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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1955)
Boris Mr mm r I v m,. Joanxi, Alia. iukj An ava Jr;lanche in the Canadian Rockies - yesterday killed live teen-age - boys from Philadelphia. Two oth- m' n : :i j : i i t-prltert today. T The avalanche . occurred on 11,636-foot Mount Temple hear this summer resort. The boys were members of the 7 Wilderness Club of Philadelohia ," and' had been in Canada for a week on a camping expedition. Eleven of 30 boys were caught . by the avalanche at the 9,500-foot v.; level. Only two escaped un Memorial Hospital Requests $586,533 In Federal Funds The Rogue Valley Memorial ' hospital has applied for a grant of $586,533 in federal Hill-Bur ton funds to apply toward the construction of a new hospital, it - ffs reported today. , The hospital organization esti mates that the new structure to be located on a 20-acre site just north of Barnett rd. southeast of the city, will cost in the neigh borhood of $1,800,000. If the leaerai hospital grant is ap proved in full, it will leave some $1,200,000 or more to be raised locally. ine organization now owns Community hospital, which will be abandoned when the new hos pital is completed. . . A campaign to raise the neces sary funds will begin here later this month. Some pledges and gifts have already been received. The application was made through the state board of health, which allocates construction funds as soon as congress makes them available. The federal funds are provided on a matching ba sis. Other applicants revealed to day, according to United Press, are Portland Osteopathic hospi tal, $223,890; Leep Memorial hos pital, Salem, $63,833; Hood River Memorial hospital, $196,333; Eugene-Lane county health depar . ment, $42,358; Blue Mountain General hospital, - Prairie City, $6,833; State hospital, Salem, $50,000; Holladay Park Memor ial hospital, Portland, $12,030; Pacific Communities hospital, Newport, $41,110; and Sisters of Mercy nursing home. North Bend, $571,210. Fire Burns Home, Damages Another Fires yesterday and' this morning destroyed one home and badly damaged another. A vacant house at 616 South Stage road reportedly owned br Dr. Merle Foland, 109 Highland dr., was enveloped by flames before being noticed and burned to the ground, me fire was reported by state police about 1:55 ajn. today.' Neighbors reported that for- - mer occupants,, the Willis G. Toennige family, moved out yes terday morning. A rural pump er, a tanker and a pumper from the east side station answered the call. Adjacent buildings were undamaged. At 9:01 p.m. yesterday two pumpers were dispatched to the Willis F. Herman home, 519 West 11th st. The fire, apparent ly started from a cigarette on a davenport, caused considerable smoke, and damaged furniture, walls and ceiling in one room. George Hopeful Geneva Talks To Improve Peace .Washington U.B Sen. Wal ter F. George said today after a talk with President Eisenhower that he is "very hopeful" the Big Four conference at Geneva next week will improve the chances for world peace.. The Georgia Democrat, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gave this comment to newsmen in ad vance of Mr. Eisenhower's meet ing today with Democratic and Republican leaders on the Ge- vena conference. " 3,000,000 Box Pear Crop in Valley Forecast by Agent A pear crop of 3,000,000. boxes is expected in the Rogue valley this year, Don Berry, Jackson county horticulture agent, said today. The crop, provided fruit attains adequate size, will be about normal. Harvesting sea son will not start until about Aug. 22, about two weeks late. Berry said most orchardists are now culling crops to thin out small sizes, and if orchards receive two more irrigations, adequate fruit sizes should be attained. Unseasonable weather early harmed. Two others were brought to a hospital in Banff suffering from head injuries, shock and exposure.. The dead and missing were identified as Richard Balis, 13; his twin brother, James; William Wise, 15; William-Watts, 16; Miles Harble, 12; David Chapin, 15; and Luther Seddon, 13. All but Seddon, who came from St. Louis, were from Philadelphia. The boys in the hospital were Fred Ballard, 13, and Jerry Clat tenburg, 14, both of Philadelphia. Rebuilding of Store Planned; Fire Probed Plans for rebuilding the Med ford Furniture store building, which was partially destroyed in a fire last Friday afternoon, are being worked out and will be announced in detail soon, it was reported today."" Meanwhile, investigation of the causes of the blaze was con tinuing this morning, with city and state police and firemen co operating. They were on the scene of the fire this morning, discussing various phases of the blaze with store officials and insurance men. To Question Man Later in the day they planned to question Gene Wallace Lau derdale, 29, who .was arrested Saturday night and jailed on a Police Hunt Killer Of Iowa Youngster Sioux City, la. j(U.E) One of the biggest manhunts in the his tory of the Midwest formed to day to find the brutal sex-slayer of 2-year-old Donna Sue Davis. A general police alert was sounded throuahout mid-con tinent, the FBI activly entered the case and thousands of volun teers, armed with a description of the killer, joined .in the tearch.?1':- i -TTi Meanwhile, police" here plan ned a roundup of all known sex deviates after being - informed by police Chief James O'Keefe that the child "definitely had been raped.". The blonde,: curly-haired tot, who was kidnaped from her crib Sunday night while her parents watched television, was found beaten to death late Monday at the edge of a muddy cornfield. . Strips of her pink pajama tops were wound , around her neck. Otherwise, she was unclothed. Police said Donna had been sexually attacked, then beaten to death by blows on the head. An autopsy showed she had suf fered a skull fracture, a broken jaw and abrasions on her body. The blue-eyed girl, described by neighbors as "a living doll," was killed about an hour after she was abducted, police said. Her body apparently was hurled from an automobile into the gravel ditch where it was found. Nebraska Girl, 4, Beaten by Assailant Fremont, Neb. UJD--A four-year-old girl was severely beaten by an unknown assailant today and police opened an all-out search to determine whether the attacker might ; have been the killer of Donna Sue Davis of Sioux City, la. Fremont Police Chief Robert Millard said "I just don't know," when asked if the attacker here might have been the same man who mutilated and killed the little Davis girl Sunday night or early yesterday and left her body in a corn field. Millard said the little girl beaten here was Susan . Cline, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Cline. She suffered a broken leg, cuts and bruises and other marks of harsh treatment, Mil lard said. An examination show ed she had not been criminally assaulted, Millard said. this year delayed the crop. ' The peach crop also will be about .two weeks late, Berry said, and probably will be small er than normal, especially with. the hale variety. He said the small crop is due to poor polina tion during bloom when fruit did not set. 'v . The peach crop, Berry esti mated, would be about two- thirds the normal size. .. Apricots, which normally would be harvested now, will be picked starting in about 10 days. Berry said. It is expected t be about MrmaL - Those who escaped were Pete Smith, 13, and Tony Woodfield, 16, both of Philadelphia. ' The expedition was directed by O. D. Dickson and W. H. Oes- er, both of Philadelphia. It was based at Moraine lake. . Yesterday, 24 of the boys with Oeser in charge climbed to the supply camp at the 300-foot lev el. Eleven decided to go higher before stopping for the day and reached the 9500- foot level where they were caught by the slide. drunk charge. He had been sent to the store a couple of days before the fire by the employ ment office here as a temporary warehouse helper. Lauderdale was seen during the early phase of the fire but later was missed, and was the object of a police search Friday night and Saturday. Officers this morning expressed doubt that he would be of any assist ance in determining the cause of the fire. ; Will Hansen, owner of the building, said today it is still too early to determine whether or not the unburned" portion of the structure, built in. 1922, can be used in reconstruction plans. But he said the building will definitely be replaced. Built in 1922 The building was built by his father, J. P. Hansen, who came here in 1887 and was one of the first orchard operators in the valley. Hansen himself arrived in 1888. The store was operated as the Medford Furniture and Hardware (MF & H) under vari ous ownerships until about 1943 when it was sold to Lou Doolen and later to John Cupp, who eliminated the -hardware phase of the business. - Joe Neil later bought the store; later selling to Bob Rector and Jack Crawford, the present owners. The, Wakefield Drapery shop, which' was. located on the'burh-ed-out second floor of the build ing, was destroyed, with con siderable loss. Wayne Wake field, however, has indicated he plans to move into other quar ters as soon as possible, and, re sume his business. Mel Younger, of the Younger Appliance company, located ad jacent to the burned building, said bis firm suffered some smoke and water damage, and that the roof is in bad shape. The store, is closed for a few days until things can be straight ened out and cleaned. . Senate OK Sought In Foreign Aid Funds Washington (U.R) The ad ministration shifted to the Sen ate today its efforts to win con gressional approval of the full $3,266,641,750 foreign aid pro gram sought by President Eisen hower. - The administration suffered a major setback last night when the . house approved a $2,638,- 741,750 bill that was a whop ping $627,900,000, or about 20 per cent, less than Mr. Eisenhow er has asked. Not a. single House member moved to restore cuts in the measure which had been made by the House Appropria tions committee. 7..- Secretary of State John Fos ter Dulles and former Foreign Aid Chief Harold E. Stassen planned to urge a Senate Ap propriations subcommittee to day at a closed hearing to vote the full amount of the Presi dent's request. WallaWaiiaPrison Tension Increases Walla ; Walla, Wash. U.F3 - Double guards patrolled cell blocks of the Washington State Prison today as tension mounted among inmates who staged a 26- hour riot last week. ' Inmates of the prison caused about $25,000 damage when they went on their rampage last Tues day. They captured 11 hostages and held nine who were released unharmed ' when a nine-point "treaty" ended the rebellion. Warden Lawrence Delmore Jr, said everything, was running ac cording to Hoyle" but that he had ordered the extra guard because of the actions of inmates the past two days after they had heard reports some of them may be transferred to Eastern State Hos pital for the criminally insane. , . Meanwhile, six prison officers have resigned since the riot out break, Delmore said. 1 don't know whether it was because of pressure from the of- fioars families, or what", ; Tree Assessment Problem No Nearer Solution by Board Orchardi$ts Refuse Compromise Proposal The problem of assessing Jack son county orchards appeared no nearer solution today, follow ing a IVi-hour meeting this morning between local orchard ists and members of the county board of equalization. Some 10 of the county's lead ing fruit growers at the meeting flatly- turned down any possi bility of a compromise with the state tax commission. The orchard assessment issue, which has been . bubbling for more than 18 months, reached a boil recently when the tax commission ordered the board of equalization to place orchard trees on the tax rolls on a true cash value basis by Aug. 15. Substitute Proposal " Members of the board of equal ization met yesterday in Salem with the tax commission, and at that time, a substitute pro posal was tentatively offered by the board. The proposal, in effect, called for a blanket assessment for the current fiscal year on or chard trees of $100 per acre for pears; $75 per acre for stone fruit; $50 an acre for apples, and no value per acre for grafted trees up to seven years old, for new plantings up to 12 years old, and for all nut trees. For the 1956-57 fiscal year, the proposal, called, for putting the assessments on a true cash value basis to be set up by the county assessor aided by a com mittee of growers, real estate men, and others, who would receive help from state assessors. Not True Value The board admitted that the per acre valuations included in the proposal would not indicate the true cash value of the orchards. - Board members, includins County Judge Rodney Keating, Arnold Bohnert and Ralph Cook, said that - this proposal . was .. ac ceotable In th- tt ia-r nn mission,' which indicated thai the proposal would fall under the terms of the. order to the board of equalization. This compromise received a cold shoulder from the orchard ists this morning. They charac terized it as "a tempting pack age" which would not be legal because it would not be equal ized. They charged that the state Ltax commission, in refusing to oraer itie county assessor to set UD the orchard assessments. is attempting to put the burden on me ooara ox equalization for something they know is un popular and not legal. Who Wields Stiletto?, William McAllister. Morifarri attorney who is representing the orcnaraisis, declared "It is a question of whether the tax Commission is eoinff in wielrl the stiletto or whether the board of equalization is going to wield it for them under some threat of coercion." It was indicated at this TYin Tun ing's meeting that Cook and uonnert nad told the commis sion they would resign from the board rather than go ahead with ine program. They were told that if thev did - onit inmmno would be named to replace them and; the nromm wnuM ahead., Both indicated that they are still contemplating resigna tion. The orchardists were unani mous in proposing that the board should make every effort to force the tax commission to or der the program into - effect, rather than placing that burden upon the board. All declared that they will use every legal means possible to fight the pro gram. 1 The board mvonr st mnnn but was resumed this afternoon. Uranium Found In Southeast Oregon Portland U.R) The "best uranium Drosnect discovered in Oregon' so far was reported by a geologist today to have been found in the southeastern part oi tne state. ' Tom Matthews of - the State Department of Geoloev and Min eral Industries, added that samples brought in bv Harold Davis from the S teens mountain area "probably is pay material." . xne iind was located about 50 miles north of the Nevada bor der on U.S.'- government land. some 10 miles north of Andrews on Pike creek. ... . " Portland (U.R) Some 1500 striking AFL plywood wor kers at five M and M Wood Wor king company plants in Oregon and Northern California ' vote Thursday on a proposal to end a strike that started July 1. 50th Year Met t, r o 20 Page' . n Sp Two Annexation Proposals Studied By City Planners Residents of Area Ask New Consideration The Medford Planning . com mission last night discussed two new annexation proposals re quested by residents of the areas involved. They include more than 500 . acres in areas south of Stewart ave., and east and south of the city. No action was taken on either proposal pending study of pos sible additional land to be in cluded in each area. One request came from Ed ward Stevens for annexation of about 30 acres south of Stewart ave. between extensions of Holly st. and Oakdale ave. The pro posed area does not include an orchard owned by. Bear Creek orchards adjacent to Stew art ave. and between the ave nue and property requested to b annexed. North of Garfield Stevens said the area, which includes school district 49 prop erty for a proposed school, ex tends north from along the north edge of Garfield st. The prop erty would be connected with the city by extensions of Holly st. and Oakdale ave., both, of which would conform to city standards. The commission asked City Manager Robert Duff and Don ald G. Boot,' a member of the ISOrtinissibii; to "contact '"owners of the orchard, and if there is no obiection to annexing the orchard, that may also be in cluded. Stevens said he desired the area annexed because he is plan ning to subdivide' the area, plats for which have been approved by the planning commission.' Includes Country Club ' The other area is bounded by a line starting at the present city limits 200 feet north of Hillcrest rd., running east to Foothills rd., south to Barnett rd., west to a point south of Modoc ave., and north to the present city limits. The proposal includes the Rogue Valley Country club, which was included in the area after the first suggestion was made. The total area involved is about 500 acres. E. N. McKinstry, city engineer, said residents of the area plan to circulate petitions for annex ation. The commission agreed to have residents or city officials contact other area residents who have expressed a desire to be annexed. . Residents Encouraged Mark Goldy, acting commis sion chairman, said he favors encouraging any fringe area res idents to seek annexation, and pointed out policies of the com mission should not be so strict so as to discourage residents from seeking annexation. Both areas were included in the more than 3,000 acres in volved in an annexation propos al rejected by residents by about a 5 to 1 vote July 5. The commission also discussed an agricultural zone based on one used by the city of Eugene. Such a zone would protect all types of farming on large tracts; members indicated. Can Farm Now Present Medford ordinances provide that farming and truck gardening may be allowed pro viding no retail business is con ducted on the premises. : The ordinance covers orchards. . No action is planned until aft er additional information con cerning an. agricultural zone is obtained. Duff said he ' would pass any new inormation con cerning agricultural zone onto the commission in order that it may be studied thoroughly. (See Story on Peg 14) FORECAST: Fair : aad through Wednesday. lw te- nicnt SS-SS. High tomorrow S(-M. " -' - ' Temp. Highest Yesterday Lowest this Moraine (4 OREGON, TUESDAY, JULY : vry Demands 1 on SIP Service Morning Star Paces Honolulu Yacht Race Aboard USS Gresham U.R) Commodore Richard S. Rheen's ketch Morning Star paced 50 yachts .today in the transpacific race to Honolulu, reporting she was only 400 miles from the fin ish line at Diamond Head. . The front running, boats were pushed along at the fastest clip of the race behind tropical winds up to 30 miles per hour. In second place was the 108 foot schooner Ramona, owned by William Pomeroy of San Fran cisco. ' . . ' Guard at Oregon Prison Accused Of Taking Bribe Salem (U.R) Charles Edward Jones, 32, guard, at the Oregon state penitentiary, faced ar raignment today on a charge of accepting a bribe to smuggle benzedrine to the convicts. Jones waived preliminary hearing yesterday after his ar rest by state police. The charge of accepting a bribe is a felony Jones was arrested after investi gation by prison officials and state police. Deputy Sarden L. R. Barnes said there had been "little or no trouble with dope in the prison for a year until just recently. Jones is accused of accepting a $60 bribe to deliver the benze drine inside- the . prison .walls with a promise that he would be paid more later. ., ; - , . Several Guard charosxl s-v Deputy District Attorney Joe Meier said several guards have been charged with taking such drugs as benzedrine into the prison in the past," an offense classed as a misdeameanor. But bribery is a felony and convic tion can bring a sentence up to 15 years in the penitentiary. , District 1 Attorney Kenneth Brown said this is the first time since he has been in office that a guard has been charged with bribery. - Jones has been a correctional officer at the state penitentiary since July,. 1953. His bail was set by Marion County Circuit Judge E. O. Stadter at $2500. Log Truck Driver Critically Injured Orville A. Williams, 45, of 936 Newtown st., is in critical condition today, after the. log truck he was operating went out of control and over the bank of the Copper road about two miles above McKee bridge yesterday afternoon. Don Moton of Star Ranger station called state police and Medford Ambulance service to the scene about: 12:30 pun. Ap parently the truck went out of control on a gradual curve and plunged over the bank, police said. ' - - . .Williams was taken to Sacred Heart hospital. Denver Man Arrested On Morals Suspicion Sigurd Forseth Cholaas, 31, Denver, Cole was arrested by city police this morning and was lodged ' in jail on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police reported. - Officers arrested - Cholaas shortly after a 13-year-old boy told them a man had molested him in the v Hawthorne park area. Cholaas fitted the descrip tion the boy gave, and he was arrested. Selection of Murder Trial; ?; Selection: of a jury for the trial of Bernice Hampton (Tex) White, 37, of 228 Hartley rd., was nearing completion at noon today, and it was expected that attorneys would start opening arguments this afternoon: v White is charged with . first degree murder in the death of Eugene Raymond Birk, 32, Phoe nix. Birk died in an Ashland hos pital last March as a result of head injuries. - - y - A grand " jury : .indictment against . White charges he fa tally injured Birk by strtUnf H j Price 5c Tribune 12, 1955 No. 96 Asks Commissioner "--.- To Act Under Lav Providing Hearing Action Requested Before August 7 State Sen. Philip B. has demanded that the Lowry Oregon public utilities commissioner, Charles H. Heltzel, conduct a public hearing on the proposed abandonment of Southern Pacif ic passenger service north of Ashland. In a letter written yesterday to Heltzel, Senator Lowry said I respectfully request that you conduct, an investigation and hearing on your own motion on this proposed discontinuance at the earliest possible date.' Such a procedure, of course, is auth orized by ORS 760.515. It occurs to me that any such hearing and investigation should be sched uled in time to reach a decision prior to Aug. 7, 1955, in order that an appropriate order could be entered, should you find that the discontinuance is unjusti fied. . " "While I believe that this sit uation clearly calls for an inves tigation and hearing upon your own motion, as authorized by statute, it may be that you will not concur in my view. In such event, I wish to state unequivo cally that this letter may . be re garded as a complaint within the meaning of ORS ' 760.510,' the senator's letter continued. In Salem, it. was revealed to day that Heltzel ha ordered an investigation into the demand and need ,for passenger . train service on the Portland-Ashland route. : Heltzel was quoted as saying that while the railroad has . de nied the PUC has jurisdiction over the train route, the issue has not been fully settled. Rec ords show that the commission has in the past permitted with drawal of rail service without interference. Heltzel's investigators are to check with chambers of com merce, city officials, and others, he said. The SP announced discontin uance of the service last week, effective Aug. 7,' because of heavy operating losses on - the passenger, service, and, lack of patronage. -Senator Lowry, in his letter to Heltzel, pointed out the "tre mendous freight revenues" the SP earns from areas affected by the proposed discontinuance. Public Service Cued "At the time of my discussion with Southern Pacific officials, I was left with the impression that this, common carrier felt it was entitled to operate its passenger service at a profit or not at all. While I have little familiarity in this field, it has long been my understanding that the passenger - service of most rail carriers is not usually profitable, but nevertheless must be maintained as a public ser vice," the senator said. ' He added that, "because of the interest of Josephine and Doug las counties in this matter," he is calling the attention of Sen ators Gene Brown, Grants Pass, and Paul Geddes, Roseburg, to his action in requesting a public hearing with the "hope that they may 'see fit to join in my re quest' : : - " - ' Boise (UJ9 The Idaho Board of Health has recorded the state's 113th polio case since the first of the year, compared to 25 listed through July of 1954. Jui -3caring Possible Jurors Quizzed him on the head with a piece of lumber. The act allegedly oc curred t.the Talent saw mill where both men were employed. Although District Attorney Walter Nunley, in questioning prospective jurors, has indicated that he is not making an issue of the death penalty, each juror has been questioned concerning it At least one has been dismiss ed; because of a conscientious objection to the death penalty. ; : In first degree murder trial, the jury may bring in a verdict of guilty without reoornmerwla- Appropriation! Committee Pares Budget Requests Atomic Ship, Polio Programs Rejected Washington U.F9 The House Appropriations committee, wield ing its economy ax for the last . time this session, today denied ' funds for the proposed' Air Force Academy, President Eisenhow er's atomic peace ship, and free distribution of polio vaccine. It whacked heavily into the President's budget requests for expansion and improvement, of atomic plants, for making civil defense evacuation plans for 29 big target cities, and for U.S. participation In International trade fairs as a counter to Com munist propaganda. ' The- committee, meeting for what probably was its last ses sion this year, took the actions in reporting to the House a supplemental appropriation bill totalling $1,648,876,128 for a scattering of agencies and func tions for which the President had sought extra funds totalling $1,927,785,868. This cut of $278,909,740, about 14.5 per cent, was to be piled atop , claimed committee reduc tions totalling about $2,185,000, 000 in earlier appropriations this year, although some of the pre vious cuts had been restored by House or Senate. Main items in the bill as ap proved included $1,402,329,000 for military construction projects (not including the Air Academy) for which the administration had asked $1,480,000,000; $138, 577,000 a cut of $156,123,000 for plant expansion and stepped- Wasliington U.R) The Appropriations Committee to day approved $2,042000 for spending in the fiscal year that started July I for Air Force facilities at Klamath Falls, Ore. up research by the Atomic En ergy Commission; $8,650,000 for civil defense, against the $16, 050,000 requested. .. The rejection of .funds to start bufldinsr the '$126,000,000 new Air Academy ' at . Colorado Springs, Colo., came amid moun ting criteism of the ultra modern design recently published by the Air Force as its plan for the new service school. Must Make Up Mind . Air Farce Secretanr Harold E.- Talbott told the appropriations group this design was not final. So the committee denied his re quest for $79,000,000 in construc tion funds, and told him not to spend $15,000,000 appropriated, earlier, until plans. are finally agreed on. It suggested that he. consult the government's Fine Arts com mission before making up his mind. V - The committee turned down a request for $12,650,000 to build the bull - of Mr. Eisenhower's proposed peace ship and for $21, 000,000 to build the atomic re actor to drive it. It pointed out that legislation to authorize this ship has not been approved by congress. ; In chopping funds sought for other : atomic . construction the committee pointed out that AEC ' has $101,000,000 of unspent funds on hand.. With this, and the $138,577,000 which it recom mended in new money, the com mittee said the agency will have enough to get by. Among specific atomic pro jects cut or denied was a pro posed new hospital at Oak Ridge, Tenn. The committee said keep ing the old one would be cheap er and it allowed $50,0W to put it in shape.- . In the polio field the commit tee approved in full Mr. Eisen hower's request for $300,000 in extra enforcement money . to ward off a possible black market in vaccine. It okayed without re- . duction $4,500,000 for grants to states to plan vaccination pro grams: It allowed in full $400,000 to build a new monkey house at . the National Institutes of Health, to facilitate Vaccine safety tests. (See Story on Page $) f Ccmp!o;icn in tion, making the death penalty mandatory; guilty with recom mendation of life imprisonment; guilty of second degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty. H . i Because White's attorneys have indicated they will use a defense of temporary insanity, the jury also may bring in a verdict of not guilty because of insanity. .White is .represented by At torney Robert Duncan, assisted by Attorney William Duhaime. District Attorney Walter Nun ley it Ttpreasnttng the state. V;
