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Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, July 7, 1955
72nd Year, Number 17
State
Hear Plea For
Meeting Set
For Friday at
State Capitol
Word was received here this
morning from senator Elmo
Smith of John Day, chairman of
the state emergency board, that
he has called a meeting of the
board for Friday at 2 p. m. at
Salem to hear the request of the
Morrow County Livestock Grow
ers Association fox state aid in an
- emergency program to control a
serious grasshopper infestation in
this area.
It has been known for some
time that there was the possibil
ity of a serious hatch of hoppers
in the county, and a continual
survey has been made by U. S.
Bureau of Entomology men and
local ranchers which now has
shown a heavy hatch.
The spraying program as now
planned will cover about 170,000
acres on Butter Creek, Balm Fork,
Hinton Creek, Johnson Creek, and
upper Rhea Creek. The infested
area includes practically all of
the southeast corner of the county.
Cost of the program is set at
about $103,000 which it is hoped
can be divided three ways, with
the Bureau of Entomology, local
ranchers and the state each put
ting up one-third of the money.
Board To Meet
Efforts have been made for
over a week to interest the state
emergency board in the program
and considerable work has been
done by the livestock growers
to gather evidence of the immedi
ate need for funds. Government
funds are already available and
according to reports ranchers in
the infested areas are ready to
pay their share.
Smith told the Gazette Times
this morning that the emergency
board will convene at 2 p. m. on
Friday at the board of control
room in the state cajritol building
to hear the plea for funds. A
special meeting of the insect con
trol committee of the Morrow
County Livestock Growers has
been set for tonight and it is
understood that a sizeable dele
gation is planning to make the
trip to Salem tomorrow. The
county court was also holding a
special meeting today and hope
was expressed that some money
"could be obtained from county
funds.
The seriousness of the hopper
problem in this and other areas
prompted the introduction of a
bill in the last legislature which
would allow the formation of
grasshopper control districts and
permit the levying of a tax to
finance spraying and other con
trol operations. The measure
was passed the last day of the
legislature but it did not contain
an emergency clause and there
fore is not operable until after
the first of August this year. Be
cause of the delay it would have
been impossible to get a tax levy
on the rolls in time to do any
good this year.
Just how good the possibilities
are that the local organization
will get the requested $30,000
from the state is not known, but
it is known that the funds avail
able for emergency board were
cut from $2,000,000 to $700,000 for
this biennium.
John Schaffer Dies
Tuesday at Pendleton
Word has been received of the
death Tuesday in a Pendleton
hospital of John Schaffer, follow
ing a long illness. He was over
80 years of age.
Mr. Schaffer was a long time
resident of Morrow county and for
many years was connected with
the Hynd Brothers ranching
operations.
Funeral services will be held at
10 a. m. at Folsom Funeral Home
chapel in Pendleton with burial
to be in the family plot in Salem.
He is survived by one son E. R.
Schaffer of Cecil and two daugh
ters thought to live in California.
Visitors at the Harold Wright
home over the Fourth were Mr.
and Mrs. Hugh Jackson, Portland;
Mr. and Mrs Wilbur Flower and
Mrs. Wave Jackson, Monument;
Mr. and Mrs. Loren Naley and
family, Condon; and Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Flower and family of North
Powder.
memencv uoaro to
Porky Seals Doom
With 'Noisy' Meal
Ono Blue Mountain porcupine
probably got the surprise of his
life the other night.
'The porky, apparently even
hungrier than usual, chewed
through a tire on a car parked
at Tupper guard station.
The noise of the resulting
blowout awakened several men
sleeping nearby who investi
gated and discovered a be
wildered porky that had taken
one bit3 too many.
Coburg Man Named
New School Head
The Heppner .school board was
informed this morning that Joe H.
Stewart of Coburg, Oregon has
accepted the position of new
superintendent of the Heppner
schools. He will replace H. C.
Reed who announced his resigna
tion last week.
Stewart is a native of Wheeler
county and graduated from high
school at Spray. He received his
bachelor and masters degrees
from the University of Oregon
and has been superintendent of
schools at Coburg, near Eugene,
for the past nine years. He had
previously taught at both Spray
and Kimberly He has three
children, twin girls who are jun
iors in high school and a girl in
the fourth grade.
The Stewarts plan to move to
Heppner about August 1, or as
soon as suitable housing can be
found.
County Road Oiling
Jobs Completed
A total of 26 miles of road oil
ing has been completed during
the past year in Morrow county,
it was revealed this week by the
county court which only recently
accepted the last of the several
projects. Much of the work was
financed jointly with federal se
condary road funds, state and
county money".
Most recently completed was
the oiling of the 5.1 miles of the
new Paterson Ferry connecting
road which joins highway 730
and 30 near this end of the Pater
son ferry road. It was completed
July 1.
On the Boardman project 12.1
miles of county roads were oiled
during the past month by Babler
Brothers company of Portland.
Practically all of this work was
financed jointly. Another one-
quarter mile of oiling within the
city of Boardman was completed
following an agreement between
the county and the city.
Contractors also finished the
oiling of 8.6 miles of the Rhea
Creek road which was started last
fall but stopped by bad weather.
A seal coat had been placed on
the road last year, but the final
lift was put on last month, the
court reported.
Graveling, of the recently built
bombing range road is progress
ing according to schedule the
court said Wednesday. Eleven
and one-half miles of the 14 and
one-half mile road has already
received gravel and it is expected
the job will be completed within
two weeks, well ahead of harvest.
The new road extends from the
D. O. Nelson ranch north of the
north Lexington elevator and fol
lows the east side of the bombing
range to connect with highway 3q
a short distance east of Boardman.
When finished it will be the first
north-south route, entirely with
in the county, connecting the two
ends of the county.
lone Voters Approve
Special School Levy
A total of only 15 lone school
district voters went to the polls
last Thursday to vote on a spe
cial tax levy to make up a dis
trict deficit of $9,999.54. The
measure was approved by a vote
of 11 to 4.
The deficit had been carried on
the lone school district books for
over five years since the forma
tion of the rural school district in
the county. The one year levy
will amount to slightly over two
mills it was said.
Hopper Aid
Tri-County Weather
Meeting to Hear
S. Dakota Man
Dean Eberly of South Dakota
State College and member of
Eisenhower's advisory comittee
on weather modification will
speak at the annual meeting of
Tri-County Weather Research in
Condon Tuesday. The committee
has been studying cloud seeding
for the past year.
George Wilson, Kent, president
of Tri-County Weather Research
announced that the program will
get underway at 1.30 p. m., July
12. Anyone interested is invited
he said.
Three cloud seeding firms have
been asked to present bids at the
meeting for the 1955-56 season.
They are. Weather Modification
Co., a Redlands, California firm
that has been employed the past
two seasons; North American
Weather Consultants of Pasa
dena, California and Water Re
sources Development corporation
of Denver, Colo.
Representatives o f farmer
groups in Connell, Washington,
Prosser, Washington, and Pendle
ton, have been asked to report on
results in cloud seeding in their
areas. The two Washington
groups have conducted programs
for 5 years in an effort to increase
precipitation.
Weather Modification Co., will
report on cloud seeding done in
Gilliam, Morrow and Sherman
counties. The firm has been
seeding clouds with silver iodide
smoke in an effort to artifically
induce nucleation in clouds to
increase precipitation. Clouds
were seeded frort Sept 1 to June
30 with the exception of January,
February, and the first part of
March. One airplane has been
used along with a number of
ground generators. Seeding was
directed from a company office in
a trailer (equipped with radar)
East of Condon.
4-H Summer Camp
Opening Delayed by
Continuing Rains
Wheat farmers were rejoicing
over the past week's rainfall in
the county, but those with hay
down were joined Wednesday by
another group in condemning the
continuing sprinkles.
The latest organization to com
plain about the unseasonal rains
were 4-H club members and their
advisors who at the last minute
had to postpone the annual sum
mer camp at Cutsforth park be
cause of too much mud and
water. The camp was scheduled
to open Wednesday" but was
called off until the weather
changes for the better. No defi
nite date has been set but offi
cials said they hope to start the
camp Today or Friday if the
weather breaks.
Though the past holiday week
end weather was cloudy here
most of this time little rain fell
during the four days, only an
unofficial .04 was recorded. Tues
day's storm however added .33
inches to bring the week's total
to .37 inch.
County Enjoys
Wreck-Free Fourth
While Oregon and the rest of
the nation were chalking up one
of the worst Fourth of July acci
dental death records in history,
Morrow county enjoyed an acci
dent and injury free weekend.
Police said they have received no
reports of any serious accidents
anywhere in the county.
The only fatal accident in this
immediate area occurred at Fossil
Monday when a private plane
crashed near the airstrip there.
Killed outright in the crash was
Donald Creighton Lynn, 28 of
Ashland. His wife, Edih, 20, died
in an ambulance enroute to Pio
neer Memorial hospital here. The
cause of the crash was given as
engine failure.
Mrs. John Heltzel (Margaret
Barratt) was a Heppner visitor
Monday and Tuesday of last week
at the home of her brother and
sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Garnet
Barratt.
i i
Funeral Services
Held Today for
Frank Fraters
Funeral services were held this
afternoon (Thursday) at 2 p. m.
at Creswick Mortuary chapel for
Frank Fraters, 73, who passed
away July 2 at San Leandro, Call
fornia. He had been in poor
health for several years.
Mr .Fraters was born July 1,
1882 at San Pablo, California, but
had lived in Morrow county since
his marriage to Amelia Sawyer
on January 17, 1903. Mrs. Fraters
died here in 1947 and he had
made his home with his son Tom
on the family ranch in the Eight
mile area.
Rev. Lester Bouldon, pastor of
the Methodist church officiated
at the service and burial was in
the Heppner Masonic cemetery.
Survivors include two sons,
Tom, Heppner and Charles of The
Dalles. Two daughters, Mrs.
Irene Marciele, San Leandro and
Mrs. Celia Needham, Citrus
Heights, Cal.j four sisters; Mrs.
Mary Sota, San Pablo, Calif.; Mrs.
Anna Murray, San Francisco; and
Mrs. Kate Roderick, Berkeley,
Calif.; Mrs. Rose Biana, Richmond,
Calif. He also leaves eight
grandchildren and four great
grandchildren. Free Instruction
In Swimming Plan
At Heppner Pool
The Heppner swimming pool
opened last weekend following
installation earlier in the week
of the new filtering equipment,
but, because of unfavorable wea
ther over the weekend, didn't get
much of an opening crowd.
Larry Dowen, lifeguard and
water safety instructor at the
pool, announced today that the
pool will be open to the public
from 3 to 7 p. m. on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays and
from 1 to 5 on Wednesdays, Fri
days and Sundays. It will be
closed on Mondays.
Dowen announced that he will
give free swimming and life sav
ing Instruction to all who desire
it with classes to be started in
the near future. He asked that
all persons, children or adults,
who are interested in such in
struction sign up at the pool
within the next 10 days. He also
said that he will give an adult
class in survival swimming if a
sufficient number of persons
show interest in such a course.
The instruction classes will
probably be given in the morn
ings, Dowen said, with the exact
time schedule to be worked out
later.
COHNS HAVE GRANDSON
Mr. annd Mrs. Philip Cohn of
Hermiston are the parents of a
8 lb. boy born Monday July 4 at
the Hermiston hospital. He has
been named Philip Andrew.
Grandparents are Mr. and Mrs.
Harold Cohn of Heppner.
The Story of
(The following is the first of a
series of seven articles disclosing
the highlights and sidelights
which have accompanied the na
tion's development of atomic
energy. Prepared at the Hanford
atomic energy plant' the series
will deal with the human things
which followed in the wake of
the first historic announcement
that man had harnessed the
atom. It will touch upon the
things which lie ahead.
By Bill Jury
General Electric News Bureau
Hanford Atomic Plant
Seldom in American history
have three neighboring villages
seen such violent change as Han
ford, White Bluffs and Richland
in southeastern Washington dur
ing the infancy of the Atomic
Age.
One of the tiny communities
billowed almost over night into
a brawling boom town and quick
ly faded away and was lost i i t'.e
desert wind and sand.
The second village was swal
lowed up, its value as a poten
tial orchard center overshadowed
by the need for an atomic energy
Council Passes
New Ordinance
On Solicitation
The Heppner city council Tues
day passed and put into immedi
ate effect a new ordinance gov
erning nearly all types of solici
tation within the city.
The ordinance does not pro
hibit legitimate solicitation but
do?s require any person doing
such work to register at the city
hall and obtain a permit from
the city "recorder. It applies to
anyone soliciting for donations or
subscriptions to magazines, peri
odicals of publications of any
kind. A fee of $1.00 will be
charged for the permit and at the
time of application sufficient evi
dence must be shown that the
solicitor is working for a legiti
mate company, church or orgi
nation and has express authority
from such organization to work
for it.
The ordinance carries a penalty
for violation of not over $100 fine
or 50 days in jail.
The ordinance had been read at
pevious meetings of the council
and was given final approval
Tuesday night.
New Officer Named
The council accepted the resig
nation of Kenneth Green, day
police officer, who had served in
his present capacity for the past
several months. Green said that
the press of private business
made his resignation necessary.
On the recommendation of the
police committee, the group ap
pointed Melvin Piper of Heppner
to replace Green on the police,
force. Before taking over his
duties here, Piper will be sent to
Pendleton for a two-weeks train
ing and indoctrination course
with the Pendleton police depart
ment. No Bids Received
Last month the council ordered
a call for bids on the construc
tion of a new concrete footbridge
across Willow creek between the
Tum-ALum Lumber company
and the school grounds with bids
to be opened at Tuesday's meet
ing. Apparently no contractors
were interested in the job at the
present time for city superinten
dent Vie Groshens reported that
no bids were received.
The council decided to issue
another call in the near future
and to include the construction of
another new footbridge to re
place the old wooden one across
the creek at Lover's Lane which
was recently closed by the city
because of its very poor condition
The Lover's Lane bridge was
originally built by the owners of
the private land on which it
stands, but is in the process of
being deeded fo the, city by the
owners, it nas neen used as a
public thorofare for nearly 50
years according to reports, and
the council agreed previously to
take It over if the owners would
deed it to the city.
Permits Issued
Six building permits totaling
$17,600 were granted by the coun
cil to the following persons:
Ray Taylor, a garage, $100.
Norman Case, a new house on
Riverside street, $8,000.
Kemp Dick, remodeling house,
$6,000.
Wilbur Worden, remodeling,
$400.
Claude Buschke, remodeling,
$1,000.
Richard Calvin, remodeling,
$1,800.
Hanford-The
plant site.
The third outlived the roaring
boom period and since has grown
into an unincorporated city of
27,000 persons, its future secure
as a business and residential area
for atomic plant personnel.
Deep inside the barricade boun
daries of the Hanford atomic
energy project today lies the rem
nants of the town which once
was given great promise of be
coming a leading producer of
orchard crops. The town was
White Bluffs.
Once a small orchard, commun
ity on the banks of the majectie
Columbia, it since has been ab
sorbed by the sprawling, bustling
Hanford project. Now it is a
crossroad in the center of a 600-square-mile
government reserva
tion where General Electric com
pany operates the Hanford plu
tonium plant for the Atomic En
ergy Commission.
The town which gave its name
to the Hanford project also was a
quiet community of 300 persons
before its selection as site for
the huge atomic energy plant
turned it into one of the biggest
Special Prosecutors Are
Named for Murder Case
Circuit judge William W. Wells
early this week set Monday, Aug
ust 29 as the date for the trial of
Mrs. Ann Avent on a charge of
second degree murder in the
shooting of Dellmore Lessard,
Portland attorney, June 4. It was
also announced this morning that
attorney general Robert Y. Thorn
ton has appointed two special
prosecutors to handle the case
against Mrs. Avent.
Thornton announced the ap
pointment of George Corey, Pen
dleton, former Umatilla county
district attorney, as a special as
sistant attorney general for the
case. He will prosecute the case
against Mrs Avent in place of
Bradley Fancher, Morrow county
district attorney who had re
quested governor Paul Patterson
that a special prosecutor be as
signed because Fancher had
previously represented Mrs. Avent
as an attorney and had gained
confidential information. He said
that in the interest of justice he
felt that he should be relieved of
the requirement that he prosecute
this particular case. Patterson
accepted the request and asked
Thornton to make the special ap
pointment. At the same lime the attorney
general announced Corey's ap
pointment, he revealed that he
has also assigned Wolf D. Von
Otterstedt, as assistant attorney
general from Thornton's office to
assist Corey with the case.
Mrs. Avent, who is now being
Rev. John R. Reeves
Accepts New Post
Thp Rev. John R. Reecs, rector
of All Saints Episcopal church,
announced this week in a parish
letter to the congregation his ac
ceptance of an appointment to St.
James Episcopal church in Green
Ridge, Pennsylvania, a suburb of
Philadelphia.
In his letter Mr. Reeves expres
sed regret at leaving Heppner but
explained that at his age he
could not refuse the unusual op
portunity that St. James church
offered. He also pointed out that
the climate there is better suited
for Mrs. Reeves' health and that
they will be close to their child
ren in New Jersey.
The church tb which Mr. Reeves
is going has a long history as a
pre-revolution, down-town city
church. The original property
was finally sold as business en
croached and the new church was
built in 1952 in a rapidly grow
ing suburban community of over
6,000 persons. It is the only Pro
testent church in the section, he
said.
Rev. and Mrs. Reeves came to
Heppner two years ago from Mad
ras where he was serving St.
Mark's church as a missioner. In
his two years here, 56 members
have been added to the church by
confirmation and $8,000 In im
provements have been added to
the church and rectory.
The Reeves will leave for the
east about September 1.
o
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Turner
have returned from Portland
where they spent a few days on
business and visiting with Mrs.
Turner's sister, Mrs. Sophia Barr.
West's Atomic Center
boom towns the West, has ever
known.
More than 50,000 persons, com
prising workers and their famil
ies, moved into the area early
in 1943 to help construct giant
plant facilities. They were people
from ail over the country, re
cruited from wartime labor mar
kets to build the original Han
ford works. When their job was
completed most of them moved
on. Those who stayed behind to
operate the atomic energy plant
moved to little Richland village,
some 25 miles away from the
nearest plant area.
Today, the town of Hanford Is a
ghost town, its blacktopped
streets and wind-swept wooden
frame skeletons offering only
slight evidence of its brawling
past
Richland, village of 250 persons
which stood 30 miles downriver
from Hanford and White Bluffs,
survived its, sister communities
and the fickle prosperity of the
era. It expanded and absorbed
its new people until today it is
one of the largest cities In East
ern Washington.
held in the Wasco county jail at
The Dalles, is being represented
by attorneys Ralph Currin, Pen
dleton and John Bassett, Port
land. About two weeks ago the grand
jury returned an indictment for
second degree murder against
Mrs. Avent who since has entered
a plea of not guilty to the charge.
Wrestling Under
Field Lights Set
For July 16
The first major sporting event
to be held under the new lights
at the Heppner rodeo field is to
be a lighting benefit wrestling
matcli it was announced today by
Jack Loyd, committee chairman
for the sponsoring organization,
t h e Heppner-Morrow county
Chamber of Commerce. The
matches will be held Saturday
night, July 16.
The matches will be put on by
Jack and Maurie Kennedy, well
known Pendleton promoters, for
the chmber of commerce with
proceeds to go into the fund to
pay off bonds which were sold
las year to raise money for the
lights.
A big double main event card
has been scheduled with a six
round boxing match and a one
hour tag team wrestling match to
be the feature events. The box
ing will feature Harley Breshears
of Parma, Idaho who will meet a
suitable apponent to be named
within a few days. Breshears now
holds the heavyweight title of
Idaho.
In the tag team match Doug
and Red Donovan, two brothers
from Edmondton, Alberta will
meet Bill Fletcher of Boise and
Cal Roberts of Seattle In what
promises to be a bang-up affair.
Plans also call for two 5-minute
special event wrestling matches,
Loyd said. Fletcher is a former
inlermountain junior heavy
weight champion and the Dono
vans have spent the winter meet
ing some of the oustanding
grapplers on the coast.
Loyd said that tickets for the
matches will be placed on sale
this weekend at Turner, Van Mar
ter and Bryant insurance office,
Aiken's Place, Cal's Tavern, Buck
nums and O'Donnell's. They will
also be available at the gate on
Saturday night.
The matches fall on the same
night as the fair and rodeo kick
off dance, but sponsors of the
show made it plain that the bouts
would be over by the time the
dance is to start at the adjoining
fair pavilion.
o
New School Board
Members Take Office
Ileppner's first five-man school
board met Tuesday evening with
three of the five members taking
the oath of office as new mem
bers. Taking their place as new mem
bers were Alvin Bunch and Ray
mond French with Howard Cleve
land returning by reelection. The
other members of the board are
L. E. Dick, Jr., chairman and Ed
gar Collison.
Because of the almost complete
absence of facilities for caring for
Its increased population in the
early days of the Hanford project,
the responsibility of providing
the necessities of a big town was
placed with the plant contractor,
in those days, E. I. duPont de
Nemours, prime contractor to the
Army Engineers.
The essential, activities, of a
municipality police and fire
protection, supplying the neces
sary utilities and recreational fa
cilities are now provided by the
Community Services Section of
GE, This group covers all normal
departments of most cities in the
nation; everything from public
works and safety, to parks and
library boards. In addition, it
manages .most of the town real
estate rentals and operates the
plant administrative area.
The communities of Hanford
and White Bluffs now are chap
ters in American history, but
Richland a child of the Atomic
Age is making history as this
nation's first atomic city.
(Next Week "Desert Miracle")