Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1958)
10 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford1, Oregon, Sunday, August 10, 1938 lNlw dltasftiry limp LOL Don ' 4 y CARTON ADVERTISING Mrs. Jeanette Misenhimer, one of nine physically handi capped employees working at Handicapped Industries, Inc., 827 West Jackson st. is silk screening cartons used to ship the Toy Making Firm Turns Out 1r200 Units Each Day By DAN DAVIES Mail Tribune Staff Writar Christmas d r e d a r ations have begun already in Med- ford at one of southern Ore gon's newest industries. On Tuesday. Julv 29. Handicap ped Industries, Inc., began production of a toy it calls the "New X-Plorer Rocket." The toy manufacturing firm, drawing its name from the fact that handicapped nersons are emoloved to as semble and package its pro duct, is turning out about 1,200 units a day, according to President Eric A. Allen. Nine physically handi capped persons are presently emrjloved to Dut together the colorful package, which was designed by Die Walsh of Medford, vice president and treasurer of the company. Assembly Line The assembly line at the plant, 827 West Jackson st., consists of a large U-shaped table around which the em ployees work. As you walk into the room you would be unlikely to notice that the workers include two blind men and a deaf-mute woman. "Whenever I feel blue and down in the dumps," Allen said, "I go back and cheer myself up by listening to those people joking and laugh ing." Allen said he came to Med- inrii about a year ago with the idea of establishing a toy manufacturing company. Last February he and Walsh joined forces and on July 21 they incorporated. "The idea of employing handicapped per- sons came after I was put on an American Legion commit tee for the handicapped, he reported. Two Showroom The firm leaiei 2,800 square feet of floor space at its new home, Allen said. In addition to the assembly room there are two show rooms, a lunchroom, and ad ditional space for anticipated future expansion. One of the display rooms will be used for exhibiting the rocket toy and a number of other items including things produced at Camp White, the president said. The other will house Halliday company, Inc., Palisades Park, N- J., products. Allen readily admits , that the Halliday company made his firm possible. He said that they have agreed to take all of the toys his firm produces for the 'next several years. "They approached us earlier to see if we could guarantee to produce one million of our rocket toys for this Christ man," he stated, "but of course we just couldn't man age that." By Christmas time, Allen said he expects to have 30 or 40 employees, the majority of whom will be physically handicapped. Purchased in Medford Everything that goes Into the toy is purchased in Med ford except for the balloons which are made to order in Illinois, Allen said. The assembled package in cludes three colorful balloon rockets, a wooden plunger used as a releasing trigger, and a 10Vz by 1VA inch card board with a cut-out for a launching pad backed by a piece of spring steel. All of this is enclosed in a trans parent wrapping. To operate, the rocket bal loon is inflated and placed on the launching pad. When the trigger is depressed, the rocket fires into the sky, pro pelled by escaping air. The balloons can be used repeated ly, Allen said. John Ragsdale, 55-year-old Trail native and now a resi lient of Eagle Point, typifies the employees in many ways. Ragsdale has been blind since he was six years old. He will be remembered "by many resi dents as the man who oper ated a cigarette and candy stand in the courthouse for a number of years. Likes Type of Work Ragsdale said that he had been working for the govern ment for about 10 years when he started looking for some thing else this spring. He heard about the formation of Handicapped Industries and applied for a job. "This is the type of work Ive always liked," he reported. "I like to do a lot of tinkering and work with my hands." As the present time, he ad mitted, there isn't too much variety to his job. He works at packaging most of the time although the employees do swap jobs occasionally. Allen said the nine em ployees are paid one cent If if A - I . . .i ''Jsll t'j". f I if A si ....".w-jrf, 4 f I f if A . - : yv'" ": i,. i - ft firm's toy product in. All materials used by the new company, except the balloon rockets, are purchased in Medford, includ ing the shipping cartons. (Knackstedt Photo) ASSEMBLY LINE Sight of the nine handi- Leo Potter, Central Point; John Ragsdale, capped persons employed by Handicapped Eagle Point; Jack Braziel, Ashland; Miss Industries, Inc., can be seen around the Donna Nelson, Medford; Floyd Elbert, Cen- assembly line putting together and packag- tral Point; and George Poore and Jackie ing the firm's X-Plorer Rocket toy. These Hunsaker, both of Medford. people turn out about 1,200 of the toys a day. From the left are Joe Pryor, Medford; ' (Knackstedt Photo) FINAL INSPECTION Eric A. Allen (right), president, and Die Walsh (left), vice president and treasurer of Handicapped In dustries, Inc., are shown with Miss Donna Nelson inspecting the X-Plorer Rocket toy made by the firm. The toys are some of the first produced by the company since . it went -into operation July 29. - (Knackstedt Photo). Ex-Ashland Edilor Gets UPI Position Ashland A former city editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. Willard D. (Bill) Eb erhart. has been given a news executive assignment in Port land by United Press Interna tional. Eberhart's wife is the for mer Ernestine Gilstrap of Medford, and he is the broth er of Jean Eberhart, local sporting goods store owner. The new Oregon executive news editor is to be trans ferred from Montreal, Canada, in September. Before going to Canada six years ago Eb erhart held positions in Seat tle and Portland with the wire service and was manag er of the UP bureau in Hono lulu. The Eberharts have one son, Richie. apiece for each completed as sembly. "They have earned up to S1.50 per hour each and are getting faster every day." "These people are the darn dest workers in the world," Walsh chimed in. "You just can't get them to stay away from the job." Handicapped Industries is holding an open house today between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. for persons interested in tour ing the plant. PROTESTING INNOCENCE, Marine Capt. Dean Hans berry enters San Diego federal court for trial on charges of embezzling $63,000 from Camp Pendleton Marine Base. He claims money was taken in armed robbery. With Hansberry is wife, Jean, who staunchly supports him. Congressmen Say Admiral Rickover Got Official Snub By JAMES BAAR United Press International Washington UPI In censed congressmen yesterday roundly condemned President Eisenhower's failure to invite Rear Adm. Hyman G. Rick oer to White House ceremon ies celebrating the historic North Pole exploit .of the atomic submarine Nautilus. The White House insisted it was not a deliberate snub to Rickover, who is known as the "father of the atomic sub." Press Secretary James C. Hagerty said there was a shortage of space in the room where the ceremony was held and hence the guest list had to be restricted. The explanation failed to convince or pacify key mem bers of the Congressional Atomic Energy tommittee. Rep. Melvin Price (D-Ill.) acidly pointed out that Rick over has been "slighted re peatedly" by Navy brass and high government officials. Twice Passed Over Rickover has been in the ill graces of regular Navy of ficialdom for some time. He has twice been passed over for promotion. Unless he re ceives Vice Admiral rank by next year, he must retire automatically. One Pentagon source claim ed that White House advisers made three telephone calls to Navy leaders suggesting the 58-year-old admiral be includ ed on the guest list but that the requests were ignored. The Navy disavowed any re sponsibility in the matter. Rickover's absence at the widely - publicized White House ceremony where the President pinned the Legion of Merit on the .Nautilus' skip per, Cmdr. William R. Ander son, was' quickly noted. Space Limitations Blamed Hagerty said "that because of the space limitations, only heads of the top Navy com mands were asked to attend. Price responded: "If this were the first time, I would give them the benefit of the doubt. But the Admiral has been slighted repeatedly. It is amusing to see people taking the bow who had little to do with the creation of the Nautilus." Rickover incurred the ire of the Navy hierarchy by his overriding zeal on behalf of nuclear submarines. In press ing for the project which re sulted in the Nautilus and a fast growing atomic fleet, the scientist - admiral frequently ruffled the feathers of his superiors. Union to Cooperate With Centennial Roseburg (UPD Dele gates to the third annual Ore gon AFL-CIO convention here directed J. D. McDonald, president, .to appoint a com mittee to cooperate with the Oregon Centennial commis sion. The closing session direc tive issued by the group was made to assure a successful centennial and trade fair. All union members through out the state were urged by delegates to support the cele bration in Portland. Delegates also voted to in crease the Council's annual student scholarships from $500 to $700. A raise in runner-up scholarships from $100 to $200 was approved, if fi nances allow. Six scholarships are award ed yearly, three of $500 each and three of $100 each. Man Shot While Fixing Breakfast Vancouver, Wash. (UPD Clifton Mamerow, 65, of Los Angeles, Calif., was . acciden tally wounded Thursday as he prepared breakfast for his wife and a companion in the Ridgefield city park, Clark County sheriff's deputies re ported. Officers said Mamerow was shot in the left knee with a .22 caliber rifle. Two boys, 12 and 14, who had been shooting birds in the vicinity were turned over to juvenile authorities for questioning. Mamerow was reported in good condition at St. Joseph hospital. Frieburg, Germany (UPD Prisoners at the Freiburg pen itentiary are going to have trouble filing their way out of cells. Prison officials have decided to make the cell bars of concrete rather than the traditional iron. Safety Avard Presented To Gold Hill Cement Plant BY MRS. CLYDE KELL Gold Hill Employees of the Gold Hill Ideal Cement company plant and Marble Mountain quarry were hon ored at a Boettcher' Safety Award picnic given by the Ideal Cement company Aug. 2 at TouVelle State park. The picnic was .held in rec ognition for the outstanding safety record achieved by the Gold Hill plant. There were no lost time accidents during 1957, , and the local unit had passed its 815th consecutive day without a disabling in jury. The day's activities included a full program of entertain ment for children and adults. A roast beef dinner was served at noon. More than 335 attend ed the picnic, including em ployees, their families, local Ideal officials and guests, re tired employees of the Gold Hill plant and quarry, and several Ideal Cement compa ny executives from Denver, Colo. The welcome address was given by Frank A. Sutcliffe, manager of the Gold Hill plant, who expressed his grat itude to all who were respon sible for the safety record. . Sutcliffe introduced com pany executives from Denver, who praised the management and men for the record achieved through cooperation in observing safety regula tions. One Denver official commented on the good house keeping -he noticed when he visited the cement plant, and was pleased since this is a fac tor towards estblishing good safety habits. Those from Denver present were Thomas B. Douglas, vice president of operations; Frank Price, industrial relations di rector; and Ted Johnson, edi tor of the Ideal Cement Mixer magazine and director of pub lic relations. Other guests introduced by Sutcliffe were Mayor and Mrs. Ernie Cooper of Gold Hill; E. A. Olsen and Bud Green, acci dent prevention division, state of Oregon; Ray Murray, sales manager, Oregon division, Portland; E. F. Bollinger, Pa cific regional production man ager, Palo Alto, Calif.; R. E. Hussey, labor relations mana ger, Pacific region. Retired employees of the Gold Hill plant and Marble Mountain quarry were pre sented by J. Raymond Ritter, plant chemist and safety di rector, who was chairman of the picnic arrangements. Those present were R. E. Cook, Charles Kell, John Hangas, Carl Boye, Clyde Walker, Bozy Tepovac, S. M. Christensen, Jim Clement, Max Schmidt, Joe Pankey, and Earl Pankey of the ce ment plant. Those from Mar ble Mountain were William Marsh and Hose Brown. . The Bureau of Mines Joseph Holmes Award was presented to the men of Marble Moun tain quarry for having worked four years without a lost time accident. Price made the pre sentation to Pat Gallagher, large cat operator at Marble Mountain, which is located near Wilderville in the Grants Pass area. The State of Oregon Award of Merit was presented to Frank Carter, master mechan ic at the cement plant, by Bud Green, Medford, who is rep resentative of the Oregon State Industrial Accident com mission. The award was given in recognition of outstanding effort and achievement in the interest of safety. The Charles Boettcher Safe ty Award was presented by Douglas. Receiving the award was Alva Cook, chief elec trician, in behalf of the em ployees of the cement plant. The Boettcher Plaque is the highest safety award ever pre sented to any unit of the Ideal Cement company chain. To qualify for the Boettcher award, the plant must have completed one calendar year without a lost time accident. To win the plaque permanent ly a plant must have com pleted two consecutive years without a lost time accident, Douglas said. ' The Boettcher Safety Award is named in memory of the founder of Ideal Cement com pany, Charles Boettcher. who stressed welfare and safety habits for his employees as far back as 1898 when he found ed the original . cement plant RECEIVES AWARD Alva Cook, chief electrician at the Gold Hill plant of the Ideal Cement company, receives the Charles Boettcher Safety Award on behalf of the plant employees at a recent picnic at TouVelle State park. The award is the highest a company plant can receive from the firm for going one year without a lost time accident. (Ideal Cement Company Photo). of Ideal in Portland, Colo. The company is now made up of 15 cement plants and three terminals throughout the United State. The local ce ment plant became a unit of Ideal Cement company in 1952. Since that time many improvements to modernize have been carried out, includ ing new buildings and equip ment. Douglas said the Gold Hill Ideal cement plant is one of eight to receive the Boettcher honor this year. Sutcliffe add ed that to his knowledge this is the first time in the history of the local plant that such a safety record has existed. Ritter, who also is safety di rector, said he is pf oud of his fellow workers for having ob served rules and achieved the awards. Ritter expressed his appre ciation to all who served ac tively on the picnic commit tee. They were Jim Lindsay, Pat Gallagher, Si Fleming, Neal Smith, Bill Day, Clyde Brown, Mrs. Ann Denker, Frank Carter, Wilmer Bailey, Sam Jones, Cleo Gilchrist, Al Finke, Clarence Huntley, Alva Cook, Bob Vincent, Lawrence Smith, Donald Ferguson and Leonard Gascon. Guests of Ideal officials at tending from out of town were J. O. Kingslien, Ideal sales man, southern Oregon; Joe Murdoik, chief chemist, Ideal Cement company, Redwood City, Calif., Mike Reiley, Ideal salesman, northern Ore gon; and Jack Kershaw, own er of K Lines, Inc., Coos Bay; John Forrest, district 2 coun cil representative of the Ce ment Lime and Gypsum Workers of America, who came from Seattle, Wash. Vancouver Man Killed In Crash Vancouver, Wash. (UPD Henry Harding, 62, of Van couver, died Friday afternoon when his car crashed into a concrete abutment at 33rd and Freeway. Vancouver citv Dolice said that the cause of death was undetermined. Clark County Assistant Coroner John C. Egon ordered an autopsy. Police voiced the opinion that Harding may have died of a lieart attack before the crash. Officers said no skid marks were visible. Harding was reported to have a bad heart, they said. WRONG BAG New York (UPD Book keeper Sylvania Youngerman and a woman companion stop per at a bank Friday and pick ed up a $2,000 payroll and then dropped into a nearby restaurant to buy a container of coffee. As they were about to enter the building of Miss Youngerman's employer, a daring payroll bandit grabbed the paper bag she was carry ing and fled. He got the cof fee. CORN REMOVER GivM mttanf rKf from pain end ptoli livvJy wiwrw hard corns, soft carat I batwMn k toes, coIIowms, papillomas, dub nattt. It contains oral rfiffaront oils that saltan. and dm not esuso rho irritation as do strong acid mixruros. Whoa oA othors hov failsd Sty this ana. Try ovr Bunion Gsliof, which to liov pain, soronoss, swelling first or socond application. Both romodios told manoy back guaranto. Exclusively at WESTERN THRIFT A C3EAIL Let us write or rewrite ALL your Insur ance Policies so that they become ef fective on the same date. Then Use our own (not a company) office pay ment plan, monthly quarterly, semi annual or annual. If you wish we can arrange to pick up policies in other com panies as they expire and include them in our monthly payment plan. Wouldn't you like that? We think you wouldl , Phone us at SP 2-4444 for a date to talk it over. Yes, it's . . INSURANCE iNGY SINCi P09 "Old, but not old fashioned" "Where Insurance is a Business, Not a Sideline" uner people I I Charles DorreH . I I ' CongerM'orris rs J V- WEST MAIN AT SIXTH 1 11 ASHLAND MORTUARY ssssssJ A 5:00 p.m. I 4th and C Streets, Ashland i nl. I7J jkJpf tl 'l' li emr at'na eCte Morticians by Invitation ijil 4
