Is That So?
Peaceful, placid as a snow-
covered mountain slope may
seem, Inherent within the piled
up snowfield are tremendously
destructive forces: and this com
ing winter and spring tens of
thousands of avalanches made
of this soft yielding snow will
carry trees, rocks, houses, ani
mals everything before them
to destruction.
Against the fury of these
thunderbolts of snow, man is
suddenly reduced to a match
stick. .
TJe makings of these destruc
- tive snow torrents are simple: a
slope steeper than 20 degrees;
an accumulation of snow, layer
upon layer, heavy enough so
that the force of gravity is
stronger than the force of adhe
sion; and an impulse. That is all
and the snowfield wrinkles,
slips and slides, growing in size
nd speed with frightening , ra
pidity. The slightest impulse can trig
fir this terrible fury: the tread
of a snowshoe hare, the thud of
(tt, falling pine cone, the happy
(ihout of a skier, a puff of wind,
a. train whistle, the vibration of
the steel rails, or a distant roll
of thunder.
Once started, nothing can hin
der this sliding mass from fall
. Ing with tremendous force and
i burrying everything beneath it.
The speed often exceeds 100
miles an hour; the mass, in some
" avalanches, has been estimated
to contain five million tons of
snr. If the valley into which
it slides is narrow, its level may
be raised hundreds of feet by a
single slide.
The snow's swift down-rush
generates its own wind a ter
Vific wind, the force of which,
- at its worst, may surpass that of
any tropical hurricane. It is
strong enough to up-root trees
and blo down houses a hun
dred yards beyond the avalanche
itself. Such a wind has been
known to topple stone church
steeples and annihilate villages,
like Randa in the Alps, the blast
scattering houses like chaff,
O even lifting stones and carrying
them 00 feet up mountainsides.
As to be expected, this tre-
mendous force is accompanied
ly sound: first, far up, as the
white surface crinkles and be-
jgj(ns to move, there is a whisper
mg hiss which quickly grows in
volume. Within seconds, as the
Court Records
DISTRICT COURT
Frederick Ernest Krugffel. violation
of the basic rule. $12.51).
Howard Elliott Bush, failure to
yield right of way. S10.
Raymond F. Coulter, overload. $24.
Ronald Mansell James, failure to
top at a stop sign, $10.
Jerry Ross Conner, deiective muf
fler. S15. - .. - -
John Colbie O'Brien, failure to op
erate on the right side of the high
way. S7.50.
Lloyd Joseph Mynatt. failure to
stop at a stop sign, $10.
Coy Gibson Gunter. no operator s
license. M.
Ted Shimek. overload. S60.50.
George Milton Mclntyre. no muffler,
910.
Frances Allen Miller, overload, $263.
Francis Allen Miller, failure to stop
at stop sign, $10.
Edmund Thomas Campbell, passing
with insufficient clearance, $10.
Charles William Myers, failure to
top at a stop sign, $19.
Alva Arron Wright, overload. $50.
Jack Byrol Houghton, improper
hunting license, $15.
Marvin Dwayne Froche. inadequate
muffler, $15.
CIRCUIT COURT
Carolyn J. Harnden vs. William A.
n.mil.n rfivnrra pnmnlnint.
Barbara Jean Shinn vs. Beryl Fay
Bmnn, divorce compiaim. ,
Golda Elvina Upchurch vs. Glenn
H. Upchurch. divorce' complaint.
MARRIAGE LICENSE
APPLICATIONS
Edwin John Malloy. 40. Butte Falls,
and Betty Jean KidwelL 27. of 536
Haven it.
POLICE COURT
Pearl Eileen Anderson, violation of
basic rule. $10.
Joy Olivia Bessonette, violation of
basic rule, $10.
Charles S. Stevenson, disregarding
traffic signal, $5.
Ralph Lincoln Lohse, violation of
' basic rule. $10.
Fay Harvey Unruh, violation of bas
is: rule. $10.
Lloyd Edmus Dyer, failure to stop
at stop light.
Ernest Math Goltl. failure to stop
fc at ston lisht. S3.
John William Childers, violation of
basic rule, $10.
to
DISTRICT COURT
William Thomas Britt, failure
disnlav PUC plates. $15.
William Ralph Morgan, truck speed
ing. $15.
Dwain Allen Richardson, overload,
$117.
Glen Ames Langdale. no mud guards
S15. (Bail foreiture).
William Hosken Hansen, failure to
operate on the right side of the
"highway, $10. (Bail forfeiture).
Roscae Theodore Arent. passing
with insufficient clearance, sio.
James Curtis Donahue, overload.
$56.
Wood row Wilson Coxwell. drunk on
a nublic hishway. $15.
Hugh Donald McClure. failure to
tage venison. a.uu.
Elmer Lee Gouker. no clear
ance liehts. $ll. (Bail forfeiture).
Delmer B. Gillispie. no emergency
brake. $10. (Ban lorreiture)
Ernest George Bursing, no emer
gency brake. $10.
Richard Klimek. overload. $27.50.
Carl Adrian Nickelson. violation of
basic rule. $30.
CIRCUIT COURT
Msrgaret T. Smith, vs. Clarence
L. Smith, divorce complaint. - -Winifred
Maxine Weixel. vs. Theo
dore Weixel. divorce complaint
Virginia Etta Shilzony. vs. Victor
Arpad Shilzony. divorce complaint.
MARRIAGE LICENSE
APPLICATIONS
Sidnev Fred Rapp. 24. Spokane.
nd Shirley Phyllis Sullivan. 20, of
713 Oak St.
Br EUGENE BURNS
Ranger-Naturalist
thousands upon thousands of
tons of snow come hurtling
down with ever-increasing terri
fying speed, the hissing grows
In the Day's News
into a deafening rear in which
even the snapping of great tree
trunks goes unheard. .And then
as the snow settles, within min
utes, all is engulfed in tranquil
ity, a silence in which an es
caped chicadee's call comes loud
and clear.
Of the many avalanches, two
are most common: first, the so
called dust avalanche of winter
which is due to an overloading
of powder-dry snow and is often
started by winds; and, second,
the even more common type
which occurs in the spring when
melting snows make the moun
tain slopes so slippery that
masses of snow, ice, rock and
earth are carried down by their
own weight. Of the two, because
it comes unexpectedly, the dust
powder .avalanche is the more
dangerous it is difficult to
guard against it. ,
Most of the earth's avalanches
occur in the European Alps. In
the U.S., the eastern mountains
have few because snow seldom
lies deep enough and most of the
slopes are wooded with few open
slopes long enough or steep
enough to be dangerous, but in
the west, particularly in the high
Rockies, hundreds of slides oc
cur each season. It is nature's
way of disposing of heavy snow
falls. Fortunately, most occur in
uninhabited areas. V
Trains Swept Away :':
Curiously, I have been a rang
er in two widely separated areas
in the U.S. where two of the
most dangerous avalanches oc
curred: one in Franconia Notch,
N H., which wiped out a resort
area: and a second in the state
of Washington, at Wellington,
where two trains, three large
locomotives, the station building
and a water tank were swept
over a ledge into a canyon 150
feet below with about 90 people
killed. During this same win
ter, 1910, 17 avalanches involv
ing destruction of life or prop
erty, or both, were reported in
the ' mountains of . Washington,
Idaho and Montana.
The greatest avalanche disas
ter occurred during World War
II. Qn December 13, 1916, while
Italian and Austrian troops were
maneuvering against each other
in the Dolomites, a warm wind
sprang up and within a single
day, 105 avalanches occurred,
bringing death to 10,000 most
of whose bodies were not recov
ered until the melting snow un
covered them the following sum
mer. In the open path of a big ava
lanche man can do little to save
himself. If he finds himself on
top of it, however, he should
make swimming motions with
arms and legs in order to reach
the edge of the avalanche a
few have ridden them down,
and lived.
(Copyright. 1953. by
Eugene Burns) -(Released
by
McClure Newspaper Syndicate)
Free: By special arrangement
with the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, my panel" of
judges will award each week to
the reader who sends me the
best true-life nature adventure,
the best nature observation, or
the best question on nature and
wildlife, a complete 30-volume
set of this world-famous refer
ence work in a handsome Seal
craft binding. Each week new
submissions will be considered.
Sorry, I simply cannot answer
your many friendly letters.
Please address your letters to:
IS THAT SO! care Medford Mail
Tribune, Box 575, Sausalito.
Calif.
By FRANK JENKINS
Russian building experts
who are presently touring the
United States visited a housing
development in the Boston sub
urb of Braintree. They wert
fascinated by an electric oven
built into the wall at eye level
to make things easier for the
housewife.
They gathered around the
gadget and Oh'd and Ah'd and
pointed and talked and admired.
It was obviously as strange to
them as a man from Mars would
be if he showed up unexpectedly
in the middle of an American
Main street.
11HIS IS the point:
The wall oven idea was
though up by some American
free enterpriser who wanted a
new selling point for HIS OVEN,
so that he could sell more ovens
than his competitor.
Nobody would ever have
thought up such a thing in Russia.
WHY NOT?
''In Russia all the ovens are
the GOVERNMENT'S ovens.
You take 'em or leave, 'em. The
government doesn't HAVE to
think up new selling points for
its ovens because it has all the
ovens there are. If you don't like
its ovens you just DO WITHOUT
an oven.
That's the difference between
socialism and free enterprise.
INCIDENTAL information:
The census bureau says the
fastest increasing segments of
America's population are chil
dren, older people and non
whites. It adds that the number
of women continues to grow
faster than the number of men.
(In the golden days there were
about 99.4 men for each 100
women. There are now, accord
ing tb the census bureau's statis
ticians, about 98.5 men for each
100 women.)
WHY CHILDREN are increas
" ing is perfectly simple. More
babies are being born..Older
people are increasing because
people live longer in these days.
Non-whites are increasing be
cause on the average they have
larger families than whites. "
Why are women increasing?
It may be Divine Providence.
The men have made a mess of a
lot of things. More women may
be the answer. . - -
SPEAKING of population: .
A Sacramento dispatch says
California's population is mount
ing so rapidly that the state
statisticians are having trouble
keeping up with their own pre
dictions. The California department of
finance has taken' another look
at. prospects for 1960. The report
says the outlook is for 14,500,000
residents . five years hence! as
compared with the prediction of
CJIl r' ' J
Sunday, October 9, 1955
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE FIVE
REUNITED WITH DAUGHTER JASMIN, Prince Aly Khan
shows her around his Paris house after she arrives in France
: with mother, Actress Rita Hayworth, who divorced prince,
then married Crooner Dick Haymes from whom she is sep
arated. Aly refused to discuss reconciliation. ''. .jna.)
Funds Coming In
For Youth Drive
Ashland Contributions for
the Ashland-Talent Youth Activi
ty drive are coming in steadily
but the cooperation of every
citizen is needed to reach the
goal, according to Gordon C.
Hays, drive chairman. '
Goal for the drive is $14,300
which will be divided among the
Girl scouts, Boy scouts, Camp
fire girls and YMCA of Ashland
and Talent. ','
Hays pointed out that youth
groups such a the Boy scouts
provide a good way to combat
juvenile delinquency and to en
courage better citizens of to
morrow. Money, collected by the
drive, will aid such groups to in
clude more youngsters, Hays
said. . ' . "
14,000,000 made last year.
At the same time, figures for
1965 were upped from 15,500,
000 to more than 16,250,000.
WHAT DOES that add up to?
It adds up to this:" '
MORE CLOSE - AT - HAND
CUSTOMERS FOR THE PROD
UCTS OF SOUTHERN ORE
GON. ..
Cordy Recommends
Peach Spray Use
Peaches should be sprayed be
fore Oct. 22 for control of leaf
curl and peach blight, C. .
Cordy, county horticultural ex
tension agent said Saturday.
Where .leaf curl has been a
problem, the spraying process
should be repeated in mid-winter.
Instructions for mixing spray
are as follows: For each 100
gallons of spray use seven
pounds spra-cop, or five pounds
COCS, or five pounds ortho-cop,
or five pounds copper A. In air
blast sprayers increase the dos
age of fixed cop per 50 per Cent.
For small srayers use one
quarter pound of any of the
above materials in three gallons
of water.
A good sticker is essential,
Cordy said. Use two quarts of
summer oil or one third pint of
spreader depositor per 100 gal
lons. Mix sticker and neutral
copper with a little water and
pour into partly filled tank with
the agitator running.
Where peach blight was a ser
ious problem this year, trees
should be sprayed immediately
and again in early November.
Deadline Oct. 19
For Applications
Applications for competitive
examinations for Naval Re
serve Officers Training corps
candidates must be filed with
the Educational Testinff sprvtpp
in Princeton, i N. J., prior to
Nov. 19, 1955.
The 10th annual examination
for high school seniors and srad.
uates interested in attending col
lege and training for careers as
otticers in the navy or marines
will be held at Medford high
school Dec. 10. Successful can
didates will start training in
1956 at 52 colleges and univer
sities throughout the country.
Examinations here will be for
valley youths interested in NR
OTC as well as for those from
Yreka to Roseburg. Some 40 ap
plicants participated in the tests
last year here.
About 1,800 candidates will
Annexation Hearing
Scheduled Nov. 1st
A public hearing of annexa
tion of property owned by Ben
ton Smith and Odell Larson on
the northeast and southeast cor
ner of Murray st. and Columbus
ave. will be held at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1, instead of Nov. 8 as pre
viously published.
The hearing was originally to
be scheduled for the first city
council meeting in November,
but through an error, Nov. 8 was
inserted in the ordinance calling
for the hearing. The date has
been corrected to read Nov. 1.
Geysers exist in many vol
canic regions of the world such
as Japan and South America, but
their greatest development is in
Iceland, New Zealand and Yel
lowstone National Park, Wyoming.
be selected for appointment as
midshipmen from those eligible
between 17 and 21 years of age.
Application blank are avail
able naval reserve and recruit
ing offices here.
MONEY GROWS
quickly when invested here
. . . where INSURED SAFETY
and LIBERAL EARNINGS
await your savings. Open an
account tomorrow and get
these worthwhile savings
from now on.
FIRST FEDERAL
SAVINGS & LOAN ASS'N
of Medford
27 North Holly
To Those Who Save
An Institution Dedicated
AT YOUR' HOf.lE
:
11111 M i , ;k!
Will
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Get your HEAT PUMP installed today t
TROWBRIDGE
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214 W. Main
Phone 2-5211
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