Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1949)
" ' ' f - " ORES 0-1 HISTORICAL SO"IETY PUBLIC AUDITOR I 'J ' : f o r r l a fi o . or.:. alette epper $3.00 Per Year; Single Copies 10c Heppner Gazette Times, Thursday, December 1 5, 1949 Volume 66, Number 39 mxmsi Hunting-Angling Licenses Produce Extensive Revenue Clerk Takes in $5,434 For Game Tags During Year Hunting and angling licenses, with emphasis largely on deer and elk licenses and tags, produc. ed revenue in the amount of $5, 434 through sales at the office of County Clerk C. W. Barlow during 1949. Barlow has Just completed his report to the state game com mission. In receiving $3,472 from hunt Ing and angling licenses, the clerk made 943 sales. In addition there were 3-12 deer tag sales and 207 elk tag sales. The deer tag sales brought $382, Including some out-of-state accounts, and the elk tags amounted to $1,580, for a total of $5,434. The clerk's report does not re present all of the sales of licens es and tags made in the county. As reported previously in these columns, other places sold llcens es and tags and the total sales in the county could easily run well over $6,000. Pointing to the growth of hunt ing and angling, from the stand point of revenue accruing to the state game commission, Clerk Barlow recalled that during his first term of office the receipts from license sales amounted to approximately $2,000. There has been a gradual Increase and he Is not certain the maximum has reached. Oregon Road System Had Origin in Early Day Automobile Club Automobile owners of Oregon started picking up the White Man's Burden of road Improve ment right pronto after the gas oline buggies first made their more or less erratic appearance to the horrified reaction of Old Dob bin and the very frequent damage to the One Hoss Shay. The early automobile owners, all 40 of them, started the move ment to put the new look on the roads right after they organized the Portland Automobile Club on April 19, 1905. They were an earn est group, equipped with long linen dusters, gauntleted gloves, goggles and an insatiable desire to go places. One of those places was the Clairmont Tavern down the west side of the Willamette at Llnnton.The road had the advan tage of connecting with smoother city streets running past the Lewis fcClark Exposition grounds, was level, not too bumpy but all fired dusty in the good old sum mer time when it was nicest to go honking along. The Club members early dis- coverd that while their goggles might keep the dust out or their eyes it would not keep It out of decided to do something about it. their noses or their throats so they scriptions footing up to $2,205 and They took up a collection, the sub $l,dl5 (that representing all of on or about April, 1906, spent Ing a portion of the Linnton road, the subscriptions paid In) In oil- This was the culmination of efforts reaching from a Memorial Day automobile race meet at the Irving track May 30, 1905, which netted $214.10 toward the oil fund. It is noted in the report of Lewis Russell, chairman of the Road Race and Meet Committee that the oiling had been "done at the request of 85 percent of the sub scribers." He adds, 'There was a loud roar principally from the people who did not subscribe and those who promised but did not materialize." It also was argued at the meeting that the "St. Johns Boulevard" on the east bank of the river should be oiled. This would give us ," It was pointed out, "circle drive of the city, down one side of the beautiful Will amette, across the St. Johns ferry and back on the other side." It also was urged "to take action about the road to Government Camp and Mt. Hood." The min utes not that the club "had made a run" to Clairmont Tavern where "a luncheon was served gratis but only a few members had availed themselves of the op portunity." Better luck was had at a trip to the Twelve Mile House "In which 10 automobiles took part." By that time there were 212 aut. omoblle owners in Portland and confidence was expressed that all of them could be gathered Into the organization. Seemingly, too, the 212 buzz wagons (some of .which were Stanley Steamers and Locomobiles) had commenced to clutter up traffic, for on May 2, 19()(i, the mlntues note the ap pointment of a committee "to see the city council to try to secure an 8 mile an hour speed limit In side the fire limits and 15 miles outside of them within the city boundaries." o AID AMBULANCE FUND Four additional names were re cenlly added to the list of donors to the ambulance fund. These In elude three from lone, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Baker, Mr. and Mrs. W. II. Zlnter and Mrs Minnie E. Forbes of lone, and Mrs Henry Smouse of Heppner. County Taxpayers Get $711,115 Property Tax Bill For Christmas Gift Morrow county property tax payers got a 1949-50 $711,115 tax bill from Santa Claus this year, for all county, city, shcool and other local purposes, a 215 per cent Increase over the last fiscal year, according to Oregon Busi ness & Tax Research, the state taxpayer association. Morrow county's property tax increase was due principally to a 39.2 per cent Increase for school costs, 18.4 per cent increase in taxes levied for cities and towns, and a 5.5 per cent lift In tax cost of general county government, as shown by the county assessor's annual tax summary. Despite this heavy Increase in taxes, the bill is approximately 80 per cent paid, according to the tax department of the sheriff s office. Furthermore, Morrow county stands high In the list of counties relative to delinquent tax payments. Of 35 counties re porting, this county stands second with less than $25,000 remaining unpaid for all years. Mrs. Frances Mitchell, deputy in charge of tax collections, said this morning that 2,075 receipts had been Issued to taxpayers up to Nov. 15. She also pointed to the fact that property tax offset from revenues of personal income taxes and corporate excise taxes for Morrow county amounted to $228,045.71. But for this, property taxes would have been 17.3 mills higher. Steady increases in cost of lo cal government, much of it voter- approved (generally few voters vote at special elections), Is shown by the 14 per cent Increase in total 1949-50 property taxes levied In Oregon, from $79,179, 455 for 1948 to $90,274,329 for the current tax year, a jump of more than $11,000,000. This amount Is another all-time record tax load on property in Oregon. Home, farm and business prop erty owners have on Yuletide consolation, the report points out. The jet-propelled upswing In pro- ECONOMY HIS VOCATION Budget Director Harry Dorman's drive to eliminate the fat from state government spending is finding generally stout coopera tion in state departments. Econ omies In two small instances dra matically illustrate how many minor savings add up to hand some figures. If recent reductions In state use of long-distance telephone calls at Salem and In out-of-state trav el by state officials can be main tained for the biennium, they will help the taxpayer to the tune of $84,000 a year. OREGON'S GOVERNOR HONORED Quite an honor, that accorded our trovernor Douglas McKay when he was named to the exec utive board of the Conference of State Governors recently. It now develops that the execu tive board has the big Job of pre paring the agenda for the annual meeting of all governors. Gover nor McKay was busy In Chicago last week-end working with the eight other committee members on that assignment. He is the board's representative of the Far Western states. STATEHOUSE SCUTTLEBUTT Statehouso scuttlebutt has It that the Demos will field at least two gubernatorial candidates in next years' primary State Treas urer Walter Pearson and State Senator Austin Flegel of Multno. man county. In fact, there Is a lot more than rumor to the possi bility that this race is in the mak Ing. Admiral Thomas Gatch, re tired, is anxious to try his sea legs in politics to determine whe ther they are as strong in that field as they were on the bridge of his old wartime battlewagon, the USS South Dakota. As plans now stand, he will make a pri mary race against the veteran congressional Incumbent of the third district, Homer Angell, or against the redoubtable Senator Wayne Morse. Gatch has been urged by many Influential citi zens and groups to test his great military and civilian (he handled the Mike Elliott recall campaign) popularity at the polls. GAME CHIEF REAPPOINTED Charles A. Lockwood whose term as state game director would have expired December 31, was reappointed last Saturday by the commission. Ills reappointment was unanimous but the term was Indefinite. Seven pounds of cheese were consumed per person in 1948. The python swallows whole an imals the size of small pigs. perty taxes (none are levied for state purposes) slowed down this year! The 1948-49 total zoomed about 24 per cent over 1947-48, versus a modest 14 per cent bulge this year. Hood River and Harney coun ties won the $64 question by be ing the only counties in Oregon wherein total local property tax es were less this year than last. Clatsop and Columbia counties had snail-pace increases, only 4.7 and 3.1 per cent, respectively. Schools for Oregon's kiddie crop spent 70 per cent of all the 1949-50 Oregon property tax bill, over 53,000,000, or 21 percent ($9,- 200,000 plus) more than was ley ted last year for "little red school houses" (now neither little nor red), the state taxpayer associa tion summary of 36 county asses sor tax summary statements cit ed. The $53,000,000 total for school costs does not include about $20, 000,000 of state Income tax cash diverted to local school districts. Douglas county has the dubi ous honor of having the largest over-all property tax increase, slightly more than 52 per cent over the 1948-49 levy. Heavy tax levies for road re construction, due to the 1949 freeze, and new hospital projects in a few counties (under a feder. al match-money deal), accounted for increases in some counties. Many counties are "squeezed" for elbow room within the 6 per cent limitation law to raise tax cash for general purposes. Much of the current year's $11,000,000 property tax increase was due to levies voted by a few people at special elections, costs sometimes forgotten when tax bills are op ened. County courts are urging that property tax cost of public welfare be levied outside the 6 per cent limitation, to make room for mandatory tax costs pushed onto counties by the legislature, the Oregon Business & Tax Re search tax summary report men tioned. Junior Class Play Tomorrow Evening Everything is in readiness for presentation of the Junior class play, "Love Rides the Rails," at the gymnasium auditorium to morrow (Friday) evening. The curtain goes up at 8 o'clock. Coached by James Erickson, high school English teacher, the play is a bright comedy and pro mises an evening of pleasant en. tertainment for the cash custom ers. Attention Is again called to the annual Christmas program at the auditorium next Thursday eve ning, when the grade school will present "Hansel and Gretel" as the main feature of the entertain ment which will include a large part of the school in the cast. INJURED IN FALLS Dennis McNamee fell Sunday and broke his left shoulder. He was taken to St. Anthony's hos pital Monday. Several other mi nor accidents occurred the first of the week as a result of snowy streets. Miss Leta Humphreys, en route to work from her home on north Court street, fell and injur ed the bridge of her nose, and Mrs. Bill Smith received a sprain, ed back in a fall at her home. D. OF H. CHRISTMAS PARTY Hostesses for the Degree of Honor Christmas party Tuesday evening at the Legion hall were Mesdames Adelle Hannan and Keith Sluyter. Mrs. J. W. Farra was In charge of tne entertain ment. Prizes were awarded to Mrs. Ted Pierson and Mrs. Merle Burkenbine for their efforts in creating the most exotic hats from crepe paper in the military contest. Officers for the ensuing year were elected and include, Tthelyn Pierson, past president; Ida Farra, president; Adelle Han nan, vice president; Ruth McCoy, second vice president; Clara Gert son, financial secretary; Ruth Payne, treasurer; Katie Cunning, ham, inner watch; and Nancy Sluyter, outer watch. Installation ceremonies will be held the first meeting in January. o Mrs. Agnes Curran left Sunday for Portland where she will visit for a few days with her daugh ter, Mrs. Helen Green, before con tinuing onto Los Angeles. There, Mrs. Curran will join another daughter, Mrs. Mario Aiken, on a trip to Mexico. Tills Is a conduct, ed tour which will take them as far south as Acapulco whh time out for a sojourn in Mexico City and brief stops in other places of interest. One of the highlights of the trip will be the high mass on Christmas Eve at one of the old Spanish missions. Mrs Curran planned to begin the tour about December 17 and expects to re turn to Los Angeles late in Janu ary. PROGRAM HOUR CHANGED Children of the Episcopal church school will present their program at 6 p. m. Sunday-evening Instead of 7 p. m. as origin ally planned. Grand Jury Finds Seven True Bills, Seven Not True Bills A grand Jury of Morrow county citizens investigating numerous cases the first of the week found seven true bills and seven not true bills. Of the seven true bills, two were referred to the court for hearing, the rest remaining secret. Clifford McManls, found guilty of obtaining money under false pretenses, was placed on proba tion for one year. Jack Farrls of lone was the complaining wit ness. Ruben Medlock was indicted on two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He has indicated that he will fight the charges and Is being held In cus tody of the sheriff pending a hearing. Judge Watts came over Monday and disposed of several cases, in cluding some birth certificates. Heppner's Casoba Tossers Find Beam In Defeating lone Coach Vernon Bohles's high school Mustangs finally found their stride Tuesday evening after two bad starts against other teams and defeated lone high 35 27 on the local gym floor. They had previously suffered defeats at the hands of Echo here, 45-25, and at Umatilla, 35-27. It wasn't all bad at Umatilla, for the Hepp ner B quint was able to take the Umatills Bees on a 28-21 basis. lone didn't lose everything here Tuesday night, either, for Jhe lone Terrors (the grade school team) walloped the local graders right handily to the tune of 35 to 12. Merle Becket Chosen To Head Wranglers For Ensuing Year The monthly meeting of the Wranglers, Morrow county riding club, was held Tuesday evening at the office of Turner, Van Mar ter & Co. Election of officers was held with the following being elected: Merle Becket, president; Mrs. Don Robinson, vice presi dent; Evonne Gammell, secretary and treasurer; Mrs. Archie rfur chison, reporter; Al Fetsch, direc tor. A report was made on the re suit of the harvester breakfast which was sponsored by the club on Saturday morning, December 3, for the accommodation of the wheat league. Merle Becket was appointed chairman. Committee heads were Harlan McCurdy, in charge of food supplies; Lee Beckner, in charge of food prepa ration; Harvey Smith, in charge of table service, and John Eu banks, in charge of cleanup. The large number ofthe lone members who were present to help contri buted to a successful affair. The next entertainment will be a party In January. o FLASHI LOST GIRL FOUNDI A radio flash at about 1:50 p. m. today reported that Ruth Aberle, 16-year-old Kelso, Wash, girl who had been lost since Sunday, was found Just before the message was sent out. She was wandering along a creek bank when found by searchers. OUR DEMOCRACY- The Rmily Look, well fbtk rUartkstone ; ilierein a.11 Ito f A 1. M jor America, lies. In the colp twilight of the EARLY SETTLERS GATHERED THAT THE FAMILY SPIRIT, THE LOVE OF HOME, PERSISTS AS STRONGLY IN THE AMERICA OP TODAY. IS PROVED BY THE mmm UNIVERSAL DESIRE OP AFRICAN FAMILIES FOR A HOME OF THEIR OWN. TO MEET THIS DESIRE, LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE LENDING MONEY TO ASSIST INDIVIDUALS TO OWN MORE THAN A M.-LION HOMES - LOOKING WELL TO THE HEARTHSTONE Random Ihoughts... A bit of training in civic soirit has been provided a group of high school boys at lone the past few week-ends. Under guidance of their adviser, E. S. Stultz, the boys cleaned up the debris left by the big fire of early summer which destroyed the Swanson building and the town library. It was a senior class enterprise and the senior girls, with a little adult assistance, served lunches to Mr. Stultz and his crew. Per haps no greater gift could be made to their town than this piece of work done by the class and this exemplification of civic pride Is worthy of emulation bv civic groups and citizens in gen eral. Some confusion exists relative to the question of eminent do main. It is not the purpose of this column to define the term but to pass on to our readers what has been heard on this subject in re cent weeks. Occasionally a prop erty owner is apprised of the fact that he has extended his fence over his legal line onto a street, alley, or public road. Perhaps the encroachment has been overlook ed for a long number of years and the property owner labors under the impression that it is his by virtue of occupation. Such is not the case, our lawyer friends tell us. He may be able to procure it through a vacating action upon the part of the municipality, county, or state. Otherwise, it re. mains the property of such gov ernment branch. If you are now occupying land of this type you should begin to think about mov ing your fence back to your own property line, unless there is a move on the part of the legal owner to vacate. This column, or at least this newspaper, has in times past re ferred to some of the extreme winters the writer and his familv experienced in Wallowa county. menuon oi me weatner in that land of beauty was not made in a spirit of derision, for if we had not been fond of the region we could have left sooner than we did. It is recalled at this time by an incident that occurred during the recent Oregon Wheat Growers League and bears out the oft-re peated old saw "your chickens come home to roost". Three dele. gates to the convention from Wal lowa county called at the editor ial sanctum to pay their respects to former citizens and boy, oh boy! how they did lay it on about how cold it was in Heppner! There was nothing to be offered in the way of defense because there had been a heavy frost the night before, but if we had want ed to be mean and have the last word - - -. Well, there was a convention on and we were on the hosting side and it was noth ing more than the polite thing to let the visitors have their little joke. Lander, Wyo., is noted for its colorful rodeo and pageant every 3rd, 4th and 5th of July. People for miles around come to town for a rip-snorting celebration. One well-known pioneer, who was In town for the annual spree, was asked at which hotel he was stay ing. Startled, the old-timer ex claimed, "Hotel! Why man, I'm only going to be here three days!" Mrs. M. C. Hemrich. Omar Khayyam, author of the Rubaiyat, was also a great math, ematician. -by Mat Hearthstone calvin coolidqe northern winters, as rue AROUND THE HEARTHSTONE FOR. COMFORT, THEY WERE CREATING A SYMBOL THAT HAS 6TOOO THROUGH THE YEARS FOR THE AMERICAN FAMILY AND THE AMERICAN HOME, Briefs of Community -. By RUTH F. PAYNE Mr. and Mrs. Scott Nell of Con don were shopping in Heppner Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Rosewall left Sunday for Long Beach and other points in California for a brief visit with relatives. This Is their first vacation in 11 years. During their absence, Emery Gen try of Weston is looking after the business. Henry Aiken has returned home from Portland where he has been a patient at St. Vincent's hospital. Miss Christine Weist, Gerhard and Oscar Weist returned to their home in Sunnyside, Wash., Fri day after several days' visit here with their brother-in-law and sis ter, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Farra. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Ayers of Echo spent Tuesday in Heppner looking after business matters. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fraters who have a ranch at Elgin have moved to Heppner to spend the winter. Dr. and Mrs. A. D. McMurdo motored to Pendleton Saturday evening, taking their niece, Mrs. Ralph Johnson, that far on her re. turn to her home in Pocatello, Ida. after a visit of several days here. Among shoppers in Heppner Monday from Lexington were Mrs. Roy Keene, Mrs. Randall Martin, Mrs. Truman Messenger and Mrs. Roy Martin. Mr. and Mrs. Earle Gilliam mo tored to Hermiston Saturday to make the acquaintance of their young granddaughter, Meredith Anne and Incidentally to visit her parents, Rev. and Mrs. Jackson Gilliam. A. G. Pieper was in town Mon day from his ranch in the Sand Hollow district. Mr. Pieper reports a four-inch snowfall In the Swag- The cAmerican Way BUREAUCRATIC OCTOPUS By George Peck Bearing in mind that these United States of America were in tended to be a Republic not a Democracy what then is the duty of our Federal Government at Washington? And what limit ations did the Constitution and the Bill of Rights place upon the Federal Government? The primary function or duty of the Federal Government is to protect the private citizen against oppression resulting from the abuse of power including that which destroys competition and interferes with equality of oppor tunity. Concentration of power, whether it be vested in business, in labor unions or in government, is opposed to the philosophy and the continuation of a republican form of government. Over the years we have laid down safeguards to prevent un bridled concentration of power in business (the Clayton and Sher man Acts). We have made a first step toward averting concentra tion of despotic power in labor unions (the Taft-Hartley Act). We drew up the Constitution in 1791 to prohibit concentration of power in the Federal Government In the case of business we have succeeded fairly well in protect ing the individual; in the case of labor unions we have not done quite so well; but as far as the Federal Government is concern ed, we have failed miserably. Article X of the Bill of Rights reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the peo- pie." Because we have not in sisted that out politicians obey this law and because the indivi dual States have not jealously guarded their rights, we have seen the Federal Government usurp power after power that in a Republic rightfully belong to the individual states. Undoubtedly the saddest thing about this is that when a state surrenders a power, Its ability to do that thing departs. Thus, the state is left weaker to do its re Masonic Bodies To Eat Turkey And Install Officers Saturday Masonic bodies of Heppner and vicinity, including Heppner lodge No. 69, A.F.&A.M., Heppner chap ter No. 26, Royal Arch Masons, and Ruth chapter No. 32, Order of the Eastern Star, will hold Joint installation ceremonies Sat urday evening at 'he Masonic hall. Serving will start at 5:30 o'clock, with the wege ceremon ies opening as soon as all have been served. Due to growth of the three branches and limited dining space, attendance will be con fined to members and their wives or wives and husbands, as the case may be. BOMBING RANGE CLOSED Although no official notifica tion has been received by the county court, it is reported that the bombing field has again been placed on an active basis. A unit of the air corps has been station ed at Boardman for some time gart Buttes area early Monday but by afternoon most of It had melted away. Week-end guests of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Becket were their daughter, Mrs. Richard Johnson and daughters of Dufur. Girl Scout troop No. 4 enter tained with a birthday party for Patsy McDonald Monday evening. The birthday cake was provided by Mrs. Ray McDonald. At this meeting, Brownie wings, troop crests and second year pins were given to the members. Mrs. Adelle Hannan is troop leader. Mrs. R. D. AJlstott Jr. was over from Umatilla to spend the week, end with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Bergstrom. Mr. and Mrs. Mervin Anthony (Kathleen Sherman) of Oregon City were week-end guests of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Sher man at their country home on upper Willow creek. William V. Crawford of Port land was a business visitor in Heppner the first of the week. According to reports, Miss Bar bara Sherman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Sherman, and Bill Hinton were married in Walla Walla recently. They are living in Dale at the present time. Mrs. Lee Scrivner observed her birthday Tuesday with a small party at her home on north Court street Present were Mesdames Mary Blake, John W. Hiatt, E. R. Huston, Emll Johnson and Alex Green. F. C Tolleson was a week-end visitor in Portland. Mrs. Cornett Green entertained the Bookworms club at her home on Gale street Tuesday evening. Miss Lulu Hager reviewed the book, 'The Mudlark, by Theo dore Bonet. maining duties. Through this pro cess, therefore, we are destroying the states and as they become weaker and weaker, more and more power is being taken to Washington. This has resulted in a bureaucracy to handle the ma chinery of government, a bureau cracy that is no longer suscept ible of popular control. Of neces sity we have had to delegate to this bureaucracy the power to make rules which have the force of law, to construe these rules and to enforce them. These are all the powers that any king has ever had. As the concentration of power in Washington increases, the number of employees feeding at the public trough also increases, the while they become less and less supervised. Unless we start immediately to decentralize this power at Washington by lopping off the tentacles of this bureau cratic octopus, our Republic is doomed. We either must decen tralize or make up our minds that we are to be ruled by a great central bureaucracy which no body can control. A bureaucratic system of government is as alien to a Republic, is as susceptible to tyranny and corruption, and is impossible of popular control as any other system of government, including even that of Russia. If the time has come when the responsibilities and difficulties of Government exceed the capacity of the American people to dis charge them, then we are in for a change in the form of our Gov ernment. No thinking American wishes this to happen .To pre vent it, powers must be taken from Washington and restored to the smaller units of government. These smaller units must once again flex their muscles and be come strong; they must govern agais. The Federal Government has a job to do, but it can not do a gen. eral job of government, that is, if we are to remain the Republic under which we grew strong and made ourselves the greatest na tion in all world history. SWICK FUNERAL AT MONUMENT FRIDAT Funeral services for Howard Swick, prominent Grant county stockman who died Tuesday eve. ning at the Prairie City hospital will be held Friday at Monu ment, with Rev. Elvon L. Tull vicar of All Saints Episcopal church, Heppner, officiating. In terment will be made in Oregon City. Survivors include his wife, Ruth; a son, Robert, and his mo ther, Mrs. Anna Bayliss of Hepp ner. Mr. Swick suffered a stroke Sunday. Mrs. Bayliss. who took a plane to Prairie City Sunday, and the other members of his family were with him at the time of his death. o Mrs. Martha Shannon and dau ghtcr Mary left Wednesday morn Ing for Corvallis to spend the holidays with relatives. They will return after New Year's day. and local authorities have been Informed that further use of the range by civilians has b-n for bidden. New Directors For Commerce Group Elected Monday Election of Officers Scheduled For Friday Evening Five new directors were elect ed Monday to complete the board of the Heppner chamber of com merce for 1950. The nominating committee presented the names of Henry Tetz, Allen Case, Jack Loyd, Nelson Anderson, and J. R. Huffman and a motion was car ried that the nominations be clos. ed the nominees be declared duly elected. Of the five new members, Tett is the only one to be reelected. Others retiring from the board are C. J. D. Bauman, F. E. Tolle son, Dr. L. D. Tibbies ana jonn Saager. Holdover members are Orville Smith, Glenn Parsons, F. W. Turner, J. G. Barratt and O. G. Crawford. A meeting of the new board has been arranged for tomorrow (Fri day) evening for the purpose of selecting officers for the year. The president, secretary and treasur er are chosen by the directors. People wanting Christmas trees should Inquire at the forest rang er's office and learn where the forest service prefers to have them cut This was suggested by Glenn Parsons, ranger, in an swering the question as to whe ther permits are needed. Persons cutting trees to sell are required to secure a permit and pay lor them at the rate of 10 cents for up to 8 -foot trees and 15 cents for 10-foot and larger trees. Moisture For Year Well Below Normal Moisture will have to fall at a rapid rate the next two weeks if this region is to receive a normal amount for the year 1949. Up to December 1 the total recorded by Len Gilliam was only 8.25 inches. which is about 75 per cent of normal. November, with 2.18 inches, was the wettest month. January was a cold month and produced only .39 of an Inch. In February there was a change in the weath er man's disposition and we re ceived 2.03 inhces that month. March followed up with 1.20 inch es but from there on to November the story was more or less dry. April accounted for .42; May, .75; June, 25; July, .00; August, .00; September .30 and October, .77. Precipitation thus far in De cember has been light but the total for the year may reach nine inches. Seek Election To Create Hermiston Hospital District Business visitors in Heppner Tuesday were A. C. Houghton of Inigon and Floyd Russell of Her. miston. They were Interested In preparing petitions for circulatoin in the north part of the county seeking to call a special election for the purpose of getting an ex pression of the people relative to formation of a hospital district in connection with the new Hermis ton hospital. It Is proposed to make a special district out of the north end of Morrow county and the west end of Umatilla county. GIRL SCOUTS LUNCH WTTH SOROPTIMIST CLUB TODAY Representatives of Troop IV, Girl Scouts, were in attendance at the meeting of the Soroptimist Club of Heppner this noon. Mrs. Adelle Hannan .troop leader, ac companied Roberta Hannan and Janyce Woodhall. Roberta gave the Girl Scout pledge and laws and Janyce spoke of their sewing requirements and displayed an apron which she had completed as one of her projects. The Soroptimist club sponsors this troop of little girls and the members are deeply interested In their welfare and activities. Soroptimists have scheduled a Christmas party for Tuesday eve. ning at the home of Dr. and Mrs. C. C. Dunham. At this time the club's Christmas baskets will be filled and made ready for distri bution. The party will take the place of next week's luncheon. On December 29 the club will have a sack lunch at the home of the president, Mrs. Oscar George. D. OF H. PARTY CHANGED Because of a conflict in sched ule, the party for the Juvenile Degree of Honor, which was to have been held Sunday afternoon In the parish house of All Saints Episcopal church, will be held In the basement of the Christian church between the hours of 2:.'W and 5 p. m. Sunday, December 18. Officers for the ensuing year elected recently by Willows lodge No. 66, I.O.O.F. Include Jesse C. Payne, Noble Grand; Ted Pier son, vice grand; Durward Tush, secretary; and C. W. Barlow, trea surer. Plans are being made fur a Joint Installation with S.um Souci Rebekah lodge. This will be held in January,