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4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL February 4, 2015 O PINION Offbeat Oregon History Criminals and dynamite are a long tradition in Oregon BY FINN J.D. JOHN For the Sentinel F or the criminally minded Oregonian of yore, dyna- mite had much to recommend it. It was relatively easy to buy the stuff, surprisingly easy to steal it from a construction depot, and almost shockingly simple to brew up at home using a few simple, in- nocuous ingredients from the lo- cal drugstore. Furthermore, when used in a criminal enterprise, dynamite was like a fi rst-class ticket to the front page of the local papers. A lot of crooks really enjoyed the ensuing notoriety. So it’s not surprising that it enjoyed a relatively high level of popularity among the state’s crim- inal class. It’s been used for plenty of crimes over the past 100 years or so — crimes against society as well as crimes against good sense. In addition to obvious abuses of dynamite by safecrackers, train robbers and self-styled dead- whale disposal experts, dynamite has also proved a great boon to: Extortionists. Naturally, “pony up or be blown up” is a compel- ling argument, although it doesn’t always come together the way the extortionist wants it to. In the case of D.B. Cooper, the skyjacker who in 1970 took a commercial air- line fl ight hostage for a $200,000 payoff, it worked nicely — al- though there’s plenty of doubt as to whether Cooper lived to enjoy it. In the case of David Heesh, the “Beavercreek Bomber,” who in ?74 dynamited a dozen high-volt- age power lines and threatened cut off power to Portland if he didn’t get a $1 million ransom, it did not — the FBI triangulated on his CB radio signal and caught him red- handed. Jailbreakers: Prison, until rela- tively recently, was a place where inmates worked hard at tough, dangerous, exhausting jobs — building roads, breaking rocks, and so on. Projects like that some- times involved dynamite. When they did, enterprising would-be busters-out were not slow to take advantage of any opportunities that came their way. Late in the evening of July 28, 1907, a massive explosion rocked the Portland city jail at Kelly Butte. A group of four inmates had managed to smuggle three sticks of the good stuff home from the jail’s rock quarry. Then they spent at least a week trying to surreptitiously drill a hole in the prison wall, using a railroad spike for a bit and the heel of a shoe for a hammer. Finally, having made about a one-inch-deep divot in the wall, they tamped the dynamite against it as best they could, lit the fuse, and took cover. The blast cracked the concrete wall of the prison bunker but didn’t breach it. Unfortunately for the in- mates involved, it was pretty easy to fi gure out who was responsible. Everyone in the joint ran for cover except four guys, who eagerly ran straight into the smoke and falling plaster. No doubt they tried their best to “act natural” when they got to Ground Zero and saw the wall still there, but the guards didn’t buy it, and all four of them were busted. Things worked out even worse for a convict named Harry Ed- wards at the pen in Walla Walla, just over the border in Washing- ton state, in late 1915. Edwards’ plan involved extracting the nitro- glycerin from the dynamite he’d stolen by boiling it in a big kettle — a technique well known to the “yeggs” of the day, who liked the more concentrated and pourable nitroglycerine for tough safe- cracking jobs. The “soup” would fl oat to the surface, where it could be skimmed off and carefully bot- tled up for later use. Unfortunately for Edwards, the state was using a different kind of dynamite. “After an explosion which wrecked a corner of the bunk- house and infl icted minor injuries to two sleeping convicts, Edwards was found fully dressed, while fragments of a metal kettle were distributed over the landscape,” the Pendleton East Oregonian re- ported the next day. “Edwards was considerably ‘peeved’ at the state for providing dynamite which proved so tricky.” The paper doesn’t mention how badly Edwards was hurt in the blast, but it couldn’t have been too bad, because he was out of the hospital within a week. Jealous lovers. Yes, there have been a few examples of young men using dynamite for this purpose — either trying to murder the unre- sponsive objects of their affection, or their rivals. One memorable case happened in Klamath Falls in 1912, when a 30-year-old log- ger named George Gowan learned that the 17-year-old girl he was sweet on, Miss Adeline Beck, was Please see OFFBEAT, Page 5A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Chair issues This is in regard to the ser- vice I have received from Nu- motion concerning my electric power chair. I have severe MS and I am dependent on my powe rchair at all times, from performing daily functions to getting to medical appoint- ments. Numotion has been con- tracted to supply repairs to my power chair, and in late October of 2014, I contacted Numotion for repairs to my chair. On Oct. 30, the techni- cian brought the required leg lift but failed to bring the parts required to install it. By Nov. 6, my chair was re- duced to going in circles to the left. I was stuck in a hallway, unable to go anywhere but into a wall. On Nov. 10, another techni- cian came out and determined that the left motor was going out. He said he would order a new one. I spoke to the technician several times between then and Dec. 4, at which time I found out that the motor had not even been ordered yet and that my chair would be out of order until after the fi rst of the year. It is now Jan. 30, and I am still without a working pow- er chair or any indication as to when I might expect the repairs. I am relegated to a manual chair which, to say the least, is extremely diffi cult for me to use with my MS. I am practically bedridden since transferring from the bed to the manual chair is almost impossible without help. My quality of life has plummeted drastically. Life can be challenging for people with disabilities, and often we have to rely on medi- cal supply companies to sup- ply/repair the things that make our lives a little easier and help us cope with our physical restrictions. Companies such as Numotion shouldn’t even be allowed to contract to deal with mobility issues when they are so unprofessional and un- sympathetic to the people they are supposed to be serving. I would strongly warn any- one with mobility issues to be- ware of Numotion. Nichole Fegles Cottage Grove Loggers got gypped Thank you, Wilbur and Catherine Heath for what you have done to help further the safety conditions, business practices, logging methods and image of the timber in- dustry. I include Catherine be- cause it has been a joint effort. Wilbur spending all day on the job site and then having to spend numerous evenings and weekends working with the Associated Oregon Loggers to get that organization off the ground had to have an affect on family life. I must take exception to the term “gyppo”. It was not be- cause loggers gypped people — it was because loggers were getting gypped by so many people. Granted, a few loggers would not pay all of the crews wages and would gyp the employees by not pay- ing them, or shorting them on hours — but they were far and few between. To get on with how the log- ger was gypped: There were the scalers employed by the people buying the logs; they would short-change the logger on the scale an inch or two on diameter or maybe even more, and then gyp them on length. They would cut the grade of the log, and a number one mill would suddenly be a two mill; a one-peeler would be a three-peeler at best, a high- defect one at that; there would be cull-out logs that were not culls. Sometimes they would cut the net volume by cutting the diameter and length be- cause of a perceived defect. Like the old saying goes, “One scaler knows how many board feet are in a log, two are not sure.” Then the mill would give the scaler their earned bonus. When water scale was popular, some logs were somehow missed and did not get scaled at all. The tim- ber owner would quite often extend the property line so the logger was trespassing when in fact he would be guided by the owner’s directions as to where to log; then the log- ger was the dumb so-and-so for trespassing. When the mill owner got a load that was mis- scaled and they were aware of it, the timber would get cut up or put into the deck before the logger got the scale slip — there was no way to fi nd the logs in question then. So you see, it wasn’t the logger that was gypping peo- ple; it was because he was so easy to gyp. With the different log scal- ing bureaus that have been established that has almost come to an end, and the scal- ers now days are honest and trustworthy people, as well as the people buying the timber. They wouldn’t be in business if they weren’t. I do not fi nd the term “Gyp- po Logger” derogatory. I wear that badge proudly. To get back to the original point I was making, Thank You Wilbur and Catherine! Dick Gilkison Cottage Grove Preserve your vision: prevent (or reverse) diabetes BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD For the Sentinel D iabetes is a serious dis- ease that poses consid- erable risks to the vascular sys- tem, particularly to the crucial and delicate blood vessels of the eyes. Diabetes is the lead- ing cause of blindness in adults. Nonrefrac- tive visual impairment refers to a $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM 116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424 ADMINISTRATION: JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher GARY MANLY, General Manager...................541-942- 3325 Ext. 207 • publisher@cgsentinel.com ROBIN REISER, Sales Representative.........541-942- 3325 Ext. 203 • robin@cgsentinel.com PATRIC CARLILE, Sales Representative.........541-942- 3325 Ext. 213 • patric@cgsentinel.com NEWS DEPARTMENT: JON STINNETT, Editor..............................541-942-3325 Ext. 212 • cgnews@cgsentinel.com SPORTS DEPARTMENT: MATT HOLLANDER, Sports Editor............541-942-3325 Ext. 204 • sports@cgsentinel.com CUSTOMER SERVICE CARLA WILLIAMS, Office Manager..........541-942-3325 Ext. 201 • billing@cgsentinel.com LEGALS......................................................541-942-3325 Ext. 200 • legals@cgsentinel.com GRAPHICS: (USP 133880) The Cottage Grove Sentinel is published every Wednesday in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our offices are located at 116 N. Sixth St., P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: One Year (auto pay):............ $34.50 One Year (manual pay):....... $36.15 One Year (e-edition only):.... $33.55 10 Weeks (auto pay):...........$8.55 10 Weeks (manual pay):......$9.10 Subscription Mail Rates Out of County: One Year (auto pay):............ $44.25 One Year (manual pay):....... $46.35 One Year (e-edition only):.... $43.00 10 Weeks (auto pay):...........$11.00 10 Weeks (manual pay):......$11.70 In foreign countries, postage extra. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know. Call 541-942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2014 Cottage Grove Sentinel. visual defect that cannot be cor- rected with glasses, and diabetic retinopathy is a common cause of nonrefractive visual impair- ment. Retinopathy is quite com- mon among diabetics; about one-third of diabetics over the age of 40 have diabetic retinop- athy. Retinopathy can lead to serious vision loss, preventing sufferers from driving and liv- ing independently. A new study has uncovered an alarming upward trend in nonrefractive visual impairment and provides evidence that the diabetes epidemic is likely the cause. Nonrefractive visual impair- ment increased by 21 percent among adults between 1999 and 2008 – a dramatic increase in a short period of time. When bro- ken down by age, the largest in- crease in prevalence occurred in younger people – 20 to 39 years of age, compared to older age groups. This is a stark fi nding that predicts climbing rates of disability among middle-aged and younger adults in the near future. The researchers then looked to the risk factors for this type of visual impairment to fi nd the potential underlying causes. The risk factors include older age, poverty, lower education level, lack of health insurance and diabetes. Diabetes rates in- creased by 22 percent among U.S. adults from 1999 to 2008, and the other risk factors re- mained relatively stable, sug- gesting that the increase in vi- sual impairment was due to the increase in diabetes. Once diabetes is diagnosed, the damage to the body pro- gresses over time, and the risk of complications progressively rises. Having diabetes for at least 10 years was linked to greater risk of nonrefractive vi- sual impairment, and a greater proportion of the population had been living with diabetes for at least 10 years in 2008 compared to 1999; in adults younger than 40, this proportion doubled. Type 2 diabetes is becoming more common in younger popu- lations, and therefore diabetes is beginning to do its damage ear- lier in life, bringing dangerous complications, such as vision impairment, earlier in life. This is alarming data that begs for action; it indicates that medical advances toward better glucose control are not prevent- ing vision loss due to diabetes. Managing glucose with drugs is not enough – we must get rid of diabetes to get rid of the risk. Preventing and reversing dia- betes: for type 1 and type 2 dia- betics, the risk of vision-related complications can be eliminated with a nutritarian eating style plus frequent exercise. The veg- etable-based dietary program described in my book “The End of Diabetes” is the most effec- tive dietary approach for those with diabetes and is much more effective than drugs. For a Type 2 diabetic, this approach results in complete reversal of the dia- betic condition for the majority of patients. For a Type 1 diabetic it eliminates the excessive highs and lows, dramatically reduces insulin requirements and pre- vents the degenerative diseases common in later life in those with type 1 diabetes. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics can main- tain excellent health, proper eyesight and quality of life into old age. Now is the time for us individually and collectively to utilize modern nutritional sci- ence to save our vision and save lives. Dr. Fuhrman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat to Live and Super Immunity, and a board certifi ed family phy- sician specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. Visit his website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and com- ments about this column directly to newsquestions@drfuhrman. com. Letters to the Editor policy The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local readers. Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary. If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words. To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.