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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1957)
DGc lisappoiDited Rlecorn E1 - ' X ; -- --7-. . jsr ' ) tj TWO LADIES Judy Bradshaw, Lake Creek, member of the Antelope 4-H club, holds the large neck of "Royal Linda," one of many animals, on display at the annual 4H-FFA Railroad Crossing Problems Given Thorough Examination Medford's railroad grade crossing problems received thorough consideration by Pub lic Utilities Commission Exam iners in a public hearing here yesterday. Six witnesses gave testimony during the nine-hour session, called at the request of the city to consider regulation of train speeds inside city limits. PUC railroad engineer C. E. Jaqua gave his speed recommen dations, and also suggested two crossing closures And lighting and signalling improvements. Jaqua recommended maxi mum train speeds of 20 miles per hour at the outermost city grade crossings, McAndrews rd. to the north and Stewart ave. to the south, and 15 miles per hour at all others. Present Speeds . . Present train speeds, set vol untarily by Southern Pacific railroad company, are 25 mph at Stewart ave., McAndrews rd., Jackson and Clark sts.; 15 mph. at Third, Fourth and Elevengi sts.; and 10 mph at Main and Sixth sts. Where Jaqua proposed 15 mph limits instead of 10 mph already followed, he said he did not think the different would "add to the frequency or sever ity of accidents." His speed recommendations conflicted with those given parlier by both the Medford Safety Council and tly safety committee of Jackson County Medical Society. They favored a 10 mil$ per hour limit at all crossings. The commission engineer list ed steps he thought should be taken to provide "the ultimate and the minimum protection" at each crossing. He recommended: Street Lighting At McAndrews rd., improve street lighting, put all tracks on the electrical circuit that acti vates the warning signal, re place the wigwag device with modern flashing lights warning system. Now. only the main track activates the warning sig nal. At Clark st., close the cross ing to motor vehicles. If this cannot be done, improve illumi nation. Clark st. has never been' approved as a grade crossing by the commission, Jaqua noted. At Jackson st., install more street lighting, replace the wig wag signal with flashing lights, put all tracks on the warning signal circuit. At Third St., improve lighting. At Fourth St., Install flashing lights warning device, include all tracks in the signal system, improve lighting. At both Sixth and Main sts., include all tracks in the signal system. Close Crossing , At Eleventh st., close the crossing to motor vehicles. If this cannot be done, possibly in clude several side tracks in the signal system and improve street lighting. At Stewart ave., move the warning device to a less ob scured position, preferably re placing the wigwag with flash ing lights, increase illumination, consider integration of stop lights on Stewart ave., and High way 99 with the grade crossing signals, and establish right-turn lane on Stewart ave. going east between the tracks and the highway. Jaqua's suggestions entered the record and will be con sidered by the commission. The public util&es commisisoner has the power to set train speeds, but cannot close grade crossings. Witness Called To open the afternoon half of the hearing, the city called to. t the witness stand Louis Sinnar, Eugene, foreman of engineers for Southern Pacific's Eugene to Ashland line. Sinnar estimated stopping dis tances tfor trains under various i conditions of speed, loads . and weather. Next on the stand was L. R. Smith, Portland, SP division superintendent. Smith offered rebuttals to five criticisms of railroad practices presented in the morning by a Medford Safety Council repre sentative. He explained "flying switch ing" where boxcars are "drop ped" or "kicked." A "dropped" car is detached from behind an engine to pro ceed alone onto a side track. A "kicked" car is in front of the engine ..when . detached for - the same purpose. Protect Traffic Train' crew members protect motor vehicle traffic when cars are "dropped" or "kicked" across grade crossings. Smith said. The superintendent testified that it would be "extremely un satisfactory to the railroad and industries it serves" if dropping and kicking practices were pro hibited. Morning testimony at the hear ing came from the Medford Safety Council, the safety com mittee of the medical society, and Claude C. Haggard, 405 J st. Engineer Jaqua, besides giv ing recommendations for grade crossing improvements, present ed and explained a study of grade crossings and accidents at crossings in 12 Oregon cities from 1938 to 1956. Town and Country Opens At County Fair Grounds Kiwanis "Town and Country Holiday" opens at the fair grounds tomorrow and will run through Sunday. Displays and entertainment are designed for people of all ages, according to Ray Johnson, entertainment chairman. Youngsters can take pony and mule rides, see shows starring G.I. Joe, and watch an "edu cated" pony and three clowns. Eddie Peabody, "King of the Banjo," will strum in nightly stage shows, headlining a pro gram that features local semi- Hegotiatibos Settled By Local Teamsters Negotiations between Team sters Local 962 here and beer distributors have been com pleted, it was reported recently. A one-year contract has been approved by both parties which will run from June 1, 1957, to May 31, 1958. The contract gives the teamsters a retroactive 1214 cent an hour increase and an ad ditional 2 cent an hour in crease as of Jan. 1, 1958. Baseball NATIONAL LEAGUE Cincinnati . .. 0 5 1 Brooklyn 8 11 0 Jeffcoat, Nuxhall (7), Fowl er (8) and Bailey; Newcombe and Roseboro. Home run: Ci molo. Brooklyn. St. Louis ... New York L. McDaniel, . 6 10 3 .13 13 2 Merritt (3). Schmidt (5) and Landriih: Mil--ler. McCormick (5) and Thom as. Home runs: Moon. St. Lou is: Musial. St. Louis; Mays. New York; Sauer, N. Y.; .Mik lis, SL Louis. Fair held at the Jackson county fairgrounds. The fair is scheduled to last through Saturday. The study showed Medford had 8.7 accidents per grade crossing, the highest ratio among the 12 cities. Yet only 4.6 per sons per 100 accidents were killed or injured at Medford crossings, compared with a state average of more than 15. Grade Crossing Crashes A section of the report con centrated . on Medford grade crossing accidents involving trains and motor vehicles from 1947 to 1957. Included were figures show ing accident and casualty fre quency in relation to train speeds, time of day, days of the week, and months. The report also computed the average delay of motor vehicles caused at each Medford crossing when a hypothetical 80 car train passes at various speeds. - " Finally, the report analyzed conditions and diagramed all accidents at each city grade crossing. Under Advisement. Evidence and testimony pre sented at yesterday's hearing were recorded and will be taken under advisement by the com mission. Representing the commission at the hearing were David Don, chief engineer; W. A. Straw, as sistant railroad engineer; Irving Allen, assistant attorney general, and Jaqua. City Attorney E. R. Bashaw represented Medford. City Man ager Robert Duff and Public Works Director Vernon Thorpe attended the proceedings. Southern Pacific company was represented by Edwin L. Gra ham, Portland attorney. professional entertainers com peting for a chance to represent this area at the Oregon State Fair. Medford Fire department will demonstrate equipment Satur day and Sunday afternoons. Foreign and domestic automo biles will be on display, with sev eral custom vehicles owned by members of the Southern Oregon Timing association. Several other groups will sponsor displays. Included are the Pomona Grange agricultural exhibit; the 4-H "Town and Country" exhibit; an array of deadly weapons confiscated by the Medford police department; Indian artifacts, paintings, handi work, rocks, gems and jewelry from the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral club; and hobbies and crafts from the Veterans Ad ministration domiciliary at Camp White. Local service and fraternal or ganizations will sponsor conces sions and games. Another Group of Officers Purged By WALTER LOGAN United Press Correspondent Pro-Soviet elements in Syria have purged another group of Army officers and replaced them with active Communists to con solidate further their bloodless revolution, Israeli dispatches re ported today. Reports also reached Jerusa lem. Israel and Beirut, Lebanon, that Syrian President Shukri El Kuwalty had resigned. But Da mascus Radio and Cairo press in sisted he would return home in a few days from an Egyptian hospital. The Syrian-American crisis was heightened Tuesday night when Syria renewed its charges of an "American plot" to over 52nd Year Medford United Press Jull Leased Wire 22 Pages Committee Says $150,000 Estate Bought by Hoffa Country Home Was Owned by Paul Ricca Washington HP) The Sen ate Rackets committee said to day two of James R. Hoffa's Teamsters Union locals paid $150,000 for the country estate of Capone mobster Paul (The Waiter) Ricca. Hoffa, accused of being an ally of the New York under world, told the committee he never met the Chicago hoodlum and could find no trace of his name in the deal for the man sion. Committee counsel Robert F. Kennedy said one of the union checks for the property bore the endorsement of Paul De Lu cia. He said this is another name for Ricca. ' "I say we did not purchase from Paul Ricca," Hoffa snap ped. The fast-talking Hoffa, probably next president of the Teamsters Union and presently its Midwest boss, said the estate near Chicago was bought by the union as a school in which to teach union officials how to handle welfare and pension funds. Hoffa said the estate was bought by Local 337 and his home Local 299, in Detroit, and turned over to the union's Joint Council 43. He said after the purchase was first publicized, he had the abstract company check the rec ords and could not find Ricca's name. He said he did not know Ricca and De Lucia were the same or why someone named De Lucia got the union's check. He said the property was pur chased from a trust company. This was Hoffa's second day on . ihe-witness stand.1 Tuesday the committee went over his personal finances and brought out that he had borrowed about $120,000 from his Local 299 in Detroit, other teamsters officials and businessmen having deal ings with the local. Most of the loans were obtain ed without paying interest, signing notes or putting up co lateral. He still owes "around about $70,000" of this, he said. At today's session, Kennedy said Ricca is "a notorious hood lum" who was recently ordered deported and was "part of the Capone mob." The alleged link with Ricca bobbed up as the committee worked up to the main charge of its 15-day hearings: That Hoffa enlisted labor racketeers Johnny Dio and Anthony (Tony Ducks) Corallo to help him grab control of the teamsters in New York. 'Limp Body1 Found By Excited Driver On City Thoroughfare After narrowly missing a "limp body" lying in the mid dle of Park st between Cath erine and Belmont sts., a pass ing motorist ran to report the "injury" to city police last night. Arriving on the scene po lice saw three juveniles run ning into the shadows. The three were quickly rounded up. The "body" was found to be a well dressed dummy, complete to eyebrows and glasses. The three boys admitted they had placed the dummy in ihe street in the hope of scar ing passersby. They were re leased to their fathers after a stern lecture by the police. As for the dummy he was stripped of all good clothes and his glasses and then pack ed off to the police property room where he wouldn't have to be fingerprinted, according to police. throw the government and said "made in America gangsters" were to have assassinated Syria's leaders. Anti-American Broadcasts Moscow Radio increased its anti-American broadcasts to the Middle East and accused Amer ica of "unprecedented interfer ence . . in the internal affairs of Near and Middle Eastern countries." Reports reached Jerusalem, Israel, from Damascus that the leftist military clique in Syria arrested five brigade command ers and Brig. Omar Kabani, for mer deputy chief of staff and recent military attache to Jor dan. The reports said the arrest of MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1957 4 PRESENTS CHECK E. K. Peterson (lower right) district forester of the bureau of land management, hands a check" for $1,537, 528.15 to Karl Janouch, Jackson county treas- ' urer. Making sure that everything is okay is Subdivision Talk Slated For Monday By County Planners The Jackson county planning commission will discuss the pro posed subdivision ordinance at their monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the of fice of the-planning commission in the county courthouse. The ordinance, which was ap proved and referred to the county court at the July meeting, would make it unlawful for anyone to sell or contract to sell any sub division until all the . require ments listed in the ordinance are complied with. Objectives of the uniform regulations as stated in the ordi nance were to create better liv ing conditions within the new subdivision, areas which can be economically serviced and main tained will be developed, land descriptions will be simplified and made more certain, neces sary city streets, utilities and public areas may be extended without expensive labor pur chases, property values will be enhanced and secured in the subdivision and adjacent lands, and purchasers will be protected from unexpected assessments. The Planning commission has sent a letter to the county court asking for their comments. Members of the court were not certain today if they would at tend the Monday meeting. If the ordinance is approved by the court they would set a public hearing date. Juveniles Arrested During House Entry Three juvenile girls, aged 8, 10 and 11 years, were caught by city police last night attempting to break into an empty residence at 1018 South Grape st., accord ing to police. . The activity of the girls was first noted by a neighbor when they took a strip of molding off a screened window. The police were called and when they ar rived they found the screen had been removed and the girls were attempting to hide on the south side of the house. . . The juveniles were released to their parents by police after a lecture. No serious damage was done to the window. Kabani occasioned surprise throughout Syria and showed the thoroughness of the Communist coup. He was among the signers of the arms acccrd with the So viet Union. Maj. Gen. Afif Bizri Army chief of staff, told a news confer ence in Damascus Tuesday night the United States planned to send "made in America gang sters" to assassinate him and other top officers. There were reports. Syria might take the alleged American "plot" to the- U.N. Security Council, but U. N. officials said no complaint had been filed with Secretary General Dag Ham marskjold. Bizri did not men tion it. United feVtn 31 k I I: Tk 1... I Two Performances Set For Pericles A fifth play ."Pericles, Prince of Tyre,"-will be performed this Friday and Thursday, Aug. 29, by the Shakespearean festival cast. . ' . Friday and Thursday nights are the only two performances of this "bonus" ' play, festival manager Bill Patton emphasiz ed. A fifth play will not be pre sented1 in the "immediate fu ture," he added. "The strain and exhaustion to the cast due to the extra rehear sals involved is prohibitive," Patton explained. "To produce the extra play the cast is now working 19 hours a day seven days a week." Clouds Threaten Hail, Lightning Thick cumulus cloud forma tions, building into thunder heads, threatened to produce thunderstorms with heavy light ning east of the valley along the Cascade mountains this afternoon. The weather bureau alerted U.S. forest service and state for estry department district offices of fire danger from lightning. Thunderstorms were expected along the Cascades, possibly building back to the Siskiyou mountains southward by eve ning, the bureau reported. Sixteen silver-iodide genera tors were started by the Water Resources Development corpor ation to break up the clouds this morning. Generators are situat ed at the Klamath river and the Illinois river valley southwest of Medford. Woman Dies When Rural Home Burns Grants Pass (If) Mrs. Grace Bagley, about 40, died and her husband escaped with serious burns Tuesday night when their rural route home here burned to the ground. Troy Bagley, about 42, the husband, was taken to-Josephine General hospital. Bagley told neighbors he and his wife had retired early. He said he was awakened by the flames, and that the room was filled with smoke. He escaped through a bathroom window, and suffering severe burns, drove one-quarter mile to the home of Mrs. E. T. Radcliffe, a neighbor, for help. Weather FORECAST: Pirtly cloudy to night and Thursday with probable afternoon and eve ning Thunderxtorms both days. Low tonight it. High Thursday S. Temp. Highest Yesterday SO Lowest this Morning 54 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise 5:24 a.m. ' Sunset 7:04 p.m. Moonrise Thursday 2:10 a.m. New Moon.... Aug. 25 Venus, which began the week to the right of Jupiter, is now appearing quite - close to the latter. Both are low in the west in the evening twilight. In a few days. Venus the brighter planet, will be on the left. Price 10 Cents Tribune Pitts Full Leased Wire No. 131 (standing, left to right) County Commissioner Chester Wendt, Judge Rodney Keating and Commissioner Ralph James. The check was the county's share of the sale of lands and timber during the past year. "Pericles" is one of the rare ly produced Shakespeare plays Patton said. The? cast refers to it as "Around the world in 80 days with Shakespeare." Ac cording to Patton it is not con sidered one of Shakespeare's best plays being very difficult to produce and requiring a large cast and extensive costum ing. Advanced" ticket sales for both performances have been "quite heavy," Patton comment ed. However, there are still a number of good seats available, especially for Friday night's performance, he added. Robert B. Loper, Menlo Park, Calif., is director of the "Per icles" production. This is his second season of directing at Ashland. He is an assistant pro fessor in the department of speech and drama and a staff director at Stanford University. George Vafiadis, West Co lumbia, Tex., portrays Pericles. He also has the role as "Orlan do" in the play "As You Like It," which has a sellout perfor mance tonight. (A few good seats are still available). He has studied acting and directing un der B. Iden Payne at the Uni versity of Texas. While there he was Fortinbras and the Player King in Hamlet, Longaville in "Love's Labour's Lost" and took the title role in a special television adaptation of "Othel lo." Jean Cartwright of Corona, Calif., is playing the role of Marina, daughter to Pericles and Thaisa. She is a senior dra ma and art major at the Univer sity of California at Riverside. There she has played Denise in Stein's "Yes Is For A Very Young Man" and as Prossy in "Candida." With the Riverside Community Players she has ap peared as Kassandra in Eurip- edes' "The Trojan Women," and earned their award as Best Ac- tres of 1957. "Sire, There Seems To Evaluation of Job Done By Congress Made at Conference Takes Cautious Stand On Syrian Situation Washington (IP) President Eisenhower said today he is tre mendously disappointed in the record to date of this session of Congress. At his weekly news confer ence, Eisenhower also took a cau tious stand on the Communist seizure of power in Syria. He said the situation is not an in stance at present that justifies any action under the Eisenhower Middle East doctrine. He charged that Russia :1s try ing to take over Syria. On domestic matters. Eisen hower indicated a willingness to accept a compromise version of the jury trial amendment to the civil rights bill somewhere be tween the Senate version, which he still opposes, and his original position. The compromise nro- posal will be announced later today or Thursday by House Re publican leaders. Wants Aid Funds . The President also told renort- ers he earnestly hopes that con gressional leaders of both parties will get together and finish ac tion on the civil rights bill at this session of Congress rather than letting is go into an election year. He did not think it would be proper to have the emotions of the people torn over such an issue next year daring congres sional and state elections. Other highlights of Eisenhow er's meeting with reporters: He expressed again his hope that the Senate would restore every cent of the reduced foreign aid appropriation to the level of the original authorization bill, then make the best possible deal out of a House-Senate confer ence. Spftial Session of Congress He said he sees no useful ness in contemplating a special session of Congress on civil rights. He reiterated that the world situation would - have to dictate the necessity of a special session on foreign aid should Congress end up voting what he regards as insufficient funds. Eisenhower was asked to ap praise the congressional treat ment of the administration pro gram this year and to evaluate the job done by Congress. The President said that he had looked over the long list of recommend ations he submitted to Congress last January and was tremend ously disappointed that to date so many bills had not been acted on and in some cases not even accorded committee hearings. Civil Rights Views He declined to divide the blame between the Democrats and Republicans. He said those who voted against his program which he believed was best for the welfare of the nation had to share the blame. On civil rights, he was asked whether he would accept the Senate jury trial amendment If necessary to break the House deadlock. He said that he would like to see the amendment made strong er, but that the Republican lead ers had reached a conclusion on a proposal between his original stand and the Senate version and would make this proposal public today or Thursday. AEC's Budget Requests Cut by Committee "Washington (IP) T h e House Appropriations committee, tak ing its final whack of the year at President Eisenhower's budget requests, chopped almost 216 million dollars today from Atomic Energy commission funds. Be Some Opposition Here
