REGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
UBL1C AUDITORIUM
PORTLAND. ORE.
Volume 57, Number 20
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, July 18, 1940
Subscription $2.00 a Year
Varied Program
Considered for
Heppner Rodeo
Intense Advertising
Campaign Planned
in Coming Weeks
Heppner's 1940 Rodeo will lack
nothing in the way of advertising
if plans discussed at a meeting of
the chamber of commerce last night
are fullv carried out. The discus
sion also included more features for
the three days and all signs point
to a bigger and better show.
Efforts will be directed toward
arousing a more definite community
interest in the show by conducting
an intensive advertising campaign
from now until August 16. Aside
from the usual printed advertising,
arrangements are being made with
theaters of several neighboring
towns to run trailer films telling
about the Heppner show. An effort
will be made to get car owners to
carry signs featuring rodeo acts, and
it was suggested that dates of the
show printed in bright letters on
automobile tires would attract the
attention of countless potential tick
et buyers.
Several junket trips are under
consideration whereby a carload or
more of chamber of commerce del
egates will visit neighboring organ
izations and spread good cheer ac
companied by a generous amount of
Rodeo advertising. A dress up week,
the last week before and including
the Rodeo, will be declared in which
all business men and citizens will
be imoresesd with the propriety of
cowboy attire To enforce this civic
duty the fire department will be
asked to take charge .
A cowbov breakfast has been edd
ed to the program. Lee Beckner
and Jim Kistner will likely de m
charge of this new event, which will
be free to the public at 50 cents
a plate. It is planned to make tnis
the onening event of the show, serv
ing to start at 6 o'clock Friday
morning, August 16.
Another event mentioned is a free
street dance Some of the merchants
sggested other street amusements in
the form of chicken and pig races.
These items may be worked out in
the next week or so. The general
nlan is to have more entertainment
going on in town during the hours
when the cowboys are not doing
their stutff.
Mrs. Frank Gilliam
Passes at City Home
Mrs. Frank Gilliam, 75, early Mor
row county pioneer, passed away at
7:10 o'clock a. m. today at the family
residence in west Heppner. She had
been ill, about two weeks following
a fall on July 3 and while her con
dition was serious her death was an
unexpected shock to the family.
Arrangements are being made for
fEneral services Saturday afternoon
at the Methodist church, of which
she was long a member. The Eastern
Star service will be used.
Clinton Gilliam is expected to; ar
rive in Heppner this evening from
his home in California, having been
summoned yesterday.
BUILDING BOWLING ALLEY
H. J. Strecker. a recent arriva
from Denver, Colo., has leased the
former J. C. Penney Co. store room
and is putting in a bowling alley.
The substructure for the alleys is
nearly completed and finishing work
has been held up pending arrival of
the maple finishing lumber from an
eastern point. He expects to be
ready for opening the new amuse
ment center in about ten days.
Estrayed Dappled gray horse, 5
years old, weight 1100 to 1200 lbs.
Notify Fred Hoskins, lone. 20-22p.
THUNDER STORM
STRAFES COUNTY
Electrical Disturbance Fails
to Produce Expected Rain;
Forest Escapes Fire Threat
Charging over the hills and val-
leys of the county like a squadron
of modern bombing planes, an an
gry storm cloud unleashed an attack
of wicked forked lightning and cannon-cracker
thunder Tuesday after
noon, providing 15 or 20 tense mo
ments for the populace but failing
to bring more than a light shower
of rain over Heppner and imme
diate vicinity. What appeared to be
a heavy shower to the south of town
veered off to the northeast, and no
reports have been received showing
that there was heavy rain at any
point in this region.
The electrical display was one of
the most brilliant seen here in re
cent years. Heat energy, stored up
from days of excessive warm wea
ther, was burned up at a rapid rate
as the wicked tongues of lightning
took their wayward course across
the heavens. Two hits were scored
in this vicinity, it was reported, one
in the Frank S. Parker pasture west
of town and the other in the Bar-
ratt pasture northeast of town. A
small herd of cattle grazing near the
top of the hill where the lightning
hit in the Barratt pasture quickly
sought refuge at a lower elevation.
Forest lookouts in the Heppner!
division of the Umatila National lor-
est reported everything clear Wed
nerday morning. There was a light
shower in the mountains and this
would have a tendency to check an
immediate outbreak, according to
Ranger Fred Wehmeyer, who said
that fires have been known to break
out many hours after an electrical
storm had passed over.
Alexander Cornett
Called by Death
Memorial services for Alexander
Cornett. aged 78 years and 1U
months, were held from the Case
Mortuary chapel Sunday afternoon,
Rev. James Wilkins of the Method
ist church officiating. Interment
was in the Masonic cemetery.
T5om at Elk Creek Virginia, Sept.
12, 1861, Mr. Cornett attained man
hood in his native state, leaving
there at the age of 21 for the west.
He located first in Nebraska, later
moving on to Montana and after
spending a few years in that state
came to Oregon, finding employment
in Morrow conty. In 1905 he mar
ried Mrs. Kate Johnson, who oper
ated a stock ranch on Little Butter
creek. A few years later they dis
posed of the ranch property and
purchased them a home m Heppner.
Mrs. Cornett died in 1918.
Mr. Cornett at various times serv
ed on the city council and as justice
of the peace;
Surviving are two stepsons, James
Johnson of Range and Felix Johnson
of Long Creek; one half-brother,
Tom Cornett and a half-sister, Jen
nie Randy, and a nephew, Alex
Green, of Heppner.
Coyote Captured
on Herder's Porch
Trappers who set long trap lines
might be interested in a new meth
od of catching coyotes, for instance,
the use of kitchen utensils. Such a
capture was made last Thursday
evening by Roy Rector, herder for
Ralph Thompson, when a half
grown coyote invaded the back yard
of the Thompson cabin on Camas
prairie and attempted to steal a
piece of meat from a pup.
Hearing a commotion on the back
porch, Rector stepped out to see
what was causing it. To his surprise
there was the coyote struggling with
the pup over a piece of meat. Rector
seized a wash tub and imprisoned
the unbidden guest. The 'animal was
given to Foster Collins, who brought
it to town and made a present of it
to County Agent C D Conrad.
SHE WILL RULE O'ER 1940 RODEO
Queen Marjorie 1 1
When the dancing at Rhea Creek grange hall was halted at 11 o'clock
last Saturday night, the. suspense and speculation over, who was to rule
the 1940 Heppner Rodeo was relieved with the announcement that Miss
Marjorie Parker of Heppner had been selected as queen. At the same
time the four attendants were named, each representing a participating
grange. These inclde Betty Lou Lindsay, Willows grange; Dorris Scott,
Lexington; Patricia Daly, Lena, and Phyllis Jane Pollock, Rhea Creek.
Ihe 1940 queen is a talented young lady, graduate of Heppner high
school, an accomplished musician and a horsewoman of ability. She is
the daughter of Mr. and Mfs. Frank E. Parker of Heppner.
Logging Crew Sets
Up Camp in Timber
John Zornes and a crew of about
ten men moved in last week and
have set up camp in the Bridal Veil
timber holdings on Johnson creek.
The crew is composed mostly of
truckers who will move the more
than 500,000 feet of logs decked at
the camp to the mill below town.
It is expected that this will require
about two weeks.
Zornes says that on or about Aug
ust 1 logging operations will start
in earnest and there will be a con-,
siderably larger crew in camp, in
cluding fallers and skidders.
The new Heppner Lumber com
pany mill is sawing up logs left fol
lowing the fire which destroyed the
original mill last fall. Some 250,000
feet of timber was decked or scat
tered about the pond and this was
found to be in good condition when
sawing started last Thursday.
Life-Saving Course
Will Start Monday
Starting Monday. July 22, life-
saving classes will be held at the
Heppner municipal tank, coached
bv Harold Buhman. instructor, and
under sponsorship of the American
Red Cross. Junior classes will be
conducted from 9:30 to 10:30 a. m.
and senior classes from 10:30 to
11:30 a.' m. daily for two weeks,
Buhman announces.
Compulsory attendance is requir
ed to qualify for certification at the
end of the course.
Ben Carpenter, field representa
tive of trie Red Cross life-saving
division, will be here a few days be
fore the first of August.
Apricots for sale or trade for
grain. Fred Roach, Boardman, Ca
son place. 20-21p
Next Queen Dance
at Willows Grange
Queen Marjorie II and her royal
court will honor Willows grange
with their presence Saturday eve
ning, July 20, on the occasion of the
second queen's dance of the series
of five to be held prior to the an
nual Heppner Rodeo, August 1G-17-
18.
The schedule of dances, beginning
with the dance at Rhea Creek grange
hall last Saturday, the one at lone
this Saturday, includes Lexington
grange hall Saturday evening, July
27, Lena grange hall August 3 and
the final dance at the fair pavilion
in Heppner August 10.
The queen and her attendants
were taken to Pendleton last Thurs
day and outfitted with cowgirl re
galia which will be much in evidence
from now ntil the final day of the
Rodeo. - .
SAMS-MEDLOCK
Dorothy Mae Sams and George
Lovd Medlock were married Satur
day, Justice of the Peace J. O. Ha-
ger performing the ceremony. The
bride is the daughter of Mrs. Paul
ine Robbs of Heppner, who with
Mrs. Cecile Medlock, witnessed the
ceremony.
HEALTH ASSN. MEETING SET
A meeting of the Morrow County
Health association has been called
for 8 o'clock p. m., Friday at the
office of J. O. Turner. All interested
in this important work have been
extended an urgent invitation to at
tend.
MAKING RANGE SURVEY
Clifton Wendl, grazing examiner
for the national forest service, and
a party of seven men will make a
range survey of the reserve south
of Heppner. The work at this time
will complete the survey of the John
Day breaks.
Bombing Field
Locale Settled,
Says Major Gates
Morrow County Site
Most Logical Found
in 3-State Quest
Morrow county will be the site of
an aerial bombing field if the re
commendation forwarded to the war
department by Major John C. Gates
is accepted. This was the informa
tion given out by the major on the
nwasion of two visits to Heppner
this week and judging from news- -
paper accounts emanating from Ar
lington and published in some state
papers actual bombing practice may
begin almost any day.
"The Morrow county site is the
only one in three states that comes
near filling the requirements of the
air division and it is the one getting
my recommendation," Major Gates
told a group of busness men at a
luncheon meeting Friday. He re
peated the statement to a larger
group in a public meeting at the
court house Tuesday evening.
. The Friday luncheon was attend
ed by Major Gates and Gus Carlson
of Arlington who were in Heppner
checking over properties, affected in
the proposed bombing field project.
It gave Heppner business men an
opportunity to meet the major, who,
up to the last week, has conducted
most of the affairs attendant upon
acauiring the field at Arlington or
elsewhere. Arrangements were made
at this meeting for a general meet
ing Tuesday evening to which the
major was invited to speak. He wel
comed the opportunity to met more
of the people directly affected.
In his brief talk the major stressed
the importance of national defense
and said it was not the purpose of
the army or any other government
al agency to impose hardship on any
district. However, to got possession
of the tract at an early date it may
be necessary to institute condemna
tion proceedings.
Getting around to the matter of an
air base, the speaker stud that he
has nothing to do with selection of
such sites but suggested a possibil
ity of developing a base in connec
tion with the bombing field. That
is something to be worked out later
and the major was not inclined to
"stick his neck out" too far.
J. O. Turner was chairman of the
meeting and outlined Morrow coun
ty's position relative to the bomb
ing field. He assured Major Gates
and the delegation of Arlington
business men who accompanied hiin,
that Morrow county citizens are in
accord with the governments de
fense program and stand' ready ,o
support it even in the face of con
siderable sacrifice. ' .
P. W. Mahonev. speaking as an
attorney and as a sheepman, gave
the stockman's point of view, urging
that ample remuneration be given
to those who face loss throgh loca
tion of the bombing field on their
grazing areas.
Judge Bert Johnson gave a brief
resume of the bombing field deal
and defended the court's action in
refusing to deal until something
concrete has been offered. He clos
ed his remarks with a plea that
Morrow county be given first con
sideration in the event an air base
is established in eastern Oregon.
Following the talks the ranchers
and grazing lessees present consult
ed with Major Gates about their
holdings, some of them expressing
a willingness to negotiate immedi
ately. REBUILDING ROAD
A forest road crew under the
supervision of Winston Abel is re
building a section of the forest road
between Ukiah and the Ellis ranger
station.