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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 1958)
6 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, May 25, 1958 Buried Treasure 7 7 Sword Canes Still Illegal, Bat Many Have Them Vet Sword canes have long been illegal, but some people still use them and quite unwit tingly, at that. The reason is that the bet ter made the weapon, the more difficult it is to distin guish it from an ordinary ' cane. Some of them, like one an . elderly lady of my acquaint ance had been hobbling around on for years, are so ; skillfully fashioned that their :' nature can be determined only by accident. Hers was a stout stick , of what seemed to be blackthorn with the thorns trimmed down so that they formed only tiny knobs. The handle, formed of part of the root, was roughly shaped like a pistol butt so that it gave one an excellent grip on the cane, either for ordinary use or for swordplay. About three inches down from the curve was a broad band of silver, nearly an inch wide. Actually it was two bands superimposed. When the upper was turned, it spir aled down nearly a quarter of an inch, thus releasing a catch that permitted the han dle to be turned slightly and the sword withdrawn. The length oi the blade was 28 inches, tapering to a needle point from its half inch width and three-eighths inch thick ness at the hilt. The blade was dated 1841 but neither the name of the maker nor place of manufac ture was given. While it was not illegal in most parts of the country at that time to carry concealed weapons, the mak er evidently felt that his prod uce had not been ordered merely for personal defense purposes. Had he felt so, he would un doubtedly have put his name and address on the piece. The quality of workmanship indi cated a manufacturer with plenty of experience in such products, and as many a sword cane of that time shows, the maker was gener ally anxious to drum up fu ture business by identifying his product. The value of a good sword cane runs from $50 up, de pending on the quality of workmanship, metals used and ornamentation. One that I saw sold a few years ago was cheap at its $625 price There were better than three full ounces of gold in the handle. The carving was su perb. ' General Motors Had Small Car In Plans POLITICS. WAR AFFECT EVERYTHING EVEN STAMPS Politics and war affect stamp collecting as well as ev erything else, but I didn't ex pect that the current difficul ties in Cuba would affect the present market. They do, however. One dealer that I know made a $1,000 purchase recently that he didn't want to make but had to because he couldn't af ford to turn it down. "I told the seller if he'd take $500 down, I could give him $1,000 dollars more in three months' time, but he said he had to have $1,000 now," the dealer said. "He wanted it in a hurry to help the Castro rebellion. I know it from what he and his friend said in Spanish," he continued. "They didn't know I understood." The nearly 400 stamps that made up the sale included many of the earliest used in Cuba, but those were not the valuable, ones. Strange as it may seem, the majority of the stamps used in the island . while it was under Spanish rule have comparatively lit tle value. The average top retail listing wouldn't be much over $10. Where the big values lie in those stamps that were used during the American occupa tion of the island, during and shortly after our war with Spain. Those stamps may be read ily recognized by the sur charge, usually in black ink, that makes them immediately obvious. The best item the dealer got in the anti-Batista sale was a blue-green item of a four milesimas denomination. The stamp is one put out by the Spaniards. In its center is a profile . protrait of . the boy who later became Alfonso XIII, whose rule ended with the advent of the Spanish Re public that Franco overthrew. Surcharged on the stamp in black ink was the phrase "5 CENTS." ' ; The stamp has a value, ac cording to Scott's catalogue, of $750. 18TH CENTURY ANOMALY FINE VALUED BENCH One should always be sus picious of freakish-looking furniture, machine-turned or otherwise, especially if it looks old and rather decrepit, and even if it has a rush seat. It might be fairly valuable. An example is an eight legged bench on which I sat recently. It had no back, though that didn't matter so much since it stood on the porch against the wall. And its rush bottom was far from comfortable until I managed to sneak a cushion for my end. But it performed beautiful ly as the afternoon got into high gear, not only providing seats for five people but do ing well as a conversation piece. The owner had bought it at a salvage shop for $10 part ly because of the use it might give, but more particularly because the dilapidated con dition of the rush work would present a challenge to his. wife, who had gone in for basket weaving. By the time his wife had got. through repairing the seat about half of it had to be replaced the two had be come curious about the bench's origin. The eight legs and stringers were manifestly machin e-turned, but the weave of the rush work and the type of rush used were not like anything they had seen in 20th century pieces. And since eight-leg benches are scarcely a common house hold article today, they de cided to look up the piece in reference works on early American furniture. It didn't take long for them to find what they were look ing for. Benches of that gen eral size and type were fairly common in the 1700's and well on to at least the middle 1800's. They also learned that such pieces are rare enough to be featured ' in several, museum displays as well as in various reference works. As for the value of their piece, which gives all the ap pearance of having been made in the 1850's, that is difficult to determine. But since they have authorized an antique dealer to pay up to $125 for a reasonable close companion to go on the other side of the porch, they consider it worth that much at least. (Released by McClure Newspaper Syndicate) Memphis, Tenn. (I?) It's unlikely that truckdriver Charlie Anderson will forget to fasten his truck tailgate in the future. He did Friday, spreading a load of asphalt over a two-block area. His boss and the police made him sweep it up. REGISTRATIONS Mexico City OP) More than 10 million persons have registered to vote in the July 6 presidential elections, it was announced Friday. About 75,000 persons die of malaria each year in India. 5 Days Left To SAVE at the Big "Change of Ownership" Sale at Lucas & Howard With National Brands YOU Know Hiway 99 Sooth of Central Point North of Medford-Phone NO 4-2243 Furniture Barn Wilmington Del. (UPI) General Motors President Har low H. Curtice said Friday " a smaller car is currently under study" at General Mo tors. It was the first and most explicit admission by GM of months old industry know ledge that Chverolet has com pleted plans for a small or "light" car right up to the tooling stage. While not com mitting larger sums needed for tooling, GM is watching the market to see if it should put the car on the market in late 1959. Ford has plans which have progressed almost as far, and Chrysler Corp. acknowledged this week it has plans "to be ready" if small car produc tion is justified. Mount Shasta Parlor Destroyed by Fire Mount Shasta, Calif. (UPI) Noble's Chapel, a funeral parlor here, was destroyed by fire Saturday. It took firemen more than an hour to put out the flames and fire fighters were equipped with gas masks. Two bodies in the establish ment were recovered undamaged. Syrian Soldier Admits Throwing Two Bombs Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) Beirut Radio said Saturday a Syrian soldier had confessed throwing two bombs which killed three persons and in jured many more here last Monday and Thursday. The government-owned sta tion said the Syrian, Moham mad Bakri Rabeeh Ammou neh, was arrested Saturday and re-enacted the crimes for police authorities. The radio said the Syrian comes from Allepo and that he confessed he is on active service with the Syrian Army. Lie Mail Tribune Classified Adl Rogue River to Voie On School Budget Rogue River Rogue Riv er school district will hold its annual budget election Tuesday, May 27, in the Rogue River High school gymnasium. Polls will be op en from 2 to 8 p.m. Although the proposed budget exceeds last year's by only $3474.53, an election must be held because the en tire operating budget of the district is considered as being outside the six per cent limi tation. This is because the district is now financially independ ent of the rural school board, and has no established tax base it was explained by John B. Harr, school superintendent. Young Deer Makes Surprise Store Visit Dallas, Ore. (UPI) A young deer made a surprise entrance through the back door of the Dallas book store here Friday afternoon start ling customers and clerks. Proprietor John Greenwood said the animal didn't come to buy, but only to "browse." After investigating behind counters and leaping on Greenwood's desk the animal headed out of town. Largest Great Lakes ore The violet Is the stati carriers are 714 feet long. flower of Illinois. Open 24 Hours Every Day SELF SERVICE 20e per 8 lb. Washer Load Drying 1c Per Minute COIN OPERATED ran BH6 516 W. Sixth St. Large 50-U. Dryers LAUNDRY Agitator Type Washers Supplies Available 516 W. Sixth J. Really rV Water NEW! EXPANDED DEPARTMENTS MORE MERCHANDISE AND BETTER SELECTIONS ( 1 a - t , ; r , 1 mmm jama mmmm mm mm bmbm mm stw. $ EVERYTHING FOR SUMMER FUN AND VACATION NEEDS ) r i Reg. 234.50 12' Sea King deluxe aluminum boat Lightweight easy to transport Weighs only 125 lbs. Needs practically no upkeep. 16-gauge alum, bottom, -18-gauge sides. 24" bow deck. 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