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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1958)
TWELVE MEDfORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday January 3, 1958 me if Wei 0 Worn Secrets est 5 yZT 4 a FUTURE POLAR BEARS Local residents interested in for ming a Polar Bear club in the valley met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. B. D. Mitchell day. Shown above, on the edge to right, Bob Dickey, Mitchell, Jerry Olsen, and Bert Thier olf. Others at the all-day party were, besides the Mitchells, Ellis Chartier, Dr. and Mrs. er, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Hearin, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Collins," Mr. and Mrs. Dave Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. Thierolf, Mr. and Mrs. Olsen, Mr. and Mrs. Dickey, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Mohrs, Mr. and Mrs. Berwick Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Doug McCann, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Bush Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John Raap, Mr. and Mrs. George Rasmussen, and Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Mayfield. ROGUE RIVER Anniversary Celebrated By MRS. MYRTLE WHIPPLE I of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Oat - Rogue River Mr. and ney. Those attending were Mrs. Carl Christenson cele brated their 50th wedding an niversary Dec. 22, with a re ception at Fellowship hall of the Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. Christenson were married Dec. 20, 1907, In Colorado Springs, Colo., and have been residents of this area since 1940. They have made many friends here, who greeted them at the hall between 2 and 4 p.m. The couple received their guests under an archway of golden streamers and bells. The hall was decorated with baskets of colorful flow ers and bells, done by Mrs. Esther Shock. Mrs. Robert Brown had charge of the guest book. At the refreshment tables Mrs. Christenson's sister, Mrs. Betty Smith served the cake, assisted by her granddaugh ter, Sharon Smith. Misses Ann and Patricia Christenson served the punch and Mrs. Rollin Stiehl and Mrs. Dor othy Ricks served the coffee. A small Christmas tree was on the gift table, and to this was clipped dollar bills as gifts to the Christenson's, who received many other gifts. This table was presided over by Mrs. Christenson's niece, Mrs. Hubert Smith. Out of town guests were the Christenson's son, Carl, M. Christenson and family, who arrived by plane from Denver, Colo. They stayed until after Christmas. Other guests were Mr. and Mrs. Ed Ricks of Jefferson, Ore. The Christenson's daughter and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Orien Harnmett planned the celebration. : Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Wood and daughters of Redway, Calif., spent Christmas with Mrs. Woods' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Magerle. A family ; dinner was held at the home ROGUE VALLEY STATE BANK MEDFORD CONDENSED RESOURCES Loans and Discounts . United States Bonds Municipal Bonds and Warrants Building and Fixtures Cash and Due From Banks Stock in Federal Reserve Bank TotaL OFFICERS W. H. Young - -Clarence H. Young Leonard Bradshaw -Ralph E. Pierce -Neal A. Curry Gertrude F. McCorkle Ron. E. Cordon - Member Federal Deposit SERVING JACKSON COUNTY SINCE 1911 LOCAL OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL 9. .m m m . m era i i ' - sw-. v- .-:"7 a on Black Oak dr. New Year's of the Mitchell pool, are, left Hibbs, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Fish the Magerles' daughter, Mrs. Charles Perrin and family, Mrs. Bessie Clyde and fam ily, their son George and family and daughter, Mrs. Wood and family. Out of town guests were Mr. and Mrs. Thexlon, parents of Mrs. George Magerle, from Sacramento, Calif. Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Deal of Susanville, Calif., called New Year's eve at the home of Clyde's uncle, Tom Wilson, and cousin, Mrs. Ambre Blay den. Mrs. Blanch Schar left for her home in Portland after spending two weeks as guest of the John Breedings. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Mauld ing of Tillamook, Ore., were callers New Years day at the Tom Wilson home. They were returning home after attend ing Mr. Maulding's mothers funeral at Medford. Mr. and Mrs. George Mag erle and children and Mr. and Mrs. Thexton of Sacra mento visited the Thexton!s son and family at Klamath Falls last week. Mr. and Mrs. John Breed ing and Blanch Schar were dinner guests Christmas at the home of Mrs. Schar's neice and family, the Evans at Grants Pass. Mr. and Mrs. Bill Baker and children . of Fortuna, Calif., spent Christmas with Mrs. Barkers parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Smith. Other guests for Christmas dinner were Mr. and Mrs. Wes Brown and children of Grants Pass. Mr. and Mrs. Al Goessling of Alpine, Ore., were guests Christmas of Mr. and Mrs. Dick Magerle. OREGON STATEMENT DECEMBER .$1,117,068.99 . 1,681,907.41 . 270,133.82 69,198.12 Capital Surplus Undivided Profits Deposits Interest Collected, Not Earned A. 896,300.33 5,400.00 .$4,040,008.67 TotaL President Executive Vice-President and Manager - - - Vice-President - Vice-President - - - Cashier Assistant Cashier Assistant Cashier Insurance Corporation Member Jonas Resigning As Representative Salem U State Rep. Guy Jonas', Salem, announced Sat urday he was resigning to give more time to his family. business and law studies. Jonas, a Democrat, was serving his first term in the state legislature. He was a member of the tax committee at the recent special session of the legislature and served on the tax, commerce, utility and state-federal committees during the regular 1957 ses sion. "I find myself unable to continue the sacrifices in time and money involved in a long election campaign and ever lengthening legislative ses sions and at the rame time give proper attention to my personal responsibilities," Jo nas said in announcing his resignation. Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Miller, Mrs. Lois Morgan and Lloyd Smith are all out again after having a siege of the flu dur ing the holidays. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Owen of Grants Pass, Mrs. L. A. Mil ler and son, Russell, were dinner guests Christmas of Jim Rhoten and family at Wimer. New Years dinner guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Whipple were Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Swift. Mrs. Bill Owsley spent the holidays with her son and family at Eureka, Calif. Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Per rin and sons have moved into the Shults home on Cedar street. The place was recent ly purchased by Mrs. Perrin's brother, George Magerle. Mr. and Mrs. Allan Mc Gregory, Jr., of Valdez, Alaska, were visting with rel atives and friends in Rogue River last week. Mr. and Mrs. James Ram bo of Long Island, N.Y., ar rived Dec. 20 to spend the holidays with their son and family, the Dr. Cedric Ram bos. Mr. and Mrs. John Foster of Medford were overnight guests Christmas eve and spent Christmas day with Tom Wilson and Mrs. Ambre Blayden. Mrs. Foster is Mr. Wilsons sister. Ardin Terrill had as Christ mas day guests for dinner his brother, Jack Terril, and wife and Mrs. Julia Dow, all of Lake Creek, Ore. Mr. and Mrs. Rolland Jones entertained Christmas with a family dinner. Guests were Mrs. Jones and parents, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Strahan, her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Dengler, and her aunt, Mrs. Chan Stokes, and hus band, and Chris and Wayne the Jones' sons. It takes an average of one acre of land to raise feed for one horse per year. 31, 1957 LIABILITIES 100,000.00 80,000.00 38,549.17 3,793,356.05 28,103.45 .$4,040,008.67 DIRECTORS W. H. Young " Clarence H. Young Leonard Bradshaw Ralph E. Pierce J. H. Stanley Frank P. Farrell Federal Reserve System Japanese Balloon Bomb Found by Two Klamath Fishermen BY JIM FISHER A discovery last July 29 by two Klamath Falls fisher men recalled for many res idents of southern Oregon and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest one of the best kept secrets of World War II What the fishermen dis covered were the remains of a Japanese balloon bomb nearly 12 years after it had landed on the north side of Pelican Butte, located ap proximately 25 miles north west of Klamath Falls. An Army ordnance bomb disposal team was sent from Ft. Lewis, Wash., to recover the bomb remains. The rice paper ' balloon had rotted away, . leaving only parts of the carrier Intact. Because of the absolute secrecy used by the United States in reporting the suc cess of the Japanese balloon bombs, few people today know just what the balloon bombs were and how they worked An even smaller proportion of the residents of the Med ford area relize that a bomb from one of these balloons fell and exploded on the out skirts of Medford early in 1945. About 5:45 p.m. Jan. 12, 1945, Oliver Tice was weigh ing hay with his brother near his barn on South Peach st., between Stewart ave. and the Old Stage rd. Tice, still resident of the Rogue River valley, recalls that he and his brother heard a whistling sound coming at them from straight overhead. He thought it was an airplane trying to land in his alfalfa field, but instead x the object whistled over him and fell to the ground about 500 feet from where the two men were standing. At once there was an explosion and flame "as blue as Crater Lake" shot into the air more than 30 feet. Tice's hat was blown off his head and the 125 head of cows that had been bedded down around the barn jumped to their feet. With the explosion over, thick white smoke curled up from the area and continued to do so for two hours. Tice and his brother walked over to the area of the explosion to investigate. There was a strong, sickening smell in the air. Tice's dog ran up and smelled around the bomb hole and immediately got sick. Force of Fall The two men noticed that the force of the fall had push ed the object more than four feet into the hard, sticky soil For an area four feet in dia meter around the explosion, the dark soil had been turn ed white and would crumble like pumice. Tice called the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but had to wait until nearly mid night before the local FBI man returned from another assignment in Chiliquin. By ! digging in the hole, Tice and the FBI man found a round metal object intact at the bot tom and removed it. All other burned remains were gathered together and sent with the object to San Francisco for study. Tice and his neighbors were warned to keep quiet about the explosion. The FBI man said that other bomb explosions would probably be reported in eastern Oregon in a short time. A strange aftermath of this story concerns what one of the investigating authorities told Tice. He was told that alfalfa would not grow in the area of the bomb explo sion cr some time to come, yet ve next year the alfalfa grew as least a foot taller where the bomb had explod ed. First Introduced Americans were first in troduced to the balloon bombs in the fall of 1944 when sev eral mysterious happenings over the western part of the country were reported. One of the first reports came from a housewife in Montana who saw a flaming object explode in the air. Other explosions were heard in the mountains throughout the Pacific North west. State and federal for est fire lighting agencies re ported fires being started in isolated areas where no light ning storms had occurred. Airplane pilots flying over Japan reported huge spheres being released. Ships in the Pacific Ocean found bits of rice paper floating in the water far from any land. Skillful Flying Finally, in January, 1945, an Air Force pilot flying over Crater Lake spotted one of the balloons in flight and through skillful flying and careful maneuvering, he was able to force the balloon down onto a hillside near Alturas, Calif. At last the American authorities had an opportun- ity to study this strange ob ject that had been puzzling them. The balloon part of the craft was composed of five layers of rice paper glued with hydrocellulose and was 33 V4 feet in diameter. Big shroud lines hung from the center and supported the bombs and in struments. Rubber shock ab sorbers protected the instru ments. Test balloons had been used by the Japanese to determine the length of time it would take the balloons to reach the United States. The trip across the Pacific Ocean took an average of three days. Tiny radios relayed this informa tion back to Japan. These test balloons had ben discovered, but they were thought to be weather balloons. Estimated Speed Once the balloons were re leased from Japanese soil, they rose to an elevation of from 25.000 to 50.000 feet Strong winds carried them at an estimated speed of 100 to 200 miles per hour. Each night the cooling gas in the balloon would cause it to de scend, but a barometer would cause one of the attached 20 sand bags, weighing six pounds, each to drop and the balloon would regain its al titude. After a determined length of time, when the bal loon reached a minimum al titude, one of 16 incendiary bombs would be dropped. The balloon would then climb until another barometer would cause some of the gas in the balloon to escape. This cycle would then repeat it self until all of the bombs would be dropped. The Japanese knew that it would be wise to destroy the remaining portion of their bombing craft, so they ar ranged a mechanism that would explode and destroy the instruments and balloon once the 16 bombs had been drop ped. Two pounds of piric acid were used to achieve this Hydrogen permanent bombs were often included on the balloon to create larger ex plosions when the instru ments were destroyed. Fault of Device Both the sand bag mechan ism and the bomb mechanism had two electrical circuits for safe measure. One big fault of the bomb device was the use of a wet cell battery that often froze during the bal loon's flight. Had a dry cell battery been used, more of the balloons would have func tioned properly. With the capture of the first Japanese balloon intact, American authorities were able to definitly determine that the sand in the sand bags was" Japanese sand. The source of the sand was even narrowed down to a certain region of Japan where Air Force bombers were able to slow up production by heavy bombing of the factories. Censorship was placed on all reports of balloon activity. Newspapers and radios co operated in preventing the Japanes from learning the amount of success they had obtained in using their bal loon bombs. The federal gov ernment conducted schools on the bombs with special personnel attending. All re ports of strange explosions, forest fires, . and balloon sightings were carefully in vestigated and kept quiet. Lull in Production In June-1945, there was a lull in balloon bomb produc tion. American scientists fear ed that the balloons would soon be used in bacteria war fare to expose the American people, their corps, and live stock to new and ( deadly dis eases. All county agents, farm- and agricultural scien tists were warned to watch for sick animals and to report strange deaths of livestock. Closer to the end of the war, Japan threatened to send suicide pilots in balloons over the United States to direct bombing, but this was never started. Following the end of the war in August, 1945, Ameri cans learned that their bac teria warefare fears were un necessiry. The Japanese had known that balloons were reaching the United States, but they did not know how many had survived the long " if ('"SI ft 111?. RAILWAY EXCAVATION Enthusiastic Rogue valley resi- crew is preparing to break the land as first step in the plan dents turned out in large number April 4, 1905, for com- ned route. The railway did reach as far as Butte Falls and mencement of the Medford and Crater Lake railroad, as seen made early-day Eagle Point and Butte Falls recreational cen in the picture above owned by C. F. Nichols, 1216 Locust st. ters for valley travelers. It is now operated as a logging He appears four from the left. According to Nichols," the train by the Medford corporation. flight over the Pacific Ocean or how successful their bomb ings had been. Only news of the Montana explosion had reached Japan before security measures were placed on all balloon reports. The Japanese quit balloon production simply because of lack of confidence in this bombing venture. During the final months of the war, all war effort had been directed to the defense of the Japanese Islands in preparation for the expected invasion by the American forces. Estimates of Number Within a few days after V-J Day, the American pub lic learned for the first time the truth about the strange explosions and the mysterious crafts. Estimates in the num ber of balloons set free in Japan ranged as high as 9,000. Between 225 and 300 balloons were actually sighted over the United States. Serial num bers on balloon parts ran as high as 15,98fr. N The majority of the bal loons reaching the United States had landed in the Pac ific Northwest, but balloons were sighted as far east as Detroit and later over Iowa and Nebraska. During the United Nations organizational meeting in San Francisco in the spring of 1945, the Jap anese increased the number of balloons released by sev eral hundred. One ballloon was sighted over the city at the time of the meeting, but it drifted east. Besides the story of the Medford explosion, other stories were made public con cerning the invasion of the United States by the Jap anese balloons. In February, 1945. a sheriff in Utah tried to hold down one of the bal loons that he had found on the ground. A sudden wind carried the balloon and the sheriff for more-than a half a mile before he could con trol the craft. He was able to better secure it this time and American military authori ties had another specimen to study. Tragic Incident The most tragic incident durine the short existance of the balloon bombs occurred in southern Oregon, 15 miles east of Bly. A Lakeview min ister had taken his wife and five young Sunday School children for a fishing trip on May 5. 1945. One of the group spotted a strange object on the ground and attempted to ex amine it. The explosion tnai followed killed the minister's wife and the five children, ages 11 to 13, including a brother and sister. The "minis ter was walking behind the others and escaped injury. A mysterious explosion was list ed in the newspapers as tne cause of death until after the end of the war. Recently, W e y e r h aeuser Timber company, on whose land the tragedy occurred, constructed a memorial to the six bomb victims, the only actual war causalties of World War II on the continental United States. During the early summer of 1945, a fire crew of young boys found a balloon hang ing in a tree alongside a road near Lake of the Woods. They took it back to their head quarters with them and were trying to tear it apart when their foreman found them. This balloon also was turned over to the military authori ties. During the fall of 1944 and the spring of 1945, many bal loon bombs were heard ex ploding in the vicinity of Mt. McLoughlin. Winds apparent ly carried the balloons to this area where they dropped their bombs before exploding them selves. At this time, the forest fire danger was not very high and the bombs did not offer as big a threat to the forests as they would have three PROSPECT Several Servicemen Home By MICKIE LARSON Prospect Among the serv icemen home for the holidays are Darwin Been, who is sta tioned at San Diego, Calif., and David Richie, who is sta tioned at Stud Air Force base in Reno, Nev. Cpl. Raymond Dodgin, who is stationed at Lockbourne, Ohio, has also been home dur ing the holidays and will be sent to Greenland after re: turning to his base. Kenneth Ells, who has been stationed in Germany for the past three years, and who was also home for Christmas, will be sta tioned in France for two more years. Mr. and Mrs. Richie Price, former coach of Prospect, was here for the holidays. He is now coaching at Fairfield, Calif. Mr. Jerry Griffith was re leased from a local hospital so he could be home for Christmas. He returned the same weekend for further medical treatment. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Ells and daughters, Donna and Diane, visited in Foots creek at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Williams this past week. Mr. and Mrs. Victor Chap man and sons, Clifton, Dwain and Dale, and Mrs. JoAnn McHenery, visited at the home of Mrs. Chapman's mother, Mrs. E. L. Mead, in Sanger, Calif., this past week. Miss Sherry Downing is visiting her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Spencer. Miss Downing will return to Portland Dec. 30. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Slack and children, Rusty, Jimmy and Ellen, spent Christmas day in Medford at the home of the children's grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Slack. Guests the past week at the John Moore home was John's brother, Carl Moore and fami ly from Lakeview, Ore. Visiting over Christmas at months later during the hot dry summer. With the sudden stopping of the balloon bombs in June of 1945, followed closely by the end of the war, the Jap anese ended the nine-month war that they had declared on the American homefront, a war that most Americans hadn't known to exist. At Conger-Morris you are served by qualified and understanding people These include Carlos W. many years of training CoMer - v WEST WEST "Your TV Weatherman" KBES-TV Monday Thru Friday 6:00 P.M. Member National Selected Y the Louis Robertson home were Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lacy and family from Sams Valley, and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Damon from Eagle Point. Also visit ing were Mr. and Mrs. "Bud" Denning and children. Frank Simons was a recent guest at the home of his son, Lauren Simons, in Gold Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Valen tine of Prospect became the parents of a boy born Dec. 24 in a Medford hospital. Mrs. Richie's daughter, Al leen Block, from Albany, Ore., was home for a short visit re cently. The "L" Pinochle club Will meet Jan. 15 at the home of Mrs. Blanch Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Stan Lam bert and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnston spent Christmas day in Grants Pass with Mr. and Mrs. Hull. . Mrs. Janetta Sanders from Portland is visiting at the home of her sister, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Larsen. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cleven berg visited at their parent's home over the holidays. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Lund from Medford were dinner guests at the home of their son and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lund. Mr. and Mrs. Bill Millbank from Toketee falls, spent Christmas day with Mr. and Mrs. Heston Grieves. Ray Dodgin left Dec. 30 for San Francisco, where he will help assemble a new saw mill. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Matth iesen visited in Portland over Saturday and Sunday. Their daughter, Verene, stayed at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Frison. Mrs. Helene Edghill of Ash land visited at the home of her daughter Mrs. Bill Betts, over the Christmas weekend. Puests of Mr. and Mrs. Ray mond Millard over Christmas were their son, Ray and his wife, from Portland; Mr. and Mrs. Mike Snyder and family and Mrs. and Mrs. Walter Andressen and children. Skiing at Union creek is reported to be quite good and a large crowd has been mak ing use of the ski tow which operates on weekends. Harry and Patty Dodgen Morris, Joseph Hosick, and Charles Dorrell, men with ' and experience. aMorris MAIN AT SIXTH MAIN AT SIXTH ASHLAND MORTUARY 4th and C Streets Ashland Morticians by Invitation t 7 a .-4' V:.- fir Was; - y s-- Air Station Set For Fresno Area San Francisco OP) The Navy has received funds and authority to purchase two thirds of the land for its new Naval Air Station at Lemoore, near Hanford, and 38 miles from Fresno, the Twelth Naval District announced Sat urday. Capt. J. A. McHenry district public works officer, said the present order covered 19,770 acres of fee title land. Fundi for an additional 11,041 acres are expected shortly. The land will be taken from about 300 owners by court action, McHenry said. He said the condemnation proceedings will include owners who have signed agreements already to guarantee them payment at the same time as those who have resisted the action. Lands, improvements, utili ties and roads for the station will cost $7,739,451, he said. Chains Advised For Pendleton Salem (IP) Motorists were advised to carry chains for travel to Pendleton and Warm Springs junction today. Two inches of new snow was re ported at Pendleton. The state highway depart ment said roads were icy in spots at Government Camp, Wilson River summit, Sunset summit, Cascade Locks, Sal mon river, Siskiyou, Prospect? Sisters, Ochoco summit, Wil lamette pass, Chemult. Bly, Meacham, Seneca and Burns. PRIESTS JAILED Vienna (IP) The Austrian Catholic News Service said Saturday that a group of Catholic Romanian priests had been sentenced to j'.il terms by a Bucharest court for alleged "illicit relations with foreign organizations." The news service, quoting "n formation received from Bucharest," said the curate of Lugov, Joannes Ploscariu, had received a 15-year term. The news service said it had no details on the alleged crimes. of Myrtle Creek were guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Dodgen over the holidays. ' The No. 1 Bridge club will meet Jan. 7 at the home of Mrs. Livian Hexion at Wild wood. FUNERAL DIRECTORS
