L SOCIETY
H I S TOR I C A I
OREGON
1
p 0 R T L A :
n if 'Ti
Volume 57, Number 50
Car Stealers Land
In 'Pen' In 24 Hours
From Time of Act
Justice Meted Rap
idly to Wreckers of
McCurdy Auto
Lawrence Graham, 18, and Robert
Presnall, 20, are two disillusioned
youths who helped Morrow county
establish a new record for speed in
its highest court of justice.
Within 24 hours from the time
that the recent Camp Heppner CCC
enrollees drove off with the Harlan
McCurdy car, they were checked in
as charges of the state in the penal
institution at Salem.
It was somewhere in the proxim
ity of 10 o'clock last Thursday night
when Graham and" Presnall drove
off in the McCurdy , car, parked in
front of the Jones apartments where
the'McCurdy's reside. At 11:30 they
had been lodged in the county jail
and officers were in possession of a
fully signed confession.
By noon Friday they had been
sentenced by Judge C. L. Sweek to
two years in the penitentiary, and
Sheriff C. J. D. Bauman and Homer
Hayes, city policeman, left, with
them for Salem right after noon,
having them all registered in shortly
after supper time.
Too much speed was the young
men's undoing, as one of them ad
mitted later to Mr. McCurdy that
the speedometer registered 95 just
before the car overturned on a curve
just east of Lexington, hardly nine
miles down the road. The car was
demolished, as it rolled over an es
timated, four times, but the youths es
caped with slight scratches and
bruises.
Mr. McCurdy was at Elks lodge
when notified that his car had been
found in the ditch. He had left the
car with the key in it for Mrs. Mc
Curdy to use. However, she had
decided to bowl with Mrs. Alva
Jones, and had walked up town not
thinking to remove the key. Im
mediately Mr. McCurdy found that
Mrs. McCurdy was not involved in
the accident, he went to the scene
of the wreck with Deputy Sheriff
Earle Bryant, Bob Runnion and Mr.
Goodrich, an attorney from Baker
in the city on court business.
They found the car deserted. On
sizing up the situation, just as the
branch train pulled into Lexington,
going down the line, Mr. McCurdy
suggested that the wrongdoers might
try to get away on the train. Bryant
and Runnion immediately followed
up the lead, and it was but a few
moments later that the youths were
taken from on top the train.
When taken into custody they
were merely told that they were
wanted in Heppner for questioning
and no reference was made to the
stolen car, and as they came upon
the wreck the custodians evidenced
surprise. They alighted with the
boys, one of whom remarked that
he surely would have hated to
have been in the car when it turned
over. Blood signs on the seat cush
ions and newly cut places on the
boys soon led the searchers to know
that they had the right parties, and
the boys were ready to make the
confession, transcribed in full by
Mr. Goodrich, by the time they
reached the courthouse. The boys
signed it, and on arraignment in
court the next morning they waived
information by the grand jury and
entered a direct plea of guilty.
Taken to Salem with them was
Homer . Sims, who on arraignment
in circuit court at the same session,
entered plea of guilty to theft of two
rifles from Harry French, and of a
saddle from the Sam Turner ranch,
and was sentenced to two years in
the state penitentiary.
On Friday, the 21st, the Heppner
high school student body will meet
to decide several more questions that
have been bothering everyone.
14th Win Taken at
Expense of Condon
The Mustangs posted their 14th
win Friday night, at the expense
of Condon. The final score was 26
30. It looked like Condon was go
ing to stage an upset and win the
game until the last two minutes.
They were in the lead throughout
the game and outplayed the Mus
tangs until the last quarter. In the
last quarter the Heppner squad sud
denly awaked and outscored Con
don, 12-3. The winning basket was
made with less than two minutes to
play. Joe Burns and Claude Snow
each scored 10 points for high point
honors on their respective teams. .
The second team and the FFA
team of Heppner both scored easy
victories over the Condon teams!
Heppner 30 Condon 26
Blakely 1 f Potter
Skuzeski 6 f Fatland 7
Snow 10 c. T. Burns 7
Pinckney 4 g Chambers 1
Crawford 5 g J. Burns 10
Barratt 4 s. Boyer
Evans " s Simonds 1
Scrivner s
The Heppner Mustangs will make
their last home appearance of the
season against Fossil Jomorrow (Fri
day) night. The Fossil team stands
at the bottom of the league but have
been improving all season and are
expected to make the Heppner boys
extend themselves to win.
Arlington will be playing Condon
on the same evening. Should both
Heppner and ' Arlington win, then
some kind of play-off will be neces
sary to determine the winner of the
Wheat league. If either of the two
lose, the other will be the league
winner.
Lions-BPW Enjoy
Get-Together Dinner
Fifty Lions and wives and mem
bers of Business and Professional
Womens club enjoyed a get-together
dinner party at the schoolhouse last
evening. High schol domestic science
girls served the tasty dinner, inter
spersed by a program under direc
tion of Clifford Conrad, Lions pres
ident. The Valentine motif was used in
place cards and decorations.
Both Conrad and Miss Rose Lieb
brand, BPW president, stressed na
tional defense in telling of their or
ganizations' work. Group singing,
directed by Russell McNeill, read
ings by Clarence Bauman, and a
pantomime by Mrs. Lucy E. Rodgers
and the Misses Harriet Pointer,
Marjorie Parker and Florence Berg
strom, completed the program. A
social hour was enjoyed in the mu
sic room following the dinner.
To Open Bids on Two
Highways in County
Bids will be opened in Portland,
Feb. 27 and 28, on two road prijects
of much interest to Morrow county,
announces the state highway com
mission. One project calls for grading .16
miles and surfacing and oiling 9.2
miles of the Jones Hill-Lena sector
of the Oregon-Washington highway.
The other project calls for grad
ing and topping 6.92 miles and con
structing two timber bridges on Gil
liam county-Zinter ranch sector of
the Wasco-Heppner secondary high
way. Both these proects had been pre
viously announced as on the slate
for 1941.
E. O. Assessors To
Be Here Tomorrow
The association of eastern Oregon
assessors, including assessors from
18 counties east of the Cascades will
convene in Heppner tomorrow be
ginning at 11 o'clock at the court
house, announces Tom Wells, Mor
row county assessor, who is pres
ident of the association.
Mr. Wells expects that at( least
14 or 15 assessors from counties in
cluded in the organization, will be
present to discuss problems com
mon to the several counties.
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, February
Farm Economic .
Conference Lays
Basis for Action
Reports of Commit
tees Up for Discus
sion Wednesday
The outlook for agricultural ex
ports and markets, and the outlook
for farm family living was studied
and discussed at a meeting of the
Morrow county economic confer
ence committee held in the court
house last Thursday.
E. R. Jaekman, extension special
ist in farm crops, discussed the farm
outlook and stated that there is a
chance for an increase in the de
mand and price in perishable farm
produce, dairy and livestock pro
duce but the outlook for stable crops,
including wheat, is quite dark.
, With 40 percent of the farm pop
ulation living on diets considered
inadequate there is room for real
improvement in the line of nutrition
to meet the national preparedness
program, according to Mrs. Azalea
Sager, state home demonstration
leader, who discussed farm family
living situations at the conference.
However, Mrs. Sager stated that
much of the malnutrition among the
farm population was in the south
and not in the northwest.
Considering the present agricul
tural outlook, indications are that
the money which will be available
for family living on the farms will
be less in the next few years than it
has been in the past and Mrs. Sager
stated that care will need to be
taken in the budgeting of family
living expenses and encouraged the
raising of more food on the farm.
The importance of controlling soil
erosion and maintaining soil fertil
ity at the present time in preparing
for the time when the fertility of the
land may be more greatly needed
was discussed by Arthur King, ex
tension specialist in soils.
Earl Thompson, farmer fieldman
for the AAA, discussed the ways in
which the AAA program may be
used in helping to carry out the re
commendations of the county land
use and other conference commit
tees. The county sub-committees on
land use, crops and livestock met
Friday and Saturday of last week to
go into further detailed discussion
of the problems related to their
committees and to make recommen
dations in light of new developments
in the present world conditions.
The farm and rural life sub-committee
will meet in the county ag
ent's office Friday afternoon, Feb.
14, to further study the family liv-
j ing conditions in the county and to
make recommendations accordingly.
These repoorts will all be read,
discussed, amended and approved
at a second joint meeting of all the
committees in the courthouse Wed
nesday afternoon, Feb. 19.
The forenoon of February 19 will
be devoted to a meeting of all com
munity AAA committeemen for
studying the 1941 farm program,
farm estimate sheets and wheat quo
tas. The community committeemen
will all sit in at the afternoon meet
ing of the outlook conference.
Miss McCurdy Signs
As Student Flyer
Miss Maxine McCurdy, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. McCurdy of
this city and former queen of the
Heppner Rodeo, has enlisted as a
student flyer at Pacific university
where she is in her junior year. Miss
I McCurdy is taking work for extra
credit to entitle her to graduate in
January next year.
Miss McCurdy satisfactorily passed
the physical examination qualifying
her for training as an aviatrix, and
her parents this week signed the
necessary release for her to take
such training. -
13, 1941
Legion Auxiliary
Starts Essay Contest
The American Legion auxiliary is
again sponsoring an Americanism
contest for the students of the eighth
grade in our school. The girls will
write essays and the boys will ans
wer questions on the flag code. The
flag code questions will be publish
ed each week in the Heppner Gaz
ette Times. The first group of ques
tions follows: v
1. What are the primitive begin
nings from which may be traced the
origin and evolution of the flags of
civilized man?
2. What do flags, generally speak
ing, symbolize.
3. What besides its war achieve
ments does the Flag of the United
States represent? Name four defin
ite tilings.
4. What flags were used before
the Continental Congress adopted
the Flag of the United States?
5. Describe the first distinctive
flag indicating a union of the col
onies. 6. When and where was the Flag
of the United States adopted?
7. What were the thirteen original
states?
8. Tell the story of the writing of
the "Star Spangled Banner" and
write one verse of this song.
9. Name the parts of our Flag and
tell what each symbolizes.
10. Why did our forefathers place
stars in the Flag of the United
States?
Only 15 Days Left To
Insure Spring Wheat
Wheat growers of Morrow coun
ty have only 15 days left to apply for
all-risk protection on their 1941
spring wheat crop, warns Henry
Baker, chairman of the county AAA
committee. The deadline is Friday,
February 28, after which date the
Federal Crop Insurance corporation
will not accept crop-insurance ap
plications. Growers may apply for this "all
risk" type of protection at the
county AAA office.
"Last year," Mr. Baker says,
"some wheat growers in this county
felt the full shock of crop failure
because they failed to get their ap
plications filed before the closing
date. That need not happen again."
Approximately 198 Morrow coun
ty growers have already paid pre
miums for insurance on their 1941
crop, guaranteeing the production
of about 440,335 bushels of wheat
despite crop hazards, Mr. Baker de
clared. In 1940, 55 Morrow county
growers collected a total of 26,959
bushels due to unavoidably dam
aged or destroyed crops.
Fast Fight Card Set
Here February 22
Morrow county fight fans will be
treated to a fast fight card in the
county dance pavilion in Heppner
the evening of Saturday, the 22nd,
announces C. J. D. Bauman, who
with Ben O'Conner of Hermiston,
assisted Heppner firemen, sponsors,
in arranging the card.
The main event will present Tom
my Murray of Boise against Dean
Groth who won in the main event
at Hermiston last week. Jack Burns,
Heppner CCC, will trade blows with
Hermiston's favorite son, Sammy Mc
Cracken, in the semi final, and pre
liminaries will include bouts be
tween Missouri Kelsay of Monu
ment and Kid Irish of Pendleton,
and Brick Smith of Monument and
Pete Atkins of Stanfield. One other
local preliminary will complete the
card.
ANNUAL STAFF CHOSEN
The staff for the Hehisch annual
publication of Heppner high school
was chosen this week. Named were
Kathryn Thompson, editor; Wanda
Howell, assistant editor; Don Ben
nett, manager; Kay Ferguson, assist
ant manager; Hugh Crawford,
sports; Jean Hays, humor; Frances
Wilkinson, dramatics; Jack O'Harra,
clubs; Mary Kay Blake, society;
Laura Warfield, art; Peg Tamblyn,
administration; Frances Wilkinson
and Mary Kay Blake, typists.
Subscription $2.00 a Year
Hearing on Soil
Conservation Unit
Set for March 14
Official Notice Re
ceived in Forming
New County District
A public hearing has been set in
Heppner on March 18 by the State
Soil Conservation Committee of Ore
gon to discuss all phases of a peti
tion in their hands for establish
ment of a soil conservation district
in Morrow county to be known as
the Heppner Soil Conservation dis
trict. Official notice of this hearing ap
pears in another column of this is
sue, giving legal description of the
boundaries. Included is most of the
county north of the forest region.
The proposed district is entirely
separate from the district in which
the Soil Conservation service has
been operating locally, but it con
templates getting assistance from
this source on an enlarged program
of soil conservation work for which
a large demand has been shown, ac
cording to those who signed the
petition,
Should favorable action be taken
on organizing the district following
the hearing, a vote will then be
called of all landowners within the
proposed district, when it will be
necessary for 70 percent of all own
ers to vote favorably before the dis
trict can be created. Failure to vote
at such election will be credited as
a no vote, and it is therefore neces
sary that everyone become fully in
formed before such election is call
ed. Specialists Coming to
Blow Control Meeting
A complete discussion of soil ero
sion problems common to Morrow
county will be discussed at an all
day meeting in the Lexington grange
hall beginning at 10 a. m., Saturday,
February 15.
Joe Belanger, previously county
agent of Morrow county and now
working on erosion control research
for the Soil Conservation service;
Arthur King, extension soils man
from the state college; Lynn Har
ris, of the farm crops department
who has conducted the morning
glory control experiments in Uma
tilla county; and Ray Chapin, soil
technologist from the Soil Conserv
ation service in Pendleton, will be
at the meeting to answer questions
and help in the discussion of their
related subjects.
Past meetings of the Lexington
Blow Control district have always
drawn a good crowd and have been
of much interest to many of the
farmers in the county, and, accord
ing to C. D. Conrad, county agent,
an interesting program has been ar
ranged for the meeting and every
one in the county who may have
erosion problems is invited to at
tend. Lunch will be served at noon by
the home economics ladies of the
Lexington grange.
Four Morrow Men
Called in February
Four Morrow county men have
been selected by the local selective
service board to report at 4 p. m.,
February 19, 1941, to be sent to an
induction station of the United
States Army at Portland. They are
Leslie Elmer Bleakman, Arthur Rob
ert Patterson, Albert Richard Ey
tchison, Norman Beryl Griffin.
Francis Byron Nickerson has
been selected as a replacement be
cause one or more of the men above
may not be inducted at the induc
tion station by the armed forces.
Any man required to report as a
replacement will be given notice at
least five days before he is required
to report.