U OF 0
Ottt
County To Begin Tax Reappraisal Program
Cost of Program
Split With State
Tax Commission
Mrs. Joe Hughes
Appointed to Fill
Assessor's Post
A complete reappraisal and
equalization of all real and per
sonal property in Morrow county
will be started immediately by
rne assessors office In coopera
tion with the state tax commis
sion, the county court announced
Wednesday during its regular
monthly session.
The program, which will take
about 18 months to complete, will
be done with the aid of two men
from the state tax commission
;md the cost will be born equally
by the county and the commis
sion. While the contract for the
work has not yet been signed,
the court and commission have
agreed upon the terms and it vvill
be completed within the next few
days, the court indicated. They
al,so said that they were well
pleased with the terms which will
allow one of the state men to
serve as a deputy in the assess
or's office and while the entire
reappraisal program is being
done under the supervision of the
state, the ultimate control still
remains with the county.
The court also said that fi
nancially the contract is very
favorable in that the necessary
funds for the job are available
in the present budget and that
probably no additional money
will be needed to complete the
project. While the exact cost is
not yet known, it will be far be
low the $75,000 which Grant
county expended for a similar
program The reason for the low
cost for Morrow county, the court
said, was because the present
system in the office is quite up-to-date
and very few changes
will have to be made in it. In
some other counties it has been
necessary to inaugurate an en
tirely new system which adds
considerably to the cost.
The court said that it had re
quested the reappraisal program
from the commission because,
though it can be forced on the
county eventually, the court felt
it would be much to the county's
advantage to be able to do it at
its own convenience and when
the money was available. Mem
bers felt that if the county post
poned action the state might
order it done at a time when an
extra tax levy would be required
to finance the project.
The actual work of reapprais
ing and equalizing levies on all
real and personal property will
start within a short time( it was
said.
Three From District
Get Service Call
Three selectees Myron Rill,
Heppner; Kent Wilhelm, Arling
ton; and William B. Pendleton,
lone will receive their notices to
appear at Condon headquarters
of tri-county draft board on Janu.
ary 14 for induction into the
armed forces in Portland on the
following day.
The January quota for local
board 31 is two registrants. Wil
lian Pendleton, athletic coach at
lone high school was transferred
from local board 71, Duncan,
Oklahoma for induction. All
three are scheduled for Army
basic training at Fort Ord, Calif.
New lone Gymnasium
And Swimming Pool
Dedication Tuesday
Formal key dedication of Ione's
new $255,000 gymnasium-cafe-torium
and swimming pool will
be held Tuesday, Jan. 12 in the
new building, the lone school
board announced this week in
extending an invitation to all
residents of this section of Mor
row county to be present for the
special services.
The new building, which was
crirnniete d. except for the swim
ming pool, at the start of school
last fall and is one of the most
modern buildings of its type in
this section of the state. It is
used to house the band and musi
cal departments, shop, gymnas
ium and kitchen-cafetorium fa
cilities and gives much needed
additional space in the school
system. The total cost of the
building and pool which was
built by McCormack Construc
tion company of Pendleton, was
3255,000. Of this amount $45,
000 went for the modern, heated
swimming pool. Freeman, Hay
slip and Tufft, Portland archi
tects prepared the plans for the
entire project.
The building has been in use
all of this school year, and the
band was moved into the new
building last spring prior to its
Mrs. Joseph B. Hughes, for eight
years a deputy in the county of
fice, was appointed assessor
Wednesday by the county court.
She will serve until the end of
1954 and will fill the position held
by the late W. O. Dix until his
resignation about three months
ago.
The court said, in making the
announcement of the appoint
ment, that Mrs. Hughes was
chosen for the position because
she was familiar with the office
system, an important point at the
present time because of the
starting of a complete tax re
appraisal and equalization pro
gram in cooperation with the
state tax commission. Mrs.
Hughes has been handling the
work of the assessor's office
alone since Mr Dix's resignation,
but will soon have a deputy to
assits her.
The appointmnet to the office
can be only for the remainder of
the unexpired term as the office
is elective. Several applications
for the job had been received by
the court, but persons interested
in running for the office must
now file before March 12, the
deadline prior to the May pri
mary elections.
Carter Takes Over
AsC-C
New officers of the Heppner
Morrow county chamber of com
merce were installed Monday
noon at the regular meeting of
the organization. Jeff Carter,
J. C. Penney manager, took over
as new president; Mary Van
Stevens as first vice president
and Bradley Faneher, second vice
president.
Installing officer was Frank
Turner who recounted a few of
the accomplishments of the past
year and outlined some of the
important projects that must be
tackled during the coming year.
He emphasized the need for the
chamber of commerce and the
carrying out of the program for
development of the town and the
county.
New directors also installed
were Jack Bedford, John Erns
dorff and La Verne Van Marter.
Story Gets Results,
Chest Gets 40 Cents
Before last week's Gazette
Times was in the mail, in fact
before all the copies were off the
press, the Heppner Community
Chest reached its quota.
The GT's pressman, Ray Smith
stopped the press in the middle
of the run after seeing the front
page story that just 40 cents was
needed to put the local drive over
the top, and dug up the necessary
amount.
Robert Ferrell, Chest treasurer
was immediately notified, but it
was too late to change the story
because many papers had al
ready been printed.
According to reports several
more dollars have been received
since, so the drive is well ahead
of its quota.
completion.
The program for the formal key
dedication service, which is to
open at 7:30 p. m. will include:
Invocation by Rev. Alfred Shir
ley; Garland Swanson, represent
ing the lone Memorial Improve
ment Association, which aided
financially in the construction of
the pool, will tell the history of
the organization and the past
plans for expansion. The key will
then be passed to Edward Elliott,
Portland, state representative of
the Oregon Education Associa
tion who will give the dedicatory
address. Earl McKinney, chair
man of the local school board
will respond and school superin
tendent Chester L. Wrard will ac
cept the challenge on behalf of
the board and the community.
Following the formal dedica
tion there will be a band concert,
an informal refreshment line and
then open house in the new
building with students and in
structors on hand to show, the
visitors through the plant.
The school board and school
officials emphasized that the
program is open to the general
public and extend a special invi
tation to residents of other near
by communities.
Copies 10 cents
0L
Purchase and Leveling
Expense Shows Wide
Variance Among Areas
The presentation of cost fig-1 neers and architects. Al the Turn
ures on five proposed sites for alA-Lum site an unknown figure
new grade school gave most) must be added to cover the cost
school board members and visi-lof the purchase of a small
tors a rough shock Tuesday night amount of land owned by L. E.
and practically eliminated from Bisboe, Gene Noble and A. J.
further consideration the three Chaffee which would be neccs
mosl discussed locations, the sary to allow moving the chan
hosnital hill, the Dick-Georce.nel of Willow creek further to the
property and the ProeK-Dovin
(also called presently owned)
land because of excessive pre
paration costs.
About two months ago the
board ordered superintendent H.
C .Reed to obtain purchase prices
and estimated excavation and
filling costs on most of the vari
ous sites that have, at one time
or another, been considered by
the board. The figures varied
from a high of $308,221.30 for
the hospital hill to a low of $22,
500 for the Cox-Anderson site.
Figures were also obtained for
the Cason property, which previ
ously has been voted down at a
special election The cost there
was given as $23,500.
The figures given included
only the cost of buying the pro
perty apd getting it ready to
build on and did not include any
amount of the building itself
which in the case of a 12 room
school, the size determined by
the board as necessary, is esti
mated at $318,000.
Costs Shown
A complete breakdown on the
various sites and the components
that go into making up the total
cost figures is shown below. By
way of explanation, excavation
at 30 cents per yard is for dirt,
at $8.00 per yard is for estimated
rock. In the case of the Prock-;
Devin land the purchase price of
the Dick-George property is in
cluded because of the necessity
of having to buy the land to be
able to move Hinton creek chan
nel and D street, a requisite for
the use of the property. The ori
ginal cost of this land is also
shown in the figures.
In all cases the purchase price
listed is the asking price of the
present owners and the other
figures were estimates by engi-
Funeral Services
For Claud Huston
Held Wednesday
Funeral services were held on
Wednesday at the Heppner Chris
tian church for Thomas Claud
Huston, 77, of lone who passed
away Monday at Pioneer Memor
ial hospital following an illness
of three years. Services were con
duced by Rev. Earl L. Soward,
pastor.
Mr. Huston was born April 16,
1876 at Harrisburg, Oregon and
had lived in the lone area for
6S years. He is survived by his
Wife, Etta, Ione;two daughters,
Mrs. Gene Dobbs, Heppner; and
Mrs. William Rawlins, lone; one
son, Thomas of lone, and five
grandchildren. He also leaves,
a brother Give Huston, Heppner
aid one sister, Mrs. Leonard Barr
of Redmond.
Mr. Huston had been for many
years an active member of Rhea
Creek Grange.
Burial was in the Heppner Ma
sonic cemetery with Phelps Fune
ral Home in charge.
o
Heppner Postal
Receipts Show Slight
Gain Over 1952
1953 receipts at the Heppner
post office continued to show
a gain over the previous years,
postmaster James Driscoll indi
cated this week. Final figures
showed the local office did $22,
745.10, which is an increase of
$266.90 over 1952.
Driscoll said that in the num
ber of pieces of mail handled
during the year dropped approxi
mately -5 percent, but the dollar
volume increase was accounted;
for by rate increases put into ef
fect during the year. The vol
ume of Christmas mail bandied
during December was practically
equal to that of a year ago.
The Heppner office has record
ed an increase each year since
1938.
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, January
SITE
east. The cost of the Cason site
is also included for comparison
purposes.
Tum-ALum site:
City property . . $13,000.00
Tum-A-Lum property 42.000.00
Moving creek channel 2.250.00
Filling old channel 3.01X1.00
J. C. lease etc. . 3.954.27
$61,204.27
$ 11.000.00
Prock-Devin site:
Cost of property
Excavation, 3,266 yd.
& 8.00
Fill, 12,000 yd. t
1.00
Adams lot and other
Moving street
Moving Hinton creek
Dick - George pro
perty 26,128.00
12,000.00
12.000.00
25.000.00
5,250.00
33,500.00
$127,878.00
$10,500.00
10.000.00
2,000.00
Cox-Anderson site:
Anderson property
Cox property
Preparing site
$22,500.00
$ 25.000.00
Dick-George site:
George property
Dick property
Excavation for bldg,
10,891 yd. & 8.00.
Excavation of play
ground 12,090 yd.
& 8.00
8,500.00
87,152.00
96,70.00
$217,372.00
$ 5,000.00
900.00
77,696.00
Hospital site:
10 acres $500.00
Excavation for bldg.
3000 yd, &' .30
9712 yd. ft 8.00
Excavation for play
ground 14.271 yd.
(i .30
27,543 yd. ? 8.00
4,281.30
220,344.00
$308,221.30
$20,500.00
3,01X1.00
Cason site:
Cost of property
Excavation
$23,500.00
Special Meeting Set
After a discussion of the vari
ous figures the board ordered an
appraisal of the properties under
consideration and called another
meeting for next Tuesday even
ing at the school. The appraisers
have been asked to have their
figures prepared by that time so
board members will have more
definite information on which to
base their decisions.
Chance Wilson of
Monument Taken by
Death January 1
By Fayr Sweek
MONUMENT Chance Wilson
passed away at the John Day
Medical Center Friday, Jan. 1
after taking suddenly ill on
Christmas clay while at work. He
was rushed to the clinic in the
R. E. A. station wagon driven by
Ben Spain.
Mr. and Mrs. Homer Williams
and children of Echo were spend
ing the day with their parents
and they took over the duties of
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson at their
place of business and rooming
house.
Funeral services were held in
the Monument Presbyterian Com -
munity church Sunday afternoon
with the Heppner Elks lodge in
charge. Interment was in the
Monument cemetery.
Tyler Jackson of Whittmore,
Calif., and Mrs. Irene Hanson of
Portland were in Monument to be
with their mother and attend the
final rites.
Mr. Wilson had spent his life
in the Monumen area and a sec
tion of the house in which he had
been living during the past years,
the master bedroom, is the room
he was born in over 70 years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rauch Jr..
of Holdman were visiting in
Heppner over the weekend.
HEPPNER'S LITTLE MISS 1954, Beverly Diane Holm, who arrived at
7 a. m. January 1, won for herself and her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Holm, Heppner a big group of prizes as the first baby
to be born in Heppner in 1954. She is shown here with her
mother, completely unconcerned about all her winnings, and
much more interested in when her next meal was going to be
served. (GT Photo)
BEVERLY HOLM, NOW 6 DAYS OLD,
WINS LOCAL FIRST BABY CONTEST
A girl, Beverly Diane, who was fered to the first baby to be born
born to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley H.
Holm of Heppner at 7 a. in. Janu
ary 1 was the first baby born at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital and
automatically became the winner
of the First Baby contest spon
sored by the hospital and many
Heppner Merchants who offered
valuable prizes to the lucky baby.
Baby Beverly, though she
doesn't know much about her
winnings yet, and her parents
will receive 30 separate prizes of-
Cordon to Help
Get Ships For
Grain Storage
United States Senator. Guy Cor
don has just advised Al Lamb,
manager of Morrow County Grain
Growers in Heppner, that he has
taken up the proposal for use of
the mothball fleet at Tongue
Point for grain storage purposes,
with Commodity Credit officials
in Washington.
The telegram was received
frum the Senator in answer to a
scries of appeals recently made
by Lamb, and others, urging lhat
steps he started at once towards
solving of the 1954 grain storage
problems. The manager of the
grain coooporative pointed out
that the 1953 wheat and barley
crop carryover falling into the
hands of the government, in the
Pacific Northwest alone, might
run between 75,000,00(1 and 100,
000,000 bushels and if this were
the case a major farm disaster
was threatening.
Exports of grain are running at
their lowest volume in years so
little relief appears likely from
that direction. While long range
plans for crop disposals are
mg worked out, Lamb had u ed
the use .4 idle government own
ships to help tide . through tnej
195- emergency He pom od ou ;
that considerable work will need
to be done in getting ho ships:
ready and therefore it is highly
imponani uia P"'l'"
started towards converting Un
ships be started at once. This
1-. ....... ,.il ,.n flm ,,'icl mmj
'.' . .. . .flCleo Drake
during V.im arm is nTo.,.:u i. -
have been highly satisfactory and
also a very economical method
of storage.
The telegram from Senator
Cordon and letters from others in
Washington indicate that offi
cials there are now fully aware
of the tight storage situation
facing this area and are prepar
jjnK t0 au possible steps in
their power to alleviate the an
ticipated difficulty.
Charles Barlow Taken
To Portland Hospital
Charles Barlow, county clerk
who suffered serious injury anil
partial paralysis nearly four
months ago, was taken to Port
land by ambulance Tuesday
morning'. He will be given spe
cial treatment at the Good Sam
aritan hospital.
Mrs. Earl L. Soward and Mrs
Robert Walker took Mrs. Barlow
to Portland Tuesday to be with j Monday from a two weeks holi
her husband. day spent In California.
7, 1954
in rjivl. nicy include several
cash awards which went into a
bank account for her, baby
clothes, canned milk, baby food
and even a sport shirt for the
proud papa,
Beverly is the Holm's first child
and the parents were greatly
pleased with all the prizes their
child received just because she
timed her arrival properly. Holm
is a teacher at the Heppner high
school.
Another girl, Cheri Ann, was
born to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Carl
son of lone the evening of De
cember 31, but sjie arrived a few
hours too soon to qualify as the
first baby of 1954. Her early ar
rival did, however, give her par
cuts an income tax exemption for
the full year of 1953 which the
Holm's lost out on because their
daughter wailed until the new
year to arrive.
Mrs. H. O. Ely,
Longtime Resident,
Token by Death
Funeral services were held for
Mrs. Minnie Ida Ely Tuesday at
2 p. m. al I he lone Community
church with Rev. Alfred Shirley,
pastor officiating. She died at
tier home Jan. 2.
Minnie Ida Palmateer was born
at Garfield. Clakamas county,
Oregon June 5, 1881 and was 72
years of age at the time of her
dealh. She moved with her par
ents, the late William and Phoe
be
Palmntecr, to Morgan in 1808.
where she resided until
1952
when she moved to lone.
In 1902 she was married
to
Hiram O
Ely, who survives heriWii, .1m.p!iMii t both tun-ties.
and they were the parents of
five children, four of whom sur
vive. They are Franklin of Mor
gan, Elvin of Bonrdman, Mrs.
Edith Mall hews and Mrs. Mar-
I Alr ..(" l,,n M.m iriutnr
Miltti Mor(,an
Krandchild-
grandchildren
, ,
j,,,,,,,,,,,,, al, ows (lf
Morgan. Ted
fran.
(..inn(m an( Davj(J
Ey. Sooisls were Mrs. Walter
Roberts and Mrs. Paul Pettyjohn
who were accompanied by Mrs.
"1"
i ,. , .,,, . Mru
obsnrw U,eir" 50th wedding
ui.ic rY1fimhr
of Buni hgrass Pelx
;ah lodge and
of Willows Grange.
Bunchgrass Pebekah lodge
were in charge of the graveside
services.
Intement was in the Morgan
cemetery with Phelps Funeral
Home in charge.
FIRE MEETING CALLED
The first of a series of special
training meetings for members f
the Heppner fire department will
be held next Monday nignt at
7:30, fire chief, C. A. Kuggles re-
minded members today
LEX P-TA TO MEET
The Lexington P-TA will hold
its regular meeting Tuesday, Jan.
12 at 8 p. m. at the school.
o
Dr. and Mrs. L. D. Tibbies and
sons Lance and Larry, returned
70th Year, Number 43
COMPILED
Dr, L D. Tibbies
lakes Office as
New Heppner Mayor
Council Presented
Many New Problems
A former Heppner city council
man and a former mayor swap
ped chairs Monday night as Dr.
L. D. Tibbies was sworn in as the
new mayor of Heppner and after
taking the oath of office im
mediately appointed his prede
cessor, J. O .Turner as a council
man to fill the vacancy created
by his elevation to the mayor's
position. Turner had resigned,
effective the first of the year, and
the council appointed Dr. Tib
bies to the post.
The new mayor and the council
were immediately faced with a
series of difficulties, some of
which still remain unsolved, in
cluding the discharge of one
member of the police force, the
problem of mud on the city
streets and a disagreement be
tween the city recorder, Harry
Tamblyn and the water depart
ment eler.k, Mrs. Charles Gomil
lion, over their duties.
New Officer Hired
On the recommendation of the
police committee the council dis
charged Jack Perry as night
marshall because of non-performance
of duty, and before the
evening was over instructed po
lice chief Koseoe Kelly to lure
George A. Reed of Umatilla to fill
the position. Reed had previous
ly served on the Umatilla police
department.
The disagreement between re
corder Tamblyn and Mrs. Gomil
lion arose over the handling of
water department money and of
fice procedure with both parties
telling the council that they
couldn't continue to work with
the other under the present set
up. The council arrived at no
definite decision in the problem
but .''overal members expressed
the belief that the city should
hire one person to handle the two
jobs. Both jobs are currently
classified as part time jobs. A
special meeting of the council
will probably be called later this
week, mayor Tibbies said, to set
tle the question.
The problem of mud washing
down on city streets and in the
buildings from the hill west of
town was discussed at length
with Frank Parker, owner of the
land, who was present at the
meeting. Several plans to con
tmi the noul flow were talked
., ,p mibk, ,irolM.ry commit
tee was instructed to meet With
Parker in an effort to find some
i mp o i i .sir' me mow ii t
........ I . ..i . . . : ,1 i I 41....
Ditching the entire lower side of
the field, planting it to grass or
strip-cropping were suggested as
possible alternatives. Parker said
he was willing to talk the matter
over with the city to see if some
kind of a solution could be found.
The land Is now In wheat and
recent heavy rains washed thick
layers of mud from the field Into
several sections of town.
Garbage Control Set
The council passed a new garb
age disposol ordinance which
will regulate the storage, dis
posal, burning and hauling of
garbage and other trash in the
city. The ordinance prohibits
the burning of garbage or trash,
with the exception of leaves and
cut grass, regulates the number
of pickups of the garbage collec
tor and sets the time the city
dump will be open for public use.
Primary purpose of the ordinance
is to stop the burning of garbage
and refuse, a practice which has
brought the council numerous
complaints in recent months.
The group also ordered another
survev to determine if anv addi-
j,jona street lights are needed,
i Sc-vfra I new ones were added re-
(.,.Mtiy.
Door Prize is
Real McCoy
Innovating a new custom
at chamber of commerce
meetings, the program com
mittee last Monday gave a
door prize which was won by
Heppner school superinten
dent H. C. Reed.
The door prize was a door.