Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1964)
The Highlander By MICHAEL D. BENGE Ban Me Thuot, Viet Nam HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thursday, March 26, 1964 5 Gor. Rockefeller To Visit Pendleton The provinces of Darlac, Tuy-en-Due, Lam Dong, Pleiku, Kon turn, Phu Yen and Quang-Duc comprise the area called the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Formerly this area contained very few Vietnamese due to the fear of the Evil Spirits and the Burning Fever (malaria). Even though the lands border the mountains, the soil would be un fertile in contrast with the moun tain lands, and there would be over population and starvation if no migration took place. Until the French came, this area was only populated by many mountain tribes of people of migratory nature. The largest of these are the Djarai, Rhade and Koho. The climate is var ied but the area is renowned for the wind and cool nights. The season is divided into a six months rainy season (rain us ually between 12 and 3 in the afternoon and 8 to 10 at night) and a six months dry season. Ban Me Thuot is a red clay area and there is a constant dust dur ing the dry season. Until the recent resettlement program, the area was sparsely populated only by the tribal people. Now resettlement vil lages of Vietnamese dot the sur rounding landscape. One finds thousands of perfectly aligned 'rubber coffee, tea and tak wood trees on the many French plan tations abounding here. As one moves to the virgin hardwood forests, jungle and tall grasses, he may find the mammoth ele phant, sleek tiger, fleet deer, stately peacock or colorful wild chicken hiding from civilization. The Montagnard people of the highlands are thought to be of Malayan, Aboriginee or Poly nesian descent and for this rea son they speak many dialects. Their language is spelled and spoken phonetically (similar to the Philippines) and has no sim ilarity to the Vietnamese lang uage. Typical of all tribes is the traditional long house, built up on five foot pilings (sometimes on the ground) made of hard wood tatch and bamboo with grass-straw roofs peaked at a very high angle. These houses are quite similar to those found throughout Malaysia and the South Sea Islands and many times housei as many as forty people. Domestic animals may be found in the houses and be neath them to protect them from the jungle prowlers. The diet of these people is composed mainly of rice and legumes, grown by the slash burn type of farming and fields will be moved every two or three years due to loss of fertility. This cleared land is soon re captured by the surrounding jungle. Their diet at times may be varied by the addition of wild fruit or game, or an oc casional sacrifice of a domestic animal. Domestic cattle are raised as a measure of wealth, not for means of economy or food, and are used in the primitive sacrifice cere mony which is part of the relig ion and past heritage of these nomadic people. The animals killed in the ceremony are read ily eaten by the family and un til the next sacrifice! no meat is eaten unless it is wild game. So one sees that their sacrifice is a way of supplementing their diet also. Clothing made of black hand- Judge Aspirants Speak at Chamber Six of seven candidates for Morrow county judge appeared at the Heppner-Morrow County Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday and gave short talks re garding' their backgrounds and candidacy. Oliver Creswick, a Republican candidate, could not be present. Berl Akers, . Republican, said that he believes Morrow county can make substantial growth with all organizations and "pres sure groups" working with the county government for its pro gress. Bill Weatherford, Democrat, re stricted his remarks to an out line of the duties and responsi bilities of the county judge, tell ing of his part on the county court, as juvenile judge and in probate work. Frank Hamlin, Democrat, spoke of the need to provide more work opportunities here for young people. He said that if elected, he would give his whole time to what he considers a fulltime job. Ambrose Chapin, Republican, pointed out that he has lived here 35 years and knows the county well. He emphasized his slogan, "Economical, fair and impartial treatment." Paul Jones, Democrat, spoke of the importance of growth de velopment. The Boeing develop ment, John Day dam, Willow Creek dam, maximum use of rec reation potential, tax- equaliza tion and long range road pro gram were emphasized in his talk. Haskell Sharrard, Democrat, stressed the need to utilize the county's natural resources fully with a possibility of develop ment "never dreamed possible." He emphasized his slogan, "Pro gres through Unity." President Al Lamb was in charge of the meeting. Each speaker was allowed five min utes, but none went to the limit woven cloth provides a simple sarong type skirt for the women and a loin cloth for the men. Weapons are a small powerful crossbow with tiny split bamboo arrows used to kill food only, for these people are not too war like. Until the government began moving these people into stra tegic hamlets for self defense, economics was unimportant and unknown to them, but a few were employed by the local plantations and the rest lived off the land. The Montagnards are an in telligent and hard working people, but until they are edu cated in better methods of agri culture, animal husbandry, and hygiene and realize that the modern world will not let them remain free, nomadic and prim itive, they will find many diffi culties adjusting to a growing and economic society. Division Manager Pays Surprise Visit To Jim Farley Here Jim Farley of Farley Motor Company wouldn't have been more surprised if President Lyndon Johnson had suddenly dropped in Saturday! Arriving for an unannounced visit at his business Saturday morning was Edward D. Roll er!, general manager of the Buick Motor Division, of Flint, Mich. Accompanying Rollert were his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Har old Beach of Hermiston. Beach and Rollert were fraternity brothers and roommates at Purdue University, and the RolleTts had been visiting with the Beach family. At Beach's suggestion, the four drove to Heppner to pay the surprise call on the Farleys. The grouD remained here a half hour. Farley was thrilled with the visit and enjoyed talking with Rollert. He had seen the executive before when he went back to Flint with hundreds of other Buick dealers and had met him at that time but had no oppor tunity to talk with him. What kind of a car was he driving? A Buick, of course the top model in the line. Ken Wright Gets Farmer Degree Ken Wright, Heppner High school senior, was awarded the State Farmer degree at the Ore gon convention of Future Farm ers at Klamath Falls last Wed nesday through Saturday. He was one of 84 FFA members in the state to achieve the honor. Wright also will receive a $200 Union Pacific scholarship. Six from the Heppner chapter attended the convention, includ ing Wright, Dean Robinson, Tony Doherty, John Wagenblast, Frank Osmin, and Bill Weatherford. Jerry Jonasson, chapter advisor, also made the trip. Wagenblast received a first place in the state with his ad vanced record book and received a banner as an award. Wright served on the convention's nat ional awards committee and Wagenblast was on the farm mechanics proficiency awards committee. All members parti cipated in business of the convention. See us for envelopes of all kinds. The Gazette-Times. HOSPITAL NEWS Patients admitted to Pioneer Memorial hospital for medical care during the past week in clude the following: Thomas Perry, Lonerock; R. G. Watkins, Heppner; Wayne Wilson, Hepp ner; Barton Bonney, Condon; Shirley Blake, Heppner; Hubert Asher, Spray, and Elsa Gibson, Heppner. Those dismissed during this same period were: Timothy Craw ford, Portland; Richard Borman, Heppner; Robert Adams, Kinzua; Anita Asher, Spray, and Sadie Sigsbee, Heppner. Loss is Less Severe Closer check of valuable taken from the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Stefani in lone by burg lars last week shows that loss is not as heavy as wag indi cated in first reports. Investiga tion is still being made to ap prehend the burglars, however. Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who will be in Oregon Monday and Tuesday for a fast and ex hausting tour of the state, will visit in Pendleton Monday, March 30, Don Turner, GOP Cent ral committee chairman in Mor row county, announces. The , Republican . presidential candidate will speak at Vert Auditorium, Pendleton, at 12:30. There will be no luncheon in connection with the visit. He is due to speak in The Dalles at 2:45 and prior to ar riving at Pendleton will speak at La Grande at 10 a.m. HAPPY EASTER Special Dinners FOR EASTER DINING HOTEL GRILL Arte and Dottie Stephens Jack and Wilma McTlmpeny , iirmH : ; 4 ii - -I m" x- y tint, 4 T I if 'w' mam J V with every LOAN from First National People borrow money for a lot of different reasons, and the old fashioned notion that borrowing is sinful is fast disappearing. Kept In balance with income, "time-payment" is an accepted way of enjoying things as you pay for them. Whatever your particular loan needs may be, you'll find the best all-round answer at your First National Branch. Our loan people take a lot of time to be sure you're getting the best type of loan, at the best possible rate, with payments carefully tai lored to suit your situation. 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