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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1958)
First Field Performance Test Given Oregon Brand Inspectors Salem - Having already proven through two previous written tests that they pos sess the I.Q. of the average American - 90 to 110 - and a good job knowledge ap plicants for livestock brand inspector jobs showed Ore gon department of agricul ture personnel it still takes aspiring inspectors more than a minute per head to decipher the correct brands on assort ed cattle. The occasion was the first field performance test given by the Oregon civil service commission, in cooperation with the department, and which took place in Redmond last week. Similar exams are currently being held for 30 additional applicants in On tario, Medford, and Corvallis to supplement a list of eligi bles for any future openings with the livestock division. Ten head of cattle, pre viously closely examined by H. A. Matschiner, supervising livestock officer, and brand inspector aides, were turned loose in a pen and applicants given turns at distinguishing which of Oregon's more than 13,000 registered brands was before them. Actually, an Oregon brand Inspector's work is further complicated with the influx, for example, of some 40.000 additional brands from Cali fornia; 60,000 assorted de signs from Montana; 20,000 from Idaho; and a multitude of other hot iron impressions from other states and Can ada. "Hank" Matschiner, a for mer state police officer of seven years experience, has been in his present work with the state department of agriculture since 1953. He was assisted in the testing by George L. Ouellette, Civil Service examiner, Portland. Brand inspectors Ray Ego, Ed Ivory, and Bill Radose vich, joined Matschiner in grading the contestants. Iv ory, an experienced inspec tor, personally scrutinized 3, 000 cattle in Deschutes and Crook counties during No vember alone. Redmond Auc tion Yards, Inc., where the tests were given, move more than 500 cattle each week, with a brand inspector at tending every sale. For legal recognition, Ore gon law permits branding on both hips, shoulders, and rib areas. In addition to the brands, those vying for fu ture work with the depart ment were asked to note such other memorabilia as ear notches, flesh blazes, and so forth. Several steers bore more than one imprint from hot irons. "Because it is possible for cattle to be moved 300 miles in 12 hours, we have prob lems which didn't face the cattlemen of yesteryears," Matschiner said in explaining the importance of ciphers im printed into the living hide. Unless ranchers and farm ers record their brands with the department every five years, the ownership expires and the brand is open to be used by someone else, M. E. Knickerbocker, chief of the department's division of animal industry, stated that Oregon's sixth livestock brand book will be issued in 1960. Oregon livestock grow ers will be notified in July, 1959, and must re-register their brands with the depart ment by Jan. 1, 1960. Division head for 12Vfe years, Knickerbocker was a former ranch owner, admin istrator, and county exten sion agent. He noted that of his nine livestock' officers, seven have been former state police officers and the other two have had extensive law enforcement experience, on the county level. A livestock officer has, gen erally, had greater exper ience and training in police work than a brand inspector. A minimum four years, or equivalent investigative ex perience, is a necessary qual ification. Knickerbocker also observ ed that a number of states have adopted Oregon's pro cedures for brand identifica tion. Oregon's brand inspectors had inspected 590,698 cattle through October of this year and, during the same period, returned 18 sheep, 24 horses and 449 cattle to rightful owners. The state has about 100 full-time and part-time brand inspectors. Each inspector re ceives a livestock brand book, published by the de partment. This book of sig- neis facilitates checks on all cattle arriving at a salesyard or slaughter plant. The own ership of stock must be prov en before animals can be sold or slaughtered. Also, all cat tle, horses, mules, and asses must be brand-inspected be fore shipment out-of-state. Hot Iron Tips Brands are read from left to right, from the top down, or from outside in. A defin ite m e t h o d of identifying characters has been establish ed. If a letter or symbol is made backwards from its normal position, its' read as a "reverse." A letter lying horizontally on its face or back is said to be "lazy," while the same let-, ter partially over on its face or back is said to be "tumb ling." In the cattle industry's in fant days, ranchers used large, outsized irons that nearly covered an animals' side. When cattle hides began to bring a good price, the smaller, carefully forged stamping iron was ushered in. Legibility of an insignia depends a great deal on the cowboy applying it. The ci pher is applied with a grey hot iron, about the color of the branding fire ashes. A red-hot metal produces an over-burned brand, often re sulting in sores which may become infected, in addition to smudging the print itself. Though Oregon cowboys may consider it a gross indig nity, they are also graded on their confidence - or fearful attitude - toward cattle while brand inspecting. TAKEN ON TOUR Ashland Dr. Paul P. Kies, Pullman, professor emeritus of English, and Dr. Harry L. Cole, associate professor of chemistry, emeritus, were taken on a tour of the South ern Oregon college campus Monday afternoon by Dr. Arthur S. Taylor, charman of the socal science division. Dr. Kies is presently visiting at the Cole residence in Medford. Both are retired from the faculty of the Washington State college. More than 40,000 board feet of lumber can be sawed from one Douglas fir tree growing in California. 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Supervising use of range pyroglyphics is an other service carried out by the State Department of Agri culture which will issue Oregon's sixth livestock brand book in 1960. Livestock Officer Bill Radosevich, left, discusses brand irons with Ed Ivory, brand inspector. Both men are members of the department's division of animal industry. 'Red Rose for Christmas7 Said Painfully Typical Of Holiday TV Drama By WILLIAM EWALD New York (UPD "One fled Rose For Christmas," a one hour tranquilizer adminis tered by CBS T V ' s "U. S. Steel Hour" W e d n e s day night, was painfully typi cal of what passes for dra ma during the Christmas sea son on TV. William Ewald What t e 1 e vision spoons out at this time of year is great smoothing doses of everything-will-come-out-all-rightness. It is a kind of super Tiny-Timism in which small children and small animals and adults with small problems fumble around for awhile, but then come to gether in one grand emotional Summer Range Use In Forest Explained to Cattlemen Last year the summer ranger on the Rogue River na tional forest gave forage to 6,200 domestic animals which were covered by 84 different range permits, S. T. Moore, fire control officer for the U. S. Forestry Service told the annual meeting of the Jackson County Stockmen's association Thursday in Cen tral Point. The U. S. Forest Service spent approximately $10,000 on the ranges for improve ment and revegetation. This money was used for 11 miles of fencing, three cattleguards, 190 acres of reseeding to grass, 200 acres of weed eradi cation and competing vegeta tion. In addition, the range in ventory continued at a cost of 5,800, Moore said. This means that now 70 per cent of the entire Rogue River na tional forest is covered by the basic range inventory. About 240,000 acres ramains to be covered. This should be done the next year, the U. S. For est Service man said. Adding it all up approximately 16, 000 has been spent on the ranges this year. "This sounds like a lot of money and we think it is a good beginning, but it is not near enough to do the job that has to bed one," Moore told the cattlemen. "The officers of your asso ciation have asked me what they can do to assist the For est Service in increasing the capacity of the National For est ranges," the forester said. Responsibility Described "I look at it about like this: The Forest Service has the re sponsibility for managing the basic range. The livestock in dustry has the responsbility for the management of the stock," Moore said. "It's a partnership proposition and I'm sure that by working to gether out on the range, work ing together between Indivi dual stockmen and stock as sociations . and our district rangers right out on the ground we can improve the condition of the forest ranges and insure a permanent in dustry based on good land use practices." . " The Rogue River national forest is managed on the mul tiple use basis, the forester ex plained. This means that more than one type of use may be managed on any general area, hes aid. On some cases all five of the recognized uses appear in a general area. One of the long-established and important uses is the grazing of domestic livestock. This summer range is import ant to the livestock industry, to' the general public and to the Forest Service. ' Timber harvest is another important use of the national forest, Moore said. During the last fiscal year, the total re ceipts from the Rogue River forest amounted to $2,600,000. The bulk of this was from the sale of timber. "The timber harvest from the Rogue River forest is the foundation for a considerable part of the payroll of Jack son county," the Forest Serv ice man said. "The Forest Service paid $314,000 to the county during the fiscal year and this money was used for roads and schools." Recreation Important "Recreation is another im portant use of the national forest," Moore said. "More and more people are visiting the forest each year. These people expect to have ade quate facilities available for them in the national forest. The Forest Service is seeking to provide for their needs through "Operation Out doors," by furnishing campground-picnic facilities for them. Another use of the national forest is for wildlife range. This is a cooperative venture between the forest service and the state game commission. The game commission handles the wildlife itself and the for est service administers the wildlife range, Moore ex plained. Probably the most import ant use of all in the forest is that of a watershed to pro vide adequate quantities of usable water for irrigation, power and domestic use. All other management practices are subordinate to its use as watershed protection, Moore emphasized. pomade while buttered snow falls softly outside the win dow. "One Red Rose For Christ mas" was, as I said, typical. It posed no real problem nor real emotional conflict. It simply presented a nun who was unable to forgive an or phan who had indirectly caused the death of the nun's sister. In the end, of course, the little girl was forgiven. End of hour. End of play its problems solved In the main by the simple passage of time. Hayes Under Contract Helen Hayes starred in the play and managed, for the most part to keep her grab- bag of tricks under control. She was guilty only occasion ally of licking her lips, clos ing her eyes while looking heavenward, clasping and un- clasping her hands, patting the arms of other players one of her favorite devices, fluttering her voice, letting her breath run out at the end of a phrase, and inserting cal culated caches into her deliv ery. These hardly flawed her performance at all. However, the following did mar her performance: One hand to the brow (resigna tion), one hand covering the eyes (please, I must think), one hand covering the face (horror), two hands to the School Announces Yule Program The annual Talent school Christmas program will be presented at 7:30 p.m., Mon day, Dec. 22, in the school gymnasium. All parents are invited to attend. - School will be dismissed Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 2:00 p.m. and will not eopen until Jan. 5. MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or.., Thursday, December 18, 1958 SA face (despair). Ruth White, Ruth McDevitt and Joseph Sweeney, in minor roles were quite satisfactory. 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Youngster's Wallet Finally Returned La Grande --UPD- It took 5M months and 45 miles but 13-year-old Jess McMillan got his wallet and $2 back Wed nesday. Jess lost the wallet on July 2 while attending a 4-H camp at Starkey, Ore. He was wad ing in Meadow Brook and laid the wallet on a rock. He forgot about it and when he went back after it, the wallet was gone. He was called into the; principal's office at La Grande junior high school on Wednesday wjhere Ken Sev-1 erns of Summerville, Ore., i presented the wallet and a soggy $2 to the boy. Severns said he had picked up the wallet along the banks of the Grande Ronde rriver 45 miles from where McMillan had left it. Dakota is an Indian word j (Sioux) meaning an alliance of friends. (ftt0 MONEY DOWN LOW EASY TERMS . . 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