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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1955)
G o : Ulil JOTHEAST -ST0RB9 COUNTED IU: MORE VM SCORE DEAD ft m iwj (j " o 0 ISI 9 5) o G O o , 0 -&r--r . MdsL r Weather ivi nur urij;f!iF . o 1 u United Presi Full Leased Wire ress Full Leased Wire 50th Year 22 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, AUGUST rice 5c No. 128 Air Foroe Plane At Least Seven Killed in Nevada Transport Crash Rescue Teams Search Surrounding Vicinity Hawthorne, Nev. (U.R) A twin-engined Air Force trans port plane slammed into a 6000 foot mountain peak today and burstCinto flames killing at least seven airmen. Lt. Col. George Stallings, commander of the Marine de- 0 tachment at. the nearby Haw thorne Naval Ammunition De pot, reported that rescue work ers had recovered the bodies of seven airmen from the charred wreckage. "We're pretty sure that's all that are in the wreckage, Stall ings reported. Area Searched However, teams were search ing the surrounding area to find out if others had tried to jump to safety before the craft plow ed into the mountain top in clear weather. A radio-equipped Civil Air Patrol plane was also scouring the rugged mountain area for survivors but had reported no success. Navy medical personnel, ambulances, Marines and three fire trucks from the huge am munition dtpot rushed to the scene shortly . after the plane smashed into the mountain about 7:30 a.m. They found no sign of life. Crash in Gillis Range The crash occurred in the rug ged Gillis Mountain range about (J8 miles northeast of here and a few mles east of nearby Wal ker Lake. The scene was about 120 miles southeast of Reno. Names of the victims were be ing withheld pending complete identification and notification of next of kin. It was not known immediately where the plane was based or where it had been flying to at the time of the crash. Stead Air Force Base, near Reno, said it ccdld ont confirm immediately reports that the craft took off e lier in the day from that base. Klamath County Okays Road Plan The Klamath county court yesterday approved construction of a secondary federal highway between Lake of the Woods and McAllister Springs, according to United Press and the Klamath Falls Herald and News. , The proposal was approved by the jlackson county court earlier this week. According to United Press, the state highway commission solicited approval by both coun ty courts on the proposed high way wnicn would form a con necting link between Medford and Klamath Falls. The 14-mile road would be constructed with federal government paying 60 per cent and the state 40 per centf the cost. According to the Herald and News, the Klamath county court approved the proposal, "par ticularly if the final three or four miles at the Klamath end can be relocated to by-pass the Lakeshore drive." JuryVerdict Favors Defendants in Trial A federal district court jury found the defendants not liable in a verdict rendered about 4:45 p.m. yesterday, 20 minutes after it took the case. John C. and Ruth V. Rogers of Del Norte Laundry were the defendants in the fire damage suit brought by Pacific Engine ami Machine Works". The defendants were repre sented by George W. Mead and Charles S. Crookham, Portland attorneys. Everett Barr, Yreka, and H.B. Collins represented the plaintiff. Today Judge James Alger Fee is hearing a no-jury court case, John B. Hamacher vs. Hillcrest Orchards. The suit concerns condemnation of land for a right of way. Tfooirimtom) Hite Hock At Salem (U.R) Attorney Gen eral Robert Y. Thornton struck back today at Gov. Paul L. Pat terson for, as he put it, "calling me a liar" in a controversy over recent investigation of Oregon Liquor Control Commission per sonnel. Thornton called on the gov ernor yesterday to make avail able to him all the testimony amassed by Robert Maguire and Howard Bobbitt, Portland attor neys who questioned OLCC per sonnel at request of the commis sion and Gov. Patterson. Said Evasion of Truth The governor replied that "the statement of Attorney General Thornton that there is informa tion or reports in the hands of the liquor commission or myself that has not been disclosed is not true." And Thornton replied: "Gov. Patterson's statement that he has turned over to me the full contents of the $4000 Maguire investigation into bribe ry and payoffs inside the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and publicly calling me a liar for say ing otherwise is a bare-faced evasion of the true facts and an insult to the intelligence of the people of Oregon." Thornton said that contrary to the governor's "official state ment, he has not given me the Proposed Freeway Route Interferes With School Plans . Central Point H. P. Jewett, superintendent of schools in Dis trict 60, is in Portland today con ferring with State Highway com mission members on a new pro posed freeway route through Central Point which would be within 150 feet on a proposed new primary school building. Jewett was notified this week that the new highway by-passing Central Point probably would take about four acres off land recently purchased for con struction of a 12-room school at the east end of Manzanita st. Genessee-Tripp Route The proposed route, the right of way of which would be with in 150 feet of the new building, is an extension of one which State Highway Engineer R. H. Baldock said was the mpst feas ible along Genessee-Tripp st. route in Medford. Jewett said the proposed route would severely effect efficient use of the site, which the school district purchased after careful consideration of district needs. Bids for construction of the new building are scheduled to be opened Aug. 31. Details of con struction are based on contour of the site, and a relocation of the building would require alter ations in plans and specifications which would further delay con struction. Five Routes Surveyed F. D. Morgan, assistant engi neer for the state highway de partment, said five surveys were made for a by-pass east of Cen tral Point had been made, and the proposed route was found the most feasible. Three routes surveyed east of the school district site go through open country, but Morgan said that estimated costs for using the route surveyed just east of the dirstrict property would be about $130,000 higher. No date has been announced for construction of the new free way. MERCY FLIGHT John Maass, Medford realtor, was taken this morning to Port land by Mercy Flights where he was scheduled to undergo sur gery at Good Samaritan hospital. He became ill last night and his attending physician and Mrs. Maass accompanied him to Port land. The Medford physician re turned on the return flight of the plan. 0v. Bams Pca44erso'in) full contents of this eight-months long investigation, and what's more, he knows it. "What Gov. Patterson gave me (and to the newspapers) was sim ply a three or four page letter from Mr. Maguire containing Ma guire's generalizations and opin ions about the organization and operation of the liquor commis sion," plus a summary of charges against one of the OLCC em ployees Thornton said. "I received this dummy report on Feb. 23, 1955, and immediate ly wrote Gov. Patterson asking for the full contents of the in vestigation including the sworn testimony and deposition for which the state has already paid. Stock Auction Set At 4-H, FFA Fair; WinnersAnnounced The county 4-H and FFA fair went into its fourth day today with dairy judging, home econo mics, and a fat stock auction. Home economics contests and demonstrations continue until 8 p.m. and the fat stock auction is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Fair schedule for tomorrow is: 9 a.m. D airy showmanship. 2:30 p.m. Sheep shearing con test. 2:30 p.m. Agricultural demonstrations. 2:30 p.m. Trac tor driving contest. 7:30 p.m. Style review and special awards program. The style review and presen tation of trophies will end the fair tomorrow evening. , Winners in previous contests include: Market Hogs, grand champion, David- Carter, Gold Hill; re serve champion, Betty Ann Hig day, Antelope. Breeding Hogs, senior grand champion, Russell Elmore, Applegate, Junior grand champion, Charles Elmore, Applegate. Swine, champion showman, Lois Biles, Gold Hill. Sheep, champion showman, Mildred Gail, Gold Hill. Market Lambs, grand champion, Jerry Joy, Bellview; reserve champion, Mil dred Gail, Gold Hill. Market Pens of Three, champion, Grace Gail; reserve champion, Mildred Gail, both of Gold Hill. Breeding Stock, champions, Carl Skyrman, Central Point; Ursula Bates, Oak Grove; Robert Rosenbalm, Valley View; Terry Gail, Gold Hill; Gwen Krouse, Applegate; Annette Drager, Bell view; Lois Biles, Gold Hill; Mike Higday, Antelope; and Frances Krouse, Applegate. Market Steers, ' grand cham pion hereford, David Wolf oik, Antelope; reserve champion an gus. Linda Malloroy, Antelope. Breeding Stock, (hereford s) grand and junior champion, Patsy Charley, Central Point; senior champion, Ron Anderson, Antelope; (Grade Hereford), jun ior, senior, and grand champion, Martin Heitkamp, Antelope; (Registered Angus), senior and grand champion, Robert Hayes, Antelope, junior champion, Linda Malloroy, Antelope; (Grade Angus), champion Di anna Gardener, Antelope; (Reg istered shorthorns), champion, David Christenson, Applegate; (Registered galloways), junior, senior, and grand champion, Dale Smith, Central Point. Carole Jo Kabler Wins Golf Championship Florence, S.C. (U.R) Carole Jo Kabler, Sutherlin, Ore., de feated Joanne Gunderson of Kirkland, Wash., 4 and 3 in the U. S. Golf Association's junior girl's championship finals. GEORGE PUTNAM RETIRES Salem (U.R) George Putnam retired today as wire editor of the Capital Journal, Salem daily newspaper, and will write a column. Before coming to Salem Putnam had published the Med ford Mail Tribune. -- oyoKaifii I wrote again asking for the ma terial. I never received a reply to my second letter." Thornton said he was "not in terested in eye-wash letters" and charged that the "secret report" showed evidence of bribes rang ing from $40 to $10,000 being solicited by commission em ployees. Wants To Examine Testimony "As the people's attorney, Thornton said, "I wish to ex amine the sworn testimony of the witnesses interrogated under oath by Maguire before an offi cial court reporter. Mr. Maguire was appointed by the liquor com mission as their official agent for this express purpose. According to the records of the audit divi sion of the secretary of state's office, the court reporter has paid the sum of $857.85 for these stenographic services." The attorney general con cluded "this ds the public's busi ness and the public is entitlted to a full and complete disclosure of tnis secret- data without fur ther dodging or stalling by any one, including both the governor and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission." Communists Agree To Discuss Return Of Downed Airmen Munsan, Korea , (U.R) The Communists today agreed to a request of the U.N. Military Command for an "urgent" face to face meeting to discuss the return of two American Air Force officers, shot down by the Reds last Wednesday. The meeting will be held at 5 p.m.-Saturday (PST). U. S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Harlan C. Parks, senior U.N. member of the commission, had called an earlier meeting. He said the Reds had replied that Saturday was the "earliest time" they could arrange to meet him. x Survival Not Indicated Up to now the Communists who shot down the plane over the neutral, demilitarized zone of Korea, have given no indica tion whether or not the two Air Force officers survived the crash of their small training plane. Parks said he "will demand that the Communists return the pilot and the passenger" of the small propeller-driven T6 train ing plane shot down Wednesday by "trigger happy" Communist gunners in a new example of Communist "wanton barbarism." Incident Not Mentioned The U. S. Air Force said it still 'did not know whether the two men aboard, a captain and a lieutenant were alive. The plane crashed in North Korea when shot down over the demili tarized zone which separates North and South Korea. The Communist radio has not mentioned the incident or given any indication whether the two Americans survived. 9 Mercy Flights Acquires Two Large Twin-Engined Planes Mercy Flights, Inc., today an nounced the acquisition of two large airplanes. Its service will be surer, faster and safer as a result, officers said. The organization, formed more than 5Ji years ago as the. na tion's only air ambulance serv ice which is neither operated for profit nor subsidized by gov ernment, has obtained and will soon place in service two surplus Air Force personnel transports. They are twin-engine Beechcraft planes, capable of flying in .weather conditions which would hail the organization's present airplanes, j The only costs in obtaining the planes were telephone, tele graph and postal charges in completing arrangements, and mechanics' feet for getting the FORECAST: Continued fair and slightly cooler. Low tonight 52. High Saturday 92. Temp. Highest Yesterday 96 Lowest this Morning 56 Six Passengers Reported Killed As Train Derailed Coach Ripped Apart, Witnesses Report Marked Tree, Ark. (U.R) At least five and possibly six per sons were killed in the wreck of Frisco's Kansas City-Florida passenger train in the city limits here today. One of the victims was a four- year-old child. The only victim identified immediately was Wil liam Richard, about 56, Bonner Springs, Kan., a dining car stew ard. Witnesses at the scene said the bodies of two women were taken from the wreckage. One of the injured died later in a Memphis hospital. Railroad officials reported that six were killed. Cars Jump Track Four cars of the eight-coach passenger train jumped the track when the first of them hit a switch pin which apparently had been jarred loose. The first of the derailed coaches hit one of two boxcars on a siding, -knocking them off the track and demolishing them The coach in which the casual ties occurred was the first to leave the track and bore the brunt of the impact. The side of the coach was "completely ripped out," one witness said. However, none of the passenger coaches overturned, and casual ties were believed confined to the one coach. There were three other coaches behind the heavily dam aged One which were derailed. Mitch Odom, newscaster for station KNEA at Jonesboro, said the first coach to jump the track was "torn completely apart." "It's really a mess here," he said. "They're still . digging around for the dead and in jured." Marked Tree Postmaster E. P. Blanton said he helped recover the bodies of one man, two wom en and a child. He said workers could see the body of another woman in the wreckage, and torches were put into use to cut into the car. Railroad Complaint Answered in Court Salem (U.R) Public Utilities Commissioner Charles H. Helt zel filed an answer in Marion County Circuit Court today to a complaint of the Southern Pa cific railroad concerning pas senger service to Ashland. Southern Pacific brought the complaint for a declaratory judgment with respect to the commissioner's authority to sus pend abandonment of the com pany's trains 329 and 330 pend ing an investigation, hearing and determination by the commis sioner. Heltzel in his answer asks for a decree declaring the relative rights, status and legal relations between the commissioner's of fice and the railroad in connec tion with service matters, and declaring that the commission er's suspension order is valid and enforceable. Washington (U.R) Assistant Surgeon General David E. Price predicts that in the not too distant future polio will be more dangerous than the once dread diseases of smallpox and diphtheria. planes ready for service. One was flown here last night from Ogden, Utah, by George Milligan, chairman of Mercy Flights and chief pilot for the unique service. The other plane arrived this morning after stopping overnight at Reno, Nev. It was piloted by Bill Brooks, one of a half-dozen vol unteer pilots who fly Mercy planes for no reimbursement other than expenses. Brooks was accompanied by Jerome Senter, a former Air Force crew chief, who assisted in readying the planes for flight. The new planes, it is hoped by officers of the organization, will mean fewer delays due to weather when a patient must be transported to a medical cen ter, and when every minute could be the difference between Two States Called Disaster Areas as Heavy Rains Fall Many Towns Awash; Trains Stranded New York . U.R) A dying hurricane poured flood waters across the northeastern United States today, inundating hun dreds of communities, taking more than a score of lives and causing damage estimated in the hundreds of millions. Western Connecticut and Mas sachusetts were declared official disaster areas. Sections of Penn sylvania, New York, New Jer sey, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia were awash with the waters from spilling rivers and bursting dams. Connecticut's Gov. Abraham A. Ribicoff asked President Ei senhower by telegram to de clare the "state a major disaster area and allocate federal funds for its assistance. Gov. Ribicoff said damage in the Torrington - Farmington Colebrook area had been esti mated at one billion dollars be fore noon, with flood waters sending buildings, oil tanks and debris, floating 1 through the streets. , T-affic at Standstill Ten thousand blasting caps, capable of blowing up any i bridge they touch, were washed into Pennsylvania's Schuylkill river from a flooded power plant and coursed down the swollen stream toward Philadelphia. Rail service was suspended on main lines throughout New Eng land and in other affected states. Roads into affected areas were washed out, blocked by land slides or buckling bridges. Army, Coast Guard and Na tional Guard forces using boats, amphibious vehicles and heli copters, rescued stranded resi dents, and campers from rooftops and trees." , Towns Cut Off Twenty-nine persons were re ported killed in five of the af fected states, by drowning, elec trocution and flood-caused high way disasters. Death tolls were largely uncounted, however, as rescuers sought out the living. Many towns were 'cut off from ali outside communication. The disastrous downpour was attributed by the Weather Bu reau, to a dying spurt from hur ricane Diane in ' combination with high humidity in the area across which the storm center passed The storm was expected to pass off the coast of Mass achusetts by late afternoon. Boston as completly without rail service as all three roads serving the city canceled opera tion because of track washouts. A swollen reservoir threat ened to burst its dam over a score of Western Massachusetts and Connecticut towns, many of them already inundated by over flowing streams. The Coast Guard reported it was "picking people out of trees" by helicopter in the Tor rington, Conn., area. Trains Marooned A second major flood disaster swirled through the adjacent cor ners of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania where at least 10 deaths were reported. Two passenger trains were marooned. Thirty-three children were be ing plucked by helicopter from a summer camp turned into an island overnight. Other summer camps were cut off from the world. Cumberland, Md., and Ridge- ley, Va., were flooded by the spilling waters of the Cumber land. More than 12 inches of rain had fallen in the Massachusetts and Connecticut areas in the last 48 . hours and it was still coming down at midmorning. life or death. They are large aircraft, with places for pilot and co-pilot, and for five pas sengers. Before being put in service, probably in about a veek, they will be equipped for stretcher operation. The planes are powered by two 450-horse-power engines, and the speed and other performance charac teristics of the planes is con siderably more than either of the other aircraft now operated by the non-profit organization. Mercy Flights, Inc., was formed in the fall and winter of 1949 when Milligan, impressed by the death of a prominent Medford man while en route to Portland by ground ambulance, conceived the idea of a non profit air ambulance service. A fund-raising drive wai started jYiil nWtiYT IL..-. 1 Z, STANDING ON STEPS of U. S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Vivienne Potter, Reno, "Miss Nevada, 1955," is first law student ever to enter Miss America contest. She is an accomplished golfer, skier and swimmer. (International) Gunman, Outwitted By Hostage, Seized By Chicago Chicago U.R) Captured gunman Richard Carpenter, out witted by the desperate father of a family he held hostage for 24 hours, today confesed killing one policeman and wounding another in one of Chicago's greatest one-man crime waves. Carpenter, a burly 26-year-old, broke down a few hours after a police barrage of machine gun bullets and tear gas flushed him from a bullet-riddled West Side apartment. He had been tricked by Leon ard Powell, whose home he had turned into a hideout to escape a city-wide manhunt. Powell slipped out of his apartment on a pretext and rushed to a tele phone to alert police that the Two People Hurt In Auto Mishaps Joe Wark, 46, of Los Angeles, was reported in fair condition this morning after receiving in juries when his car overturned near the Gold Hill underpass about 1:05 p.m. yesterday. Medford Ambulance service transported Wark to the Com munity hospital. ' In an auto-pickup truck crash yesterday, Mrs. Pearl Martin, 54, of Talent, suffered cuts to her face and forehead. She was a passenger in a pickup driven by her husband, Merrill Davis Martin, 38. She was treated and released at Community hospital. State police reported the ac cident occurred at Phoenix on highway 99 about 5:15 p.m. yes terday. . A car operated by Orville Lewis Carver, 64, alent, had stopped, facing south, intending to make a left turn. The Martin vehicle started to pass a truck and trailer, skidded 81 feet, and rammed the stopped auto, police said. Upchurch Bound Over To County Grand Jury Glenn Hedges Upchurch, 31, Los Angeles, Calif., waived coun sel and preliminary hearing in district court yesterday and was bound over to grand jury on $1,500 bail. He is charged with obtaining money by false pre tenses. Upchurch was extradited from San Jose, Calif., where he was arrested recently. in September of that year, and i by December, some $3,000 had been raised for the purchase of the first aircraft, a twin-engine Cessna. It was placed in service in January of 1950. The corporation, chartered as a non-profit organization under the laws of Oregon, has always insisted on the most stringent safety precautions. All pilots are thoroughly trained and "checked out" in the aircraft before they are permitted to fly. Strict flight rules are observed, and the planes are serviced and maintained in top condition at all times. It is planned to sell the pres ent twin-engined Cessna, and to keep both, the Beechcraft and Stinson airplanes in constant readiness for service to the peo- -SIS; S4$ . Police killer was holding him hostage with his wife and two children. Carpenter Breaks Down Carpenter fell on his knees "and begged like a baby not to be shot" when he was captured. At first he denied the shooting, but broke down under hours of police ' grilling. Assistant State's Attorney Frank Wehlan said early today that Carpenter confessed killing Detective William Murphy, 34, on a subway station platform Monday pight. He also admitted critically wounding rookie po liceman Clarence Kerr, 26, in a gun duel at a movie theater Wednesday night. Powell; a 35-year-old " truck driver, persuaded Carpenter to let his wife take their children, Bobby, 7, and Dians, 3, for a walk. Otherwise, he said, neigh bors might get suspicious. Then, talking fast and cinvinc ingly. Powell said he always visited his grandfather down the street. Carpenter trusted Powell and let him go. Minutes later, Powell was at a telephone with the words "A woman and two children are being held at bay at 2040 Potomac." Protected from Mob a Policemen, who would" have welcomed a chance to shoot it out with Carpenter found them selves forced to protect him from a mob of about 1,000 persons outside the Potomac ave., apart ment houses. As Carpenter was led from the 'building there were shouts of "Kill him! Kill him!" A man tried to grab a policeman's gun and was rebuffed with a blow from a gun butt. Repair of EPID Flume Completed by Crews Eagle Point Irrigation of some 5,500 acres of land in the Eagle Point Irrigation district was scheduled to resume tomor row following repairs made in a 60-foot break near a flume in take near Butte Falls. Repairs in the break of the 600 foot flume were completed by district employees late yes terday, and ditches were being filled today. The flume broke . about noon Monday from pres sure of water it carried. The entire area served by the district was affected because the break was in a main line. Sev eral farmers and ranchers de pend on the irrigation water. pie of Jackson county first, and then to the rest of the area. It is also hoped that through the acquisition of the two larger planes, more one-time military pilots of the area will be at tracted to the possibilities of fly ing for Mercy Flights. For the time being, the planes are technically the property of the Rogue Valley Memorial (Community) hospital, which was of assistance in procuring them from the government. Mercy Flights will lease them from the hospital for $1 per year, and will be fully respon sible for them. Milligan said today thatCon gressman Harris Ellsworth was of great help in seeing that the paperwork necessary with four different governmental agencies was processed promptly. e
