Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 1938)
0 Page Two Public Cooperation Wanted in Upsetting Property Values State Appraiser In forms of Tax Work at Lions Meeting The assessment and taxation de partment of the state tax commission is in the equalization of assessments bog up. to the ears and it likes to have the public keep it company. That's the humorous way Arthur A. Selander, chief appraiser for the department, had of telling the Lions club Monday that the department welcomes the interest of all property holders in obtaining a fair base for determining assessed valuation. Selander was here the first of the week assisting E. S. Woodford, member of his staff, who returned last week to continue work of up setting property values, both real and personal, in Heppner. Town properties alone are being upset at this time, although eventually a revaluation of all classes of prop erty in the county will be obtained, he said. This department's work, carried on in cooperation with county as sessors, covers the entire state. Eight engineers are now on the job, though only six are retained regularly. With this force and the territory to be covered, Selander pointed out that it would take a' long time to com plete the task. So far it has been the department's policy to go where the "cry is the loudest." The work here is being done on invitation of Thomas J. Wells, assessor. Appraising properties for taxation purposes so as to arrive at an equit able base for all classes of property is a large order because of the many factors that affect values. Too, some of the factors are prone to shift rad ically over a period of a few years, so that a piece of property upset to true value one year may in a few years be clear out of line, said the speaker. That the recent depression had much to do with throwing property values out of line was cited in one instance in Portland. Here the com mission found a building that had just sold for $12,000. It was originally assessed for $32,000. After applying the valuation formula, the commis sion found its true value to be $26, 000. While the commission is given su pervisory power over all property valuation for tax purposes in the state, it is not its policy to act ar bitrarily, the speaker pointed out. It attempts to work cooperatively with assessors, county courts and taxpayers themselves. Before a final basis for fixing assessments is rec ommended, the matter is gone over thoroughly with informed taxpayers as well as the various public agen cies affected, and final adoption is left in the hands of the county equal izaton board. In the work so far a number of counties have been entirely covered, and it was cited by Selander that while various ratios of assessment to valuation have been adopted in various counties, this really has little effect upon taxpayers of a single county so long as all property values within that county have been estab lished with the same yardstick. Mr. Woodford, assistant appraiser, was also a guest at the club lunch- ONE NEWS Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon Weeds Likened to Bad eon. OSC Draws from Many States Oregon State College Students attending the OSC summer school this year represent 22 other states and all counties in Oregon except 'Grant, Harney and Jefferson. Regis tration at the end of the third week showed 693 regular students anr 24 auditors, making a total of 717, ap proximately 5 per cent higher than last summer. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Parsons arrived the end of the week from Elgin and Mr. Parsons went on to Portland Monday, while Mrs. Parsons re mained for a visit at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. N. D. Bailey. Mr. Parsons expected they would be located shortly at Medford where he will be connected with the resettlement administration. Holub Loses Combine In Fire at lone Ranch By MARGARET BLAKE Frank Holub had the misfortune of having his combine destroyed by fire last week. An overheated bear ing apparently was the cause. The crew put the fire out and after wait ing for some time to be sure it was safe left the combine for the night. However, the fire had evidently been smoldering for when the crew returned to work in the morning it was entirely burned, fortunately there had been no wind during the night so the fire did not spread to the nearby wheat. No insurance was carried on the machine. Willows grange held its July meet ing in the hall at Cecil last Sunday afternoon. A pot luck dinner was en joyed at the George Krebs home and members and visitors enjoyed an hour of games and recreation on the lawn before the business meeting was called. In the absence of the master, J. O. Kincaid, the overseer, Mary Lindsay, acted as presiding of ficer. It was decided that the grange would not enter a float in the Rodeo parade this year. The August meet ing will be held Sunday, August 28. The Home Economics club will meet at the home of Mrs. J. H. Bry- son on the third Friday in August, Past Noble Grand club held its regular monthly meeting on the lawn at the home of Mrs. Omar Riet mann last Friday afternoon. Mem' bers present were Mesdames Ella Davidson, Ida Fletcher, E. C. Heliker, Frank Lundell, Milton Morgan, Jr., Clel Rea, C. W. Swanson, J. E. Swan son and E. R. Lundell. Guests were Mrs. A. E. Heliker and Miss Harriet Heliker. Since the regular meeting in August falls on the Friday the Ro deo will be in progress in Heppner, it was decided to hold the meeting on the third Friday, August 24, in stead. Mrs. J. E. Swanson will be hostess. At the close of the meeting refreshments of ice cream, cookies and punch were served. Mrs. Jennie Rix of Culver City, Cal, is visiting at the home of her brother, J. O. Kincaid. Mrs. Ruth Martin and son, Robert Cantwell, went to Eugene last Tues day to get work. Mrs. Martin's daughter, Olive, remained at the home of her aunt, Mrs. Frank En gelman, until they are settled. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Balsiger were visitors here Sunday and Monday from their home at Hood River. Betty Jean Mankin went to Thorn ton, Wash., Sunday to visit her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Misner. Mr. and Mrs. Glen Burroughs and sons of KirksvilleS Mo., are visiting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. French Burroughs. They made the trip west by motor, coming by way of Cali fornia. Katherine Griffith and Mary K. Blake left Sunday afternoon for Portland. ' On Wednesday they will go to Camp Adams near Molalla where they will attend the Congre gational church summer school as representatives of the lone Union Sunday school. They were taken to Arlington by Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Griffith and from there went by train. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Blake, Keith ley Blake and daughter, Betty Belle, stopped in lone Thursday for a short time enroute to their homes at Kin zua after a week's outing at Lehman springs. Forest Service Issues Fire Statement The recent period of extremely dangerous fire weather is bad, com ing so early in the summer, accrd ing to U. S. forest service statement just issued, and should not be fol lowed by a false sense of security if the weather should take a temporary turn for the better. "Normally we can expect an ad ditional six or eight weeks of fire season," said M. L. Merritt, assist' ant regional forester, Portland. "We hope for a turn for the better in weather conditions, to enable fire fighters to get the best of the fires they are now fighting. However, such a favorable turn usually may be ex pected to be followed by additional bad fire weather in August and Sep tember, it smouldering tires are abandoned, or public vigilance re laxes as weather gets better, the chances are that we would have even worse fires later in the sea son than those we now are fighting. This has been the history of past fire seasons." Forest service cumulative fire re port for the season, just compiled, shows that up to July 20 there have been 777 fires started on national forests of Oregon and Washington, as compared with 364 last year. Of these, 529 were caused by lightning, and 248 were mancaused. Principal man causes were smokers, 104; campers 68; debris burners, 23, and incendiary, 15. Of the total of 777 started, 594 were put out under one quarter of an acre each; 152 were held under 10 acres each; and only 31 exceeded 10 acres each. According to Merritt, this shows an excellent record for the protection forces. A few of the 31 "class C" fires reached large size, because of such factors as weather, humidity, difficult terrain and inac cessibility. A total of 10,847 acres have been burned, most of this acre' age being accounted for by the three large fires in the Siskiyou national forest, in extremely dificult, inac cessible country. Two states, Michigan and Mary land, have experimentally installed a system of, reflectorized standards along certain stretches of highway to outline the edges of the highway at night, according to Secretary of State Earl Snell. Automobile head lights illuminate the reflectors, let ting the drivers know whether a curve, a hill or a straightaway lies ahead. Reflector standards are spaced every hundred feet, Secretary Snell says. Habits in New Booklet The perennial weed is likened to a bad habit, which seems harmless un til it becomes so intrenched that getting rid of it is difficult. Contin uing this analogy, Oregon cultivated land is made up of Vh per cent of bad habits, according to estimates in the latest and most comprehensive weed bulletin issued by the exten sion service at Oregon State college. The new and profusely illustrated bulletin is not the last word on the control of perennial weeds in Ore' gon, but it is the latest printed word, and one which is likely to become a textbook on this subject until such time as weed control research pro vides better methods than are now known. The bulletin is credited to five editors, E. R. Jackman, exten sion agronomist, and his assistant, Lawrence Jenkins; C. A. Henderson, W. A. Holt and H. G. Avery, county agents in Klamath, Umatilla and Union counties respectively. Supplementing the bulletin itself is a series of illustrated leaflets which describe 51 different weeds found in Oregon. "So far there is no royal way to weed control," the bulletin points out. "The weeds stubbornly refuse to abdicate unless stern and unre lenting methods are applied. These methods are expensive in either time, money or both." The bulletin discusses the various methods of chemical control now used, control by cultivation, by smothering, by pasturing, by seed Thursday. July 28, 1938 combinations of these control meth ods. Suggestions are made for a county weed control program, and digests are printed of botn tne ure gon weed and seed control laws. In addition to the regular text, the hulletin contains scores of letters from growers, giving their actual ex periences with different meuioas 01 weed control. Inventors Display Interest in Show Keen interest in the State Invent ors' show which will be held this year as a new feature of the Oregon State fair is reported by J. T. An derson, patent coordinator, who will supervise the event. Inventors of Salem and vicinity showed up nearly 250 strong at a meeting held last week in Salem, ac crding to Anderson. They made ar rangements for the exhibition of their creations from children's toys to huge lumber trailers. Plans now tentatively worked out call for meetings with inventors in principal cities throughout the state. NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS The Fifteenth Annual Nebraska Picnic will be held at the City Park (south edge of city on highway) in Corvallis, August 7, 1938. Free coffee. Bring your sups and trimmin's. Seats for all. Short, snappy program leaving plenty of time for visiting. Come and see Nebraskans you knew "back home" There were over 1500 present last year. Mrs. John Skuzeski and children went to Portland Sunday, expecting to remain for several weeks for a visit at the home of Mrs. Skuzeski's ing to permanent crops and various parents. "JQemodeL your home WITH A FIRST FHA LOAN" N ATI Oy 1 Add to its comfort, value and attractiveness! Now is the time to make those needed improvements to remodel, repaint, add extra rooms, a new heat ing system or other con veniences. The First National Bank offers long-time FHA Modernization financing on existing structures up to $10,000. HERE'S HOW YOU OBTAIN A MODERNIZATION LOAN 1. Secure Estimate of Cost Ask the CASH price from your contractor or building malarial sua ply dealer. 2. See The First National Bank Bring the eitlmote to the moil convenient branch for checking Nse loan. There It no delay. The First National can give DIRECT approval 3. Mail the Certificate of Completion to the bank. This is supplied by your contractor or builder who Nte work Is finished. The First National Bank then pays CASH. No Delays I ... No Extra Charge! .xamuies of modernization financings YOUR IMPROVEMENTS COST $200 Repaying 1 year . . . monthly payment U $17.55 Repaying 2 yean . . . monthly payment la $ 9.1 1 Repaying 3 years . . . monthly payment b $ 6.39 YOU NEED NOT BE A DEPOSITOR TO BORROW FROM THIS BANK HEPPNER BRANCH FIRS? NATIONAL BANK OF PORTLAND THE First National Bank West of the Rockies MEMBER FID i I A L DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORAT O N