HEPPNER GAZETTE -TIMES, Thursday. January 9. 1364
THE
HEPPNER
GAZETTE-TIMES
MOBBOW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER
The Heppner Gazette established March 30, 1883 The Heppner
Times established November 18, 1897. Consolidated February Id,
1912.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL!
1IAC8"4N
i . r
NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS
ASSOCIATION
WESLEY A. SHERMAN
Editor and Publisher
HELEN E. SHERMAN
Associate Publisher
as Second Class Matter.
,.............-- ""'
tMMIMMMmMMHMINMMMMMMII
What's Happening to the Mail?
Complaining about the U. S. post office department is prob
ably no more effective than a complaint about high taxes, but
Has appeared recently that instead of getting better, the
service offered by the department is getting worse
Whatever is wrong is not the fault of the local offices. In
places we've lived we have never known a pos master to be
other than very accommodating, courteous, helpful and cff.c
X There have been many cases when they have gone beyond
the line of duty to be helpful. This is true in Heppner, and
it is true with Ihe local carriers.
But somewhere in the bowels of the system-and we think
it is in the big cities-something is wrong. Mail coming from
California often takes an unusually long time to arrive in
manv instances and sometimes it does not arrive at all.
For instance, this newspaper office ordered Christmas cards
from a Los Angeles supply house on December 10 for a local
customer: The cards have not arrived at this writing, although
they were invoiced out of the office there on December 12.
Another expected package also failed to arrive. Still a
third parcel took nine days to make the trip from Los Angeles.
The Christmas season with its unusually heavy volume of
mail is difficult, of course, and It imposes unusual demands
on the postal system. But it is the same rush that has come
every year since the department was started and by now it
should be geared to take whatever steps are necessary to move
the mail in stride. .
First class mail is delayed during these rush periods, and
with important business mail tied up In the tidal wave of
Christmas cards it imposes a hardship on those businesses which
depend upon mail for their commerce.
We have had more and more complaints about newspapers
from this office not reaching their destinations on time even
though they invariably leave here at the same time every
Thursday One subscriber In La Grande said he never receives
his paper earlier than the ensuing Monday. Another In Port
land has complained of getting his a week late.
Packages coming by parcel post seem to be getting rougher
and rougher treatment. In this area, parcel post offers an out
on shipment of smaller items needed instead of paying the
premium cost on freight, but packages are coming through in
increasingly battered condition. This office often orders envelopes
from a supplier by parcel post. They are well packaged, but
seldom does a box arrive without one end being crushed.
Postmaster Jim Driscoll believes that this is due to the
fact that the department Is experimenting with sorting machines
instead of handling the packages manually in larger offices.
Apparently considerably more research needs to be done!
By and large, our postal system is a wonderful thing and
a marvelous service. It has been so reliable that the public
takes it for granted that its mail will come through in the
shortest possible time.
Volume has increased exceedingly, of course, and this im
poses great demands.
But with this good foundation, it now appears that the de
partment is losing ground, even in the face of the Zip Code.
Indeed, it seems that service has worsened from about the
time of the inception of this code.
To date, there has been only token use of the code, and maybe
this is adding some confusion. Some conscientiously have ad
justed their habits to include the code but others seem to be
disdainfully adopting an attitude of passive resistance towards
U Many have been unable to see how the Zip Code can im
prove service, and others like us have adopted the attitude
that If the department is convinced it will expedite service, the
best thing to do Is to cooperate, even though we don't under
stand all about it. But if good results are to come, they are not
evident as yet. It certainly is evident that 90 of the mail
coming through is without Zip Code addresses, and the system
could not be effective in the face of this response.
Postmaster Driscoll is good about hearing complaints and
he does his best to check them out, sending letters up the line,
but at that point they seem to get lost.
Now that the public is paying more for postal service, it
would not seem unreasonable that it could expect the depart
ment to improve its service so that it keeps pace with the
present-day demands on communication.
It would still be interesting to know what happens to the
parcels coming from the south. Do they get caught at the bottom
of a pile in a big sorting station somewhere with more coming
in constantly so the bottom of the pile is never worked? It
would be Interesting to see what happens to take nine days for
a parcel to get from Los Angeles.
Arthritis Cripples the Young, Too
W A X '
Chair and Chatter
wes Sherman
B
SEVERELY crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, the" hand belong to
five girls, aged 9 to 12, who art under treatment at the Marth of
Dimei-financed Arthritis Treatment Center, Children's Memorial
Hospital, Chicago. The youngsters are about to immerse their hands
for several minutes in a tub of hot paraffin, a form of therapy
which lessens pain, reduces stiffness in the finger joints, Increases
circulation and sometimes prevents contractures and "clenching."
March of Dimes programs assist II million Americans afflicted by
arthritis diseases.
DOES ANYONE know anything
of an ancient stone sepulcher
that is supposed to be located
near Lexington?
Mrs. Donna L. Thurber, who
represents a San Francisco con
cern which is engaged in getting
out folders for the Union Oil
company has written to the
Chamber of Commerce asking for
the information.
At thp nresent time this firm is
engaged in publishing a folder
on "Mystery Spots" for Union 76:
and in two letters to the Cham
ber asks about this sepulcher.
The folder is printed and dis
tributed for benefit of tourists
and includes such famous
"Mystery Spots" as the Win
chester House, San Jose, Calif.;
the house that defies gravity at
Gold Hill; Trees of Mystery in
Northern California where red
wood "roots" grow up and the
"trunks" grow down; and a place
in the "Bigfoot" country where
footprints seven inches wide and
18 inches long keep appearing
in the Trinity wilderness.
In the most recent letter she
speaks of the "ancient Mayan
sepulcher" near Lexington but
does not state where she heard
about it.
At a recent Chamber of Com
merce meeting with Orville Cuts
forth and other old timers
present, no one could shed any
light on it. Is there anyone
around who can?
If not, it will probably have
to go in a file with Gar Swan
son's dinosaur.
IF" GARNET Barratt. now of
Mesa, Ariz., is going to appear
on the TV program, Bonanza, he
doesn't know about it. This is
the word that comes via Mr. and
Mrs. Marion Saline of Pendle
ton, brother and sister-in-law of
Mike Saline of Heppner.
The Pendleton couple is in
Arizona for the winter, saw Gar
net and he said the rumor of
his expected TV debut is all
news to him.
Now the Bonanza's ratings in
this area will fall down to norm
al once more. Still think our
ex-iudee would have made a
good actor with Lome Green.
V W W
VIC GROSHENS, city superin-
tendent, says we left out one
of the most important local de
velopments of the year in the
summary story on 1963 last week.
This is the digging of the city's
artesian well, which has sup
plied 20 million gallons of good
water since it was put on the
line. The water flows at tne
rate of about 110,000 gallons per
day without pumping.
V V V
ALSO HEARD we failed to men
tion some of the new signs
around the community in the
little item about the bright ap
nearance Main street is taking
We didn't really try to name
them all, but we did miss Pete
McMurtry's new sign at Hepp
ner Auto Parts.
dent since childhood days. He
recalls the Indians coming
through in the spring of 'the
year and also remembers the
freighters making the trip from
Heppner to Long Creek.
WE CAN'T help but share the
pleasure that Sgt. Jim Chaun
cey of the Condon Air Force
Station and other personnel
there leel on the selection oi
their monthly paper as the best
in the Air Defense Command
across the United States in its
category, for stations with per
sonnel of 1000 or less. It is really
quite an achievement for them,
and the Gazette-Times shares,
because it composes and prints
the Daoer. "The Scope," for
them. Lt. Tom Goldie, public in-
iormation otticer wno ma mucn
of the work building up the
paper, has been transferred but
Sgt. Chauncey now does most
of the work on the publication
under Lt. Joe Bigelow, lniorma
tion officer.
Citation and presentation of
the award will come at a later
date at the station, according
to word from Major Richard Sol
omon, commander.
ARS Inspectors
Find Vast Pest
Array at Borders
IN SUMMER time on the lakes
in the state there is a contro
versv between water skiiers and
fishermen, each annoying the
other. Soon we may nave an
other winter controversy on the
lakes that between cold weain
er fishermen and ice skaters. At
Bull Prairie fishing is now in
full swine with those wno en
1ov choiiDine holes in the ice
Skaters are also enjoying me
frozen lake surface, and win un
til they plop into one of the
fishermen s holes.
A word of caution that comes
via the Rev. Melvin Dixon: If
you do go fishing at Bull Prairie,
don't leave your pole unattend
ed. PETERSON'S JEWELERS, we dis
covered the other day, is a
second post office in Heppner.
If you need stamps and don't
get' to the post office before the
window closes at five, Randall
will sell them to you at least
he did to Frank S. Parker, who
apparently is a pretty regular
customer.
Frank, though, declares that
some of Randall's stamps aren't
of top quality. He wanted a
penny rebate on one that had a
corner torn off.
Noticed that Frank licks the
corner of the envelope instead
of the stamp. Declares it is bet
ter tasting. That's a good cue
for us.
We'll have to develop flavors
for envelopes we sell in our job
printing plant, maybe in straw
berry, cherry, raspberry, orange,
lemon and lime.
THERE'S AN interesting article
in the January issue of North
west Ruralite on the town of
Monument, picture of which is on
the front cover. It tells of the
town being incorporated in 1SU4
after a post office was first lo
cated there October 27, 1S74. At
one time a newspaper, the Mon
ument Enterprise, was publish
ed there by Billy Crabtrre. fath
er of Mrs. Wave Jackson, who
still lives there.
Tile story also tells of Mark
Stubblefirld, 82, another resi-
From time to time we hear
criticisms mainly of the nuis
ance of plant inspections or
quarantines. Many people have
complained of losing some fruit
or something at state lines or
thf Canadian hnrdpr whilp nn
have come to life which might
maKe some oi us utuer unuer
stand and anniwiatp whv these
inspections or quarantines are
necessary.
Those responsible for the in
spections, the Agricultural Re
search Service, insneetors inter
cept an average of one plant pest
. 1 ..,.,i u
evt-iy j.u iiiiniues aiuunu me
clock. In the last decade, these
ly a quarter of a million insects
diseases, nematodes, mites, and
snails from entering the United
States. Their action safeguards
me prouueuve aDimy oi u. a.
Agriculture.
Withmit mnnt niinrantinp in
crxantnrc Tnio'Vit tint ha thp hpet
fed and best clothed people in
tne wono. witnoui mese inspec
tors nnp Ampriran farmpr cnuld
not produce enough for himself
and 28 fellow Americans. Here
ara nmp pvnmn P5' 'SlYtv
bright red berries in a suitcase.
Just a souvenir to show the folks
back home, an air passenger
thmiaht Thnv vuprp. rnffpp hprrips
fmm Rr:i7i!' thpv wprp nrpttv
and they were infested with the
Mediterranean truit tiy.
But not too long ago another
traveler, at Loredo, Tex., obvious
lv did nnt knnw ahnut thp rpf
ulations. Inspectors tound orchids
stutied into his pocKeis and tree
conHc nnnpnnlnd in hie mnnpv
belt. Both the flowers and the
seeds harbored dangerous plant
pests.
ARS inspectors are stationed
at malor U.S. airports, sea
ports, and border crossings to
pnfnrpp thp nlant niiarantines
Since 1953, these inspectors have
marlp 2.1(1747 interventions of in-
jpfts disfaeps npmatodes. mites
and snails. These interceptions
included many ot tne worio s
most important plant pests. In
cluded upfp the Euro Dean
cherry fruit fly, Mediterranean
fruit fly, melon fly, Mexican
fruit flv, olive fruit fly, Oriental
fruit flv, West Indian fruit fly,
oitrus black fly, Durra stem bor
er, Khapra bettle, Mediterran
ean land snail, pink bollworm,
Japanese citrus scale, Cancrosis
B. citrus canker, golden nema
tode, sweet orange scab and
scab and black spotted citrus.
During the fiscal year ending
June 30. 1963, ARS inspected
144.601 airplanes, 59,556 ships,
25,962.219 vehicles and 66,010
rail road cars. They also coop
erated with custom officials in
examining 43,910,990 packages.
Thev intercepted damaging plant
pests 31,439 times and found
394,915 lots of prohibited plant
material.
In addition, by accident, they
found the second largest ship
ment of nurp hproin ever in
tercepted in the United States,
stopped last October at the Mex
ican border. While this job is io;
custom officials, an alert ARS
plant quarantine inspector dis
covered the heroin in a tourist
car. The inspector became sus
picious when he tested the cars'
rear seat with his knee and
noticed that it was unusually
hard. A search revealed 27 plas
tic bacs of heroin jammed up
under the springs. Thirty-nine
more bags were behind the four
door panels.
Jones to Head
Farmers Union;
Vote Resolution
At a recent meeting of the
Farmer's Union, Morrow county
lnnal disrnssinn was held on
fair trade and the world market,
with particular emphasis on Deei
and poultry.
Dffipprs fnr 1 Qfi4 wprp plpcred.
Clarence Rosewall retired from
the president s chair, after serv
ing for 1962 and 1963. He was
succeeded by Marcel Jones. Paul
Brown was elected vice presi
dent, and Mrs. Orville Cutsforth
replaced Mrs. Paul Brown as secretary-treasurer.
Bob Jepsen, representing the
Wheat League, reported on the
Oregon Wheat League meeting
held in Portland. He urged all
wheat growers to write immed
iately to congressmen concern
ing a voluntary wheat program.
Mr. Jepsen also read resolutions
from five wheat raising states,
all favoring the voluntary wheat
plan.
The local Farmer's Union
then passed the following res
olution: "Whereas: The Morrow Coun
ty Farmers Union wholeheart
edly supports the Oregon btate
Wheat League stand, that we
take aggressive steps to secure
a voluntary program for wheat,
encompassing the principles oi
the CERTIFICATE PLAN (urg
ing a voluntary certiticate pro
gram)."
Smith Offers Class
n Radio, Electronics
A class in elementary elec
tronics, radio theory and prac
tice will be started soon oy Kay
Smith if enough demand is
shown, he announced this weeK.
Smith, an experienced and li
censed technician, would like to
have anvone interested get in
touch with him or phone his
home, 676-9725. He conducted
such a class a few years ago,
helping start several young
people in interesting radio and
"ham" oDeratine hobbies, ine
piass will he oDen to men, wo
men or young people and will
probably meet in tne evenings.
If enough interest is snown,
an organizational meeting date
will be called.
One -Shot
Roscoe
As Told By
ORVILLE W. CUTSFORTH
Mrs. Smouse Spends
Holidays with Bakers
Mrs. Anne Smouse returned to
her home here Monday after
spending the holidays at the
hnmp nf her son-in-law ano
daughter, Dr. and Mrs. Richaid
Baker and family in torvains,
and visitine friends in Eugene.
While at the Baker home she
became acquainted with her new
grandson, Dick Kiger, born to
the Bakers on Thanksgiving Day.
He weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz., and
tnins three sisters. Deborah, r,
Martha Ann, 6, and Elizabeth, 3.
She accomDanied her son, Ken
neth Smouse of lone, home from
Corvallis where he went to re
turn Kenneth Lynn to his
studies at Oregon State Univer
sity.
(Editor's note: This is an
other in the series of anec
dotes about the late Roscoe
Cox, Morrow county outdoors
man.) nii Dncnnn Cnv and his 22
UUU ww.fc
Winchester pump. We seldom
saw him when he wasn't carry
ing this little' rifle.
t Viirv, nnp dnv when he
came in from making'some wood
and I said, "Koscoe, tnat ruie
will be the death of you yet.
He said, "Why?"
"Well," I said, "Roscoe you 11
meet a bear up here one of these
days (there are lots of bear
here) you'll shoot him with that
,22 and you won't be able to stop
him and he'll get you."
I was up about a week later
and Old Roscoe was grinning.
He says "Orville, I did it."
"Did what?" I says.
He said, "I killed a bear with
this .22."
I said, "oh, no."
He said, "Yes, the bear was
going along the hillside and
didn't see me. So I shot him be
hind the front leg. The bear rati
away, the dog, Old Bob, took
after him, and the bear and the
dog went around through the
brush. Pretty soon the dog 'Kie
yiked' and I knew he had the
v,QS,r ir, q trAP. Sn I cut through
the brush and got to the tree
and the bear was up a sman
tree and the tree was leaning
over. The bear was dying and
about to fall out of the tree. I
knew he had life enough to kiii
'Old Bob. So I had to shoot him
in the eye.
Two shots.
SCHOOL MENUS
Week of January 13-17
MONDAY Snaehetti and meat
balls, string beans, carrot sticks,
fruit, milk, and bread and butter.
TUESDAY Hamburger gravy,
potatoes, celery sticks, fruit, milk
and bread and butter.
WEDNESDAY Navy beans
and ham, cabbage salad, hot
rolls and butter, fruit and miiK,
Thursday Macaroni and
cheese, Jell-O vegetable salad,
cake, fruit, milk and bread ano
butter.
Wranglers Elect
New Officers
New officers were elected Tues
day evening at the regular meet
ing of the Wrangler Riding club.
Elected president for the com
ing year was Gene Harryman,
lone High school principal. Other
officers are Mrs. Beverly Steag
all, vice president, Mr. and Mrs.
Dimple Munkers, secretary
treasurer. On the board of di
rectors are Fred Mankin, Art
Vance, Everett Struckmeier, Jerry
Dougherty and George Luciani.
Plans were made for the com
The date of Sunday.
January 19, was set for a work
day at the wrangler piay
grounds. Discussion was held on
enriner nlavdavs. but no dates
were scheduled.
The Wranglers win sponsor
a girl for princess of the Mor-
rnu; Pnun tv Fair and Rodeo this
year. The last Sunday in March
will be tne time ior iryouis ai
the playgrounds.
Tha ninh's nhiective is to stim
ulate more interest and activity
for members this year.
Dr. and Mrs. Jim Norene served
refreshments to the 25 members
attending.
is- mm?-
"use thft
VflfJIflDS
All lvinnre business forms
the county to get the forms you
need.
ttrtday Potato soup, peanut
butter sandwiches, lettuce salad,
upside down cake and milk.
DEFEND
i FREEDOM
BUYU.S.
TO
COMMUNITY
BILLBOARD
Cominq Events
HEPPNER HIGH BASKETBALL
Heppner vs. Sherman High ot
Moro. Heppner Hign scnooi
evm.
Friday, January 10.
.lavvee same. 6:15 P.m.
Va'rsitv same. 8:00 P.m.
Support the Mustangs!
REBEKAH-ODU FhLX,UWa
DINNER
Saturday, January 11.
IOOF Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Joint installation of officers.
HF.PPNER EXTENSION UNIT
Home of Mrs. Frank Connor
Tuesday, January 14
Noon luncheon.
Lesson on "Wills."
HF.PPNF.R PTA MEETING
Elementary mult i p u r p o s e
rnnm
Wednesday, January 15, 7:30
p.m.
Panel discussion. Band stu
dents.
SK-TTNf: AT ARRIJCKLE
20" to 30" packed snow on hill
low operating Saturday, sun'
da v
Skiing hours, 12 noon to 4:00
p.m.
Ski lessons available Satur
day.
SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC
RFRVTCR RY
C. A. RUGGLES
Insurance Agency
P. O. Box 247 PH. 676-9625
Heppoer
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Heppner