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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1955)
o CT3 0 loi m www W O 3 - ORCHARDS HIT BY HIGH KM; SOME LOSSES SERIOUS A cyclonie-type windstorm Sunday blew "about a two-mile- wide path through pear and peach orchards between Med: ford and Phoenix extensively damaging isolated orchards, ac cording to reports from orchard ists and county, agents. "C. D. Cordy, county horticul tural agent, said damage will be spotted, and will vary from nothing up to as much as 65 per cent of the pear crop. He said damage would range between 10 and 25 per cent in many anjous and cornice orchards. Serious To Some Growers TheGdamage, he said, is "de finitely serious to growers af- fectedf," and that in some cases losses, -will not be made up. He added," however, that in some cases ,,Jwhere orchards suffered Stevenson Blasts Administration On Broad Front Chicago 4U.R Adlai E. Ste venson, hi a double-barreled blast 'at the Eisenhower admin istration, 0said today that it -has let theefarm situation steadily -worsen" and caused "anxiety at home and lost confidence . abroad." Stevenson made the attacks in a letter to Henry Snow of Kasson, Minn., and in an article in the current Look magazine. ' ' The charges came on the eve e of a speech-making tour by the U92 Democratic presidential candidate. The tour will be cli maxed in November, when Ste venson has promised to tell whether he will run again for the presidency.-' "; - Bxead Front Attack Stevenson's Look article at tacked the Eisenhower adminis tration on a broad front. It listed "serious failures," one of them "the anxiety at home and the lost confidence abroad that resulted from trying to please both wings of the Republican party." q The Snow letter was released on the third anniversary of the National Plowing Contest at Kasson in which both Stevenson 0 and Mrs. Ensenhower stated their farm policies. Free Rid Charged "Since that day three years ago, the farm situation has steadily worsened under an ad ministration that embraces flex ible price supports while main taining distressing rigidity of mind," Stevenson said. He accused the Eisenhower ad O ministration of "taking a free, if hazardous, ride" on prosperity created under Democratic re gimes. Under the GOP leader ship Stevenson said, big food processing corporations prosper hugely while individual farm in q comes drastically decline." Morse Urges Sale Of Milwaukie Project Washington (U.R) Sen, Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), urged the government today to sell the Kellogg War Housing Projects Milwaukie, Ore., to private bus iness so the land could be put back on local tax rolls. In a letter to the Army, the ' General Services Administration and?he Public Housing Adminis tration, Morse said he cannot understand why the government retains the 90-acre tract "on a non-productive basis." "This land is located in the heart of an area that has enjoyed substantial industrial expansion " during the past several years," he said. He said that sale of the property would be "in the inter est of the taxpayers and . .. . 3 wise property management." Spaur Orders Closure Of Logging Operations Salem (U.R) Hot weather and low humidity prompted State Forester George Spaur to order closing of log operations in several Willamette Valley areas, including operations in Clackamas and Marion counties today. ' Affected were the Tillamook Burn, Clackamas and Marion counties, eastern Lane county forest areas, Linn county and a part of Douglas county. , New York (U.R) Leading sellers of zinc; have raised the .. price of the metal one-half cent to 13 cents a pound, East St. Louis basis. i 15 to SO per cent losses, remain ing fruit will increase in size and make up some damage loss. Bear Creek orchard officials said they suffered some loss, but no estimate of the damage had been fully determined to day. The storm apparently moved from west to east through the Phoenix area south of Medford, and little damage was reported east of Phoenix. A spokesman for Crystal Springs orchard said there was no wind in Talent or south of Phoenix, and that there was lit tle or no wind east of Phoenix, The storm did not affect orch ards in the Eagle Point or Cen tral Point areas, he indicated. 10 Per Cent Losses Crystal Orchards officials said losses in two of their orchards west of Phoenix would be about 10 per cent, but anjous damage would be less than 10 per cent, Several orchards, in the area had cornice pears on the ground in orchards which had been picked once. Other trees lost be tween 20 and 25 per cent of its fruit during the storm. Unofficialreports today listed one orchard in the general area as losing about 10.000 boxes. and another report listed one orchard as losing two-thirds of its fruit. Paul Culbertson. who owns orchards in the west Phoenix area, said his orchards also were damaged Sundav. and a stronff wind in the Jacksonville area late yesterday afternoon damag ed an orchard on Old Stage rd. Peach Trees Damaged Several other orchards in the Old Stage rd. area also sustain ed in yesterday's isolated wind, he said. Yesterday's wind blew about a third of the remaining fruit to the ground in Culbert- son's orchard, he said. Reports indicated that no pear trees' were blown down, but some peach trees in the wind's path suffered extensive damage. Peaches in the Phoenix area were damaged Sudav. The storm; which apparently contained no rain or hail, felled a large tree at 1894 Orchard Home dr. The Medford fire department sent a pumper to 511 .King st. Sunday to check an electric wire which had blown down and was shorting causing sparks. Fire men reported no damage. Arson Possibility Eyed in Iddio Fires Kellogg, Ida. OJ.R) Firemen studied the possibility of arson today in two blazes which caused about S200.000 damage tn a lum bar yard, a warehouse and sev eral private homes. Fire Chief Bill Linhart said the fires yesterday were the worst in 20 years in the city. No one was injured. The blaze in the Kelloe Lum ber Company broke out about o:jo a.m. A large number of sheds housing its lumber sup ply were destroyed but part of the yard was saved. As firemen were controlling that blaze, a fire broke out in thp Robinson Motor Company ware- nouse two blocks away from the lumber yard. Ten cars, two buses and a quantity of tires were destroyed. Two Held in Theft Of Bonneville Wire Portland (U.R) Two ex-convicts accused of stealing six tons of copper wire from the Bonne ville Power Administration here were ordered held today for fed eral authorities. Walter Clyde. McClure, 35, Portland, was caught red-handed Sunday as he attempted to drive out of the Bonneville yards on North Suttle road with his specially-rebuilt truck loaded with six tons of wire. Officers later picked up Frank Louis Brambora, 30, Portland, on suspicion that he was McClure's accomplice. Although Brambora did not name his partner, he gave de tectives an account of how he entered the yard earlier and cut and rolled the wire before it was picked up by the truck. Salem (U.R) Oregon con gressman Walter Norblad has asked the Coast Guard to inves tigate safety regulations at the mouth of the Columbia river, where drownings occurred re cently while salmon fishing der bies were m progress. 50th Year Medford 22 Pages MEDFORD, TRAPPED BY SHIFTING winds, four fire fighters are killed in flaring brush fire at La Habra, Cal., near Los Angeles. Ambulance drivers prepare to remove the bodies of two victims. Eleven others were injured in blaze that blackened 700 acres. (International) STATE ACCIDENTS Traffic Accounts For Seven Deaths; Five Die in Water By UNITED PRESS At least 20 persons met death in Oregon in a variety of violent accidents over the long Labor Day holiday week end that be gan at 6 p.m. Friday. Traffic mishaps led the holi day death parade, claiming seven lives. Five persons died by drowning; two in fires; four in logging accidents; one in a fall and one in a train mishap. The latest highway victim was Jackie Eugene Fenimore, 22, Klamath Falls. He was killed instantly last night and three of his teen-aged riders were in jured when his car careened wildly off the road 15 miles east of Klamath Falls. . A swimming accident claimed the life of Forest De Hart, 23, of Tillamook. Martin Joseph Hilburn, 25, of By UNITED PRESS A final United Press tabu lation today showed that 443 persons, lost their lives in Labor Day week end traffic .accidents, 43 more than pre dieted by the National Safety Council. The worst highway carnage was in California where 44 were killed. In addi tion io the traffic deaths. United Press counted 73 deaths by drowning. 10 in plane crashes and 66 from a variety of accidents for an overall holiday toll of 592. (51ieoa Barkdale, Ore., was killed near Grants Pass when his car went into a ditch after skidding 150 feet along the highway shoulder. Yesterday afternoon, Donald Westover, 21, of Springfield, was believed drowned while water skiing in Fern Ridge lake. Other late week end fatalities involved woods accidents. Two men, Ed Wilkie, about 38, and Todd Deffenbacker, 38, were killed yesterday when a tree fell on the pickup truck in which they were sitting. Snag Kills Boy Ten-year-old Robert Hughley was killed when a 40-foot snag his father was falling toppled on him on the Burgoyne ranch about three miles from Riddle. A brush and timber fire near Seneca in' northeastern Oregon took the life of 38-year-old El wood Jackson of Baker. Killed in highway accidents were Donald Hovgaard, 25, Cas cade Locks; John C. Hopkins, 21, Portland; James P. Twohy, 43, Portland; Ambrose Hopkins, 63, Marcola, and Frank Leo Popham, Portland. Killed in other drownings were Jimmy Bones, 18 months, Turner; Uno Edbolom, 40, Tier nan, Ore., and Arthur Brawand, 23, Portland. Charles R. Scott, 70, Portland, who was rescued from an apart ment fire which killed his wife, died Sunday at Good Samaritan hospital of burns suffered in the blaze. His wife, Marian, 40, was dead when firemen broke into their locked and burning apart ment early Saturday. Patricia Ann Trute, 24, Port land, was killed when she fell from a cliff at the Oregon coast Saturday. Raymond Hatch, 39, Spring field,' was killed when he was struck by a train at Springfield. OREGON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, Red China Releases 9 American Citizens Geneva (U.R) Communist China announced today it has granted exit permits to nine Americans "who may now de part" for their homeland, and is ready to free two others when they ask to leave. A 12th American will be per mitted to leave in' two or three months when his business af fairs are cleaned up. The Reds also announced that three other persons, one be lieved to be a Dutchman, will be allowed to leave the Cnina main land immediately. Release Demanded " Chinese Ambassador to Poland Wang Ping-man made the dis closure when he met this morn ing to discuss with U. S. Am bassador to Czechoslovakia U Alexis Johnson the exchange of nationals of each other's country. The Americans to be freed are part of a group of 41 known to Burglary Series Believed Solved A series of burglaries in Jack son, Klamath and Siskiyou coun ties was believed solved today by the arrest of two midland, Ore., men, according to state police here. Arrested were Donald Neil Chinn, 25, and Charles Edgar Howell, 31, both of Midland, which is south of Klamath Falls. State police said the pair have admitted seven burglaries com mitted at various places on Highway 66, between Ashland and Klamath Falls, and six in Siskiyou county. Loot taken in the 13 burglaries included guns, money, and household furnish ings, and was valued at about $2,500. Local officers were to meet with Siskiyou county authorit ies today in Klamath Falls in an effort to recover some of the loot. Disarmament Talks Enter Second Week United Nations, N.Y. (U.R) The West today begins the second week of disarmament talks with Russia with little hope that the Soviets will give a def inite ' answer to President Eisen hower's military inspection plan. The five-nation United Na tions disarmament subcommittee resumes secret discussions after a four-day holiday week end. President Eisenhower's plan for aerial and ground inspection coupled with an exchange of detailed military information be tween the United States and Russia, was expected to get de tailed discussion. Changes Likely in Corrupt Salem (U.R) Oregon's Cor upt Practices act is expected to undergo the first major changes in 46 years when the next State Legislature meets in 1957. The Legislative Interim com mittee on Elections, created by the 1955 Legislature, which will make recommendations to the next session, held an organiza tional meeting here today. State Sen. Pat Lonergan of Portland was chosen chairman and Rep. Robert Jensen of Port land, vice-chairman. Rep. Kay Meriwether of Portland was named secretary. , ce 5c IE . 142 KILL 20 be in Communist hands and whose release has been de manded by the U. S. govern ment. To Meet Saturday A communique issued after Wang and Johnson met-for two and a half hours and then ad journed until next Saturday said the nine Americans had applied for and been granted exit per mits. It said two other Americans, identified as Bishop James Ed ward Walsh and Mrs. Peter Hui zer, had not yet applied for per mits, but, could have, them upon request. The communique also said that another American, identi fied as Charles Sydney Miner, could leave Red China "when the affairs of the company with which he is connected are cleared up." Chinese officals listed the Americans to be freed as: Miss Emma Angelina Barry, Ralph Sharpies Boyd, Mrs. Ju- anita Byrd Hwang, Robert How ard Parker, Howard Lischke Ricks, Mrs. Howard Lischke Ricks, Miss Eva Stella Dugay (Sister Theresa). Mrs. Nadeshda M. Romanoff, Miss Irene N. Ro manoff. Council Schedules Rezoning Hearing A public hearing on rezoning from two-family dwellings to heavy industrial district of the area north of Clark st. between Narregan st. and McAndrews rd. is one of several items on the agenda for the city council at its 7:30 p.m. meeting today. Items from Mayor Earl Miller include a withdrawal of an an nexation request from the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and requests from the American Le gion to use parking meters for flag display and from the Rogue Rangers for use of city land. City Manager Robert Duff will report to the council on sev eral items, including authoriza tion of an audit, a report from an insurance company to pay for fire hose destroyed in the Med ford Furniture company fire re cently, and on traffic signals at the corner of Holly st. and Stew art ave. Weather FORECAST: Continued dry, hot; and smokey through Wednes day with a chance of after noon thunderstorms over - mountains. Low tonight . 60. High Wednesday 95-98. Temp. Highest Yesterday ;. 101 Lowest this Morning . 59 A subcommittee made up of Sen. Mark Hatfield of Salem, Rep. Meriwether and Mrs.' Jean K. Young, Portland,1 Secretary of the State Republican Central committee, was chosen to select an executive secretary. ' The subcommittee will accept applications, interview candi dates and report its recommenda tion at the next meeting of the interim committee. "" At the suggestion of Sen. Hat field, the interim committee ask ed Sam Haley, Legislative coun sel, to prepare rules for proced ures for committee bearings to Huge Blaze Rages On Klamath River North From Yreka More Men Needed To Combat Fires Yreka A 20,000 to 30,000 acre forest fire was burning out of control in the Humbug creek area, about 20 miles northwest of here today. ' The blaze was so big that Klamath National forest officials could not accurately estimate its size. Mora Men Needed Some 800 men, including San Quentin prison convicts, were fighting the fire, and more were urgently needed. Klamath Na tional forest officials this morn ing said "We definitely need more men." "Any man able to work and who owns a pair of boots" was being asked to re port to U.S." Forest service's warehouse just south of Yreka. The blaze, which is being called the "Haystack f i r e," jumped the Klamath river yes terday afternoon, starting at about Riverside school. This morning, the smoke was so dense that lookouts were re porting a zero visibility. Protect Buildings Tankers from state and U. S. forest protective agencies and from the city of Yreka were standing by to protect all major buildings. Many cabins, a good share of them unoccupied, al ready have burned, and people are being warned to evacuate their homes as soon as possible throughout the fire area. Five major fires were burning in Siskiyou county today. Forest officials said it is impossible to estimate how many men are working the blazes. Two helicop ters have been called in to help direct fire fighting operations. Lymond Posts Bail; CAA To Get Report William George Lymond, 31, of Seattle, Wash., posted $30 bail Sunday morning and was charged in district court today with being drunk on public highway. He is to appear to morrow and enter a plea. Lymond was arrested late Sat urday night by state police on highway 99 south of Talent. Ly mond had wandered to the high way after a light plane he was piloting creashed on a small hill south and west of Talent. The plane was only slightly damaged, and Lymond was un injured. State police said Ly mond apparently was on a flight from Seattle to Redding, Calif. The plane was reported missing earlier Saturday night. Civil Aeronautics administra tion safety agent Carl Christen- sen of Medford said he has in vestigated the case, and will file a report with the regional office in Seattle. Action by the CAA could result in loss of license in addition to a civil penalty. Smog, Sticky Heaf Bother Los Angeles , Los Angeles (U.R) Smoth ering smog combined with sticky heat today to provide the city with one of its worst weather blows in history. At least 60 deaths during the seven-day heat wave were blam ed by the coroner's office either directly or indirectly on the high temperatures. The temperatures hit at least 100 degrees in the city for the seventh straight day today at 1:20 p.m. when 100 was record ed. Top mark in the heat wave was the 110 degrees, an all-time high, last Thursday. The smog reached the first level alert stage in the county and authorities banned all back yard burning. Industries were urged to stop their burning ac tivities voluntarily.' Practices Act be held during the next year. Much of the committee's work will involve a study of the pres ent Oregon Corrupt Practices act, particularly as it deals with reporting expenditures by candi dates for public office and polit ical committees. Two bills providing for re porting financial contributions and expenditures both before and after election were introduced in the 1955 session but each died in committee. A resolution provid ing for an interim study of the entire subject of . Oregon's elec tion laws was passed. 1 0,000 Acre! Hit o As-FlamesSweep Over TirterlaMd Heat, Drought Create Explosive Situation One of the most explosive forest fire situations in the history of Jackson and Siskiyou counties "blew up" yesterday. More than 50 fires, some of them driven by gale force winds, had roared over nearly lO.OOO' acres of timberland by this morn ing in Jackson county alone. An estimated 1,000 men were fight ing the fires, and more were being called in from other sections of the state i In Siskiyou county, officials of Klamath National, forest, esti mated that raging fires by this morning had covesed 30,000 to 40,000 acres of first class timberland. Several Hundred Men Fight Fire Largest fire in Jackson county Is on the Sykes creek drainage north of Rogue River, where several hundred mij are battling a 4,500 acre blaze. . Ted Maul, district forester for the State Forest department, said this morning that the Sykes creek fire "is nowhere near being controlled." ' Shortly after noon, however, crews reportedly were The Medford area went into its sixth consecutive day of near 100 degree temperatures today, with only slight relief in tight. The five-day forecast is for little or no rain in western Oregon. Temperatures at the Medford weather bureau sine the first of the month have been 98 degrees' on Sept. 1 and 2. 102 on Sept. 3. a record breaking 107 on Sept. 4, and 101 yesterday. (The previ ous record highs for early September were in 1923 and 1934, when 104 degrees was registered on the 6th and 2nd of the month, re spectively. Other early-September highs of over 100 were regis tered in 1931, 1935. 1938, 1943, 1944 and 1948, ranging from 101 to 103 between the 2nd to the 161h of the month. . High for today was forecast at 98, and tomorrow's high was' expected to be between 95 and 98 degrees. Medford weather bureau officials said this morning that , more thunderstorms are expected this afternoon, mostly in the higher mountains. There will be gusty winds in the vignty of the storms. The base of the few clouds which have fotfmed in this area during the past few days has been at from 14,000 to 15.000 feet, the weather bureau said. Because the air between the ground and the base of the clouds has been extremely dry, any rain which falls evaporates before hitting the ground. Low humidities in Jackson county have ranged from 18 to 20 since Sunday, according to the weather bureau. Any reading of 20 or below is considered to be critical for forest fires. Continued lew afternoon humidities are expected for the next few days, the weather bureau said. . ,.. -- gaining ground in the battle. The blaze started from a sawdust pile and spread rapidly before a high wind. 'I've never seen any thing as explosive," Maul said. Sixty volunteers responded to a radio request for aid this morning and were" sent to the Sykes creek fire by county Civil Defense officials. The county disaster car was standing by, and the Jackson county Red Cross planned to send a mobile canteen unit to the fire this afternoon. The Medford Civil Air patrol, unit, has several men in the Sykes creek area, and has an ing for any improvement in visibility over the fire. No Homes Destroyed County Commissioner L. G. (Shy) Morthland telephoned from Wimer shortly after noon today to report on the Sykes creek fire ; battle. Food supplies are not yet a problem in the area, he said. No homes have been destroyed. Civil defense personnel are assist, ing the fire fighters of whom there are between 400 and 500 at work. He said the principal difficulty is sightseers, who are clogging the roads. While the road is open, he said it would be dangerous to go beyond Wimer, where the road is narrow and equipment is at work clearing fire debris. The situation on a fire on Blackwell hill, which covered about 1,500 acres, was termed "not tofc bad" this morning. The fire was started yesterday at about 3 p.m. when high winds blew down a tree, which fell across power lines. Families Evacuated The fire forced evacuation of families from their homes on both sides of the Rogue river, and state police and officials of Central Point rural fire distritc said this morning that five houses were believed to have burned. Names of the owners were not available. Medford city fire department dispatched a rural pumper to the Blackwell hill fire at aboijt 7:45 p.m. Monday at the request of Dick Krupp, chief of the Central Point rural department, which was in service throughout the night. The truck was released from the fire shortly after 3. a.m. today. . Trucks, pickups and trailers from all parts of the valley re sponded to a state police reqaest for vehicles to aid in the evacua tion. Consolidated Freightways in Medford sent 10 trucks, and many other trucking firms and private parties aided. State police officers stood by to aid in the evacuation and to prevent looting. Sheriffs deputies and state police blocked off roads leading into the fire area, but large numbers of sightseers hampered the evacuation workers and fire fighters throughout he early hours of the blaze. . Station Closes Down television station KBES-TV went off the air when its trans mitter atop Blackwell hill became so filled with smoke that the - technician could no longer work. The station was planning to return to the air at the regular time today. It was off from mid-evening on Monday, after fire surrounded the transmitter and burned two buildings, the pump- ' house and tank building, and put an overload on the air condi tioning equipment. One of the power poles carrying electricity to the transmittter : partially burned last night, and the station was taken off the air : because of the danger of losing transmitting equipment. Chief Technician Bill Smith, Technician Donald Berch, and Mr. and Mrs. Everett Faber were at the transmitter when fire surrounded " it, and all were cut off from the outside for about 45 minutes. I Faber, vice-president of the TV firm, said the technical crew worked "most of the night getting the equipment back in shap. Timber Mountain Fire A third large fire is in the vicinity of Timber mountain, west of Jacksonville, and near the Jacksonville reservoir. By this morn ing it had burned over 2,500 acres. Some 200 men, with eight bulldozers and several pumping units, hoped to trail the fire by noon today, but Maul said "whether we can hold it is proble-" matical." A garage belonging to E. C. (Jerry) Jerome on the Old Stage rd. burned last night. Cause of the fire was unknown, but it may have been from burning embers blown in from the Timber moun-' tain blaze. It was a complete loss, reports indicated. Jerome lost another garage just 11 months ago. ' . ; A fire on Nuggett butte, about half mile north of Gold HilL which was believed under control Saturday night, blew out in a high wind yesterday and covered some 100 acres. It was controlled this morning, but here again, there was a question as to whether it could be held in check. '. - 1 (ContiuMd Pace Three) - . . . . ...... , J observer plane standing by wait o
