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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1956)
STAN OS PJIT mk wins rvn 0 i 1 f 1 r ITU I - Medford 5 lit Year 18 Pages Alabama Bus Firm Ends Segregation On Court Order Passengers To Choose Own Seats Montgomery, Ala. (U.R) A bus company suffering severe financial strain because of a boycott by Negro passengers to day abolished segregation under the authority of a U. S. Supreme iSCourt decision made Monday. The Montgomery City Bus Co. announced Monday night that white ana colored passengers would both be permitted to sit whever an dno wis thete wherever they choose on the transit vehicles beginning to day. The bus company's decision defied an Alabama criminal law which requires that Negroes sit at the rear and whites at the front of public transportation vehicles. " It was announced a few hours after the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that passengers cannot be segregf ted by race on the public transportation even within the boundaries of a state. The high court previously ruled against segregation on public transport ation engaged In interstate com merce. The Rev. Martin Luther King, convicted leader of 80 Negroes arrested on charges of conspir ing to wage an illegal boycott, said the Supreme Court decision and the Montgomery City Bus Co. announcement would have no effect on the boycott Negroes have practiced since last Dec. 5. He said his followers would continue to use their car pools instead of the buses. Some quarters said the decis ion of the Negroes to continue the boycott might provide an effective safety factor in pre venting possible racial disturb ances of clashes between whites and Negroes in this city of the Deep South. Montgomery is within an area marked by southern leaders as a danger zone in the event of any sudden enforcement of de segregation. ; r- r,Z County Courthouse To Close Saturdays Jackson county's courthouse will be closed every Saturday after July 1, the county court decided this morning. The court also decided per sonnel will assume duties at 8 a.m. each day, though the court house will not be officially open to the public until 8:30 a.m. At the present time the work day for courthouse personnel begins at 8:30 a.m. Decision to close the building Saturdays was made after 116 employees signed a petition re questing a hearing on the mat ter. The half-hour is being added to the employees' day in order to maintain the 40-hour work week that is now in effect, the court explained. During the 30 rfihute period before the court house is officially open, person nel will perform administrative and clerical duties. The jail and legal departments of the building will remain open, the court said. County extension agents will be working but their office will be closed. The resi dent circuit judge will be on call Saturday mornings. . County Planners to Decide on Counselor The Jackson county planning commission last night voted to talk with various planning coun selors from other areas to decide whether or not such a counselor is needed here onta day-to-day basis. ' The group also discussed pros pects of hiring a full-time tech nician to aid in county planning. John Pletsch, president of the commission, will meet soon with Medford City Manager Robert Duff to discuss possible candi dates. Pletsch indicated hiring a technician would involve less expense than hiring a counselor. The county planning commis sion, appointed last January by the county court, also discussed policy in procedure for starting and handling a program. An at tempt will be made to coordin ate the work of the group with city ana school plannings groups the commission decided. MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 1956 fall ' li'tJs ' "Si A fee mm: yX W'AiA-ol i;yAI it I r X r!ji '4yniniimi mi iii i n m m '-mimM MRS. F.D.R. ARRIVES Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, widow of the late President, is shown as she arrived at the Medford airport -yesterday, afternoon, prior to making the ad dress at the sixth annual Roosevelt Memorial dinner, an event which attracted some 1.400 persons last night. Meeting her are, left to right, Mrs. Edward C. Kelly, general chair man of the annual memorial event and former Soviet CingesJJN WprlLAnS: Discussed by Mrs. Roosevelt The United' Slates must learn to make friends with people in other countries in order to win the new economic, spiritual and cultural challenge from the Soviet Union, Mrs. Bgajyail, Roosevelt declared Monday night at the sixth annual Roose velt Memorial dinner. Mrs. Roosevelt, widow of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was guest speaker at the banquet, which drew a cross party , crowd of approximately 1.400, held at Hedrick Junior High, school. ,':r.:. Soviet Changes The speaker made reference to Soviet changes in tactics since the United Nations summit con ference and pointed out, "The Soviets have always talked about wanting peace. Now they are just emphasizing it" She explained the Soviet the ory that communism will dom inate the world in centuries to come. "They have felt time was on their side," she said. She said since the summit conference it has become ap parent to the Soviets that they are not gaining world influence. "Therefore, they have made some concessions on disarma ment and on some other mat ters. But they have never said they have changed their objec tive. They have just changed the battle field." Preach Communism Mrs. Roosevelt explained that Soviet ideology is being . in stilled in that country, as re ligion. Skilled workmen and en gineers who have been thus in doctrinated have been taught languages of other countries and sent to these countries to learn their methods, she said. While there, . they win friends and preach the doctrines of com munism. "There is an economic, cul tural and spiritual battle to be won. It is a new .battle, and we had better understand it or lose it," she emphasized. "We need to make friends in the world be; cause that is the only way we will win this new battle." Mrs. Roosevelt, long a staunch United Nations supporter, was lavish in her praise of UN work in. strengthening world unity and easing international ten sions. Major Peace Moves Among recent major peace moves backed by the UN, she listed organization ' of the atoms for peace group, the secretary general's mission in the Middle East, and the Gaza strip armis tice. She said she felt that through the atoms for peace group, "We can really begin to use for creative purposes this great scientific knowledge, that has so far been used only to create destruction." Mrs. Roosevelt heaped praise on the special agencies of the UN. She said, "These special agencies are set up to work the year around and are designed to bring people together and dem onstrate what working together can achieve." She also com mented favorably on UN work in helping other nations develop their resources. """If new" nations cannot de velop their resources, our econ omy will suffer. We are creating markets every time the UN helps develop a nation's natural resources and these nations will be good markets," she said. The speaker pointed out that it costs 67 cents per person per year for the UN,- special agencies and our own outside aid. "I wish we would stop calling this 'aid' and call it 'investment'," she added. . Mrs. Roosevelt stressed the importance of confidence in our beliefs and convictions in com ing through the ordeals of war and depression. "Why-were we so fearful that communism would rise in our midst and sweep the minds of our people?" she asked. "Only because we lost confidence in our people to believe in their own convictions." Depression Days . She spoke of the depression days of the early '30s as a period when communism could have taken a strong hold. "When you think that what you have believed would meet your needs has not met them, you begin to look at other Israeli Engineers Said Ambush Victims Jerusalem, (Israeli Sector) (U.R) Israel announced today that four Israeli water engineers were killed from ambush less than a mile from the Jordan frontier. It said two of the bod ies were cremated in their blaz ing automobile. United iNations investigators tracked the attackers into Jor dan. . j Israel " protested immediately to United Nations General Sec retary Dag Hammarskjold, who was in Damascus trying to ar range . another cease fire in his uphill struggle to restore peace to the Holy Land. In Damascus, Syrian officials agreed to a cease fire but con ditioned their agreement so heavily it was practically unac ceptable to Israel. The Syrians demanded that Israel put off indefinitely its plan to draw wa ter from the Jordan river to irrigate the Negev Desert waste lands. Israel already has said she would feel free to go ahead with her irrigation plans. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.PJ Dow-Jones closing stock averages: 30 indus trials 503.36, off 3.92: 20 rail roads 174.89, off 0.91; 15 utilities 65.14, off 0.29; 65 stocks 179.52, off 1.15. Sales today were about 2.500,000 compared with 2,440, 000 yesterday. i , Price 5c No. 29 Democratic party chairman here, Robert Boyer, present chairman of the Democratic party in Jackson county,. last night's master of ceremonies, and Robert ' Holmes, Astoria, a member of the state senate and Democratic candidate for governor. Mrs. Roosevelt left by plane this morning after a press confer ence and a meeting with the local United Na tions group. (Brainerd photo) things. The depression was a time when we might have been endangered by communism. But we got over that time and have mo.vM5t??CJilxsveti;Wc-nust gain again the confidence " we gained through the depression." Mrs. Roosevelt was admitted ly impressed by the program preceding her address, when the McLoughlin Junior High school chorus sang, "We Re member, F.D.R." 'Remarkable Thing' "To iind people remembering is a very remarkable" thing," she said. "It is important his torically to remember certain things." She then pointed out that a lesson that should not be for gotten was learned during the depression. "We learned that if we work together we can succeed," she said. "At that time we felt a unity of purpose, and things be gan to happen because we worked together." She also gave considerable credit to the peo ple's understanding of their part in government for survival of the depression blow. International Travels During her address,. Mrs. Roosevelt made frequent men tion of her international travels. The only political element in her talk came when she spoke of Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), now running for reelection to the U. S. , Senate, as "one man who stands for principle." She also commended his lack of fear in his stand on national and in ternational issues. Immediately following her ad dress, she answered i written question submitted by the audience for about 15 minutes. Questions covered such issues as the UNESCO program, farm surplus, international policy and advisability of protection for the new German army. Mrs." Roosevelt was introduced by State Sen. Robert D. Holmes, Astoria, lone Democratic can didate for governor of Oregon. (See story on Page 5) Classes Dismissed at Roosevelt School When Fire Breaks Out in Basement Room Fire of undetermined origin broke out in a basement store room of Roosevelt Elementary school early yesterday after noon, resulting in dismissal of classes for the rest of the day. There were no injuries. ' Damage from the blaze was confined to the storeroom but smoke filled the basement, the two main floors and the attic of the structure. Janitor Frank Taylor and Principal John Childers. discov ered the fire in the multipurpose room about 1:55 p.m. and Child ers sounded the school alarm and called the fire department. Two 1,000-gallon pumpers and the aerial ladder truck were dis patched to the scene. One of the pumpers wai with Weather FORECAST: Contiderable cloudiness with possibility of tome light rain tonight and Wednesday morning. Partial clearing and cooler Wednes day afternoon. Low tonight 46. High Wednesday 65. Temp. Highest Yesterday 78 Lowest this Morning Russian Hold On Satellites Said Weakening Dulles Sees Evidence In Policy Changes Washington (U.R)--Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said today that Russia's hold on her satellites is beginning to weak en. Dulles said there is evidence this is resulting from recent changes in Soviet policy which is putting a premium on "Tito ism." He said some of the satellites are asking why they shouldn't , follow Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito's example of try ing to set up a national Com munism. Dulles told a news conference that Tito felt he should be per mitted to have a Communist state devoted to Yugoslavio's own national interests and not necessarily be a part of interna tional , Communism. Stalin in sisted that Communist nations be part of the international Communist movement. Dulles also said his new con cept of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is to make it a long-range permanent or ganization to prevent future Eurepean wars. He refused to go into detail on his ideas. But he said he would make some suggestions at next week's Paris meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Council.' r . " Dulles unveiled his new con cept of NATO yesterday in a New York speech. It calls for broadening . NATO beyond its original status as a defense mili tary alliance. But he did not go into details in his speech. Makes Other Points Dulles alsftjsiade these other points: - - - - '- -" Cold War: Dulles said victory in the cold war is a question of definition. He said his definition is that the idea of the cold war is to eliminate the danger of a shooting war and look to the day when the United States and" Russia are friends. He said it is now widely iudged that the Soviet Union is not to be feared. If Russia is being more tolerant now and more liberal in its domestic affairs, Dulles said that is a great cold war victory. Asia: In Asia there is still considerable danger j because Red China is not keeping pace with Moscow's new policy of non-violence. - Soviet Missile: It-is no secret the Russians have been working on the kind of guided missile Russian Party .Boss Nikita Khrushchev boasted of yesterday in Birmingham, England. But Dulles said the Soviet radio re ported that Khrushchev said only "I also think that we are not behind in the development of guided missiles." Richardson Quits Race for Treasurer Salem (U.R) Al Richard son, candidate for the Democrat ic nomination as state treasurer, withdrew from the race today leaving Wiley Smith, Multno mah county assessor, as the only Democratic candidate. Richardson said business ac tivities did not give him enough time to campaign. He. recently took over operation of Etzel's restaurant after, resigning as food manager at the Oregon state prison. Shortly after resigning his in stitution job, Richardson launch ed charges of graft and corrup tion in state institutions. in one block of the school ex tinguishing a trash fire at the time. Capt. Dale Davis, who was with the truck, reported that students were out of the building and were a safe distance from it in short order. He termed the evacuation an "excellent" one. Childers said that the fire ap parently broke out within a 10 minute period. Al Mercer, a jan itor, who signed off work at 1:45 p.m. told the principal that he had seen no fire. Taylor and Childers spotted the flames with in a few seconds of each other. The principal stated that when he opened the door to the store room, the fire was too hot to fight with a hand extinguisher. The ; fire scorched the store loom and damaged a misceUane Bid for Lifting Strategic Goods Ban Turned Down Attitude Affronts Socialist Leaders London : (U.R) The Russian leaders' visit to Britain turned sour today. They failed to dent Prime Minister Sir Anthony Ed en's determination to stand by his United States and NATO al lies in their refusal to ship stra tegic goods to Communist na tions. And what popularity they had gained with the British people evaporated with Communist Party Leader Nikita Khrush chev's remark that Russia soon would have a guided missile with hydrogen warhead capable of striking anywhere in the world. Affronted by Attitude Socialist leaders, too, were af fronted by the attitude of Khru shchev and Russia Premier Nik olai Bulganin. The Socialists made a plea for mercy for 200 Social Dem ocrats who they said were in Communist prisons. Khrushchev refused even to look at a list of names offered to him at a labor party banquet last night. Then, bluntly and angrily he refused to have anything fur ther to do with the discussion. This mood carried over into another "little summit" meet ing with Eden and other govern ment leaders at No. 10 Down ing st. this morning. At its end, a communique was issued say ing only it was held and that more talks would follow. Demand Said Made Informed sources said the Russians demanded lifting the ban on strategic goods at today's conference. But Eden replied that Britain would take no such action oh ' her own. The sources said Eden did stress the possibility of greatly expanded Anglo-Soviet trade without lifting the strategic ban. He also told the Russians that relaxation of international ten sion would mean the embargo would no longer be necessary v ihe soviet press hinted only yesterday that relaxation of "the strategic embargo might be the Soviet Union's price for agree ing to disarmament. Today's talk was the 'next-to-last between Eden and the Rus sians and British sources regard ed the crucial "little summit" talks, as.Ja now-or-never chance to" win agreement with theltop Soviet leaders. Equalization Board Examines Tax Ratio The county board of equaliza tion Monday examined the 30 per cent tax ratio study prepared by the county assessor as re quired by Oregon law. The ratio study for tax pur poses is a report including" data, calculations and analyses neces sary to determine the percent age relation between the total assessed value and the total sell ing price of any category or class of property in the county or all the property in any specified area. The ratio study report con tains all bonafide sales for each category of property that occur red between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the previous calendar year. Assessed values used in the re port were on the assessment roll for the same calendar year. According to Oregon law, all property within a county must be assessed at the same ratio of true cash value which under normal conditions is figured as 80? of market value. The posted ratio of assessed value to true cash value for real property determined by the as sessor and accepted by the board of equalization for 1956 is 30, according to Mrs. Bereth Hop kins, county clerk. ous supply shelf and old stage scenery inwhich the blaze was thought to have originated. Electrical conduits running through the room were dam aged, cutting off some of the power supply in the building. Children were called back into the building as soon as the fire was out but Childers dis missed the students and teachers until this morning. The principal said that the room was being watched to ascertain that fire did not break out again. He said that investi gation was continuing. Trow bridge and Flynn Electrical com pany repairmen were on the scene yesterday shortly after the lire. Administration of Police Department Defended by Chief Chief of Police Charles Champlin today strongly de fended his administration of the Medford police department, which has been under criticism in recent days. He was seconded by Mayor Earl Miller, who said he is con vinced that the department is clean, honest, and doing the best posible job it can under the cir cumstances. To his knowledge, he said, there is nothing of which the city need be ashamed or apol ogize for. The chief late yesterday com pleted a report to the mayor in answer to allegations by an un named officer or officers, printed in a weekly paper published at Rogue River. 1 Combination Story "The story is a combination of misstatements, half-truths and in nuendoes, with just enough truth Railroad President Declines to Attend SP Hearing Here Donald J. Russell, president of the Southern Pacific railroad, has declined an invitation to at tend Thursday's hearing on SP passenger service in this area, he said Monday. In a telegram, Russell said: "Regret that absence in east will preclude my attendance at hear ing April 26, but Southern Pa cifie- will be represented by re sponsible officers." Russell was invited to attend by John Pletsch, chairman of a committee which is endeavoring to obtain widespread, represen tative attendance at the hearing, which will start at 10 a.m. Thursday in the federal court .roornfo the; Medford gost office. Jfmii'ar hearing is under way lif'RoseBurg today. Concerted Campaign A- concerted campaign was un der way today by Pletsch's com mittee to notify all residents of the area to attend the hearing, and to speak in regard to the railroad's abandonment, of pas senger service on the line be tweenEugene and Ashland. the Tudor Guild of Ashland was undertaking a telephone campaign designed to reach each Ashland resident and tell them of the hearing. Other forms of personal contacts are also being used, as well as reminders through organizations, on radio and TV. and in the press. ;f Southern- Pacific took off its last passenger train in this area last year It was ordered to re sume service by the state public utilities commissioner, but re fused to do so prior to a hear ing. The hearings in Roseburg and Medford this week were called by the PUC as a result. Roseburg (U.R) Spokes men for Umpqua basin towns described to the Oregon Public Utilities commission here today the hardships they suffered since Southern Pacific railroad halted passenger service to southwest Oregon last year. R. B. Harriman of Dillard, president of the Oregon Gaso line Dealers association told hearing officer Clifford W. Fer guson that uses were not an ade quate substitute for passenger train service. He said areas such as Dillard-Winston south of Roseburg . were not served by buses at all and were hard hit by loss of passenger trains. But he suggested that trains be plac ed on a daylight schedule for maximum benefit' to the area. The PUC hearing on the with drawal of SP service opened here this morning before a pack ed room. On hand were State Sens. Phil .Lowry of Medford and Paul Geddes of Roseburg, who, together with State Sen. Gene Brown of Grants Pass, filed 'the original complaint against Southern- Pacific's ac tion last July. Deaffierage Appointed To Head Shaw Campaign William V. Deatherage, Med ford attorney, has been, appoint ed chairman of the Jackson county Shaw for Congress Com mittee according to David C. Shaw, Democratic candidate for congress. Other county officers include Mrs. Marie Bosworth, Medford, vice chairman; Mrs. Priscilla Deatherage, Medford, secretary treasurer; Clyde Fichtner, Med ford, Mrs. Charles Crary, Med ford; Larry Sheehan, Rogue Riv er; Al Miller, Ashland; and Al bert Strauu, Gold Hill. to make it sound damaging," the chief said. "Of course the de partment has had its difficulties. and its differences. What organ ization doesn't? "But," he continued, "the net impression of the story, that the department is 'in revolt,' that there is wholesale ticket-fixing and other illegal and reprehensi ble activities, is totally untrue. We have nothing to hide. If the author of the article had taken the trouble to lift the telephone and call me, I could have given him the facts of the matter." Records Open The chief emphasized that the records of the department are open at all times to any newspa per reporter, and during his ad ministration there has never been an attempt to cover up any thing. In his report to the mayor, which runs to seven single spaced pages, the chief replied in detail to each allegation made in the article. He states that one case of ticket "fixing" was un cevered several weeks ago, and the officer guilty of .the offense was disciplined. Further investi gation has been conducted to see if there were other instances. So far, none has turned up. With reference to the state ment that city councilmen are "untouchable," the chief laughed and stated that's the first that he, and members of the council, have heard of it. A number of tht' council members have re ceived traffic or parking cita tions, and have paid the penalty with no complaint, he stated. Chief Champlin declared that there are a number of adminis trative problems in the depart ment which must be solved by amended ordinances, among them a system of numbered tickets which he has long advo cated and asked to be enacted. , Suggestions for Changes The. newspaper article he an swered in his report to the mayor quoted a-letteTT?resented to him. by a group -of -officers recently, with suggestions for changes in the department. . "Several of the suggestions are good ones," he said, "and would definitely aid in the ad ministration of the department. But they are actions which can not be taken by the department alone. They will require action by other agencies of the city," the chief explained. . He added that one of the prin cipal requests, that the traffic code be modernized, has been planned for a long time, and that another, the employment of a full-time city attorney, is pro vided for in the 1956-57 budget. "I take full responsibility for the administration of the police department," the chief conclud ed. "I have operated it to the best of my ability. The record is open to anyone wishing to in spect it. I have nothing to hide, and nothing of which to be ashamed. These unfounded charges apparently come from a very few members of the de partment who disagree with my policies. But as long as I am chief, with full responsibility for the department, I shall continue to operate it. the way I feel is best and right. If unsubstanti ated newspaper criticism, quot ing anonymous dissidents, is the penalty, I must accept that, too." ; The chief's report to the mayor will be published in tomorrow's Mail Tribune. New Affidavit Filed In Morse's Politics Salem (U.R) A fifth affidavit declaring Sen. Wayne Morse to be a Republican and not a Dem ocrat was filed in Marion Coun ty Circuit Court here yesterday by Woody Smith of Hood River. Both men seek the Demo cratic nomination for the U. S. Senate. ' Four of Smith's affidavits were filed here and one in Lane county. The Lane county filing resulted in an order that Morse appear in Eugene April .30 to defend his Democratic standing. Smith's latest affidavit is di rected at Gov. Elmo Smith and Secretary of State Earl T. New bry, asking why they did not capcel Morse's registration and declaration of party nomination. County Court Decides , To Buy Truck-Crane The Jackson county court this morning agreed to purchase a 15-ton Koering mobile truck crane with General Motors die sel power unit from Columbia Equipment company. Net cost of the truck-crane is $20,329, the court said. Colum bia's bid was among nice opened April 11.
