.-2 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medferd. Oregon. Sunday, January 4. 1958
i
I Few Pistols See Action
In Three Major Wars
; Very few pistols made in
; thij country have seen ser
Jvice in three major wars, but
: some of those made in south
l ern arm plants were used in
J the Revolution, the War of
3 1812 and in the Civil war as
well.
; Any pistol, stamped with
; the name of such a plant - the
Rappahanock Forge is one
1 is worth upwards of $ 1 ,000 if
Tit is authentic, but because
such weapons are among the
most historic and valuable of
j American handguns, they
(.have been counterfeited.
2 In general, they have an
; eight-or nine-inch, smoothbore
barrel of .00 Or more calibre,
no sights, a wooden ramrod
y and a brass trigger guard. Oc
casionally, however, they are
found with silver mountings,
; in which case they may be
: foreign-made guns that were
stamped in American plants
that were used by Confeder
ate troops were converted to
percussion fire. Normally the
conversion of a flintlock to
percussion reduces the value,
but in this case it increases
the probability that it was a
genuine Confederate weapon,
and, in view of its earlier his
tory, actually raises it.
Because many of the regi
ments in American armies
through the Civil war were
raised by individuals, some of
whom even equipped the men
at their own expense or
through popular subscription,
early weapons are sometimes
found stamped with the regi
mental insignia.
One pistol that I saw two
years ago was stamped P.L.H.
The initials stood for Peter
son's Light Horse, a New
York unit raised during the
Revolution. The pistol was not
marked with the name of the
forge, but since it tallied with
before beine issued to the
troops. They may or may not the description of Rappahan-
I be dated. ock Forge weapons in other
As originally issued they respects, and was supported
were flintlocks, but most of by the proper documents, it
: t h o s e - and possibly all - sold for $600.
I CONFEDERATE STAMP HONORS ANDY JACKSON
By a strange quirk Of fate
J the last stamp issued by the
E Confederacy for general post-
al purposes carried the por-
trait of the man who con-
demned secession as "an im-
practical absurdity."
The man was President An
; drew Jackson who 32 years
earlier had sent federal
" troops Into South Carolina to
I compel the collection of fed-
eral tariffs which that state
had disallowed in its borders.
The stamp is a two-cent,
; brownish red item that was
: engraved and printed by a
firm in Richmond, Va. It is a
'poorly executed piece of
, work, reflecting the tremen
dous strain which the war
had imposed on the South's
it brings only $2' or a little
more. If canceled, its value
ranges from $25 to $35, de
pending on the condition of
the stamp and the type of can
cellation. If the stamps were on the
original envelope, its value
would be much greater, re
gardless of the names of the
addressee or sender. That,
however, is a point that many
persons still fail to realize ev
en though it is true of all can
celed stamps without excep
tion. A pair of these two-cent,
Confederate Andrew Jackson
stamps were offered to a
friend of mine recently, and
he bought them for $70 - the
value of the individual item
' resources. It was the first is- rises if it is part of a pair or
sued on May 8, 1863, some
months after the blockade of
southern ports had tightened
I enough so that blockade run
; ners no longer attempted to
1 carry such comparative lux
uries as postage stamps print
; ed in Britain on order of .the
Confederacy.
The stamp is generally
found unused, in which case
greater number. But he no
ticed from a stain on the pa
per margin of the envelope
about the stamps that it might
have been freshly cut.
It had been. The owner
thought that was the way to
do since stamp albums have
places for stamps but not for
envelopes. The assumption
cost him not less than $25.
BELLOWS ONE OF MOST PROLIFIC PAINTERS
George Wesley Bellows, who
painted the famous picture of
F i r p o knocking . Dempsey
through the ropes, could and
did paint landscapes, portraits
and ' religious scenes with
equal ease.
He had the faculty of going
to the heart of the subject that
caught his attention and trans
ferring it to canvas with an
ye to detail that makes his
; work essentially realistic. In
short, he was an abstraction
j 1st in that he caught the es-
sence of what he saw and put
-it down so everyone else
could see it. : .
He was something of an ar
tist in words, too. During
World War I, he painted a pic
ture of Edith Cavell on her
way to execution as a spy.
When someone criticized it as
the work of a slacker because
he hadn't been on hand at the
execution, he replied that Le
onardo da Vinci, who painted
The Last Supper, hadn't been
on hand to attend that either.
Though Bellows died in
1924 at 42, he had been one of
the most prolific . artists in
the country from the time he
got out of Ohio State univer
sity where he made an en
viable record as an athlete.
An indication is a two week's
vacation he and Eugene O'
Neill, the playwright, spent
at Zion, N.J. Bellows return
ed from it with 24 canvases.
Because of his great produc
tion much of his work is in
private hands, and inevitably
a percentage of it shows up in
auction rooms and secondhand
establishments.
Not all of his work is top
flight, but it is safe to - say
that any of it one finds is sure
to have a considerable value,
even if it is one of his earliest
pieces.
An acquaintance of mine
felt himself lucky to buy a
small street scene, in oil that
Bellows did in 1907. He was
lucky because the price was
only $300. How lucky is indi
cated by the auction sale of a
painting of a newsboy. It is an
oil, about 30 inches high and
signed at the bottom with the
signature Geo. Bellows. When
sold six years ago it brought
$1,000.
(Released by McClure News
paper Syndicate)
Weather Patterns
Forecast in Advance
Washington -(Science Serv
ice)- A way to predict weath
er patterns several weeks in
advance has been discovered.
An electronic computer and
newly solved basic equations
of atmospheric motion are the
essential ingredients.
When fully worked out, the
method will give a much more
detailed description of long
range weather than now pos
sible. Such a forecast would
read: "West Coast residents
can expect generally clear
skies and colder than normal
days during the period from
Feb. I to 4." However, it will
not predict the weather for a
specific city on a specific day
30 days in the future.
Nevertheless, the method
will yield considerably more
specific forecasts than the
present 30-day ones. These
predict only whether tempera
tures and precipitation for
differing regions will average
above or below or normal for
the period involved. Even
such limited forecasts have
been invaluable aids to the
Government, business and the
public, and saved unknown
millions of dollars yearly.
A new dump truck, said to
be the world's largest, has 18
wheels and two engines of 300
horsepower each. It weighs 79
tons empty and 200 tons when
loaded.
POPULARITY CONTEST
Little Rock, Ark.-(UPB- Rep.
Brooks Hays (D-Ark.) tells
this story about a novice poli
tician and a veteran judge.
"Tell me, Judge," asked the
politician, "who do you think
will vin, me or my op
ponent?" "Well," replied the judge,
"it depends on which one of
you sees the most people. If
you see the most, he'll win.
If he sees the most, you'll
win."
Burglaries Reported
To Sheriff's Office
Approximately 14 bottles of i
soft drink were stolen Thurs-I
day night by vandals who en- j
tered the Talent Union Serv
ice station on Highway 99,
according to sheriffs depu
ties. Burglars broke windows of
the station and damaged a
power mower, which was re- j
moved from the building and
burned In a nearby field.
Deputies also received a re
port of the illegal entry of a ;
cabin owned by Charles Ches-!
ter Richmond, route 4, Rogue
River.
Edmond G. Bailes. 391
Bridge St., Ashland, reported
the theft of a metallic tool
box containing tools valued
at approximately $250. Bailes
said they were taken some
time last week from Balies
panel truck.
f M MY- DAY 1
""Hl -AGAIN llp JN
WSW AT.;jACKSONl
IjgF C0UWTY. FEDERAL " llp
This Semi-Annual Dividend of $238,281.03
Makes a Total of $455,331.06 in Dividends Received
By Jackson County Federal Investors During 1958
DIRECTORS
GLENN O. TAYLOR
W. J. WARNER
H. J. FIELD
JOHN H. PLETSCH
JOHN P. MOFFAT
SETH M. BULLIS
E. H. SINCMASTER
Semi-Annual
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
December 31, 1958
ASSETS
First Mortgage Loans
Loans on Savings Accounts
Other Loans ;
Properties Sold on Contract
Real Estate Owned and in Judgment
Investments and Securities
United States Government Bonds
Cash on Hand and in Banks
Office Building and Equipment
Deferred Charges and Other Assets
LIABILITIES
Savings Accounts
Loans in Process 1.
Other liabilities
Specific Reserves
General Reserves
Undivided Profits
.$11,474,091.11
102,265.72
8,499.11
20.034.36
12,423.58
199,600.00
. 1,811,586.13
. 1,093,000.09
55,316.97
88,372.31
$14,865,189.38
.$12,974,541.42
. 436,074.65
41,704.18
. 14,606.58
. 1,165,935.58
232,326.97
$14,865,189.38
STAFF
John H. Pletsch
Paul G. Antony
Irene Child
Jim Fredericks
Kathryn South
Bertha Boone
Irene Barclay
Nelda Hale
Phyllis Wald
Helen K. Buffington
Narita Simpson
Marie Schmelzer
Patricia Higinbotham
Audrey Cogan
A dividend at the rate of
3 per annum and an
extra dividend at the rate
of Vi per annum has
been declared on your
share account for the six
month period ending De
cember 31, 1958.
SAVINGS
126 E. Main
Medford
a
LOAN ASSOC
ATION
"Where You Are
Paid To Save"
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