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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1957)
3URTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday, December 23, 1957 Starts i rvA I rN Iff Ar site;! f f '1 DEPENDABLE TRANSPORTATION Wilbur Gardner, above, who has operated Gardner's Shoe Repair shop at 612 East Main St., Medford, for the last 27 years, figures he gets the exercise he needs by riding a bicycle to work every morning. He esti mates he has traveled 45,000 miles by leg power during that time. Gardner's present bicycle is equipped with an electric generator, rear-view mirror, bell and turn signals, which he rigged up himself. On his own initative, Gardner about six month? ago began a one-man campaign to get federal laws passed to require manufacturers to label shoes as to what mate rials are used in their construction. Flood Waters Rising At East Car mi, III. By UNITED PRESS Flood waters Saturday con tinued to rise at East Carmi, 111., swelled by four hours of havy rains Friday night. Sat urday' forecast included yet mort downpours for the south ern Illinois city where already g families have been evacuated. Pfto boiling waters coursed through the Southern Illinois re fgion hit by a series of freakish ofi?0son tornadoes last week. Overflowing banks of the Little Wabftsh river caused the main highway from Mount Carmel, 111., to Princeton, Ind., to be closed down, police said. A band of showers crossed the Mississippi River from the PlainS jrea early today, and thunderstorm . activity continued into the night along the central Gulf Coast. Rains Hit Northwest i In Washington and Oregon, a new Pacific disturbance caused dawnpours to continue, while the influence of the storm was being felt in northern California and in the Rockies. More than 2 inches of rain fell at Crescent Ci-y, Calif., Friday, and a 6 to 7 inch snow fell at some of the higher ele vations of southern Oregon. Snowfall was widespread over the Great Lakes region but fell as slush in the northern sec tions of Illinois and Indiana. The U.S. Weather Bureau said night time temperature changes over the country were almost a complete reversal of the pre vious night. There were lower readings in he Rockies, the Crest 1 skes and down to Texas, in tho northern plains states and most cf the m'd and north At lantic states. Wavming, accompanied by c-oudiress, was reported in mcs. o'her regions of the country. Fis'Wimen S Iron del , The' recent cold front over the northern Midwest caused Lake SIM..- 3sEc ilATLOAD Three unidentified residents of Carmi, El., SBsaye housenoia possessions io mgner gruuna aiier uie ftUa Wabash River overflowed its banks, forcing 40 gfcilies to abandon their homes. The flood resulted from SSS7! raiDS foUowinS recent off-season tornadoes. Winnebago in Wisconsin to freeze over but not enough to support the more than 50 fishermen who ventured on the ice Friday. Authorities set up a ferry service of rowboats to res cue the stranded fishermen when cracks a block long set them adrift. At East Carmi, officials said the evacuation of about 40 fami lies t'om the fijoded lower scr-:i-n of the to.v.: by motorboai had been completed. Rebels Rounded Up, Ammunition Seized Oran, Algeria HP) French troops rounded up 83 rebels and seized two large ammunition dumps in a post-Christmas crackdown through the Oran department, the Army announc ed Saturday. Soldiers on patrol Friday near Tlemcen, 66 miles southwest of here reported 22 rebels guard ing an ammunition dump sur rendered after French forces lob bed tear gas grenades into their hideout. v Among the armaments recov ered were 60 grenades and 4, 000 rounds of ammunition, the French said. HOME BREWER FINED Chicago (IP) Albert Way, 45, was fined S250 dollars for fail ing to notify the Internal Rev enue Service of his home brew ery, despite his double-barrled defense. Way said he made 36 quarts, drinking half of it him self, selling the rest for 25 cents a quart. Washington (I?) Since it was put on sale a month ago, the Post Office Department said it has cancelled 778,287 first day covers and sold 3,421,548 of its new whooping crane three cent stamps. Gardner Receives Suport of Many Officials in Move By BOB VROMAN Mail Tribune Staff Writer Wilbur Gardner, who operates Gardner's Repair shop at 612 East Main st., Medford, is not by nature a trouble-maker. For 27 years he has been content to work in his little shop, hammer ing sewing away at the job of repairing shoes for Medford citizens. While he has known for some time that people were not al ways getting their money's worth when they bought a pair of shoes, he never figured he could do anything about it at least not until one day about six months ago when he suddenly got "fed up" and decided to take matters in his own hands. Pair after pair of children's shoes that were being brought into his shop didn't have enough solid leather anywhere to make a repair. They were paper from one end to the other, which was all covered up with a veneer of leather and probably cost the buyer from S8 to S10. Public Duped Gardner reasoned that if cloth ing, bedding, food stuffs and other commodities had to be labeled as to their contents or construction, why not shoes? He figured that the public is being "duped" by not having laws to compel manufacturers to label shoes as to what materials are used in their construction. The first thing Gardner did was to correspond with congress men in Washington, D. C, to stir up interest in getting shoe label laws and to find out what he could do to help get them. Gardner has written to govern ment heads of other countries to find out what laws are in ex- istance on the labeling of shoes and he has had several articles published in. trade journals on the subject. He recently received a reply from Prime Minister Robert G Menzies of Australia, along with a copy of the laws that control shoe labeling in that country. Although the laws are not as comprehensive as Gardner would have them, , Australia's regula- tions are the best of any coun try in the world, and may serve as,a pattern for setting up such laws here. More Expensive Not only are they more ex pensive m the long run, but cheaply-made shoes do not give proper support to the wearer's feet, Gardner said, and that after they have been wet once they are apt to loose their shape com pletely. He said this is particu larly harmful to children's feet and he added that foot doctors claim that 65 per cent of the shoes on the market today can not be rebuilt for foot correction purposes because of the cheap materials used in their manu facture. He also said that one third of the children's shoes to day are not even repairable Paper is the most common of the "cheap" materials used in shoe construction and lately it is being found in even the better grades of shoes. Gardner said that 75 per cent of the children's shoes made today have wooden shanks instead of steel, or else no shanks at all. In some women's shoes, he said, a manufacturer will import expensive leather and do a fine job of styling to make a hand some shoe, but inside there will be found paper insoles, heel counters and toe caps. The cus tomer pays a high price for the shoes, which may actually "fall apart" if they get wet. This is particularly true of summer shoes, Gardner said. Gardner's complaint isn't so much the fact that paper fiber is used in shoe manufacture, but that if it is used the shoe buver should know what he is getting for his money. Sends Petitions Right now Gardner is in the process of sending out hundreds of petitions to cities all over the United States to aid , in getting legislation passed. This was sug gested by Sen. Wayne Morse, along with other information, in a three-page reply to Gardner's inquiry. Gardner has picked 12 cities in each state to send the petitions, which he is doing en tirely on his own. On the petition in his own shop Gardner has about 200 sig natures, a good many of which are Medford doctors and shoe retailers, who recognize the trouble caused from poorly-made footwear. The petitions read: "National Petition to Label Shoes To state on a label what shoes are made of for your protection, due to the use of paper fiber and imitation leather in their manu facture. I believe I could buy better shoes if they were labeled. I believe I could buy better shoes by label and better foot health would result. I believe a great savings m money would result if I could buy shoes' by label." i . 1 EXAMINES SHOE Above, Wilbur Gardner, who feels that buyers are being "gypped" when they pay high prices for shoes that are made of paper, examines a typical child's shoe that couldn't even be repaired because of cheap construction. Gardner is trying to get federal legislation passed to compel man ufacturers to tell on a label what shoes are made of.. Upon the advice of Senator Wayne Also, at the suggestion of Sen. Morse, Gardner is collecting spe cific evidence of the use of paper ,iber in particular brands of shoes, and on his counter for the public to see are cut-away sam ples of shoes made with paper that could not be repaired. Attached to Shoes He believes that the label should be attached to the shoes themselves and if they contain paper fiber, wood or plastics, or any other product besides genu ine leather, the label should say so in plain language and not call the material by some high sounding name. In this way Gardner feels that buyers will be able to judge better for themselves whether or not a particular shoe is worth the price. Shoe retailers seem to be m accord with Gardner's ideas too, because they often get "kick backs" from customers who find that a pair of expensive shoes is cheaply made. Almost every shoe repairman in the nation is aware of the problem, Gardner said, and it's about time something was done about it. Receives Commendation Gardner has already received commendation from Parent's magazine for his investigations and he has received endorsement from various organizations local ly. He also received a letter from Gino Prato, the Brooklyn shoe repairman who , became known nationally after his appearance on $64,000 Question, commend ing him on what he has done. Prato said he would visit Gard ner in Medford soon to see if he can do anything to help get a shoe label law passed. Gardner now has the ball roll- i i i ing on a nation-wiae scaie ana the time may not be far off when a , person can go into a store and buy a pair of shoes and at least get what he pays for, putting to an end to what Gardner calls the deceptive prac tice of our shoe industries. Austrian Advisor Dies After Session New York Dr. Egon F. Ranshofen-Wertheimer, 63, form er advisor to the Austrian dele gation to the United Nations General Assembly session which ended here Dec. 4, died Friday. He apparently suffered a heart attack while waiting for a plane to return to Astoria. Ranshofen - Wertheimer was appointed a member of the Sec retariat pf the League of Na ns in 1930. He served as a consultant for organization of the United Nations with the U.S. Department of State from 1945 to 1946. Many Left Homeless After Bandia Raid Tokyo (IP) A bandit raid on a small village on West Java on Thursday left seven dead and more than 1,000 homeless, the Communist New China News ag ency reported Saturday. The agency, quoting an Antara dispatch from Djakarta, said ele ments of the "Islamic Army" plundered the village of Kunin- gan, West Java, killed seven villagers, wounded two others and then set fire to 301 homes. Use Tribune Want Ads AUTO-TRAIN CRASH INJURES 16 Railroad workers repair track near Oakley, CaL, where the crack Santa Fe streamliner Golden Gate smashed into a stalled car and de railed, injuring 16 persons. The driver of the auto, who tried to flag down the on rushing train, was uninjured. NATION'S FIRST This is the elaborate control room at . Shippingport, Pa.' as the nation's first full-scale atomic power plant went into operation. Pittsburgh began to use electricity produced from the atomic power. Three operators man the con trols around the clock to keep tab on the distribution system, the turbine-generator section and the nuclear reactor furnace. Oil Company Exec Dies In Denver Denver OP) Edward T. Wil son, former president of the Con tinental Oil Co., died here Friday at St. Luke's hospital. He was 88 and had been ill only a short time. He was president of the oil firm from 1912 until his retire ment in Denver in 1932. He also was chairman of the board at the time of his retirement. Wilson is survived by four children, Mrs. Isabel Johnson of Portland,, Mrs.- Elsie Blackwell of Short Hills, N.J., Laurence R. Wilson of Portland and Robert D. Wilson of Denver. Funeral arrangements were pending. GERMANS VISIT FORMOSA Taipei, Formosa (IP) The first West German goodwill mis sion to visit this Nationalist Chi nese island stronghold will ar rive early . next month, it was announced Saturday. The Foreign Ministry said the 10-member group, most of whom are members of the West Ger man rarliament, will make a i two-week tour. Morse, he is now in the process of sending petitions, similar to the one in his own shop, to other shoe shops throughout the United States. Gardner feels that if shoes were la beled a buyer could judge better for himself if a pair of shoes is worth the money or not and would know what to expect from the shoes as far as wear is concerned. MINI 1 1 1 1 1 , , uurrenr creamer.' . Reports III (recorded) , . Day or Night SP 3-6263 ' Comer-Morris s v3 WEST MAIN AT SIXTH fT "Your TV Weotherman" . MORTUARY -4 J WEST "Your TV Weatherman" KBES-TV Monday Thru Fndav 6:00 P.M. I Member National Selected KBES-TV Monday Thru Friday I anj g Streets .and . Year-End Rally Marks Stock Market Trends By ELMER C. WALZER United Press Financial Editor New York (IP) Stocks en joyed a miniature year - end rally during the past week with steels and building shares lead ing. Utilities gained 0.70 point on the week in thier average which closed at 68.65. That left it 0.11 point above the 1956 closing, in contrast with the industrials which were down 66.57 points from the 1956 close and rails, down 55.84 points on the year. Industrials closed this week at 432.90, up 5.70 points. Rails closed at 97.39, up . 0.47. The market gained in three of the four sessions and met weekend realizing and evening up opera tions on Friday. During the week the cumula tive sales total for 1957 moved above the 1956 figure. With two days left in each year the totals stood at 551,124,580 shares for 1957 against 549,800,708 shares in 1956. In the last two sessions of last year, sales totaled 2, 790,000 and 3,680,000 shares re spectively. Gains Outnumber Losses Of the 1,397 issues traded dur ing the week 660 gained, 560 declined, and 177 held unchang changed with news of the bus iness world more1 drab than in many a week. About the only bright spot was retail trade that apparently set a record high for the Christmas holiday and indi- MAIN AT SIXTH 4tn and c streets Morticians by Invitation cated a record for all of 1957. Big industries had more than the seasonal shutdowns and all of them declined. Trading in the market brought out a daily average of 2,476.978 shares, against 2,634,644 shares daily in the previous week. The decline reflected a reduction in tax loss selling and an absence of many traders for an extended Christmas holiday. Steel issues showed gains on the week ranging to nearly 3 points in Armco. Republic Steel rose more than 2 and U. S. Steel and Bethlehem rose nearly 2 points each. The steel group got a lift from a statement by Re public that it was relighting five of its closed furnaces in the Youngstown district sooner than anticipated because of better de mand for steel. Housing Outlook Improved Various agencies told of im proved outlook for housing next year. The increase projected, while less than 100,000 units, was seen as highly significant. Better demand for new homes is expected to be helped along by easier money and improved terms for purchasers. A long list of issues in any way connected with building moved higher. U. S. Gypsum gained 33,4 points and gains of 2 points or more were set by Best wall Gypsum, Corning Glass, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Crane Co,. Masonite, Minneapolis Hon eywell, Trane and Georgia-Pacific Corj. Celotex rose nearly 2 points and so did Westinghouse Electric. General Electric rose more than a point. Several of the railroad shares made a good showing despite the 19th successive weekly de cline from a year ago in car loadings. Kansas City Southern and Western gained 2. "T I il T 5 - W,M WBUB W.VUJf Zenith ran up 5'i points in the television group. General T7- i o : - . T-i 1 ruuus ruae & in its sec lion, r i delity Phenix gained 4? and Thompson'Products 31- points in the special issues. Caterpillar iracior rose ana lngersou- AmAA 111 11C X VnKJL builders. Aircrafts and tire shares moved irregularly as did oils. Motors eased on a reduced output and predictions the new year would bring sales of 5.5 million units against 5.8 mil lion in 1957. .. Drug issues met demand along with many other consumer goods item. American Home, Products rose 4 points and gains of more than 2 points each were set by Parke Davis, and American Cy anamid. General Motors topped the list in volume with sales of 135, 500 shares. It closed the week at 33VS, off V point. A year ago the stock sold at 44. Stan dard Oil NJ., with sales of 125,600 shares, was in second plane. It rose 3A point to 4934 North American Aviation, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Bethlehem Steel were in third, fourth, and fifth places respec tively. Michigan Governor To Be Chief Speaker . Los Angeles (IP) Michi gan Gov. G. Mennen Williams will deliver the keynote address at the opening session of the California Democratic council , endorsing convention Jan. 10 in Fresno, Calif., it was announced Saturday. The Democratic governor will arrive in San Francisco Jan. 9 and drive to Fresno. He'll return to Michigan the mornini? after 'the speech. I I I I mi l -fiiari
