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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1958)
IM LM U lUi W lS uj LI ilul if LbUHHU ) 11 HjJulLs mu VUUUWftU UUUiUUUU 30 PAGES - MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1958 No. 41 lUg f1 ? SirH Hearing ffl'fflM MOTIPI tti By UNITED PRESS The Federal Mediation Service met separately with employer and union repre sentatives today to try to ar range a meeting to end a strike which has crippled heavy construction work in Oregon. Some $275 million worth of construction projects have been tied up as a result of the walkout. :. George Walker, Federal Me diation commissioner, said it was possible a joint meeting Slight be scheduled before the week end. Rady To Get Together The Associated General Contractors held a four hour meeting Wednesday and an nounced afterwards they were ready to get together with a federal conciliator and resume talks with striking laborers. Bu( the AGC said in a state- Vwnt that contractors consid ered union demands "unrea- ysxable and unrealistic. The strike has idled sorrfe 5,000 workers at major high way and heavy construction lobs in Oregon, including the Brownlee and Oxbow dams on the Oregon side of the Snake river and the Talent project in southern Oregon-. Laborers sought a 30-cent-an-hour package pay boost. Meanwhile, the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union said it would not back down from its original five-point program calling for a wage increase this year. The International Woodworkers of America last week agreed to go without a wage hike because of the de pressed lumber market. Package Wage Increase , - Earl Hartley, Seattle, execu tive secretary of the Western .Council of Lumber and Saw mill .Workers, said the LSW would stick to its demands. The five-point bargaining pro gram of the LSW includes a 31-cent-an-hour package wage increase. - A one-day negotiating ses sion was held Wednesday with another meeting scheduled Job Classification Complaints Heard Four of the 30 complaints received regarding Civil Serv ice job classifications were heard before the appeals board . Wednesday afternoon, according to County Commis ; sioner Ralph James. The other complaints previously had been settled by v the Civil . Service, it was .reported. Of thefour cases reviewed, three resulted in change of ' job classification with the - fourth remaining the same with a poSible change at a later date. The job classifications for county employees has been re ceived from the Civil Service commission earlier this month. The pay scales for these employees recommend tH hv the commission are ex pected around May 20, it was reported. Members of the anneals : board - Wednesday were Mar shall Woodell, Southern Ore gon college, Ashland; Walter ' Gardner. Cal-Ore Machinery: Charles Terry, Civil Service; and Commissioner James, who served as an advisor. Southern Passenger Sah Francisco The South ern Pacific railroad's claim that it is losing $20,000,000 an nully on passenger train oper ation was challenged here this week by the State Public Util ities commission. William C. Bricca, senior PUC counsel, testifying. at a public hearing, said a PUC in vestigation has showed that the SP made $2,800,000 in net annual income from passen ger service. Bricca was quoted in the San vFrancisco Examiner as saying the net profit figure remained after deducting a $5,400,000 annual loss from dining, tavern and lounge car service. If revenues and ex penses from this service were eliminated, he stated, the rail road wduld net $8,200,000-on passenger service annually. In, an opening statement to May 22, Hartley said. Pickets were placed Wed nesday at the Harvey Alumi num Company plant at The Dalles. The Building Trades Council charged that "sub standard wages" were being paid. Company officials said the pickets did not immedi ately adect plant operation. Plywood Plants Struck In southwest Oregon the Coquille and Bandon plants of the Coquille Plywood com pany were being struck. The Plywood, Lumber and Saw mill Union contended the com pany hired new employees at Coquille while union mem bers at Bandon who were out of work had seniority rights World Altitude Mark Established By Star Fighter Los Angeles (IP) Air Force Maj. Howard C. John son, flying a Lockheed F104 Star Fighter, has set a new world altitude record or 91, 249 feet, nutting the United States "on the threshold of space," the Air Force an nounced today. Johnson told a press con ference here that he didn't "feel like I was , in outer space." "But this obviously is a transition from the - atmos phere we have known," he said. "We are on the thresh old of space a step up the ladder." . ; Six Practice Flights ,.: -..!-., Johnson, a husky veteran of the Korean war, flew his historic mission out of Palm dale,' Calif., Wednesday, after six practice flights during which he approached the maximum altitude of 90,000 feet . his goal in a "dark purple" sky. "I had no particular feel ing," he said. "I was too busy thinking how high I could get." v ... ' The flight in the supersonic F104, a slim missile-like manned aircraft, recaptured the altitude record for the U.S., more than 17 miles straight up. Operators Prepare For Big Week End Operators at the Medford office of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company ; are preparing for an,, increased number of long distance tele phone calls this, week end, Manager J.. H- Creager said today. ' : , He. noted that the number of calls made on Mother's Day ranks second only to Christ mas. V . 1 . Steps are being , taken to boost the number of circuits available for Mother's Day use, he said. He pointed out that there' still probably will be some delay during peak calling hours- The usual re duced Sunday rates on long distance calls will be in ef fect Mother's Day. Washington ; (IP) . The Agriculture Department has fixed the size of the 1957 cot ton crop at 10,964,000 bales. Pacific's Claim of Losing Money on Runs Challenged by California PUG Commissioner Matthew J Dooley, the lawyer said the investigation report "will show that , if changes were made in service and type of meals served, Southern Pa cific would provide a free pre prepared of buffet type meal free of charge and incur a smaller loss than they pres ently do." . . - The investigation was or dered more than a year ago by the PUC on the adequacy of " SP passenger set vice in California. . - ' It was triggered by four railroad applications to dis continue operation of two daily San Francisco to Sacra mento trains, the two west coast trains running tetween Sacramento and Los Angeles, and reducing service on the Shasta Daylight between here and Portland, Ore. "A Cold Air Mass Seems To Have Moved From The East, Bringing Fog ..." Aircraft Strike Action Postponed On Day - To i Los Angeles (IB An industry-wide v aircraft workers Strike which could affect pro ductioiTor U.S..' missiles -was called off Wednesday night and the midnight deadline was Stickers Printed To Correct Ballot " Gummed stickers the same color as the ballots and of the same size as the place on the ballot for a candidate's name, sloean. box and position num ber; are being printed to cor rect an error on nearly lo.oou Republican ballots, it was re ported today. Use of the stickers was sug gested by Freeman Holmer, head of the state elections di vision, in a telephone conver sation to the elections depart ment. He said it was the usual procedure when there was not sufficient time to reprint the ballots. ' The mistake was discovered Wednesdav bv the elections department on Republican bal lots for 90 of the 107 pre cincts. The Republican ballots have "H" instead of "W" as the middle initial of Medford Mayor John W. Snider, seek ing the Republican nomina tion for state senator. All abr sentee ballots and ballots for 16 precincts were printed cor rectly, according to an elec tions department officials. -X The stickers will be placed on the ballots by the clerks of the election boards, offi cials said. . The error was made in printing the ballots and the stickers will be printed with no additional cost to the coun- I ty, it was reported. Bricca's first witness at the public hearings was William R. Peters, senior PUC trans portation engineer, who pre pared the investigation report. Peters listed the- following conclusions and recommenda tions from the 78 page report: 1 SP has discontinued all branch line trains, except the Del Monte, and practically all local passenger trains on the main line, except for Penin sula and Sacramento locals. 2 Passengers on SP trains have decreased 27 per cent since .1953, except for subur ban, travel but the 1957 pas senger level was only 11 per cent off 1950 figures. 3 "The Southern Pacific Company has been reducing the level and quality of serv ice rendered on the main lines in various ways. The effects of such curtailments upon -, , : . , - - . - Srm - Day Basis postponed on .a,' day-to-day basis. t , y v . The postponement came too latetd halt walkouts -"atrsome plants in the South. Shortly before midnight on the West Coast, the United Auto Workers and" Interna tional Association of Machin ists (UAW) announced, jointly with Federal Mediator Harry Malcolm that the "strike had been postponed at trie request of the government. i A walkout of 100,000 work ers at Douglas,1 North Ameri can, Convair and Lockheed plants across the nation had been foreseen. .. Picket lines, thrown up at the Air Force Missile Testing Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., dissolved after announce ment of the postponement. -The Air Force fired a Snark missile before the strike was called. 1 Negotiators for Convair and the IAM, meeting in , San Diego, announced that the work contract would be rein stated until at least midnight tonight. Lockheed in Agreement . At; North: American, a spokesman said all his firm knew was that there was no contract and the strike had been postponed. Lockheed reached an agree ment . Wednesday with IAM Lodge 727, representing 16, 000 workers at the firm's plants at Burbank, Palmdale and Maywood,. Calif., which was expected by some to serve as a contract model for the rest of the industry. The agreement called for an average pay increase of 22 cents hourly, a cost of living plan, a 3 per cent wage hike next year, a seventh paid holiday and seniority and job classification, provisions. , patronage cannot be accurate ly measured, but the over-all result has been a lower stand ard of service to the public." 4 SP has an obligation to provide passenger service over its main lines between San Francisco and Los Ange les on both' the Coast and Valley routes--between here and Dunsmuir on the, Port land route., between San Fran cisco and Sacramento and Sac ramento and Los Angeles., , - 5 "This service should be provided with ! modern ' light weight equipment and ' be operated in a satisfactory manner to the passengers." , ; In another recommendation, Peters testified: "If SP is permitted to aban don ferry boats to San Fran cisco" Bay: -1 "The responsibility to provide bus service and the Troopers Seek Two Desperadoes Over Four States Kidnaping Trail Left Through Dixie Monroe, La. (IP) State troopers in ifour southern states were on the lookout to day for two . armed desperadoes- who were leaving a trail of smashed : roadblocks and kidnapings through Dixie. The fugitives, both from Georgia, were identified as Glen Wilbur Ponder and Giles H. Jones, both 23. They vanished into the flooded trails of Northern Louisiana after kidnaping three .persons in that state following their breakout from the; Texarkana, Tex., city jail Wednesday. ' r Captives Released They released unharmed their terrified, captives but both men were, considered highly dangerous. They were wanted in Texas and Louis iana for auto theft, kidnaping and assault. - ' The men were believed "try ing to . reach Tampa, Fla., where one of them has a wife. ' ' ' " ' The, kidnap victims includ ed Douglas Booth, former state legislator from Ferri day. La.; Lonnie ; Cummings, 48, night " marshal of Gibs-teriS,La,--and Mrs; JtineSnod grass, Monroe. . '; '' Fugitives Stopped ' ' , Cummings said he stopped the.' fugitives - for ' questioning on the outskirts of Gibsland. He. said one , of the-men had a sawed-off shotgun' in the car. -. . - - : "When I thought I might have some . trouble with the boys," Cummings said, . "I flagged " down ; an oncoming car." In the, car were Booth and Mrs. Snodgrass." . One of . the fugitives grab bed the, , shotgun, Cummings said, and - took all three as hostages. One of the men also ripped the ' badge from the lawman's shirt and pinned it on his own. ' Ordered to Follow Mrs. Snodgrass was ordered at gunpoint into1 the fugitives' car,.- believed to have - been stolen from a Gibsland Bap tist minister. Booth and Cum mings were - told to get into Booth's car and follow the second kidnaper, who com mandeered the marshal's auto. The carayan headed for Ru ton; La., 17. miles away. Booth told officers he at tempted to pass, the first car, but the gunman swerved to block the road, and both cars crashed. 'The night marshal fled into nearby woods while one of the fugitives fired shots 'at ,him.- He was not wounded; : : The kidnapers freed the others near a farm house on the outskirts of Ruston. ' . Portland (IP) A $43 mil lion East Bank freeway in Portland has been ' given a green . light from " the State Highway Commission.; authority to operate buses should be held by the rail road. ' . ' . . 2. "A new . bus terminal should be provided at a loca tion more convenient than the Ferry Building, and deluxe bus equipment ' with ample room for passengers and their hand baggage should be pro vided. , "The buses could well be extended to Third and Town send sts.; for connection with Coast Line trains north and south." In a balance sheet of SP changes in the past three years, the transportation en gineer listed 17 which tended to discourage passenger traf fic. In the same three years SP made only seven improve ments, Peters stated. BASEBALL AMERICAN LEAGUE Detroit . 17 2 Washington 4 9 0 Shaw, Spencer (6), Valenii netti (7) and Hcgan; Lumen ti, Hyde (6) Courtney. ' Group to Review Proposed Budget For City Tonight The Medford city budget committee . tonight will start reviewing the proposed $2,-! 004,354 budget for fiscal year 1958-59. The committee will review all funds and make necessary changes before presenting it to the city ' council for final approval. The hudget must be approved, a public hearing held, and the county assessor notified by July 15, City Man ager Robert Duff said. The general fund budget totals $792,960, while' the re mainder - of. the proposed budget generally represents continuing payments on obli gations incurred previously. No election to approve the budget will be necessary be cause, it is within the 6 per cent limitation, Duff pointed out. The general fund budget is $36,379, smaller than last year's . fiscal budget request of $829,339, due : in part to elimination of a $50,000 sum for off-stre,et - parking pur poses. No general increase in employee's salaries is propos ed, Duff noted. ' . ; : ' The budget is divided into nine funds, including the gen eral fund. Expenditures - .by function include general gov ernment - services, $178,817; cultural and recreational ser vices, $115,657; protection to persons and property,' $493, 247; health services, $4,250; street and sanitation services, $823,485; utilities, $132,122; and bond redemption and in terest, $256,776. At a previous meeting of the budget committee, How ard Boyd was elected chair man and Councilman Al Bradford was elected secre tary. The committee includes all councilmen and Granvil Brittsan, Russell Brown, Carl Dawson, Nick ' Gier, Mrs. Dwight Houghton, Tony Man no, and John Smith, in addi tion to Boyd as citizen mem bers. , Voter Pamphlets Are All Mailed :' V AllVoters Pamphlets have been mailed and, should", by now be in the' hands of all registered voters, provided the address on record in the clerk's office-is a current and correct address, according to Mrs. Bereth Hopkins, county clerk, o. " ' . . Mrs. Hopkins noted that opposite, and to the right of, the voter's . name, on the Pamphlet, he. will find the number of the precinct in which he is to vote at the pri mary election a week from tomorrow. All voters are urged to know the number of the pre cinct in which they are regis tered so they may go directly to the proper polling, station to obtain ballots. Knowing the precinct number will help election officials and expedite the orderly movement of vot ers, she pointed out. ' A list of polling places ap peared in the Mail Tribune earlier this week, and will be published again with changes in voting -locations made since then. Coffoge Grove Home Scene of Bomb Blast Cottage Grove OP) -A homemade bomb exploded Wednesday evening on the porch of a home occupied by three Cottage . Grove high school teachers. There was no serious dam age. . : . ., : The three women, teachers could give no reason why a bomb would be placed at their home.- ' U.S. Urged To Obtain Capability To Control Space May Lose Present Deterrent Potential' Washington (IP) Air Force Undersecretary Mal colm A Mclntyre said today the United States must "seek out every possible means of acquiring a , military capabil ity to control space or to deny that capability to any enemy." Otherwise. ' Mclntyre told the Senate Space committee, we may well lose our pres ent deterrent potential to an aggressor who has no inhibi tions about using space for its own self -aggrandizement." Don't Restrict Authority Mclntyre urged senators not to restrict unduly the military's authority to go ahead with research on space weapons in any legislation it writes for setting up a nation al space agency. He endorsed ffenerallv President Eisenhower's legis lation to set up ' a new space agency built around-the pres ent National Advisory' Com mittee for Aeronautics. Using the NACA "is a most logical action," he said.'-- :- : " Under the Eisenhower bill. Mclntyre testified, - "the ' De partment of 'Defense s not unduly restricted, from under taking basic research related to defense missions." " i . t Jacksonville Men Appear in Court Charles John Dahm, 18, Jacksonville, and Richard Duane Tilley, 22, of 2001 D st., Jacksonville, were arraign ed in district court Wednes day morning on a charge of burglary not in a dwelling. They were bound over to the grand jury by Judge James M. Main with bail set at $1,500 each. , They are charged with the theft of $750 to $1,000 worth of small tools , from the Hy draulic Jack -Service store, 1315 North Riverside ave., Tuesday morning. They were arrested by city police and lodged in the county jail Tues day. According to Jackson coun ty sheriff's deputies the men admitted taking tools, gasoline and oil earlier - this month, from a tractor on Old Stage rd. which belongs to the City Sanitary Service. , Value of the items was set at $75, it was reported. Also cleared by the arrest of the men was the theft of tools and batteries from a mo bile tool shop belonging to the Ousley Construction com pany, Eugene. The converted school bus was entered some time Monday, deputies report ed, while it was parked on Old Stage rd. north of Jackson ville. Law enforcement officers reported that a large quantity of tools were located' at the homes of the arrested men and in the automobile used by them. Firemen Stop at 160 Homes in City , City firemen on home in spection yesterday issued : 85 recommendations for removal of fire hazards. At 37 residences no hazards were found. Occupants of 10 dwellings turned down the of fer of .inspection. 1 Firemen stopped at 160 homes yesterday. At a num ber no one was home. City Fire Marshal Truman Nelson issued six orders yes terday for correction of haz ards. He inspected three busi ness 'occupancies, a public ga rage and a building of public assembly. An underground storage , tank was tested and approved by Nelson. Salem (IP) Oregon high ways wei clear today. RICHARD NIXON Target of Crowd Pacifists Plan To Decide Monday On Eniwetok Trip Honolulu HP) The four crewmen of the yacht Golden Rule have indicated they will decide by Monday whether to reject or violate a proba tion sentence for defying a federal court order against trying to sail to Eniwetok -to protest H-Bomb tests there. The four are Albert Smith Bigelow, 51, Cos Cob, Conn., William R. Huntington, 51, St. James, N.Y.; Orion Sher woodj Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and George Willoughby, 43, Back wood Terrace, N.J. " ' . Guilty of Contempt Federal Judge Von Wiig found them guilty Wednesday of criminal contempt for vio lation of the court order. He handed' down 60-day sus pended Sentences and a year's probation for each man. The action' let the l group out of jail, where it had chos en to remain since May 1 with out bail. However, the four men left the federal building without formally rejecting the sentences. There was nothing to indi cate "they had given up plans topsail their SO-foot. ketch to Eniwetok to protest the contin uation of the tests even though it would mean viola ting their probation,' in which case they still could wind up in jaiL Attorneys Rapped. Following , t h two-hour trial, Wiig indicated that the four -men may have gotten off easier than their two . at torneys," Abraham ' Lincoln Wirin of Los Angeles and Ka tusuro Miho of Honolulu. - Wiig said he was "Not sat isfied" the attorneys had tak en all steps ethically neces sary to prevent their clients from attempting the voyage against court orders. , ' - 40 Attend Course For Fire Foremen About 40 private industry personnel attended a one-day advanced school for fire fight ing foremen on Ficke rd. in the Old Military rd. area yes terday. The school was sponsored by the Southern Oregon Con servation and Tree Farm as sociation in cooperation with the state department of fores try, the forest service and bureau of land management. A similar school was being held near . Grants Pass today with bout 30 private indus try personnel expected to at tend. ' This year's school was for advance, training only, because sponsors believed basic class room work was handled suf ficiently during the past two years. Instruction was given in fire behavior, line location, hand line construction, "cat" line construction, use of water and dry "mop up." Training sessions for fire fighting foremen' originated in Jackson county two years ago, and since has been adopt ed " in ; other secitions of the state, and has received nation al recognition. Congressvoman To Reject Husband's Plea To Retire Washington HP) Rep. Coya Knutson, 46, (D-Mihn.)' indi cated today she will- reject her husband's plea that she retire from Congress. She said her relationship with her husband is a per sonal matter whifti she will not discuss publicly. ' . Congressional sources inter- nreted the statement as mean ing she will go ahead with her plans to seek reelection. She made the statement in Shouting Group Challenged To 'Hear the Truth' 'Go Home, Nixon' Signs Displayed Lima, Peru P) Vice Presi dent Richard M. Nixon today walked into a crowd yell ing, rock-throwing students and challenged them to "hear the truth." A stone grazed his neck. Another rock thrown by a student struck Nixon's aide. Jack Sherwood, in the face . and chipped a tooth. About 12 stones were thrown at the Nixon party from the edge of the crowd of shouting, whis tling students as Nixon left , his car and walked into the center of the mob. ' - . An estimated 2,000 student and non-students were gath ered in the park at the ap proach to the ancient San Marcos University, waving signs that said, "Get Out of here Nixon, shark," and "Go home, Nixon." The vice president drove up to the milling crowd and stepped calmly from the. con vertible to challenge the stu dents. t,: ; , Applause as well as-hTsse's greeted the - vice preflSentV who had included a visit to '; the university as part of his eight-nation -tour of South ' America. Nixon ignored previous warnings that his appearance before the Communist - insti gated students might cause a violent anti-American demon stration. . Nixon pushed into the crowd that closed in around him, shaking hands where he could and beckoning others to come closer. ' .. j "Come and speak," he said. ' "Let me .talk-' to your lead ers." Nearby students shouted at him; ''Go home. Go home." "Sure, I'll go home," Nixon said, "but don't you want to hear the truth first?" -U.S. Secret Service agents . and Peruvian security officials were with Nixon in the noisy crowd, as well as his transla tor, Army Lt. Col, Vernon Walters. Both Nixon and Wal ters shouted to ' the police, "Don't push, don't push." Nixon said later he did this to avoid the possibility that someone in the mob might be hurt by overzealous efforts of the police to protect him. Both American and Peru vian ,- security agents had checked the approaches to the 300-year-old university early in the morning to determine whether Communist students' efforts to provoke an incident were a threat to Nixon's per sonal safety. - The threats of riots came from communist-led students . who planned the demonstra tion as part of a "Nixon go home" movement. Student sources told the United Press that there was no intention of causing Nixon bodily harm. i Local Representatives To Attend Meeting Members of the Jackson county court, county engineer, and Chester Hubbard, repre senting the Medford Chamber of Commerce, will attend a meeting in Portland Friday on the "Winnemucca to the Sea" highway project. ' Members of the Jackson, Kl a m a t h, and Josephine county courts and representa tives of Medford, Klamath Falls and Grants Pass Cham bers of Commerce will attend. WEATHER FORECAST: Fair tonight and Friday. Low tonight 45. Hi(b Friday 89. " Temp. Highest Yesterday 81 Lowest this Morning 46 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise 4:58 a.m. Sunset . 7:18 p.m -12.17 a.m. May 10 Moonrise Friday Last Quarter PROMINENT STAR . Capella, low in north west 9:24 p.m. VISIBLE PLANETS Jupiter, in the southeast- 8:62 p.m. Saturn, low in south east 11:29 p.m. Venus, low in east ..3:45 a.m. Mars, in the southeast at sun rise . reply to her husband's public complaint that their "home life has'deteriorated" because of her work in Washington. He appealed to her not to. seek reelection.. Mrs. Knutson telephoned her Washington office from an undisclosed location to de liver her reply. ..... Andrew "Knutson, her hus band, issued a public state ment at Oklee, Minn., Wednes day urging his wife not , to run for a third term