Thursday, April 11, 1940
Matt Halvorsen, pioneer lone res
ident, in Heppner Tuesday on busi
ness, stated that the present season
is the wettest he ever saw in the
county, and he has seen a good
many seasons here. Mr. Halvorsen's
contention is verified by many oth
ers who feel that while there may
have been seasons when the pre
cipitation was greater, none have
shown greater absorption of mois
ture due to the lack of frost during
the winter months.
Julian Rauch was in town Tues
day morning from his ranch in the
Alpine section. That part of the
county is too wet for spring plow
ing, he states. Rauch also reported
that Max Gorfkles' truck was stuck
in the roadway leading from the
highway to the Kilkenny place on
Butter creek, signifying that the
rains have been covering that dis
trict quite generously.
Alton Basey of Yakima was a
visitor the first of the week at the
A. E. Wright farm home. Basey
was formerly a resident of Heppner
and for a number, of years operated
the old Mountain House that stood
on the hill just south of the Natter
property and which was destroyed
in the big fire July 4, 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. Gus Nikander left
for Portland Sunday to spend a
few days in the city. While there
Mr. Nikander attended a floor cov
ering seminar sponsored by the
Armstrong Linoleum company and
an institute conducted in the in
terest of embalming.
Guests at the home of Dr. and
Mrs. A. D. McMurdo Saturday were
Mrs. M. A. Leach and daughter,
Mrs. Richard Stockman, of Pendle
ton. Returning home they were ac
companied by Miss Florence Sims
who had been a guest at the Mc
Murdo home for several days.
Mrs. Jared Aiken and mother,
Mrs. M. L. Curran, accompanied
Mr. and Mrs. T. Babb to Portland
Friday. Mrs. Aiken was on her way
home to Beverley Hills, Cal., fol
lowing a visit of several weeks here.
Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Turner spent
the week end in Portland, where
they visited their daughter, Anabel.
They were accompanied to the city
by Mrs. R. C. Lawrence, Mrs. Jo
seph Hughes and son Billy.
Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Ferguson and
Mr. and Mrs. L. R. Schwarz and
Leonard Ray, Jr., drove to Seneca
Sunday to spend the day with Mr.
and Mrs. William Schwarz.
E. W. Christopherson, in Hepp
ner Monday from the Dry Fork
wheat ranch, reported plenty of
moisture in that locality and bright
prospects for crops.
Mrs. Hanson Hughes accompanied
Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Juday to Port
land Monday to spend a few days
in the city.
John Anglin is resting at home
after spending a week in the hos
pital. Forest Revenues
Boon to Counties
Oregon's share of the receipts
from the national forests, fiscal
year 1939, was $153,255.86, states
regional forester Lyle F. Watts. In
most places, he continues, national
forest timber is separated from the
market by private holdings, more
accessible and as a whole, of better
quality than that in public owner
ship; but as this private timber is
cut, the demand for that on the
national forests increases. Grant
county offers an example of what
may be expected as logging opera
tions become more extensive on
the National Forests. The county's
25 percent of the forest service re
ceipts amounted to $49,673.36; all
taxes and assessments amounted to
$205,651.49.
"That 25 percent is only a part
of it," said Watts. "An additional
10 percent of the receipts, or about
$20,000 was spent for roads and
Heppner
trails. The county ordinarily would
be obliged to attend to that if the
forest service did not. About 1,423,
000 acres of land were protected
from fire at a cost of not less than
$50,000. The forest highway allot
ment to Oregon, which is based on
the acreage of national forests, and
is in lieu of taxes, was $1,254,044, or
about nine cents per acre. Expen
ditures for range management, game
management, forest management,
and services of that kind also count
up.
"Taking it altogether," said Watts,
"Grant county gets about as much
from the national forests, directly
and indirectly, as it gets from the
remainder of the county. As forest
service business grows, and it seems
sure to grow, other counties should
find the public forests to be a source
of financial strength."
STATE
CAPITAL
NEWS
Peeping Prosperity
9 Standard Salaries
a Coveted Sands
By A. I.. LINDBECK
Salem. If tax returns can be
accepted as a fair criterion prosper
ity must have peeped around the
corner at least in Oregon last year.
A report by the income tax commis
sion shows that a total of 94,644
tax returns were filed this year as
compared to 75,339 last year. Income
taxes paid up to April 1, deadline
for the first installment, totalled
$3,467,460 compared to $2,680,179 a
year ago.
While the number of taxable re
turns filed increased only 25.6 per
cent over those of a year ago taxes
paid and reported show an increase
of 29.5 percent indicating not only
a greater number of persons in the
taxable brackets but an increase
in individual incomes as well.
The new salary standardization
program evolved by Budget Direc
tor Eccles has been made effective
in 47 state departments and insti
tutions with a total employed per
sonnel of 2466. The program does
not apply to the state department,
the treasury department nor the
attorney general's office, none of
1 Build . . (
Repair . .
Remodel . .
H This is the time to do it . . . M
g and our complete building service
H makes this the most convenient EE
place for you to buy your supplies.
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H Plan Books
H Estimates gladly given on your j
g plans and we are in a position to
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1 FULLER PAINTS 1
Tl-A-Li LUMBER Mil
Phone
Gazette Times, Heppner,
which are under the jurisdiction of
the budget director, nor to the high
way department, the unemployment
compensation commission or the
state public welfare commission
which are already operating under
merit rating systems either of their
own making or imposed by the
federal government.
The State Board of Forestry is
schedled to meet here Friday at the
call of Governor Sprague. It ic
understood one of the principal it
ems of business to come before the
board will be that of the selection
of a permanent state forester to re
lieve Carl Davis of Marshfield who
accepted the post under a temporary
appointment on January 1 and who
is said to be anxious to devote his
entire time to his extensive logging
and lumbering interests in Coos and
Linn counties.
Any attempt on the part of the
federal gdvernment to obtain pos
session of Oregon Sands, a small
island in the mouth of the Columbia
river, will be vigorously opposed by
the State Land Board. The board
has been advised that the federal
authorities regard Oregon Sands as
a part of Sand Island which the
state ceded to Uncle Sam many
years ago as a military base. It is
expected the controversy will soon
be taken into the courts.
Motor Vehicles in
Oregon Show Gain
Registration of motor vehicles in
Oregon totaled 325,831 at the end of
February, 1940, a report from the
Secretary of State indicated today.
This represents an increase of 18,
302 vehicles or 5.59 percent over
the registration for the same period
in 1939.
Fees so far this year totaled $2,
185,019.46 compared to $2,039,874.63
last year.
There were 272,124 private pass
enger cars registered in the state,
these cars showing an increase of
5.36 percent.
MUSIC GROUP MEETS
The Music Study club met at the
home of Mrs. J. O. Turner Monday
evening, with Mrs. F. W. Turner in
charge. Italian music and composers
were studied and songs of that lan
guage were sung by Mrs. Ture Pet
erson and Mrs. Russell McNeill.
Mrs. Alden Blankenship played H
Trovatore and Mrs. F. W. Turner
discussed the composers Verdi, Ros
sini, Scarlotti and Paganini. Re
freshments were served at the con
clusion of the program.
IS
912
Oregon
He Learned Soil
Saving Early
COIL conservation is rapidly be
coming a leading practice in Am
erica since the awakening to the
enormous damage to farm land by
erosion has become generally un
derstood. Some sections have prac
ticed soil-saving for many years
under the direction of land grant
colleges and soil specialists, but gen
eral practice did not follow until
recent years when measures were
put in force to combat the terrible
effects of the big "blows" in the
midwest, more commonly referred
to as the "dust bowl."
European countries have practic
ed soil conservation in one form or
another for centuries. That practice
was brought to this country by im
migrants who, accustomed to pre
serving the soil on small acreages,
coul not stand to see the waste that
was taking place in the limitless
areas of the west. But it remained
for an American-born citizen to de
velop a national plan for measuring
erosion and to work out methods of
control. That man is Hugh Ham
mond Bennett, chief of the U. S.
Soil Conservation service, of whom
Albert W. Atwood writes in The
Readers's Digest as follows:
"The chances are that the name
of Hugh Hammond Bennett will be
better known a hundred years from
now than it is today. At 57 he is
chief of the U. S. Soil Conservation
service, an agency with a $40,000,000
congressional appropriation, created
to carry out the ideas that Bennett
has been urging since he entered
government service as a soil sur
veyor for the Department of Ag
riculture in 1903. He was the first
man to develop a national plan for
measuring erosion and to work out
methods of control. His is the plan
and the methods in use today.
"Bennett had learned his soil-
TheSTAR REPORTER
Friday-Saturday
TWO FISTED RANGERS
with Charles Starrctt, Iris Meredith, Sons of the Pioneers
Abundant action and fast riding interpolated with cowboy ditties
by Sons of the Pioneers plus
THE AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS
with Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Clarence Kolb, Ruth Don
nelly, Edward S. Brophy
The hilarious story of Mr. Williams who knew everything about
law but nothing about murder.
Mother Goose in Swingtime
Sunday-Monday
VICTOR HUGO'S
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
with Charles Laughton, Sir Ccdric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell,
Maureen O'Hara, Alan Marshal
Weird, wondrous, unbelievable! The strangest, most colorful story
ever told!
(Notice to Parents: Nervous or excitable children should not
be permitted to attend this program unless accompanied by an
adult.)
Newsrcel Cartoon
Tuesday
PAL NIGHT: 2 adults 35c; 2 children 10c
MUSIC IN MY HEART
with Tony Martin, Rita Hayworth, Alan Mowbray, Eric Blore,
Edith Fellows, Andre Kostelanctz
and his msic. Sons, gayety and romance to delight and entertain
you. plus
The Three Stooges as Hailstone, Gallstone and Pebble, satirizing
well-known public personalities in
YOU NAZI SPY
Wednesday-Thursday, April 17-18
The Great- Victor Herbert
with Allan Jones, Mary Martin, Walter Connolly, Lee Bowman,
Jedith Barrett, Susanna Foster
In all popular music history, perhaps there is no composer more
beloved, none whose works live on and on while other composi
tions are written only to be soon forbotten, as Victor Herbert.
It is around the tunes and personality of this Irish-American com
poser that this story is built.
Cartoon Newsreel
Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Nys (Heppner) are invited to present this cou
pon at the boxoffice for complimentary admissions.
STAR THEATER
Heppner, Oregon
Page Fivp
saving lesson early. One of' nine
children on a self-sustaining North
Carolina plantation, he saw his fa
ther push their land beyond the
limit to provide for their care. Ben
nett himself ruined 25 acres in an
enthusiastic effort to get enough
money to go to college.
"For 25 years after college Ben
nett cried havoc but no one paid
any attention to him. He pointed
out that preventable erosion in
creases flood hazards, chokes irri
gation ditches, ruins roads; that it
involves a measurable loss of $400,
000,000 a year to the farmers. In
1929 congress began to heed his
advice and set up the mechanics of
soil conservation. But the public
remained indifferent until, in May
1934, we had the greatest dust storm
ever recorded. Soil from 20900 miles
away settled over the capitol dome.
"The Soil Conservation Service
was born, with Bennett at its head.
Five years of operation have prov
ed the soundness of his ideas. Far
mers are learning the value of pro
per cultivation, terraces, dams; they
are using grasses, lespedeza, and
trees to anchor soil and check flood
waters. Under Bennett's direction,
12,000 workers are assisting them
in the new technique of saving the
soil.
"After 36 years of government
work, Bennett draws $8000 a year.
At any time during those 36 years
he could have stepped successfully
into the commercial world. But it
never occurred to him. He has
found public service far too exciting
and satisfying to consider giving it
up."
Heppner Blacksmith
fir Machinery Co.
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
D. H. JONES, Mgr.
Expert Acetylene and Electric
Welding, Blacksmithing