Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, April 29, 1955, Image 1

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Medford mail tribune., April 29, 1955, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Texti - j if 1 ITax Commissioner (Eete Verbal .Lambasting at Oirclhiairdl Assessmnieinift IHIeairDinig IHIeire State Tax Commissioner Sam uel Stewart took a verbal lam basting from Jackson county or chardists here yesterday at a public hearing on assessment of orchard property. , Stewart has declared that the commission plans to issue, an or der directing County Assessor R. G. Fowler to include the value of orchard trees in the valuation of the land on which they are .growing. Reter Is Spokesman Chief spokesmen for the or chardists on the non-legal phase of the proposed order was Ray mond Reter, Medford packing plant operator, who charged "Mr. Stewart probably has some egotistical notion he is going to force this down our throats." Reter declared that "there has been an extreme amount of uni lateral action by one of your Defense Requests Power lo Eject Known Subversives Bill Doesn't Mean Nationwide Screening Washington U.R) The De fense Department asked Con gress today for power to oust a few thousand" known subver sives working in plants essential to national defense. Jerome D. Fenton told a Sen ate Internal Security subcommit tee task force that subversives "already identified" are known to number "a few thousand." He is chief of the Pentagon's Indus trial Personnel Security Review branch. Fenton told newsmen later the subversives include employees of such industries as railroads and utilities: as well as plants actu ally making goods tor the De fense Department. He said he has no exact total figures. Bill Approval Asked Defense Department General Counsel Wilber M. Brucker urg '.ed approval of a bill. by Sen. John Marshall Butler (R-Md.). It would authorize the President to br from defense facilities per sons who might be reasonably expected to commit sabotage, es pionage, or subversion. Brucker said the bill would not mean nationwide screening of employees. He said it would be "usel selectively in vital fa cilities, concentrating on known subversives." . The Pentagon lawyer said the bill would not impinge" on the rights of American citizens, since, workers barred from their jobs would be informed of charges against them and have right of appeal. .. The bill would not cover har bors, piers and waterfront fa cilities. These are already pro tected under existing law. Californians File On Uranium Claim : Three tjuartz location notices, one of them . for a uranium claim, were filed yesterday in the county clerk's office. - The uranium notice was filed by George Avgeris and Gust Avgris, Box 63, Hilt, Calif. It was for six claims, known as the Ureka Mine, in the Mill Creek mining district east of Colestin. A location notice for a gold bearing ledge known as Pine Tree Acres lode, in the Sterling mining district, was filed by Ruby Beard, route 2, box 13A, Jacksonville. The third notice was filed by Everett Adams, 1811 Orchard Home dr., Medford. It was for a gold bearing claim, known as Pay Little, located in the Apple gate mining district. Welfare Commission Reduces Requests Portland (U.R) The State Welfare Commission today cut about 11 per cent from the total amount of requested county wel fare appropriations for the com ing fiscal year. Administrator Loa Howard Mason said requests exceeded money available by about $3, 500,000 and that some cuts in the state-wide program were neces sary. The commission approved anDropriations totaling $28,972,- g03. The counties had asked $32,- 454,352. The figures do not in clude administrative costs. Control Board's Building Program Passed by House Salem (U-R) The Board of Control building program, in cluding a $6,000,000 mental hos pital in the Portland vicinity and an intermediate penal institution-at St. Paul, was approved, in the House yesterday by a vote of 50 to 7. - Rep. Loran Stewart (R-Cot-tage Grove) objected to the $10, 000,000 program as "unrealistic" because, he said, it spread the money too thin. He said the oard of Control could not pos sibly spena me o,oou,uuu iut tJnrtland mental hospital in two " - - Ii iJll V. because a ait still has not years commissioners Mr. Stewart by name." He also rapped the com missioner for "setting up one class of taxpayer against an other," in reference to a state ment made by Stewart and re ported Wednesday in The Mail Tribune. Statement Cited In the statement, Stewart said: "Owners of non-orchard prop erty should be concerned with the problem, in that if orchard trees as such are not assessed for tax purposes, they will pay a significantly greater portion of the total ad valorem tax burden.'.' Reter asserted that Stewart has been a "prime, mover" in the effort to place orchard trees on the assessment rolls, and added that other members of the com mission have not been familiar with the problem. In explaining the background MEDF ,rrrt 50th Morst Over FL.uie lo Pick Oregon Judge Lack of Patronage Agreement Charged Portland U.R) Sen. Wayne L., Morse (D-Ore.) arrived in Portland today on a "reporting and checking" trip and immedi ately charged the Republicans with doing a "great injustice" by delaying the appointment of another federal judge for Ore gon. Oregon's senior senator said the appointment has been de layed because "Republican pa tronage dispensers" couldn't agree on a choice. "I want to make it clear that the sole and complete respon sibility for the failure to make the appointment rests with the Republican party," Morse said on arriving here for a week end visit to the state. He said he would "give sena torial clearance" to Circuit Judge William G. East of Lane county. East has been reported in line for the appointment. The senator said that his .cur- j rent trip to Oregon is for the j purpose of reporting, to the peo ple and checking up on views cf his constituents in a series of conferences. " He spoke at noon today at West Linn and tonight will talk at Corvallis. He will appear Sat urday night at , Springfield and will leave Sunday morning for Los Angeles before returning to Washington. Lebanon, Ore. -4U.R) State Sen. Mark Hatfield said last night the Democrats were pre pared to spend "half a million dollars" to assure -election of Sen. Wayne Morse next year. Hatfield, a Republican, told the GOP Women's Club here that "it should be apparent . that the biggest guns in' the Democrat party are already trained -1 on Oregon in , Sen. Morse's behalf." He cited recent visits of Democratie officials to the state and the forthcoming visit of ex-President Harry Truman. "And right behind the big names will come the big mo ney," Hatfield predicted. Auto Goes Berserk; Driver Dies in Wreck Susanville, Calif. U.R) A 1955 convertible gone berserk catapulted 165 feet on a lonely stretch of U.S. 395 north of here and killed its driver, David H. Bowles, 21, Portland, the High way Patrol said last night. Bowles, estimated to be speed ing "in excess of 100 miles per hour" when he lost control of his car, had a day-old Oregon speeding citation in his pocket. Capt. Robert' Blossom, Susan ville area Highway Patrol com mander, said Bowles' car raced past another auto near Lively, Modoc county, went out of con trol and shot into the air: Blos som said the distance ' of the car's flight measured 165 feet. He said it was 979 feet from the point of 'takeoff to the spot the demolished car came to rest. been chosen Rep. Orval Eaton (R-Astoria) countered that "Oregon is no longer in the horse and buggy age" and had to move ahead with its building requirements. The House completed action on all remaining' building pro gram bills and sent the entire package to the Senate. Included was $175,000 to equip the new dental school building in Port land. An appropriation-was re quired since the State Board of Higher Education has been un able, so far, to dispose of the . school's old building. of the dispute, Reter stated that County Assessor Fowler, when asked what he was going to do about assessing fruit trees, de clared he did not believe the move was proper and that he was going to do nothing about it. Stewart then said, according to Reter, that he would issue an or der directing Fowler to assess the trees. "I thought this was a three-man commission," Reter said. . Notes Statement He noted a statement by one of the commissioners that the tax commission has requested an attorney general's opinion on le gality of the proposed order. "In view of the fact Mr. Stewart said nine months ago he was going to issue such an order and you are just now asking for such an opin ion this appears to be a very strange procedure," Reter de r AO & tm sJte&R hi C r iN .,.. I . . i .... ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER Only a fallen tree prevents these two men in their powerless boat from being swept over dam on the rain-swollen St Joseph River near South Bend, Ind. One of the men, Curtis Miller, clings to a Tope floated downstream . from a rescue boat The other, Louis Lanthier, clings to boat and tree. County Budgeters Have Few Details"? Still To Work Out Jackson county budgeters in dicated today that a few minor details remain to be ironed out before the county budget for 1955-56 is completed. Judge Rodney Keating said he expects it to be ready about the middle of next week. The new budget" total is ex pected to be considerably larger than that for the current fiscal year because of the addition this year of $685,859.07 in O&C funds which- will be allocated to county school districts, and $65,000 for construction of juve nile detention facilities. Otherwise Nearly Same However, with these items de ducted, the budget will be only slightly larger than that for last year, it was indicated. t Members of the budget com mittee are Tom Wray, Roger Rath and Arnold Bohnert. They meet in conjunction with the county court, including Keating and Commissioners Chester Wen dt and L. G. Morthland. The citizens budget commit tee of Medfora reviewed the pro posed city budget for fiscal year 1955-56 at the firs in a series of meetings at the city hall last night. Budget committee meetings will be held each Thursday night until the budget is approved. New Damage Suit Filed In Drowning Accident Portland U.R) Another dam age action resulting from the swamping last August of the ves sel Mule Duzer at Bonneville dam was on file in Federal. Court here today. J ' The latest petition is for $100, 000 for the widow and six chil dren of Leonard L. Boylan, Cathlmet, Wash., who was one of five men drowned. in the acci dent. It brings to $245,000 the amount of death claims filed so far. ; The complaint was brought against the United States by James L. Winton, administrator of Boylan's estate. The widow is Lydia Boylan. ' Weather FORECAST: Parti? cloudy to . night and Saturday. Cooler - tonight with low 33. Slightly warmer Saturday with high ' near 60. Temp. Highest Yesterday 48 Lowest this Morning 35 Pree. to 4:30 jn. Today .06 clared. Question Statements Several members of the audi ence questioned statements by Stewart concerning reasons why crops such as alfalfa 'in Klam ath county have not been as sessed. One asked if the commis sion is interested only in finding "something easy to tax." Stew art answered that this is not the case. The legal ramifications of the proposed order were discussed by Medford Attorney William McAllister, -representing the Rogue Valley Traffic association, an organization of local orchard ists. McAllister expressed the opin ion that the question is "purely a legal matter." "What is being attempted is removal of the word 'trees' from the context of the statute," he said. The attorney united 0, OREGON, FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1955 Price 5c No. 34 Officials Named Ord i nations The Rev. George J. Davis, Sa lem, was elected yesterday as assistant superintendent of the Oregon district of the Assem blies of God. His post is a new office cre ated by district delegates this week at their 19th annual con vention here. Mr. Davis has been field representative -for the dis trict's extension plan. '. He will assist the ' Rev; Atwood Foster, Salem, the district superinten dent. -' . - Delegates also re-elected' the Rev. Lester Carlsen, Springfield, as general presbyter. He will represent Oregon at the national general council session in August at Oklahoma City, Okla. -Sectional Presbyters Ten sectional presbyters also were named. The ministers and their sections are C. W. Ahalt, Portland, 1; Thomas H. Fuller, Gresham, 2; Levi Larson, Salem, 3; William Garner, Coos Bay, 4; Vernon Klemin, Roseburg, 5; John Fuiten, Butte Falls, 6; Er nest W. Bedwell, Hood River, 7;- B. M. Shelton, Milto-Freewa-ter, 8; Willis W. Baker, Wallowa, 9, and Relna Bullock, Westport, 10. Sunday school attendance in Assemblies of God has shown a consistent gain with a total of 14,306 in attendance during 1954, it was- reported yesterday, an increase from 10,960 4n 1950. In last night's sermon, the Rev. Ralph M. Riggs, Springfield, Mo., general superintendent, noted that the Assemblies of God now constitute the strongest Protestant denomination in Alas ka, with 20 churches, He stated that there are 12,512 churches around the world with more than 770,000 members. Growth Cited While the Assemblies of God rank 29th in total membership among denominations . in. the United States, Mr. Riggs pointed out that it ranks sixth in the number of missionaries serving abroad, and seventh in Sunday school attendance. Some 19,712 ministers serve the denomina- 346th Patient Carried By Mercy Flights Plane A Mercy Flights, Inc., air ambulance plane left Medford at about 12:30 p.m. today for .The Dallas to pick up a patient there, according to officials of the non-profit service." patient, Mrs. Clara Brace, was to be . taken . to San Fran cisco, where she will receive treatment for, a kidney infec tion. She is the 346th patient to be carried by Mercy Flights. stated that the statute refers to natural resources, such as tim ber, and not to products of hus bandry, such as orchard trees. An order directing assessment of orchard trees in Jackson coun ty and not in other counties is purely "discriminatory and in valid, McAllister said. He made the same observation concerning any order which directs assess ment of orchards, and not of bushes or perennial grasses. Same Line The same line of thought was followed by Robert Root, Med ford orchardist and former state representative, who declared that the commission would be opening a "Pandor's Box" which would end in the overthrow of the present system of real prop erty taxation. ' The commission, Root said, would have to go from orchards Tribune fress Full Leased wire Tonig h t tion. While - last year 517 new churches were ' started . in the United States, plans are being carried out this year to begin 1,000 new churches. - . . Tonight s . ordination . service will conclude the meetings. The Rev. Mr. Foster will deliver the charge to the new ministers. Mr. Riggs will preach the ordination sermon. Plans will also be made for the , location of next year's district council.. , . US May Send Token Force To Formosa Washington - (U.R) The Uni ted States is considering the possibility of ' moving a token force of American ground troops into Formosa, it was reported in usually well informed quar ters today.- ; ' ; ' - These sources said the pur pose of placing such a con tingent side by side with a U.A. jet fighter squadron now on Fonhosa would be to. bolster Chinese Nationalist morale and offset opposition to' a cease-fire in the Formosa Straits. The possible project was understood to ' have been dis cussed with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek during the' just concluded visit to Formosa by Adm. Arthur W. Radford, chair man of the Joint chiefs of Staff, and Assistant Secretary of State Walter Robertson. Strike Authorized , Against Long-Haulers Portland. (U.PJ An official of the Teamsters union said to day a strike had been author ized against long:haul and, trans fer firms in Oregon but that no date had .been set. " Both union and management officials indicated negotiations might continue ' although no new talks were scheduled. The current contract , expires Sunday. . The union has . been asking progressive wage in creases up to 26: cents anl hour more by 1957 plus better -vaca tion, pension and working con dition clauses., MOetiDflfl . Washington (U.R) A Sen ate ' highways subcommittee approved by a vote of 6 lo 3 today a five-yeari $21,300,000, 000 highway construction pre gxtrn' " i bf JChMrch t i by Delegates; to cane berries and all other per ennial crops. "You would be working into a system that would be impossible to police,' he said. Root called upon the commis sion to place the problem before the state legislature so that body can decide how far to go. "The problem must be threshed out thoroughly and the answer put down in writing," Root said. The idea of placing the matter be fore the legislature was suggest ed by several other speakers. To Legislature In answer to this, Stewart stated that he had not taken the matter to the legislature because the legislature already had plans to consider the problem. When he later learned this was not the case, he said, he took the matter to a state senate committee and was told that the law already was clear enough. Rep. Powell Urges Release of Fliers As Step To Talks Move Would Prove Premier's Sincerity Honolulu (U.R) Rep. Adam C. . Powell said today President Eisenhower should confer with Chou En-lai about the Far East provided the Chinese Commun ists first release 11 U.S. airmen. Powell, a New York Demo crat, stated his beliefs on the subject on his arrival here from Bandung, Indonesia, where he attended the Afro-Asian confer ence as an unofficial observer. On Safe Ground "On the basis of Chou's state ment, at the conference that he would talk with the United States regarding tensions in the Far East and Formosa, the Pres ident would be on safe ground to have a conference with Chou," Powell said. ' : But Powell said the first item on the agenda of such a confer ence should be a requirement tht the Red Chinese premier make a "tangible move to prove his sincerity by releasing the 11 fliers." Powell also reaffirmed a state ment he made in Singapore that a Pakistan, source had indicated Chou would be" willing " to. re lease the fliers if the United States would sit down at the con ference table. He said he was much relieved to learn that the President had indicated the United States would be willing to hold such a conference . . Rejection 'Too Hasty Powell said a previous State Department comment seemingly rejecting' Chou's " offer was re garded by "all our friends as too hasty." Powell said his idea of achiev ing peace in the Far East en tailed two steps: 1. A Big Six conference for the Far East, composed ot the five Colombo nations and the United States to form an Asia policy for the "first time in our lives." ' 2. The State Department should send American Negroes and Americans of Oriental ex traction to embassies in the Far East. . " - . "We should use our 25,000, 000 colored people to prove we aren't an all white nation,",, he said. Senate Passes Bill On Obscene Comics Salem (U.R) A series of eight bills designed to ban the sale or distribution of crime or obscene comics to minors passed the Senate today with wnai some observers said was a sur prising minimum-of debate. Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Salem) objected to what he called the censor-like nature of some of the hills and said morality was something that , should, be at tended to through the home ana not through the Legislature. Sen. Paul Geddes (R-Rose-burg) said the package of bills would make it illegal to sell pocket, size books with lewd, obscene or lascivious covers on them to minors, and 'would ban .crime or sex comics that might linfluence .. youth , toward crime or lewdness. ' : Bridge Collapses; Truck Falls Into River. ' The Dalles (U.R) A truck and trailer dropped into the Klick itat river Wednesday night when the four-year-old Wahkiacus bridge, three miles east of Klick itat, Wash.', collapsed. ' The driver, E. C. Miller, was not injured. The loss of the bridge virtual ly isolates Wahkiacus, a small community of about 30 persons. Cause of the collapse has not been determined. : i Medford Orchardist Dave Lowry suggested that the com mittee may have reached that conclusion because they had re ceived only "unilateral informa tion." "I went before them and asked that something be done," Stewart answered. Difficulty Cited Various speakers pointed out the difficulty of assessing or chard trees for several reasons. These included the fact that trees do not come into productivity for about 10 years; that trees reach an optimum producing age and then decline in productivity, and that because of changes of desirability in various types of fruit, orchardists must graft trees, thus losing - another five years of productivity. . Stewart answered that '' "We could solve a lot of problems by doing nothing. However, if it is his mm Baseball AMERICAN Boston . . 0 4 0 Chicago ..... 7 11 1 Nixon, Brodowski (4), Smith (6), Trimble (8) and White; Donovan and Lollar. , State Fair Trade Act Ruled To Be Unconstitutional Portland U.R) Circuit Judge Lowell Mundorf f yesterday ruled that Oregon's fair trade act is unconstitutional because it im properly empowers the Legis lature to set prices. The ruling was expected to have . important ramifications throughout the state's retail cen ters. It was handed down in a suit brought by General Electric company against Rolla H. Wahle, a Portland consumers' agent. Fails To Set Standard Judge Mundorff said the con stitution prohibits-the Legisla ture from fixing retail prices. He also ruled that it failed to set a standard and to guide price fixing. General Electric sought to en join Wahle from advertising, of fering for sale or selling any appliances made by GE at less than set by an agreement made with Sprouse-Ritz '.company .of Portland, which was not a party in the suit. The ; judge ruled the "fair trade" agreement with the com pany was invalid because al tnougn an ujs retailers were bound by the Sprouse-Ritz pact, GE had offered no consideration for the contrct ' School District Vote OKs Bonds Central Point Voters of School District 6C yesterday ap proved the issuance of $350,000 worth of bonds to pay for two new school buildings. The vote was 311 yes, 146 no. By polling places, the vote in Gold Hill was 89 yes, 31 no; in Central Point 222 ys, 115 no. The school district plans a new four-room building at Gold Hill for elementary students, and a 12-room primary building at Central Point. They were made necessary by rapidly in creasing enrollment totals in 6C, which have filled every exist ing classroom at both schools. Superintendent of Schools H. P. Jewttt said today that it is hoped construction can be started sometime in June. The Gold Hill unit will be rushed to completion, and may be ready for a portion of the 1955-56 school year. Both will be ready for the beginning of the 1956-57 school year. Crowded, makeshift facilities will have to be used until the work is done. Raft Lehi II Puts To Sea Without Skipper, 3 Others San Francisco (U.R) The comic-opera raft Lehi II finally shoved off on its 'delayed drifting trio to Hawaii today but typi cally , something went wrong, the craft started its cruise with only one crew member aboard. Skipper DeVere Baker and three crewmen, were late ;arriv ing at Aquatic Park where the Lehi -: II was moored so First Mate Lawrence Hall of fTacoma put to sea without them. Fishing Boat Hired ? RaVor: at this Doint numbed to seiDacits, prompuy uucu fishing boat to take him and fel . . t i , . 41 m low sailors William Sousa, Crawford Hartley and George Harris to the raft. . At last report the Lehi, with Baker and his men in hot pur suit, was bouncing on the waves under the Golden Gate Bridge headed for the open sea. The confusion over the Lehi's departure, nothing new in a run our duty to make assessments, we've got to tackle the problem." The importance of orcharding to the economy of Jackson coun ty was pointed out by Reter. He 1 noted that the industry here ships about 3,500,000 boxes of fruit a year, using from 15,000,000 to 16,000,000 board feet of timber for boxes. "You are going to hit a point of diminishing returns if you slap another tax of $5 to $6 an acre on orchardists," he said. Study Pledged Commissioners Ray Smith and Carl Chambers pledged that they would give the question close study before an action is taken on issuance of an order to the county assessor. A crowd estimated at from 60 to 80 people jammed Into the small courthouse auditorium for the hearing. Federal Troops Score Victory In Bloody Fight Loyal Forces Attack Under Heavy Barrage Saigon, Indochina (U.R) Gov ernment troops destroyed the headquarters of the rebel Binh Xuyen gang and drove its com mandos back to a river island to day in a great but bloody civil war victory for pro-American Premier Ngo Dinh Diem. The counter - attacking loyal troops, moving under cover of heavy mortar barrages, . shatter ed the rebels' main strongpoints in a two-day battle that killed several hundred persons, wound ed nearly 1000 and left 100,000 homeless. ... Diem Spurns Order in uie wane vx nis victory. Diem spurned an order from Chief of State Bao Dai to fly to the Riviera and to give up con trol of the Army. His Cabinet sent a message to the absentee chief of state affirming that Diem's presence in' Saigon was essential and thai no one. had the authority to replace him. The government forces moved quickly to complete their vic tory over the tough Binh Xuyen trnnnL - . . Reliable informants said Gen. Paul Ely, the French supreme commander, consulted w i t h American officials in Saigon on a joint effort to win a cease fire. But the effort failed when Diem defied his Emperor and decided the time had come to smash the rebels. Ia Defiance of Appeal ' - The second day of street-fighting in this flaming city began at -dawn in defiance of Emperor Bao , Dai's appeal to the- government and to rebellious wprlord troops to end the battle that has re duced the heart of Saigon to flames, .i The Saigon city 'health serv ice ; announced that "several have been killed and nearly 1, 000 wounded In the past 24 hours of clashes. An exact count of the dead and wounded was impossible, of ficials said. Corpses and groan ing wounded littered Saigon's bullet torn streets. A square mile of the city was in flames and rescue work was crippled. Bridge Blown Up - , The assault of the rebel head quarters climaxed a government base of operations in Cholon, the drive toward the Binh Xuyen's the Chinese sector of the city separated from Saigon Itself by a canal. The government blew up the Y-bridge across the canaL The bridge was blown up to ' prevent more Binh Xuyen rebels from the gang's 10,000 man forces from pouring into Sai gon. . Rebel headquarters were near the end of the bridge in the . Chinese twin city. ning saga that saw the first Lehi abandoned off - the California coast last summer, resulted from threatening weather. Original plans called for the M. X 1 x O n 1 4- rail 10 leave at u u.ui., uut ot&r scanned the cloudy skies and de layed the sailing until after 8 a.m. 1 - But apparently no one told TTall nhont the rhanffp in nlanc. He showed, up on schedule and waited patiently until about 7:30 -but when the others failed to ar rive he got the Lehi going on his own. Free of Currents Present plans called for the fishing boat Sea Bee' to tow the Lehi beyond the Farallon Islands, about 25 miles' west of San Francisco. At that distance, Baker fig uredthe raft would be free of. the southerly coastal currents that caused his first expedition last July to end in failure.