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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1955)
fin ITU rpn n foils m Rogue River Water Use Permit Given City of Medford Big Amount Available For Industrial Uses The city of Medford has re ceived a permit from the state engineer's office for a water right, amounting to 100 cubic feet per second, from. the Rogue river, City Manager Robert Duff said this morning.' ' Under the permit the city will be able to take about 65,000,000 gallons of water from the river daily. However, Duff emphasized that the city plans to make no immediate use of the right. It will be used at some time in the future, he said, for industrial purposes. 1 Use of Rogue river water will allow the city to provide water to industries adequate for any ' foreseeable need, Duff said. It will not be placed in city mams, as dhe present city water sup ply from Big Butte springs is adequate to handle a population of more than 60,000. Point of diversion of the riv er water, when it becomes de- sirable, will be about a mile above Bybee bridge. The water would supplement the Big Butte supply, and would be available to industries in both the White City and Elk City areas, which are best equipped to handle new industry. No Time Estimated Duff declared ' that there is no way to determine how soon the hew water supply will be needed. However, he added that if industries come along which need the water, it will be pro vided. Several methods may be used to pipe the water from the river to the industrial sites, Duff said. I Whatever means is used, however, the water must be pumped. The city manager pointed out that, in case the water should ever be needed for domestic pur poses, it could be chlorinated and would be usable. . Blizzard-Stranded By UNITED PRESS Relief crews fought through mow drifts today to get feed to an estimated 24,000 starving sheep , isolated by blizzards, and a massive cold wave stretched from the Dakotas to Texas: The rescue operations were underway in Carbon county, Wvomine. where numerous flocks of sheep were reported trapped in snow , so deep that grazmg was impossible. The temperature went to 19 below zero at Dickinson, N.D., and ; forecasters said the cold wave : would move across the MississiDDi river, and stretch from Eastern Lake Michigan to Western Ohio by tonight. Heat returned to homes in the Torjeka. Kan., area after an ex prosion ripped out a 20-foot sec- tio ' of a eas line. The tempera ture durihe the night fell to -12 degrees and there ' was ' three inches of snow on the ground. State Police Probe Elk City Safe Burglary State police and sheriff's depu ties today were investigating a safe burglary at the Elk City market. They reported that the store was entered last night and that the burglary was not dis covered until the store opened for business in midmorning. Amount of money taken was un known. Portland flJ.R) Albert F. Bick : of Coos Bay is free on $1000 bail after surrendering to the U. S." Marshal on an income tax charge. Effort Made To Patch Rift Between US, Great Britain Bangkok, Thailand - (U.R) Foreign ministers of the United States, Britain and Australia met privately here tonight in an ef fort to patch up the widening rift between Washington and London over the' Formosa crisis. The three got together after the Southeast Asia ; Treaty ; Or ganization had agreed to set up a permanent SEATO headquar ters in Bangkok and had created three subcommittees to deal with Communist subversion and military and ; economic prob lems.' ' Outside Defense Area ; Formosa is outside the. defense area of SEATO but was very much in the thinking of the dele gates at a -dinner; given by Sec retary of State John Foster Dulles. His guests were Britain's Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Australia's Minister of Ex ternal Affairs R. G. Casey. - Authoritative sources said Students Meet City's Problems in Council Meeting Last Night Sites for the freeway and sala ries or expense accounts for the mayor and council were the top items of discussion last night as city high school students con ducted a city council meeting ' The council session was the final event of Student Govern ment day, conducted by the Med ford Elks lodge, the city of Med ford, and high schools through out the county. ' With the regular adult city officials sitting in, just to offer advice, the student officials, headed by Mayor Don Robinson, were not hesitant about wading in to some of the most contro versial problems facing the city. Councilwoman Carries Ball Student Councilwoman Emily Gannaway carried the ball for the "Let's find a new site for the freeway" forces. She de clared that, although the free way would go down only the extreme west side of the park, work on it might well destroy the park trees and shrubs, "There are lots of wide open spaces where the freeway could be placed arid where it wouldn't destroy the park," Miss Ganna way said. Jim Link, a student member of the audience, questioned the wisdom of having the freeway in an area where it would bypass the city, and noted that a free way down Bear creek could bring additional money into Medford business houses, Defer Action Student councilmen voted to defer action on recommending a change in the freeway site until the state highway commis sion has completed its surveys. Mayor Robinson declared that it is fundamentally a highway commission decision and the commission should be given a chance to give reasons for its selection of the Bear creek site. A salary, or expense account of $2,000 a year for the mayor, recommended by Student City Manager Lorin Jacobs, received a hearty but unofficial second from regular Mayor Earl Miller. From that point on, however, the proceedings became more and more confused. . Advocates of the plan noted , that $2,006 aear-would amount td only $5.93 a day "and 6urely the mayor is worth that much." But, Viola Russell, student chair man of the budget committee; warned - the council that there is no money available for that purpose, without increased taxes or a bond issue. Decide on Expenses Because a charter change would be necessary before a salary could be paid to the may or, it was decided to give him an expense account of up to $2,000 a year,' with the assump tion that all of it would be drawn. Student City Attorney Emil Muhs questioned the legal ity of this procedure, but it was decided to go ahead with it until the city -attorney was 6ure it was wrong. , Budget Chairman Viola Rus sel again warned that no money was available, so it was decided to take the $2,000 from a $2,850 expense fund set up for the may or and council. Then, if more money-was needed for the coun cil s expenses, it could be taken from emergency funds. With this more or less as sured, student councilmeii de cided they should also receive a $2,000 annual salary. This, under pressure from the be leaguered budget chairman, Was trimmed to $1,000, then $100, and the matter finally was ta bled by a 5 to 3 vote. : Salary Back Again However, at that point, the question of the mayor's salary was brought back, and it was decided to put the matter to a vote of the people. Other matters discussed by the student councilmen included annexation of surrounding areas Dulles made it clear that the United States "is determined to fight for Formosa' and that Red China will be in for a big sur prise, and a bloody nose, if it thinks otherwise. I Eden, these sources said, - told Dulles the United States could count on Britain's help if war developed over Formosa, but that the Nationalist-held islands just off the mainland coast "are a different story .' Churchill's Stand i ; Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in a written state ment to the House of Commons in London yesterday, said Brit ain will not become involved in any fighting that develops over the offshore islands. i Casey was pictured as urging Eden, at tonight's conference, to "take as strong a position as possible" to deter further Com munist aggression. to improve sanitary conditions, new equipment needed by the narks denartment (Student Councilwoman Patty Read warn ed "We've got a pickup truck that's on its last wheels"); repair of streets, the problem of liquor being furnished to minors ("We think the police department is doing a good job controlling this"), and a new sign for the city manager's desk, where the sign now reads "City Superin tendent." The student council voted unanimously to buy a new sign for City Manager Robert Duff's desk in appreciation for his help in making Student Government day a success. Ends on Serious Note The evening ended on a seri ous note when Mayor Miller spoke briefly to the students on the responsibilities of city gov ernment and the duty of helping contribute to good government which every citizen owes. Members of the student coun cil included Miss Gannaway, Miss Read, Don Slater, Stanley Culy, Dan Kellington, Ken Pi land, Sue DeVoe; and Mary Kay White. Young Band Leader Hal Sheppard Held As USAF Deserter Hal Sheppard, young Medford band leader was arrested yester day by city police and FBI agents and was charged with being a deserter from the Uni ted States Air Force. He was jailed under the name of David Werner Hanson, which police said is his true name. The 21-year-old musician was picked ud yesterday at the Hol land hotel, where he has been living with his wife, Doris Han son. Listed as Deserter ....... Police officers indicated that Hanson has - been listed as a deserter from the Air Force for police department stated that he is also wanted, in several states to face bad check charges. Hanson organized a band here about a rhonth ago. At that time, he declared he came to the west coast with a "name" dance band, and when the band broke up, he stayed in the west. Hanson declared he had been a professional musician for eight years, and had a band in the east which broke up when he en tered the Air Force. He said he served with the; Air Force for two years. j Paramedics To Aid In Removal of Bodies Anchorage, Alaska (U.R) Two paramedics who. weathered an Alaskan blizzard while dug in near the spot were 11 Navy men died in a plane crash came through in "fine shape'' and will assist in recovering the bodies, the Air Force announced today. - A helicopter hovered over the east slope of Mount Susitna yes terday and five men bailed out to assist MSgt. F. R. Sackrider, Topeka, and Airman 1C R. L, Josephson, Grants Pass, Ore; The two paramedics had para chuted to the mountain. 35 miles northwest of here, Satur day near the wreckage of a Navy Neptune which crashed last Thursday en route to. El mendorf Air Force Base here. Kindness Backifes For Medford Man, 91 An act of kindness back fired on a 91-year-old Medford man last week and cost him the money he had been saving for his funeral. Friends told police yester day that John Covney, 91, of 509. South Central ave., last week met a man who told Jiim he had no money. Covney offered to allow the man to spend the night at his home. When the elderly man awoke the next day, the money ; which he had ' been saving for his funeral, plus a pocket watch, were missing. . Since the theft, Covney has suffered a heart attack. He was released from a local hospital yesterday. FORECAST: A few snow flur ries this evening. Partial clearing late tonight. Partly cloudy Friday, with a - few ' light scattered showers or , snow flurries during' after noon. Low tonight 27. High' Friday 40. Temp. Highest Yesterday 54 Lowest this Morning 25 united rtess i'ull Leased Wire 49th Year 26 Pages Tanker Refueling Aircraft Crashes On Missouri Farm - - Yreka Man Listed Among Nine Dead Sedalia,' Mo. U.R) A four engine tanker refueling plane caught fire in the air and crash ed shortly after its take off from the Sedalia Air Force Base last night, killing nine of, the 11 men aboard. Four of the dead were from California. V,s. Two of the plane's occupants parachuted to safety, escaping serious injury. -.-!; The Air Force said the KC97 tanker was on a refueling train ing mission when the -crash oc curred. Civilian witnesses said one of the survivors told them fire appeared first in the tail of the plane and that a series of ex plosions followed. The plane's wreckage, strewn over a wide area of the David Stiles farm, approximately 10 miles from the air base, con tinued to burn more than two hours. Fire fighting equipment from the base extinguished the flames. The two who parachuted to safety were identified as SSgt. Stanley C. Beach, Lambert Lake, Me., and TSgt. Walter H. Polke, Knoxville, Tenn., Among those listed as dead were: . .i - SSgt. Robert . Rosencrance, 36, Yreka, Calif. Capt. Leslie H. Brown, 40, air craft commander, Guerneyville, Calif. .:. Airman 2C Charles J. Sitra, 22, Livermore, Calif. SSgt. Anton Bohaty, 30, Los Angeles. - : Congress Virtually, Assured Pay Raise Washington j(U.R) Members of Congress were virtually as sured today of pay raises of at least 50 per cent, from $15,000 to $22,500 a year. The Senate approved the 50 per cent, or $7,500 annually, by a vote of 62 to 24 yesterday. But the Senate pay hike was less than the $10,000 raise the House voted for last week. The : same legislation also promised raises for federal judges and members of tne su preme Court, but again the two houses disagreed on the amounts. Differences between the two bills must be adjusted by a Con ference Committee. The $2,500 difference in House and Senate proposals for con gressional salary hikes was off set in part by a Senate provision f.n ffive each member of Congress the actual mileage cost of four round trips to his home state a year. This would be in addition to -the 20 cents a mile now al lowed for one round trip a year. Communist Rioters Battle Bonn Police Bonn, Germany (U.R) Com munist rioters, opposing West German rearmament, battled club-swinging police in the cen ter of this capital city of the German Federal Republic to day. " , . The riots exploded while the West German Parliament was debating ratification of the Paris arms treaty and the fiercely controversial Franco - .German Saar agreement. The Red demonstrators were egged on by the Soviet Zone ra dio which sounded day - long warnings against West German rearmament. Republicans To Alter Tactics for Morse Portland U.R) - Republicans will use different tactics against Sen. Wayne' Morse next year than they did against Richard L. Neuberger last year, Multno mah County GOP Chairman Phil Englehart said last night. "The Republicans fell into a trap in the Cordon-Neuberger campaign by spending all their t i m e answering Neuberger s half truths and accusations. This time Morse is the one running for reelection, and we are going to make the accusations.' c "But," Englehart added, we are going to stick to the true facts." Englehart spoke to the Oregon Republican Club. MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1955 ecDsiomi odd Freeway M6Bflaifle; Salem A final decision on new highway through (or around) Medford has not been made, according to W. C. (Dutch) Williams assistant state highway engineer. He said the city will have a part in making the decision. . . : ; ' Ever since the publication of . the State Highway commission's extensive traffic survey report for . Medford, which ' showed the pro posed new freeway cutting through Medford right along Bear creek, controversy has sur rounded the proposal. A strong protest move ment, centered largely among women's and garden groups, has sprung up, claiming that such a freeway, elevated above the ground, would destroy the esthetic values of Haw thorne park in particular, and other Bear creek . property dedicated for future park purposes. Williams explained that the route of the freeway has not been determined finally, and will not be for some time. It was shown running down Bear creek simply because that, is the only possible route for a high-standard, limited-access highway, if it is to go through the city itself. Final surveys,: he said may show that a route to the east of the city would be more feasible. . And, he added, the commission certainly would not "force" the Bear creek route if it meets substantial opposition from the city. He indicated that the city council would have what amounts to the final say on the matter. - Teenagers Admit Series of Thefts; New School Robbed yesterday admitted to sheriff's deputies that they were involved in a series of thefts in Medford and Ashland, and deputies today are r investigating , reports of . a theft at the new Medford grade school. The four Ashland youths, ranging in age from 14 through 16, admitted thefts from park ed cars and trucks in Ashland, from Ashland and Medford stores, and from Southern Ore gon college. Watch Stolen ... .... . 6 Items taken from cars includ ed gasoline, hubcaps, gloves and flashlights. Minor items were taken from the stores, and the youths admitted taking several things, including a watch, from the college. . ' The cases, were slated to be turned over to county ju'venile authorities. The theft at the new Jefferson school, which is still under con struction, was reported by Alf Mekvold, county superintendent of schools. : ' ' Mekvold told sheriff's depu ties that equipment valued: at about $400 and owned by con tractor Louis Kowoloski, has beerf stolen from the new school building. Governor Patterson Expresses Confidence In Talent Fund OK Salem Gov." Paul Patter son has "every confidence" that the Talent irrigation and reclamation project will be presented to this session of Congress. ' The governor, who was . a Washington visitor recently where he had . lunch with President Eisenhower and vi sited with Presidential Assist ant . Sherman Adams ; and Budget; Director Rowland Hughes, said he would be "very much surprised" if some $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 in initial construction appro priations for the $22,000,000 project are hot contained in a supplemental budget request sometime during the session of Congress. , . . He said thai several errors in figures contained in earlier reports, and : previously ex plained, have been called to the attention of the budget ' bureau, which will make it possible for the Talent, project to take its place among those ; on the approved list. , 0 The Jackson County Cham ber of Commerce - board of directors today approved un animously the chamber's leg islative committee endorse ment of the principle of a sales tax in Oregon;, United Local fSewsSiiag location of the ' '. ' jk it " 1 if iiiiiiiiM Ms, r. SPEECHLESS Dramatic moment is captured by photo grapher as Mayor Martin H. Kennelly (left) of Chicago and nis running mate, Morris B. Sachs, embrace tearfully uv their campaign headquarters. They had just conceded Democratic primary election to their opponents who were backed by the regular i party organization. They both opened their mouths to speak but no words came. Thousa rids From Nanchi Island v Taipeh, Formosa (U.R) Offi cial Nationalist sources today reported the evacuation of thous ands of persons, including bomb victims, from Nanchi Island, and. it appeared the outpost would be abandoned at U.S. in sistence. V "-''-.' The sources .said Nationalist landing craft . brought a "few hundred" evacuees to the" port of Keelung today. An undis closed number were wounded in recent Communist . bombing at tacks and required hospitaliza tion. ' The sources told of the arrivel Wednesday night of "more than l,000,'and estimated a total of 4.000 would be removed from the threatened island 140 miles north of Formosa, Chiang Kai shek's northermost outpost. " Nationalists Stage Raids - The Nationalist Air Force an nounced "its bombers hit Com munist invasion buildups in the nearby, Taishan. Islands early to day, but did not announce the results of the latest attacks.! - A uthoritative American sources here said they knew of no decision "so far" to evacuate Nanchi, but it was understood Chiang called a top-level con ference of his military chiefs to discuss the growing threat. . The U.S. 7th Fleet, never committed' to the defense of 4 Tribune Press full taaed Wire Price 5c No. 291 4caiioifii M Williams pointed out. that it's always a touchy matter to relocate a highway, for there are so many interests which are vitally af fected. Most towns, he stated, are anxious to have the highway as close to the metropolitan are as possible, and it was on this basis that the preliminary recommendation for the Bear creek route was made. He cited Albany as an example, where original plans called for a freeway location some distance to the east. But the people of the community got busy and found a route considerably closer to the city. As a result, the new highway will be located several miles closer to town. There are a number of considerations which govern the ultimate location of any ,new route, he explained. One is traffic volume, both that going past a town and that destined for down town. About half of highway traffic near cities, in most situations, is local, he said. In any event, Williams emphasized, the decision as to Medford's freeway location has not been made. And it will not be made until much more complete studies have been com pleted. The Bear ' creek route is now being surveyed, he said,' and the results of that survey will be presented to and discussed with the Medford city council. . i If' at that time the city council wishes further work done, Williams indicated, - the commission in all . probability will do addi tional . surveys of alternative routes. One which is under consideration would go east of ; the city, in the general area of Foothills rd. and the Hillcrest-Phoenix rd. u rnmmmmmmmm Nanchi, apparently was not help ing the evacuation of civilians from the island as it did when the Tachens were evacuated. The latest -refugees arrived hi Nationalist landing craft. Authoritative military sources said the growing Red Chinese military force along the Fukien coast opposite Formosa might force the Nationalists to consider shortening their defense line. The sources said Nanchi had been "boxed in" by Red forces. . i Evacuated GOP House Members Aqainst Income Tax Cuts Washington U.R) All but "two or three" Republican House members at a party cau cus pledged today to stand firm against the Democrats' move to cut taxes by $20 per person. V On the basis of the showing, GOP Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. predicted the proposed ' tax cut, denounced by President Eis enhower, v would be stricken from a package tax bill. ; 'Most' Members Present 4 The package bill also includes extension; ' of corporate and ex cise (sales) taxes due to expire on April 1. .- ' - t t Martin said "most" of the 203 Republican House members were present at the caucus but he ' hadn't counted them. An other source said an approxi mate count showed 160 mem bers at the huddle leaving about House Committee Tackles Problem Of Finding Money Sales Tax Hearing Scheduled Wednesday By BILL FORCE United Press Correspondent Salem (U.R) The sales tax today appeared to be dead be fore it even saw the light of day in the House Taxation Commit tee which made its first real at tempt to grapple with the most vital issue before the 48th legis- ative' assembly-new taxes. There was no enthusiasm among committee members when they agreed to hold a ' public hearing on a measure by Rep. Earl Hill (R-Cushman) to ask the voters for a three per cent sales tax exclusively for school purposes. ; : The hearing was set for next Wednesday at 1 p.m. Rep. Roder ick McKenzie (R-Sixes) apreed the hearing should be held "to get the thing out of the way." He added that "apparently No Weakening There was no weakening of Democratic opposition to the sales tax in the committee. " : Rep. Ed Cardwell (R-Sweet Home) said the bill should be given a hearing "out of defer ence to the author." 1 The committee's plunge into the revenue tax field today abandoning the still large back- og of administrative bills on the agenda came after a hush-hush meeting of: tax and ways and means committee heads with the governor yesterday. Meeting Not Explained : The meeting, which newsmen earned about only by accident. has not been explained. It ap parently was the third top level. top secret parley since late last week . when Sen. Gene Brown (R-Grants Pass) first proposed his controversial plan to slash the equivalent of 10 per cent off the governor's budget. ; ' Gov. Paul L. Patterson's con cern for what the Legislature might do to his program first came to public attention Tues day when he and other members of the Board of Control attended a ways and means committee meeting in body. f v ' Since then he has summoned the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate, both chairmen of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, and the chair men and vice-chairmen of both taxation committees to two con ferences in the Board of Control room. The press has not been specifically excluded but has been kept carefully uninformed that the meetings were being held. . Finances Discussed Finances were the topic-under discussion, judging from the makeup of the attendance, and the House Taxation ; Committee today went to wprk on its money-raising chore still unsure just how much money the Ways and Means Committee would re quire to balance the budget. Rep. Loran L. Stewart (R-Cot- tage Grove), House Tax Commit tee chairman, found two fields of general agreement on which his bi-partisan group could start work." h Members were agreed, in prin ciple, that the days of exempting utilities from; the corporate ex cise tax were about over. And they also agreed that collection of the state property tax would be pushed into the background and used only as a last resort in the event no other adequate source of revenue could be found. ' (See stories on Page 10) DGW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.R) Dow - Jones final stock averages: 30 indus trials 410.30 off 1.18; 20 rail roads 148.33 off 1.25; 15 utili ties 63.69 off 0.11, and 65 stocks 152.74 off 0.62. Sales today were about 2,920,000 sshares compar ed with 3,030,00 shares traded yesterday. Rally 43 unaccounted for, . - The private Republican hud dle was called to solidify party ranks prior to. debate and a pos sible vote on the tax bill in the House at today's session. Demos Claim Votes ) Democrats claimed they had enough votes to approve the tax cut - despite President Eisen hower's warning it - would be bad for the country. The Demo crats figured to - lose no more than 12 or 15 Democratic votes and were counting on picking up a few from the Republican side of the aisle. Martin said the GOP mem bers were asked at the party conference to stand and be counted on how they would vote. He said all but two or three promised to vote against the tax law.