Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon Thursday, January 1, 1942 Page Six NEWS o Revenue Split Tire Meteing Fag Tax Anomaly By A. L. LINDBECK Salem. Some time between now and June 30, State Treasurer Leslie M. Scott will send the county trea surer of Morrow county a check for $7,530.92. The amount will represent the county's share of a $960,944 div idend declared by the state tax com mission last week out of surplus revenues from income taxes and will be the state's contribution to ward the support of elementary ed ucation in lieu of property taxes heretofore levied for that purpose. It will be the first time in Oregon history that all state needs, includ ing the elementary school levy, have been met by revenues from income taxes. Faced with prospects of a tire famine Governor Sprague has ap pointed a committee headed by O. L. Price of Portland to supervise the rationing of this and other commod ities on which the federal govern ment may later restrict distribution as a war time measure. Advices from Washington indicate that dis tribution of tires will be confined exclusively to certain commercial vehicles, ambulances, fire appara tus, essential road maintenance equipment and workers whose ser vices are essential to the public wel fare. County rationing committees consisting of two men and one wo man will be appointed by the gov ernor to supervise distribution of rationed commodities in local com munities. Careless driving is held largely re sponsible for a substantial increase in grade crossing accidents during 1940 over 1939, according to Public Utilities Commissioner O. R. Bean. In his annual report on railroad op erations in Oregon, just out, Bean records a total of 247 grade crossing accidents for 1940 compared to only f At S .rt'S SVoOMD US! 00 STATE CAPITAL VA. ABOUT KOtfOMY I y J&lr. 0U CAN CULTIVATE AN Am- V kV ,V svsW 1 CYUNDEM-TltoJ roqBDnjctai kiif JOHN DEERE 'S"H"1 You're in for the surprise of your life when you see and drive the John Deere Model "H" the sensational new small tractor that handles two-row equipment and completely replaces animal power on small and large farms every where, cutting costs 'way below their former level, and making farming more profitable. And when you learn the price, you'll wonder how John Deere can give you so much in a tractor that sells for so little. In addition, the Model "H" not only burns low cost fuel but it uses only 13 to 12 as much fuel on the many jobs within its power range, as would larger tractors handling the same load. Come in, see it, and get "the surprise of your life." BRADEN-BELL TRACTOR & EQUIPMENT CO. 159 in 1939. Eighteen persons lost their lives in grade crossing acci dents during 1940 compared to 10 in 1939 with the number of injuries jumping from 38 to 63. Most of the crossing accidents happened on well established and well travelled high ways, the report shows. Because of the war two recently issued regulations of the state de partment of agriculture have been cancelled. One of these called for the use of a new type sanitary milk bottle cap which would protect the pouring lip of the bottle. No effort will be made now to enforce this regulation which was to have be come effective on January 1, J. D. Mickle, state director of agriculture, said. The other regulation which was cancelled this week called for the use of a certain type of lighting in dairy barns. Blackout require ments have made it advisable to cancel this requirement for the time being, according to Mickle. O. R. Bean, public utilities com missioner, came to the aid of cupid this week when he lifted the ban on the employment of married women. Hereafter, Bean ruled, girls employ ed in the department may remain on the job after they marry, pro vided the husband is called into military service. Otherwise the ban still stands. Governor Sprague this week ex tended his emergency proclamation to include the war against Germany and Italy. Originally it applied only to the war against Japan. The peo ple of Oregon are especially en joined to remain constantly on the alert to every possible danger from enemy action, to report any signs of such activity to the proper auth orities, and to perform faithfully such tasks as may be assigned them by military and civil authorities. Failure of the legislature to in clude any appropriation to cover the cost of administering the new cigarette tax act has placed the state tax commission in a most embar rassing position. Before the commission can start enforcement of the law it must set up the machinery. That means the employment of a staff to administer the act and the purchase of supplies Ksic HTrKm .... including stamps to be affixed to the cigarette package or carton. This involves expense. In lieu of an ap propriation the legislature which passed the act authorised the com mission to pay necessary adminis trative expenses out of revenues ac cruing from the tax. That would be all right except for the referen dum. Although the attorney gen eral has held the attack against the tax act to be faulty and not entitled to a place on the ballot the refer endum sponsors still have recourse to the courts. Should the courts re verse the attorney general and di rect the secretary of state to place the measure on the ballot and the voters, in turn, kill the law the com mission would find itself in the posi tion of having incurred a consider able item of expense which it could not pay. Administration of the act is by no means as simple as it might appear on its face. The law provides for a tax of one-tenth of a cent on each cigarette selling at not more than one cent. On cigarettes selling for more than one cent the tax jumps to 20 per cent. An investigation by the commission has revealed the need for at least 20 different de nominations of stamps ranging from a low of 1.2 cents to as high as 48 cents for certain imported brands pt up in packs of 100. Initiation of the tax is still further complicated by the fact that large supplies are now in the hands of more than 40,000 dealers large and small all over the state. As soon as the commission is in position to begin enforcing the act all of these packages must be stamped before they can be sold. After the current supplies in dealers' hands are dis poser of it is expected that the work of stamping the packages or cartons will be handled by the distributors which will greatly simplify admin istration of the act by confining col lections to comparatively few sour ces. A statistician in the employ of the commission has estimated that Ore gonians consume some 60,000,000 packs or 1,200,000,000 fags a year. That would be at the rate of 170,000 packs or 3,400,000 cigarettes a day. This estimate is based upon the ex perience in the state of Washington, according to which Oregon would realize approximately $1,200,000 a year from this tax $1,000,000 for old age pensions and $200,000 for the support of vocational education. Increased costs of old age pen sions for the first 11 months of 1941 were approximately offset by re ductions in costs of general relief, according to a report by Leslie M. Scott, state treasurer. Scott's report shows that Oregon's needy aged drew a total of $5,071,932.66 in 1941, to November 30, compared to $4,776, 986.06 for the same period in, 1940. General relief payments, on the oth er hand, dropped from $2,492,081.94 in 1940 to $2,195,285.68 in 1941. The cow that jumped over the moon did not have much of an edge on her 1940 descendants when it comes to high hurdling. Records of the state purchasing department show that beef prices have jumped from $10.79 per hundred pounds to $14.81 in the past nine months. Ba con prices have increased from $18. 64 to $25.98 in the same period and ham is up from $17 to $29.90 or 75 per cent Lard prices have increas ed 117 percent from $5.85 to $12.70. State institutions consume more than $100,000 worth of meat annual ly. PEACH DISEASE SERIOUS Spread of the so-called "X" dis ease of peaches in Oregon has be come a matter of major importance to the peach industry, Dr. S. M. Zeller, plant pathologist at the O. S. C. experiment station, told extension and research men gathered on the campus for the annual conference. This disease, which is found in many parts of the United States, is as yet confined to the territory east of the Cascades so far as Oregon and Wash- ingon are concerned It was found there first in 1939, since when a number of large commercial orch ards have been infected to the ex tent of more than 50 per cent of the trees. No control has been found other than complete removal of in fected trees, said Dr. Zeller. A mim eographed circular on the subject is in course of preparation. , The best medium for selling or trading is a G-T want ad. DSATW TAKES NO HOLIDAY BUT IT DOS TAKE A LOT OP HOUOAY OfKIVERSj 2. HADONAl MWTT COONOt Holiday traffic in Oregon is from 15 to 17 percent above normal, the state traffic safety division warns holiday drivers. During these holiday periods, driv ers were advised to exercise addi tional care to avoid being involved in accidents. In long lines of cars, drivers should avoid taking danger ous chances in order to pass, the division warned. Speed should be reduced, especially at night and in heavy traffic, the driver must keep on the alert at all times. Special care is required when ap proaching and passing recreation areas during holiday periods in or der to avoid accidents involving ped estrians or cars entering or leaving the area. New Hybrid Wheat Makes Good Yield A new hybrid wheat obtained by crossing turkey red and federation outyielded all other varieties grown in eight outlying cereal nurseries in Wasco. Sherman. Jefferson, and Gil liam counties in 1941, according to i M. M. Overson, superintendent of the Moro branch experiment station. This is one of the several new and promising hybrids that are being tested in an effort to improve still further Oregon's wheat varieties. Most sought characteristics now are smut-resistance and good milling quality, combined with high yield. None of these new crosses are ready for general distribution. Game Commission Sets Angling Meeting The Oregon State Game commis sion will hold on January 10 at the office in Portland, its annual meet ing to determine the angling regu lations for the ensuing year. Seasons, bag limits, and other reg ulations affecting sports fishing will be considered. The meeting will be open to the general public and rep resentatives of sportsmen's organi zations and other interested organi zations are invited to attend. Professional Directory Phelps Funeral Home Licensed Funeral Directors Phone 1332 Heppner, Ore. s NEW AUTO POLICY Bodily Injury & Property Damage Class A $13.60 Class B $17.00 See us before financing your next automobile. F. W. TURNER & CO. Heppner City Council Meets First Monday Each Month Citizens having matters for dis cussion, please bring before the Council J. O. TURNER, Mayor GLENN Y. WELLS ATTORNEY AT LAW ATwater 4884 635 MEAD BUILDING 5th at Washington PORTLAND, OKEGON J. 0. Turner ATTORNEY AT LAW Phone 173 Hotel Heppner Building HEPPNER, ORB. A.D. McMurdo, M. D. PHYSICIAN & SURGEON Trained Nurse Assistant Office in Masonic Building Heppner, Oregon Heppner Abstract Co. J. LOGIE RICHARDSON, Mgr. BATES REASONABLE Roberts Building Heppner, On P. W. Mahoney ATTORNEY AT LAW GENERAL INSURANCE Heppner Hotel Building Willow St Entrance J. 0. Peterson Latest Jewelry and Gift Goods Watches . Clocks Diamonds Expert Watch and Jewelry Repairing Heppner, Oregon Vawter Parker ATTORNEY-AT-LAW First National Bank Building Dr. Richard C. Lawrence DENTIST X-Ray and Extraction by Gas First National Bank Bldg. Phone 562 Heppner, Oregon Dr. L. D. Tibbies OSTEOPATHIC Physician & Surgeon FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLDG. Rec. Phone 1162 Office Phone 493 HEPPNER, OREGON Jos. J. Nys ATTORNEY AT LAW Peters Building, Willow Street Heppner, Oregon V. R. Runnion AUCTIONEER Farm Sales and Livestock a Specialty 405 Jones Street, Heppner, Ore. Phone 452 MAKE SATES AT MY EXPENSE Morrow County Abstract & Title Co. INC. ABSTRACTS OF TITLE TITLE INSURANCE Office in New Peters Building Peterson & Peterson ATTORNEYS AT LAW U. S. National Bank Building PENDLETON, OREGON Practice In State and Federal Courts Real Estate General Line of Insuranee and Bonds W. M. EUBANKS Notary Publlo Phone 62 lone. Ore. M. L. CASE G. E. NIKANDER Directors of Funerals 862 Phones 262