Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1955)
o CP G To VaitmP Presi Fun Leased Wire 6'0thGYe3r 28 Rages e- o HELD IN EXTORTION PLOT William Clarence Peddicord (left), 38-year-old blind father of five childreo who once won national praise for his courage, confessed to Portland, Ore. police that he bombed the Meier and Frank Department store last April 15 in a $50,000 extortion plot. He implicated bis -ister-in-law, Joyce Keller, 28, shown at right with Detective Del Sanders, as his "eyes." Both were booked on a charge of injury to persons and properties by explosives. Boni for each was set at $75,000. '. Pair Bound Over To Grand Jury in Meier-Frank Plot Portland OJ.R) William Clarence Peddicord, 38, and Mrs. Joyce Keller, 28, yesterday were bound over to a Multno mah county grand jury, accused of the bombing of Meier and Frank Co., store here last April. The two waived preliminary hearing before Municipal Judge J. J. Quillan. Judge Quillan re duced bail from $75,000 , to $25,- 000 on each of the accused. Bomb-Exioriion Admitted Peddicord, an unemployed blind chemist, has admitted the bomb-extortion plan againstthe department store firm and has implicated Mrs. Keller, his sister-in-law. He said she served es his eyes. Mrs. Keller has refused to make a statement to police and has notobtained counsel. Her former usbandp Clifford Keller, 30, appeared in court and said arrangements would be made to obtain counsel. ' Peddicord was represented by Attorney James Hafey. Meanwhile, Peddicord's wife was reported to have received treatment at a hospital. Phoenix Man Renamed To Sgife Auction Board ' Salem (UR) Gov. Paul Pat terson said today he has reap pointed gol. A. H. Dudley of Phoenix, QDre., as a member of the State Board of Livestock Auction Markets. Kenneth R. Crookham of Port land and R. L. Fanning of Gresham vcere reappointed as members 51 the Multnomah county Tax; Supervising and Conservation Commission. Jordan in Uneasy Truce; Christmas Curfew Lifted Ammagj Jordan (U.R) Un easy peace returned today to riot-torn Jordan and the new eare taker government lifted th Christmas week curfew in the little town of Bethlehem where Christ was born. Caretaker Premier Ibrahim Hashem soothed the populace that had risen in inflamed mobs end stormed the American and French consulates in Jerusalem yesterday and burned their flags. He promised national elections to determine whether Jordan shall join the Baghdad pact "northern tier" alliance against Communist aggression. The is sue caused five days of bloody MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1955 Ford Reports Profit Of $1,536,800,0 Washington (U.R) The Ford Motor Co., in its first public ac counting in 52 years, today re ported net profits of $1,536,800, 000 from 1946 through Sept. 30. These disclosures were made in a 39-page prospectus covering Ford Foundation plans to sell 10,200,000 shares of common stock in the first public offering of Ford securities in the firm's history. The stock, biggest corporate offering ever made, is expected to go on sale some time next month for about $75 a share. The actual time and price will be disclosed later. Par value will be $50 a share. The Ford earnings report' was made in a registration state ment, a necessary corollary of the stock offering,' to the Secu rities and Exchange commis sion. It showed that current earnings are at the rate of $5.85 a share. Cumulative earnings since 1946 have been second in the auto industry only to Gen- Dr. Barfels Chosen President of Staff Dr. B. Brandt Bartels was re elected president of the staff doc tors of Sacred Heart hospital at an annual banquet Monday eve ning at hospital dining rooms. Dr. O. R. Emig was reelected vice-president and Dr. L. D. Inskeep was reelected secretary. Sisters of the hospital were hostesses, and physicians pre sented them an album of record ings. Tables were decorated with baskets of holly and poinsettias. Several physcians spoke on medicine and hospitals. riots by anti-pact Arabs through out the country. - Lifting of the dusk to dawn curfew at Bethlehem assured Christmas services for pilgrims in the town. Planeloads of pil grims were arriving at heavily guarded Amman, the capital of Jordan, for Christmas cere monies. The 75-year-old Premier, ap pointed yesterday by young King Hussein, ordered shuttered schools to reopen. Civil servants were told to return to work. Hussein issued a royal decree formally naming Hashem as Pre mier and naming former Pre mier Fawzi El Mulki as defense and education minister. pf.30 eral Motors. , The company used this pros pectus as a vehicle for disclos ing that it plans to introduce a new line of passenger automo biles "within the next ' few years." It did not describe the line or say what market it will be aimed at. Concerning current business, the Ford company disclosed that dealers' stocks of Fords and Mercurys have increased and that "there have been reduc tions in .production and in fu ture production schedules." "Rapid changes in demand can occur in the industry" the company said "and plans for fu ture production are subject to continuous review and to fre-. quent revision upward or down ward as circumstances require." - The financial report covered the 10 years as required by law, through the first nine months of 1955. It disclosed that the com pany suffered net losses in 1946 of $8,100,000. Thereafter, however, the com pany made fat profits, although there was a sag in 1951 and 1952. Output hit a record high for the firm in the first nine months of 1955. For that period the net was $312,200,000, high er by $84,400,000 than the prof its for all of 1954, the richest previous year. , (See Story on Page 9) 07 Switch Explosion Damages Redmond Plant Redmond, Ore. (U.R) Ex plosion of an oil switch in the Pacific Power and light substa tion here early today caused sev eral thousand dollars damage to equipment and interrupted elec trical service for about 50 min utes to a large part of the cen tral Oregon area. R. L. Clark, PP&L service man at Redmond, was shaken up and bruised by the blast that occurred when he closed an au tomatic circuit breaker that opened following interruption on a 2400-volt line serving down town Redmond. Ellensburg, Wash. JU.R) An airline pilot's report that he saw a fire burning in the Teanaway river country northeast of Cle Elum, Wash., spurred hope today that Sgt. J. H. Horan, a missing para trooper might still be alive and awaiting rescue in the rugged, snow-covered Cascade mountains. Bulletin Tribune United Press Full Leafed Wire Price 5c No. 233 Plane Explodes; Bodies Charred By Gas-Fed Fire Craft Barely Misses Several Residences Jacksonville, Fla. (U.R) Seventeen persons were carried to sudden death early today in an .Eastern Airlines Constella tion that crashed and exploded almost in the back yards of resi dences bordering Municipal air port here. All aboard the Miami to New York plane 12 passengers and five crew members were charred beyond recognition by gasoline-fed flames that seared the 199-yard bulldozing path of the stricken aircraft. Instrument " Landing There was also a body on the plane being shipped to New York. The passengers were en route to Washington, New York and Boston. The plane was coming into the Jacksonville airport for a rou tine instrument landing. Cause of the crash was unexplained. John Ingle, local EAL man ager, said that one of many rumors and reports that "un doubtedly will be checked" came from an unidentified air lines pilot who said the sound of jet planes was heard in the vicinity just before the crash. The Jacksonville control tower said it had no: contact with any other planes at the time. The four-engine plane was on air coach service and an airlines official in Miami said this just happene.d to be a slack pre Christmas week for north-bound flights. Any other week the plane probably would have car ried up to 60 passengers. Clips Off Tree-Tops The airliner crashed in a wooded area, clipped off tree tops at the 25 foot level, then bored 66 yards through the trees and hit the ground. The hurtling wreckage plowed 26 yards and clipped off an oak tree, skidded another 6,5 yards where the tail was sheared off and plowed on for an additional 15 yards 'where the main part of the fuselage came to a halt. One motor was catapulted 27 yards beyond that point. Oregon Court Rules On School Bus Law Salem (U.R) A school child crossing a city street for a pur pose other than boarding or leaving a school bus is not with in the protection of the statute requiring cars to stop when a school bus is loading or unload ing, the Oregon Supreme Court said today. And the child's action .there fore, the high court said in an opinion by Justice William C. Perry, was subject to a city or dinance making it unlawful to cross streets except at defined pedestrian crossings. Gerald M. Burke attempted to run across a street in Cottage Grove when he saw his mother on the opposite side from where he was waiting to board a school bus, and was hit by a car driven by Norris A. 01sont The boy, through Virgil I. Burke, brought suit, but a jury in the Lane county Circuit Court of Judge William G. East returned a verdict in favor of Olson. And in affirming the judgment, the Supreme Court said the school bus statute re fers only to school children who are crossing a street or highway either to board or leave the bus to attend school or reach their home. Missionaries Leave For Philippine Hospital Hong Kong (U.R) Dr. and Mrs. Homer Bradshaw, weak and ill after nearly five years in Communist prisons, left for a U.S. Air Force hospital in the Philippines today under the care of two doctors and a nurse. RUSH TAPERING OFF Crowds of Medford residents still swarmed into the Medford post office Tuesday for last-minute mailing of packages, although the height of the rush Local Post Office Handles Peak Load Of Christmas Mail Workers at the Medford post office will testify that not all Christmas presents are deliver ed by Santa Claus and his rein deer. The local post office handled about 600 mail sacks per day full of incoming parcel post Sat urday, Sunday and Monday. To tal weight of packages handled each day was about 15 tons. 'Splendid' Cooperation Postmaster Moore Hamilton said the department has receiv ed "splendid" cooperation from the people of Medford in early mailing of Christmas cards and packages and by dividing mail into bundles marked "local" and "out of town." Postmen recently distributed red and white labels to be fast ened on bundles of Christmas cards, designating local and out of town distribution. Kore Cancellations The post office had 97,800 cancellations Monday, the peak day, including parcel post. Only 85,230 cancellations were made last year at the peak of the Christmas season. Incoming mail is as heavy as it was last year, Hamilton said. The post office has employed 27 persons as temporary help for distribution of Christmas mail. To make possible the delivery of parcel post packages, the post office has borrowed 13 trucks from other local government agencies. Most parcel post is pro cessed and delivered the same day it is received in the post of fice. On Japan's UN Bid United Nation, N.Y. (U.R) The Security Council withheld action today on a recommenda tion for Japan's admission to the United Nations after Russia made it clear that it would veto it. British delegate Sir Pierson Dixon suggested that the council postpone action on Japan. He said he hoped to hear "through other channels" that Russia soon would be ready to consider the Japanese application favorably. Soviet delegate Arkady A. Sobolev sought to tie Commu nist Outer. Mongolia to Japan in a council recommendation to the General Assembly to admit the two countries "soon." After Russia had used its veto three times in three days against Japan last week, Britain pre sented a resolution declaring that the council "takes note that Ja pan is fully qualified for mem bership of the United Nations and. expresses the hope that Ja pan will soon be admitted to the United Nations." - Help Fight IB .Buy Christmas Seals.. DILt n ; .-7Vt .t - Council Schedules Hearing On Proposed Parking Program Here A public hearing will.be held by the Medford city council at its Jan. 17 meeting to sound out public sentiment toward a muni cipal off-street parking program. John G. Crawford, chairman of the citizens off-street parking committee, told the council last night there are three proposed sources of revenue to pay for such a plan. The first would be assessments against property owners down town, based on benefits from off-street parking. Increased Fees He said other merchants would contribute their share through increased business li cense fees, adjusted on a "more equitable" basis, which would compensate for parking meter revenue used for a public off street parking area. The third source, Crawford said, would be the money from parking meters in the municipal lots. " ' Councilman Donald Hansen, chairman of the council's off street parking committee, noted that the committee did not favor private enterprise, in establish ing additional parking facilities because of the expense, and the possibility that such areas might be devoted to other private purposes. Initial Cost Hansen noted that the initial cost of such a proposal probably would require a bond issue, either general obligation or rev enue. Repayment of the bonds would be from parking meter revenues. Charter .changes would be necessary to permit such financing, he said. Hansen pointed out that, ac cording to City Manager Robert Duff bonding necessary for such a project would not jeopardize the city's bonding capacity, whether general obligation or improvement bonds were issued. Crawford explained the plan calls for a 10-year program and that expenses are figured on that basis. He said the committee considered several possibilities, and that additional programs might be suggested at a public hearing. Mayor Earl Miller said . the council should ascertain if prop Former Wife Kills Klamath Falls Man Creswell (U.R) A Klamath Falls man was killed here last night when his ex-wife fired a .25 caliber bullet into his heart as he tried to force his way into her home. Lane County District Attor ney Eugene Venn said Mrs. Ai leen Belle Hamilton was not arrested because of her three children. Mrs. Hamilton, 31, admitted shooting Clarence Louis Hamil ton, 25, because she-feared for the safety of her three children, aged one to eight. Venn said Mrs.; .Hamilton would appear before a special grand jury Friday. : She said Hamilton . had beat her in the past and that at one time she was hospitalized for her injuries. Hamilton was under a court order to refrain from mo lesting his ex-wife. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages; 30 indus trials 485.49 up 3.65, '20 rail roads 162.57 up 1.51, 15 util ities 64.52 up 0.21, 65 stocks 172.10 up 1.27. Sales today were about 2,540,000 shares compared with 2,280,000 yesterday. was reached Monday. Post office personnel believe this year's volume of Christmas mail will again set a new record here. (Brainerd photo erty owners concerned are in fa vor of the proposal, and, if the city is to help finance it, de termine the opinion of residents. Recommended Program In a recommendation submit ted last summer, the off-street parking committee suggested a goal of $600,000 for a 10-year program. Half the total would be revenue from "property assess ment districts" on a benefit-basis sliding scale of 50 per cent, 35 per cent and 15 per cent. The balance would be supplied by parking meter revenue at the rate of $30,000 per year for 10 years. A revised business license fee would compensate for funds used, from parking meters. (Oiher council stories on Pages 14 and 15) An ordinance licensing mer chant patrolmen and watchmen was adopted by the Medford city council last night. The ordinance, which was recommended by Medford's po lice department, defines a mer chant patrolman or watchman as a person who is employed to guard or protect property, pa trols streets, districts or terri tory and includes any person who is employed by another as a guard or patrolman. City Manager Robert Duff pointed out that such an ordin ance was desired to have a mini mum of control over authorized patrolmen or watchmen not em ployed by the city. Applicants for merchant pa trolmen or watchmen will pay a small permit fee, and an in vestigation will be conducted by the police chief, who will make recommendations regard ing the employee. Permits may be revoked by the chief of police with a pro vision the merchant patrolman or watchman may appeal to the council. Weather FORECAST: Rain through Thursday. Gusty southerly winds tonight. Continued mild. Low tonight 45. High Thursday 55. Temp. Highest Yesterday 53 Lowest this Morning : 47 Prec. to 4:30 a.m. Today 29 County Fund For Salk Vaccine Expenses Establishment of a $1,000 county fund for administrative expenses of federally distributed. Salk polio vaccine was an nounced today by County Treas urer Karl Janouch. It was trans ferred from the county emer gency fund. The money, which will be used between Dec. 1 and June 30, is for expenses for additional sec retarial help and other expenses incurred. The fund will be re imbursed by the federal govern ment. Dr. A. E. Merkel, county health officer, said $30,000,000 worth of vaccine was made avail able by Congress for distribu tion to "hardship families with children under 19 years." Con gress also appropriated $4,500, 000 for administration. Streets Covered; Flood Conditions Warning issued Highway 99 Covered Near Cottage Grove By UNITED PRESS Eugene area residents today battled high water from more than our inches of rain in 24 hours and the weather bureau warned Willamette valley resi dents, to prepare for flood con ditions. A total of 4?02 inches of rain was measured in Eugene during the 24 hours ending at 4:30 m. today. The river forecast issued in Portland called for "substan tial rises in all streams of north west Oregon and - southwest Washington wjth considerable flooding in the Willamette val ley." Families Leave Home The Lane county sheriff's of fice said several families temp, orarily . left their homes in the Westward Ho section about three miles northeast of ugene be cause of surface water and the rising McKenzie river. The Mc Kenzie was expected to go to 14 feet, three feet over flood stage at the Coburg bridge by after noon. ! Many crosstown Eugene streets were barricaded because of curb to curb surface water this morning. Amazon creek was over its banks. Police and fire men reported dozens of calls r about flooded basements. A foot of water was report ed over Highway 126 at Ren nie's landing about five miles east of Springfield near the Mc Kenzie. State police reported six inches of water over Highway 99 at Walker airport six mileft north of Cottage Grove. Warm temperatures andQ heavy rain sent streams up. The Santiam at Jefferson was nearly two feet over flood stage at 8 a.m. The Willamette at Albany -was up to 17.1 feet, 2.9 feet un der flood stage. North Bend also received heavy rain, 2.73 inches in 2 hours. Astoria got 1.71 and Rose burg 1.30. Other rainfall measurements included 1.01 at Bend, .65 aH Portland, .71 at Salem and .28 at The Dalles. Forecasts called for wind and intermitten rain with locally heavy amounts through Thurs day in western Oregon with. coastal winds reaching gusts of 50 miles per hour. Occasional showers were expected east of the mountains. Roseburg police reported that an evacuation had begun along Curry road in the lower Garden Valley area west of Roseburg where the Umpqua river threat ened to spill over its banks. Flooding Around Winston There was local flooding vi the south fork of the stream and its tributaries around Winston. Crest forecast for Winston at 10 p.m. today was for 26 feet, one foot over flood stage and just three feet short of the, all-time high of 29 feet reported in 1950. The Dry Creek road 10 mills' above Steamboat was under 2Vi feet of water this morning and there was an inch of water on the Tiller Trail road. Two slides, one east of Reeds- port and one at Wells Creek ranger station, closed Highway 38 between Drain and Reeds- port. ' Schools in Lebanon were closed at noon today until after the holidays because highjvaters hampered transportation. Most rural schools had already closed. New York XU.R The auto in dustry's "big three," General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, sdd 101 billion dollars worth of their products in the nine boom ing postwar years, a United Press survey showed today. Established The appropriation will cover less than 25 per cent of that age group, he said, and it will be necessary for the majority to get the vaccine through their family physicians. Through a policy set up by the Jackson County Medical so ciety, private physicians are ad ministering the three doses for a nominal fee, accordingDto Dr. Merkel. Some public lawvac- ' cine also has been made avail- ' able to private physicians, who will administer it to hardship cases and charge only for serv ices. Since extensive records are kept on the public law vaccine, Dr. Merkel said Jackson county will actually be eligible for $1,900 during the 'six-month per iod. . Medford Stores 11 9 o'cloc emain Oaen for Unt I Tonigh
