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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1955)
Recommended A ronndnp of top Jackson eounty news during 1954 v ap pears on Page 12 of today's Issue of The Mail Tribune, and roundup of the year's top Ports news appears on Pace 1. Weather FORECAST Scattered after noon showers In valley today with snow in mountains. Oc casional rain Monday. High today 42, low tonight 28. Temp. Highest yesterday 44 Lowest yesterday 36 To It p.m. yesterday United Press Full Leased Wire 49th Year 26 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 1955 - Price 5c No. 245 Si C3 United Press Full Leased Wire ; R eviem Office Dm (Editor's note: Diamond L. Flynn, who has been mayor of Medfoid for mora than six years, relinquished that office to Earl Miller yesterday. In a final report, addressed to the city council and to the people of Medford, Flynn reviewed the accomplishments of his administration and pointed out problems which are still facing the city. He delivered the report at the year-end council meeting Friday, and will also give highlights of it at a Chamber of Commerce Roundtable session at noon at the Jackson hotel tomorrow. Slightly edited, the report follows.) By DIAMOND L. FLYNN Retiring Mayor of Medford I feel that I should refresh our minds of some of the projects and incidents that have taken place during the last six years. 1 Completed Hawthorne swimming pool and park. (Bond issue of $125,000 to do this.) 2. Installed modern radio equipment for Police and Fire de partments. 3. Capt. Leo Weidner of the Portland Fire Department hired in expansion of the Fire Department. New equipment purchased ' , V ft I " D. L, FLYNN Issue Report ' 6. Construction of the Jackson street bridge, . which cost ap proximately $40,000. The estimates of cost were near $140,000 on this project. Construction also took: place on a nw annex to the Public Library at a cost of approximately $102,000. " ; 7. Reorganized city superintendent's office and modernized the bookkeeping system in recorder's office. The office : of public works director was created which greatly improved our . Depart ment of Safety and our street and sewer construction. Under this arrangement all departments are under , the superintendent's of fice5 with the exception of the city attorney, treasurer, recorder. and city police judge. Street Paving Completed 8. To get the residents of the approximately 11V4 miles of paved streets -were constructed. An extensive program of storm and sanitary sewers was inaugurated with approximately 5.9 miles of storm sewers and 18.7 miles of sanitary sewers installed during this period. Most of the storm sewers were installed in West Medford due to a more serious. drainage problem. ,' 9. The police department was was added. Modern equipment partment. It was through the help of the Berkeley police depart ment and Sgt. Beall that this was accomplished. 10. We have annexed a number of additions to the city limits of Medford, among them being Verde Hills, West Side Heights additions, Eastwood subdivisions and tne Fairgrounds property south of town. A total of 178 acres has been added to the city through these annexations. - : ' ' 11. The city hall has been remodeled to some degree and is a much better office building for the needs of Medford. Much more should be done to keep it in good repair. The heating system needs some improvement. Most of the outside windows and doors should be replaced. .These repairs would : save a lot in heating . (Continued on Page 2) Traffic Mishaps Near New High; 150 Killed Chicago U.R) Traffic acci dents killed five persons an hour Saturday night and safety experts said the nation's motor ists would record a new high in deaths for two-day New Year's holiday. At 10 p.m., with the holiday 23 hours old 150 persons had been killed on streets and high ways. Fires claimed 12 lives, four persons were killed in plane crashes and, 11 in miscellaneous accidents for a total of 177 acci dental deaths, since a United Press tabulation started at 6 p.m. Friday. New York Tope List New York had 12 traffic fa talities, Texas 11 and Ohio nine. Safety experts said the rec- SATURDAY SCORES SHRINE GAME East 23, West 12 ROSE BOWL . t Ohio State 20, USC 7 SUGAR BOWL Navy 21, Mississippi 0 COTTON BOWL Georgia Tech 14, Arkansas 6 , '" . ORANGE BOWL Duke 34, Nebraska 7 SUN BOWL Texas Western 47, Florida Stale ! - ' ' l Flynh Six Years-' off Mayor and put in use, including sud station in West Medford and temporary station on the East side on Keeneway. . 4. Twelve additional traffic signal lights and modern light ing on Sixth, Main, Central and Bartlett sts., through the coop eration of the State Highway commission and lighting by the California Oregon : Power com pany were installed. A modern -Police-Fire telephone alarm sys tem has ' also been installed throughout the city. ' ; . ; 5. Acquired sewage treatment plant, from the government (War Assets- administration) - and - the installation . of approximately eight miles of 36 inch concrete trunk main from the city to the plant. Shortly after this, treat ment of sewage was made avail able to Central Point, also ac quired appsoximatv. 1,000 acres at Camp White roJwar bage disposal and industrial usC ( city out of the mud and dust, reorganized. More manpower was installed throughout this de ord for a two-day New Year holiday was set in ; 1948 when 216 persons died in traffic acci dents. " "It appears now. that our pre- holiday estimate of a 240-person death toll for this year was too conservative," said Ned H. Dear born, president of the National Safety Council. . He said traffic deaths were mounting at a "disturbing rate" and unless there was a sudden slow-down would easily reach the 300 mark. Near Christmas Mark "The traffic toll so far is run ning half again as high as last New Year, and is virtually equal ling the shocking Christmas toll of a week ago," Dearborn said. "This is an incredible and dis graceful price to pay for a holi day that hopefully welcomes a new year' in which the whole emphasis is on peace . and security." Last week end's Christmas holiday saw 380 killed in traffic mishaps. . New Earthquake Hits Eureka; No Damage Eureka, Calif. (U.R) A "fairly sharp" earthquake rocked this quake-conscious area at 6:49 p. m. Saturday, but no damage was reported. The temblor lasted only a short time but caused a quick flurry of excitement since it was the seventh shock-felt here since Dec. 21 when the area was shaken by a severe jolt - y " '' f ! iVfrki J I i - , OFF TO CHINA Secy. Gen. of the UN Dag Hammar &jold (left) is on his way to Peiping to seek the release of 11 imprisoned American airmen in a showdown with Red Chinese Premier Chou En-lai. In his party is William J. Ranallo, 32(rir. at), of Pittsburgh Pa., bis personal aide who has served i chauffeur and bodyguard. Ranallo is the only America in the group. U.N. Secreiairy Talks mm Paris (U.R) United Nations Secretary General Dag Ham marskjold stopped off on his way to seek the release of Amer icans jailed in Red China for a one hour, secret conference Sat urday with Premier Pierre Mendes-France. Government quarters specu lated they might have discussed MOD Drive Starts Today With Pickup Of Christmas. Trees A Christmas tree pickup will kick off the January March of Dimes campaign in Medford this afternoon. Members of Medford Lodge 178,. Loyal Order of Moose, are sponsoring the project. Med ford residents are asked to place their old Christmas trees in their front yard or on their porch prior to noon today. Volunteers driving trucks do nated by several used car deal ers in the city will pick up the trees during the afternoon. A contribution to the March of Dimes is requested to be placed in a sealed envelope and fastened to the tree. Boy Scouts from city troops will assist with the project. Of necessity, the project is be ing confined to the city limits, according to Leo Webster, lodge governor. Webster said those outside the city who wish to fake part in the project1 may bring their trees into the city and leave them in the yard of a friend. The city has been divided into 11 districts for the pickup,Web ster said. The pickup trucks will take their cargo to two cen tral locations where the trees will be transferred Jo larger trucks for transportation to the old gymnasium site at Camp White. There the trees will be burned at 7:30 p. m. this evening and the public is invited. The Cen tral Point Rural Fire Protection District will dispatch a pumper to the scene to stand by during me Burning, Webster said. Reds Raise Threat Of New Blockade Berlin (U.R) The Commun ists raised a long range threat of a Berlin blockade in reprisal for West German rearmament Saturday by refusing to renego tiate an expiring agreement on Western Barge .. Traffic to this city.- . The agreement with the Rus sians on the use of waterways through the Soviet zone which carry 20 per cent of West Ber lins supplies expired at mid night. Soviet authorities notified the British Commission Saturday that the matter had been re ferred to East German authori ties. The barge traffic, mostly in coal from the Ruhr to West Berlin, was normal, at east for the time being. a - , But Western authorities agreed that if the Communists wa'nted to seize upon the issue at a time when they were fight ing the Western plans to rearm West Germany, they could cause trouble. - , French recognition of the Peip ing Regime some time in the future. Others suggest Mendes- France was taking the oppor tunity o seek relief from East- West tension. . Refuses Comment The Premier, fresh from the struggle over German rearma ment and under pressure on the home front to try to do business with the Communists, refused to say what he and Hammarsk jold talked about. "M. Hammarskjold is engaged on a mission of peace on this first day of the new lyear,w he said - in -fais-only s. oommentr -"In the. name of the p.eople of France, I wish him success in his mission." After a brief stop, Hammar skjold flew on toward China. He was due to talk today in New Delhi with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India. ' Deplores U. S. Methods In Calcutta Saturday night, Nehru deplored the method of the United Nations handling of the case of 11 American airmen held in China. Hammarskjold will seek their release, as well as other U. N. nationals in Chin.i. Nehru voiced regret that the U. N. itself had "decided the case" of the U. S. Air Force cap tives "without going into the question." He said the "manner of dealing with the case was unfortunate. At his press conference on his way home from the Indonesian conference, Nehru said Red China attached great importance to some thousands of Chinese war prisoners sent to. Formosa from Korea. New Year's Eve Shot Clips Power Line Some overzealous New Year's eve celebrators severed a power line in the Eagle Point area early yesterday by a gun shot and service wasn't fully restored until four hours later, The California-Oregon Pow er company reported yester day that a 12,000-voIt primary line into' the city and adjacent area was'severed at 12:03 a. apparently while some cele brants were fixing a gun into the air. The line dropped to the ground and no injuries or damage was reported. Officials said service was restored to city residents about 2:45 a. m., and to the whole affected area by 4 a. m. The line was severed near the Eagle Point grade sehool rhey added. , Ike Orders Return of Veteran Benefits To Peacetime Basis Effective Jan. 31 Augusta, Ga. (U.R) Presi dent Eisenhower Saturday' or dered the nation's veterans benefits put back on a peace time basis, effective Jan. 31. The move will eventually save bil lions of dollars. - Mr. Eisenhower., winding up a yuletide holiday, issued - an executive order and proclama tion : ending these benefits for future servicemen: : Benefits Listed V 'v 1. . Free college scholarship worth up to $5,760. . ) 2. Mustering-out pay up to $300. . ' 3. Special veterans unemploy ment insurance. 4. Loan guarantees on homes, farms and businesses. 5. Snecial hospital privileges and pensions fox those whose Request for Funds For Talent Project In Federal Budget Local Backers Deny Reports of Cut Press reports from Washing ton speculating that funds for the Talent reclamation project may not be included in the fed eral budget this year are in accurate, it was reported here Saturday. Report Quoted A United Press dispatch yes terday said: "No funds are included in the administration's budget to begin construction of the newly-authorized Talent . division reclama tion project in southern Oregon, reports here indicate. "Initial construction funds for the $22,000,000 Talent project were requested by the bureau of reclamation and the Interior De partment. "But when the requests for funds reached the budget bu reau, evidence indicates the money was eliminated on the supposed . grounds that White House policy was against any new starts in the field of reclam- mation in the next fiscal year, "Oregon lawmakers ' inter vened, obtaining a White House statement that there was no presidential policy against new reclamation projects, but appar ently the Talent funds were left out anyway. Source of the United Press story was not given. Includes S350.000 Request A check in Medf ord yesterday with supporters of the Talent project who have kept in close touch with the progress of the project indicated that the bud get specifically includes a re quest for $350,000 to start work of rehabilitating the canal sys tems of the Medford and Rogue Valley Irrigation districts, an integral part of the overall plan. In addition, it was reported, a supplemental request for $2,- 645,000 will be included with the funds to be used for initial construction of the irrigation and power project itself. The Talent division project was authorized by the Congress near the end of the session last year, and the bill was signed by President Eisenhower. It re ceived the support of all of Ore gon's Congressmen, and Senator- elect Richard Neuberger also has said he favors the project. 84th Opens Wednesday Washington (U.R) The 84th Congress convenes Wednes day for a session which will test President ; Eisenhower's ability to press his "moderately progres sive" legislative -: program through a House ' and Senate under Democratic control.- - As of now, there is no assur ance - of too much bi-partisan harmony. Both Democ r ts and Republicans will be shooting for a legislative record aimed at capturing the White House in 1956. On foreign and defense policies, where there is much overlapping of administration and Democratic party views; Mr. Eisenhower's chances of success are deemed fairly good. But he faces greater conflict on a num ber of domestic issues -- ailments are not due to military service. The order puts compensation payments for service-connected disabilities on a peacetime basis which is 80 percent of the war time basis. . It does - not : affect any war time rights which anyone already may have or may accumulate between now and Jan. 31. No Exact Estimate ; , . The exact saving to the gov ernment can not be determined. But experts in Washington fig ured war .veterans benefits even; tually would cost an extra $5, 000,000,000 to $6,000,000,000 for each year they were continued. The little White House here pointed xmt that the order does not . impair peacetimes veterans benefit.- - Congress Duff wmA wn M Robert Duff, 53, Medford's city superintendent since 1951, has been named the city's first city manager. The appointment became effective yesterday. The city council vote was un animous. Former Mayor D. L. Flynn stated that the appoint- : ROBERT DUFF Named by Council ment probably will have, to. be confirmed, by the new council at a regular meeting Tuesday. . Flynn -stated after the meet ing that . several other men had Rolls Triplets Get Names; Girl First 1955 Medford Baby . James Thomas Rolls, Robert Jonathan Rolls and William Da vid Rolls celebrated New Year's day yesterday by receiving names. ! The triplets, sons of Mr. and Mrs. James W. , Rolls, .512 Sum mit ave., are four days bid to day. . . Babies Gaining Weight ' ' ' James, the smallest and first born of the three, has been the liveliest. of the brothers so far, and proved it Saturday by reg istering a weight gain of two ounces. Robert, the middle one, gained one ounce, and William, the biggest and youngest, gained an ounce and a half. - The boys are ' named after their father and the two doctors who assisted in their delivery, They probably will ' be known as Jim, Bob and Bill. Sisters at Sacred Heart hos pital reported Saturday that two babies were born New .Year's eve, to bring the total number born at the hospital during 19o4 to 605, or 75 more than the year before. Among them have been three sets of twins and the trip lets..,- Sharon Kay First A girl, Sharon Kay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clem mer, route 1, box 477, Central Point, was the first baby born in Medford on Jan. 1, 1955. The baby was born at 10:45 a. m. in Community hosp ital and weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces. The infant has an older sister, Charleen Ann, 1, and. tne father is employed at the Continental Lumber company, Central Point. "Persons serving in the armed forces will continue to receive entitlement to substantial peace time veterans' benefits provided by the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, and other agencies, it said. Emergency Not Elided ; These apply mostly to com pensation and hospital and med ical care for tservice-connected disabilities,' retirement insur ance and death gratuity." The order; does not end" the state of national emergency pro claimed for the Korean fighting in 1950 by then President Tru man. Such an order would af fect too many other laws enacted in : connection with the Korean fightin ' : . -- Firs Cuaft First m rffiir applied for the job and were considered by the council. Duff, as the city manger, will be responsible for the executive branch of government. The po sition was created by the voters at the November election. To Name Department Heads He will appoint all depart ment heads, including city re corder and treasurer, formerly elective offices.' Duff announced Friday that there would be no change in incumbents of eitMer of the positions for the present. However, he stated he will ask the council for authorization to secure a financial consultant to analyze the city's financial ar rangements, and : make recom mendation for efficient fiscal operations in the government. Combination of the two positions under one financial director is a possibility, he added; ' Twhe new manager re-appont-ed the following city officials, effective yesterday: Administra tive Aide Clatous McCredie, City Attorney Frank Farrell, Record er Neva Samuels, Treasurer Dar ell Huson, Police Chief Charles Champlin, Fire Chief Gordon Barker, Vernon Thorpe, director of public works and traffic en gineer;' City Engineer Edward McKinstry, Building Inspector Herbert Mackie, Airport Mana ger Ralph Pierce, Sewage Plant Supt. Raymond Fish,' Park Supt. Leo Thomas, Lester Anderson, general foreman streets and roads; Electrician J. A. Wolff and Health Officer Dr. A. 'Erin Merkel. Huson was also named director of parks and recreation. With City 30 Year Duff has been employed .by the eity of Medford for almost 30 years. He began as a drafts man in the water commission in 1925, during construction of the old water pipeline. In -1931, he was named - water superinten dent, a position he 1 has held since. He will continue as water superintendent under the new system, with Robert Lee as as sistant superintendent. Duff as sumed the broader duties of city superintendent in July, 1951. Duff attended the University of Santa Clara in California and graduated in 1925 with a bach elor of science degree in civil engineering. He became a reg istered professional engineer in Oregon in July, 1932. The new manager was born in Yavapai county, Arizona, on April 23, 1901. He moved to Medford with his parents in 1906 and has resided here ever since, except ; while attending the university. He is married and resides at 2316 East Main st.- Mayor Earl Miller, who re ceived the gavel from Mayor Flynn at the meeting, told the council that Duff had "served the city well and is qualified be yond any reasonable doubt to serve as its first city manager." Duff thanked the council for their confidence and stated that "with the help of all . the city's employees, I will try to give the council a progressive and. effi cient administration." West Discounts Malenkov 'Feeler' London (U.PJ Soviet Pre mier Georgi Malenkov's New Year; feeler on talks with the West about Far Eastern affairs was taken in the capitals of Western Europe Saturday to be another move in 'the Kremlin campaign to block West German rearmament. i Official quarters in London, Paris and Bonn found little nourishment in the message an swering questions by an Amer ican television newsreel con cern. ' - ;.'" ' "It is unlikely that a confer ence to discuss Far Eastern af fairs in general would make progress at this stage," a British foreign office, spokesman said.f Her majesty's governments policy, has throughout been to reduce tension in the Far East, and as soon as all concerned are agreed that a specific question is ripe for further discussions, a conference might prove useful once again." . r (See Story ea Page 2) General Ridgway To Be Asked for Testimony on Plan Hearings Scheduled dL:1 ! . I r Bcninu uosrs Washington - (U.R) Sen. Richard B. Russell (D.-Ga.) Sat urday promised a prompt and "thorough" Senate investigation into administration plans for slashing the armed forces by 403,000 men during the next 18 months. , : j n . Among those who will be asked to testify, he said, will be Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, who is reported to have protested to President Eisenhower against orders for a sharp reduction in the size of the army. No Date Fixed Russell said the manpower re view will be conducted by the Senate Armed Services Commit tee which he will head when the new Democratic. Congress con venes next week. The hearings, for which no date has been fixed, will start behind closed doors, but may be thrown open to the public later, he said. "We expect ' to have a full briefing by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on proposals that affect the strength of the military serv ices," Russell said in an inter view. ' ' "We're certainly going into this very thoroughly and get the views and the reasoning of those who are proposing the reduc tion." ... Release Planned The A rmv TuViifW wrml4 Vnv the brunt .of the "manpower re duction, has announced it would release about 44,000 draftees ahead of schedule, next spring to meet lower- manpower ceil ings set by Mr. Eisenhower and the Defense Department. The : Army -Navy -Air Force Journal reported that Ridgway, as one of the President's "mili tary advisers," had protested personally to . t h e " Fresident against the sharp cuts. The Army - Russell made it clear that he was not yet passing judgment on the proposed plans. He added there is nothing Congress can do if President Eisenhower should., be determined to carry out the plans. - The Defense Department plans call for trimming the armed forces by 403,000 men to 2,815, 000 by the middle of 1956. Suez Traffic Jam Said Getting Worse Port Said, Egypt U.R) A seagoing traffic jam at the blocked Suez Canal grew worse by the hour Saturday night. About 100 ships were piled up in and at both ends of the shipping bottleneck between the east and west. That many more' were approaching, . Canal authorities appealed to shipping companies to order their vessels to slow down their approach to the Suez, one of the busiest , waterways in the world. It has been blocked since Friday. Canal officials announced that engineers would take three more days to unplug the canal. They cabled the Suez Canal company in London that it was expected to be open for traffic Tuesday morning. ' The 10,892-ton Liberian tank er World ; Peace, laden with 17,000 tons of crude oil from Kuwait, knocked down the El Firdan railway bridge over the canal Friday. " V Ralph Bunche Starts As Hammarskjold Aide Umted Nations, N.Y 0J.R) Dr, Ralph ' J. Bunche of., the United States and Ilya Tcherny chev of Russia took over Satur day as 'the principal assistants to United Nations Secretary General. Dag Hammarskjold. . Both began VA year contracts as undersecretaries of the world organization, without specific assignment. . . Tchernychev is acting secre tary general while , Hammar skjold is on his mission to Peip ing and Bunche is in charge of arrangements for the scientific conference to be held next year as part of President Eisen hower's "Atoms-for-Peace" plan which gained Assembly ap proval last month..
