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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1956)
MORE-FieHTIHG ST El Adeoycate Water Assure Portland (U.R) Every major river basin, valley and upland meadow in Oregon will have plenty of water for a bountiful growing season this year, ac cording to a report of statewide water conditions issued today by the United States Soil Con servation Service and the Ore gon Agricultural Experiment Station. W. T. Frost, who supervises Smith Tax Formula Salem U.R) A five-point tax formula was outlined here today by Gov. Elmo Smith. jk The governor, who predicted his formula would gain the sup port of the people, was the luncheon speaker at a tax clinic sponsored by Oregon Chamber Executives and Oregon Tax Re search. Explaining that he did not ex pect any tax to meet all of his suggested fundamentals, Gov. Smith added that a worthwhile tax program must incorporate taxes which in total come clos est to satisfying these standards: Musi Meet Demands 1. Any tax program adopted "must conform with the concept of equality of taxes held by the people of Oregon. This is par ticularly true in Oregon where the people can and do partici pate in the legislative processes. 2. Our tax system must raise enough money to meet demands for service placed upon the state by the people. 3. It must be flexible enough to produce revenues under vary ing economic conditions. 4. It should be convenient as convenient as any tax is for the taxpayer and economical for the government to administer. 5. Our taxes should in no way hinder the growth or develop ment of our state. "Those who feel that drastic tax reduction is necessary must recognize that this can be done only if we are willing to elimi nate services." the governor sdded. Biggest Business "Government services are the biggest business in Oregon," the governor said. "The state oper Organization o! Bar Group Completed Organization of the Jackson County Bar association was com pleted by local lawyers at a noon meeting yesterday. Previously, attorneys here have belonged to the State and Southern Oregon Bar associa tions. The new group supple ments these, and is for lawyers in Jackson county only. Mem bers feel the organization will enable attorneys to meet their needs in this immediate area more effectively. Paul Haviland was eleated president at the meeting at the Rogue Valley Country club; Bob Duncan was named first vice- president: W. G. Kellington sec ond vice president; James Main secretary, and Kent Blackhurst treasurer. Constitution and by-laws of the association were adopted by the 33 members attending. Moore Endorsed by labor Council Here The Medford Central Labor council Wednesday night en dorsed District Judge Rawles Moore as a candidate for reelec tion in the coming election. His name will appear on the non-partisan ballot opposing At torney O. H. Bengtson. The candidate receiving a majority will appear in the general elec tion. Since there are only two candidates, the winner in the primary is virtually assured of election. Speaking at Wednesday's meeting were Thomas Reeder, Medford attorney and candidate for district attorney, and At torneys Edward C. Kelly, Robert Dickev and Robert Duncan. The latter three spoke on behalf of Judge Moore. Pro-Western Defeat Seen in Ceylon Vote Colombo, Ceylon (U.R) Returns from the first section of a three-part national election in dicated today a crushing defeat for the nro-Western government of Prime Minister Sir John Ko- telawala. With 42 of the 95 parliamen tary.- seats at stake in the first day of balloting, the- leftist op position ousted many govern ment representatives, including six Cabinet ministers. snow surveys for both agencies, said even those Oregon agricul tural areas that were hard-pressed for water last year will have ample supplies. He said an above average snow pack, coupled with the wettest watershed soils observed in many years, assured better than usual late summer stream flow throughout the state. utlines ates among other things a vast highway system, finances a ma jor portion of our educational system, provides a variety of ag ricultural services, protects the public health and administers a broad program of public wel fare. Which of these, and the dozens of other functions of our state government, can we safely discontinue?" Salem U.R) State Sen. Leo V. Ohmart of Salem predicted today that the Legislature In terim Committee on Taxation would recommoned repeal of the 45 per cent surtax on per sonal income in Oregon. He told the Oregon Tax clinic, attended by about 300 interest ed legislators and tax organiza tions, that he believed some sort of a sales tax would be recom mended as a substitute. Ohmart made it clear that re peal of the surtax would depend upon finding an adequate alter nate source of income for the state. He said he regarded the surtax on incomes as unfair. Employment Takes Upturn in County; Outlook Said Good Good weather during the latter part of March caused a considerable upturn - in- employ ment in Jackson county, accord ing to John J. Patton, manager of the Medford employment office. Most of the increase, Patton said, was because regular lum ber industry crews, which were laid off . during bad winter weather, were recalled. New hiring increased slightly, he added. Non-agricultural job place ments increased 63 per cent over February, while agricultural placements remained the same, Patton said. Estimated Unemployment Unemployment as of March 31 was estimated at 1,720 including 300 women. The total is 19 per cent below February, and 9 per cent below the same period in 1955, Patton said. New claim for unemployment compensation dropped sharply because of good weather. New applications for work last month totaled 397 compared to 254 in Febwary and 363 in March, 1955. New claims filed at the local office numbered. 56b last month, 737 in February and 700 in March, 1955. Patton said the outlook -for employment this summer is good. "Agriculture and construc tion both appear to be headed for a big season," he noted. The local office is completing the annual program, of aptitude testing in Jackson county high schools, Patton said. The senior class this year includes several who will be looking for perma nent job opportunities, he said, and employers are invited to con tact the local office for assis tance in securing graduates. General Heating in Orchards Here Today Low temperature of 24 degrees here this morning resulted in the first widespread peach and pear orchard heating of the season, according to Cliff Cordy, county agent for horticulture. Cordy said that scattered heat ing started at about 3 a.m., but became general later in the morning. Some peach orchard heating was reported Monday night when the temperature also was 24 de grees. Since then, Cordy said, pears have reached the stage of development where cold could be damaging. The county agent said that heating this morning was started before any cold damage could result to the fruit buds. Corvallis (U.R) Masonic lodge in Corvallis has announced that it would rebuilt its fire ravaged building . Frost reported that the snow cover above 5000 feet is 130 per cent of the 15-year average. Be low that level the snow cover is 173 per cent of the average. In western and southwestern Ore gon the snow cover has de creased at only the lower eleva tions while normal to above nor may increases have occurred at the median and high elevations Ike To Ask Boost In Appropriations For Defense Items Guided Missiles, Aircraft Listed Washington (U.R) President Eisenhower will ask Congress soon to boost defense appropria tions for "critical items" such as guided missiles and aircraft, congressional sources said today. The amount of the anticipated request was not revealed. But some informed sources said they expect it to be "quite large." The disclosure follows Demo cratic criticism that the admin istration has been lagging in the weapons development race with Russia. Breakdown Asked At a recent hearing of the Sen ate Armed Services Committee, Chairman Richard B. Russell (D-Ga.) asked the Air Force to furnish a breakdown on what use it would make of an extra $1,500,000,000 if Congress should vote it. The Air Force has not yet replied, the committee said. Sen. Leverett Saltonstall (R - Mass.) Senate Republican whip and ranking GOP member of the Armed Services group, and Sen. James H. Duff (R-Pa.) another committee member, con ferred at the White House Wed nesday with President Eisen hower on military matters, including the guided missile program. Adequacy Questioned Neither, however would" di vulge details of - the subjects covered. Democratic members of the House Military Appropriations Subcommittee and some senators have questioned the adequacy of the administration's defense budget. The subcommittee has been holding closed hearings on Pres ident Eisenhower's defense pro gram. ICC Sets Meeting On Shipping Order Washington (U.R The Inter state Commerce Commission has scheduled a meeting Monday to reconsider controversial car service order 910", an informed source said today. In order, which western Ore gon lumbermen have been pro testing vigorously, goes into ef fect Sunday midnight. The ICC meeting Monday is thought to have been called as a direct result of a request made Thursday by Sen. Warren D. Magnuson (D-Wash.) that order 910 be held up or amended to exclude lumber shipments until a hearing can be held on its economic effect on the north west lumber industry. Magnu son is chairman of the Senate Interstate Commerce commit tee, which gives him probably the greatest leverage of any member of congress over ICC matters. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages: 30 indus trials 521.05, up 4.48; 20 rail roads 171.58, up 0.17; 15 utili ties 67.14, up 0.06, and 65 stocks 182.70, up 0.92. Sales today were about 2,600,000 shares compared with 2,950,000 yesterday. Two Tornadoes in Texas; Heavy Rains By UNITED PRESS Tornadoes returned to the Southwest on the heels of one of the most devastating, twister barrages in the nation's history. A tornado damaged from 150 to 200 homes at Bryan, Tex., yesterday, but there were no deaths or injuries. Police said probably the reason was that it was a rooftop twister which never did "get right down to the ground." Another torpado funned was sighted above Port Arthur, Tex., but apparently did not touch the grcund. Up to four inches of rain doused the state and four persons were killed when their car crashed on a rain-slicked hgihway. In Bryan, the twister tore the roofs off homes and demolished two warehouses. the past month. Frost said snow cover in the major river basins ranges from 170 per cent of average in the Willamette basin to 91 per cent of average in the Owyhee basin. He predicted that April through September flows of streams in 12 major Oregon basins would rank in the top 10 per cent highest flows for that period in their historical record. Medford 51st Year 24 Pages 1 W 3 5T TLA "tit; WWfMiSMl Wnl t: fqiii w. - m ? I A-ISf I III e SPRING IS HERE The high school boys shown above strol-' ling along Main st. in downtown Medford were among about 30 who showed up in bermuda shorts at school this morning, with no advance warning to school authorities, and who were at first asked to change to more customary garb. After some confusion and misunderstanding, the boys and the school offi- 'Common Sense' in Board Size Ruling Expected by FHA Portland (U.R) Federal Housing Administration spokes men indicated today its officers would use "common sense" in enforcing a new rule which -has resulted in many boards now manufactured by the lumber in dustry not conforming to FHA standards. A slim 132 of an inch was the difference. Standards Not Met The order said that all boards marked three-fourths of an inch under a newly-adopted West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau's rule failed to meet standards. FHA rules call for 2532 inch boards in lumber used for sheating of walls and subflooring. Charles A. Bowser, assistant commissioner in charge of under writing for the FHA, said in Washington, D.C., he saw little cause for alarm. He said he ex pected field inspectors would "use common sense" in enforc ing the memorandum. Ruling Worded Loosely He added he believed the rul ing was worded loosely enough to provide loopholes which re gional officers could cut to fit local .situations. The notice said that American Lumber Stan dards must be complied with un less revised "or at least until a majority of the industry agrees on some other standard thick ness." Home builders here conferred with mortgage and FHA officials and an official said afterwards the situation probably would be taken up on the national level. Douse South It was the first re-appearance of tornadoes in the Southwest since an onslaught of twisters came raging out of the area Monday night. National Red Cross headquar ters in Washington said its sur vey showed 46 "verified" deaths in the two-day, 12-state storm. There were 800 injured, 389 homes destroyed, 1,272 hcvies damaged, and 1,560 families af fected, the Red Cross said. Snow in Rockies Heavy rains included 2.65 inches at Shreveport, La.; 2.72 at Birmingham, Ala., and 2.24 at Jackson, Miss. Wintry weath er returned to the West, bring in gone to three inches of snow to the central Rockies. In the northern Midwest, floods posed the major weather threat. d ifor Summer S They are streams in the Mal heur, Burnt, Imnaha, Grande Ronde, John Day, Deschutes, Hood, Willamette, U m p q u a, Rogue, Klamath, and Warner Lake basins. The only worry, Frost said, was that the snowpack melt could be carried off in an or derly manner. Many areas re ported they would use the bonus MEL .-r (Landis-Shangle photo) Bermuda Shorts Result in Minor Dispute at About 30 Medford High school boys showed up for school this morning wearing bermuda shorts. At 9 a.m., after some discus sion between spokesmen for the boys and school authorities, they were asked to leave to get into more conventional garb. Instead, they moved in a group into downtown Medford, enlist ing support for their "cause" that of comfortable dress on a beautiful spring day. Other Conferences As the morning wore on, there were other conferences with school authorities, a decision on policy, and an agreement on an accepted standard of springtime dress. The dispute died down and things got, back to normal. In the future, boys can wear bermuda shorts so long as they conform to accepted standards for that type of informal garb, it was agreed between the students and the school authorities. There will be no "extremes," they agreed, either as to the length of the shorts or as to other garments. During the morning discus sions, the slightly - embarrassed school authorities, half-way sym pathetic with the boys, pointed out, however, that it is their endeavor to persuade students to avoid the extremes of non-conventional dress, since they are distracting to the educational process. They also explained that they don't want to make any hard-and-fast rules about clothing, but that if the situation had been approached a bit dif ferently, the initial confusion could have been avoided. The boys agreed. 'Legal' Right Leonard Mayfield, city school superintendent, who was un aware of the situation until after the boys had left the school campus for downtown, chuckled somewhat ruefully and admitted the boys have a "legal" right to wear what they want as long as it is within the limitations of decency. But he explained the schools' efforts have been to edu cate youngsters to the commonly accepted proprieties and cus toms. He said it is the same as their attempts to discourage girls from wearing slacks and shorts to school. , Four spokesmen for the boys appeared at the Mail Tribune of- Weather FORECAST: Variable high cloudiness tonight and Satur day. Low tonight 32. High Saturday 65. Temp. Highest Yesterday 60 Lowest this Morning 30 water to build reservoir reserves for next year or would cultivate marginal lands not normally in production. A survey showed the state's 20 major irrigation reservoirs 80 per cent full of water, 17 per cent more than average. The water supply outlook for the entire Columbia Basin was described as "excellent." R. A. Work of the Soil Con- i, APRIL 6, 1956 cials got together on a plan which will allow the boys to wear the shorts as long as they go along with commonly-accepted standards of bermuda dress. (Bermuda shorts it was explained, should come within an inch of the knee.) By noon, after the boys' forays into downtown Medford, the matter was settled, pretty much to everyone's satisfaction. High School Today fice at mid-morning, protesting the first ruling of the school au thorities, but they came back about noon to explain the matter had been settled. They agreed their plan to wear shorts, de veloped during the week with no word to school authorities, might not have been the way to go about it. Conform With Standards And they said they're willing to go along with the bermuda shorts standards suggestion, and to conform other accepted stand ards of dress otherwise. They said they would be willing to see that this is carried out. The spokesmen were Kenneth County Polio Fund Drive Sets Record Jackson county residents set an all-time record in contribu tions to the March of Dimes cam paign last January, it was an nounced today by Aubrey Lo per, campaign treasurer. Loper's report showed total contributions for the fight against polio totaled $37,849.35. Campaign expenses were $829, which left a net of $37,020.35. Each year since the first March of Dimes drive in 1935, Jackson county has exceeded its previ ous year's collections. The 1956 Riverside Traffic Light Being Installed ' A traffic actuated signal light at Riverside and Stewart aves. is being installed by Steek Elec tric company of Roseburg, ac cording to Vernon Thorpe, Med ford director of public works. The state will meet half of the estimated $9,900 cost and the city and county one fourth each. Bids on the project were opened in November. Thorpe said Medford traffic records indicate 18 accidents oc curred at the intersection during 1955. Traffic on Stewart ave. and in the left turn lanes off Riverside ave. will actuate the lights. Reef Hot Lava Flow Creeps Down Mt. Etna Catania, Siciliy (U.R) A smoking red hot stream of lava crept 3000 feet down the side of Mount Etna today in the second day of the volcano's eruption. The' lava coursed alongside the hardening mass that gushed from the volcano last month. It ap peared headed for the same un inhabited valley where the last eruption petered out. 1 eosoro servation Service, said the basin had the heaviest snowpack re ported since an expansion of the snow survey system in 1936. He said that so far there was no evi dence of significant snow melt in upper areas, and that "ad verse climatic conditions during the snowmelt period would pro duce extremely damaging flow volumes at many points." Tribune Price 5c No. 14 Taplett, son of Mrs. Lane Tap lett, 919 Dakota st.; John Bel- lack, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bellack, 1475 Crater Lake 'ave.; David Bosworth, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Bosworth Jr., 2425 East Main st., and Ed Reinking,. son of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Rein king, 1409 Kings highway. Bill Barker, a member of the school board who also runs a men's clothing store, admitted to a biased point of view regard ing the situation. "I wear them myself, some times," he said, "and I like to wear them and to sell them. From a strictly non-school board and biased viewpoint, I vote for 'em." drive exceeded last year's efforts by $3,826.43. Jerry Lausmann, Medford, was chairman' of the county campaign, which was sponsored by the Medford Lions club. 50 Per Cent Retained Of the net amount, $18,510.18 will remain in the county to care for local cases while the other 50 per cent has been sent to the headquarters of the Na tional Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, where it will be used in the Foundation's patient care program, research and educa tion. , ' Medford set the pace for col lections in the 14 county areas with a total of $21,220.41. Ash land was next with $6,562.71, which was an MOD record for that city. Collections in other towns were Central Point $1,997.26; Eagle Point $1,224.87; Camp White $409.88, Phoenix $1, 143.01; Applegate $435.51; Butte Falls $458.69; Gold Hill $627; Jacksonville $529.51; Rogue Riv er $2,023.54; Shady Cove-Trail $443.22; Talent $467.97 and Prospect $305.83. Medford's largest fund-raising effort was the Crater Lions club's television auction which brought in $5,309.37. Second in line was the Mothers' March which raised $4,407.72. Total amount raised by the Mothers' March in the county was $5, 805.24. Man Sentenced to Prison Term Today Leon A. Hurd, 24, Yakima, Wash., was sentenced in circuit court this morning to four years in the state penitentiary for bur glary. Hurd previously pleaded guilty. He was arrested by sher iffs deputies on March 26. Both Sides Agree To Immediate Order For Cease Fire Initial Barrage Blamed on Egyptians Jerusalem, Israeli Sector (U.R) ,New fighting broke out early today on the Gaza Strip between Israeli and Egyptian troops. But a United Nations spokesman said each side had agreed to an immediate case fire. Israel said Egyptian artillery opened up a 8 a.m. (10 p.m. PST) on an Israeli unit in Kissufim, a key Israeli communications cen ter astride the Gaza frontier, and spread an hour later to the Beairy Sector, six miles north. An Egyptian spokesman charged in Cairo that Israeli unjts opened fire first. Observers Move In Casualties were not announced in today's second round which again brought the threat of all out war to the Middle East. A U.N. spokesman said both Egypt and Israel agreed to ac cept U.N. cease fire orders this morning and that all was quiet along the strip. He said 15 truce observers were sent to the front lines and that U.N. headquarters in New York was being kept in formed. . The emergency was so grave that Maj. Gen. E. L. M. Burns cancelled a trip to Rome where he had planned to meet U.N. Secretary General Dag Ham marskjold leaves New York to day on an urgent peace-seeking' mission. Flagrant Breach Charged Burns cabled Hammarskjold he would await him at the "Hill of Good Counsel" overlooking the Isreali-Jordan no man's land outside Jerusalem. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Office condemned the new Gaza Strip fighting as a flagrant breach of the armistice and "accused Egypt of trying to keep tension in the war-threatened sector at the boiling point. Israel reported the new fight ing only a few hours after the United Nations had brought an end to day-long fighting in the Gaza Strip that Egypt said killed 42 persons and wounded 110 others Thursday. . Third GD Topic Is French Crisis The. present French crisis in North Africa and its relation to the United States will be consid ered next week- in the third topic of the Great Decisions se ries, "What U.S. Policy for North Africa?" A condensation of the fact sheet on the topic will appear in Sunday s issue of the Mail Trib une and the problem, will be dis cussed on radio and TV pro grams and in other groups throughout the week. Broadcasts relating to the pro gram will be heard on KYJC from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday; KMED, 9 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday; and KWIN in Ashland from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Monday. The weekly television program is Tuesday from 2:30 to 2.45 p.m. The Great Decisions program brings information on foreign affairs, disseminated through press, radio, television and writ ten material, for use in informal discussion. The organization committee is headed by Medford Attorney Don Hansen. Installation Starts On Bartlett, Main Installation of an eight-inch water main on Bartlett st., from Main st. to Fourth and on Fourth st. to Front st. began today by city crews. The project is largely for in creased fire protection, accord ing to Robert L. Lee, assistant water superintendent. Three new fire hydrants will be included in the improvement. City Manager Robert Duff said that the city hopes the pub lic and business operators will "be tolerant" of the incon vience, because the new main will help Medford's fire situa tion and improve the city's fire rating. 25 Traffic Deaths Reported in March Salem (U.R) Twenty-five traffic deaths in March brought Oregon's 1956 traffic toll to 79, the Traffic Safety Division re ported today. The March toll was lower than the first two months of the year. It also was lower than March a year ago when 33 were killed in traific. Seventy-two Oregon drivers were temporarily grounded last month because of bad driving records.
