Recommended
WEATHER
FORICAIT: rarttr eiendy and
cool tonday; Ineremsini cload
lness Sunday aisht and Mob- .
day; high today 75; low to
night St; high. Monday about
M.
' - Temp.
Highest Yesterday .,.7
Lowest Yesterday Memlng T
T 11 vjb. YesUrday . He
Feature stories B th, dec
tkm scheduled FrMar by Med
ford and Kogae Rtvcr Valley
Irrigation district, and en the
opening of the YMCA summer
camp a Diamond lake, appear
n Page 12 of today' Issue of
The Hall Tribune.
Ufiited Press hull Uused Wire)
MEDFORD, OREGON, SUND
50th Year
28 Pages
Price 5c
No. 94
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SpeecCa Lby LPtresSdleinit
Gftpecteoi To (LDiultDDinie
0J.S. Addhs aft (Eeoneva
Washington U.R) President
Eisenhower will voice his hope
for accomplishment toward
world peace at the Big Four
Conference in an address to the
nation Friday night shortly be
fore leaving for Geneva.
The nationally-televised and
broadcast speech, regarded as a
strategic master stroke, will
serve to put Russia on notice re
garding American aims and
Mayor Disappointed
By Defeat of Two
Measures by Voters
Mayor Earl , Miller said Sat
urday he was "very disappoint
ed" residents in about 3,000
acres east, south and west of
Medford rejected Medford's in
vitation of annexation, and was
"disturbed and .. shocked", that
Medford residents defeated a
proposed city budget $66,510
over the 6 per cent limitation.
- ' Mayor Miller expressea nis
disaoDointment in a statement
' read at an adjourned council
mMtine vesterdav noon, when
votes cast Tuesday in three elee
tlnna in and around Medford
were canvassed.
- The entire text of Mayor Mil
ler's statement appears on Page
3 of today's Mail Tribune.
Residents in South Medford
rejected annexation by a vote
of 518 to 96, and Medford res
idents defeated a budget pro
posal by 636 to 207 votes. Bal
lots cast on the tfiiror election
which was in Laurelhurst addi
tion also were canvassed. Laur
elhurst addition residents voted
in favor of annexation 24 to 19.
The council yesterday adopt
ed an ordinance annexing Laur
elhurst addition, but a 20-day
period must lapse before an
nexation becomes effective 'to
.iimir time for a referendum.
No one appeared at a public
hearing on the proposal yester
day.
Public hearings on annexation
smith Medford was tabled
indefinitely, and a public hear
inff on Medford's 1955-56 budget
was postponed until an adjourn
ed meeting Wednesday nigui.
Warkina on Budget
ritv Manaeer Robert Duff
said he wished to discuss with
department heads deletions nec
essary. Some $66,510 will be
trimmed from a budget recom
mended by the citizens budget
committee.
The council also directed City
Attorney Frank Farrell to sub-
mit an opinion on what Med
ford's participation would be in
any Metropolitan Sanitary Dis
trict authority, if one is form
ed. Mayor Miller expressed ap
preciation for support of both
the budget proposal and annex
ation by the Mail Tribune.
Polio Foundation Foe
Fined on Mail Charge
Miami, Fla. (U. A long
time foe of the National Founda
tion for Infantile Paralysis has
been fined $1000 in federal court
- here for sending scurrilous mat
ter through the matt.
Duon H. Miller attacked the
foundation by mailing out mat
ter under his Polio Prevention
Inc. The organization was fined
an additional $250 fine.
. Judge Emett C. Choate placed
Miller on probabtion for two
years and barred him from mail
ing out material dealing with
medical questions. , -
Siskiyou County Suffers
Worst Drought in Years
Treka, Calif. (U.R) Siskiyou
county is suffering its worst
drought in 55 years, county farm
adviser M. V. Maxwell said Sat
urday. , '
Maxwell said the Yreka area,
in California's northernmost
county, has had only 7.08 inches
of rainfall to date this year. The
normal rainfall is 17 inches.
He said it was the county's
driest year since the turn of the
century.
Yreka city officials have
been forced to curtail the dom
- estic use of water for the first
time in yean.
hopes and yet warn the Reds
against expecting appeasement,
After Paris Session
The speech will be made after
Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles meets in Paris earlier the
same day with British Foreign
Secretary Harold MacMillan and
French Foreign Minister An
toine Pinay.
The President will talk from
6:15 to 6:30 p.m. (PST) over all
television and radio networks
and then' will take off for
Geneva at 10:30 pjn. (EDT)
aboard the Presidential plane,
the Columbine. He will arrive
there at about 4 p.m. (EDT) Sat
urday .
In announcing the broadcast,
the White House said Saturday
the President "will indicate some
of the world problems he expects
to come under discussion in the
conference and describing his
hopes for accomplishment
there." ;
The White House did . not say
what problems the President ex
pects to be discussed in the con
ference which begins next Mon
day and may run five days.
However, "the United States ex
pects that - the unification, of
Germany, disarmament, atomic
and hydrogen weapons, the So
viet satellites, and International
Communist efforts to undermine
the free governments will come
up.
In laying the groundwork for
British - American-French unity
at the meeting with ; Russia,
Dulles will meet Saturday in
Paris with representatives of the
15 North Atlantic treaty powers
to review aims and hopes for the
conference. ; ...
White Trial Set
To Start Monday
The trial of Bernice Hampton
(Tex) White, 37, of 228 Harley
rd., is scheduled to start at 9:30
a.m. tomorrow in circuit court.
White is charged of first degree
murder in the death of Eugene
Raymond Birk, 32, Phoenix. ,
. Birk died in an Ashland hos
pital last March from head in
juries. White is charged with
striking Birk with a two-by-four
piece of lumber. ;
The trial has .been delayed
pending rulings on various de
fense motions and, because
White was hospitalized follow
ing an emergency appendectomy
shortly after he was jailed.
Six Persons Drowned
In San Joaquin River
Modesto, Calif. (U.R) Six
persons including two infants
were swept to their deaths
Saturday beneath the swollen
waters of the San Joaquin river
in a tragic human chain.
Sheriffs deputies at the scene
some 12 miles west of here said
the victims, members of two
Decoto, Calif., families, were
pulled under the swift, muddy
waters at an isolated bathing
area when the children lost their
footing. , ' ' j
The victims were identified as
Trino ' Hernandez Ramirez, 26;
his two children, Peter, 3, and
Mary, 2; and three sisters, Gloria
Villa, 7, Henrietta Villa, 15,
and Santos Villa, 18.
By midafternoon only two of
the bodies had not been recov
ered, those of Peter and Santos. .
Letter by Einstein Warns
World of A-Wcapon Danger
London (U.R) Albert Ein
stein joined posthumously with
seven other scientists Saturday
to warn that the human race
stands "in imminent danger of
perishing '. agonizingly" unless
peaceful means are found for
settling all world disputes.
. The warning was disclosed at
a press conference held by Bert
rand Russell, world-famed phi
losopher and long-time ; friend
of Einstein. - ' v ' " - "
Must Renounce War -' -
The statement said it was not
enough merely to outlaw nu
clear weapons, but that war it
self must be renounced if the
world is to survive.
Five of the statement's signers
were nobel prize winners. Sign
ing of the plea for world peace
I JL . o w - mKT T aJ '--vrii
' . . - c
NEAR END OF BLAZE By 7 p.m. Friday, the Medford
Furniture store fire was mostly under control:- 'A small por
tion of the huge crowd is shown above, as well as the some
thousands of feet of hose which were in use. At right, the
Three Turncoats
Reach Hong Kong
In Good Spirits
Hong Kong, Sunday (U.R)
Three American turncoat GI's
returned to the free world today
after a disillusioning year-and-one-half
in Communist China.
The dishonorably discharged
soldiers crossed the border into
this British crown colony at 2:12
p.m.
InCbina 18 Months
The three former prisoners of
war had gone behind the Bam
boo Curtain at the end of the
Korean War rather than return
home. After 18 months they said
they had had enough and asked
permission to leave, even though
they face' possible prison sen
tences in the United States for
collaborating with the . enemy
during the war. " -
The three are William A. Co
wart, 22, of Dalton, Ga., Otho
G. Bell, 24, of Hillsboro, Miss.,
and Olympia, Wash and Lewis
W.' Griggs of Neches, Tex.
They were met at the border
by Immigration department of
ficers who took them to Hong
Kong. ,
The men seemed happy as they
crossed the border- from Red
China. .
.The three, who had been given
permission by the Communist
Chinese to leave, all were smil
ing when they arrived.
Three Cross Border
Bell was the first across the
border. He wore a cheap foreign
suit. Cowart came next, wearing
black boots, white trousers and
a white shirt with no tie. Then
came Griggs, carrying a small
bundle on his shoulder.
c British officials immediately
informed - the three that they
could not stay in Hong Kong
indefinitely.
American officials, are Expect
ed to issue one-way passports to
the men, allowing them to pro
ceed only to the United States.
(See Story on Page 6)
was one of Einstein's last acts.
Einstein's theory of relatively
unlocked the secret that opened
the way to manufacture of the
atomic bomb.
Before his death at Princeton,
N. J., last April 18, he frequently
had voiced his regret that a dis
covery of his had led to one of
the most fearful of all weapons
of mass destruction.
Might End Human Race
"The best authorities are unan
imous in saying that a war with
H-bombs might quite possibly
put an end to the human race,"
the appeal said.
"It is feared that if many H
bombs are used there will be
universal death the men who
know most arc most gloomy."
JJ. j
aT" f&tiL.
---r! . ...
DESTRUCTION SHOWN The picture above,
taken Saturday morning, shows the 'extent
of the destruction caused on the second floor
of the Medford Furniture store during the
Fisherman Admits Send
Series of Fake SOS Messages
Mineola, N. Y. (U.R) A 21-
year-old fisherman said Satur
day he was "showing off a little
too much", when he became a
20th century "boy who cried
wolf" by sending out a fake SOS
that launched a $50,000, 30-hour
air and sea search for a non
existent sinking boat . carrying
21 imaginary men.
A government
spokesman
charged the hoax could have re
sulted in "a great many deaths."
Too Many Beers
Thomas Maldona, admitted he
sent ,a series of dramatic mes
sages calling for help but blamed
Sports Bulletin
Washington Cheney Studs ,
dumped the Medford Cheney ,
Studs I to 2 here last night,
The Washington nine collected
only -four nils but three ware
for extra bases and they com
bin ad them with errors, walks,
sacrifices, a wild pitch and
stolen bates for runs.
Jack Cooney tripled for
Medford in the fifth frame and
scored oa a wild pilch. He got
on base on . an . error in the
ninth and tallied on , Derald
Wooton's. safety Terry Mad
dox socked the only other
Medford hit off Pitcher Ron
Geiger who sjtruek'out 14.'
Moscow (U.R) Soviet Pre
mier Nikolai A. Bulganin Satur
day promised a speedy reply to
Britain's proposal to give the
Soviets guarantees against ag
gression to allay Russian fears
of a free and united Germany.
aerial ladder truck is shown pouring water on the fire from
above. At one time 12 streams of water were in play on the
blaze, creating a big volume of water on the upper floor,
some of which can be seen cascading out the front door of
the store, creating a gutter-high pooL (Brainerd photo).. ..
" Friday afternoon fire. The picture was taken
from the roof of the next-door Newberry's
; store. (Other fire pictures on Page 13).
. -' (Brainerd photo)
it all on too many beers.
His skills as a radio operator
brought out five boats, three air
planes and 150 men on a 4,000
squ are-mile Atlantic ocean goose
chase.
"Sure I knew what I was do
ing," Maldona said.. "I want to
show my pal a radio. I guess' I
was showing off a little too
much. .
:. "We had a couple of beers.
That's what did it."
Later in the day, another pos
sible hoax-sent air and sea units
searching a 1,200 mile area in
the Atlantic1 off Savannah,. Ga.,
for a "tug" that allegedly sent
a distress signal. The Coast
Guard called off the search, for
the tug "Betsy, Lee" four hours
later "for .lack' of further infor
mation." - ' r: -'-'. - '
Picked Up Message
Marine operators ' In South
Carolina and Florida picked up
the "Betsy Lee's" distress mes
sage at 11 ajn. - Nothing else
was heard from the ship and no
evidence was found of a sinking
at sea. Also, no tug named the
Besy Lee was known to be oper
ating in the area.
Maldona-and his "pal," George
Teen, 17, were arrested Friday
and appeared in district court
here today on burglary charges
for breaking into a boat to send
out their fake call for help at
2:15, a.jn. Thursday.
They will be -arraigned in fed
eral court Monday on charges of
unauthorized use of a radio.
Messages From Ship
Maldona readily told District
Judge John Daly about the
escapade, but then said only: "I
didn't realize what wu happen
ing." ' ' -; .
The pair . perpetrated their
hoax, from a 30-foot boat tied
up at a pier at Oceanside, Long
Island. They sent out a series of
messages, reporting that the fish
ing craft "Blue Star" had struck
a log and that a boiler explosion
had followed. They reported the
"Blue Star" was swept by fire
but that in the nick of time a
foreign submarine surfaced and
saved all aboard.
Celebration of Centennial
May Be 'Little World Fair'
Portland (U.R) Oregon's
1959 Centennial celebration may
take the form of a regional
"Little Worlds Fair" at Portland
if recommendations released
Saturday by. Stanford Research
Institute are followed.
Would Cost $15,000,000
- .The institute said in its report
to Gov. Paul Patterson and the
40-member Centennial commit
tee that a regional fair would
cost about $15,000,000 and
should draw 5,000,00 to 7,000,000
visitors in its 120 to 150 days of
life.
. The research group estimated
that-fair crowds would spend at
least $20,000,000 on the grounds
and another $40,000,000 in Port
land and other Oregon cities.
To .make the fair financially
feasible, the -report warned, it
should be tied into the new $8,
000,000 Portland exposition-recreation
center and should be
heavily supported by city, coun
ty and state interests.
f
... M sssssss. mm- '
mmm
A spectacular fire gutted the
second floor of the Medford
Furniture store building Friday
evening, causing damage unoffi
cially estimated at well in excess
of $100,000.
The blaze, which was reoorted
at 41 pjn., caused one of the
worstSraffic snarls in Medford's
history as rush-hour traffic was
tied up. -All'
Firemen Out .
Every available fireman. was
called out,, and. off-duty police
officers were summoned to help
control the traffic- and the
crowds of onlookers, totalling in
the thousands.;"
Two firemen were overcome
by smoke early' during the two
hour blaze. Both returned to the
Job as soon as they had . recov
ered. A volunteer fireman.
Frank Lear, was taken to a
hospital to have stitches taken
in a cut on his hand..
Dense clouds of acrid "black
and yellow smoke billowed up
from the fire, at the corner of
Bartlett and Sixth sts., for al
most two hours. It was visible
for miles,, and residents of the
Old Military, rd. west of here
said the rising flames could be
seen from there.
Cause Undetermined
Fire Chief Gordon Barker said
the cause of the fire is as yet
undetermined pending further
investigation.
. The blaze- started in storage
rooms on the second floor, in
the corner away from the street.
It gave the appearance of being
fairly small at first, and firemen
attempted to control it without
iiooc However, cniei Barker
said the flames got into the attic
space under the ceiling, gaining
good headway. .
The type of material afire, he
said,, included synthetic fibers,
rubber and wool,, which com
bined to create smoke an ordinary-mask
cannot handle. The
oxygen in the room was almost
completely gone, he said. It was
Tree Assessment
Members of the ' Jackson
county board of equalization
will go to Salem Monday to con
fer with state, tax commission
officials concerning assessment
of orchard and shade trees.
The board was to have met
with the commission Friday but
the conference was postponed
by the state group.
Board members including
County Judge Rodney Keating,
Ralph Cook and Arnold Bohnert
are to leave by plane for Salem
Monday morning.
. Discussion will concern the
recent commission . order in
structing the board to assess
trees in the county and have
them on the tax rolls by .Aug.
is. . . :.: ., .
Saigon, Indochina (U.R)
Counter-attacking Laotian para
troops Saturday reported they
had recaptured "many" positions
seized by the Communists in the
eastern jungles of the Southeast
Asian Kingdom." ;
Staging the fair would require
at least 300 acres, including room
for a coliseum and parking space
for 20,000 cars. At fair's end,
Portland would be left with a
permanent exposition park valu-
ued'at between $11,000,000 and
$15,000,000 depending on how
much state, regional and federal
agencies spent on permanent
buildings. : :i . :
Back Regional Plan
. General Committee Chairman
James A, Mount said the re
search group recommended a
regional fair rather than an old-
type worlds fair on the basis of
comparative studies of other
fairs.
: Competitive fairs at Cleve
land, Houston or Miami in either
1959 or 1980 would not hurt
the Portland fair, the report said
But it urged coordination with
Seattle, Wash., which has tenta
tive plans for an Alaska-Yukon-
Padfie Exposition in 1999.
Meeting
Monday
mum
then the firemen were overcome.
Flashed Across Room V .
When windows were broken,
admitting fresh air, the fir
flashed across the room in sec
onds, cutting off several firemen
briefly, and giving rise to rumors
that one had been trapped. As
it spread, firemen were unable
to retrieve hoses stretched up to :
the second, floor along: the in
terior ramp, and Chief Barker -said
losses of hose, nozzles and
other equipment would amount
to $1,600 or more.
When the firemen were driven -from
the second floor,' they then
concentrated on saving the down
stairs portion of the building,
and nearby structures. No re
ports of any damage elsewhere
had been made Saturday; at '
though burning embers were
driven over a wide area by a
fresh breeze, some of them as
far away as Montgomery-Ward'
and Company.-
Businessmen in the block, in- -eluding
John Moffat, principal
owner , and manager of Mann's '
Department store, spent the two
hours of the fire on the roofs of
their - establishments, stamping
out sparks and wettting them
down with garden hoses.
12 Streams of Water
At the height of the fire, as
many as 12 separate streams of
high-pressure water were count'
ed . pouring in to the building,
creating a tremendous weight
of water on - the second floor
which "almost miraculously"
held up. The street was gutter
high in water" at one time.
Damage to the downstairs
portion was confined to water
and smoke damage, except in
one small area wheimBttf easts"
were burned. Much of the fur
niture was moved before the fire
gained headway. The Wakefield :
Drapery s'hop, on the second
floor, was a total loss. Younger
Appliance company next door
sustained some smoke and water
damage, but was untouched by
flames. Newberry's was protect,
ed by a firewall and no damage
there was reported.
Most of the clerks in the stores
of the block were evacuated be
cause of the smoke which swirl- '
ed around the area. '
Two or more air lines planes
circled the business district sev
eral times during the blaze,
apparently to allow their pas
sengers to get a "bird's eye view"
of the fire; . ' - '
The worst of the blaze was
out by 7 p.m., leaving scattered
small flames and embers to be
mopped up during the night by
firemen. On-duty men stayed
throughout the night, while off-
duty men. were sent back to get
soma sleep. Theirs was the Job
Saturday of cleaning up equip
ment, drying hoses and complet
ing inventories. - : .
Thirteen on-duty firemen, 19
off-doty men, 11 , volunteers and
tne tire enter ana are MTani
were at the blaze. A number of
non-firemen assisted in hauling
hoses and other tasks. Thro or
four men from the water, depart
ment and several from other city
departments also assisted. Chief
Barker said. .
Central Point Stands By
As most of the Medford equip
ment was in service, a call to
Central Point brought equipment
from there which stood by at the
main fire station. In addition,
hose was loaned by the Central
Point department. .
California Oregon Pow e r
company men arrived shortly
after firemen to cut off power
from live wires which dropped
from the building. ;
As the fire came under con
trol, firemen were served with
coffee through the cooperation:
of downtown business people,
including Snider's dairy across
the street,
TnS&c, heavy at that hour,
was snarled as fire equipment
came to the scene, and was tied .
up further as traffic lights went
off temporarily as switches were -cut
All available policemen, ;
deputy sheriffs and some state,
officers cooperated in setting
up traffic by-passes which got
the flow going again.
Manager and part owner of th
store is Robert Rector, 200 Val
ley View dr. The firm is one of
the largest of Medford's retail
establishments.
It was understood Saturday -that
plans are being made to re
build the 33-year-old- building,
which is owned by William
Hansen.