THE WEATHER HERE
PARTLY CLOUDY TONIGHT,
increasing cloudiness Thursday
with occasional snow. Not quite
so cold. Low tonight, 15; high
Thursday, 26.
Maximum yeiterdiy, I8t minimum to
day, 8. Total 24-bour precipitation; trace;
for month: trace; normal, .10, Seaion pre
cipitation, 28.60; normal, 22.84. River
height, 5.8 feet. (Beport by U.S. Weather
Bureau.)
Capital
HOME
EDITION
7v
62nd Year, No. 27 WJSSSSL Salem, Oregon, Wednesday, February0'
a 'x
(16 Pages)
Price 5c
I7JV
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Little Hope of
Moderation
Of Cold Wave
Below Freezing Tem
peratures in Prospect
Until Week-end
USS Missouri
Freed from Mud
Of Chesapeake
Mighty Mo Floated
Free and Safe Into
Deep Water off Shoal
Governor Plans
Work Started
Stale Purchase
Of Coates' Lot
By MARIAN LOWRY FISCHER
There is little prospect that
the intense cold wave gripping
western Oregon sections will
start moderating to any great
degree before this week-end, the
weather bureau stated Wednes
J day morning.
Increasing cloudiness with oc
i casional snow is the prospect for
W Thursday. The low temperature
tonight is due to be around 15,
the high Thursday still below
freezing, or around 26 degrees.
Another Low Record
Another record for the Salem
area in the new bitter cold siege
was set Tuesday when the day's
maximum went only to 16 de
grees, the lowest maximum fig
ure on record here. The mark
broke the record of January 12,
1909, when the mercury climbed
only to 17 degrees. The 16-degree
maximum here yesterday came
about 1:30 p.m. and the ther
mometer stayed there until
about 4:30 p.m.
The low maximum mark fol
lowed the new record cold read
ing of -10.3 degrees yesterday
morning for Salem.
Wednesday morning's mini
mum was not reached Until 8:30
o'clock when the mercury slid
down to 8 degrees above before
starting slowly upward. Earlier
the usual time for the day s min
imum, the thermometer had
read 10.4 degrees at the airport
between 6 and 7 o'clock.
(Concluded on rage 5, Column 7)
Skies Clear in
Stricken Areas
" (Br the Associated Press)
Skies cleared and tempera
( tures moderated from the re
cent severe cold over the snow-
covered Dakotas today as the
army completed a survey of the
stricken areas before deciding on
another "operation snowbound."
The coldest weather in sever
al years continued in the Paci
fic northwest, but generally
temperatures were climbing back
to normal in most other sections
of the country. However, cold
air still plagued the southern
California citrus areas. Growers
have spent millions of dollars
this winter in fuel to save crops
from the sub-freezing weather.
Skies were clear today in most
parts of the nation. A belt of
rain and sleet extended from
southern Pennsylvania and Vir
ginia southwestward through
the Ohio valley to eastern Texas.
There were a few snow flurries
in the northern Rockies but no
precipitation in other areas.
Above zero temperatures were
reported in the Dakotas today
after several days of sub-zero
readings. No snow fell in the
area, which is blanketed by as
much as 34 inches in some sec
tions. . Ice Storm Hits
Towns in Texas
(By the Associated Press)
Several small towns in north
west Texas were cut off from
the rest of the country Wednes
day except by short wave ra
dio following an ice storm
which smashed power lines.
The group of towns was near
Bonham, in Fannin county,
about 60 miles northeast of Dal
las. Between Dallas and the Red
river which forms the Texas
Oklahoma boundary 260 phone
circuits were out. The freezing
drizzle continued to rain down
on Dallas, Midland, Big Spring,
San Angelo, and sample temper
atures were: Wichita Falls, 26;
Amarillo, 23 and Forth Worth,
29.
At the same time' chilling
news for citrus growers in Cali
fornia was revealed. A survey
showed that citrus owners have
been forced to spend as much as
$500,000 an hour for smudge pot
fuel to heat their 150,000 plus
acres of orchards during the
disastrously cold weather of the
last two winters.
More cold news came from
the other side of the country
Wednesday.
As the weather bureau in
Washington, D.C., bulletined a
special snow advisory, it said
that snow was falling from
southern New England west
across the land to Indiana.
Norfolk, Va., Feb. 1 (IP) The
"Mighty Mo" broke her bonds
with the bottom of Chesapeake
bay today and floated free and
safe into deep water off Thim
ble Shoal.
She yielded finally to a sal
vage team of tugs, high tide,
northeast wind and straining
winches after two weeks of for
lorn helplessness aground.
Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith
who quarterbacked the straining
effort to free the 45,000-ton bat
tleship, sent a message at 7:30
a.m., that took the blush of em
barrassment off the face of the
fleet:
"Missouri reports for duty."
Blandy Notified
The message went to Admiral
W. H. P. Blandy, Atlantic fleet
commander, and it was a perfect
going-away present. Blandy re
tires from the navy today and is
turning over his command to
Admiral William H. Fechteler.
Admiral Blandy had" prompt
words .of praise for Smith and
the 2,000 men who worked un
der him in the salvage operation.
Admiral Blandy messaged:
(Concluded on Page 5, Column 6)
More Defenses
Asked for Japan
Tokyo, Feb. 1 UP) General
MacArthur's top commanders
today asked America's joint
chiefs of staff for more air, sea
and land strength to hold de
fense lines in tumultuous Asia.
Highly competent sources said
the' -need for additional power I
was stressed during an intensive
briefing on the military situa
tion in MacArthur's command.
They said the military situation
has deteriorated alarmingly.
Formosa and China were not
discussed, the informants said,
because they lie outside the area
of the basic military briefing.
The position of French Indo
china complicated by Russian
recognition of Ho Chi-Minh's re
gime was among the political
subjects weighing on the Amer
ican military situation brought
up.
Top commanders in all three
branches of the service gave the
joint chiefs a detailed and secret
outline of military plans and
preparations for carrying out
the two-fold American mission
in Asia.
This is to man the far eastern
defense perimeter and to insure
protection in wartime of Japan
and the Philippines.
The analysis of the military
situation and the outline of rec
ommended reinforcements were
based upon MacArthur's secret
report more than a year ago to
the department, the informant
said.
All Weather Records
Shattered in January
By C. K. LOGAN
January is dead and there is no sign of mourning but the
presence of the month will be felt for years and in future will be
recalled by "old timers."
Almost every record in the weather man's book for previous
years was shattered during the 31 days which brought one of the
wettest, coldest and all-arounde-
most disagreeable months in his
tory. Everything but sunshine was
offered with at least a trace of
snow every day ranging upwards
to 6.4 inches on the 29-30th
for a total of 32.9 inches since
the first of the year. When
neither snow nor rain, occurred
there was sleet.
Precipitation was also at a
near all-time high with the 11.70
inches only exceeded by the
13.72 inches of 1895. The mois
ture was mostly contained, in
snow though January 9 and
10 brought 1.99 of precipitation!
of which only one-tenth of an
inch was snow. This period was
featured by high wind which
averaged a little more than 20
miles an hour for the two days,
topped with a few gusts of hur
ricane velocity of 75 miles an
hour. Average moisture for Jan
uary is 5.64 inches.
The month also had a below
freezing average of 29.7 degrees
liDii i ml Iami "'"'T jmm'jmmmmmmmJt'SMMmmmwmmumJ
C-54 Hunt Shifts
To Smith River
Whitehorse, Y. T., Feb. 1 (CP)
Ten air force search planes
have been dispatched to the
Smith River area, 300 miles east
of here, to investigate a weak
radio signal that may have come
from a C-54 transport plane
missing since last Thursday with
44 aboard.
The tenth plane left here at
sunrise.
The planes are carrying ex
pert radio men to monitor pos
sible signals in the area where
another plane picked up a weak
short signal in wireless code at
11:16 p.m. Yukon time last night
(2:16 a.m. today CST). Its con
tents were not disclosed.
The aircraft was flying at 10.
000 feet.
Before the signal was heard,
only six planes were scheduled
to search the Smith river area
today. One has been ordered to
search a sector near there which
was not previously searched.
The first plane heading for
the area took off before dawn
from Fort Nelson, B. C, 460
miles southeast of here. Others
followed from Fort Nelson and
Whitehorse. All. radio men in
the area were alerted - for i
ports. -- : i
Operators wtere standing by
with radio direction-finding!
equipment to try to obtain a
"fix" on the transmitter's pos
ition if the signal should be re
peated. Airline Brief
Presented CAB
Presentation of the combined
brief of the City of Salem and
The Salem Chamber of Com
merce for the United Air Lines
West Coast Airlines show cause
hearing are to be presented this
week to the Civil Aeronautics
board in Washington, D. C.
The brief, showing the oppo
sition of the city and the Cham
ber of Commerce to the CAB's
proposal to discontinue United
service here' and substitute that
of West Coast Airlines, is to be
presented by W. M. (Jack)
Bartlett, state director of aero
nautics. Bartlett is now in Washington
attending a meeting of the di
rectors of the National Associa
tion of State Aviation Officials.
He is the association's director
for the Pacific-Northwest area.
ranging from a high of 55 de
grees January 21 to the new
'ow record of minus 10.3 de
grees th morning of January
31. This is a departure of minus
9.9 degrees from the mean tem
perature. , "
Though one day was officially
listed as clear, some snow or
rain occurred every day with
only three days, January 20 to
22 inclusive, not having a trace
of snow. A trace of rain was
recorded daily. There was one
part cloudy day and the remain
ing 29 days were listed as cloudy.
Only three other Januarys
have had ten or more inches
of rainfall beside the record
breaker of early doys. These
were in 1894 with 11.09 inches;
1936 with 10.22 inches and 1923
with 10.17 inches. There were
three times when precipitation
dropped below the two-inch
mark, 1893 with 1.90 inches;
1903 with 1.48 inches and 1917
with 1.30 inches.
City Council and Builder Study Apartment Plans Mem
bers of the city council and Robert T. Coates of Portland are
seen here at an emergency council meeting Tuesday afternoon
when set-back provisions of the building code were waived
to permit a seven-story apartment house at 1165 Chemeketa
street. In the picture, from left, are: James H. Nicholson,
Walter Musgrave, Claud Jorgensen, Mr. Coates, Albert H.
Gille, Tom Armstrong, Dan J. Fry, Acting Mayor David
O'Hara, City Attorney Chris J. Kowitz. They a-e shown
talking to Coates about some details of the project.
Council Permits Coates
To Transfer Project
By STEPHEN A. STONE
Robert T. Coates of Portland made progress toward his apart
ment house project in Salem when the city council met in emer
gency session Tuesday afternoon
ing set-back requirements on the
Install Defense
Atomic Plants
Washington, Feb. 1 (P) Aer
ial guard lines, backed by jet
fighter planes and anti-aircraft
weapons, are being set up
around the nation's major atom
ic plants.
Other precautions, obviously
aimed against a possible one
way air attack, are being taken
to euard 200 miles of sea off
I'de Atlantic coast from Maine
to Norfolk, Va.
The defense department, which
disclosed these moves yesterday.
said "the program will be ex
panded to other areas as equip
ment and personnel are avail
able at appropriate sites."
The department stressed that
the program is part of long
range air defense planning and
"not related to any specific in
ternal developments."
However, announcement of
the moves came within 24 hours
after Secretary of Defense John
son said in his first annual re
port that "An attack could come
from the opposite hemisphere
without warning and with un
predictable fury." At the same
time, however, he sairt the threat
of war has diminished.
At Albuquerque, N. M., last
night, a Kirtland air force base
spokesman said three squadrons
of 700-mile-an-hour F-86 jet
fighters with full service loads
of ammunition are on a con
stant 24-hour alert.
Congress OKs
H-Bomb Making
Washington, Feb. 1 (IP) Con
gress gave overwhelming ap
proval today to the decision to
undertake the making of a hyd
rogen bomb, and put emphasis
on speed in doing so.
Through much Capitol Hill
comment ran the theme: We
can't let Russia get ahead of us.
No announcement by the
chief executive in recent months
has been hailed with such un
animity of approval as Mr. Tru
man's statement yesterday that
he has directed the atomic en
ergy commission to proceed on
the new weapon of destruction.
Many coupled their approval
with strong expressions of hope
that some way could be found
out of the armaments race with
Russia. Some thought that the
bomb itself in U. S. possession
might provide the way.
Senator Millikin (R., Colo.)
chairman of the senate republi
can conference and a member of
the joint senate-house atomic
committee, called the president's
decision a "wise" one and "I be
lieve congress, should suppport
it."
Senate Democratic Leader Lu
cas (111.) said he concurred
"wholeheartedly"' with it, add
ing: "I believe the bomb's poten
tial destructive power will
bring the people of the world to
their senses, to the end that we
will have world peace. I pray
God that we may never have to
use it."
and passed an ordinance waiv
norm side of Chemeketa street
'gin tne nuu block.
The council's action will per-
mit Coates to transfer his proj
ect from 555 North Summer
street where it stands in the way
of a desired expansion of the
capitol zone as recommended
by the state capitol planning
commission.
In transferring to the Che
meketa street location Coates
stil! faces two obstacles. One
is approval by the federal hous
ing administration, but he be
lieves that can be obtained. The
other is action by the state to
take the Summer street lot off
his hands.
Coates, however, has not yet
made formal application to the
FHA for approval ' of the new
location and will not until the
state has acted to take the Sum
mer street property, off his
hands.
(Concluded on Page 5, Column 8)
Russians Slow
Berlin Traffic
Berlin, Feb. 1 (IP) Russian
"go-slow" tactics continued at
zonal border points today, cut
ting truck traffic between Ber
lin and West Germany to a
trickle.
More than 100 heavy trucks
were lined up this morning on
the western side of the border
at Helmstedt, main check point
on the road to Berlin.
Russian guards and their east
zone German police gave each
loaded truck a detailed inspec
tion taking 10 to 15 minutes.
Normally the inspection takes
about two minutes.
A German mail train from
Berlin to western Germany was
held up for an hour and a half
at the border between east and
west zones before it cleared the
check point this morning. West
Germany rail officials said,
however, they did not consider
this an abnormal delay.
The Soviet-controlled Ger
man railways management hint
ed last night that railroad
freight service between West
Germany and Berlin might be
cut down. They charged organ
ized gangs were sabotaging rail
road installations in the western
sector of Berlin and said it
threatened interzonal traffic.
Although truck traffic has
been squeezed since Jan. 22 the
Russians have made no serious
effort to hamper rail communi
cation with west Germany. Most
of western Berlin's supplies
come in by rail.
Winter Comes to
Northeast Regions
New York, Feb. 1 (P) Win
ter finally came to the northeast
today.
Snow covered sprouting daf
fodils in the New York City me
tropolitan area.
The winters first real snow
storm blanketed New England
and the weather bureau said a
developing storm might make
yesterday's four to eight inches
look like a mild flurry. Three
children died in coasting acci
dents in the Boston area.
There was snow in New York
state, New Jersey and Pennsyl
vania.
Proposes Use of Pro
perty for Department
Auto Parking
Purchase of the Robert Coates
property on Summer street by a
state department for automobile
parking purposes is a plan Gov
ernor Douglas McKay is at
tempting to complete
The governor said that he
hopes to get a decision some
time Wednesday afternoon from
department head, which he
declined to name because he had
not yet made a contact with the
official.
If successful, the governor's
latest move to remove the pro
posed apartment house from the
suggested capitol zone extension
area, will make unnecessary a
meeting of the state emergency
board. The governor said, also,
that under his plan the prop
erty in question could be pur
chased as soon as the Federal
Housing administration approv
ed the substitute lot which
Coates is now considering for:
his project.
New Prison Planned
A committee of state officials
to study the proposed segregat
ed building for criminally in
sane patients was named by the
board of control at its weekly
meeting.
Gov. McKay said that infor
mation would be gathered by the
board and submitted through
the board to the next legislature.
At present the criminally insane
are quartered on the third floor
of the administration building of
the state hospital, and members
of the board felt that this con
dition should be altered as soon
as possible.
(Concluded on Pare 5, Column 5)
McKay on Spot
Over Chevrolets
Governor Douglas McKay's
ownership of a Chevrolet car
and truck agency in Salem put
him on the spot today.
The board of control was dis
cussing today whether to give a
contract to buy 60 2-ton dump
trucks to Chevrolet dealers or to
the International Harvester com
pany. Secretary of Stale Earl T.
Newbry voted for International
Harvester. State Treasurer Wal
ter J. Pearson voted for Chevro
let. That left it up to Governor Mc
Kay to decide. After a half
hour's soul-searching, the board
voted to ask the highway com
mission for a recommendation,
since the trucks are for that
commission.
The International Harvester
company offered to sell the
trucks for $2,166 each, while
Chevrolet bid $102 per truck
higher.
But International Harvester
drives its trucks out from Fort
Wayne, Ind., so that they have
about 2,500 miles on their speed
ometers when they get here.
Chevrolet ships by rail, so its
trucks are brand new.
Pearson said he wants to buy
Chevrolets because they sell
new trucks and that Internation
al Harvester sells used ones.
Newbry said the state is
bound to accept the low bid,
which explains his vole for In
ternational Harvester.
if ?
Work Starts on New Willamette Bridge Site Barge containing
formation at the bridge pier locations moves into position at
sample subsurface structure at ttie site of pier number two.
Robert T. Coates, who will
build a seven-story apartment
house at 1165 Chemeketa if
FHA approves and state of
Oregon takes North Summer
street site off his hands.
Over $4 Million
Paid Jobless
All monthly records for un
employment claims in Oregon
were broken In January when
$4,273,653 was paid to the state's
jobless.
It was 52 percent more than
in December, and 55 percent
more than in January, 1949. The
previous record was $4,166,215
in March, 1949.
The unemployment compen
sation commission predicted that
the totals would be even greater
in February and March, unless
there is a sudden change to
warmer weather.
An all-time record of 70,136
unemployed persons filed claims
last week compared with 63,278
year ago. The commission
estimates there are more than
92,000 unemployed, including
those who aren't covered by the
unemployment compensa 1 1 o n
law.
Since last July 1, $13,806,446
has been paid to unemployed
workers, and the commission
fears that an equal amount may
be necessary in the next five
months. The commission orig
inally estimated that only $12,
000,000 would be needed for the
entire 12 months.
Russ Boycott
Quiz on Japs
Tokyo, Feb. 1 (IP) Russia boy
cotted another meeting today
of the four power council for
Japan trying to learn the fate
of 376,000 Japanese prisoners
of war.
The other council powers sug
gest the Japanese all died in Rus
sian prison camps.
Rather than discuss the sub
ject, Lt. Gen. Kuzma Derevyan-
ko, Russian delegate, avoided
today's meeting. He walked out
of three previous meetings on
the same subject.
He said in a letter today the
subject of war prisoner repa
triation was beyond the prov
ince of the council. The council
is an advisory body to the oc
cupation command. For that
reason he said he would not at
tend the meeting.
Britain, the United States and
nationalist China contended the
subject is within the province
of the council. They insisted the
subject go on the agenda of the
next scheduled council meeting
on February 15.
xVt I
4,1 ft
3 '
On Location
Of New Bridge
Steel Deck Structure
Will Be Among Long
est of Type in Nation
By BEN MAXWELL
First work on the site of the
new. Willamette bridge, a steel
deck structure 767 feet in length
exclusive of approaches to be
constructed at the foot of Mar
ion street at a cost estimated at
$1,250,000, started Tuesday.
When completed this steel
deck structure will be among
the longer of its kind in the na
tion. Late Tuesday afternoon, un
der direction of state highway
engineers, a barge bearing earth
sampling apparatus was towed
into position off the Marion
street abutment where sampling
will first be undertaken on the
site of pier number two.
Work will be supervised by
E. G. Ricketts, bridge investigat
ing engineer for G. S. Paxon of
of the state highway bridge de
partment. A. C. Thomas, fore
man for Raymond Concrete
Pile company, will make core
samplings at pier locations over
an interval estimated to require
about two weeks.
(Concluded on Pnffe 5, Column 6)
Call Meeting on
Phone Strike
Washington, Feb. 1 (IP) Gov
ernment mediators called anoth
er meeting today with officials
of the CIO Communications
Workers union which has called
a nationwide strike to start Feb.
8.
Heading the government's re
presentatives was Cyrus S.
Ching, director of the federal
mediation and conciliation serv
ice. Ching's associate director,
William N. Margolis, had an
hour-long look into the situa
tion yesterday.
Margolis and Joseph A. Beir-
nc, union president, discussed
the idea of arbitrating the dis
pute, between the union and the
Bell Telephone System. Wage
raises of an amount not yet spe
cified by the union are a major
issue. Company officials say
they pay their workers well.
If the strike goes on and is as
effective as union plans call for,
there would be widespread re
sults.
A union spokesman said that
while it proposes to maintain
emergency service for hospitals,
ponce and tire departments, etc.,
it has no special plans for spe
cial services to industries. This
was in reply to a question as to
the possible effect on newspaper
wire services, radio relays, tele
vision coaxial cables, and leased
wires for telegraph and photo
graph delays.
The spokesman figured that if
the strike lasts for two weeks or
more these (functions would be
affected.
YR Elect Directors
Portland, Feb. 1 (IP) Four
district vice chairmen were
elected yesterday by the execu
tive board of the Young Repub
lican Federation of Oregon. They
are: William Ireland, Molalla.
first district; Charles Reynolds.
La Grande, second district; Shir
ley Field, Portland, third dis
trict; Gene Brown, Grants Pass,
tourth district.
equipment for exploring earth
the foot of Marion street to
W fkl
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