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Early Start on
Hospital Unlikely
Due to Financing
Funds Must Come
From Tax Passed
At Fall Election -
There is little likelihood that an
early start on construction of the
Morrow County hospital will be
made. This was the opinion ex
pressed by J. G. Barratt Monday
in a talk to the Heppner chamber
of commerce. He was speaking as
a private citizen and member of the
club and not in his official capacity
as county commissioner, although
much of the information given had
been through official study and
contact.
Barratt revealtd the several plans
that had been proposed to get the
hospital started and explained the
barriers in the way of each. It all
resolves down to the point that un
less some legitimate means not yet
revealed is forthcoming construct
ion work on the building will have
to be withheld pending accumula
tion of funds from the two.-mill tax
voted by the people of the county
in the fall of 1944.
Due to the fact that everybody
is busy nowadays and there is
little time for public activities the J
preliminary work is not going
ahead so rapidly as desired. This in
no wise is influencing the eventual
construction and operation of the
building but is a bit discouraging
to those who would have it budllj
immediately, the speaker declared
He expressed the opinion that the
services of a competent architect
should be obtained at once in order
to expedite the selection of a site
and to gain some knowledge of the
type and size of building desired
Given these facts, the court and
committee could then set about to
get plans in readiness pending the
accumulation of one or two years
taxes which would be sufficient
to start with.
In the meantime, it is suggested
that people, individuals or groups,
and organizations wishing to make
donations to the hospital may do so
The court can accept specific gifts
of money or articles to be held un
til such time as they can be used.
Before making such gifts, it is sug
gested that the donors confer with
the court and make it clear what
their gifts are for.
Grange Paper Wins
Magazine Award
Using as her subject, "A Hospi
tal for Morrow County", Mrs. E.
C. Heliker recently turned in a
prize winning paper in a national
contest sponsored among the gran
ges by the Country Gentleman.
Mrs. Heliker represented the Home
Economics club of Willows grange
and the result of her effort netted
the club a $25 check from the pub
lishers of the national farm journal.
The Country Gentleman spon
sored a "living war memorials"
contest among the granges and Mrs.
Heliker chose the proposed county
hospital as perhaps the most es
sential postwar project inasmuch as
it will directly influence better
health. She made a brief population
survey of the territory the hospital
. will serve and found that approxi
mately 7,000 people will be affected
by its construction and operation,
or, to put it another way, the in
stitution will be made available to
an area embracing that much pop
ulation. The Home Economics club will
use the $25 for improvement work
on the grange property. Later,
when the hospital is in operation
or ready to open, the club plana a
und--ajfclng activity to equip
room or purchase equipment of
Heppner,
Ethics Disregarded
When Seabees Need
Building Supplies
When the Seabees need certain
materials to use in their construc
tion work and the red tape entailed
in securing them takes too much1
time they disregard military eth
ics (if they can get by with it) and
use their own ethics. If this works
out all right and the military au
thorities don't get wise, everything
is "jake". Occasionally an official
gets suspicious of the bartering
methods and someone is called up
on the carpet to explain. But the
Seabees work must go on says Chief
Petty Officer Tom Wells, and there
usually is a common understand
ing between the units serving
Uncle Sam so that no really seri
ous disturbances occur.
Wells told the chamber of com
merce luncheon group Monday
that he had seen a supply of beer
buy quite a bit of building mater
ial. Money is of little use in the
service since the fellows have no
place to spend it, but some of the
luxuries money will buy have great
purchasing power.
He spent almost a year in New
Caledonia, a spot that reminded
him of our western country. It has
a temperate climate but .unlike this
region does not abound in bird and
animal life. There are a few birds
and some deer but little of the oth
er wild animal life characteristic of
western America.
The Heppner man has been
around considerable since joining
the Seabees in the fall of 1942 and
has many interesting experiences
to relate. Out there hi the Pacific
where it gets really hot, the men
work . six hours a- day. On Guam
they worked 10 hours and were
glad to move on. One of the speak
er's observations was that rumors
have a way of spreading in the
service about as fast as they do at
home. This, that and the other
changes are constantly flitting
about so that there is scarcely a
dull moment so far as rumors are
concerned.
Camp and Hospital
Group to Meet June 9
A meeting of (the Morrow County
committee of the Blue Mountain
Camp and Hospital Council has
been scheduled for Saturday, June
9, announces Mrs. Ralph Thompson,
dhairman. The business meeting
will be held at 1:30 p. m. in the
Elks hall, followed by a general
meeting to which the public wiil
be invited.
Mrs. Rabh Reser and several
patients from McCaw General hos
pital will come from Walla Walla
to participate in the program which
will start at 2:30 p. m. Anyone in
terested in the work of the coun
cil and the Morrow county com
mittee in particular is urged to at
tend both sessions.
Teachers Leave for
Summer Vacations
School closed last Friday and a
few of the grade teachers departed
that afternoon. Mrs. John Hanna
Jr. who until her marriage a couple
of weeks ago was Miss Mildred Ha
jenga.drove her brother's car to
her former home in Montana. She
was accompanied by Miss Elsie
Jenny and Mrs. Don Romine. Mrs.
Romine left them at Great Falls,
Mont, where she boarded the Em
pire Builder to continue her jour
ney to North Dakota to meet her
husband. Pfc Romine is enjoying
a 90-day furlough from McCaw
hospital and together they will vis
it relatives and friends in that area.
Miss Rose Hoosier departed last
Saturday for her home in Stan
field. Miss Hoosier expects to at
tend summer school in Portland.
some kind.
Oregon, Thursday, May
20-Minufe Blaze
Destroys Residence
Friday Evening
Fumes From Fluid
Used for Cleaning
Cause Rapid Spread
Fire breaking out at 5:30 p. m.
Friday compleltely destroyed the
Frank Engkraf residence on North
Court street in one of the most
spectacular blazes seen here in
many months. Starting in the kitch
en where Mrs. Engkrafs daughters,
Nadine and Beverly Clark, were
about to prepare the evening meal,
the flames spread throughout the
large house and were entirely out
of control before the fire depart
ment arrived at the scene.
Nadine and Beverly had been
cleaning clothes during the after
noon, using a cleaning fluid. It was
some time before the dinner hour
and unaware of the spread of the
fumes throughout the house, one
of them struck a match to light a
fire in the kitchen range. The
match never reached the stove.
There was a puff and away raced
the flames throughout the struc
ture. One of them ran to the Bar
ratt home next door to telephone
the fire department, and the house
was re-entered to release the fam
ily dog. A mother eat and family
of kittens perished in the basement.
No effort was made to save fur
nishings and the family felt lucky
to get out with the clothes they
ho J rrt
Delay in arrival of the fire truck
almost cost the loss of the Barratt
house. The truck laid one itring
of hose and returned to the city
hall for an extra length. In the
meantime the first hose was played
on the Barratt house, a fact that
kept it from suffering serious dam
age. Mrs. Barratt's trees and lawn,
including her choicest shrubs were
badly damaged and the house will
have to be painted-
No small amount of anxiety was
felt by other home owners in the
neighborhood, as sparks flew over
a considerable area when the roof
was consumed. Fortunately, the
wind took a southwesterly course
during the fire directing the sparks
away from the nearest .buildings.
Good Samaritans rallied around
quickly with offers of clothing,
lodging and meals and the Engkraf
family was made as comfortable as
possible Friday night. Saturday
they were prevailed upon to move
in with Mr. and Mrs. Ray Daniels
until other living arrangements
can be made pending the building
of a new house. It is their hope to
have the new home ready for oc
cupancy within 90 days, having al
ready made the preliminary ar-
arrangements. Their lot is a desir
able building site. Tile brick will
be used.
The -Engkrafs came to Heppner
about a year ago from Fossil. They
operate the OK tire welding shop
and have enjoyed a good business.
Both declare it will take more than
a fire to get them to leave here.
SUMMER SCHOOL
Religious vacation school sched
uled for two weeks has got under
way. Approximately 40 children are
enrolled so far but an increase is
expected by the end of the week.
The school is being conducted by
Sisters Genevieve Marie and Bir
tella, both of the Franciscan order.
School will close June 10 with
the administration of first Holy
Communion. There will be a class
of 11 recipients. There will be only
one mass at 9 a. m. and the ladies
of the Altar society will serve a
parish breakfast in the basement
of the church.
31,1 945
"Pap Hayseed" on
First Visit Here in
Twenty-six Years
Perhaps if one were to visit Ore
gon State college - and ramble
through the numerous buildings he
would find a picture of a football
hero with his back to the camera.
The picture for years adorned the
east wall of the assembly hall in
the old administration building, la
ter the library, and who knows, it
may be there now. The picture was
that of a famous athlete from the
hills of eastern Oregon. To be more I
specific let's bring it djown to the
Willow creek valley and direct lo
cale Lexington. It was taken with
the athlete's back facing the cam
era to bring into focus the words
"Pap' Hayseed". That was all any
"Aggie" had to know. On the col
lege roster there was a name other
than "Pap Hayseed" but this was
of little consequence inasmuch as
scarcely a campus resident would
have recognized the big brawny fi
gure by any name other "than his
college nickname. However, mur
der will out and so it came to pass
that memers of the faculty and
some of the classmates found out
that his name was Harvey McAllis
ter, but it is a safe guess that 99
out of a hundred of those who
knew him, if they are living, still
think of him as "Pap Hayseed." He
is here this week from his home
at Pismo Beach, Calif, (the finest
beach in all California, he avers)
visiting his brother Ray. He has
added weight since absorbing so
much of the salubrious California
atmosphere but after a few minutes
conversation with him one detects
some of the sparkle of the days
when he and the rest of us Were
younger.
Honor Awards Mark
Graduation Rites
As a fitting climax to four years
of high school, impressive ceremon
ies were held at the school audi
torium Friday evening, May 25 for
IS seniors.. Garbed in bright bule
15 seniors. Garbed in bright blue
onto the stage to the stately strains
of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance,
played by Mrs. J. O. Turner.
Dr. Ray Hawk, director of re
search of (the Oregon State Teach
ers' association, delivered the ad
dress of the evening. Dr. Hawk
spoke on the topic "Will There Al
ways Be an America?" and assured
the graduating class of 1945 that
there surely will be as long as they
and all (the rest of us make it our
business to live up to the ideas and
ideals for which our ancestors
fought and bled and died in estab
lishing this country.
Leonard L. Pate, principal of the
high school presented awards to
Marylou Ferguson, valedictorian
and Jean .Turner, salutatorian. The
scholarship to Eastern Oregon Col
lege of Education at La Grande
made possible by the La Grande
Rotary club was presented to
Kathryn Howell. The Citizenship
award for the outstanding girl and
boy went to Jean Turner and Ray
mond French and to Marylou Fer
Contlnued on Page Eight
67 YEARS IN COUNTY
Al Florence was in town Mon
day visiting and shopping. It had
been several months sinco he h;d
left the ranch on upper Willow
creek and he enjoyed contacting
his old friends. Mr. Florence is one
of the oldest remaining pioneers in
the county, having come here first
in 1875. Spending a year here at
that time he sought location else
where but after a couple of years
returned on April 1, to be ex
stock ranch a few miles above Hep
act in 1878 and settled on the
pner which has been his home
since. Although past 87 years of
age he sfill does some of the chores
about the ranch, just to keep his
hand in.
Volume 62, Number 10
Hanson Hughes
Passes Following
Paralytic Stroke
Death Comes to
Former Merchant
At 2:30 Today
Death came to Hanson Hughes at
2:30 this afternoon following a se
vere cerebral hemorrhage. His phy
sician, Dr A. D. McMurdo, was
called shortly alter the seizure but
it was evident that the patient
could not survive the effects of the
attack.
Mr. Hughes had been in failing
health for several years and retired
from business in 1943 to take life
a little easier. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes
spent much of their time working
around their home and Hanson
took great pleasure in their flow
ers and vegetable gardens.
He and Mrs. Hughes visited
Portland last week, returning home
Tuesday with Mr. Hughes's sister
and husband, Mir. and Mrs. R. J.
Judy. His aged mother, Mrs. Sam
Hughes, is quite ill and he called
on her last night, walking to her
home. He appeared to be a little
better than usual and this fact
caused more of a shock to family
and friends when news of his death
was given out.
Mr. Hughes spent approximately
45 years in business in Heppner.
His first connection was ' in 1898
when he took a job in the Press
Thompson grocery. After three
years with Thompson he got a job
in Olympia where he remained un
til 1906 when he returned to Hep
pner and joined his father in the
purchase of the Rhea & Welch
general store. He was associated
with his father until 1927 when they
closed out their store in the Ma
sonic building. Following that he
and Mrs Hughes opened uto a gro
cery store in the Oddfellows buildw
ing which they operated continu
ously for 16 years.
Funeral plans had not been an
nounced up to press time.
o
FARM BUREAU SCHEDULES
MEETING AT LEXINGTON
Lexington grange hall will be
the meeting place of the Morrow
County Farm Bureau Monday eve
ning, according to announcement
by Oscar Peterson, secretary. This
will be the final meeting of the
current year with a three months
interim before resuming in the
fall.
There is nothing certain about a
speaker for the June meeting but
there will be round table discus
sion pertaining to matters in which
all members are interestd.
SUMMER SCHOOL TO OPEN
JUNE 11 AT COVE
The 21st Eastern Oregon summer
school conducted by the Episcopal
church will open June 11 af Cove
'and continue through June 21. The
school, known as Ascension school,
is conducted fof young people be
tween the ages of 11 and 15 years
and is supervised by a faculty
drawn from the clergy and other
workers of the diocese of eastern
Oregon.
Young people interested in at
tending the school should contact
ArchJeacon Neville Blunt immed
iately to get detailed information.
LITTLE CHILD ILL
Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Gonty took
their little daughten Eleanor V. to
Portland Tuesday where they will
consult with a specialist on diabe
tes in regard to the little girl's re
cent illness. She became suddenly
ill last week and the parents and
physician thought it well to take
her to the city as soon as she was
able to travel.
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