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Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, June 26, 1958
WW
Lost in Early OtPPN
Week Blaze
IS
Extreme temperatures, high
winds, and more fires continued
to plague much of Morrow and
Western Umatilla counties this
week and hold top spot in the
news of this area
With temperatures climbing
wen over 100 degrees in the nor
thern part of the county Friday
tnrougn Monday fire danger was
classed as critical and strong
winds Sunday and Monday drove
flames over nearly 70,000 acres
ot range, pasture and wheat
These serious fires followed by
less than a week the huge fire
which burned over approximately
70,000 acres of range between
Boardman and Cecil on June 16,
The most serious of the fires
burned wheat and farm build
ings in Western Umatilla county
near Echo,
The strong winds also caused
considerable grain loss in the
North ' Lexington and Sand Hoi
! low area and fear is felt that
. the high temperatures caused
some grain shrinkage in the
higher elevations,
The loss of practically all ve
getation on an area approximat
ely the size of the Boardman
bombing range is causing fear
among many persons that con
tinuing fires and high winds may
make a dust bowl of the area.
The entire area which has been
burned in recent days is nor
mally dry, providing only some
range grass, however because of
the past two rainy years there
had been a lush growth of grass
that is, until fires destroyed
nearly, everything,
The largest fire in Morrow
county during the past week
started Sunday afternoon about
five miles east of Boardman and
burned a strip three miles wide
and 10 miles long as far east
as Ordnance along highway 30,
It started on the bombing range
at the Heppner cutoff road near
milepast 167 on highway 30 and
was fought by fire equipment
from Echo, Hermiston, Irngon,
Ordnance and the Boardman
bombing range fire departments
until nearly midnight. As fire
men were about to leave the fire
they were called to put out an
other blaze that had started
north of the Union Pacific rail
road tracks, north of highway
30. It took the men until 3 am
to control this fire.
A car driven by Joe Devine of
Arlington, going west on high
way 30 at the time of the first
fire, collided with a weapons car
rier from Ordnance as the ve
hicle was turning off the high
way. Devine was accompanied
by his wife and three children
but no one was injured in the
collision. For a time smoke and
dust nearly obscured all vision.
Estimates of the area covered
in this fire ranged from 19,000
to over 30,000 acres.
Many Other Blazes
Later Sunday evening another
fire burned over 41,000 acres in
the Cold Springs area northeast
of Hermiston. According to re
ports rangeland was the only loss
in this fire.
Monday afternoon another fire
destroyed about 2000 acres of
grass and wheat and all farm
buildings on the Ben Coombs I
ranch which lies between the j
Butter Creek highway ana tcno. ancj afternoons were spent in at
This blaze, which was fanned tending classes, and assemblies.
by winds reported to be nearly
50 miles an hour, jumped num
erous irrigation ditches and fire
guards and firemen were unable
to save the Coombs home or
buildings.
Creek Conditions Better
Though temperatures ranged
from an official 99 degrees Sun
day at Heppner to well over 100
degrees in other locations, south
ern Morrow county fared much
better than did the northern end.
Late last week a grass fire got
into a stack of baled hay at the
Leo Crabtree ranch near lone and
destroyed 1200 bales before It
could be controlled. A small or
chard near lone was damaged
by another blaze during the
same period.
Clouds brought cooler temper
atures and light rains late Mon
day and Tuesday to most of the
county which was welcomed es
pecially by wheat growers who
were fearing considerable grain
damage should the hot weather
continue. Some wheat damage
was reported in various sections,
mostly in the higher elevations
where the grain is still partly
green.
The heavy winds of Sunday
and Monday brought several re
ports of wheat loss north of Lex
ington. The change in temperature
(Continued on Page 6)
Copies 10 Cents
MORROW COUNTY DELEGATES
these 32 youngsters and their
Linda Kams, Jerry Anderson,
Davidson, Dorothy Rash, Brenda Billings, Libby Van Schoiack. Third row: Diane PMryjohn. Miss
Esther Kirmis, county extension agent, Carol K Anderson, Bernice Thomson, Mary Slocum, Wanda
riuwe, county leaaer. Fourth
Mia, Ann sscnmeaer, Brenda Townsend. Fifth row: Natt Webb,
Terry Witherspoon. Joann Turner, Dennis Doherty. Back row:
.ari iseacn, nennetn !mouse,
32 Morrow County
4-H'ers Attend
Summer School
"Did you enjoy you 4-H sum
mer school?" "Absolutely" was
the shouted answer of over 1850
Oregon 4-H members at the close
of their 43rd annual 4-H summer
school held at Oregon State col
lege, the week of June 16-21st.
Among the 1850 4-H'ers were
32 Morrow county club members
who were accompanied to Cor
vallis by chartered Grayhound
bus by Wanda Huwe, Irrigon, as
county leader, and Esther Kir
mis, Morrow county extension
agent.
4-H youth stayed in 39 housing
units on campus. 4-H leaders,
county extension agents and
counsellors helped supervise act
ivities at each unit. Officers were
elected in each house on Tues
day evening. Kenneth Smouse of
lone was elected president of
his housing unit,
Summer school delegate's dav
beean at 7 am with breakfast
at their houses. The mornings
In the evening they took part
in style and talent revues. The
sessions closed on Saturday ev
ening with three large parties
and an impressive candlelight
ing ceremony held in the college
stadium.
Farmers Approve
Quotas on Wheat
Marketing quotas will be In
effect for the 1959 wheat crop,
according to a report on prelimi
nary returns in the June 20 refer-'
endum of wheat farmers.
The referendum showed that
83.7 percent of the farmers who
voted favored the quotas and 16.3
percent opposed with a total of
198,210 votes cast in the 38 com
mercial wheat states.
In Oregon the vote for quotas
was 1942, with 218 against. In
Morrow county the tally was 219
in favor and 3 against. Here on
ly about 35 percent of the coun
ty's eligible wheat farmers vot
ed. With marketing quotas in ef
fect for the 1959 crop, a farmer
who complies with his wheat al
lotment will be eligible for a
price support loan based on a
national average of $1.81, or 75
percent of estimated parity.
MM Miff.
I morrow v?" v" . rJi
who attended 4-H summer school
two advisors. They are, first row, left to right, Shirley Van Winkle,
Toni Taylor, Linda Halvorsen. Second row: Pattl Partlow. Beverlv
row: Connie Anderson, Marilyn Morgan, Linda Heimbigner, Theresa
Russell Dolven, William Rill,
MCGG Buying Interior
Elevator At Heppner
Morrow County Grain Growers, The MCGG is the second largest
officials are in Portland today ' country storage elevator in Ore
to complete signing a contract gon, only the Pendleton Grain
for the purchase of the Heppner ' Growers have more capacity.
grain storage facilities of Inter-1
ior Warehouse Co which is con-' CIINA.M C.:.
trolled by Balfour-Guthrie Com
pany of Portland. The MCGG Is
to take over the facilities July
1, Al Lamb, MCGG manager re
ported. Lamb said Wednesday that all
details of the transfer had been t
completed except the signing,
Purchase price of the elevator
was not revealed. '
The Grain Growers will oper-
ate only the grain storage
facilities of the plant which has
a capacity of about J40,00U bu-
shels. Cornett Green, who has
Warehouse, will operate the feed
business as his own enterprise,
it was announced. For the pres
ent time Green will remain in
the present building.
Lamb said that while It is
too early to state definite plans
for renovation of the facilities,
there are plans to remove or re
model the old portion of the ele
vator. Within recent years sever
al steel grain storage tanks have
been installed at the elevator,
and they will be retained.
The addition of the Interior
Warehouse plant will give the
Morrow County Grain Growers
nine storage elevators in the
county with a total capacity of
approximately 3,250,000 bushels.
COMMODITY CREDIT CORP CHANGES
ALLOWANCE FOR FREIGHT RATES
The Commodity Credit Corpor
ation has agreed to let growers
store wheat in local, county or
terminal storage facilities with
out jeopardizing their rate pay
ments, it was learned Wednes
day by Al Lamb, manager of
the Morrow County Grain Grow
ers. The first announcement of the
change in policy was revealed
by the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Wednesday morning In a
story quoting Washington Cong
ressman Hal Holmes.
Lamb said that this will mean
equal treatment for the farmer
last week in Corvallis Include
Judy Morgan, Gary Van Blokland,
Roger Doherty, Tommy Martin,
Wednesday For
William E Pointer .
Graveside services were held
In Lexington Wednesday after
noon for William E Pointer, 79,
who passed away at Portland
Sunday, June 22. Rev Norman
Northrup officiated at the service.
Mr Pointer was born in Kon-
sas March 17, 1879, the son of
Edward and Louisa Pointer.
He was a former resident of
Lexington and is survived by one
daughter, Mrs EToyle Darby of
Portland; one brother, James of
Walla Walla and a nephew, Don
Pointer of Lexington.
Mr and Mrs Darby were in
Lexington Wednesday for the
service.
WEATHER
Hi Low Prec.
93 59
92 59
89 60
94 63
99 66
90 59 .07
66 50 .03
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Rainfall for the week .10; for
June 1.05; for the year 10.29 in
ches. regardless of whether he puts
his wheat in local, terminal or
his own storage. Basically it will
mean a gain of the freight diff
erential between the lower rates
this year and the higher rates
last year. Just what that will
be is not yet known, but It has
been estimated at about two
cents a bushel for most Morrow
county growers.
Previous loan rates were set
using the old freight rates which
have been lowered during the
last year. Lamb said it will be
after July 1 before the final loan
Irate will be known,
75th Year, Number 16
Confusion Over
Fire and Flood
Alarms Noted
Lonrusion reigned among
many Heppner residents during
the past couple of weeks over
what was a fire alarm or what
might be a flood alarm signal.
And, the bewilderment was only
increased by the unusual, though
very real, fire alarm which
sounded at 6 am Wednesday.
The difficulty has arisen be
cause of the new air horns which
have recently been installed by
the fire department for fire
alarm use to replace the small
inadequate siren which has been
the alarm for the past several
years. During the installation
period both the horns and the
siren have been used at various
times for fire calls, but it is the
plan to use the siren only for
flood alarm or emergency fire
calls when all necessary auto
matic equipment for the air
horns is "installed.
During the past week the air
horns have been used for three
fire and drill calls, but for some
reason, not yet fully determined
by fire department officials, the
siren sounded at 6 o'clock Wed
nesday morning to call the de
partment to a fire at O'Donnell's
Cafe where an oven had blown
up and flames seared the res
taurant kitchen. The alarm was
never called in on the regular
phone and it is surmised that
someone, not knowing the proper
procedure, climbed to the siren
control box at the corner of Main
and Willow streets and banged
on the equipment until the timer
started the siren blowing. If
smoke from the fire had not been
visible from the fire hall, there
would have been no way of
knowing where the blaze was lo
cated. The fire was quickly con
trolled, but considerable smoke
damage resulted.
SPECIAL FLOOD ALARM
Local resirents are again re
minded that even should the sir
en be used for a fire call, the
flood alarm is a special long sig
nal and should not be confused
with a fire call. The flood warn
ing signal will be ONLY three
long 20 second steady blasts of
the siren seperated by 10 sec
onds of silence. Should the dan
ger be thought great, the signal
may be repeated after one or
two minutes of silence.
The flood warning was design
ed so that it could not be con
fused with any other siren code
for its steady blasts are nearly
10 times as long as that used
for emergency fire. Should the
siren be used in the future for
fire (in case of emergency or
failure of the air horns) this
call will be up to 10 short quick
blasts of the siren.
The department's new air
horns were installed to give a
better alarm with greater cover
age than given by the siren. Al
so the horns operate entirely in
dependently of regular power. In
the past fire calls have been re
ceived when the power was off
and there was no method of
summoning firemen.
Last Saturday afternoon the
department was called to a small
grass fire near Chase and Center
streets which was quickly con
trolled without damage.
Adult Swim Lessons
To Start Monday
Swimming lessons for adults
will start at the Heppner pool
Monday evening at 6 pm and
will continue for each night,
Monday through Friday for two
weeks, Mrs Tom Hughes, in
structor, announced today. The
pool won't be open to the pub
lic Monday, but will be on the
other days.
Registration can be made for
the lessons any time and a fee
of $2.00 for the series will be
charged.
Children's lessons will start
in a short time and will be held
in the mornings.
EXAMINER COMING
A drivers license examiner will
be In Heppner Tuesday, July 1
from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm at the
court house.
til u.r... .? rcsrrg: ... j.i,
DEMOLISHED FORD in which Doug Cribble and Oliver Devin were
injured Tuesday when it left the highway and crashed into a
Power pole alongside the Jordan elevator. Doug was thrown from
the car onto the railroad tracks about 30 feet behind where the
car sits when this picture was
at Pioneer Memorial hosptal.
All Outside Burning
Prohibited in City
Heppner fire chief C A Ruggles
announced this week that ef
fective immediately, out s I d e
burning of all types is prohibi
ted because of the extreme fire
danger.
The cooler temperatures of the
two days has greatly lessened
the fire danger from what it was
last week, but the heavy growth
of grass on all land makes fire
a serious threat. No burning per
mits will be issued within the
city limits and burning, even in
barrels, is prohibited.
Both Wheat and
Barley Now Coming
In to Elevators
Both wheat and barley were
beginning to come into all sta
tions of the Morrow County
Grain Growers this week. Har
vesting was slowed down Tues
day by rains but warmer wea
ther by Wednesday put'comblnes
back into operation.
The Morrow County Grain
Growers reported Wednesday
that they had received 100,000
bushels of barley and about 10,
000 bushels of wheat with con
tinually increasing amounts due
in coming days. The first wheat
was harvested by D O Nelson
Monday and received at the
North Lexington elevator. Barley
and wheat started coming In to
Heppner and lone Monday
though deliveries were slow;
both Lexington and North Lex
ington were receiving fair
amounts of grain and the first to
be received at the Heppner ele
vator came in today.
The strong winds of Sunday
and Monday caused considerable
shattering in turkey red, Requa
and Burt wheat, all bearded var
ieties, in the north Lexington
area, it was reported. There was
also considerable damage to bar
ley in that area where winds
were reported as being over 40
miles an hour.
Al Lamb, MCGG manager, said
the wheat in the North Lexing
ton section is expected to run
about 30 bushels to the acre
and barley about 40 bushels.
This is some higher than last
year, and other sections of the
county are expected to average
even higher. ,
Some shrivel has been found
in various fields due to the hot
weather, particularly in the high
er elevations, however there is
no general pattern of damage.
G-T Slates Early
Paper Next Week
All news and advertising
copy for next week's Gazette-Times
should be sub
mitted to the paper at least
one day earlier than usual
next week, the publisher re
minds correspondents and
advertisers.
The paper will be publish
ed on Wednesday, one day
earlier than usual, to allow
distribution ahead of the
Fourth of July holiday.
Rev John Rydgren To
Be Installed Sunday
Dr S C Siefkes, district presi
dent, will be here to conduct
the, installation service for Rev
John Rydgren at 11:00 am Sun
day, June 29 at the Hope Luther
an church in Heppner.
A potluck dinner will follow
the service and all members are
asked to furnish a salad and a
dessert.
Mrs Grace Hughes is visiting
relatives In Portland.
taken. He is in critical condition
(GT Photo)
Two Youths Badly
Injured in Car
Crash at Jordan
Two Heppner youths were in
jured, one critically, about noon
Tuesday when the car in which
they were riding went out of
control on highway 74 and crash
ed into a power pole at the Jor
dan elevator just east of lone.
In critical condition in Pioneer
Memorial hospital with a brain
concussion, fracture of four lum
bar vertebrae, contusion of a
kidney and minor abrasions and
cuts is Douglas Gribble, 18, son
of Mr and Mrs Lowell Gribble.
He is a Heppner high school sen
ior. The other youth and owner
of the practically new 1958 Ford
sedan, was "Oliver Devln, 21, son
of Mr and Mrs O A Devln, who
suffered a broken collar bone in
the crash which completely de
molished the car and threw
young Gribble about 30 feet on
to the railroad tracks below the
highway.
Excessive speed was blamed
by witnesses for the accident.
After the car rounded the sharp
curve just west of the Rhea creek
road it went out of control, strik
ing the bank on the right side
of the highway then skidding
over 200 feet before leaving the
road and striking the power pole
broadside. The pole was broken
off in two places and power was
cut off in Lexington for a short
period.
Devin admitted Wednesday to
police that he was driver of the
car though municipal court re
cords show that his drivers li
cense was suspended by the state
department of motor vehicles for
traffic violation on April 30 and
would not have been reinstated
until July 29 of this year.
Devin was released from the
hospital Wednesday. Physicians
classified Cribble's condition as
still critical, though improving.
Another accident occured Fri
day evening at the Intersection
of highway 74 and Rietmann
road at the east entrance to lone
when two cars driven by Roy
Lindstrom and Alvin McCabe,
both of lone collided. Lindstrom
and a passenger Ronald Palmer
of Hermiston, both suffered min
or injuries and both cars were
badly damaged.
Range, Forest
Field Tour Set
The annual field tour to sur
vey conservation practices will
be held Wednesday, July 2 and
this year will be held in the
forest and range lands of the
Blue Mountains, officers of the
Heppner Soil Conservation dis
trict. The trip is open to the public
and transportation will be pro
vided by school buses through
the coutesy of the Heppner-Mor-row
County Chamber of Com
merce. The buses will leave from
the First National Bank at 8:30
am and the tour Is expected to
take most of the day.
Stops will be made at Fair
view camp ground where the for
est service will explain develop
ment of recreational camp
grounds in the forest; at Bull
Prairie where the proposed site
for the recreation pond Is cur
rently being examined by state
game commission engineers. The
tour will go to Tupper guard
station for lunch provided by the
Forest Service, and while there
will inspect engineering and for
est practices, skid road seedlngs,
forest roads and range water de
velopments. From Tupper the
tour will go east past Ditch creek
and return along Willow creek
checking other practices enroute.