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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1955)
I i o c TWO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE 65 Dead, 100 Injured as Loaded Gomez Palacio, Mexico U.R) Two trucks loaded with nine tons of dynamite smashed into a crowded passenger and freight train at a crossing Friday night, setting off a tremendous explo sion that killed at least 65 per sons and injured 100 others. Authorities feared the toll would rise. They said many of the injured were not expected to live. At least 12 of the dead were children. Were Racing Trucks The two drivers apparently were racing their trucks, each loaded with four and one-half tons of Ihe high explosive, and were so itnent on their competi tion they did not see the train. They hit it at full speed. The explosion tore a gaping hole in the ground and levelled houses near the scene of the blast. The balcony of a movie theater in Gomez Palacio a mile and a half away, collapsed from the force of the explosion and the moviegoers fled in panic but none were injured. Flung 700 Yards The engine and all three cars of the mixed passengers and freight train, a local running from Torreon to Chihuahua. were destroyed. The engine of one truck was found 700 yards away. No trace was found of the bodies of the drivers. . All the crewmen aboard the train and most of the passengers were killed. Many of the dead Q and injured were inhabitants of nouses aiong me iracits. e The scene was like that of a battleground. Bodies and parts of bodies lay scattered among -MS m. ROBERT E. LEE OFTDMETMST 109 cast ant ST. . . .BUI. -. . Years, of specialized study wjth practice for preventative visual troubles make possible highly satisfactory results with lenses and treatment. J -lTIII'w I 00G6 Qfl I WFISFIFT.n'S JFWFTFRS WEISFIELD'S JEWELERS "CSe ni iStiil I I I U I COMFLETE 122 E. Main St, Medford, Oregon Please send the the 5-Pc. Raycine Hair Catting Set -t 10.95 ( . The S-Pc. Set at 16-95 ( ) . I am -nclosing S and will send S per geek or $ per month until the entire i mount is paid. VAME i PHONE DDRESS CITY ZONE EMPLOYED BY jj nr.ua nr.rc.itc.rti a . CREDIT REFERENCE With Dynamite Hit Train the devastation when ambu lances began arriving from Tor reon, eight miles away. Many of the injured lay groaning under piles of wreckage. An accurate count of the dead was difficult because so many of the bodies were destroyed. Chickens, pigs and burros kept in pens near the houses Logging, Lumber Indutsries Praised for Forest Fire Work The logging and lumber indus tries, and their individual mem bers, received high praise from state and federal agencies Fri day evening for the work done in combating the forest fires in this area the . week following Labor day. Ted Maul, district warden for the state forestry department, said the work of loggers and sup ervisors was "magnificent," and praised the unquestioning coop eration of anyone who was asked for help, and of those who called offering help. Jack Wood, supervisor of the Rogue River National forest, seconded Maul's remarks, and said, "I simply don't have the words in my vocabulary to de scribe the spirit and the coop eration we received during the rough time we had with the fires." Will Speed Progress Stewart Moir, Portland, chief forester for the Western Fores try and Conservation associa tion, pointed out that this type of freehanded cooperative work to eradicate fires will speed the ar rival of the time when less at tention will have to be paid to fires, and more can be devoted to proper forest management. Dwight Phipps, who will be come state forester Oct. 1, said the state had received excellent cooperation in other fire areas, and suggested that the record of agency-industry cooperation in the Rogue valley area is "spread ing" to other sections of the state. Phipps came down espec ially for the meeting, which was the September gathering of the Southern Oregon Conservation and Tree Farm association, held at the Jackson hotel. s Tree Farm Certified Moir presented Arthur Davies, president of SOCTFA, with two certificates for a new, 200-acre tree farm Davies has established on Forest creek northwest of Jacksonville. With INSTRUCTION BOOK ind BUTCH ATTACHMENT l m I II II ill in No Money Cut Hjs electric attachment, comb, apron, instructions. No Money Down, 50c Week RAYCINE, Product of John Oster Mfg. Co. QQQOQ HOW LONG STATE HOW LONG.. . 122 EAST Store Hours Sunday, September 23. 1955 were all killed. Many of the injured had to be taken to private homes in Gomez Palacio because the town's hos pital quickly filled up. The accident happened about 10:15 p.m. (EDT). Gomez Palacio is about 250 miles south of Big Bend National Park in Texas. Authorities said the lead truck L. L. Simpson, secretary-manager and forester for the 'asso ciation, reported that it has been decided to form a continuing committee of the organization to study its present cooperative fire plan, and to suggest expan sion and improvements. Had it not been for the plan, he de clared, the fire situation early this month could have been much worse than it was. But with an expanded program, con trol may be effected in similar future situations more rapidly. The committee will study communications, transportation, equipment and manpower needs, Simpson said. It will be headed Two Four-Year-Olds Die in House Blaze Portland (U.R) Two children died in the gas-filled basement of a flaming Portland home shortly before noon Saturday and seven firemen were over come by, the fumes as they fought to rescue two four-year- old boys. Dead were Richard (Dicky) Emerson, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Emerson, and Rich ard (Mickey) Scales, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard' Scales. Fire "Frightening" Firemen described the fire as "frightening" and said they fear ed for a while the gas escaping from a broken main in the base ment of the Emerson house would blow up the entire neigh borhood. The seven firemen overcome by cooking gas were taken to Providence hospital where oxy gen was administered. Doctors said they were in satisfactory condition. Some 700 spectators crammed into the fire area and hampered rescue attempts. One onlooker Down . . 50c Week the Children's Hair At Home and Save! It's easy to do a profti- - sionil job with Riycine instructions. Electric Clippers Butch Attachment Barber Shears Tapered Comb Instruction Book 8 Pc. Raycine HAIR CUTTING SET clippers, a butch ' shears, brush. I695 lubricating oil. MAIN ST. MEDFORD 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Trucks smashed Into the train just as the train reached the crossing. The second truck, only a few yards behind, .followed the first vehicle into the holocaust and exploded seconds later. Hundreds of cars were stalled on both sides of the crossing and highway crews were dispatched to fill in the giant crater. by George Flanagan, general manager of Elk Lumber com pany,, and will have federal and state, as well as association, rep resentatives as members. B. L. Nutting, manager of the Medford corporation, discussed the establishment of a scholar ship fund at Oregon State col lege in memory of the late Floyd Hart, and invited lumber indus try men to contribute to it. E. D. Olsen, of the state indus trial accident commission, de scribed plans for the regional safety conference to be held here Dec. 9 and 10, and invited SOCTFA members to partici pate. had to be arrested when he per sisted in getting in the way of firemen. Captain Cecil Roth who com manded the first fire company to reach the fire scene said "smoke was pouring out of the house on all sides and we could hear gas rushing from the brok en main in the basement. Coir first thought was to shut off the gas before the entire neighbor hood blew up on us." And he added,' "We couldn't understand why the gas did not explode or catch fire. That was what made it such a frightening situation." Receiver Named for Homes Foreclosure Portland U.R) Mrs. Mar cella O'Bryant of Springfield was appointed receiver in a foreclosure action against 26 houses owned by Springfield Homes company Friday. U. S. Judge Claude McCol loch appointed the Springfield real estate agent to collect $60 to $70 rent on the houses until they are sold at auction by the U. S. Marshal. Foreclosure action was taken - Vega and Harp of Orpheus By J. HUGH PRUETT Astronomer, Extension Division Oregon, Higher Education System When darkness has fully de scended and the twilight of our early autumn days has faded from the heavens, even the cas ual observer can hardly fail to enthuse over a very brilliant blue-white star that glows al most overhead, or a little west of overhead by 9 p.m. ' This is Vega, the star with the Arabic name, and the second in brightness of all stars visible from our latitudes. (Some of the planets are brighter, but they are not stars.) Name Gradually Changed Vega is said originally to have been "al-Waqui," which was gradually changed to Wega and then Vega. It is one of the nearer stars. Its distance is 27 light years, or approximately 27 times six trillion miles from us. Were Vega as close to us as our sun, its brilliance would appear about 50 times that of old Sol. Since Vega's heat and light would then be unbearable, it is best admired at a distance. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, Vega in about 12,000 years hence will be our north star. And what a splendid guide star it will make, although it will not be quite as close to the pole of the sky as is our present Polaris. Polaris is now less than one degree from the pole, and by A.D. 2100 will be within one half degree of this location. Then it will seemingly move farther from the pole for thousands of CONTROL DRAFT WITH TWO SLIDING SOLID BRASS CONSTRUCTION, BEAUTY UNHEARD OF. THOUSANDS IN USE WINTER AND SUMMER BURN WOOD, COAL OR GAS WRIT! rot FREE VALUABLE COLORFUL BOOKLET My fireplace . Name Address- -City SMITH-DYNGE CORNER 8th ft FIB Changes in Copco Klamath Contract Slated for Study Klamath Falls (U.R) Oregon and California Klamath River Commissions, the California Ore gon Power Co., and the Bureau of Reclamation will meet next Wednesday in Sacramento to ne gotiate an extension of possible changes in Copco's contract with the bureau. Klamath Falls Meeting Representatives of all four groups met in Klamath Falls Fri day when the Sacramento meet ing was agreed on. The Friday meeting was in addition to a series of meetings the commis sions have been holding in at tempt to formulate an interstate compact in use of waters of the Klamath river. Nelson Reed, chairman of the Oregon Klamath River Commis sion, said . Saturday that his group believes signing of an ex tended Copco-Bureau contract should not be postponed until the river compact becomes ef fective.. He pointed out that the compact would not become law until approved by both state leg islatures and the Congress. More Facilities Needed He said the Klamath Falls community needs the additional power facilities proposed by Copco and that their construc tion is important to the local economy. " There is no reason why the de sires of both commissions in re gard to protection of future irrigation rights cannot be rea lized, he added. Historical Society Given Collection Portland (U.R) Donation of the M. M. Hazeltine glass neg ative photographic collection to the Oregon Historical Society was announced Saturday. The society said donors of the collection were Mr. and Mrs. George Goodbrod, of California The society said the collection was invaluable and was re markable for its historic value and completeness. Included are scenes of the mining days in Sumpter and Cornucopia, triv ing Oregon gold rush towns; Baker and Pendleton; San Fran cisco before the earthquake of 1906, territorial Idaho in the 1880's, Yellowstone Park and Utah and Alaska. - M. M. Hazetine was a pioneer photographer of Baker. Early photographs on glass negatives have become extreme ly rare, the society said, and the Hezeltine collection is . the second to be added to the so ciety's archives. by: the Federal National Mort gage association. years. When, as now, Vega is high in the evening sky, five dim stars can be seen clustering close to it. Vega and these stars out line the Harp of Orpheus, the great musician of classical myth ology. According to the ancient story, so charming was the play ing of Orpheus that his music had power over wild beasts, 'drew stones and trees from the ground and stopped rivers from flowing. The famed Argonautic Expe dition for the recovery of the golden fleece found Orpheus on board the ship. On the way, the vessel passed the island where the sirens sang their enticing songs, and often lured sailors to their death. Some captains tied their men to the masts or poured wax in their ears as they passed the sirens' island, but on the good ship Argo this was not necessary for Orpheus played his harp so beautifully that the alluring nymphs attracted no attention. Star Becomes Double One of the little stars nearest Vega becomes a double even through low power opera glasses. With 150-power telescopes, the two stars appear far apart and each in turn becomes a close double. This star, Epsilon Lyrae, is the famous double-double. Between the two dim stars of the Lyra group, farthest . from Vega, fair-sized telescopes reveal the beautiful Ring Nebula, a circle of glowing gas with a star at its center. RADIATES MAXIMUM HEAT ELIMINATES ROOM HEAT LOSS, SAVES 7 roa PROTECTS AGAINST FLYING SPARKS, ASHES. DIRT AND 0 RAFTS TWIN DOORS OPEN WIDE FOR EASY 4- DOORS FOR FAST OR SLOW FIRE wide. -High -State. LUMBER CO. PHONE 2-7166 organ Asks Removal Of Prineville Demo Portland (U.R) Democratic State Chairman Howard Morgan Saturday asked Gov. Paul L. Patterson to remove Vernon Burda, a Democrat from Prine ville, from the legislative interim committee on election laws. Backs Baker Man Morgan suggested Burda be replaced by Lloyd Rea of Baker. The Democratic chairman said that while Burda "is nominally registered as a Democrat" he is regarded within the party as a "tame Democrat who does the bidding of Republicans." He said Burda was listed as a contributor to the 1954 cam paign of Republican Gov. Patter son. Morgan objected to the make up of the committee as lopsided in favor of Republicans. Mann Appointed Under the resolution approved by the Legislature, Senate Pres ident Elmo Smith appointed Sen. Mark Hatfield,- and Pat Lonergan, . Republicans, to the SLOW SERVICE Chatham, England (U.R) British Admiralty officials Sat urday investigated why a bag of Navy mail was delivered sev en years late. The mail for men who served aboard the destroyer Constance in 1948 was discov ered in a dark corner of the. de stroyer Duchess, which was launched in 1951. MAGtJAVOX PRESENTS rajl iAj magnificent rr qL television i- v ' - 77 x. - .-..v 7 v' NC: J ' xk 'f I ??' t'tyl $JX REVOLUTIONARY NEW : V j reRroRAN " ' From the big-screen movies comes this entirely new Magnavox concept of Magna rama TV. 100 square inches more picture area in a cabinet no larger than most 21" table models. Two speaker front-projected sound gives vastly greater TV enjoyment . . . makes pictures really talk . . , just like the new movies. Convenient top controls permit you to see and tune without (Stooping ... concealed by a cover which projects sound forward when open, auto matically shuts of! set when closed. Full transformer powered chassis, alumi nized tube, chromatone picture filter, and reflection barrier combine to bring you TV's clearest pictures with sparkling life-like realism. A demonstration will prove Magnavox superiority Mum IPHAMdD ffldDtnSffi 111 North Central committee. House Speaker Ed Geary named Reps. Bob Jensen, Kay Meriwether and E. H. Mann. Mrs. Meriweather is' the lone Democrat on the committee. Gov. Patterson appointed Mrs. Frederic Young, secretary of the Republican State Central Com mittee, and Burda. Morgan asked the goveriior to remove Burda from the commit NO CASH DOWN! Get Your Household & Hardware Needs Such as: Cookingware, Dinnerware, Giftware, Appliances, Paint, Plumbing, Heating Units and Hardware. ON EASY CREDIT TERMS With ACME Hardware's BUDGET PLAN If you're a bit short of cjih . . (jOSlS LESS take advantage of this CON- mm VI mm VENIENT PAYMENT PLAN. TI1&3 TOU TkllLti Buy ANTTnINu you need . . and pay for it at only PENNIES A OATl West Sixth Street The set off Tomorrow Priced for you to enjoy Medford tee and appoint the secretary of the Democratic State Central Committee. That is Rea. 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