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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1957)
e O 1 in JV mm 51st Yr Price 10c TT. TT TTATT? Medford HID U IMjy c United Pres Full Leased Wire United Press Full Leased Win No. 283 14 Pags MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1957 fo)( Legislators Face Busy Schedule as 6llj Week Starts Number of Problems Due Further Study Salem U.R A number of problems, including the big one of taxes, will be up for further xtudy as the Oregon Legislature starts its sixth week here today. The Senate Taxation Commit tee has set a public hearing for Thursday on a Republican-sponsored bill to make it impossible for the state to levy a property tax. Sen. Warren Gill, Lebanon, a sponsor of the bilL appealed for pi-partisan support, but a dispute over the bill was ex pected at the hearing To Air Controversy The Hells Canyon controversy also will get another airing Wednesday night when the Sen ate State and Federal Affairs Committee holds a public hear ing on a memorial urging fed eral construction of the high dam. The memorial has already passed the House. Ready for intrrduction 7n the Senate is a bill to set the ad valorem tax ratios of utilities 30 per cent higher than on other classes of property. Scheduled for House introduc tion is a bill by Rep. Guy Jones, q Salem, to make the state's in decent literature law more en forceable. Jones said he was re moving "unenforceable" restric tions against bloodshed, violence and similar themes. To Examine Interest Rates The House Committee on Fin ancial Institutions will examine the problem of interest rates charged on motor vehicle sales contracts Tuesday. It is consid ering legislation setting out in terest rates that may be charged ft long and short-term contracts. A bill appropriating $516,283 for a permanent meat inspection program will be examined Tues day by the House Agriculture Committee. The last Legislature authoriz ed a pilot inspection program for those covered by federal in spection procedures. Playwright Indicted On Contempt Charges Washington (U.R) A federal Grand Jury today indicted Ar thur Milfer. playwright husband (-of Marilyn Monroe, on charges of Contempt of Congress. he jury returned a similar in dictment against Otto Nathan, ,tew York University professor and exefiutor of the estate of the late Albert Einstein. Miller will be arraigned on fjie two-count indictment March 1. He faces a maximum penalty if Convicted on both counts of Ako years in prison and 52,000 fine. Milly in a statement issued through his attorney said he would sk dismissal of the in-k-dictm&it on grounds that refusal a to answer "irrelevant questions" of a congressional committee "is not punishable." Oregonan Nominated as Wildlife Commissioner Thomasfille, Ga. (U.R) Presi dent Eisenhower today nomi nated Arnie J. Soumela of Ore gon to be th2 first commissiontr of fish and wildlife in the In terior Department. Lowry, Littrell PUC Power To Salem (U.R) Bills were in troduced in the Legislature to day by two Jackson county Re publicans to give the public utilities commissioner the pow er to order "reasonably ade quate" service in all areas now served by railroads. Under present law, the com missioner must first hold lengthy hearings before he can suspend changes in rail service. Sponsored by Lowry, Littrell Sponsors of the bills were Sen. Philip Lowry and Rep. E. A. Littrell. Lowry said the Southern Pacific's halt of pass enger service on its Siskiyou line south of Eugene in August, 1955. pointed up the need for the legislation. "The pressing need for this legislation has been shown sev eral times in Oregon," Sen. Lowry said. "In August, 1955, 'I'm Fine. Of Course, Every Once In A While I Go Like This" Combined Tax Levy in City Among Lowest Medford has the lowest com bined tax levy among cities in the state with a population of more than 10.000. according to an analysis of 1956-57 budget levies made by the bureau of municipal research, University of Oregon. The combined tax levy is 62.8 mills. The report also showed that Mcdford's city levy of 18.7 mills is 3.8 mills below the aver age city levy of 22.5 mills for all Oregon cities. In the 10,000 to 25.000 pop ulation group, Medford's city tax is 6.1 mills lower than the av erage of 24.8 mills. City offic ials pointed out that because of annexations, some areas of Med ford have acquired a different tax base than older portions of the city. About $24,592,895 out of $25, 026,206 of the assessed valua tion of Medford bears a 62.8 combined tax rate, it was report ed. Bonded Indebtedness City officials said $86,792 of the assessed valuation in the southeast Medford area pays a 4.6 millage levy to the Phoenix school district for bonded in debtedness at the time of an nexation to Medford. About $20,464 of the assessed valuation in the Wilson Park' and Jefferson school area, for merly a part of the Kings High way water district, pays a 17.4 millage levy for indebtedness to the district. , President To Shorten Vacation in Georgia Thomasville, Ga. (U.R) Presi dent Eisenhower plans to cut short his Georgia vacation and fly back to Washington because of the Middle East Situation, United Press learned today. Presidential Press Secretary James C. Hagerty did not deny that the President is planning to fly back to Washington early, possibly tomorrow, but indig- monthly denied any reports that a residual cough bothering the President had anything to do with the plans. If he goes, Hag erty said, it will be only because of the "international situation." Sponsor Bill Giving Order Railroad Service Southern Pacific discontinued all passenger service on its Sis kiyou line south of Eugene. The commissioner's order to continue service was held by the Marion county court to be invalid until a hearing was held. These hear ings have now extended over a period of many months, and all of southern Oregon is still with out rail passenger service. Monopoly Claimed Sen. Lowry observed that the same thing had happened earlier in the Coos Bay area, and that only prompt action by the Cali fornia Railroad Commission kept the Southern Pacific Shasta day light service in regular opera tion. "When Southern Pacific aban doned passenger service in south ern Oregon." Sen. Lowry said, "it also promised tha the change would mean improved freight The average combined tax lev ies on a 50 per cent assessed valuation basis of all Oregon cities of more than 5,000 popu lation is 58.4 mills, compared to Medford's 45.2, the report show ed. , A total of 54.9 per cent of the assessed valuation of the state is in Oregon cities, the report showed. The proportion of as sessed -""valuation of Jackson county In cities is 49.4 per cent. Michel Receives 10-Year Sentence Clarence Edward Michel III, 23, F.oseburg, was sentenced to 10 years in the state peniten tiary today in circuit court for assault with a dangerous wea pon in connection with the shooting last month of a high way maintenance crewman, Burse H. Cathey, Eagle Point. Michel, who previously plead ed guilty to the charge, was ar rested Jan. 25 a short time after Cathey was shot through the abdomen on the Tiller-Trail highway, nine miles north of Tiller. Michel told officers he fired the shot after Cathey and another highway maintenance crewman expressed reluctance to pull his stalled car from a dtich with the snowplow they were operating. Cathey was hospitalized for several weeks after the shooting. Also receiving penitentiary sentences this morning were Gene Norton, 26, Corvallis; Jim Carl Dunbar, 53, Albany; and Charles Edward Zachary, 25, route 1, box 284, Talent. Norton received a one-year sentence on a charge of non-support, Dunbar received a one year sentence on a charge of ob taining money by false pretences and Zachary received a one-year sentence on a charge of contrib uting to the delinquency of a minor. Tacoma 'iU.R) Funds invest ed by Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. in expanded facilities last year reached the highest level in the firm's history, the company has announced. service. Since then, the railroad has cut down freight service to and from the area and confront ed shippers with new rate in creases. Southern Pacific has long had substantial control of the economy of southern Ore gon. Their monopoly of the tre mendous freight shipments from that area is one of the largest -in the United States. It is our hope that these two bills will help eliminate some of the dem onstrated evils of that mon opoly." Unenlightened Bureaucracy Sen. Lowry said that the ac tions of the railroad's manage ment had convinced him that it was one of the "most unenlight ened bureaucracies I have ever encountered. He added: "The motto of the so-called friendly Southern Pacific ought to be "the public be damned'." Israel Wi Negotiations Said Near Stalemate Firm Guarantee of Security Demanded Washington U.R) Negotia tions between the United States and Israel on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Egypt were near a stalemate today. Israel Sunday rebuffed the latest U.S. attempt to arrange a withdrawal, demanding firm guarantees that its security and shipping rights would be pro tected once Israeli forces pulled out of the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Aqaba area. President Eisenhower replied, in effect, that the United States was not prepared at this time to grant Israel any more assurances than it already has offered. Plan Called Secure A withdrawal under the Amer ican plan, the President said in a statement at his Thomasville, Ga., vacation retreat, would pro vide Israel "a greater source of security . . . than an occupation continued contrary to the over whelming judgment of the world community." The President also made pub lic Sunday a memorandum on this country's two-point plan for arranging an Israeli withdrawal. In return for such a with drawal, the United States prom ised that it would work to have United Nations forces move into the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Aqaba area. It also said it would declare that it considered the gulf an international water way open to the shipping of all nations, including Israel. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban held their third dis cussion on the American plan in 48 hours Sunday afternoon. Dulles relayed the results of their talk to the President at Thomasville. Presidential Press Secretary James C: Hagerty described the results to newsmen as "nega tive." No definite time was set for another meeting a develop ment which, coupled with the President's strongly worded statement, indicated that the two countries were far apart. Increase in Oil Prices Criticized Washington (U.R) Major oil companies had "no business" raising prices on gasoline and fuel oil. Sen. John A. Carroll (D-Ohio) said Sunday. Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (D Minn.) also criitcized the com panies for deciding they "can fool the American people into thinking" the price boosts were justified. Carroll, a member of the joint Senate subcommittee investigat ing the increases, said they "may have been needed by some inde pendents." But he denied that major oil companies were forced to raise prices because of higher operat ing expenses and rising labor costs. Carroll said that one purpose of the Senate hearings is to show the need for "greater responsi bility" on the part of firms which "control" a vital com modity. Democrats Show Unity On Civil Rights Matter San Francisco '(U.R) Demo crats emerged from a week end meeting today with a show of unity on the thorny problem of civil rights. They accomplished this feat by adopting a civil rights resolu tion that in mild tones urged Democratic members of congress to get behind civil rights leg islation. Weather FORECAST: Fair nd mild through Tupsdav. Low to night 2S. High Tuesday 66-68. TEMP. Hichtut Yesterday Lowest this Mornlns 2 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise 7.04 a.m. Sunset 5.47 p.m. The days are now rrowtnr long er and the nichts shorter at the rate of 17 minutes per week. Moonrise 11:12 p.m. Ijist Quarter Feb. 21 VISIBLE PLANETS Mars, high in south west S:2S P-m. Jupiter, low in east 8:39 p.m. Saturn, rises - . 2:50 a-m. Call for Dockmen Expected Soon Under New Pact Agreement Reached In Sunday Meeting New York (U.R) The In ternational Longshoremen's as sociation was to decide today on when to call dockers back to work under the terms of a new three-year agreement reached in negotiations Sunday night. ' Representatives of the 45,000 member independent ILA and the New York Shipping Associ ation announced the agreement which ended a five-day walkout by longshoremen in Atlantic coast ports from Maine to Vir ginia. It was not likely that long shoremen would return to work before late today at the earliest. To Work Out Contracts Subcommittees of the union and shippers were to meet in the federal mediation offices to day to work out contracts cover ing carpenters, checkers and oth er crafts in the ILA. There was a possibility that the union might advise the long shormen to return to the docks without waiting to work out all contract details andt he neces sary formal membership vote on ratification. The contract, retroactive to Oct. 11, 1956, provides a 32-cents-an-hour package wage in crease. Longshoremen will get 18 cents an hour over the cur rent $2.48 hourly rate the first year and seven cents in each of the two succeeding years. It ex pires Sept. 30. .1959. Negotiations! n the tugboat strike in New York, meanwhile, were reported to be making en couraging progress toward set tlement of the 18-day-old walk out by 4.000 members of the Na tional Maritime Union AFL-CIO. Jensen Sentenced To Die April 5 Circuit Judge H. K. Hanna today sentenced James Norman Jensen, 27, Larkspur. Calif., to die in the state gas chamber on Friday, April 5. This was the third time Judge Hanna pronounced this sen tence on Jensen, who was con victed by a jury nearly three years ago of the first degree murder of Mrs. Fern Hile, Med ford housewife. Jensen's attorney, Edward C. Kelly, appealed the case to the state supreme court, which up held his conviction. Jensen was returned to Jackson county and sentenced to die on Sept. 21. 1956. Kelly then appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme court and won a stay of execution for Jen sen until the U.S. court investi gation could be completed. After the appeal was denied by the high court, a petition for rehear ing of a motion and a petition to set aside the denial of the first petition were also filed with the U.S. court. The second petition was denied earlier this month. Suez Salvage Work At Virtual Standstill Ismailia, Suez Canal Zone (U.R) United Nations salvage work on the Suez Canal was at a virtual standstill today. Two tiny Egyptian vessels sailed the full length of the canal Sunday and small cargo vessels now ply between Port Said and Suez with cargo but two major wrecks still block international ship ping. Informed sources said the U.N. salvage team which is cost ing the United Nations 520,000 a day will be unable to meet its March 10 deadline unless full scale work resumes immediately. It has not been mentioned openly here, but the whole oper ation appeared to hinge on the question of . Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the coast of the Gulf of Aquaba. Portland (U.R) Gov. Robert D. Holmes will speak at a lunch eon meeting of a statewide high way traffic safety conference here Friday. Portland 1U.R) There are at least 700 more aliens in Oregon today than a year ago, it has been reported. Traffic, Airplane Crashes Fatal To 8 Persons in By UNITED PRESS At least eight persons died ac cidentally in Oregon during the week end, six as the result of traffic mishaps and two in a plane crash. In addition, two Seattle teen age boys were killed when a car slammed into the Washington side of the Interstate Bridge near Portland at a high speed. Harold Dean Royse, 24, Al bany, was killed last night when Elks Club Student Government Day Program Starts Mrs. Edith S. Green, Con gresswoman from Oregon's third district, will be guest speaker at the Student Government day banquet at 6:30 p.m. today in the Elks temple. Mrs. Green's address wll bie gin at 8 p.m. She will be intro duced by Dick Woodcock, ex alted ruler of the Elks. Jimmy Dunlevy will be master of cere monies. Student Government day ac tivities were to start with regis tration at 1:15 p.m. today. Oaths of office were to be adminis tered to the student officials at 2:30 p.m. "At 3:30 p.m. student groups were slated to appear on programs at radio stations KMED and KYJC. A program at KBES-TV was scheduled for 5 to 5:30 p.m. 'Get Acquainted' Meeting The banquet tonight will be preceded by a "get acquainted" meeting at 6 p.m. for students, their parents, city and county o f f i c i a Is and distinguished guests. On Tuesday students will re port to the offices of the offi cials with whom they will work for the day at 9 a.m. At noon, officials and student counter parts will be guests at lunch in the Elks club and from 2 to 5 p.m.,. students will tour various interest spots in the city and county. Students will conduct a city council meeting in the city hall at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday following a regular official city council meeting at 6:30 p.m. The annual Student Govern ment day program is sponsored by the Medford Elks lodge. Polls Open Today In District 6C Central Point Polls will be open between 2 and 8 p.m. for school district 6C patrons to vote on two separate bond issues to taling $235,000 to finance class room addition and athletic field improvements at Crater High school. Polling places will be at the Hanby elementary school gym nasium in Gold Hill, at the Sams Valley school and in the Crater High school music room. Legal voters who have lived in the school district for the past six months and who registered at least 30 days preceding the election are eligible to vote. United Nations Takes Up Debate on Cyprus United Nations, N.Y.iU.R) The United Nations took up the Cyprus issue for the third time in threey ears today and the bitter debate was expected to strain the Western alliance in the critical Mediterranean area. Britain' Turkey and Greece, NATO allies who are deep in arguments over the, future of the island, are prepared for at least a week of debate in the General Assembly's main po litical committee. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.R) Dow Jones final stock averages: 30 industrials 467.40, off 0.67; 20 railroads 152.40, off 0.69; 15 ut ilities 70.04. up 0.15, and 65 stocks 165.38, off 0.24. Sales to day were about.1.800,000 shares compared with 2,060,000 shares Friday. Pendleton (U.R) Leland Swanson. 34, has taken over as city manager here. Oregon his car crashed into the rear of a loaded hay truck two miles eest of Lebanon. Police said the impact of the crash knocked the truck and its load of baled hay an estimated 200 feet. In Albany Saturday, three-years-old Stephen Lee Farmer was killed when he was struck by a'backing car in a food store parking lot. Motorcyclist Killed David Delbert France, 22, Du- fur, was killed Saturday after noon when the motorcycle he was riding and a car collided on The Dalles-California highway about five miles south of its junction with Highway 30. Injured fatally in Friday night accidents were Norman Sabin, 28, Klamath Falls, who died when he was crushed under his car after a jack gave way, and Clarence Elston Cubbage, 32, Portland, whose parked car was struck by another vehicle while he was putting license plates on his car. State police said Leo F. Blan ton, Powers, died Saturday from injuries suffered Friday when a log truck load spilled on top of his truck. Plane Wreck Kills Two The plane crash, near Condon, claimed the lives of Leo B. Hell ing, 55, Portland insurance man, and Sgt. David R. Reed, 29, an Air Force man who was station ed near Condon. A stolen car fleeing from po lice crashed into the Interstate bridge north of Portland early Sunday, killing two Seattle youths. Police said the car was clocked at 110 miles an hour while it was being chased. The State Patrol identified the vic tims as Timothy Wade Fisk, 19, and Dean E. Watson, 16. The 1956 Lincoln Continental was demolished beyond recognition. Knowland Predicts Doctrine Approval Washington (U.R) Senate Re publican Leader William F. Knowland predicted today that the Senate will approve a modi fied version of President Eisen hower's Middle East doctrine by "better than a two-to-one vote." The Senate was to open de bate on the resolution late today with Chairman Theodore Fran cis Green (D-R.I.) of the foreign relations committee as leadoff speaker. Green was prepared to recom mend approval of the resolution as it was modified by the Demo cratic majorities of his commit tee and the armed services com mittee. President Eisenhower has agreed to accept the Democratic changes, thus lessening the op position that his proposal might otherwise have encountered in the Senate. Frost Forecaster Slated To Arrive Here March 15 William Rogers, meteorologist from Pamona, Calif., official frost forecaster for this area, will arrive in Medford on March 15, according to C. B. Cordy, county horticulture agent. Broadcasts of frost warnings for fruit growers in the Rogue valley will begin a week to 10 days after Rogers arrival, de pending on bud development, Cordy said. Queen Gets Noisy Welcome; Fall Visit To U.S. Slated Lisbon, Portugal (U.R) Queen Elizabeth II began a three-day state visit to Portugal today to the sound of cannon, the roars of a crowd of one mil lion persons and the screeching of thousands of boats in the Ta gus river. Travel in Ancient Barge The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who are reported planning to visit the United States next September, came ashore from the royal yacht Bri tannia in an ancient barge row ed by 40 oarsmen. The weather was perfect after a week end of storms. Thousands of ships, sailboats, freighters, coasters, harbor bar ges, rowboats anything that Charred Remains 01 23 Bodies Taken Out of Basement Firemen Search For Other Victims Warrenton, Mo. U.R) Fire men searched through the still hot debris of a home for the aged today for more bodies of the 71 persons burned to death when fire and explosion mush roomed through the old three story building. The charred remains of 23 bodies were taken out of the basement into which all these trapped inside tumbled when a muffled explosion caused floors and walls to fall. Searchers hoped to. find others as the de bris cooled. Dr. F.' H. Knigge, Warren county coroner in charge of the search, said there was no hope that any of the 71 persons listed as missing was still alive. . Knigge said few of the bodies would be identified because most of them were reduced to little more than ashes. The fire broke out in the 62-year-old building during visiting hours. Authorities said more than 225 persons, including pa tients and visitors, were in the building at the time. Those inside had only a few minutes to escape, between the time the fire was noticed and the floors plunged into the base ment. One witness. Warren Stewart, a filling station operator who was across the street at the time said the blast of flame that swept through the building ap peared to have been caused by some kind of gas. . " - Knigge said it had been deter mined that no visitors had been lost in the holocaust. He said it appeared the final death toll would be confined to 71. Cause of the fire was not de termined. -Gov. James T. Blair Jr., ordered a three-phase - in quiry into the blaze, one of the worst disasters of its kind in the nation's history. Blair said in vestigations would be made by the Highway Patrol, the Divi sion of Health and Welfare and a Fire Underwriters Bureau. The institution, the Katie Jane Memorial home, was for merly the Central Wesleyan col lege which closed in 1941. It occupied three of the old col lege buildings. The one that was swept by fire was in the center of the old campus. The others, occupied by other pa tients and administrative of fices, were not damaged. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the Katie Jane's license re newal had been held up by the state as the reuslt of a recent inquiry because the electrical wiring had not been inspected by a competent electrician. The newspaper said that Dr. James R. Mason, director of the Division of Health, had inform ed Blair there was some reason to believe the wiring might have been overloaded. Heroic bystanders climbed ladders to pull people from the windows, injured persons were laid on the lawn until they could be removed to nearby homes and stores for emergen cy treatment, and a temporary morgue' was set up across the street to handle the bodies. W. S. O'Sullivan, owner of the home, said he was at a loss to explain the cause of the blaze in the recently renovated build ing. He said they had 194 guests ( and an undetermined number of visitors. would float awaited the Bri tannia at the river mouth to welcome the Queen as her yacht slipped into the harbor at a dead slow pace, escorted by British and Portuguese men of war. Pending Visit Told As the Queen arrived with the Duke after a two-day "second honeymoon" aboard the yacht, official American sources in London said the royal couple will visit the United States next September for a week or 10 days. They are to visit New York, Washington and Jamestown, Va., which is celebrating its 350th anniversary as the first perman ent English colony in the United States. i
