EIGHT MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Friday, February 24,
Cost of Living Up
Slightly in Portland;
National Cost Down
San Francisco (U.R) Living
costs in Seattle, Los Angeles and
San Francisco declined in Janu-
' ary but rose slightly in Portland,
Ore., the U. S. Department of
Labor reported today.
Average food prices in Seattle
'. reached a low point for the past
' 14 months end one of the low
est in the last five years, the
department's bureau of labor
statistics announced. Food prices
were down 0.8 per cent from
December averages with the big
gest decline of 2.1 per cent re
corded in meats.
January's average retail price
' level in Los Angeles was 0.3 per
cent below December's, but 0.5
per cent higher than a year ago.
The downward trend' was led by
a 1.5 per cent 'decline in meat
prices, 7.1 per cent below the
year ago levels. Medical care
showed a 1 per cent gain.
Average food prices in San
Francisco were down 0.2 per
cent from December - but were
exactly the same as a year ago.
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Meats averaged 1.1 per cent low
er; fruits and vegetables were
up 0.8 per cent. -Portland
reflected a similar
decline in average food prices,
but showed an overall increase
in housing and apparel for an
0.1 per cent cost increase from
October.
Washington U.R) The cost
of living dropped slightly in
January, the government report
ed today. .-. .
The drop means a one-cent an
hour cut in pay for about 1,000,
000 automobile and farm equip
ment workers whose wages are
pegged to a cost of living scale.
Their pay cut will take effect
in the first pay period in March.
The slight January decline
brought the cost of living to the
lowest point since August. "
Lower prices for food, house
hold furnishings, clothing and
automobiles accounted for the
decline. . .
Commissioner Ewan Clague of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics
predicted that the February in
dex would remain stable or show
another slight decline.
The bureau said . that wide
spread food price declines, re
flecting lower farm prices, were
the main factor in the January
drop in the overall cost of liv
ing. It was the fourth, straight
month of decline in food prices.
POOH-BAH
Swansea, Mass,
Chief Arthur R.
busy man. He
town constable,
animals, dog
viewer, schools
ficeer, inspector
and auctioneer..
.-U.R) Police
Ormsbee is a
also serves as
inspector . of
officer, fence
attendance ' of
of slaughtering
Twin Confesses To
Murder of Cub Scout
. Wheeling, "W. Va. (U.R) Offi
cials said today the confession
of a 14-year-old twin in the bludgeon-slaying
of Cub Scout David
Powell showed the killing was
without "rhyme or reason."
Ohio County Prosecutor Jo
seph A. Gompers said the con
fession of Tommy Williams in
dicated there was "no apparent
motive" for the crime.
"I have no idea why he did
it," Gompers said. "There was
no rhyme or reason for it."
Full Confession
Williams confessed slaying the
nine-year-old boy to his attorney
hours before he and his identi
cal twin, Joseph, were arraigned
on murder charges Thursday.
Officials said Tommy made a
"full confession" to authorities
Thursday night.
Gompers said Attorney Wil
liam Callahan-requested that the
confession not be made public
until the murder trial scheduled
for April 2.
The confession virtually expn
erated Tommy's brother.
."Joe Williams will be released
as soon as I clean up several
facts, provided, of course, they
prove to be negative," Gompers
said.
- He said he would not object
if Callahan asked that bond be
set for Joseph.
The Powell boy was killed
Feb. 9 while canvassing neigh
bors near his Wheeling Island
home to sell, tickets to a Cub
Scout benefit show. His body
was found the next day beneath
a porch of the Williams' home.
The victim's head had been split
from front to rear and his throat
and chest bore stab wounds. '
Gomper said to his knowledge
the trial would be held as sched
uled. Intermediate Court Judge
David A. McKee, indicated ear
lier he would leave it up to a
jury to decide Tommy's fate.
Death Penalty Possible
The boy could be executed if
a jury finds him guilty of first
degree murder. West Virginia
court records show that a 14-year-old
boy -was tried for a
slaying 20 years ago and '. was
convicted of second degree mur
der. Gompers, , who said Tommy
will be held without bond, shied
away from questions regarding
the actual commission of the
crime." .. .
, "That's in the statement," he
said, "and I don't intend to vio
late an agreement with the de
fense attorney (Callahan)."
E. R. Schreiber, a special in
vestigator employed by Calla
han, said Tommy told Gompers
he himself had no reason for
the . slaying. Schreiber quoted
Tommy as. saying he and the
Powell boy "were pals."
Weather Balloons ;
Over Aleutians
Oppama, Japan (U.R) The
U. S. Navy reported today that
two of its weather balloons were
over the Aleutians and that plans
were completed for launching
the 20th and last of a series.
. A Navy spokesman said one
balloon messaged weather infor
mation Thursday from Shimya
Island in the Aleutians. The
Navy said . it was traveling 70
miles an hour in a northeasterly
direction. " !.'
Balloon No. 10 which was
freed Thursday at Oppama was
reported speeding on a north
easterly course over Kiska Island
at 85 miles an hour early today.
. The Navy 'spokesman said
weather conditions- would der
termine when the last lighter-than-air
' craft would be freed
here with its weather equipment
and automatic radio transmitter.
Several of the balloons have
completed the Pacific trip and
landed in the United States. One
reached the Atlantic waters off
Portugal . 1
-
La ug hs of the Day . . .
New York (U.R) Detectives
rounding up four, men accused
of looting the apartment of jazz
trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie
spent, two hours opening four
locks on the door of Walter Jack
son, 40.
When police finally gained en
trance to Jackson's apartment,
with the aid of a locksmith,
Jackson greeted them with a
smile and said: "Is somebody
looking for me?" -
Detroit (U.R) The Board of
Fire Commissioners rejected a
request that it refuse to accept
$15,000 worth of new uniforms
for firemen.
! The commissioners did not ac
cept the protests of fire fighters
that the uniforms look like
iernity frocks.'
ma-
Oregon Employment
Drops in Ja
London (U.R) Student Pat
rick ' Huggins was fined one
pound ($2.80) for "wantonly dis
charging a missile, to wit a
snowball, to the damage or dan
ger of persons in Kensington
Court." ,
The target was a policeman.
Milwaukee, Wis. (U.R) Fred
erick W. Gagnon, 53 - year - old
self-professed deaf mute, had no
trouble understanding when he
was sentenced to 30 days for
disorderly conduct.'
"I didn't know this town was
so tough on panhandlers,", he
commented after sentence was
passed.
it takes less
money than you think
First, get the real facts on how low, low the '56
Fords are priced." Then see how high, high a
trade-in allowance your Ford Dealer will give
. on your present car. We bet you'll lay out far,
far less money -and have lower monthly pay
ments than you think. ,
you get more
for your money.
Who else gives yon Thunderbird Styling and
Lifeguard Design at no extra cost? Who else
offers you Thunderbird Power.. .automatic drive
...power assists... and extra safety features at
so little extra cost? Truly, the '56 Ford is "the
fine car at half the fine car price"! . j
vou can "tailor" your
'56 Ford as you want it
Choose between a V-8 engine or an I block 6.
Ford offers you nineteen different models (in
cluding 6 Station Wagons) to choose from. Many,
many color combinations...luxurious fabrics...
'and power assists. So you can have your '56
: Ford to suit you and your pocketbook. ,
Salem (U.R) Oregon employ
ment fell off seasonally in Jan
uary, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics has reported. But with
449,100 non-farm jobs reported,
the level continued about 10,000
higher than last winter's low.
-Marked declines occured in
lumbering, construction, food
processing and trade following
the holidays but with the excep
tion of sawmills and logging
most lines remained well above
recent comparable periods, the
bureau reported. Ship repairing
reported 4,100 at work, a new
nuary
MAIN & FIR STREETS
. PHONE 3-4547
-COME IN NOV-- DURING OUR FEBRUARY SALES JUBILEE!
Ike's Announcement
Will Relieve Tension
Washington-dl.R) Heart spe
cialist Paul Dudley White sug
gested today any tension Presi
dent Eisenhower may be feeling
will be relieved when, he an
nounces his second term decis
ion." .
Reports on the President's golf
game .during his vacation 4 at
Thomasville, Ga., have indicated
he was feeling tense. He was not
playing as well as he did before
his heart attack.
Dr. White, who is directing
the President's recuperation, said
he "should think" the President
was feeling tense because of the
weight of deciding whether to
run for reelection. x
"It's only natural," he told the
United Press. "It's a very hard
decision."
He said it also is "natural ;to
assume' that a good deal of what
ever tension exists will lift when
the President "unburdens him
self", of the problem.
high for recent years, while
machinery manufacturing also
gained 100 to reach a new top
of 5,500.
Around Winter Peak
Meanwhile, u n e m p loyment
was staying around the winter
time peak with about 30,000 in
sured workers asking compensa
tion each week.
Because of the new benefit
schedual, payments were expect
ed to be close to 3,000,000 this
month, the. second highest Feb
ruary in the last five years. Av
erage weekly checks are running
around $29 compared "with $22
under the old ; scale. But from
12 to 15 per cent of mostly sea
sonal claimants - now are. unable
to qualify f 6r benefits. Minimum
base year earnings of $700 over
a sustained ' period now - are
required. . ..
Limbering Drops
More than two-thirds of the
unemployed were coming from
seasonal pursuits in lumbering,
construction and food process
ing, the Teport revealed. Log
ging and sawmills reported" 52,
000 working last month with
from 10,000 to 15,000 filing for
benefits ' each week while the
weather continued cold and wet.
A year ago, 56,700 employees
were busy in these groups. ;
Plywood mills, construction
and food plants dropped1 off in
January but were well above
a year ago. About 8,000 clerks
were laid off at year-end byb re
tail trade but here too, employ
ment was higher than last Janu
ary. Government also dropped
3,200 workers after the holidays.
Most other alines continued on
an even keel.
Reds Build Bases
Opposite Formosa
Taipeh, Formosa (U.R) A Na
tionalist Chinese military spokes
man said today Communist Chi
na has. some 70 airbases in three
provinces facing Formosa, half
of which are capable of handling
jet aircraft. . - - .
Navy Capt. Lu Ho-Tu said the
Reds recently completed five big
jet bases on the mainland di
rectly across the Formosa Strait
from the Nationalist' island bas
tion and that four others . are
under construction. -
He said . that whilef no , Com
munist jets- have yet been sight
ed on Fukien province '. they
could be there "in a matter of
hours.". ' , : .
Liu said he agreed with the
commander of the Nationalist
garrison on the Quemoy that the
Reds are strong enough to attack
the offshore island "if they de
sire." But,' he said, he did not
believe any Red invasion is "im
minent." ".' -' ' L
Judge Compliments
Audacious Thief
London (U.R) The judge com
plimented . William Frederick
Lowe Thursday for being a "very
clever . audacious thief" and
then sentenced him to five years
in jail. - -
Lowe, 33, was likened to E. W.
Hornung's legendary character,
"Raffles," gentleman thief. .
Among Lowe's exploits was
his bamboozling of Lady An
tonia Doughty Tichborne by pos
ing as a colonel of the Scots
Guard with derby hat, old school
tie, military bearing and clipped
accent. He ransacked her apart
ment and as he was leaving en
countered Lady Antonia; f " " ;
-, "I've just seen someone try to
fling himself out of your win
dow," Lowe said. i
"How ghastly," Lady Antonia
replied and rushed inside. By
the time she discovered Lowe
had stolen jewelry and heirlooms
worth' 1,500 pounds ($4,200)
Lowe had escaped.
Searchers Find Lost ,
Corvallis Hiker t '
Corvallis (U.R) Leonard
Stayton, 25, ' Corvallis, missing
overnight on snowy Mary's peak,
was found safe shortly after 6
a.m. today by a search party.
The search party, headed by
Deputy Sheriff Jess Gates, ra
dioed , police here that Stayton
was "all' right." t
Stayton had hiked into deep
snow on the, tall Coast range
peak yesterday to bring down
a tractor which had, been used
on road: repair. Seach started
when he failed to return as sched
uled yesterday evening. , ,
Eagle Point Grange opened
with seating drill 'Feb. 21. The
office of ceres was filled by Mrs.
Lawrence -Messal. W. E. Davis
and G. E. Cowden served on the
executive committee. ; "
The demits of Charlie' and El
sie Hoover : were accepted. New
members ,Victor and Rose Bar
tholomew were voted into
membership. " ; :
W. E. Davies gave a report for
the agriculture committee. Re
porting for- the Educational
Comm.1 was Mrs. Augusta Perry.
Her -subject was on family fire
drills.- The" legislative ,, commis
sion report was given by Paul
Olsen. He told of a number -of
bills now before congress. Mrs.
Harry DeVore gave a report 'forf
the health and safety committee! :
-Dolls filled i the HEC display
table. There, was a doll in war
rior costume from South Afri
ca, and dolls from Germany, in
native dress, as well as others.
The next H.E.C. meeting will be
held February 29 at "the home
of Mrs. Lenn Hickman. The serv- i
ing committee ' for the . next
Grange meeting, March 6, is to'
be Mr .and Mrs. John Huffman j
and Mr.-, and Mrs. Kermit Car
roll. ; . - -
Election was held for lecturer
and Charlie Hoover was elected.
Attendance ; pins were pre
sented' to Mr. and Mrs. Harry
DeVore, Mr. and Mrs. Otis Hill, j
and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence ',
Messal. . - - j
Grange closed in regular j
form. Refreshments were served i
by Mr. and Mrs. Otis Jones and ;
Mr. and Mrs. Harry DeVore.
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