Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, April 23, 1956, Image 4

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    FOUR MEDFORD (OREGON)
MedfordWTribune
"Everybody in Southern Oregon
Reads The Mail Tribun"
Published Daily Except Saturday by
ME.DFORD PRINTING CO.
87-29 North Fir St. Phone 2-6141
ROBERT W. RUHL. Editor
HERB GREY, Advertising Manager
GERALD LATHAM. Business Manager
ERIC ALLEN JR.. Managing Editor
EARL H. ADAMS. City Editor
HARRY CHIPMAN, Telegraph Editor
P.1CHARD JEWETT Sports Editor
OLIVE STARCHER Society Editor
DALE ERICKSON. Circulation Mgr.
An Independent Newspaper
Entered as second class matter at
Mediord. Oregon, under Act of
March 3. J 897
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Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20. 30 and
10 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1946
(It was Tuesday)
Kiwanians of division 11 of
Pacific Northwest district con
vene at Holland hotel tomorrow
for luncheon.
From Arthur Perry's Ye
Smudge Pot column: The warm
afternoons have caused orchard
ists to test out this years shade,
and talk about goose-eggs as big
as hall stones.
20 YEARS AGO
April 23, 193S
(It was Wednesday)
Members of IOOF of south
ern Oregon celebrate 117th an
niversary of organization in the
U. S. April 30.
Plans for local observance of
National Music week. May 3 to
9, are progressing, according to
Miss Jeunesse Butler, chairman.
30 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1926
(It was Friday)
Celebration May 7 at Crescent
City, Calif., to mark dedication
of Douglas Memorial Bridge be
ing completed on the Redwoods.
Better Homes week receives
attention in Oregon about 30
communities are participating.
Including Jacksonville, Ashland,
Medford and Central Point.
40 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1916
(It was Sunday)
Most denominations in the
country represented at Social
Service exposition tonight at the
Medford Nat.
County Clerk Gardner com
piles data on liquor business in
Jackson county for first three
months of present year, and ha
noted a marked increase.
Whafs lha Answer?
Can You Get 4 of the 7?
Copr. 195S, Editorial Research Report
1. Estes Kefauver said in mid
April he was ahead or behind
Adlai E. Stevenson for the presi
dential nomination, or even with
him?
2. About one-fifth, one-third
or two-thirds of all girls and
boys 18 or 19 years old are In
school?
3. U. S. Supreme Court jus
tices must have been, like the
President, born in the U. S.;
right or wrong?
4. More Catholics. Jews or
Protestants live in New York
City?
5. In which of these Arab
states is the British position
strongest today: Egypt, Iraq, Jor
dan, Saudi Arabia?
6. Passports for foreign travel
are issued by the State, Justice
or Commerce department, or the
White House, or federal courts?
7. Charles E. Bohlen is our
ambassador to Great Britain,
Italy, the Soviet Union, Spain
or France?
The Answers. 1. Slightly be
hind. Kefauver said; 2. About
one-third; 3. Wrong; 4. More
Catholics; 5. In oil-rich Iraq; 6.
State Department; 7. To the
Soviet Union.
SORORITY ELECTS
Roseburg U.R) More than
200 delegates to the state con
vention of Epsilon Sigma Alpha,
philanthropic and social sorority,
closed out their meeting here
yesterday by naming . Mrs.
Wanda Marling of Bend as new
state president.
MAIL TRIBUWZ
The Roseburg Vote
The voters of the Roseburg school district did it
again.
T.acf wppV. for the second time this vpar. artrl for
about the fifth or sixth time
,ii . it t i -1
tney voted down me scnuui uisuiti uuuget as proposeu
by the school board and budget committee.
We predict they will find, sooner or later, they
have made a serious mistake one which will handi
cap their children, hinder the proper administration
of the schools, and impair the stability of the educa
tional system.
A S WE VIEW the situation, the negative vote was
"motivatec. less by active antagonism to the schools
and their policies as such, than by an unthinking re
action to ever-mounting taxes.
What is going to happen remains to be seen. There
will undoubtedly have to be a drastic revision of the
school program, and a resubmission of a reduced
budget. If this can be done by cutting down on ''non
essentials" (if any) and still maintaining decent basic
standards of education, fine.
THHERE is a danger, however. If the cuts are sharp
enough to produce a budget which the aroused
taxpayers will approve, they may well cut into the
lean meat of the educational meal. If this happens,
Roseburg schools would fall below the rather flexible
state standards, and no longer be eligible for state
assistance through the basic school support fund. This
money is a major portion of each school district's in
come. What happens now in Roseburg will have a tre
mendously important effect everywhere else in the
state.
I70R IF, in Its "agonizing reappraisal" of its
schools, and standards it expects them to main
tain, Roseburg comes up with an answer as to how
full, rounded and productive education can be ob
tained at smaller cost, it will be a major victory.
We fear, however, they will find that the vast
numbers of new students, plus all the other increased
costs of the past two decades, have simply made
schools tremendously expensive at least compared
to years past.
And who will say that they aren't worth the cost?
The children in our schools ARE our future. They
must have the best we can give them. E.A.
Health Menace
There was an editorial in the Eugene Register
Guard the other day which, if the names of commun
ities and individuals had been changed a bit, might
well have been written about Medford and its en-,
virons.
Under the title, "Doctor Cites Suburban Health
Hazards," the Lane county newspaper discussed the
growing menace to health posed by burgeoning sub
urbs, and their attendant septic tank-cesspool-drainage
problems.
DECAUSE it comes so close to home, and is so mark--
edly similar to the warnings sounded repeatedly
on this page in recent years, we thought our readers
might like to read the following excerpts:
Dr. Harold Osterud, Lane county health office, laid it
on the line last week when he said that many lots in the "
suburbs around the Eugene-Springfield area are not suitable
for building. The reason, he said, is poor soil conditions for
septic tank use.
Some subdividers of land will object to the utterances
of the health officer because they conceivably could slow
development of the suburbs. We hope Dr. Osterud backs up
his words with action in refusing building permits where
poor soil conditions prevail. If the county board of commis
sioners is interested in the general welfare of the people, it
will back the health officer. . . .
In the suburban areas around Eugene and Springfield
... no public sewer system exists. This necessitates the use
of septic tanks for sewage disposal. Where improper soil
conditions exist, proper absorption of septic tank effluent
is impossible. Soil conditions are so different that in some
cases, good or bad conditions may vary from home to home.
If you live in the suburbs and your septic tank works prop
erly, it is no guarantee that health hazards do not exist in
your neighborhood. Disease, as everyone knows, does not
respect property lines, any more than it does a city boundary-
Dr. Osterud, correctly we believe, says the suburban
areas should be provided with public water systems. The
only practical way to accomplish this, he says, is through
annexation.
An example of what can happen due to poor soil condi
tions for septic tanks is in the area of Springfield. . . .
The east Springfield area has the highest incidence of
Infectious hepatitis, a disease that attacks the liver. It pri
marily occurs in areas where sanitation conditions are poor
because of inadequate sewage disposal. . . .
Lane county, of course, is not the only part of the state
that has seen this disease increase. The incidence of cases
has risen rapidly over the state since the big rush to the
suburbs started. There were only 201 cases of infectious
hepatitis reported to the state board of health in 1950. This
had risen to 1,811 cases in 1954. ...
When conditions are poor for septic tanks, the effluent
t finds its way to the ground surface and is carried down the
' main drainage ways. A map of hepatitis cases in the Eugene
Springfield area is disturbing, to say the least.
As the suburbs continue to grow, the hazards of conta
gious disease spreading because of poor sanitary facilities
naturally will increase. The logical solution is annexation
to the nearest city and installation of public sewer systems.
Serious thinking people in the suburbs must come to
realize that any increase in taxes can indeed be small com
pared to hospital bills.
"THERE'S not much that needs to be added. Jack-
son county's problems may differ slightly but
in the essentials they are almost identical to those re
counted by the Guard.
Hepatitis incidence In this county tells its own
story. Health department figures show there were46
cases in 1950; 7 in 1951; 2 in 1952; but in 1953 the
total rose to 48, and in 1954 to 74. Last year there
were 35 cases. So far in 1956 there have been 5.
We have long felt that annexation of the fringe
areas is the best single solution for the problems of
most of them, rather than forming more of the rather
unwieldy and complicated special districts. E.A.
Monday, April S3, I93B
in the past several years,
a:ai i
Situation on Cyprus Getting
Angrier Daily; Rebellion Open
Bv CHARLES M. McCANN
United Press Correspondent
The situation in Cyprus is get
ting angrier day by day.
Field Marshal Sir John Hard
ing British governor and com-
1 manaer in chief
- ? ui me isiana.
Sis is cracking
uunn iiciiri on
extremists.
He has suc
ceeded, by the
means of a
tight rnactal
patrol, in cut-
J ing down the
i
Charles McCann uyy ui arms
to the extremists to a trickle.
But the extremists, in open
rebellion against British rule,
continue their attacks. They are
using home made bombs and,
lacking sub-machine guns, are
utilizing shotguns.
For the moment, the extrem
ists are concentrating largely
on attacks against their fellow
islanders, Cypriot Greeks whom
they accuse of cooperating with
the British authorities. They are
shooting down men in their
homes, in movie theaters, in
churches.
Some of these men undoubt
edly are suspected by the ex
tremists of being among the
masked men, informers, who
accompany troops and police in
raids on rebel hideouts.
But some of the attacks are
indiscriminate.. At least two
children, both Greek Cypriots,
have been killed recently by
crude bombs thrown at British
military vehicles. In neither in
stance were British personnel
hit. Other children have been
wounded and Cypriot men by
standers have been killed or
wounded.
Turk Anger Increasing
Harding is responding to each
rebel attack by imposing strict
curfews, lasting up to one week,
on big cities, villages and en
tire rural areas.
The Turkish islanders, who
number 100,000 of the 500,000
population are getting increas
ingly angry over the turmoil.
The threat of new riots between
Greeks and Turks has arisen.
Harding, fearing an outbreak,
forbade the celebration the
Turks have set for today, which
is Turkish Republic day, 34th
anniversary of the overthrow of
the sultans.
Oij the political side, the Turk-
Matter of Fact by auoP
CAN IKE BE BEATEN?
Washington Since the Presi
dent's .veto of the farm bill, and
thp recent series of primaries,
1
some Demo
crats are be
ginning to say
that Eisenhow
er can be beat
en, and even
to sound as
if hey meant
it. Most Dem
ocrats still pri
vately believe
that there is
Stewart Alsop
about as much chance of beat
ing the President as there would
be of defeating a suddenly res
urrected George Washington.
Yet the reasoning of the more
optimistic minority is at least
worth reproducing. It falls
roughly into five parts.
1. The public opinion polls
provide the only solid evidence
that the President is invincible.
But early in the 1948 campaign
the polls also showed Thomas
E. Dewey winning by a land
slide margin. And this year, be
fore the Minnesota primary, the
polls showed Adlai Stevenson
running as much as three to
one ahead of Estes Kefauver.
In short, the evidence provided
by the polls or so the Demo
cratic optimists claim is dem
onstrably unreliable.
2. More reliable evidence is
provided by the elections which
have taken place since 1952. As
one Democrat put it, "The Re
publicans have lost more elec
tions under Eisenhower in the
last three years than under any
Republican President in this
century, and probably in his
tory." THERE is some factual basis
for this extreme statement.
The Democrats scored a higher
proportion of the popular vote
in the 1954 Congressional elec
tion than in any off-year elec
tion since 1934. Wherever else
you look the special elections
(7 out of 8 Democratic wins),
the gubernatorial elections (9
governorships won, none lost),
the state legislatures (500 seats
won five lost) the pattern of
remarkable Democratic success
holds.
a. runner evidence is pro
vided by the recent primaries
The Democrats compare the
party vote in 1952 and 1956
piimaries, and claim cause for
jubilation. The 1952 Minnesota
primary voting was about. two
to one' Republican, and this pro
portion was reversed in 1955
.The Republican vote in Wiscon
sin dropped 20 "per cent. In Il
linois, the Democrats went from
a third of the" vote to almost
half, and in New Jersey from
27 per cent to 43 per cent.
4. "All this talk about a third
party revolt in the South is a
lot of malarkey, plus Republi-
Ur )
ft
ish government is watching the
situation closely and with in
creasing annoyance.
Greece is firmly supporting
the rebel side and the demand
of Greek Cypriots in general for
"self - determination" which
would mean union with Greece.
Britain refuses to give up
Cyprus. In that, Britain has the
full support of Turkey. If Cy
prus changes hands, Turkey
wants it.
A Turkish government bulle
tin just issued points out that
Cyprus is 43 miles from the
Turkish mainland and 683 miles
from the Greek mainland.
Arabs Favor Rebels
The bulletin points out that
Turkey ruled the island from
1571 until 1878 when Britain
took it over, and that Greece
signed the 1923 Lausanne treaty
under which Cyrpus was formal
ly ceded to Britain. Greece nev
er has ruled it.
This bulletin asserts also that
In The Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
Except for the farm situation
which produced the political
monstrosity known as the farm
bill I suppose there is no graver
issue in the Eastern anrf South
ern parts of our country today
than racial segregation.
It doesn't mean much to us
out in the West, but east of the
Mississippi river and south of the
Mason and Dixon line it has ex
plosive possibilities. It has ex
plosive possibilities-because it is
an EMOTIONAL issue.
Economic issues can smoulder
along, giving off smoke and a
certain amount of heat but not
reaching the crisis stage. But
emotional issues are apt to ex
plode. THIS bit of preaching is in
spired by an incident on this
train a few hours ago. A colored
man and his wife were sitting
back in the club car. They were
well dressed tastefully, not
flashily. Their faces gave evi
dence of culture. They were
surrounded by white people. No
talk was going on. People were
just looking out at the scenery.
Then casually, naturally
the colored woman turned to a
white woman in the next seat
and made some remark that
opened a conversation. In ihe
can wishful thinking." Again
there is some factual basis for
this statement. According to a
memorandum circulated by the
Democratic National Committee,
not a single Democratic Senator,
Governor, or other high party
official in the South has public
ly favored a third party. And
a lot of Southerners, from Ala
bama's Gov. Folsom to Georgia's
revered Sen. George, have been
busy pouring cold water on the
third party idea.
A S a recent statement by Sen.
T-TnVprt Knmnbrpv KllJ?PPsts.
the Democratic leadership hopes
to avoid a convention split over
the civil rights plank. The idea
is to frame a plank which will
make a formal bow towards the
Supreme Court's desegregation
decision, but will leave out all
mention of federal enforcement.
Tf this measure of appease-
ment has the desired effect, the
Democrats will have at least
rational grounds for hoping that
the Southern and normally Dem
ocratic border states will return
to their traditional allegiance.
In that case, the Democratic
candidate will inherit 170 elec
toral votes, with only another
96 needed to win. Surely, the
Democrats argue, with the farm
ers in revolt special voting
groups unhappy, it will not be
impossible to pick up those 96
votes.
5. The Democrats have now
plucked up their courage to at
tack the President frontally. A
hr dline in the current issue of
the "Democratic Digest" sets the
tone: "Ezra Takes the Blame . .
But It's Ike's Farm Depression.
The President will be attacked
frontally for "broken promises"
on farm and labor legislation,
and obliquely as a "part time
President" presiding over
' rich man's Administration."
'FHIS line of attack could be
-- effective. However, though
some Democratic claims are ex
aggerated (for example, there is
no contest for the Republican
nomination, which largely ac
counts for the drop in the Re
publican primary vote) Demo
cratic successes at the polls since
1952 have been undeniably im
pressive.
Even so, there is a certain
whistling - in - the - d a r k sound
when Democrats talk about beat
ing Eisenhower in November
If one imagines a post-election
headline "Eisenhower Beaten
By . . ." it is remarkably diffi
cult to fill in the blank with the
name of any visible Democratic
candidate.
Yet the facts listed above do
suggest that the Republicans
may be a mite too complacent
about the election, as they were
once before in recent memory
CcDyrioht 1956,
New York Herald Tribune Inc.
from the racial viewpoint, the
"Greek" islanders really "stem
from the group of people scat
tered through the eastern Medi
terranean called Levantines."
The political situation is more
complicated because Egypt and
Saudi Arabia openly favor the
Cypriot rebels. Not because they
care about Cyprus, but because
the rebellion troubles Britain.
The latest report is that planes
from Egypt have tried to air
drop arms to the rebels.
Turkish - Egyptian relations
are becoming unfriendly.
No solution to the Cyprus is
sue is in sight. Nor is there at
present any basis for negotiation
since the talks between Britain
and Greek Orthodox Archbishop
Makarios collapsed when at the
point of seeming success.
The situation at the moment
Is one of extremist violence
against British repression. Phy
sically and politically things are
getting worse steadily.
course of the conversation it de
veloped that she and her hus
band were just back from Japan,
where they had spent several
years.
She is a teacher, and has been
teaching English in the GI
schools. He is a Red Cross of
ficial. They are on their way
home for a vacation.
I
N THEIR years in Japan, they
have been close to a fascinat
ing situation a conquered coun
try whose conquerors are en
gaged in the fabulous task of
making the conquered people
over from enemies into friends.
They spoke interestingly of
this amazing enterprise. They
told of the Japanese people's
feeling .toward us. They told of
the feeling of our people toward
the Japanese. - They related illus
trating incidents. They answered
questions. They offered opinions
that were obviously based upon
experience and understanding
In a few minutes the conversa
tion was animated, interested
and PERFECTLY NATURAL.
Among those taking part In
it, there was no consciousness of
race or color or social differ
ences.
rpHIS, I think, is the moral:
JL TTMF. has hppn nassintf in
our country. It took time, for
example, for these two colored
people to acquire a degree of
education and culture that
matched the education and the
culture of those with whom they
were associating in that railroad
club car. Their parents or their
grandparents couldn't have man
aged it, because not enough
TIME would have elapsed.
Time heals so MANY sore
spots.
T ET'S go back a few centuries
into history.
The Normans conquered
Saxon England. The culture of
the Normans was higher than
the culture of- the Saxons. For
a long, long- time the wall divid
ing Norman from Saxon was
high and impassable.
But TIME tore down the wall.
In England, there is no longer
any Norman or any Saxon.
There are only ENGLISH. .The
same thing happened in France
when Rome conquered Gaul
There was a long time when
there were Romans and Gauls.
But time fixed that. Now there
are only FRENCH.
TF WE can have TIME enough
A if the radicals and the rab
ble rousers on both sides of this
segregation business will only
keep their shirts on and let na
ture take its course we will
arrive at a solution of this race
problem that will be quite satis-
facory to everybody.
I think this little incident in
the club car bears out that con
clusion.
Congressional
Quiz
(Copyright, 195
Congressional Quarterly)
Q True or false: The Ameri
can Farm Bureau Federation is
the oldest farm organization in
the U.S.
A False. The National Grange
is the oldest, founded in 1867.
The Farm Bureau, founded in
1920, claims the largest member
ship of the farm organizations,
however, with 1,600,000 mem
ber families. The Grange has
860,000 members.
Q Six Vice Presidents of the
United States have also been
elected President. Can you name
them?
A John Adams, Thomas Jeff
erson, Martin Van Buren, Theo
dore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge
and Harry S. Truman.
Q Secretary of Agriculture
Ezra T. Benson announced on
March 27 that the Commodity
Credit corporation, which holds
over 88,000,000,000 worth of
surplus farm stocks, is out of a
commodity it held in quantity
last year. What is it?
A Butter. Benson told the
House Agriculture committee
butter stocks were "virtually all
committe." . But CCC still has
plenty of cheese.
Future International News
Headlines Seen By Writers
United Press correspond
ents around the world look
ahead at the news thai will
make the headlines.
Eden, Get Hot
London expects Prime Minis
ter Anthony Eden to get into
the propaganda act his Russian
guests "Mr. B. and Mr. K." are
staging on their visit to Brit
ain. The public reception of Pre
mier Nikolai A. Bulganin and
Communist Party Chief Nikita
S. Khrushchev has been cool.
But British newspapers are
jammed with the fulsome out
pourings of the Russians on co
existence, peace and Anglo-American
friendship. Pressure is
mounting on Eden to get hot
quickly - with some propaganda
of his own.
Mr. C. and Mr. M.
Hong Kong hears that the Chi
nese Reds, impressed by the hay
Bulganin, Khrushchev and Geor
gi M. Malenkov are making,
plan some good will tours of
their own soon. Premier Chou
En-Lai would be Peiping's No.
1 happiness boy, but Chairman
President Mao Tse-Tung may
join in. British authorities shud
der at the thought that they
might ask to visit Singapore, or
even Hong Kong itself.
Bookier Beware
Bigger raids are in the of
fing for bookmakers and other
gamblers in selected American
cities. Last week's Internal Rev
enue Service crackdown hit five
cities. These raids netted only
18 men who either hadn't
bought their $50 gambling
stamps 6r had failed to pay their
10 per cent wagering tax. Sev
eral more cities were on the raid
list. But word leaked out and
the gamblers took off like jet
planes. Now there'll be a new
list.
May Day Melees
Look for riots in some Far
Eastern cities when leftists cele
brate May Day on May 1. Four
million labor unionists are to
demonstrate in Japan. -500,-
000 of them in Tokyo alone.
Tokyo police fear trouble. In
Singapore, two rival union fac
tions are to celebrate together
for the first time. If the day
Editorial Comment
SAVAGE RAPIDS SCREENING
Congressman Harris Ellsworth,
Republican, 4th district, dean of
Oregon's delegation in Washing
ton, has renewed his fight to pre
vent serious destruction of sal
mon and steelhead in the Rogue
river. He has asked the house
appropriations committee to ear
mark $208,000 to pay for revolv
ing screens above the turbines
which each year kill more than
125,000 steelhead and salmon at
Savage Rapids dam.
This is a peculiar problem.
Savage Rapids dam was built
in 1917 by an irrigation district
before there were firm federal
and state laws requiring fish
passageways and protective de
vices. It was rebuilt in 1950, with
$700,000 appropriated by con
gress to be expended through
the Bureau of Reclamation, and
to be repaid by the district. But
since the project was not then,
nor is it now, a federal project,
no money ever has been ap
proved by the budget bureau for
fish facilities. And state laws do
not permit such expenditures in
state funds.
What Representative Ells
worth is asking the appropria
tions committee to do is to take
the long view, in recognition of
public laws requiring conserva
tion of fish and game, and to
authorize the spending of $208,
000, without reimbursement, for
a nationally famous recreation
river, visited by thousands. The
economic loss in salmon and
steelhead is estimated conserva
tively at $160,000 annually. But
the benefits to fishermen would
be far greater were the turbines
to be screened and the run of
fish allowed to rebuild. These
benefits, represented by escape
ment and annually increasing mi
grations, would be cumulative.
Portland Oregonian.
Since 1908
PERL
Mortuary
o
Phone
FINER
FUNERAL
SERVICES
passes without a free-for-all
or anti-British riots, it wUl be
a surprise.
More Jeti Wanted
Look for the Air Defense com
mand to make a strong bid to
get a lot of the new F104 jet
fighters, fastest combat planes
in the world. The planes are
earmarked for the Tactical Air
command, whose job is support
of ground troops and ait com
bat over battlegrounds. But the
ADC feels the plane would be
an odds-on bet to head off any
enemy bombers that might come
screaming across the polar ice
cap.
End Of The Road
Insiders say Indonesia may
cut its last ties with the Neth
erlands this week by finally, ab
rogating all Dutch-Indonesian
union agreements. It would
mean the end of all privileges
Dutchmen and Dutch busin
ess firms now enjoy.
Communications -
Letters to the Editor must bear
the nama and address ot the writer
although under certain circum
stances the use ot a pen name or
initial for publication is Dermis
lible The Mail Tribune reserves
the right to edit all letters with an
eye to clarification and condensa
tion Letters submitted for Dublica
tion must not exceed 400 words
Freeway and Rail Routes
To the Editor: One of the most
importan; considerations in con
nection with the location of a
freeway was not discussed in
your editorial. This is the pos
sible use of such freeways in
case of emergency. National se
curity is one of the major rea
sons our government plans to
spend some $50,000,000,000. If
these freeways are to be con
sidered as security highways,
then the choice should be simple.
Medford will always be the
largest city between Eugene and
Redding. Through travelers
would not stop in the city no
matter where the highway is
located. And tourists do not
mind the few extra minutes
necessary to drive into the city.
At the rate Medford is grow
ing, in 20 years the city will
have a population of 40,000 to
50,000. To destroy a fine resi
dential section in order to have
a new freeway routed through
the city seems wasteful. The city
will need far more land to house
the increased population, and
some of this valuable farmland
will become attractive resident
ial divisions. Present mercantile
and other facilities will not be
adequate. Merchants, business
and professional men should
give thought to how the down
town area can be expanded. A
major need is more parking.
One route suggested in your
editorial, but apparently not be
ing considered, is to elevate it
above the SP tracks. I have an
alternative. The city should re
quest the SP to adopt a, five
year plan to remove all down
town railroad buildings to a suit
able location outside the con
gested area. Then the railroad
should construct a subway along
its present right of way in the
downtown city area, for allfu
ture trains. The railroad could
be granted authority, subject to
a code approved by the city, to
construct mercantile and other
buildings, and parking for au
tomobiles, on the surface of the
right o' way.
Remember we are only look
ing 20 years into the future. And
there will be many 20-year eras
coming after. Remember, also,
in our constantly growing city,
these railroad trains running
through the city will become a
constantly increasing inconven
ience. For the SP, revenues from
surface improvements would in
time pay for subway and surface
construction. No greater contri
bution could be made by an -impersonal
railroad to the com
munities which have done go
much to help make it a billion
dollar institution.
John H. Holtz, '
Medford, Ore.
2 - 6675
in every price rang