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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1955)
o TEW MEDrOHD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Tuesday, August 23, 1955 Weather Bureau Launches Probe on Warning Given Flooded East States o 3 G o G Expanded Service Could Be Result Of Investigation Washington (U.R) The Weather Bureau has launched q an official investigation to de termine whether its stations gave the public all possible O warning of the disastrous floods in the East. A spokesman for the bureau said today the inquiry could lead to recommendation for an ex pended flood warning service in Eastern states. The spokesman said prelimin ary reports from investigators in the field indicate that weather forecasters did a "generally ex cellent" job in predicting high water conditions on major riv ers, such as the Delaware, Sus quehanna and Connecticut G which are covered by the bu reau's present flood warning system. But he acknowledged that flash floods on some of the trib utaries of these rivers descended on victims with little or no ad vance warning. Money, Equipment Needed ' He said the Weather Bureau would need "a lot more money and equipment" to extend its 3 river forecasting services suffi ciently to give adequate notice of flash floods on tributary streams. And in some mountain valleys, where heavy cloud bursts can start flash floods roll ing in less than two hours, it is practically impossible to insure early warnings, he. said. Steps to improve Eastern flood warning facilities had been taken even before last week end's floods. A river forecasting service office, previously sched uled, will open Sept. 1 at Hart ford, Conn. It will cover the New England area. At present, the Weather Bureau has only one specialized river forecasting of fice, at Harrisburg, Pa., for the entire northeastern part of the nation. Rainfall Prediction Off A reporter asked whether the leather Bureau should not have put out more specific and de tailed warnings of the extra 5 ordinarily heavy rains that drenched Eastern states in the path of dying Hurricane Diane. v-. The spokesman said weather sations did predict ram all a'ong the hurricane's path, but conceded- that the amount of rainfall in many areas was more than the forecasters expected. He said this simply showed that -meteorologists don't know as GO much about storms as they wish 0 they knew." Asked what kind of facilities might be added to improve flood forecasting services, the spokes man said more radar stations would be one answer. Radar en- a Dies a central weainer siauun to detect heavy rainfalls at a considerable distance, and to alert local weather observers to begin shooting in hourly reports on rainfall and river conditions when a flood is threatened. Brazil's Finance Minister Bolsters Coffee Markets o () o o O o 0 O Plea Will Be Made For Japanese Inmates Tokyo (U.R) Japanese For eign Minister Mamoru Shige mitsu, who spent two years in prison as a war criminal, left by plane today for the United States to plead in Washington for the release of other Jaoan ese still serving terms for their World War II activities. Ten years "is sufficient time to be confined," Shigemitsu said before leaving for talks with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, which also will cover Japanese rearmament. A total of 577 men still are imprisoned in Tokyo's grim Su gamo Prison. Seven of them are Class A prisoners, men who helped plan Pearl Harbor and gu.'ded war time Japan which ran roughshod over millions of Asians. They are the last of 28 top war criminals indicted by the International Military Tribunal after the war. Seven were hanged. Seven died in prison. Five were released because of illness. Shigemitsu served two of his seven-year sentence and was paroled. RADIO TOWERS BUZZED Stuttgart, Germany (U.R) Radio Stuttgart complained to day two American jet fighters buzzed its radio towers Monday. The station said the planes flew between its two towers, which are about 400 feet apart. By JUAN DE ONIS United Press Correspondent Rio De Janeiro -OJ.R) Fi nance Minister Jose Maria Whit aker, who looks the part of the family doctor with his white hair and benign smile, hopes to nurse the coffee market back to health with common sense and a good bedside manner. Like many a family doctor, Whitaker has the advantage over theorists and "miracle cure" cof fee experts in that he knows the patient intimately. As a Sao Paulo banker for the past 50 years, Whitaker has spent most of the 77 years of his life in almost daily contact with the growth, financing and com merce of the .little red beans for which Brazil is famous. A noticeable tranquility in lo cal coffee growing circles fol lowed Whitaker's assumption of the finance post, and only the protests of interested commer cial parties against the suspen sion of price-support by the gov ernment ruffled the calm. In the hubbub that followed the suspension, coffee futures fell 600 points on the New York exchange. After a weekend of thinking over Whitaker's succinc explanation for the move the market rapidly recovered. The New York coffee market is Dr. Whitaker's thermometer, and a stable or rising reading means the patient is healthy. "Whitaker generally prefers to let the exchange quotations talk for him," said an aide of Whitaker's. "When the market is right there is nothing more eloquent." But during the crisis that fol- lowed the suspension of govern-j ment purchases of coffee from j the present crop Whitaker made j some significant statements that I throw light on his approach, if not his plans. In the first place, common sense and moderation appear to be the primary reference points in Whitaker's thinking about coffee. This may not seem exciting, but for many, observers here it was precisely an absence of com mon sense and moderation that caused a 30 per cent drop in Brazilian coffee sales last year and plunged the nation into one of its most difficult economic po sitions. Nearly all the Brazilian au thorities who have spoken dur ing the past eight months of Bra zil's coffee policy have called the 87-cent-a-pound export price minimum fixed by ' former Fi nance Minister Oswaldo Aranha one year ago "disastrous" ... a gambler's long-shot that failed." New Crop Problem Aranha's successor, interna tional investment expert Eu genio Gudim, is credited with having made a successful assault on an unhealthy "soft" internal credit situation, but his lack of familiarity with the commercial aspects of the coffee business maintained a depressing nervous ness in the trade. Whitaker's common sense pol icy insists coffee is produced to be exported, not to be bought up by the government. That is why he suspended , the government purchases. At the same time, flooding the market with coffee without ex panding old markets and find ing new ones, can . only depress prices, without increasing sales. Therefore, Whitaker cut off sup port purchase right at the point where he felt supply was in pro portion to current demand. I The government now holds 3,- 200,000 sacks from the current drop, which will be placed in reserve, exactly as Brazil agreed to do in its talks with Colombia and the other Latin American producers. Whitaker wants Brazil's ex porters to get to work and sell the most they can from the 4, 200,000 sacks that remain out of government hands. When the new crop comes on the market July 1, with an estimated 16,000, 000 sacks for export, Whitaker wants sales to continue at the best possible price. To help the producers he has promised to maintain crop financing at pres ent levels. What remains to be see is the position Whitaker will assume on the minimum price the law re quires be set for the new crop. All the indications are that what ever will be decided will meet the test of common sense. Sale of Container Grown Port Orford CEDARS Fast growing evergreen may be used at specimen or hedge material. WERE $1.30 NOW 12 for $10.00 Garden Center Nursery (Formerly NEWH ALL'S) H Mile South of Phoenix Pacific Hiway NOTICE! Cal-Ore. Machinery Co., Inc. 944 South Central PHONE NUMBER Changed to 3-4507 Log Falls From Truck Killing Gaston Driver Pendleton, Ore. (U.R) Ivan Brown, 22, was killed last night when a log rolled off a log truck at Harris Pine mill here. Brown, a truck driver from Gaston, Ore., apparently walked around behind his truck as it was being unloaded. A log slip ped off the rear of the truck and struck him on the forehead killing him instantly. The acci dent occurred about 7 p.m. Glenn Klein Returns From Cornell Studies Glenn Klein, Jackson county 4-H agent, arrived in Medford last night after a two month's absence to study at Cornell Uni versity, Ithica, N.Y. Klein was one of two 4-H lead ers in the state to receive the Sears, Roebuck foundation to take the summer course. His study concerned human development. July Cost of Living Shows Large Increase Washington (U.R) The cost of living in July showed the largest increase of the past 14 months, mostly because of rising food prices. The Bureau of Labor Statis tics reported today the gain was three-tenths of one per cent. Small as it was, the increase means a penny an hour wage rise for some 650,000 General Motors and Ford Motor Com pany workers and for 200,000 in other industries. The BLS index of consumer prices for July was 114.7, using average 1947-49 prices as a com parison basis of 100. The June figure was 114.4. The increase put the index figure just half way between the high and low figures of the past two years. BLS also reported the take home pay of the average factory worker last month was at an all time . high for a July, though i lower than the record set in May. For a worker with three New Type Truck Seat Absorbs Road Shocks Detroit (U.R) A new type of truck seat that will give truck drivers five times the present protection from road vibration and shock has been demonstrated by the Bostrom Manufacturing company of Milwaukee. A new torsional rubber spring suspension system will absorb many of the shocks of road travel which the driver now feels. The company said the seats sell at retail for $90 to $100. They said the new seats will reduce accidents due to fatigue and also would protect drivers from health disorders believed due to the constant jolting of road travel in a truck. Pasadena, Calif. (U.R) The burglar who ransacked Donald L. Miller's home wanted to make sure of a fast getaway, po lice said. Spike holes in Miller's dirt driveway showed the in truder wore track shoes. dependents, July take-home pay averaged $69.84 a week. Portland Traction Case Goes To Court Salem (U.R) A fight between Portland Traction company and the state public utilities commis sion wound up in the Oregon Supreme Court yesterday. PUC council John McCul lough filed a writ seeking to force the company to resume its former interurban service be tween Portland and Oregon City. The traction company had cut 10 runs a day from its service claiming there was not enough business on the line. Action on the writ is expected next week. The decision would apply only until commissioner Charles H. Heltzel made a deci sion on the schedules following a hearing. The mandamus writ was sepa rate from a circuit court ruling which refused to grant the PUC an injunction against the trac tion company. 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