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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1956)
Weather Recommended FORECAST Considerable cloudiness with occasional light rain or snow through Monday. High today 40; low tonight 26. High Monday 42. Temp. Highest yesterday - 40 Lowest yesterday 23 Precip. To 5 p.m. yesterday Trace A story about Oregon's oldest resident, Mrs. Mary Ramsey Wood, appears on pate 10 of today's Mall Tribune. s United Press Full Leased Wire d Wire S3' 50th Year 26 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1956 No. 283 MEDFORDyTRIB' w PDorpe Ciroshes Mm IPo3 ft W British Transport Crashes at Malta Killing 50 Persons Worst Military Crash In Country's History Valletta, Malta U.R) A transport plane carrying Brit ish troops home to England from Suez crashed on takeoff Satur day killing 50 persons. It was the second worst disaster in British aviation history. All 49 men and one woman aboard the f our-engined York airliner perished. The victims included 45 Roy al Air Force men going home from service in the Suez canal zone, four civilian crewmen of the chartered plane and the stewardess. Early reports said 51 were killed, but a Scottish Airline ra dio officer believed to be on board arrived safely in England aboard another plane. Worst Military Crash The accident was Britain's worst military air crash." The only British air death toll to ex ceed it came in the Avro Tu dor crash that killed 83 at Llandow, Wales, in 1950. The low-slung, high-winged airliner lifted off the runway at Malta's Luqua airfield about 1:00 p.m. Seconds later it stall ed and smashed to earth in a burst of fire. .' Seats in the Scottish Airlines, Ltd., plane faced backwards, a safety specification of the war office for chartered troop carriers.-; " ... But the impact squashed the plane into a silver splash of smouldering metal, making the safety precaution useless. The plane had made a lunch- time spot on the British-owned , Mediterranean - island, roughly half way between Suez and Gibraltar, before flying on to England. While British and Maltese crews worked through the after noon to recover the bodies, the British Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in London ordered investigators to fly here today for an inquiry. Eighteen months ago the backward-facing seats were credited with saving the lives of 45 troops when another Scot tish Airlines York crashed on takeoff. Authorities said the pilot, British civilian Capt. Frank Co- ker, apparently tried to crash land the plane in a field. v Memorial Dinner Tickets on Sale : Tickets for the sixth annual Memorial dinner, at which Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt will speak, are now available, acording to Democratic County Chairman Robert A. Boyer. The dinner will be held Mon day, April 23, at Hedrick junior high school gymnasium. Attorneys William V. Deather- see and Robert B. Duncan are in charge of ticket sales. Dis trict chairmen are Larry Shee- nan, Rogue River; Marcus Nort on, Phoenix; L. Peers Wilmeth, Ashland downtown area; Al Miller, Southern Oregon college; Neva Clarke, Jacksonville; Eva Seggesman and Ray Briggs, Shady Cove-Trail; and Doris Boothby, Prospect. Tickets may be obtained in Medf ord from the co-chairmen or from Mrs. Edward C. Kelly, Mrs. Moore Hamilton, Mrs. Tom Higgins, Mrs. W. G. Werner, Stan Zapell, Lamport's Sport ing Goods store, or Medford Stationery store. 2 BurnedWhen Mail Sack Bomb Explodes New Orleans U.R) A bomb exploded in a sack of railway , mail from Chicago when it was delivered to the post office Sat urday, injuring two clerks. In spectors said the booby-trapped package would have "surely killed" the local resident to whom it was addressed. ; Damage was minor and in spectors indicated they were able to identify the addressee and obtain clues to the sender from the wreckage of the lethal package, which was the size of a shoe box. Postal Inspector Jo sph J. Zarza declined to detail his findings, but said part of the bomb mechanism, including a small battery, wax salvaged. i i i Moore, Lattie File For County Offices WW tm MELVIN LATTIE Commissioner Candidate . (Brainerd Photo) Melvin J. Lattie, prominent valley orchardist and business man, Friday filed his candidacy for county commissioner. In 1944, Lattie moved to Jackson county with his ' wife and son, James, from California where he had been affiliated with the Pacific Clay Products company as national sales mana ger of the pottery division. A native of Maiden, Mass., Lattie was educated in Milton, N. H. He spent several years working on his father's farm and for three years supervised highway construction in Carroll coun,ty in New Hampshire. At present, Lattie operates an orchard. .He has been a director of Southern Oregon Production Credit association. -for several years, and of Southern Oregon Sales, Inc. He also has served on the Phoenix school board, is master of the Phoenix Grange, and is currently serving on the tax -and resolutions . committees of Pomona Grange. The family are members of the First Presbyterian church of Medford. - v CP Firm Low Bidder On McKee Bridge Job Salem (U.R) The State Highway commission has award ed a Jackson county bridge con tract to R and M Construction Co. of Central Point on low bid of $55,950. The job involves construction of a 302-foot reinforced concrete deck girder bridge over the Ap plegate river on the Applegate county road about 9 miles south of Ruch. It will be known as the McKee bridge. ' There were five higher bids. One-Day Recruiting Drive for NG Today A one-day recruiting campaign will be held today by Medford National Guard units. - The campaign, which nation wide is expected to recruit some 75,000 men, will be directed by Lt. Donald Ivie and Lt. Jack Phillips. Lt. Ivie is executive of ficer of Headquarters company, first battalion, and Lt. Phillips is platoon leader, company A, 186th infantry, both stationed in Medford. In connection with the recruit ing drive, officials said the Arm ory on North Bartlett st. will hold an open house,"-with repre sentatives of the Guard i avail able to provide information con cerning the National Guard. y Lts., Ivie and Phillips . . noted that military .obligations under the Ready Reserve act may be fulfilled through active partici pation in the National Guard. i " it RAWLES MOORE Seeks Judge's Office (Brainerd Photo) District Court Judge , Rawles Moore filed his candidacy- Fri day for re-election to the non partisan office in the May 18 pri mary. He has served since 1950, for the first full term since district court was created by the legisla ture in 1949. f, A graduate of George Wash ington university law school, Judge Moore and his wife have resided in the valley since 1917, when he established a law prac tice in Medford. Their daugh ters, Mrs. Kenneth, R.' Beebe and Mrs. Harvey D.' Fields, live in Medford and a son, David, is a geologist in Casper, Wyo. ..During Moore's studies at the university, he was a student of U.'S". Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, grand father of the present Justice Harlan. Ellsworth Seeks - Public Debates Washington ; (U.R) Rep. Harris Ellsworth (R-Ore.) Sat urday challenged Sen. , Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) to a public de bate on merits of the partnership construction plan proposed by Ellsworth for Green Peter and Cougar dams in Oregon. Ellsworth asked Morse to de bate him on the issue in Eugene and in Albany between March 29 and April 8, when congress will be in Easter recess. " . He suggested that the question be: "Agreed that the Ellsworth bill to authorize construction of Green Peter and Cougar dams projects under the ' partnership plans is in the public, interest." Ellsworth turned down a chal lenge from Sen. Richard L. Neu berger on the issue: "Agreed that construction of the Green Peter and Cougar dams, under present authorization wholly federal, non-partnership is in the public interest." Ellsworth said he had sponsor ed the legislation : under which federal construction of the dams as federal projects was author ized and that as he thus obvious ly regarded them as being in the public interest he had no issue to debate with Neuberger. , ; Discuss Plans Four members of the state legislative interim committee on local government and the new executive' - secretary spoke Sat urday at a public luncheon, of the- League of Women Voters They are Judge Raymond La throp, Grants Pass; State Sena; tor Paul' .Geddes, Roseburg; Representative V. E. Johnson, mayor of : Eugene; and . Execu tive Secretary Kenneth Tolle naar. . The members participated in a panel discussion to encourage local interest in the commit tee's public hearing here March 1. Mrs. Robert D. Hiatt, presi dent of the league, presided and Mrs. Dunbar Carpenter was in charge of the program. Sen. Geddes said the commit tee's purpose is to seek inform ation for legislation to create a system of orderly integration of government. He said - the legislature has received several bills "running in all directions" and there is a need that work b don now No Hope Seen for Overriding Veto Of Natural Gas Bill Supports Say Action For 'Political' Gain Washington (U.R) Friends and- foes of the hot natural gas bill agreed Saturday that Presi-1 dent Eisenhower's veto made it a cold dead duck in 1956. They said there is no hope of getting the necessary two-thirds majority to override the veto especially in the house, which passed the bill by only six votes. Also, there appeared to be no inclination to start over with a new bill this year despite Mr. Eisenhower's statement that leg islation on the same lines is "needed." Deep in Gloom Deep in gloom, supporters of the bill raised, a cry that the president vetoed the measure for "political" gain in an election year. . And a number of congression al leaders said publicly and pri vately that the presidents' action showed he is a candidate for re election. The president said he vetoed the bill because of the "highly questionable" activities of some "private persons" in pressing for its passage. That was an obvious reference to circumstances sur rounding the now famous $2500 campaign contribution from an oil company attorney rejected by Sen.-Francis Case (R-SD). . Mrs. Eisenhower lashed out at "efforts that I deem to be so ar rogant and so much in defiance of acceptable standards of pro priety as to risk creating doubt among the American' people con cerning. the integrity of- govern mental processes." Sports Bulletins Medford high fought from behind in the filial quarter .here last night to overcome Klamath Falls 56 to 53 and grab its second consecutive; ; Southern Oregon Conference : basketball championship. The Black Tornado deadlock ed the score four limes but didn't gain a lead in the tussle until Dick McLaughlin's two ' free tosses gave it 55 to 53 command with- 1 minute 3 seconds left to play. Dick Cop pie added the final Medford tally. .Quarter scores favored the Pelicans 21 to 18, 31 to 23 and 44 to 39. Bob Tisdel of Med ford headed all scoring with 18 counters. Earl Tichenor got 14 for Klamath. The triumph -was Medford's ninth in 10 conference - games. Klamath Falls, despite its loss, quali fied for a state tourney berth when Ashland eliminated Grants Pass 53 to 38. Crater 57, Eagle Point 52. UCLA 72, Oregon State 59. California 73, Washington State 59. Laredo, Tex (U.R) Seven prisoners overpowered two jail ers and escaped from the Laredo jail early Saturday, but four were captured about six hours later by border patrolmen north of the city. for Medford on the state level. Hearings have been held in Portland,. Salem, Eugene and Corvallis, and will be held .in other sections of the state before, the next legislative session. ' Discussing the related prob lems of the cities, with regard to the committee's work, John son described the work as non political and long-range, result ing from the rapid expansion of .population in the un-incorp-orated areas in need of city ser viced. ' ' Annexation is only part of the answer, according to John son, because of overlapping of various districts, such as sanita tion, parks and recreation, fire, and water, f County Planning Judge. Lathrop, explaining the relationship of counties to the legislative problem, said the ob vious lack of county planning is felt, not only in the fringe areas, but in the more rural parts of counties where similar problems arise. :. EMBARGO LIFTED An M-41 Walker Bull-. dog, one . of 18 Army standard light tanks ; awaiting shipment to Saudi Arabia, is shown aboard a barge at Brooklyn to be transferred . ARMS Washington (U.R) The United' States last night lifted its embargo on arms shipments to the Middle East. President 'Eisenhower, author ized the state department to can cel the 43-hour-old arms embar go ordered after a disclosure that 18 U. S. tanks were being load ed aboard ship for Saudi Arabia. State Off ice Seekers Announce Intentions Portland (U.R) Two more possible candidates for Congress from Oregon's first district pop ped up Saturday as. less than three weeks were, left for filing for the state's May primary elec tion. . . Deadline, for filing, is-March 9, at 5 p.m. John E. Steelhammer, Salem, former speaker of the .House, said he was "seriously; consider ing" entering the first district race on the Republican ticket. Bruce Williams, Salem attorney, also said he was considering the contest. i Announces Intentions R. F. Cook, Silverton, and William Healey, former assist ant secretary of state, have an nounced intentions to seek the GOP nomination in the first district, while Jason Lee of Salem said he would seek the Democratic nomination from that district. : " Rep. Walter' Norblad (R-Ore.) announced earlier he would run for governor. He is present first district congressman. Gov.; Elmo Smith is expected to make known next week his intentions about running for governor on the GOP ticket. Robert Holmes of Astoria is a Democratic . candidate . for the nomination. . . Three Candidates The Repulican race for the nomination for U. S. Senator now has three candidates, Phil Hitchcock, Lamar Tooze and Elmer Deetz. Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.) will be opposed in the primary by Woody Smith, of Hood River. ' ' Salem (U.R) Leslie Holland of Mt. Vernon filed his candidacy here Friday for Democratic nom ination for state senator from Grant, Harney and Malheur counties. . .' Interim Group The discussion brought ' out the fact that a special problem arises because cities 'have the advantage of home-rule, where as "counties are purely arms -of the state." Sen. Geddes said another dif ficulty lies in giving the county enough power to solve its own problems, yet remain in proper relation to the state. At present, the legislature is required to deal with scores of individual problems relating to special county situations. "It is necessary," they said, "to deter mine what type of legislation, if any, needs to be enacted to give counties more home rule." V Oregon Fortunate Members, said Oregon is fort unate in that studies are being made before the fringe- area problem is really acute, and help is needed from all the peo ple, not only to solve the im mediate problems, but to plan legislation to take care of fu ture needs. - ' Opposition to : annexation or other changes comes mostly EMBARGO IS "The suspension is now lift ed," State Department Press Of ficer Lincoln White told report ers at 7:35 p.m. EST. The decision also clears the way for immediate shipment of $110,000 in automotive, signal and aircraft equipment schedul ed to be delivered to Israel. This action" also is expected to William D.' Cramer of Burns filed for. Republican nomination for state . representative from Grant, ' Harney and Lake coun ties. . - : Roy Fitzwater of Lebnon filed for Democratie'Jiomination for state represenative from Linn county. Death Toll Climbs In European Storm London U.R) New bliz zards lashed suffering Italy Sat urday as winter paralyzed Eur ope for the third week end in a row. Europe's irdand waterways and Northern coastal shipping routes were jammed with -ice. The "IT. - S. Army prepared to blast loose an 4ce pack in the main river l above -r- Kitzmgen, Germany. The death toll from Europe's worst weather of the century climbed to 692 last night. French Premier Guy Mollet said the cold wave had per turbed" the country's economy, particularly agriculture, and an nounced emergency food -supplies would be guaranteed to cities and financial aid offered to farmers whose , crops have been destroyed. . Meteorologists at Free Europe Press in Germany who plot the flight over Eastern Europe of thousands of leaflet-carrying balloons, said cold air masses were expected to continue push ing west for' at least 1 lour more days. . : . i , Las Vegas, Nev. (U.R) Sec retary of Agriculture Ezra Taf t Benson says he believes. Presir dent Eisenhower will run for a second term. Hearing from communities fearing loss of - individuality ., or from .indi viduals who "do' not want to' be told what to do with their prop erty," members said. - Tollenaar said that while state laws give authority to stop cer tain undesirable practices, they do-not have the power to build new sanitation systems, or to create other solutions to fringe area problems. . Overhauling Need ' The group agreed that laws pertaining to annexation need overhauling, and declared that they are seeking tangible sug gestions in" all fields of fringe- area and county legislation, "v Ideas should be presented to the committee before' or at the March 1 hearing, preferably in writing, the committee said. " Among guests . introduced at the meeting were; Mayor Earl Miller, Medford; County Judge J. Rodney Keating; City Manag er Robert Duff; and John Pletsch, president of the newly organized county planning com mission. V aboard the SS James Monroe for shipment. The Administration last night ordered an em bargo on Middle East arms shipments lifted. , :- (NEA) LIFTED improve Israel's chances of get ting some additional : military equipment, but White said last night's action was not related to Israels' bid for up to $64,000,000 in American arms. The 1,000-word statement re leased by the state department said the embargo was ordered to determine whether the ' tank shipment was being made in compliance with U. S. laws and policies "with respect to " the maintenance of peace and stabil ity in the area." "This examination has taken place and it was confirmed that all licenses (for Middle East shipments) conformed with the above criteria,!' the statement said." ..'- i ':.-v ;'- : : , "The president has, therefore, decided to permit the export of those-items covered by outstand ing valid export licenses for the Arab states and Israel - which have not already gone forward." The statment added that re quests for arms which have not been approved and any future requests would be subject "to the most careful scrutiny in the light of policies" set forward in a 1950 American-British-French declaration and in acts of con gress. Consideration will be giv en also under "a continuing re view of ?the - situation in the area,", it said. V "' Morse, Neuberger Ask Merger Investigation Washington U.R) Sens. Wayne L. Morse and Richard L. Neuberger . Saturday asked four government groups to in vestigate the proposed merger of International Paper Co. and Long-Bell Lumber Co. The Oregon Democrats made their request to, the , Federal Trade Commission, Justice De partment, "Senate .Judiciary Committee and Senate Small Business Committee. ' ' , " They said in a joint statement that International is the world's biggest paper producer with large timber holdings in the U. S. Long-Bell, they said, is the nation's second largest lum ber company. "If consummated, such a un ion of two corporate giants would have far-reaching econ omic implications, especially for the state of Oregon," the sena tors said. . . President Steps Up Pace of Activity ; ' Thomas v.i 1 1 e , . Ga. ' (U.R) President Eisenhower went gun ning for quail again Saturday, sharpening his shooting eye like a true sportsman and testing his stamina as a matter of practical politics. ; - In piaying golf and spending long hours with a shotgun in the broom sage fields of the Mile stone plantation of Treasury Secretary George M. Humphrey, Mr. Eisenhower was accomplish ing several purposes: . . . ' r V He was getting relaxation and forms of recreation denied him since his heart attack of last Sept 24. 2. He was following the ad vice of his doctors by stepping up his rate of physical, exertion to toughen him for more active days ahead in Washington. 3. He was finding out for him self just how much body endur ance he has in the wake of a cor onary . thrombosis; finding out where to expect the point of un desired fatigue. :-- , Passenger List Mixup Compounds California Tragedy Wrong Next-of-Kin Notified by Marines Niles, Calif. -4U.R) A Marine transport plane that crashed near hear carried 40 Marines to their deaths instead of 38, the Marine Corps announced Satur day after the tragedy, was com pounded by the notification of the wrong next-of-kin of many of the fatalities. A "grievous and serious error" was blamed for the mixup that resulted in death notices being -wired to the families of 32 Ma rines who were not aboard the' four-engine plane that smashed into a fog-veiled ridge Friday. Wires were also sent to the families of the five crewmen and one hitch-hiking Marine aboard the plane but these were correct, a corps spokesman said. v 34 Passengers ' Capt. W. R. Swindell, public information officer, at Camp Pendleton in southern Califor nia, said last night the passenger list contamed 34 names. Maj. R. J. Meeker, PIO at El Toro Marine base, confirmed that five crewmen and a hitchhiking Ma rine boarded the plane there. Ground parties last night com pleted removal of the bodies from the remote area of southern Alameda county in California's "aerial graveyard" just east of San Francisco bay. , Swindell said the-corrected casualty list would be released today at about 8 p.m. PST. A Marine spokesman at El Toro Marine base in southern California gave this explanation for the snafu: f ,: Five Marine transports left El Toro Friday for Alameda Naval Air station near Oakland, Calif., with 160 Hawaii-bound troops. List Switched By accident, the passenger list for planes 3 and 4 were switched. When El Toro learned that plane 3 had crashed, it sent the pas senger list for plane 4 to Wash ington headquarters which noti fied relatives of Marines on plane 4. The list of five crewmen and the hitch-hiking Marine were correct because it was compiled apart from that of the passen gers. The error came to light yes- terday when a San Diego wo man, notified that her son had fbeen killed, telephoned El Toro to report she had heard from him in San Francisco. The Marine Corps rushed to correct the mistake but in many cases it was too late. The 32 Marines were ordered to tele phone home immediately. 'Grievous, Error' "It was a grievous and serious error," the' base spokesman said, r Meanwhile, the Marine Corps, Army and Navy assembled 150 men to remove the bodies after a 15-man Corps board of inquiry conducted an official investiga tion. A preliminary investigation showed that the pilot was about six miles off course as he "let down" to. land at Alameda Naval Air station. The plane was only six minutes from a landing when it crashed. The crash scene was in the approach area to several East Bay air fields. It was the third major air crash in that area in 4Vi years, and brought to 123 the number of persons killed. County Planners To Meet February 27 The first regular meeting of the Jackson county planning commission will' be held Mon day, Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the courthouse. The nine-member commission is expected to form policies and complete org anization, according to President John Pletsch. ' Named to the commission in by the county court were Pletsch; Edwin ; W. Gebhard, Central Point; Edward S. Stroth er, Shady Cove;x Stuart V. Mc Queen, Medford; John Nieder meyer, Jacksonville; Lloyd Sel- ' by, Ashland; Edward F. Bolt, Gold Hill; Don B. Whalin, Med ford; and David B. Lowery, Phoenix. 1 Members of the court also will attend the session. The com-, mission was formed "to develop a pattern for the physical and ecnomic development of the county," County -Judge J. Rod- v&j Keating gaid. .V
