Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, April 29, 1952, Image 1

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Medford mail tribune., April 29, 1952, Image 1

Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR

About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1952)

Page of 16 Next Prev Issue Next Text PDF JP2 (2.6 MB) Clip/Print Image

Return to Top

Page of 16 Next Prev Issue Next

Newspaper Page TextHussion Jets Shooft Up French Passenger koiroe HESITANT SUICIDE SAVED-James Vickery, 27, of Atlanta, poises to jump off ledge of Venetian Hotel roof at Miami, Fla. (left). He puts his hands to his face (center), threatening to jump if anyone tries to grab him. After two hours of pleading with the would-be suicide, fireman John Lundstcdt grabs Vickery under arms (right) at risk of his own life. Policemen closed in to help hold the youth. He told officers he had a "fuss" with his girl friend. ; CIO Woodworkers At Two Valley Mill Strike Firms About 225 CIO Woodworkers in Eagle Point, Prospect and Butte Falls walked off their jobs this morning in a strike against two lumber firm9 in the Rogue Valley. At the Medford corporation, some 150 men employed in woods operations and on the company's railroad were on strike. Pickets were posted at all the approaches to the firm's Medford plant. AFL union work ers, however, showed up for work, according to B. L. Nutting, Medco manager. To Resume Negotiations Red Blanket Lumber company, Prospect, reported that about 60 workers in the Simm's two Prospect mills, and 12 or 15 men in the planing mill at Eagle Point, left their jobs this morn ing. Negotiations are scheduled to be resumed this afternoon, a company spokesmann said Another strike, at Fir Milling and Planing company, in Ash land, the only other Rogue val ley mill employing CIO union men, was narrowly averted at 10 p. m. yesterday, when a new contract between local union 6-397 and the company was sign ed, just two- hours before the strike deadline at midnight last light. The firm employs about JSfl to 60 union members. Over Fringe Benefits In the case of Fir Milling and Planing company the only issues involved were wages and con tract wording, it was reported. In the case of Medco and Red Blanket, so-called "fringe ben efits," including increased deduc tions for health and welfare funds were the strike issues. The firms have been represent ed by the Pine Indlustrial Rela tions committee, Klamath Falls, In bargaining with the CIO un ion, and the negotiations have been conducted along the same lines as those in the northern part or the state. additional paid holidays. Negotiations broke down over the union's demands for an in crease in operators' contribu tions to the Woodworkers health and welfare fund. The operators refused to regard it as tax ex empt. The union asked for a boost from 7'4 cents an hour to nine cents an hour on employer contributions. A union source said the big Weyerhaeuser Timber company, whose 8,000 employees are not involved in the strike, recently agreed to pay the higher' health and welfare fund and also to continue to consider it as "not wages. The strike affects logging, sawmill, plywood, boom and oth er operations under jurisdiction of the CIO Woodworkers in Ore gon, Washington, Idaho, north em California and western Montana Medford United PrutFull Leued Wirt o 47th Year 16 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 196. ONE Pr Full Leased Win No. 33 IMPEACHMENT SIDETRACK ASKED Human Error Seen As Possible Cause Of Naval Disaster Washington U.R High Navy sources said Tuesday preliminary evidence indicated that human error rather than mechanical failure caused the mid-Atlantic collision of the destroyer Hobson and the aircraft carrier Wasp. There were demands, mean while, for a congressional invest igation of the accident. One came fram a father of one of the missing men. He said his son Portland (U.R) Some 40,000 CIO Woodworkers went on strike Tuesday morning in five Northwest states against 700 operators of logging and saw mill operations. The strike call was issued shortly before midnight by A. F. Hartung, union president, after the Woodworkers' negotiating committee failed to reach an agreement with the Willamette Valley Operators association. Except in the plywod indus try, employers generally met the union's demand for a 7',i cent hourly pay increase and three Pullman (U.R) The Rev. yw us r., Aiocnson, pasior oi the First Methodist church, Seat 41. ...ill nc, win give lite wasiungiun State college baccalaureate speech June 1, the college an nounced Tuesday. Chrome Production Quotas Increased Grants Pass Production max imum for chrome has been in creased from 2,000 to 5.000 tons yearly for individual producers, it was announced here yesterday at a meeting of some 300 persons interested in mining of chrome. The meeting, attended by miners from all Pacific coast states and federal officials from a number of different agencies, was called by the Oregon Mining association. There is a possibility, it was reported, that over-all chrome production in this area may be increased from 200,000 tons yearly to 350,000. ', A number of Medford people attended the session. Grants Pass is the location of the only chrome purchasing depot being operated in Oregon. Regional Farm Bureau Meeting Set Tomorrow A regional meeting of Oregon Farm Bureau federation mem bers in Jackson, Josephine and Douglas counties will be held in the Jackson county courthouse at 10 a.m. tomorrow, it was an nounced today. Marshall Swearingen. state Farm Bureau president, will at tend, as will several other state officials. Argentine Meteorologist . Observing Fruit Work Here Felix Albani, professor of ag' ricultural meteorology at the University of Cuyo, Mcndoza, Argentina, has been a guest since Saturday of Roy Rogers, federal meteorologist, in Medford. Albani, who will remain in the United States until next Oc tober, has been associated with Dr. Frederick Brooks of the Uni versity of California at Davis, Cal., and is interested in obtain ing data on fruit frost forecast ing and hail control. At University At present he is associated with the California university as an assistant specialist at the Da vis experiment station and has worked with the fruit forecast ing division at Riverside, Calif. He w:ll leave the Rogue valley tomorrow and will visit next with Dr. Irvin Krick, Weather Resources corporation, Denver, JColo., in the latter part of May. The Argentinian described the corporation's group as special ists in "rain increasing'' opera tions and one of the leading con- United States in corns In the this field. At the present time, he said, "I am in direct contact with the Pasadena, Calif., firm of North American Weather consultants of Robert Elliott and Gene Bol lay. mis nrm is very serious and consistent in their weather operations, he. said. Notes Similarities Albani described his section of Argentina as "very much the same as California -and Oregon. ve grow lots of grapcs-600, 000 acres and are first in the wine industry of our country. We also have the two'main fruit problems of the Rogue river val ley each spring: frost and hail." He has been studying the methods of frost forecasting in this valley and of the operations of Harvey Brandau and Eugene Kooser in hail prevention. He stated that he was "very impressed'' with the beauty of the valley and that he hoped some day that his friend here would visit him in Argentina. once had told him that the Hob son was "unsafe." Up to Naval Court The Navy sources emphasized that it is up to a Naval Court of Inquiry to determine officially who, or what, was to blame for the disaster in which the Hobson sank with the apparent loss of 176 crewmen. Adm. Lynde B. McCormick, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, announced Monday night that he will convene such a court soon after the Wasp arrives at New York on Friday or Saturday. Signal Mixup Seen On the basis of the partial reports already received by rad io, wavy men predicted that the court will loook particularly for a mixup in transmitting or re ceiving turn signals as the war ships executed a high-speed ma neuver , They saw only a "remote dos- sibility" that mechanical trouble, such as fouled steering gear. might have caused the Hobson to pass directly under the Wasp's bow . The 32,000-ton carrier knifed through the 1.6000 ton de stroyer, and the smaller 'ship sank within four minutes, trap ping many crewmen below the decks. Plausible Explanation There's an old Navy expres sion: "Somebody didn't get the word,' "one highly placed in formant said. "That seems to be the most plausible explana tion for what happened to the Hobson Saturday night." Ervin S. White Sr., Lynn, Mass., father of one of the 176 missing men, said his son had told him before the fatal voyage that "the Hobson was an unsafe, battle-scarred rust tub" which was frequently in drydock for re pairs. Fear of Splitting Nation 'Wide Open' Told by Chairman Resolutions Said 'Purely Political' Washington (U.R) Chairman Emanuel Cellar has urged the House Judiciary Committee to sidetrack,, three Republican moves to impeach President Tru man before they "split the nation wide open." The New York Democrat tag ged as "purely political" the im peachment resolutions offered by GOP members as an outgrowth of Mr. Truman's seizure of the steel industry. Ruling Expected Federal Judge David A. Pine was expected to rule Tuesday or Wednesday on the steel indus try's request for an injunction against the seizure. His frank surprise when Assistant Attor ney General Holmes Baldridge contended the President has un limited emergency powers above interference by courts or Con gress led to the general predic tion that he will rule in favor of the industry. Proof of Pressures Economic Stabilizer Roger L. Putnam told the House Banking committee that the steel crisis is proof of "continuing infla tionary pressures." He said the dispute showed that wage-price controls should be extended for two years after the Defense Pro duction Act expires June 20 Putnam defended the federal seizure, and said the "threat to stabilization" in the steel case re sulted from the industry's de mands for "more of a price in crease than the rules allow." Would Lump Resolutions Republican strategy was to lump the three resolutions with eight others four of them spon sored by Democrats and refer them all to a subcommittee for "study and possible action." The other proposals range from a mere censure of the President to a proposed constitutional amend ment curbing his power. House Republican leaders have deferred for a week any parly stand on the issue. Rep. Paul Shafer, R-Mich.. dropped the latest impeachment bill in the House hopper late Monday. He called for "repudia tion" by Congress for Mr. Tru man s "high crimes and misdemeanors." Bulletin Washington (UP) CIO President Philip M urray Tuesday ordered an immediate strike of 650,000 United States Steel Workers in the wake of a federal court decision ruling seizure ot the steel mills illegal. Washington (UP) President Truman's seiz ure of the steel industry was unconstitutional, Federal Judge David A. Pine ruled Tuesday. The Justice Department was expected to ask Pine for an immediate stay of the judgment pending review by higher courts. Pine said: "There is no express grant of power in the Con stitution authorizing the President to direct this seiz ure. There is no grant of power from which it reason ably can be implied. "There is no enactment of Congress authoriz ing it." Never before in the history of the country has a Federal Court enjoined an administrative act of the chief executive. "With all due deference and respect for that great President of the United States," the opinion said, "I am obliged to say that his statements do not comport with our recognized theory of government, but with a theory with which our government of laws and not of men is constantly at war." Portland Orders Daylight Saving 'Portland (U.R) The Portland city council Tuesday issued a proclamation declaring the city will observe daylight saving time this summer despite a dec laration by Gov. DouglUs McKay that Oregon as a whole will re main on standard time. The decision by Portland was expected to set of a chain reac tion of daylight time proclama tions particularly in northwest ern Oregon and southwestern Washington. Unanimous Vote The city council voted 5 to 0 in favor of the proclamation. which initially is binding on city employees and is to be followed 2 Ashland Men Admit Guilt in Burglaries Robert Leland Taylor and Ray Floyd Harpham, both of Ashland, who were arraigned on April 21, pleaded guilty yester day in circuit court to charges of burglary not in a dwelling, according to District Attorney Paul Haviland. They waived grand jury in dictment and the case will be continued for sentence, pending receipt of complete criminal rec ords, Haviland noted. "Officers are also investigating the possi bility that the same subjects were involved in several other similar cases," he said. Both have served terms in the state penitentiary, the district attorney pointed out, and ad mitted the theft of Gates Furni ture store in Ashland as well as Ebcrhardl's sporting goods store where they were apprehended by Ashland city police. Weather Fof-?rat: Thfrkrnfnc rlotidtriMi IhU evening and llfht rain tnntcht; thnwrrt HtJnidiiy. Gutty southerly wind! IhU rvtnlng. Low tonight 42, nigh Wednesday 15. Temp. HlghMt Yeilerdav it Lowest Thli Morning 12 Musicians End Convention Today; Elect New Officers Howard Rich,- Tacoma, was elected president of the North west conference of Musicians at the final session of the organiza tion's 1952 convention here to day. Rich, of Local 99, succeeds Harry Reed, Seattle Local 176. in the presidency. The convention, held in the Jackson hotel, was the largest in the history of the NCM. It was attended by 53 delegates from more than 20 locals. More than 100 persons were registered for the two-day session. Other officers elected by the group included Boyd Spcas, Bellingham Locai 451, District 1 vice-president; Arthur Doll. Ta coma Local 117, District 2 vice- president; Fred Hartley. Spo kane Local 105, District 3 vice president, and J. Vernon Mar shall, Medford Local 597. Dis trict 4 vice-president. Marshall succeeds William Hamilton, Eu gene Local 689. Ray Walker, Olympia Local 124, was reelected secretary- treasurer, and Julian McCaffery, Bellingham Local 451, was re elected sergcant-at-arms. Members of the executive board include Ida B. Dillon. Se attle Local 76, District 1; Charles Wagner,. Olympia Local 124, District 2; Ted Myrick, Pasco Local S24, District 3; and Leo Howie, Coos Bay Local 520, Dis trict 4. Yakima, Wash., was selected by the delegates as the lite of the 1953 convention. Lumber Retailers Will Change Hours; Time Mixup Eases Lumber retailers in Medford will move their hours one hour earlier tomorrow, to conform with other retail establishments in the city, it was announced today. Open hours will be 7 a.m to 4 p.m. on week-days, and until 11 a.m. Saturdays. Members of the Medford Re tail Merchants association, who moved their opening and closing hours ahead yesterday in an at tempt to conform with hours be ing observed in daylight saving time areas, reported today that the system seems to be operating smoothly. Considerable confusion over the exact situation was noted yesterday, but most residents seemed to be straightened out today. The two bank branches here today resumed operation on their regular hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the United States Na tional bank and 10 a.m to 5 p.m. for the First National bank. Issue Joint Statement In a Joint announcement, of ficials of the two banks pointed out that it has been found that certain legal and other techni calities exist which will prevent them from conforming to the retail merchants hours. Both "are very cognizant of their responsibilities in the mat ter of service to the community," the statement said, but they can not move their schedules up "un til such time as daylight saving time Is legalized by official proc lamation of the governor." Some mills In the Medford area are considering the possi bility of changing their operating hours. It was reported, but no general decision has yet been made. Schools will continue to op erate on standard time for the present. . by the- Portland Retail Trade Bureau, whose 400 members rep resent major businesses and all downtown department stores. The fast time will be effective at 2:01 a.m. Wednesday. Earlier, Mayor Robert A. Thompson of Klamath Falls said the league of Oregon cities would enter the daylight-time question. Telephone Vote Asked Thompson told the Klamath Falls city council Monday night he planned to telephone Herman Kerhli, executive secretary of the league in Eugene, and ask him to take a telephone vote of league directors as to whether they favor fast time. Kerhli would be asked to Inform Gov. Douglas McKay of the results in hopes of reversing or reaffirm ing his standard time edict. Meanwhile, the Oregon Jour nal quoted a high legal authority in Salem as tossing doubt on the legality of the Rose City's attempt to establish daylight sav ing time In revolt against the governor's order. Right Questioned The legal authority, who was unnamed, questioned the rieht oi tnc city of Portland or any other municipality in Oregon to adopt daylight time contrary to the governor's ruling. In support of this view, the authority cited a Supreme Court ruling of 1934 that a legislative act supersedes or amends every city charter or municipal ordi nance with which It is In conflict. UN, Communist Troops In 19 Separate Tiffs Seoul, Korea (U.R) United Nations and Communist troops clashed in 19 separate but brief engagements along the Korean front Tuesday, most of them pre dawn fights on the Eastern sec tor. The Allies repulsed all Com-tcrcaso dIiis frinife honefils munisi prunes alter short fights. Record Vote Seen In Massachusetts Primary Election Taft, Eisenhower Supporters Scramble Boston'U.R)Massachusetls voters,, stirred up by a bitter battle be tween Taft and Eisenhower forc es, went to the polls Tuesday in the hottest presidential primary in the stale's history. Even though weather forecasts said rain wiuld fall intermittent ly throughout the day, election officials predicted the turnout would top the previous high of 270,000 set in 1932 when Frank lin D. Roosevelt and Alfred E. Smith fought for the Democratic nomination. Republican Show But the contest Tuesday was a Republican show, with Sen. Rob ert A. Taft of Ohio and support ers of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhow er scrambling for a heavy major ity of the state's 38 delegates to the GOP National Convention. Ten delegates at large were un opposedd. They formed a "har mony" slate, with two pledged to Taft, two to Eisenhower and six remaining neutral. The oth er 28 delegate contests were con tested bitterly. Eisenhower and Taft slates were entered in all 14 congressional districts. Unof ficial. slates favoring Gen. Doug las MacArthur were entered In the 8th, 9th and 11th Districts, even mough MacArthur has urg ed his followers to vote for Taft in addition, there was a state wide preferential "write-In" pri rrtary which was not binding. Ihe "write-in" contest attract ed considerable attention, how ever, as the slate's attorncv gen eral permitted voters to scribble nicknames on the preferential Dauots, such as "Bob," "Ike" and Mac. in another unusual move, the slate permitted establishments selling alcoholic beverages to re main open during the voting Hours, determined by local op tion but in most places 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. 72 Demo Delegates Democrats voted for 72 dele gates 16 at-large and 56 by dis tricts. Each will have one-half vote at the convention. Demo cratic Gov. Paul A. Dcvcr, a "favorite son," was assured con trol of most of the 72-man dele gation. However, Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee was favored to win the Democratic preferential pri mary because he lacked organ ized opposition. Little Progress Seen In Oil Strike Threat Washington (U.R) Federal mediators reported little pro gress Tuesday In their attempts to avert a nationwide strike of 100,000 oil workers at midnight Wednesday. Assistant Mediation Chief Clyde M. Mills said "both sides are moving a little bit, in nego tiations at 14 different points throughout the country between the Industry and AFL, CIO and independent oil unions. The unions have threatened to strike unless a settlement is reached by midnight Wednesday. Further talks were scheduled Tuesday. The unions originally de manded a 25 -cent hourly In- nefits. The workers average $2.10 an hour. Attack Occurs Over Soviet Zone; Two Persons Hurt Plane Riddled By Machineguns Berlin (U.R) Two Russian jet fighter planes shot up an Air France air liner over the Soviet occupation zone of Germany Tuesday and wounded two pas sengers. The clothing of the plane's copilot and steward was ripped by missiles from the guns of the two MIG planes, of the type that Communists are using in Korea, but the men were not wounded. Plane Kept on Course Pilot Gilbert Schweninger kept the plane on its course and managed to land it safely at Tem pelhof commercial airport in the United States sector of Berlin. The plane was riddled by can non and machinegun fire. A gasoline tank, right wing, belly and front of the DC-4 liner were ripped. One hole in the right wing was one foot wide. In the fuselage was a two-foot hole. An American spokesman said it was a miracle the plane did not ex plode. 22 Holes Counted Edwin Sippel, a Pan American Airways pilot of Tulsa, Okla., counted 22 holes in the plane when he inspected it. The two wounded passengers were a German woman, Mrs. Irmgard Nebel, Frankfurt, and a German man, Walter .Kurth, Hamburg. Mrs. Nebel Wax fipri. ously wounded in the stomach. ivunn was wounded in the left arm and left leg. Pilot Schwallinger said the Russian planes attacked without warning while he was flying on his regular run from Frankfurt to Berlin at about 7,000 feet along an air corridor approved by the Soviets, in the Konnau area at a point 90 miles south west of Berlin. Schwallinger radioed Tempel hof that he was under attack.' Maneuvered Into Clouds " Schwallinger said he maneii vered his big plane up into the clouds as soon as he realized the Russians were firing on him. Only this, he said, enabled him to save his plane and its 11 pas sengers and six crewmembers, in cluding himself. Schwallinger and his fellow crewmen said each Russian plane made four passes at their plane, opening up each time with ma chine gun and small cannon fire. Experts estimated that the can non shells were of about 20-milli- meter calibre, a little less than one inch. Wounded Removed It took Schwallinger about half an hour to get his Diane to Tempelhof. Emergency crews with stretchers were waiting. They took off the two wounded. Allied authorities at once can celled all flights out of Berlin and Air France suspended flights into Berlin, in fear of further attacks. Soviet planes have been en gaged In extensive air maneuvers over the Red zone. The Allies started at once pre paring a stiff protest to the Russians. Cloudy Skies Ease Utah Flood Situation Salt Lake City U.R Cloudy skies slowed record runoff floods over most of the mountain West ruesday, but thousands of acres of farmlands, residential and business areas remained covered by muddy water. The clouds carried threats of rain during the next few days for flood-plagued northern Utah, but experts said the cooler tem peratures that slowed melting of double . normal depth mountain snow batiks would help their bat tle more than rain would hinder it. Woman's Fickleness Blamed by Man Held For Embezzlement From Oregon Company Pnrltnnrl Nl Pi mninn..l. r ti - , .. ..... . .. Portland (U.R) Blaine Paul Carroll, 28, Army veteran and former University of Portland student, Tuesday blamed the 'fickleness of woman" for get ting him into trouble a charge of embezzling $17,000 from the Ontario, Ore., Wood Products company. "I guess she was one of those girls that picks 'em up and drops 'em like flics." he glumly ad mitted to arresting officers. Carroll declined to name the woman but said she was a young diorcee and that he spent the money on her In six weeks. "I squandered It foolishly on a woman I thought I was in love with," he said. Carroll, a graduate of Portland university last June, was hired as office manager for the Ontario firm. He allegedly set up an ac count for a non-existent lumber firm In Boise, Ida., and used bo gus lumber Invoices to steal money from the wood products company. Work Uniaiiifaciory Police said the embezzlement occurred between June and Oc tober last year. Carroll was dis charged Oct. 15, 1951, because of unsatisfactory work, but the em bezzlement wasn't discovered un til several weeks ago when the firm discovered a $2,000 forged check drawn against its account Carroll was arrested here and held on $7,000 bail as a fugitive to be returned to Malheur coun ty. In a signed statement he ad mitted spending all the stolen funds, plus his own savings, pro ceeds from insurance dividends and additional money he borrow ed from banks, all on the young divorcee within a period of six weeks. Items Included a $4000 auto mobile, furniture and appliances worth $3,500, two diamond ring sets worth $t,300, $1,750 check ing account. $1,500 in house pay ments and $1,500 In jewelry and "trinkets " And alter that, he said, ha ' "lost the girl."