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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1955)
o 'FOURTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE NO-CATS PURCHASED BY Drivers Trained For Maintenance In Winter Weather High Relay Stations Need Unique Vehicles "Operation Sno-Cat" was held at Crater Lake National park recently as the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company conduct ed a training course for 13 em ployees in the handling of the lamous Mucker bno-Uat over- siw vehicles. The neaf-blizzard weather during the outing was ideal for the occasion, as three of the big vehicles, manufactured in Med- ford, were put through their paces. The Sno-Cats, weighing two tons, were purchased recent ly for winter maintenance work. The PT&T men taking the training were from Portland, Eu gene, Roseburg, Medford, Cen tral Point, Talent and Ashland Local Men The Rogue Valley men includ ed three from Medford, Walt Black, transmissionman, 1066 El- lendale dr.; W. J. Williams, utransmissiyiman, route 2, box 429, and Marvin Happel, gar age mechanic, 1002 West Four teenth st. Others were O. P. Van Auck- en, transmissionman, route 1, box 261, Central Point; Cal O. Webber, chief transmissionman, route 1. box 531, Talent, and Chuck Risley, garage mechanic, route 1, box 501-C, Ashland. On theirshoulders will be the responsibility of inspecting and "maintaining the company's new microwave relay station now lie- FUND RAISING PROJECT Members of the Eagle Point Future Farmers of America have installed a "mechanical cow" as a fund raising project. The machine was installed 0 through cooperation with the Milk Producers' league. Club officers (standing left to right) are Dick Wallace, sentinel; Ron Hanson, treasurer; Gale Friend, president; David Wool folk, secretary;-"and (kneeling) Tom Collette, reporter; and Robert Hayse, vice-president. Also pictured are Nat Etzel, instructor of agriculture at Eagle Point high school; Bob Birling, Del Mongold and W. E. Davies, directors of the league. , BRING THE KIDS TO I.O.O.F. HALL 8:20 DEC. 20 Entertainment SANTA CLAUS WEE, PRESENTS Medford Lodge No. 83 O Say o to the BOY or GIRL f the Family with a . .. o 1 .IY1. MEMBERSHIP o 522 West 6th St. 3 GET SNO-CAT TRAINING sion for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph com pany employees in this area was conducted at Crater Lake recently to acquaint them with operation of a Tucker Sno-Cat, which will be used to maintain microwave relay stations in nearby mountains. Marvin Happel (in cab) ing built at Siskiyou Summit, south of Medford. Nine Stations It is one link in a chain of nine such stations between Port land and the California border, This chain, for relaying televis ion programs and telephone con- Rock Indentifkafion Class Starts Monday A class in field identification of rocks and minerals will begin Monday at 8 p.m. at the Med ford senior high school, it was announced yesterday. R. A. Mitchell, local chemist, will be instructor. About 14 persons are enrolled in the class, and six more will be accepted. Anyone interested is welcome to enroll,- he said. About 18 sessions are planned S V.M. Phone 2-6295 Sunday, December 18. 1955 A training ses versations through the air, will connect with similar systems north and east to Seattle and Eastern Washington, and south to San Francisco. Keeping the systems in good working order will be of prime importance, and the men respon sible for their maintenance might well be called "Microwave Minute Men." During the winter months, ac cess to the 5,050-foot Siskiyou summit site is difficult because of road conditions and snow. While work on the project is be ing rushed to its Aug. 1 com pletion date, prior to the politi catoonyentions in San Francisco men and material will daily be making the arduous ascent to the mountain top. Used For Snow Under ordinary weathex con ditions jeeps and power wagons will be used for the climb. But when snow lies deep on the roadway, the Snowcat will be put to use. The same holds true when the system is in operation. Inspec tion trips will be made to all nine such stations in Oregon, 52 weeks of the year, in all kinds of weather. That's why the telephone com pany obtained three of the Sno- Cats the first ever used by the company in Oregon and spent a day acquainting 18 of its employees with the weather conditions they will meet in op erating the tractor-treaded veh icles. Mobile 'Phones For reasons of safety all veh icles employed in maintenance of the microwave network are equipped with mobile tele phones. When trips are made to the stations under adverse wea ther conditions, men driving in the vehicles will be required to report- their progress and loca tion every 30 minutes by phone. If contact is lost and not re established with the vehicle in a reasonable period of time, telephone company officials will start rescue operations with the assumption help is needed. Further ' precautions have been taken in installing living quarters at the relay station at Siskiyou summit. Eating and sleeping facilities have been pro vided there, along with a supply of food to last a week. Similar provisions have been made at stations located on Har ness mountain south of Eugene, and King mountain south of Roseburg. Sno-Cats will be used when needed to reach those sta tions. Work on Schedule Telephone company officials report that work at Siskiyou Summit and also at Baldy Moun tain, about 11 miles southeast of Medford, is going along on schedule. Construction has , been com pleted at Siskiyou of a concrete-block building and the 27 i-foot tower to hold four an tennae horns. Western Electric company employees are now on Daily's U-Drive Medford Airport PT&T iL J ' revs up the 100-horsepower motor as (left to right) Chuck Risley, Cal Webber, Walt Black, W. J. Williams and O. P. Van Auken listen. The men were given instructions in driving the world-famous over-snow vehicles which are manufactured in Medford. (PT&T photo) the job installing electronic equipment. At Baldy Mountain, the building is nearly completed . and the 37V-foot antennae tower is already finished. Equipment in stallation by Western Electric people will start Feb. 13. Four two-ton antennae are to be hoist ed atop the tower two weeks lat er. Bids for Recapping Tires of County Vehicles Opened Bids for recapping tires of county vehicles and for purchase of furniture in the county clerk's Six firms bid on the recapping job. In an unprecedented action, the court accepted the three lowest bids, and will split the business between the firms with four months of service from each during the year. Various Amounts The successful bids, which were broken down into amounts for passenger, truck and grader tire recapping, totaled $4,540.35 from OK Rubber Welders, $4, 911 from Hawkinson Tire Ser vice, and $5,522.72 from Peck Brothers. These bids are based on a year's service, and in effect will, total about' one-quarter of the amounts listed. The court indicated they plan to study the results of the dif ferent methods of recapping and repairing to decide which is the most economical ' long-range method. A top cap, rather than a full cap, will be tried this year, they said. Other Firms Other firms bidding' were Medford Tire Service, Older Tire and Wheel Exchange, and Fire stone stores, the court reported. Medford Stationery store was awarded a $3,605.61 contract for new furniture. The store's bid of $4,097.73 was reduced by al ternative, and elimination of one item. The court also purchased a $275 safe for district court, purchased on the recommenda tion of the county clerk and the court. - The new furniture was order ed to be delivered at'thesame time the clerk's office is moving into the new annex. , . Other furniture' bidders were Office Stationery and Supply company; Jewett Office Supply, and Medford Office Equipment company, and Remington Rand agency. Monday Night at 8 p.m. - at MARY'S CASA TREATS FOR THE LITTLE ONES We heartily wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! GET YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW FOR CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER! OPEN at 2 P.M. 537 MARY ST.-For Reservations Dial 2-5349 Success of Pilot Education Program Told in Magazine An article on the pilot school project for mentally retarded pupils in Jackson county ap pears in the December issue of Oregon Education magazine. Authors of "That They May Learn!" are Una B. Inch, assist ant to the county school super intendent; Karl Hayes, pilot school instructor; and Mrs. Fran ces Klein, in charge of special education for Ashland schools. Results Good Results of the school, which was one of several established throughout the state in a two year experiment, have "more than compensated us for the spe cial effort involved," the three report. "It required the cooperation of several school districts in volved, the rural school board, the county school superintend ent and the parents of the chil dren," they said. The class was limited to 8 to 12 year-olds and classes began in the Phoenix Community church with Hayes as instruc tor. It was formed "to try to determine if special methods might open the door of learning to retarded children.". Schedule Same Daily scehdule for the 12 chil dren (screened from 26 appli cants) was the same as for the regular school. The milieu of each child was studied, includ ing mental age, chronological age, IQ, social maturity and phy sical development. Youngsters took an important part in all phases of the school, including time schedules, and a main part of their training cen tered on learning community or ganization. ' "This first activity welded together the uncooperative, the belligerent, and the withdrawn into a group of helping class mates worKmg togetner on a common project," the article continues. Find Own Place .Negativeness slowly .gave way to a sincere desire to try and to realization that there was a definite place for each in their community." Other topics of the study pro gram included language arts program of reading, writing and spelling; social living projects; arithmetic and science. The class moved to the Phoe nix Elementary school in the fall of 1954, .. which eventually brought signs of adjustment to regular classes. Fre-vocational e x p e riences were added to the school later and the pupils .were taken on field trips to various local indus tries. "Measuring progress in basic school subjects . . . has been dif ficult," according to the writers, but using available ratings, sig nificant progress was noted in all but two pupils, and they had marked independence of action Gives, Evaluation According to Mrs. Klein, the Phoenix school may be evalu ated in part as follows: "The pilot class has served to- awaken : and stimulate new interests and cooperation of pub lic school teachers through the county . School personnel and parents are happy to realize that at last our too-long-neglected slow learners will have a chance to receive that kind of educa tional opportunities which will build for them , attitudes, con cepts and skills which will aid them to fit in successfully with the community " Through continued legislative support, special class work is being carried on in the state another two years. Jackson county has two classes, older children attending at Phoenix and the younger pupils at Tal ent. WON'T PARTICIPATE Athens, Greece (U.R) Prime Minister Constantin Karamanlis said Friday night Greece will not participate in the forthcom ing Balkan Pact council of min isters unless Turkey satisfies de mands arising from the dispute over Cyprus. . COME TO THE Christmas Tree LIGHTING and Hear the Marian Choir of St. Mary's School RECEIVES CALENDAR Medford Mayor Earl Miller is presented the first 1956 Boy Scout calendar by Cub Scout Reed Harris of pack 5, Fred Lorish of troop 3, and Larry Hill of post 8. The calendars are distributed through the Milk Producer's league, repre Elderly Trail Couple Travel Cascades In Summertime Back-Packing Journeys It is unusual enough to travel the high Cascade Crest trail that begins near the Canadian border and leads south through Wash ington, Oregon and California. It is even more unusual to make the trek on foot, but to at tempt the long hike over some of the west's roughest terrain after one has reached the age of 70, is something of a phenom eon. Three Years Ago Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Watson, of Trail, began making pack trips three years ago. This sum mer they took a 225 mile walk in the Glacier Peak Primitive area of the Cascade mountains in Washington and continued south on the crest trail to Ste vens pass They intend to start hiking south again next summer from where they were forced to quit this year because of bad weather, and eventually to traverse the full length of the trail to where it ends in California. Watson is 72; his wife, 70. Sure Way "It's just a matter of what you really want to do," Mrs. Watson states. "The one sure way to get old is to think old. And this can happen at any age.". On their first extended hiking trips the Watsons experimented with burros as pack animals but decided that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. They abandoned the idea in favor of back-packing. The weight of their packs is, of course, one of the most im portant problems with which they are faced. They eliminate everything but the essentials from, their pack list. " ' Carry Camp Gear They carry sleeping bags, a lightweight aluminum camp set of cooking utensils from which they have discarded the pot lids, a small wire grill to aid in cook ing over camp fires and a frying pan with the handle cut off. Since summer rain and even snow are not uncommon on the JOYQE and KEN HAMNER Extend to you the Season's Greetings, and invite you to spend Christmas with us . . . Sunday, December 25th. DINING ROOM will be open from 11:00 a.m. till 9 p.m. LOUNGE Will Be Open YOUR ' "" ..u -mill's w high trails they carry a piece of parachute silk treated twice with water proofing and a 9 by 12 foot plastic painter's drop cloth to be used as a tent with their alpenstocks for support. The im provised shelter weighs only ZVz pounds. Food From Farm Much of the dried food they use on their trips comes from ttieir own farm located near Trail. To save on the weight of bacon the Watsons fry it first at home and pack it with only a little of the fat in plastic con tainers. They carry a food sup ply sufficient for a two week period in the woods. To provide elements lacking in mountain drinking water, which is largely melted snow, they supplement their diet with iodine and calcium pills. Few Tools For tools, they carry a short handled hoe, a hatchet and cniid s iinismng pole. Tne noe is considered invaluable. They use it to cut steps in snow, level areas for sleeping and cooking, digging holes for - refuse and clearing away brush. . The little fishing pole provides many trout meals to supplement their diet. Watson tries to keep the weight of his pack down to 50 pounds and that of his wife to 30 or 35.. mo i GIFTWARE - IAMPS - MAPLE DEPT. - MIRRORS - PICTURES DRAPES - HASSOCKS COSCO STOOLS AND CARTS PEN evenings til 9 p.m. ifljOjOifcOitf THE HOTEL From 11:00 a.m. Till 2:30 a.m. CHEF: JOHN CROTTY ii ii j mmim 5W sented by Dick Westerberg, league manager. The 1956 calendar is the first in 40 years which has been dedicated to a scoutmaster. More than 2,000 will be presented to business firms, school rooms and Cubs, Scouts and Ex plorers in Jackson county. Mrs. Watson admits that she gets tired climbing the steep trails but adds,' "Not as tired as get in my own house." The difference is that on the trail a brief rest brings a feeling of complete refreshment. Warned.of Accidents People warn them of all the things that could happen and tell them they are crazy to take such. chances but they say they are never so healthy or happy as when they are out in the big woods. As for accidents, one of the neighbors who was most pessimistic about their trip this year fell and broke her leg while chasing a chicken off of her back porch. o The Watsons have two sons and two grandchildren. They have always lived an outdoor life but children and daily chores kept them tied down until three years ago. At the present time they are visiting relatives in California but as soon as spring time comSs to the high moun tains they plan to take the Crest trail south. BIG STEAL - London U.R) Thieves stole jewelry valued at 828,000 from the apartment of American crooner Vic Damone and his movie star, wife Pier Angeli Friday night, police reported Saturday. - V m ml o o o
