Clouds Break for Little
Joe Out at Boys' School
By NANCV ASHBALGH
' What happens to a child today i Little Joe went to church regu
when he has been charged with larly as clockwork with his par-
. the murder of his parents?
In the case of Little Joe, age
11, it was the finding of a court
last year, that, "this homeless
child and presently with no pa
rental care of guardianship did
not commit a felonious killing of
his former parents."
Behind the headlines this story
made, there hangs a tale of su
stained cruelly which began for
Little Joe at the age of 3 when
his unstable mother deserted him
to run away with another man.
Most of the past year, which
saw him committed to AlacLaren
School for Boys at the age of 12,
has been a happy time for Little
Joe.
Here today he plays chess, has
learned to swim and since hav
ing an eye operation has even
learned to enjoy reading.
On one of the first evenings at
the dinner table at the school
another child at the table com
plained that all he had done was
run away from home and still
he would have to stay at the
school for the same length of
time as some boys who had even
killed people.
On this occasion Little Joe bent
his head, twisted his averted
face into a grotesque mask and
cried silently. , A counselor said
that no' one would know he was
crying he bid the emotion so
successfully. Little Joe had this
habit when he entered the school.
Later he cried silently if another
boy was corrected and all of the
time at first he remained mute
and said nothing ever.
Little Joe of the slender build
and weighing less than 100
pounds attached himself to one
of the counselors and all the
time he lived an apology lor his
presence.
When' he finally spoke he as
sured the counselor that he had
no desire to live and continued
to bite his fingernails severely.
He was assigned the duty of
cleaning the front and back
stairs at the reception cottage.
At the age of 3, Little Joe
lived with his paternal grandpar
ents after his father had divorced
his runaway mother. Then his
father married again.
The new stepmother, told
friends in the community that
his grandmother had spoiled him
to such an extent that she and
her new husband were going to
consider it their duty to take
Little Joe so that he could learn
to mind.
His father worked in the
forests down In southern Oregon
as a logger much of the year, and
his stepmother spent most of her
time reading although by this !
iime j,nuc joe iiaa a sman nan- neighbors of his former com
sistor. When his" stepmother munllv would all like to have him
wasn't reading she and her moth
er and the young sister enjoyed
a close and constant relationship.
Little Joe was an irritation at
all times to his new mother and
so she handled him severely in a
physical way. When she was I
reading, he was expected to sit 1
on a chair since she could not !
enjoy reading with noise about 1
her. i
Frequently when neighbors j
visited the home, he would be in
his own room where he had been
tnlA In .(-, Clnn tU !.
mm iu oiaj, mint; tuc wiiij iu:ai
in the home came from the stove I
in the living room, Little Joe's
I.;. l ..J
y."m.lh h" d"r kepl cl'cd ;
was cold
krra h.A,zy.r v zK
nnr watrhpn lhf itmrin1hir rtoort.
1 1 , i. 1 1. i
i . ... , . 'r . ,i i i
I!1" Ch& TS.lrrC 'IV'0
w. T: u i.v "T- 1 , y
' ', , ' j , cor Unties to be filled temporarily
This was an empty thread spool b vj jnja L p-hardson f Pnrt.
with a small sprig of green',, ,
tucked Into it
One method of punishment
meted out when he entered the
meticulously clean house and got i
dirt on the floor, was to stand
outside in the snow until his feet
were cold enough to remember
the clean floors.
When he entered with sand on
his shoes he was taught to balance
himself on the sides of the wood -
box to remove his shoes. This
was difficult since his eyes
needed medical attention, even
then, besides the fact, that he
was a highly nervous child.
DENNIS THE MENACE
fl
pig? l
ents, who also never missed. Dur
ing the sermon when his eyes
would wander from the face of
the minister, his stepmother
would pull his chin around to
look at her. Finally she was
forced to have him sit each Sun
day with his head turned side
ways looking at her so that his
attention could be secured.
A neighbor went to the minis
ter and complained about this and
the minister agreed that the
mother's, treatment of the boy
causea a great deal of friction in
the family.
When he was 5 he began to
faint when being physically pun
ished, slumping to the floor
without warning. At 8 he moved
to a ranch and the step-mother
turned over all punishment of
me ctiild to his lather. According
to the school, the stepmother as
serted that she was washing her
hands of the child.
Then neighbors began to com
plain about the father's severity
in whipping the boy and then
for the first time Little Joe ran
away in an attempt to remove
his irritating presence. Me ran
away after that on four more oc
casions and each time he was
whipped. The father had no pa
tience in dealing with the boy
and listened each night to the
stepmothers painstaking recital
of the boy's violations during the
day, and the father punished him
accordingly.
At school it was noted that he
threw his lunches away because
he was ashamed of them and that
he showed many signs of disturb
ance. He Indicated poor coordi
nation, he had frequent falls,
sight saving material had been
recommended for him, he ap
peared extremely quiet, docile
and shy.
At home his parents neither
drank nor smoked, but had nag
ging dispositions, lacking in
warmth with no sense of humor,
and were described as being the
gloomy Uus,' type,
One night when Little Joe was
11 he entered his parent's bed
room and killed them both with
a knife and after the court trial
he was committed to MacLarcn
School.
Here Little Joe Is not i prob
lem child. He has developed
some skills in athletics, he is de
veloping social skills, he looks
forward to a future, and he owns
a pair of blue suede shoes which
the counselor allowed him to
choose fur himself. On that oc
casion he held them close to his
myopic eyes, stroking them gent
ly all the way back to the school.
Little Joe s legal guardian ap
pointed by the court and several
when the school authorities feel
he Js ready for a home and until
then Little Joe has found both
family and home at the Mac
Larcn School for Boys.
ft. I. Welch on Bar
Board of Governor
PORTLAND m - Robert L.
Welch o( Lakevicw Saturday was
.
SfiT. 1
member of the Oregon
State Bar board of governors.
n ii 1, i..
l,c tn-i.i.t.uf I tun I. r.mi-iin,
Klamath Falls. v, ho died in Decern-
i ber.
'' " n-m-i that no do-
cismn had hron reached on a
successor lor the lute Lee W. Karr
inri that the post of Bar secretary
Thf boar(,.s nnl mfC(1 wi bc
Mar(.n ,.., nl ,,,.,,,,
!
; lit AN Oil. AGRI.IMI.NT
kk rini)
TKIIUAN. Iran - Advisers
of Premier Kazollah Zahedi re-
: portcdly have recommended np
I proval l an agreement under
; which American and British oil
companies would market the hulk
j of Iran's huge oil output, dried
up for nearly three years by (he
government's hitter dispute with
' Britain.
By Ketcham
Arbuckle to
Head Rotary
George A. (Sharkey) Arbuckle Is
expected to be the next president
of the Salem Rotary Club. He has
been placed in nomination for that
office without opposition and if
elected will succeed Reynolds Al
len, whose term expires at the end
of June.
' Others placed In nomination in
clude: James J. Walton and Claude
Miller, vice-president; Robert W.
Fenix, secretary; Elton H. Thomp
son and Donald E. Woodry, treas
urer; William Bush, Robert
Spragiie, William I. Williams,
George Roseberry, directors, two
fJfTiir"'yf '""' ' 1 'lri ""m"'" y"' ". igiWrWtjy,,l,M i mi n mi i n
$j(MUj(U) i increases jour cars RESPONSE-ABHUY
Ur
V
THE CAPITAL JOURNAL, Salem, Oregon
to be elected; James C. Stone and
Garnie Cranor, directors, one to
be elected.
Clarence N. Walker, Rotarian
for 26 years, past president of the
AshviUe, N.C.. and Rome, Ga.,
clubs, will be the guest speaker for
Wednesday's luncheon meeting at
the Marion. He will discuss "An
Investment In Friendship and Serv
ice." COMMUNIST ACTIVITY
DISCUSSED . I
MANILA I U.S. and Phillip
pine leaders Monday discussed the
island republic's role against com
munism in southeast Asia. Army
Secretary Stevens and Gen. John
E. Hull, U.N. commander in Ko
rea and U.S. Far East command
er, conferred with President Ra
mon Magsaysay.
When you want to start, without a-stutter...
rfr
YOU START-even on cold
.7
Facility Lists
Cruise Dates
Cruise dales for Salem's three
Naval Air Reserve AAU squad
rons, who train week-ends at the
Naval Air Facility were an
nounced during the past week
end. All cruises are to be held
at the Salem installation.
First squadron to take its
cruise will be AAU 891, which
will start the two-week cruise
on March 22 and end it April 4.
Squadron AAU 893's dates are
April 19 through May 2, while
tho date for AAU 892 is May 17
through May 30. A make-up
7 , i , r-w , , y - f
.' - "-iii ... ; - .
Try a fontc-ful of Tie Finest in your car and
ii makes when you're at the wheel. Drive in
UNION OIL COMPANY
OF CALIFORNIA
The West's Oldest and Largest Independent Oil Company
cruise is set for June 7 through
June 20.
Two of Salem's squadrons dur
ing the past fiscal year placed
second and third in the nation
in competition among the other
Naval Air Reserve squadrons.
Squadron AAU 893 was in sec
ond place and the third place
spot went to AAU 8S1. The
other local squadron, AAU 892,
was in the 12ta place spot in
the nation.
Young Keizer Folk
Welcomed by Families
KEIZER Mr. and Mrs. John
Squires, 4559 Niles Ave., are the
parents of a girl, born Jan, 22, at
Salem General hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Neil E. Blumen
stein, 3925 Rivercrest Drive, are
the parents or a boy born Jan. 25
at the Salem General hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Tunnell, 4205
Cherry ave., are the parents of a
girl born Jan. 24, at the Salem Gen
eral hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Zeller, 1680
Keizer Road, are the parents of a
boy born Jan. 22, at the Salem Me
morial hospital.
New Masonic Lodge
Being Formed Here
A new Masonic Lodge, to be
known as Vista Lodge, was start- j
ed toward organization in Salem I
Saturday night.-A petition sign-i
ed by 25 men will be presented
to the Grand Lodge of Oregon. I
ii rninu TftfliW
mornings !
enjoy ihe difference
at the sign of 76 and fill
Monday, February 1. 1954
If approval is given by the
Gr;d Hodge petitions for mem
bership can then be accepted.
Beaver Hall will be the meeting
Place-
J. R. Williams was named Wor.
shipful Master, R. G. Hoffman,
Senior Warden, H. A. Rosebriugh,
Junior Warden, J. B. Manning,
treasurer, and W. F. Herald, sec
retary.
Since World War II, France has
built about 400,000 dwellings and
Germany about 1,700,000.
TERMITES
FREE INSPECTIONS
Guaranteed Pest
Control Service
265 So. 20th Ph. 2-0781
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vpl
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