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Petitions Seek New
Protection Service
By Elisabeth Sheffield
Mail Tribune Special Writer
Rogue River, Apr. 14 Petitions are being circulated here for
the formation of a rural fire protection district to furnish protec
tion to many areas surrounding Rogue River. Under the proposal,
taxes in the district would be increased by about four mills.
Petitions for the formation of the district have been circulated
by members of the Lions club auxiliary, who report they have
obtained the signatures of most of the rural residents of the pro
posed district, and that the rural residents are anxious for the ad
ditional nrotection.
Because of the efforts being I
made on behalf of the district, it time I would ever drag a cart.
u.ar fnlt thai a rPVlPW nf OfEan- Cn ia nnt Uncvf' 1
iroa " ...... - ' i on l . . una,,.
-irl tira nrntPfllnn in this area nt rA Caan
wouia De in oraer. um from me top 01 rung inuuu-
fnnY.Qiinn nt tho riistrirt reallv tn;n it haA hnpn wrpeked.
began in 1947. was brought an old Marquette
.. i:-n.. I i ti Clmu
A quart iruu jar, paiuauy seaan ul-iuub"ir iu """"
l:n.j ...ItL nnnxr cut nn tilP Inn ltu mntnr W3! OVemaUled
counter ot a nogue mvei giu- us uuuy um ,B j r r
cerv store, one fall day in that to running boards, hand rails
. i n.J it ii,oe n ni AtKo nnnnrlHlirP Of 8
year ana uea juiiu . " j a u u ----
niece of scratch paper bearing fire truck, and mounted at tne
the family." I hose, was the reel from the old
A. customer after customer hose cart. Thus equipped, m
received change, coins and bills Marquette served throughout
were auickly stuffed into the jar. the war ,as the. sole protection
Family Burned Out
"Some folks up the creek got
burned out last night," explained
Dave Gelvin, the store keeper.
"They lost everything they
owned," he fumed, "and we were
helpless! There was nothing we
could do about it! Absolutely
nothing! But there's going, to be
something done mighty quick.
There's got to be some way fig
ured out I tell you its tough to
look into a man's face when he
has lost all he owned by fire, and
you weren't there to help him
fight it. Whether he is a friend
or an enemy, a customer or not,
when he loses it hurts our town. '
He reflected the sentiments of
the townspeople, and the "some
thing" was done within a very
fhort time.
Max Miller had for years or
ganized fire departments in the
state of California before coming
to Oregon, and he quickly re
organized the little company of
volunteer firemen of the city of
Rogue River.
"In 1912, when Woodville was
incorporated and became the
City of Rogue River'," First
Assistant Chief Gordan Hatch
explained, "the city hall was
built, and a volunteer fire de
partment was organized. The
fire equipment purchased then
was used for years, it consisted
of two hose carts, about a thou
sand feet of hose and four
ladders."
Help Drag Cart ' .
"When the old fire bell on
top of the city hall rang every
one turned out to help. We kids
especially always wanted to help
drag the hose cart, and the smal
ler boys ran shouting after it.
Folks would rush from their
houses and by yelling back and
forth, learn the location of the
fire, and run to the scene on
foot. It wasn't far to run, because
the town was small then. There
was a house or two beyond the
new school on the road to Wim
tr, but Broadway was just a
load leading to Dead Horse can
yon. Hatch continued.
There were only about thirty
houses and two hotels, and the
depot which stood between the
kriAA anH tht town, sauarely
in the center of Depot street. We
aaoiriEi Hpt ii mt inn nf the com
munity by fire. For nine years as
tne litue town grew ana uuuuicu
ti,-,lar4 in ttita attA IllVlirinllS
country homes were constructed
along tne Kogue Kiver, 11 ie-
tUa nnlv fir fifhlinC!
inaiiivi nn- -e "o
equipment in a large area of the
county.
.The inadequate home-made
truck, wnose consirucuun imi
less then $100 with its crew of
volunteers stood guard over the
growing town, while buildings
Kik half a millinn dollars
spread over a ten mile area.
They had no protection um
Max Miller organized the rural
firs ricnartmpnt in 19 4 7. He
served as fire chief.
Truck Modernised
The Marquette hose truck
was overhauled, the cart reel
removed and the hose folded in
place in the truck Dea. inumer
truck was equipped for the rural
fire service, because the old city
owned Marquette must always
stand by with its ready crew in
case of fire within the city
limits. ,
Construction of the rural fire
truck began the donation of a
1 n hlf inn TTnrrl chassis
Ulltr niiu a iinn " " -
by Rollin Miller. Then followed
weeks ot weiaing, painunn aim
other work done in the shop of
rori tha WpIHpi hv volunteers.
as they labored to build an ef
ficient tire ligming maaune.
Other firemen were busy re
modeling the entrance of the
city hall. When the truck was
finally done, c o m pi e t e with
bright red paint, it was carefully
eased into place beside the old
Marquette. With a scant two
feet of space between them they
stand today, in the fire hall
which was built to house two
hose carts.
Protect From Fires
One of the first major fires
to which the new rural firemen
were called was a cabin behind
the Rogue View inn, and though
the cabin was past saving when
U nln-m uigc oitran thpv WPTG
able to protect the main lodge
building ana prevent us uesuu--tion.
Similar fires have since oc
curred where thousands of dol
lars worth of surrounding prop
erty was protected though the
f:- Iho KllilHinO III
in the center ot uepoi sire. ... "' r r "
were on the main line oi im "
railroad then, and we had a real telephones i to report fires has
depot, ana hotels insieaa oi mm- "?-"
or courts. On the south side of district. ..i, .. ;,
the river there were only five or Our greatest difficulty. Fire
bridge and Birdseyes. . . phlli1l nri ,nllinne,i
111 never forget tne last run --- - r n,lv wmlerhc
made with that 0 1 a nose ov . . t ,
cart-. c0a"s Dav p!!?- " To raise funds to do this work
7u" "3?.rni' 2: v WZ - t gave . firem-. d.nc.
imw -w. i in iiia man cpnnn a vrm 1 1 nn or
fire didnt amount to much. It tne promotion of Bill Recder,
was upstairs in the Hilger house. our honorary fire chief, the men
I dragged the hose cart up Main t on a eood skjt dressed in
street with the help ot two poys, costUmes of the early days. They
Dale and Kenny Hatch, nephews wore helmets and carried equip-
ot uoraon, ana wnen we gui ment borrowed from the Jack
there we were so exhausted we sonville museum. The public rc-
aian t nave sirengtn eiiuugn iu sponded generously,
attach the hose to the fire hy- Members Sign Note
Hi-ant Rntwppn nants nf hrpath "glnr ollfl ,s Knrrnn.nrl
I swore that would be the last on a note signed by each mem-
HOT
DOCTORS ARE BETTER DOC
TORS, Hotpitilt art better ho
piuli, bccauie of Medical Meeting.
The practice of medicine it being
eomtjntlr improved through thil
interchange of the finding! of re
tearch and experience.
Lives are being saved by theM
constant meefltngi, conferencei,
clinics and consultations. Diicus
siom from tuch meetings are
published in Medical Journals, for
further study, and for the infor
mation of those unable to attend
This urge for improvement
that's the ingenuity and BfOfreat
of Medicine in America
Opportunity and incentive to get
to the top, through honest study
and hard work. that's America!
Attending Medical Meetings st
hard work, sandwiched between
other duties of a busy Doctor, but
conscientious, progressive physi
cians coniider it a duty to patients
to attend local, state and special
clinical meetings
For the sake of ketping the level
of American health the beet on
earth, let's set that politician do
not kilt the inctntht for constant
Western
THRIFT PHAMIACT
Medford
-sy
Tribune
Second Section
MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 1950
Pages 1-12
Miifl V-w .-
ROGUE RIVER FIREMEN HOPE FOR NEW DISTRICT Shown above are volunteer fire
men at Rogue River, who have been active in promoting petitions for the formation of a new rural
fire protection district in the country near Rogue River. History of the town's fire protection, and
plans for the new district, are told in the accompanying article by Klizabcth Sheffield, Mail Tribune
Rogue River correspondent, in tne picture, lelt to right seated, are Larry Hatch, r aye blichl, Flores
Leyen, Stuart Hatch, second assistant chief; Gardon Hatch, first assistant chief; Fire Chief Dave Gel
vin and Roy Milton. Standing are Drivers Sidney Baker and Glen Nourse.
(Photo by June Dement).
ber of the organization," Gelvin
added, "and the money was used
to build a dance pavilion in the
city park beside the Rogue river.
Each Saturday night throughout
the . summer, dances are held
there to raise funds for the fire
department. This summer should
see the paying of the last install
ments on the note."
"We have had some donations,
too," said Gelvin, "and everyone
has given us their full support,
especially the business men of
the district. By district, I mean
the lower Evans valley, and all
up and down highway D9 from
the county line to a point about
five miles south of the bridge.
All this support comes because
Rogue River men can not stand
idle and see a fellow man lose
liis home because it lies a few
feet over the city line or across
the river. We do our best for
everyone within our reach, and
what we do is done at our own
and the city's expense. We need
a rural fire protection district
so we will have funds to con
tinue to protect our rural neigh
bors. They are our neighbors,
our friends, and an integral part
of the life of our community.
In protecting their homes and
business buildings we are
strengthening the economic
structure of the whole area.
Added Tax In District
Formation of the proposed dis
trict would increase by four mills
the taxes on property lying with
in the district but outside of the
city limits. The property own
ers within the city limits are al-
reany paying for tire protection,
and forming of the district would
not increase their taxes.
Though some of the ranchers
were not at home when they
called and the wives nrefprrpri
leaving the sianine to their hus
bands, however they all ex
I pressed their approval of the district.
Medford Nurses. Plan To Attend Convention
At least two Medford women
will attend the 16th biennial
nursing convention in San Fran
cisco May 7 to 12, It was report
ed here Saturday. The conven
tion is sponsored by the National
The committee obtaining sie-
nitures includes Georgia Salter,
Louise Goosey, Mary Wohgen,
Beverly Lilly. Gertrude Shontz.
Midge Petrie and Carolyn Gelvin.
League of Nursing Education
and the National Organization
for Public Health Nursing.
From here Miss Gertrude Mai
loy and Miss Lotus Eaton will
attend the conclaves.
Eight thousand nurses, rep
resenting 200,000 professional
registered nurses in the United
States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico
are expected at the convention.
The theme will be "Health A
Unifying World Influence: Nurs
ing Accepts It Role."
A funeral service arranged
in advance of need gives you
what you want, at the price
you choose, when your mind
is free from grief. Investi
gate, without obligation.
Chapel Mortuary
Across from the Courthouse
PHONE 2-8030
Frank Morgan - - Harold Snodgrasi
Funeral Directors
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