Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, September 28, 1958, Image 4

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Medford mail tribune., September 28, 1958, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextMAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE. 4 Sunday, September 28, 1958 MEDFORDTRIBUmB "Everyone In Southern Oregon Reads The Mail Tribune" Published DaiJy except Saturday by MEDFORD PRINTING CO. 33 North Fir St. Ph. SP 2-6141 ROBERT W. RUHL, Editor HERB GREY. Advertising Manager GERALD LATHAM. Business Mgr. ERIC W. ALLEN JR.. Managing Editor EARL H ADAMS. City Editor HARRY CHIP MAN. Teleg. Editor RICHARD JEWETT. Sports Editor OLIVE STARCHER. Women's Editor DALE ERICKSON. Circulation Mgr. An Independent Newspaper Zntered as second class matter at Med ford Oregon under Act of March 3. 1897 SUBSCRIPTION RATES By Mail In Advance: Copy 10c. Daily and Sunday 1 year $15.00 Daily and Sunday 6 mos. 8.00 Daily and Sunday 3 mos. 4.25 Sunday Only One year $4.20. By Carrier In Advance Medford. Ashland. Central Point. Eagle Point. Jacksonville. Gold Hill. Phoenix, Shady Cove. Rogue Riv er. Talent, and on motor routes: Daily and Sunday 1 year $18.00 Daily and Sunday 1 mo. 1.50 Carrier and Dealers c o p y 10c All Terms Cash in Advance Official Paper of City of Medford Official Paper of Jackson County United Press International Full Leased Wire MEMBER OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION Advertising Representative: WEST-HOLIDAY CO.. INC, Of fices in New York. Chicago, De troit. San Francisco. Los Angeles, Seattle. Portland, St. Louis, At lanta. Vancouver. B.C. . NEWSPAMt k PUBLISH! IS "ASSOCIATION NATIONAL EDITORIAL Flight 'o Time Medford and Jackson County History from the files of The Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. 10 YEARS AGO Sept. 28, 1948 (Tuesday) Three Air Force reserve unit planes stage a mock at tack on Central Point, Junior Chamber of Com merce members who arrive at the meeting tonight without guests must escort live ducks until they can latch on to a new member for the club. 20 YEARS AGO Sept. 28, 1938 (Wednesday) Serpentina, a "living mer maid," will be featured in the Mammoth Exposition- train show here at the SP depot. From Arthur Perry's "Ye Smudge Pot" column: "A Nevadan, 84, riding a bicycle, was struck by an auto, and uninjured. He ought to have a grandson young enough to spank him." 30 YEARS AGO Sept. 28. 1928 (Friday) A quilting bee is held at Butte Falls. E. T. Baker of Rogue Riv er has begun organizing a rod and gun club. - 40 YEARS AGO Sept. 28, 1918, (Saturday) Jackson county draftees will receive instructions at the Natatorium tonight. Jackson county is "waking np" in the Liberty loan bond campaign but Medford is "still very drowsy" and lags behind other districts. What's Your I.Q.? Nine1 or ten correct is superior; seven or eight is excellent; five ot six is good. 1. "Simon Legree" is a character in which famous book? . . 2. A fathom comprises how many feet? 3. Is a boa constrictor a venemous snake? 4. To be eligible for elec tion to Congress, a candidate must be a native-born Ameri can citizen; true or false? 5. What governmental or ganization is charged by the law with responsibility for protecting the person of the President of the U. S.? 6. "Monty" is the nickname of which high ranking Eng lish military leader? 7. On which day of the week does Labor Day fall? 8. Name the Roman goddess of wisdom. 9. More than one President of the U. S. has been elected to office even though he re ceived a minority of the popu lar vote; true or false? 10. On the Centigrade scale, what is the boiling point of water? Answers: 1. "Unci Tom's Cabin." 2. Six feet. 3. No. 4. False. 5. Secret Service. 6. Field Marshal Viscount Mont gomery. 7. Monday. 8. Min erva. 9. True. 10. 100 degree.. ' Sense and Dollars In "Communications" the other day, a Jack son county resident complained bitterly about Oregon's road system, and in even stronger terms about the use of gasoline tax money to pay for advertising designed to encourage tourists to visit the state. He quote Frank Jenkins, editor of the Klam ath Falls Herald and News (and "newly-elected chairman of the advisory committee to the travel information division of the state highway depart ment) in his "In the Day's News" column which appeared in this paper. The letter-writer selected this quotation: "Oregon's tourist money comes out of the gasoline tax. Perhaps, as a taxpayer, you may resent that. You shouldn't." LIE ENDED the quotation .there, and launched " into a diatribe about the use of gasoline tax money for advertising, and castigated "those crooked politicians" for allowing it to be spent. To be perfectly fair, he should have com pleted the quotation, which added: "Every year since the advertising was begun, the tourists have paid FAR more in gasoline tax than the advertising has cost." To be specific, the state bought about $300,000 worth of advertising this year. Gas tax receipts from the tourists business ALONE this year will amount to just about ten times as much, or $3,000,000. If that isn't good business, what is? It is $2,700,000 for highway purposes which will not have to be paid by Oregon taxpayers. OF COURSE no one knows for sure just how much of the tourist trade (which brought some $150,000,000 into Oregon this year) "is stimulated by the state's advertising program. But it is a known fact that it has been a highly successful program. Even if it were only 10 per cent successful, it would still pay for itself, and tangible responses to the advertising show it is far more successful than that. As to the -complaint that Oregon has some of the "worst roads of any section of the coun try," that is a matter for debate. We have found them to measure up pretty well to California's, desDite our southern neighbor's considerable financial advantage. Oregon is not a wealthy state, distances are lonp-. and DODulation (comDared to California) is small But in roads and highways the com parison is not entirely to our disadvantage. "HERE is one other point -brought up in the let L ter where the value of the tourist trade, to any one other than tourist-service enterprises, is chal lenged. "Hnw manv nf mir npnnle here in Orerron. ner- V T X" f O f A centagewise, get anything out of the tourists? he asks. Anv snrihomore economics student could an swer that one correctly. benefits economically. Certainly the mo'tels, and so on receive the they're residents and citizens of the community, too. Ten dollars m their pockets irom tourists is ten dollars which they will spend with the butch- er, the baker and the candlesticK maKer. LJOTELS and motels hire employees, who buy groceries and automobiles and new clothes. Gasoline stations and their employees buy many of their supplies from local retailers, pat ronize theaters and read local papers. Restaurants hire local people, and buy their produce from local warehouses who buy it from Jackson county farmers, among others. There is hardly a line of endeavor in the state which'is not affected favorably, over a period of time, by tourists. If the tourist industry were to vanish over night, the state would immediately be thrown into an acute depression, for that $150,000,000 sus tains hundreds of payrolls, and makes the differ ence between red and black ink in hundreds of businesses. ' . This climate favorable to the tourist trade, which is officially encouraged, is hardly a "dis honest, disgusting, irregular state of affairs." It's quite the contrary. E.A. Dollars and Cents As a postscript to the above, it is interesting to note some of the facts and figures of the tourist trade. The average number of people per car is 3.2. Average length of stay is 3.81 days. Estimated number of tourist cars visiting Ore gon in 1958 was 1,803,465. Average number of miles driven per car in Oregon was 472. Average expenditure per day per person was $6.16. Average expenditure per day per car was $19.71. Average expenditure per stay per person was $23.47. . Average expenditure per stay per car was $75.10. ; Estimated income from auto tourists was $135,440,222. Estimated income from bus, train and plane tourists was $15,000,000. Califomians furnished 43 per cent of Ore gon's tourists, Washington 23 per cent, Idaho and Canada 5 per cent, and Texas, Colorado, Utah, Illinois and Kansas following in that order. E. A. Everyone in the state hotels, gasoline stations tourist dollar first, but Dennis the Menace Did ya know rr wasa&talkih'? Huh t pip ya seb " - v Today & Tomorrow By Walter Lippmann DISENTANGLEMENT , The President, on his re turn from Newnort is faced with a crises in relations with t-niangs gov ernm ent in Formosa. The Red Chinese bloc kade of Quemoy is effective, and there is no reason to think that it Waiter can be broken e x c ep t by a the mainland Lippmann war against This war would have to be waged by the United States. The President is unrlpr in creasingly frantic pressure irom v ormosa, and from some people in Washington, to let uniang s air force begin the war which we would then have to finish. In resisting the nressur tn go to war, it will be difficult, perhaps impossible, for the President to avoid a decision which means in effect that he has recovered American con trol of United States foreign policy. For he will have to prevent Chiang from attack ing the mainland and, having done that, he will have to in sist on our right to negotiate for a cease-fire to be followed by the withdrawal of. the Na tionalist troops. The troops can be saved but not the offshore islands, and this country will have done all that it is obligated to do for Formosa if it extricates one-third of Chiang's , army from the trap they are in. Moreover, it is a question whether the understanding agreed to by Mr. Dulles at the time the Formosa treaty was ratified by the Senate gives the President the moral right to do any more. SPHERE is no doubt that the -- withdrawal of the Nation alist troops ''will mean that Chiang has been defeated in the offshore islands, and that all hope of his return by in vading the mainland will have been written off spectacularly- But bad as' it will be for Chiang's prestige, and also in some measure for our own, it will be less bad than the other possibilities now open to us. The withdrawal and salvaging of Chiang's troops will be less "bad than a war I j m 3 l"r C Editorial Comment RE 'EXTERMINATION' "If vhat you want to do is exterminate, I can pick 200 men in my custody who are far more dangerous to the public thanthe men in death row." Thus spoke Richard McGee, chief of California's prison system, in testifying against capital punishment in Sacra mento recently. If Oregon joins the growing number of states and nations which have, abolished the death penalty we will be do ing the right thing on several counts: 1. The statistics and the "rec ord show clearly that the death penalty does not deter crime, but rather makes diffi cult the conviction of most persons accused of capital crimes. 2. Executions are almost ex clusively reserved for the helpless, poor, and racially un popular. Every person exe cuted in Oregon for the last 21 years has been defended only by a court-appointed law yer, being unable to employ his own. Other first-degree murderers escape the maxi mum penalty. 3. Those who commit mur ders, as a group, are not con sidered by penologists to be as unredeemable or as menac ing to society as several other which would be enormously difficult to localize and, if it involved nuclear weapons, would have catastrophic effects on our whole position in Asia. For the people of Asia have not forgotten that the first time that nuclear weapons were used in war it was by the United States against an Asian people. It is unthinkable that President .Eisenhower should repeat that tragedy. The evacuation of Chiang's troops will be less bad also in its effect than letting these troops be besieged and starv ed while we stand by and make ineffectual attempts to run the blockade. ALL the choices are horrid. The grim truth is that Mr. Dulles has been caught in a trap which could have been avoided by insisting that Chiang withdraw his troops before this bombardment be gan. There is no pretty and agreeable way to get out of such a trap. The best way out is to act with the magnanimity and self-assurance of a great pow er, to disentangle ourselves from Chiang, and then to as tonish the world by a show of realism and common sense about the future of Formosa. It is said that all the smaller nations will abandon us if we do not let Chiang lead us into war. It is said that to refuse to be led into war is appease ment which will encourage a bigger war of aggression. But as against this, it can be said that our entanglement with Chiang is regarded in most of the world as sinister, and as a sign of political and moral weakness here at home under internal political pres sure. Were the United States to extricate itself from the en tanglement and to come forth, as it can and as it should, with constructive proposals that Chiang cannot veto, our pres tige would rise and our in fluence would increase. Our existing entanglement is an enormous liability, and a sign that we were once again free of it would be taken not as weakness, not as a "Munich," but as evidence that we were a great power which can be trusted to defend the peace of the world. (c) 1958 New York Herald Tribune Inc. types of felons. ("Habitual criminals," etc.) 4. If our purpose is justice and redemption, to kill the ac cused removes the last chance to correct our errors. Recently in a Southern state a convict ed man, sentenced to death, was released when another confessed the murder. Last month an Oregon man was convicted of murder, and within two weeks the chief witness admitted she lied in testimony which convicted him. These instances occur everyyear. 5. Killing under any pretext is contrary to all religious pre cept except among the most retributive and primitive re ligious sects. When Oregon voters ap prove abolition of capital pun ishment, the maximum pen alty, except for treason or a second killing while under sentence, will be life imprison ment, with strict limits on pa role. We will join the state of Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, and the soon-to-be state of Alaska. Most of the advanced nations have abolished it, in cluding Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, Switz erland and Belgium. The death penalty is finally in its last months in England, where 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. We Can't Learn To the Editor: As we watch the antics of some of the char acters who are trying to guide the destiny of the wprld we wonder how inconsistent hu man beings can be. We Amer icans, whom we are told are tops in everything, are tops in inconsistencies too. For instance we fought a bloody revolution because we were taxed without represen tation. Guided by some great personalities we then estab lished a government pledged to truth and justice. Alas, our path is strewn with wrongs, to enumerate which a letter of 400 words fades into inadequa cy. Had we dealt with our mis takes the way mistakes should to dealt with they might have become an asset instead of a liability. We are now right on the verge of plunging the world into a war that might termin ate in total destruction of the race, over the revolution of another nation whose griev ances outnumber those over which our revolution was fought. Ever since the Hungarian episode, of which we were more responsible than most people realize, we have point ed the finger of scorn at the Soviet Union. We went into Lebanon where the action was less justifiable. The reason it turned out to be less bloody was - because the heathen Arabs were more charitable than the barbarous Nazi-fascists and religious fanatics of Hungary whose fervor was fanned by our propaganda. There is a saying that the wise learn by the mistakes of others, some learn by their own mistakes, fools never learn at all. Apparently we learned nothing in Korea or Lebanon. Now we are into the Chinese affairs. Could it be after all our achievements that we are among those who nev er learn? We have been warned that it is possible to gain the whole world yet to lose one's own soul. If we have not yet ar rived at that point the policy mapped out for us would most assuredly take us there. , Yours for more truth, jus tice and light. Bert Harr, Copper Road, Box 77, Jacksonville. Workers Busy To the Editor: As a regis trar and a Republican precinct woman, I feel entitled to get into "the registration hassle," as you put it. Our "massive" registration drive is well un der way, though without bene fit of all Mr. Redden's front page publicity. Surely, the gentleman is fa miliar with precinct organiza tion, or don't the Democrats have any precinct committee men and committeewomen? We have between two and three hundred workers all over the county, who are go ing door-to-door to contact un registered workers. Hardly "lip service," Mr. Redden, but very good "leg service!" Might I "remind you, sir, that your present method of mobile registration units was first developed by the young Republicans before the pri mary? Mary A. Ragland, , - 3182 Pacific Hwy. South, Medford. only 150 yean ago there were 200 crimes y punishable- by death. ,' " It is difficult for people to be unemotional about capital punishment, but we hope that before they emote over the issue on November's ballot, that they will examine the facts. Then let the emoting be done on a basis of supportable fact, rather than hob-goblins of prejudice inherited " from the dark past. Nearly every prison war den, including that tough hom bre, Warden Clarence Glad den of Oregon," opposes the death penalty. Those men know! We hope Oregon voters will strike the bloody relic from the Constitution. We will have better law enforcement and more accurate justice if we do. Milwaukie Review. Nationalist Vessel Capsizes in Strait : Taipeh7 (UPD - A Nationalist vessel capsized in the For mosa Strait Friday during a Quemoy convoy operation with eight Chinese and for eign correspondents aboard, the Quemoy Military Com mand announced. The an nouncement said only one of the newsmen was rescued. The golden eagle of the western mountains is marked by rich yellow feathers on the head. Matter of Fact THE DEFERRED DECISION Taipei, Formosa - Thus far, the Taipei visit of the Ameri can Commander-in-Chief in the Pac i f i c, Adm. Felt and the Pacific Air Command er, Gen. Kut er, has pro- M Hnpprl rm ma. il jor result ex- " cept bewild e r e d disap poi n t m e n t among the Chinese lead ers here. Joseph Alsop The disappointment is em phatically not directed at the Admiral and the General. They listened sympathetically to the Chinese warning that they would have to use their air power against the Com munist artillery emplace ments, if other means were not found to break the artil lery blockade of Quemoy. They heard and transmitted to Washington a new Chinese proposal that the American government warn Peiping of its intention to use American forces for the whole task of resupplying Quemoy. The idea of this scheme is to create a . "touch-me-not" situation. Thus the American forces are to be justified in returning the fire, if the Communist ar tillery blockade is not aban doned. ' rFHEN. Adm. Felt and Gen. Kuter studied and ap-. proved ways to improve the limited blockade - running that now supplies Quemoy. Improvements can be made, and time, can be gained by better blockade-running. But it was admitted, by Americans and Chinese alike, that the Quemoy position could not be indefinitely held by mere blockade-running. In short, this meeting out wardly resembled the old high level interallied confer ences of the Second World War. But it altogether failed to take the decisions in the grand style that used to re sult from those conferences of the past. No such decisions could be made here, in fact, for the excellent but some what curious tfeason that Adm. Felt and Gen. Kuter did not have the needed authority from Washington. According to reliable re port, the directive of our Pa cific commanders consists of nothing more than general in structions to carry out the purposes of the President's speech on the offshore islands crisis. In that speech, the President declared that he would use American forces to repel any "major assault" on Quemoy or the Matsus. But "apparently Washington has not yet decided whether a third of a million artillery shells dropped on Quemoy constitute a major assault." THE quotation is from a highly placed American who has to wrestle with the realities of the crisis in the Taiwan Strait. He was a little embittered, perhaps, because the American response to the challenge in the Strait seemed to him anomalous and hesi tant, except in the big words that have been so freely used. This is also the reason, of course, for the prevailing Chinese disappointment. Maybe a firm American de cision will be revealed short ly, either at Warsaw or in the Presidential statement which is rumored to be made at the end of this week. Meanwhile, the cause of the present inde cision about (the crisis in the Strait seems worth examin ing. From this angle of vision, the cause appears to be a kind of temporary dissonance among the men who made up the President's-mind to stand firm on the offshore islands. The leader of this policy making group, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, has always resembled a high stake poker player who never ex pects to have his hand called. Evidently he did not really expect to have his hand called when he urged the commit ment to defend the islands. The imposition of the artillery blockade and the Communist refusal of a cease-fire at War saw have called the Dulles hand, however. PERHAPS he will finally get a cease-fire by agree ing to further talks at the Sec retary of State-Foreign Min ister level - by sitting down with Chou En lai at the point of the guns around Quemoy, in fact. In any case, the rec ord plainly suggests that the Secretary of State has been seriously disconcerted by the turn events have taken. The Joint Chiefs of. Staff, who were Dulles allies in urg ing a firm stand, have equally plainly been severely discon certed for quite another rea son. They may have foreseen that the Dulles hand might be called. But they cannot have foreseen the sudden cancella tion of the Presidential direc tives authorizing the use of nuclear weapons in almost any kind of fighting involving American forces. All our de By Joseph Alsep fense planning has been based on these directives aimed to achieve alleged defense econ omies on, the "bigger bang for a buck theory. But this plan ning has now been upset. IlfHILE determined that the offshore islands had to be defended, Secretary Dulles has also been determined that the utmost effort must be made to defend the island with conventional weapons alone, even if American forces have to be engaged. He has won the argument thus far; and this is the clue to the mysterious story of Adm. Felt's critical message' to Washington. The Admiral did not attack the commitment made by the President con cerning the islands. But he vigorously attacked an at tempt to honor commitment without using nuclear weap ons. With all the chief policy makers severely disconcerted for different reasons, it is not surprising that the American posture has recently seemed hesitant and. anomalous. Washington was ready to deal with a straight naval block ade of the islands, and the Communist naval blockade was successfully broken by convoying as soon as it had been imposed. But Washing ton was unready, and appar ently still is unready to deal with the equally effective and dangerous artillery block ade, which raises the prob lem of the use of nuclear weapons in a fairly ' acute form. Soon or late, however, the Eisenhower administr a t i o n will have to grasp one horn of the dilemma or the other, unless a Communist cease fire can be obtained in the interval. One horn is the ap plication of American power to break the blockade decis ively and without regard to risk. The other horn is sur render despite the President's solemn commitment, followed by the destruction of just about every Western position and the loss of just about every Western friend through out the Far East (c) 1958 New York Herald Tribune Inc. In the Days News By FRANK JENKINS From Washington: Administration officials dis dounct speculation that.' Na tionalist China may go it alone in attacking the China mainland. They say they're confident Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek would make no such move without explicit American approval. 'C'ROM Formosa: "Informed sources" said today the United States has told General Chiang Kai shek that it is 100 per cent opposed to bombing raids on the China mainland AS LONG AS THERE REMAINS A SPARK OF HOPE THAT THE FORMOSA CRISIS CAN BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY. These sources said this view has been explained to Chiang and that the Nationalist presi dent has accepted it. They added that as long as the com munists limit their assault on the Quemoys to' artillery shell ing the Nationalists will, re strict their defense to counter- artillery fire. Bombers would be unleashed against the com munists only if the reds bomb first or attempt an amphibi ous landing against the off shore islands. IN ATTEMPTING to analyze and appraise what is going on, we have to remember that the poker game- in the Formosa straits is a stagger ingly big one. If we back down, our pres tige in the Far East will be gone where the woodbine twineth. If Red China backs down, she will ' lose ' face, "Face" is traditionally im portant in the Orient. For that matter, i "face" is im portant everywhere. NO BODY likes to admit he has started something he can't finish. For that 'reason, this For mosa straits business is as dangerous as an atom bomb. It could explode into a war that could wreck the world. T HOPE that in talking to Chiang our people have been very explicit indeed. I hope they have said to him flatly: "If you start ANYH THING on the mamland of China COUNT US OUT. In that event, we'll be through with you." We can say with reason that we will protect the Na tionalist Chinese in the island sanctuary of Formosa to which they have retired. But- If we back them in RECON QUERING THE MAINLAND OF CHINA -we will be on very, very dangerous ground -much too dangerous ground for us to stand on. That is why I hope we have made it flatly plain to him that we won't be dragged into any such enterprise. POTLUCK (By M-T Staff and -Contributors) A seventh - grade class we heard about was asked to de fine .the Dark Ages. One youngster's reply was: "The time between mid night and 6 o'clock.". An elected public ' offl- S cial gave a party the ether day, but his guests scattered when the host's dogs re-, turned to the home place to greet the guests Just after killing a skunk. Somewhat ": later, someone was over-'X heard to mutter, unkindly.' something about "the strong emell of politics." J During a recent meetin about lowering the level of tisn lake lor poisoning pur poses, there was a discussion about how low it should be drawn. . ' Medford Irrigation District Manager Jack Hoffbuhr said that one of his constant troubles is too many farmers going fishing, and thus lower ing the lake by letting their irrigation water run while they're gone. They say nothing suc ceeds like success evea in the case of apartments. A young woman recently became engaged after know - ing her fiance less than a month. We are informed that when she moves out of her apartment, two other girls will move in imme diately feeling that the apartment must be a sure fire magnet for matrimonial prospects. Two little girls were over heard arguing over their rights as to a certain boy. No. 1: "I've known him longer than you have." No. 2: "But he's in MY room at school." The following bitter note was handed to us by a mem- ber cf our staff: "The mean est man in town is the one who walked out of a den tist's office with an old magazine containing the conclusion to a murder mys-. tery story." We are constantly told how big, how powerful, how im pressive are the armaments which guard our shores these days. But it is more impres sive when you hear one of the members talk about it. A friend of ours was awed when a former Medford youth returned and told about the planes where a pilot's seat is 14 feet off the ground while the plane is on the runway, which carries fuel equivalent to the contents of two rail road tank-cars, and which can outfly some of the fastest fighter planes. Maybe he's the same one another resident was talk ing about when he said to a friend, "You beard about old Jack? He's flying jets now. Why I can remember when he was going to school he could hardly drive a car. . much lets fly a plane." The flu bug has been mak ing the rounds lately, and at this rate, our political com mentator declares, the politi cal ranks are apt to be thinned faster than even an election can do. He opines that It is possible that charges of germ warfare may be bandjed about before Nov. 4 rolls around. One cf the young men In the office came to work after a day off recently, a sunburn around the note ' and forehead barely disguis ing a bitter look of disap pointment. He flung the following - on our detk be fore stamping off to his typewriter: The steelhead are coming, the optimists say. A few have been counted as high as Gold Rey. The rest, we re assured, are all on their way. The rest? Are they all? And what of those boats At Gold Beach, where each confident fisherman gloats As among hungry lunkers his lucky lure floats? And what of those lining the banks at Galice? For each year their ranks show decided increase, And each year more nsn from the river th'ey fleece." And motel-loads of novices, down at Grants Pass, All rifle the riffles with spinners of brass Though they can't tell a brookie from crappie or bass. The steelhead are comingl No, only the dregs Will make it to Medford to snap at our eggs, ; While we wait, wading waist-deep, and wear out our legs.