Y
Entered at the Poat Offloe at Athena. Oregon, as Becond-Clasei Mail Matter
VOLUME 50.
ATHENA, UMATILLA COUNTY, OREGON, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 4, 1929
NUMBER 1
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THREE GIRLS BURN
IN MONMOUTH FIRE
The Normal Students Perish
When Dormitory Blaze
Starts From Candle.
Monmouth, Ore. Three girl stu
dents of Oregon State Normal College
were incinerated in a fire which des
troyed a two story frame he-use on
the campus Tuesday night. Fourteen
had narrow escapes from the flames
which started as the house mother,
Mrs. Minnie Mack, was lighting can
dles beside a Christmas tree.
Mrs. Mack said she had lit one can
dle on a pedestal beside the tree and
was carrying the match to light
another candle when the flame
caught on the tree. The fire leaped
quickly, and Mrs. Mack, screaming a
warning to the girls, seized the tree
and rushed with it from the house,
being badly burned about the hands
and body.
Sweeping rapidly up the curtains
and catching on wallpaper the fire en
gulfed the old house, trapping three
, of the girls upstairs in their rooms.
The bodies of Miss Florence
Graham, senior, of Newport, Ore
and Miss Evelyn Ohman, 1664, Mon
tana avenue, Portland, were found on
the springs of their bed. They ap-
parently had been overcome before
being able to escape from the sleep
ing porch which they occupied.
The body of Miss Marguerite Hem
mers, of Gresham, a new student who
was to register today for the opening
term, was fdUnd nearby.
Miss Hemers was seen, just after
the fire started, trying to open a win
dow, but she disappeared into the
smokefilled house before a rescuer
was able to reach her.
Mis3 Alice Wallace. 21. of Wood
land, Wash., president of a sorority
at Monmouth,, told newspaper men
that she heard the screams of the
girls on the second floor of the burn
mg house and the crash of glass.
Whether ' they were prevented from
making their escape by locked win
dows and screens or were too panic
stricken to attempt their way down
the stairway was speculative, accord
ing to Miss Wallace.
"It was terrible," said Miss Wal
lace. "The fire Was raging. There
were screams and then I heard crash
ing glass. I will never forget the
cries of the poor victims and the
sight of the spreading flames."
Investigators for the state fire mar
shal said that Miss Ohman and Miss
Graham apparently died together.
Their charred bodies were found in
the bed which they shared. The body
01 miss Hemmers was found in an
other part of the ruins.
Victim of Airplane
Crash In the Southland
Was Well Known Here
Burglars Steal a Safe
At a Milton Garage
Burglars who evidently knew their
onions entered the Central Service
station at Milton, Friday night and
carried away a safe weighing 350
pounds . The safe was found along
the highway near Spofford, neatly
cracKea Dy a nammer and punch.
According to John Dresler. pro-
prietor of the service station, the safe
had contained some cash, checks and
notes. All of the notes were found
with a single exception but the
checks as well as the cash was gone
Entrance to the station was gained
through the back door which evident
ly was opened with a master key as
the door and lock were not damaged.
Hay Hits High Mark
Alfalfa ranchers of the Hudson Bay
j: i.. t . .. - - -
tus tries wno nave not disposed of last
season s hay crop, are now leaning
oacK in tneir easy chairs and smiling
in anticipation of the flow of gold
coming their way when they sell
their hay. The reason for this, says
the Freewater Times, is that alfalfa
hay is becoming rather a scarce arti
cle in that section and as a conse
quence prices have been boosted al
most to the sky. The prevailing
prices at the present time range from
$17.50 to $20.00 per ton and the win
ter has only started.
Editor Turns Farmer
Eugene Lorton, former editor of the
Walla Walla Union and founder of
the Bulletin, Is now publisher of the
Tulsa, Oklahoma, World. In a re
cent editorial announcement he said he
was "retiring" to his farm a few
miles from Tulsa. He will continue
to maintain active management of
the World and has begun a Sunday
column of comment entitled, "Out on
the Farm."
Ex-Governor Pierce Weds
Miss Cornelia Marvin, for 23 years
state librarian, was married at her
country home near Eola, Polk county
Tuesday, to ex-Governor Walter M.
Pierce of LaGrande. Rev. Norman
Kendall Tully, pastor of the First
Presbyterian church of Salem, officiated.
Lieutenant R. D. Harris, brother of
Ortis Harris pastor of the Christian
church at Everett, Wash., and Ellis
Harris, former pastor of the Athena
Christian church, but now a teacher
in a Spokane college, who was killed
in a monoplane accident at Chat
tanooga, Tennessee, was well known
in Athena, where he had visited his
pastor brother frequently.
Lieutenant Harris was flying in the
monoplane as a passenger, taking
observations of the new air route.
with the intention of later piloting
planes over it He was a pilot, for
the Interstate lines and had once be
fore been injured in a plane crash.
Besides Lieutenant Harris, the pilot
of the machine and two others were
killed in the wreck at Chattanooga
one passenger being thrown free of
the plane escaped practically unhurt.
Lieutenant Harris married Miss
Marietta Savage, sister of Mrs
Reitz of Pendleton.
Funeral services were held at
Waitsburg Sunday, where the re
mains of the lieutenant were laid to
rest teside his father and mother,
who are buried there.
Si
To Repair Masonic Hall
Precautionary measures have been
taken to provide safety to the public
from the weakened condition of
Masonic Hall on Main street. The
building is considered unsafe, as the
result of cracks appearing in the
walls of the building in the front
portion and permanent repairs wi'l
be made early in the spring. For the
present, several tons of brick have
been taken down from the coping at
the front of the building, which re-
leaves some of the weight on the
weak parts. Also parking of cars is
forbidden in front of the building.
and obstructions have been placed on
the sidewalk, with lighted lanterns
to give warning at nights.
Muskrat Ranch
Dee Ireland, of Milton, has made
application to the state engineer for
a water right to the springs on what
is Known as the. Lane noon swamp
where he is planning a muskrat fur
farm. He is enclosing ten acres with
fine wire mesh netting, partly below
the ground and partly above to pre-
vent the little animals from leaving
and to keep enemies away. Mr.
Ireland will begin his new industry
with five pair of rats which fte ex
pects to arrive within a few days.
Service Station and
Pool Hall Robberies
The service station conducted by C,
B. Moore at corner of Main and
Fourth streets was entered by rob'
bers sometime Wednesday night and
a small amount of change and
flashlight taken. Entrance to the
station was effected by removal of
pane of glass in the front door
permitting the lock to be turned on
the inside.
Automobile tracks in the snow
showed that the car had stood for
sometime in front of the service
station.
At vi. a. warden's pool hall, a
portion of glass was removed in the
front door with a glass cutter and
the key turned from the inside to ad
mit the robbers. The safe door was
left unlocked by the proprietor, so
the drawers on the interior were
easily opened with a jimmy and a $5
gold piece was taken but a dollor bill
was overlooked. The robbers eventual
ly found two bags containing silver.
which Mr. Harden had secreted un
der a counter, one bag containing $22
m nicKies roiled in I'Z packages. The
other bag contained change, in all the
two bags held $80. From a punch
Doara tne thieves took a cigaret hold
er and a nail clipper. Also they
maae away with a $15 robe from the
Harden place.
Pinkerton's service station on low
er Third street was entered by raising
window on the north side of the
building. It is reported that a garage
at Weston was robbed of cash
amounting to about $50. Nothing was
missed by the proprietor of "Pink's
Place" on Third street.
Oregon's Ballot Cast
Salem, Or., Oregon's republican
presidential electors gathered in the
executive department here and form
ally cast the state's electoral vote for
Herbert E. Hoover for president and
Charles H. Curtis for vice-president.
One copy of the vote has been sent
to the president of the United States
senate, two copies to the secretary of
state in Washington, one copy to the
federal judge in Portland and two
copies to the secretary of state here.
Buffalo For Oregon
State Game Warden Harold Clif
ford will endeavor to interest the
state game commission to bring the
buffalo back to his native heath in
Wallowa, Harney and Union countion
The purpose of the plan is two fold-
to add to the scenic and wild-life re
sources of the state and to anernent
the income of the game commission
I for the buffalo will pay their way.
Pin V I irr r npnitrai' n-,,
KHiiL i Lire ur ncnb&ni rwit.A
BURT BARKER,
University of Oregon, Eugene. -'
MtC Hoover, a shy, diffident youth,
yet one who placed chivalry above all
virtues; a boy who had but few close
friends, yet one who always stood as
defender and helper of his fellowmen;
a young man whose mind eternally
was busy with solving problems, seri
ous even in chess and checkers, this
Is the person known and loved long
years ago in Salem, Oregon, by Burt
Brown Barker, vice-president of the
University of Oregon, who was one of
the first to congratulate the newly
elected president.
BttBT BEOWN BAEKEB
Vice president of the University
of Oregon.
To Mr. Barker, Herbert Hoover was
known as "Bert," just as other play
mates were known by their boyhood
nicknames. Mr. Barker himself was
"Buck," Oswald West, former gover
nor of Oregon, was "Butch," and
Charles L. McNary, United States sen
ator from Oregon, was "Charlie." This
quartet played together in Salem back
in the early '90s, and one of their
staunch friends was "Ike" Patterson
now governor of this state, who ran a
small grocery store.
Friendship Highly Regarded.
It was not until recentlythat Mr.
Barker made known details of his In
timate friendship for the newly elected
president, for it was a friendship so
highly regarded that he did not wish
it to be exploited in any way during
the campaign.
It is a warm, human story that Mr.
Barker tells, admiration for the qual
ities that brought the quiet "Bert"
Hoover to the tore was early felt by
"Buck." Ke recalls their first days
together, when "Bert" said little, yet
his reticence seonicd to denote ster
ling qualities that drew the other boys
to nun. Hoover was at that time
working for the Oregon Land com
pany, while his friends, "Butch,"
"Charlie," and "Buck" were in school.
Played Together.
The four boys went to parties to
gether, played chess and checkers
310 CY FRIEND.
SW VICE-PRESIDENT AT U. OF 0
when "Bert" would give them odds
and they had the usual boyhood ad
ventures in and around the then little
city of Salem. Mr. Barker recal.s that!
it was at parties about this time that
he and Mr. Hoover first saw and ate
powdered sugar and tasted thar firsd
ice cream. These commonplace foods'
were rare and. delectable viands for!
the boys In those days.
It was at a party during thia time
that "Bert" Hoover showed signs of
chivalry that has dominated his life,
Mr. Barker relates. A young man who
was present was called upon for
story and told the old myth in which
a young, woman who asked of the gods
that she be given eternal, life, forgot
to ask for eternal youth. . She grew
older and older until finally there was
nothing left but her voice. When the
party , was over. "Bert," usually shy
and diffident and seldom given to
quarreling, savagely attacked the story
teller and severely chastised him, tor
what he deemed a reflection against
womanhood, it was useles tor the
boys to try to explain to him that It
was a myth, for he was firm in his
contention that It was one that should
not be told in "mixed company."
Later Life Told.
Then Mr. Barker tells how, years
later, during the World War, Just be-
fore America's entry, this same man,
still shy and diffident, but driven
against his aense of outraged chivalry,
steeled himself to approach the kaiser
of Germany. Hoover was at that time
in charge of relief work in Belgium,
and German soldiers he told the kaiser
were looting food stores consigned to
women and children refugees. An or
der to stop the robberies was demand
ed, which the kaiser refused, declar
ing that "German soldiers would not
do such things."
Finally Hoover, driven to despera
tion, said sternly, ';AU : right, we'll
shoot a few of your soldiers with the
loot in their hands and bring them to
you. Then you will have to believe
it"
ine Kaiser, liyid with rage, then
came back, and agreed to issue the
order. This was witnessed bv Amhn
uuuor uirara, wno tola the story to
Mr. Barker.
.S'r Incidents Related.
Many other incidents of their boy
hood together can be recalled by the
university vice-president. Throughout
all of them can be noted the qualities
that made for succes in later life.
Many oi them showed courage and
chivalry and love of truth, faithfulness
to friends, a willingness to help a (el
low man in every way.
"The United States has chosen wise
ly," declared Mr. Barker. Mr. Hoover
will bring to his new position all th
qualities that endeared him to us as a
boy. He will bring in addition a vast
experience in dealing with the proh
lems of the world. He will bring a
trained, scientific miud, and best ul
all he will have as a. basis for his ac-.
tions that chivalry and love of truth
that stamped him as a leader from the
first
"Harold Teen" Coming
To Standard Theatre
"Harold Teen," with Lillums and
Giggles and all the characters of the
comic strip have joined the movies
and will be seen at the Standard
Theatre tomorrow night. Don't fail
to see the ultra modern high-school
boys and class co-eds. They are
a whole year ahead of anything you
ever heard of in styles and gags a
real collegiate comedy done up in a
delux package.
Sunday night Ruth Taylor and
James Hall will co-star in "Just Mar
ried," a fine Paramount comedy, built
for the express purpose of selling
theatre seats and thoroughly enter
taining the audience sitting in them.
Some cast, too: Harrison Ford, Wil
liam Austin, Ivy Harris, Tom
Ricketts, Lila Lee, Arthur Hoyt and
about 'steen others,
Theatre Robbers Captured
La Grande, Or. Less than two
hours after a holdup at the Arcade
theatre here in which Francis Greu
lich, one of the owners, was robbed
of $535, John Richard Byng, 24, and
Ben Robins, 22, were under arrest.
Byng was captured in a box car and
Robins was taken at his home. Each
had a roll of stolen bills and each con
fessed, officers said.
When Georgia Teck Won
Interest was at a high Ditch amonir
Athena football fans New Year's dav
when clustered around radio receivers
they were vehemently "pulling" for
their respective favorites. When
Georgia Teck won by a one point
margin, the backers of California had
lot to say about the southerners be
ing presented with "two points bv
that boner pulled by RiegeJs."
Snow At Hailey
At Hailey, Idaho, snow is renorted
28 inches deep. The average depth
for that region is 31.56 inches: A
vear ago the fall measured 32.75
inches. .
Drumheller's Horses Win
On the Tijuana Track
The San Diego Evening Tribune of
recent date contains an article writ
ten by Harry Kuck, former Pendle
ton newspaper man, relative to win
nings made by George Drumheller's
horses on the Tijuana track. Kuck
says:
This was a gala day for the north
west George Drumheller scored a
double with Pat, always a favorite
here, and No Effort. Both were rid
den by Jockey H. Louman and the
odds were liberal in both cases. No
Effort was a $4.10 to $1 shot and
when the game gelding, Pat, dropped
his nozzle down in front of Deep
Thought and Short Price in the fifth
race at six furlongs, the connections
realized $26.80 on each $2 investment.
Highway Snow Plow
After the snow yesterday morning
the highway crew was out bright and
early with a snow plow in front of a
big truck, clearing the highway of its
four inch coat of snow. Before noon
the highway on both sides of town
had been cleared of ; and on Main
street the snow was shoved to the
center from the curbs on both sides,
giving freedom for traffic and park
ing purposes.
New Grain Elevator
Articles of incorporation of the In
land Grain Company, a new $25,000
corporation at Freewater with H. S.
Murray, A. L. Grover and John R.
Barnes as incorporators were filed
with the county clerk recently. The
capital stock of $25,000, the articles
show, is divided into 250 shares with
a par value of $100 each.
Get Doll Bobbed
A 6-year-old Chinese girl took her
doll to a Walla Walla barber shop
the other day, and after the barber
cut the girl's hair, she insisted that
her doll's hair be bobbed. Accom
modated, she left the n1a
itha doll and Wearing a big smile.
Inactive Grain Market
Reflected By Dullness
Of the Holiday Period
Holiday dullness, and inactive mar
kets were the most outstanding fac
tors in the bread grain markets last
week. Wheat quotations were gen
erally lower. A reported reduction
of 8.6 per cent in winter wheat acre
age and 15Vi per cent in winter rye
acreage has tended to keep the mar
kets a little firmer than they might
otherwise have been in view of rather
large stocks of North American
wheat and good prospective crops in
South America.
. Although the reduction in new
winter wheat acreage is mostly in the
soft wheat states, markets for soft
red winter showed further weakness
and prices declined about 3 cents a
bushel.
Pacific coast markets also showed
holiday dullness, but the demand
from export flour mills held priecs
about steady at around $1.17 to $1.18
for soft white and western white
wheat at Portland. Hard white
wheat maintained substantial pre
miums over all other classes in Pa
cific Coast markets. It was reported
that mills are having some difficulty
at Portland to obtain sufficient cargo
space to handle March and April ex
port business.
At Denver No. 2 soft white wheat
was quoted $1.00 to $1.12 a bushel.
borne soft white wheat changed hands
at St. Louis for $1.41 a bushel basis
both No. 1 and No. 2 bulk. The
future trend of the soft red winter
wheat market, and the probable ef
fect thereof on the demand for soft
white wheats remains uncertain-
Last year there was a sharp up
turn in soft wheat prices after the
first of January that continued until
about the first of May. The pres
ence of abundant supplies of hard
red winter wheat on the markets has
had a depressing influence on all
kinds of wheat so far this year and
may continue to do so unless the ex
port movement becomes brisker,
It seems likely that the closing of
the Lakes will result in Europe tak
ing more United States wheat until
the time when southern hemisphere
supplies are available. But exports
of United States wheat, including
flour, from July 1 to December 8 were
only 92,569,000 bushels, or nearly
57,UU0,000 bushels less than for the
same period in 1927 and the move
ment1 has continued slow in Decem
ber. Canadian exports, however, are
ahead of last year about 78,000,000
bushels
WEN WIN
L
ANNUA
REUNION
Al NorDean Car In
Wreck Near Waitsburg
Mr. and Mrs. Al NorDean and son
came down from Spokane Sunday to
spend a few days at the W. C. Rus
sell home in Athena. On the way
down from apokane they encounter-
er a storm and when near Waitsburg,
tne car stopped for want of gas.
uetting his Ford to the side of the
road, Mr. NorDean went after a sun-
ply of gas, leaving his wife and boy
in tne car, with the lights on.
cnortiy after he left, a car came ud
from behind, striking the NorDean
machine in the rear, shoving it into
tne ditch. Fortunately Mrs. Nor
Dean and her son escaped without
injury, but the machine was badly
wrecked. A car went from here to
bring the visitors down from Waits
burg.
Mr. NorDean went to Waitsburg
Tuesday, where his car is undergoing
repairs, and will proceed on to Spo
kane, his wife and son remaining
here for a short visit.
Four Inches of Snow
Succeeding a heavy rain which con
siderable bolstered up the moisture
average, and gave joy to wheat grow
ers in this section, four inches of
snow fell Wednesday night to
augment the quantity of precipitation
when it melts. This is the first real
snowfall of the season.
Athena At Touchet
Coach "Pike" Miller will take his
basketball tossers to Touchet tomor
row night for a game with Touchet
high school. The local players have
had a rest during the holidays and
are reported to be in good trim for
the games tomorrow night.
Under Slide
The body of Gene Gibbs. 25. a
miner, was found in the Granite dis
trict, near Baker under a snow slide,
which probably caused his death. His
skiis were found near the body, which
was not more than 100 yeards from
his house.
Fire Being Probed
The Monmouth Normal fire is being
probed by the state fire marshal's of
fice. It has found that the fire start
ed from a candle, but not placed on
tne onnstmas tree. The tree decor
ations, so it is said, did include can.
dies.
Alton Lieuallen was taken to St.
Mary's hospital at Walla Walla. Sun.
day, where an operation for relief
from appendicitis was performed
without delay. At last Teports Alton
was improving.
State Line Hall Scene of
Large Gathering On
New Year Day.
The following account of the annaul
reunion of the Hodgen family and
friends at State Line hall on New
Year's day, was written by a reporter
for the Walla Walla Bulletin: '
The gathering of a clan that "could
have elected Al Smith president if
they had all been old enough to vote,"
was making a mecca of the State
Line hall today where all who have
Hodgen blood or are married to those
of the original Hodgen family that
crossed the plains in 1864, are as
sembled for their seventeenth annual
reunion.
From Idaho, Washington and Ore
gon they were gathering for fes
tivities that started at one o'leock
this afternoon with a "feed" that was
to start the year of 1929 right, while
ether events were to keep all busy un
til midnight ' tonight, and possibly
later, depending upon the amount of
enthusiasm shown at that time.
Oldest of all the 100 assembled, is
Harvey Hodgen, now 73, and one of
those who crossed the plains in an ox
cart in 1864. From him came the
remark that the clan could have put
Al Smith in office, even though one
of their members was a Republican.
It is estimated that there are about
300 relatives in the United States,
but because of illness, distance, or
other cause, the attendance today was
near the century mark.
William Hodgen of Freewater, is
second in rank with age 68 as his
boast, while the youngest of all is
Louis, six-month old son of Mr. and
Mrs. Wendelin Leidl of this city.
Four generations r represented in
the gathering. Grover Hodgen of La
Grande, is the one who traveled
the longest distance to attend the re
union. A known record of 59 year du-
ing which no member of the large
family has ever been arrested, was
found today to be still intact, due
perhaps, one of the older folks re
marked, to the fact that "maybe some
should have been but were too slick."
The general appearance of all at the
meeting, termed by themselves as
"just folks," showed how such a
record could be made.
Good, clean vigorous living has
made of the clan a healthy lot that
has contributed to their own happi
ness and in addition been a factor in
athletics in Northwest colleges.
Greatest Book Circulation
The month of December was the
greatest month in the history of the
Athena branch library in point of
number of books in circulation. For
that month, the librarian, Mrs. W.
P. Littlejohn, reports that 1061 books
were taken from the library by read
ers. The Athena branch was estab
lished in 1914, and up until a short
while ago it was under supervision of
a board comprised of five Athena wo
men. These ladies gave efficient
service gratis, each serving a day in
turn at the library. However, the
duties involved required a great deal
of their time. Recently it was de
cided to place the library in charge
of a librarian, and the city council
appointed Mrs. Littlejohn.
John Stone In Hawaii
While on a recent visit to the
Hawaiian Islands, Fred Lockley,
feature writer for the Oregon Journ
al met John Stone, old-time Athena
boy. John is one of the busy men of
Honolulu now. He is private secre
tary for F. C. Atherton, president of
the Castle & Cook company; secre
tary of the Territorial Hotel com
pany; secretary of Central Y. M. C.
A. , and is International News cor
respondent. John asked to be re
membered to Dr. S. F. Sharp and F.
B. Boyd of Athena, and Clark Wood
of Weston, on Mr. Lockley's next
visit to Eastern Oregon.
State Basketball Tourney
Dates for the annual Oregon hiorn
school basketball championship tour
nament were fixed by the board of
control of the Oregon State High
School Athletic association at the an
nual meeting of the association. The
title frays will take place at Salem,
as usual, in Willamette university
gymnasium March 11 to 16. The
nine district champions and Portland
will compete as in the past.
Harry Hendryx Passes
Harry Hendryx. son of the late Mr.
and Mrs. Norman D. Hendryx, pio
neer residents of Weston, died Fri
day last at Hot Lake shortly after
leaving a train on which he was a
nassenger from Portland. Mr. Hen
dryx was 57 years of age. and leaves
a son Norman, and a daughter, Ruth,'
residents of Portland. The deceased
was engaged in mining operations in
the Baker district.