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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1956)
o o e- o O " c- o o France M O o ' w PvVv pi RESERVE AWARD PRES8KTZD Col. Samuel C. Grashio, Qommandcrce the 403th fighter group, Klamath Falls, is shown above (lefore-sajnting a defense department citation, for coop eration in military reserve programs, to A. S. Cummins, presi gnnpof th California rcgnn Power company. The citation w inecognition of Copeo's "outstanding record of coopera tirrt) Sitig reservists and reserve activities of the armed forces." Lfroktigc ofl is Xlaj. &en. Joseph Hicas, USAF (Ret.) now county civiliait defense director. (See story page 3.) n o o (Landis-Shangle photo) Late Shoppers May Boost Holiday Sales O Scarly S'l Iedford tnrtrchantS r depending on last-minute O shopping a&ivuyo Sattwrlay and Monday t brngol936 Christmas business upQto the level of the pvst fev years. Alt) 1 i n. t q wiaJUi;iJ srfics ui K-'lvidl wu inot appear seriously urtjier the average for thig tirrrf of "year, few downtown merchants gave enxouraging reports this week. Fog, sr$ojv ancf gearrally bad weather earS- in the shopping seasn seemed too Ijave9 had a Jbad effrcfeon sles in many lo cal stores, gunougn a lew mer- chants said customers more J than mad up for the lajf later. Unemployment Factor tJnemtftoTient in tfre area". especially in xne lumper ana sawmill industries, also was con sidered a factor in slor sa'les Reports Indicated people were bu.tfttc as many tems this sea son as in most years, obut were not spendftg as much moneyas they geee&llg, do. A few mer chants commented that people O jut dg)'t seem to "have the Christmas spirit" yet. Oae department store man ner said sales in themen's wear department are considerably more than the 1955 record, q while sales of "frivoioua" items have been sloe: A women's wear store said sweaters were selling better dian usual and attributed this3o ll novelty styles" avail able this year. o s O On men's wear store reported business about l'.a per cent be ll S1 the average now, buteSat day and Monday shopping was expected to bring sales closer to normal r possibly over last year's record. Another men wear stigfe reported sales are ex pected to equal last year's rec ord volume Two local photography stu dios Bid badness was about the Mtn this yeae as in last year's Chris'ife season. It was ex plained that" the cpeak of sales in this type of business usually occurs early in November and continues until about Thanksgiv ing. LaterCsales ustially involve less expensive items. 0 Business at Peak o At least Oona local jewelry store reported busin)ss "'defin itcl9bc6" thisy$r and sales 5 S 5. 'gmzwrMA'g isms esii P THvi rm e - Schools0 Close; Shoppers Expected to Start Last Minute Buying on Week End Schools in QIackson county close today fothe tnual Christ mas vacation while man people started their last minute shop?ingi and Pacifir0Telephone and Tele graph compny mae jKans for an anticipated iScreas in long distanceQ:all5. o Tift five-day Seamier frefast calls foiQitt change in weather conditions i western Oregon0, and rain wafitredicti Sunday and Hpnday with Tog inmany valleys Chris'iD'as morning and clearing that a.ernoc! Temper atures are expected to remain about theOsame du.ng the five day period. Retail merchants in southern Oregon expected alast minute Christmas shopping spurt tomor row and Monday. Stores will re reached a peak last week. Two local bankers said busi ness was "generally good" this season, though not up to stand s' in some respects. One stated it is a moot question whether or pot weekend sales would bring buying up to standard. ilost merchants said Christ provides that vehicles shall have under way immediately after Thanksgiving, then slowed con siderably for about the first 10 days in December. Some said buying started in earnest about 10 davs ago but one women's wear store owner said buying started as early as October this year. Christmas business last year was far above average it was pointed out. It appeared likely that a sales record would have been set in 1955 if the flood had not interrupted Christmas buy ing in the last week of the season. Two Are Arrested On Robbery Charge LeRoy Julius Jones. IB, route 3. box 237E, Medford, and Roy Gene Privrasky. 21. Seattle, Wash., were arrested late Thurs day and lodged in the county jail on a charge of assault and rob bery, not being armed with a dangerous weapon. The two men are accused of robbing an Ashland taxi cab driver, Douglas W. Walr, of SI 3. 85 Wednesday on Fern Val ley, rd. ' Wall, identified them as. the two men who robbed him after threatening to kill him if he re fused to give them the money. Sheriff's deputies and state police arrested Jones and Pri vrasky about 3 p.m., after a day long investigation. They were both at Jones' residence at the time of their arrest. . Deputies said one of the pair has made a statement admitting the robbery. They were sched uled to be arraigned in district court this afternoon. TOYS ON DISPLAY Toys repaired by Medford firemen and dolls dressed by Medford Lady Lions will be on display until 7 p.m. today at the Franklin Transfer and Storage company building. Third and Front sts. The annual Christmas project is undertaken to provide 'needy families with toys. Iiidiajiapcfis (U.P.) D. C. Stephenson, former grand drag or of the Ku .Klux Klan, has q been freed from his life term in Indiana State Prison. main open untu 9 p.m. today, but not all retail merchants will remain open Saturday night, and the majority will be closed Mon day sight. Most retail stores, and federal, county, city and other offices will be closed Christmas day. The Mail Tribune will not pub lish Christmas day. Christmas vacations in Med ftfrd and county schools will end Jan. 2. Jack Creager. Modford man ager of PT&T. stiid the company expects a marked increase in the number of long distance calls Christmas day, which may load the calling circuits to t'i ice their normal capacity He said the company is at tempting to obtain every avail able operator to handle the calls. School Census Shows 29.3 Per Cent Rise The number of children be tween 4 through 19 years old in the Medford school district has increased 29.3 per cent in the psst year, according to the annual school census report re leased late yesterday. The size of the increase is largely due to the addition of Dewey, Oak Grove, West Side and a large portion of the Ken wood district during the past years. A total of 7,809 children were counted in the census, which started Oct. 25 by 10 enumera tors. Last year there were 6,040 children between 4 through 19 in the district. Old Boundaries On the basis of the old bound aries, the Medford district in creased from 6,040 to 6,634, or 9.8 per cent, this year. In the Dewey district, there were 131 children in 1955, 163 in 1956, an increase of 24.4 per cent; in the Oak Grove district, the increase was 24.9 per cent, from 358 last year, to 447 this year; and in the West Side the increase was from 129 to 149, or 15.5 per cent. The number of children in the Kenwood district was 458 in 1955, and 416 this year, a de crease of 9.2 per cent. Elliott Becken, assistant school superin tendent, said the decrease was accounted for by the fact that a portion of the Kenwood district was annexed to District 6C, Cen tral Point. The census included all chil dren within the district, includ ing those attending St. Mary's school' and Rogue River Acad emy. The census is taken to give school administrators an esti mate for future needs of the dis trict. Comparative Figures By age group, comparative figures for . Oct. 25, last year, and Oct. 25 this year are: Age four, 462 in 1955, 575 this year; five, 462 and 635; six, 529 and 573; seven, 453 and 623; eight, 507 and 573; nine, 412 and 623; ten, 336 and 543; eleven, 355 and 419; twelve, 424 and 462; thirteen, 369 and 525; four teen, 325 and 458; fifteen, 288 and 402; sixteen, 283 and 356; seventeen. 313 and 344; eighteen, 272 and 378; and nineteen, 250 and 320. Of the total 7,809, 3.979 are boys and 3,830 are girls. Fam ilies with six or more children number 18 this year, compared All Available Police On Christmas Duly Salem iU.R) All available state police will be transferred to highway patrol over the Christmas holidays for what could be the first single four day traffic accident period this year in Oregon. Six persons already had been killed in pre-holiday traffic since yesterday. State police headquarters here said officers' days off were be ing cancelled and, where pos sible, men will be transferred from other assignments to guard the highways. Last year, when the holiday consisted of three days, seven persons were killed and 203 in jured in 633 Christmas-time ac cidents. DOW-JONES AVERAGE New York (U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages: 30 indus trials 494.38, up 3.94; 20 rail roads 153.70. up 1.50; 15 utilities 67.66, up 0.40. and 65 stocks 172.75, up 1.37. Sales today were about 3,380,000 shais com pared with 2,060,000 shares Thursday. Salem (U.R) Eleanor Trindle, 41, an associate professor at Oregon State college, died here Thursday. and PT&T have asked "the sistance of our customers in easing the situation." Creager pointed out that cus tomers may help by knowing the number being called to reduce time in placing the call, and making seasons greetings type calls prior to Christmas day to reduce the number of, calls that day. Low rates will be in effect Christmas day, and between 6 p.m. Saturday to 4:30 a.m. Mon day, Creager said. Telephone company officials expect Oregonians to place 15.000 calls to eastern points, and 60.000 calls to cities along the Pacific coast. Creager estimated that Medford residents will place about 7.000 long distance calls on Christmas day. to 10 last year, for a total of 119 children, or 1.6 per cent of the total census. Twins, of which there are 53 j pair, total 106, or 1.3 per cent of the total census. There are 16 sets of male twins, 22 female twins and 15 pair of mixed sex twins. Four of the children in the census were born on Feb. 29, 1944. and 15 of them were born on Christmas day. Johnson and Johnston are the most common names listed in the census, with 78. Smiths total 72. Millers number 55, Ander sons total 54, and Wilsons num ber 36. Snowf Freezing Conditions Make Driving Hazardous Law enforcement officers to day urged motorists to drive more cautiously because of the increasing volume of traffic dur ing the approaching week end and adverse road conditions. Snow in the mountains and freezing conditions in lower lev els last night made travelling hazardous today. Officials re minded motorists that the Na tional Safety council has pre dicted 660 persons would be kill ed in accidents during the Christmas holiday week end. They expressed hope none of the fatalities would be in southern Oregon. Chnins Required Chains were required on the Green Springs early today. Snow flurries continued there and packed snow was reported on the highway. Traffic was mov ing without chains on the Siski yous, state police said, but there was packed snow on the high way, which was being sanded. Motorists were asked to carry chains in the Prospect area where an inch of snow was re ported. Three inches of snow fell on the Green Springs last night. and an inch fell on the Siskiyous. Fog and freezing conditions in lower levels caused some icy spots, police said. Some bridges in the Rogue valley were icy. and ice formed on windshields of vehicles early today. State police reminded motor ists that it was illegal to shield headlights or use lights other than white for headlights. They said several motorists are using paper of various colors to cover half the headlight, and the law provides that ehicles shall have "two white headlights." Police said half-covered head lights change the picture of light for approaching vehicles, and may cause confusion for an ap proaching vehicle. American Officials Disfavor Hungary Loan Washington (U.R) Ameri can officials today looked with disfavor on the reported plans of Hungary's puppet govern ment to seek a loan from the United States and other Western nations to forestall economic dis aster. They said the United Slates stands ready to help relieve suf fering of the Hungarian people, but it wants no part of any step which would bolster the Russian imposed regime of Premier Janos Kadar. 51st Year Medfor tinned Press FuU Leased Wir 24 Pages MEDFOF " r -: v-rr-::--"?"- ' uwiai ftw Miff mSuRLjm v. fiwmiujif iim ihmj .Ji.!..jg - - -?"-v- " - - U w-::::: I... , "A j-M-dtY.f-g-i CONTROL FIRE Medford firemen are shown controlling a fire which damaged the roof and attic of the parish hall behind Sacred Heart Catholic church on Oakdale ave., early last night. Several off-duty firemen and vol unteers responded to the general alarm fire. Oregon Traffic Accidents Account For Six Deaths By UNITED PRESS A Salem woman and a Port land youth were killed instantly in a head-on collision on the Baldock Freeway a few miles southwest of Portland today. bringing to six the number of persons killed in Oregon high way accidents since yesterday. The Baldock crash victims were identified as Myrtle Ella Barbee, 53, Salem, and Gordon Willis Little, 17, Portland. Two Killed in Portland Two persons were killed in Portland last night and other accidents claimed lives near Eu gene and Ontario. Automobiles struck and killed two men in Portland. The victims were John Bergin, 35, Beaverton, and Fred W. Ros wurm, 71, Portland. Wilfred W. Bonner, 50, Junc tion City, was killed late yester day in a collision between a car and a pickup truck on the River road south of Junction City. A soldier en route to his Mis souri home after being dis charged from the Army died from injuries suffered in a six- car pile-up in the fog near On tario yesterday. The victim was Bobby Lee Backus, 23, of Belle, Mo. NO PAPER TUESDAY In order to permit its em ployees lo observe the holiday, the Mail Tribune will not pub lish a paper on Tuesday, Christmas Day. . r z. Y, DECEMBER Fire Damages Roof, Attic at Parish Hall Attic and roof of the parish hall at Sacred Heart Catholic church, 326 South Oakdale ave.. were considerably damaged last night in a general alarm fire. Firemen said they were in-, formed that the damaged struc ture would be torn down. It has leng been a source of concern because of its age and poor con struction, they added. Plans for replacing the biulding were not available today from church of ficials. It 'was understood that the church planned to raze the structure this spring. The fire originated in the kitchen at the west end of the old building. City Fire Marshal Truman Nelson and Assistant Fire Chief Earl Harrison were attempting this morning to de termine the exact cause of the blaze. Fire Discovered Ted Marcisz, a fireman off duty, discovered the fire, seeing flames coming through an attic louver. Thirteen- firemen on' duty, 14 off duty and seven vol unteer firemen' responded to the alarm about 6:35 p.m. Five ' trucks were dispatched to the hall. The blaze was extinguished Justice Walter. Tooze Dies at Salem Home ' Salem (U.R) Oregon Assist ant Chief Justice Walter Tooze, 69, died in his sleep here early today. Cause of Justic Tooze's death was not immediately known but he was though to have suffered a heart attack while sleeping at his home here. Mrs. Tooze said sh thought her husband was sleeping too long and entered his bedroom to find him dead. Justice Tooze had been slated to become Chief Justice begin ning early next year and an nouncement by the State Su preme Court of his appointment was planned for next Wednes day. Reports of Unrest In Russia Spreading Stockholm (U.R) New re ports of spreading unrest in Rus sia and its satellite empire reached the West today, and two Baltic refugees said the Soviet was deporting 100,000 students from the Baltic states to crush growing resistance there. The refugees told newsmen that opposition against Soviet rule in the Baltic is stronger than ever. They said they would appeal to the United Nations to protesl the deportations as "me thodical genocide." Price 10c Tribune United Pre Full lasea Wir 21, 1956 No. 23 "i- Irs The fire wis brought under control few minutes. Clothing for refugees from Hun garyand other countries itored ih the build ing was soaked, but otherwise not damaged, church officials said. 0 in about 20 minutes but some firemen were mopping u,p atthe scene until about 8 p.m. The blaze attracted a large number of spectators. Firemen commended the excellent coop eration of the police department in keeping traffic iriterfereftce to a minimum. Clothing in the hall collected for Hungarian and general Euro pean relief was dampened but not damaged, the Rev. Nicholas Deis, Sacred Heaft pastor, re ported. He said that thelojhing would be placed temporarily in a garage at the rectory. Weather FORECAST: Fogey tonlnht, Satitfday and Sunday with only partial afternoon clftar- jnc. Cooler teeippratnVes fTnw tonight 28. High Saturday 3S-38. Temp. Hieeipst Yesterday 37 Lowest mil Mnrnlnir en Free, to 4:31 a.m. Today ; 08 Our Skies Tpniejh SnnrlM 7:37 a.m. Sunsn ... 4: p.m. Today the Sun rides ly and Winter begins here at p,m. as the Sun enters the, Sign of Capricaorn. (Residents of the southern Hemisphere will see the Sun ridinc hich: todav marks the beginning o( their hummer). Mnonrlse 9:55 p.m. PROMINENT STAR Regulus, near the Moon, o 1,578 Calls Made to Santcr During KKvanis Rroject A total of 1,57.8 calls to Santa I seven'-year-old told thi Claus were Ijandled b the Med ford exchange of Pacific Tele phone and Telegraph company during .the fpur-drfy "Hello, Senta" project thi. week, num bers of Medford Kiwanis club reported tocfify. KiwaSians, who afrangd the0 circuits to the North Pole, esti mated that some 2,000 yw-ing- sters talknH f tsjv hv ing calls through two Medford numbers. Santa took orders from as many as four youngsters t some homes. Circuits Busy 0 Calfe through MeiSford facili ties came from most Jackson county communities and young sters from as far away as Eu gene, Roseburg and Glendai phoned through t'je Medford ex- cha ange. keeping the two tiruJs busy Monflay, Tuesday, Wednes- day and Thursday evenings,. Vic Milne, chaitman for the project, reported that 482 calls were han dled here Monday night and that the traffic tapered off to 281 calls last evening. Requests to Santa ranged from a baby brother to Elvis Presly records, Kiwanians said they were told. One laughing Egyptian Captives Hurriedly Rtugfecf From jCyprds i$ses Fnencb Takl Action To Pratytjit fcnarli 1 o. London (U.R? The Awl"- French - Egyptian exdiange of prisoners of war began in Port Said today. It haJ een !ld uj? previously Qby Egjtian com plaints Jhat the5 Alliesoanegedly took prisoners out of Egypfcs Fr gnefc, hurriedl y returned 16.0 q Egyptian prisoners hj' lirSr o Cyirus to Port Said day sd six Eg'ptiaS officers in Pais were flown bac to Egypt. ' O C As 9 result, a Train wft 450 British civilians arrived in Port q Said fromoEptian internment. camjs. Egyptian prisoners wreO being eeturnetl eywth i thex- (J r Change. o To Provent Snarls i O The British returnees were to embark immediately Qf&r home, authorities said. o The Farench Octcd to prevent further snarls in prisoned oex chanee rjrogrftms .nd to make snre that ciirrtAt agreements to ceT Bie Suez .Canal are carried out withouj a hitch. Tc United .Nations egpectei thgcanai clear-y aSce work to start Sunday. Egypt called off an exchange O of 450 Bi-ttish civiliSn Suez y Canal workers ?ien it l&Jrncd France jvaS planginff fo intern iou tgypiians on Cyprus. .Brit ain had planned to sergri backbit Egyptian prisoners by tri Uiis mom trigs o The work of removUjg 49 wrecWl ships nd two biydes is t bofciri one day after the last) A 1 17- t- 7 ' 'J . rvugiu-r iru-ii mvabiun u uupa leave the Port SiidQ area. Porf Said dispatches set the fiaefdafe as "probably" Saturday. " o o j, . O Bus Segregation Ended in Alabama Montgomery, Ala. (U.R) .Negroes by the thousands board-w ed city touses as tie equals of wrfites tody for th first time in tlje historyoof the Deep South. Leaders usged Montcmery- 40,000o Jfeajroes to seat the- selves on a "compefelfi non-seg-regato1 basis eihat includes sit ting next ta whites" but ia act Vith "calm oigniiy and wise !- straint. The Negroes acclain by ris ing votes at twol!ge rIli Thursday night to end a .Wa-e long boycofj "waged to gain a right tcosit anywhere on buse f the city transit systrRj oTe U.S.upreme Court in a decision formally dflivred to a oforieral district court here Thurs-O day denied an ajjpeal of a de cisive that local busegregation laws are unconstitut'onal. - o Two Killed, 37 nuredb W M'mois Train Wrick f?elle Ille, 111. (U.R) Twoer sons werg okilled and 37 in jured today when the" behind Schedule Illinois Central train Cnickasaw was derailed ar here and eight cars plunged down a ltvfoot embar.tfment. Mrs. Jennie Covell, 70, North Platte, Neb.9 died sJttly after ljeing tafien tolhe hospital, and Henry Htidson, 67,Groversde, Ms., died about seven hcfcbs la.ter- o 5 n O e lolly old gem thaP he wanted his two front teetrR He'd hJ them knocked out oplayiSg football. 'Shereaweoe tl? usil orcis for electric train, bicycles ad dol' There igere sevexal crepeat (lis. One boy wanted to Hgike sure Santa had his corrjyt ad dress. Another ycgng?tgr phoned asking to cancel the orger he'rP niar-.imare hi' letter. QuestiyiBO as T hat d'd want, the bo.. reminded famta that he'd givenJ him his order at a local sWre iust that afternoon. Q Conservative Requests O Many of the youngsters, while eager and excite!, ft ere conserva tive in their requests, aifting A one or two arScles and stating that whatever else Santa warid to bring wjuld be all right. One nine-vear-old eirl told Santa that she wasn't cfc'ling f herself but wanted to besure a needy family her , neighborhood would be taken care of. Kiwaniafts ere able to ar range the telephone service? through the cooperation of PT&T and California Oregon Power company and commended the operators of both firms for their help in enabling youngsters to make the calls. o o c o fir AAedford Stores pen Until 9 o'clock Tonight