Medford mail tribune., June 12, 1956, Image 1

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EDFORD
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MEDF
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1956
Price 5e
No. 71
M
Scouts
Injured Youths Are
Returned by Mercy
Flights Last Night
Hazy Recollection of
Accident Events Told
By ROSIE BOLEY
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
"I just don't know what, hajj-
pened." .
That's what Bruce Blachly
told the Mail Tribune from his
hospital bed today. Bruce was
one of two Medford Boy Scouts
injured in a fall Sunday during
a Troop S hike in the Silver
creek area of the lower Illinois
river.
Blachly, 13-year-old son of
Mrs. Ben Blachly, 1121 Spring
at., and Tom Turpin, 14-year-old
son of Mr. and Mrs. V. A. Tur
pin. 3533 Jacksonville highway.
arrived at the Medford air
port at 7 p.m. last night in a
Mercy Flights. Inc., piane.
Injuries Listed
Bruce is suffering from two
broken bones in his right ankle
and a cracked and chipped
right wrist. Young Turpin, who
periodically lapses into uncon
ciousness, is suffering from a
concussion and back bruises.
The boys are in the same room
of the second floor of Communi
ty hospital.
Bruce had only a hazy recol
lection of events preceding his
fall.
"We had been hiking and got
tired, so we sat down on a bluff
to rest . . . The next thing I knew
I was lying on a ledge scream
ing. Tommy was a little ways
around the bend from me."
Bruce estimated they fell
"over 100 feet." He shuddered
and said. "You could tell it was
at least that far just from look
ing at it. If it hadn't been for a
bunch of rocks, we would have
fallen right into the river."
'Blacked Out'
It has been theorized that af
ter the boys sat down to rest
one of them "blacked out" and
started over the cliff. It was pre
sumed that the other tried to
catch him and went over the
cliff with him.
Bruce said he had felt sick
and was told he"looked all white"
befora the two sat down. He
couldn't remember losing con
sciousness. The boys were on the ledge
for only about ten minutes, the
Scout said, before their Scout
master. Dr. William Roberts, ar
rived. Dr. Roberts and the other
3S boys in the troop were a short
distance from the accident scene.
Two other Scouts, Mike. Rob
erts and Roger Johnson, hiked
all night to Agncss, near the con
fluence of the Rogue and Illinois
rivers. They arrived about 8:30
a.m. Mondny.
A five-man ground party of
forest service men left Agness
for the accident scene and a pri
vate boat was also dispatched
in the event the boys could not
be raised up the cliff.
Parachute ts Scene
Two Cave Junction smoke
Jumper squad leaders, Orville
Nine Candidates File for
School Board Vacancies
Nine candidates have filed pe-,
tit ions to fill school board vacan
cies in four first class school
districts in Medford, Central
Point, Phoenix and Ashland.
Deadline for filing petitions for
nominations was yesterday.
A petition has been filed nom
inating Edward Branchfield for
reelection to the Medford school
board in the annual school elec
tion June 18.
Branchfield's term expires
this year. He is currently chair
man. No other petitions were
filed for the Medford school
board position.
Polling Place
Voting will be in the girls'
gymnasium at Medford High
school. Anyone who has lived in
the district for six months and
became a registered voter at
least 30 days before the election
is eligible to vote, school offic
ials pointed out.
Residents of Kenwood. Oak
Grove and West Side districts
will not be able to vote in the
election because the recent de
cision to consolidate is not yet in
effect.
Two petitions have been filed
to fill a vacancy in the District
6C, Central point, school board,
nominating William Askwith
and rwvialrl f atiarsoa.
m
INJURED BOYS ARRIVE HOME Tom Turpin, one of the
two Boy Scouts injured in a fall from a bluff in the wilder
ness area of the Illinois river, is shown in the left-hand pic
ture above just after arrival at the Medford airport in a Mercy
Flights, Inc., air ambulance plane from Agness. At left is Earl
Harrison, member of the Troop 9 committee who helped take
Looper and Roger Newton, para
chuted to the scene. Radios, lit
ters, first aid equipment and
climbing gear were dropped to
them from the plane. Looper and
Newton, authorized to give med
ical aid to accident victims in the
absence of a physician, gave the
boys pain-killer shots.
At 12:30 p.m., the injured boys
were loaded into a skiff with a
small outboard motor.. Threei
forest service Irion, Willard Lu-1
cas, Charley Thornton and a man
named Brock, started to pilot the
boat on the 13-mile trip down the
Illinois river to Agncss. They
had estimated the trip would
take about Hi hours and the
Mercy Flights, Inc., plane ar
rived at the Agness air strip to
meet them at 2 p.m.
Weight of the two boys, their
stretchers and the three forest
service men was too much for
the small boat, according to
George Milligan, who piloted the
Mercy Flights plane.
Lifted Over Rapids
Milligan said the forest serv
ice men had to lift the boys out
of the boat, then lift the skiff
over rapids several times. He de
clared the boatmen were the
real heroes of the rescue.
"I don't remember much about
the boat trip." Bruce said. "I
woke up about five times when
they lifted us out of the boat."
Shortly after 6 p.m., the skiff
arrived in Agness and the boys
were transported in a forest ser
vice truck five miles to the air
strip.
"I woke up when they put us
on the plane," Bruce comment
ed. "Someone was taking pic
tures and woke me up."
To keep down weight in the
plane, no one was allowed to
make the trip to Medford other
than the boys and Milligan, the
A petition nominating Jack
Hoffbuhr for the Phoenix school
board also has been filed.
.Ralph W. Sikes, Robert V.
Hardy, Dr. Christian P. Hald,
Carroll W. Smith and Charles
H. Coffin have filed petitions for
nomination for the one vacancy
on the Ashland school board.
Rural Board
Five candidates have filed pe
titions for nomination for four
vacancies on rural and non high
school boards.
Paul A. Gasparath has filed
a petition for nomination for the
zone three, Lone Pine and How
ard area, school board vacancy.
H. F. Padgiiam Jr., incumbent,
will not seek reelection.
Incumbent Glenn W. Smith is
seeking reelection for the zone
four school board in the Ruch
Applegate, Jacksonville and
Griffin Creek area.
John Spangler has filed a pe
tition for nomination to the zone
five school board in the Talent
and Pinehurst area. Mrs. M. O.
Grove, incumbent, was declared
ineligible because of a change
in classification of districts.
Incumbent D. H. Barber will
seek reelection for the zone two
non high school board in the
Trail and Shady Cove axea.
Local nosd
READIED FOR HOSPITAL TRIP Dr. Bol
ton and Earl Harrison are shown getting the
injured boys ready for their trip to the hos
pital. The boys are lying on stretchers at the
left. In the background is Terry McGriff of
Medford Ambulance service, and Mrs. Blach
ly is in the right background. The Mercy
pilot. They took off from Agness
at 6:30 p.m., an hour and 15
minutes after they were orig
inally scheduled to arrive in
Medford.
Anxious Waiting
Meanwhile, at the Medford
airport, anxious parents ' and
friends, totaling approximately
15, became concerned over the
delay and feared the Mercy
Flights plane might have met
with-an accident.
At 5:30 p.m. Bill Rosenbalm
and John Childers took off from
Medford in another Mercy Flight
plane and circled over the Ag
ness airstrip where Milligan's
plane was waiting for .the boys.
They made radio contact with
Milligan and reported back to
Medford that all was well.
"The plane trip to Medford
was pretty smooth after the
take-off," Bruce said. "At least
I guess it was I slept most of
the way."
Milligan. who interrupted va
cation time to join in the res
cue, said the air was turbulent
and made the flight difficult.
He said Tommy was somewhat
restless at first, but the trip was
otherwise uneventful. Tom woke
up just over Gold Hill and asked
for water, he remarked. "I told
him he'd have to wait a few min
utes and he didn't seem to mind."
Ambulances Waiting
The plane landed at 7 p.m. at
the Medford airport, where phys
icians, parents and ambulances
were waiting. The injured
Scouts were taken to the hospit
al where casts were placed on
Bruce's arm and leg last night,
jr - h
- f 4:lr.
the boys to Oak flat. In background is the boy's father, V. A.
Turpin, 3533 Jacksonville highway, and at right is his mother.
In the picture at right the other boy, Bruce Blachly, is 6hown
with his mother, Mrs. Ben Blachly, 1121 Spring st., and Dr.
Thomas Bolton.
satisfactory progress and have
been resting comfortably. Tom
my slept through the entire in
terview this morning.
. The other members of the
troop camped at the accident
scene yesterday and were sched
uled to arrive in Agness today.
The older members of the troop
will continue the trip to Gold
Beach, reports stated, and the
younger ones will be brought
home by car.
The troop left early Saturday
morning from Oak flat on the
Illinois river. They planned to
travel down the Illinois and the
Rogue, with Gold Beach as their
destination. They were sched
uled -to return to Medford on
June 16, according to Cliff Han
son. Scout executive for the
Crater area council.
Eager Ts Finish
Hansen said all the parents,
including parents of the injured
boys, were tager for the rest of
the troop to complete the hike.
"I want them to go ahead,
too," Bruce said. "Only I
wanted to go with them." The
heavy casts on his arm and leg
aoparently didn't make much
difference to him. "I couldn't
walk, but I could have taken
the boat trip," he argued.
Bruce, whose father died last
November,- is a former Mail
Tribune carrier.
Astoria (U.PJ John L. Far
ley, national director of the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has
been named admiral of the 36th
annual Astoria regatta, to be
held here Aug. 30 and 31 and
i
ifa
(Landis-Shangle photos)
plane which brought them from Agness ar
rived at the airport at about 7 p.m. after a
long delay at Agness while the youths were
being brought down the river by boat, a long
and arduous trip for the men manning the
craft, who had to portage at least three times
around high-water riffles.
(Landis-Shangle photo)
Planners Recommend
Park for East Side
The Medford planning com
mission last night recommended
to the, city council that city
owned property south of the
IOOF cemetery and. west of
Highland ave, be -dedicated as a
city park: ; v - i .
The site is around the new
East Side Fire station, and in
cludes about 22 acres.
Planning commission mem
bers noted the need for park
development in the city, and in
dicated that the east side site in
cludes an area which might be
developed into a playground.
Approves Payment
The commission also approved
payment of $800 from the 1955
56 budget for an aerial mapping
survey which was made earlier
this year.
City Manager Robert Duff
said it will be valuable to the
city because of the accuracy of
the survey, which covered about
40 square miles, including the
area from about Foothills rd. on
the east to about Lozier lane on
the west, and from north of Cen
tral Point to Phoenix.
Various types of maps will be
made from the survey. Duff
said, and will assist planners in
the arterial street pre gram,
park development, zoning, and
other city projects.
Hearing Continued
The commission continued a
h.arjpg on a xona chaaga tot
Approval of Area
Projects Seen As
'Almost Certaintyr
Senate Committee
Approves Works Bill
Final approval of funds for
two major Jackson county proj
ects is "almost a certainty," Con
gressman Harris Ellsworth said
today.
The sums are $2,400,000 for
initial construction on the Talent
irrigation and reclamation proj
ect, and $208,000 for construc
tion of fish screens at Savage
Rapids dam.
The public works bill, approv
ing these amounts, which has al
ready passed the house, has been
approved by. the Senate appro
priations committee without any
change being made on either of
the two appropriations for the
local jobs, Ellsworth said in a
telegram to the Mail Tribune.
The approval, he said, "makes
almost a certainty their final ap
proval, in view of budget recom
mendation and previous approv
al by the house." He pointed out
that the Savage Rapids fish
screen item also received com
mittee approval, "justifying the
expectation of final approval,
since the House originated, the
item and approved it."
The Senate committee cut a
few items in the house-approved
bill, but added funds for various
other northwest projects. The
Talent and Savage Rapids items
were untouched. The bill still
needs approval by the full Sen
ate, and adjustment of the House
and Senate versions of the bill
by a conference committee, final
approval by both houses, and the
signature of the President.
The bureau of reclamation,
which will supervise the Talent
project construction, has already
set bid calls for a number of the
first construction jobs. When
completed in four or five years.
the project will have cost about
$20 million.
, Contained in the same bill are
funds for various bureau of rec
lamation Jobs, not listed indi
vidually, which include addition
al work on the rehabilitation of
the canal systems of the Medford
and Rogue River Valley Irriga
tion districts.
Labor Camp Messhall
Extensively Damaged
Fire extensively damaged the
interior of the mess hall at the
Fruit Growers League labor
camp on Table Rock rd. yester
day afternoon.
The Medford fire department
sent a rural pumper to the
camp about 3:40 p.m., and the
Central Point Rural Fire de
partment sent four trucks and a
tanker after the fire was first
reported as being in their dis
trict. According to the Fruit Grow
ers League, which leases the
camp from the city, the build
ings were being prepared for
occupation by fruit workers dur
ing the coming season.
The fire department was in
vestigating the cause of the
fire today.
two lots in Laurelhurst addition
from two family (class IB) to
limited commercial (class IIIA)
to readvertize to include three
other lots so the rezoning would
not constitute spot zoning.
' Don Root and Mrs. Edith
Eden were appointed a commit
tee to study a request from St.
Mary's school for a change of
set back for the gymnasium,
which the school plans to en
large to provide lunch room
facilities. The school asked for
a three-foot setback instead of
a 10-foot setback on 11th st.
A request for change of zone
on Willamette ave. was con
tinued until after the planning
commission studies the request
and the area involved in the
proposed zone change. The re
quest is to change to multiple
family (Class II) the area gen
erally bounded by .Main and
11th sts.. and Willamette and
Portland aves.
The final plat for the Rogers
Pari-, subdivision between Peach
and Newtown sts. and south of
Beekman st. was approved. A
request for annexation of an
area east of Lewis ave. and
south of West Main st. was for
warded to the engineering de
partment for determining more
accurately the boundary of the
piopoaed afineyratirn.
Ike Signs Papers,
Holds Conferences
In Hospital Room
Washington (U.P.) Presi
dent Eisenhower today signed
his first official documents since
his operation, held several con
ferences, and all in all gave the
impression he "feels very good."
White House Press Secretary
James C. Hagerty was the auth
ority for the quotation about
how the President felt.
New Flag Approved
The three documents were: A
executive order approving a new
flag for the Army, authoriza
tion of an emergency allocation
of $50,000 for flood relief in
Colorado, and an international
wheat agreement for 1956.
A medical bulletin timed at
12:45 p.m: (EDT) disclosed that
Late News Briefs
PLANS DEFERRED
Washington U.P.) Construc
tion of a new base in the Port
land area has been deferred by
the Air Force for at least a year,
it was disclosed today in testi
mony taken in secret last month
and released by the House Ap
propriations committee.
It also was disclosed that the
Air Force has abandoned plans
to acquire more land for the
Klamath Falls air base, at least
for the present.
FRENCH RUSH TROOPS
Algiers U.P.) French rein
forcements today rushed by Air
and land to new trouble spots in
the sprawling , Sahara desert.
hitherto free of rebel Algerian
activity.
WAR ORPHANS ARRIVE
Los Angeles kU.P.) Seventeen
Korean war orphans, ranging in
age from one to six, arrived
here BboaTd"a Parr- American
Airways plane today en route
to their new homes in the
United States.
Forest Patrol Sights
Small Holdover Fire
State department of forestry
personnel controlled a small
holdover fire from last week's
lightning storm, about 6:30 p.m.
yesterday.
The fire started near Tenley
Rock at the head of Lake creek,
district officials said.
With forests drying out fast,
the patrol now has 10 men in
Jackson county lookouts. Four
were put up yesterday, at Soda
mountain. Buck Rock, Freden
burg Butte, and Roundtop. The
district plans to have two more
up before the end of the week.
Search Under Way
For Butte Falls Boy
Donny Ash. 11, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Britt H. Ash of Butte Falls,
was reported by his father as
missing from home 'since 1 or 2
p.m. Monday, according to the
Jackson county sheriff's office.
Ash is the U.S. forest service
district ranger at Butte Falls.
Sheriff's officers, forest serv
ice men, and volunteers from
the Butte Falls area were still
searching for the boy early this
afternoon.
"To The Hill, Men
Mr. Eisenhower walked around
his room this morning about 80
feet, or twice as far as Monday.
He sat in an easy chair for about
du minutes before returning to
bed.
"The President's ennditinn
continues to progress satisfac
torily," the bulletin said. "Hi
pulse, blood pressure, tempera
ture and respiration continue
to be essentially normal ... his
spirits continued high through
out the morning."
Comfortable Night
Before the President signed
the documents, a meriiral hnl.
letin said that Monday night was
the "most comfortable"
President has had since his op
eration early Saturday for an
intestinal obstruction. The doc
tors said "his snirits are hish.
his morale is good."
In addition to siirninv ihm
three documents, the President.
directed his personal attention to
the congressional drive to slash
ins $4,900,000 foreign aid pro
gram. Presidential Assistant Sh.r.
man Adams reported to him on
a conference he and other ad
ministration leaders held at the
White House todav with Kenatn
leaders. The purpose was to try
to persuade the Senate to re
store at least $600,000,000 of the
Sl.100.nnn.nnn which the Hnnu
cut from the aid bill Monday.
Liecuion Not Made
Hagerty said there still hag
not been a decision on what tn
do about three previously sched
uled events on the President s
agenda, the current visit in
Washington by West German
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, a
July meeting with Indian Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru; and
a meeting -with Latin American
leaders in 'Panama later -this
month.
Plan Traffic Counter
On Roxy Ann Road
City crews will install a traf
fic counter to check the number
of visitors to Prescott park soon,
according to Vern Thorpe, di
rector of public works.
The present traffic counter at
Prescott park was recently de
stroyed by vandals. Thorpe said.
Because of poor weather condi
tions, Thorpe said, an accurate
record had not been tabulated of
the visitors to Prescott park.
When the new traffic counter ia
installed records will be kept of
all visitors to the park on Sat
urday and Monday, he said.
City crews completed grading
of Roxy Ann rd. last Friday,
Thorpe said.
Weather
FORECAST: Fair and warm
through Wdn1v. Vow to
night 41, high Wednesday US.
Temp.
Hirhrit YMterdiy 71
Lowest this Morning
Our Skies Tonight
ftfinrlxa 4:34 am.
Sun art , ,.,, 7:49 p.m.
The Moon lets 10:53 p.m.
Above it are Jupiter and Regit
us.
First Quarter Fridtv a.m.
VENUS seU 8:25 p-ra.
It it now setting mora than six
minutes earlier each night anal -will
he seen only a few mora
evenings.
The Dam Hat Bust"
i