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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2015)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 1, 2015 Cottage Grove Retrospective A look back at Sentinel stories from 60 and 70 years ago Returning soldiers tell experiences in German prisons June 30, 1955: Gus Heinrich, the oldest merchant who is still working in Cottage Grove, sits at his desk in his jewelry store, which is located next to the Arcade Theater. The 77-year-old is being honored on Tuesday, which has been proclaimed “Gus Heinrich Day” by the Chamber of Commerce. though they were carrying their packs, etc. One American was shot when he stopped to lighten his load. Johnnie weighed 112 pounds when he was liberated and now weighs 170. He plans on leaving for California tomor- row and will accompany his brother. He will ask for a discharge and will enter em- ployment at an airplane factory, where his wife is employed. His brother Linzy, also discharged, will seek employment with an airplane factory. POLICE BLOTTER The Cottage Grove Hospital sent a fax regarding a dog bite that occurred in the evening on June 20. An offi cer contacted the victim, and also attempted to contact the owner of the dog, who was not at the location. Criminal mischief — second degree, E. Main St. The complainant reported damage to her personal vehicle while it was parked in the rear lot of the police station. The damage was estimated at $1,500 and included a large dent and Public hearing scheduled Summer grilling safety The Cottage Grove City Coun- cil will consider an application from Hayden Homes to amend the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map for property along Highway 99 adjacent to its River Walk development and the fi re station from commer- cial to high-density residential zoning. The public hearing is scheduled for the regular meet- ing on Monday, July 27 at 7 p.m. in the Council chambers. The Planning Commission has held a public hearing and recommended approval of the zone change. The staff report, public hearing minutes and pro- posed ordinance will be provide with the agenda prior to the public hearing. Questions can be directed to the Community Development Department. Now that summer is here, Grovers may be looking to fi re up the grill at their next family gathering. While grilling is a popular way to cook food, it can increase the risk of home fi res and injuries if not done properly. According to the Na- tional Fire Protection Associa- tion, an average of 8000 home fi res are caused by grilling. Learn how to grill safely with these tips: Only use propane and charcoal grills outdoors. Keep young children and pets away from the grill area. Never leave a lit grill unat- tended. Maintain a clean grill by removing grease or fat buildup from the grills and trays below the grill. Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504 scratches on the passenger side hood and fender. There was non suspect info. Animal bite, S. 3rd St. BIG GARAGE SALE 745 Harding Place Fri-Sat-Sun 8a - ? Selling in bulk. CITY BEAT Pvt. Johnnie Palmer, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Palmer, was among the three return- ing servicemen to arrive home last week, who had been liberated from the Stalag A camp 30 miles from Berlin by the Russian army after being held a prisoner two years, two months and two days. Johnnie doesn’t stutter when he tells you how long he was held prisoner. He recalls the time prob- ably up to the minute. He was captured at Casarena pass in North Africa in February, 1943, along with two others. Total number of captured American soldiers was about four thousand against 250,000 Germans, so he fi gures this was a pretty good trade. The Americans were kept in North Africa only about two weeks before they were trans- ferred to Germany and then moved to two or three separate camps. The food was not so bad at fi rst, but grew progressively worse. The so-called death march, where captured Americans were marched 169 miles through snow, ice and cold weather was one of the worst ordeals Johnnie and his companions went through, but even at that the Americans stood up to the march better than the German guars, even June 22 CLIP N' CARRY GARAGE SALES GARAGE SALE 241 Bear Creek Rd., CURTIN Fri 9a-5p; Sat 9a-? July 5, 1945 5A June 23 Mental, N. 10th St. The caller reported hearing voices hearing voices since the day before. She believes they were brought on by her ex boy- friend. Unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, Village Green The caller said his vehicle was broken into sometime during the night, and that the suspect stole camera equipment valued at $1,820. June 24 Reckless driving, Walmart June 25 Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, The Flower Basket The reporting person said that three subjects had taken the mo- torized carts out of the building and were playing in the traffi c areas of the parking lot, posing a hazard to unsuspecting vehicles. The subjects were contacted and banned from the store for the rest of the night. The caller said that the deliv- ery van for the business was sto- len from the location sometime after June 23. Another caller reported seeing the vehicle at 18th St. and Pepper Tree Dr. in Eugene. The Eugene Police De- partment confi rmed the location of the vehicle, and the business owners went to retrieve it. Animal info, East Regional Park Criminal mischief, Badoobaz The caller reported seeing a cougar near the fi shing pond. The complainant reported seeing a male subject throwing a bottle at and breaking a window Then, silence. Back on the Rosecrans, the situation was deteriorating rap- idly. When the ship fi rst struck, the skipper had ordered the en- gines fully reversed, and called for the pumps to start spewing crude oil into the sea — the idea being to lighten the load in an attempt to get the ship free. Under ordinary circumstanc- es, this would have worked fi ne. But these were not ordinary circumstances. A 60-knot gale was hammering the ship, the tide was in full ebb and the seas were piling up to Olympic pro- portions. Soon those seas were sweeping the decks, coming from the direction the ship was least equipped to handle: astern. One of the fi rst of these fast- moving walls of green water burst the hatches, fl ooding the engine room and putting out the boiler fi res, plunging the entire ship into helpless immobility and darkness. The crew gathered together below decks, amidships, and lis- tened to the relentless breakers sweeping over the ship, wait- ing for the help they hoped was coming. By about 9 a.m. the wa- ter rose so high in the hull that they were driven out of their shelter and into the open. They struggled to make it up across the deck to the bridge, atop the wheelhouse, as colossal walls of green water pounded down on them, sweeping many away to their deaths. But a number of them made it to the bridge and huddled there, waiting and hop- ing and praying for help. What they got was something else. The massive breakers had already torn the deckhouses and lifeboats off the stricken ship. Now a huge wall of water bore down on the boat — and tore the pilothouse and bridge off the ship, carrying it and all who’d sheltered there away into the sea. One of the men on the bridge was John Slinning, one of the at the business. The subject then drove off, heading northbound on Highway 99. June 26 Information, Village Dr. The reporting person said he found a suspicious item de- scribed as a piece of PVC pipe capped on both ends near the helipad. The Eugene Police Department’s bomb squad re- sponded and rendered the item safe in their explosive unit. June 28 Escape — third degree, Row River Rd. and I-5 overpass During a routine patrol, the offi cer observed a wanted sub- ject near the location. While the offi cer was securing the sus- pect’s dog in his patrol vehicle, the suspect ran from the offi cer and into a truck-parking area behind the Vintage Inn. An ex- tensive are check and K9 search was negative. The suspect, who was last seen wearing a red t- shirt, blue jeans and white Nike shoes, had an outstanding war- rant for failing to appear in court on charges of possessing meth- amphetamine. O FFBEAT Continued from page 4A was nothing out there but the ocean, right? The captain’s plan was to position the big tanker to cross the bar after dawn, at slack tide. Having deduced from the posi- tion of those two visible lights that the ship was well out to sea, and discarded or rationalized away his inability to spot the lightship, the captain held the ship’s course until, around 5:15 a.m., moving into the scream- ing wind under a slow bell, the vessel suddenly shuddered to a stop. And that is how Captain Johnson learned that he had misjudged the Rosecrans’s po- sition. The exact circumstances of 6 what followed will never be known, because none of the offi - cers survived. But it appears that the lights they’d been looking at were the Desdemona Sands light, and some other non-navi- gational light being showed on the shore nearby. The distress call came in to Cape Disappointment at 5:15 a.m.: “Steamer Rosecrans on bar. Send assistance. Ship breaking up fast. Can stay at my station no longer.” The life station replied: “OK. Will send help. About where are you?” The reply was chilling — and, from the standpoint of the res- cuers, utterly useless: “Water washing into the cabins — can’t stay much longer — hel—“ -day weather forecast THURSDAY July 2 FRIDAY July 3 62° | 102° 58° | 98° Sunny Partly Cloudy SATURDAY July 4 SUNDAY July 5 e v i t o m o Aut s e i t l a i c e Sp 57° | 97° 58° | 97° PRACTICING THE ART OF TRANSMISSION REPAIR SINCE 1991 Sunny Sunny MONDAY July 6 TUESDAY July 7 56° | 92° 58° | 93° Sunny Sunny HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! Manual & Automatic Transmission Repair Tune ups 30-60-90K Services Brakes, belts, hoses and cooling system services Muffl ers & Custom Exhaust Drive-train repair such as clutches, u joints and differentials All makes and models. MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE AFFORDABLY LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING MATERIALS WE LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WE WORK IN “ NO MONKEY BUSINESS!” Open 7 days a week! 79149 N. River Road www.automotivespecialties.biz 541-942-4664 DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS 541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE three survivors. Here’s his ac- count of what happened next: “As the big seas (waves) lifted the bridge and pilot house off, I fi rst grabbed the exhaust pipe, held on to that for a while, then got around the after part of the smokestack,” he said. “A sea struck me from there, and sent me over the rail. I held onto the rail until the sea had passed. Then another sea took me to the after rail, and I got up into the main rigging.” Only two other mariners had made it to the rigging with Slin- ning: carpenter Erick Lundmark and engine-room crewman S. Cagna. Every other member of the crew — with the exception of the ship’s other quartermas- ter, Fred Peters, who made it to shore on a fl oating plank — was drowning around them in the icy, foaming breakers off of Peacock Spit. Meanwhile, the U.S. Lifesav- ing Service crews at Point Ad- ams and Cape Disappointment were frantically trying to fi gure out where the wreck was. When they found it, around 8:30 a.m., they immediately launched a rescue effort that would go down in Coast Guard history as one of the most daring and hazardous in its history. Two of the then- new gasoline-powered lifeboats set out on the mission; both of them went to the bottom of the sea — yet every man who went out on those boats survived. We’ll talk about that rescue in next week’s column. (Sources: U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s offi ce; Gibbs, James Jr. Pacifi c Graveyard. Portland: Binford, 1950) Finn J.D. John teaches at Or- egon State University and writes about odd tidbits of Oregon his- tory. For details, see http://fi nn- john.com. To contact him or suggest a topic: fi nn2@offbe- atoregon.com or 541-357-2222.
