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
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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