A Heppner Gazette Times, July 20, 1944
EDITORIAL . .
Lumber Outlook Critical
Freezing of lumber as of today brings home to
many of us the seriousness of the war situation
with relation to certain critical materials. Under
the latest War Production Board order one may
buy up to 300 feet of lumber at one time if able to
produce substantial evidence that that much ma
terial is needed. This practically eliminates local
improvements for the tirrje being, although it is
the opinion of some who have studied the matter
that the regulations may taper off after a few
weeks and local dealers will be able to carry and
sell a litttle more of certain grades.
Whatever the position of lumber in the next
few weeks, the fact remains that we are faced
with a crisis right now and every effort will have
to be made to meet it with the least serious re
sell a little more of certain grades.
Two factors contribute to the present curtail
ment to civilian users. One is the unusually heavy
demands of the government in providing shipping
boxes and crating material for war supplies. The
other is the drop in production, particularly in pine
lumber. Dealers are finding it difficult to meet
government demands and since war necessity can
not wait for mills to catch up, the deficit must be
made up at the expense of civilian users.
Mills are running to capacity, or to the limit of
their ability under labor conditions. Not one man
can be spared without injuring the output. Users
of the forests or occasional visitors should exer
cise every precaution while in the mountains to
see that fires are not the result of manmade caus
es. Natural causes are enough of a headache to
foresters and mill operators without the added
hazard of human carelessness. A fire breaking out
in the timbered area of Morrow county would ne
cessitate wiithdrawing logging crews to combat it.
That is a direct contribution to the lumber short
age. Remember to put out every vestige of fire
break the match in two, put out the last spark of
your campfire, and do not toss cigarette or cigar
butts away, or pipe ashes either, but put them in
rhe receptacle in you car or trample them com
pletely out if not near the car. If you fail to do
this you may expect to be called to help put out
the fire.
capita average is .7 pounds. Potential waste pa
per .available from Oregon homes, according to
the survey would be 5.28 pounds per capita per
month. Since the start of the U. S. Victory cam
paign last November, the nation has fallen short
of its monthly goal of 667,000 tons per month and
Oregon's record is no better than the national av
erage in this respect.
Lack of facilities for properly handling waste
paper doubtless contributes to the deficency in
the supply. Added to this the lack of experience
in saving paper and it is seen why we are lag
ging behind. The waste paper necessary to reach
the 1944 goal is available and everyone must do
his part in saving and transporting it to the places
where it can be used. Otherwise not only civilian
use will be further curtailed, but the transport of
many critical supplies to our armed forces will be
jeopardized.
O
o-
Waste Paper Campaign Lagging
Waste paper has a highly important place in the
"ar effort, yet it is receiving much less attention
han it deserves. As a matter of fact, the lack of
'nterest in the salvage campaign is becoming ap
parent in the growing shortage of" packaging pa
ner and without concerted effort we may soon find
it impossible to obtain cartons and wrapping ma
terials in sufficient quantities to meet ordinary
needs. .
Result of a recent survey sponsored by the con
servation committee of the Waste Paper Consum
ing Industries show that Oregon is collecting and
petting into the war effort less than half of the
potential amount of waste paper available from
homes. Since November 1, 1943 to June 25, 1944
Oregon is credited with the volunteer collection of
0737 tons of paper for a monthly average of 2.1
pounds per capita. Morrow county's monthly per
Cause of Most Farm Accidents
Contrary "to the common belief, hand tools such
as axes and pitchforks are responsible for more
accidents on Oregon farms than -either machin
ery, vehicles or animals. Authority for this state
ment is W. A. Schoenfeld, dean and director of
agriculture at Oregon State college, who, as state
chairman of National Farm Safety week, July 23
to 29, calls attention to Oregon farm accident
causes and calls for closer cooperation in their
prevention. The heavy toll taken each year by
avoidable accidents, the deon says, represent such
an unwarranted physical sacrifice on the part of
farm workers and such a financial loss that every
one connected with agriculture is asked to join in
this program of farm safety.
The annual report of the accident prevention
division of the state industrial accident commis
sion shows that hand tools ranked at the top of the
list of causes of farm accidents for farmers oper
ating under the workmen's compensation law. In
second place were power or horse-driven vehicles,
followed in order by ladders and steps, power
driven machinery, nails and slivers, animals, poi
sonous plants and insects, and falling, slipping,
flying objects. Sprained backs accounted for the
largest number of injuries of one specific type,
A'hile lacerated fingers were second and fractured
ribs third.
Industry has demonstrated time and again that
accidents can be drastically reduced by analysis
of hazards and an educational campaign to teach
people to take precautions, Schoenfeld points out.
Reductions of as much as 50 percent in factory
and traffic accidents have resulted from preven
tion programs, he stated, in pointing to a need for
recognition that the farm accident rate has stead
ily increased to a point where agriculture today is
one of the most hazardous of industries.
O
Woodrow Wilson said:"The history of Liberty
is the history of limitation of governmental pow
er, not the increase of it. When we resist, there
fore, the concentration of power, we are resisting
the processes of death, because concentartion of
power is what always precedes the destruction of
human liberties."
Exceptional Values plus
Exquisite Styling
A wide variety of Hand Carved matched wedding ring
sets, narrow and wide bride-and-groom Band wedding
rings.
Smartly styled Diamond Rings within reach of all
and to satisfy the most discriminating.
vvvvv
Our First Duty
WAR BONDS
Morrow County Soldier
Vatican City in Rome;
The letter following was recently
received from Lawrence P. Doherty
by his mother, Mrs. B. P. Doherty.
Lawrence, now in the Engineer
Topographic company of the ser
vice, was formerly engaged in soil
conservation work, being stationed
at one time here in Heppner. Hav
ing been sent overseas shortly after
entering the service in 1942, he par
ticipated in the first big landing of
Allied forces in North Africa, so
has had no opportunity for a fur
lough that would be "too unbeliev
ably good to even think about."
His letters have been a constant
source of interesting descriptions
and narrations to members of his
family, the latest of which follows:
June 25, 1944
You will no doubt be interested
in hearing that I have visited Rome,
have been all through St. Peters,
and have the thrill of attending
audiences to the Pope in the Vati
can. We were not long, after the first
troops entering Rome, just how
long is something I can't tell.
To the south almost every town
was a heap of rubble. The civilians
were dirty and half starved, and
they stared at us disconsolately as
we rolled by. Wrecked war mach
ines were everywhere and too often
we had to endure the smell of the
unburied dead left behind by the
Germans.
Rome was a refreshing surprise.
I was to find that though neither
side had agreed to make it an open
city, the beautiful metropolis was
untouched except for some railway
yards. The Allies had not bombed it
and the Germans did not blow it up
when leaving. All the other cities
in the path of the war had suffered
such a fate. ,
Rome amazed me. The people
were of the elite, and in fact were
Litter dressed than the folks in the
cities back home. Most of the men
wore well-fitted, well-pressed mo
dem suits, with clean starched
shirts, and ties. Women wore dress
es of good quality and the dresses
were clean and well-cared for.
Their faces and hair showed evi
dence oi care and expert hairdress
ing. Rome, you see, is a city of rela
tively wealthy people. Prices are
high enough that the poor in the
rest of Italy cannot live there un
less they have a good job. There
are few poor people in Rome. The
people, with their wealth and poli
tical connections, had goods and
luxuries that the poor people else
where probably thought didnt ex
ist any more. There were many
luxury shops, and we saw some ex
pensive cars rolling around burn
ing gas that the Italian armies ap
parently didn't have.
The people had everything but
food, and if the campaign had lasted
much longer the city would have
been badly starved. It was really a
spectacle to see well-dressed peo
ple actually scuffle for the leavings
of an American mess line.
Si. Ignatius church, Jesuit mother
church in Rome, has a demed roof,
finished in 1685. An artist spent
five years mathematically planning
and painting a perspective view of
great columns depicting "The En
trance of St. Ignatius in Paradise."
Hie peispectfve is so real thct vis
itois gasp when told the ceiling is
-a dome. It is world famous for this
reason.
St. Peter's of course, is the spec
tacle of all. It is the largest church
in the world and its dome towel's
over Rome. Several cathedrals have
been erected over the spot, which
is the tomb of St. Peter. The present
one reflects the genius of the great
Michelangelo, who excelled as zn
aiist, and architect and an engineer.
It was begun shortly after Colum
bus discovered America and re
quired a century to build. Nothing
is gaudy inside the church, yet ev
ery piece is selected, fitted an! fo
oed to perfection. The Popes are
buried throughout the church and
the tomb fronts represent the ef
forts of the best sculptors of the
day.
I was lucky enough to get into
the Vatican City twice. The Vati
can is the palace of the Pope and is
ttpaiate trom St. Peter's Cathedral.
Pays Two Visits to
Kisses Papal Ring
The famous Swiss guards with their
colorful costumes and long spears;
guard the entrance and hallways of
the palace. At 11 o'clock the guards
let a portion of the crowd at the
gate inside and led through many
long halls to the audience room. At
the end of the room a red carpeted
platform and red throne stood. We
waited for some minutes while the
Pope spoke to French soldiers in
another room. The guards made a
path for him through the crowd and.
he mounted the platform. He greet
ed the soldiers in English, gave
them his papal blessing and asked,
all to pray with him for the peace..
As he started to move out of the
room the soldiers crowded around,
him to kiss the papal ring. The jam
was so bad that fellows behind
pushing up shoved the nearest ones
right against him. He was very gra
cious and democratic and asked and
answered questions in English to
all that were near, and he held out
his hand permitting those close
enough to kiss the papal ring. I
was fortunate to be close and kissed
the ring. He asked "Where are you
from?" "Oregon." "How do you like
Rome?" "It's beautiful!' I told him.
Then I told him I wished to pass on
the degards of a Columbia univers
ity priest who had asked me to do
just that if I ever had a chance. The
Pope said "Yes, yes!" He would
answer and acknowedge many re-r
marks by nodding his head and
saying "Yes. yes."
He spent several minutes doing
this. This was probably the most
amazing audience he had ever giv
en, as in peace time audiences are
uard to get. In this room were
American, British and Fiench sol
diers with the dust and sweat of
tile roads upon them. Ihere were
many dressed in dirty fatigues with
neavy cartridge belts and canteens
hung over their hips. Religion made
no Oiiierente, probably half of them
vveie Protestants. One soldier,
meaning no disrespect, strode up on
the plataoim and sat down on the
throne and beamed at all his pals
below. He was an American and
the civilians here ' gasp at the
liienaly lacK of awe that most
.nmericaiis show toward European
great peopiie.
Two days later, I had a chance
to go to another audience. This was
a very lormai affair and was given
in another much larger audience
room. This room was very long and
comparatively narrow. A center
aisle opened the way to a red
throne chair at the very end of the
room. Bannisters prevented the
crowd trom surging into the aisle.
Ihis time the Pope appeared on a
dais, or chair, mounted on a plat
form, and carried by his Swiss
guards. The procession proceeded
siowiy up the aisle while the Pope
solemnly gave his blessing first on
one side and then on the other.
Everyone kneeled as he extended
his hand over them regardless of
reugion and unuorm (all Allied uni
forms wde in the crowd).
When he reached his throne he
gave short speeches and prayers in
lungiish ana .trench, blessed the
ciow a agriin ana dismissed it. as
it was carried slowly down the.
aisie ne put his nanus out and
touuiea uie nngertips 'ox toe sol
Lutis who ciowued the raus. Ail
visitois weic pieseuicu wiui los
autd when uie-y leit, as tokens ot
Well, Mamma, this letter is get
ting quue- xoiig. in wnte moe utust
no mcie is "yuuKy to write about..
..-.., )ua cuii jjcibs uus letter on
to Uie loins as 1 uuiy riot De auic to
..m ao coii'ii te a one to each.
LAWRENCE.
ricfrNtK
GAZbiT iiMES
The Heppner Gazette, established
March 30, 1863. The Heppner
'limed, estabiished November 18,
mi. Consolidated Feb. 15, 1912.
Published every Thursday and en
tered at the Post Olfice at Hepp
ner, Oregon, as second class,
matter.
O. G. CRAWFORD
Publisher and Editor