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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1956)
Veather MEDF0ED?rRIBUNE FORECAST: Comiderable cloudiness with occasional snow flurries tonight and Friday. Low tonight 25. High Friday 40. Temp. Highest Yesterday . 39 Lowest this Morning 32 Free, to 10 a-m. Today .82 United Press Full Leased Wire United Press Full Leased Wire .50th Year 24 Pages MEDFr OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1956 Price 5c No. 287 j. . . . ... i . '. '. . V . -jr. f - -" - v.- , : : : t 1 , j). .' i nMi i im)K m, ,,,.,, II,.,,,, .j.,n.j,i ..juniijii i,ij,,hu,i.,ui,i) in. jgt- i, hiii.i.ii.u.,ji jim i. ii. ii ... . -i .11. 1 . i . i 'A- j v. , & I .1 z ' ,x y' If 'st J U a 1 4 milMIM.1 iJW.,yWMJiJ i,WFWWfW -WUlW,j, ll.JJjJIUJJIJJI IWIJ ...II .IJ. . J. II. jJ I ' II 'W- jL ' t If p i L..A 11! v - ! IF WINTER COMES . . . ? This is typical of. the scene which greeted many residents of the Rogue valley this morning, as the winter's heaviest snowfall came in during the night, covering southern Oregon with Power Line Damage, Schools Closed From iHleaw Snowfall More1 than 6 inches of snow yesterday and last night closed several county schools today, and caused power shortages in several southern Oregon areas, Electric power in east Med- ford was off between two and four hours early today when snow packed on lines and tree limbs causing contacts and line burning, California Oregon Pow er company officials said. ' Other Facilities Other facilities in Southern Oregon were extensively " dam aged, they said. Lines in the Wimer, Evans Creek, Trail and Elk creek areas suffered heavy damage, as did lines on the Green Springs. They said there also was transmi3sion'..line..tcQU.i ble on the Umpqua divide from heavy snowfall. Officials said ; repair crews were dispatched to trouble spots. Medford station of. the U.S. weather bureau recorded 5.1 inches of snow at the airport this morning Winging the total for the month to 10.9 inches, second highest amount for February on record. Record fall for February was 17.5 inches in 1917. Heaviest amount for the month since then had been 9.8 in February 1949. This morning's snow, which came between midnight and 10:30 a.m., was the largest amount for x one day this year. There was a total of four inches on the ground at one time. A fig ure of 6.2 inches for yesterday Road Conditions Highway 99 Siskiyous Chains required, packed snow. Highway 99, north Chains required from Grants Pass to Canyonville; rain north of Canyonville, pavement bare. Highway 199 Chains re quired from Grants Pass to over Oregon mountain. ' Highway 66, Green Springs Chains required, packed snow. Highway 62 Packed snow and slush from Shady Cove north; highway closed at Crater ' Lake National park, snow slide. , Highway 227 Tiller-Trail highway closed by slide near Milo. .. . . Smith Announces Candidacy For Governor Nomination Salem (U.R) Gov. Elmo Smith announced late yesterday that he would be candidate ,for the Republican nomination for governor in the May 18 primary election. "My duty and responsibilities are clear," the governor said m announcing his decision to run. "Oregon has great need for far-sighted and aggressive lead ership," he said. "The people of Oregon had given decisive sup port to the leadership and pro gram of Gov. Patterson. I be lieve they want this program continued and completed." . U. S. Rep. Walter Norblad and Earl Dickson of Albany, also have filed for the Republican nomination for governor. ' State Sen. Robert E. Holmes, Astoria, is the only announced Democrat candidate. The governor, who entered his new duties as chief executive of Oregon on the sudden death of Gov. Paul Patterson, Jan. 31, 1956, said he intended to visit every section of the state during the coming year. ' and today, however, was not the most for a two-day period this year. Snowfall, on Feb. 17 "and 18 amounted to 7.4 inches with 4.4 on Feb. 17. , Medford vicinity was the area of heavy snow for Southern Ore gon. More rain than snow fell to the north and south of the valley and Grants Pass had only an inch of slush at 10:30 a.m, today, Schools closed today in Jack son county due to weather or road conditions included Ruch, 4 . West Coast By UNITED PRESS i Cooler-air moved into Oregon today as precipitation which sent streams cut of their banks earlier in the week dropped off. Snow was reported in some sections. ' North Bervi .received. .64, of ,an .inch .of rain in. the 24 hours ending at 4:30 a.m. and Medford got about six inches of snow, but elsewhere precipitation generally was lighter. Baker got .45 of an inch of precipitation -and reported four inches of snow on the ground. . . , . Some mixed rain and snow fell throughout western Oregon and the weather bureau said 'the outlook called for more similar shower activity. Snow showers are expected throughout eastern Oregon. - San Francisco :0J.R) The West Coast's four-day storm died away today, leaving behind at least eight dead and severe flood damage in three states. The onslaught of wind, rain and snow . swelled -r-ivers throughout southern Washing ton, Oregon and Northern Cal ifornia, but the' only' major stream still offering trouble was the Russian river in. California. The Sonoma county sheriff's office reported that the tumbling water reached 38" feet "last night eight tfeet above flood stage but most of the flooding was.con fined to farm land. Clearing Forecast Meanwhile, the weather bu reau came up with its first opti mistic forecast in four days. It predicted partial clearing in Oregon and Washington early today with continued "intermit tent" rain and snow in Northern California until this afternoon. In Oregon, Gov. Elmo Smith said flood damage in the Grants Pass area of Josephine County might be three or four 'times 5 ELMO SMITH Duty Said Clear 1 . ? Is II 1 Aw ; I ik-'l Mi snow ranging in depth from a few inches up to a foot or more in higher elevations. Despite its beauty, it caused slippery ' and slushy streets,, slowed traffic and kept a number of schools closed. (Brainerd photo.) ' Rogue River and Butte Falls, which are closed for the re mainder of the week, and Jack sonville, Phoenix, Applegate, Prospect and the Rogue River Academy, which closed for today at least, according to County School Superintendent Alf Mek vold. Evans "Vjalley school, which has been closed because of heavy snow, could not be contacted be cause lines were down, Mekvold said. . -4 Storm greater astrous floods. than that of the dis-December-J a n u a r y McCloud Man Killed ' ' The latest victim of the storm was Harley Johnson, 22, of Mc Cloud, Calif., who was reported to have frozen to death when he and two other men were caught in a blizzard north of Redding. Four persons were killed in California and three in Washing ton earlier in the week. Five men were injured, four of them seriously, when a rock slide crashed down on a power shovel they were operating "in the" Feather River' Canyon near Storrie, Calif., yesterday. Hearing on Rural Fire District Budget Held The Central Point Rural Fire district budget for 1956-57 calls for a tax levy of $31,647.40, an increase of $6,972.80 .over the 6 per cent . limitation. The pro posed levy, however, is $259.52 less than the 1954-55 levy. ' A public hearing on the bud get was held in Central Point Tuesday night. No objection was voiced. The budget board will meet March 6 to fix the date for a special election when voters will be asked to approve the amount in excess of the 6 per cent limitation. Fire- Chief Dick Krupp said the budget committee limited ex penditures tp essentials and plan ned no improvements or addi tions because it felt that the tax burden in the County was such that an increase should be avoided. Railroad Tariff -Suspension Ordered Salem-OJ.PJ Public Utilities Commissioner Charles H. Helt- zel today ordered suspension of railroad tariffs recently, filed which would increase intrastate rail rates in Oregon by seven per cent. The new rates would have be come effective Feb. 25. The order said the level of all rates and charges would be greauy increased ana no evi dence establishing their propri ety and reasonableness had been offered by ; the railroads to sup port the tariffs. Hagerfy Continues To Deny.Decisiori Told by President Authoritative Word To Be Given Public Thomasville, Ga. (U.R) The White House today attempted vainly to stem the growing flood of reports that President Eisen hower: was willing to run again; Almost hourly,- Mr. Eisen hower's press secretary, James C. Hagerty, was pelted with a fresh batch of published and broadcast reports that the President had reached a decision and would be a candidate for re-election. These reports flowed in from the West Coast to New York, the bulk of them Nsteniming from Washington sources. . Hagerty attempted to stand his ground, however, and contin ued to forecast that the first au thoritative word from the Presi dent will be given to the Ameri can public and not to a few Re publicanleaders. :., Denies Word From Adams He also denied that Sherman Adams, the assistant to the. Pres ident,, had "passed the word" to GOP leaders that the President was a sure thing for a reelection race. ! "Has Sherman Adams passed such word?" Hagerty was asked late Wednesday. v "No, he hasn't and I've talked to Sherman Adams ... He says he never made, any such state ment like that at all," Hagerty said. GOP National Chairman Leon ard W. Hall also was mentioned in the published reports as a source of the information that the President was willing to stand for reelection. Hagerty said he checked Ad- a;.by..tphpnet'Jt)utnQt..9alI.' The -press" secf etary; felt" that his province was the White ;House staff and not beyond. - - "Has a decision of any sort been relayed to anybody?" Hag erty was asked. ( Says Would Not Tell "Not to my knowledge," Hag erty replied. Asked "if the President had reached his fateful decision, Hag erty enigmatically . replied, "I wouldn't know and if I do know, I'm not going to tell you. When he is . going to make an announcement, he will tell me and I will tell you." ' Extensive Damaged To County Roads Local flooding and overflow ing streams have caused exten sive "semi-major" damage to. roads throughout Jackson coun ty, according to County Engin eer Paul Rynning and members of the county court who spent yesterday touring the area. While roads have not receiv ed serious damage of the heavy December floods, Rynning said local damage was considerably greater and covered a larger area. " A section of the Central Point Jacksonville road near Hanley hill was badly washed out by a rampant Jackson . creek, and heavy rock work will be requir ed before it will be passable, ac cording to Rynning. Other sections closed include the .right fork road of Foots creek, where a bridge approach is washed out; the upper , part of Kane's creek between Med ford and Gold Hill; upper Grif fin Creek road, about three miles above ' Griffin "- Creek school; and up Sterling creek road between Jacksonville hill and -Little Applegate.. Rynning said crews are bat tling snow in the higher levels and the exact amount ' of dam age cannot yet be determined. Three Juvenile Boys Arrested This Week Three more juvenile boys were arrested Monday by sher iff's deputies, bringing to 16 the number taken into custody re cently for thefts from cars and other deliquent acts. The arrests have cleared at least 69 cases on sheriff's files, and a number reported to Med ford police, officials said. City police also have arrested juve niles recently for similar crimes All the. youths have been re manded to the juvenile depart ment for further investigation Juid disposition. ESCAPES INJURY Milo. Martain Randall, 23, 724 Victory st., apt. 4, escaped injury about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday . when his . auto was squeezed between two Southern Pacific cars at the Clark st. crossing. City police said Randall's sedan became stuck , on the rails Yuba City Children Await Santa's Visit Yuba City, Calif. (U.R) Seven-year-old Stewart Stanton, his eyes shining, cheered as loud as the rest of them when it was announced that Santa Claus would put in an appearance here tomorrow. ; Little Stewart, like thousands of other tots in Yuba City and Marysville, didn't get : to -. see S'anta on his regular run. ; Their towns were "evacuated and .the Christmas presents of many were swept away on roof-high flood waters. ' Stewart, a second-grader, en tered the high school auditor ium here last night during a driving rain. Then his face lit up and he joined with 800 other youngsters in a carnival atmos phere. There was a free circus and vaudeville acts. Ike Sends Greetings President Eisenhower sent Christmas greetings, and Gov. Goodwin J. Knight announced he would tour the flood area to morrow with Santa Claus, drop ping in at random at the homes of youngsters. That was when the big cheer went up. 'I' Santa Claus also will appear Saturday to pass out gifts do nated from all over the state. A planeload from Alameda Nav al Air Station was due to arrive today, and another load of gifts was scheduled to come from Southern California Lions clubs. The celebration of Christmas in February was building ' up momentum despite an almost steady downpour and a threat of another flood. But the Weather Bureau pre dicted some clearing for today Check Rumors of Isolated Family Three men in a six-wheel drive truck were making their way ; up snowbound Evans Creek road to Wimer at noon today after rumors indicated the possibility that a family was is olated near Wimer and in need of 'help. Making the trip were Leroy Webb, Rogue River logger; and Doyle Stockton, deputy state fire wardens They were in con tact with local officials through use of a mobile radio loaned by the Southern Oregon Conserva tion and Tree Farm association. Red Cross officials said they received a phone caE last night from Rogue River from an un identified woman who told them the situation should be investi gated. 7,000 Chickens Lost , When House Floods Rogue River The loss of at least 1,000 chickens, owned by S. W. Tomlinson, route 1, Gold Hill, due to flooding from a ditch near his chicken - house early Tuesday was reported today. , Tomlinson's family said he dis covered the water about two feet deep in the chicken house about 5 a jn. The . young fryers were ready for market, ; according to relatives. at least enough so Santa won't have tc worry about finding his way through the storm. , Yesterday looked darkest. A ferris wheel stood dripping and deserted in downtown - Yuba City. A colorful tent planned to house last night's circus was ripped : by winds' j- and taken down. Merchants who remained open fpr "Christmas shopping," stood glum in nearly deserted stores. '. ' Protesting Negroes Summoned To Prayer Montgomery, Ala. U.R)' A minister called 10,000 Negroes to prayer today on the eve of a proposed ' mass "pilgrimage" through Montgomery streets in protest against 7scores of arrests for boycotting segregated city buses. The Rev. R. D. Abernathy, one of 67 Negroes rounded up Wednesday and - charged .with plotting the 11-week old racial boycott, said he expected 10;000 Negroes to gather for prayer at his church tonight. The boycott, started last Dec. 5, was staged originally as a one day demonstration protesting the arrest of seamstress Rose Parks for refusing to move to the Negro section of a bus.. 7" uBietin Washington (U.R) The House Ways and Means com mittee voted today to tax mo-; torists and truckers an average of more than $800,000,000 a year for 16 years to help pay for a big new highway build ing program. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York-j(U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages: 30 . indus trials 481.50 up 4.57; 20 rails 159.88 up 0.71; 15 utilities 64.44 up 0.20; and 65 stocks 170.87 up 1.20. Sales today were about 2,- 900,000 shares compared with 2,240,000 yesterday. TROUBLE AT GRANTS PASS Scenes like this were common in Grants Pass area Tues day as a result of heavy rainfalL A boat is used for evacuation In tba Farkdale district' when he attempted to go around a freight car parked on the crossing. He placed blocks next to the rails to facilitate the crossing, according to police, but was forced to leave the car in the path of the train approaching on another track. - McCarthy Urges Encouragement of Attack on Reds New York (U.R) Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy assailed the Eisen hower administration's foreign policy last night and demanded that the United States "encour age" free Chinese, Koreans and Viet Namese to attack the Com- ;munists..,,....w - McCarthy and SenTWilliam E Jenner of Indiana both were critical of the administration in addresses before -a Washington's birthday rally of the "For Amer ica" organization in Carnegie Hall. Another Washington McCarthy described Gen. Doug las MacArthur as "contemporary George Washington"- and said "neither Douglas MacArthur nor Washington, if the decision had been his,; would have "extended the hand of friendship to the Soviet Union as was done last summer at Geneva." , Jenner also levelled a verbal attack at the United Nations and said the United Nations consti tutes a threat to our constitution and our liberties at home, as great as its threat to our inde pendence as a nation in foreign affairs." ' ' Arms Encouraged McCarthy said the United States must seek to wipe Com munism from the earth and said the United States should "en courage free peoples, especially those in Asia with armed forces at their disposal, to attempt to liberate their Communist - held homelands." Morse Would Welcome Stevenson, Kef auver Washington UR A presi dential primary race between Adlai Stevenson and Estes e- fauver in Oregon would be wel comed by Sen. Wayne Morse, the Oregon Democrat said today. . Morse said he had written to both candidates denying that he would fear their,'filingin ' the Oregon primary election for its effect on his own campaign for reelection. ... - - tfSr ' :: ? ": -, " ''..... ; - j -ss Valuable Metal WillBeAYailable To Peaceful Nations Safeguards To Assure Peaceful Purposes Washington (U.R) The United States today took a long step forward in its atoms-for-peace program by releasing one billion dollars worth of uran ium for peaceful uses at home and abroad. , : Officials predicted the move would prove a sharp blow to Soviet "talk" about Russian ad vances in peaceful use of nu clear power. To Distribute 40 Tons . President Eisenhower , an-, nounced at Thomasville, ' Ga., Wednesday the United .States will distribute 40,000 kilograms (more than 40 tons) bf uranium 235 for atomic reactors and re search at home, and overseas. : That amount of uranium-235 packs enough energy , to devas tate 40,000 Hiroshimas. How-. 6 ever, experts stressed the ur anium will be made available in a form not easily convertible to military use , Half of the 40,000 kilograms will be set aside for leasing in the united States, the announce ment said. The rest will be leased or sold abroad. The President said "pru dent safeguards" will be taken to make sure the uranium is used for peaceful purposes. ' Soviet Bloc Ineligible The uranium will be made, available to all nations except Russia and its satellites and na tions like Great Britain that are already producing it. "This will give the boys in. the Kremlin something to think about," ; said.. tne U: : S." off icial -who asked not to be quoted by name. "The Russians can't, pos sibly hope to match this." Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D Wash.), said the uranium commitment- will "unequivocally demonstrate to doubting Thom ases abroad that we are staunch advocates of the peaceful atom."; He joined Chairman Clinton P. Anderson (D-N.M.), of the Joint Congressional Atomic Energy. Committee in hailing the move as a "valuable step in the right direction." - Federal Civil Defense Officials Visit Here ' Fred Spaeth, federal civil de fense official from Salem, and Lt. Col. Maylon E. Scott, Oregon civil defense operations officer, were to arrive in Medford this afternoon for a preliminary sur vey of flood damage. The two 'will tour Jackson county today and Josephine county Friday, and make a re port by telephone tomorrow to Gov. Elmo Smith, according to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hicks', county civil defense director. . SP Resumes Traffic Over Siskiyou Line Portland U.R) Freight serv ice over Southern Pacific's Sis kiyou line between Eugene and. Dunsmuir was resumed at 8:30 a jn. today as crews completed repairs of flood damage to the Jumpoff Joe creek bridge at Merlin in Josephine county. " There is no passenger service on the line. The Siskiyou route also had been blocked at Myrtle Creek and south of Grants Pass but that damage was repaired earlier. south of the city. Grants Pass was isolated , by floodwaters but the main highway routes were-reopened after surface water receded and the Rogue river started dropping. to
