MORROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER
The Heppner Gazette, established March 30, 1883. The Heppner Times established
November 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1912
NIWSPAFIt
'ASSOCIATION
ROBERT PENLAND
Editor and Publisher
GRETCHEN PENLAND
Associate Publisher
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
1
lJi'fU'H'HJ
Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter
Subscription Rates: Morrow and Grant Counties, $4.0") Year; Elsewhore $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 Cents.
Morrow County's Part In Oregon's First 100 Years
100 years ago next Saturday Oregon became
a state, and throughout our great state, obser
vances of all kinds are being planned. Celebra
tions are due, birthday parties are scheduled,
and special note is bring made by organizations,
clubs and publications.
This newspaper Is not now planning a special
edition or section to commemorate this event
which should be observed by all native and
and transplanted Oregonians, but we are join
ing in the spirit of "Oregon History" by today
publishing on our state's birthday a, little of the
lore and remembrance of a real "Old Timer" of
Morrow county. As Oregon remembers Its history,
so should Morrow county, and to help recall those
old names, places and events, the Gazette-Times
today is pleased to print this year's poetic re
membrances of the man we like to call, "Morrow
County's Poet Laurearte, 'Spencer Akers.
Mr Akers, wh0 is now 86 and for the past
several years has been a resident of Aumsville,
In the Willamette valley, but for many years
a resident of Morrow county, has brought back
In rhyme for us today a lot of this county's
history. He does it by naming names of many
persons that most of us still know, or remember.
In helping to observe our state's birthday, we
choose to do it by looking at our own history
here in Morrow county and the people who
made it, or who are still helping to make It,
through the historical poetic rememberances of
Mr Akers.
Here Is his work for 1959 and its accompany
ing letter:
Dear Sir:
Again I am sending you my annual verse
contribution. Please do what you like with It
I entitled it 'Tioneer" but about a third of It
is devoted to eulogizing the heroes of the Hepp
ner flood, Matlock and Kelly, and the erection
of a monument in recognition of their heroic
deed of informing those below of the on coming
flood of June the 14th, 1903. This should have
been done while they were living. It should not
cost much and I believe Heppner, Lexington and
lone and those living along the creek would be
proud of the monument even tho' a little ashamed
that it wasn't erected sooner.
Contributions should be small, allowing a
great many to subscribe to It A good place to
leave their donations would be at the G T office.
What do you say?
Sincerely,
Spencer Akers,
Aumsville, Ore.
PIONEER
By SPENCER AKERS
At eighty-six you find me here,
An octogenarian pioneer.
With pen in hand and deep in tho't,
Reviewing my life since a little tot.
Each year I've written you some verse,
Sometimes It's better, sometimes it's worse.
So just to pass the time away,
I write again on my birthday,
To let the old folks of your town,
Know that I'm still sticking around.
Many pioneers I note of late,
Have entered thru the pearly gate.
But still I see there are a few,
Old-timers left whom I well knew.
For Instance, Charlie Jones and wife,
Whom I have known most all my life.
And then again There's Charlie Vaughn,
A brother of old-timer John.
There's Doc McMurdo whose ready knife,
Saved many an ailing person's life.
There's Ealor Huston a real pioneer,
And Emma Jones, I see are here.
There's Lester and Millie whom you all know,
Who came to Heppner long, long ago,
Millie when young, I think about nine,
Was a sweet little girl and a pupil of mine.
There's Roy Neiil and Nora too,
Just to mention an old-time few.
And Louis Bisbee, a good old scout,
Who hasn't as yet been counted out
His life-time partners, Earl and Len,
Are still with us but you can't tell when
The reaper with his scythe and hook,
Will come without warning and close the
book.
Miss Humphreys with her wonder drugs,
Is here to kill your Inner bugs.
There's many a ruddy pioneer,
It's safe to say would not be here,
Was it not for Leta's store,
A pharmacy since days of yore.
A structure made of native stone;
In architecture it stands alone.
Twas once a saloon to be sure;
Being one eight it could not endure.
There's Walter Becket, Genie and Clive,
From last reports were still alive.
And of course, There's Osmin Hager,
And the Heppner historian O M Yeager.
Like me he left his habitation,
For other places o the nation.
Finding pasture with greener grass,
Does not always come to pass.
There's Opal, Ona, Hazel and May,
Frank S Parker and Walter Gay.
These, and I could mention more,
Who now are nearing the open door,
That's numbered three score years and ten,
The biblical number that tells us when
Each member of the human race,
Must yield to Father Time's embrace.
And should you reach beyond the goal,
Consider yourself a lucky soul.
There's Garnet Barrett, ex-judge you know,
Who took his seat some years ago.
He climbed the ladder very fast,
Since yours truly saw him last.
Ralph Thompson just above your town,
He saw the flood go tumbling down.
But being on a little higher ground,
He wasn't numbered with the drowned.
There's Philip Mahoney, Turner and Nys,
Attorneys at law and very wise.
All three of them have worked for me.
Their work I truly can guarantee.
Frank Turner, how would Heppner appear,
Without this progressive pioneer?
Just search and search and you'll never find,
A truer guy than David Hynd.
Like many an older pioneer,
His interest was in sheep, I hear.
And is, I think to the present day,
In Sand Hollow not far away.
I must not forget my daughter Blanche,
Who was born in Heppner but raised on a
ranch.
She rrirjved back to Heppner and Is there still;
In a neat little cottage up against the hill.
These pioneers, I've mentioned here,
Have had a long and interesting career,
And could it all be written down
What an interesting book for Heppner town,
When Father Time calls, and he will no doubt,
Your history then will be blotted out.
I hope these names I've mentioned here,
Each representing a true pioneer,
Will live on and on and will ever be,
Proudly handed down to posterity.
The Heppner flood of nineteen three,
Still lingers In my memory.
The victims were many, and a few,
Were pioneers whom I well knew.
Ed Ashbaugh's wife and children eight,
Here met their quick untimely fate.
And doctor Vaughn and faithful wife,
Whom I had known most all my life.
Two hundred plus were washed away,
On that sad and memorable day.
Those heroes we remember well,
Who raced their foaming steeds pellmell,
Down the vale in the raging storm,
To those below to spread the alarm,
Were called, I learn to meet the Lord,
And thus receive their just reward.
Bruce Kelly and Les Matlock by name,
Deservedly have received world fame.
Let's erect a monument you and I,
To honor those heroes before we die.
And let the world know, altho' it be late,
That we sincerely appreciate,
Their act of super-human speed,
In performing their thoughtful and kindly
deed,
Of warning the people without fear,
Of the wall of water close in the rear.
How well I remember, my family and I,
Were square in the path of this deluge from
the sky.
And had it not been for a Paul Revere,
My family and I might not be here.
And so I am offering a dollar bill,
To start a fund which I hope soon will
Be sufficient when you and you,
Have given your buck, or maybe two,
For a native stone 'bout a ton in weight,
With these few words to commemorate
The historic act, devoid of fear,
In rescuing many a pioneer.
"In commemoration of Kelly and Matlock,
We carve their names upon this rock."
We'll place this stone upon a base,
At an Intersection or some place,
Where all who happen to pass that way,
May not forget that frightful day,
Of June the 14th, nineteen three,
When Heppner was young and so were we.
I'll see you next year I hope and so ,
I'll sign off now and let you go.
From The
County Agent's Office
By NELS ANDERSON
In visiting with W W Weath
erford, Lena community rancher
this week, who is one of the
many livestock men using a vlt
amln A supplement this winter
I found him to be well pleased
with evident results of the use
of Vitamin A. Bill reported that
while In the past he had en
countered problems of weak
calves, scours and other symp
toms of vitamin A deficiency,
that this year cows were calving
out without any trouble with
calves big and strong. Bill says,
"I don't know whether It's the
vitamin A supplement that is
doing the job, however, I'm going
to give It the credit unless proved
otherwise. It Ls money very well
spent."
On Tuesday of this week the
agent assisted Herb Ekstrom,
lone registered Hereford breeder
in setting up a performance test
ing program on his ranch. The
1958 heifer and bull calf crop
were weighed and graded as the
first step in the program. Rat
ings, classified according to the
National Beef Registry Associa
tion will be given each calf.
While Herb has been carrying
on a selection program through
weight for age and quality de
terminations, he feels that this
new program will work well into
the planned state performance
testing program which Is now
under consideration. In gTadlng
these calves, I found that the
quality was excellent with a big
percentage given a two plus
grade-, and only one animal In
the whole group deserving a two
minus. An outstanding heifer
earned a one minus grade as
did a young polled bull calf.
The yearling polled bull weigh
ling 1120 pounds will be exhibi
ted at the Columbia Empire Poll
ed Hereford snow to be held in
Walla Walla later this month.
The quality of this herd has im
proved steadily over the few
years that Herb has been in the
registered Hereford business un
til he has one of the good herds
in the state.
From the files of the
Gazette-Times
February 14, 1929
Lucy E Rodgers, county school
superintendent, has just finish
ed compilation of the health In
spection report of Morrow county
schools for 1928.
Dr Fred E Farrior, dentist with
offices in the IOOF building, this
week disposed of his business
and office equipment to Dr J H
McCrady of Seattle who will take
charge of the same on the 15th
of this month.
The weather has been extrem
ely cold In the Hardman vicin
ity for the past two weeks, and
the snow is deep up that way,
is the report of Lotus Robison.
Morrow county has been fav
ored by the selection of Heppner
as the place for holding the
championship tournament for the
Umatilla Basketball league
Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
February 28, March 1 and 2.
Omar and other resistant varie
ties. However, the seed treat
ment program must also be cred
ited with a significant part of
this control.
Another signifciant fact is the
decrease of smut incident In the
susceptible Elmar variety from
34.9 in 1956, 19.5 in 1957,
8.9 in 1958. This may be at
tributed to both improved seed
treatments and a generally low
er smut In the wheat region. The
report pointed out that this re
duction In smut incidence was
made in the face of very favor
able weather for smut Infection.
Now that we have our smut
Infection down to such a low per
centage this is our best oppor
tunity to control this disease. Re
sistant varieties and good seed
treatment materials are avail
able for the job. In order to pro
tect Omar and the other resistant
varieties all seed wheat should
be treated with HCB. Treaters
should use at least one ounce
of Material no matter what form
ulation and preferably two oun
ces of a 40 formulation. Dye
containing compounds are much
preferred since the thoroughness
of coverage may be assessed by
the distribution of dye on the
seeds. Until better treating ma
chines can be developed for the
use of HCB it is suggested that
larger cups and longer mixing
chambers as well as agitation in
the reservoir tanks be used. HCB
is not soluble in water to any
great extent and therefore needs
agitation to prevent it from sett
ling out. We hope our Morrow
county farmers will not let up
with seed treatment now that
we are as far along with active
control.
Kenneth Smouse, lone pur
chased one of the top Yorkshire
bred guilts at the Washington
wine Breeders sale at Colfax,
last Friday. The bred gilt which
is due to farrow on March 26
is bred to the outstanding herd
sire "Stony Acres" owned by Ro
bert E Wolff of Tekoa, Washing
ton. It was from a litter of 20.
This should provide a lot of good
breeding stock for those inter
ested in hog production here in
Morrow county.
At the annual meeting of the
Oregon Wheat Growers League
held in December a recommenda
tion was made that county wheat
organizations sponsor periodic
meetings during legislature to
discuss bills and other proposed
legislation that might affect our
people. The Morrow County
Wheatgrowers Association last
month agreed that these meet
ings would be held from time
to time as necessary. Max dm
clay, president of the Morrow
County Wheatgrowers Associa
tion has called the first of these
meetings to be held at the con
ference room in the Bank of
Eastern Oregon on Friday after
noon, February 13 beginning at
1:30 P M. A number of people
will be given special invitations
tn attend the meeting represent
ing their particular organization.
Everyone is invited to attend,
if thev are interested
in keeping up with legislation.
Word has recently been receiv
ed from A G Beagle, veterinarian
in charge of the animal disease
eradication division, that Morrow
county has been recertified for
Brucellosis for three years' be
ginning January 1, 1959. This is
the first recertification of the
number one county of Eastern
Oregon. Figures for the three
years since the original certifi
cation shows that 465 herds have
been tested which included 18,
393 cattle. Of these 51 were reac
tors herds containing 4,624 cattle
with 245 reactors. During the
same period of time there were
438 suspects in these herds. 255
herds had 5,889 heifers calfhood
vaccinated. In Dr Beagle's letter
notifying us of this recertifica
tion he stated, "it is quite evi
dent from the number of react
ors removed that considerable
further testing is necessary in
Morrow county to maintain cer
tification standards and to even
tually eradicate the disease." It
is the hope that an adequate
testing program can be worked
out to meet the needs for the
county.
2
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday. February 12,
19S9
jf
BUDGET MASSAGE
Governor Mark Hatfield ap
peared before a joint session,
Senate and House, Monday- to
mull over and augment his in
augural budgeteering.
He emphasized that "a 100
day legislature could not await
the detailed reconstruction of the
budget to reflect fully either the
tin like the two preceeding It
Grass is Wealth and Ranchers,
Ranges and Cows, is written in
easy to read form and should be
read by every rancher concerned
with ranges.
A few days ago, we re
ceived the sale catalog for
the Red Bluff bull sale which
will be held at Red Bluff,
California on February 5, 6 and 7.
There will be offered at this sale
55 Shorthorns, 54 Angus and 307
horned and polled Herefoid bulls.
They will be sold as individuals
and pens of 2, 3 and 5. Here
ford judging and grading will
be held on Thursday, February
filh; Shorthorn judging and grad
ing the morning of Friday, Feb
ruarv 6th with the Shorthorn and
Angus bulls sold the afternoon
of Friday, February 6. Horned
and polled Hereford bulls will be
sol i on Saturday, February 7
Complete working drawings for
six corrals for beef cattle may
be obtained from this office. Lay
ou!s are included for different
fizes of herds and operations.
A good arrangement of well con
si meted pens, chutes and other
de ices makes handling of stock
easier, saves labor, and helps
prevent accidents. All of thesf
lay outs have been used success
fully and in general have similar
facilities. They can be somewhat
modified to suit special require
ments. You can obtain a copy
of this plan from this office by
asking for Six Corrals, building
plan 36.
The third in a series of Ore
gon extension bulletins on ranges
and range management is now
available for distribution. This
bulletin "Range Robbers" tells
of the effects of sagebrush and
other range weeds that steal
moisture and plant food from
useful range plants. The bulle-
philosophy or the program of the
new governor. We must find a
way to permit an incoming gov
ernor adequate time for review
of the budget he inherits, with
out obstructing the rapid corn
pletion of your legislative agen
da." b "
He stated, in the third person,
that a new governor does not
share In determining the ground
rules under which the printed
budget (Gov Holmes') is compll.
ed. He suggested amendments
to the present law to require
that an Incoming governor lay
before the legislature his budget
recommendations, not less than
45 days after his predecessor's
completed budget is available.
It is impossible to interpretate
the financial intent of either the
budget of Ex-Gov Holmes or Gov
Hatfield without hours of arrang
ing the different bases each ac
cepts or refuses.
Some of the best students of
government have made the big.
gest flops with budgets, while
the wildest political guessers
have earned credit for having
compiled wonderful budgets.
Conurvued un Page 5
STAR
THEATER
Thurs., Fri., Sat.. Feb. 12, 13.
14
Wild Heritage
Will Rogers Jr., Maureen O'
Sullivan, Casey Tibbs, George
Winslow. PLUS
Me and The Colonel
Danny Kaye, Curt Jurgens,
Nicole Maurey, Akim Tami-roff.
Sun., Mon.. Tuea., Feb. IS, 16,
17
The Tunnel of Love
Doris Day, Richard Widmark
Gig Young, Gia Scala. Sun
day at 4, 6 and 8.
r.Aii' -II
st. AiDin s juna
Spaghetti Dinner
i
i
f .
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
SERVED 2 TO 5 P.M.
EPISCOPAL PARISH HALL
I A' D
GOES
ON A GALLON !
Biscayne i-Door Sedan tliou-s the Fisher Body beauty of Chevrolet'! lowest priced $eriefor '9.
Recently we received a report
on wheat smut control from our
plant pathologist at Oregon State
college. Dr Bill Raymer reported
that smut control was excellent
in 1958. On a bushel basis only
1.1 of Oregons' wheat was
smuttv compared to 12.4 in
in 1957 and 23.6 in 1956, This
phenomenal drop in smut inci
dence was due primarily to the
tremendous Increase planted to
More miles are back in a gallon of regular-grade
gat up to 10 more and Chevy's new lh-Thrift
6 engine puts them there. It also gives you more
"git" in the speeds you drive the most.
Here's an engine that always seems able to coax extra
miles out of a tank of regular-grade gas. In fact, if you're
one of those drivers who keep tab on things like gas
mileage, you'll soon see for yourself that this new Hi
Thrift 6 gets up to 10 more miles a gallon.
Another thing you'll like about this 135-h.p. 6 is the
extra pep it gives you for passing and climbing hills. This
is due to higher torque at normal speeds.
It may be hard tp believe anything that looks and
moves like this '59 Chevy can be such a stickler for
economy. But-whether you pick the Hi-Thrift 6 or a
vim-packed V8 this is just
one more reason Chevy's
the car that's wanted for all
its worth. Stop by your
dealer's and see.
The smart switch is to the '59 Chevy!
jww-eetheer jKtaof models at your local authorized Chevrolet dealer's!
mYJtLET0N CHEVROLET COMPANY
MAT & M"Ul PHONE C ocwi
ruotiZ 6-9921 HEPPNER. OBEGON