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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1955)
Way for fossil Talks WW fel iiiu.mi.nnn-i ......... .ij-.u m r y?mgmmmmmmmmmrFm t?mm fPVio.P 3 'so&y f, '.'Siva Dulles --OpoDS On Far last Geas's Fir p r n n nmnn ss uuu United States To Seek True Meaning in Chou's Proposal To Negotiate Washington U.R) Secretary of State John Foster Dulles opened the way today for possible U.S. talks with Red China on Far East problems, including a Formosa cease fire. - Dulles told a news conference that the United States intends to "try to find out" if Communist Chinese Premier Chou En-lai's of fer to negotiate a peaceful settlement in the Far East is sincere or "a propaganda game. He said he does not rule out the possibility of direct talks with Red China so long as they do not infringe on the interests of Nationalist China. He also said that release of imprisoned Ameri can airmen and an immediate cease fire in the Formosa area were not reaured before talks could be held with the Chinese Com munists. George Prods State Department To Seek Far East Meeting . Washington U.R) Sen, Walter F. George (D-Ga.) prod ded the State Department today to seek a Far East conference with Red China without insisting that Nationalist China be pres ent. But he added that a "de facto cease fire" that is, an informal halt to the shooting in the For mosa Straits should be an ad vance condition to any such negotiations. ' George. Chairman of the Sen ate Foreign Relations Commit tee, also urged, the administra tion to discuss the Formosa crisis with "our friends" in Europe and Southeast Asia. He told reporters agreement among these nations might help the United States deal with Nationalist generalis simo Chiang Kai-shek "who may be stubborn." U.S. Has Obligations : George insisted .that neither the Nationalists nor Communists would be waiving any rights or claims if such a conference were held. In addition he pointed out that the United States has obliga tions to Chiang, in the mutual defense treaty. with the Nationpl- ists, and "we couldn't think ofj violating it." i . George first proposed in a Saturday night speech that the United States accept the bid of Chinese Communist Premier Chou En-lai to negotiate. Chou made the offer earlier at the bandung conference. The State Department responded that the United States could enter such a conference only if the Formosa-based Nationalists were represented. Chou in turn said Monday that his proposal did not affect the Communists' demand to "exercise their sovereign rights in liberating" Formosa. Ridgway Says Russia Ready for Combat Washington JflJ.R) Gen. Mat thew B. Ridgway told a congres sional subcommittee in secret testimony Feb. 7 that the Rus sian army is "equipped and dis posed to undertake a major war with little warning." He called the Soviet Army "the most powerful land combat ' force in being today" and said it "is kept in an excellent over all state of combat readiness." He also warned that other Communist bloc armies in Eu rope and Asia "are undergoing modernization programs" and gradually being molded into ef fective modern forces." Ridgeway's testimony before a House Appropriations Subcom mittee was made public last night Portland (U.RJ The gover nor's Red Hat Day committee has set Sept. 23 at Red Hat day for Oregon's 300,000 nimrods. Man of Many Names Admits Faking Hurts In String of Attempts to Get Damages A faked injury racket that has bilked bus line and theater ope rators out of almost $2,000 dur ing the past three years came to an end here this morning when Parnell Belmont, 34, Princeton, Ind., pleaded guilty in circuit court to a charge of obtaining money under false pretenses. Belmont is charged with ob taining $184 from an insurance company for an accident he faked while on a Greyhound bus going through southern Oregon to San Francisco. The complaint was brought by J. P. Tobin, of J. P- Tobin and Company, Med f ord. Police Gat Tip Belmont was arrested in Evansville, Ind., and was return ed here through extradition by ' sheriffs deputies. The arrest fol lowed a tip given Evansville po lice by an insurance company investigator. Hard and Fast Stand of Saturday Modified This represented a modifica tion of the State Department'3 hard and fast stand of last Sat urday that the United States would "insist" Nationalist China be included in any talks about Formosa and that the Reds could demonstrate good faith by free ing -the American fliers and ar ranging an immediate ceasefire. Red China had rejected the condition that Nationalist China be represented. Dulles' views indicated a more con ciliatory approach. They seemed to fit a suggestion by Chairman , Walter F. George of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that this government seek a Far East conferhce with Red China without insisting that Nationalist China be repre sented. George also had pro posed that a ceasefire be a pre requisite to such negotiations. In a prepared statement, Dulles did not repeat that the United States would "insist"-on Nationalist China's presence. He simply said "we shall not, of course, depart from the path of fidelity and honor toward" Na tionalist China. Dulles also said that recent developments in the Far East and Russia's apparent willing ness to sign an Austrian peace treaty "seem to give new ground for hope" for peace, The general impact of his new? conference remarks was to encourage the prospect of talks with Red China on Far Eastern'problems; including For mosa. ; - , . .: y . Klamath Indian Election Ordered Portland (U.R) Secretary of Interior Douglas McKay has ordered an -election among some 900 adult members of the Kla math Indian tribe to select a tribal committee of three to deal with three men appointed to help in terminating federal sup ervision over the tribe's assets, the local Indian Bureau office said today. . There has been dispute among the Indians as to how' . this should be accomplished. There also has been opposition to re moval of federal jurisdiction. McKay previously named three management specialists to carry out release of Klamath tribal assets from federal con trol. The election wiil be .by mail with ballots due at the Klamath post office May 23. Ballots will be sent out by registered mail Friday. If no three candidates receive a clear majority, a sec ond election will be held with the top five candidates on the second ballot. Administration Gives Up On UMT Draft Authority Washington (U.R) The ad ministration, in effect, threw in the towel today on its contro versial requets for authority to draft youths into a modified Universal Military Training pro gram. Details of the racket worked by Belmont under seven or more phony names were revealed here this morning by District Attor ney Walter Nunley. Admits Charges In signed statements, Belmont has admitted using fake injuries to collect settlements from bus lines and theaters in a dozen or more west coast, southwest and midwest states. In the local charge, Belmont claimed he tripped and fell on a bottle in a bus. He was examin ed by a Medford doctor and re ceived $184. In a signed state ment given here, he admitted that he. received no such injury. The .local statement said Bel mont was using the racket to col lect enough money to marry a girl in San Francisco. But the statement given in Evansville said he was living with his wife in Indiana. MEDFORD u ruled fre -uU Leued wire 50th Year 22 Pages Bill Providing for Income Tax Boost Returned To House Lowry Votes 'No'. In Senate Debate Salem (U.R) A bill to bring in an added $45,000,000 in state income, taxes, most important to come , before the 1955 Legisla ture, was back in the House to day after a stormy passage through the Senate. The measure, putting a 45 per cent surtax on state income taxes, passed the Senate yester day with only six dissenting votes but only after a heated de bate waged for nearly , three hours. The measure would decrease personal exemptions from $600 to $500 and would bring in near ly 60 per cent more income to the state. Only no votes were recorded by Sens. Steen, Lowry, Ulett, Hounsell, Brown and Johnson. Two Motions Beaten Because of Senate amend ments, the bill went back to the House, where the tax committee headed by Rep. Loran L. Stewart (R-Cottage Grove) will study the Senate version. Should the House refuse to concur, a con ference committee would be ap pointed with two' members from each chamber. The vote came in the Senate yesterday only after defeat of two motions to send the bill b?.ck to the Senate Tax Committee. Wants Sales Tax Vote Sen. Lowell Steen (R-Milton- Freewater) first moved to send it ; back with instructions . to amend it to provide that it would not go into effect until the peo ple had had a. chance to vote on a sales tax."."'"'. ' " When that move failed, Sen. Jonn P. Hounsell (R-Hood River) moved to send it back to com mittee without specific instruc tions, but with a suggestion that the: committee adopt the pro posal Gov. Paul L. Patterson made in his inaugural address last January that the state elim inate the federal income tax off set when computing state income taxes. ' , i . : ' -Opinions' Given Sen. Lee Ohmart (R-Salem) voted against re-referral and for the measure, House bill 576. He said he favors a sales tax as a "good third leg" to the state's tax system, but the Legislature must balance the budget and it must adopt a program least likely to be referred to the voters. He said a sales tax was most likely to be referred. .' - . . . Sen. Robert D. Holmes (D Gearhart) said the income tax has done a good job of financing the state . government and - he would be opposed to a sales tax. . Sen. Philip Lowry (R-Medf ord) who joined ..with Sen. Steen in bringing in a minority report from the Senate Tax Committee, said he thought the people were ready to accept a sales tax rather than an increased income or state property tax and they should have a. chance to vote on it. The minority report lost by the same vote that finally passed the bill 24 to 6. Arizona Designated ' As Disaster Area Washington U.R) President Eisenhower designated drought stricken Arizona today as a ma jor disaster area eligible for emergency feed benefits. rwenty faked injuries were listed in the Evansville state ment, and Belmont indicated there may be more that he can't remember. On six of the faked claims, he received no settle ment, but on the others, he -received payments ranging from $50 for an alleged fall in a thea ter at Long Beach, Calif., to $353 for a faked fall in a bus at El Centro, Calif. Uses Aliases Belmont was arrested and re turned here under the alias Tony C. Rodriguez. Other aliases which he used in the faked acci dent reports were Frank John son, William A. Sanderson, Wal ter Lee George, Mark Stevens, William A. Sanders, and James D. Lydick. ' The case in circuit court here was continued pending receipt of a pre-sentence report. MEDFORD, OREGON, Coming of Television Does Not Decrease Reading by Students Tha coming of television hasn't affected teen-age ' read ing habits in Medford, accord ing to figures released by tha Medford High school librarian, Mrs. Jonn Paiton. In tha school year 195243, a total of 10,887 books were checked out to tha 878 students . in school,- an average of 12.5 books oer student. Sixty-one books per day were checked out of the library. In August, 1953, KBES-TV began operations, giving tha valley a new medium of en tertainment, prophesied by some to bttithe ruin of young people's interest in the printed page. Figures for the school year 1953-54 show, not a decline, but an increase in student reading. Books checked out to talled 12,531 in a year when senior high population reach ad 907. An average of 13.9 books cer person were bor rowed, 69.6 books per day leaving the library. Assemblies of God Opening District Convention in City : . Christ's Ambassadors, the youth organization of the As semblies of God, will hold a rally; tonight at 7:30 o'clock to open the . 19th annual . district council of the Oregon Assem blies ' of God at the Medford Assembly of God, 1108 West Main st.- The rally will emphasize the missionary program of the youth group.- MusacWillise. fur nished by the Canydnville Bible Academy choir, Canyonville.' The Rev. Ralph M. Riggs, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, will be the speaker. All of the morning and eve ning services of the convention are open to the public, accord ing' to the Rev, F. Wildon Col baugh, host pastor. The morning devotional pe riods will begin at 10 ajn. The Rev. Levi Larson, of Evangelis tic Temple, Salem, will be the morning speaker Wednesday. The Rev. James Baker, mission ary to Formosa, will be the Thursday speaker, and the Rev. C. K: Barnes, of Pendleton, will speak on Friday morning. Mr. Riggs will be the speaker at each evening service. The Women's Missionary coun cil met at 2 p.m. today. Some 400 or more persons from throughout Oregon are ex pected at the sessions xhere this week. ,v : ' High School Senior Gels Navy Scholarship Macy Overstreet, a senior , at Medford High school and son of Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Overstreet, 300 Mae st., has been chosen as one of 21 Oregon boys who will receive Navy scholarships for four years of college, it was an nounced in Portland today. The award, will provide them with tuition expenses, plus $50 per month expense money. They will take Navy reserve officer training corps courses during col lege, and on graduation will serve for a period as Navy offi cers. The announcement was made by Lt. Cmdr. Paul O. Parris, offi cer in charge of the Portland Navy recruiting station. Several other Medford High boys have received the Navy scholarships in recent years. Accomodations Needed For DeMoiay Delegates Some 400 to 500 high school age boys are expected here dur ing the state DeMoiay state con clave to be held in Medford May 6, 7 and 8, it wasannounced today. 1 Those in charge reported that housing for the delegates will be needed, and they requested that those having extra sleeping ac comodations which could be used by the boys get in touch with Ken Piland, master councilor, telephone 2-8953; Earr Knight, at 2-2932, or Frank Little, 2-4225. Salem U.R) A proposal to set- un an interim committee to study administration of the work men's conroensation ' law was turned down yesterday by the Houst. TUESDAY, APRIL 26, Local Water SuppDy Outlook for Summer Considerably (Better Precipitation and below average temperatures in April have considerably improved the irrigation water picture in south ern Oregon,' reports indicated to day. . Jack Hoffbuhr, manager of the Medford Irrigation district, said that at Fish lake low tem peratures have averaged 17.6 de grees in April, compared to average lows of 28. These colder nighttime temperatures have aided in keeping snow on the ground for later runoff, he said. Precipitation at the lake for the season is almost 5 inches be low normal, he said, but there is still snow on the ground, where as it was all gone at this time last year. Storms Drop Moistures Storms in southern Oregon last night dropped considerable amounts of snow in the hills. Sixteen inches, with a water con tent of 1.44 inches, fell at Fish lake. Crater lake had .82 of an inches of precipitation, and now has a total snow pack of 142 inches,' compared with 147 inches on April 30 last year, ac cording to park headquarters. The same . storm brought 11 inches of new snow to the Green springs area and eight inches to the Siskiyou summit. Only .06 of an inches of rain fall was measured at the Med ford weather bureau, and .11 of an inch fell in Grants Pass. But precipitation elsewhere was con siderably heavier. Snow covered hills surrounding the valley this morning. May Need Heating -Ehe "forecast is- f prceontimied cloudiness arid precipitation, al though in Medford it is expected to clear this evening, with tem peratures dropping below freez ing. This may necessitate heat ing in the valley's orchards. Fish lake reservoir has about 5,551 acre feet in storage, com pared to a capacity of 8,000 and 7,527 last year at this time. Four mile lake has storage of 9,927 acre feet, compared to last year's capacity storage of 16,123 acre feet. ' . Emigrant reservoir is a little better than half full, with 4,486 acre feet in storage compared to a capacity of about 8,300 acre feet. K rainfall continues, it may fill, according to Robert Kent, manager of the Talent Irrigation -district, although it would take well-above-average precipitation to do it. Hyatt reservoir has stored Sherry Fong Tells Of Girl's Last Night Portland -r-OJ-R) Sherry Fong testified in her own defense to day that she last saw Diane Hank alive shortly before 8 a.m. on Jan. 7, 1954, as the 16-year-old girl was preparing to leave the Fong house for school. . I No one is known to have seen the girl alive after that day. Her boy was found more than a month later near Washougal, Wash. - Mrs. Fong testified that on the previous evening her husband went to work after dinner and that she and Diane talked in the kitchen and then the living room. About 11 p.m., she said, Diane telephoned her mother and received permission to spend the night. Mrs. Fong said that not long afterward, she and Diane went to. bed in separate bedrooms. - She said Diane had complain ed of feeling run down and that about 7 p.m. she gave her a bot tle ef vitamin pills and told her to take one each day. Baseball AMERICAN Washington " ..2 . 9 0 Cleveland ....... 3 5 1 McDermott and Fiisgerald; Lemon and Hagan. : New York .5 9 1 Chicago . 0 1 1 Bob Turley (3-0) and Berra; Forcieles. Consegra (3), Cha kales (9) and Lollar. , Detroit ..: ..3 - 5 0 Baltimore 2 10 1 Palica (12) and Smith; Gar var (2-2) and House, Wilson (3). IBUNE reus full Leased Wire Price 5c No. 31 water about 11,031 acre feet, with a capacity of 16,100 acre feet. , Rainfall through April, while below normal, has - been scat tered, and with the low temper atures has kept soils fairly damp, lessening the requirement of using stored water. . These factors combined mean the outlook for irrigation water during the summer is consider ably better, than the rather gloomy forecast of April 1. Breeder House At Oregon State Destroyed by Fire Corvallis (U.R) Fire early today destroyed a turkey breeder house at Oregon State College, killing 1400 one and three-week old turkey poults. College officials placed the loss at $60,000. In addition to the $40,000 building and the poults some $20,000 in feed and equip ment was lost. Also destroyed were three tur key research projects. Outside City Limits The fire was. discovered about 3:30 a.m. by Mrs. Walter R. Hodges, wife of the college farm foreman. The Hodges live on the college farm about a mile west of the main campus. Mrs. "Hod ges called the Coryallis firede? partment outTine firemen man t respond because the turkey farm is outside the city limits. - A trailer house occupied by Billie Forrest, a sopromore ,in agriculture from Sal em,, was moved to safety. Also saved were 900 nine-week old poults. The breeder house was built in 1947 with two sections added in 1948. " ' College officials said cause of the blaze was not determined. - Final Classification Of Land Announced The Jackson County Land Classification committee has made the final classification for 1955, it was announced this morning. Final classification was made at a meeting held Monday. , - It leaves the area classified as grazing lands exactly as it was advertised in the original an nouncement. All undeveloped and unimproved land within the "non-patrol" boundaries in the Ashland, Medford and Sams Valley areas has been classified as grazing land, and will be giv en fire protection by the state forest patrol starting July 1. Changes in classification re quested by individuals at a pub lic hearing will be considered after a survey of the area has been completed this summer. Changes cannot be made in time to change the 1955 tax rolls. Official forms for requesting reclassification of land will be available at State Forest patrol headquarters and the county agent's office after July 15. The committee requests that the forms be filed with the Forest Patrol office prior to Nov. 15. The committee will consider them before Jan. 31, 1956. County Sanitation Authority Approved Salem (U.R) The Senate to day passed with little 'debate Senate bill 434 permitting estab lishment of county , sanitary au thorities. . ; , ' . ' . ' The measure, which now goes to the House; provides that such an authority may be set up in one county or in , contiguous counties. . Petitions for a sanitary author ity are solemnly charged - with responsibility for their signa tures. The act provides "it is a felony for anyone to sigh" a san itary, authority , petition , "with any name other his own, or knowingly . to ,. sign his '- name more than once" to the petition or sign it when he is not a quali fied elector and a resident of the territory described in the peti tion. -r - j - $50 PRIZE FLOAT The float shown above, prepared by the Royal Neighbors of America' Juveniles, won a $50 sweepstakes award for originality and theme portrayal last Saturday in the annual Pear Blossom Festival parade. The float represented pear blossom time in the valley,, with accompanying orchard heat ing, and was drawn by two youngsters dressed in black and labeled "smudge pots." The little girl on the float is seated under a blossoming tree which has a birdhouse and a sign which said, , "I like making my home in the Rogue Valley." fete1 BEST IN DESIGN The Medford Lady Lions float, shown above, won $50 for the best Resign In the festival parade last week-. t Iff II I 11 fit BEST COMIC FLOAT The clowns and animal cage float, en tered by the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce, won the third sweepstakes award of $50 for the best comic portrayal. , -(Photos by Brainerd). . . . ..' . .' t-, : ' Grants Pass Schools Get Bomb Threats Portland (U.R) Washing ton high school .was evacuated in a fire drill basis today after another in a series of bomb ' telephone threats was made about 11 a.m. i Portland lT.R) Jefferson high school today was the sub ject of the second bomb threat in two days.' The school was evacuated after an anonymous threat before 9 a.m. but classes were resumed later. . House Agrees To Send Sales Tax To Floor Salem U.R) The House Tax Committee, abandoning its tenta tive policy of keeping the sales lax package in committee, agreed today to send the . proposals to the floor for action! -, Rep. Loran L. Stewart (R-Cot- tage Grove), committee cnair man announced that he would hold a meeting at 1 p.m. before the afternoon session today to ex plain the full plan to members of the House. r , .. . .. At 2:30 p.m. the committee planned to submit its divided re port on the sales tax bill itself. A minority .led , by Rep. , Pat Dooley (D-Portland) " voted against the one bill 'in the. pack age that would establish a three per cent sales tax in Oregon with food-exempt. ( : , Salem OJ.RJ-r-The State High way? Ccmmiission'. has; awarded a Klamath and Lake counties bridge contract to Hamilton and Thorns of 'Eugene on low bid of $120,310. ,: . , , , , Eugene (U.R) Circuit Judge William G. East has ordered a presentence investigation before sentencing Marrill E. Parke on charges of converting police de , partment fundi to his own use. - ?k 3 rne latest inreai zouowea warning that persons convicted of extortion bomb threats could receive up to five years in prison. Grants Pass high school reported a threat yesterday afternoon. ' ; ' Two telephone calls were re ceived, at efferson today with in 25 minutes. ; Vice Principal Roy C. Malo said the threats probably were the work of a trickster, but po lice were ordered to conduct a thorough searcli. ; The first call came at 7:54 a.m. It was received by. Rosa Lee Lloyd, student secretary work ing at the switchboard. "I'm not fooling this time," the called said. "There's going to be a bomb go off today." A second call was received minutes later.. , ? ', Classes were suspended yes terday shortly after 1 p.m. after the caller said "there's a bomb in the . cafeteria and I want $75. Mcrreftood Biff Cleared for Debate - Washington (U.R) The House Jioules Committee today cleared for floor debate a bill to grant statehood to Hawaii and Alaska. ; It sent the; bill to , the floor un d e r a procedure barring - ' - m . . amendments. House. Democratic leaders have not announced yet when the bill will be called up for House action. LI FORECAST:' Partly cloudy throafh Wednesday.- Consid erable clearing with freezing - temperatures tonight. Low 2$; - high Wednesday 55. Temp. Highest Yesterday " 51 Lowest this Morning .. 3S Free, to IS a-m. Today .0
