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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1955)
o o o UW. u,, ,. ,. f ,,LIJ, SCENE OF RESCUE This dramatic aerial photo, taken by Carl Landis of the Landis-Shangle studio from a Mercy Flights plane, shows the old highway bridge and the railroad bridge across the Rogue river at Gold Hill, near the home of Barney Governor who was rescued from his house, yesterday after noon after being surrounded by surging flood' waters for more than 12 hours. The arrow at the left of the picture shows the Hold Governor Rescued Afler 12 Hours In Flooded Residence Barney Governor, about 65, was rescued at about 2:50 p.m. yesterday after spending more than 12 hours in his house sur rounded by flood waters of Rogue river some 5g yards up stream from the Gold Hill rail (Jpad bridge. Several other mrooned fami lies were safe, according to state police, who said they had received no reports of anyone missii Several officers were I oispatchedfio marooned families yesterday inorning. Long Skyline In rescuing Governor, a sky line several hundred feet long was devised by Ernieoand Delos Walker, brothers who operate separate garages in Gold Hill, from cable furnished by the Cal ifornia Oregon Power comany. Several other means of rescue were considered, but none were deemed feasible. One end of. the heavy cable was secured to the top of the steel railroad bridge, with the othec-j ead connected .to a wreclter furnished , by Ernie Walker. The wrecker was driven along the railroad tracks, which turn and merally follows the river upstream on the east side, Walker drove the wrecker around the curve until the sky line tightened straight over the roof of Governor's house. Once tight, a 55-gallon empty gaso lineGbarrel was attachfd to the skyline with block and tackle ' Ridet Barrel Paul Fullmer, 213 Lincoln St., Medford, volunteered to ride the barrel out to the house above flood waters. Fullmer lowered i& the Governor house roof, where he chopped a hole with an axe. Governor kept above water by remaining on a table or shelf in one room. Fullmer helped Governor in the barrel, and the wrecker winch brought him to safety. O The barrel was returned for Fullmer, and the rescue was complete. Ctato nnlirp S?t. Russell H. iSendle, who witnessed rescue operations, said about a5 vol unteers participated in rescuing Governor, and more than 100 spectators gathered at different times. One-story House The house, a one-story frame structure built on a pier to the old highway bridge, ws partial lv torn apart by flood waters, and Governor's car had been washed downstream and lodged aeainst the railroad bridge. Set. Brendle said Governor "was "shaky" and hungry when rescued, but apparently suffered no other ill-effects from his ordeal. He was taken to another home in Gold Hill. Set. Brendle estimated that water started entering the Gov ernod residence between mid night and 1 a.m. Wednesday. By the time rescue operations were under way. the lood crest had passed and water had receded between two ana tnree ieet. Rocks were visible in areas around the house when Gover nor was rescued. "Consider Other Means Prior to the Walkers' skyline idea between the railroad bridge and a wrecker, a skyline from ivJasi VALLEY' Paratrooper Walks To Safely Afler Five Days in Wilds Tacoma U.R) A tough para trooper, whose frozen feet could not stop his willpower, was to be reunited with his Japanese wife and three children today in a pre-Christmas Eve celebra tion of his survival of five days o in the sub-freezing weather of the Cascade mountains. The "nightmare" was over for Sgt. John M. Horan, Maynard, Mass., who leaped from a spin ning airplane last Sunday. Horan rested in a bed ' at Madigan . Army hospital near here. His wife, Teruko, and the couple's three children, Ken neth, 5, Michael, 1, and Lor raine, 3, months, were to be at his bedside later today. The soldier's wife, who arriv ed in Seattle only last Tuesday with the children from Tokyo, had to be given a sedative last night. She was weak from wor ry and the emotional strain. One Big Nightmare "I knew I couldn't stop -if I was going to walk out alive," was the way Horan-put his ver sion of "a routine jump when I jumped out." But what hap pened afterwards was one big nightmare. Horan walked to safety when he found his way yesterday to the Rustic Inn on Highway 10 near Easton, Wash., just east of snowy Snoqualmie Pass. The sergeant leaped out of an Air Force C45 Sunday, shortly after noon, when the craft went into a spin over the bleak Cas cades. He was relieved to learn the pilot of the plane righted the craft and landed it safely. Lived on Cocoa "I found a cabin Monday morning and I broke a window and got in," he said. "I found some matches and got a fire go ing. I found cocoa in a cupboard and I melted some snow and moved as close to the fire as I could. I didn't know then I was going to live on that cocoa for the next four days. the hillside on the west bank of Rogue river was considered. The distance was too great to make a rescue feasible. Sgt. Brendle said considera tion also was given to Medford Fire department's ladder truck. Because of a slight bank of the bank of the railroad tracks on the curve and a horizontal posi tion of the extended ladder, Fire Chief Gordon Barker relieved the truck would be off-balance and roll over. Also considered was construc tion of a scaffold built from the railroad tracks, but' the idea also was deemed not feasible.. The Jackson County Disaster Car, which is maintained for saving lives during disasters, stood by at the scene yesterday afternoon, but rescue operations bad started. CEDE house. Rescue was effected by a jury-rigged breeches buoy, one end of which was attached to the metal superstructure of the railroad bridge, and the other to a wrecking truck which drove along the tracks to the left out of the photographed area and around a bend until the highline ran directly over the house. The picture was taken shortly after the crest of the flood passed. (Landis-Shangle photo) f Help Fight TB - Buy Christmas Seals Table Rock Papers Delivered By Air The slowly receding flood waters were still high, and the Table Rock area was still cut off from the outside world yes terday afternoon. Young Wayne Wyati was waiting near the Table Rock store at about 3 p.m. A Piper plane, piloted by Kenneth Owen of the Medford Air Service, swooped low over a nearby field, and Business Manager Gerald Latham drop ped overboard a wire-bound bundle of tightly - wrapped newspapers. They fell and bounced on the field. Wayne picked up the papers, stripped off the wrap ping, and started his regular rounds, delivering the Mail Tribune to the 52 subscribers in the isolated area. Christmas Pilgrims Journey To Bethlehem Jerusalem, Israeli Sector (U.R) Hundreds of Christmas pilgrims plodded today along the dusty road to Bethlehem through vil lages torn three days ago by rioting and gunfire. Bright sunshine streamed down on the little town where Christ was born and there were few signs of the bloody riot that the Arab Legionnaires of Jordan suppressed with machineguns and tear gas. Washington U.R) The Army is bolstering its atomic fire power in Europe by sending more "Corporal" guided missiles abroad. Road Conditions Siskiyous Motorists advis ed to carry chains; 4 inches new snow. Green Springs Carrying chains advised; 4 inches new snow. Prospect One-way traffic from slide; no heavy traffic three inches new snow; snow ing hard. Highway 99 in California Highway open; snow in Weed area. Highway 99 north Traffic moving; detour between Gold Hill and Grants Pass; no heavy traffic. Crater Lake National Park Highway 62 open; chains advised; 14 inches new snow; present depth 78 inches; snow ing; skiing fair to good. Snow in Mountains Lessens Threat of Adidtional Rising : - Jackson , county .stream . levels were lower today after the val ley's worst flood since the 1890's. Bob Church, meteorologist at the Medford weather bureau, said flood crest readings at Dodge bridge and Grants Pass were the highest ever recorded. The highest at Dodge bridge, Church said, was 12.3 feet, or 3.3 above flood stage of 9 feet. At Grants Pass, a crest of 30.16 feet, or 13.16 above the 17-foot flood stage, was reported. Dodge Bridge Reading The Dodge bridge reading yesterday morning compares with previous highs of 11.08 feet Jan. 18, 1953, and 10.3 feet in October, 1950. At Grants Pass, the crest of the 1927 flood, which is considered one of the most severe in this area, was 28 feet. The Rogue river receded rapidly once the flood crest passed. Late Wednesday after noon and early evening, the river gave indications of a rapid rise. The crest passed Dodge bridge early Thursday morning, and by 5:15 p.m. yesterday, the stage was 9.2 feet, just .2 of a foot above flood stage, accord ing to Church. Rain which started falling about dusk yesterday threatened another rise. The threat was lessened when rain in higher altitudes turned to snow early last night. Receding Expected Church said streams probably would show some rise early to day, but were expected to start receding later today and pros pects for less rain were indicat ed in a five-day weather fore cast. Church said the forecast calls for new storm fronts from the southwest to pass inland on a line generally more to the south, with the brunt of the storms oc curing in northern California. Precipitation was forecast for this area, but amounts are ex pected to be less than during the past few days. A total of 4.76 inches of rain which fell between midnight Sunday and midnight last night brought the seasonal total since Sept. 1 to 15.09 inches, or 7.57 above normal. Last year at this time the total was 3.72 inches, or 3.80 below normal. Weather FORECASTS: Showers of rain in valley and snow above 2.500-feet through Saturday. Low tonight 34. High Satur day 42-45. Sunday outlook cool with showers and snow in mountains. Temp. Highest Yesterday 60 Lowest this Morning 34 Prec. to 4:30 ajn. Today 97 RESORT A SHAMBLES Riffles on the Rogue, a resort on the Rogue river above Shady Cove, was virtually wiped out by high water Thursday morning. It is shown soon after the flood crest passed in the picture above, taken by Don Hinson of Eagle Point. MEDFOIUvitff United Press Full Leased Wire Co 50th Year 18 Pages Eastern Oregon Gets High Water; Tokatee Marooned Portland (U.R) Flood con ditions spread east of the. Cas cade mountains in Oregon today while hundreds of persons were evacuated from their homes or marooned in western Oregon by high water. The mighty Pacific storm that sent streams over their banks eased off today and the Umpqua river started going down slowly at Reedsport after reaching the top of dikes protecting the coast al town. But the Rogue river, carrying its biggest crest in history to ward the sea, was reported flooding at Gold Beach and resi dents feared water would hit main streets at high tide this afternoon. Crooked River Overflows The Crooked river at Prine ville overflowed early today and some ; residential areas were flooded north and south of town. Trucks stood by for evacuation and three feet of water covered part of the Paulina-Prineville highway. In eastern Douglas county, 300 persons were reported marooned at Tokatee Falls. They included Morrison-Rundsen construction workers and their families, woods workers and employees of Copco. Power was reported out in the area, from which there are only two ways out. One, to Roseburg, was blocked by high water, and the other, from East Diamond lake, was blocked by snow. Communications Disrupted Only communication with the area was by ham radio. Communications to the south west coastal area still were dis rupted. A ham radio operator reported the entire Coquille valley flooded. ' The main Umpqua river, fed by its north and south forks, headed in flood stage toward the coast. At Grants Pass, where a Na tional Guard company was call ed out yesterday, state police reported the Rogue river drop ping about eight inches an' hour this morning. The Rogue reach ed an all-time high of 30.16 feet yesterday. Families Evacuated An estimated 400 families were evacuated from their homes in the Grants Pass area and another 100 families were moved from homes in the Shady Cove district further upstream on the Rogue. Southbound busses still were stranded at Grants Pass this morning as there was four feet of water over the highway at Savage Rapids dam. However, passenger traffic was being de toured south around an old river road from Grants Pass to Gold Hill, i Northbound traffic was moving and it was hoped the water would drop enough to open the main highway south, providing, as one officer put it, "if there is any highway left under the water." State police said lots of homes in the lowlands around Grants Pass still were surrounded by water. . Klamath Postoffice Crews Twiddle Thumbs Klamath Falls (U.R) The post office crews at Klamath Falls twiddled their thumbs to day. All the Christmas mail had been distributed. But there was no jubilation. Trains and mail trucks carrying Christmas mail were blocked by floods and slides on all sides of Klamath Falls. Also blocked were the gov ernment paychecks postal em ployees had counted, on for Christmas. MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAN gl ill 1 - : , i - '-Cw. . m : ANGEL-DOOR Another of Medford's many attractive Christmas decorations is shown above, the little angel created on the front door of the Earl York residence, 820 East Main st. (Brainerd photo) iver Bolts at Reno Reno (U.R) The Truckee riv er today overflowed its banks and began flooding Reno's down town business section. Weary workmen lost a 24 hour battle- to hold the rampag ing river in its channel through the heart of the city shortly after 7 a.m. when water began pour ing over the banks. Businesses Prepared Business establishements along both banks of . the river were prepared ior the surge of water. National Guards and 500, air men from nearby Stead Air Force Base joined employees in boarding up windows and en trances of business firms. An esti mated 26,000 sandbags were heaped around them. Standing squarely in the path of the rampaging river on op posite banks were two fashion able hotels,- the Riverside and the Mapes. Both hotels operated their ca sinos, bars and floor shows until about 2 a.m. when, putting pre caution ahead of profit, they sus pended operations. Tables Carted Away Employees carted dice and 21 tables and roulette wheels out of the lavish casinos to places of safety on upper floors. Em ployees and bosses alike then pitched in to pile more sandbags -isS JtC ' , j i 1 .O V -sins J HOMES SURROUNDED Some of the luckier residents of river side areas were surrounded, not inundated, by waters of the rising Rogue yesterday. The picture above shows a scene that was all-too-typical in the Upper Rogue area yesterday as waters rose. The picture was taken by Don Hinson. 55 .9 5 around all entrances. The two hotels suffered heavy damage in 1950 when a similar flood swept downtown Reno, causing $2,000,000 in damage. An estimated $200,000 dam age was caused yesterday when the surging waters caused the central span of a concrete and steel bridge under construction across the Truckee to collapse near the east city limits. 2-Way Radio In Use For Table Rock Area Central Point Central Point Rural Fire department has set up a two-way radio at Table Rock store for reporting fires and for other emergency use. It will serve the district until telephone service is restored in a day or two. Fire Chief Richard Krupp said that Mr. and Mrs. Ray Wyatt, proprietors of the store, have been instructed in the use of the radio. He asked use of the equipment by any person reporting a fire in the Table Rock area. The fire truck and crew, sta tioned at the store since Wednes day night before the area be came isolated, returned to Cen tral Point this morning after Bybee bridge was opened. RIBUNE United Press Full Leased Wire Price 5c , No. 235 Damage in Three Western States Set in Millionsro San Francisco U.R) Raging coastal and mountain ' streams overflowed banks in three West ern states today bringing death and destruction and driving thousands from their homes in the wake of week-long drenching . rains, the wprst in the Weather Bureau's history. At least 12 persons were known dead, scores werp rpnnrt. ed missing, eight towns were flooded out complete!" and more than 15 others wer? Inun dated as the streams rushed to the sea and made more than 15,000 homeless. Property damage in northern California, western Oregon and Nevada was estimated in the millions. One estimate placed the loss at more than $10,000, 000, but no accurate check could be made. State of Emergency A state of emergency was de clared by Gov. Goodwin 3T. Knight in northern California where the missing included 12 at the resort town of Santa Cruz where the San Lorenzo river isolated the city of 15,000 today. Eight of the missing there were reported swept to sea. The police teletype, only means of communication, said aid would have to be sent by airlift. Ten persons were known dead in California. Three were at Santa Cruz, two others were listed by the Civil Defense at Eureka, while three drowned at Auburn in the American river, and two drowned earlier in the week at other points. Towns Completely Flooded The towns completely flooded in California were Pepper wood, Elinor, South Fork, Klarn ath. Klamath Glen, Weott all in Humboldt county were the Eel and Klamath rivers flood ed and Wood Lake and Three Rivers in Tulare county. The re sort city of Guereneville, flood ed by the Russian river in Son oma county, prepared for com plete disaster. Intermittent rains 3ntinued in northern California and whole gale warnings for south erly winds of 40 to 60 miles were posted from Half Moon bay, near San Francisco, north ward. The series of storms was due to an unusual movement of warm moist air from the sub Tropics, that has struck a mass of low pressure Polar air. Highways Shut Down The-floods cut off highways and railroads. There was no road or railroad open between northern California and Nevada. Many towns were isolated com pletely as the waters poured over the highways. The Red Cross, National Guard, Sixth Army and Air Force mobilized forces in many areas to give aid, shelter and food to the more than 15,000 refugees. Washington (U.R) Interest rates paid to banks and other private lending agencies making price support loans to farmers will increase one-fourth of one per cent, effective Jan. 1.
