Eight-Children, Two Adults
Perish When Trapped in House
Jersey Shore. Pa. 0? A
fire raced through a 50-year-old,
two - story frame house
Saturday, killing eight chil
dren and thehir father and
grandmother. The victims
were trapped in a bedroom
by a chest of drawers that
blocked their escape through
window.
The only survivor of the
tragedy was the mother of the
children, who ran screaming
from the house with her hair
and clothing in flames. .
Firemen said the blaze ap
parently was set off by an ex
ploding heater. They were
hampered in fighting the fire
because there were no fire
hydrants near the home. Hoses
had to be strung 2,000 feet,
and by the time the first
sprays of water were turned
on the house it was engulfed
by flames.
The dead, some of them so
badly burned they could not
be identified, were Torrance
Flook, 40, the father, Mrs.
Maude Blair, 63, the grand
mother, and Harry, 16, Bon
nie, 12, Terry, 10, Susan, 9,
Kenneth, 7, Ruth, 5, Dick, 4,
and Billy, 1.
' Bodies Huddled
The bodies of two of the
; children were huddled in
their father's arms. His body
.was slumped over a chest of
; drawers that had been pushed
in front of a window. Mrs.
Blair's body was found slump
ed over another windowsill.
The other bodies were near
by. t Mrs. Mabel Flook, who was
on the first floor when the
fire broke out at 2:30 a.m.,
ran out the back door. Neigh
bors beat out her flaming
hair and clothing. She was
treated for severe shock, but
her burns were not serious.
Neighbors made heroic ef
forts to rescue the trapped
family by raising ladders to
upstairs windows. They were
beaten back by the flames.
Firemen fought the blaze
for three hours before they
could enter what was left of
the house. Only two walls still
were standing.
Norman White, a neighbor,
said he was awakened by an
explosion and then saw the
fire.
"All I could hear was the
flames crackling and children
screaming," he said.
Races From House
He raced from his house 50
yards away, with an exten-
Strout Realty Company
Opens Local Office
Harry F. Merriken, Old
Stage rd., Medford, has been
appointed manager of the lo
cal office of Strout Realty
corporation, the company's
western headquarters in Los
Angeles has announced.
Merriken will operate' the
business from his home until
a permanent office is estab
lished. The company has of
ices from coast-to-coast and
handles ranches, farms, homes
and businesses.
Merriken has lived in Med
ford and vicinity for 15 years.
Missile Firing Submarines
Able to Hit All Targets
Portsmouth, N. H. (ID
The USS Growler, the Navy's
J new missile-firing submarine,
I was to be launched Saturday,
i- She was pronounced ready
: , and able to hit any military
target in the world with a nu
clear warhead.
-' The Growler was scheduled
""to slide down the ways at
' Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- after christening by Mrs. Rob-
. ert K. Byerts of Los Angeles.
She is the widow of the skip
per of an earlier submarine
named Growler, which was
sunk in action in World War
II.
Equipped with the Navy's
Regulus II nuclear missile,
the Growler has striking
- range of more than 1,000 nau-
tical miles, covering every
significant military target in
the world, according to a
spokesman for Chance Vought
Aircraft company of Dallas,
Tex., the missile manufactur
er. At a news conference be
fore the launching, Sam O.
Perry, chief missile engineer
of Chance Vought, said the
Growler could fire 'the Regu
lus from the Atlantic Coast
and hit a target farther away
than Kansas City.
He said the growler would
be able to remain submerged
indefinitely, needing only to
extend her breathing snorkel
at infrequent intervals.
Growler missiles will be
guided by a self - contained
system that guides them di
rectly to target from an
underseas launching. The
Regulus is 57 .feet long, pow
ered by a turbo - jet engine
with a speed twice .that of
sound.
sion ladder. He raised the lad
der to a window and managed
to grasp Mrs. Blair where she
lay slumped over a window-
sill. But he lost his grip and
was forced back by the flames,
Herman Sechrist, another
neighbor, raised a ladder to
another window. He Jried to
pull Flook out but his efforts
were blocked by the dresser.
Neighbors flocked to the
scene and stood around the
smouldering debris hours
after the tragedy.
Officials said the tragedy
was the worst in the town's
history.
Gill Challenges
Two Opponents
Lebanon UPl State
Sen. Warren Gill Friday chal
lenged his two opponents for
the Republican nomination
for government to announce
their choices for successors
if either should be elected
governor.
Both Secretary of State
Mark Hatfield and State
Treasurer Sig.Unander are in
the GOP gubernatorial race
against Gill.
The Lebanon attorney said
this is "the first time in the
history of Oregon that both
the secretary of state and
state treasurer have tried to
quit their jobs in the middle
of their terms."
If either of the officehold
ers is elected he would be
able to appoint his own suc
cessor. Gill challenged both Hat
field and Unander to make
their choices known. "If they
don't tell us," Gill said, "then
a vote cast for either of these
men is a 'blind' vote who
will serve on the board of
control in the second or third
top job in the state."
Heart Disease Topic
Of Medical Meeting
Lectures on heart disease
will be given at the April 9
meeting of the Jackson Coun
ty Medical society starting at
3 p.m. in the Rogue Valley
Country club, according to of
ficials.
The Wednesday evening
dinner meeting will get un
der way at 7 p.m. Guest lec
turer for the afternoon will
be Dr. Gordon A. Logan and
Dr. H. T. Dodge from Seattle.
Hosts for the meeting will be
Dr. June Byers, Dr. Malcolm
Byers and Dr. Laurel Case.
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'Dead' Woman
Helps Identify
Drowning Victims
Boise (IP) A former
Spokane woman, who showed
up after hearing that she had
been tentatively identified as
a drowning victim, Saturday
positively identified one of
the three men in the four
death accident as James R.
Mansier, 48, former Spokane,
Wash., cook.
Mrs. Hesper Scarah, who
formerly operated a lunch
eonette in Spokane, came to
Boise from Jackson, Wyo., at
her own expense to help of
ficers make the identification.
She viewed the body of
the woman who had atvfirst
been tentatively identified as
Mrs. Scarah. However, Mrs.
Scarah said she could give of
ficers no help in identifying
the body of the woman.
The three men and the
woman were drowned late on
Tuesday when their car had
plunged into the Payette riv
er north of Horseshoe Bend.
The State Police Central
Identification bureau said
Clarence Leo Jackson, 51, of
Spokane, has been positively
identified by relatives. The
bureau said it was fairly cer
tain that the second man was
Randolph Lloyd, last known
address Cheyenne, Wyo.
Salem (IP) Gov. Robert D.
Holmes said today he has
been advised that Oregon has
qualified for a $14 million
federal loan to supplement its
unemployment compensation
fund.
Nunley Named Deputy
Judge Advocate, VFW
Walter D. Nunley, Medford
attorney, has been appointed
deputy judge advocate for the
department of Oregon Veter
ans of Foreign wars, accord
ing to the Portland headquar
ters of the group.
Nunley served as a sergeant
in the Army Air Force during
World War II, seeing action
in several Pacific areas dur
ing a 35-month duty tour. He
was a radio operator and me
chanic while in the service.
Premier Visits
Rebel Stronghold
Budapest OP) Soviet
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
traveled triumphantly Satur
day to Stalinvaros, a former
rebel stronghold that was one
of the last to be crushed in
Hungary's 1956 anti-Russian
revolt.
The Soviet Communist
party leader, making his first
journey outside the Kremlin
since he became Premier, set
out early today for the 60
mile trip.
Stalinvaros is a major in
dustrial center south of the
capital. It became known dur
ing the October uprising for
its stiff resistance against So
viet troops sent to quell the
revolt.
Little Rock, Ark., is the
home of the University of Ar
kansas, Arkansas' Law school,
Little Rock Junior college,
St. John's Seminary, Philan
der Smith college, Arkansas
Baptist college and the School
for the Deaf and Blind.
Arabs' Unity Drive
To Pressure Israel
London (TO The drive
for Arab unity , spreading
through the Middle East
means new military pressures
on Israel, Middle Eastern ob
servers agreed Saturday.
But they are also convinced
the Israelis are and will be
for the foreseeable future
more than a match for even
the combined armies of the
Arabs.
Militarily, Israel has only
100,000 men on active duty
in her army. The major Arab
states Egypt, Syria, Jor
dan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and
Lebanon have roughly
240,000.
In the air, the disparity is
even greater. Israel, inform
ed sources say, has roughly
100 jets and 50 prop-driven
planes, while the combined
Arab air forces Would total
close to 275 almost 175 of
them jets.
'Every Citizen a Soldier' -
Israel, however, can close
the manpower gap by call
ing up her highly organized
"every citizen a soldier" re
serves as she did on three
day's notice before the Sinai
attack in 1956.
With her reserves ordered
up, Israel on paper is roughly
equal in manpower to the
strength of the Arab armies,
gravely weaker in armored
strength, and significantly
weaker in modern combat
planes, military experts say.
But despite those shortcom
ings, they say, Israel can
more than hold her own with
the Arabs because her army
is better trained, better led,
better disciplined in short,
better prepared for combat.
They trace her army's com
bat superiority to a better of
ficer corps, a more skilled
and educated populace, and
the sense of determination
that comes from being sur
rounded.
Conversely, they say, . the
great weakness of the Arab
armies is their officer corps
and their lack of skilled tech
nicians to use their modern
equipment.
While the Israelis were
able to call on a score of
Baby Gorilla
Eagerly Awaited
Columbus, Ohio (IP) The
Columbus Zoo, internation
ally known for producing the
first gorilla born in captivity
Saturday anxiously awaited
another historic "blessed
event."
Christina and her 540
pound mate, The Baron,, are
expecting at any time a bro
ther or sister for their famed
daughter, Colo.
The zoo officially opened
its season Saturday but signs
posted in the vicinity of the
gorillas' cage barred visitors
from seeing the giant couple.
The signs proclaimed the
area "closed until a nervous
mother is visited by the
stork."
Supt. Earl Cavis estimated
the gorilla may be born by,
Monday.
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, April , 193S S
World War II cambat veter
ans and seasoned fighters of
their underground terrorist
organizations for their offic
ers' corps, the Arabs could
muster few combat trained
men to lead their armies aft
er freeing themselves from
Western influence following
World War II.
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