r
ft
Behind the
Scene at
Salem
By Rep. Giles French
Before this is read the 42nd le
gislative assembly should certainly
have adjourned. It might not, how
ever, if all of the troubles that
might arise do so.
Just as the ways and means com
mittee announced that it would be
able to arrange things so the state
could get along for another two
years the state liquor board an
nounced rationing of hard liquor.
Monday the committee was told
that it would make no difference
with the income. The administra-.
tor announced that it would cut to
tal sales by two thirds. Chances
are that there will be some liquor
board certificates of delinquency
wit before the next legislature
comes into being and a. bunch of
montey to find to pay them.
The governor has demanded, and
liis wish has been granted, that
pensions be raised from around $25
to about $39. It was necessary to
change some of the welfare board
estimates to do this because there
is less match money for general
assistance than for old age pen
sions. These figures will never be
reduced much after they go into
effect which means a steadily heav
ier burden for taxpayers to lift.
Then, "too, wages have been rais
ed for nearly every stale employe.
The state police, the people who
work at the institutions, county
officers have all been granted lar
ger salaries. They were needed, too
in most cases. They will probably
never again go down to the 1942
level
These things make it nearly im
possible to make reduction in any
taxes, although it seems that there
is some to be made whether those
making the reduction really think
it advisable or not. The old timers
around the legislature, the veteran
members of the ways and means,
the tax men, all know that any
Serious cut in the state tax struc
ture is going to make our present
surplus look pretty small before
long.
There is going to be need for
some money when the soldiers
come home again after the war.
They will need rehabilitation to
acquaint them with civilian ways
again. There should be, and will be,
an educational program for them,
perhaps some sort of loan to en
able them to buy a home.
The citizens of the state are go
ing to want to do do something for
the boys then and will feel as fool
ish as did Simole Simon if they
have nothing with them to do it.
It is probable that the peorole of
the state would be better off if the
legislature had quit Saturday night.
Alwavs there is a bunch of bills
left in committee 'at the end of a
session. These are generally bad
bills that had objections so serious
that committee members would not
pass them out in regular course.
As the session comes near its end,
and the sponsors of these bills re
new their efforts and often succeed
in getting the bills out. Then they
sometimes pass. It is often well if
the session ends before many of
'these can get out.
Of course many of these could
be beaten if everyone wasn't so
busy trying to finish his work.
There is nothing around here now
that needs to pass except possibly
the occupational disease bill. The
remainder of it, including the tax
reduction bills might better be
forgotten.
RETURNS TO WORK
Mrs. Glen Haves has returned to
the switchboard at the local tele
phone office after an absence of 10
days due to sickness.
Farmers Ready
To Plant Peas
Coming Week
Better. Than 1,000
Acres Signed Up
For New Crop
Production of the war crops in
Mcrrow county is receiving much
attention by the farmers and the
USDA war board this week.
120,000 pounds of dry edible pea
seed has just arrived in the county
and many farmers will be seeding
their peas this coming week. There
will be better than 1,000 acres of
dry edible peas grown in the coun
ty this year which will help pro
vide a non-perishable high protein
food for our soldiers and for lend
lease shipment to our allies.
Peas have never been grown ex
tensively in Morrow county but
with the added moisture this year
and the need for dry edible peas,
better than 50 farmers have agreed
to use part of their land for this
much needed crop.
Special emphasis is also being
placed on dry beans ,potatoes, pas
ture and hay. The average potato
acreage in the county has been
about 100 acres and this year there
will be close to about 300 acres.
The dry bean acreage has been in
creased from about 60 acres to 100
acres.
The county AAA committee has
completed the setting of war goals
for all farms in the county this
week and all farmers will be no
tified immediately of their goals.
Pasture and hay crops are con
sidered as war crops this year and f
war goals are being set for each of
these as the feed situation is not
bright with the livestock numbers
at an all time high and with little
or no carry over of hay. This coup
led with the certain labor shortage
during haying makes it necessary
to place hay and pasture at the
head of the list for needed crops.
War goals are not being set for
Continued on Page Eight
Teachers Signify
Desire to Return
At a school board meeting held
Monday evening, March 8, the fol
lowing teachers expressed a desire
to return to Heppner next year
and were offered contracts: Myr
thena Martin, first grade; Elizabeth
Dix, second grade; Bonnie Smith,
third grade; Lela Peterson, third
. grade; Lera Crawford, fourth grade;
Frances Weaver fifth; Rose Hoos
ier, sixth; Hester Peavy, seventh;
and the following high school tea
chers: Norbert Peavy, Lyle Swen
son, Joyce Hugill, Evelyn Young
berg, Don Strait, and George Cor
win, superintendent.
Margaret Wright tendered her
resignation, effective at the end of
the school year to accept a perma
nent position in the public play
grounds at Portland. Chrisobel Os
borne's plans are unsettled as yet
so her contract is withheld for the
present.
Minister Resigns
To Attend School
Martin B. Clark, pastor of the
Heppner Church of Christ the past
four years, Sunday tendered his
resignation to the church board
and asked to be relieved of the
pastorate by July 1. It is Mr. Clark's
plan to attend school t Butler
university in the east.
The local church has fared well
under the young minister's pastor
ate, one of the outstanding accom
plishments of the period being the
burning of the church mortgage,
an event of last October.
Word from the M D .Clark home,
where both Mr. and Mrs. Clark
have been suffering with the flu
the past week, is to the effect that
they are on the road to recovery.
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, March 11, 1943
Parachuting Piggy
Back Mas Its Thrilling
Moments ...
Parachuting from a plane should
be thrill enough for any soldier,
or civilian - for that matter, and
when it is done piggy-back style it
should satisfy even the most rabid
thrill seeker. This style may not
be in vogue among the paratroop
ers and it remained for a Morrow
county boy to introduce it in, at
least one instance.
Corpl. Donald O. Robinson, son
of Mr .and Mrs. Roy Robinson of
Hardman, in training with para
troopers at Ft. Bragg, N .C, recent
ly had an experience which he
will not soon forget. An account
of Robinson's feat appeared in the
Carolina Observer, apparently of
Ft. Bragg, and has been passed on
to the Gazette Times by its Hard
man correspondent, Elsa M Leath
ers, who writes:
The Fort Bragg paratrooper unit
had just carried away all honors
at the Golden Globe tournament at
Charlotte, N. C, and to show how
happy they were over the occasion,
44 enlisted men and four officers
volunteered to give an exhibition
jump over the broad1 acres of the
Carolina Golf club course.
Two large transports carried the
Local Ration Board
Has New Set-UP
Harley Richardson, field repre
sentative of. the OPA.in Che north
eastern Oregon district, spent the
fore part of the week in Heppner
assisting the rationing board in
getting affairs of the office straigh
tened out-
A personnel change has been ef
fected wheerein Mrs. Harry Tam
blyn and Mrs. Joe Hughes now are
in charge of the office, succeeding
Heen Laughlin and Mrs. vWillard
Blake. Mrs. Laughlin has been
transferred to the Deschutes coun
ty rationing board office and will
leave shortly for Bend. Mrs. Blake
resigned to join her husband at
Snohomish, Wash.
In addition to Mrs. Tamblyn and
Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. L. E. Dick, Jr.,
spendt the afternoons a tthe office.
Mrs. Dick is trade relations chair
man dealing with th eproblems of
merchants. Richardson states that
merchants should contact Mrs. Dick
with their price ceiling problems
and that answers that cannot be
made locally will be taken up with
the Portland office with replies
forhcoming within 24 hours.
Richard Hayes
Back in Australia
Richard Hayes, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Glenn Hayes, has written his
parents that' he is back in Austra
lia, his first foreign base, after a
season on the firing line ' in New
Guinea. While not revealing much
about his activities, he stated that
he weighs 186 pounds, which indi
cates that the life of a soldier
agrees with him.
Richard's letter was mailed Feb.
22 and reached its destination
March 3. It was the first word
they had had from him in many
weeks.
AUXILIARY SENDS TABLE
COVERS TO U. S. HOSPITAL
Voting funds for the American Red
Cross and the Heppner library
marked the meeting of the Ameri
anc Legion auxiliary held at the
home of Mrs. Harvey Bauman,
March 8.
Five dollars to the Red Cross war
fund and $5 to the library were
the amounts subscribed by the la
dies and their donation to the U. S.
Veterans' hospital in Portland con
sisted of bedside table covers.
men from Ft Bragg ' to their ob
jective. At 1700 feet they began
baling out, 12 in a group. The first
pilot missed the field slightly and
the boys came down in trees, on
houses and telephone lines, while
the second pilot landed his group
neatly on the golf course.
Here's where our Morrow county
boy entered the picture. As he leapt
from the plane he landed' on the
head and shoulders of the boy pre
ceding him. With this double
weight and parachutes unopened,
they sped towards earth at a ter
rific rate and there was little they
could do about it Training and ex
perience came to their assistance.
They kept cool heads and by work
ing in perfect coordination ' suc
ceeded in untangling themselves in
time for their chutes to open and
they floated down safely, landing
in a stubblefield The pay-off came
after landing and Robinson discov
ered that the silk of his chute was
torn some three feet.
When asked if it wasn't a ter
rifying experience, Robinson's re
ply was: "This is a picnic to what
it will be behind the lines where
we are going."
Cummings Leaves
For New Position
Merle Cummings left Monday
morning for La Grande to take up
his new duties as farmer field man
in the Union district, including Un
ion, Baker, Wallowa and Malheur
counties. He was accompanied by
Mrs. Cummings and Mrs. Ed Berg
strom. The two ladies will return
to Heppner as soon as living quar
ters are found in La Grande and
Mrs. Qunmings will arrange to
move their household goods.
Cummings has served the local
office of the AAA as assistant sec
retary the past four years and his
new job, a distinct advance, is in
recognition of the ability shown
here.
Oscar Peterson is serving as as
sistant secretary of the AAA board
of which Henry Baker is chairman
and C. D. Conrad secretary.
MARIE POST JOHNSON
Judge Bert Johnson drove to
Portland Thursday in response to
a message that his mother passed
away late Wednesday evening. Pri
vate funeral services were held
from the Rose Undertaking parlors
Saturday morning, with interment
in Riverview cemetery. Mrs. John
son had been a resident of Portland
since 1881. Judge Johnson and his
sister, Miss Olga Johnson, are the
only survivors. Many beautiful flo
ral tributes attested to the high es
teem in which Mrs. Johnson was
held.
MAKE TRIP TO PORTLAND
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Howell drove
to Portland Friday, taking their
daughter Mrs. Dorothy Huitt and
baby, that far on their way home
to Seattle. Lee reports rail travel
somewhat of a problem, with not
only difficulty in securing passage
but more trouble in gaining a seat
after acquiring a ticket. He believes
he will be content to remain at
home or go only as far as his 'A"
coupons are good for.
HERE FROM SPRAY
Frank Cecil of Spray is receiv
ing treatment at Heppner hospital
his week. He is suffering from an
infected knee, the result of stab
bing the member with a knife while
skinning a sheep.
MOVE TO BEND
Patty Cason and her mother have
gone to Bend where Patty has em
ployment in one of the sawmill
offices.
Vol ume 59, Number 50
Death Claims
Bruce Kelley,
Flood Hero
Long Time Resident
Of County Answers
Call This Morning
Death came to Bruce B. Kelley,
71, at 9:15 a. m. today at Heppner
hospital where he has been a pa
tient for a month or more. He
had been ill most of the time for
the past year, suffering from a
combination of ailments.
Funeral arrangements are await
ing word from relatives, a number
of whom live in different sections
of the northwest.
Kelley had been a resident of
Morrow county for more than half
a century. A native of Vermont,
he came west with his parents to
California in early boyhood. Short
ly after arriving on the coast the
family decided to go to Oregon,
making the trip by coastal steam
er to Portland, later settling in
Morrow oonuty, where orman eKl
ley, the father, took a homestead
on Willow creek a few miles south
of Heppner. This homestead grew
into a large stock ranch which
passed into the hands of the son
in later years and which he re
tained the rest of his life.
On June 14, 1903, when a terri
fic electrical storm, accompanied
by a heavy cloudbrst in the hills
south of Heppner precipitated a
disasterous flood on the thriving
little city, the name of Bruce Kel
ley was firmly imprinted on the
minds of thousands of people
throughout the west. In company
with Leslie Matlock he made a
horseback ride to lone which
gained for both men the undying
gratitude of the people living in
the path of the madly rushing
water and caused their names to
go down in history as the heroes
of the Heppner flood. The feat was
accomplished by riding over the
hills and using wire cutters to
save time in getting through fen
ces. Their warning is credited with
saving much loss of life.
Farmer Sustains
Injuries in Runaway
Lester McKown, who farms the
MeMurdb ranch on Rhea creek,
is in Heppner hospital receiving
treatment for injuries received in
an accident at the ranch about 2
p. m. Wednesday.
McKown was fixing fence and
had a team of horses tied up near
by. The animals became frightened
at something and breaking their
tether started for tle barn, or
wherever it is horses go when
they run away. McKown can't re
member much about the direction
the horses took. He was struck
down and apparently run over and
after the first blow was "out." He
was brought to town and placed in
the hospital where it was found
he had suffered a dislocated shoul
er, a compound fracture of the el
bow and numerous bruises.
WISHES TO CORRECT
WRONG IMPRESSION
Marshal William Morgan has
called attention to the fact that he
is not the only relative of the late
Clyde Saling residing in this vi
cinity. The Morgan family, of which
"Bill" and Levi, both Heppner
residents at present, are members,
long resided here and include Mrs.
Artie Conder, Milton; Milton J. F.
Morgan, Bellingham, Wash.; An
drew Morgan, Del Ray, Calif, and
Harry Morgan. Winthrop Wash.
Mrs. Clyde Saling is a sister of
Charles H. Bartholomew of Pine
City. Their parents were the late
Judge and Mrs. A. G. Bartholomew,
long-time residents of Heppner.