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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1957)
TWO MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Thursday, August 23, 1957 Motorlog to Central Oregon Coast Discovers Unique Adobe Building Family Molds BuU ding Blocks Tk fUwic ts m inten. ttoo mt m aaotortoc appearing tm The budar Oitfnlu. It im mum mf mm maaaal cne i trtTH itorlei sponsored Jointly y the Oret;oa State Motor asae elation and The Oregeaiaa. BY JOHN A. ARMSTRONG tamamt Suitor. The OwOfUu On wave lashed point just north of Yaehats, on the Oregon coast, stands a building that's a monument to a modern family that was not afraid to pioneer. It's an adobe motel, a unique structure for this part of the nation. We discovered it and the story behind it during t recent motor log alonsr the Oregon coast in the white Oregon State Motor association motorlog car. The story is one of a family that likes to work together and to rt ingenuity and perseverance. The winter storms were fierce along the Oregon coast during the winter of 1951. and on the rocky promontory just north of Yaehats the winds and rains slashed at stacks of adobe build ing blocks. Inside their modest workshop, with its adjoining living quar ters, Larry Smith and his 16-year-old son, Lauren, were hard at work, cutting and notching beams and joists. They were a busy pair, m the '.shop up to 14 hours a day, and sunny Hays laboring out doors, molding more adobe blocks to build higher the huge piles started the summer before. Excuses Boa As the winter days passed, Larry Smith cam in for more and more good natured ribbing from the townfolks as he made his daily treks to the poet of fice. Local residents were un aware of the stacks of sawed and fitted lumber inside the workshop, and couldn't see signs of much progress outdoors. Besides, most of them were sure those stacks of mud blocks were bound to melt and run way. But Larry Smith and his fam ily had planned well. He had Investigated thoroughly before ha purchased the scenic 10-aere tract in southern Lincoln county. oil Samplf Taken Smith took many samples of lays and sands In the Yaehats area, sending them for testing to a soils laboratory and work ing closely with experts from the American Bitumals and As phalt company in Portland. Underneath the rich covering of coastal topsoil on he very point on which he intended to build, he found the right clay. Up the highway a few miles be found roadside deposits of the right sandy loam. Com bine these two with an emulsi fied asphalt stabiliser and he came up with durable building blocks, virtually impervious to moisture. Even when immersed in wa ter for 34 hours, only the outer 1 -Inch absorbed water. Sudden rainstorms cause trouble if the molded bricks are less than 12 i 3T 'ir-xf- .- "5 w. ... v v - Tf mmmr m,w Larry Smith and bin entlrasUMtie family, shown here behind a stack of adobe blocks made of local day, are planning mora adobe construction. From left: Cousin Basel Reynolds, Lauren, Zandra, Larry and Eleanor Smith and Aunt Bird Hanehett. IkMi hours old: after that, the rain has no effect. With the arrival of spring, things started popping. The en tire family moved into high gear: Larry's wife. Eleanor; his 90-year-old mother. Grandma Catherine Smith; Aunt Bird Hanehett, Larry's aunt and her daughter Hazel Reynolds. Larry and Lauren dug the clay and ran the concrete mixer in which the clay, sand and as phalt compound were combined. Sprightly Grandma Katharine kept house, and sometimes laid out long strips of building paper on which the 4x8xl6-inch adobe blocks were cured. The other women handled the wooden forms in which the blocks were molded and helped pour foun dations for the mote". One sunny day the wooden framework of the motel rose as if by magi(r whicn indeed it was, the magie of pre-fabri ca tion. All through the spring and summer the work went on. The walls of adobe blocks were set ImukT ? vTCALEM ? jftEWPORT L f mOREMCE I For those planning ta travel from the Willamette valley to central coastal area, a num ber of loop trips are possible. is a cement mortar containing some asphalt stabilizer. They were painted outside with an asphalt emulsion to reduce hail damage. Inside, conventional household paints were used. In August 1952, the Adobe Motel opened ... 12 uints . . . 22 bedrooms . . . 17,020 adobe blocks, all molded by the Smith family. The Smiths are always willing to take time out to show visitors how they make the adobe bricks. According to Glen L. Ritter, representative of American Bi tumuls and Asphalt who worked with the Smiths in planning and building their motel, this type of construction can be adapted anywhere in the Northwest "If it can be done there. It can be done anywhere." The basic requirement is a suitable clay, and suitable day is not uncommon in this area, he advises. ' Area's Fishing Good Yaehats, at the southern end of Lincoln County, lies in a beach recreation area mat many Ore gonians have yet to discover, and enjoy. From Newport south to Winchester bay, there is a wide variety of vacation activ ity. Surf fishing and rock fishing are particularly productive on this stretch of coastline. Deep sea fishing is available out of Newport, Waldport, Florence and Winchester bay. The warm water lakes In the sand dunes south of Florence Siltecos, Woahink and Takhen itch are full of pan fish. The streams flowing from the coast range offer salmon, steelhead and trout in season. The Sea Lion eaves are a na tionally known tourist attrac tion and the Heceta Head light house is open for inspection. A string of finely-kept state parks (some with electric stoves and showers) provide facilities for picnicking, overnight camp ing and trailer parking. The Family Council Editor's nbta: Thv Famll? Council consists or a Judga. a psychiatrist, thrc clergymen, a newspaper editor a women's editor and two writers. Each article Is a summary ot an actual report. The Family council does not give advice: It merely reports on problems that have been dealt with by responsible agencies and counselors. Joel R. My parents say she Just wants to use me. Linda H They want him to marry a rich girl. Joel R. I am 27 and have been going out for the past year with a girl I want to marry. She is only 19 and says her parents think she is still too young to marry. She says she loves me, but doesn't want to commit her self for another year. I feel that I would wait an other five years if I had to, for Linda. What worries me is that my parents say she doesn't real ly care for me, but just wants to use me. For example, she al ways calls "me when she needs me to take her somewhere in the car. She gives me all kinds of little errands to do for her. But when I was sick recently, she didn't even come over to the house to see me. That real ly made me feel bad. I don't mind doing things for Linda. I want to. But neither do I want her to make a fool out of me, as my parents say she is doing. How can I tell if she loves me? Linda H. Joel's parents are just trying to make trouble be tween us because they want him to marry a rich girl. They sneer at me because my father is an auto mechanic and everyone in their family is in some sort of profession. I could get plenty of guys to take me places in their cars, if I wanted. If I didn't love Joel, I wouldn't eougjt on him for dif ferent things. If he really loved me, he'd be glad to do them. I would be glad todo things for Joel, too, but his parents make me feel unwanted. My mother said I shouldn't go over to his house when he was sick because his parents would think I'm running after him. Mother says I ought to play harder-to-get and then Joel wouldn't take me so much for granted. He'd wake up and realize that bis parents can't run his life. If we get married, I wouldn't want anything to do with them. The Council: There is a little too much of "my parents say" and "mother says" in this pic ture. Joel and Linda should listen to what their parents have to say, by all means, but they show their uncertainty about one another when they repeat word for word what their par ents say without having digested it and come to their own con clusions. - i Nobody can tell Joel wheth er or not - Linda loves him. It is quite possible that Linda's way of showing love to Joel is to "count on him for differ ent things." It is up to Joel to decide whether he likes this form of love. On the other hand, we are inclined to suspect that Joel wants a warmer, stronger sort or love than Linda is now cap able of giving. If her love were really the strong, outgoing em otion Joel has a right to expect, she wouldn't have let any par ent's opinion keep her from him when he was sick. She wouldn't be afraid to appear to be "run ning after" Joel because her concern about him would be more important than her own status. Linda probably reflects, her own parents' attitudes when she feels she is being sneered at be cause her father's, position. She has no right to assume that Joel's parents don't like her because she isn't rich. They may be quite sincere when they feel that she "uses" Joel too much. In any case. Linda shows she is unpre pared for marriage when she be lieves that she should or could dispose of her in-laws. (Copyright 1957, General Features Corp.) The Federal Bureau of Inves tigation Laboratory was estab lished in 1932. Quartz Claims Tiled For Applegafe Area Four quartz ' location notices were filed in the county clerk's office Tuesday, according to rec ords there. Laren L. Schmid, Gold Hill, filed for a claim in the Gold Hill mining district. Three claims, to be known as "Lucky Strike two, three and four," were filed by Ben Thurston and Thomas and Gladys Schultz, Applegate. The claims are in the Applegate mining district. Scout Honorary Plans Conference The Order of the Arrow, a national Boy Scout honor camp er's society, will hold its annual area conference at Suttle lake at Santiam pass Sept 6 to 8. "He who serves his fellows Is of all his fellows greatest," will be the theme as approxi mately 100 Scouts follow a three day program of Indiancraft, dis cussions, and strenuous outdoor sports. ' Dick Clark, Mazama lodge chief, will be master of cere monies for this event. Support ing him will be about 20 Scouts and Explorers from the Crater Lake council. 'The conference, which will draw delegates from' most of Oregon and northern California, is expected to be one of the largest held in the state," ac cording to James Boyd, Area 11A chief. The Order was founded in 1915 at the Philadelphia. Scout camp,' Treasure Island. In 1948 it was nationally integrated into th Boy Scouts of America. There are approximately 400 lodges based upon principles of brotherhood and cheerful serv ice now active in the United States. Today the order also acts as a service organization in every Oregon city. To be eligible for the Order a Scout must have camped 15 days and nights and must prove by his example that he puts the Scout oath and law into practice in his daily life. Upon complet ing these two stiff require ments he must be nominated and elected by his fellow troop members. After his election he is in vited to participate in an ordeal by which his attention is called to the principles on which the order is based. Satisfactory com pletion of this ordeal gains him membership in the lodge. But the ordeal is not truly over with the ordeal ceremonies. For a year the Scout must prove himself a worker, leader, and cheerful server. At the end of this time he is notified that he may become a Brotherhood member. The third and highest rank is that of Vigil. This requires three years of outstanding service to the community, the scouting pro gram, and to the Order. In the Crater Lake council there are two Vigil members, Martin Johnson and Judson W. Comp ton. " , Milk Sanitarians To Meet in Portland Salem IW Milk sanitarians from Oregon, Washington and Idaho will take up new dairy problems at a three-day region al meet in Portland Sept. 11-13, Agriculture Director Robert J. Steward announced Wednesday. More than 100 sanitarians are expected at the seminar, the first in four years, in which the U. S. Public Health service has participated. Kenneth E. Carl, assistant dairy chief for the Oregon Agri cultural department, said prob lems arising in the use of new dairy equipment and supplies would be discussed along with pipeline milker standards and warm water supplies. ' The meeting will take the place of the annual refresher course held in December to meet the milk inspection training re quirements of the Fluid Milk act. Geneva N.Y. Iff) It's per fectly all right to take a wooden nickel here. Even bankers and merchants are accepting the wooden five-cent, 10-cent and 25 cent. coins being issued to help promote the city's 150th anniversary. Filmt own Comes Close To Having Tong War' Br VERNON SCOTT United Press Hollywood Writer Hollywood (IP) Film town came close to having a tong war on its hands this week when an exotic - Chinese import dropped her own bamboo curtain on a kissing scene with Victor Ma ture. ' The reluctant lotus blossom is LiLf Hua (pronounced Wah), a veteran of some 60 Chinese mov ies all kissless. " During a death scene in which lovely LiLi is breathing her last, the script called for Mature to kiss her gently on the lips. But just as Vic leaned in for a closeup of the kiss LiLi turned her head and muttered the Chi nese equivalent of "You've been eating onions," or something of that nature. Big Surprise Mature, hurt and astonished, stomped off the set while the crew tittered. Never before had big Vic's leading lady given him the cold shoulder. LiLi took off in the direction of her dressing room, closely followed by producer - director Five Men Recover From Hangovers Newark,' N.J. -- IW Five men recovered from hangovers today, brought- on in the inter est of science. The five volunteers "had a ball" Wednesday in a dignified courtroom. They drank their favorite brands of scotch, rye and bourbon to prove the ac curacy of a drunkometer used to test the sobriety of morotists. All were escorted home. Richard Silver, Essex County traffic safety coordinator, label led the experiment "a success." The party began at 10 a.m. (e.d.t.) with three-ounce shots of liquor. Drinking continued at intervals until 6:20 p.m., with periodic interruptions for drunkometer and blood tests. . The drunkometer proved ac curate when compared with the blood test, Silver said. One volunteer drank scotch with an orange soda chaser. He didn't like the taste of scotch, he explained. He dropped out after 12 shots. The last man last ed. 19 drinks. The object of the binge was to demonstrate the effective ness of the drunkometer in an effort to make use of the device compulsory in New Jersey. La - Grande, N.C. OH Some veteran tobacco warehousemen were arguing here about tobacco varieties when they came across several nicely cured golden leaves. The experts started bet ting about the identification one said it was the 244 variety, another argued it was Dixie Bright 101. The grower, chuck ling, finally stepped in and set tled the bet. "It's collard leaves," he said. COURT RECORDS MUNICIPAL COURT Allen Palmer King, disobeyed aton sign, $5. bail forfeited. Evelvn Lena Cannon, disobeyed stop sign. $5. bail forfeited. William Everett Kennedy, reckless driving, vehicle. $25. bail forfeited. Robert George Christian, disobeyed stop sign, V- DISTRICT COURT Richard Lee Farrell. driving while in embrace of another, $6. Harry Newton Hpsley. operating motor vehicle while driver's license is suspended, $105; violation of basic rule, $15. . Charles Leroy Kolkov, overload, $121 .' . William Leslie Saylor, overload, $125. . MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS Dennis Gene Miller. 83T Marshall ave., and Marilyn Gem Clearwater, 511 Fairmount st. William Donald McLeod, 813 i Franquette ave.. and Darlene Linhart, 1762 South Peach st. Frank Borzage. After an hour's debate in mixed English and Chinese, Borzage emerged, a shaken man. "She refuses to kiss Mature in front of the camera," he ex plained. "She claims it isn't in her contract." Borzage then called attorneys who produced LiLi's pact. It was studied carefully, but nowhere in the fine print did it say that LiLi had to kiss Mature or any one else. "It's a regular run-of-the-pic-ture contract," the harassed di rector said. "It includes her sal ary and otner things like living quarters and transportation.. We took it for granted she . would follow the script. The script calls for an 'embrace,' which LiLi says is. very amerent irom a kiss. Somebody goofed! Borzage reported LiLi s ori ental obstinacy to Mature, who put on a dandy fist-waving dis play of rage. When peacemaker Borzage failed to calm him down, Vic strode off the set and headed for home, voting he was through with the picture which happens to be Batjac's "Time is A Memory." A Necking Superstition "I've been slighted," cried Mature. "If this gets out it will hurt my career. Nothing like this has ever happened before." Borzage convinced Vic the following day that LiLi's objec tion to kissing was impersonal: She has a superstition about necking. , Placated, Vic returned to work. But Lili's bamboo curtain was still in evidence, and the company has been shooting around the scene. "What bothers me," says Vic, "is that she refuses to kiss and make up." Officers On Alert For Armed Robbers State police and sheriffs officers here are on the lookout today for a man and woman who are believed to have committed armed robbery in Tule - Lake, Calif. State police received notice from sheriff's deputies in Cali- ! fornia last night that a man had been injured about 3:50 p.m. yesterday and was not expected to live. A man and a woman, presumed to be from Los An geles, reportedly took about $100 from the victim. No sign of the fugitive couple had been reported by noon to day. Tule Lake is a small com munity in Siskiyou county, about seven miles south of the Oregon-California border. Father, Son Set Up " Ham Radio Operators Nunda, N.Y. (W Mrs. Clar ence Martin of Nunda has two hams cluttering up her dining room radio hams, that Is. Mrs. Martin's husband has operated a ham radio for the past seven years, and until re cently he had no competition from any member of his family. Then, almost overnight, 12-year-old Donald became interested in transmitting and receiving. Donald now is the proud own er of a novice license to oper ate in code. His call letters are KN2VDN. A classmate of Donald's, 11-year-old Barry Watkins, also caught the radio bug and trans- 'mits over station KN2VQA. .1 be sure... aafiniTMSfLffl GH cone sugar u JI.I-IIIIMsWssisssslssslssHMSssl-sr mm h dog i ii nnkS UK?. nt iiiiiiiiin iliiv I' mummmmmmmvmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmwmwmmmmmm Iiw isiraa YTrrtwfffrf "'' PENNY" FOK KNNY Twice the Nourishment of Prime Beef Hamburger! 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