Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1940)
ft. - 111 n Volume 57, Number 7 Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, April 18, 1940 Subscription $2.00 a Year Heppner Lumber Plant Scene of Renewed Action Machinery Arrives for Reconstruction of Burned Mill All is hustle and bustle at the former plant of the Heppner Lum ber company, where machinery has arrived for reconstruction of the mill destroyed by fire late last fall. A crew of 12 men is engaged in preparing the site for the new mill being erected by Heppner Lumber company, Inc., and when prelimin ary work is out of the way a larger force will be put on to hurry erec tion of the sawmill and planing mill which will constitute the operation of the new plant. Organization of the new company was completed in Portland this week with H. E. Leash, president, Leonard Kraft, secretary-treasurer and Orville Smith, vice president and plant manager. Articles of in corporation were filed at Salem on Tuesday and the new concern is on its way. Work of clearing away debris of the former plant has been going on for several days. With this out of the way excavation for the founda tion of the new mill has been com pleted and workmen Wednesday started laying the framework. Four truck loads of mill machinery have arrived from Trout Lake, Wash and tne entire plant will be here by the end of the week. Erection of the mill is under the supervision of Neil Gordon, millwright, and it is expected the plant will be ready , for operation in 60 days. The new mill is a band saw type and will have a capacity of between 35,000 and 40,000 feet per eight hour shift.' Addition of a planer will give employment to a larger number of workers than the former mill em ployed and it is expected the entire operation will use no less than 125 men. Logs on hand at the mill site am ount to approximately 200,000 feet and at least 70,000 feet more are down in the timber awaiting trans port to the mill. Kraft timber hold ings at present amount to about 7,000,000 feet and negotiations are under wav for more timber of suf ficient volume to insure a long-time operation of the Heppner mill. Band Places Second at District Contest Court Action Has Sanction of C of C Action of the Morrow county court in refusing to cooperate with business interests of Arlington in securing a bombing field for the northern part of Morrow county has the whole hearted support of the Heppner chamber of commerce. The board of directors, meeting Wednesday evening, discussed the matter briefly and decided to take no official action other than to commend the court for its stand, indicating thereby that the business men stand ready to assist the of ficials in all matters concerning the welfare of the county. A report on the merchants' free matinee showed increased interest in the monthly event and a desire on the part of the business houses to continue the show. The commit tee will distribute tickets to the merchants a week or so prior to the next show, which will be on May 4. L. E Bisbee was named chairman of a commitee to contact other or ganizations of the city relative to assisting with lunch plans for the county school spring festival on May 3. It is hoped to stimulate in terest in the festival by getting a large number of the townspeople to turn out for the lunch and the pro gram. The chamber of commerce proposes to furnish something for the lunch, possibly lemonade and coffee. A vote of confidence was given the Heppner school band and its director, Harold Buhman. B. P. W. Elects . Officers for Year Miss LuhrHager was hostess to the Business and Professional Wo men's club at her home Tuesday evening. The group enjoyed a bak ed ham supper following which a business session was held. Election of officers for the en suing vear resulted in Miss Rose Leibbrand being elected as presi dent; Neva Bleakman, vice presi dent; Florence Bergstrom, secretary, and Harriet Pointer, treasurer. Reports on the Eastern Oregon conference held at Pendleton Sun day were given by Clara Beamer, who told of the afternoon meeting, and Mrs. Ealor Huston, on the morning session. The club voted to pay expenses for a car going to Grants Pass for the state convention May 16. Lorena Jones, chairman of the mother-daughter banquet com mittee, reported that the dinner will be held at 6:30 o'clock p. m., May 6, in the Christian church basement. One hundred tickets will be sold. REPUBLICANS IN MAJORITY HERE Check-Up Shows G. O. P. Leading Democrats of County By Score of 1341 to 820 A check-up made by County Clerk C. W. Barlow Wednesday fol lowing close of registration books Tuesday evening shows the repub lican party holding a safe lead over the democrats. The figures obtained by Clerk Barlow, while correct so far as his records disclose, may be altered in some cases when regis tration books from the several pre cincts are trned in. Cancellations are to be expected but these will not materially affect the count made yesterday. According to the clerk's " figures the republicans show a total reg istration of 1341 and the democrats number 820. Independents and oth ers total 35, making a grand total of 2196. Breaking this down into precincts the count shows the fol lowing results: Alpine, republicans 16 democrats 24, non-partisan 1; Boardman 87, 166, 2; Cecil 43 16; Eightmile 39, 30, 2; Gooseerry 23, 18: Hardman 111, 35, 4; lone 183, 78; Irrigon 63, 59, 7; Lena 35, 8; Lexing ton 108, 56, 6; North Heppner 358, 181, 7; Pine City 17, 13; South Hepp ner 258, 136, 6. Truck Burns After Highway Accident A 1940 model truck owned by S. B. Prock and driven by Earl Fay destroyed by fire just off the Ore gon-Washington highway about three miles east of Heppner about 7 o'clock last Saturday evening. Fay, who gives his residence as Seneca apparently was alone m the truck at the time the machine left the highway. He received injuries to his head, although not serious. Prock. owner of the truck, was following closely behind in a flight car and rushed ay to a doctor. Returning to the scene of the acci dent a short time later he discovered that the truck had been destroyed by fire. Work Required to ! Land Mail Route Heppner and prospective patrons will have to get busy if the proposed rural mail route leading from here to lower Little Butter creek and return via Lena and Hinton creek is to become a reality. That was the firm conviction expressed by J. O. Turner at the Lions club lun cheon Monday. While most of the argument lies on Heopner's side, the fact remains that Little Butter creek residents are now being served from Echo and regardless of the fact that up wards of forty families in territory between Heppner and the present route are without mail delivery, the Echo contractor, postmaster and business interests are determined to hold the territory now in. their grasp by virtue of the thrice-a-week mail service. Heopner's school band, disap pointed but not dispirited, returned from the district contest at La Grande Friday evening with second honors for the division in which it competed. This is the first time in five years that the local musical organization has returned home with anything less than first place. Com petition from Burns and Union was keen enough to crowd the Heppner youngsters out of the top spot and the slogan, On to Spokane (if we win at La Grande)" is just another one of "them" things. Despite their luck, the youngsters and those accompanying the band had a big day in the Union county city. The contests were spirtied and entertainment was ample to keep everybody interested. The Heppner band made a good showing and yonugsters and their leader, Harold Buhman, are not down hearted. They feel they have reason to work hard er to produce a better band than ever, in which they will have the generous support of the commun ity. Mrs. Eddie Thorpe and son Carl returned Tuesday from Portland where Carl had been taking medical treatment for his legs. Former Resident's Passing Reported Word was received in Heppner Wednesday of the passing of Mrs. Harvie Young, former Morrow county woman who had been a res ident of Medford many years. Date of passing was not stated in the message which announced fnueral services to be held in Medford at 2 o'clock p. m.. Friday. April 19. Remembered by many as Gladys Cox, Mrs. Young was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. J. Cox, long time residents of the county. She attended school in Lexington and Heppner and upon completion of high school was married to Harvie Young of Eight Mile. After severa years of farm life in this county the Youngs moved to Medford where they have since resided. Mrs. Young's mother still resides at Lexington but the father passed away several years ago. Besides the husband and father, two brothers also survive. The deceased visited her mother at Lexington late last fall and short ly after returning to Medford was seized with the illness that resulted in her death. Republicans Will Hear Candidates The new service contemplates a daily-except-Sunday route out of Heppner. To accommodate all who want to get their mail out of the local postoffice it will be necessary to cut into part of the route serv ing upper Blackhorse out of Lex ington and to take over Little But-, ter creek from the Charles Barthol omew ranch to Lena. The route has been mapped out to offer continu ous mileage as far as possible, avoid ing doubling of territory. It is pos sible that a few of the farms below Heppner will be included and that will necessitate doubling back to the Blackhorse road just below the F. S. Parker residence. Existing contracts on the Blackhorse and Lena routes do not expire for two years and in the meantime people in the unserved territory have a leg itimate claim for service. To win over the districts now served and to get adjustment of existing con tracts is Heppner's job and one that will require . speedy and effective action,. Turner pointed out. Lee Howell presented the matter of sponsoring a memership in the Beaver Boy State camp. The Lions have sent one boy to the camp each year since the movement was adop ted here. The Lions will meet as usual next Monday. A meeting of Morrow County Re publican club' has been scheduled for 7:30 o'clock p. m., Wednesday, May 1, announces Frank C. Alfred, president, who urges all republicans to attend. Several attractions will be offered in the presentation of district and local candidates. A special invitation has been ex tended to Roy Ritner and Rex Ellis, republican condidates for -congress, and there will be other republican office seekers on hand to tell of their political aspirations. Copies of the primary ballot will be on hand for group discussion. McFERRIN-THOMSON The wedding of Miss Irena Mc Ferrin and Curtis Thomson, both of Heppner, was an event of Monday morning, April 15, at Moscow, Idaho. The ceremony was witnessed by Mr. and Mrs. Roderick Thomson. Immediately following the ceremony the wedding party returned to Hepp ner where the bridegroom, son or Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Thomson, is em ploved in the Thomson Bros, store Both young people are graduates of Heppner high school. TAX TALKS LIKED Talks on taxation by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Wells were received favorably by Lexington grangers at the regu lar meeting last Saturday evening After making detailed explanations of the methods employed in mak ing assessments and collecting tax es the speakers were called on to answer numerous questions pro pounded by people of the audience. The grange sponsored the talks in an effort to give the people a bet ter understanding if the tax system. Carlson Comes as Protective Assistant Ellis Carlson of Asotin. Wash., has been added to the local office of the Umatilla National forest as protective assistant for the current season. Work in the forest areas has started and will be pushed as rapidlv as weather conditions per mit, according to Fred Wehmeyer, in charge of the Heppner district. Prvor Parrish and Max Buschke have been sent to the west end of the reserve and will work out of Fossil. On the east side Elmer Hin ton and Bert Bleakman have started the spring activities. Road machin ery will be moved in as fast as pos sible. Wehmeyer states. The moun tains are drying out and motorists can make it to Tupper station with out chains. Fishermen will be able to reach Skookum, Alder and Wall creeks if no more heavy weather prevails in the next few days. CHECK SHORTAGE SETTLED N. W. Luckey, who claims Burns as his residence, was released from the custody of the sheriff Tuesday evening folowing incarceration in the county jail a few days on a charge of uttering an NSF check. The charge was preferred by D. M. Ward after a check he cashed for Luckey "bounced back" with the significant initials inscribed thereon. Luckey was able to make restitu tion and Ward withdrew the charge. The accused man is said to be an electrician and to have operated an electric shop at Burns. Dance at Lexington grange hall Saturday evening, April 20. Music by Wright's orchestra, Pendleton. U.S. Army Seeks Bombing Field in Morrow County 'No-Man's Land' in North End Viewed as Possible Location Uncle Sam's preparedness plans became a bit more vivid to Morrow county people last Saturday when Captain John C. Gates of the U. S. army visited this section in quest of a location for a bombing field. Captain Gates, in company with Col. C. L. Tinker and Col. G. E. Strate meyer of Hamilton Field, Calif., has been making a survey of several possible sites in Oregon, some of them in central Oregon and one at Arlington, and while in the vicinity made a trip into Morrow county to sound out sentiment relative to con verting some of the unoccupied land of the north end into a practice ground for army bombing planes. A map was displayed showing that a study had been made of the terri tory in question. It is proposed to take over the larger part of four townships lying between lone and Boardman. Much of this land is now in possession of the county and is unoccupied except for that por tion coming under the Taylor graz ing unit and a few ranches. The ranches are more or less marginal and there would be relatively small acreage for the government to pur chase. It is also possible that som of the railroad lands are included in the proposed field. The tract as platted on Captain Gates' map would be approximately 12 miles wide and 16 miles long. Some of the objection that might naturally arise to the location of a bombing field in this or other lo calities is removed by the fact that high explosive bombs are not used, states Captain Gates. A regulation size bomb is released from the plane but it carries only a small amount of black powder which forms a white smoke when exploded. Ihis is tor the purpose of locating the position of the bomb in relation to the tar get, observation of which is made from planes. There would be some construction in connection with the field and at times a considerable number of offi cers and men would eb stationed there during maneuvers. Supplies cers and men would be stationed chased through local agencies, it was indicated, the captain express ing satisfaction with the available transportation facilities. The Morrow county court was waited upon Wednesday morning by a delegation of Arlington business men who came for the purpose of enlisting support of this county for the project. Their plan calls for lo cation of the headquarters at Ar Continued on Page Four Care of Pre-School Children Stressed Proper care of the pre-school child .is liighly important if the child is to enter school prepared to enjoy the life awaiting him there, according to Dr. M. Carter Davis of the state tuberculosis association, who visited the caunty this week. Dr. Davis spoke before a meeting of the Morrow County Health asso ciation Tuesday evening in which he outlined a program for the care of children of both pre-school and school age. Dr. Davis was here to assist Miss Lucille Vale, county health nurse, in conducting clinics at Boardman and Hardman in which numbers of pre-school children were immuniz ed against contagious diseases. He explained the duties of the county nurse and urged the health associa tion to continue the program of ed ucating parents in care of their children. 64