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