Heppner gazette-times., March 13, 1958, Page 2, Image 2

MORBOW COUNTY'S NBWSFAPBR
The Beppnw Gazatte, established March 30, 1883. The Htppnw Time Mteblifihvd
Novombtr 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1912
V. I ROBERT PENLAND
Editor and Publisher
NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS
ASSOCIATION
GRETCHEN PENLAND
Associate Publisher
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
ASS0C5'N
Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter
Subscription Rates: Morrow and Grant Counties, $3.00 Year; Elsewhere $4.00 Year. Single Copy 10 Cento.
FROM THE HORSE AND BUGGY TO THE SPUTNIK
Late In January of this year, the Gazette-Times received the following poetic
accounting of a man's life. . . a man who was embarking on his 86th year. Most
of those many years were spent In Morrow county.
This editor felt that the author, Spencer Akers, now a resident of Aumsville,
Oregon, In writing of his feelings of those years, and what he hoped for in the
. future, had unknowingly and unintentionally provided us with a near-perfect
work for use on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Gazette-Times. This
newspaper today observes its Diamond anniversary and we think it only right
that what little delving into the past we are doing this week, should be done by
a person who has seen this paper throughout practically all its life. His remem
brances of the past are vivid as only can they be by a person who actually saw the
changes take place not by a Johnny-come-lately of the age of this editor who
would have to rely on heresay for his information. Most of his story was recorded
through the years in the pages of the Gazette or the Gazette-Times.
We extend our thanks to Mr Akers for his contribution to our very limited anni
versary observance this week, and until now he does not know how, or even if, it
is to be used. The letter he wrote us when sending us the poetic history is also
a part of the story, and we preface his writings with It:
Dear Sir:
I am enclosing some verse. Do as you like about publishing it. Being of the nat
ure that it is I could hardly make It shorter. It Is, as you can see after reading
it, a picture of some of the things I have seen in this wonderful age of human
progress and my reaction to same. I Just merely touched upon some of the high
lights depicting the scenes coming Into view as I traveled along life's highway
leading up to my eighty-fifth birthday. I could have made it twice as long and
then would not have told half of man's success in reading Mother Nature's secret
code relating to Increasing his standard of living, health and happiness.
If you will turn back the pages of the Gazette-Times 50 years or more when
your paper was known as the Heppner Gazette, you will notice some verse of
mine In large type covering half the front page, titled "The High Cost of Living".
In viewing the Oregonian today, Jan 21st Art Brisbane pictures the high cost of
living asleep In a tent on the pinnacle of a high mountain and John Q Public
trying to awaken him by calling to his attention the business slump, unemploy
ment drop, etc., It reminded me of that piece of poetry I wrote for the Gazette,
more than a generation and a half ago, when you could buy a pair of overalls for
50 cts and could get a good meal at the Farmers hotel in Heppner for 25 cts. I
have a copy of the Gazette of that date which makes pretty interesting reading.
"Including my poetry" some might say.
How do I feel at eighty-five?
I feel that still I'm much alive.
And with my automobile I ride,
With Rose, my wife, close by my side,
Down the pleasant life's highway,
Just like I did in a former day.
Those dusty roads of long ago,
Weren't like the present roads you know;
And Dobbin with his faithful mate,
They only had a five-mile gait.
And ruts and rocks along the way,
Obstructed my journey in that day.
In thinking about that ancient time,
Induced me to write this rhythm and rhyme.
Those horse and buggy days to me,
Were filled with Joy, mirth and glee.
But no better days than they are now,
When to my eighty-sixth year I bow.
An octogenarian guy you know,
Must use some sense and take It slow.
Let others pass you if they must,
Just stay behind and take their dust.
They soon perhaps will run out of gas,
You then can toot your horn and pass.
I'll take It slowly so that I,
Can view the scenes as I pass by.
The new horizons coming Into view,
Is ever making the scenery new.
All this has caught my scanning eye,
As one by one they pass me by:
The old millstone In time gave way,
To the rolling mills of the present day.
The horse and buggy we use to see,
Progress took from you and me.
And gave instead the automobile,
Which proved to be a goodly deal.
The airplane too, soon hove In sight,
Manned by brothers whose name was Wright
This novel thing has crime to be,
A means of traffic o'er land and sea.
I search the past a little deeper,
And see the great McCormtck reaper.
And then the binder and combine,
Which quickly came along In line,
And greatly cased the farmers load,
In harvesting the fields he sowed.
The sulpha drug and penicillin,
Has come along to kill the villain
The deadly microscopic bugs,
We're thankful for those wonder drugs.
There's many blessings that I find,
Which came along to help mankind.
From a new material called cellophane,
To the deisel engine that pulls a train.
Science has made it possible for man,
To greatly lengthen his own life's span.
He's greatly shortened his hours of toil,
Tho he be a man who tills the soil, '
Or a union man who works in a shop,
Or a miner, clerk or a common bell-hop.
All these things and very much more,
Were ushered in since days of yore.
And now we turn another page,
Which brings us to the atomic age.
All those changes from the past,
Makes one marvel and stand aghast.
But the atomic age as it unfolds,
Is much more wonderous to behold.
The atomic age, what does It mean,
Which came so quickly upon the scene?
Does It mean that you and I,
By letting some ruthless Russian spy
Steal our secrets and get control,
Thereby reaching their aim or goal
Of making slaves of you and me,
By bombing this nation from sea to sea?
Or does it mean that all are bound
To Journey on to higher ground,
And strive for peace for all we're worth,
And make a heaven here on earth?
Yours Truly,
The nation's scientific field,
Which for so long has been concealed,
Is opening up throughout the nation,
Revealing results of education.
Contentment we note is mankinds goal,
Including how to save his soul.
We wonder when turning the atomic leaf,
If joy is meant for the world or grief.
A maniac if given the power,
Can, in minutes or possibly an hour,
Turn this planet upsldedown,
Bringing havoc to every city and town.
The Russian satellite I must mention,
Which now Is having the world's attention.
Sputnik one surprised the world,
As round and round the earth it whirled.
But Sputnik two with Laika Inside,
And forced to take that long, long ride,
Has caused Uncle Sam to prick up his ears,
And greatly enhance his growing fears.
It makes one wonder if Sputnik three
Might be intended for you and me.
And wing along like a great big stork,
And drop its bundle upon New York.
Uncle Sam scringes and trembles in fear,
That its real destination might be right here.
I'm hoping that Iven the great big bear,
Won't suddenly come from his secret lair,
And launch a deadly satellite,
Intended to start a third world fight.
This very thing the Russians could do,
If the evidence we have is really true.
All these changes have come about,
Since I, the writer started out,
In '73 on life's highway,
In the tall-corn state of old Iowa.
And came to Oregon in eighty-seven,
A place some folks call Little-Heaven.
Altho I'm pretty short on wealth,
I'm rich in happiness and health.
Too many times have I been told,
At the rainbow's end there's a pot of gold.
And all you'll have to do they'd say,
Is pick it up and pack it away.
On paying a fee and hastening there,
I'd find It had vanished into thin air.
It seemed those games of get-rich-quick,
For me were very hard to lick.
I've found that he who lives for gain,
His life is shortened In the main.
I'm thankful that I never sold,
My lease on life for a pot of gold.
To be contented and shun all fears,
Has been my motto in later years.
Twill cure your ulcers and you'll feel better,
If you'll follow this motto to the letter.
Too many times I've been led astray,
Which made It hard to get on my way.
Even tho you go slow or a little faster,
Some of the roads will lead to disaster..
So one must ever be on the alert,
And shun tricky roads and avoid getting hurt.
So I take the road that looks the best,
Tho It leads north, south, east or west.
And If the road proves to be O.K.
I make good time along the way.
Mills and valleys must come and go,
While riding fast or going slow.
The Bible says the life of men,
Is set at three score-years and ten.
Those fifteen years I had to borrow,
To make me eighty-five tomorrow.
A lucky guy I happen to be,
To be a long limb on my family tree.
So this Is my prayer that you and I,
Will witness world peace before I die.
Spencer Akers,
Aumsville, Oregon
HEPPNER, GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday, March 13. 1958
Volume 75, Number 1
being able to hold down the al
lowed increases to 28.18 Th "
one item alone has paid the
wheat man many membershlns
in his local and state association
Pruning and grafting demon.
strations have definitely been
Today, those figures appear on the front page too, that we , don't taw about
n- . " since its founding in an 01 Yvt : iThere w II be one in th
WrT no't maVIng mucrfof a commotion about granddaddy of all J and one in the aftern 7o ' f
it but we are just a little bit proud to be one of ZS tt sections of the 11
. - , . I T-.. T nma inffl FlPT in 10DO. iUClC W vi U1C
SSS.Utoi SkUesinth
readers will forgive us.
The old Heppner Weekly Gazette was, as far as
we can determine, the first newspaper published
in Heppner. Our records are very incomplete due
to the loss of old files during one of the big fires
-j In QCTfl amnniT fill nnclratinnc ii-Ml K
ers than ours anu we ui . ..o.v..o uc nem nave not
newspapers, daily and weekly, published in Ore-1 yet been scheduled waiting to
might
A lot of ink has been spilled since the first t like to have one at their place
r-tt- -.amo nff the cress and those subsequent r O Rawlines, horticultural
iu iuc lusa oi oia lues uuring one ui me uig uih "-"".i " ---- , f tmnnrtant ioiic-f rw e. ct-
to play a part in the town's early history, but it pages have re lated some c he mo rt " Oregon State coUege will
appears that the Gazete was established by utis events in ail niMuij v, . 1V- """"sirauons,
C.mbmaUoo,n.Lsre54..iftom hecS.U. Mlde, ,Mr
uauon oi suDsequent puoacauons wnn me ua- eu wneii lam-u w . j , 'ciu Hi na eonrrartinfr ph t ,
zette. The discrepancy between the March 30 date plained that his paper merely carries "too ' many eluding JJactJ- Robert J
an rff v,i f.,i,. r.o, maa fr, th nr "all that stuff about Mrs Jones visiting steward, state director of agri-
and the date of this week's paper comes from the
vagaries of our calendar which runs in a few extra
days now and then. A weekly newspaper pub
lishes 52 issues a year numbering each one from
1 to 52, then starting over. Last week we pub
lished the 52nd issue of our 74th year with the
result that today we celebrate our 75th birth
day even if it is a few days ahead of schedule.
A lot of changes have taken place in those 75
years, and elsewhere on this page Is the story of
those changes told by a man who personally
witnessed most of them.
ads" or "all that stuff about
with Mrs Smith last Saturday:
"... And Yet somehow that small town news
paper carries the entire life of its community
when serious reflection is employed. Little Miss
Nancy Smith was born at the hospital and weigh
ed 8 pounds 2Vi ounces. Little Nancy Smith en-
tered kindergarten this weeK. .nancy amnu a-uiCU
culture told the group that the
aay is nere wnen Uregon farm
ers should know their market in
advance of production plans
This will help gear their oper"
ations to provide a quality pro
duct that will command hieh
14 points in the basketball game Tuesday night, consumer acceptance. Board
Nancy Smith, the daughter oi Air anu mi a jue
Smith was married Sunday to umy Jones, a un,
John Jones was born to Mr and Mrs uniy Jones.
In thA nowmatur tMi tho p.37Ptte.Timps has Tfm nncsps Mr and Mrs Billv Jones celebrated
their 50th anniversary on rnursaay eveiuiiB nu
services for Mrs Billy Jones were held Monday at
the local church.
"So there it is a slowly developing, nothing
sensational story repeated week in and week
out. It's the story of small towns everywnere.
"No news lust the storv of life."
That's what the Gazette-Times has tried to
tell during the past 75 years the story of Hie
In Heppner and Morrow county. And, that's what
we hope to do in the years ahead.
outlived quite a few other publications that once
were a part of Morrow county. The Heppner Times,
which was established here in 1897, lived for
nearly 15 years before it was consolidated with
the Gazette to form the name combination this
paper still carries. Along the way too, was the
Heppner Harald, but It dropped from sight in the
early part of the century. lone also boasted a
paper at one time, and though we have never seen
a copy, we understand that Lexington had its
own in years past. There may have been others,
THIRTY YEARS AGO
From the files of the
Gazette Times
- March 15, 1923
A progressive dinner party was
featured at the home of Mr and
Mrs Gay M Anderson on Sat
urday evening, Mr and Mrs An
derson, Mr and Mrs J O Hager,
and Dr and Mrs F E Farrior be
ing hosts and hostesses.
Mr and Mrs Chas Cox, Mr and
Mrs H A Cohn and Dr and Mrs
A H Johnston entertained Tues
day evening at the Johnston
home. Bridge was the diversion
of the evening with 60 guests
present.
Quite a bit of snow fell over the
Hardman country and reached
From The
County Agent's Office
down as far as Rhea Creek Tues
day night.
By N,
At a recent meeting of the ex
ecutive committee of the Morrow
County Wheat Growers Assoc
iation and representatives of the
various farm organizations of the
county, some of the projects and
programs of the Oregon Wheat
Growers League were outlined
and explained. Of concern to
wheat growers in this area now is
the removal of white wheat from
the Public Law 480 program. As
a result, white wheat exports'
have slowed up considerably. At
least one trip to Washington, D
C has been made by officers of
the league to have this sltuat-
C Anderson
officials are concerned now that
ion remedied. With considerable
amount of league money having
been spent in the Far East to
The "H" club members very , develop' markets of white wheat,
ably entertained the other stud-
ents at Heppner high school Fri- son, Clarence Hayes, Gerald Sloe
day, March 9, with a pantomime urn, Howard Evans, Terrell
of 'The Shooting of Dan MC-Benge, Stephen Thompson, Val
Grew." Those taking part were oice Bramer, Onez Parker, Har
Fletcher Walker, Henry Robert-'old Gentry and Homer Hayes.
. 1 - . . a : -1 . . t. i-
uieae jjmeiujai users cannot ou
tain their needs. Recently the
league has been assured some
thing will be done on this.
Those wheat growers who have
wondered about some of the act
ual accomplishments of the leag
ue will be interested in a recent
report made by the Pacific North
west Grain and Grain products
Association which is sponsored
by various segments of the
wheat industry including grow
ers, dealers, millers, country and
terminal elevators, to which the
league makes a substantial con
tribution. Since 1952 Pacific
Northwest wheat growers have
saved nearly $5,000,000 in the
cost of shipping their crops to
market below what the freight
bill would have been if railroads
had been allowed to put in all
of the rate increases they have
asKed lor. Increases requested bv
carriers since 1951 have amounted
to 50.12 with this association
members who represent all areas
of the state and most segments
of agriculture noticed that in
general those enterprises operat
ing on an integrated basis tend
to have greater economic sta
bility. They point out that while
farmers who contract may lose
some freedom of choice in pro
duction and marketing decisions
some have gained greater eco
nomic security by having an as
sured market for what they pro
duce. It is impossible to pick up
a farm paper any more with
out seeing reports on vertical in
tegration and its rapid spread
from area to area and from com
modity to commodity. With a
(Continued on Page 5)
STAR
THEATER
Thurs, Fri, Sat, March 13. 14, IS
April Love
Pat Boone, Shirley Jones, De
lores Michaels.
Sun, Mon, March 16, 17
The Hunchback of
Notre Dame
Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony
Qulnn. Sunday, at 4, 6 and 8
Tues. Wed, March 18. 19
A Man Called Peter
Richard Todd, Jean Peters.
Tuesday night is Lexington
night and Wednesday Is
Church street, Heppner night.
Register for free ticket. See our
monthly program for details.
k-
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HEPPNER, OREGON