Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, February 21, 1956, Image 1

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Medford mail tribune., February 21, 1956, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextG. Pass, Roseburg Families Evacuate As Streams Rise State of Emergency In Josephine County By UNITED PRESS Families were evacuated from their homes near Grants Pass and Roseburg today as heavy rains drenched western Oregon and sent streams out of their banks. Highway and rail traffic was disrupted by slides and high water. A state of emergency was de clared in Josephine county as the Rogue river rose under 3.5 Inches of rain in a 12 -hour period. Schools in the county were closed as were those at the town of Rogue. River in Jackson county. Families living near the stream were evacuated. The Rogue rose to 17.5 feet by 7 a.m. and the weather bureau in Medford said it would crest at Grants Pass about noon today at 18 or 19 feet, well over' flood stage but below . the crest in December when damage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars -was caused. Rail Line Blocked Warming weather loosed three avalanches of snow, mud nd ice onto Southern Pacific's main line and blocked all rail traffic at Willamette pass in the Cas cades between Cruzette and Fields. Four passenger trains were held up by the slide. Allt routes between ; "Grants Pass and Medford were blocked by high water, washouts and slides. Water covered Highway 99 near Savage Rapids dam. The Redwood highway to Crescent City was open but traffic was moving with difficulty. A slide also blocked Highway 99 near Myrtle Creek in southern Doug las county. Schools Close in Douglas - Surface water inundated a number -of streets in Grants Pass. " ' t Further north, at least four families evacuated their homes in the Deer Creek area of the North Umpqua drainage near Roseburg as a precaution., Doug las county reported widespread school closures, with schools not open at Dillard, Winston, Glide, Myrtle Creek, Tri-City, Umpqua and Green. Roseburg schools were opened but bus service to many parts of the district was cancelled. The South Umpqua was near- ing flood stage at Winston, aoout eisht miles south of Roseburg. Residents said they were more concerned about warm tempera tures because of the unusually heavy snow pack at low levels in the mountains. Coquille River Watched To the southwest, .residents kept a wary eye on the Coquille river which is given to sudden flooding under heavy rain. A slide interrupted traffic on High way 42 near Remote. The Willamette river still was far below flood stage but was rising rapidly. In the 1 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. the Willamette had come up 5.3 feet at Eugene, 4.8 feet at Salem and 1.7 feet at Corvallis. The forecast called for moderate to substantial rises in most streams during the next one to two days. :' The weather outlook called for more rain, with heavy amounts at times. The five-day outlook called for up to five inches of rain in coastal regions and one to three inches in interior-parts of western Oregon. In the 24 hours ending at 4:30 a jn., Brookings on the southwest coast got 2.29 inches, Medford 2.14 inches and Salem 2.10 inch es. Corvallis reported 2.25 inch es, Albany 2.16 inches. . Courthouse Offices Closed Tomorrow The post office, all federal, state and the courthouse offices will be closed tomorrow, George Washington's birthday. ' Retail stores, banks, and city hall offices will remain open Oregon State Liquor commis sion retail stores' and agencies will be closed, but licensees of the commission need not close unless they wish to do so. , DOW-JONES AVERAGES . New York (U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages: 30 indus trials 476.93, up 0.47; 20 rail roads 159.17, off 0.11; 15 util ities 65.24, up 0.31; and 65 stocks 169.67 up 0.19. Sales today were about 2,240,000 shares compared with 2,530,000 yesterday. Weather FORECAST: Intermittent rain through Wednesday. Low to night 38; high tomorrow 45. Temp. Highest Yesterday ; 49 Lowest this Morning 37 Prec to 4:30 a-m. Today 2.14 5 1 11 I MEDFOEf"mJTRIBUNE: NATHAN DOUTHIT Win Elks Most Valuable Student Award Crater, Medford High Students Win Award Natnan Douthit, Crater High school student, and . Nancy Mc Keown of Medford High school, have been chosen as local can didates for the Elks Foundation "Most Valuable Student" schol arship award. Douthit is the son of Mr. and Mrs.' J W. Douthit, Central Point. Miss McKeown is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. McKeown, 109 South Orange st. Four other students received honorable mention. The two first place winners will go to Klamath Falls next Revised Armory Plans Approved Revised plans for the new Medford armory have been ap proved by federal authorities, it was reported today. Lt Col. Paul Kliever, armories officer for the Oregon National Guard, said the plans and speci fications have received approval of the National .Guard .bureau and of the bureau of the budget. It. is hoped that bids can be call ed as soon ' as "Friday;'of this j week, :, v" - " -v'"' ' The building, to be construct ed on a site at the fairgrounds for an estimated cost of $348,000, will replace the old Medford armory which was largely de stroyed by fire several years ago. State, federal, county and city funds will be used in con struction. Original plans for the new armory were revised and cut down after the first cajl for bids resulted in offers well above estimates. Park Const ruction Funds OK'd by House Washington (U.R) The House voted today to almost triple the Interior Department's allow ance for construction work in the national, parks. Members said conditions In some parks are a disgrace. Facil ities for the public are inade quate and overcrowded. The funds were included in a $415,965,200 appropriation to run the Interior Department and related agencies during the next fiscal year starting July 1. The measure, passed by voice vote and sent to the Senate for approval, provides $15,000,000 for park construction. President Eisenhower asked for $5,200,000 and $5,400,000 is being spent this fiscal year. The Park Service as a whole would get $67j688,000, the larg est sum ever given the agency. Oregon Traffic Deaths Among Lowest in Nation ' Salem (U.R) Oregon was one of only 13 states to report fewer traffic deaths in 1955 than in the preceding year, Secretary of State Earl T. Newbry said today. Oregon had a 3 per' cent re duction. ! California and Wash ington recorded increases, Cali fornia with a 10 per cent in crease and Washington with 12 per cent. . ' . Nationally traffic deaths showed an 8 per cent increase with a total of 38,300. Oregcn fatalities totaled 410 compared with 422 in 1954. Dougas Couple Held On Child Mistreatment Roseburg (U.R) Daniel Stienon, 37, and his wife, Mary, 31, were in custody here today on charges of causing their four adopted children to become de pendent in what Douglas coun ty authorities termed a child mistreatment case. The children were being cared for by the Douglas County Wel fare department. They are Rod ney Wesley, 6; Mary Elizabeth, 9; William Edward, 11; and Shirley Irene, 13. NANCY McKEOWN Sunday, to compete with win ners from Elks lodges in Bend, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Ashland, Lakeview and Klamath Falls for the Oregon South district award. District winners will later compete in Portland for the state awards, .which will be scholarships of $1,200, for first place; $600, second place, and $400, third place. ' Local students receiving hon orable mention were James W. Korth, Phoenix High school, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Korth, route 1, box 330, Talent; David Gault, Medford High, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Gault, 3426 Delta Waters rd.; Sandra Owens, Phoenix High school, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Owens, route 1, box 346, Talent, - and Donna Dee Eskew, Crater. High school, - daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Eskew, route 1, box 502, .Gold Hill. . All six local winners will re ceive engraved wristwatches at a later presentation ceremony. Basis of Awards ' Winners were chosen on a bas is of scholarship, extra curric ular and out of school activities, personality? -and, leadership,., per-i serverance and resourcefulness, general worthiness, citizenship and need. Young Douthit, first place winner in this contest, also .was one of the two top contenders in the recent youth leadership contest, also sponsored by the BPOE. , Communism by Peace Plugged by Bulganin Moscow r (U.R) Premier Nikolai . Bulganin today pro claimed a policy of atomic age Communism designed to social ize the world without war. He indorsed Soviet Commun ist party First Secretary Nikita S. Khrushchev's dictum that war between capitalism and Com munism is not inevitable. He also underscored the new concept previously laid down by the current meeting of Commun ist party leaders here that var ious countries can go through the transition to Communism fey peaceful m e a n s, sometimes through parliamentary action. He coupled his call for Com munism through peace with a declaration that the Soviet Un ion is ahead of all countries in the world in developing atomic energy for peaceful uses. "The lead must be kept in the future," he said, and underlined it as the bedrock of .the new Communism by saying: "The Communists must fully place the greatest discovery, of the 20th century, atomic energy, at the service of building Communism." White House Increasingly Irritated Over Pressure for President's . Decision Thomasville, Ga. (U.R) The White House today evidenced in creasing sensitivity and even ir ritation toward efforts to pry out the details of President Eisen hower's second term announce ment. ' - . , On the basis of what the Pres ident has said in the past he will make known his intentions late this month or possibly early in March. . . Hagerty Daily Target . Press Secretary James C. Hag erty is the daily target of many questions seeking to establish what the President will an nounce when he will say it, and where. Today he warned reporters to stop "pressing" and asserted "the President will make his an nouncement at his time and no body else's." Secretary of Treasury George M. Humphrey, Mr. Eisenhower's Georgia host, was sure to be pressed for the big answer to morrow when he flies to New United Press Full Leased Wirr 50th Year 20 Pages Washington U.R) The pub lic got a look today at the U.S. Air Force's long range pilotless bomber that can carry an atomic warhead some 5,000 miles. , It also got a chance to see a U. S. 60-foot rocket from which a 1,500-mile intermediate ballis tic missile is being developed. The pilotless bomber called the Snark can navigate itself by taking automatic sightings of the stars. But it's a long way from being the dread intercon tinental ballistic missile which is now the center of considerable controversy. - ;- Some congressmen, notably Sens Henry M. Jackson CD- Senate Committee Votes Probe of Improper Lobbying Washington (U.R) The Senate Republican Policy com mittee voted unanimously today for the establishment of a spec ial eight-man committee to con duct a "wide open" investiga tion of improper lobbying and other attempts to influence Con gress. The action, voted by about 40 of the Senate's 47 Republi cans, virtually assures the cre ation of such a committee to car ry out a broad investigation to follow up the disclosure by Sen. Francis Case (R-S.D.), that an oil lobbyist had offered him " a $2500 campaign contribution during debate on the natural gas bill. Wide Open Investigation Chairman Styles Bridges (R N.H.),. who heads the GOP . Pol; icy " committee;-- announced the; committee's action to newsmen after a regular lunch meeting of the group. All GOP Senators were invited to attend. Bridges said the investigation "will be wide open." He said the sentiment at the meeting made it plain that lob bying by many groups, in addi tion to those interested in the gas bill, will be included. Bridges put the lobbying activ ities of "foreign goverpmers" high on the list of topics to .. considered. May Extend Deadline The GOP group acted shortly after Chairman Walter F. George (D-Ga.), announced that the special Senate committee selected to investigate only the Case incident will probably have to ask for an extension of its present March 1 reporting deadline. George said the group probably won't be able to re port until about March 10. Road Conditions Highway 99 Siskiyous Packed snow, chains required; 8 inches new snow. Highway 99, north Closed, high water. Highway 66, Green Springs Packed snow, chains re quired; 16 inches new snow. , Highway 199 Open. Highway 277 Closed at Milo, slide. Portland (U.R) Support of fluoridation has been urged of the Portland Central Labor Council by Dr. Herbert Good man. York for a speaking engage ment. ' Mr. Eisenhower will return to Washington by air Saturday morning. . Hagerty grew firm as reporters questioned him about whether to believe that Feb. 29 would be the date of the President's an nouncement. Spends Long Hours "There is absolutely no reason to believe that, one way or an other," Hagerty said. "The President will make his announcement at his time and nobody else's." Since last Wednesday when the President arrived here, he and Humphrey have spent long hours together riding over the cabinet member's large planta tion in search of quail,; and chatting together before Hum phrey's broad fireplace in the evenings. : Humphrey is one of the "trust ed . advisers" with whom the President'has discussed the pros Wash.) and Stuart Symington (D Mo.) have charged that Russia is ahead of the United States in he race for this so-called ultimate weapon. Administration leaders concede Russia may be. ahead in some aspects of the race, but overall the United States has a lead. The pilotless bomber limps along through the atmosphere at a mere 600 miles an hour, mak ing it a relatively easy , target for defenders. ' ' The intercontinental ballistics missile would be hurled into the stratosphere, .much like a . giant artillery shell, and travel at su personic speeds. It would be li' mMmjn-V- ' - "OSSa am.""".-. , "i) ' 8 r 7 ,'- ::;'-v 'V :? .... - . .. V - . , - t----r--ri----i-;!""?--r-- , -Stjugfa .AMERICA'S FROZEN FRONTIER Little America V appears to be a busy place as Sea bees and scientists ready the camp to spend the winter in the Antarctic. U. S. Navy photo was made Jan. 14. Zone Change Pleas Due Before Council Two public hearings on re quested zone changes will be held at a meeting of the city council at 7:30 pan. today. The changes requested are from multiple family to com mercial for lots 10 and 11 in Morey's addition, located on the North side of West Main st. at Sixth st., and from single fam ily to commercial for lots 1 through 5 and lots 20 to 24 in block one of the Laurelhurst addition and an area north of Stevens st. and east of Crater ave. The council will also consider an amendment to the plumbing ordinance; bids for construction of the eastside fire station; leas ing airport property to Medford Air Service for crop dusting op erations; a connection charge in lieu of assessment for sanitary sewers; and an exchange of lands between the water com mission and Medford Corpora tion on the Medford watershed. City Manager Robert Duff will report on an assessment method for the Valley View Capital ave. sanitary sewer sys tem. ' and cons of standing for reelec tion. Their conversations have been against the background of Mr. Eisenhower's heart attack of last Sept. 24 and the desire of most GOP leaders that the President head the 1956 ticket It was doubtful that Humphrey has the answer. There has been no evidence in Thomasville to indicate ?that the President has made up his mind. One thing did seem certain the first au thoritative word on the Presi dent's decision will come from Mr. Eisenhower, himself, and not from one of his associates. -Next News Conference " The President has said that he hopes to have enough infor mation on which to base a deci sion by the end of this month and that a public announcement will come shortly. Press Secre tary James C. Hagerty said Mon day that he, assumed the Presi dent's next news conference in Washington would be Feb. .29, the last day of the month. V 4 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1956 aimed and fired like an artillery piece. It would not be guided by radio and radar while in the air, like the Snark. The rocket the Army's Red stone is a ballistic missile de signed to strike targets at 200 mile range. It travels at super sonic speed. , The Defense Department Mon day released pictures of the Snark and the Redstone as con troversy over how the U. S. mis sile program compares with Rus sia's continued unabated. The Redstone, a derivative of the German World War II -V2 and developed at Redstone Ar senal Ala., by German scientists, Willamette Slide Halts Rail Traffic Eugene U.R) . Warming weather last night . loosened three avalanches of snow and ice onto Southern Pacific's main line and blocked all rail traffic at Willamett pass between Cru zette and Fields. Hundreds of passengers in four trains were stalled on each side of the slide area. A freight train was stalled in the slide area and snow and ice pushed against two cars stand ing on the lip of a canyon near the high Cascade town of Fra zier. Southern Pacific officials Premier of Greece Accused by Enemies Athens U.R) Premier Con stantine . Karamanlis' - political enemies accused him today of "cooking up" the election results which re turned him to power by a narrow margin. The charge was made by Soph ocles Venizelos, one of the lead ers of the Popular Front which failed to oust the pro-Western Karamanlis in Sunday's. parlia mentary elections. Venizelos said Karamanlis or ganized an "unparalleled elec toral orgy" in order to win a slender majority of 155 seats de spite the fact that .the Commu nist backed Democratic Union polled a majority of the popu lar vote. Venizelos repeated an election day charge that officers rigged the vote of the 140,000 American-trained and equipped troops and ' demanded new elections among soldiers and in unspeci fied regions where he said ir regularities occurred. . Interim Tax Study Group Will Meet Next Friday Salem (U.R) The Legislative Interim Tax Study committee will meet in the capitol here Fri day and Saturday, Sen. Rudie Wilhelm Jr. of Portland, chair man, said today. : The committee will continue its consideration of Oregon's tax structure and the effect of taxa tion on industrial development. By UNITED PRESS " Leading securities and com modity' markets throughout the United States will' be closed tomorrow in observance of George Washington's birthday. United Press Full Leased Wire Price 5c No. 285 is considered the prototype for the forthcoming Army-Navy mid range, or 1,500-mile, missile. The Air Force also is working on a mid-range ballistic missile. The pictures revealed that the Redstone is filled with its liquid propellant and given service checks in a unique structure 100 feet tall. . The rocket is placed upright in the serving structure, which is located at the Missile Test Cen ter at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. During the delicate fueling operation, the structure can be rolled away from the missile if anything goes wrong. . , said no attempt would be made to move the cars until a mobile crane reached ' Frazier. , The slide blocked rail travel on the main route between Port land and San Francisco. The northbound Cascade was held at Crescent and the southbound Klamath. was held at Oakridge. Departure of the , southbound Shasta Daylight streamliner from Portland was cancelled un til the extent of slide damage could be determined. The north bound Klamath was held at Klamath Falls. The Siskiyou route, normally used as an al ternate, was closed at Myrtle Creek and Grants Pass. A heavy snowfall smothered the Willamette pass highway route last night and a jam of stalled cars and trucks blocked the road just west of Salt Creek tunael.':- Southern Pacific officials said they hoped to have the slides cleared by about 1:30 p.m. today and they . expected to restore full service on . the line imme diately afterward. Clearing, Grading For Bridge Slaris Clearing and grading of re1 cently ' acquired rights of way for the new McKee . bridge on the Applegate began Saturday by county crews, according to County Engineer Paul Rynning. The county court recently pur chased right of way property from - David Winningham, Ben Twiss and Arthur Hall. The state highway commission last week awarded the R and M construction company of Central Point the contract for construc tion of the bridge, about one-half mile upstream from the present old covered bridge. The R and M bid was $55,950 and includes construction of . a 302-foot rein forced concrete deck girder bridge. Rynning said construction is expected to begin soon. William Healy Files Congress Candidacy Salem "r: (U.R) William. E. Healy, former assistant secretary of state, today filed his can didacy for Republican nomina tion for representative in Con gress from the first Oregon congressional district. He had announced his candidacy earlier., US Bf 0 I il Families Evacuated From Low Sections Along Rogue River Conditions Not. As Bad As December's The Jackson county court late this morning declared an emer gency in the county as a result of local flooding :r conditions which caused extensive damage to highways and evacuation -of several families. At least seven families were evacuated from along Rogue river in the Rogue River-Gold Hill area by noon today. Two families were evacuated in Shady Cove and two in Central Point. Civil Defense and Red Cross workers were organized on a standby basis to set up canteens and evacuate 'other families from lowlands if necessary. More Rain Seen During the past 36 hours, more than 3 inches of rain was recorded at the Medford wea ther bureau station, and inter mittent rain is expected to con tinue through tomorrow. The five-day forecast calls for re curring rains in western Ore gon with amounts ranging from one to three inches in the inter ior, cureau officials said. Rains will keep creeks and rivers at moderately high levels today, bureau officials said, and . local flooding from poor drain age conditions will continue. . However, Rogue river was ex pected to crest early this after noon nbout two feet helow fl nnrl stage at Dodge bridge, and be tween one and two feet above flood stage at Grants Pass. 5 Local Flooding ' . ' , Most damage was caused from local flooding conditions. Sur face water in many places in the Rogue River - Gold Hill area made muddy lakes at the base of hills. County Engineer Paul Ryn ning said damage to county roads may bo as high as the De cember, flood. Most roads leading into Grants Pass from Medford were closed, but . state police said. Highway 238 might open this afternoon after a slide between Provolt and Murphy was cleared. High way 99 between Medford and Rogue River was covered with several inches of water in low areas, but was not closed to traffic. Red Cross workers in Rogue River made arrangements for a canteen at the Riverdale restau rant and Live Oak Grange, if necessary,, and furniture and the Presbytrian church and the Gunar Wohgren building. A plan for registration of persons need ing help was underway by Red Cross. . Along the river, residents worked with shovels to find new drainage for standing water. Flooding from the river itself threatened homes on the lower banks. Roads Closed An incomplete list of county roads closed by high water, how ever, included Missouri Flats rd., some sections of the Applegate, the China Gulch rd., the Central Point-Jacksonville hwy., Grant rd. between Scenic ave. and Tay lor rd., and East Evans Creek rd. between Rogue River and Wi mer, ; which has been closed by snow and fallen trees.. The bridge on Taylor rd. over Griffin creek has been washed out. In Medford, City Manager Robert Duff stated that flooding of streets was more extensive than during the December floods. , Wells have been flooded in , a larger area than during the De cember floods, Bob Hart, county sanitarian said. He warned that' flooded wells may be considered contaminated and, that well drinking water should be boiled." Griffin creek was "running wild" in the Central Point-Jacksonville highway area, which gave rise to unconfirmed reports that it had changed its course, running into Jackson creek in stead of Rogue river. Vera Taylor, ranger at the Star ranger station in Applegate, reported that 5.20 inches of rain fell there since Saturday. In the 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. today, there was 3.72 inches. At the Medford weather bu reau station, a total of 2.14 inches fell in the 24 hours end ing1 at 4:30 a.m. today, and be tween midnight Sunday and 10 a.m. today, 3.01 inches fell. The total since Sept. 1, is 23.74 inches, 11.41 inches above nor mal. Schools Close Schools at Elk-TraiL Oak Grove and Eagle Point High school were closed because of flooded basements. Ruch and Evans Valley schools were closed yesterday and today because of power failures and road condi tions. Rogue River and Jackson ville schools were closed todav because of road conditions. k V.