Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1952)
o or o EUGENE, ORE. Three Year Old Youngster Saved From Drowning by lone Rancher Denward Bergevin Rescues Boy From Water-Filled Pit Ricky Lantz, three year old son of Mrs. Rpberta Lantz of lone, is alive today because of the atten . tativeness and quick action of Denward Bergevin, lone rancher. Ricky and his twin brother Ronnie had been playing near a water-filled borrow pit on the Lana Padberg ranch a short dist ance from their home last Thurs day afternoon when Bergevin, on his way to town, stopped to watch the actions of one of the bovs and wondered as to the whereabouts of the other. Ronnie came run ning to him and told him Ricky had gone down in the water. Bergevin ran to the pit, which at its deepest point held nearly 40 feet of muddy water, and found Ricky's cowboy hat float ing on the surface a few feet from the bank. Bergevin said he threw a strand of loose barbed wire fencing which surrounded the pit over the side and jumped in where the hat was floating. On his first dive his foot struck the boy who was lying on the sloping bank about 12 feet be low the surface. Bergevin said he did not know how long Ricky had been in the pit but that his body was badly bloated when he reached the sur face with him. He immediately applied artificial respiration and in about 30 minutes the child re gained consciousness. Bergevin was forced to pry the boy's mouth open with a splinter of wood so tightly were his jaws clamped. He took the boy to the ranch home where he called a Heppner doctor and then brought him to Pioneer Memorial hospital. He was released Saturday, appar ently little the worse for the ex perience. The boys' mother works for Ber. gevin who with his father, Louis Bergevin, operate the large wheat ranch about eight miles south west of lone. Clinic Set For County Children A series of immunization clin ics for both school and pre-school children of the county has been announced by Miss Martha Tap anainen, county health nurse. The first, for children of pre school age, 6 years and 'under, will be held Wednesday, Febru ary 13, at the Heppner school starting at 9 a. m. There is no charge for the immunization. The program is under the direction of Dr. A. D. McMurdo, county health officer and he will be assisted by Miss Tapanainen, and P-TA members. The nurse recommends that all children be immunized for diph theria, tetanus, whooping cough and smallpox before they are one year old. A series of two to three injections about a month apart is necessary. Many can be com bined in one shot. Booster shots are necessary after one year -and then followed by additional shots about every three years. The smallpox immunization lasts for five years. Clinic dates established .for county schools are as follows, and in all areas except Heppner both pre-school and school age clinics are combined. Heppner pre school, February 13; School children, February 18; Boardman and Irrigon, February 21; Lexington and lone, March 4. Parents must accompany child ren for the pre-school clinics, o Auction to Close Out Hardware Stock A closeout auction sale of the entire stock of Andresen's hard ware on north Main street in Heppner will be held Saturday, February 9. Varner auction com pany of Hermiston will handle the sale. Frank Andresen, owner of the store, stated he had no definite plans for the future but hoped to stay m Heppner. o HOME NURSING COURSE AT LEXINGTON Thosp interested in The Red Cross home nursing course to be given in Lexington, are urged to meet at the home of Mrs. Meryin Leonard, who is to be the in structor. This meeting will be Monday February 11 at her home at 7:X) p. m. A calendar of meetings is to be arranged. r r O I ' I V'."- T " i 'a i 'j. ' J ' . . J DRAINED OF WATER and little the worse for the experience, Ricky .Lantz, left who was saved from drowning In a water-filled pit 1 near lone last Thursday is shown with his twin brother, Ronnie and Denward Bergevin, lone rancher who found him in 12 feet of muddy water. Ricky was sporting the remains of a black eye when the picture was taken Saturday after his release from the hospital but it wasn't caused by his fall into the pit his brother had kicked him several weeks before. (GT photo) POLITICS PERCOLATING Tom and Steiwer After State Representative Seat Politics began to bring new faces and names to the front as two Eastern Oregonians early this week made known their in tentions to run for the representa tive seat which may be vacated by Giles French who last week filed for Lowell Stockman's seat in congress. Charles Allen Tom, 39 year old Morrow and Sherman county rancher this week indicated he Word was received Thurs day from C. A. Tom that he had definitely filed as a Re publican candidate for Repre sentative from the 22nd dis trict intended to file for the represen tative seat. Tom, a Republican, is a native of Sherman county and now lives at Rufus. He owns two ranches in Morrow county, in Sand Hollow and Clark Canyon, and another in Sherman county. He is a graduate of Oregon State Boardman Farmers Request Changes in Duck Hunting Laws Nearly a dozen Boardman resi dents met with the county court, state police and Federal Wildlife officials Monday in an effort to find a solution to the duck prob lem along the Columbia. The change in game refuge boundaries, effective this past season, brought a deluge of ducks to the countryside surrounding Boardman, farmers complained. The present refuge extends from Celilo falls to Messner. and one suggestion was to open the sec tion from Messner to Heppner Junction to hunting. It was also decided to petition the government to allow longer hunting hours which it was felt would help keep the ducks off fields. Present laws require hunt ers to quit hunting one-half hour before sunset which gives the birds ample time to find feeding grounds. Wildlife officials stated they had flares and guns available for the farmers for scaring the ducks. o Dance Raises $205 For Hospital Grounds The old time dance sponsored by the lone grange Saturday night netted $205, to be used to ward landscaping the Pioneer Memorial hospital grounds. The ladies of the grange served sup per and the music was donated, o ORGANIST TO PLAY Members of the Christian Wo men's Fellowship of the Heppner Christian church announced this week that John McDonald Lyon, well known organist, will play an organ program at the church Tuesday, March 4. , ' . imm ; College and received his Masters degree from Cornell university. He is chairman of the agricultu ral economics committee of Ore gon, the agricultural planning conference, Sherman county agri cultural planning council and chairman of the Rufus school board. He has been actively en gaged in promotion of the John Day dam. He served 42 months in the navy during World War II. His father is C. A. Tom, Sher man county Judge. First to file, though second to indicate interest, was J. P. "Jack" Steiwer, of Fossil. Steiwer, also a Republican is a life long resi dent of Wheeler county and is as sociated with his father W. H. Steiwer, and a brother in sheep and cattle operations in Wheeler county. He also operates a real estate and insurance business in Fossil. He is a 1949 graduate of the University of Oregon and a vet eran of the last World War. Stei wer is active in civic affairs in his community being a member of the city council, American Leg ion, Wheeler-Gilliam stock grow ers association and secretary of the Fossil Community club, o Rainfall Short for Month, February Good A total of .89 inches of rain was recorded at the Heppner wea ther station during January. This is jusf a fraction under the 1.04 inches for the same month last year. February got off to a good start however with showers the first two days of the month drop ping ,43 inches of rain on the area. Wednesday's sunshine though, brought forth more indications of spnng fever and thoughts of fishing poles than it did winter weather. The thermometer reach ed the high 60s during the day. o OPS Meeting to Aid Equipment Dealers Dealers of new and used farm equipment and used industrial equipment will have an oppor tunity to hear an explanation of OPS regulations CPR 100 and 105 covering these commodities. Earl M. Gregg, Chief, Industrial Materials, Portland district OPS, will hold a meeting on Wednes day, February 13 at 2:30 p. m. In the balcony of the Pendleton. Grain Growers Association in Pendleton for that purpose. DRIVE POSTPONED Members of the Jaycee-Ette paper drive committee announced this week that the paper drive planned by the group to be held Sunday, February 17 has been indefinitely postponed. The mar ket price for waste paper is too low at the present time to Justify the necessary work. Single Copies 1 0 cents Runaway 17 Mile' Journey Ends In Pileup Two freight ears loaded with about 60,000 feet of lumber took a wild ride Wednesday afternoon winding up on their sides and badly damaged at lone after they had broken loose from a train at Heppner and were derailed 17 miles down the track. The cars were part of a string of loaded cars being made up at the Heppner Lumber company by a train crew and were being shuttled onto the main line when they started down the track on their own. The engine and train reportedly gave chase but were unable to overtake the fugitive cars. Crew members contacted Hepp ner station officials who called both Lexington and lone agents, but the cars had passed through Lexington before they could take any action. William Pering, the agent at lone switched the cars onto' a siding and derail in front of the Morrow county Grain Growers elevator at the lower end of town where they piled up. The entire track from Heppner down Willow creek is down grade giving the cars ample opportunity to gain speed.' There is a drop in elevation of 815 feet between Heppner and lone, a good part of it coming between here and Lexington. A motorist on the highway below Lexington re ported the cars overtook him as he was driving along the road and he speeded up to 80 miles an hour but was still unable to keep up with them. The train crew obtained a car at the Heppner mill and drove down the highway in an effort to warn anyone who might be in the path of the free cars. Once previously, in 1941, two passenger cars broke away from the Heppner station and made a fast trip down the line, they, how ever, succeeded in making it clear to Ray, seven miles above the Junction before being derailed. The accident happened about 2:30 Wednesday afternoon. Mem bers of the train crew were a Mr. Lewis, engineer and E. V. Stingle of Heppner, conductor. o Mrs. Juett Resigns Teaching Position Mrs. Tilman Juett has resigned her position as home econom ics teacher at the Heppner schools and will be replaced by Miss Katherine Monahan, who recent ly returned here from Pendleton where she was home demonstra tion agent. Miss Monahan returned to Heppner due to the illness of her parents. o Taft to Speak in Pendleton Thursday Residents of this area will have an opportunity to hear Senator Robert H. Taft on Thursday, Feb ruary 14 when he will speak at the Vert auditorium in Pendle ton at 9:30 a. m. Taft is to appear under the sponsorship of the Umatilla coun ty Republican central committee. SOIL GROUP DISCLOSES 420,000 ACRES UNDER CONSERVATION PLANS Chas. Carlson, lone, was re-1 elected to serve as chairman of the Heppner Soil Conservation District for 1952 at a meeting of the supervisors held at the County Agents office, Tuesday evening. Elected to serve as vice-chairman was John Wightman, Hepp ner; as treasurer, Orion Wright, Heppner; and secretary, N..C. Anderson, Heppner. Other sup ervisors of the district are Orville Cutsforth, Lexington and W. E. Hughes, Heppner, who was re elected at the recent annual meeting to serve for a period of three years. At the Tuesday evening meet ing a letter of thanks was read from Dr. G. A. Woodruff, Portland Doctor, for the desk pen set pre- I sented to him from the Heppner Soil Conservation District. Dr. Woodruff was chosen county win ner, "Conservation Man of the Year" contest sponsored by the Oregon Wheat Growers League. The supervisors voted to Join the National Association of State Conservation Districts and issued a check for membership dues. Reviewing progress of the dis trict for the past two months, Tom Wilson, Work Unit Conservation 1st Soil Conservation Service, re Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, February 1 , 1 Freight Cars Derailed at lone !' hi rVW ' ' ! ' A7 7TT111 ht JrJr s " II r: 1 nt . t'i- n i ii.i i m, ii. TsWH -. mm,w ..4KMtimnmim- n n . w.n mm 1,5" , h i Vr.TMH 5- . . . . I , H v i "l4 L -S8v ' DIMES AND MORE DIMES Leonard Pate, Heppner high school principal this week presented James Drlscoll. city chairman for the March of Dimes with the high school's contribution to the drive. The contributions from each class were taped to the 10 foot sheet of paper to show progress oi the classes. The senior class won the race collecting $46 with the sophomore class close behind with $43. A total $115.40 is stuck on the big sheet Robert Penland is shown holding up the right end ol the paper for the photographer. Schools Add $411 to Polio Fund Incomplete returns for the county in the recently concluded March of Dimes drive showed a total of $2,034.77 had been count ed by the treasurer, Robert Fer- rell. There was still a consider able amount in his hands but not recorded at press time. School campaigns throughout ihe county added $411.90 to the fund drive with Heppner high and grade school students contribut ing $263.80. Boardman students added $80.85, lone $39.60, Lex ington $19.65, and Hardman $8.00. Irrigon had not yet reported in. Of Heppner school's total $115. 20 was raised by high school stu dents in a special "Sheet of Dimes" drive shown in the ac companying picture. The other eight grades contributed a total of $158.60, with the eighth grade New Owners Take Over Sales Yard The Heppner Sales Yard, oper ated for the past several years by Harold Erwin has been leased by Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Wells, Vale Oregon, and W. D. Wanzor of Texas. T,he new owners stated they ex pect to open the yard about Feb ruary 19 and plan to hold regular weekly sales. o Sweetheart Ball Set For Saturday Night The Sweetheart ball will be held this Saturday night at the Legion hall in Heppner. The dance is sponsored by the Ameri can Legion for the Pep Club and FFA. ,It is open to the public and will be formal. A queen, to be crowned at the dance, and four princesses are to be chosen by the high school stu dent body. Light refreshments will be served by the eighth grade girls. Dancing starts at 9 o clock. o FIRE MEETING MONDAY There will be a regular meet ing of the Heppner fire depart ment at the city hall Monday, February 11 at 7 o'clock. ported that conservation surveys for this period had been made on 10,113 acres bringing the total surveys completed to 510,303 acres; almost one-half the total area of the district. Twenty-five acres of land leveling, 3900 feet of irrigation ditches staked, two irrigation diversion dams com pleted, eighteen acres of engi neering surveys for land leveling were completed in December. Two conservation farm plans cancelled from changes in land ownership, with two new plans written, brought the total active plans in effect to 162 covering 420,468 acres. The supervisors of the Heppner Soil Conservation District hold regular monthly meetings on the second Tuesday evening of the month. The March meeting, how ever, has been changed to be held Monday evening, March 3, due to a 'conflict with the regu lar meeting date. The meetings are held at the County Agents office beginning at 8:00 p. m. Farmers and persons interested in .saving Morrow Countys' soil resources are invited to attend these meetings, adds N. C. Ander son, County Agent and Secretary of the District. the winner of the catagory with $50.40. The senior class took top honors in the high school with a total of $56 contributed by mem bers. Benefit Came Set A special March of Dimes bene fit basketball game has been scheduled for Wednesday, Febru ary 13 at the Heppner high school gym when the Shamrocks, city independent team, will play the Hermiston Valley Builders. All proceeds are to go to the drive. o Barratt To Head Chest Organization Garnet Barratt was elected president of the permanent Mor row County Community Chest or ganization Wednesday at a meet ing of county workers and offi cials of the campaign held in Heppner. Barratt had been act ing as head of the drive on a temporary basis until permanent officers could be elected. The group j;oted to establish a 15 man board of directors for the coming year. 11 of the 15 were selected with those members to select the additional four from outlying areas at a meeting of the board to be held next Mon day evening at Lexington. Other officers chosen were Mrs. Joe Hughes, secretary, Robert Ferrell, treasurer. Directors from other communities were: lone, Garland Swanson and Edwin Brlstow; Lexington, Mrs. Robert Davidson and Elwynne Peck; Irrigon, Rev. M. J. Smith, and Karl Golden. Boardman, Dewey West, Jr. and E. R. Forbes. The board was empowered to set up by-laws for the organiza tion and will make distribution of funds to the various communities in the near future. The county drive, held in No vember and December, raised over $3,100, to exceed the quota set for the county. LaVerne Van Marter, who had acted as treasurer during the drive was extended a vote of thanks. o Taxes Talked at Chamber Meeting John Ernsdorff, Pioneer memor ial hospital manager, presented a graphic talk on "Taxes" to members of the Heppner-Morrow county chamber of commerce Monday at the regular meeting. The talk, a part of a series made available by national or ganization of the Junior chamber of commerce pointed out the growth of taxes in this county, explained why they had in creased and showed that the only method of reducing them was to reduce government operations and services, These services have grown by leaps and bounds dur Ing recent years, according to Ernsdorff. The educational talk is a part of a nation-wide program insti tuted by the Jaycee group to show the public the causes of high taxes. Ernsdorff stated he would be glad to give the talk to any other Interested group. Next Monday several Boy Scouts and their leaders will be guests of the chamber during the ob servance of Boy Scout week, Feb ruary 6 to 12. o Miss Joyce Buschke is the new assistant clerk In the tax depart ment of the sheriff's office. Mrs. Crockett Sprouls, former clerk, has moved to Condon where her husband is working with the State Highway Department ittttfH 952 Vol. 68, No. 47 (Picture Shop Photo) Street and Water Problems Aired At Council Meet Water, both the presence and the lack of it, and streets and parking problems provided the Heppner city council with a full evening's agenda Monday. Too much water, which has caused consderable washing and breaking up of several streets in town and the closing of one downtown block last Saturday afternoon and Sunday, brought a complaint against the action by Merle Burkenblne and Gene Wells, operators of Heppner Mar ket on West Willow street. The grocery operators ques tioned the closure and stated the attlon deprived customers . of parking space within reasonable distance of the store. Mayor J. O. Turner explained the street had become spongy due to sub soil frost and excess water and the closure order, made under emergency powers granted in the city charter, was given in an at tempt to save the oil surface from complete destruction. Seve ral other streets had broken up due to the same cause but were were tod far gone to save before they were noticed, it was ex plained. The lack of water in the new city well also came In the seri ous discussion when it was re ported that drillers were now at the 480 foot level without having found any appreciable flow. The council decided to continue the drilling for a short distance fur ther before adandoning the hole and looking for another site. The fear was expressed that even if sufficient water should be found at a much greater depth the cost of pumping It would be prohibi tive. A. A. Durand, Walla Walla, is the drilling contractor. The group was advised the 2900 feet of steel pipe ordered for use in connecting the planned well had arrived The pipe had been ordered last year when it was feared steel pipe would be impossible to obtain later. The pipe is usable either for connect ing a new well with the main line or in.the city system. State ' police officer William Labhart asked the council to in vestigate the traffic problem on Court street in front of the court house where parked cars are causing a serious hazard. The street and traffic committee was ordered to investigate the prob lem and suggest a possible so lution. The council voted to reduce the cost of a full time parking per mit from $50 to $35 per year. The fee for delivery and service trucks was left at $5 a year. o Leathers Purchase Ruggs Store Mr. and Mrs. Owen Leathers, Sr., have purchased the store and service station at Ruggs which is the Junction of the Heppner, Spray and Condon highways. They will be moved to their new location on Saturday., The Leathers moved from Hepp ner 8 years ago and have worked that time for Kinzua Pine Mills. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bailey the former owners, will be in Hepp ner. o Will Hynd returned Tuesday from Pendleton where he spent the weekend visiting relatives.