4 Sundry, August 3, 1958,
MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
; MEI)FORDTRIBUNE
Everyone in Southern vregon
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An Independent Newsnaoer
Entered as second class matter at
Medford Oregon under Act o
March 3 189.
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Flight ro Time
V.edford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10., 20. 30 and
40 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
August 3. 1948 (Tuesday)
Three valley ranches will
provide settings for a movie,
The Last of the Wild
Horses."
Charles Hoppe is establish
ing an orchid farm n Med
ford.
20 YEARS AGO
August 3, 1938 (Wednesday)
A total of 196 airplanes
used Medford airport in July.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Quite
a number of the Older Girls
have started early fall
knitting, between swings at
mosquitoes."
30 YEARS AGO
August 3. 1928 (Friday)
Eugene A. Orr, home for
the summer with his parents,
Is an honor student at Hill
Military academy in Portland,
The Ashland post of the
American Legion is preparing
a float 25 feet wide for the
Legion convention here this
week.
40 YEARS AGO
August 3, 1918 (Saturday)
Evans creek and Applegate
bean growers are forming an
association to sell beans .to
the government by the car
load. The Medford public library
has received today a request
from the American . Library
association's headquarters for
more books from the commu
nity for servicemen overseas.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nine er ten correct is superior;
even er eight is excellent; five er
sis is good.
1. Supply the missing word
in this saying: "It depends
upon whose --is gored."
2. Would you guess that
Man O .War sired 84, 184,
or 284 colts?
3. What is the zodiacal
sign for persons born between
Dec. 22 and Jan. 23?
4. Number 10 Downing
Street is the address of which
important English govern
ment official?
5. Locate these football sta
diums Orange Bowl, Sugar
Bowl, and Cotton Bowl.
6. Is it Jupiter or Saturn
that is the largest of the
planets?
7. The noted Carlsbad Cav
erns are located in which
southwestern State?
8. Was George Eliot the
pen name of a man or woman?
9. The first U.S. census was
tabulated in 1790, 1800 or
1810?
10. Bassoon is the name of
a type monkey, musical
instrument or receptacle?
Answers: 1. Ox. 2. 184.
3. Capricornus. 4. Prime Min
ister of Great Britain. 5. Mi
ami Fla.. New Orleans. La.,
Dallas, Tex. 6. Jupiter. 7. New
Mexico. 8. Woman. 9. In 1790.
10. Musical instrument.
LONELY PEOPLE
Weston - Super - Mare, Eng
land (EH) Mrs. Elsie Good
all was fined $8.40 Friday for
keeping her radio on full blast
from dawn to midnight. She
said she did it "out of the
goodness of my heart there
are so many lonely people
here."
Garbage and Zoning
A garbage dump is not a pleasant thing.
At worst, it can be
and a noxious eyesore.
out of sight and smelhng
But the American people are great producers
of garbage. Garbage will not simply disappear
if one closes one s eyes and wishes it to go away.
It's got to be taken somewhere, and disposed
of. No amount of wishful thinking can alter that.
CO, WE are confronted with-the problem of
what to do writh it. And, in the nature of things,
that problem devolves largely on the people who
have the responsibility
Medford's City Sanitary Service company has
found itself in a position
?! 1 J J 1 . J
criticized no matter wnat
use of the old dump, on
burg hill and south of
area which is building up
city, limits; the new
Manor will be built just
through it. So that dumping area must go.
Also, the facts of the
disposal area make it
garbage dumping.
ASA RESULT of these things, the company
" for a number of months has been touring the
county looking for a place which is close enough
to permit hauling there to be done economically,
and wrhich is far enough away from other devel
opments so that it will not be a noxious nuisance
It thought it had found it in a canyon south
east of Jacksonville, bought a 360-acre plot of
land, put m roads, and
It also notified the
residents of the town, about its plans.
It believed, we are
solved the problem to the satisfaction of every
one involved. '
DUT the people of Jacksonville got to thinking
about what it would be like to have a garbage
dump a mile or so away, and opposition began
to build up, understandably.
Petitions were signed, attorneys were con
tacted, and the matter
county planning commission. Those protesting
declared the dump, that
and historic little town, would limit the growth,
damage it as a tourist attraction, constitute a
nuisance, prevent establishment of a planned dis
tribution reservoir, and be detrimental and depre
ciative of property rights.-
The garbage company, on the other hand,
declares that it would not
is more than a mile from the nearest home, it
says; it is over a ridge and is not visible from
the town; drainage is away from the city; there
would be little burning
they plan to use, covering the garbage with earth
periodically, would prevent the growth of a ro
dent population or pollution of air and water.
ALSO, the company, with some justice, pointed
nnf -.- !. . l "fr'c wcT.f- 1iiTvir !-.--- 4-r
uub uiat uic v-bjr o
the town proper, and
adequately covered or
be closed, and that Jacksonville people could use
he new dump free- of charge.
And it also objected, with some reason, to a
rush job of spot zoning aimed specifically against
he company and its operation The proposal for
an interim zoning ordinance, submitted hastily
to the planning commission, was just this.
Spot zoning, the company maintains and we
agree, is no way to go about solving a problem
which is far larger than the one at hand.
ON THE basis of evidence, presented so far,
o -l nf oi .! T.f IT. n 4--"i- lti lf-erl-f .iTrI onr
the garbage company has
The dump, certainly,
der the strictest rules and
it ever from becoming a nuisance and the com
pany readily agrees that this is acceptable.
And, while we heartily
sonville s fears about a
wonder if they are not
-i
tneir oDiections Known,
concerned about the "threat" since it is hidden
away in a canyon, out of
DUT we think there is a larger and more im
'""'portant issue at stake here.
Twice in the past decade, the voters of Jack
son county have voted down county zoning.
If it had been adopted, just this sort of prob
lem probably would never have arisen. And, if
it had, there would have been orderly procedures
to handle it not the attempts to rush through an
interim ordinance the full implications of which
cannot be adequately studied in just a day or two.
"IXT'E SUGGEST that the people of Jackson
county do some hard thinking about the need
for county zoning.
The garbage dump dispute, the attention cre
ated by the use of sub-standard. housing from the
old housing project as homes in areas where
they will detract from the values of existing resi
dences, the building up of unsightly "fringe"
areas a growth unplanned and uncontrolled
are doing the county and its people no good.
No one, obviously, wants any unit of govern
ment to tell them what they can or can't do with
their own property. But
worse.
Would the people of
Hill, or Foots Creek, wrant a garbage dump or
junk yard built in their midst? There's little they
couia ao to prevent it, as
both a hazard to health
At best it should be kept
- distance.
of disposing of it.
where it is going to be
! 1 Ti T Jl
it aoes. it is enaing tne
the west side of Barne
Barnett road. That is an
rapidly: it is now in the
$5,500,000 Rogue Valley
above it, and the Freeway
terrain in the White City
unsuitable for unlimited
otherwise developed it,
city of Jacksonville, and
informed, that it had
was brought before the
close to their attractive
be harmful. The dump
of trash, and the method
pcouu uiuupviuoci tu
one which has not been
otherwise treated could
the better argument.
should be operated un
regulations to prevent
sympathize with Jack
new nearby dump, we
a little tardy in making
i . i
and pernaps a bit overly
sight.
the alternative is even
Phoenix, say, or Gold
things stand. E.A.
Dennis the Menace
'let go. Joey. isao5CMwks hmb mas. msm.
CPNTmV&NONe
Matter of Fact
By Joseph Alsop
OUR GOVERNMENT'S
UNTRUTHS
Washington The time has
come, once again, to take a
very grave step in this space
It is time to
"SUB say bluntly
that the Ei
senhower ad-
m i n istration
is guilty of
gross untruth
concerning the
n a ti onal de
fense of the
United States
The false
jos-pb Alsop claims were
most succintly pnt by the
President himself in his last
state of the nation message
"We have now," he told the
country, "a broadly based and
efficient defensive strength
including a great deterrent
power . . . but unless we act
wisely and promptly, we
could lose (the) capacity to de
ter attack or defend our
selves." He then outlined the
action he proposed to take
and he concluded with this
promise: "We intend to assure
that our vigilance, power and
technical excellence keep
abreast of any realistic threat
that we face."
THITHER the President was
consciously misleading the
nation, or he silently decided
to break his promise later on,
or he has been misinformed
about the facts. The third al
ternative is not only prefer
able;, it is also highly prob
able. But that does not change
the hard facts about which
the President has been misin
formed. Nothing will change
them but a vastly greater na
tional effort to "keep abreast"
of the "realistic threat we
face."
The time of deadly danger
will begin soon, during the
period the Pentagon calls "the
gap" the years between 1960
through 1963 or 1964. Massive
orders for hardware must be
placed immediately indeed
they should have been placed
last winter if we are going
to make the feeblest pretence
of "keeping abreast" during
the years of the gap.
The prospective results of
our present, fantastically in
adequate effort were given
in detail in the last report in
this space. They may be suf
marized as follows: '
T7IRST, we shall retain a
A modest margin of super
iority in manned bambers
throughout the years of the
gap unless, the Kremlin puts
its new, very long-range, su
personic jet bomber into early
production, as must of course
be expected. (It is not expect
ed by the Administration, but
all of the Administration's ex
pectations are based on the
kind of reading of the grim in
telligence that experience has
repeatedly warned against.)
Second, the NATO esti
mates give the Soviets a
strength in air defense that is
at least two times, if not three
or four times, greater than
our own air defense strength;
and this wide margin of supe
riority will be maintained
throughout the years of the
gap. This means, of course,
that the balance of manned
bomber strength must be
weighted in favor of the So
viets; for our manned bomb
ers are now increasingly vul
nerable to interception by the
more advanced defensive wea
pons. Third, we shall be sending a
few intermediate Tange mis
siles to our NATO allies in the
gap years. Meanwhile the So
viets will acquire between
1.000 and 2,000 ballistic mis
siles with suitable ranges to
neutralize or destroy all our
overseas air bases, on which
the striking power of our
manned bomber force heavily
depends. And fourth, the U.S.
vs. U.S.S.R. score in opera
tional intercontinental mis
siles in the gap years wjll be
U. S. 0 ICBMs in 1960 vs.
I J'
m it
U.S.S.R. 100 ICBMs in 1959
U.S. 30 ICBMs vs. U.S.S.R
500 ICBMs in 1960; U.S. 70
ICBMs vs. U.S.S.R. 1000
ICBMs in 1961; U.S. 130
ICBMs (plus a few submarine
borne Polaris, perhaps) vs
U.S.S.R. 1500 ICBMs in 1962
and U.S. 130 ICBMs (plus
more Polaris) vs. U.S.S.R,
2000 ICBMs in 1963.
-
PURTHERMORE, only a few
score more of the Navy's
Polaris missiles will atler the
balance in 1964. And the first
solid-fueled Minuteman mis
sile, on which the Pentagon
is gambling the American fu
ture, cannot possibly be ready
for operational use before the
end of 1963 or early 1964. It
will probably be later than
this.
If this is "keeping abreast,'
one would like to know how
the Administration defines
"falling behind." The effect of
the present policy is indisput
able. It will aUow the Soviets
to gain an overwhelming su
periority, it is only necessary
to look back a few years, to
the last time this reporter
took the same grave step of
charging official untruth
about the national defense,
That was when the egre
gious Louis A. Johnson was
swearing he was "only cutting
fat, not muscle." The, Truman
Louis ' Johnson disarmament
policy ended in the Korean
war. But at least Truman and
Johnson then had the excuse
that the United States still
possessed a virtual monopoly
of nuclear striking power.
Now we are flaccidly let
ting the Soviets gain an over
whelming superiority in this
crucial area where once we
enjoyed a monopoly. We are
doine this moreover, after
abandoning superiority to the
Soviets in almost all other
arms areas. Can any sane man
suppose that this folly is not
immeasurably more danger
ous than the follies of Louis
Johnson? Or can any sane
man seriously suppose that
the end-result will not be im
measurably more terrible? At
this instant, the last chance to
save ourselves is slipping
through our hands.
(c) 1958 New York Herald
Tribune Inc.
Communications
Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address of
the writer although under cer
tain circumstances the use of a
pen name or initial for publica
tion is permissible. The Mail
Tribune reserves the right to
edit all letters with an eye to
clarification and condensation.
Letters submitted for publica
tion must not exceed 400 words.
The letters printed in this
;olumn do not necessarily repre
lent the views of the paper, in
fact the contrary is often the
case.
Why Hunt Doves?
Dear Editor, and Bird
Watchers: Will some one
please tell me why there is
open hunting on the mourning
doves?' I have lived most of
my life on a farm and love
to hear their calls. As a
child, father always told
us to be especially nice to the
doves as they were the farm
ers best friends. I never heard
of them harming anything
and there certainly isn't any
food to speak of in one. They
do not multiply very fast.
A young pair just recently
appeared in my yard. I threw
them some crumbs and told
the children not to molest
them. The next day the chil
dren found .one run over by
a car and a day or so later
the other one disappeared,
probably caught by a cat.
(Name on File)
Medford
LOSS IS UNIQUE
Chicago (UPD Reynolds
Howard held a unique distinc
tion Friday. He was the first
person ever to report the loss
of a bass drum. It fell out of
the rear of his station wagon
along an expressway.
Today & Tomorrow
By Walter Lippmann
BEFORE THE SUMMIT
The immediately critical
question for us in the give-and-take
about a summit
meeting is not
where it is
held, or who
is invited, or
under what
rules the meet
ing is con-
i "V I auciea. it is
Vi stA A whether the
jjjCNOtJ postponed un-
waiter Lippmann "i alter ar
rangements have been made
for the withdrawal of the
American troops now in Leb
anon. For unless this can be
done, the President could
hardly hope to stand up ef
fectively to Khrushchev's at
tacks. , If it can be done and, ii as
seems indicated after the
week end meeting in' London,
the new Iraq government is
recognized, the issue at -the
summit will be transformed.
The issue will not be bur in
tervention, or any alleged ul
terior scheme to conquer Iraq,
but what can be done by the
great powers to stabilize the
Middle East.
On that question we can, if
we collect our wits, talk on
equal terms. Nor wiU it be
so necessary for the President
to protect himself by putting
up a procedural barricade.
TN MANY ways the most in--"
teresting development since
the crisis began has been the
evidence that in Gaullist
France we have an ally who
is able to contribute what the
Western nations most need:
loyalty to their vital interests
which is not satellite-ism or
me-tooism but is independent
and constructive, carried on in
the style which is becoming
to great powers.
If anybody has read all the
notes which have been ex
changed, he must have found,
it seems to me, that the most
self-respecting and effective
rebuttal of Khrushchev's
charges came from Paris.
Moreover, if Washington had
it all to do over again if we
could erase the panicky and
miscarried cleverness of the
suggestion of a meeting in
New York it would be in
Gen. de Gaulle's proposal that
we would find expressed our
best interests. For having en
In the Day's News
By FRANK
Foreign affairs:
iebanon nas a new presi
dent.
On the second ballot, the
Lebanese parliament and OP
POSITION forces rallied be
hind the 66-year-old army
chief of staff. The news of
hehab's election was greeted
with joy by the strife-torn na
tion. The tense armed men
surrounding the parliamen
tary building rebels and
government forces alike
emptied their guns into the
air in celebration.
The choice of a new pres
ident by the opposing factions
could mean the end of the 13
week-old political crisis
AND THE WITHDRAWAL
OF 10 THOUSAND AMERI
CAN TROOPS FROM LE
BANON.
WONDERFUL!
" Let's now GET OUR
TROOPS OUT and quit acting
like imperialists.
ILfORE on the Lebanon af-
iTl fair-
Chehab's landslide election
is considered a triumph for
American trouble shooter
Robert Murphy, who was sent
to Lebanon to find a way to
end the crisis. He ie credited
with lining up Chehab as the
only candidate who would be
supported by both sides.
A thought:
Here in the State of Jeffer
son where we haven't too
much respect for striped pants
and official cocktail parties
but hold COMMON SENSE
in high esteem let s start a
movement to have Murphy
named secretary of state.
In the conduct of our for
eign affairs, we need more
horse sense and less protocol.
BACK to the home front.
The Institute 'of Life In
surance reports this morning
that thrift-minded Americans
have made life insurance the
nation's No. 1 savings medi
um. It says the number of
policy holders in legal re
serve life insurance com
panies rose to a record 109
million at the end of 1957, or
63 per cent of the nation's en
tire population.
TTMMMMM.
Hi
No political stuff. No gun
ning for votes in election
years. Just plain private,
free-enterprise SAVING.
A prediction:
Over the long pull, this
kind of saving will beat the
political cradle - to - the-grave
stuff all hollow.
gaged ourselves under what
seemed like dire compulsion
in a dead-end street, what was
needed was time and a quiet
ing down of the crisis in order
to extricate ourselves in an
orderly way and without too
much loss of face.
rpHE rise of -French diplo
macy carries with it the
promise that in shaping a Mid
dle East policy for the West,
the European continental na
tions will play an increasing
role. This is most desirable.
For while Great Brtan re
mains our senior ally, an
Anglo-American duet does
not bring out the best capaci
ties in both countries. To
speak frankly, the disparity
in wealth and power is so
great that London alone does
not stand up to Washington
and is not able to -contribute
to the alliance what the al
liance most needs, loyalty
with genuine independence
and fearless thinking.
This is not to say that the
West needs must not rest on
conformism, satellite-ism, me
tooism. The United States gov
ernment and the American
people, burdened as they are
with world repsonsibilities for
which they are unprepared,
need above all intelligent and
candid friends to help them
find the way. As Americans
we should rejoice at every
evidence, such as we have rec
ently had from Paris, that we
are among equals who are
first-rate in the quality of
their minds and their sensi
bilties. The President has now pro
posed that the summit meet
ing be held in about ten days
to two weeks. This may pos
sibly be time enough to take
care of the intervention in
Lebanon and the recognition
of Iraq. We may know in the
next few days.
In any event it is not time
enough to work out with our
allies a modern policy for the
Middle East. But as a stopgap
it might be enough to agree
to make it clear at the summit
that we are not intending to
restore the past, that we are
no intending to stand pat, but
that we regard ourselves as at
the beginning of prolonged ne
gotiations for a new order in
the Middle East,
(c) 1958 New York Herald
Tribune Inc.
JENKINS
TN conclusion: (
Nebraska state employees
are smiling these days. Their
paychecks are beginning to
arrive. They have been badly
delayed here lately and the
state's job holders have been
having to stave off their cred
itors until they could get their
checks.
It seems the state treasurer,
Mrs. Bertha Hill, has been
forced to sign the checks BY
HAND. It was a slow process,
and she was getting FAR be
hind. But the problem has
been solved. A signature plate
for a payroll check signing
machine arrived yesterday
and the checks are rolling out
fast.
rPHAT'S the modern world
for you.
In these days government
spends money so fast it has
to buy fancy machines to sign
the checks speedily enough
to keep up.
Editorial Comment
DISCRIMINATION
The $500 damage suit filed
recently by a Negro who had
a motel reservation, then was
refused quarters when he ar
rived, brings to mind the fact
that such discrimination is
banned by "Oregon's civil
rights statute. The Negro
probably will collect.
The incident also causes us
to recall an experience we
once had. Like so many others
"who feel the "grass is greener
in the other fellow's yard," we
quit a newspaper job to "buy
a motel and retire."
One evening a big Cadillac
drove up. We noted the car
first, rather than the occu
pants. Closer' examination
however, disclosed the car
contained two colored couples.
They wanted a "double,"
which in motel nomenclature
means a unit with accomoda
tions for two couples.
These were the first colored
customers we had encoun
tered in the new business, and
it was with -some misgivings
that we watched them "Sign.
the guest register. As though
to reassure us one of the men
remarked: "I am an attorney
at Berkeley and my friend
here is a public relations con
sultant." When the two couples
checked out the next morning
the motel unit was so clean it
hardly appeared to have been
used. Everything had been
picked up and there were no
(By M-T Staff
. A youngster about whom
we have heard had, it was re
ported by his family, two
ambitions: One, to be a garb
age man, and, two, to be a
"dead carrier."
They figured out the first
one, all right, but it took them
a little while to determine
that his secondary ambition
was to drive a hearse.
V
City pdlice last week re
ceived a complaint from a
resident of this cily, who
said that a rooster in Ihe
neighborhood caused "loud
and continuous noises, par
ticularly in the early hours
of the morning," according
to the dead-pan police log
book. The owner, who said
the bird was a pet. agreed
to do something to end the
rural flavor provided by the
early-rising bird.
: Correspondence from a
rural friend:
"Last week at 1 p.m. on a
perfectly calm day, a very
large oak tree fell in the
meadow here.
"It happened to be in a
strategic place where lines
went in different directions
including the main electrical
and telephone lines for this
ranch, as well as the take-off
lines to the irrigation pump
and one of the houses.
"It took several crews of
Copco men to repair damage,
including setting in a new
pole. The lights finally were
on again about 11 o'clock that
night.
"In the meantime, those at
the ranch house had gone' to
bed. Some time in the night
one of them awoke to hear
what sounded like a noisy
party going on downstairs.
They went to investigate.
"One of the children had
been playing a record-player
at high volume at the time
the electricity went off."
A staff member remarked
on Thursday (which, if you
recall, was July 31. the day
before the new 4c postage
rale went to effect). "I wish
.1 could mail out my Christ
mas cards tonight."
. We know a woman who
went one better. She DID
mail out a Christmas card
Thursday.
'..-
And we also have heard
- about a woman who pro
posed what she considered
to be a temporary answer
to the upped postage price:
Buy a large supply of first
class stamps at 3c before
the price went up. . .
.
The Saturday Evening Post
recently had a cover picture
which showed a hot-rod-type
speedboat towing . a water
skier through the middle of
a bunch of boats occupied by:
wrathy fishermen.
The picture gave a taste of
the shape of things to 'come
for the county court, which
probably will be charged with
regulating the use of Howard
Prairie and Emigrant reser
voirs when completed.
One of the toughest jobs in
the world, we suspect, will be
keeping the skiers and the
fishermen in different parts
of the lake and away from
each others' throats, too. We
can just see that jaunty sher
iffs department speedboat
now, all equipped with red
light and siren.
Well, that's the way it is
elsewhere. Why-not here?
cigarette butts, beer cans or
other mementos, such as
white travelers are apt to
leave behind them. ' .
Later, as we became more
familiar with the motel busi
ness, and also the Oregon law,
we had no qualms about the
race or color of the customers.
Furthermore, we did not en
counter the prejudice on the
part of other motel guests that
so often is given as the reason
for denying accommodations
to colored persons.
Today it is not unusual to
see colored persons eating in
the dining rooms of Portland's
better hotels. Furthermore,
they are accepted there as
guests. And rare indeed is the
motel or restaurant that still
attempts to turn them away.
. The civil rights amend
ments made by the 1957 legis
lature put teeth in the law, for
one thing. Actually, however,
we feel that people also are be
coming more tolerant, at least
here in the west. Grants Pass
Courier. ,
PROGRESS?
One reason, seldom men
tioned, why Oregon- has not
attracted as much industry as
other states is that a large
number of Oregonians don't
care whether any more people
or more business comes to
Oregon or not.
We have listened to cham
ber of commerce talk so long
that it is considered' a sort ot
and Contributors)
The story the other day
about Medford exceeding
the 25.000-population mark
made some of the county
officials gloomy about the
problems they are going to
continue to have as the pop
ulation increases. Which re
minded' one of them about
a conversation he'd had
with a southern California
county assessor, in which
the latter was asked what
areas are absorbing the ex
cess influx of population
there. "You are," was the
reply.
Recent mention on this page
of bears at Crater lake seems
to have stirred the memory
of practically everyone who
ever encountered one and it
appears that most people
have, at one time or another.
. One such communication
suggested that the Crater Lake
rangers trap the bears (with-
iout harming them) and take
them into the far reaches of
the park.
Well, they do just that. Two
weeks ago this morning, as
we were cooking our bacon
less breakfast, a ranger told
us the trap was sprung, and
that a "mighty mad bear" was
inside. The trap is a big sec
tion of corrugated iron cul
vert, mounted on a trailer
wheels, and equipped with a
door which will drop over the
open end when the bait inside
is nudged.
Such captives are taken far
away, but usually they man
age to get back to the "happy
hunting grounds" of the
camps again, and some of
them have been caught re
peatedly, as many as half-a-dozen
or more times in a
season.
Another group of campers
complained that the park serv
ice is bending over backwards
to protect the bears. When it
was pointed out that the basic
national park service 'aw re
quires them to preserve the
wildlife, one of them com
mented: "Heck, they're doing
more than preserving it;
they're increasing it by leaps
and bounds, so that it's out of
proportion to the natural
ecology." And another member of the
party, a mother of small chil
dren, had some plaintive re
marks about bears being more
important than people. .
This may be true, but we
still think the park service is
right, and that , bears have
their place at a distance, pre
ferable, but still a place. We
have a probably wistful belief
that if you don't bother a bear,
it's not apt to bother you. Ex
cept, maybe, when it getj
hungry, or playful, or fearful
for itself or its cubs.
One veteran observer of
the habits of bears claims
that, at night, if you flash a
flashlight in their eyes, or,
in the daytime, use a mirror
to reflect sunlight the same
way, they are rendered blind
and confused for the time
being and in the ensuing
confusion, the bear can escape
from the human. Or, more
likely, vice versa.
Another dodge is to pile
pots and pans in a high arid
precarious tower over the
food, so that a warning is
sounded if the bear comes
raiding in the night. Mam
drawback to that: You're
more apt to scare the campers
to death than defeat the bear's
purpose. At least some camp
ers we know.
heresy to think that the state
is alright as it is and any
more residents couldn't help
much. But there are many
who think that is true.
New citizens raise the taxes
for their children must have
schools, they cause demand
for roads, they are more in
clined to swell the relief rolls
than the bank deposits. And
besides they spoil the fishing.
If one may state the atti
tude of these mossbacks who
want Oregon to themselves he
could say that they would just
as soon get their factory prod
ucts from some other state'as
to smell the factory smoke,
would as soon produce vheat
and beef that could be shipped
away as to raise radishes for
a nearby population.- They
don't crave company.
There is no organized group
of such people to combat ac
tively the work of chambers
of commerce. There is no
group trying to keep people
away. There is merely a lot of
folks who don't give a damn
whether any more come or
not and wouldn't raise their
finger to have three million
neighbors. "
What is this "progress" they
say that puts a fisherman on
every rock, fills the school
houses with strange kids,
crowds the road with trucks
and cars, takes the good farm
ing land for a stinking fac
tory? There is no point in accus
ing these citizens with moss
backism, or being old fash
oned. They are. And they
don't care. Sherman County
(Oregon) Journal.