OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLIC AUDITOR I U '.
o o r
n Ti
A
Volume 53, Number 17.
HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1937.
Subscription $2.00 a Year
Thomas J. Wells
Succeeds Father
As County Assessor
Mrs. Sylva Wells to
Remain as Deputy
In Court Decision
Thomas J. Wells will succeed his
father, the late Jesse J. Wells, as
Morrow county assessor for the un
expired term according to announce
ment of the county court yesterday
evening after consideration of ten
applicants for the position. The
court also asked that Mrs. Sylva
Wells remain as deputy in the office
for the remainder of the term. . Mrs.
Wells signified her willingness to do
this for the good of the office, while
saying, "I think I've about served
my time."
Wells' appointment was based on
the fact of his familiarity with rout
ine of the office and the policies
established by his father. The court
considered it unwise to change per
sonnel at this time, especially in
view of new ownership records
which are under way to complete
the job of reassessment started last
year by the late assessor which re
sulted in a 25 percent valuation de
crease. . ,
In accepting the position, Wells
announced that it would be his en
deavor as nearly as possible to car
ry on where his father left off, with
no marked changes in policy con
templated. He believed his famil
iarity with the office by virtue of
his seveal years as deputy under
his father has given him a good
understanding of the work, and he
expects to handle all matters fairly
and impartially.
Mrs. Wells, the deputy, has had
many years' experience in the office,
having helped set up the present
system of records as deputy to her
brother-in-law when this system,
copied in several other counties,
was first established. She served
as deputy during most of the 26
years the late assessor was in office,
While the court had a hard time
deciding from among the many ca
pable applicants, they believed they
acted in the best interests of the
county by retaining those most fa
miliar with the office until election
time.
Vandals Apprehended
In Car Escapade
Vandals who the Thursday eve
ning before pilfered the automobile
of Dr. L. D. Tibbies and delayed his
reporting on a maternity case by
taking his instrument case, were
later apprehended and in justice
court last Thursday evening re
ceived sentence. One, Eggersheim
of Camp Heppner, was given over
to camp authorities for penalty,
while the other, Vinson Perry, for
mer Camp Heppner enrollee, was
given thirty days in the county jail.
Intoxication was plead as cause for
the act.
Perry recently returned from
Massachusetts where he went on
being discharged from the local camp
and had been living at the Wilson
cabins. Dr. Tibbies recovered the
lost articles from the school grounds
where they had been thrown. His
shotgun, part of the loot, was thrown
through a window into the gymna
sium.
4-H KITCHEN CLUB NEWS
Members of the 4-H Kitchen club
met yesterday. A report was given
by each girl on her work the last
week. Reports were also given by
the committees. Games were played
and refreshments served. A good
time was reported by all.
Application for marriage license
was made at the clerk s office yes
terday by Miss Theresa Quigley
and Joseph M. Brosnan. The wed
ding was expected to be an event
of about the 11th at The Dalles.
Pomona Grange to
Meet at Irrigon
Morrow County Pomona grange
will meet at Irrigon on Sunday, July
11, at 10 a. m. Business will be con
ducted in the forenoon and a picnic
dinner will be served, after which
there will be a picnic for the after
noon games and stunts. Chas. Wick
lander, state deputy, will talk on
picnics and summer grange activ
ities. Aj 8 p. m. Greenfield grange
will confer the 5th degree on a large
class of candidates, Irrigon grange
furnishing the tableaux.
The July Pomona will see the end
of the contest for this year. The
speakers will give the 1st, 2nd, 3rd
and 4th degree charges of Flora, and
the contest will be held just before
adjournment at noon time.
Each grange in the county is to
furnish a stunt, skit, game or other
number for the afternoon amuse
ment and the Pomona members who
participated in the skit which was
Morrow county's number on the
state lecturer's program at the recent
state grange meeting will again put
on that skit at the Pomona picnic.
All grangers are asked to come,
bring your picnic dinner and have
a good time.
TRASHY FALLOW
WORTH PROVED
E. R. Jackman Helps With Sur
vey Showing Success; Some
Questions Yet to be Answered
The new system of trashy sum
merfallow has already proved its
worth in Morrow county, according
to E. R. Jackman of the state col
lege who is in the county this week
working with Joe Belanger, county
agent. For years the thoroughness
of a man's wheat farming operations
has been judged by neighbors large
ly on the neatness of summerfallow,
Under the new system, " whereby
plowing is done so as to leave as
much of the straw as possible on top
of the ground, the summerfallow
does not look so good, but this meth
od unquestionably stops most of the
blowing and also most of the soil
losses from washing.
There are a good many things
about the operation, however, which
have not been fully worked out.
Some of the unanswered questions
are: How much straw is necessary
on the surface to check blowing un
der the different soil conditions? In
the light yielding areas which should
be used a duckfoot, a modified
moldboard, or a one-way disk plow?
Does the old style double disk do as
good a job as the newer implements,
and under what conditions can it be
used? In the heavy yielding areas
where straw yields are high how can
the method best be used and at the
same time secure a seed bed for fall
planting? How does moisture pene
trate with this system of fallow as
compared with the old system?
The experiment stations in eastern
Oregon are doing considerable work
with trashy fallow but not all of the
above questions can be answered
by the work at the stations. The Co
lumbia basin county agents recent
ly, requested the state college to
make a survey of the trashy fallow
fields, hoping to establish answers
to some of the above questions, and
Jackman is one of the men working
on this survey.
Joe Belanger reports that about
40,000 acres are being farmed by the
trashy fallow system in Morrow
county this year. Farmers in the
blow areas in the north end of the
county are particularly well satis
fied with the method, reporting that
there is less soil moving than for
several years past.
PLAN CAKE SALE
The Campfire Girls are giving a
cake sale Saturday morning, July 3,
to raise more money for their trip
to Hidaway. Cakes will be sold at
Dix's grocery and at Green's feed
store.
The Ambrose Chapin family ar
rived fom Portland this week to
spend several days in the city on
business
Rising Freight
Costs Calls for
United Farm Action
Tri-State Transpor
tion Council Out
lines New Prograrn
"At the present rate of freight rate
increases, it is said that if wheat
went to $2.00 a bushel the increased
'deducts' would soon hold down the
purchasing power of the wheat
grower to a bare subsistence level,"
was the viewpoint expressed at re
cent meetings of wheat growers and
farm organization leaders held at
Spokane, Lewiston, Dayton and
Walla.
At these meetings plans have been
formulated to combat the recent and
proposed increases in freight rates
upon wheat and flour, according to
J. J. Edwards of Dayton, Wash., who
has been elected chairman of the
board of the Tri-State Wheat Trans
portation council. With a board of
fifteen wheat growers, five from
Washington, five from Oregon and
five from Idaho, the council has been
incorporated under the cooperative
association laws of Oregon.
"Among the problems which have
been discussed at the recent organi
zation meetings and which confront
the wheat growers," states Mr. Ed
wards, "are (1) the proposed inter
coastal steamship rate increase of
about ten per cent on wheat and
flour scheduled to have become
effective June 1st; (2) modifications
as to free transits proposed by rail
roads and middlewestern mills and
markets, with oral argument at
Washington, D. C, June 11th; (3)
proposed substantial permanent in
crease in freight rates upon most of
the commodities shipped to and from
the interior of Washington, Oregon
and Idaho hearing before Commis
sioner Aitchison at Portland, June
15; (3) the increased rail freight
rates upon wheat and flour recently
made effective from the south At
lantic and gulf ports into the south
east scheduled for hearing at Se
attle about July 15th; (5) skyrocket
ing of ship charters needed for trans
portation of wheat; (6) further in
creases that railroads threaten upon
wheat and flour in the event that
various 'make -work' laws and twen
ty per cent increases in railroad la
bor wages become effective; (7) the
depletion of funds needed by some
of the railroads through over-selling
to railroads of over-priced equip
ment and material through greedi
ness of those in control; (8) the Pet
Continued on Page Eight
Heppner Young Folks
Win Awards at Cove
With the local Young Peoples
Fellowship taking the bishop's cup
among smaller cities for attendance,
fellowship and worship, with the
boys' group winning the large wood
en cross for the outstanding service
group in the district, and with elec
tion of Jackson Gilliam and Scott
McMurdo of this city as president
and vice president, respectively, of
the district organizaton, Heppner re
ceived a large share of the laurels
given at the Ascension summer
school ending at Cove last week.
Returning home Thursday from
Cove were Jackson Gilliam, Scott
McMurdo, Kemp Dick, Harold Arm
strong, Shirley Wilson, Jeanette
Blakely, Bethal Blake and Billy
Barratt of Heppner, and Mary K.
Blake and Betty Jean Mankin of
lone. ,
Newly elected officers for the
eastern Oregon district are Jackson
Gilliam, president; Scott McMurdo,
vice president; Mary Ellen Runge,
Bend, secretary; Jeffrey Boyer, On
tario, treasurer; executive commit
tee, Scott McMurdo, chairman; Tom
my Radcliffe of Klamath Falls, Sally
Childs of Hood River, Douglas Hay
of Lakeview and John Kopp of La
Grande.
Lions Install New
Officers; Notson Head
S. E. Notson, though absent be
cause of the illness which has kept
him in Portland for several weeks
and from which he is reported to be
making fair progress, was inducted
as president of the Lions club at the
Monday noon luncheon. Other of
ficers installed by Ray P. Kinne, re
tiring president, were Dr. L. D. Tib
bies, first vice president; Chas. W.
Barlow, second vice president; Capt.
W. R. Reynolds, third vice president;
Ray P. Kinne, secretary-treasurer;
Millard Rodman, tailtwister; Joe
Belanger, lion tamer; M. L. Case and
Dr. A. D. McMurdo, directors.
Messrs. Bell and Lassen from the
Pendleton studio of radio station
KUJ of Walla Walla were club
guests. To their offer of free time
on a 13-week community program
in event sufficient local advertising
were sold to justify, the club voted
to cooperate in supplying material
for such program. Mr. Lassen also
entertained the club with a tap
dance. He was credited with being
a former dancing instructor in Hol
lywood with several movie stars as
proteges.
The next club meeting was voted
to be held on Tuesday because of the
Fourth of July holiday falling on
Monday.
CITY SWELTERS
FOLLOWING RAINS
Monday Temperature High at
97; June Rainfall of 3.03 Inches
Third Highest in 25 Years.
Heppner citizens felt their first
real touch of summer this week
when the mercury took a spurt up
to 97 degrees Monday afternoon, a
jump of 10 degrees from the day
before. Relief was felt Tuesday
when 84 only was reached, though
perspiration started again with yes
terday's high of 91. Today is cooler
with a light breeze and fleeting
clouds helping to stay Old Sol's
onslaught.
The heat wave came close on the
heels of the June rainy season
which contributed all but .01 inch
of the 3.03 total for the month. While
June was the wettest since 1916, it
failed to reach the 25-year record
of 1912 by .11 inch. June, 1912, con
tributed 3.14 inches while June, 1916
was second with 3.12.
The .01 inch fell Tuesday evening,
while a trace of moisture was shown
in a momentary shower yesterday
evening, reported Len L. Gilliam,
government weather observer.
Present warm days are not alarm
ing to wheat farmers who expect
some ripening weather, and first
harvesting operations are expected
to start in the lower country near
the middle of the month.
Court Votes Money
On CCC Camp Lease
Duplicating action of the city
council some time ago, the county
court yesterday voted $100 as its
share of the lease money for the
land on which the CCC camp is lo
cated. The city and county are
thereby sharing 50-50 in providing
the camp site.
In anouncing action of the court,
Judge Bert Johnson said consider
ably more than that much value had
been received from the camp by the
county in assistance given in open
ing roads last winter.
NEW INSTRUCTOR HERE
William G. Bennett, new Smith
Hughes instructor, was in the city
this morning to start his work here,
going over the ground with Randall
Grimes, whom he succeeds. Mr.
Grimes had just returned to the city
from Harrisburg where he attended
the funeral of his father last week.
Mr. Bennett taught last year at Ar
lington. He will be joined later by
Mrs. Bennett and baby.
Miss Juanita Phelps returned
home Monday after a week's visit in
The Dalles at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Roy Feeley.
Wheat Farmers
Discuss Problems
At Moro Picnic
Mill a Bushel Asked
to Aid in Transpor
tation Fight
A profitable day was spent at
Moro Saturday by more than 300
registered attendants at the East
ern Oregon Wheat league picnic
Messages of interest from educators
and farm leaders from the platform
in the cool shade of the Moro city
park were followed by picnic din
ner and inspection trip of the Moro
experiment station in the afternoon
for the men, and a discussion group
led by Mrs. Thomas, home econ
omics specialist from O. S. C, for
the ladies.
Appearance of the Moro school
band on the street and at the park
preceded opening of the morning
program. Giles L. French, chair
man of the local committee on ar
rangements, opened the speaking
program with a short tribute to the
league and its accomplishments,
welcoming it to the city of its birth
for staging its first picnic, and in
troducing Charles Nish, league pres
ident, who in turn gave a short his
torical sketch of the league and in
troduced the guest speakers. Nish
gave the names of former league
presidents, which included Chas. B.
Cox and E. H. Miller of this county.
Speakers introduced included
Dean W. A. Schoenfeld, director U.
S. agricultural extension service for
Oregon; Solon T. White, director of
the state department of agriculture;
J. B., Adams, past president of the
league ; Prof. ' G . R. Hyslop, farm
crops specialist from O. S. C.. and
J. M. Parrish, secretary of the Tri
State Transportation league.
Keynote of the transportation
theme, sounded by President Nish
in his opening address, was enlarged
upon by Parrish who told of the
league's purpose as working against
unfair differentials which are keep
ing many markets closed to agricul
ture, especially wheat, of the eastern
portions of Oregon, Washington and
Idaho. Depicting the necessity for
action on a larger scale than has
been possible by a single organiza
tion such as the Eastern Oregon
Wheat league, which had pioneered
the way, he showed the organization
set-up as being headed by growers;
of established reputation, and asked
financial support from every grow
er to the amount of one mill for ev
ery bushel of the 1937 crop. Such
financial support is essential to the
hope of carrying on a successful
campaign, he said.
Importance of a permanent agri
culture out of consideration to the
farm's "most' important crop" the
younger generation was empha
sized by Dean Schoenfeld, thus em
phasizing the need for soil conser
vation practices, weed control and
other long-time policies. Some
thing of the benefits received thru
the work of the extension service,
he said was indicated by the better
Continued on Page Eight
Have Close Shave
In Truck Accident
The Morrow County Creamery
company's new motor delivery rig
was badly damaged, and its three
occupants, Charles Cox, driver, La
Moyne Cox and Howard Cleveland,
escaped with minor scratches when
the truck left the highway near the
J. G. Barratt ranch Monday night
and hit the barbed wire fence.
Cox the driver, son of W. C. Cox,
creamery proprietor, reported that
he was blinded by lights of an ap
proaching car. He swung the truck
over into the soft shoulder of the
highway, which caused it to take a
zigzag course and get out of control.
All the boys counted themselves
fortunate to escape serious injury.