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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 1955)
Mi igiini o 0 seeding Waters ave Mud Over L6 Yw ba City Homes Yuba City, Calif . (U.R) The receding waters of the Feather river left a slimy blanket of mud today over hundreds of stores and homes in this stricken and deserted city of 10,000. Authorities begged Yuba City residents to stay away from their homes for several days longer. They wanted to repair the dam aged sewer plant and to ensure a safe water supply before let ting them return. Guards Prevent Looting Armed guards, deputized by police and the sheriff's office, pa trolled the streets to prevent looting. o The northwestern part of the city was drying out, but those sections nearest the broken levee were under six to eight feet of water. Six bodies were recovered in Yuba City. Civil defense author ities said the eventual toll might go as high as 30 persons. Many residents began return ing to Yuba City yesterday morning, but later in the day they were ordered to leave again. The order came from City Councilman oe Sanderson, the civil defense coordinator of the flood stricken area. Water Could Rise Sanderson explained that a djlood "backlash" could send water rising again, although not to the highs of Saturday. He said such a backlash would re sult from a leveling out of wa ters in the upper Sacramento Valley river system. Across the river in Marysville, 80 per cent of the 10,000 resi dents of that town had returned to the' homes they evacuated last Friday. Many Marysville residents had to flee twice. The first time was Friday, when they fled to Yuba City. The second time was early Saturday, when they had to flee Yuba City after a levee broke. Utilities Restored The National Guard was still posted around Marysville for the protection of families who had not returned, rill utilities were restored except long distance tel ephone service. (TKity officials hoped they could get heavy equipment immediate ly to rebuild a section oi levee that broke. They3 said another heavy rain would result in flood' ing of the whole city. Eureka, Calif. U.R) Resi dents of Northwestern Califor nia, numbed by a week of rain and iloods, stirred themselves todajrto restore their homes, farms and businesses. At least six persons were dead and an undetermined number missing in Humboldt, Mendo cino, Del Norte and Trinity .counties. The damage was incalculable. No one knew how many houses were washed into the sea. Many lumber firms reported their en tire wi&r tock of logs was swept awy. Farmers lost their homes, irns, livestock and croDs. DJUty Sheriff W. L. Linier reported U.S. Highway 101, the main artery througle the coast counties, was cut at Garberville on the south an(iKlamath on the north, a distance of more than 100 miles. Other roads into the area, in cluding U.S. 299 from Redding, were cut by dozens of slides and washouts, Linier said. Telephone and telegraph lines were still out. The Pacific Tele phone and Telegraph Company dropped men and equipment throughout Humboldt county from five helicopters to begin re storing the circuits. Linier said there were nc shortages of food, water or medi cal supplies in the area, though Soviet Union Budget Slash W HF.NHY SHAPIRO United Press Correspondent Moscow (U.R) The Soviet Union today announced 1956 "peace budget" that slashes de fense spending by nearly ten per cent. The appropriations bill, deliv ered at the opening of a special session of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament), switched emphasis Qto housing, consumer goods and industry. Moderate Speech Finance Minister Arseni E. Zverev announced the budget in a speech which for the first time in many yegrs failed to denounce anyWestern power or accuse the West ofea ggressive designs against the Soviet Union. It was one of the most mod he said there "are a few cases of bronchial pneumonia and colds." However, he added there were doctors available to treat the ill and "everybody's all right." Meanwhile, a new storm brought more rain to California early today. The weather man, predicting the rainfall would be "occasional," said it would spread as far south as Salinas on the coast and Stockton in the Central Valley. Aided by a brief and merciful Christmas Day dry spell, the streams and rivers that spread devastation over hundreds of square miles began receding. Most Troublesome The most troublesome river early today appeared to be the San Joaquin, which was report ed breaking through levees in rural areas at the southern and northern end of San Joaquin county. There was a possibility that the river would flood the delta islands of Bethel, Jersey, Brad ford, Webb Tract and Holland Tract. The 1,700 persbns on Bethel Tract were not evacu ated, but the handful of resi dents on the other four islands were ordered to leave as a pre caution. Stockton Safe Sheriff Carl Souza said there was no danger to Stockton, the county seat and a city of 85,000. The city reported some flooding of its southern districts. About 400 families left their homes. "A lot of homes have been cleared out but there is no dan ger to life at all," Souza said. Twenty miles north of Stock ton, a levee broke on the Moke lume river at . Thornton. Na tional Guardsmen and sheriff's deputies evacuated 50 homes in the town without incident. Oregon Holiday : Traffic Claims Lives of Four By UNITED PRESS Oregon counted at least four traffic fatalities going into the final day of the long Christmas holiday week end. Latest death reported was that of Paul Louise, whose car left Highway 99 and crashed into the front of the Sam Veatch resi dence in Cottage Grove about 7 p.m. Sunday. Louise, who was alone in the vehicle, was pro nounced dead on arrival at Cot tage Grove hospital. McMinnville Sailor Killed A 20-year-old McMinnville sailor died about 4 p.m. Sunday when he lost control of his auto mobile on the Carlton-Newberg highway about two miles east of Carlton. " Police said the victim, Donald Hugh Wilkison, was killed when his car left the road and trav eled 150 feet, shearing off a tele phone pole. The car bounced almost as high as the telephone wires before coming to rest, of ficers said. Wilkison was visiting Yamhill county relatives while on leave from a Navy base in California. Bakery Truck Flips William C. Hiscoe, 47, Beaver-ton,- died in an earlier accident when he was flipped out of his bakery truck on a Portland hill. The truck had hit a depression in the shoulder of the road. It turned over and pinned Hiscoe underneath. Charles J. McCall, 53, Ger vais, died when his car left High way 99 about' two miles south of Gervais junction. Announces 10 in Spending erate speeches that this corres pondent has heard in 20 years here. Zverev said the Soviet defense bill for 1956 will be 102,500,000 rubles compared with last year's 112,000,000. The cut, in effect, wipes out last year's 12 per cent military increase. There is no official exchange rate for the ruble. It is usually quoted at the diplomatic rate of 25 cents. Calculation Impossible Wholesale price cuts that boosted the internal value of the ruble during 1955 will make up for some of the paper de crease. It is impossible to calcu late how much. But one statistic indicated that Qiefense spending will be cut in fact. Next year's announced al Noon Edition Christmas Traffic Fatalities Near All-Time Record 460 Reported Dead Since 6 p.m. Friday By UNITED PRESS The nation was in danger to day of winding up the Christ mas holiday with an all-time, all-holiday record for traffic fa talities. Safety experts pleaded with homeward-bound motorists to put on the brakes and keep the death count below the previous record of 588, set during the Christmas holiday of 1952. But a United Press count showed that 460 persons bad died in traffic accidents across the nation since 6 p.m. Friday. Fires killed 51, a plane crash one, and miscellaneous accidents 73 for an overall holiday toll of 584. Forecast May Be Passed This year's three-day Christ mas holiday ends at midnight tonight and it appeared certain that the National Safety Coun cil's advance forecast of 560 holiday traffic deaths would be reached or surpassed. Council President Ned H., Dearborn said early today that "the only way now to avert an all-time record for any holiday is for every driver to redouble his care on the way home." By nearly midday Monday, Texas had the highest state traf fic toll with 41. Illinois was next with 37, Michigan third with 36. Other states included California and Ohio, 30 each, and Missouri, 23. At Gaylord, Mich., a fire at a farm home killed the wife of Warren Soper and all five of their children, ranging in ages from 13 to two years. -Eight Deaths an Hour Reports of fatal highway smashups began rolling in al most as soon as the holiday start ed. At first, the death rate was about six an hour. Then it jumped to seven and even hit eight at times. Safety experts had only faint hopes that the death rate would slacken today, when highways are crammed with motorists hurrying home "after holiday visits. Fair skies and clear roads across much of the nation were en encouraging factor, even though they robbed most Ameri cans of a white Christmas yes terday. Denver posted an all time Christmas heat record of 66 and snow stayed out of the Midwest, even though tempera tures plunged back as low as 16 below zero in the North. Navy Plane Crashes, Explodes on Azores Angra Do Heroismo, Azores (U.R) A U.S. Navy plane crashed and exploded last night on Ter ceira Island in the Azores, kill ing two persons. Two other persons aboard the plane were rescued before an explosion' destroyed the wreck age, Portugal officials here said. They were taken to a U.S. Air Force hospital at the joint Portuguese-American air base near Angra Do Heroismo. Rescue parties which returned from the scene of the crash said the plane bore the markings "AJ2." Flames and exploding fuel demolished the wreckage so that the plane's exact type could not be determined immed iately. Per Cent for Defense location for arms amounts to 18 per cent of the entire budget. This year's was 19.9 per cent. The emphasis was on internal development. The government, following up official criticism of housing, an nounced an actual increase of 18 per cent in the amount of housing built during the year. Consumer Goods Up Zverev also indicated a high er rate of production of con sumer goods although" it will not be the "sharp upsurge" promised in the 1953 speech by former Premier Georgi Malenkov. Culture, education and social services also came in for in creased allocations. But the top priority remained in so-called producer goods, heavy industry and machinery. Medfort United Press Full Leased Wire 50th Year 14 Pages CRESTING AT 39 FEET, causing damage estimated submerged to gabled roofs. Civil Defense Chief Inspects Flooded Areas San Francisco (U.R) Civil Defense Chief Val Peterson, acting on instructions from President Eisenhower, inspect ed flood-ravaged Nevada and California today. Peterson arrived last night in Reno after a daylong flight from Washington. He conferred immediately with Nevada's Gov. Charles Russell, the state's two senators, Allen Bible and George Malone, and Reno Mayor Len Harris. 1 - "I came out to take a good look to see what has to be done," Peterson said. "The White House is watching this situation carefully." Parts of Three States The record floods inundated parts of Oregon, California and Nevada,': took the ' lives " of at least 33 persons, wiped out more than a dozen small towns and caused not less than $50,000,000 damage. Some 50 to 60 persons were missing. Fifty thousand persons had to flee their homes. Hun dreds will have no homes to re turn to. Their houses were car ried off or otherwise destroyed by the rampaging waters. The Red Cross estimated it served 15,000 Christm '-"iners to flood victims yesterday. "The President wants us to utilize every facility the ie-..-ai feovernment has at its dispos al to aid these people," Peter son said when he began his in spection tour. Eisenhower Spends Joyful Christmas Washington (U.R) Christ mas for President Eisenhower was a day of reverence and family joy. Throughout the day his spec ial delight was his grandchil dren. Not only did he play Santa Clause for the youngsters, but he showed his grandfatherly pride by having them sing 'a carol for newsmen and photo graphers. The President, accompanied by Mrs. Eisenhower and then son, also went to church. There he joined in a Christmas prayer that "peace on earth and good will to men" will be realized in our time. He had the grandchildren David, 7, Barbara Anne, 6, and Susan, nearly 4 sing "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful," in their special caroling performance. He removed his glasses and con ducted them. "Boy, they're really singing," he remarked proudly to report ers. 'Golden Boy' Held As Public Nuisance Los Angeles :U.R)- Veteran boxer Art Aragon, known as California's "Golden "Boy," was jailed early today as a "public nuisance" after he was found staggering along a downtown street, police reported. Aragon, who recently made a comeback in California boxing circles, was arrested by two of ficers in East Los Angeles. They said the fighter was drunk and belligerent when questioned on a street corner. Officers R. F. McGrath and K. R. Wilson hauled Aragon to the county jail where he was booked as a public nuisance and on plain drunk charges. MED' - 10 feet above flood stage, Russian River spills over large area, in millions of dollars. Cottages in Guerneville, Cal., area are Picture was made from end of Guerneville bridge. International) : Transportation From Medford Limited; H 99 North Is Open Highway 99 north tf Medford opened late this morning, but water remained on the highway near Myrtle Creek. Earlier to day, regular airline travel and re-routed vehicle traffic were the only means of transportation north. State police said Highway 99 had about 12 inches of water on it at 11 a.m. today, but traf fic was moving. Slides also closed Highway 199 west of Grants. Pass, and Highway 38 between Drain and Reedsport. Highway 42 east of Coquille was closed because of high water. Siskiyou Line Closed Southern Pacific trains will be re-routed on the Cascade line through Klamath Falls because the Siskiyou line has been closed by high water, according to R. H. Holmes, district freight and passenger agent. The Siskiyou line is flooded at Cow Creek canyon, Myrtle Creek and Winston. Railroad officials said they hoped a slide which closed the Cascade line, forcing re-routing of passenger trains through Medford on the Siskiyou line, will be cleared early tonight. Bus Service Bus service is available to Dunsmuir, Calif., to make con nections with the Shasta Day light passenger train. A north bound passenger left San Fran cisco at 7:45 a.m., today, and a southbound passenger train will leave Portland at 4 p.m. tonight. Bus service north, over High way 99, has been discontinued. Rogue River Area Scanned for Fliers The Medford airport control tower was advised by a ham radio operator at about 11 a.m. that Glenn Woolridge, veteran Grants Pass river guide, has reached the area where a Grants Pass plane was reported down, and that both occupants are safe. No further details were immediately available. Grants Pass (U.R) Ground search along the banks of the Rogue river between here and Marial, was continuing today for two fliers believed down in a light plane. Missing are Fred Hale, 43, manager of the Grants Pass air service, and William" Geer, Ma rial, a passenger. The two men left Grants Pass Saturday to take pictures of Geer's flooded cabin. . . The search was spurred Sat urday night when a Mercy plane piloted by; George Milligan Medford, " reported spotting a fire along the south bank of the river. . Two search parties were hunt ing along the river bank, anoth er was en route overland from Glendale and a boat on the Rogue river has joined the hunt. Air search was stalled by overcast and poor visibility. Weather FORECAST: Mostly cloudy with rain showers changing to snow showers tonight and partlv cloudy Tuesday. Low tonight 32. High Tuesday 42-45. Temp. Highest vesterday , 54 Lowest this morning 42 Prec. To 4:30 a.m. today OS yNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1955 All buses are being re-routed over Highway 97, through Klam ath Falls, Vehicle traffic was normal on Highway 66 over the Green Springs to Klamath Falls, and south of here, traffic was being re-routed over Highway 99, West, in California. Highway 99 East was closed because of high water in the Yuba City-Marys- ville area. In this area, Dodge bridge and the Highway 62 bridge over Bear creek at the Big Y remain ed closed. Highway 238 through the Applegate area was open, but traffic was detoured near Ruch. Santa Cruz Tackles Mopping Up Chore Santa Cruz, Calif. (U.R) City Manager Robert N. Klein threw the entire resources of this sea side resort today into the gigan tic task of cleaning up the de struction left by the worst flood in local history. Klein, declaring that it will be months before the city is restor ed to normal, took personal command of the work of rehabil itation and ordered into action all the city's equipment and manpower to speed the process. Business and home owners spent a grim Christmas day yes terday cleaning up the silt and mud dumped on the town by the rampaging San Lorenzo river. Volunteer rescue workers prob ed through the wreckage for bodies of flood victims. They already had found seven bodies. Fourteen persons were missing and 44 others were "un accounted for" but may have escaped to other areas. There was little Christmas cheer in the stricken city. Churches called off Christmas services and there were few signs of the holiday. Stores had been closed since Thursday and their merchandise lay crumpled and soggy. Health authorities ordered all drinking water boiled and the city was just beginning to get through to the outside, world by telephone. Knoxville, Tenn. U.R) Fu neral services were scheduled here today for 66-year-old Judge W. C. Burton, who died Satur day. Road Conditions Highway 101 Closed north and south of Coquille, high water. Highway 99 Open north. Water over highway near Myrtle Creek, but traffic go ing through. Highway S9, California West open. East closed, Yuba City-Marysville area. Highway 42 Closed east of? Coquille, high water. Highway 38 Closed be tween Drain and Reedsport, slide. Highway 35 One-way traf fic between Eugene and Flor ence, slide. Highway 58 Willamette pass closed above Oakridge, slide. Highway 68 Open over Green Springs; no snow. Highway 199 West of Grants Pass, closed by slides. Highway 234 Closed at Dodge bridge. Highway 238 Detour in Applegate urea, open. Tribune United Presi Full Leased Wire Price 5 No. 237 400 Families Left Homeless By Flood Along Rogue River Estimates Damage Into Hundreds Of Thousands Some 400 families were left at least temporarily homeless in Jackson county by last week's floods, according to estimates prepared over the week end by the Red Cross. Damage will amount to hun dreds of thousands of dollars, according to a spokesman, but official accounting of losses awaits a more thorough survey Tuesday by Red Cross and Civil Defense personnel. n A minimum of 25 homes were totally destroyed in the Rogue River area, . according to the spokesman, and more than 100 homes suffered major damage. About 150 families were serv ed Christmas dinner yesterday at local restaurants through Red Cross arrangements. Some 40 or 50 children received Christ mas toys in the Rogue River and Shady Cove areas. Disaster Worker Here Miss , Josephine McNamara, professional disaster worker from Pacific area headquarters of the Red Cross at San Fran cisco, arrived Friday to head rehabilitation work. She is as sisted by Robert Seward, also from headquarters. Both lauded volunteer work' ers in all the hard-hit areas of the county, who have given many hours; of work to assisting flood victims. A canteen has operated 24 hours a day in Rogue River, and workers have also kept a canteen open in Shady. Cove when needed. Others Commended They commended members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in both Rogue River and Shady Cove who donated their halls and services. Families seeking Red Cross aid in the Rogue River area are asked . to contact Mrs. Charles Babcock, Sarigri La auto court, or Mrs. A. P. Klomhauw, West Evans Creek rd. In Shady Cove Mrs. E. S. Strother is in charge. Some of " the families . left homeless by the floods started moving back in over the week end, cleaning up the messes lefjt by the high, silt-laden ; waters. Others will be returning during the week, while some of the less fortunate Will have to await completion of major repairs. The entire facilities of the American National Red Cross have been pledged to aid the flood relief and rehabilitation work in disaster areas, both in Oregon and California. Three Babies Born Here On Christmas Three babies were born Christmas day in Medford, all at Sacred Heart hospital. Parents of the two boys born are Mr. and Mrs. Donald Craw ford, 131 Lincoln st., and Mr. and Mrs. La Rue Smith, 409 Summit ave. The girl is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clif ford Ouellette, 1532 Terrace dr. Unloading Shotgun Fatal To Virginia Boy Millard, Va. (U.R) A 17-year-old boy was fatally wound ed by a hunting companion near here late Saturday, according to Sheriff John Rose. The sheriff said Bob Puckett Was accidentally shot by a sec ond youth as the two unloaded their automatic shotguns. . No charges were filed. Senate Probers Studying Ford Financial Details Washington (U.R) Senate in vestigators are studying finan cial , details about Ford Motor. Co., which were made public for the first time last week, it was .disclosed today. - The study is being made by the staff of the Senate anti monopoly subcommittee the same group which has been looking into the impact of Gen eral Motors Corp. on the na tion's economy. Pertinent to Study Subcommittee counsel Joseph W. Burns said Ford's financial position is pertinent to the sub committee's study of GM be cause . Ford is GM's principal competitor. Burns said the staff is study ing the prospectus which Ford filed last week with the Securi Steady Downpour Drenches Coast Willamette Valley Isolated Riddle in General Evacuation . Portland U.R) -"-Heavy rains today added to the woes of the already drenched residents of southern Oregon and brought concern ' over possibilities of more serious flooding. The floods last week in west ern and southern Oregon were blamed for at least six deaths. Five other persons are reported missing. The steady downpour dropped 4.44 inches of rain on North Bend during the 24 hours ended at 4:20 a.m. today. Eugene had 3.36, Roseburg 3.76, Brookings 4.96 and Portland .75. Still Raining on Coast It was still raining heavily along the Oregon coast and through the southern Willam ette valley today. There was snow in high elevations and early today it was snowing from the Coast range to McMinnville. The. weather bureau forecast snow for the Portland area to night. A general evacuation was in progress at Riddle, south of Roseburg, last night. Water has completely surrounded and iso lated the town. Deer creek, Sutherlin creek, the South Ump qua river and Cow creek spilled over their banks in Douglas county. Water was over the highway at Myrtle Creek" and numerous slides were reported in the Roseburg area. There were reports of serious water damage to homes and stores in Sutherlin where volunteers were putting up sand bags to hold back further, flooding. Some persons were evacuating their homes in the Deer creek area. Umpqua Crest Expected The South Umpqua river was expected to crest at 29 feet to day, threatening the -Winston-Dillard area. The Willamette at Portland crested at 22.3. feet yesterday and was falling today, but heavy up stream runoff from tributar ies and soaked land was expect ed to send the river up again. However, a cold front moving in might keep streams general ly from rising too much furth er. At Divide, near Cottage Grove six out of seven Southern Pacif ic engines pulling 1 78 cars were derailed yesterday. The track was cleared to traffic last night, but trains were moving cauti ously. SP officials said they were protecting the railroad bridge at Myrtle Creek by run ning cars full of lumber out on the bridge to act as "ballast." At Coquille, the cresting Co-, quille river was causing some flooding last night as more than three inches of rain fell on the area in a 13-hour period. Deaths Reach Six Toll in the flood remained at six dead with two Hood River, Ore., duck hunters still missing and feared drowned on the Co lumbia. The weather bureau at Port land said the only major threat is a storm developing off the Oregon coast which might drench inland areas. But the weatherman said that distur bance was weakening last night. Comedian Succumbs At Hollywood Home Hollywood (U.R) Abe Rey nolds, 71-year-old stage, screen and radio comedian, died yester day at his home here after a long illness. Reynolds was born in New York City and started his stage career in burlesque 46 years ago. He appeared in many Broadway stage productions and also was active in vaudeville for many years. He leaves his wife, Florence, three brothers, Robert, Harry and Arthur, and a sister, Esther. ties and. Exchange Commission, outlining plans for the first pub lic sale - of Ford stock. It also listed Ford's assets and earnings for the past 10 years. New Hearings Planned The Ford data came under the subcommittee's scrutiny as another Senate group announced new hearings on auto marketing practices. Chairman A. S. Mike Monroney (D-Okla.) announced that his Commerce subcommit tee will begin a hearing series Jan. 19. He announced that George Rommey, president of American Motors Corp. Nash and Hudson, will be the first witness. Ford, Chrysler, GM and Studebaker Packard officials also will testi fy, as will representative deaV ers, the senator said. 5
