Heppner Gazette Times, July 2, 19423
V-AT ftTHE -
Washington, D. C, July 2. After
being in committee for almost half
a year, a bill has been reported
which, if it becomes law, will be a
blessing to the taxing bodies of half
a dozen or more counties in Oregon.
The measure, introduced by Sena
tor Charles L. McNary, would per
mit counties and states to levy taxes
on land acquired by the military es
tablishment. It would apply, for in
stance, to Jackson, Benton, Umatilla,
Tillamook counties where there are
cantonments, ammunition dumps and
shore stations; it would include
counties where bomb testing ranges
have been acquired and counties (or
cities) whsre the government has
air fields. Where an air field is mu
nicipally owned it would not come
under the presumptive law. Corval
lis cantonment consists of 34,000 ac
res and the Medford cantonment is
equally large. There are 14 sections
of land used by the Hermiston mu
nitions depot. Total aggregate has
not been compiled.
Oregon department of geology in
a bulletin states that production of
Coos bay coal is between 10 and 20
tons a day. The two army canton
ments will require 140,000 tons a
year. Whether the Coos bay coal
fields are sufficiently extensive to
meet this demand will not be known
until a personal inspection is made
by an army engineer who will visit
them this month. The comment of
army engineers is that there are
no rail facilities and no machinery
to increase the output. Furthermore,
there is a greater lack of miners in
the northwest than in any other
part of the country; for the north
west a shortage of 22.8 percent, for
the nation 7.4 percent. Washington
coal fields, declares an army officer,
are capable of providing the coal
tonnage if they can obtain labor,
If it is possible, the army always
obtains its coal from the nearest
mines, but the chances are that
Washington coal will supply the
Oregon cantonments.
Only seven other field offices of
WPB are doing as much business as
the regional office at Portland. Oth
ers are Los Angeles, San Francisco,
New York, Chicago, Detroit. It has
surprised the field operations divi
sion, the activity of Portland, which
they frankly expected to be way
down the list. As soon as the of
fice force can be enlarged repre
sentatives will visit Eugene, Bend,
eastern Oregon anywhere in - the
state necessary instead of compell
ing people from these communities
to travel to Portland to discuss war
orders.
Inside tip is that the Columbia
Power Authority bill, sponsored by
Senator Homer T. Bone of Washing
ton, will not pass this year; may
not pass next year unless it is thor
oughly revamped and modified.
There has been a tremendous wave
of opposition to the measure from
city councils, service clubs, chambers
of commerce, newspaper editors and
others, all of whom insist that this
is no time to raise a controversial
question and that if there should
be need for a Columbia Power Au
thority of some sort it can wait un
til the war is won. Rep. Walter M.
Pierce of Oregon, although a public
ownership advocate, doesn't like the
bill; Rep. Homer Angell is a mem
ber of the joint committee which
held hearings and has not commit
ted himself one way or the other.
When none of the Oregon congress
men were present Rep. Martin
Smith, co-sponsor with Bone, as
sured the joint committee that the
Oregon delegation was solidly for
the bill.
Shelling the sand dunes of Clatsop
county by a Japanese submarine
may cause the office of civilian de
fense to rearrange its plans for the
4H Clubs Enlist to "Keep Oregon Green"
Heads of the girls' and boys' councils at the recent 4-H club summer session at Oregon State' college are
here shown receiving their "Green Guard" shields arter the entire group of more than 1900 clubbers had taken
the pledge as Green Guards In the 1942 Keep Oregon Green campaign. Shown in the picture from left are
N. S. Rogers, state forester; Lorraine Ringer, Astoria, president of the girls' council; Donald Hagg, Reedville,
president of the boys' council, and Dick Kuehner, state director of kthe KOG program:
west coast and provide for fire
fighting equipment for Astoria and
other coastal communities. With
one exception, the coast towns were
to have been left to their own de
vices by OCD. The appearance of
the enemy U-boats has demonstra
ted that communities on the fringe
of the ocean are entitled to all the
protection they can receive from the
federal government, and this means
every place from Brookings to Sea
side. ,
Wheat farmers will receive a
break. Russian ships are entering
the Columbia river and Puget sound
to carry away cargoes of wheat and
Hour. A half dozen cargoes will
move out of the Columbia river by
the middle of July. Flour from As
toria, Portland, the inland mills in
large quantities will be exported to
Siberia. It will be the first substan
tial foreign market wheat growers
of the Inland empire have had in
several years. Canada is taking care
of the wheat needed by the Brit
ish, but the Pacific northwest will
have the Russian business under the
lend-lease act. A dozen Russian ships
already have carried northwest
flour and wheat out of Tacoma and
Seattle. The food does not cost the
Russians a nickel but is provided by
the United States government and
will have to be paid for by Citizen
John Doe.
OSC Faculty Man at
Camouflage School
Oregon State College Henry
Hartman, newly appointed head of
the department of horticulture here,
is now at Fort Belvoir, Virginia,
taking a special intensive course in
camouflage procedure in prepaja
tion for giving such a course of
instruction at the college after he
returns.
Professor Hartman was selected
by William A. Schoenfeld, dean and
director of agriculture, at the re
quest of army officials who are
interested in preparing personnel in
case a national policy of camouflage
for important defense plants and in
stallations is adopted. The nursery
and seed industries of Oregon are
collaborating with the war depart
ment in supplying or designating
materials suitable for camouflage
work, according to Dean Schoenfeld.
G. A. Sanders underwent a major
operation Tuesday at St. Anthony's
hospital at Pendleton, His condi
tion was reported as good. Mrs.
Sanders went to see Mr. Sanders
Wednesday evening, accompanied
by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stoars. Mr.
and Mrs. Sanders are proprietors of
Heppner bakery. -
Grandson in Australia
Writes to C. A. Minor
C. A. Minor, pioneer Morrow res
ident, now residing at Mt. Vernon
in Grant county, is in receipt of a
recent letter from his grandson, Sgt.
Arthur E. Minor, now with the U.
S. army in Australia. Written June
11, 1942, passed by censor, and sent
via air mail, the letter as reprinted
in last week's Blue Mountain Eagle,
Canyon City, follows:
Dear Grandfather:
I am quite well and in Australia
now. This continent is as large as
the U. S. though only seven million
people inhabit the country. There is
much waste land due to the lack
of water. Here they do not call the
land a ranch, it is known as a-station.
Most stations consist of a
good many thousand acres, averag
ing around seventy thousand but
going into the hundreds of thou
sands some times. The sheep and
cattle are not in bands with a her
der. All are just turned loose and
rounded up when necessary. The
climate is hot all year, though the
nights in the winter (winter being
this time of year) are very cool and
a breeze continually blows during
the day. The winter is dry and the
grass becomes almost extinct, it be
ing quite the opposite during the
summer when there is much rain
and very hot weather. Grass is thick
and as tall as our heads so, at this
time of year when all is dry there
is much danger from grass fires.
From a distnce there seems to be a
dense forest or almost a jungle but
when looking about you the trees
are sparse and nearly impossible to
find any shade. Trees" look some
thing like young oak trees though
they are evergreen. No pine or fir
in this part of the land. There are
no hills here, making it impossible
ever to see very much about one's
self. I do not like the country at all
in this respect. It is very disgusting
when lost so you can't tell which is
up or down, where the ocean would
be or in which direction a creek
could be found and if you find a
creek it is hard to tell which way
the water is suppoed to be run
ning as the creeks are mainly water
holes. There are mangroves along
some of the creeks. Mangroves are
practically impossible to go through.
They are small trees that shoot
straight for the sky with never a
limb from the roots until at the
very top. These trees are set so
near each other that it is impossible
to go between them.
There are water buffalo, kangar
oos, wallabies and dingoes. Ducks
and geese are plentiful. Many kinds
of strange colored birds it seems
that all the birds are colored with
white, red or green. Reptiles are
plentiful and of enormous size. Wa
ter holos are dangerous, many pla
ces, due to crocodiles.
The Australians are very good
natured. Their standards of living
or education is not so high as in the
United States. An "Aussie's" langu
age is more nearly ours than an
Englishman's, yet we have quite a
time catching their meaning because
they talk so terribly fast. And, of
course, their slang is humorous to
us as it is so different and odd. To
them, our language is easily under
stood, probably because for one
thing practically all the movies they
see come from Hollywood.
The food situation is O. K. now
in the fact that there is enough each
meal to fill to full capacity. Natur
ally it is not food such as we have
been used to or that we especially
like but it keeps us healthy.
There is nothing in the line of
recreation as there are no stores,
theaters, or women here. We do take
walks on time off and some times
go in for a swim. But none of this
is worse than we expected and not
nearly so bad at the present as we
expect later, and then we know it
won't last for long. Then we know
that all our folks at home are work
ing and giving and doing without so
as to help us receive equipment and
necessities. And we know they are
doing it all for the same reason we
are. We here, can see how much it
is taking and going to take from
all you folks at home and are cer
tainly proud that we have such peo
ple and such a country to fight for.
We can take anything when there
is such a good reason to take it.
I do hope that you are feeling as
"purk" as you deserve which will
be very good. Often I think of those
meals you cook and I certainly want
you cooking some good ones when I
get back.
Write and tell me all the news'
of Mt. Vernon. It takes the mail a
long time to get here, but it comes.
Your grandson,
ARTHUR E. MINOR.
UNION MISSION SOCIETY MEETS
The Union Missionary society
meeting was held in the Methodist
church on Friday afternoon. The
devotional leader was Mrs. L. E.
Dick. Prayer was offered by Mrs.
Loa Taylor, and two numbers were
sung by a trio, Kathryn Parker,
Marie and Lucille Barlow. Subject
for study was Mexico, and Leta
Humphreys and Rose Leibbrand
showed moving pictures taken by
them on their trip to Mexico a few
years ago, and gave a very interest
ing talk.
Feeding Cattle on
Harney Crops
Found Practical
Feeding calves and yearling steers
on roughage and concentrates grown
entirely in southeastern Oregon
proved a profitable venture at the
Harney branch station near Burns,
which is now an integral part of
the Squaw Butte-Harney range and
livestock station A detailed report
on the first feeding operations there
was made at the recent first annual
feeders' day held on the Burns sta
tion, and attended by cattlemen
from a wide area.
Under the new plan of operation
the combined station is under the
joint management of the Oregon
agricultural experiment station and
the grazing service of the U. S. de
partment of the interior. The for
mer branch station at Burns has be
come the home ranch or "commen
surate" property for the Squaw
Butte range station, thereby pro
viding for continuous year-round
research operations.
Kenneth C. Ikeler, superintendent
of the combined station, gave the
detailed feeding results and com
pared the different lots of cattle
after Obil Shattuck, assistant su
perintendent, reported on feed pro
duction costs on the station. Among
others who took part in the pro
gram, Ralph Besse. assistant direc
tor of the exeriment station, ex
plained the joint management set
up and outlined objectives of the
station.
The feeding record showed that
the calves in various lots ranged
in weight from 401 to 448 pounds
when they went on feed last fall.
They made what was considered a
remarkable average daily gain of
from 2.14 to 2.16 pounds. All three
of the steer lots were fed hammered
alfalfa, mixed with 20 percent straw
and either straight, coarsely ground
barley or a mixture of barley and
ground rye.
The steers ranged in- weight from
777 to 822 pounds at the end of the
feeding period, and topped the mar
ket in Portland at around $13.50 per
cwt. Cost of feed per hundred-pound
gain ranged from $6.(53 to $7.10, with
the lowest cost for the lot receiving
hammered first cutting alfalfa mix
ed with 20 percent straw plus a
grain mixture of 80 percent barley
and 20 percent rye.
Civil Service Seeks
Men for Panama Zone
Recruiting began this week on
new quotas for skilled workmen to
serve in the Panama Canal zone,
it was announced today by James
P. Cooley, manager, 11th U. S. civil
service district, in Seattle. The new
quotas are not large but because
of the high degree of skill required,
according to Cooley, they may be
difficult to fill. Applicants must
have had four years of apprentice
ship or experience which must have
included some marine work. Age
limits are 55 years and more. Sal
aries, including overtime rates and
other allowances are high.
Needed are boatbuilders, boiler
makers, coppersmiths, machinists
both marine and general, shipfitters,
shipwrights, and riveters. Applica
tion may be made at any first or
second class post office or at 405
post office building in Seattle. Ap
plicants living in this area may
make applicaton through Eugene
Brame, civil service representative,
with the Base Quartermaster, Pen
dleton Air Base, Pendleton.
Weigand Member
Mexico Confab Party
Oregon State College E. H. Wie
gand, head of the department of
food industries, has been named a
consulting delegate to the second
Inter-American Conference of Agri
culture to be held in Mexico City
July 6-16. He was invited by James
T. Jardine, chief of the office of
experiment stations, to join the Uni
ted States party attending the con
ference and to deliver a paper on
"The Place of Fruit and Vegetable
Preservation in the Emergency Sit
uation and in the Future."
The 10-day conference will be di
vided into 13 sections covering as
many different branches of agricul
ture. Professor Wiegand will speak
before the section on chemistry and
technology.