MAIL 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
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ERIC W. ALLEN JR..
Managing Editor
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RICHARD JEWETT. Sports Editor
OLIVE STARCHER. Women's Editor
DALE ERICKSON. Circulation Mgr.
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Med ford Oregon under Act of
March 3. 1897
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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.