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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1956)
m rui n PEARS, STARTS FIRES 31st Year Medford Full iael Wire 18 Page$ MEDFORD, . Aif . ii? fear JM? w WELCOME TO AMERICA John Hansen (extreme left) 17-year-old exchange student from Denmark, was given a rousing welcome upon his arrival at the Medford airport Mon day by the H. D. Christensen family. John Denmark Exchange Student Arrives Here John Hansen, 17-year-old ex change student from Copenhag en, Denmark, says he thinks American people are very friendly and he expects to be right at home among them as h attends Medford Senior High school in the coming year. John arrived in Medford by plan at 4:40 p.m. Monday, and was greeted by a throng of his new American friends. Among them were the family with whom h will reside, Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Christensen, 29 Richmond ave; their three children, Dan, Judy and Jill; Jimmy Dunlevy, manager of radio station KYJC; and a host of Medford Rotarians, including C. Weldon Kline, pres ident of the organization. Left Aug. S Arriving at the airport with John was Elizabeth Cellier, an 18-year-old exchange student from Cannes, France. Elizabeth will attend Grants Pass High school. The two left Europe by boat Aug. 5 and arrived in Port land Sunday. The exchangees agreed their entire trip had been pleasant and neither became seasick or airsick. John, whose father is a baker in Copenhagen, is Medford's first foreign exchange student. He was brought here through the American Field Service and is being sponsored locally by the Rotary Club. Long Process Kline said the Rotarians ap plied for an exchange student about a year ago and have been working on the project ever since. The American Field Ser vice carefully screens prospec tive exchangees as to their schol astic ability, character, person ality and similar qualities. Their entire life histories are studied . and taken into consideration. Meanwhile, representatives of the American Field Service in vestigate the prospective foster homes. Kline explained foster parents must meet rigid qualifi cations before an exchange stu dent is placed with them. After the student and his foster fam ily are selected, the service en courages them to exchange pho tographs and correspondence. This, he explained, gives each party a better idea of what to expect from the other and tends to make adjustments easier. The American Field Service takes complete responsibility for the students," Kline said. "If things don't work out harmoni ously in the homes, the service moves them elsewhere." Ap proximately 800 foreign youths were placed in' American homes this year. Kline advises those wanting exchange students in their homes next year to apply immediately. Individuals as well as organizations may sponsor ex changees, he said. Rotary Project Since John's arrival here k a Rotary project, the organization decided to place him in the home sJKIfeJrRIBUNE OREGON, TUESDAY, AUGUST ywm yiW'--"s;. - - - Iff?1 t:. v. V W were selected because Christen sen is a member and the family met all of the strict qualifica tions. Mrs. Christensen said t h e fa mily had a choice of three stu dents. "W chose John mostly because we already have two girls and wanted a boy as a com panion for our son." Dan is 17 year old, Judy 15 and Jill 7',i. All have been eagerly anticipat ing John's arrival, Mrs. Christ ensen said. Serious Conversation Before John was permanently released to his new foster par ents, he was taken aside briefly for a serious conversation with an American Field Service rep resentative. He then posed for more pictures and gave a radio interview. He speaks English fluently. All wished him luck and said they knew he would be happy among his new friends. Jill Christensen expressed her best wishes in a slightly different manner. "I know you'll be happy here when you get home and see our puppy," she said. Weather rOREC AST: Afternoon and eve nine thunderstorms, otherwise fair throtiRh Wednesday. Low tonight S3, high Wednesday 92. Hi chest yesterdav 94 Lowest this morning ,55 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise , , 5:25 a.m. Sunset 7:04 D.m. .woonrise t:ao p.m. Last Quarter .... .. Aug. M ARS, in the southeast at mid night, has a more eccentric orbit around the Sun than that of the Earth. Last September, in Aph elion, it was about 154 million miles from the Sun; todav. in Perihelion, it Is only 128 million miles from the Sun. "Now, From San Francisco A Milder, Cooler, Smoother Performance, Especially Prepared " Pric 5c Full Leased Wira 21, 1956 No. 130 Cmted Press will live with them while attending Medford Senior High school this year. Greeting the new member of their household are, left to right, Christensen, daughter Jill, Mrs. Chris tensen, daughter Judy and son Dan. Judging Begins Al 4-H, FFA Fair The Jackson county 4-H and Future Farmers of America fair was going ahead on schedule this morning with all home eco nomics exhibits in and livestock exhibits coming into the fair grounds. Miss Marjorie Hattan, agent for the county 4-H clubs, said this morning that last night's storm blew some roofing off, knocked flags down, and whisk ed some dirt and rain on ex hibits. But, she added, 4-H lead ers worked all morning and had the home economics build ing in "good shape." A total of 231 home-ec ex hibits were on display and being judged today. These included 130 food, 156 clothing, and 35 miscellaneous. Miss Hattan reported that in addition to the home economics displays, woodworking, elec tricity, and forestry projects were also being exhibited along with several hobby displays. Schedule for this afternoon included rabbit judging and contest, poultry judging and con test, food and food preservation judging and contest, showman ship contest, poultry and rab bits. This is tomorrow's lineup of events: 9 a.m., crops and for estry judging contests; 10:30 a.m., livestock judging contest market; 1 p.m., beef fitting; 1:45 p.m., beef showmanship; 7 p.m., beef showmanship champions. Portland (U.R) Two law en forcement officers from New York have arrived to question Edward Eckwerth, 29, about the disappearance last June of Rose mary Spezzo, 24, Yonkers, N. Y. school teacher. Strong Wind Gusts Cause Pear Drop In Local Orchards Lightning Starts Small Forest Blazes Wind, fire sirens and thunder roared simultaneously through southern Oregon for nearly two hours last night, and Rogue val ley fruit growers reported a "se rious" loss of pears from wind drop in the area's second con secutive night storm. Telephone c o m m u n ications were interrupted, power service was cut off in many areas, and fires were caused by lightning strikes both in the forests and elsewhere throughout the val ley. Crop Damaged . C. B. Cordy, county horticul ture agent, estimated about 8 to 10 per cent of the pear crop was destroyed as wind gusts reached a peak of 63 miles an hour. Damage was considered heavy all over the area, he said, with areas east of Phoenix and all of the west side getting the brunt of the storm. Least seri ously hit were northeast, south east and Table Rock areas, Cor dy said. Most of the damage occurred in D'Anjou orchards. Cornice were also heavily damaged as were Seckles, a small, high quality variety which is not too commonly grown here. Cordy said Boscs were barely dam aged and Bartletts sustained "surprisingly little" damage. Fires Started Foresters were attempting to day to obtain an accurate count of fires started by lightning strikes. The forest service said approximately 26 fires are now burning and more are being spotted. Several are located in the Applegate area, about five in the Ashland district and eight or nine in the Union Creek area. No count was available on the number of blazes now under control, though none was con sidered large. The state forest patrol said last night's storm caused 35 rel atively small fires in Jackson county . and . 12 ,.in . Josephine county, with more showing up all the time. A total of 39 blazes occurred in Sunday night's storm, all of which are now con trolled. A forest patrol plane was sent up this morning to look for "sleepers." Rain accom panying the storm, aided fire fighters to a considerable ex tent. Hardest hit were the Lin coln, Soda Mountain, Chimney Rock, Prospect, Applegate and Kirby Peak areas. 50 Alarms City firemen spent a "memor able evening" with more than 50 alarms sounding within the 36 minutes between 6:05 and 6:41 p.m. Fourteen on-duty men, reinforced by 15 off-duty men and five volunteers, responded to alarms in 14 separate loca tions. Two to six--'" trucks were out continuously for one hour and six minutes. Firemen said an auxiliary power plant was put into opera tion to provide power for lights and radio transmitter at the city police station. Because of power iauure, tne transmitter at the fire station was not operating and a radio car was used to dis patch equipment on alarms. All fire station phones remained in operation throughout the storm. Only appreciable fire damage in the storm occurred at a fence in the 900 block of North River side ave., firemen reported. Power Outages Frank Benesh, district man ager of Copco, said a great num ber of trees and large limbs fall ing on wires caused a "tre mendous number" of power out age all through Jackson county. He said approximately 500 cus tomers were still out of power by noon today. At least 75 local crewmen are now repairing damage and the company has called for assistance from two crews in Yreka. Calif. Two regu lar transmission construction crews are also working here. The district manager said all but about two major circuits were in operation by 2 a.m. to day, though crews are still work ing on a couple more. Copco officials have asked that customers whose electricity is not restored by this evening get in touch with the company. Power line damage was re garded as general through the county and a considerable amount of trouble occurred be tween Medford and Grants Pass. A pole near the Savage Rapids dam between Medford and Grants Pass was broken when a tree fell on it. Phones Out Pacific Telephone and Tele graph officials said 500 custom ers were without phone service at one time last night. A total of 200 phones were out this morning, but company officials (CoatisMMd o 9 11 GOP Platform Pledges To Seek Tan deductions San Francisco U.R) Repub lican policy makers today gave President Eisenhower a "peace and prosperity" campaign plat form pledging the party to work for tax reductions. The 1956 platform set a goal of cutting taxes "with particu lar consideration" for low and F ill" T Nn, "I Vi n VMlrtl ill ft I t AR J JMfcf " JT- if V i K -w 71 Jr 7 fcrtf ,A fvV- f TIMBERf Scenes such as this were common all over Jackson county last night as trees " and branches yielded to the force of wind in the area's second consecutive nocturnal storm. Above photo shows an oak tree behind the Prentice apartments. South Oakdale and Dakota ave., which split in half, knocking down power and telephone lines .but only slightly damaging car in background. The car is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Kline, who Irrigation District Vote Wednesday Landowners in the' Talent Ir rigation District will vote to morrow to accept or reject a re payment contract between their district and the federal govern ment. The contract provides that the district repay $5,800,000 to the government over a period of up to 60 years. This repre sents a little more than one quarter of the total cost of the Talent reclamation project now underway. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the TID of fice in Talent. Congress has authorized the Talent project and has allocated initial appropriations of $2,400, 000 for this fiscal year. The proj ect includes reclamation, irriga tion, power, flood control and recreation provisions and will bring more irrigation water to about 10,000 acres of district land. The district, if it okays the contract, will be repaying the government for only the irriga tion work. Power revenues will pay for the rest. The total cost of the project is estimated at near $20,000,000. West's Suez Plan Wins Clear Majority London (U.R) The West won a clear majority for an American sponsored plan for in ternational control of the Suez Canal today but India and the Soviet Union rejected it out right. After 10 of the 22 nations at the Suez conference announced their backing of the Big Three plan, Soviet Foreign Minister Dmitri Shepilov and Indian Am bassador V. K. Krishna Menon lined up against it. Republicans Lambaste San Francisco (U.R) Re publicans turned today to their favorite sport, lambasting Demo crats. Delegates to the GOP's 1956 National Convention still must go through the routine of adopt ing their campaign platform to day and renominating President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard M. Nixon Wednesday. Decided in Advance But they have made up their minds in advance to do both with little if any fuss. So there was nothing much left to think about except attacking Democrats and revving up a jubilant reception for "Ike." Mr. Eisenhower is due here be tween 5 and 5:30 p.m. (PST). Only he could pump life into the corpse of Harold E. Stassen s drive to dump Nixon and his aides say he won't. A few hours before Mr. Eisen hower's trzival t high adiJUpjtit middle Income families and small business. But the platform supported Mr. Eisenhower's program of putting first a balanced budget and gradual reduction of the na tional debt. The Democratic convention in Chicago, last week promised a Hydroelectric Plant Construction Begins Work is under way at the Ideal Cement company hydro electric plant near the Sams Valley highway in the Gold Hill area for the installation of a series of louvre-type fish screens and widening of the canal. The construction is being done by the Southern Oregon Construc tion company of Grants Pass. Estimated to cost more than $150,000, the new construction will improve the facilities at the plant for faster movement of the fish. - The work which started last week, will be completed in a maximum of 90 days and is hoped to be finished within 60 days. The power plant has been shut off, the canal .drained and a coffer dam has been built across the canal. The widening of the canal will necessitate the blast ing of solid rock before con crete can be poured. The work men are currently working six feet below the level of the river. A new automatic conveyor belt will be installed which will carry off the trash that lodges against the fish screens over the turbines. Up to now this trash had to be removed by hand. During the early days of the coffer dam construction the water in the Gold Hill area be came muddy. The water was cleared within two days accord ing to company officials. The reinforced concrete and steel screens will be built in a V shape. Officials explained that the wide part of the V will face upstream with the fish swim ming to the bottom of the V through a 48-inch concrete pipe. By traveling through the pipe they will by-pass the plant on their way to the river. The pipe is to be buried 12 feet below the water level and will start under tration figure told the United Press some news that the Repub licans will receive with joy. A top administration figure said that the chief executive had returned to a physical peak which would permit him to en dertake a fully active reelection campaign. No Physical Excuse "We are happy to know that there is no physical excuse for Mr. Eisenhower not doing in a campaign what he would have done prior to his September, 1955, heart attack. The only lim itation on his campaign activity will be a matter of taste and preserving the dignity of the presidency," the official said. It was Rep. Joseph W. Martin Jr., veteran House Republican leader, who kicked off the day's "kick Democrats" activities. Martin took his fifth tour of duty as permanent chairman of $5 billion tax reduction by in creasing the personal income tax exemption from $600 to $800. The 1,323 delegates at the GOP convention were set to unanimously whoop through their 13,500-word platform, which was fashioned on the arrived for a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Harry R. Prentice at 6:20 p.m., just 10 minutes be fore the tree split. This particular tree marked a corner of a 160-acre section before construction began in Medford's southwest residential section. Looking at damage are, left to right, Dave Cardwell, Prentice, Barney Deffley and Mrs. Prentice. Cardwell and Deffley are employees of the city street department. the bottom step of the fish ladder. The project has been approved by the fish and game commission and the federal department of wild life, according to company officials. This project and the installing of fish screens at Savage Rapids dam have been felt necessary by sportsmen in th area. Both have been blamed for considerable destruction of fish life in the Rogue river. An appropriation of $208,000 has been approved by the Sen ate in the public works bill for the construction of .screens and canals at the Savage Rapids dam. Wind Damages Grants Pass Area Grants Pass (U.R) Violent winds ranging up to 70 miles an hour overnight tore roofs off some homes in the Grants Pass area, heavily damaged fruit crops and knocked out phone service. Orchards reported losses as high as 50 per cent in the 40 minute blow that averaged 40 miles an hour with gusts to 70 miles. The wind average in this area is a gentle 3.3 miles an hour. The big blow accompanied thundershowers and lightning which started several forest fires in southern Oregon and northern California. A total of 268 phones were re ported out in Grants Pass and 207 in the community of Rogue River. Uprooted trees briefly blocked the Pacific highway and Redwood highway south of here. And although roofs were torn off several houses, no one was reported hurt. Democrats lion after today's session got un der way at 2:30 p.m. (PST). His speech for that occasion was re leased hours before. In it he supplied the delegates with the raw meat they have had to do without so far at this con vention. He said surely not many would "want to return this na tion to the leadership of the past that despoiled our heritage with the indelibe stain of corruption and Communism." Another Matter Martin also touched on a mat ter that is getting more and more attention here. The Republicans think they can put over their "Ike and Dick" ticket in Novem ber with not too much trouble. But they have had to live since 1954 with the galling fact that the House and Senate are con trolled by Democrats. Martin summoned his party to progidies of toil to give the President f "new party" domestic and for eign policies developed by the Eisenhower administration in the past four years. It promised peace, prosperity and equal rights for all Ameri cans. A toned-down civil rights plank pledged the GOP to carry out the Supreme court school in- Highlights of Gov. Ar thur Langlie's keynote address at the Republi can convention, as well as other convention news, appears on page 5. tegration decision "in every le gal manner by all branches of the federal government." The GOP platform supported a sound money and free enter prise economic policy "ever building new wealth and new jobs for all the people." The platform assured mainte-. nance and improvement of strong military forces "so long as our security and the peace of the world require it." It said the nation now has "the. strongest striking force in the world in the air on the sea and a mag nificent supporting land force." It pledged aid to small busi ness and continuation of Mr. Eisenhower's "partnership" pro gram for hydroelectric projects. The platform assured a fed eral employee security program "to make certain that all gov ernment workers "are of un questioned loyalty and trust worthiness." But federal em ployees were promised the pro gram would be carried out "in conformity with constitutional safeguards for the individual." Postal Rate Pledge Support was pledged to Mr. Eisenhower's proposal to in crease postal rates. Congress re jected it this year. Farmers were promised that the GOP would work for full parity prices for agricultural commodities in the markets. Mr. Eisenhower's flexible price sup port program was supported as the best means "to meet effec tively the impact of rapidly changing conditions." The platform pledged the par ty to "continuous, vigorous de velopment" of atomic energy for both military and peaceful pur poses. It promised to "stimulate private enterprise to go ahead" in the development of atomic power plants. Promises to Veterans On veterans affairs, the plat form promises "first priority" medical service for veterans with service connected disabilities, and treatment of those with non service connected ailments "to the extent that beds are avail able." The platform again endorsed immediate statehood for Hawaii. It also called for immediate state hood for Alaska but added that recognition should be given to "the fact that adequate provision for defense requirements must be made." The only dispute on the plat form was ironed out in advance when GOP policy makers agreed Monday on a softened civil rights plank. Council to Study Committee's Report The Medford city council will consider a report from the coun cil finance committee on the capital improvement program proposing four charter -amend ments to city ordinances at 7:30 p.m. tonight m the city hall. The council will consider adopting ordinances proposing charter amendments and adopt ing ballot titles for an arterial street proposal, an off-street parking facilities proposal, storm sewer proposal and a sani tary sewer proposal. The council will also award bids and create funds for paving Greenway Circle and Greenway dr., Ashland ave. from Ninth st. to 11th st. and the south east Medford trunk sanitary sewer. Lehman Not To Seek Senate Reelection New York (U.R) Sen. Her bert Lahman, longtime Demo cratic stalwart in New York State and national politics, an nounced today he would not be candidate to succeed himself in this fall's senatorial election. Lehman, four times governor of New York in the depression years, has been a political fig ure since his election as New York's lieutenant governor in 1928. Lehman threw his support for the senatorial nomination to New York Mayor Robert F. Wanajk
