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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1956)
WEEK Accra rvn cm PERSON Drinking Charges Removal Sought by McKeon's Lawyers Parris Island, S.C. (U.R) The defense fought today to have stricken from the indict ment against S. Sgt. Matthew C. McKeon charges that he was drinking vodka before he led raw recruits on a "death march' that drowned six men in a tidal wash. The maneuver, if accepted by a seven-man General Court Mar- Ike Discusses Atomic, Foreign Policy Problems Washington U.R! Presi dent Eisenhower still wearing a bandage, discussed atomic and foreign policy problems today on his first return to his White House desk since his operation more than five weeks ago. Mr. Eisenhower arrived at his office at 8:20 a.m. (EDT) and held a brief work session with his staff before swinging into a limited series of appointments. He conferred later with Adm Lewis W. Strauss, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission He later called in Secretary of State John Foster Dulles for a foreign policy review and to dis cuss plans for the Panama Con- ference of American Presidents which the President will attend this week end. Week's Schedule Mr. Eisenhower Tuesday will confer with Republican leader's of the House and Senate and Thursday he will preside at a meeting of the National Security Council. Friday the chief executive plans what the White House described as an "expanded" council meeting which will in clude representatives of the de partments and agencies partici pating in the new Civil Defense operation "alert" which begins Friday. Press Secretarv James C. Haa erty said Mr. Eisenhower will not hold a news conference this week. Neither will he have a formal Cabinet meetirrg before he leaves for Panama Friday night. The President, still convales cent as a result of his June 9 surgery, planned for the immed iate future to follow a rather re stricted schedule of office hours Jensen Leaves to Face Execution in Salem James Norman Jensen, 23 Larkspur, Calif., was en route to the state penitentiary in Salem this morsing from the Jackson county jail. He was accompan ied by sheriff's officers Paul Bettiol and Dean DeBerry. Jensen will await execution in the state gas chamber Sept. 21 He was first sentenced to death for th April, 1954, murder of Mrs. Fern Hile, in circuit court Jan. 7, 1955. His case was ap pealed to the State Supreme court without success, and he was resentenced by Circuit Judge H. K. Hanna about two weeks ago. Also taken from the county jail this morning was Prentice Kenneth Cox, 30. of Wichita Falls, Tex. Cox recently was sentenced to one year in the Multnomah county jail for rape Salem vU.R) A rash of 43 fires, 32 of them lightning-caused occurred over the week end on state forest lands. Cincinnati (U.R) A nation wide strike at B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company plants has been averted. Seventy-Two People Participate in CAP Simulated Air Rescue Operation Sunday Seventy-two persons worked on the ground and in the air yes terday, for the Civil Air Patrol's simulated air rescue, and found their '"target" at 3:25 p.m. The operations, based at the Medford airport, began with a briefing of all personnel by Maj. Patrick Moses, deputy for opera tions of the Oregon wing, CAP, in Portland, at about 9 a.m. Im mediately afterward a weather plane, and then a route plane went up. Target Placed The target had been planted by M 'Sgt. Harold Schultz, wing observer. U.S. Air Force. Prepared clues were phoned Into operations headquarters, and 14 planes took off in about half-hour intervals to help with the mock search. tial trying the Worcester, Mass., junior drill instructor at this huge Marine training depot, would deflate considerably the case of the prosecution. Removal of the drinking charges would leave charges of involuntary manslaughter and of cruelly oppressing 74 members of Recruit Platoon 71 by taking them on a disciplinary march into tidal Ribbon creek last Ap ril 8. Important Trial The manslaughter charge, without the drinking allegatipns as a contributory factor, then would become, in effect, an ac cusation of faulty judgment on McKeon's part. McKeon, ram-rod stiff, was the central figure- in perhaps the most celebrated court martial since Billy Mitchell's. Although he was the visible defendant, the Marines recog nized, too, a silent and invisible defendant the stiff training program given to all recruits. A conviction, which could send Mc Keon to prison for at least four years, could bring a new revision of training regulations. Throughout legal arguments in the opening session the 31-year- old defendant sat at the counsel table as if transfixed. His wife, Betty, who is ex pecting a third child next month, was in the courtroom, but Mc Keon never glanced at her. McKeon's lawyer, Emile Zola Berman, argued for dismissal of the drinking charges while the seven-man court martial was ex cused from the courtroom. Other Drinking Offenses Berman said the defense con sidered the two drinking charg es "minor and indeed trivial" and out of place in an indictment that alleges offenses of man slaughter and cruelty. He recalled that two sergeants who were drinking vodka with McKeon were tried only in Sum mary Court Martial, indicating their offense was considered a misdemeanor, and that although they were convicted their fines were later remitted. McKeon's lawyer was fight ing through a "barrier of silence" concerning irregular training practices at the Parris Island de pot such as night marches into the marsh land which forms a good part of the terrain around here. Soft-Spoken Defendant McKeon, 31, a soft-spoken New Englander, who acts and talks more like a studious chaplain than a hard-bitten sergeant, has said that, as a junior drill in structor, he marched recruit Pla toon 71 into the tidal waters of Ribbon creek to "teach them dis cipline." The platoon panicked in deep water. At about 8:30 p.m. last ADril 8 a chilly, moonless Sunday night six of the re cruits drowned. The march was unauthorized, and McKeon has admitted he did not know the creek area and had not attempt ed to familiarize himselt witn it. Weather FORECAST: Threat of thunder showers over mountains tfci evening- Clear toniRht and in creasing ..cloudiness.. Tuesday with continued threat of af ternoon and evening thunder storms. Low tonight 58. High Tuesday 90. Temp. Highest yesterday 90 Lowest this morning 55 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise . 4:48 a.m. Sunset 7:46 p.m. Moon set Tuesday 12:38 a.m. Full Moon July 22 PROMINENT STAR: Altair. high in southeast 10:29 p.m. VISIBLE PLANETS: Saturn, follows the moon. Jupiter, sets 9:09 p.m. Venus, rises 3:11a.m. Mars, due south 4:00 a.m. Al Randies of the Medford squadron, in charge of publicity, said the area "was covered like a blanket" by the planes. They were told the target would be somewhere within a 25 mile ra dius of the airport. About 3:25 p.m., a plane from the Portland Squadron No. 2, pi loted by Lt. John Frank, spotted the target. Medford mobile unit, 95, a jeep station wagon driven by James Valentine, command ant of cadets for the Medford squadron, spied it at almost the same time. The target was a large piece of fabric in some trees at the intersection of Highway. 234 and Sams Valley rd., about 10 miles northwest of Medford. Ground units were called to the spot, and simulated rescue Emergency Road Opened To Mitchell As Cleanup Starts Highway Department Gets Share of Blame Mitchell (U.R) The Central Oregon community of Mitchell, half wiped out by a 50-foot wall of water Friday night, today had an emergency road into the town open and began to clean up the havoc wreaked by the sudden cloudburst. Most of the town's 500 resi dents managed a slow smile as they began to tear away the rub- Porltand (U.R) Wash ington officials today notified the Portland office of lh Small Business administration that Wheeler county has been declared a disaster area. ble and began thinking about the huge job of rebuilding that faced them. But there was bitterness too. Many residents claimed the state was not concerned enough with opening up the highway leading into the town and others went even farther and blamed the whole mess on the state high way department. Washed out bridges, slides and wide holes in the roadbed blocked access to the town on Highway 26. An old logging road was opened leading into the town yesterday but officials warned of slide danger on the route and only emergency vehicles were being allowed to cross. State highway spokesmen said it would be several weeks before Highway 26 can be reopened to through traffic. An emergency power line and a telephone line were being strung over the roll ing hills into the logging com munity from Prineville. Some residents of the bat tered town blamed the state high way department for the wall of water that charged down Bridge creek on Friday the 13th. Creek Said 'Gnawed' They claimed the highway crew had narrowed the creek bed two years ago when they built Highway 26 through the town. "They gnawed that creek right up against our buildings," one resident charged. " Emergency refief supplies such as bedding and food poured into the flood-ravaged town from neighboring communities and ranchers from throughout Wheeler county sent their trac tors and bulldozers to the area to help open up the roads. The state highway department has 12 heavy machines at work on the western approaches to the town, attempting to carve a road through the landslides and wash outs. Civil Defense Test Planned in Oregon Portland ,U.R) A civil de fense test simulating the explo sion of an A-bomb equal in force to 100.000 tons of TNT. is sched uled for Portland Friday at 9:45 a.m. ' Jack Lowe, Portland civil de fense director, said no public participation was scheduled for the Portland test, which con- cerns the reception and care of evacuees. Some cities outside of Portland will have public par ticipation in the test, Lowe said. Lumber Firm Employee Hospitalized With Burns John A. White, 39, route 2, box 420, Medford, suffered second de gree burns on his arms and neck Sunday morning when a '"blow back" occurred while he was cleaning a boiler grate. at Elk Lumber company, plant officials reported today. White was taken by Medford Ambulance service to Sacred Heart hospital, where his condi tion was reported "quite good" this morning. The accident oc curred at 10:30 a.m. activities carried out. Randies said the 14 planes participating flew a total of 1, 600 air miles during the day on a total, of 12 sorties Heads Operation Warrant Officer Robert Mc- Corkle was in charge of opera tions, assisted by Lt. Hubert Cur- tiss, commander of the Medford squadron. Communications were handled. by Warrant Officer L. C. Cass. Units participating came from Lakeview, Klamath Falls, Rose- burg, Coos Bay, Portland, and Medford. The Civil Air patrol tentative ly plans to hold another simulat ed air rescue again based at the Medford airport with units from Roseburg. Coos Bay and Grants Pacs in ahout three weeks. Mnv- . tv JSL 5i- -ders Major L.iong Mid-East A IIpPWTSWF,J.,ll.lMl.ll ll I . J.. ..I lkJJ f - L ROBERT A. BOYER Central Committee Head Medford Attorney To Head Oregon Democratic Group Robert A. Boyer, young Med ford attorney and Democratic leader, was elected chairman of the Oregon Democratic Central commmittee at a meeting in Cor vallis yesterday. This morning he was named alternate delegate to the Demo cratic National convention by Sen. Richard L. Neuberper, who advised the Mail Tribune of the appointment by telephone. Sena tor Netiberger earlier had an nounced his intention of appoint ing the new chairman. Heavy Majority Boyer's only opposition for the post was Chet Lowry of Washington county. His victory was reportedly by a heavy ma jority. He succeeds Howard Morgan of Monmouth in the post. Morgan recently resigned to act as a campaign aide for Presidential Candidate A d 1 a i Stevenson. Three other state Democratic officials were reelected at the Corvallis meeting. They were Edna Scales, Clackamas county, vice chairman; Lloyd Rae, Bak er county secretary, and Dexter Fairbanks, Portland, treasurer. Jack Beatty was nominated by Boyer and elected as liaison offi cer to maintain contact between the central committee and the numerous other Democratic or ganizations in the state. Four Speakers Robert Holmes, Gearhart, Democratic candidate for gov ernor, Congresswoman Edith Green, Portland, Wiley Smith, Portland, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, and Jason Lee Salem, candidate for con gress from the first district, all attended and spoke briefly. In telling of his appointment of Boyer as his alternate, Sena tor Neuberger told Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Butler that Boyer is "an iiDctanriino vouns man of in tegrity and ability, with a bril liant future ahead in the public life of our state and of the na tion." He told the Mail Tribune he has a high regard for Boyer and looks forward to his associa tion with him during the con vention in Chicago next month. Committee Chairman Bover. 29. in addition to the two posts gained over the week end, is also chairman of the Democratic Central committee of Jackson county, and is a can- didate for the state legislature from this county. He has resided in Medford since 1937, and he and his wife and small daughter live at 649 South Ivy st. He is also active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion, and the YMCA He is a graduate of Medford High school, attended Southern Oregon college in Asn land, and received his baccalau reate and law degrees from the University of Oregon. BASEBALL AMERICAN Cleveland 7 17 2 Boston 3 5 2 Lemon and Naragon: Sulli van, Dorish (6) and While. Home rum: Busby, Cleveland; Jeassfl. Em ton. OREGON, MONDAY, JULY 16, 1956 Senate Told of ! Proposed Changes In Tinderbox Area Confirmation by Senate Necessary Washington (U.R) Presi dent Eisenhower has ordered a major shakeup in this country's top diplomats in the Middle East. He intends to name new am bassadors to Egypt, Greece, Mor occo, and the Union of South Africa. He also plans to replace George V. Allen as assistant sec retary of state for Near Eastern affairs. Sen. Walter F. George, (D-Ga.), said today that his Senate For eign Relations Committee was notified of the proposed changes last week. They must be confirm ed by the Senate. Proposed Changes There was no immediate state ment from either the White House or State Department. But according to the senate notifica tion, these are the proposed changes: Raymond A. Hare, director general of the Foreign Service, to become ambassador to Egypt He would replace Ambassador Henry A. Byroade who has held the post only a little more than a year. Byroade to become ambassa dor to the Union of South Afri ca. .- Allen to become ambassador to Greece, replacing the veter an Cavendish W. Cannon. No one has been mentioned yet to replace Allen in the key assist ant secretary post here. Cannon To Morocco Cannon to become the first U.S. ambassador to the newly independent state of Morocco. The shift of Byroade and Al len were major surprises. It seemed to signal an administra tion effort to strengthen its rep resentation in the tinderbox Mid dle East. Dealing with Egypt is a particularly ticklish assign ment in view of its leadership of the Arab bloc, in the dispute with Israel and its recently friendly relations with Russia. Allen, former ambassador to India and Yugoslavia, has been a top troubleshooter for the ad ministration in the Middle East. Military Public Works Bill Vetoed Washington (U.R) President Eisenhower today vetoed the $2,136,000,000 military public works bill on grounds the meas ure is unconstitutional. The President vetoed the measure with a message to the House saying that he thought the bill violated "the fundamental constitutional principle" of sep aration of powers between the executive and the Congress. Mr. Eisenhower said he thought ihe measure placed unconstitu tional authority in the hands of the Armed Services Committee on the House and Senate. In adopting the bill, Congress provided that the Defense De partment could not spend any money on Talos missile sites or on housing projects until they had been cleared with the Sen ate and House Armed Services committees. In his veto message, Mr. Eis enhower said the provision would "compel the secretary of defense, and an executive offi cial to share with two commit tees of the Congress the respon sibility for the carrying out of the Talos missile authorization Highway Group Refers Bids to County Court The Oregon State Highway commission has referred bids on construction of Willow Kane, Snider and Dry Creek bridges to the Jackson county court for ac tion. Low bidder was RicM Con struction company, Central Point at $55,532. Other bids were Aus- Iand Constructoin company, Grants Pass, $55,f80, and Or lando C Benaard, Portland, $66,-233. Shakeup Diplomats "There Ain't No Blacklist And You're In Contempt For Not Contributing Names To It" g HEARTS j J: I jjp HFAVlfjGSp' Kill 8f7 COMMITTEE ON IWJ-AMERICAU ACTIVITIES Sunday Fire 70 Acres of Grass in Tolo District Fire swept over approximately 70 acres of grass, brush and tree stumps north of Gulf Red Ced ar company-sawmill in the Tolo district yesterday, doing little damage but threatening several homes to the north and east and storage lumber at the mill. Central Point rural fireman, who were summoned at 4:30 p.m. said that the fire was fought for about two hours with as many as 30 men battling the flames at one time. They described the blaze as "very hot" but reported that the only damage was to an abandoned mill building, which was destroyed, and to fence posts. The blaze apparently started in the northwest corner of the area, firemen stated. Cause has not been determined, they said this morning. Central Point rural fire pro tection district had three veh icles at the scene. A state for estry department pick-up1 truck unit and a Gulf Red Cedar bull dozer also were used. Men re siding in the area were among the fire fighters. The state forestry department reported a three-acre grass fire on Foley lane northwest of Cen tral Point about the same time yesterday. It was believed to have been started from a debris fire. Patrolmen reported there was no damage. Medford firemen were called about 1:05 p.m. yesterday to the fairgrounds baseball park where a grass fire damaged the board Southern Oregon College Professor Suffers Attack Larry E. Butler, 610'2 King st., Medford, director of the audio-visual aids center and assistant professor of education at South ern Oregon college, suffered a heart attack at Crescent City, Calif., Saturday, while conduct ing a group of SOC summer stu dents on a museum tour, it was learned today. Butler, who has been affiliated with the college since 1947, is reported "resting comortably" at Seaside hospital in Crescent City. His attack was believed to be a coronary thrombosis, ac cording to Miss Doris Corso, audio-visual aids departmental secretary who accompanied the group on the tour. Worms Ravage Many Clover Fields in Valley Army worms are ravaging many of the clover fields in the valley now. County Agent W. B. Tucker said today. Tucker recommended that farmers spray fields with a mix ture of 10 per cent DDT, toxo phine, or chlordane in such quantity as to get two pounds of actual poison per acre. He emphasized that the fields must be fully covered if worm con trol it to b effective. Tribune United Press Full Leased Wire Price 5c No. 99 Covers Brush, fence slightly. Origin was not known. City firemen extinguish ed a grass fire in the 400 block on Union ave., about 7:45 p.m. Saturday. Thirteen fires, started on state forestry department- protected land by lightning storms last week, were found and put out by patrolmen. Southwest Dist rict Warden Curt Nesheim re ported. Ten of the fires were in Jose phine county and three in Jack son county. A fire at the head of the Ap plegate river was the last to be found on the Rogue River Na tional forest, Fire Control Of ficer S. T. Moore said. Eight lightning fires were found on the national forest. FBI, Police Take Medford Fugitive Paul Leon Jacks, 21, route 1, box 133, Gold Hill, was arrested Saturday at Hattiesburg, Miss., by local police and FBI agents on a charge of fleeing from Med ford to avoid prosecution for the crime of rape, according to J. F. Santoiana, special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office. Jacks was lodged in the Jack son county jail on Oct. 18, 1955 on a rape charge and was re leased after posting $1,500 bail on Nov. 26, 1955. Trial was set for April 26 in circuit court. He was again arrested and lodged in jail on March 2, 1956, on a charge of burglary not in a dwelling. He was released on that count after posting $1,500 bail on April 20. Trial date for the burglary charge was not set. When Jacks failed to appear in court to face the rape charge, Circuit Judge H. K. Hanna ord ered forfeiture of bail, posted by Shade Combs, Rogue River. A federal fugitive warrant was is sued for his arrest on May 16. Bond was set at $10,000. Jacks is being held in jail at Hattiesburg awaiting his return to Medford. Mediators Take Firm Hand In Steel Strike Solution Pittsburgh (U.R) Federal mediators took a firm hand to day in efforts to seek an end to the nationwide steel strike. They called industry negotia tors into a private meeting and summoned representatives of the United Steelwarkers to a similar meeting later. The meet ing with the company negotia tors lasted all morning. They also called both sides to meet with the mediators in a joint session this afternoon. Federal M e di a t io n Chief Joseph r, Fioassan said Smviay Traffic Accounts For, 12 Victims; Wafer Takes Two Josephine County Crash Kills Four By UNITED PRESS Oregon recorded one of Its heaviest fatality records of the year over the week end, at least 12 persons killed in traffic ac cidents in the state and the im mediate bordering regions and two other persons were victims of water mishaps. Two highway crashes, one near Grants Pass and the other near Fruitland, Ida., yesterday, each claimed four lives. A one-car accident near Port land Saturday night took a single victim. An accident at the Portland speedway yester day afternoon claimed another. A Vancouver, Wash., woman was killed Saturday night at Van couver. And a Portland man died Friday night in an accident near Klamath Falls. Youths Drown Two youths, one 18 and the other 10, drowned in Oregon yesterday, one in the Sandy river near Portland and the other in Porter creek near Win ston. An Oregon mother and three of her young children were killed yesterday afternoon in an. accident near Fruitland, Ida. Dead were Mrs. Marjorie Lor aine Holmes of Cheshire, her eight-year-old son Lonnie, a 10-month-old daughter, Gloria, and a five-year-old son, Larry. Also injured in the crash were the husband and father, William Pete Holmes, another son, Lynn Allen, 3, and Mrs. Mabel Thea son, mother of Holmes. Mrs. Theason told police that , the car driven by Holmes collid ed with a 'pickup truck driven by Rollie Williamson, 22, of Spo kane, Wash. She said the tiuci pulled out from a side road into the path of the Holmes' car while the family was en route to Boise, Ida., on a vacation trip. Josephine Crash Kills Four A two-car collision in north ern Josephine county early yes terday took the lives of four persons and sent another four to a Grants Pass hospital with seri ous injuries. Police identified the victims as Kenneth C. Jordan, 49, the driver. Eatonville, Wash.; Wil liam M. Eskew, 22, Corvallis, Ore.; Edith M. Jordan, Tacoma, Wash., and Stella Stacy, 73, Van couver, Wash. The Jordan car struck another vehicle driven by Larry Mullar key, 19, Glendale, Ore., on high way 99 near Wolk Creek hiiL Three passengers in the Mullar key car, Ben Moore, 22, and Ed ward Booth, 19, both of Glen dale, and John Stange, 16, of Willoughby, Ohio, were hospital ized. Bill Dodson, 27, Aberdeen. Wash., racing car driver, was killed at the Portland speedway yesterday when a tie rod on his car snapped an the car crashed into a restraining wall. David Thompson, 27, Celilo Falls, was killed near Troutdale east of Portland Saturday night when his car rolled over on the Troutdale road. Mrs. Opal D. Ellertson, 28, Vancouver, Wash., was killed in Vancouver Saturday when her station wagon collided with an other vehicle. Samuel Joseph Currier,- 59, Portland, was killed Friday night when his car hit a wet spot and- rolled over on highway 97 near McCreedy Springs, 36 miles north of Kalamath Falls. His wife, Ella , Leigh, 55, was in jured. Kenneth Henckel, 18, Ttout- dale, drowned in the Sandy river yesterday after he tumbled from a railroad trestle near the Lewis and Clark park. The other drowning accident yesterday claimed the life of 10-year-old Gary Blondell, of Win stone. He was swimming in Por ter creek eight miles west of Winston when the accident oc curred. He wag the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph BlondelL Salem (U.R) Display space for textiles at the 1956 Oregon State Fair' will be increased 50 per cent. The fair runs from Sept. 1 to 8. that if the union and industry representatives did not work out some approach to settlement soon, he would come up with "suggestions" of his own. Finnegan spent the week end in Washington reporting on the situation to Secretary of Labor James Mitchell. He and his aides, Clyde Mills and Robert H. Moore, returned to Pittsburgh today. They were to remain on the sideline on a "standby" basis while the union and management representatives met ia joint session.
