MORROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER
The Heppner Gazette, established Mareh 80, 1883. The Heppner Time ettabUehed
Nevember 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1912
NEWSPAMR
rueusHtRs
ASSOCIATION
ROBERT PEN LAND
Editor and Publisher
CRETCHEN PENLAND
Associate Publisher
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
I ASSOCIATION
WMintMV:.U:AMm
Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter
. . . - . .. . A A Cr XT PJ 1- r If "IsiMfl
Subscription Rates: Morrow and Grant counties, S3.UU tear: msewnere a.uu i ear. qihkk "w"11"
Leslie L Matlock
One of Heppner's best-known citizens, Leslie
L Matlock, died early this week. He was almost
a legend In Heppner definitely a man who play
ed a great part In the city's history.
Because of the part he and his late friend
Bruce Kelley played In the often-retold accounts
of the Heppner flood of 1903, Les Probably had
more stories written about him than any other
person who has ever lived In Heppner. He was
a man who enjoyed his full life, all 84 years of
it. He never bragged about his ride to lone to
warn of the coming flood, in fact, he ducked
most questions about it, and in later years he
was best known for his love of a deck of cards
and his remarkable ability to recite many of the
works of Shakespeare. He loved fine clothes and
even as a man well over 80 he shared with no
resident of Heppner the title of the city's best
dressed citizen. His place on Main street won't
be filled.
Many, many things could be said about Les
Matlock in an editorial for he was one of the
few remaining links between Heppner of today
and its remarkable past he has played a part
in both but we feel that the most appropriate
obituary this newspaper could give to any man
is to again tell the "old" story as It was told
to us by Les himself and printed in the Gazette
Times in the special Heppner Flood Commemorat
ion Edition of June 11, 1953 on the 50th annivers
ary of that great tragedy. His own story is reprint
ed in Its entirety:
THE MATLOCK STORY
"We Did Nothing That Somebody
Else Couldn't Hcnr Done"
' No recording of the events during the time
of the Heppner flood would be complete with
out Leslie Matlock's own story of the happen
ings on that Sunday and of the well-known
ride that he and Bruce Kelly made down Willow
Creek to warn the residents of Lexington and
lone of the water.
Numerous writers, some of them quite well
known, have told and retold the story many
times and Matlock tells It again here. It took
persuasion to get him to give it for he has Indi
cated on more than one occasion that all the
publicity is rather embarrassing. He strongly em
phasizes that "We weren't trying to do anything
smart, and we did nothing that somebody else
couldn't and wouldn't have done under the same
circumstances." He and Kelley Just happend to
think of it first
A matter minutes or a twist of circumstances
meant the difference of life or death to the in-
habitants of Heppner when the tragic flood
swamped the town Sunday afternoon fifty years
ago, according to Leslie L Matlock, who with
his friend, Bruce Kelley, rode their horses over
the hills to Lexington and lone hoping to avert
further loss of life that happened there.
In the afternoon, Matlock recalled that he re
turned to his room at the Palace hotel after
having dinner with Dr McSword at the home of
his undo, T J Matlock. After a call to the Abe
Wells home, Dr McSword and John Ayers later
went to the George Conser home, which circum
stance marked their fate.
Matlock dozed off in' the murky extreme heat
and was later awakened by claps of thunder.
Going through the hall he reassured the worried
waitresses that the storm would be harmless,
and went out on the street where he stood with a
young cigar maker watching the rain.
"Moments later we saw women running for the
hill, so we called to the men in Swaggert's Sal
oon, now Bucknum's, and ail fled through the
storm to the hillside watching the destruction
in horror."
"Bruce Kelley said to me." Matlock recalled,
"Everyone on this creek will be drowned. I re
plied that "If we get some horses we can beat
It down the creek." The Idea took hold and Kelley
said, "You get some wire cutters at Gilliam and
Bisbee's and I'll get some horses at the livery
stable."
Orve Rasmus helped me break in to get the
wooden handled pruning shears we found and
then we took off over the hill behind the bank,
cutting fences where necessary. Kelley got his
own horse but in the haste and excitement grab
bed for me someone else's horse which I chang
ed at the Frank Rainey place a mile or two
below Lexington. We didn't talk much, except
to call warnings at homes along the way. The
flood water had already beat us to Lexington, but
we felt we could make It to lone before the
water hit there. No one questioned our story and
everyone along the way hurried to higher ground.
Though the flood water had subsided by the
time it reached lone, after the arrival of Kelley
and Matlock, the the townspeople showed their
gratitude to the two young men by presenting
each of them with a gold-headed cane Inscribed
'Presented by the people of lone In grateful re
membrance of heroic ride during flood at Hepp
ner, June 14, 1903." This Is still a proud possession
of Mr Matlock.
After remaining at lone for part of the night,
Kelley, Matlock, Bert Mason and others rode
back to Heppner, arriving about daylight. Amid
the destruction and desolation they learned that
the worst had happened and those who were
left Joined in recovering bodies.
"My friends, John Ayers and Dr McSword ran
out of the Conser home when the water struck
and were drowned. Mr and Mrs Conser themselv
es ran upstairs, which saved their lives, as the
house remained Intact as It was wept down
stream to the Methodist church with a section
of sidewalk through It," Matlock said.
Among other victims was Mr Matlock's uncle,
J W Matlock, who was pulled from an upstairs
porch along with his son, Lee. The young man
had thrown off his coat and managed to get to
safety after trying unsuccessfully to rescue his
father.
Most of the Abe Wells family, too, were drown
ed when the water tore their house apart. The
body of Mr Hanby, on whose farm the flood
struck, about 7 miles up Balm fork, was found
at the edge of Gale street.
People from some distances observed the flood
cloud that day, Matlock said. A fellow named
Pole Thompson, living five or six miles below
Cecil, remarked to two cowboy companions that
when that cloud broke there would be more
water in Willow creek than had ever been seen
in it before. Ben Swaggart, some 12 miles from
Heppner on Swaggart Buttes, also saw the black
ominous cloud.
The next day, Guy Boyer, then a lad living up
Hinton creek, was sent on horseback to Echo
whore he took the train to Pendleton to announce
the fate of Heppner. At the news, people, teams
and horses came from Pendleton In record times
and on dead runs to bring help to us.
(This story, with its editor's note lead In black
face type, appeared in the June 11, 1953 Heppner
Gazette-Times as it was told by Leslie Matlock.)
THIRTY YEARS AGO
From the files of the
Gazette-Times
July 19, 1928
Lester Doolittle and family de
parted Tuesday morning for Cen
tralla, Wash where they will re
main until the first of Sept
ember.
Mr and Mrs W G McCarty de
parted on an extended auto trip
Tuesday expecting to visit their
old homes in California, and en
Joy a pleasant vacation.
Mrs O T Ferguson, Mrs Gene
Ferguson, Mrs H R Ramsey and
Mrs Andrew Olson were Pendle
ton ladles In the city on Tuesday.
Here these ladies were Joined by
Mrs Raymond Ferguson and pro
ceeded to the home of Mrs Vlda
Stickles in Blaekhorse, giving her
a birthday surprise party.
Joe Batty, Hardman ranchman,
was a visitor in this city Satur
day. Dan Hanshew started his com
bine on the Sand Hollow ranch
on Monday evening.
A field of 200 acres of grain,
belonging to C Hutchcroft and
located near Morgan, was totally
destroyed by fire on Monday af
ternoon.
paraffin for sealing. However,
they, like the larger tapered Jars,
are equally satisfactory for use
in canning and freezing. If you re
buying Jars this year ask your
dealer for these.
Bulletins For The Asking
In our Morrow County Agents
office we have a number of good
bulletins on freezing and cann
ing of fruits, vegetables, and
meats. Why not clip out the cou
pon below, paste it on a post
card and drop it into the mail
for further information.
A shipment of 22 double deck
cars of lambs left the local yards
this forenoon by special train.
This bunch of lambs has been
gathered up by Messrs McNamer
and Thompson and their desti
nation is Denver. Those contnbu
ting to the movement were
Messrs C A Minor, Ellis Minor,
R A Thompson and Lotus Robi-son.
TO: Esther Kirmis
Morrow County Home Ex
tension Agent
Heppner, Oregon
Please send the following check
ed bulletins:
1. Freezine Fruits and
Vegetables
2. Foods From the Freez
er: Precooked and Pre
pared
3. Freezine Meat, Poul
try, Fish, Seafoods
and Game
4. Chicken in the Freez
er
5. Chocolate Cake for
the Freezer
6. Home Canning o f
Fruits and Vegetables
7. Home Processing of
Fruit & Vegetable
Juices
2
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday, July i7 l858
Name
Address
"Chats With Your
Home Agent"
By ESTHER KIRMIS
Did you have an enjoy
able Fourth of July weekend?
I'm sure you did. I spent my
weekend visiting "shirt-tall" rel
atives at Moses Lake and view
ing one of the "eight Wonders
of the World" Grand Coulee
dam. It was a sight I'll never
forget and the colored lights
Freezing
There is no "out of season" for
products of your garden and or
chard if you have a home freez
er or space in a neighborhood
locker plant. Freezing Is one of
the simplest and least time-consuming
ways to preserve foods
at home. It keeps the natural
color, fresh flavor, and nutritive
value of most fruits and vege
tables better than other methods
of home food preservation. Fro
zen fruits and vegetables are
ready to serve on short notice
that illuminated the falls at 'because most of the preparation
night are breathtaking.
I came back to Heppner with
several boxes of frozen trout and
redhorse that my friends so gen
erously gave me. It reminds me
that many of you must be in
the midst of freezing and can
ning fruits and vegetables right
now so this week's column will
be devoted to that subject.
STAR
THEATER
Thurs.. Fri., Sat, July 17, 18.
19
Trooper Hook
Joel McCrea, Barbara Stan
wyck, Earl Holllman. TLUS
Under Fire
Rex Reason, Henry Morgan,
Steve Brodle.
Sun Mon., July 20, 21
The Brothers
Karamaiov
Yul Brynner, Maria Schell,
Claire Bloom, Lee J Cobb.
Sunday at 4, 6:40.
Tues We"d"july 22, 23
Susan Slept Here
Debbie Reynolds, Dick Powell,
Ann Francis. Family Nights
they need for the table Is done
before freezing.
Freezing is not necessarily rec
ommended as the preferred way
of preserving all products. What
to freeze must be decided on the
basis of family needs and de
sires, on freezer space and cost
of freezer storage, and other stor
age facilities available.
Cost of Freezing)
Cost of owning and operating
a home freezer may be expected
to range from 18 to 28 cents a
pound of food frozen, depending
on rate of turn -over. On a pound
basis, freezing costs decrease as
the quantity of food frozen is
Increased. These costs are based
on electricity used, cost of pack
aging materials, repairs and av
erage freezer cost distributed
over 10 years.
If you have doubts as to how
well a fruit or vegetable will
freeze, it would be well to test
It before freezing large quanti
ties. To test freeze three or four
packages and sample the food
after freezing. This shows the
effect of freezing only, not the
effect of storage.
Some fruits and vegetables do
not make satisfactory products
when frozen. The include green
onions, lettuce and other salad
greens, radishes, tomatoes (ex
cept Juice).
General Rules For Freezing Both
Fruits and Vegetables
1. Select suitable variety.
2. Freeze only fresh products
of good quality and proper maturity.
3. Gather products In the cool
of the morning; handle quick
ly; rush to freezer as soon as,
possible.
4. Keep In cool place while i
under preparation. I
5. Prepare only small lots at
one time; preferably 2 to o
pounds.
6. Wash thoroughly and re
move foreign materials, decayed,
badly bruised Immature or over
ripe products.
7. Label cartons with name of
product, date, and other infor
mation you deem useful before
starting actual preparation of the
product. Special pens or waxed
pencils are available for label
ing frozen food cartons. A crayon
may be used.
8. When using locker bags,
press air out of unfilled part of
bag before sealing.
9. Freeze and store at 0 de
grees F or lower.
New "Can" Or "Freeze" Jars
One of our large fruit jar man
ufacturers have come out this
year with a streamlined version
of the original freezer jars which
can be used for either canning
or freezing. They come in pints
or half pint tapered jars. The
half pints were Introduced in or
der to provide a jelly and jam
container which does not require
I spent two days of the past
week in The Dalles visiting with
Mrs Jane Schroeder, Wasco coun
ty home extension agent. Jane
is a "Pro" in the home exten
sion field having been in Wasco
county for over five years- be
fore that time she served In
her home state of Kansas. The
state extension staff felt that if
I saw another "Mid-westerner"
in action In Oregon I'd surely
benefit. So "Kansas" and "North
Dakota" got together to discuss
extension in "Oregon".
While in The Dalles, Jane took
me out to see the fruit orchards.
Cherries and apricots were being
picked, and this North Dakota
gal's eyes really "bugged out."
Fruit in such abundance I had
never seen!
When I got back to the office
I looked for all the Information
I could find on apricots as I
have a feeling many of you
homemakers are buying or pick
ink apricots right now and mak
ing plans for freezing, canning
or jelly making.
Ripe apricots are golden yel
low, tinged with rose. Check the
background color for a uniform
golden color. If It is greenish
yellow, the fruit is not fully ripe.
Select fruit that is plump, well
formed and fairly firm. It takes
from 10 to 14 apricots to make
a pound.
If the 'cots are not fully ripe
when you buy or pick them,
leave them in a fairly warm
room to ripen. Then keep them
covered and cold in the refriger
ator. Apricots are tart-sweet, tender
and juicy in texture. They're
ideal for out-or-hand eating, or
they lend color, flavor and food
value to salads and desserts.
Apricots are a good source of
vitamin A. Two or three medium
apricots furnish about half of
the day's needed Vitamin A.
They're good for weight watchers
too. . . . each one has only about
20 calories.
Fresh apricot season is short.
Enjoy apricots now. Plan to can
or freeze your supply without
delay.
If you wish information on the
canning or freezing of apricots
our office has several good bulle
tins. They're yours for the ask
ing. Apricot Jam:
Wash the fruit carefully; then
dip into boiling water for about
a half a minute or until the
skins slip easily. Plunge it at
once Into cold water for a few
ewnnrls. remove the skins, cut
the fruit into halves, and discard
the pits. To each pound of pre
pared apricots allow three
fourths a pound of sugar and 2
tablespoons of lemon juice. Crush
the fruit, combine with sugar in
alternate layers, and let stand
until the sugar is dissolved, stir
rim meanwhile. Brine to boiling
and cook, stirring constantly, un
til the fruit is clear and the jam
is somewhat thick. Pour into hot
steralized jars and seal.
Refrigerator Apricot Pie
13 pound sugar wafers
cup butter or margarine
1 cup confectioner' sugar (Vi lb.)
2 eggs, separated
18 tsp. salt
1 cup cooked thick apricot puiD
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1. Cruch wafers very finei get
aside y4 cup to use as a toman
2. Press remainder over bottom
and sides of greased 9 inch Dan
3. Cream butter or margarine
and sugar. Add egg yolks; beat
thoroughly. 4. Add salt to e
whites and beat until stiff- f0u
Into yolk mixture. 5. Spread this
mixture over the crumbs in Die
pan. 6. Spread apricot pulp 0L.
egg-sugar mixture. 7. Spread
cream over apricot layer and
sprinkle with reserved crumbs.
8. Chill several hours or over
night before serving.
CHURCH
ANNOUNCEMENTS
IONE COMMUNITY CHURCH
Rev Floyd S Bailey, pastor
Church school and mornlne
worship at 9:30 am.
ST PATRICK'S CHURCH
Heppner
Rev P J GAIRE, Pastor
Masses.
Sundays, 7:00 and 10:00 am.
Weekdays, 7:30 am.
ST WILLIAM'S CHURCH
lone
Masses: Sunday, 8:30 am.
LEXINGTON CHURCH OF
CHRIST
Rev Norman Northrup, Pastor
Sunday school 10:00 am.
Worship 11:00 am.
Evening service, 7:30 pm.
Prayer meeting Tuesday, 7:30
pm.
tew
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5 lb U5
12 lb. 2.85
One Mile Northwest of Heppner
SMITH APIARIES
Phone 6-5330 Heppner, Oregon
LIVESTOCK MARKET
Cattle Hogs Sheep
SALE EVERY TUESDAY
12 Noon
Cm U. S. Hlway No. 30
NORTHWESTERN LIVESTOCK
COMMISSION CO.
JO 7-6655 Hermiston, Oregon
Frank Wink & Sons. Owners
Don Wink Mgr.
Res. Hermiston JO 7-3111
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HEPPNER, OREGON
The First National Bank is anxious to help
you with your agricultural credit needs and
invites you to specify this bank on your CCC
loan application.
Now, with a big crop coming up, you may
wish to talk with a First National Bank Loan
Officer and arrange to obtain immediate credit
for your CCC loan. Please drop in at this branch
any time you wish to discuss the procedure for
obtaining your simplified CCC loan or any other
oredlt nesds for crop production.
As always, for credit needs or any other
bank services, we want to be your kind of bank.
Sincerely,
Manager, Heppner Branoh
2.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
- OP PORTLAND
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