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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1952)
1 Tl TWELVE MEDFORD (OREGON) MEDFORDvWTRIBUNB Everyone in Southern Oregon Readf The Mall Tribune Published Dally Except Saturday by MEDFORD PRINTING CO. 27-20 North Fir St. Phone 2-S141 ROBERT W. RUHL. Editor ERNEST R. GILSTRAP, Manager HERB GREY. Advertising Manager E C FERGUSON. Managing Editor ERIC ALLEN JR.. City Editor HARRY CHIPMAN. Telegraph Editor RICHARD JEWETT, Sporta Editor OLIVE STAIICHER, Society Editor GERALD LATHAM, Circulation Mgr An Independent Newspaper Entered af tecond claia matter at Medlord. Oregon, under Act of March 3. 1897 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By Mail In Advance: Daily and Sunday one year M 00 Daily and Sunday six months 6.30 Dally and Sunday three mos. 3.30 Dally and Sunday one month 1.25 By Carrier In A d v a n c e Medford. Ashland. Central Point. Eagle Point. Jacksonville. Gold Hill. Phoenix. Shady Cove, Rogue River, Talent and on motor routea: Daily and Sunday one year I3 00 Daily and Sunday one month 1.25 All Terms Cash in Advance Official Paper of the City of Medlord official Paper of Jackion County United Prow, Full Leased Wire MEMBER OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION Advertising Representative: WEST-HOLLIDAY COMPANY, rNC Offices In New York, Chicago, De. trolt. Sim Francisco, Los Angeles Seattle. Portland. St Louis. AtlanU Vancouver. B.C. NATIONAL EDITORIAL AftbCtyTfdN y-J l Flight o' Time Mdford and Jackion County His tory trom the tiles or the Mail Tribune 10. 20. 30 and 40 rears ago. 10 YEARS AGO April IS, 1942 (It was Saturday) Medford service station em ploys girls to soil gasoline In effort to alleviate manpower shortage. From Arthur Perry's Ye Smudge Pot column: Jackson K. Frost appeared Friday and Sat urday morns in the orchards and was warmly received. 20 YEARS AGO April 18. 1932 (It was Monday) Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Informed that Med ford entrance to Crater Lake National park will be plowed open in few days. Evans Valley school closed for two days after thieves steal mo tor which operates lighting plant. 30 YEARS AGO April 18. 1922 (It was Tuesday) Successful Chautauqua season for Medford "assured" with sign ing of "not less than 12 sessions for term of six consecutive days." Medford city council passes ordinance "licensing pows whose milk is sold within the city limits." 40 YEARS AGO April 18. 1912 (It was Thursday) Quotation from Ashland Daily Tidings reprinted in The Mail Tribune: "Who said Medford? Medford Medford Let's see. Looking at the map we find such a name attached to a burg Just below Phoenix. It Is a little place with very big pretensions." Play in Medford called off when Miss May Dloom, well known actress, trips in local opera house and "suffers a very severe fall." COMMUNICATIONS Letters to the fdltor must near the name and address of the wrltei although under cerlsln rircum stanrrs the use of a pen name or Initial for ptihllraitnti Is permis sible. The Mall Trthune reserves the right In edit all letters with .1 view to rlartflratlon and conden sation. Letters submitted for pub lication must not eirerd 400 words The Blue Ldg Railroad To the Editor: In The Mail Tribune's "Flight o' Time" there have been several references re cently to a proposal, back in 1912, to build a railroad to the Blue Ledge mine. What ever happened to the project? Isn't it high time to develop such a resource as the nearby Blue Ledge copper mine now that copper Is needed? Mining could supplement our lumber In dustry and help to support our new and growing population. Bert Kissinger, 233 S'juth Riverside Ave. Medford, Ore. WASN'T THERE AT ALL New Haven, Conn. (U.R) A policeman testified that Ray mond Leonard, accused of driv ing under the Influence, Indig nantly demanded "Why did you tjet me out of bed?" when he was arrested. Actually, the officer explained, the arrest was made in Leonard's automobile some distance from his home. G3.3FEn I MAIL TRIBUNE The Blue Ledge Dream In a letter to the editor on this page Mr. Bert Kissinger asks what became of the proposal made in 1912 to build a railroad from Medford to the Blue Ledge copper mine. Such a line would have permitted development of the big copper deposit and would have added a needed industry for this region, he points out. The Blue Ledge is located about 35 miles almost due south from here, just over the California-Oregon line, in Siskiyou county. In the same general neigh borhood there are three other copper mines, the St. Albans, Bloomfield and Copper King. e e e CUCH old timers as we have consulted have been somewhat hazy as to what stymied the railroad project so we dug out The Mail Tribune files of forty years ago in an effort to learn the facts. On April 1, 1912, there was great enthusiasm in town, according to a front page item in the newspaper. A mass meeting was called for that night at the Med ford theater and The Mail Tribune called upon the people to "Smite the rock of our natural resources that a stream of revenue may gush forth." The next day the paper chronicled the fact that citizens attending the mass meeting had with "en thusiasm and earnestness" endorsed the project, pledged themselves to subscribe the $75,000 neces sary to start construction, and appointed committees to take the matter in hand. A letter from Robert S. Towne, of New York, then owner of the mine, was read at the meeting. In it Towne stated that if a road was built he would at once develop and operate the mine, guaranteeing a minimum output of 2000 tons of concentrates per month. An editorial in the same edition stated that Med ford had waited ten years for the Southern Pacific to build a branch line to the mine, without result arid that "The railroad to the Blue Ledge must be built and Medford must build it." e e e e A FEW days later fifty of Medford's leading busi- nessmen formed an automobile caravan for an all-day trip to the mine. They were shown through the maze of tunnels and shafts and they also inspected the natural caves, discovered when branch tunnels were dug. On the same day another editorial urged build ing of the railroad explaining that a quarter of a million tons of copper ore had been blocked out and that over a million dollars worth of development work had been done at the mine. "People of Medford must and should build this railroad. It is idle to hope the Southern Pacific ever will," the editorial con cluded. t e e A GROUP of Rogue River Valley University Club "members visited the Blue Ledge on April 29, 1912, and became so enthused that a "Blue Ledge Club" was formed to further development of the mine and construction of the railroad. The new club in cluded Dr. J. F. Reddy, Lincoln McCormack, W. M. Lolvig, John Hall McKay, E. W. Huntley, A. Conro Fiero, A. S. V. Carpenter and Leonard Carpenter, P. S. Steenstrup, George Kramer, Stanton Griffis and Harry Hicks. Another mass meeting was held on May 23 at which the Blue Ledge road and other matters were taken up. The Mail Tribune's account of this gather ing quoted Dr. Reddy as stating that if Medford would actually undertake the fight to secure the road and show its good faith by raising a subsidy of $70, 000 with which to start the work, that it could be secured. He also said he believed that the Southern Pacific would assist in building the line. Next reference to the plan was in an editorial on July 25 when the Southern Pacific was criticized for its alleged disinterest, the editor concluding that "Southern Oregon will secure a railroad to the Blue Ledge or the coast only when its citizens start to build one themselves ... No one is generously going to hand us one on a golden platter." e e e e VJITH a couple of hot elections and other matters to distract the public mind, enthusiasm for the Blue Ledge railroad seemed to wane considerably during the summer for there was no mention of the project until September 5 when an editorial appeared advocating construction of a line to Crescent City. In tliis there was the charge that "Experience has con clusively demonstrated that the Southern Pacific will do nothing for Southern Oregon that it is not forced to do," and that "The Blue Ledge proposal proved for once and all that no matter what the inducement or the gain in prospect, no branch lines will be con structed or favored, unless competition forces it." Shortly thereafter the promoters apparently turned their attention from the Blue Ledge to a new project a railroad to Crescent City. On September 19 a company was formed to push the new plan and an unspecified sum of money was subscribed and ar rangements made for a survey for right of way and lonnage possibilities. ( IN DECEMBER an editorial mentioned the fact that Grants Pass was going ahead with plans to float a 3200,000 bond issue to build a railroad to Crescent City and a line from Medford to connect with the Grants Pass line was advocated. Grants Puss eventually went farther with railroad plans than did Medford for the Climate City actually htarted construction. Only a few miles of 'rail were laid, however, and eventually the project fell through. The Blue Ledge mine has remained undeveloped all these 40 years. The ore is not of sufficient richness to warrant heavy expenditure for its handling at prices which have prevailed, and transportation is still lacking for shipments in large volume. E.C.F. Friday, April It. 1992 In the Day's News By FRANK JENKINS Ike takes New Jersey as he was expected to do. On the basis of the vote counted as this is written (better than 90 per cent of the total) he gets 60 per cent of the Republican vote cast. Taft j gets 37 per-cent. Poor Harold Stassen gets a measly three per cent. w HAT does it mean? Suit yourself as to that. Sen ator Taft, an experienced cam paigner, takes a cheerful view of it. "It was maybe a little bet ter than we expected," he tells friends in Detroit. John D. M. Hamilton, the red headed fireball from Kansas who didn't do so well with his proteges back in the days when FDR was sweeping the board every time he ran for presi dent, goes farther out on the limb. He says: "Eisenhower has made a miserable showing in New Jersey." Hamilton is man aging Taft's Eastern campaign. Quite a few of Tafts upper brass backers say it was a "moral victory" for the senator. "Moral victory" is a claim we're all inclined to make Just after we have taken a shellacking. GENERAL EISENHOWER him self is strictly non-committal. His only comment is about the relatively light balloting in the New Jersey primary. "Weren't they expecting more than a million votes?" he asks the Paris correspondents when they show him the figures early today. The Paris dispatch adds: "He had no other remarks to make, except to repeat that he will make no political state ments until after he retires from the army on June 1." A WORD here about the "light" vote. (The dispatches tell us it was raining in New Jersey yesterday. As between doing their duty as citizens on election day and GETTING WET, quite a lot of people al ways choose to stay dry.) Any way, large or small, the vote in New Jersey was interesting. On the basis of reasonably complete returns, Eisenhower has 360,293, Taft has 215,453 and Stassen has 21,144. That adds up to a grand total of 596, 890 Republican ballots. Senator Kefauvcr, running alone on the Democratic side of the presiden tial primary, gets 140.000. Back in 1948, the year when Harry Truman circled the whistle stops and "gave 'em hell" and dragged a resounding victory out of what then appear ed to be certain defeat, Dewey got in the traditionally Repub lican state of New Jersey 981, 124 votes and Truman got 895, 455. Total ballots cast in New Jersey in that year (including Progressives, Prohis and Social ists) amounted to 1,945,555. That is to say: In New Jersey primary (pre sumably) 60.8 per cent of the Republicans who voted for Dewey in 1948 took the trouble (rain or no rain) to turn out and VOTE FOR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Of the Democrats who voted for Truman in 1948, only 15.6 per cent were interested enough to get out yesterday and vote for a Democrat for president, T HOPE that is significant. It could be. If it Is, it means that in New Jersey at least Republi cans are steamed up and inter ested and full of vim and vigor and enthusiasm (remember they braved the rain to vote), where as the Democrats are apathetic and dispirited. The reason I hope It is true Is that I believe the only way to clean up the mess in our federal government is with a new broom that will sweep all the closets and the cubbyholes under the stairways and the corners out CLEAN. pOOR old Stassenl I wonder what happened to him. And I can't help wondering if Oregon back In 1948 had anything to do with it. If you will dig back into your memory, you will recall that In 1948 Stassen was going great guns until he came to Oregon for that week-long debate with ! Dewey on what to do with the : communists. He hud me convinc-, ed. I was going to vote for him ! as the Republican candidate for president. j That staggering week In Ore-: gon changed my mind and I vol-j ed for Dewey. ! IN THAT miracle week In Ore gon, Dewey HAD EVERY THING. He had fire. He had en thusiasm. Re had sincerity FIGHTING sincerity. He was magnetic. He was wonderful. He was the perfect picture of a per fect candidate for president. But almost from the mo ment when he crossed the bor ders of Oregon on his way out he became a dud. He was a dud from there on until election day. Maybe the historians will tell us someday what happened in that strange week in Oregon bark in 1948. It cooked Stassen's goose, too. I think we'd better wait until , our Oregon primary next month 1 before making up our minds us'. to how the presidential cat is go ing to Jump this jcar. The big 1 Crosstown if Jxf mil nrTs u viA'" '! "You oughta see the on Bobo Bastow caught! Almost twice as big as ihis'nl" Babson Business Outlook By ROGER BABSON Babson Park, Mass., April 18 (Special to Mail Tribune) As my readers know, I have thus far been pretty blue about the prospects for business up to election time next Novem ber. But, as I told in my re lease on unem ployment last week, Presi dent Truman's decision to pull out of the race has changed my outlook. I feel more optimistic now. When I was a boy in Glouces ter, Mass., my father ran a store. He often said to me: "Roger, it isn't how much money, people have in the bank that makes them buy my merchandise no sir, it's how they feel." That was good advice in 1900, and it is still good. Just take a look at what's hap pened in the last year. You will remember that the bureaucrats and the brain trusters in Wash ington were warning the nation that a new wave of inflation was just ahead that there soon would be big shortages again. That was only 12 short months ago. Did these shortages show up? They did not. Why? Because the people who do the buying decided to save more and buy less. The government statistici ans could measure inventories, but they couldn't figure out peo ple's feelings. Business and Public Both Holding Back In my opinion, business and the public have both been hold ing back from making decisions and buying until after the elec tions. Now, however, with the President making his historic "shall not run" decision, all that is changed. There is a wide spread feeling that nearly all of his possible successors would be more kindly disposed to busi ness. A feeling of relief has spread through the country from one end to the other. Now, this feeling is not some thing you can measure in black and white. You can't put it into a graph. But, it is the kind of thing that will make a man go out and spend a little more money than he would have be fore. Just a month ago he may have told his wife that "there'll be no new car this year." To day, however, he may feel that things aren't so bad after all and say: "There is enough in the bank for a rainy day: so, with election prospects looking brighter, why not now enjoy the boys in the upper political eche lons aren't paying us much heed, but if 1948 is any criterion Ore gon is potent stuff in the busi ness of president-making and president-breaking. (ft) THE BROADWAY HIT Good-bye Tonight April 18, 19 - 21 - 22 - 23 FOOTLIGHTER'S THEATRE FAIRGROUNDS Adults $1.20 ALDERBROOK CAFE Breakfast Lunch - Dinner Sandwiches Refreshments 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. Satisfied Chicken or (A AA Broiled Steak Dinner tPsiiivU including hot biscuits and ho-mide piei A MEAL YOU'LL REMEMBER Orivt on mil West of Gold Hill on Hwy. tsira North on hard turfactd Sirdin Crttk read lottsn rsfsrrsd to at Hio Myittry Home Road) about I mil beyond tti Old OrefM Mutsum. By Roland Co new car?" This should cause currently high inventories to be pared down. Full Support From South Democrats' Need There is another important possibility that should not be overlooked. With President Tru man out of the running, every effort will be made to pick a candidate behind whom the whole Democratic party can unite. Now, the big bulk of Southern Democrats happen to be very conservative. If they are to be appeased and "kept in line," it is highly necessary that the Convention nominate a team that will be conservative enough to attract full support from the South like Russell or Keer. So the Democrats don't look so formidable to business as they did a few weeks back. What about the Republicans? Well, to me, it is pretty hard to see any candidate outside of Eisenhower or Taft. It doesn't seem likely that the Convention will be foolish enough to pin its hopes on some "dark horse" that may fall down in the big race. Businessmen generally would feel pretty good right now if they knew for certain that a conservative is to be in the White House next January, Thus, sizing up both the Democrats and the Republicans, it looks to me like a swing to the right. Democrats Haven't Lost Sense of Direction Finally, the Democrats know that if business is good and the voters are happy next Novem ber 4, they will have a better chance to win again. You can bet that their "smoke - filled rooms" are already busy map ping the strategy for keeping things humming right up to poll ing time. They may have lost their leader, but they haven't lost their sense of direction. Already we have seen the gov ernment granting permission to the military to award contracts to "job distress" areas. It isn't a far step from this to finding other reasons why defense spending should be stepped up in the months immediately ahead. Certainly, if the people get an impression that a new wave of inflation is on the way, which recent strikes indicate, they may do a little more buying themselves. NEW BASE COMMANDER Seattle (U.R) Cmdr. Victor A. Johnson will take over as commanding officer of the Seat tle coast guard base next month, Rear Adm. N. H. Leslie, com mander of the 13th Coast Guard district, said Thursday. Heliographlng (sunlight flash ed by mirrors sometimes a hun dred miles away) was introduced in 1885 by a young lieutenant named John J. Pershing, later commander-in-chief of the Amer ican Forces in World War I. My Fancy Children 50c Meet the Candidates Editor's note: This is one of a series of statements furnish- j d by candidates for local of fice in the primary election May 16. They are being pub lished by The Mail Tribune as a free service to the candi dates, and for the information of readers wishing to inform themselves of candidates' po sitions relative to their candi dacy. By H. F. COPE Republican, for County Treasurer As a candidate for the Re publican nomination for county treasurer in the May primary, I wish to state for the benefit of the voters that as a teacher in the public schools, office worker, chemist, salesman, or just a plain citizen of the community, I have always held, in all my work no matter where employed, that honesty and integrity are basic ally important. As a student and instructor in business and pro fessional subjects, I feel confi dent that I could perform the duties of the office I am seeking both capably and efficiently. I shall earnestly solicit your sup port in both primary and general elections. County School Office Secretary Resigns Mrs. Jonas Cox, Talent, sec retary of the Jackson county schools office, has resigned from that position effective May 10, it was announced today by Alf B Mekvold, county schools su perintendent. Mrs. Cox has been affiliated with the schools of fice for the past six years. Following her resignation, Mrs. Cox and her husband plan to leave Seattle May 16 by ship for a three-months vacation in Alaska. They also plan a trip to northern California to visit rel atives late this month. Named to succeed Mrs. Cox is Mrs. Treasure McNeill, Ashland. Mrs. McNeill, who has been cm ployed in the Southern Oregon college registrar's office for the past two years, will start work in the county office April 28. In addition to her work at SOC. she also has experience in var ious types of business offices. Mekvold stated. NEWS TO HIM Hartford, Conn. (U.R) When Stephen H. Millard was appoint ed to a state commission he didn't decline the assignment in fact, he didn't know about it. It wasn't until a month later that state officials learned Mil lard had moved to Albany, N.Y., nearly a year before. STATE WIDE AMATEUR CONTEST MEDFORD ELIMINATIONS SATURDAY NIGHT, MAY 3 MEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL AUDITO.ilUM AUSPICES Marine Corps League, Dept. of Oregon Can You Sing, Dance, Play an Instrument? This May Be Your Big Opportunity. Entries selected to represent Medford, will be taken to Port land, for three days the last of July, to compete with young sters from all cities in Oregon. The one named State Cham pion at Portland will get a wide assortment of prizes, in cluding 7 glorious days in Hollywood. You will travel both waystjin a United Air Lines Sky Liner, television and radio appearances, one year's supply of clothes for either a boy or girl, along with a host of other surprises.' All you have to do is write Marine Corps League, Dept. of Oregon, Room 16, Brophy Bldg.; Medford, Oregon. We will make it easy for you to get on the program. I TONITE! "Arsenic and Old Lace" The VINING the On Stage 1:30 P.M Rirrd Seat; $1.10 ft $1.23, Tiiketi On Sale in Medford H JV-'r C Stirring V rC ELMARIE 1 r WENDEL J v v A 2 : Jfa i H. F. COPE Full Support for Farmers Scanned Washington (U.R) President Allan B. Kline of the American Farm Bureau Federation said Friday a proposal to boost price supports to 100 per cent of par ity would "trap" farmers into "complete government control." In a stateme.it prepared for the Senate Agriculture Commit tee, Kline said 100 per cent sup ports would lead to "out-and-out price fixing" by the government because consumers would insist upon price ceilings at the same figure. The committee also was sched uled to hear testimony from Sec retary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan on various price sup port measures. The Agriculture ComtniUee is holding hearings on three new price support bills, including one to raise maximum supports on most major farm crops ex cept fruits and vegetables to 100 per cent of parity. Two new overnight camping grounds will be opened to the public at Wallowa Lake and Sil ver Falls state parks in Oregon this year. Plant & Rummage SALE APRIL 18 & 19 309 EAST 8TH ST. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. First Christian Church REPERTORY I !a.U!- Tl kiima i fled rrw ASHLAND, OREGON .TOMORROW! Romantic Comedy of Modern Unr.red 60 af Pruitt'i and at Purucker't
