Clark Wood, Who Gained
Fame for Paragraphs, Retires
Weston, Ore., Jan. 27 WP) Clark Wood, the country editor
who rose to high regard on a paragraph, has quit.
In the 1920s and early '30s when the Literary Digest re-printed
editorial quips, nearly every issue had from one to five credited
xo tne weston (Ore.), leader.
That was Clark Wood.
Wednesday night at a ban
quet he formally ended a para
grapher's career that went back
over 50 years. More than 200
friends attended the banquet
made him the object of friendly
jibes, and gave him farewell
gifts.
He was 13 years old when he
went to work on the Leader as a
printer's devil. Fourteen years
later he bought the paper and
ran it for 51 years in this north
eastern Oregon town.
Wood developed the para
grapher's technique: packing an
editorial punch into one para
graph. He said he was told, and
found it true, that a man
couldn't write both long and
short editorials any more than
a mechanic could be both a car
penter and a bricklayer.
So the Weston Leader's edi
torial page was filled with sin
gle paragraph editorials
sometimes as many as 50 in a
single issue.
"I put all Clark Wood had in
to writing every one of those
paragraphs," he once said. But
that was in the days when they
had a readership of millions.
More than 500 were reprinted in
the Literary Digest and many
were flashed on movie screens
as one of the silent era's enter
tainment features.
-fx M r .?
Rllea Doe
Rilea Doe Will
Speak Monday
Rilea W. Doe, vice president
of Safeway Stores, Inc., will
have a very intriguing subject
when he talks to the Salem
Chamber of Commerce next
Monday noon.
"Don't Act Your Age," is an
nounced, and it is said to be
something out of the ordinary,
based on long experiences and
close observation of the Ameri
can and world scenes.
He has been with Safeway
31 years, starting as a young
man in Idaho. His home is in
Oakland. He is a past director of
the Oakland Chamber of Com
merce and past president of the
Community Chest fo' that city.
He was one of five directors
of Rotary International from the
United States, and is a member
of the domestic distribution
department of the United States
Chamber of Commerce.
In late years, "I just set them
up from the type case as I make
them up in my head."
t
There was a timeless quality
about many.
. For example, in 1920 he said,
'we usually think of Uncle Sam
as tall, but this year he is about
fifteen hundred million short"
Or, in 1921: "Longer trousers
will be worn this year accord
ing to master tailors. Some of
us have already worn them as
long as we can.
And in 1941: "Were this gov
ernment spending water like
money, thered be dust bowls
in both oceans."
The exacting art of para
graphing he called "the devil's
own instrument of mental tor
ture," and the habit of writing
them, "damnably insidious."
He conceded he was proud of
the national readership his
paragraphs had, but once re
marked, "If I'm famous for any
thing, I guess it is for my long
service singing at funerals."
His favorite was "Asleep in
the Deep" because he could
hit the low notes. He sang it 700
times over the years, according
to the late Robert Ripley's "Be
lieve It or Not" cartoon.
And at Wednesday night's
dinner the Elks quartet from
Walli Walla sang it for him.
Wood joined in.
Wood stayed in Weston be
cause he liked its democracy:
"The richest farmer can seldom
be distinguished from his hired
man." He tried the middle-sized
cities on the Pendleton East
Oregonian and the La Grande
Chronicle before buying the
Leader in 1895. And he was
lured to Portland in 1913 as a
paragrapher for the Oregon
Journal
A letter from Wilbur F
Brock, retired newspaperman,
of Kennewick, Wash., read at
last night's banquet, said that
many years ago Wood turned
down a $75 a week offer from
the Los Angeles Times to write
a daily column on any subject.
He had had his fill of cities.
In 1946 he sold the Leader to
the Milton E.e and remained
as associate editor.
Now he has quit, at the age
of 80, and will go next month
to the Pythian home at Van
couver, Wash.
mm
Capital Journal, Salem, Ore., Friday, January 27, 1950 7
tusk Proves Belief
In Respect for Law
Oregon City, Jan. 27 W) Hall
E. Lusk, chief justice of the state
upreme court, gave a speech
here on respect for the law. Then
he gave an example.
He emerged from the speech
to find' police had impounded
his car which he had inadver
tently left parked in a zone re
served for fire truck maneuver
ing. He went right over to the
police station and paid a $3.50
fine.
Set out water for birds in clay
or wooden bowls to prevent
freezing or add an old pocket
mirror to reflect warming light.
Wood's formal schooling in
cluded a year at Weston Nor
mal, but he decided he could
learn more in a newspaper of
fice than in the classroom.
That probably didn't account
for the quip by Olin Miller of
the Thomaston, Ga., Times, that
"Clark Wood is the only man in
Weston, Ore., who wears an'
empty hat." Wood and Miller
kept up a friendly barrage of
insults both by mail and in their
newspapers. The two were the
most frequently quoted of all
the paragraphers in the Literary
Digest. Miller remains active in
the field, writing for the Atlan
ta Journal.
The colonel that's what
Wood is called here was born
in Monona county, la., on June
7, 1869, and was two years old
when he came to Weston by
mule team with his parents.
He grew into a robust man,
nearly six feet tall, and still
carries himself erectly. A bit of
trouble with his eyesight is the
chief mark advanced years have
placed on him.
His half century on the Lead
er was spent in the midst of
disorder cluttered m a k e-up
stone, a pot-bellied stove, an
cient hand-bills' pasted on time
stained walls as he sat at the
type case hand-pegging his
paragraphs and news.
A veneer of belligerence and
a talent for spewing fire, brim
stone, and tobacco juice are re
garded by his friends as a sham
covering for an affable, kindly
nature. They said so Wednes
day night.
Mrs. Alice Price said the col
onel remained a bachelor be
cause he was so kind-hearted
he couldn't select any one of
the young women for a wife
and disappoint the rest. The
colonel, grinning, confirmed it.
8 Nations in
i
Trade Treaty
Paris, Jan. 27 VP) Cabinet
ministers of eight western Eu
ropean countries met Thursday
to try to break down historic
trade barriers hampering their
economies.
United States pressure
brought them together to dis
cuss setting up a European fin
ancial clearing house which
would integrate mutual trade
under the Marshall plan.
Also high on the agenda is
the proposed appointment of
former Belgian Premier Paul
Henri Spaak to head the organ
ization for European economic
cooperation (OEEC). President
Truman and Secretary of State
Dean Acheson have openly urg
ed Spaak's appointment to such
a post.
Marshall plan administrator
Paul G. Hoffman was at to
day's meeting of the OEEC con
sultative group, made up of Brit
ish economic head Sir Stafford
Cripps and ministers from
France, Belgium, Holland, It
aly, Portugal, Norway and
Greece.
Britain, Portugal and the
Scandinavian countries have op
posed creation of what they call
the "superman" post proposed
for Spaak. The OEEC is now
run by a ruling body compos
ed of one cabinet minister from
each of the 18 European areas
in the Marshall plan, with a ve
to for each one.
But the European clearing
house system has been accepted
in principle by all Marshall plan
members.
VFW Auxiliary Presents Flags The Veterans of Foreign
Wars auxiliary has accomplished one of its projects by pre
senting American flags to all rooms at McKinley school. In
the picture a flag is held by a pupil from each room. Children
with the flags, from left, are: Jimmy Davenport, Sally Mer
rill, Harry Thompson, Kenneth Allmer, Billie Purvine, Joe
Rainwater, Penny Brenner, Mary Heckel, Susan Lauks, Wes
ley Stewart, Kathryn Stadter, and Nina Schmele. Back row,
auxiliary members, from left, Faye Stupka, Gene Henney,
Ann Clemens, Hazel Case, Jeanette Van Santen, Eleanor
Miller, Mae Wilder, president of the auxiliary, Ethel Forbis,
American chairman, Dorothy Rea, principal of McKinley
school, Eva Hagen, Gertrude Beall, Edna Lyle, Fay Simpson,
Aileen Holweger.
Progress and Problems of
Drainage Aired at Meeting
Latest developments in farm drainage methods were presented
at an all-day meeting Thursday at Mayflower hall with Floyd
Fox, Silvcrton, Marion county chairman for the Willamette basin
project committee, presiding.
Complaint that water from highways created a real soil erosion
problem on the farms as it wash-
cd over acres of land, created
Return $420,000 Gems
Stolen From Ago Khan
Marseille, Jan. 27 VP) Half of the Aga Khan's stolen fortune
in jewelry $420,000 worth of the gems turned up mysteriously
on a police station doorstep last night.
French police, looking for the last six montns tor iommy-gun-
ners who held up the Moslem leader on a Riviera highway
last Aug. 3, found the valuables
package outside the Ninth
Police Brigade station here aft
er an anonymous teleohoned tip-off.
The police first estimated the
find at $280,000 in value. Three
experts, hurriedly summoned,
raised the appraisal to $420,000.
Investigators announced no
theories as to who tossed the
mysterious package. Presum
ably it came from one of the
holdup gang, possibly alarmed
by a series of arrests recently.
The recovered gems included
two cut emeralds one of 10
carats and another of 14, an
eight-carat pink diamond, 354
other diamonds and four small
er emeralds.
Some of the stones had been
taken out of their settings.
Police had estimated the gang
made off with jewels worth be
tween 700,000 and $850,000
when they held up the fabulous
ly wealthy Moslem potentate and
his wife last summer. A total
of 40 pieces was stolen.
The fortune in jewels was
thrown on the sidewalk in
brown paper package. Inside,
the jewelry was wrapped in a
Jan. 20 newspaper that carried
a story about six of the nine
Woman Fined
For Placing Baby
Portland, Jan. 27 VP) It cost
S250 to get a baby illegally here
last spring. By summer the price
was up to $500.
That was the testimony of
two women in district court here
yesterday in a case that saw
Mrs. Bea Roach, Portland, fined
$200 for placing the infants in
homes illegally.
Mrs. Roach admitted getting
the babies from the Thompson
maternity home in Seattle. After
the two women testified she
changed her plea from innocent
to guilty.
She was fined $100 on each of
two charges of child - placing.
standing pools and ruined
farming conditions on various
fields was voiced by John Crab-
tree and B. Perszyk. both of
Salem route 4' and Comyn Tracy,
Turner.
In reply to the first two
County Judge Grant Murphy
said the problem was that of
the state highway department
and in the third instances that
pipes that had been installed
by the county were not large
enough but that steps would be
taken to remedy the situation.
The group adopted a resolu
tion urging Oregon's delegation
in congress to expedite the pass
age of the omnibus drainage
bill which would authorize the
$40,000,000 appropriation for
the completion of the Willamette
river basin project including
dams.
Fred Ingram, of the U. S.
corps of engineers 'old of the
three Marion countv drainage
projects that had been approv
ed which in the case of Pudding
river, had $113,000 allocated
The other two not yet allo
cated funds are Turner Prairie
and Shelton ditch. The Turner
project would provide drainage
for 5300 acres and should the
Shelton ditch project continue
it would be up to the City of
Salem to maintain the project
after completion.
Harry L. Riches, Marion coun
ty agent, discussed the long
range drainage program with
districts in need listed as French
Prairie, Donald, Fairfield, Tur
ner and Pudding rivers. Over
1,000,000 feet of tile have been
laid in the last five years, he
id.
Arthur S. King, extension soil
specialist of OSC, haled drain
age as one of the most profit
able investments a farmer could
make as it usually paid for it
self in the first year or two.
W. M. Tate, Marion county pro
duction and marketing commit
tee chairman, explained that the
$164,000 PMA allocation for
Marion county permits the use
of only $250 on each project,
with .approved projects receiv
ing a similar amount for liming
and phosphate. Ivan E. Oakes,
secretary of the Willamette river
basin committee spoke of the
water control district law with
Irvin Bartells and Leonard
Burns described the work of
the Santiam soil conservation
district.
connection with the robbery.
There was also a letter say
ing: "Senanedj has the rest of
the jewels."
Roger Senanedj. who police
said drove the car used in the
robbery, and his girl friend are
reported to have been killed by
the other members of the gang
because they were too talka
tive. But the police who an
nounced this report have not
men who had been arrested in confirmed the deaths.
1621,4 N. Commercial
You walking up
over paint store
Hello Friends Ooo! Mrny people
liknm Chinese dLsh having biz
party my place we have plenty fun
everybody laugh, then aomeone
tell American funny Mory then
everybody laush some more. I not
knowing mean Inn about tory but
I Rood American fellow I lnush
too, have much fun. Then I bo
back kitchen cook plenty Eood food.
Many Chlne.se special dish like
Loose Duck, Almond Chinese water
chestnut, fried rice, fried aquftb
and many other dish, bis variety,
.vou like. Maybe you like Chinese
Esr Noodle or Chop Sucy we have
those dLsh all time on, what you
say In American, "on tap," al
ways ready you come any time,
open every nlte In week no more
close one day we stay open every
day each nlte starting ft p.m. stay
open 3 a.m. day follow.
YEESING
(that's my name, sure)
T.B.
See DONNA REED in "Chicago Deadline", a Paramount Picture
Barn Destroyed on
Farm of Elmer Kahn
Gervais. Ore., Jan. 27 The
livestock born on the Elmer
Hahn place near here was de
stroyed by fire Thursday. The
family was aroused by Lafe
Sherwood, newspaper circulation
man, who assisted in liberating
nine head of cattle from the
building.
Two adjacent building were
saved by firemen from the
Brooks and Woodburn depart
ments who also helped in remov
ing nearly 500 setting hens from
a brooder house before it was
consumed.
Hahn estimates his loss around
$2500 with little insurance upon
the barn, brooder or contents.
function of the U. S. bureau
of mines is to attempt to reduce
federal expenses b y testing
fuels.
INVISIBLE SWEATER
Mending!
Hose Mending
DOWNSTAIRS
Miller's
Runs!
Pulls!
Holes!
155 N. Liberty St.
7 ,, . r
Yes, sir! Heb buying his V 8 5 A 'J . K ' t
new home through the FHA ;i 4 I i,v- l fi b7 ft t
Mortgage Loan plan at Pi- t 4 Y A fL I J t s i
oncer Trust! . . and at ff f ' 4 1 $ rX iJU r t ' - '
terms CHEAPER THAN . fm Wi-". g ? PV? i '.. t
rent! , fhr y& i l'J K
dial 4 (A- i - ' rv'
i Pioneer TrustCo. tflffijt ff? IV WV J
mcorpor.tcd under the Oregon t E ? f 4 f ? W 'i:,-J ""nW, , t ,
i strrsrciai p mmlmMm yLt MtBhJ-ift ' ;
TALENT
DOESN'T
HAPPEN!
Must Be
Developed!
YOUR CHILDREN can become graceful, ryth
mical, chorming and self-confident as we de
velope their latent nbilities at the
PAUL ARMSTRONG
SCHOOL OF DANCING
Enroll them now and start in one of these new beginners'
top classes: Today at 3 P.M. or Saturday, Jan. 28, at
4 P.M. Pay as you take or by the twelve weeks term.
Visitors welcome.
1 990 M tsion St., Out Airport Road
Telephone 2-7523
Good news gets around. 43 of all M. J.B users first
tried It because friends and neighbors recommended it.
When you drink M.J.B coITco piping hot and fragrant
you're enjoying not one but several of the world'B finest
coffees oerfectlv flavor-balanced in one superb blend.
Brew it any way you like, mild, strong or in-between;
use regular or drip grind, ana mis we pronuso you .
it's always good because it's always right.
Ever heard of anybody baking a turkey and a pie in
the same oven at the same temperature for the same
length of time? Hardly. Nor does m.j.b roast all of its
coffee beans at once. M.J.B uses the "individual bean
roasting process." This way you get mniimum flavor
and aroma from each variety of coffee in the m.j.b luxury
blend, m.j.b is scaled under the highest possible vac
uum; this extra goodness comes straight to you.
So good we guarantee you'll like it.
You ton't make a bad cup oi M.J.B,