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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1957)
o IAS MS U U o o ondoifi Train Mr More Feared Dead; Rescuers Brave " Teetering Train More Than 170 Persons Require Hospitalization London HP) New fog set tled tonight on weary retcuers seeking the last victims of one of Britain's worst train disas ters. An official count showed 89 bodies had been recovered. Rescuers feared 10 to 20 more bodies still were trapped in two coaches. London (IP! Rescue work ers braved the threat of sudden death from a train teetering ov erhead on a wrecked bridge to day and brought out additional bodies from Britain's worst rail disaster in five years. British Railways announced at on that 70 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of two commuter trains which col lided in a blanket-thick fog and wrecked a bridge just as a third train was moving onto it Wed nesday night. 170 Injured Seriously More than 170 persons were injured seriously enough to re quire hospitalization. Hundreds of others among the 2,000 per sons aboard the three trains suf fered minor injuries. The death toll could rise above the 100 mark. A fire brigade of ficial said between 12 and 30 bodies may still be trapped in a pancaked coach pinned under the fallen bridge. But railway and rescue authorities flatly re fuse to estimate a final toll. Fog Hampers Work "We will report each body as it Is recovered from the wreck Oage," a British Railways Official said. "We will not make guess es." - - Rescue work was suspended during the night because of a choking, sulphurous fog which shrouded the wreckage in im penetrable gloom. The fog began to lift this morning and a ghostly light led the daring rescue work ers probe through the wreckage. The crash occurred at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the height of London's rush hour when trains were jammed with commuters hurrying home and with early -Christmas shoppers whose rip- ptjf parcels strew toys among vJthe wreckage. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (IP) Dow-Jones final stock averages 30 indus trials 449.53. up 0.68; 20 rail roads 100.71. off 0.52; 15 utili ties 67.96, up 0.20, and 65 stocks 149.37, up 0.09. Sales today were about 2.020.000 O shares compared with 2,220. 000 shares Wednesday. WEATHER FORECAST: Generally cloudy through Friday with occa sional rain below and snow above 3,000 feet. Patchy val ley fog tonight and Friday morning. Low tonight 32. High Friday 45. Temp. Highest Yesterday 35 Lowest this Morning 31 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise 7:25 a.m. Sunset : )4:39 p.m. The nearly Full Moon rises 3:50 p.m. and sets Friday toHa.m. PROMINENT STAR Vega, low in northwest 9:35 p.m. VISIBLE PLANETS 0 mus, low In south west 6:37 p.m. Mars, rise 5:47 a.m. Inplter, In the south east 6:08 a.m. o Dedication Ceremonies Set At Britt Student Center Ashland Dedication cere- nVCiies for two new Southern Oregon college buildings will be held Saturday afternoon and evening, according to college officials. The Britt Student center will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m. and the physical education and health building ceremonies will be at 8:30 p.m. Dedication of the physical education building will begin with the introduction of the 1936-37 honor team by Frank J. Van Dyke. Medford, presi dent of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Educa tion. Members of the honor team played the first basketball game in the old Memorial Court build ing, 'now the Britt student cen ter. Dr. Alexander Petersen, chair man of the physical education and health department will in troduce guests, and Dr. Elmo N. Stevenson, president of the col Some Businesses Report Increase In Retail Sales Some downtown Medford re tail business firms have reported increases in volume and others decreases during October and November, according to a survey of 20 stores made by the Jack son County Chamber of Com merce. Don McNeil, manager, said that in both cases stores had ex panded advertising budgets. McNeil noted that the survey highlighted the fact that while a better year had been antici pated, indications are that com pared to other western Oregon cities, Medford retailers consider themselves fortunate. The survey of the retail out look was taken Wednesday, com paring retail volumes for similar periods in 1956 and 1957. Retail lines represented included men's wear, ladies ready-to-wear, de partment stores, gift shops, hard ware stores, variety stores, jew elry stores, drug stores, appli ance and furniture stores. Boom Year in Area McNeil pointed out that 1956 was a boom year for retailing in this' area-, and that 1957 compari sons are applied against a peak period rather than a norm or average of several years. He said retailers also face an increase in cost of doing business which is Eastern Residents Dig From Under Heavy Snowstorm By UNITED PRESS An eastern storm that spew ed "one of the worst snowstorms in recent years" moved out to sea' today, trailing behind it a mass of cold air that plunged temperatures below freezing in Georgia and Alabama. Vast digging-out programs x tended from New England to Virginia where the driving snowstorm deposited more than a foot of snow in some spots Wednesday, crippling traffic along the Atlantic Seaboard, and causing at least 20 deaths in traffic wrecks blamed on the storm. Heavy Deposits Blustering eastward from its spawning ground in the Mid west, the storm raked Philadel phia with 24-hour blinding flur ries, then peeled off to the north and south where it heaped heavy deposits on New York and Washington, D. C. The U. S. Weather Bureau said Maryland weathered one of its "worst snowstorms in recent years," with as much as 10 in ches dumped on a Baltimore sub urb. New York's Public Transpor tation System groaned under the added weight of workers who crowded subways and buses; homebound workers in Philadel phia were stranded for more than an hour; a streetcar work ers' strike in Pittsburgh added to that city's woes. The cold influence of the storm was felt as far south as Florida, and temperatures drop ped 23 degrees in Hatteras, N.C. lege, will give remarks. Dr. John R. Richards, chancel lor, Oregon state system of high er education, will deliver the main address for the dedication program of the Britt student center Saturday afternoon. A tea and open house will direct ly follow the program. Dr. Stevenson will give a wel coming address and Herbert H. Colley will present a welcome from the students. Colley is president of the senior class. Members of the dedication committee are Miss Marion Ady, associate professor of art; Dr. Dorothy Stolp, associate profes-( sor speech and drama; Dr. J. Kenneth Bartlett, assistant pro fessor of science; Dr. Alvin Fel lers, professor of English and di rector of student affairs; Theo dore G. Schopf, associate pro fessor of physical education; Miss Seraphine J. Scanlon, di rector of food service; Hugh G. Simpson, director of information. substantially more than that of four to six years ago. He said generally the morale of retail owners was high, and for the most part optimistic. Results for October 1957 over the same month last year indi cate a downward trend, accord ing to 80 per cent of the stores in the survey. This occurred in varying degrees according to specific retail lines, McNeil said. Several in the survey claimed this was attributable to October news of lumber industries de cline and mills closing. Others who experienced only a slight fall-off in October felt the lum ber industry could not be blamed as the sole cause for the slack off. Some said the October decline was experienced by stores which have been established for a longer period. McNeil pointed out that this group, having es tablished a basic clientele would be more sensitive to current buying trends and thus reflect them with greater accuracy. Newer stores established five or six years ago appear to show increases in October business and a general increase, although slight in some cases, throughout other months of the year, Mc Neil said. Sixty-five per cent of the businesses reported Friday, Sat urday and Monday business volume the same or far better than in 1956, McNeil said. Some retailers believe volumes on the Friday. Saturday and Monday after Thanksgiving represent a good barometer forecasting De cember buying trends. One pointed out that this has been traced back as Jar as 10 years and proved to be a remarkably accurate barometer. Proper Indicator Others believe, however, the value of Friday, Saturday and Monday business after Thanks giving as a proper indicator would vary according to the type of store, location and possibly individual promotion efforts. November business volume was 'reported the same to much bet ter by 30 per cent of the retail ers, while 70 per cent reported it about 5 per cent off from last November, McNeil said. "The general faith of Medford retailers in the local, economy and the need for merchandise," McNeil said, "is indicated by the fact that 80 per cent of those surveyed continue to carry the same or slightly more inventory compared to that of a year ago." Several reported new stock and some diversification in order to meet public requirements. This faith on the part of retail ers is further indicated by the fact that 75 per cent of those sur veyed reported their advertising budgets were the same or slight ly more than last year, he said. Twenty-five per cent reported a slight cut in advertising costs and only two of these indicated substantial cuts of 20 to 30 per cent. The composite forecast shows that 70 per cent of the retailers anticipate only a moderate drop in retail volume of 1 to 10 per cent for the year 1957 below the boom year of 1956, McNeil said. One indicated the possibility of a 17- per cent drop, but this was explained by specific physical factors which entered into the picture. Thirty-five per cent fully anti cipate that the retail volume will equal or surpass that of 1956. Of this group, a high percentage, McNeil said, experienced excel lent sales in October. Some ex plained that this probably was due to special store promotions during the month. IBulDetSn A man identified only as a Charles Warnock, tractor compressor operator on a road construction project, was reported killed when struck by a boulder in a slide on Steve creek in southeastern Jose phine county about 10 a.m. today. The road project was said to be an operation of Hard ing Construction company about seven miles from Cop per. Details of the slide and fatality were not available by press time from state police and Josephine county authori ties. Medford Ambulance ser vice was called io the scene. 52nd Year Medford United Press Full Leased Wire 30 PAGES Satellite Launching Rescheduled for Early on Friday Leaking Fuel Valve Blamed for Failure Cape Canaveral, Fla. OP) The test of the Vanguard earth satel lite missile, postponed Wednes day night, was rescheduled today for the daylight hours Friday. The new firing time was an nounced by Herschel Schooley, Defense Department public in formation chief, after a confer ence lasting almost three hours among service officials and tech nical officers from nearby Cape Canaveral Missile Testing range. Hour Not Announced The exact time when the seven-hour countdown for the missive launching was not an nounced immediately. The weary "Vanguard crew blamed a leaking fuel valve and wild winds, aground and aloft, for their failure to launch an earth satellite Wednesday night The new program gave them a full day to iron out the kinks in their space machine and get some rest. J. Paul, Walsh, deputy direc tor of the Vanguard Project, announced flatly early this morning that here would be no test during the day. Walsh told exactly what had happened to throw the plans put of kilter. ...... No Major Difficulties "Basically there were no ma jor technical difficulties," he said, "but we were plagued by a series of minor things. "What really did it to us was a lox (liquid oxygen) discon nect valve which allows us to continue to put in lox almost to the takeoff time. This neces sary because the lox continues to boil off. "It is necessary just before to the takeoff time. This is neces- line and this valve was giving us trouble. We attempted to re place it with a spare but had difficulty aligning the spare. "Meanwhile we reworked the other valve. But it continued to leak because the part of the valve connected to the tip had become stiff or 'frozen' on con tact with the lox. Liquid oxygen has a temperature of 270 below zero, Fahrenheit. Water to be Turned Off in Pipeline About 50 city water custom ers will be without water from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday when the department closes its num ber one pipeline to make re pairs, according to Robert L. Lee, water department superin tendent. A 60-foot section of the pipe line will be replaced on Foot hills rd., near 401 rd., he said. The 50 water users who will be without water during the day are between Antelope creek and the reservoir in Medford, he said. All water users on the two number pipeline will not be affected by the shutoff, he said. Lee said the rest of the city and outlying areas would notice no difference in service during the day. The number two pipe line can provide ample water for city needs at this time of the year, Lee added. He urged residents along the number one pipeline to make preparations for the water shut off on Friday. He suggested for customers who will be without water to store what they will need on Thursday evening. Police Check Leads on Safe Burglary Here Medford police said today they are investigating several leads in connection with the $580 theft from the City Sani tary Service company safe Tues day evening. Police said the job was per formed by professionals who did a "very neat job". The lock ing device to the vault door was knocked off and the safe door was opened by a "punch" method, police said. Nothing but the safe and a cash drawer was disturbed, according to police. melds MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 1957 Russia Atomic Time for ml (Herblock Is Indonesia Orders Expulsion of All Dutch Nationals Jakarta, Indonesia (IP) The Indonesian government today or dered the closure of all Dutch consulates and the expulsion of the 50,000 to 60,000 Dutch na tionals in Indonesia. The orders. climaxed a week- long anti-Dutch campaign touch ed off after Indonesia lost a bat tle in the United Nations for de bate on possession of western New Guinea, now held by the Dutch. In Paris, where Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Raden Su bandrio arrived from New York, authoritative sources said Indo nesia was seriously thinking of breaking" off diplomatic relations with the Netherlands. The expulsion order was an nounced by the Ministry of Jus tice. To Be Three-Phase Plan .The Central Immigration ser vice announced a "three phase plan" had been formulated for the expulsion or repatriation, of Dutch citizens from Indonesia. It said "jobless" Dutch would leave in the first phase, and Two Men Fined in District Court Tuesday Two men pleaded guilty to separate charges in district court Tuesday before Judge James M. Main. William Lee Morgan, 2290 Cory rd., Medford, pleaded guilty to obtaining unemploy ment compensation under false pretenses and was fined $100 plus $5 court costs. William Phillips Morgan, 58, Ashland, had his $25 fine sus pended after pleading guilty to a charge of petty larceny. He paid $5 court costs. Federal Government Check Received Here County Treasurer Karl Jan- ouch reported that the county has received a check for $226.- 190.09 from the federal govern ment representing the county's quarterly receipts from forest reserve rentals and timber sales from forest reserves. Janouch said the money is designated by law for general road and county school funds. The general road fund receives $169,654.05 of the amount, and the schools receive $56,538.04. United Launches Surface Better Heads Copyright, 1957. The Pulitzer Publishing Co St. Louis Pott-Dispatch on Vacation) "middle class" Dutch in the second phase. In the final phase, the remainder of Dutch citizens ! in the islands would go. Justice Minister Gustaaf Ad olph Maengkom said the action was part of Indonesia's current "liberate West Irian" cam paign was inaugurated Monday with a ban on Dutch publica tions, cancellation of landing rights of the KLM Royal Dutch Airline and a 24-hour strike against all Dutch commercial en terprises. ' Revised Ordinance To Be Considered A revised city subdivision or dinance will be presented for consideration at a meeting of the Medford city council at 7:30 p.m. today. Action on the ordinance was postponed last month when the council requested more time to study the issue. A joint council planning commission meeting re sulted in several minor changes in wording and in some ordi nance sections: Major changes approved by the planning commission provide omission of a penalty provision and the deletion of a contour map requirement. Several changes in the wording of the ordinance have been made 'to clarify the meaning of regulations. The council will also consider adoption of plans for street im provements ia the Corona ave., and Grand ave. to Morrow rd. area. Also under consideration by the council is a proposed agreement which would permit downtown merchants to use me ter posts as awning supports and an ordinance which would per mit facsimile signatures for the mayor and recorder. BUY CHRISTMAS SEALS HELP FIGHT TB! Sodies Price 10 Cents Tribune Press Full Leased Wire No. 194 IFirst Vessel Icebreaker Lenin Put Info Water At Leningrad Ship To Have Speed Of 32 Kilometers Moscow API Russia today launched the world's first atom ic surface vessel, the 16,000-ton icebreaker Lenin. The ship was put into the water at Leningrad, the official Soviet News Agency Tass an nounced. It said the ship would have a speed of 32 kilometers an hour (about 20 miles an hour) "in unobstructed waters." Easier To Steer "The ship will be easy "to steer and will be capable of breaking ice two meters (six feet) thick," the announcement said. Tass said "over 500 factories helped manufacture the ship's machinery. The power of the ship's engines is estimated at 44.000 horsepower." "The trans-arctic, atomic ice breaker will be able to remain at sea for several months," it said. "In 24 hours it will use only a few tenths of grams of its atomic fuel." Nearly 1000 Bunks The Lenin has nearly 1,000 bunks both above and below deck, the announcement said. The Lenin is the first atomic- powered surface vessel. How ever, the United States has two nuclear powered submarines, the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf. The keel for the first U.S. atomic-powered surface vessel was laid last Monday at the Fore River shipyard of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., at Quincy, Mass. The vessel is not expected to be completed until 1961. Three Fined for Theft of Turkey A trio of Medford men paid for their turkey the hard way yesterday. Each was fined $100 plus $5 costs in district court after plead ing guilty to stealing a turkey from the Savage turkey farm near Central Point Tuesday night. Jack Wayne Thornton, 23, of 960 Ellendale dr., Medford, and Robert Wendell Kezer, 21, of 538 Keene Way dr., each paid their fines and were released. George Willio Imhausen, 39, of route 3, box 180, Medford, is being held in the Jackson county jail pending payment of his fine. Richard J. Savage, farm own er, was outside talking to anoth er "man when he heard the car containing the three men stop by the farm, his wife said. Hop ping in his car, Savage drove close enough to get the license number. Returning to the house, he called in the number to the state police, who halted them later on the Table Rock rd. Oregon Economy Worsening With 50,600 Salem (IP) Oregon's highly seasonal economy showed more signs of strain as worsening wea ther conditions caused further layoffs in the construction and lumbering industry, the State Unemployment C om pen sation committee reported today. 50,600 Seeking Jobs Administrator John A. Nor ton said the number of persons actively seeking jobs has in creased from 39,400 to 50,600. This is the highest number of unemployed for this time of year since the winter of 1949-50 when 55,300 persons were out of jobs.' A year ago 38,800 was the number and in 1955 the total was 37,700. Brick and Mortar Believed To Hide Additional Dead Cries for Help o Flood Air Lanes Villa Rica Ga. OP) A shat tering blast ripped through the business ' district of this town today, killing at least 11 per sons. Rescuers feared that more bodies would be taken from the tons of brick and mortar that collapsed into the hulls of five buildings ripped apart by the explosion of a gas main. Windows Splintered Windows in stores all along Main st. were splintered by the midmorning tragedy. Five buildings were cracked apart during the heighlOof the Christmas shopping season short ly after stores in the pleasant little town astride the Birmingham-Atlanta highway opened for business. In the frantic moments that followed the ripping blast, orange flames billowed up from the rubble. Roads Blocked to Curious Cries for help soon were flood ing the air lanes of police radio networks and the roads into the town became clogged with speeding ambulances and rescue vehicles. Roads were blocked to the curious who also tried to reach the stricken town. The call went out for doctors and before long the response was so generous, it was an nounced that "we have things under control." Several hours after the blast, civil defens reported the fires resulting from the explosion ap parently were under control but that the town needed "all the doctors and ambulances they can get." Bicycle Licenses Being Prepared . A new method of selling bi cycle licenses will go into effect Friday when a special assembly is held at the Lincoln grade school, according to Medford po lice. The police department, in co operation with the Medford schools, has issued forms to stu dents in Medford for application for a bicycle license. The stu dent will complete the form and return it to the teacher with the 25 cents license fee. They are then returned to police and license forms are completed and a number assigned to each bi cycle. ' Licenses will be distributed io students at an assembly which features a safety talk, police said. Purpose of the new method is to lessen the rush at the police station during the Christmas sea son. About 2,100 licenses have been sold during 1957, police added. The license makes bicycles easier to trace if lost or stolen, police said. They added about half of the bicycles stolen during 1957 had no licenses. They expect the bicycle licen sing program to be complete in the schools by the time licenses go on sale to the general public Dec. 16. This year's license is yellow with black lettering. Sheriff, Deputy Attend Convention in Portland Jackson county Sheriff How ard Gault and Chief Sheriff's Deputy Joe Walsh, who are at tending the Federal Bureau of Investigation conference in Port land, will remain there to attend the sheriffs convention Thurs day and Friday, it was reported today. Also attending the FBI confer ence from Medford were two representatives from the Med ford city police. ' Seeking Work Increases were general throughout the state with all lo cal offices reporting a monthly rise in unemployment. Only La Grande's increase was at a low er level than last year. Fir Country Hard Hit Western Oregon fir country has been hard hit by the lumber market recission and layoffs are now spreading to supporting in dustries such as trade and ser vice lines, the commission said. The Portland four - county area reported 21,200 people looking for work compared to 17,000 a month ago and 14,500 last year. Insured unemployment is also on the increase, reaching 28, 223 last week up from 20, 864 the month before.
