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
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1400 K.C A.M.
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