THE HERMISTON
YOL. XIV
HERMISTON, UMATILLA COUNTY, OREGON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1919
ASTRONOMER PORTA SAYS
WORLD IS COMING TO END
I what is the use of repining over
the shortage of wood and coal at
Lis lime anyway, when along about
Ljt Wednesday, December 17, ""
all
Lr trials and tribulations are
come to a sudden end. according to
Itke fine prognostications of one
professor Albert F. Porta, an Amer-
■ lean astronomer.
■ At that time, says the learned
iprofessor, a shudder of the solar
isstem will wobble all the planets,
•ana
this old world of ours will be
icowded out to nothingness in the
• shuffle.
• This "cheerful" prediction came
Brome time ago from the above gen-
Beeman, whose microscopic observa-
Btions have evidently led him to the
B mysterious realms beyond. ,Inas-
• much as he still maintains that his
B deductions are correct, and that he
I seems to have attuned the actions
■ of "Old Man Winter” to a nicety to
■ give added color to his predictions,
■ some people are beginning to take
■ him seriously.
I Thus it has been ordained by Mr.
Porta that on December 17 there
will be a grouping of six planets
that will tug with irrestible force at
the furnace of the sun. And these
conspirators of the heavens will be
Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars,
Venus and Mercury.
From
the
I spleen of their intrigue the hapless
I earth, not in any sense a party to
I the plot, will be bombarded with
I such weather as has never hereto-
I fore been known.
He says that the most terrific
I weather cataclysm experienced since
I human history began will result.
I It will be caused by the hugest sun
spot on record—a sun spot that will
be visible to the naked eye. It will
be a gigantic explosion of flaming
L gases leaping hundreds of thousands
of miles into space. It will have a
crater large enough to engulf the
I earth as Vesuvius might engulf a
football.
There will be hurricanes, light
ning, colossal rains. There will be
gigantic lava eruptions, great earth-
quakes, to say nothing of floods
and fearful cold.
The earth will be in direct posi
tion to receive almost the full force
of the monster electrical disturb
ances as it leaps into activity on
what, to us, will be the eastern hori-
ton of the sun’s disc.
And now comes other renowned
scientists that differ with Porta’s
dark and gruesome predictions. They
say that his reckonings are correct,
but that his deductions are away
off. And in refuting his statements
these scientists have told the world
not to worry. This gladsome news
comes from astronomers of the Unit
eli States naval observatory and the
Lowe
astronomical
observatory,
whence come practically all of the
straight tips anent celestial happen-
ings, present or in prospect
"There is no trace of a scientific
cause for alarm.” they say. “The
entire prophecy is a sickening trav-
esty on the majestic science of as-
tronomy. It has already caused
widely spread mental suffering here
and in Europe. This is the limit of
limits.
I I
I I
I I
I
"Calm all fears—the planets will
not be anywhere near their straight
line in December, and If they should
be, and originate huge spots on the
sun. and the spots and adjacent ex
plosions occur, then the earth will
be far and away from their central
line of concentrated pull on gravi-
tation.
"Time and again groupings of
Planets have arranged themselves
as they will on December 17 with-
out producing unusual disturbances
on the earth. A grouping very sim-
ilar occurred during last May. with-
out
untoward effect. The world
had as much reason at that time to
expect the worst as It has now. If
there is anything In Professor Por-
ta s theory.
True, in May of (he present year
there was a sunspot visible on the
orb of day. and there was an electri-
tal storm on the earth, but that co-
incidence was irrelevant, as sunspots
fully as large and electrical storms
fully as lively have occurred In other
years when no two planets were In
conjunction.
H erald
one side of the sun, and Mars, Nep
tune and Jupiter were similarly ar
ranged on the other side, and the
six planets sc
arrayed produced
hardly any perceptible 'pull.'
"If the combined electro-magnetic
forces of planets in conjunction
could bring about solar and terres-
trial storms, such storms should
have been observed in giant inten
sity during May and August, when,
according to the theory advanced by
Professor Porta, the situation was
equally ripe for trouble."
The vast wound in the side of the
sun, predicted by Professor Porta,
whence the electro-magnetic forces
of the planets are to draw flaming
catastrophe into space, these scien
tists claim is nothing particularly
new, as similar solar wounds have
frequently been observed, while all
was serene on earth.
Taken to Hospital
On Monday Mrs. Isabel Kennedy
was taken to Pendleton by Deputy
Sheriff Joe Blakeley on complaint
that she was mentally unbalanced,
After being examined on arrival
there she was committed to the state
hospital near that place.
For several weeks the lady had
been acting queerly, and her wan-
derings and utterances had irritat
ed people on the West. Side, where
she lived with her husband and
family a couple of doors west of the
Auditorium building. She had hal
lucinations that she was some sort
of a Messiah, but seemed to be harm
less. Her mental condition seemed,
however, to have taken on a tragic
aspect Sunday evening, for on going
on one of her little visits to a near-
by house in order to tell the occu
pants who she was and what was
going to happen, she drew from the
folds of her dress a huge butcher
knife and made a pass or two at one
of the occupants who had expostu
lated with her and asked her to
leave. After flourishing this dead
ly weapon for a moment or so, she
took her departure. The next morn-
a complaint was filed with Justice
of the Peace Dodd, and later she was
taken away by the deputy.
The case is a sad one. for it leaves
three small children minus a moth-
er’s care and love. The Kennedy’s
have been here for some months,
Kennedy
during which time Mr.
has worked on the section.
COUNTY TREASURER
PAYS OUT RECORD SUM
From the treasury of Umatilla
county was paid out last Saturday
the largest sum In its history during
the month of November, when war
rants totaling
$372,038.33 were
drawn. The largest item was $190-
555.80 from the county road bond
fund for work on the Oregon-Wash
ington highway between Pendleton
and the state line and for the old
Oregon Trail between Rieth and the
Morrow county line. The state
highway commission drew about
$150,000 and $4 0,0 0 0 went to the
road to the east end.
The second half of the state tax.
Which amounted to $68,159.80, was
transmitted to the state treasurer
by County Treasurer Grace Gilliam,
this being the second largest item
paid
The Teel irrigation district
moneys were disbursed in the sum
school
of $27,663.06, and county
districts took $23,804.45 out of the
03
W 'amines Enough
"CROSSING
NO 13
0 WORST SNuwusunm
2
HARD WINTER OF 915-16
witnessed one of the
10P
This No Place for Wobblies
That Hermiston is not a healthy
place for any I. W. W 's was demon
strated Wednesday, when members
of the local post of the American
Legion, upon learning that there
wobblies in
were several transient
the city, proceeded to run two of
them out and had two more arrest-
ed.
One of these, a boy of about
At 5
18 years of age, proved to be the
eon of a rancher near Cold Springs,
and after receiving a lecture from
Justice of the Peace E. P. Dodd,
was let go. But the other, a cook,
who, besides being an I. W. W. or
an ardent sypathizer with them, had
committed an unprintable crime of
which evidence showed him guilty,
was immediately bound over to
the circuit court by the justice and
taken to Pendleton by James Todd,
Extreme cold weather and shortage of fuel in the City of Hermis- who had been deputized to deliver
ton and vicinity necessitates an order for strict economy in the use of him to the sheriff in that city.
The American Legion boys vow
fuel. All persons who are out of fuel are directed t report to the un
they will tolerate none of the L W.
dersigned at once, and all of those who have a supply for present needs W. ilk in Hermiston.
5
heaviest snowfalls that has occurred
in this part of Umatilla county since
the winter of 1915-16. Unlike the
snowfall at that lime, which came
heavy about Iwo week s apart, the
fall of the beautiful was steady
time, beginning Tuesday night and
continuing all day Wednesday, un-
til It had piled up a record of 13
inches on the level.
While there was some hope of a
chinook coming along, there don't
be much chance for It now.
for the mantle of while still
mains intact and the cold weather
seems to be going to continue.
The snow has not impeded traffic
far. but it has been hard for auto
mobiles to negotiate, and has been
the cause of many ranchers resort
ing to "Old Dobbin" to bring them
to town when business demands.
Sleighing is good now, but there is
a scarcity of these vehicles because
hardly ever Is a
here
with enough snowfall for their use.
is storm, together with
the
cold spel) (hat has been with us for
over a week, was general all over
western stales. Western Ore-
gon seems to have been as hard hit
as Eastern Oregon, and
Portland
especially had a taste of a real bliz-
..nd Wednesday, the folowing day
PROCLAMATION
are directed to report at once the amount on hand and the amount, if
any, available for the use of the needy and suffering.
Celebration Postponed
No coal or wood will be sold except under order of the Mayor.
Just as several auto loads of ller-
A full appreciation of the patriotism of our citizens in both town miston Commercial Club members
| had made preparation to go to Echo
and country makes further explanation unnecessary at this time.
Given
under my hand this 11 th day of December. 1919.
F. c. M c K enzie ,
mayor
FUEL SITUATION IS BE
COMING ACUTE LOCALLY
Along with other communities
throughout the country, this part of
the Umatilla project is beginning to
feel the effects of coal and wood
shortage. This became the more
apparent when the managers of
both fuel concerns in this city—the
Tum-a-Lum Lumber Co. and Inland
Empire Lumber Co.— disclosed the
fact at the Commercial Club lunch
eon at the Oregon Cafe Tuesday
that they had little hope of receiv
ing but very scanty quantities of
either coal or wood for some lime to
come.
In the general discussion of the
fuel situation that ensued it was
shown that not much over one-tenth
of the people on the project had
heeded the warning last summer of
the fuel administration of the state
to fill their coal bins on account of
an expected shortage this winter.
Many schemes to alleviate the
ever worse growing sit nation were
broached, but all but one fell by
the wayside—that one being that it
was the concensus of opinion of the
Club that the fuel situation be plac
ed under control of the city council,
together with three men selected
from different parts of the project
to work in conjunction with a com
mittee of the council. It was point
ed out that in this way it could be
ascertained who were actually in
need of fuel, who had an oversupply
and who should „receive first aid
when a car of wood or coal should
happen to come In. This joint con
mittee will also use their Influences
with the government to secure fuel
for the local dealers.
It is surprising to note how many
there arc on the project who are
out and on the verge of being out of
coal and wood, a good insight to this
being the number of applications
being made daily for the past week
io the dealers from persons residing
In both the town and country. In
the country the farmers have a little
shade the best of the city folks, for
when it comes to a showdown they
can fall back on the much malinged
but at present honored sagebrush.
City people are not averse to the use
of this, and while there Is still some
of this commodity adjacent to the
town there is not near enough to
supply any great demand. There-
tore, should the worst happen. It is
likely that curtailment of the fuel
supply will be resorted to by the
stoppage of all public amusements
and gatherings of whatsoever nature
where much fuel is used, so that es-
esentials like hotels, business places,
schools and hospitals may the longer
operate, Already the public library
has been closed.
to attend the celebration in honor
of the Teel Irrigation district pro-
jet t which was scheduled In take
place in that city Wednesday, word
wrs received that the big event had
been postponed indefinitely. This.
it was learned, was brought about
through the disrupted
condition
of almost everything by reason of
the big snowstorm Ilion prevailing
all over I he country, Il Is probable
the celebration will be held in the
spring under more congenial cir
cumstances than al present.
of snow covered st reel $
walks In that city.
• Pendieton
was In
and side-
the
SHOW
i strong, also, and at the same time
was hit by a fuel shortage to such
Bakery Opening Deferred
The date of the opi ning of the
new bakery establishment, V
was to have been put In operation
this month by Raymond W. Hamm,
proprietor of the Oregon Cafe, has
been postponed for the time being
on account of inability to get either
coni or wood. Mr. Hamm promises
the public, however, that Just as
soon as the fuel situation clears up
so he can get an adequate suffici
eney. the bakery will he put In ep
eration to Ils full capacity.
PUT NOT YOUR MONEY
IN RURAL ROUTE DOXES
A communication has been receiv
ed by Postmaster Skinner from the
postal department at Washington,
D. C.. calling attention to the fact
that there is a growing habit am
ong patrons of rural routes through-
out the country to deposit money In
their mail boxes for the carrier to
There was a communication from buy money orders for them. The
the Civic Club, in which It asked the department, desires this practice dis-
cooperation of the Commercial Club ! continued In order to safeguard
in fencing the cemetery on account I against its loss, as there has been
of depradations by sheep and cattle ! several complaints of theft of mon
that are allowed to roam over it i ey so left forwarded to the postal
during grazing periods. The Civic authorities of late from various
Club will furnish the wire and posts parts of the country.
In conformity with the above, pa
for the fencing of the ten acres, and
the Commercial Club agreed to take Irons of the
1 discontinue putting money for the
care of the building part.
| purchase of money orders In their
I mail boxes. and instead give It to
an extent that a closing order on
pool halis and other nonessential
i stablishments for certain hours was
resorted to by Mayor Vaughan so
as to conserve the supply and alle-
linio suffering among the populace
that might follow from such short-
a; e just al I his i Imo.
While Hermiston has been exper-
iencing a shortage of fuel also, as
vet there hrs been no especial need
hours of
If wood
do not soon
carcity of I hese con ■
more apparent
modit les
with curii OK» coding day of the col
weather prevailing i p to the timo
Was Here on Visit
Mrs. D. W. Zeller returned to her
home tn Portland Tvesday after n
business und pleasure visit here of
several days, during which she wa $
a guest at I he home of Mr. and Mrs
J. S. West. While here the lady
made this office n pleasant call and
renewed subscription to The Her-
ald for another year. Mr. and Mrs.
Zeller were long time residents of
Hermiston, and still own consider
able residential property In Ibis city.
Wil) Locate on Project
William Stout
arrived
here
last
Saturday from Columbus. Ohio. He
is n brother of Mrs M I E Hlo’sing-
Ion and uncle of Mrs. / Ail Spinning,
Mr.
has
of land and enter the
In earnest.
made up his
permanently.
farming
game
PORTLAND MUST FOR
XMAS NIGHT DANCE
Lacks 37 Names
1 the carrier personally or
ball is to take place in
The Red Cross membership drive the postoffice,
Christmas
Hermiston Auditorium
resulted in obtaining 540 members.
—-------
night. In securing music for the
which number is Just 37 short of
Simple Chimney Cleaner
that reached last year. .In other;
,
$; to give those
limit
The best way to prevent
county school fund.
words.
37
more
names
are
needed
’
------------
.
.
who
participate
something
new and
strike
was
old
I cloj ged files IK tO DlTI youl
The coal
to give percentage of 100, and It I m ' "
.. L.llor. re
he
has
ssy
In
dance
music
brought to an end Wednesday, and
, .)
,
...
«
worn out dry cCk: batteries. ।
Mixing Poison
pottaa traded with Honker's Orchestra of
O i he membership of 4000 locals of hoped that that number will voln-i I «n easy and very ci’IcICIIL IISL/OU.
Under the leadership of
teer
with
their
dollars
to
bring
the
hot
fire
going, Portland to furnish the musical
|
Merely
get
a
good
Watson a quantity of poison has the United Mine Workers of Amer
been mixed this week for use in the ica has returned to work. It has membership up to the required knock the pilch out of the top of thrills on that evening.
Hermiston
mark.
In percentage
^•nation of the
troublesome
And Rooker’s Orchestra will do it.
the batteries (as It may make a
extern...------------
- . been » little over five weeks
stands second in the county. Uma
for with Is will he a trap drum-
the
old
batter-
As
a
result
of
elinker),
then
throw
and destructive jackrabbit. On
th e strike began. —
,
first with over 100 per
who has a Xylophone set that
mer
| ies on the fire, open I be lower draft
day and Tueseday all farmers who | inactivity in the coal industry the | ‘
list is still open, and and the damper In the chimney. This
$750, which he will bring alons
Janea up to take active part in theicountry was fast
approaching a cent.
have not been solicited cause’s the batterica to burn quickly and mil Into use al the dance This
the
the orchestra an
excellent
their dollars with
and the zinc and other ingredients makes
of alfalfa for mixture with the POamong its 100.000,000 people
institution,
of
which
It
is said
I Hermiston Produce * Supply
The completed preparation
' used In the cells, having a chemical |
president Wilson was instrumen- and receive their buttons.
perfect
son.
the symphony is
for
carbon
dioxide
(soot),
|
affinity
tal in bringing about a settlement.
was
soothing that one €
it on then
the taken
ground home,
around haxstake and later on a full agreement of the I
. quickly convert It into zas. If this |
and still keep
With the
the
batteries are | land whil> dancin
Standard High School
is done when
and under flumes began: " the I wage controversy is to be effected
precise
step
to
it
In
that subcon-
changed
on the gas engine, tractor
The city of Umatilla is to have a ----
-
snow on the ground " Jtidying by a commission.
Intis condition.
time is opportune for the sa’Week
four year
standard high school, this me tor ear or telephone, the chimney
It is predicted a complete resump- ‘
»‘
A dance Is Io be held In Stanfield
. of the good work. Next wro« Hon of the coal output will begin I having been brought about at a and pip*« of the stove or furnace |
will be kept practically sootless at Christmas Eve- the above orci
data should be availableno the. T
today, so by good luck the shortage school election held there Monday | no expense. These worn out batter-Ura
been secured for that
lira having
i
suits obtained up to that, D the here should be relieved inside of |
also.
the extermination mov
Get useful Calendar at Sappers’. ies are good for no other purpose-
a couple or three weeks
non
OH, JOY! THE COAL
MINERS’ STRIKE ENOS
since
"la being
“hSaign brought into the city sack* shutdown and widespread sufferingthose ,
On August 1 of this year Mer-
eury.
Venus and the earth were
grouped in less than 30 degrees on festive jack.
andaplactns