Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1952)
Isptd ranoi 1km Committee Ponders Cross-Examination Of McGralh, Morris Full Inside Story Would Be Sought Washington U.R) A House Judiciary subcommittee was call ed into special session Tuesday to consider cross examining 3. Howard McGrath and Newbold Morris about their ouster from the government.- Chairman Frank L. Chelf, D. Ky., promised an immediate vote on the proposal of Rep. Kenneth B. Keating, R.-N.Y., that the sub committee go after the "full in side story" of the Morris-Mc- Grath feud over corruption in the government. Probe Under Way The Chelf subcommittee is al ready conducting an investiga tion of McGrath's operation of the Justice Department. Keating said it is the "logical forum" to hear both sides of the bitter backstage controversy which re sulted last week in McGrath fir ing Morris as cleanup chief, and President Truman firing Mc Grath as attorney general. Morris said meanwhile that he planned to call at the White House Tuesday to deliver a final report to President Truman, out lining recommendations for com batting corruption in the govern ment. Morris, who tried in vain to talk to Mr. Truman after his ouster Thursday, conceded that he does not know whether the President will pay any heed to his report. Mad Farewell Speech McGrath formally departed from the Cabinet late Monday with a farewell speech to some 2,000 Justice Department em ployees. He praised Mr. Truman as a "great president" and said, "I leave here with no animosity in my heart toward any man." Solicitor General Philip B. Ferlman took over as acting at torney-general, until the Senate acts on Mr. Truman s nomination of Federal Judge James P. Mc Granery to succeed McGrath. ' Copco Authorized To Revise Rates For Industries Salem U.R) State Public Utilities Commissioner Charles H. Heltzel granted the California-Oregon Power Co. authority Tuesday to clarify its electric rates and bring charges for such industrial business and sawmills and lumber manufacturing up to date. The main change in the com pany's tariff is the revision of "Schedule Z" which the com pany proposes to cancel and to provide service under the gene ral light and power schedule. Will Mean Increases Heltzel noted that some of the customers under Schedule Z, such as sawmills and lumber manufacturing industries, would receive increases up to nearly 100 per cent on their monthly billings. The Schedule Z was originally established in 1919 as an off-peak rate to provide en ergy at a special low rate per kilowatt hour. The schedule also provided that in event of a shortage of energy the customers served un der the schedule could be dis continued during the shortage. Because of the growth in use of electrical energy, Heltzel said, 'it has become necessary for the company to build additional power- plants "under present high cost conditions and to ac quire electrical energy for peak ing purposes from outside sources, and the rates in Sched ule Z no longer cover the actual cost of obtaining the energy served thereunder." It is estimated elimination of Schedule Z will increase the company's annual revenue by $234,893.65 of the total adjust ment of $289,463.82 requested by the company and granted by the public utilities commissioner. Commie Negotiators Hint Desire for Package Deal Panmunjom, Korea (U.PJCom- munist truce negotiators hinted Tuesday they would like to make a package deal on the dead locked issues of Russia as a neu tral inspector and the rebuild ing of North Korean airfields. New Formula Seen Ready The hint came after United Nations officers, in secret con ference, were believed to have completed a new formula to solve the stalemate on prisoner exchange. Staff officers, it was understood, would put the for mula in final shape before pre senting it to the Communists. Chinese Maj. Gen. Hsieh Fang said during a brief truce super vision meeting by sub-delegates that ."we suggested resumption Ei-Miu double ii ma Engineer Baldock Reveals Planning For Future Routes 4-Lane Route Plus Later By-Pass Eyed The State Highway Commis sion plans to build both a four lane highway between Medford and Ashland and a larger, high speed highway by-passing both cities, it was revealed here to day. . ' The by-pass route lies in the future. But the reasons why both are to be built, and why the direct four-lane highway is to be built immediately, were outlined in a letter last week from R. H. Baldock, state highway engineer. Preliminary Work Started The hiehwav commission has previously made public its plans ior me aireci lour-iane route s construction, and nreliminarv work is - already under way, mostly on the section between Medford and Phoenix. The letter was addressed to State Rep. Robert Root, Med ford, in response to queries Root naa maae 10 me mgnway depart ment. Baldock said that traffic be tween Medford nd Ashland has increased to the point where the cnnffMtinn makes it HAeiraHlo in build a four-lane highway. "The traffic at the mid-point is approxi mately 6,650 vehiles per day, while the traffic on the south edge of Medford is 10,200 and on the .north edffe of A.chlanri is 6,500 vehicles for an average 24 hour day. Some of this is through traffic that does not de sire to xtnn in either ritv nart of it is intercity traffic and other portions are purely local irom the near rural area into the one city or the other," Baldock's let ter said. He added: Said 'Ideal Way' "In cities the size of Medford and Ashland, the ideal way is to either widen the present city streets or install one-way traf fic streets to handle the traffic that wants to go into the city and to bv-nass the thrnuch traffir hv a circumferentaial route around tne city. ... "The city of Salem is an ex ample wherein a one-way street system was put through the city and a circumferential or by-pass route is now being built around the city. If and when the by-pass route is put around Medford and Ashland, the new route will, in the main, serve the throncrh traf. fice, whereas the present high way win serve the local traffic. There is too much local traffic now for the two-lane road, and it is necessary to widen it to a four-lane road soon. Taking first things first, it is more important to serve the local traffic than to serve the through traffic at this time, inasmuch as the local traffic represents about 70 per cent of the total traffic. By-Pass in Ten Years "In consequence. Dlans wpi-p made to widen the present road Deiween Meaiord and Ashland from two-lane to foni-.ian At some later date, perhaps in about 10 years, the much more costly by-pass line will be sur veyed and built, which facility together with the four-lane road serving tne local traffic, will complete the modernization nf U. S. 99 in the Medford-Ashland area ..." The highway commission has not revealed the dates on which it will call for bids on the first section of the direct four-lane Medford and Phoenix. But it has indicated that bids will be called soon, and . the original comple tion date of this section was un derstood to be in the fall of 1952. Washington (U.PJ CoL Emerson C. Itschner, who has been 5th Army engineer at Chi cago since last November, Tues day, was named North Pacific engineer at Portland, Ore. of the sub-delegation meeting to settle the question of airfield reconstruction together with the question of the nomination of neural nations." UN officers ignored the hint Vice-Adm. C. Turner Joy, sen ior UN delegate, returned to Japan for a brief rest along with Brig. Gen. William P. Nuckols, the Allied spokesman. Rear Adm. Ruthven E. Libby, chief negoti ator on prisoner exchange, also was reported on a short holiday. There was strong speculation that the Allies are revising pris oner of war lists in a way that may reconcile UN demands for voluntary repatriation and Red demands for forcible repatriation.'- - " MEDFORDes Unite 47th Year 20 Pages Early Illinois Balloting Heavy, Reports Indicate Big Stevenson Vote Expected Chicago !U.R) Illinois voters turned out in "heavy" numbers in the nation's largest presiden tial preference primary. Balloting matched the on-the-ballot candidacies of Sen. Robert A. Taft, Harold E. Stassen and Sen. Estes Kefauver against the "write-in" possibilities of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and Gov. Adlai ' Stevenson in respective party contests. - Warm Sun Shines In most of the state, a warm spring sun shone from a cloud' less sky. Early morning balloting ranged from "normally heavy' in Chicago to "extra heavy" at some points elsewhere in the state, election officials reported. It appeared that pre-primary predictions of a near record 1,- 800,000 turnout might be borne out. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and remain open until 5 p.m. Rockford and Moline, indus trial cities in the northern part of the state: Quincy. Springfield Decatur, Marion, Murphysboro and West Frankfort, Belleville and East St. Louis reported good turnouts. Big Stevenson Vote Seen In the Democratic primary, Stevenson was expected to draw a-heavy write-in vote against Kefauver, whose name is the only one printed on the Demo cratic ballot, although the gover nor has disclaimed any support of a write-in movement. Taft's backers, mindful of his organizational backing in Illinois and the turnouts which .he drew on his campaign tours of the state, predicted that he would "sweep" the popularity contest He is opposed formally by only Harold E. Stassen and a mi nor candidate, ex-wrestler Riley Bender. Vigorous Ike Campaign But Eisenhower's backers, led by Gov. John Lodge of Connec ticut, have campaigned vigorous ly for write-in support for the general and their efforts were expected to show results as they have in other states. Fifty delegates are to be elect ed in a separate vote from the presidsntial preference race, They are not bound by the out come of the popularity contest. Ten other delegates will be chos en later at state conventions. Attempt To Settle WU Strike Fails New York (U.R) Attempts to bring an early end to the six-day old strike of 30,000 Western Union telegraphers appeared Tuesday to be headed for failure. Federal Mediator J. R. Man delbaum said he would report to the Commercial Telegraphers Union AFL that "the company has not changed its position." Mandelbaum met Monday with John L. Wilcox, company vice-president, and reported aft er the meeting that "the picture looks dark, indeed." The Western Union employees went on strike last Thursday for a 16-cent hourly wage increase, a 40-hour week and other bene fits. The Medford office of the Western Union Telegraph com pany is one of two in Oregon which is now open and accepting telegraph business, it was report ed today by the company. The other office in Oregon which is open for business is in Portland. Lane County Jury To Decide on Fate Of Alleged Killer Eugene (U.PJ Circuit Judge George P. Skip worth called the Lane county grand jury to meet Tuesday to decide the fate of Elmer Belcher, 15 -year -old eighth grader charged with the slaying of 18-year-old Mary El len Campbell. A district court Monday re ferred young Belcher's case to the juvenile court over which Judge Skipworth presides. Belcher remained in the coun ty jail here after admitting to state police that he fired his .22 calibre pistol at the girl, a near deaf mute, last Friday because of schoolmates' taunts about her pregnancy. MEDFORD. OREGON, TUESDAY, APRIL 8, All-Time Records of Snow Water Content Broken; Extremes Seen Mountain snow cover this year is breaking all-time records, and will probably produce record breaking jtreamflow throughout the Rogue, Umpqua and Klam ath basins, it was reported to day. Extremes of high water can be expected in many sections. The report was made by W.T. Frost, snow survey and water forecast leader for the cooper ative snow survey throughout Oijegon. His forecast was made following the 17th annual ses sion of the southern Oregon water forecast group, which met yesterday in Grants Pass. 92 Over Average Rogue river watershed snow cover water content is 88 per cent greater than last year and 92 per cent greater than ave rage. Frost said. As an example Frost cited the Annie Springs snov course, where the watea. content of the snow is now 77.3 inches, compared with 58.5 inches last year and a 19-year average of 44.5 inches. An all-time high streamflow on the Rogue river above Pros pect was forecast, with 445,000 acre feet of water being pre dicted between April and Sep tember. Last year the flow was 345,500 acre feet, and the 10 year average is 305,000. The pre vious high was in 1933, when the flow totaled 430,500. Umpqua streamflow also will break existing records by some 5,500 acre feet, the forecast pre dicted. "Abundant" Water Medford and Rogue River Irri gation districts should have abundant water, with inflow to Fourmile lake set at 11,500 acre feet, compared to 8,600 in 1950 and 8,100 as a 10-year average. Discharge at Fish lake is also expected to go some 5,000 feet above average. Talent Irrigation district, which has sometimes been short of irrigation water, should have ample supplies. The forecast Is 9,000 acre feet into Hyatt reser voir. Ten-year average is 5,800 and last year's inflow was 3,800. Flow of the Applegate river near Ruch was forecast at 300, 000 acre feet, compared to a pre vious record flow of 274,500 set in 1938. The predicted flow is nearly three times the 10-yeaf average of 114,900. The Illinois river will also have a "very high" flow, the re port predicted, probably exceed ing the 1937 record flow of 367,500 acre feet. "Astounding Amounts" Snow cover on Klamath Lake basin watersheds is the heaviest measured since snow survey rec ords began, the report revealed. It said: "Astounding amounts of water have been measured in the snow this year and an excellent ex ample is Park Headquarters at Crater lake, where the rangers Hall Asked for Draft Exemption of Fathers New York !U.PJ The Na tional Manpower Council, a pri vate organization created by Gen. Dwight D. . Eisenhower when he was president of Colum bia University, has urged Presi dent Truman to halt automatic exemptions for draft-age fathers. The council, which recently completed a study of critical U.S. manpower problems during the present emergency, branded the present practice "unfair" in its report to the President. It complained that men now deferred as students can get out of military service if they marry and become fathers before gradu ating. The council raid this was un fair to young men who are un able to go to college and who are called into serv ice upon reaching draft age. Medford-Area Service Men Arrive in States Two Medford-area men were among 28 Oregon servicemen who landed from Korea Monday at the Oakland Naval Supply center. They are Sgt Glenn R. Rock. who friends said is the son of George Rock. 406 South River side avenue, and Cpl. Joseph H. Santos, ton of M. SUntos, 737 Jo-Jack road, and brother of Fred Santos, of the same ad dress. Corporal Santos was re ported to have arrived home this morning. found 90.5 inches, compared with 72.5 inches last year and an eight-year average of 6 1.5 inches. Low elevations, too, have a heavy snow cover." The mpptinff urat th last nf a series of eight local forecast ses- j sions, sponsored as a joint project of the Soil Conservation service and the Oregon Agricul tural Experiment station. Repre - sentatives of a number of par ticipating agencies and com panies attended the meeting, each giving his own estimate of the situation based on years o experience and on snow meas urements. At the same time, Robert SHE WANTED A SISTER Mr. and Mrs. James Clark (left) breath a sigh of relief as they embrace their 3V&-months-old daughter, Mary Cathryn, after she was returned to them. The infant was kidnapped from her carriage by 9-year-old Mary Lou Wagner (right) who said she had "always wanted a baby sister." Worst Missouri Flood In 70 Years Forecast Pierre, S. D. (U.R) The worst Missouri valley flood in 70 years was predicted Tuesday as the Big Muddy, fed by the runoff of melting highland snows, churn ed south into South Dakota and Iowa. The river stood more than 21 Telephone Workers Continue on Strike New York (U.R) The -nationwide strike of nearly 68,000 tele phone workers went into its sec ond day Tuesday with little pros pect of an early settlement. Striking members of the Com munications Workers of Ameri ca CIO threatened large scale picketing Wednesday in an at tempt to keep all 300,000 union members employed by the Bell System away from work. The strike began Monday morning with the walkout of 15, 000 installers and salesmen of the Western Electric company in 43 states and the District of Colum bia. They were joined by 52.000 operators, clerks and repairmen who went on strike against Bell system companies in Michigan, Ohio. New Jersey and northern California. UN Fighter-Bombers Blast Red Soldiers Seoul, Korea (U.R) Allied fighter -bombers swept low over the Korean battlefronts Tuesday to kill 130 Communist soldiers near their bunkers with bombs and napalm. Marine Corsairs destroyed six bunkers and took the lives of 75 Red infantrymen. Fighter-bombers of the 18th wing took credit for the ether casualties. Foul weather grounded all 5th Air Force missions before noon. When the skies partially cleared, American Sabrejets took off for MIG Alley but found only six Red fighters. There was no en gagement. I Vealher FORECAST: Fair tkrMck watar wttfe rMaf tcaaer lam. Uw (MlsM It, hifk Mmi4it VS. Ufa YMtavtfar S Vnt tkts Naralag . II T J a. m. TMar . Traca Tribune Unite rnn-riq Lcaaet wlra 1952 No. 15 Church, meteorologist in charge of the Medford weather bureau, gave the bureau's streamflow forecast, which corroborated the snow survey prediction, through made through different methods. The above-average precipita tion trend continued through the winter, it said, and in March was generally 150 per cent of ; normal in this area except in the eastern portion of the Klamath drainage, Water runoff in the Rogue, Umpqua and Klamath basins will be well above normal in all cases, it said with discharge from the middle fork of the Rogue 121 per cent of normal. ( inches above flood stage at Pi- erre. ine weather bureau pre dicted that by next Tuesday it would rise 4 or 5 feet above the levels which brought the disas trous floods of 1943. River Recedes Slowly But the river receded slowly at Bismarck where 2,000 persons were driven from their homes. Its tributaries also were on the rampage. To the east, the Red River of the North rose almost 2 feet Monday at Fargo, N. D. Weather Observer R. S. Schultz warned that the worst flood since 1943 would strike Fargo Tuesday. All along the Missouri, the! level rose dangerously. -Warning Issued The National Red Cross issued a sobering warning of potential floods brewing in Central Cali fornia, New England, Utah and the Rio Grande region in addi tion to the Missouri valley. The relief agency said that continued warm weather and any prolonged rainy periods would bring serious flood threats also to the Lake Erie and Hu ron regions. But for the moment, the great est danger lay along the Missou ri between Bismarck and Mo bridge, S. D. All residents were warned to be ready to flee and river towns were at work sandbagging against the rising waters of the river. Experiments Recreating Rare Prehistoric Trees Reaching Successful Climax in City An experiment in recreating a rare race of trees, common in Oregon in prehistoric times but since almost extinct, is reaching a successful climax here, it was reported today. The trees have .been called "Dawn Redwoods," and geolo gists say that thousands of years ago they grew in Oregon, but since have died out. The only place in the world where they are now growing naturally is in a remote Chinese valley. John E. Cribble, 139 Kenwood avenue, a former forest super visor whose hobby is collecting and raising rare trees, has suc cessfully rown eight of them from seed brought to this coun try in January 1948, by Dr. E. D. .Merrill, of Harvard univer sity, who has distributed seeds Midnight Walkout Might Be Averted New York -(UP) Wage Stabilization Chief Nathan P. Feinsinger emerged from a session with steel union leaders Tuesday and said, "if I were a gambling man, I would not bet against a settlement" New York (U.PJ Government Wage Chief Nathan P. Fein singer said Tuesday he had "some confidence" that union and industry representatives may be receptive to suggestions he is mak ing in a last-minute attempt to avert a nationwide steel strike at midnight. Feinsinger's announcement came as President Truman sum moned Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer back to Washing ton from a nationwide tour, apparently to prepare for government seizure of the industry. Already thousands of workers were jumping the midnight strike deadline, and 100,000 other steelworkers were idled by the companies as they closed down steelmaking facilities in anticipa tion of the strike. Feinsinger reported his "confidence" after meeting for an hour end a half with representatives of the six major steel companies. Truck Driver Dies When Vehicle Goes Over Embankment Melvin Eugene Thompson, 25, route 2, box 82, Central Point, was killed instantly at about 3:15 p. m. yesterday when the lum ber truck he was driving left Highway 227 at Deadhorse can yon, about seven miles north of Trail. State police and County Cor oner Carlos Morris, said the 1950 Ford truck he was driving appar ently went out of control when it hit a shoulder, possibly when he tried to avoid road equipment which was at work there. The truck hit the inside bank, crossed the highway, and went over the outside bank. Thomp son jumped or was thrown from the cab, and the load of lumber, which shifted off the truck, fell on him, killing him instantly, the reports said. Was on Second Trip The driver was employed by his father-in-law, John Paudois, Central Point, and" was hauling lumber from the Southern Ore gon Sugar Pine mill at Tiller to the White City lumber company. The fatal accident occurred on his second trip of the day. Thompson was a Navy veteran' of World War II, and formerly was employed by the Elk Lum ber company. Survivors include his wife, Lola, two children, Daniel LeRoy, 5, and Shawna Louise, 10 months; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William R. Thomp son, Central Point; two brothers, Francis, Medford, and Wayne, Gold Hill; two sisters, Mrs. Jane Guss and Betty Thompson, both Central Point, and grandfather, Fred Triebel, in Kansas. Funeral services are pending, with Conger-Morris funeral home in charge of arrangements. DST Decision To Be Made Next Week Salem (U.R) Gov. Douglas McKay said Tuesday he ( would make his decision next week on whether to declare daylight sav ing time in Oregon. If Oregon does go on fast time, it will be April 27. Under Oregon law the gover nor is diredted to declare day light saving time in Oregon if adjoining states also have the fast time. Indications are that this will be done again this year. lovett Refuses Comment On Letter From Gen. Ike Washington !U.R) Defense Secretary Robert A. Lovett re fused after a White House con ference Tuesday to say whether he has received a letter from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ask ing to be relieved fram his European command. Lovett conferred for 15 min utes with President Truman. It was their usual Tuesday meeting. .to silviculturalists in various climates the world over. A num ber of trees are grown by Dr. Merrill at the Arnold Arboretum, at Jamaica Plains, Mass. Gribble planted the 10 or 12 seeds he raised in a special con tainer, and eight of them sur vived. He transplanted them to the ground in his yard last year, and they have since grown to heights ranging up to 41 inches. He said they have required no special care, and while they are thought to suffer from frosts, his have survived winters here well. They are now being grown on this continent from Alaska - to Honduras, he said. Gribble has presented three of the trees to southern Oregon Garden clubs. The Ashland Gar den club has bad its tree planted Possible Settlement Suggestions Made "I am making certain sugges tions to the parties as a basis for possible settlement," he said. "I wouldn't have embarked on that course had I not felt some con fidence that the parties would be receptive." Feinsinger said he planned next to confer with Philip Mur ray, president of the United Steelworkers of America CIO, and other union representatives. Feinsinger, who flew here Fri day after joint negotiations had collapsed, said he was making the suggestions to both sjdes. He said Tuesday was the first time he had begun making sugges tions. He was smiling when he met reporters after the talk with industry leaders. Won't Commit Self However, he would not say whether he felt a strike could be averted. He declined specifically to comment on a report that he had proposed to industry leaders a contract longer than the 18 month agreement which the board had suggested. The Steelworkers union has demanded acceptance of the board's recommendations. These include a "package" settlement which- would give steel workers an average of cents more per hour by next January 1. The industry countered with an offer which it said amounted to 16 cents an hour and which the union said amounted to 14.4 cents. Steel workers now make an average wage of $1.88 an hour. Fire Hoafinn DnnP I II Jl IIVMIIII) I'VIIW In Orchards Today First orchard heating of 1952 was reported early today in the Table Rock area, according to C. B.- Cordy, county agent for horticulture. Smudge pots were lighted at about 4:30 a.m. when temperatures dropped to a mini mum of about 26 degrees, the county agent said. Orchards, which last week were reported to be about 10 days behind normal develop ment, have started "to catch up" during the recent warm weath er, Cordy states. Pears, under present weather conditions, will probably be in full bloom some time before April 15, he says. In a normal year, pears would now be in full bloom. Apricots, mostly centered in the Coker Butte, Fern Valley and Ashland areas, are just past full bloom at the present time, Cordy says. Peaches, in the area west of Medford and Phoenix, now in full bloom. ; are DRIVE OVER HALF-WAY The 1952 Red Cross fund drive passed the half-way mark today, as campaign leaders reported that 53.5 per cent of the $27,500 goal has been collected, a total of $14,726.68. Some of the total is accounted for by the first re turns coming in from Ashland. in Lithia park; the Medford club has placed its in Hawthorne park, and the Grants Pass club is planting its in the park in that city. Ceremonies of presentation will be held later this spring. A story in this morning's Ore gonian also described other ex periments in this area in grow ing the trees. Gribble reported that the tree, the scientific name of which is metasequoia, is the only sequoia-type tree which is deciduous, and which loses its needles in the fall His trees are just now beginning to leaf out, he said. Gribble speculates that it might be distantly related to the Larch. Other scientists be lieve it may also be related to the swamp cypress. Growth experiments have re vealed that it grows faster than Douglas fir.
