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WAVE
COAST
By UNITED PRES
A bone-chilling cold wave
gripped the nation's midsection
today and spread southeastward
into the Ohio Valley.
Tie temperature dropped to
45 degrees below zero at Bern
idji, Minn., this morning, tieing
the all-tirne December low there
Winter, officially due Thurs-
day, was staging a coast to coast
preview.
At least 24 deaths during the
week end were attributed to the
weather.
It was so cold at Minneapolis
that traffic lights froze, remain
ing red or green until crews
could repair them. The "temper
ature at Minneapolis hit 21 be
low, a new record for the date.
At St. Paul, water froze in a
fire hose last night as firemen
fought a blaze.
Gales Lash Pacific
Gales lashed the Pacific coast
and small craft warnings were
displayed along the Atlantic
coast from Block Island to Cape
Hatteras.
Cold wave warnings were is
sued for New York State, Penn
sylvania, Ohio Valley and West
Virginia as the frigid Arctic air
mass moved southeastward.
Plunging temperatures were
forecast for today throughout
the Middle Atlantic states and
as far south as Tennesee.
Twenty persons were trapped
In a wooden apartment building
at San Francisco near the Cow
Palace when wind ripped the
roof from the buildirifc. They
were rescued by firemen and
none was reported seriously in
jured. ' Wind gusts in the San Fran
cisco Bay area (reached 63 mph
during an intense storm that
swept the Pacific coast north
ward. An inland fog in South
ern California was blamed for
three traffic accidents that kill
g) five persons.
Heavy rains fell in Northern
California and heavy snows cov-
Man Spends Night
In Woods For Tree
One Medford family will
doubly appreciate a hard-earned
Christmas tree.
Early yesterday afternoon a
party of four including Allen a
Hatfield, 32, of 111 Elm st., went
Christmas tree cutting in the
Butte Falls area. All but Hat
field returned.
Other members of the party
reported that Hatfield had been
lost to the Butte Falls ranger sta
tion about 6 p.m. Because of
darkness, no search party was
organized last night, but rangers
and sheriff's deputies planned a
search early today.
About 10 a.m. today, Hatfield
was located, apparently suffer
ing no ill effects from his all
night outing in the woods. "
Forest rangers said Hatfield
got his Christmas tree.
Defense Authority
Curtailment Eyed
Washington (U.R) Congress
will be asked to curtail the De
fense Department's authority to
buy goods through secret, nego
tiated contracts.
Chairman Carl Vinson (D-Ga.)
of the House Armed Services
Committee made this plain Sun
day in accusing the Pentagon of
a "shocking" abuse of military
buying procedures.
He said the Defense Depart
ment has virtually scrapped
open, competitive bidding in fa
vor of negotiated contracts. As a
result, he charged, an unneces
sary $3,650,000,000 of the tax
payers' money was spent on
military purchases during . the
past Zvz years.
That much money shaved,
Vinson said, would have been
almost enough to balance the
government's budget.
Six Theological Schools Receive Gifts
From Rockefeller Philanthropic Arm
New York U.P.) Gifts of
$10,375,000 to six interdenomi
national theological schools and
the American Association of
Theological Schools were an
nounced today by Sealantic
Fund, Inc., a philanthropic arm
of John D. Rockefeller Jr.
The grants are the first from
( 820,000,000 gift to the fund
made by Rockefeller last Janu
ary "to strengthen and develop
theological education in this
country."
Benefioiaries are Vanderbilt
NATION;
HARD HIT
ered areas of- the Siskiyou and
I Sierra Nevada mountains.
South of San Francisco at
Linda Mar a school roof was
blown off. Several store wind
ows in San Francisco were shat
tered by the wind and some
areas were darkened by power
failures when lines were snap
ped. Three television stations
were blacked out.
The northern tier of states
from Wyoming east to the Great
Lakes suffered with falling tem
peratures and snow.
Light snow fell over Wyom
ing and the higher mountains
of Northern Colorado. The mer
cury fell to 3 below zero at
Sheridan, Wyo., and 16 degrees
above at Akron, Colo., at noon
yesterday.
More than 80 inches of snow
has fallen at Houghton, Mich.,
this season for a new record.
There . was 66 inches of snow
on the ground yesterday. Parts
of Northern Minnesota measured
25 inches of snow on the ground.
Portland Snowfall
Begins To Melt;
Rain Turns To Ice
Portland (U.R) Hopes of
Portland children for a White
Christmas were at least tem
porarily dashed today when a
Sunday snowfall began melting
but old man winter, who arrives
Thursday, might have some sur
prises in store.
Some of Oregon got part of a
windy Pacific storm that struck
during the week-end with wind
gusts up to 60 miles" per hour
reported on the coast and 2.83
inches of rain recorded at Capo-
Portland received an east wind,
Blanco in a 24-hour period. But
a coat of snow and then freezing
rain Sunday. By this morning
the snow was melting in most
sections although there was some
freezing rain in high areas and
in the Columbia gorge.
Willameile Rain Freezes
Freezing rain was reported
yesterday in parts, of the Wil
lamette valley and from Port-
lantd to Astoria. Rainfall was
widespread over the rest of west
ern Oregon. North Bend had
2.02 inches, Astoria 1.21, New
port 1.44 and Eugene 1.36. Mod
erate to substantial rises were
forecast for western Oregon
rivers, which all were well be
low flood stage early today.
Vancouver, Wash., public
schools and Clark Junior Col
lege were closed today.
The weather man indicated
that the worst was over for the
time being with some snow and
frozen rain forecast in the north
part of eastern Oregon and Train
elsewhere through Tuesday.
Traffic Hailed
A heavy coating of ice was be
lieved responsible for a 66,000-
volt Pacific Power and -Light
Company line which fell across
the Pacific Highway at Albany
yesterday. Traffic was halted for
about half an hour, and a large
area went without power, while
linemen patched the break.
A 12,000-volt power line in
northeast Portland failed this
morning, because of icing condi
tions, leaving hundreds of cus
tomers without power. Service
was all restored by 8 a.m.
Army Convoys Pass '
Through Medford
Convoys of second infantry
division vehicles returning from
Operation Sagebrush in Louisi
ana to Fort Lewis, Wash., passed
through Medford yesterday and
today.
The convoys, which will to
tal 539 vehicles, will continue
for two more days. Sunday, 171
vehicles passed through the city,
100 vehicles today, 98 will go
through Medford tomorrow, and
170 Wednesday.
School of Religion, Nashville
Tenn.; Federate Theological Fac
ulty of the University of -Chicago;
the Pacific School of Re
ligion, Berkeley, Calif.; Union
Theological Seminary, New
Yor; Yale University Divinity
School and Harvard University
Divinity School.
The funds are to be used for
developing faculty, increasing
salaries, new buildings and oth
er program expansion.
Dana S. Creel, director of the
fund, said the six schools were
M
EDF0RD
United Press Full Leased Wire
50th Year 18 Pages
President Returns
To Busy Schedule
With Conference
Augusta Vacation
Due After Christmas
Gettysburg, Pa. U.R) Presi
dent Eisenhower, fresh from
five days of rest and relaxation,
dug into government business
today, starting with a confer
ence with Chairman Lewis L.
Strauss of the Atomic Energy
commission.
Presidential Press Secretary
James C. Hagerty said Strauss!
visit would be "mostly social"
but that a "few" atomic matters
would be discussed.
To Discuss Agenda
Tuesday Mr. Eisenhower will
meet at his' Gettysburg office
with Dillon S. Anderson, a spe
cial assistant who will discuss
with him an agenda for Thurs
day's National Security Council
meeting at which the President
will preside.
Mr. and Mrs. Eisenhower will
leave their Gettysburg farm on
Wednesday to spend Christmas
in the White House. After the
holiday, again on his doctors'
orders, the President will go to
Augusta, Ga., for rest and exer
cise in the southern sunshine.
Cards in Mail
Mr. Eisenhower's Christmas
activities began to pick up Sun
day. He and Mrs. Eisenhower
got their Christmas cards in the
mail and, the President, in a ra
dio and television appearance,
gave his Christmas message to
the nation. He also touched a
gold telegraph key to light the
huge Christmas tree at the
White House.
The official White House
Christmas greeting was a double
folded' card on crisp linen. It
bore the gold-and-white presi
dential seal on the front against
a royal blue background and
the engraved words "Season's
Greetings, 1955."
Inside the card read, "The
President and Mrs. Eisenhower
extend their best wishes for
Christmas and the New Year."
The Eisenhowers also sent out
personal cards which were not
described to reporters.
Recovery Found Excellent
The . President's physicians,
headed by Dr. Paul Dudley
White, the Boston heart special
ist, gave him a detailed exami
nation Saturday and came up
with the basic finding that his
recovery from his heart attack
was "excellent."
White declined to pronounce
a political prognosis for the
President, saying generally that
what Mr. Eisenhower does about
1956 must be essentially the
President's own decision.
Hearing On Service
Expansion Tuesday
A public "hearing on proposed
revision and expansion of toll
free dialing in Rogue valley by
the Pacific Telephone and Tele
graph company will be held at
9:30 a.m. tomorrow .in the Jack
son county court room here.
: The hearing was called by
Public Utilities Commissioner
Charles H. Heltzel.
The proposed changes effect
service between Medford, Ash
land, Talent, Phoenix, Gold Hill,
Central Point and Jacksonville.
Hood River Man Held
On Bad Check Charges
Vancouver, Wash. (U.R)
Harry Longhofer, Hood River,
Ore., was held by police authori
ties here on charges of passing
severw false checks.
Longhofer was arrested Sat
urday by Detective Robert Ax
lund, but he broke away and
fled down a downtown street.
Axlund fired a warning shot in
the air, but Longhofer kept on
running.
selected "as strategic institu
tions representing various re
gions of the country and less
likely to receive significant con
tributions from denominational
bodies who quite" understand
ably concentrate their" support
on their-own denomination sem
inaries." Pacific will get an outright
gift of 51,000,000 and $500,000
to be paid on the basis of SI for
every SI raised from other
sources for specific programs
and needs.
MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1
r .'Votes
h
Nationalists Surge
To Landslide in
General Election
Government Pledged
To Restore Territory
Saarbruecken, Saar (U.R)
The triumphant German nation
alists announced today they
would form a Saar government
pledged to restore the rich coal
steel territory to Germany.
The three German parties,
banned until last summer, surg
ed to a massive landslide victory
in Sunday's general elections for
the 50 -'man legislature (Land
tag). The election came just seven
weeks after an Oct. 23 referen
dum in which the Saarlanders
rejected by a sweeping majority
the "European statute," hand
ed them by France and Ger
many. Votes Add Punch
The Saar is German - speak
ing but French controlled since
the war. The two votes added a
tremendous punch to the cam
paign by the German parties to
restore this 900-square mile "lost
corner" of Germany to the fath
erland. But the German parties
the Christian Democrats (CDU),
the German Social Democrats,
(SPS) and the Saar Democratic
Party (DPS) fell just short
of complete triumph.
They had hoped to pile up a
three-fourth majority of the new
Landtag, or at least 38 v seats.
They actually won 64 per cent
of the popular vote and 33 par
liamentary seats.
A three - fourths majority
would have enabled them to
change the 1947 Saar consti
tution at once. This would el
iminate all references to the ter
ritory's political separation from
Germany and economic attach
ment to France. And it would
have paved the way for the
Saar's early return to Germany
from which it has been separat
ed since 1945.
Banded in Alliance
The German parties banded
together in an alliance known
as the "Homeland league," (Hei
matbund) to fight both the ref
erendum and the election con
tests. At a 1 a.m. news conference
after the election results were
announced the Heimatbund in
dicated it would maintain the al
liance in a drive for restoration
of the Saar to Germany. Both
Germany and France have feud
ed over the Saar for centuries.
(See Story on Page 12) "
Nationalists Damage
Communist Gunboats
Taipei, Formosa (U.R) Na
tional Chinese Thunder jets
"heavily damaged" three 250
ton Communist gunboats today
in their second straight day of
attacks on vessels off the South
China coast, the Air Force head
quarters announced.
A communique said a flight of
its jet fighter bombers, while on
patrol off South China coast this
morning, discovered a concentra
tion of six Communist gunboats,
all of 250-ton class, near Tung
shan Island. The patrol immed
iately strafed and rocketed the
vessels after the patrol was at
tacked by anti-aircraft fire from
the Communist ships and Tung
shan Island.
All Nationalist planes re
turned safely to base on For
mosa, the communique said.
Nationalist warplanes sank
two Red vessels and damaged
three others near Tungshan
Island yesterday.
DOW-JONES AVERAGES
New York (U.R) Dow -Jones
final stock averages: 30 indus
trials 481.80 off 0.28; 20 rails
161.42 up 0.06; 15 utilities 64.21
off 0.16, and 65 stocks 170.89
off 0.12. Sales today were about
2,380,000 shares against 2,310.,-
000 Friday.
Portland (U.R) A Salt Lake
City firm is apparent low bid
der at S616.461 for construction
of a 1400-foot highway tunnel
in Oregon's Lane county.
- 5" -Full Leased Wire
LIFTING LOADED TRAILER
..
copter handles record load at Culver City, Cal. U. S. Air Force
XH-17 can handle loads of more than 10 tons, was built by
Aircraft Division of Hughes Tool Co. (International)
ee Men Killed
ane
Lincoln, Neb. (U.R) A Navy
jet plane warming up at the
Lincoln Air Force Base sudden
ly slipped its moorings and
killed three men when it ran
wild at 80 miles an hour.
The F9F Navy Cougar finally
crashed in flames into a hangar
and set it afire at the end of its
rampage yesterday. It had also
crashed into four planes, one of
them a P2V4 Neptune Patrol
bomber which was knocked at
right angles.
Pilot Among Dead
The dead were the pilot of
the jet, Lt. (jg) Vernon R. Chap
man Jr., 25, Grand island, Neb.;
Air Controlman 1C Kenneth
Cecil Newman, 26; and Air Con
trolman 3C Hubert Lee Tracy,
29, both of Lincoln. Chapman
had won seven air medals as a
Navy aviator during the Korean
war. He had been discharged
two years ago, but was on active
duty as a reservist.
Newman and Tracy were in
the hangar when the jet crashed
into it and apparently burned to
death.
Chapman was said by wit
nesses to have tried to jump
from the runaway plane. He was
thrown clear when it rammed
into a bomber.
Air Force fire fighting equip
ment and five Lincoln fire com
panies were unable to save the"
hangar. The wooden building
housed operation, . maintenance
and personnel departments for
Naval Reserve operations.
Authorities were unable to
Road Conditions
Siskiyous, Green Springs and
Prospect Pavement bare, rain
ing. California Motorists advised
to carry chains between Mt.
Shasta and Dunsmuir. Chains
required on sections of Highway
97 north of Weed.
Crater Lake National Park
Chains advised on Highway 62
through park; Annie Springs to
rim road expected to open this
afternoon; 2 inches new snow;
total 68 inches.
Highway 101 -Closed at Hum
bug park', slide.
Umpqua highway One-way
traffic on Highway 38 east of
Reedspori, slide.
Help Fight TB
Byy Chrittmos Sc!iHt
As
5c No. 231
y Toe
V
ermnioiray
VAN, world's biggest heli
Runs
say what caused the jet to run
away. Witnesses said it was
warming up for a routine flight
and the engine roared to "100
per cent full power" and jumped
its wheel chocks.
Girl Knocked Down
In Crosswalk Here
Jeanette Ellen Parker, 14, of
307 . Monroe st., was struck by
a car at 4:50 p.m., Sunday, while
in the north crosswalk at "West
Sixth and North Holly sts., ac
cording to city -police.
She was knocked down but
not injured, police said. Miss
Parker told police the driver of
the car stopped, took her name
and address and offered to trans
port her to a hospital. He was
not identified.
Two non-injury accidents in
Medford were reported to city
police over the week end.
A three-car accident at the in
tersection of West Main and
Newtown sts. Saturday involved
vehicles driven by Arthur Ruben
Clement, 211 Cottage st., Her
bert Gunn Miller, 216 Lincoln
st., and Byron Baker Carter Sr.,
611 South Riverside ave.
Cars, driven by Charles Albert
Langstbn, 263 Beatty st., and
Carl Francis McQuigg, 533 Aus
tin st., collided at the interesec
tion of Beatty and Edwards sts.,
about 7:46 p.m., today.
About 12:09 p.m., Saturday,
cars operated by Berwick Lewis
Wood, 2445 East Main st., and
Donald Wayne Greaves, 716
West 13th st., collided" in an
alleyway on West Sixth st. be
tween North Grape and North
Holly sts., according to police
reports.
Roseburg Man's Spree
Ends in Big Headache
Roseburg (U.R) Casey Gor
don, arrested Saturday night on
a drunk charge, had a man-sized
headache today.
He also had a broken nose,
four stitches in his lip and five
stitches in his head.
Gordon and a friend, Charles
Boyd, who was arrested with
him on a drunk charge, tried to
rush Roseburg police officer
Charles Harcourt in an escape
attempt last night.
Boyd, in his report, said he
sidestepped the pair, tripped
Boyd and "subdued" Gordon.
Officer Harcourt was a com
bat judo instructor in the Ma
rine Corps during World War II
and a champion wrestler while
in the service.
Washington (U.R) The Ag
riculture Department has set the
1956 raw sugar quotas for local
consumption in Hawaii at 45,000
short tons and in Puerto Rico at
100,000 short tons. .
Wild
Weather
FORECAST: Rain through to
night. Showers and slightly
cooler Tuesday. Low tonight
40. High Tuesday 45.
Highest vesterdav
Lowest this morning
To 10 a.m. today
Tense Gaza Strip
Clash Kills Four;
Rioting Reported
Curfew. Clamped
On Bethlehem
Jerusalem (U.R) Egypt
reported one Egyptian and four
Israeli soldiers were slain in an
hour-long clash in the tense Gaza
Strip today.
The neighboring state of Jor
dan, torn by riots over reports
its new government plans to
join the Baghdad pact, mean
while clamped a dusk to dawn
curfew on the city of Bethlehem
where Christ was born.
The new Egypt-Israeli clash
was reported by an Egyptian
military spokesman at Gaza.- It
was ihe first incident in which
fatalities were reported since
Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel
Nasser warned that Syria and
Egypt would retaliate on two
fronts against any Israeli "ag
gression." Thousands of Pilgrims
The first report said Israeli
and Egyptian troops clashed in
the Gaza Valley south of the
Egyptian strongpoint. at Gaza.
New trouble was breaking out
in the Holy Land just as thous
ands of travelers were flocking
toward the shrines of Christen
dom on Christmas pilgrimages.
Jordan s government ordered
a curfew on Bethlehem "until
further notice," presumably to
quell disorder spread by oppon
ents of the Baghdad pact.
if tne curlew continues on
throughout the week, the histor
ic Christmas Eve mass at the
crypt that marks Christ's "birth
place would have to be can
celed. Riots In Jerusalem
The Holy City of Jerusalem
itself was rocked by more riot
ing today.
Israelis, watching from van
tage points on their side of the
divided city, said troops of the
British-trained Arab Legion op
ened fire on demonstrators in
the Jordanian old city.
The Israeli reports said riot
ing took place in the Sheikh
Jarah quarter of Jordanian Jer
usalem and inside the old city
itself.
After an hour, the area was
reported quiet.
American Soldiers
Acquitted by Army
Berlin '(U.R) Two American
soldiers accused by the Commu
nists of attacking 'a Communist
actor in East Berlin were ac
quitted today by a U.S. Army
court martial.
The twb soldiers were charg
ed with "being disorderly in
uniform in a public place."
Both pleaded not guilty and
claimed Communist actor Wer
ner Lierck called Pvt. William
J. Holden, an "American swine"
and that Holden knocked Lierck
to the ground.
Holden, of Popularville, Miss.,
and Pvt. Richard L. Calbert, 22,
of Kansas City, Mo., were ar
rested by the Reds Dec. 7 after
the; allegedly knocked out
Lierck outside a bar in the So
viet sector.
Holden said that after Lierck
called him a swine the German
moved forward as to hit him.
The soliders' defense counsel,
Capt. Melburn N. Washburn of
Mountain Grove, Mo., told the
court the soldiers acted in self
defense. Olympia (U.R) The Wash
ington Public Service Commis
sion has authorized Portland
Gas and Coke company to serve
the Vancouver, Wash., area with
natural gas.
Temp.
5d
47
Prec.
21
Highway Accidents Leave
Four Oregon Persons Dead
By UNITED PRESS
Oregon counted four persons
dead today in highway accidents
since Friday.
Frank Earl Thomas, 2Z, cot
tage Grove, was killed instantly
yesterday morning when his
auto crashed off highway 58
about 10 miles east of Lookout
Point Dam, some 20 miles east
of Eugene.
State police said Thomas ap
parently fell asleep at the wheel,
and his vehicle failed to come
out of a long turn. The auto hur
tled 62 feet through the air be
fore crashing into a rock and
dirt wall.
Betty Je&a Curl, Silets, was
Gun Play Follows
Argument, Logger
Tells Authorities
Pair Slain in View
Of Seven Children
Tillamook (U.R) A young
Warm Springs man and his wife
were shot to death at Rockaway
early yesterday in front of sev
en children and authorities held
a 33-year-old logger here on an
open charge.
Dead were Donald Peecard,
23, and his 25-year-old wife, Dor
is. They had three small chil
dren. Held was Grant C. Bailey, a
father of four children who once -was
a prisoner of the Germans
in World War II.
Shootings Follow Fight
Police Chief Delbert Walpole
of Rockaway said the shoot
ings followed a round of drink
ing and fighting. He said Bailey
was arrested when he found him
without a shirt and bleeding on
the street at Rockaway about
a.m. Sunday. The Peecards
died in Tillamook county hos
pital soon after the shootings.
Walpole said Bailey appeared to
have been badly beaten. Wal
pole said Bailey told officers
the Peecards had been staying
with him and that he had order
ed them from his home early
Sunday. Bailey's story said he
waited for them at the foot of
the stairs with two rifles and
that Peecard pulled one of them
from his hand. He said he fired
with the other, a 22 caliber rifle,
according to Walpole, and Pee
card was hit with the first shot.
He said he thought Mrs. Pee
card was going for the other
rifle so he shot her, police said. O
Children in View
Walpole said Bailey'g four
children and the Peecard young-u
sters were in bed in clear view
of the shooting on the main floor
of the house.
Bailey said he had ordered
the Peecards from his home
after Peecard started beating bis
wife, according to Walpole.
Tillamook county District At
torney John Hathway said Bail
ey had planned to find Peecard
a job in the woods.
, Bailey was captured during
World War II and almost died
of starvation and pneumonia in
a German prisoner of war camp.
Sales Tax Studied
For Education Use
Portland (U.R) The school
finance committee of the Ore
gon; Education association has
recommended the study of a
state general sales tax to raise
public education revenue.
The recommendation, reach
ed at a committee meeting here
last week end, will be forward
ed to the OEA representative
council for final action next
March.
The finance committee also
supported a proposal to attach
the emergency clause to state
tax measures. The proposal will
be on the ballot at the next
general election.
Draft Calls To Lower
In Next Six Months
Washington U.R) Draft
calls will run below 10,000 men
a month during the next six
months, the lowest level since
the start of the Korean war, de
fense manpower officials say.
While draft calls are fixed on
a month to month basis, the De
fense Department plans to call
only between 6,000 and 10,000
men a month' for the first half
of 1956. Draft calls averaged
about 10,000 monthly during
most of 1955.
Highway Landscaping
Seen Traffic Safety Aid
Salem (U.R) Good highway
landscaping can contribute to
traffic safety, Mark H. Astrup,
landscape engineer for the State
Highway Department, told a
weekend meeting here of the
Oregon Society of Landscape
Architects.
killed Saturday when a con
vertible in which she was riding
went over an embankment on a
county road 30 miles north of
Newport. Her sister, Mary Hed--da,
was injured seriously. Three
other sisters and Leonard Harris,
DeLake, driver of the car, were
uninjured.
Adrian -Renay Erickson, 42,
Sacramento, Calif., was killed
Friday night in an accident near
Savage Rapids dam on the Pa
cific highway near Grants Pass.
Mrs. Clinton van Cleef, 38,
Hines, was injured fatally when
her car skidded on an icy high
way 40 miles west of Burns.
o