
pension group led by Joe E.
Dunne of Portland today made
good Its threat to launch a refer
endum movement against the old
age assistance act passed by the
recent legislature and signed Into
law the first of this week by Gov.
Douglas McKay. ' '
Hie preliminary petition for ref
erendum, addressed to Secretary
of state Earl T. Newbry and filed
with Election commissioner David
O'Hara, was not signed by Dunne,
ftames on the petition were those
ot Opal L. Horok (1912 S. E. 40th
Ave.) and Henry C. Menasco (1737
S. E. Umatilla Ave.), both of Port
land, and Carson U. Harbaugh
(838 Highland Ave.) of Salem.
.'. Leaders of the referendum
movement have by July 15 to get
tne qualified signatures ot 15.S26
Oregon voters on their petitions.
II tney are successful, the law will
be 'held In abeyance pending its
submission to the people at the
general election in November,
1950.-
' j Adopted by Votes
Even before the governor had
acted on the measure, one of the
most controversial before the 1949
Oregon legislature, old age pen
sion advocates had threatened to
refer It if the bill was signed Into
law. Oregon voters last jNovem
:ber adopted a mandatory, mini
mum old age pension of $50 a
month. The bill passed, by the
recent legislature altered, this to
provide a $50 pension if and when
.there is money enough in the gen
eral fund to pay for it.
When Gov. McKay signed the
bill this week, he said he was
"convinced the, welfare of the
state and of the aged citizens who
are in need will be advanced if
this bill becomes law."
i Said the governor: "I would be
ilerelict in my obligations if I dis
approved it." He added in a
statement to the press:
"There has been a great deal
of misunderstanding as to its pro
visions and I urge that interested
parties consider these facts:
"There Is no 'lien' provision in
the law. No one will be asked
under Its provisions to sign away
anv brorjertv. . Provisions are
made -that If both recipient hus
band and wife die and leave an
estate other than an occupied
home, a claim may be filed
against such estate which may be
considered a preferred claim un
der the law ...
"The act also vests the public
welfare commission with a discre
tion to dispose of any sucn claim
'in any manner deemed equitable,
or to waive payment in any case
in which such commission finds
that the enforcement thereof . . .
would be inequitable and would
tend to defeat the purpose of the
public assistance law.' The latter
provision, properly administered,
will prevent unjust burdens."
Air-Education
Meeting Tonight
The aviation committee of the
Central Oregon chamber of com
merce will meet tonight at 8
o'clock in the Houk Motor Co.
office In Redmond.
A discussion will bo held on the
Dlains for the forthcoming air-
education day scheduled for June
12 in Redmond and the ail-central
Oregon dance on June 4 at
the Veterans of Foreign Wars
hall in Redmond.
The air-day program will be
sponsored jointly by the Central
Oregon chamber and the Oregon
state board of aeronautics. The
dance will he held by the cham
ber to help sponsor the program.
Tentative plans have been made
for holding an airplane crop dust
ing exhibition, guest rides on air
planes, an all-girl air race, and
a Bucgnroo breakfast, as fea
tures of the air-day.
Prineville Scene
Prineville, May 13-Four box
cars, most of them empty, were
derailed here last night at 11:15
o'clock when they broke away
from the engine on the steep
grade leading from the north cily
limits to the Hudspeth mill. It
was one of the few wrecks record
ed in the history of the munici
pal railroad and damage, mostly
to track, was reported not exten
sive. No one was injured In the acci
dent. Five cars were In the string
that broke away from the engine,
but one was not derailed.
The car raced down the steep
grade to the main track, then
came to a stop In a derailment at
a deadend.
The accident occurred at a time
when tracks were clear and traf
fic in the area was light.
Derailed cars were being right
ed today through the use of Jacks,
and It will not be necessary to can
In a wrecking crew from the main
line.
7 Forest Biases Extinguished
In Deschutes Area; Northwest
Still Experiences Hot Weather
Pasco Hotel
Fire Claims
Lives of Two
Pasco, Wash., May 13 (IB Two
men suffocated, four persons
were injured and 31 guests fled
to safety through windows and
smoke-filled corridors today when
fire destroyed the main floor sec
tion of the 25-room Lewis hotel.
The Pasco fire department
Identified the dead as Clarence
M. Heath (4138 SE 62nd Ave.,)
Portland, and Carl Hillman (3439
NE Alameda St.) Portland. They
were overcome by smoke and died
in their rooms before firemen
could reach them.
Assistant fire chief Lyle Coon
ey estimated damage at $40,000,
with virtually all the loss In the
Sky club lounge, Sears Roebuck
Co., store and restaurant on the
ground floor below the hotel
rooms.
Started at Midnight
The fire started In the Sky
club at midnight, 15 minutes aft
er the lounge manager and four
customers left the building, ac
cording to Cooney. When the fire
department arrived, the down
stairs section was enveloped in
flames. . I
The Injured were Identified as
Norris FIrlnger, Yakima; Albert
Lynd, Yakima; Otis Huntley,
Walla Walla, and Fred Dux, Bel-
lingnam.
One guest escaped by fasten
ing a garden hose to his window
frame and sliding to the ground.
The hose was thrown to him
from the mound bv bystanders.
A mother led- hei, two children!
through smoke-shrouded vhalKl
ways. Firemen carried some of
the guests out the windows.
Hillman was assistant branch
manager for the Columbia Rib
bon & Carbon Co., Portland, and
was on his first road trip to
eastern Washington. He was a
native of Spokane.
Heath, 63, was a singer by pro
fession but had sold novelty
jewelry In recent years. As a
singer he had performed In big-
time vaudeville with the Urph
eum and Pantages circuits.
Tunnel Clogged
After Explosion
New York, May 13 til' An ex
plosion of poisonous carbon dlsul-
phide on a truck in the Holland
tunnel under the Hudson liver
filled the tube with fumes today
and started a fire that spread to
a dozen other trucks which were
abandoned by their drivers.
Twenty firemen were overcome
fighting the blaze. Ten persons
were taken to hospitals.
Traffic backed up for blocks
on the New York and New Jersey
sides of the tunnel as port author
ities closed off both its tubes. The
tunnel carries an average of 106.-
000 vehicles daily.
Police emergency trucks and
disaster units Joined ambulances
and fire department units at the
scene. Five police doctors were
sent into the tunnel. Drivers of
more than 60 cars and trucks were
reported to have abandoned their
vehicles and escaped from the tun
nel on foot.
A 16-ton trailer truck operated
by the Boyce Trucking Co. of Jer
sey City, N.J., was about one-third
of the distance Into the tunnel
from the New Jersey side, en
route to Manhattan, when its load
of 90 55-gallon drums of carbon
dlsulphlde began exploding.
Carbon disulphide is an Inflam
mable, poisonous liquid used as
a solvent for rubber and other
materials, and as an insecticide.
CARDINAL LOSING MINI)
Vatican City, May 13 'Hi The
Vatican radio said today that
Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, im
prisoned Catholic primate of
Hungary, was "critically 111 and
losing his mind."
The Vatican broadcast credited
the report of Cardinal Mlndszen
ty's condition to a Hungarian doc
tor who was not named. It said
he was now a resident of Vienna,
nd recently arrived In Rome.
The Cardinal was convicted by
a people's court In Budapest last
February ot espionage, treason
and black market dealing in cur
rency. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment.
Lightning yesterday afternoon started seven fires in widelv
scattered areas of the Deschutes national forest but, with the
excepuun oi one, an were
origin. One that started near Indian butte spread over part
of an acre before it was checked, '. .
Three of the lightning fires
of Moffit butte, adjacent to
uena district one was spotted
Oiling Started
On Warm Springs
Road Section
Oiling of a 24.77 mile stretch
of the new Warm Springs high
way was started yesterday with
Babler Brothers, Kedmond, In
charge. The work was started at
the end of the present oil, a short
distance west of the Warm
Springs agency.
When this unit is completed the
new highway will have been oiled
from Madras west to the boundary
of the Mt. Hood national forest,
through Jefferson and Wasco
counties. Only section remaining
to be oiled will be the seven-mile
unit in the forest boundary. This
already has been graded, with the
exception of finishing work, and
will be surfaced and oiled by the
public roads administration. Work
on the PRA unit will start just as
soon as snow conditions permit,
with surfacing to be Immediately
followed by oiling.
Racing Against Time
Because the PRA unit Is in the
high country, just west of Bear
springs on the waptnitia cutoff,
contractors doing the oiling will
be racing against time late this
summer, but engineers are con
fident the work can be completed
this fall. ' -. v
-f Splitting- the secilori being oiled
by Babler Brothers is the Mill
creek brldg.e now under construc
tion. The contractors expect to
oil the unit between the Agency
ana Mill creek in about two weeks,
then will shift their operations
north of the span. At the west
end of this section, a 5'i mile
stretch of road must be surfaced
before oil can be applied. This1
comes under the Babler Brothers
contract.
The new highway, a shortcut
from Central Oregon points to
Portland, is now oiled from Mad
ras, where the route links with
highway -97, west to the agency.
Motorists are being advised that
through travel over the new grade
Is not yet possible, with a detour
necessary over the rugged Badger
and Beaver creek routes,
Matthews Gets
Navy Nomination
Washington, May 13 (in Prcsl-
dent Truman today nominated
Francis P. Matthews, Omaha law
yer, banker, and Catholic leader,
to be secretary of navy.
With Matthews' appointment,
Mr. Truman sent to the senate the
nomination of Dan A. Kimball to
be undersecretary of navy. Kim
ball is now assistant navy secre
tary. Matthews, 62, was picked to suc
ceed John L. Sullivan who re
signed in protest against cancella
tion of navy plans to build a
65,000-ton aircraft carrier.
Matthews has no army or navy
service background, but he served
on President Truman's commit tee
on civil rights In 11)10.
U.S. Wheat Surplus Expected
To Be Greatest
Washington, May 13 mi The
government expects farm bins to
overflow this summer with the
greatest wheat supply in the na
tion's history.
Current prospects are that the
supply will be greater than 1,600,
000.000 bushels. That's 50 per cent
more wheat than the country had
In the summer of 1940, when
there was plenty to meet Its
needs.
During the flood of wheat to
market, officials disclosed, the
government plans to buy at the
free market price millions of
bushels of wheat for Its export
programs, even though It already
owns more than half of the re
maining 194H crop wheat because
of price support operations. This
will tend to hold up market prices
for farmers who don't have the
storage space required for price
support protection.
However, if crop prospects are
No. 135
controlled near tneir points ot .
were reported from the vicinitv
the Fremont highway. In the
near Klak butte and one near
South Twin lake. Another was
reported from the Big hole
area, in the Fort Rock district.
"Sleepers" were expected to
show up today, and lookouts
were on the alert in various
parts of the forest. Only light
rains accompanied the electric
display. ;,
More Storms Duo '
Earlier this week a fire was re
ported from the Bessie butte area.
More thunderheads Were blos
soming along the southern hori
zon today and forecasts indicated
th'at electric storms again might
'occur this afternoon.
Foresters said the woods are ex
tremely dry for this time of the
year, and week end anglers and
recreationlsts were asked to use
caution with fire over the week
end. .
(By Onlteil Proa) '
The weather kept a hot and
dangerous clutch on the Pacific
northwest Friday. Snow sloughed
off the mountains and brought
the Columbia river and Its tribu
tary network to flood stage.
Forester crews battled 17 scat
tered forest blazes touched off by
electric storms.: ',
Canadian engineers opened
flood gates on a dam at Carolyn,
B. C, to relieve the threatened
dikes at Bonners Ferry, Ida. The
able-bodied of the town's 2,500 in
habitants worked on dikes which
only had three feet of free board.
The Kootenai river sped by at
28 feet. The top of the dike was
31. Mrs. C. C. Kruebel, chairman
of the panhandle town's Red
Cross; said evacuation plan were
laid but she didn't think they
would be needed,
Engineers Alert v
A special company of army en
gineers arrived from Ft. Lewis,
Wash., equipped with bulldozers,
amtracks, power shovels, a water
purification unit and a liaison
Plane.
The Columbia river at Vancou
ver, Wash., edged past its 15-foot
flood stage and was predicted to
reach 20.9 by Monday. The Wil
lamette river was expected to go
to 20.7. Both readings would be
the highest since last June's dam
aging 30-foot crest.
In north central Washington
the Okanogan and Methow rivers
flooded and closed highway bridg
es over each, but they remained
six to eight feet - under last
spring's high water.
Burning timberlands In Oregon
kept forester crews at work on 14
fires In the western part of the
state. Three spots east of the Cas
cade mountains were ablaze near
Sun butte.
I 120 Acres Burned
A slash fire, 25 miles southwest
of Portland, covered a 120-acre
patch. Its flumes were visible
from the Portland hills.
Red Cross disaster Chairman
R. O. Fisk of Union, Ore., said the
Catherine creek dikes had broken,,
three miles west of the city. Re
taining walls recently put up by
the city were reported collapsed
but blocking the stream.
Last year's flood damage to the
Union area totaled $500,000, hut
residents this time thought the
loss would be less.
The fire hazard continued as
the relative humidity dropped at
three Oregon cities. Logging is
ordered to halt when values of
less than 30 per cent are found.
Ontario noted 23, Baker 26 and
The Dalles 27.
in History
borne out, officials expect the
record-smashing supply may:
1. Drive market prices consider
ably below the government's
farm stored support price, at least
temporarily during the summer
when wheat floods to the termi
nals. 2. Put a temporary billion-dollar
wheat strain on the govern
ment's price support system.
(That doesn't mean the govern
ment could lose that much. Rath
er, It may have that much tied up
in price support loans and stocks.
If the farmer doesn't pay off the
loan, the government gets the
wheat.) i
3. Force farmers to accept a
government-regulated cutback In
production next year to avoid
burdensome surpluses.
4. Give the country a large
enough reserve stockpile to
weather any drouth next year.