Medford mail tribune., July 07, 1957, Image 12

TWELVE MEPrORP (OREGOm MAIL TRIBtTHE
Sunday. July 7. 1957
ibsomi Hand
Leather Onto- Saddles
lls
- o
Local Shop Is Only
One From Portland
To Sacramento
By DON ROBINSON
o Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Everett Gibson, quiet, bespec
tacled man in Levis, spends his
days in a shop kitty corner from
the Mediord post office, making
saddles.
His modest sign, "Saddlery,"
hangs above the sidewalk at 225
West Sixth st. Within Gibson
cuU and carves leather. He is
the only man between Portland
and Sacramento to practice the
art of saddle making.
Saddles formed by his hands
are on horses of ranchers, rodeo
riders and pleasure riders, In
that order by popularity.
Gibson customers come from
Jackson, Josephine and Klamath
counties in Oregon, Siskiyou and
Shasta counties in California
predominantly. But he has sent
saddles to Canada and states
east of the coast.
Little Advertising
He does little advertising,
prints no catalog. Customers see
a saddle he's made for someone,
like it, and order one for them
selves. Cihson i rraftsman. He
learned saddle-making at the old
D. E. Walker Saddlery in San
Francisco.
His history goes farther back
than that. When his folks lived
in Sierra Madre, Calif., he got
a job at the age of 15 in the
stable of a man who bred horses
and raced some of them on Calif
ornia tracks.- Gibson combined
this with a "mail contract,"
motoring the mail back and
forth between the Santa Fe line
depot and the post office.
Depressioa Times
These were depression times,
and as ae puts it, "you had to
scramble." In hii spare time, he
started to work with leather. He
made belts, then billfolds, and
arranged with a Sierra Madre
store to handle them.
Pretty son he "got to think
in' I'd make me a saddle." He
did. Gibson rode the saddle on his
own horse for a year, then trad
ed it off for the money to make
another. Eventually he made a
dozen. He liked the work, but
decided if he was going to make
saddles right he'd better learn
how richt.
He had married in 1935, a
Pasadena girl, Catherine Nobles.
She finished Pasadena Junior
college, and they went in
1940 to San Francisco where
U'bson was hired as an appren
tice at the Walker Saddlery.
Concho Buttons
His first job was punching
eoncho buttons, small leather
discs. "They gave me two orange
crates," he recalls, "and said
'fill 'em up.' " He moved from
simple to more complicated
leather work, and inside six
months was making regular sad
dles. The apprenticeship period was
over in four years, but he stayed
on as a Walker employee until
1945.
An old time salesman he met
while in San Francisco had told
him 'Medford would be an awful
good place for a saddlery." He
kept this in mind, and he and
his wife c&me to Grants Pass,
where Gibson's parents had
' moved.
He set up a saddlery, and busi
ness grew. At one time in 1946
47 he was 35 saddle orders be
hind. Two years later, in 1948,
he moved south to Medford,
where he has stayed.
In Merrick Building
The first Gibson shop here
was in the old Merrick building
on North Riverside ave. In Au
gust of 1953, the shop moved to
its present location on Sixth St.,
where Gibson set up business in
the old "Carroll's Ladies-Ready-to-Wear"
shop. A city license
for "Carroll's is still pinned to
a back wall.
Nowadays. Gibson works 16
hours, six days a week in his
stockpiled place. The shop it
self is not large. Merchandise
41-.A raw material for it drapes
the walls and shelves and crowds
the board floor.
Most of the work is done at
tSVee benches. The cutting
bench is in a back room. It stands
about 10 ieet long and three
feet deep, of scarred lumber. In
s.e the shop proper are the
smaller fitting and carving
benches. The latter is a slab of
granite, on which Gibson tools
free-hand designs into the
leather.
nnl Mirhim
A sewing machine, the only
machine used, sits by a wall.
Fifty per cent of the stitching
in a" saddle is still done by hand,
Gihson says.
Customers amble in and out
the front door all day. Gibson
waits on each, passes a few
words , then returns to his
benches. He admits he gets most
of his work done after dinner,
when he returns to work until
about 9.
Business has grown every year
v.- h ht-n in Medford. Over
rS.rte. he has averaged about 60 j
saddles per year. He now has a
I one-day per week helper, Jack
I Burns, 1493 Spring st., a postal
i employee, but Gibson still does
all the saddle work himself.
! The busiest season is between
April and August, rodeo time.
This week, for instance, he has
i seven saddles on order.
I Simpleit Szddle
1 It takes 24 hours to make the
simplest saddle; from 80 to 120
I for more elaborate ones. Silver
mounted jobs are few, and take
longer and cost more.
The average price on a saddle
leaving the Gibson. shop is $195.
They range from S170 to $350.
Leather for Gibson saddles
comes in four-foot high rolls
from the S. H. Frank tannery
in Redwood City, Calif. One roll
contains "12 sides" of saddle
skirting, and cutting the best
parts, Gibson gets six saddles
from a roll.
A saddle starts with a wooden
'saddle tree." These are manu
factured elsewhere. Leather
parts are cut, soaked in water
and cased (dried) to the correct
degree. Different sections of the
hide are cut for different parts
of the saddle, according to stiff
ness and durability.
Essential Pieces
Each piece and there are 15
to 18 essential ones is fitted and
attached to the tree. The leather
surface decorative designs are
part of the trade. Some saddle
makers only put the saddles to
gether, some leather carvers
only cut designs. Gibson com
bines both talents.
A simple design, was a wild
rose or a horse's head, will take
from 16 to 20 tools. A more com
plicated one will involve three
times that many.
The Gibson family, including
Gibson, his wife, daughter,
Linda, 12, and son, Clint, 10,
lives on Sunnyvale drive, route
1, box 164 Central Point. They
keep two horses and are active
in 4-H work.
Gibson's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Gibson, still live in Grants
Pass. His father is a retired
postal worker, who, according to
the leather-craftsman son, "never
had the least mechanical inclina
tion." He does free-lance maga
zine writing as a hobby now.
Secure Future
All in all, Gibson has a se
cure future. The horse is still
king in ranching, rodeos, and
pleasure riding . . . none of which
automobiles are likely to djs
displace. In fact about the main pro
blem in the Gibson shop is a
simple, yet bothersome one. He
can't keep track of pencils.
One day last week a customer
bought a hat and Gibson wanted
to make out a bill of sale. He
couldn't find a pencil.. Finally
he picked one out of a remote
corner. Waiting back to his
customer, he turned to a friend
sitting nearbv and asked, "Hank,
will you get me a box of pencils
for Christmas?" Then he paused.
"And put a bell on each one," he
added, as an after thought.
House Apears Likely
To Pass Trial Bill
Washington HP The House
Saturday appeared likely to pass
this week legislation demanding
an end to foreign trials of Am
erican troops. Sponsors hope to
bring it to the floor Wednes
day. Only a major White House
drive to line up Republican op
position can stop the congress
ional campaign against the con
troversial "status of forces"
agreements on foreign trial of
servicemen, sponsors of the mea
sure said.
Members reported no sign of
any such drive by the admin
istration, beyond last Tuesday's
statements by Secretary of De
fense Charles E. Wilson and Un
dersecretary of State Christian
E. Herter. Wilson warned that
any attempts to' renegotiate the
agreements would fail, and de
nunciation of the pacts would
result in the wrecking of Amer
ica's overseas defense bases.
There was speculation here
that no top level administration
fight will be made to block the
House passage of the legisla
tion. Actress Gail Russell
Charged With Felony
Hollywood (W Actress Gail
Russell has been charged with
fplnnv drunk drivine as a re
sult nf tho mishan Thursday in
which she drove her car through
the front window of a ciosea
restaurant.
npniitv nistrict Attornev Mar
shall Schulman issued the com
plaint Friday and bail was set
at $1,000. Miss Russell, 32, was
originally booked on a misde
meanor drunk driving charge
anri released on S263 bond.
Thp brunette "hard-luck girl"
of movies was treated for facial
cuts at the scene. Robert Rey
nolds. 21, a busboy at work in
the coffee shoD was iniured in
with a fractured leg and numer
ous cuts. .
Police said Miss Russell insis
Irri she had onlv two drinks.
However, officers said, she fail
ed to pass an intoximeter test.
ieCjiWiJiJilwiiiij t i I c i 1 J4!!j
IS" wSBa i(t '57- hS
INSIDE THE SHOP A row of saddles leads
up to the showcase and the front window in
the Gibson shop! On the wall are bridles, bits,
hats, horse blankets, and a picture or two of
prize saddles. Gibson combines his saddle
. -"
0
ljllllMHIIIIiialMMMMIAih
CRAFTSMAN'S HANDS The worn mallet, tool, and skilled
hands combine to put in the background for a belt design. This
is known as carving. Gibson tools designs into his leather free
hand. Most of this type work the saddle maker does at this small
bench on a slab of granite.
BIRTH OF A SADDLE Proprietor Gibson scrapes the leather
in the. ground seat of a beginning saddle. The wooden form is a
saddle tree, bought elsewhere. Leather parts are cut, soaked,
and cased, then fitted and attached to the tree. About 15 to 18
pieces of leather make up essential parts.
Experiments Are Prepared
To Crack 'Human Barrier'
Marietta, Ga. M Scien
tists are preparing experiments
which will utilize human "guin
ea pigs in an attempt to crack
the human barrier to avia
tion's conquest of outer space
and atomic-powered flight.
The experiments are schedul
ed to begin here next month and
last through "early 1958." They
will be conducted by a team of
Lockheed Aircraft corporation
scientists assisted by 10 special
ists from colleges throughout the
nation.
Lockheed officials, who an
nounced the experiments, said
handpicked U. S. Air Force per
sonnel would be subjected to a
small and almost weightless en
vironment for 120-hour periods
as part of the tests.
The environment will be
housed in a small "flight sta
memm.
" r" P t
tion" device -, presently under
construction by the. biophysics
branch of the Air Force Aero
Medical laboratory, Wright-Patterson
Air Force base, Ohio.
Within the "flight statibn,"
having the area of about the
size of a normal automobile,
five-man crews will eat, sleep,
"fly" the plane and relax in
the simulated conditions of pro
longed trafelf Lockheed offic
ials said.
Psychologists and physicians
will examine the men before,
during and after the tests, the
officials said.
The experiments will be one
of the first attempts to measure,
in a controlled laboratory situa
tion, the endurance of pilots
and crew under the conditions
of prolonged flight.
making with a purchased stock of. other
equipment to furnish local ranchers, rodeo
and pleasure riders a headquarters for their
needs. His crowded but easygoing cubicle is
situated, since 1953, at 224 West Sixth st.
Los Angeles Water
District Opens Its
Phase of Rights
By VERNON BAKER
United Press Correspondent
San Francisco (in The Los
Angeles Metropolitan Water dis
trict opened its phase of the case
Friday in the legal fight between
California and Arizona over
rights to Colorado river water.
The district called as its first
witness Samuel B. Morris, former
chief engineer and general man
ager of the Los Angeles depart
ment of water and power.
Morris, a former dean of the
Stanford university civil engi
neering department, was a mem
ber of the President's Water Re
sources Policy commission in
1951 and 1952.
Gilmore Tillman, chief attor
ney for the Los Angeles depart
ment, qualified Morns as an ex
pert witness and then question
ed him concerning topography
and area served by Metropoli
tan water district.
3,500 Square Miles
Morris said that ultimately
the MWD would serve 3,500
square miles of Southern Cali
fornia coastal plains. It now ser
vices 3,000 square miles in five
Southern California counties.
Earlier MWD general counsel
James H. Howard told Special
Supreme Court Master Simon
H. Rifkind that "water is too
precious a commodity, particu
larly in the arid southwest, to
permit a paper right . . . and
put such right in deep freeze,
without making use of the wa
ter." Howard said that "that sort of
right does not exist under Wes
tern water law."
He said the MWD would show
it was "diligent" "in putting Col
orado river water to use since
we believe that diligence . . .
is essential to the establishment
of right."
The hearing continued Satur
day in a special meeting called
by -Rifkind to compensate for
the Fourth of July holiday.
Young Men Rescued
From Lake Michigan
Chicago Wl Three young
men,- their boat swamped by
waves 15 miles out in Lake
Michigan, were alive Saturday
thanks to an alert officer on an
ore freighter.
Louis Muccianti, 21, and Otto
Wimpffen,' 19, both of Chicago,
and Herbert Artelt, 19, struggled
to stay afloat for five hours Fri
day before being rescued-
Muccianti and Wimpffen, who
kept their friend afloat for an
hour when he became uncon
scious were released after ex
amination. Artelt was kept at
American Hospital, suffering
from exposure.
The trio had cast off at the
Wilmette, 111., harbor early Fri
day morning, outward bound
for a week end trip at Saugatuck,
Mich., across the lake.
Frank Brewster Cited
To Appear in Court
Los Angeles W Frank W.
Brewster, Chairman of the West
ern Conference of Teamsters,
has been ordered to appear for
arraignment July 24,- in San
Pedro on a misdemeanor citation
for running a traffic light.
Los Angels Municipal Court
notified Brewster of the arraign
ment Friday. The violation oc
curred in Wilmington June 28,
and resulted in a traffic acci
dent, police reported.
Favorable Business News Sends
Stock Market to New Year High
By ELMER C. WALZER
United Press Financial Editor
i New York IW A grist, of
favorable news on business sent
the stock market to new highs
for the year during the past
week.
At the close on Friday, the in
dustrial average was eight-tenths
of one per cent under the record
high set on April 6, 1955 at
521.05.
Valuation of all listed issues
rose nearly $6 billion- and trad
ing increased to a daily average
of 2,314,355 shares from the pre
vious week's 1,897,123, and was
the highest since the week end
ing June 14
This upturn came in a holiday
week cut short by Independence
Day. The market s strength and
activity surprised the experts
who had looked for a dull holi
day week.
Holiday Bill Helps
The first push came when
Congress passed a bill easing the
housing situation. More than
$1.5 billion of federal money
would be injected into housing
and down- payments would be
cut under the bill, expected to
become law.
Then in rapid succession came
other market stimuli: Cuts in
foreign copper output that may
raise prices here; estimates that
steel output for 1957 will be at
least equal the 115 million tons
of 1956; outlook for spurt in auto
production late in the year or
early in 1958; an iron age pre
diction that television production
is set for a rise; a Senate resto
ration of $1 billion to the de
fense budget; and a reduction in
gasoline inventories.
The drugs got a lift when it
was learned a group of drug
companies had produced a drug
to combat Asiatic flu.
Best gains came into the me
tals, steels, drugs, oils, building
issues, chemicals, and office
equipments.
Out of the 1,332 issues traded
891 advanced, best since Jan- 4
when 905 issues gained. There
were only 339 losses and 152 is
sues unchanged. A total of 114
stocks set new highs while 118
set new lows.
International Railways of Cen
tral America was the widest
loser down 7 points. It won a
case against United Fruit on
rates charged for bananas, but
apparently the verdict was
smaller than anticipated . and
will be appealed anyhow, ac
cording to United.
Avco Rises '
Avco, which received two Air
Force contracts, got out of its
lethargy and led the market in
Stop Order Put on
Subsidy Cut Backs
Washington IP Congress
put a stop order Saturday in the
path of administration plans to
sharply cut back on soil conser
vation subsidies to farmers.
The administration wanted to
drastically curtail the 1958 sub
sidies for certain conservation
practices and drop others out
right that would add to the al
ready huge stocks of government-owned
surplus crops.
But Congress rear-ted quickly
after the administration's quietly-drafted
plans came to light
when a secret Agriculture de
partment memorandum came
into the hands of several con
gressman last week.
A Senate - House conference
committee, reporting on a com
promise multi-billion dollar Ag
riculture department appropria
tion bill said "flood and drought
conditions in much of the nation
make it imperative that all 1957
conservation programs practices
be continued."
The committee also had reach
ed its agreement secretly a week I
at,o. But it made the report pub
lic Friday following disclosure
of the department memorandum
detailing the conservation cut
back. Ordering no changes in the
program next year, the commit
tee authorized 250 million dol
lars for 1958 conservation meas
uresthe same as this year's
level. The bill is scheduled for
floor action Tueday.
WEATHER
By United Press
Northern California: Fair Sun
day. Don't Say
"Hello"
Say - - -
"FILTER-FLO"
turnover with sales of 308,700
shares. Bethlehem Steel came
second with a gain of a point.
Then came General Motors up
1; Chrysler up 3?s; and Stand
ard Oil, N.J-, up 2U.
Superior Oil of California
spurted 145 points and Interna
tional Business Machines rose
27.
Wide gains in the general list
included American Home ' Pro
ducts up 19 in the drugs; Mag
ma up 5 in the coppers; Alcoa
up 5 2 in the aluminums; Inland
up 7 in the steels; Zenith up
6r:4 in the TV group; Firestone
up 5 in the tires; Minneapolis
Missionary Surgeon Flown
To Seattle for Treatment
McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.
(IT) A young missionary sur
gean completely paralyzed with
polio except for his facial mus
cles arrived here Saturday by
military transport plane en route
to home and medical treatment
in Seattle.
Dr. Roy Saxton Cornell, 38,
who forsook a prosperous prac
tice two and a half years ago to
run the one-doctor mission hos
pital in Benghazi, Libya, remain
ed at the base hospital in near
by Fort Dix until today when
he departed again by plane for
the Travis Air Force base in
Fairfield, Calif.
ArrWes in Iron Lung
Cornell, who has three chil
dren, arrived here in the iron
lung he has been in since May
when physicians at Benghazi's
Man Charged in
Fatal Accident
Ontario (in A six man
coroner's jury late Saturday re
turned a finding of involuntary
manslaughter against Richard
Newland who was involved in
the two car crash that killed
five persons near here Wednes
day.
The warrant for Newland's
arrest has been prepared by Mal
heur county coroner George
Beechler asking the Malheur
county sheriff to place Newland-j
in custody.
Newland is in an Ontario hos
pital suffering from injuries he
received in the accident.
The jury finding charged that
Ne land did "unlawfully and
felonious! while under the in
fluence of intoxicating liquor,
and on , the wrong side of the
road, collide with a car driven
by Olaf Berg 'resulting in the
death of five persons.
Killed in the accident were
Berg, and his 58-year-old wife
both of Seattle, Charles Martin
Baker, 40, Salt Lake City, Utah:
Elfred Johnson, Vancouver, B.
C; and Nancy Logan, 20,
Payette, Idaho.
of
Dairy Science Group
Will Meet July 14-17
Pullman IIP) The American
Qairy Science Association will
hold its annual Western Division
meeting here July 14-17, G. C.
Anderson, Boise, chairman of the
division, said Wednesday.
Anderson said the Western Di
vision of the American Society
for Animal Production also will
hold its annual meeting in con
junction with the dairy science
meet.
PF eve Expanded!
ij9sT "jmC
1950 .
I 1928
' Starting wjth the original
building in 1928, the additions
have been made, providing the
best possible facilities and
services.
Conger-Morris
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
W. MAIN AT SIXTH
Honeywell up 12V4 in the build
ing equipments; Barber up 7 in
the oils; Du Pont up 5 in the
chemicals; Corning up 6 in the
glass group; Foster Wheeler up
1034 in the oil equipments;
Great Northern up 4Vi in tha
papers; Mclntyre Porcupine up
81 z in the golds; and Brunswick
Balke up 5H in the entertain
ments. Haveg, which sold at 23V in
February, hit a new high at 81
and closed the week at 76Vi up
9s4 points. The stock is regarded
as a second Lukens Steel because
of its small outstanding chare
total.
British military hospital diag
nosed a "common cold" for in
fantile paralysis.
Military air transport officials
sponsoring the journey begun on
Wednesday in Tripoli, Libya, say
that Cornell is only able to turn
his head slightly because of the
disease.
He was reported resting "as
comfortably as. might be ex
pected."
Dr. Cornell's flight Saturday
carried him from the Wiesbaden
air base in Germany, where he
remained Thursday niglit after
his arrival from Tripoli.
Last Lap of Trip'
The last lap of the trip will
carry him from the Travis air
force base to Seattle, where he
will receive treatment at the
Harbor View hospital.
Physicians at the Fort Dix
hospital refused to speculate on
Cornell's chances for recovery.
Cornell, whose family remain
ed, in Libya, gave up his prac
tice in Seattle Dec. 30, 1954, to
become the chief surgeon in the
BangTiazi's Seventh Day Adven
tist hospital.
Returned from Break
He had just returned May 19
from a two-day break in activ
ities there when he contracted
what he told his family was a
"common cold." Several days la
,ter physicians at the British
Medical hospital saved his life
when they administered a trach
eotomy to allow him to breathe.
He was removed to Tripoli in
the" last week of May after the
disease was diagnosed and he
had telegrammed the Nile Union
mission in Cairo that he had in
fantile paralysis.
His family will follow him to
the United States as soon as pos
sible, an air transport spokes
man said.
142 New Cases
Polio Reported
Washington (IP The U. S.
Public Health service said Sat
urday that 142 new cases of
poliomyelitis were reported dur
ing the last week of June.
They brought to 876 cases the
number since the "polio sea
son" began on April 1. Last year
there were 257 cases during the
comparable week in June and
1,587 cases from April 1 through
June 30.
The service said 42 of the
latest reported cases were par-
'alytic, 87 were non-paralytic
and 19 were not specified. Since
April 1, there have been 350
i paralytic, 423 non-paralytic and
103 unspecified cases reported.
i i a