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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1956)
TWO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE IRS I e Variety 10 By 'UNITED PRESS A potpourri of Legislature to liquor and crime to Christianity made the news headlines in Ore gon during 1955. And, as usual, the weather made an almost daily page one story in Oregon's newspapers. The weatherman launched the year with gale winds along the coast and heavy snow in the mountains and ended it with some of the worst flooding in re cent history. In between, Oregon had one of the hottest summers on record. The thermometer reached 107 degrees at Medford and roasted golfers competing in the Southern Oregon Open tour nament. It was correspondingly hot. throughout the rest of the state. Forest fires in southern Oregon destroyed valuable tim ber stands. Temperatures Skid In November a cold spell hit Oregon and temperatures drop ped to new record lows for that month. Then followed torrential rains which melted snow and ice, saturated the ground and caused flooding and slides in List Recreational Uses in Withdrawing Public Domain Lands The intention of withdrawing about 5,500 acres of O & C and public domain lands along a 120- mile front of the Rogue river has been announced by Virgil T Heath, state supervisor for the bureau of land management. The bureau plans to withdraw for recreational purposes public lands along the river between Prospect and Agness. A few tracts along the Applegate river below the Star Ranger station also are included in the pro posal. Purpose Listed The purpose of the proposed withdrawal is to ban mining claims and other forms of entry ander public land laws except the lease- and sale of public do main lands under terms of the Recreation act of June 14, 1926. Present plans are to leave most of the river frontage be tween the mouth of Grave creek In Josephine county and Illahee in Curry county in a wild and primitive state with access only by boat or trail, according to E. K. Peterson, BLM district for ester at Medford. The section of the river is bordered by land now almost exclusively under federalTjownership. Above Grave creek, however, scattered tracts of federal land J long the river are intermingled with private lands. The BLM 'ands will, in appropriate al liances, be made available for public camp grounds, public riv T access sites, and homesite leases to individuals. Developed Parks In previous years some sites below Grants Pass have been made available to Josephine county for development. Several sites along the upper Rogue be tween Bybee bridge and Pros pect have been made available to the state highway commission and are now developed state parks. The proposed withdrawal will not prevent timber management activities which can be conduct ed without damage to recreation al values. University Develops 'Frisky, Fighting Fish' Ithaca, N. Y. (U.R) Cornell University has come up with a couple of "frisky fighting fish." In a project designed to de velop hybrid trout which will live longer in farm ponds, the ex perts discovered that two of the experimental hybrids are spunky fighters against rod and reel. One of the hybrids, a cross be tween the brook trout and the brown trout, is a spectacular "surface fighter." The other is a cross between the brook and the larger lake trout. However, iha ovnerte Maim ffio Vi t- n L- - brown hybrid is the spunkier of the two. About one-fourth of all U. S. food shipments of fruits - and vegetables spoil before they reach their market. tfCPPY BEWARE OF IMITATIONS LOOK FOR THE HAPPY LITTLE DOG of PSews Held Oregon Interest During 1955 estern Oregon which resulted in 13 deaths and untold thousands of dollars damage to property and highways. The worst single disaster of the floods wiped out five members of the Marion E. Neal family when a huge mud slide engulfed their home near Remote the day after Christmas. Legislature Makes News The Legislature provided grist for the news mill by defeating a sales tax proposal, establish ing Portland State College as a full-fledged autonomous, four year libera! arts institution, in creasing personal income taxes, enacting a cigarette tax which subsequently was attacked by initiative petition and held in abeyance, created a water re sources board and a new ground water code, increased unemploy ment compensation payments but stiffened qualification re quirements, and guaranteed women equal pay for equal work. An investigation into prac tices of employees of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission cre ated a stir when Attorney Gen- For about 25 years most fed eral lands along Rogue river have been withdrawn for power site purposes. The withdrawal prevented valid location of min ing claims. In April, 1955, the BLM tpok action to preserve lands within one-half mile of the Rogue river for recreational use by filing an application for rec reational reservation with the Oregon land office. Preserve Area Despite passage of a congres sional act in August, 1955, which reopened power site lands to mineral entry, the April, 1955, action by the BLM has effective ly preserved Rogue river lands for recreational purposes pend ing a final decision by the secre-J tary of the interior. Similar ac tion has been taken to protect national forest lands along Rogue river. The recommendation for the withdrawal was made by the BLM Medford district advisory! boprd several years ago. Since then it has been included in rec ommendations of the national park service for recreational de velopment of the Rogue river basin. Notice Published Notice of the proposed with drawal was published in the Federal Register Dec. 22. Per sons having cause may present objections in writing to the state supervisor of BLM within 30 days after Dec. 22. If circum stances warrant, a public hear ing will be scheduled. Detailed descriptions are post ed in the county courthouses in Grants Pass and Medford and in the BLM district offices in Coos Bay and Medford. 117 So.. Central Phone 2-6241 OPEN WEDNESDAY NIGHTS UNTIL 9 Sunday, January 1. 1958 eral Robert Y. Thornton de manded the governor's files in the case. The governor refused to grant Thornton's request. The Liquor Commission also made news for the thirsty when it raised prices of liquor 25 cents a fifth and 15 cents a pint. One of the two most sensa tional crime stories was the car bombing death of Kermit Smith, young Portland attorney. The confessed killer, Victor Lau rence Wolf, was found guilty of second degree murder at a court hearing and sentenced to life imprisonment. Smith's widow, Marjorie, who was accused by Wolf of helping plot the mur der, was acquitted by a Yamhill county Circuit Court jury. Store Bombed The other top crime story also involved a bomb. It was the dynamite charge set off April 14 in the Meier and Frank Com pany department store in Port land. The blast shook the huge store, shattered glass, slightly in jured a passer-by and emptied the store of "Friday Surprise" sale shoppers. The explosion came just as Aaron Frank, store president, was reading an extor tion" note demanding S50,000. The case was solved in Decem ber when police arrested Clar ence Peddicord, a 38-year-old blind chemist, who confessed touching off the bomb. He im plicated his sister-inlaw, Mrs. Joyce Keller, 28, as his "eyes" in the abortive extorition at tempt, but Mrs. Keller has de nied any part in the bombing. Airliner Ditched A Pan American Airlines plane on a flight from Portland to Honolulu ditched in the Pa cific ocean off Coos Bay March 26 and four of the 23 passengers and crew were drowned. The others were rescued by a Navy ship which as in the vicinity. The bitter Hells Canyon dam dispute continued to make head lines during 1955. The fight by proponents of a high federal dam at Hells Canyon appeared thwarted when the Federal Power Commission granted Idaho Power Company permis sion to construct three low-head dams on the Snake river. But, even as constructoin was begun 4-H Club News Livestock Club Oak Grove Livestock Club held its first meeting of the year at the Oak Grove school De cember 14. The leader, K. N. Hockersmith, presided. Election of officers was held. Elected were president, Jim Thomas; vice-president, Tom Turpin; secretar y-treasurer Susan Wright; reporter, Craig Wright and social chairman, Susan Wright. Sharon Forde is a new mem ber. Meeting dates were discus sed and it was decided to have fewer meetings during the win ter and meetings oftener in the summer when they are needed. The tenative plan is to have school and to complete them by 8 o'clock. Reporter, Craig Wright. at Brownlee site by Idaho Pow er, public power advocates filed a petition wih the U.S. Court of Appeals asking reversal of the FPC decision. Danny-Una Story Told The story of a modern-day Enoch Arden caught the fancy of editors and the Danny and Una Schmidt tangle was served up in detail. The tale began when Danny, an airman, was captured by the Chinese Reds in Korea. Una, his wife, said she thought he was dead and took up life with Alford Fine, a Calif General Campaign For Memorial Hospital To Start Here Next Week The general money-raising campaign for the proposed Rog ue Valley Memorial hospital will begin at a school of instruction dinner Wednesday, Jan. 4. A total of 175 men who make up the general campaign organiza tion will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Elks club basement. Final plans for the drive were made Friday at a meeting of 12 group managers and assistants for the campaign. Campaign Goal Goal for the campaign is $850, 000, a rise of $136,000 over the first amount for community sub scription, acording to Otto J. Frohnmayer, general chairman. He explained the additional amount was added through re vised plans for the building and special .equipment necessary "to make Jackson county a great medical center," and to meet any possible increase in building cost. Of the $1,900,000 originally estimated cost, federal aid from the Hill-Burton funds will cover one-third of the expenses and a recent grant from the Ford foun dation will add $26,300. "Anything the community can raise above that will be most welcome for operating capital and unforseen emergencies," Frohnmayer said. "Considerable success" was achieved through the advanced campaign, but construction of the hospital rests on the outcome of the general compaign, accord ing to Frohnmayer. Instructions Given Instructions for the fund-raising were given at Friday's meet ing by Walter G. Garner, chair man of the general organization, and James J. Dunlevy, associate. Present at the Friday confer ence were the division managers and assistants. They Included Robert D. Dames, V. W. Ham mond, Ford McCormick, L. B. Mayfield, Elliott Becken, G. F. Brittsan, Fred Beck, John Graff, Jennings Pierce, Allan Pierce, Gilbert S. Tumy, Jim Shaw, Frank Morgan, Thad Hatten, Dwight Houghton, Chet Leonard, Cliff Hanson, Leon C. Boomer, Chester Irish, Frank Benesh, Victor Milnes, Don McNeil, Fred ornia lumberjack. When Danny returned and learned of the mix up, he filed for divorce and came to Portland to visit his mother. This brought Una and their two-year-old son flying to Portland with a tearful reunion with Danny. The longest story of the year was the Fong murder trials in Portland. In January Wey Him and Sherry Fong were indicted for the murder of 16-year-old Diane Hank. They were tried jointly and found guilty of first degree murder. The judge set Sears, Paul W. Hornbeck, Lou Cranston, Dr. Merle Foland and Ray Johnson. Members of the advance gifts committee will continue to work through the general campaign and Wednesday evening will act as a reception committee to the general campaign organization volunteers Wednesady night. , Praise Work Eugene Thorndike, chajrman of advance gifts committee, pra ised the work of the committee, adding that the large number of memorials subscribed "indicates that the people are aware of the dangerous shortage of modern hospital facilities." "If each individual, firm and corporation gives a fair share, the hospital will be assured," he said. "The next few weeks will decide, and in the event that sufficient subscriptions are not obtained to justify proceed ing with the project, the con tracts will be cancelled and money returned." Sewer Line Repairs Are Under Way Here Diversion of a nortion of Rear creek back to its old channel to repair a section of interceptor sewer line washed out by high water has been completed. A bulldozer and a drag line were used to divert the creek back to its old channel. It will be necessary to move a large quantity of dirt and rocks washed out bv the flood "waters back into place to make a fill four or five feet deep so that the new section of sewer line will connect with remaining lines, si-. cording to Public Works Direc tor verne inorpe. Repair of the sewer line, which was washed out behind Henry's Drive-in, the O. K. Mar ket and McDuffies Coffee Pot Drive-in, will be completed some time this week, ; Thorpe said. There is a critical shortage of nurses in the U. S., and medical authorities now estimate bv 1960 the shortage may reach about 50,000. - aside the conviction. Sherry then was tried separately and a mistrial was declared. Finally, in December Sherry was tried again and found guilty of sec ond degree murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. Her husband still has to be tried. An example of Christian gen erosity which touched the hearts of all Oregonians was the adop tion by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Holt of Creswell of eight American Korean orphans, who came - to live with the Holts in their ample farmhouse after much red-tape had been untangled. Ex-President Visit There were Other ex-presi dent's visits page one stories in 1955: Two former presidents vis ited the state. Herbert Hoover dedicated his boyhood home at Newberg and Harry Truman rode in the Rose Festival parade. Twenty-two persons were killed in the state during Labor Day week-end. Portland held a test evacuation. Construction of a natural gas pipeline into Ore gon was begun, and uranium was discovered in Lake county. 14.9 Increase In Phones Here In '55 Telephones in the Medford area increased 14.9 per cent during the past year, from 17,101 to 19,665, according to J. H. Creager, Medford and Ashland manager of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company. Telephones by towns through November of this year included Medford, 13,599; Ashland, 3,830; Jacksonville, 400; Gold Hill, 448 and Central Point 1,388. With an average of one tele phone for every three persons, the United States had more than half of the world's 94,500,000 telephones on Jan. 1, 1955, ac cording to PT&T's annual sur vey. Oregon was in line with the national average' with 536,576 telephones for the 1,662,680 pop ulation. Despite natiolnal telephone growth, Iceland replaced the United States as the second talk ingest nation in the world, ac cording to the report. Canada is in first place with 417 conversations per person; Iceland next with 394; and the U. S. with 393 per capita. Tele phone service is supplied by some 4,800 private companies. In Oregon there are 69 inde pendent telephone companies besides PT&T. GOOD CAMPAIGN Rockford, 111. (U.R) Police used a Great Dane dog with a cask of coffee around its neck to publicize their "Coffee for the Road" campaign for New Year's Eve drivers. LINE OPENED Joseph (U.R) Service has been restored on the Joseph branch line from La Grande, which was closed by five earth slides last week. The line car ried lumber. rrrrirff ri Yiii i ( TiW Trrtrria ' ighest Qualify Wards Has ver offered af This Price! U. S. Steel, Burlington, Van Vorst, Wards Four Famous Names Combine to Bring You This Sleep Set. Wards GUARANTEE Famous Burlington Mills made this lovely Chartreuse Rayon Damask cover. U.S. Steel premier wire innerspring coils give firm, correct support. Van Vorst, leading western mattress maker, built these units. And Wards makes this outstanding Sale possible. Enjoy the quality features of 49.50 mattresses. Use Wards convenient Terms . . only 3.50 Down. SALE LASTS TILL SAT. HURRY! Southern Oregon Men Buy Large Ashland The Oregon Shasta Lumber company, Yreka .Calif., has been purchased by two southern Oregon lumbermen, it was reported last week. The transaction is said to be one of the largest business transactions of the year. It becomes effective Jan. 15. Purchasers are Richard Rey nen, of the Fir Milling and McLaren School Boys Af Home For Holiday Approximately 200 boys from McLaren school at Woodburn spent a five-day Christmas holi day with their families through out the state, according to F. G. Crowell, parole officer. Seven were in Jackson county. All were accounted for by the school Tuesday night, when they were due back, Crowell said. There were no law violations re ported, although many of them are at the school for major crimes, he said. Preceeding their vacations, parents participated in the school's annual Christmas pro gram and gift presentations. Pri vate sources contributed funds for gifts to some. Due to flood conditions, many of the youngsters were trans ported to thier home by staff members. PLAN HOUSING Klamath Falls (U.R) The Air Force is planning to build 220 family housing units for Air Force personnel near the Klam math Falls jet interceptor base, according to information receiv ed by the Klamath County Cham ber of Commerce from Air Force officials in Washington, QUITTING BUSINESS SALE EVERYTHING TO GO! v to y3 OFF Cameras Projectors Flash Bulbs Photographic Paper Chemicals Slide Viewers ROGUE CAMERA SHOP 524 E. MAIN Satisfaction! 49.50 Qualify! Yreka Mil! Planing company, Ashland, and L. E. Edmonds, Medford, former owner of Medford and Ashland mills. The two will form a Cali fornia corporation, Edmonds Reynen Lumber company, to operate the property. Purchase price was not announced. Both in Business Reynen has been in the lum ber business in Ashland for nine years, and will continue with Fir Milling, and Planirjg. Ed monds was the owner of a mill which burned earlier this year. The Yreka mill has been in operation for five years, and includes an electric sawmill and planing mill on an 11 acre site on Highway 99 just south of the city. Substantial timber hold ings are included in the trans action. Annual production of the mill is about 12,000,000 board feet. The sale was made by Ken neth K. Foster, Yreka, who acted on behalf of shareholders who included Drew Lamb, Zelma Lamb, William Briggs and Harry A. Skerry, all Ashland Use Tribune Want Ads Low in Costl Just Call 2-61 41 HOW CHRISTIAN SCIENCE HEALS Station Sundays KWIN 10:15 1400 K.C A.M. 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