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72nd Year, Number 49
Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, February 16, 1956
Winter Takes Third
Swipe at County
Late Wednesday night the
unofficial temperature in Hepp
ner dropped to zero but by this
morning had risen to 10 de
grees and an overcast sky gave
indication that a warming
trend was on the way. Clouds
and possible snow flurries
were forecast for Thurday and
Thursday night.
Old man winter rolled up his
sleeves and took another poke
Tuesday night at Morrow county
and the entire northwest as a big
high pressure area moved in from
Canada to drop temperatures to
below zero and bringing some
snow to the already well-beaten
up states of Oregon and Wash
ington.
Snow started falling on bare
ground around Heppner Tuesday
evening and driven by a strong
wind, soon caused sizeable drifts.
Actually only about an inch of
very dry snow tf ,41 Tuesday night
and Wednesday morning but
strong westerly winds which dur
ing the night changed to cold
easterly blasts soon had curbs
and sheltered spots filled. The
mercury dropped quickly soon
after dark Tuesday and by Wed
nesday morning the official low
in Heppner was 8 degrees above
zero.
Clouds disappeared Wednes
day but the bright sun had little
warming effect as the thermome
ter hung in the low 20s and
brought practically no thawing.
Roads Not Too Bad
The state police reported late
Wednesday that major highways
were in good condition and large
ly snow-free. No snow remained
on the ground at Arlington Wed
nesday and the Columbia River
highway to Portland was report
ed clear. Considerably more
snow fell in the higher eleva
tions and state highway crews at
Heppner reported there was some
drifting in the Eightmile area
but that it was being handled by
plows.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday
the temperature in Heppner rose
well into the 50s and practically
all the previous snow pack dis
appeared in the three days. The
frost coming out of the ground
during that time however,
brought many reports of extreme
ly soft roads throughout this sec
tion of the county. Many lead-in
roads to ranches which were not
heavily graveled were nearly im
passable for a while The thaw
caused some breakup of paved
and graveled roads though no
serious trouble has been reported.
One pickup was reported dam
aged Saturday when it broke
through a road between Heppner
and Lexington.
As this is being written late
Wednesday, weather forecasts
call for even colder weather Wed
nesday night and Thursday with
GENERAL EDUCATION ON FARMER
PROBLEMS SEEN NEED BY GRANGE
The pending soil bank bill and
the need for more education of
the general public on farmer's
problems were among the major
items considered at a meeting of
the Lexington Grange Saturday.
O. W. Cutsforth, legislative
committee chairman spoke on
the soil bank bill which was fol
lowed by a general discussion of
the needs for more education on
farm problems. It was pointed
out that many people think that
the farmer is one of the few be
ing subsidozed, while in reality
there are unknown and unpub
licized subsidies in many other
industries.
The discussion led to the ap
pointment of a committee com
posed of Cutsforth, Gene Majeske
and Jean Nelson which is to pre
pare resolution to present to the
next Pomona meeting. It was
suggested that possibly some of
the large farm machinery, fertil
izer, oil companies, etc., who
benefit directly from farming
might be interested in sponsoring
such educational advertising.
Kenneth Smouse, agriculture
chairmnn, gave a report on the
Nation il Wheat League meeting
in Portland and said that this
county was well represented. He
said attendance at the meeting
was increased greatly over pe
vious years
Mrs. Edith Miller, home eco
nomic chairman, reported that
new officers were installed at
the January meeting and she pre
sented corsages to Mrs. Earl
Evans and Mrs. Myles Martin,
retiring chairman and treasurer.
She also announced the next
the chance that the mercury will
drop well below zera in the early
morning hours. A long-range fore
cast issued early this week gave
warning of the possibility of tem
peratures as low as 30 below zero
for sections of Oregon and East
ern Washington during the late
part of the week.
The mercury dropped to-2 in
Condon Wednesday morning.
John Day Dam
Subject of Meet
The second area-wide meeting
of persons and communities in
terested in the problems connect
ed with the development of the
John Day dam was held last
night at Boardman under the
sponsorship of the Boardman
commercial club. A representa
tive group from the Heppner-
Morrow county chamber of com
merce attended the meeting.
Boardman, along with Arling
ton and other river communities
face the assurance of being
drowned out when the John Day
dam is constructed. The present
town of Boardman will be either
partly or entirely under water
after the dam is built, depending
on what its eventual height may
be.
Aireal photos of Boadman were
shown, with the shoreline drawn
in as it would be with a dam
height of 269 feet. This included
all of Boardman from 1 miles
west of town to 1 mile east of
town, and showed that the high
way, railroad, town, and cemetery
would have to be relocated.
Agreement was reached to
have a meeting in Arlington at
the Vendome hotel, 6:3o p. m.
Feb. 27 to further discuss the
problems, where W. F. Nelson,
Executive Secretary of The Dalles
Chamber of Commerce will tell of
his experience working with The
Dalles dam for 15 years. Later
the same evening the P-TA will
hold a meeting in the school gym
nasium. A resolution was passed to hold
further meetings each third Wed
nesday of each month, and a
community council was suggest
ed to handle the problems aris
ing from the construction of the
dam.
CIVIC LEAGUE TO MEET
The regular monthly meeting
of the Heppner Civic League will
be held next Monday at 8 p. m.
in the kindergarten room at the
Heppner high school. Alice Wag
ner will be in charge of the pro
gram on care of the hair. She
will also demonstrate hair styl
ing. meeting would be Feb. 17 at Mrs.
Earl Evans' home.
Considerable discussion was
held on the coverage of farm
meetings and programs in local
papers. Many saying they would
like to see more farm news In
county papers as Morrow's eco
nomy is based on farming.
Lyle Cox was elected lecturer
to fill the vacancy caused by the
resignation of Mrs. Audrey An
sted. Later Mr. and Mrs Clem Stock
ard showed pictures of their re
cent trip to Pasadena and of the
rose parade and Disneyland.
Members of the supper commit
tee were Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Cox,
Mr. and Mrs. Gene Majeske, Mr.
and Mrs. Gene Cutsforth and Mrs.
Leonard Munkers.
John Day Fishing
Conditions Brighten
With Cold Weather
Steelhead fishing on the John
Day river in the vicinity of Kim
berly and Monument was re
ported as excellent last Saturday,
but warm weather early this
week caused a rapid rise in the
water and stopped all fishing by
midweek. Ice was also causing
trouble in the river by Tuesday
and Wednesday.
The state police reported that
should the weather stay cold
there is a good chance that by
this weekend the water will clear
and drop considerably again of
fering good fishing conditions.
Fishing last Saturday was re
ported the best In some time.
TO ATTEND STATE MEETING The Heppner high school students.
Miss Joann Erosnan, left and Miss Judy Collons will leave next
week for Corvallis to attend the annual state Future Homemakers
of America meeting held on the OSC campus. Judy is the new
president of the Heppner FHA chapter and Joann the recently
elected secretary. Both girls are honor roll students and have
been active in many other fields. Mrs. Homer Hager, school in
structor and chapter advisor will accompany the girls to the meet
ing. Story below. (GT Photo)
Heppner Students
To Take Part in
State FHA Meeting
OREGON STATE COLLEGE
The Future Homemakers of
America chapter at Heppner high
school will be one of 99 Oregon
chapters participating in the an
nual state FHA meetings Febru
ary 24 and 25 at Oregon State
College.
FHA is composed of high school
girls taking home economics
classes. Oregon's membership
now totals 4,000.
The local chapter has 15 girls
enrolled.
Theme for this year's eleventh
annual meeting is "FHA'ers Face
the Future". One of the high
points of the meeting will be
awarding of state homemaker
degrees, the state's top award for
high school home economists.
They go to outstanding members
who meet school, home and com
munity program requirements.
New state officers will also be
named for the coming year.
State Traffic
Deaths Up in January
Thirty persons were killed In
Oregon traffic accidents during
January, two more than died
in street and highway crashes
during the same month a year
ago.
The figure, released by the
state traffic safety division, is
"tentative," based on reports of
known deaths from state, city
and county law enforcement
agencies.
At the same time, the safety
office announced that the 1955
traffic death toll has been re
vised upward to 410 as a result
of the death of a woman injured
in an October accident.
The state's death rate for last
year which illustrates the num
ber of persons killed in each 100
million miles of travel has been
set at 5.92.- The previous year it
was 6.2.
Safety men said the state has
recorded slight drops in the
death rate every year since 1952.
These death rates' they said,
mean that on a mile-for- mile
basis, the state's roads are be
coming safer.
Mr. and Mrs. James Drlscoll
spent Sunday in Walla Walla
visiting their daughter Janice
who is a student at St. Paul's Pa
rochial school.
F fO & i n
PART OF THE CAST of the play "Kessie of the Hills" which Is to be
presented Friday night at the Lexington school auditorium by the
Lexington Thespians is shown in this photo. The play is being
given as a benefit for the Lexington Christian church, and the Cub
Scouts. Shown are, front row 1 to r, Mrs. Orville Cutsforth, Mrs.
Jim Angell, June Cooper. Back row standing, Ted McMillan,
George Irvin, Delpha Jones, Jo Irvin, Bill Nichols and Jim AngelL
Almost overlooked in the front row is "Rags" who is reputed to be
one of the best actors (canine) in Morrow county.
I Hll.l
February Named
As Heart Month
Urging all citizens and organi
zations to support the 1956 Heart
Fund, Heppner mayor Mrs. Mary
Stevens this week designated
February as American Heart
month in Heppner.
The Heart fund drive, conduct
ed by the Oregon Heait Associa
tion, and affiliate of the Ameri
can Heart Association, has a
local goal of $350 and the cam
paign will be conducted in this
county from February 1 through
29 with John Hartman, Heppner
as general chairman.
In proclaiming Heart month,
Mrs. Stevens pointed out that the
heart and circulatory diseases
are responsible for more than 52
percent of all deaths in the Uni
ted States annually and are the
leading cause of all deaths In this
area. Almost 800,000 deaths were
caused by these diseases in the
United State in 1954.
"There is a. need for greater
scientific knowledge to control
the heart and circulatory disea
ses", the mayor declared in her
proclamation. "This can be de
veloped only through intensive
readjustment and research pro
grams." In her proclamation Mrs. Stev
ens urged all citizens to support
the 1956 Heart Fund.
Chairman Hartman also an
nounced today that Sunday, Feb.
26 has been designated as Heart
Sunday. A house to house can
vass will be made on that day,
he said. Chairmen for the spe
cial day will be announced later,
Hartman said.
Oil Furnace Cause
Of Saturday Alarm
Faulty control equipment which
allowed a furnace to fill with oil
before igniting was the cause of
a fire call Saturday afternoon to
the Heppner American Legion
hall.
The building was filled with
smoke when firemen arrived but
no fire damage resulted to the
building.
o
Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Jones are In
Portland visiting their daughter,
Miss Loma Mae Jones and their
nephew Don Jones who is recup
erating from surgery.
Carnival Planned
For Band Benefit
Plans were made for a band
benefit carnival to be held April
7 at the Heppner fair pavilion at
the monthly mooting of the
Heppm'r band parents club Mon
day evening at the high school.
The carnival is planned to be
bigger and better than before
and Phil Blakney, on behalf of
the chamber of commerce, ac
cepted co-sponsorship of the car
nival. The chamber will operate
one booth for which it will re
ceive one-fourth of the net of that
booth to apply on the field light
ing fund.
It was decided to give the old
band uniforms to the Boys Town
of the West at Camp Columbia
and the old caps and capes will
probably be given to the Salva
tion Army.
Committees for the carnival in
clude Bill Cox, chairman; Mrs. J.
R. Huffman, food chairman; Mrs.
Al Bunch and Mrs. Randall Mar
tin art and publicity.
One band uniform has been
purchased so far this year and it
is planned to buy a band banner
and drum majorette outfits later.
Mrs. Alvin Bunch was installed
as vice president of the organi
zation. She was absent at the
regular installation.
Refreshments wee served by
Mrs. Oliver Creswick, Mrs. Huff
man and Mrs. Cal Sumner.
Coon Questionnaire
Asks Voters' Aid
Congressman Sam Coon has
mailed out a legislative opinion
questionnaire to more than 46,
000 residents of the Second Dis
trict of Oregon.
Coon stated, "During this ses
sion of Congress we have before
us questions of vital importance
to you. I wish that you would
help me in deciding on these is
sues by answering the questions
on my questionnaire. Any com
ments on other issues that you
care to make will be appreci
ated." Coon's 1956 questionnaire asks
for opinions on nine important
issues: agricultural policy, aid to
education, the John Day Dam,
Oregon power development, road
construction, labor policy, foreign
aid, debt and taxes and postal
rates.
Special Taxpayer
Service Announced by
Revenue Offices
District internal revenue ser
vice director R. C. Granquist has
announced that Monday of each
week has been designated as tax
payer assistance day for the Port
land internal revenue district
throughout February and March.
All offices in the district in
cluding the Pendleton office at
204 Byers building will have
ample personnel available on
those days to furnish information
and service to taxpayers in the
preparation of their 1955 income
tax returns.
From April 2 to 16 the Pendle
ton office, and many others, will
remain open continuously to aid
taxpayers, it was announced.
o
TOUR PICTURES SEEN
AT GRANGE MEETING
Henry Baker of lone showed
pictures of his recent European
tour at the meeting of Rhea
Creek grange Sunday.
Mr, and Mrs. Lincoln Nash of
Heppner were accepted into mem
bership In the grange.
o
Floyd Tolleson of Portland, for
mer resident of Heppner, was a
weekend visitor here.
jr? r- " " ' v ,
1
PLANNING THE DETAILS fcr the county-wide Red Cross drive which
will open here Morch 1 are county and state heads of the organi
zation who met early this week at Heppner. Left to right are
Eick Brunner, chairman of the lund drive; Jack Bailey, Morrow
county Red Cross chapter president; Ray Vester, Portland, natonal
vice-chairman of the 1956 fund campaign; and Harold Berentson,
Portland? manager of the Multnomah county chapter. (GT Photo)
Unander Tells of
State's Problems
State treasurer Sig Unonder,
speaking Wednesday in Heppner
on the 97th anniversary of the
statehood of Oregon, told a size
able group of county Republicans
some yf the history of the state
and of the problems that must
be faced in the future.
Unander's talk was given Wed
nesday noon at O'Donncll's cafe
under the sponsorship of the
Morrow county Republican een
tral committee. He said the
state has been and still is suf
fering with growing pains with
schools and water problems be
ing among the most Important.
He listed conservation as the key
to the state's future.
Oregon has the third highest
degree of seasonality in employ
ment of all states due to its type
of employment and industry
which is based on lumber, agri
culture, tourists, mining and fish
ing. To Oregon's credit however,
Unander said, is its educational
and highway programs which
are among the finest of all states.
The treasurer told of the im
provements now being made in
the numerous state institutions
and plans for the future.
Unander was introduced by
Mrs. Verner Troedson of ,Ione,
vice-chairman of the county Re
publican committee. Also pre
sent were Mr. and Mrs. Collis
Moore of Wasco, Mrs. Unander;
mayor and Mrs Omar Rietmann
of lone and Mrs. Mary Stevens,
mayor of Heppner. Mrs. Moore is
a candidate of Republican natio
nal committeewoman.
Savings Bond Sales
Continue High
Sales of Series E and II Savings
Bonds continued high in Oregon
in January, according to figures
just released by Ted R. Gamble,
chairman of the Oregon Savings
Bonds committee. People of the
state bought $3,938,283 worth of
these high grade treasury securi
ties last month.
"Although sales were well
ahead of December's, they could
not be compared with those of
January 1955", Gamble said, "for
that month set our peace-time
sales record at a fantastic $5,418,
659, a figure which is apt to
stand for a long while. Compared
with any other since World War
II, last month's sales were ex
cellent." In spite of the all-time high set
by bond sales in January of 1955,
nine of Oregon's thirty-six coun
ties showed better totals this
January than a year,. ago.
"Sales of E and il Bonds in
Morrow county in January were
$22,989", said county chairman
Jack Bedford. "In January of 1955
they were $16,000."
Savings Bonds sales nationally
in January were $572,000,000,
about $1,000,000 less than in
January, 1955. Sales exceeded
total redemptions by $122,000,000.
A Salty Story
Salt can be a dangerous wea
pon, according to a news item
received this week from the
GT's Monument correspondent.
Darrel Farreng of Monument
suffered a broken toe one day
last week when he dropped a
block of salt on his foot. Not
long afterwards salt caused a
second casualty when Darlene
Boyer dropped a block on her
foot while loading some in a
car.
When in Monument it might
be wise to Bteer clear of all salt
f '
f -T
Forest Report
Shows Use High,
Fires Low in 1955
Though 1955 was characterized
by many large forest fires in the
forests of the west, the Umatilla
national forest suffered a fewer
number of fires than the five
year average in the forest, the
annual report released this week
by supervisor C. .M Rector, Pen
dleton, revealed.
Despite the exceptionally dry
weather during last August, only
54 fires were eported in the area
during the entire year. The five
vear averace is 73. The fires
were all small and the total area
burned did not exceed 25 acres,
the report said.
Other sections of the report In
dicated that the success of deer
hunters throughout the forest
was about the same as the pre
vious year, but that elk hunters
bagged more animals in l9ao
than in former years.
A major use of the forest was
for crazing with 7,050 head of
cattle and 19,900 sheep securing
summer pasture from the forest
range land. . Another 1,075 cattle
and 3.975 sheep grazed under
free permits issued for the use of
intermingled private lands lo
cated within the forest boundary.
The service reported that re
creation use of the forest is in
creasing every year with more
persons packing Into remote
areas than ever before. One of
the bie events of the ski year was
the SDout Springs Olympic ski
training camp held during No
vember and December. The u.
S. Nordic team made the springs,
located near Tollgate, their head
quarters.
Camping and picknicktng ia
cilities were still crowded and not
holding up under the increaed
use, but some additional main
tenance funds were received to
start correcting te shortages in
this line.
Maintenance was completed on
over 1.100 miles of road and 810
miles of trail throughout the for
est during the year and In the
Hermner area three miles of the
Penland Prairie road was gravel
ed. Also, over 25 miles of new
roads were surveyed.
There were 129 timber sales of
forest timber during the year and
of these 120 were small with val
ues of less than $2,000. 35 million
board feet of timber was cut from
forest lands during the year
under sale and exchange agree
ments which netted the govern
ment $570,000.
Headquarters for the Umatilla
forest is in Pendleton and there
are six districts under the super
vision of rangers. V. L. Krel
meyqr is district ranger of the
Heppner district. He came to
Heppner last fall replacing
Wayne West who was transferred
to Portland.
March of Dimes
Receipts Nearly
Equal Last Year
A total of $2,148.50 has been
turned in so far in the 1956 March
of Dimes drive in Morrow county,
it was revealed this week. The
figure is only slightly below the
nearly $2,500 collected in the
countv last vear and there is
still one community to report.
All Areas of the county nave
reported in to drive chairman
Floyd Sayers with the exception
of Irrigon, but when that is re
ceived it is hoped the figure will
nearly equal last year's drive.
Following is a breakdown of
the donations from communities.
School and special efforts are in
cluded in the total for each town
as they were reported previ
ously:
Heppner, $1,409.99; Lexington,
$158.75; lone, $328.91; Cecil,
$75.00; Hardman, $36.83 and
Boardman $139.02. The report
from Irrigon is expected within
a few days, it was said.
o
Skin Care Extension
Unit Project
Mrs. N. C. Anderson and Mrs.
Lewellyn Robbins presented the
project lesson, care of the skin,
to 13 members of the Heppner
extension unit Tuesday afternoon
at the Al Fetsch home.
Present were Mesdames Wil
liam Heath, Al Fetsch, N. C. An
derson, Henry Rauch, Ray Bailey,
Lewellyn Robbins, Kemp Dick,
Ray Drake, Lee Scrivner, William
Turner, Kenneth Keeling, Paul
Warren and Douglaa Drake.