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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1955)
G o o WEATHER Recommended FORECAST Considerable cloudiness and hot Sunday . with possible afternoon thundershowers over moun tains south and east. Partly sloudv and a little cooler Monday. High today 95; low ' Sundav night 58; high Mon day 90. Temp. Highest yesterday ' 101 Lowest yesterday 60 MEDFORD A feature story on Leonard Mayfifld. new Medford superin tendent of schools, appears on Pace 12 of today's issue of The Mail Tribune. Umteo Press hull Leased Wire ull Leased Wire fx" 50th Year 26 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, A955 Price 5c No. 118 o G orse, Level Charges At Chairman of FPC Washington (U.P.) Two Sen ate Democrats Saturday accused Chairman Jerome K. Kuyken dall of the Federal Power Com mission of fostering "deception' in the Hells Canyon, Idaho, pow er case. They also charged him with suppressing data in the con troversial Dixon-Yates power contract. California Studies New Highway Over Oregon Mountain The possibility of a new high (5ay over Oregon mountain, the (lkigh grade on the Redwood high way just south of the Oregon line, is being studied by Calif ornia highway authorities, it was reported Saturday. State Rep. E. A. Littrell, Med- ford, said that California State Sen. Randolph Collier, Yreka, representing Siskiyou and Del Norte counties, who is chairman of the California legislative high way committee, is interested in Jhe possibility of improving the route. Representative Littrell is member of the state legislative interim highway committee. Go Over Route Representative Littrell, Sena tor Collier and State Rep. Lloyd (Rosie) Haynes, Grants Pass, looked over the section in detail n Friday, Littrell said, both on the present highway alignment and 0)8 a proposed new route. They visited the proposed loca tion by jeep. Representative Littrell said (jhat the present highway from near the checking station to the head of Griffin creek, on the other side of the mountain, is (Spout eight miles long. He said the proposed realignment would be about half that distance, and would have only five or six curves, with a 200-foot cut at thepsummit, and that the grade would not exceed 5 or 6 per cent. O Would Ease Snow Problem Most of the new Highway would be on a southern slope, thus considerably easing the problem of snow removal in the winter, Littrell reported. He said Qthat Senator Collier has long been interested in the project, and that he will ask the Calif ornia highway department to (Conduct studies of the possible realignment project. Tax Returns to Drive on Commies Washington U.R) The &ouse Committee on Un-Ameri-(gan Activities has been armed with authority to examine in come tax returns in a drive to uncover "secret" angels" of the U. S. Communist party. An executive order issued by President Eisenhower Friday , granted the authority which was requested by Chairman Francis E. Walter (D-Pa.) two months ago. The committee has not had such powers since the days of the old Dies committee. Committee sources told the United Press the authority would Obe used to determine where and how Communist front organiza tions get their funds. In some cases, they said, financial "An gels" of the front groups have no visible means of support. U.S. Court Session Posfponed to Tuesday The session of United States district court scheduled to open here Monday morning has been postponed until Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 10 a.m., according to word received here from Judge James Alger Fee. Jurors have been called for 2 p.m. Tuesday. They will re , port to the federal courtroom in the Medford post office building. Judge Fee, of the federal cir cuit court of appeals in San Francisco, will preside at the ses sion. He has been serving in a similar capacity in Klamath Falls for the past week. (judge Fee served as federal district judge and frequently heard cases in Medford before his appointment to the court of appeals. Kefauver The allegations came to light in an exchange of letters be tween Sens. Wayne Morse (Ore.) and Estes Kefauver (Tenn.), both public power partisans. Kefau ver disclosed that Kuykendall already has been notified he will be called to explain his "unusual conduct" when the Senate Anti- Monopoly subcommittee resumes hearings this fall. Authorized Project President Eisenhower cancel led the Dixon-Yates contract after Memphis, Tenn., said it would build its own power plant rather than accept Dixon-Yates Baker (U.R) The Hells Canyon development associa tion Saturday appealed to the Slate Hydroelectric commis sion io refuse an application by Idaho Power company lo build three low dams on the Snake river. The appeal was issued by Albert Ullman of Baker, pres ident of the association. Appli cations from the dams, which would be located at the Idaho Oregon border, were pending before the commission." electricity. On Thursday, over protests of public power advo cates, Kuykendall's commission authorized a private firm, the Idaho Power Co., to develop the Hells Canyon project which had been earmarked by Democratic administrations for federal de velopment. In suggesting that (Kuykendall should be called to testify, Morse said that "with the aid of the Eisenhower administration, the private utilities are attempting to destroy the public power yard stick." In his reply, Kefauver said that Kuykendall's conduct in the Dixon-Yates case raises "serious issues of propriety," and seems to put "his impartiality and ob jectivity in question." Kefauver added: Raises Doubts "Mr. Kuykendall's association with and clearance for appoint ment as FPC chairman by Gov. (Arthur B.) Langlie (R-Wash.), an opponent of Hells Canyon who, since Kuykendall's appoint ment, has actively intervened in the Hells Canyon case before the FPC, also raises doubts whether Chairman Kuykendall can pass judgment on the Hells Canyon case with an open and unbiased mind." Under the Dixon-Yates con tract a private power combine was to build a steam plant and sell power to the government to be channeled into the public power network of the Tennessee Valley Authority. ' In the Hells Canyon case, the five-member Power Commission ruled that Idaho Power should be licensed to build three dams on the Snake river canyon along the Idaho-Oregon border. Public power advocates had urged fed eral construction of a single high dam. Morse contended in his letter that Kuykendall "withheld" from the House-Senate Atomic Energy Committee last fall in formation that the FPC Bureau of Law found the Dixon-Yates contract "questionable as a mat ter of law and against the best interests of the United States." Kefauver agreed in his letter that the information was "ap parently suppressed." State Treasurer to Speak Before Jubilee Audience Jacksonville Oregon state treasurer Sig Unander will speak at 2:30 p.m. today to high light the eighth annual Jackson ville Gold Rush jubilee, which started yesterday. Unander will speak on "The History of Oregon" from the judge's stand in front of U. S. Hotel, jubilee headquarters. Parades on Schedule Also on today's schedule are two parades the Old Fashion parade at 12:30 p.m. and the Grand Parade at 1 p.m. Both will be on California st. Unan der's address will follow a per formance by the Novelaires quar tet at the judge's stand at 2 p.m. Other performances include Ashland Kiltie band at 3 p.m., Colleen Hope's Dancers at 4 p.m., Eve Prentice Accordian band at 4:30 p.m.. Miss Pat's Dancers at 5 pjil, Mrs. Alexander's Hawai Secretary of Navy Pledges Inquiry in Eugene Landy Case Midshipman Gets Strong Backing Washington (U.R) Navy Secretary Charles S. Thomas said Saturday he personally will make a "full and impartial" in vestigation of the Navy's refus al to give a reserve commission to a U.S. Merchant Marine ac ademy honor graduate whose mother once was a "kaffee klatsch" Communist. Thomas disclosed he had tak en charge of the case as Midship man Eugene W. Landy, 21, sent a telegram to the Bureau of Navy Personnel . "respectfully" requesting that it reconsider its refusal. No Formal Notification Landy, preparing at his Brad ley Beach, N.J., home to sail as a seaman aboard a tanker to morrow, said he still had not been notified formally by the Navy that a commission had been denied him. All he had to act upon, he said, was a verbal report by one of his instructors at the Kings Port Merchant Mar ine academy that "your commis sion will not be forthcoming. The youth graduated second in a class of 96 midshipmen from the Merchant Marine's equival ent of Annapolis Friday. Senators, congressmen and the mayor of Bradley Beach inter ceded in Landy's behalf and tele grams and telephone calls pour ed into his widowed mother's home. All the messages supported him 100 per cent," he said. Upon sending off his wire to the Navy department Landy said that "as it stands now, I might receive notification of my com mission before I receive notifi cation of the refusal." Thomas, in undertaking a re view of the case, said he had no advance opinions and that he would -wait until he had heard "both sides" before reaching any decision. He said Landy's de cision to appeal had no bearing on the review, that he would have studied the case anyway. Officials have said the Navy did not question Landy's own per sonal loyalty. Landy, described as one of the brightest students ever to at tend the academy, received sev eral awards, including one from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Hurricane Aims Af US Mainland Miami U.R) Hurricane "Connie" by - passed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Sat urday night and pointed the fury of its 125 mile-an-hour winds at the U.S. mainland 980 -miles away. Top winds reported from the Virgin Islands where a large movie company, including acad emy award winner William Hol den, scurried for cover were 70 miles-an-hour gusts during the afternoon, the weather bureau said. The Miami hurricane forecast ing center- spotted the huge whirlwind's center 175 miles due north of San Juan at 11 p.m. (EST). This was 980 miles east southeast of Miami. Tokyo (U.R) President Syng man Rhee's new threats to break the Korean armistice were heavily discounted by American officers of the United Nations command here and in Seoul Sat urday. ian Band at 5:30 p.m., Forest Chapman Guitar studio at 7:30 p.m. and Jim Pierce's Modern dance band at 8 p.m. An Old Fiddler's contest will start at 3:30 p.m. at the judge's stand, and an amateur hour will start at 6 p.m. Religious Services Dr. Jouett P. Bray will con duct an Old Fashioned Gospel service at the Pioneer Methodist church starting at 7 p.m. Catho lic mass will be held at St. Jo seph's Catholic church at 11 a.m. In addition to scheduled ev ents, there will be an art exhibit sponsored by the Southern Ore gon Society of Artists at the city hall, and a flower exhibit spon sored by the Jacksonville Garden club at the IOOF hall. Jim Pierce will furnish music for modern dances at the com munity hall between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. k u HELPING HAND Major William H. Baumer (center) of Lewis burg, Pa., is helped from plane at Tachikawa Air Base near Tokyo after arrival in Japan from the Philippines. Baumer and 10 other UiS. Air Force men were recently released from Red China af ter spending 2Vi years in Communist prisons. Major Baumer was wounded when his B-29 was shot down over North Korea during the Korean war. At lef is Far East Logistical Commander Maj. Gen. P. E. Ruestow. Man at right is unidentified. Mrs. Schmidt Fine in Hiding: Places Phone Call to Freed Airman v Nevada City, Ca0iL-' itBU Mrs. Una Schmidt Fine hid Sat urday behind the carefully phrased statements of an attor ney who shielded her from "the bright glare of publicity" aroused by her marriage to a young logger while her husband languished in a Red China prison. (Dispatches from Tokyo re ported that Mrs. Schmidt Fine Fire Conditions in Forests of Region At Critical Stage Fire conditions in Jackson and Josephine county forests reach ed the "critical" stage Saturday. Timberlands were hot and dry as afternoon humidities fell to the 15 per cent mark. Both Rogue River National Friday's 102 degree temp erature was the hottest of the year for Medford. The. weath er bureau said the next high est marks were1 101 on June 8, and 99 on both July 13 and 14. Saturday's high was 101 degrees. forest and Oregon State Forestry department district offices warn- against extremely high fire danger. Two fires in this area were being mopped up at week's end. A fisherman acidentally start ed a small but "hot" fire on Big Butte creek near Butte Falls in logs and driftwood late Fri day afternoon.. A pumper and crew from Butte Falls plus 10 men from the state iorest patrol managed to confine damage to a fraction of an acre along the creek bank, according to Ted Maul, district warden of the state department of forestry. A fire just over the Josephine county line required two pump er crews, 12 state forestry men, and 15 men from a logging camp to control it Friday night. The blaze was started in an A. C. Smith logging operation at the head of Wolf creek, Maul re ported. Only 35 Appointments For Blood Donations Only 35 persons had made appointments to donate blood next week up to late Saturday, Red Cross officials reported. Some 250 or more are needed to fill the quota of blood from this area. Appointments may be made by telephoning 3-3813 Monday and Tuesday. The bloodmobile will be here from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Elki temple. placed a : telephone , call -to ..her first husband Saturday morning as he prepared to return home with 10 other released fliers. It was not immediately learned whether they were able to speak to each other.) Retain Attorney The 20-year-old wife of both Airman Daniel Schmidt and lumberjack Alford Fine retained Harold A. Berliner, Nevada City attorney, to represent her. Berliner refused to disclose where Una and 21-year-old Fine had moved their trailer home to avoid newsmen who had swarmed into their former Si erra logging camp home. "This problem concerns three adult people and only these people can work it out," Berlin er said. "It's no one's business but their own." "The bright glare of public ity," he said, "can do them no possible good and could damage the lives of all of them." Schmidt, 22-year-old crewman of a B-29 shot down over North Korea, was stunned when in formed of his "Enoch Arden" role shortly after his release by the Reds. Wedding Ring Missing He indicated he was "still all for the childhood sweetheart he married three years ago. But it was noted the wedding band he wore when he arrived in Hong Kong was missing from his finger when reached Tokyo. Una, who bore Schmidt a son he has never seen, told newsmen earlier she had not made up her mind which husband she would choose. Fine was equally disturbed by the tangled marital status of his wife. "All I know for sure is we are in love," he said. "The boy is the real problem," he told a reporter for the Sacra mento Bee. "He calls me 'daddy.' I am the only father he has known." Albuquerque, N. M. (U.R) A downpour estimated as hish as two inches sent a flash flood rampaging over 430 square blocks in northeast Albuquerque Saturday night, the fourth such inundation in 10 days. Herbert Hoover Plans to Observe 81st Birthday at Boyhood Home Newberg, Ore. U.R) Ex president Herbert Hoover will celebrate his 81st birthday next Wednesday at his boyhood home here, which will be dedicated as a national shrine. Hoover's birthday speech, which is expected to be based on the life of his uncle, Dr. Hen ry J. Minthorn, a country phy sician with' whom he was raised, is to be broadcast nationally. Hoover, only living Republi can ex-president, will be intro PUC Disu s Army Proposes Start (Off Reserve Program With 10,00(0 Youths Washington (U.R) The Army has proposed to start the new six-month reserve training pro gram in October with an in itial class of about 10,000 teen age trainees, a defense depart ment manpower official disclos ed. The overall plan is to train about 100,000 of the teen-age volunteers during the coming year. The six-month program is a new type of military service in augurated in the reserve plan approved by the last congress. Under the program, the youths will be given six months active duty training followed by 7V6 years compulsory duty in the ready reserve. Maj. Gen. John B. Murphy, military assistant in the office of assistant defense secretary for manpower, said the army has proposed to start the six-month training program this fall, prob ably in October. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard also have proposed to take in six-month trainees, start ing this fall. The reserve bill still is await ing President Eisenhower's sig nature, but it is assumed the president will approve it al though it falls short of his org inal recommendatoins. Once the president has sighed the bill and the necessary for malities are completed t h e army is expected to announce a call for 10,000 volunteers for a training course starting in Oc tober. The calls will increase as time goes on and the pro gram gets rolling. The Marine Corps is expected to ask for 5,000 teen-age vol unteers and the Coast Guard 1,000. The Air Force and Navy do not plan to take in any re US Seeks Showdow On Student Issue Washington (U.R) The United States is demanding a showdown with Red China on its charge that "several thousand" Chinese students in this country have, been barred from going home. U. S. Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson, who is conferring with Red Chinese diplomats at Gen eva, has asked the Peiping re gime to provide a list of the names of any students "being detained." Johnson acted on instructions from the State department in an effort to speed up negotia tion at Geneva on getting Red China to release 40 American civilians. Sports Bulletins The Southern Oregon league-leading Drain Black Sox ran true lo form Saturday night by defeating the Med ford Studs 6-1 in a baseball game played here. Drain pitcher Jerry Cade struck out 16 Medford batters. Portland (U.P.) The Los Angeles Rams 'came from be hind twice Saturday night to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-24 in a professional foot ball exhibition game before 20.942 fans in Multnomah Stadium to mark a successful pro debut for Coach Sid Gill man of the Rams. duced by Secretary of Interior Douglas McKay. The Oregon legislature is sponsoring the celebration. Before the former president gives his address, State Highway Commissioner M i 1 o Mclver, Portland, will officially name the stretch of U. S. Highway 99 W between Newberg and Portland as "Herbert Hoover Boulevard." .' , The Minthdrn residence here, where President Hoover spent 4 rders Immediate ntesting (nuance of servists under the six-month training program. Under the program, youths may volunteer for the program from 17 until reaching the draft age of 1832. If still in high school at 18V&, they may be de ferred until completion of high school. Estimated 558 in CounlyUnemployed At End of July . Only an estimated 558 per sons, out of a total county population of some 63,000, were unemployed at the end of July, according to the Medford office of the state employment service. The number is 19 per cent fewer than at the end of June, and is 44 per cent below the number at the end of July, 1954. While there was no major in crease in employment in any one industry, the office's month ly report said that employment remained at high level through out July, with total employment somewhat above last year. Increase Scheduled The next majors increase in employment will pome with the start of the fruit harvest near the end of this month, the re port said. Fruit t hi n n i n g . continued through July, and was near com pletion, the report added. Job openings were 20 per cent higher than the year before, and were not concentrated in any one in dustry or group of occupations. Instead, they represented a good cross section of local employ ment, the report said, including office,' sales, service, skilled and unskilled occupations. There was a continuous flow of job seekers from other sec tions, in numbers well above last year. The office foresees a " severe problem" in recruiting labor for the pear harvest this year, which is about two weeks later than in 1954. The greatest labor de mand is reached with the har vest of winter pears in late Sep tember and early October, it was pointed out, which overlaps the beginning of the school year. Because the services of high school and college students and adults who live in other areas and have school-age children, will be lost, the employment ser vice anticipates a severe shortage of harvest labor. Despite the fact that the "new benefit year" in unemployment compensation began July 1, the number of claims decreased, rather than increased as usual at that time, the report said, an other indication of a high level of employment. Claims were filed in July for 1,333 weeks of unemployment, or 116 weeks fewer than for June, and 522 fewer than in July of 1954. Three Winners Named In Heidt Auditions Barbara Osborne of Shady, Dorothy Veal of 2118 Corona rd., Medford, and Dwaine Leon Branson, post office box 514, Central Point, won the Horace Heidt auditions for Medford at radio station KYJC last night. The three will appear on ,he Heidt show ' at Medford High school stadium Aug. 16. in Newberg his early boyhood, has been re stored to its condition of 1844, and will be designated a national shrine. The project was conduct ed by the Herbert Hoover Foun dation, headed by his boyhood friend Dr. Burt Brown Barker, vice-president emeritus of the University of Oregon. Newberg's K a n y o n Park, which stands across from the ex-president's former home, will be renamed Herbert Hoover Park, Railroad Service 5P Officials Say ,Nighfcrawlerr Has Made Final Trip Study May Be Ready By Early Next Week Salem U.R) Immediata ac tion contesting Southern Paci fic's discontinuance of its "Rogue River" passenger service be tween Portland and Ashland will be . taken by the State Public Utilities Commission, Commis sioner Charles H. Heltzel said Saturday. SP officials had announced that the train, referred to as the "Nightcrawler" in southern Ore gon, would be eliminated follow ing its run last night. The an nouncement came in connection with a suit filed in Marion Coun ty Circuit Court in Salem by the railroad Friday seeking a court ruling on the commission's au thority over train service. Orders Immediate Study Heltzel said he had directed J. R. McCullough, commission attorney, to conduct an imme diate study to determine action, his office should take to circum vent the railroad's course of ac tion. McCullough indicated the study might be ready early next week. A suit to enjoin the railroad from eliminating the train serv ice in question was suggested as a possibility, McCullough said. The attorney also indicated he would study the possibiljfar of splitting passenger train service between the Natron Cutoff route extending from Eugene south through Klamath Falls south, and the Shasta route from Eu gene through Medford and Ash land. Southern Pacific now operates three passenger trains on the cut-off between Portland and-, Klamath Falls The Cascade. Shasta Daylight, and the Klam ath. Operation of a lightweight "bud" passenger train a short- type train between PortlancD and Ashland also will be studied, McCullough said. 0 Should Continue Service O . Heltzel said the PUC's posi tion in the controversy is that the railroad shouldocontinue its passenger service to soiithera Oregon pending a hearing on the matter. He emphasized that such a hearing would be0 held. ' Railroad attorneys have con tended that Heltzel's order di recting the continuance of Rogue River train service without a hearing is illegal, while Heltzel has contended it is not. McCullough's study will also encompass statutes providing penalties for violation of an order by the PUC. Such fines ' range from $100 to $1000 per day. o Attorneys for the railroad filed suit in Marion County Cir cuit Court in Salem Friday to test the power of the utilities commissioner. Bernal S. Quayle, general passenger agent in Portland, said the question to be decided was whether the public utilities commissioner would force the company to undergo continuing losses indefinitely. Action Protested The railroad's announcement last month that it would discon tinue its passenger runs from Eu gene to Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland brought a storm of protest from Chambers of Commerce and other civic groups in the southern Oregon -cities. The protests were climaxed by the "pony express" race against the train a week ago Saturday night. The train won the race from Eugene to Roseburg by 10 minutes. Quayle said the railroad does not challenge the right of the commission to investigate the matter after discontinuance of service. He said a hearing should be held and a valid order issued if the railroad's decision to dis continue service were found to be unlawful. The railroad said it has been losing money for years on its 'Rogue River run. Those who protest discontinuance of serv- lve contena more passengers would ride the train if service were improved. o
