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Tribune
EDFORD
26 Pages
MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1957
No. 195
M
o
O
o
xamination M
Attempt Made at
Medford Branch of
First National
Robbery Thwarted As
Teller Sees Toy Gun
A sanity examination has been
requested for a 57-year-old man
who waCarrested yesterday after
an attempt was made to hold
up the Medford branch of the
First National bank.
The suspect is Charles Wesley
Seaver, a recent arrival in Med
ford, and a former patient in a
veterans hospital in Vancouver,
Wash. He was arrested about 40
minutes after the attempted
hold-up at 4:15 p.m., when City
Police Officer Gene Dupuy saw
he answered a description given
of the holdup man by bank em
ployees. u
When asked to accompany the
officer to the police station for
questioning, a toy gun, similar
to the one used in the holdup at
tempt, fell from Seaver's coat,
Officer Dupuy said.
Robbery Thwarted
The robbery was thwarted
when Mrs, Edna May McLeod,
the bank teller, recognized the
gun the man pointed at her was
a toy. She said he pointed the
silver colored cap pistol at her
and handed her a handwritten
& note which said, "I want the
paper money or death for you
me."
She told authorities the pistol
was "broken" as if for reloading.
When she recognized It as a toy,
she attempted to show the note
to a nearby clerk. The clerk was
busy, so Mrs. McLeod left her
teller's cage and crossed the
floor of the bank to the desk
of C. Elwood Hedberg, the bank
manager.
While Hedberg called police,
Mrs. McLeod and Assistant Man
ager Allen Eames saw the man
had left the bank. They ran out
the Main st. entrance but were
unable to locate him.
Qulir Busy
Q "Bank officers said the bank
quite busy at the time the
(exempt was made, and that the
rrTT(-J3ood In one line, then
(ehgr&id to the line at Mrs. Mc
$3d'a)window. They said he did
Sot Sbeak during the incident.
q Pojfte and federal bureau of
investigation agents
said this
mnmiiig Soavpr Via made no
formal admission of the holdup
attempt, but that he did tell
them he had written a note de
manding money from the teller.
Krjls being held in the county
jail.
Doctors who examined Seaver
this morning said they will ask
the court to have him sent to
the Oergon state hospital for a
30-day mental observation. A
physician was summoned by po
liec after Seaver was arrested
because he was in a "very ner
vous condition."
Search Bank
A search of the bank yester
day revealed several "pactice"
notes demanding money in a
wastebasket. Officers said the
notes were on the same type of
paper as the holdup note, and
seemed to be in the same hand
writing. Seaver told police he recently
had been released from the VA
hospital in Vancouver, Wash.,
and listed his address as 7312
S.E. Woodward ave., Portland.
He said he has been in Medford
since about Dec. 3. living at the
San Louis hotel, 33 South
Front st.
FBI agents said they are
awaiting word from the U.S. at
torney in Portland before pro
ceeding further in the case.
Salem W Gov. Robert D.
Holmes has proclaimed Dec. 10
as human rights day.
Council Authorizes Meter
Use For Awning Supports
The city council last night
adopted an ordinance to. permit
downtown merchants to use
parking meter posts for awning
supports. Such an awning is
planned around the Fluhrer
building at Main st. and Cen
tral ave.
The awnings will be of a plas
tic material to cover sidewalks
from the building to the curb.
City Manager Robert Duff said
insurance rates for the city and
buildings using the awnings may
increase slightly.
Plastic used in the awnings is
fireproof, according to tests by
the building department. The
ordinance provides that signs on
such awnings must comply with
the city sign ordinance, exten
sion of parking meter supports
sLfirrt' -'"-, im iMn '"''"t'S
ARRESTS HOLDUP SUSPECT Medford Police Officer Gene
Dupuy holds the toy pistol said to be used by suspect Charles
Wesley Seaver, 57, in an attempt to hold up the Medford branch
of the First National Bank of Portland. Dupuy said he saw
Seaver walking on South Central ave. about 30 minutes after
the attempted holdup. When questioning him the toy gun fell
from his coat. Seaver was lodged in the county jail on charges
of attempted bank robbery.
Grange Group Studies
Proposal to Include
Hospital at
A proposal to expand the
Camp White Veterans Adminis
trtaion Domiciliary into a combi
nation domiciliary and general
hospital is under investigation
by a committee of the Eagle
Point Grange.
The group this morning met
with E. K. Ricker, manager of
Camp White, to discuss the pro
posal, and to tour facilities at
Lininger Bids Low
On Eighth St. Job
M. C. Lininger and sons, Med
ford, was low bidder for grading
and paving Eigth st. between
Elm and Front sts. in Medford.
The company bid $106,850.
The project is part of Med
ford's arterial street program,
and will be for eastbound traffic
when completed. Main st. will
serve westbound traffic in the
one-way couplet.
Bids for the project were
opened by the state highway
commission in Portland yester
day. It is a federal aid project.
Other bidders on the paving
project were Hughes and Dodd
and Tru-Mix Equipment com
pany, Medford, $113,213; R and
M Construction company, Cen
tral Point, $113,235: F. L. Som
ers, Medford, $128,622; and Peter
Kiewit Sons' company, Medford,
$149,442.
Steeck Electric company of
Medford submitted a bid of
$7,119 for installation of traffic
signals on Pacific highway at
Siskiyou blvd., and Wightman
st., Ashland.
Radio Moscow Reports
U. 5. Satellite Failure
London (IP) Radio Moscow
reported flatly and without com
ment tonight the U.S. failure to
launch its first satellite.
The short announcement
heard here said:
"The much publicized U.S.
artificial earth satellite Van
guard, which was to have been
launched today, exploded with
the carrier-rocket during the
launching."
must be according to city speci
fications, not be distracting for
passing traffic, and must be re
moved if awnings are in a state
of disrepair.
A representative of a firm
planning to use such an awning
told the council about 60 per cent
of the summer heat would be atM
sorbed by the awnings. He said
present awnings now cover about
one-third to one-half the side
walk and only keep the sun
from the store windows.
. He said with installation of
the awnings, people walking on
the sidewalk would be protected
from the sun and rain as would
the goods in store windows. He
said the awnings can be con
sidered an improvement in the
looks of the downtown area.
CW Site
the domiciliary now unused.
Post 15, Medford American
Legion, and other veterans
groups, have long been working
quietly to see if the proposal can
be placed into effect. The Grange
became interested in the idea re
cently, and members have indi
cated that if expanded VA facili
ties cannot be obtained, other
possible uses for the buildings
will be investigated.
Conference This Morning
The conference this morning
was attended by about 15 mem
bers of the Grange, and press
representatives. Members told
Ricker they had heard rumors
of a VA hospital to be built in
eastern Oregon, but he said they
may have arisen from plans an
nounced in 1946 to build a 200
bed VA hospital in Klamath
Falls. The plan later was
abandoned.
Ricker said the present num
ber of members at Camp White
is 861, and added that some 200
veterans are now actively seek
ing medical care there. He de
clined to estimate the number of
hospital beds which could be ac
commodated should hospital sta
tus be given to the facility.
The nearest VA hospital to the
south is at Oakland, and the
nearest VA general hospital is in
Portland. The VA hospital in
Roseburg is for neuropsychiatric
patients.
Constructed during the war as
a general army hospital to serve
two divisions in training at
Camp White, the present build
ings still have a clinic, operating
rooms, and other hospital facili
ties.
Ricker said that general hospi
tal costs total between $18 and
$24 per day per patient to oper
ate, wheraes costs for a domi
ciliary are about $5 per member
per day.
Following the conference, the
group left on a tour of the do
miciliary, and of the unused hos
pital facilities.
22 Appointments For
Bloodmobile Listed
Red Cross officials reported
today that only 22 appointments
have been made for the regular
visit of the Bloodmobile at the
new Red Cross building on Haw
thorne st. Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The Bloodmobile will be sta
tioned at the building between 1
and 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Red Cross officials said 350
donors are needed to fill the 290
pin, quota for Medford. Appoint
ments may be made by telephon
ing the Red Cross office at
Spring 3-3813. They said walk
in donors would be welcome.
Ike at Gettysburg
For Restful Week End
Gettysburg, Pa. (IP) Presi
dent Eisenhower was at his farm
today for a long restful week end
before his doctors determine
definitely whether he can at
tend the NATO summit confer
ence in Paris.
The Chief Executive arrived
at his rambling farm home here
Thursday.
ed
Bulletin
Atlantic City. N. J. (W
The AFL-CIO convention to
day booted the Teamsters
Union out of the merged labor
movement for failure to re
move officials charged with
corruption.
The two-thirds vote neces
sary for expulsion was clinched
when the million - member
Sleelworkers Union threw its
weight behind the clear-up
forces.
Bids Opened for
Science, Heating
Plant at College
Ashland Bill Wiley, Ashland
contractor, submitted the lowest
base bid for the general contract
for constructing a new science
building at Southern Oregon col
lege, Dr. Elmo Stevenson said
today. Wiley bid $232,150. Bids
were opened in Portland yester
day. Electronic Service of Medford
submitted a low base bid of $35,-
470 for electric service in the
building, and Modern Plumbing
of Medford bid $73,340 on a me
chanical contract.
Subject to Review
All bids are subject to review
Vi-o- the stafp board of hieher
education early next week, Dr.
Stevenson said. Base bids do not
include alternatives.
Weber Showcase and Fixtures
company, San Francisco, submit
ted a base bid of $31,125 for
equipment in the science build
ing, Dr. Stevenson said.
Graff and James of Medford
submitted a bid of $104,103 for
construction of the heating plant
and tunnels on the campus, and
Modern Plumbing was low bid
rfpr on the heating plant me
chanical contract. The firm bid
$154,800 to install steam lines,
boilers, storage tanks and pip
ing.
Ground Work
Dr. Stevenson said construc
tion of both buildings is expected
to start within 30 days after con
tracts have been awarded.
Other bids on the general con
tract were: A. S. McMurry com
pany, Yreka, $239,062; H. G.
Carl Construction company.
Salem, $248,432; Graff and
James, $243,828; Bessonette Con
struction company, Medford,
$252,000: Myers D. Jones, Med
ford, $258,000; Todd Building
rnmnanv. Roseburg, $267,440;
Donald M. Drake company, Port
land, $270,500; and H. Barnhart,
Medford, $280,525.
Other bidders on the heating
plant were: R. I. Randolph Con
struction company, baiem, $11,-
107- Todd, $124,689; Ausianct
Construction company. Grants
Pass, $125,960; Bessonette, $133,-
000; Drake, $143,800; and Can,
$164,832.
Bids for the mechanical work
on the science building were:
Rogue River Hardware company,
Grants Pass, $79,074; McLaugh
lin Plumbing and Heating com
pany, Medford, $79,998; Stuart
Mechanical, Medford, $85,000;
Urban Plumbing and Heating
company, Portland, $92,874: and
A. G. Rushlight company, Port
land, $95,030,
The Down-To-Earth Missile Race
(HerblocJs Is
r Holdup
GASOLINE' SPILLED This gasoline truck,
which was parked at Richfield Truck and
Auto service, 2390 North Pacific highway,
was struck about 5 a.m. today by a logging
truck operated by Leonard D. Lewis, Med
ford, when he turned into the station to have
a headlight repaired. A fist-sized hole (see ar
row) was torn in the side of the tank and
2,800 gallons of ethyl gasoline spilled out on
the ground and down a nearby drainage
Stayton Man Killed
In Rock Slide on
Construction Job
Grants Pass HP! Charles M.
Warnock, 50, of Stayton, was
killed Thursday while working
on a forest access road near
Brownton in southeastern Jose
phine county.
Warnock, an employee of the
A. L. Harding Construction com
pany, was working with three
other crew members on a shale
rock face. Three of the four
men jumped to safety when the
shale above them began to slide.
Warnock, however, was crush
ed by several large slabs of shale
before he could flee. He was
crushed against a drilling rig.
Survivors include his wife,
who is residing ' temporarily at
Applegate.
Pick Drill Spot
Virgil Hull, Josephine county
coroner, said that Warnock, Gary
Bales, Larry Adams, and Willis
Harding, one of the owners of
the construction firm, were pick
ing a spot to drill a hole for fur
ther blasting. Rock had been
cleared by a bulldozer after pre
vious blasting at the site.
Hull credited Adams with
preventing additional loss of life.
He said Adams saw the rock
falling and yelled. Bales was
knocked down by the slide.
The road is being built for the
bureau of land management.
Scene of the slide was on Steve's
fork of Sturgis creek.
Milwaukie, Ore. OP) Thieves
peeled open the safe at Mil
waukie High school Thursday
night and authorities said about
$260 in cash was taken.
Copyright. 1957. The Pulitzer Publishing Co,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch I
on Vacation)
. 7jr --
Khrushchev Says US
IKIas Sputnik docket
Moscow (TP) Soviet Communist party chiftain Nikita Khrush
chev said tonight that the carrier rocket of the first Soviet Sput
nik plunged to earth over American territory last Sunday but "the
Americans will not give it up to us."
Khrushchev made his declaration io foreign correspondents at
a Finnish Embassy reception. Q'
"We know the carrier rocket fell over the United Stales,"
Khrushchev said. "But they do not want to give it back to us.
"We relied on their decency, but they did not live up lo it."
"We know it fell somewhere in the United Stales and will an
nounce it publicly soon with a request thai they return it to us."
He added thai "should the Americans launch a Sputnik and
if that Sputnik falls over Soviet territory, we would return it
promptly."
When asked to comment on the American satellite, he said:
"We have been waiting for an American Sputnik to be
launched, and I am sure that it will be launched sooner or later."
Satellite Failure
'Not Too Surprising'
Washington OP) Defense
Secretary Neil H. McElroy said
today the failure of the U.S.
satellite launching was "disap
pointing" but "not too sur
prising." McElroy discussed the launch
ing failure just before taking
off for Europe where he will at
tend the NATO summit meet
ing in Paris.
"Of course it was disappoint
ing," McElroy said, "But it was
not too surprising at our first
full-scale trial."
President Eisenhower had no
immediate comment.'
But members of Congress re
acted quickly and, in some cases,
bitterly.
Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney
(D-Wyo.) blamed the Eisenhower
administration for failure of the
Vanguard launching.
Blames Eisenhower
"It should never have happen
ed," O'Mahoney told newsmen.
"We have the scientists capable
of doing the job but they were
held back by the administra
tion." He added that one of the
first acts of President Eisen
hower after taking office in
DOW-JONES AVERAGES
New York Iff) Dow-Jones
final stock averages 30 indus
trials 447.20. off 2.35; 20 rail
roads 99.20, off 1.51; 15 utili
ties 67.80, off 0.16. and 65
stocks 148.40, off 0.97. Sales
today were about 2,350,000
shares compared with 2,020,
000 shares Thursday.
WEATHER
FORECAST: Cloudy with show
ers tonight and Saturday. A
little warmer. Low tonight
38-40. High Saturday 48.
Temp.
Hiehest Yesterday 40
Lowest this Morning 3
Prec. to 10 a.m. Today 05
Our Skies Tonight
Sunrise
Sunset
7:26 a.m.
4:39 p.m.
4:37 p.m.
Moonrise
Full Moon .. 10:16 p.m.
PROMINENT STAR
Aldebaran, near the Moon.
VISIBLE PLANETS
Venus, sets 7:50 p.m.
Jupiter, rises
Mars, rises
3:34 a.m.
.... 5:47 a.m.
grate. According to Fire Chief Gordon Bark
er, it will take a day or so for that much
gasoline to evaporate and there is a potential
danger of it becoming ignited in the drain
age ditch. Lewis said that his truck brakes
grabbed and the vehicle went into a skid as
he turned into the station, according to city
police. The gasoline truck, property of the
Acme Transportation company, was badly
damaged.
1953 was to cut back research
and development budgets sub
mitted to Congress by President
Truman.
"Publicitywise and propa
gandawise, the failure was as
disastrous to us as Russian Sput
niks one and two," O'Mahoney
aid. Other congressional com
ment varied.
"Of course it's disappointing,"
said Sen.' John L. McClellan
(D-Ark.).
"It emphasizes the need for
our concentrating with all our
might and strength in the field
of science and technology until
we have advanced to where we
are confident that our accomp
lishments are not inferior to any
other in the world."
Too Much Publicity
Rep. Gerald R. Fo,rd Jr. (R
Mich.), member of the House
Appropriations S u b c o mmittee
looking into the missile-satellite
picture, said the failure "in
dicates a good reason why it is
desirable to proceed with the
Army Jupiter-C missile as an
alternative for launching a satel
lite." Rep. Carl T. Durham (D-N.C),
a member of the House Armed
Services Committee, said it was
unfortunate the attempted
launching "had so much publicity."
World Newspapers Jibe at
U.S. Satellite
By UNITED PRESS
Slowness of the- United States
to get its earth satellite off the
ground was reflected today in
titles bestowed upon it through
out the world.
'Stallnik' in Mexico
In Japan it became the "Sput
ternik." In Mexico they call it
the "Stallnik." In Germany it is
the "Spaetnik" which can be
freely translated into "Latenik."
French newspapers ranging
from Figaro to the Communist
l'Humanite called it the "Pam
plemousse" which is French for
grapefruit.
Belgium newspapers used the
same expression. To the Danes
Vanguard Explodes
As Flames, Smoke
Engulf Missile
Several Weeks Seen
Before New Attempt
Cape Canaveral, Fla. (IP)
A satellite-carrying U.S. rocket
exploded on the ground today in
a fresh failure of American
efforts to meet Russia's Sputnik
challenge.
The Defense Department an
nounced " its personnel and
scientists at the scene escaped
injury.
An orcnge ball of flame and
billowing clack smoke engulfed
the gleaming silver Vanguard
Navy missile at the moment it
was fired, 8:45 a.m. (P.S.T.)
The rocket blew up on its
launching stand.
Army Getting Ready
The Defense Department also
said it probably will be at least
several weeks before another at
tempt will be made to launch a
test satellite.
The Army, also in the moon
carrying effort, is getting ready
its own attempt to launch a
satellite but it is not ready to
fire.
The Vanguard, a thing of
beautiy on its launching 'stand,
toppled into the water just be
fore it exploded, .an inglorious
end to a magnificent endeavor.
Rocket Explodes
Dr. John P. Hagen, chief of
the satellite project, said in
Washington through a spokes
man that the trouble developed
two seconds after the Vanguard
rocket was fired.
. The spokesman said there was
a "loss of chamber pressure in
the first stage" of the three-
stage 72-foot rocket.
"Then the rocket fell back on
the stand, toppled over toward
the water that is toward the
east and exploded," the
spokesman said.
Fire followed the explosion
of the Vanguard but did not last
long.
In nontechnical ' language,
what happened, according to the
Defense Department, was that
the power failed vhich hurls the
rocket into space. Early diag
nosis put the blame in the
rocket's first stage.
Hagan quoted J. Paul Walsh,
deputy Vanguard director at
Canaveral, as being "naturally
very disappointed."
Reporters could hear the dra-
matic last portion of the count
down preceding the firing 19-18-17
...
News of Failure
They got down to one second.
All was tense in the public in
formation office at Patrick Air
Force Base.
Maj. Kenneth Grine was on
the phone. He got to zero. Noth
ing happened. Then there was a
pause. It was only seconds but
seemed like hours.
The announcer at the cape on '
the phone said "All personnel
stand by."
Then the news was broken
that the rocket had failed.
Finally they passed around a
little card with these words on
it: "Exploded No injuries."
But by then everybody knew.
It was written on the face of the
man on the phone.
Minutes later, pelicans wheel
ed over the base at Cape Cana
veral, the only sign of aerial
activity visible to hundreds of
newsmen and spectators who
had gathered on the beach to
witness the event.
BUY CHRISTMAS SEALS
HELP FIGHT TB
Attempts
it is "Sprutnik," and "Sprut" is
Danish slang for booze.
The usual German expression
for it is "Spaetnik" but off the
cuff it's either "Fluppnit" or
"Klappnit" which is slang for
"it does not work."
'Baby Moon' in Italy
Oslo's newspaper Arbeiderbla
det headlined it "USAtellite."
. The Swiss also settle for
Spaetnik and play it straight
faced. ' In Italy it's the "U.S. Baby
Moon." In Helsinki it is the
"Baby Moon."
The Zurich newspaper Tage
sanzeiger calls it the "Yankee-moon."
C,