OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLIC AUDITORIUM
PILA"S. ORE.,
-31 T
a&tte
Volume 52, Number 49.
HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEB. 11, 1937.
Subscription $2.00 a Year
Tillamook Men
Take Helm of
Heppner Mining Co.
Office Moves to
Coast City; Portland
Men Lease Property.
Heppner Mining company, head
ed for more than 30 years by the
late Dan Stalter of this city, will
have its headquarters in the future
at Tillamiok. Officers and a board
of directors composed mainly of
Tillamook men were named at the
annual meeting of the company at
the courthouse Tuesday.
They are Jas. Williams, president;
Carl Schultz, vice-president; M. B.
Acklev. secretary; Max Schultz,
treasurer: directors. Jas. Williams,
0. K. Tittle, O. A. Schultz (all of
Tillamook), and S. J. Devuie and
Orrin Wright of Heppner.
Mining property of the company
located in the Greenhorn mountains
near Austin has been leased to Bun
ker and Sons of Portland. They ex
pect to put in .machinery and start
working the mine just as soon as the
weather permits.
Devine served as president the
last year, and J. O. Hager of this
city has been secretary-treasurer for
many years. Williams, Tittle, O. A.
Schultz, from Tillamook, and H. K.
Bunker of Portland were here for
the meeting.
Thomas Rhea Dies;
Gave Name to Creek
Funeral services were held at
Hillsboro vesterday for Thomas A
Rhea, one of the founders of First
National Bank of Heppner, and one
of the earlv settlers on Rhea creek
which received its name from him
end his brother, the late Columbus
A. Rhea. Mr. Rhea had been a resi
dent of Hillsboro for many years
and he died there on Sunday. He is
survived bv the widow, Lydia Bige
low Rhea, a daughter, Mrs. Cora
Bagley Lampkin of Portland, and
one brother. James Rhea of Hills
boro. Mr. Rhea was an uncle of
Mrs. Josie Jones and Mrs. Leta Babb
of this city, being a brother of the
late Mrs. James N. Luper, mother
of Mrs. Babb, while his brother, C
A. Rhea, was the father of Mrs
Jones.
Mr. Rhea was the son of E. W. and
Catherine (Milliorn) Rhea, being
born in Greene county, Missouri.
The family moved to Oregon in 1852
while Mr. Rhea was still a babe, set
tline at Powells valley. The follow
ing spring they removed to the forks
of the Willamette river where they
nnk un donation claims. There
young Thomas was educated in the
public schools and there also his
mother died in 1858. In 1866 they
moved near Eugene and two years
later Thomas started out for him
self, coming to Morrow county.
Working as a cowboy, he went to
Nevada the next year after arriving
here, returning in a year to launch
into the cow business on his own
from a small beginning. He estab
lished his headuarters on the creek
which later took his name, where he
took as a donation claim land now
operated by Jason Biddle.
In 1879 he sold his cattle and
bought sheep, starting with 1500
head. In 1884 he took a band of
8000 head to Montana, selling them
there. As one of the founders of
First National Bank of Heppner, he
served for several years as vice
president of that institution, while
his brother, C. A., was president.
Besides stock in the bank he once
owned a fine residence in Heppner,
some property in Lexington and land
below Cecil on Willow creek.
An excerpt from a history of the
county says anent Mr. Rhea: "Rhea
creek was named after him and his
brother and in an early day they
Sporting Blood
Rises When Geese
"-ri. T" "
i Urse in i uwn
Sporting blood of Main street
denizens immediately boiled when
two large geese sailed along be
neath the street lights Tuesday
afternoon.
Nonchalance was registered by
the beautiful birds as they landed
in the middle of the street near
the intersection of Center street
Speculation wagged tongues as
to what caused the birds to start
"taking in the town." Some of
those more familiar with the barn
lot suspicioned they had taken
"French leave" from somebody's
coon.
That suspicion was verified when
Harve Coxen came down town
looking for a couple of geese that
had escaped from his barn. Not
so tame, however, the geese con
tinued honking about at a late
hour in the evennig when all at
tempts to catch them were frus
trated.
Farmers Bank
Stockholders
Retain Gault
ROAD SITUATION
MUCH IMPROVED
Most Arteries Now Passable,
Judge Reports; Snowbound
Folks Arrive in Town.
Countv roads were about all pass
able yesterday, reported Judge Bert
Johnson, who has had a busy time
the last few weeks giving his per
sonal attention to the needs ot ev
erv section to accommodate every
one as fast as possible.
The situation was greatly compli
cated by new snow drifts forming
about as fast as old ones could be
cleared out of the way, and county
eauinment proved altogether inad-
eauate for the job. Much valuable
assistance was given by the state
rotarv plows and the CCC bulldozer,
Mr. Johnson said. The CCC boys
cleared the road out to the Barratt
place on Little Butter creek, and
yesterday were on a circle route
through the Swaggart butte coun
try expecting to work back through
Blackhorse clearing the road which
comes into town at the F. S. Parker
place.
.
The wires to the nudges office
have been kept hot by those want
ing help on their roads and others
seeking to know road conditions in
various parts of the county. The
condition has been such, however,
that definite information in most
cases was impossible. To those seek
ing help, the answer could only be,
"We're doing all we can.
After the Hardman road had been
cleared several times, E. E. Rugg
brought word to town Tuesday that
winds Monday night had formed
new drifts. G. A. Bleakman, Hard
man stage driver who has been go
ine over the road for fifty years,
said conditions this winter were the
worst in his experience.
One of the last sections to be
cleared up is that in Gooseberry,
but it was getting attention yester
dav. Mr. Johnson said. Dynamite
was being used in places to loosen
ice packs in the road.
Opening of the rural arteries has
been reflected this week by visits
to town by many people who had
been snowbound for several weeks.
Liquidation Shows
Good Handling as
Deposits All Repaid.
Stockholders of Farmers & Stock-
growers National Bank of Heppner,
forced into liquidation in the recent
depression, voted 328 to 10 in favor
of retaining J. L. Gault as receiver
to complete liquidation in their be
half. They met at the receiver's of
fice Tuesday.
Remaining assets listed at $18,000
now will be applied toward repay
ment on the stock assessment, as
depositors' claims against the bank,
with interest, have been fully satis
fied. In addition to depositors being
repaid dollar for dollar on every cent
deposited, they received 7.59 percent
interest from the time the bank
closed until the amount of deposits
had been repaid.
Indicative of the satisfactory han
dling of the bank's liquidation by
Mr. Gault was the unanimous vote
in his behalf of every stockholder
who had paid his assessment.
The good condition of the banks
assets as revealed bv the liquidation
led stockholders to opine again that
the bank never should have closed.
The element of fear pervading the
public in the depression causing peo
ple to mistrust banking institutions
generally, and hitting the Farmers
bank in particular because with
drawals heavily outweighed deposits,
was taken as the only reason for its
failure.
There appears possibility that
those stockholders who paid their
assessments will now be repaid in
full, making liquidation of the local
bank one of the most outstanding
liquidations in the country.
Condon-Heppner
FFA Smoker Set.
The local F. F. A. chapter is hold
ing a smoker in the high school gym
Friday, Feb. 12, at 8:00 p. m., with
the F. F. A. of Condon.
The list of bouts follows: Clayton
Wright vs. Matt Cooney, Floyd Wil
liams vs. Donald Smith, Howard
Patton vs. Dick Montague, Jack
Reiser vs. Andrew Shoun, Earl
Crisman vs. Harry Staltnow, Willie
Stone vs. Paul Cimmioti.
As an added attraction some of the
local CCC boys will stage two box
ing matches and one wrestling
match.
It is honed that this smoker will
be a financial success and with the
help and cooperation of the general
public it will be, say the sponsors.
Future smokers will be based upon
the success of this one.
SNOW IN MOUNTAINS.
R. H. Steers was in town Tues
day, coming in from the Harry
French mountain ranch. He reported
47 inches of snow there when he left,
the greatest depth reached before
this season being 55 inches. He
recently took out medicine to Mrs.
Foster Collins, his sister, who was
sick with flu at Camas prairie, mak
ing the entire distance from Hard
man to the Collins place on snow
shoes, and he stated it was a stiff
chore. French would like to have
some one rent enough rough land in
the north end of the county on which
to pile the snow which he has and
doesn't need, Steers reported.
Get results with G. T. want ads.
HAUL OUT FEED.
D. O. Justus and son Nels were in
the citv Monday for feed and sup
plies, having been snowbound at the
Hinton creek farm for a week. They
were thankful for the help they re
ceived in getting the road open.
They trucked out eight tons of sheep
cubes this week. While not right up
against it for feed, they were forced
to dig into hay which had been re
served for the lambing season, and
a break in the weather would be acceptable.
SNOWBOUND SEX WEEKS.
Members of the Olaf Bergstrom
family in the city Monday from the
Eight Mile farm reported being
snowbound for six weeks, it being
the first time they had made it to
town since New Years day. They
found it necessary to go through
fields coming in as the road had not
been opened through, the plow hav
ing made it only as far as the Stan
ton farm.
It Is a Small World
Emphasized by
Red Cross Package
When W. M. Christensen out on
Guam island in mid-Pacific re
ceived one of the Christmas pack
ages prepared by the county Red
Cross chapter, he thought, "I have
been in Heppner but forget when
it was."
He wrote on the return card to
Josephine Mahoney, last year's
chapter chairman:
"I received the Christmas pack
age okeh and appreciated it. Quite
a coincidence that you were from
my home state. I live at Marion,
16 miles south of Salem. I have
been in Heppner but forgotten
when it was."
Christensen was stationed at the
U. S. Naval hospital, Guam, M. I.,
when the package was received.
LIONS ENDORSE
RIVER WORK PLAN
Hearing at Lewiston May Aid
Bill in Congress; Club Gives
Basketbal Tourney Trophy.
Heppner Lions resolved in favor
of the Inland Empire Waterways as
sociation's plan for improvement of
the Columbia river. Monday, send
ing its endorsement to be presented
with those of many farm, commer
cial and service organizations at a
hearing to be held by the army
board of engineers at Lewiston, Ida
ho. on the 16th.
S. E. Notson was appointed by the
club to formulate a further state
ment showing the needs of Heppner
for river improvement, to be pre
sented at the same time. It is hoped
bv the waterways association to
make a sufficient showing at the
Lewiston hearing to aid the passage
of a bill in congress prepared by
Senators McNary and Steiwer of
Oregon and Senator Bone of Wash
ington which has incorporated the
associations plan of development,
including a continuing appropriation
over a period of years until the de
velopment is completed. The asso
ciation would leave the program of
development entirely in the hands
of the army engineers, without fa
voring any of the pet projects of dif
ferent localities.
The club also added its endorse
ment of legislation at Salem intend
ed to make tie-ups of transportation
facilities through strikes, such as the
maritime strike just completed, im
possible in the future. The club ex
pressed no partisanship as between
labor and employers but believed
such legislation is needed in the pub
lic interest. Producers especially
have been made to suffer heavy fi
nancial loss because of the strike
tie-ups, it was pointed out.
Giving its backing to the sub-dis
trict basketball tournament here the
26th and 27th. the club voted to pro
vide a trophy for the winning team.
Selection of the trophy was left in
the hands of Alden Blankenship and
Spencer Crawford.
S. E. Notson reported favorable
consideration by the county court
of the proposal to send a represent
ative to Salem to work for an appro
priation which would assist with or
ganization of a flood control district.
P. W. Mahoney. the court's repre
sentative, left for faalem bunday
night.
The hieh school mixed quartet,
Misses Kathryn and Marjorie Par
ker, Gerald Cason and Charles Cox,
sang two songs, accompanied by
Norbert Peavy.
Ray Drake came in from the Sand
Hollow farm Tuesday.
FEEL PORT SENTIMENT.
Rev. H. B. Thomas, mayor of
Boardman, Frank Barlow, represent
ing the city also, and Paul Smith;
representing the grange, were in
Heppner yesterday feeling out sen
timent up this way on construction
of a loading wharf on the river at
Boardman. They hope to see river
boats stopping at Boardman to load
and unload cargo in the not distant
future.
Weston Men Buy
Ford Agency From
Walter Blackburn
Milsom-Banister
Motor Co. Enters
Automotive Field.
Milsom-Banister Motor Co. ap
peared on the scene this week as
Ford dealers succeeding Blackburn
Motor company. Transfer of the
business was being made yesterday ,
after a deal completed by Morrow
County Realty company through
Walter Eubanks and H. L. Duvall.
The aeencv was checked this week
by a factory representative, and J.
S. Cooper, Ontario auditor, was as
sisting Walter Blackburn, retiring
owner, in making the transfer.
The change in ownership brings
two new families to Heppner. H. J.
(Jack) Milsom and R. C. Banister,
who take over the business, both
come from Weston. Milsom, long
prominent in Eastern Oregon auto
motive circles, has been with the
Gentry Motor company at Weston
for the last year a firm, by the
way, operated by Emery Gentry,
former Heppner boy. Banister has
farmed near Weston. Both men
have high standing in Umatilla
county. Milsom is especially famil
iar with this territory, having serv
ed it as automotive salesman out of
Pendleton for six years before going
to Weston.
A further real estate transfer is
reported by the realty company with
purchase of the Chas. W. Smith res
idence property by Banister.
Both new owners are married with
families and expect to establish res
idences here as soon as moving ar
rangements can be completed. Mr.
and Mrs. Milsom have two daugh
ters, Irene and Cora May, who have
finished high school, while Mr. and
Mrs. Banister have three children
who will all attend school.
Blackburn expects to remain here
for several months, at least, while
he looks after details in connection
with closing his business.
The new owners will give com
plete Ford sales and service, and
no immediate changes in shop per
sonnel is anticipated.
Harry Jones Buried
In Rites Here Today
Funeral services are being con
ducted from All Saints' church at
2:30 this afternoon for Harry Jones,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Jones,
Morrow county pioneers, who died
Friday in Seattle. Rev. John Daw
son of Good Shepherd Episcopal
church of Portland is officiating
mimster. Graveside services are in
charge of Heppner Post 87, Ameri
can Legion.
William Harry Jones was born in
Pendleton, Aug. 19, 1893. His par
ents were early pioneers on Butter
creek where the family home was
made for many years, and young
Harrv attended the Heppner schools.
He later graduated from Hill Military
academy, Portland. He became in
terested in aviation, secured his pi
lot's license at Redwood City, Cal.,
from where he enlisted and during
the World war served as flying in
structor at Mather field, California.
After the war he was employed by
DeVarney Bros., and later was in
the air mail service. He went to
Portland in 1921 and was connect
ed with Clark-Kendall, bond brok
ers, later going to Seattle in the same
business. Ill health forced him to
retire from business several years
ago. He is survived by a son, Ker
mit Henry, 14, and sister, Mrs. Stella
Bailey of Portland. Mrs. Bailey ia
here for the services.
E. E. Rugg and Orian Wright were
among Rhea creek ranchers trans
acting business in the city yesterday.
Continued on Page Eight