Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1938)
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLIC AUDITORIUM PORTIA 0 H T, Volume 54, Number 21 "Dave" Stephens Honored at Banquet By Wheat League Experiment Director Goes to Washington for National Job Signal recognition of D. E. Steph ens' contribution to wheatgrowing in eastern Oregon was given at Ar lington Saturday evening when 75 farmers and fellow service workers joined in a banquet sponsored by Eastern Oregon Wheat league. The event was in the nature of a send-off as Mr. Stephens left for Washington, D. C, to assume his new position as national coordinator of the bureau of plant pathology of the department of agriculture and the soil conservation service of the department of inter ior, a promotion gained by recogni tion of his meritorious work with the wheat demonstration" farm at Moro for the last 26 years. George Peck of Lexington, league president, as toastmaster called upon the speakers of the evening, of whom Mac Hoke of Umatilla county gave the headline address. Having worked intimately with Mr. Stephens for several years as one of the state's earlier county agent in Wallowa county, Hoke drew upon his long association with the honored man to complete a beautiful tribute to that man's successful endeavors which brought revolutionary practices to wheatraising throughout the Inland Empire. Hoke, as did other speak ers of the evening, credited "Dave" Stephens with bringing new varie ties of wheat, including White Fed eration, Rex and Oro that spelled the difference between profit and diS' aster to wheatraising of the entire region. Stephens was cited as the first to plant crested wheat grass, leading the way for the spread of this invaluable grass in the last few years. Under Stephens' guidance the Moro station was created and nur tured to the place where it became the wheatraiser's "bible" for refer' ence as to all the best practices, the speaker said. Dean W. A. Schoenfeld, director of agricultural extension service in Oregon, commended Stephens for having the breadth of vision required for his new position of high respon sibility. He credited the man from Moro with having the true scientific perspective that puts all things in their proper relationship, and he commended the new coordinator with having done a hard job ex ceedingly well at the experiment station. Still further tribute to the hon ored man was paid by F. L. Ballard, known as the "grand old man" of the extension service and vice-director of extension, and further recogni tion was given by C. W. Smith, league secretary, and by farm lead ers of each of the counties repre sented. E. H. Miller responded for Morrow county, and others were Carl Engdahl, Umatilla; Ward Far rell, Jefferson; John Withycombe, Gilliam; Frank McKennon, Union: Angus McLeod, Wasco; but no more appealing tribute was given than that by Harry Proudfoot of Sherman county, who termed Stephens as just one of the fellow townsmen at Moro whom it is going to be mighty hard to do without. All, however, ex pressed gratitude that their friend's efforts had received a worthy reward from high places. . On his own behalf, Mr. Stephens expressed regret, saying that he did 'nt want to go when f irsh approached in fact had refused, but when he had been convinced that he might serve a little better at the nation's capital, he weakened. He assured that the wheat problems in Oregon would have his heartfelt interest at all times. Attending the banquet from this county were E. H. Miller, Orville Cutsforth, R. B. Rice, George Peck C. E. Carlson, Oscar Peterson, J. 0, Kincaid, Henry Baker, Oral Scott, Heppner, o NEWSY o NEWS VIEWS (As gleaned by Paul McCarty at the Heppner Hotel desk) Latest developments on the Ro deo, which heretofore have not been made public . . . The queen of the 1938 Heppner Rodeo will be chosen this week, and it is possible that her highness' name will be disclosed at either the Lena dance this Saturday or at lone the following week. Just a hint as to one of the decid ing factors in picking the Heppner Rodeo queen ... no definite pat tern in the selection has been an nounced; however, one point, which the Rodeo asosciation deemed of ut most importance, was decided upon . that to be used in choosing the queen concerns tne parentage or each candidate in regard to the pioneer aspect ... in other wrds the pionoer stock of the princesses' par ents and relatvies will be a main point in deciding who will reign as head of the royal court of "the big' gest little show of sports of the old west." By August 15th the town will be decorated with the familiar ban ners, bunting, and flags. Henry Aiken, president of the Ro deo, says the parade is all lined up and will include among its many at tractions, a wagon drawn by four white calves , . . this is something new and seldom found anywhere. Another enlightening point . . . this year's show is taking on the ap pearance of being the most outstand ing in its history, with inquiries com ing from riders in southern Calfor nia and some even from the Long Acres track at Seattle. If good music at the Rodeo dances means anything, then Heppner will have it . . . bids have already been received from Andy's Rhythmeers, local musical troupe, Elmer Steele's Swing Band from Pendleton which played last year, and Virginia Lew is' orchestra, a classy all-girl outfit . it has been rumored that Eli Rice's musicians, a nationally known Harlem orchestra, might be in this section of the co.untry the last of August and should they come, an effort will be made to contast them in the possibility of their playing the two-night stand during Rodeo. Roger Folgate, football and track Continued on Page Eight Alumni Manager To be Here Aug. 24 Oregon State Colleg e Warren Reid, recently appointed manager of the Oregon State College Alumni association, plans to visit alumni in most counties of the state during August on his first general trip since he took over the work. He will visit Heppner on August 24. Reid will be accompanied by Jim Edwards, a' graduate of the college last June. The two men will contact local alumni associations where such are organized and individual alumni in other places. They will also have detailed information on the opening of college this fall for those who plan to enter Oregon State for the first time. IS TRANSFERRED ' Richard Tullar, agronomist with the local soil conservation service for more than a year, received no tice of transfer this week. He will go to Burns accompanied by his fam ily. While in Heppner, Mr. Tullar was generous with his vocal talents and his singing pleased many audi ences. Well wishes of many friends accompany them to their new home, Marvin R. Wightman came from Arlington Friday to assist in straight' ening out at his father's dairy fol lowing the fire that morning. He brought a supply of bottle caps. Be cause of the cloudburst waters of the night before blocking the highway at Jordan, he was forced to detour over the hill road between lone and Lexington. Chas. B. Cox, D. M. Ward, Joseph Belanger, Gene Laer and J. V. Craw ford. Oregon, Thursday, August Parrish Resigns as Police Chief; New Reservoir is Plan Special Vote Likely ' if PWA Favorable; Flood Menace Aired Acceptance of the resignation of Fred Parrish as chief of police and fire chief was made at the regular council meeting Monday evening, the resignation effective as of August 1. Parrish gave no reason except that he desired to be relieved of the du ties. , . i For the present the council decid ed to raise Albert Schunk, night po liceman, to the office held by Par rish with naming of a successor de ferred until more consideration could be given. The names of two appli cants were mentioned at the meet ing. An entirely new reservoir instead ef rehabilitation of the old one as before considered will be incorpor ated in the city's water project for PWA assistance. This was deter mined when the council accepted the ' suggestion of L. R. Stockman, engineer, that the new reservoir would be the more practicable. His suggestion was contained in a letter. It was the opinion of the council that a special election would be called to decide upon such projects, if and when approved by PWA. That the state will provide addi tional clearance under the "court house" bridge if a check-up deter mines such course necessary was conveyed in a letter read from Dis trict Engineer Williams and ad dressed to Jos. J. Nys, city attorney. The letter was in reply to one which Mr. Nys had written calling atten tion to the fact that a bad flood haz ard existed because of the narrow clearance beneath the bridge. If in vestigation reveals this to be the case, Williams said an item would be made in next year's budget to cover cost of correction. Business Slump Hits Hollywood Says Visitor In his many years selling automo biles in Hollywood, the movie cap ital, business was just about the worst there when he left a few days ago that he had ever seen it. So said Walter Duncan who arrived here Sunday and left on Wednesday ac companied by his brother, Harry Duncan, for a week s sojourn at the coast. The Hollywood visitor was looking forward to some good Ore gon fishing as his luck had been poor so far this season in southern California. 1 Slow business in the movie induS' try, about which Hollywood econ omic life revolves, was given as the root of the trouble. Mr. Duncan re ported one large producing firm had dropped 3000 employees off the pay' roll just a few days before he left. The trouble? Short receipts at thea ter box offices all over the country. One local effect in Hollywood was the reduction of all employees of one larger department store to half-time basis. Movie extras are doing any and all kinds of menial labor to keep their chins up. Picture producers have completed expensive films that are on the shelves awaiting a more opportune season for releasing. Mr. Duncan claims Clark Gable as a close friend. And just as a treat for his brother here he brought along several Gabe-autographed pic tures, large ones. One was inscribed, "To Wallie's kid brother Harry from Clark." Mrs. Julia Clark was in the city the end of the week looking after business interests and visiting friends and relatives. She came up from Hillsboro where she has been with Mr. Clark for some time in his ill' ness. Mr. Clark has shown little im provement since going below, being bedfast all the time. 4, 1938 When Lightning. Knocks a Fellow Down, That's Close Enough Last Thursday evening's storm didn't leave any fatalities, but it gave at least three men a stiff shock. And the shock is meant lit erally, from lightning. j Max Buschke, lookout at Tamar ack station, probably got it the worst. He was in the tower when it was struck by a bolt from the blue, knocking him unconscious for an hour. He recovered shortly and was able to resume work. Harve Bauman got a stiff jolt while at work, in the field on his lower Willow creek farm, when the jagged electricity hit the earth at considerable distance. Howard Evans got it, too. He was in the same' vicinity as the Bauman farm, and was just get ting out of his truck when the lightning hit about 30 yards away. It knocked him down. All of which is a bit too close for comfort, he averred. Roy Robinson to Show Blooded Stock Roy Robinson who runs one of the finest herds of purebred beef cattle in the state on his mountain ranch south of Hardman will display some of his prize animals at the fair held in connection with Rodeo. Aug. 26 27-28. He gave that promise to Jo seph Belanger, county agent, when in the city yesterday. Mr. Robinson made the trip to town to consult a physician concerning a recent ill ness, and received encouraging re port. To build up the large cattle herd composed of both polled and horned Herefords, Mr. Robinson has import ed breeding stock from many of the best herds in the country. He mar kets his animals over a wide dis trict,, saying that, more are. sold , in eastern Washington than any other section, though many buyers are found in Idaho. His exhibits here two years ago attracted much in terest. Prevented by conflicting dates from exhibiting here last year. the return this year will be gladly heralded by lovers of livestock. West Point Newlyweds Call at Heppner Two persons cast in leading roles at one of those recently widely pub licized West Point weddings called on Heppner relatives for a few hours Tuesday. They were Lt. and Mrs. James R. Luper who stopped here on their way from New York to Portland to visit parents of Mr. Lu' per, a nephew of Mrs. Leta Babb. Mr. Luper was a member of the last West Point graduating class, and his marriage to Miss Louise Ryder, daughter of commandant of cadets at Uncle Sam's military academy. was a June event. After a month's visit at Portland and the coast, they expected to go on to Randolph field, Texas, where Mr. Luper was to re port by September 15 to enter flying school. An enjoyable trip was reported across the country, with time taken out for a visit to Yellowstone Na tional park. PET SPANIEL KILLED Brownie, pet cocker spaniel of Mrs. Daisy Shively, was killed Tuesday evening near home when hit by an automobile. Mrs. Shively was away from home at the time, and she be lieves Brownie may have started to look for her. Several cars were pass ing when the accident happened, and it was surmised that Brownie became confused. If the dog had lived until the 14th of this month she would have been 10 years old. Her hearing and sight had become impaired with age. MOTHER CRITICALLY ILL Mrs. J. J. Nys departed Sunday morning for Crystal, N. Dak., in re sponse to word of the critical illness of her mother, Mrs. P. M. Burke. The word stated that Mrs. Burke was not expected to live. Subscription $2.00 a Year $15,000 Fire Takes Barn, Milk House At Wightman Farm Loss Partly Insured; City's Milk Supply Slightly Interrupted Fire, believed to have started from a hot motor in the ice plant, com pletely razed the Alfalfa Lawn dairy barn and adjacent milk house early last Friday morning. The estimated oss was $15,000, partially covered by insurance. The city's milk supply was but shortly interrupted by the calamity to its principal source. Darrell Hams, helper, sleeping in the upper story of the milk house, first discovered the fire when he was awakened by the heavy smoke. He grabbed and donned a pair of pants and jumped barefoot from the second story window to turn in the alarm. It was 3:45 when the first alarm was turned on in Heppner and by the time the city fire department a few minutes later arrived on the scene, three miles below town, flames were leaping through the roof of the large barn, the milk house was about gone, and hopes of subduing the holocaust were glimmering. The fire started about half an hour before the regular milking time and the fifty cows regularly milked had not yet been brought into the barn. Two bulls and one calf were saved from the barn while its fourth occu pant, another calf, succumbed and was consumed by the flames. The large barn was modemly equipped with milking machinery, and the large loft was half filled with hay, all of which was lost. In the milk house were the latest pasteur izing, cooling and bottling equip ment, which was totally destroyed with the exception of part of the bottling machine, rescued before the fire had done its damage. Personal belongings of Ham's that he had with him at the dairy, besides many of the personal effects of Robert Wight man, whose living quarters were in the upstairs of the milk house, were also a total loss. John and Robert Wightman, own ers of the dairy, were both in Penn sylvania at the time, and Mr. and Mrs. Claud Graham, son-in-law and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Wightman, were in charge. They im mediately arranged for milking the cows at the lower farm, and with as sistance of many kind neighbors were able to supply their city cus tomers with milk before evening. Morrow County Creamery company gave the use of its pasteurizing equipment, and Osmin Hager and others came forward with bottles and caps to help in the distribution. The second day after the fire some used machinery sent up by the dairy's main supply concern in Port land was put into use. Plans are go ing forward to rebuild as soon as possible. In adjusting the insurance, F. W. Turner, local agent, made a special trip to Portland later in the day and received assurance that the full face of policies carried by him would be paid just as soon as the owners ar rived to sign the required papers. Mrs. J. J. Wightman, who has been ill for some time, watched the fire from a window of the house situated several hundred yards away across the railroad tracks. Though the fire was a severe shock, she held up bravely. With the exception of a few years when the local milk route was run by the creamery, Wightman broth ers have served the city with most of its milk for the last 35 years and have established the reputation for dispensing the best milk and cream anywhere in the state. They have the sincere sympathy of the com munity in their loss, and are extend ed the hope that it will soon be re gained. Several thousand dollars had been expended in improvements the last Continued on Page Eight