Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1958)
wmul n Mgt mobs irnrmim CColDs Crowd Gathered Af Wreck Scene As Truck Explodes Windows Blown Out All Over Texas Town Brownfield, Tex. - (UPD - A butane gas transport truck blew up Monday night in the midst of 500 persons standing as close to it as 10 feet. Spec tators said flames shot 1,000 feet into the air and the blast blew chunks of red hot metal two miles. The explosion killed four persons and injured 168. Most of the injured were treated for burns and sent home, but at least 63 remained in hospi tals, some in critical condi tion. Started, with Wreck The tragedy started with a wreck between the butane transport and a trailer truck. There was a small explosion, probably of gasoline, when the trucks collided, and a fire The Brownfield volunteer fire department rushed to the scene and spectators gath ered. Fifteen minutes after the wreck and original explo sion, the powerful butane gas on the truck blew up. The victims include volun teer fire marshal Jim Cousi- neau, about 45, who earned his living as an electrical en gineer; Ruben Johnson, about 50, Lubbock; Wayland Park er, about 45, and J. B. Ray. Parker, a farmer, was a volunteer fireman. Johnson and Ray were spectators. Hospital Overflows The injured overflowed the local hopsital and ambulances and automobiles rushed them to hospitals in Lubbock, Lev elland and Lamesa, about 40 miles away. , Residents of Lubbock, Muleshoe and Big Spring re ported seeing the flash of the explosion. Big Spring is 80 miles from Brownfield. The explosion knocked out Brownfield's power supply and there was no power for more than an hour. ' It blew out windows all over town. The glass in a filling station two blocks away simply dis appeared. Butane is a gas, widely used for heating in the rural areas, that liquefies under pressure. It is carried about as a liquid and stored in tanks on farms and ranches, but the moment it touches air, it be comes a gas. Pope Appeals for 'Unify and Peace' Vatican City-flJPD-Pope John XXIII, in his first Christmas message to the world, ap pealed today for "unity and peace." "T h e commemoration of the birth of Jesus does not cease to renew each year the announcement of the same doctrine and the same tone unity and peace," he said in his 3,000 word message. The Pope spoke in Italian over Vatican Radio, which la ter rebroadcast the speech in 30 languages. It was beamed to nations around the world, including those behind the Iron and Bamboo curtains. Stewart Resigns at Holmes7 Request; Denies Charges of Cooperation Lack Salem-UPD-State Tax Com missioner Sam Stewart today tendered his resignation to Gov. Robert D. Holmes. At the same time, Stewart denied aU charges Gov. Holmes made against him when he called for Stewart's resignation. Said Not Cooperating The governor, who reap pointed Stewart to his tax job only last year, said that Stewart was not cooperating with the other two members of the Commission, and was not getting along with county assessors. Stewart said in reply that minutes of Tax Commission meetings would bear out his contention that there was good U Hurts "Ours 'Eyesores' Surveyed The mayor's "Make Med- ford Beautiful" committee has inventoried 37 "eyesores' along Riverside and Central aves., a subcommittee chair man reported yesterday. Granville Brittsan, chair man of the survey action sub committee, said six service clubs has volunteered to con tact property owners about clearing up the unsightly sit uations. He said he is confident nearly all property owners will cooperate in the beauti- fication campaign. Main st. and the airport area are on- the committee's agenda for surveys and in ventories, he said. Speak at Round Table Brittsan, appearing witn other committee members at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce weekly round- table luncheon, spoke enthus iastically of the "wonderful volunteer help" that has been offered. He said Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Young Men's Christ ian association, garden clubs and the Rose society have all offered to contribute time and effort. Lou Cranston, chairman of the committee proper, discus sed activities of the subcom mittee for planting. The goal of this group, he said, is to plant plots of flowers along the approaches to the city. Several civic organizations, he reported, have already planted bulbs donated by the Southern Oregon Nursery men's association. He said Girl Scouts volunteered to plant bulbs in front of the Union 76 service station at Stewart and Riverside aves. Mentions Contest Cranston also mentioned the possibility of a "Cleanup and Paintup" contest in which Medford residents could com pete for prizes. Tony Manno, roundtable member, suggested a system whereby the merchants would establish a fund for the con test. Winners in various cate gories would be paid back the cost of their restoration cooperation on the Commis sion. Stewart said he favored plans by the governor to re organize the Commission and that he had cooperated with county assessors except when they were disregarding the law. The letter stated that Stew art was "amazed" at the charges leveled at him by the governor and said that as re cently as this fall, the gover nor had told him he was sat isfied with his work. Silent on Speculation There had been speculation around the capital that Gov. elect Mark Hatfield would appoint Stewart as tax com missioner when he. is inau gurated Jan. 12. n : USDInj 168 Talks" in City by Group work from it, Manno also suggested that the committee refer to the 20-30 club the project of re painting the service-club signs at the north and south ends of town. Pictures - of these signs were published Oct. 27 as part of the Mail Tribune's pictorial inventory. "It takes an act of Con gress to touch those signs," Cranston replied. He explain ed that they were on state property and thus any reno vation would require state approval. But he agreed with Manno that the 20-30 club could handle the ' matter. '" Hardship Situation Cranston also discussed a hardship situation on Fair- mount st., where a vacant house is in poor repair be cause the owners are in Cali fornia. By terms of a parent's will, he explained, the house cannot be sold. But, he said, John Chaney, an attorney representing the Medford Realty board on the committee, believes there is a way around this and has sought to get in touch with the owners. Otherwise, Cran ston said, the committee hopes the owners can at least be persuaded to let a realtor find tenants who could keep the place in order. The inventory of Riverside and Central aves., Brittsan re lated, stemmed from . a tape recorded survey undertaken by the Crater Lions club. The survey results were submit ted to City Recorder Darrell Huson, head of the survey sub-committee. Huson pre pared a formal inventory, and turned it over to Britt san. As things stand now, Britt san said, participating service clubs have each taken one of six groups of eyesores along these thoroughfares and are in the process of talking things over with the property owners. Boise-IUPD-Earl W. Murphy, 62, secretary of the Idaho Chamber of Commerce for 18 years, died today. But neither Stewart -nor Hatfield had any comment on that point today. Stewart heads the valuation division of the Tax Commis sion and has been a firm advo cate of county appraisal pro grams since he was appointed to office. In the past, Stewart has clashed with assessors of Multnomah and Lane county Over his revaluation program. Policies Not Changed Stewart told the governor "you did not feel at the time of my reappointment to the Commission that my actions were damaging to sound ad ministration, yet my policies were the same 18 months ago as they are now. Underground Grotto Collapses; 18 Feared Dead Belgium Villagers Collecting Mushrooms Brussels -(UPD- An under ground grotto in a corner of Belgium collapsed today, ap parently wiping out part of a group of villagers collect ing mushrooms for Christmas dinners. Eighteen were buried and feared dead. The broken body of an 8-year-old girl was the first to be recovered from the humid, dark passageways of the grotto. Dozens Treated About 150 persons from the quaintly named village of Zichen-Zussen-Bolder, in the northeast corner of the coun try on the Dutch border, were gathering mushrooms when the disaster struck. Most clawed and scrambled their way to safety through passages and air shafts. Twelve were hospitalized with serious injuries. Dozens of others were treated at the site for cuts and bruises. Rescue teams from Holland and Belgium converged on the spot within a half hour of the alarm being given. Praying for Miracle But a police spokesman said "it would be a miracle if any one is alive" under the tons of rubble which fell on the muddy floor in which mush rooms thrive. In the pall of dust hanging around the hillside, relatives of the trapped villagers pray ed for that pre-Christmas mir acle. The grotto consisted of about 120 to 160 acres of caves and galleries in an ab andoned quarry. The caves began to collapse over about 20 acres, probably from some earth movement caused by re cent heavy rains. The walls of the quarry caved in sending a terrific whoosh of air through the entire workings. Golden Case Is Continued Today The case of Jerry Eugene Golden, 28, of 684 East Val ley View rd., Ashland, was continued today in circuit court pending consultation be tween Golden and his attor ney. Golden appeared before Circuit Court Judge Edward C. Kelly on charges of assault with intent to commit rob bery. Judge Kelly appointed William Duhaime, Medford, his attorney. Golden was brought into circuit court on one charge be cause the nature of a second charge will depend on wheth er the shooting victim, Ray Edward Reid, lives, the dist r i c t attorney's office ex plained. Golden also is charg ed with assault with intent to kill 34-year-old Reid of 1850 Barnett rd., Medford. Attendants at Rogue Valley hospital today said Reid's con dition "is satisfactory consid ering the number of days." Reid's physician told the dist rict attorney's office that he wanted to wait three or four days before definitely predict ing whether or not Reid would live. Golden was arraigned in district court Friday afternoon on charges of assault with in tent to kill and assault with intent to commit robbery. He has admitted to firing the shot that struck Reid Thursday evening in the 90 and 9 Tav ern on South Riverside ave. Salem-(DPD-The State Board of Control has voted to use the Eastern Oregon State hos pital at The Dalles for treat ment of mentally retarded persons as its first priority. WEATHER FORECAST: Variable cloudiness tonight and Wednesday. Valley iog reforming tonight. Clearing partially Wednesday afternoon. Outlook for Thurs day, night and morning fog. Low tonight 35. High Wednes day 45. I Temp. Highest Yesterday 45 Lowest this Morning 29 Prec. to 10 a.m. Today, Trace Our Skies Tonight Sunset today 4:42 p.m. Sunrise tomorrow 7:38 a.m. Moonset tomorrow 6:04 a.m. Full Moon Dec. 25 PROMINENT STARS Aldebaran, near the Moon. Betelgeuse. low in east 6:27 p.m. VISIBLE PLANETS Mars, high in southeast 7:30 p.m. Jupiter, in the south- east - 6:21 a.m. Price 10 Cents Medford 12 Pages Eugene Man To Be Director of Motor Vehicles Finance Post Goes To Elections Chief Salem -UPD- Two major ap pointments were announced today by Gov-Elect Mark Hat field. Vern Hill, Eugene police chief and a 20-year veteran with the state police, will be the new state director of mo tor vehicles. . Freeman Holmer, 41, pres ent state elections chief, will take over as state director of finance- and administration. Hill replaces James R. Johnson, an appointee of Gov. Robert D. Holmes. Holmer takes over from John F. Richardson, also a Holmes appointee. Both men had revealed their intention of resigning when Hatfield takes office on Jan. 12. 20 Years With Stat Hill, 47, who has been Eu gene police chief for four years, devoted 20 years pre viously in state police service in Salem and Eugene. In Eu gene he was the sergeant-in-charge of the area state po lice headquarters after work ing out of the Salem head quarters. He is a native of Newberg. Holmer attended Concordia college and the University of Oregon and has taught busin ess and public administration at both New York University and Willamette University here. He also served as secre tary to several legislative in terim committees. Qualifications Prevail Holmer currently is presi dent of the Salem chapter of the American Society for Public Administration and chairman of the research and development committee of the Citizens Conference for Intergovernmental coopera tion. "In making these two ap pointments, professional qual ifications and background prevail," Hatfield said. Stores Will Be Open Again Tonight Tonight will be the last op portunity for Christmas shop pers to make purchases during evening hours, and Medford downtown merchants expect crowded stores again tomor row, the final shopping day before the holiday. Stores will remain open un til 9 o'clock tonight, but will close at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow so emoplyees may have Christ mas eve at home. Most stores and all governmental offices except emergency agencies, will be closed Thursday. Schools in Jackson county which did not close Friday will close this afternoon and tomorrow. Schools closing today in clude Jacksonville, Griffin Creek, Ruch, Phoenix, district 6C which includes schools at Central Point, Gold Hill and Sams Valley, Eagle Point, Tal ent, Applegate, Prospect, Howard and all . Medford schools. Rogue River and Evans Val ley schools will close tomor row afternoon. All schools will resume classes Monday, Jan. 5. The Mail Tribune will pub lish a noon edition Thursday. Chance for Postal Rate Increase Dim Washington (UPD Presi dent Eisenhower's request for another postal rate increase was given little chance today of winning approval from Congress. Two' Major Announc MEDFORD, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1958 zi FOSSIL FOUND An agatized section of bone which has been identified as being from a 15-foot invertebrate that lived in the Rogue River valley some 400 million years ago, was discovered recently by Tommy Tucker (left, above), 1030 Oak st., Central Point. Tucker uncovered the bone at. a depth of about one foot while digging a hole for a lilac bush in his back yard. Delmar Smith (right), of Crater Rock museum, Cen tral Point, is pointing out how the bone section broke along one of the suture lines UMC Assured of Reaching Goal For Sixth Year The United Medford Cru sade has reached its goal for the sixth consecutive year, Richard Travis, general chair man, announced today. The Crusade has received $130,500 of its $131,030 goal, he said, and other commit ments and receipts will be suf ficient to make up the differ ence of about $500. The "Christmas Cards for UMC" received here will be delivered by United Air Lines tomorrow morning to the Wa verly Baby home, a UMC and United Appeal agency in Port land. Travis exressed his appre ciation to residents of Med ford for their response to the campaign, and was especially grateful to those who contrib uted twice to raise about $7,000 in a week to assure the organization it would reach its goal and that welfare serv ices of its agencies will not be curtailed. He pointed out that Med ford is the only city in Oregon which has reached its United Fund goal six consecutive years. Buffram Sentenced To Prison Term Lendel Carl Buttram, 21, of Shady Cove, was sentenced to ZVz years in the Oregon state penitentiary this morning by Circuit Court Judge Edward C. Kelly. Buttram pleaded guilty to a district attorney's informa tion charging him with bur glary not in a dwelling. Buttram and Homer Cloyd Brooks, 39, of Pueblo, Colo., were arrested Dec. 4 by police following a high speed chase in the valley. They were ar rested in connection with the theft of about $687.55 from the safe . of Crater Finance company, Central Point. Brooks has waived the right to a grand jury hearing and was arraigned on district attor ney's information. by . Hatfield Medford Man Hurt1 When Hit George Washington Childs, 61, of 16 Portland ave., was In poor condition at Sacred Heart hospital today after be ing run over last night by a Christmas tree salesman's truck in Medford. The salesman, James How ard Nunes, 26, of 169 Glen wood rd., told city police he felt a bump under the left rear wheel of his Army surplus weapons carrier truck and thought at first it was a blow out. The accident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. at the in tersection of East Main and Cottage sts. Childs suffered severe head and chest injuries, according to police. Leaves Sales Area Nunes told police he had just left a Christmas tree sales area at Main and Gen essee sts., where he had been selling trees to a retail dealer. Restraining Order Asked on Rail Rates San Francisco -UPD- Fifteen Northern California lumber companies and trucking firms have asked for a' restraining order to halt proposed rail road freight rate slashes in Oregon. The petitioners told U. S. District Judge Lloyd H. Burke Monday that unless the rate cuts were suspended "the California lumber in dustry would be destroyed or substantially damaged in comparison to the Oregon in dustry." The new rates were request ed by the Southern Pacific Railroad and became effec tive automatically after the Interstate Commerce Com mission took no action after the seven-month statutory period. The new schedules reduce charges an average of 20 per cent on lumber carloads of a minimum of 34,000 pounds between Oregon, California and Arizona points. California railroad operations are not af fected by the rates. 53rd Year Tribune No. 235 " . ! that criss cross it. Smith said the creature once inhabited the ancient seas that covered this area and is of the family of cephalopods that resembled a squid, except that the body was elongated and was held rigid by a heavy bone running through it. The aga tizing process alone, in which the bone molecules are replaced by silica, takes up to 20 million years. The fossil will be on dis play at Crater Rock museum after Christ mas, Smith said. by Truck He was turning south from Main onto Cottage it. when the accident occurred, police said. He told police he had just cleared the windshield of fog and was not driving more than 15 miles per hour. He said he drove another 100 feet along Cottage st. aft er feeling the bump before he stopped, looked back, and saw Childs lying in the street, po lice reported. William Lester Hurst, 37, of 1125 West 10th st., a rela tive of Nunes, who was in a vehicle parked on Main st., said he saw Childs "throw his hands up." He asserted that Childs was not in the cross walk when the accident oc curred. An attending physician at the hospital reported that Childs said he had been walk ing west and was in the cross walk when struck. Childs was given first aid at the scene by Clarence Virgil Childers, 2472 Gary st., who said he arrived shortly after the accident. He was taken to the hospital by Medford Am bulance service. Police issued no citations. Reorganization Group Withdraws Suggestion The Jackson County Reor ganization committee last night withdrew its previous recommendation on the future of the Howard school district, and will reconsider its consol idation with another district or districts at a later date. Nick Gier, chairman of an information committee in the Howard school district, said the group presented to the re organization committee last night the results of an opin ion poll taken in the district. The action to reconsider dis position of the district fol lowed the poll's presentation. , Gier said 883 opinion bal lots were mailed to patrons of Howard district asking wheth er they favored consolidation with district 6C, which now in cludes Central Point, Gold Balance Without General Increase In Taxes Doubted Temporary Programs Scheduled To End Washington - (UPD - Key con gressional Democrats today openly questioned the ability of President Eisenhower to balance the new federal budg et at $77 billion without a general tax increase. The chairmen of the Senate finance and House appropria tions committees accepted Eis enhower's announced goal of ending mountainous federal deficits as admirable. But they doubted that Uncle Sam would take in enough extra revenue to do the job in fiscal 1960. The President, although he proposed increased defense spending, promised he would not ask for a general tax hike. He said the budget will call for higher postal rates and gasoline taxes, however. In a direct challenge to the strong Democratic Congress to refrain from heavy new spend ing, Eisenhower issued the rare budget preview Monday nearly a month before it was scheduled to go to Capitol Hill. End Temporary Programs "It will be a balanced budg et," the President said. "Rev enues and expenditures will be in the general area of $77 billion." The Chief Executive said reductions in total spending expected to pass $80 billion this year-would be accom plished in the new budget partly by ending of temporary programs in agriculture, un employment insurance and housing. Savings in this cate gory were estimated at up wards of $2,500,000,000. What interested the Demo crats in heavy control of Con gress, however, was the bright revenue picture painted by Eisenhower. Revenue in the current fis cal year is expected to be in the neighborhood of $68 bil lion. This will leave a deficit of about $12 billion. The President's "balance" next year at $77 billion would mean an improvement of $9 billion dollars In federal re ceipts. Skeptical of Savings , One of the most influen tial Democrats in the field of federal finance, Chairman Clarence Cannon of the House Appropriations Comm i 1 1 e e, said he was skeptical of Eis enhower's anticipated savings and found "no evidence that revenues will be up to what he expects.H Chairman Harry F. Byrd of the Senate Finance Commit tee, another powerful Demo cratic figure, was more lauda tory than Cannon of Eisen hower's economy objective. But like other Democrats, Byrd questioned whether there would be enough revenue to make a balanced budget pos sible. Eisenhower said defense spending would push upward to a new peacetime peak. De fense spending this year is expected to run about $40,- 800,000,000 and there have been recent estimates that the 1960 military outlay might go up well above $41 billion. Grants Pass -(UPD- Clarence Barker, 47, an employee of the Illinois Valley Logging company, was killed late Monday in an accident about 20 miles east of Cave Junc tion. Hill and Sams Valley, or with district 549C, Medford. A total of 561 valid votes were returned. Of these, 378, cr 67.4 per cent, favored con solidation with district 549C, and 183, or 32.6 per cent fa vored consolidation with dis trict 6C. The reorganization commit tee had recommended that the Howard district be consoli dated with district 6C along with Rogue River and Evans Valley. When the committee recon siders disposition of the dis trict, it also will consider a petition from residents along Burcell rd. and Mt. Pitt ave. who desire consolidation with district 6C. This portion of the district lies within a half mile of the Central Point grade school. mi Shopping Pay LsM Stores Or sxgrm Kf U
