Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1963)
THE GAZETTE-TIMES MOBROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER PHONE 676-9228 The Heppner Gazette, established March 30. 1883. The Heppner Times established November 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, i912. WESLEY A. SHERMAN Editor and Publisher NIWSPAMt kPUill$Hlll -XilOCIATION Subscription Rates: Morrow and Whore $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 and Entered at the Post Office ' Class Matter. OFFICE HOURS: 8 a.m. t0 6 Mr : Parking Meter Dilemma i - Chief of Police Dean Gilman, tired of being badgered by ' the public for issuing them parking tickets and of being criti cized by some councilmen for not checking the meters closely enough, opened an old dilemma when he asked the council . Monday night, "Just how hard do you want me to work those parking meters?" While it appears that most of the councilmen would be quite happy to see the "nickel grabbers" removed entirely, they don't know what they would do to replace the some $4000 annual revenue that the meters provide. At the same time they are afraid that the situation would revert to what It was in the past the nearsighted practice of some business people and employees using available parking for themselves and congest ing the streets, instead of leaving it for customers and visitors. Clint McQuarrie points out that when he used to drive a .bread truck to Heppner in pre-parking meter days, he had to double park most of the time because merchants were using the space for their own cars. ' ; Were it not for the six per cent limitation on the city budget, 'the problem of taking out the meters and figuring out some kind of a voluntary honor system to keep merchants' vehicles off the street might not be so difficult. The $4000 revenue merely could be added to the tax levy and each citizen Would pay a little for the joy of seeing the iron bandits removed. But because of the state law, the city cannot top the previous year's levy by more than six per cent, i As it has been going, there is enough normal Inflation to i require that the budget be increased to the six per cent limit each 'year. This means that receipts from sources other than taxes 1 just about have to hold to the i ' 'Another complication enters meters are about worn out and expenditure. ,7,,The editor of this paper has always considered parking .meters as a nuisance (and we stifle the inclination to put it ! 1 ...... 1..IV T. l,. 41 .' 1 .lll J.1 i. in uunm:i iuiikuhkc-i. ii isn i me pennit-a unu nicKi-is inai one feeds into them that makes the difference, but the sheer nuisance of the things. ' 1 Tnl,n tl-ll tlplinn tnnwvtnw, . . . 1 . I. i .. I 1 . .1 ! 1 1. iwc wic wiieai laiim-i wnunt- luiuuillt? uiuive uuwn III lilt' ' middle of harvest, an incident that Chief Gilman tells about. He didn't wait to change clothes or grab a nickel. He hopped Into his car and headed for town to get the needed part. The man i lwft his Pllr nt n motor In frnnt nf n hnrrtunrn crnrn urnt ItJ and got the part that cost $63. When he came out, the chief, obeying orders, had issued him a ticket. 1 " 'The farmer showed the chief the contents of his pocket' ' some washers, bolts and a liberal sprinkling of wheat chaff 'and straw. "I break down In the middle of harvest and come , to town with the whole operation waiting," said he. "I buy $G3 worth of goods and you fine me a dollar!" r lie muni care aooui tnc penny or tne nickel, lie would have put It in the meter if he'd had it on him, but that is the nuisance of the dad-blamed things. " Another woman from out of town went Into the shoe store. nougnt an h.d pair 01 snoes, went into the dress shop and ' bought a dress. She came out just as the chief was writing her , a, .ticket. And she exploded. She told how she came to town to give four hours free time to the hospital, spending her own money for gasoline, patronized two local stores and then got a ticket as a reward. There is no differentiation between the calloused person who never puts a penny in the meter, figuring that he will take his chances, and the one who conscientiously pays but falls to get back quite on time. If the red flag happens to pop up, and the ini'wii i.i iiu-iv:, in- nun iu mam uo to his solemn dutv. ! .Members of the council Monday night seemed to concur that the meters either should be enforced or should be removed. Only possible alternative Is a return to the system whereby the Chamber of Commerce members pungle up for a courtesy fund. Through tills fund, which would be turned over to the police department, whenever a car was found to be in violation, the ,ofiicer would take a nickel from the fund and insert It in the meter. Then he would leave an envelope on the auto's wind shield, with the message, "A Dollar Saved! The merchants of iirpjni-i nuve iui muiii-y hi your purRing nicier wnicn naa ex piped so that you would not receive a parking citation. If you appreciate this service, please put a nickel in this envelope and return it to your nearest store. This program will be continued as long as we have cooperation. Thanks for your help. The Merch ants of Heppner." Well, as we understand It, on the first try some years ago, the system lasted about two years. Maybe it could do better with a little more conscientious attention. It Is expected to come before the Chamber again. But Chief Gilman recalls finding in one car 22 envelopes mat one local person Had collected without bothering to pungle up a single nickel. 1 If parking meters were removed, the town would really have something to advertise "Come to Heppner and Park Free." But if this were done the merchants and employees would all have to pledge to keep their cars off the downtown streets. And this brings up another odd point. A person can go to Portland, park and walk 10 blocks to his destination without complaint, but if he has to walk a block and a half in Heppner, he's pro voked about it. It would be interesting to hear expressions from our readers on these meters. What do you think? (But, ulease! Don't tie up our phone by calling on the subject. Drop us a note). Congestion Peril at Flood Time Many have remarked since Monday evening's flood scare that if a flood catastrophe really did come, as many would die from the congestion and confusion as would be' caught simply by the flood waters. Certainly the congestion from the curious on Monday should serve as a warning for some constructive planning in the future. The Condon hlghvvhy was pretty well jammed with cars as the curious went to check on Shobe creek although Chief of Polieo Gilman tried to head off traffic on Main street. , Bridges were a favorite gathering spot for the sightseers even though the spots would be the least desirable places to be If a wall of water did come cascading down the channel. "' Cars snarled travel at points where firemen and officers were trying to do their Jobs and made it difficult for them to get through to sound nlerts to those who might be imperiled in their homes. The entire trouble, however, cannot be pinned entirely on curiosity-seekers. A large part of the population had no "idea of what was going on, how great the hazard was. where It might come from, whore they should go, what they should do. Some didn't hear the siren, but they may have spotted the flashing lights and noticed some of the commotion. They came out to find out what was going on. Naturally congestion resulted. HIIIIIUIIIIUltlllliHIfMI HEPPNER HELEN E. SHERMAN Associate Publisher NATIONAL EDITORIAL Grant Counties, $4.00 Year; Else- Cents. Published Every Thursday at Heppner, Oregon, as Second p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. same level, the picture because the present replacements will be a major iiic inauuii. uiuviueu lie lives Thurs., Feb. 7, 1963 the w HHTN GAZETTE-TIMES HEPPNER, OREGON TO THE EDITOR. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Sherman: inanKs very much tor your nice letter of December 24, and the information I requested. I have added this to the chapter "The Morrow County Press," which is In my "History of Mor row County." I am enclosing a copy of this, but I think you already have all,this. I person ally knew every one of the ed itors of the Gazette except the first, J. A. Stine, as I was not born yet. The next or second ed itor, Col. John Watermelon Red ington, I knew the second time he owned the paper. His two old est daughters were school mates of mine. He had 4 daughters, all still living and very good friends of mine. One lives at Vancouver, Wn., and the other three live in California. Three of them visit me here quite of ten and the other one writes often. Mr. A. J. Hicks, formerly pub lisher of the Cowlitz County Ad vocate In Castle Rock, the oldest newspaper In this county, came to Heppner the latter part of 1891 and purchased the Gazette at Heppner, but in a few months sold out and again came to Castle Rock. His youngest daugh ter is a good neighbor of mine here. Then, in 1910, Mr. Hicks returned to Heppner and bought out the Heppner Times from E. M. Shutt. When I was a kid around Heppner, I used to hang around the newspaper shops. When the town of Spray was founded on the John Day River by a Heppner man, I went there as a kid and helped set type for Jessie Shelly, who started a small paper there called "The Spray Courier." I stayed there one summer. Mr. Sherman, I would like to have your permission to use part or all of your article on the Hynd brothers. Will and Dave were two of my very best friends in Heppner. Dave and I worked part of the fall of 1903 building board sidewalks where the old ones had been washed away. At the time of the flood, I had al ready served my apprenticeship as a carpenter, and my father, the Pioneer furniture dealer and the undertaker, put me in charge of building all the cof fins, just rough lumber boxes, for the burial of the dead. I had about 15 or 16 men working under me. Fred Lockley, old time news paper man was the first reporter to reach Heppner and he came to Interview me quite often at the time of the 1903 flood. Will you tell Judge Peterson I am getting a large manuscript ready and will soon be sending it to him. Hope to see you this Memona Day if I can. Sincerely, O. M. Yeager Page 2 Mayor Al Lamb, Fire Chief Charles Ruggles and Chief Gil man agree that when the flood siren sounds, any persons in the low parts of town should take their families and head for high ground. Maybe they have friends out of reach of the floods, who will provide them sanctuary. Quite a few converged at the new high school Monday night, which was a wise move. Maybe when this building is completed, it could become an evacuation center for such emergencies. You can't blame people for going helter-skelter when they don't know what's going on. It would seem a feasible move for the community to set up an Information center for such times of emergency. A couple of men might be designated the job of checking and feed back reliable information on conditions to this center. Then the public could call in and get the facts or at least as much as is known. One lady who unsuccessfully tried to call her son in another part of town during the scare was terribly frightened, thinking he may have drowned, when actually he was in no peril at all. She called the paper and we were able to calm her fears, but with the commotion going on, who could blame her for being concerned? As it turned out, the flood scare was actually no serious threat at all. But the peril that may issue from congestion and confusion at times of emergency in the future is something to be concerned about. The community should take constructive steps now for an orderly procedure next time. TO THE EDITOR Dear Mr. Sherman: We are sorrv to have missed last weeks "Chaff and Chatter,' but we did catch it this week. What a surprise to find the Neil Shuirmans in the home town paper! We wish to thank our friends for going to bat for us in order to correct the spelling of Cupertino. It may interest you to know that even if some trusted soul on the mail car has been read ing the Heppner Gazette, we have received all copies regard less of spelling. What greater proof of enjoyment of your paper could be established than the fact that the wrappers have been torn off so quickly that we didn't notice vou have been sending it to "Supertino" all this time? We may be remiss in our cor respondence, but we do keep posted by reading the Gazette- 1 imes. What a wonderful success tory vou printed of the Hynd Family! We wish them "Con gratulations." It brought back pleasant memories for us for in retrospect, Jack was my school board chairman, Herbert my school clerk and Beth a fellow faculty member with my hus band. So now you have heard from Cupertino and know who we are. Sincerely, Katheryn F. Shuirman (Mrs. Neil Shuirman) Boxboard for making signs and decorations at the Gazette-Times, available in white and colors. Chaff and Chatter Wes Sherman ANY WHO think there were no casualties Monday night when the flood threat came is mis taken. One is missing anyway. Fortunately it is not a human being, but the sadness is almost as great in the Harley Young family. When the warning came, Young and his family got in the car to get out "just in case." Little Marsha, youngest daugh ter, came out with two precious possessions her clarinet and the family's black and grey long haired cat. While they were Investigating in another part of town, the fam ily got out of the car and left the door open. When they returned to the car, the cat was missing. Anyone who has any know ledge of the cat's whereabouts would not only clear up the lone casualty of the "flood" but would restore some happiness in the Young family. FRED GIMBEL might have been a casualty if it weren t for the flood warning. He had just seat ed himself at the supper table and was about to remark to his wife that he didn't care for the tuna fish and long noodles that she was serving when the siren blew. This stifled his remark as he headed out and left the tuna and noodles on the table. Don't know whether his wife, Betty, would have used the fry ing pan or the rolling pin if he had said what was on his mind, but he almost certainly would have been bombarded with one or the other. (No need to turn on me with the rolling pin after printing this, Betty. I'm leaving town as soon as the paper is out). WE UNDERSTAND Herman Stroeber has been taking a ribbing at the mill recently. In the past he has told the boys about how he bought high up on the hill to avoid floods that tne rest of them might encounter in the valley below. Saturday when the cninooK came ana tne neavy runon started, the Stroeber home was one of those caught with the water pouring down the hill. Fourteen men helped divert water from the house, but the yard was flooded and the house was partially uncierminea. a pump was used under the house. Meanwhile most ot those down in the valley kept dry. That s the way the ball boun ces. WE APPRECIATED getting the nice letter from the Shuirmans of CuDertino. which is printed elsewhere in this paper. It's good to hear from former residents (particularly when they have such kind things to say) and it would be good to have more write and tell us what they are emcmStX GOOD Cm llillm h-Otv Maana4M lillinrt The Gazette - Times doing. Home folks are always interested in their friends who have moved elsewhere. JACK BEDFORD has been real proud because the First Nat ional Bank has topped $1 billion in deDosits. This eave us a good opening to chide him the other day when the billion dollar banic sent us a letter containing a news release with 5c postage due. NEWS NOTE: Sixteen of the 17 Old-Timers of the Elks lodge who had their pictures taken at the recent meeting wore glasses. The only one without them was Claude Graham. We mentioned this to Exalted Ruler Conley Lanham, "Yes," said Conley, "and Claude needs them." A GOOD WAY to baptise a would-be writer for a weekly newspaper would be to turn him loose writing basketball games from some of the scorebooks re ceived. When a fellow tries to decipher some of the names in the box scores as written by tne young scorekeepers, he is apt to come up with anything. When the stories come out in print, it 50 of the names of jayvee play ers are spelled accurately, it should be a pretty good average. Its one of the hazards ot the business Reminds us of the trick that Al Lightner (of "hot penny" fame) used to play on the Cap ital Journal as sports editor of Coming Events LEGION MOVIES Saturday night, 8:00 p.m. Legion Hall This week "Public Pigeon No. 1," starring Red Skelton and Vivian Blaine. Plus one-half hour cartoons. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL Heppner Mustangs vs. Sher man County. JV game, 6:30. Varsity, 8:00 Friday, February 8 Help support the Mustangs! LEGION AUXILIARY BENEFIT Public Card Party Feb. 11, 8 p.m., Legion Hall Dessert-Bridge-Pinochle Help Send Girls' State dele gate! VALENTINE CARD PARTY By OES officers club Feb. 14, Masonic Hall Bridge-Pinochle-Prizes. 8:00 p.m. ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS! This week marks the begin ning of the second year for "Community Billboard." It has been a pleasure serving you and your responses have been appreciated Helen and Charles SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BY C. A. RUGGLES Insurance Agency Heppnet P. O. Box 247 PH. 676-9625 They J COMMUNITY U ) BILLBOARD K Yes, a pencil and good BUSINESS FORMS moan RELIABLE RECORDS Out of the large variety of bmlnn formi that we handle you can choose thote that both speed vp and ln create efficiency In yowr personal forme tyitem. The completefleM of our line auvree yen -a bwlnoi form for every form of ImoIimm fall UA&d&f... For ComploH lnftrmat RECORDS tM OOOD both papers in Salem. The Statesman, the morning paper, in those days would dut ifully send a staffer to cover most of the ball games, but the Capital Journal, the afternoon paper, quite often found it more convenient to rewrite the States man's story for afternoon con sumption. So Al would make up some fictitious far-fetched name to put down as officials in the box scores, like "Jabalonkowow itz and Skiczech," and sure enough, the CJ story would come out in the afternoon with the information, "Officials: Jab alonkowowitz and Skiczech." We don't always believe what our eyes interpret in these score books, but we have to put down what we see, or what we guess the name to be, and we hope proud parents pardon us. Of course, we know most of the local kids, but we get trapped on the visiting teams. WE WOULD LIKE to say, "Thanks for the tips," to the helpful citizens who give us a call when they see or hear of something important happening. Some people think a newspaper has a mysterious pipeline that immediatelv channels news to it when it breaks. Actually though, we usually don't hear of it un til someone comes and says, How bad was that wreck?" and we reply, "What wreck?" And thereby we realize that an acci dent has occurred. We got the first tip on the bad lone accident the other night by a caller who wanted to find out how the lone game came out and Incidentally men tioned the wreck in the conver- thp Oregon Statesman, I Valentine I Day Gift A distinctive ring to express your deep sentiment. Store Hours: 9 A. M. To 6 P. M. J A 177 MAIN ST.. HEPPNER C PH. 676-9200 Cren 4 lUf INIf I together I , Only a few IHustnrtloni of the many oppti- cation of theie sation. He had assumed we knew about it. Charlie Ruggles makes our work a lot easier by tipping us off on spot news that comes through his key office. Del Nel son called from the north end the other day to tell us about Butter Creek flooding. This helps us put out a better paper, friends. Thanks. INCIDENTALLY, the Ruggles' Community Billboard is ob serving its first anniversary on this editorial page, and it has proved a fine service to the community. Many have made comments about it, and the Rug gles have been real pleased with the response from those who ap preciate them heralding and ad vertising coming events. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Hartle traveled to lone last Sunday to visit at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Walt Jones and Mr. and Mrs. Keith Savage. Mr. Jones has just returned home from the Good Shepherd hospi t a 1 - in Hermiston. BUSINESS MACHINE SERVICE Office Supplies. Office Equip ment. Business Machines. IN HEPPNER 1st & 3rd Week of Every Month DON BALL, Serv. Dept. 120 Main St.. Hermiston Phone JO 7-5114 "Something from the jeweler's, is always something special." v. -.ify y venattte tools of Modem
