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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1959)
14 MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Orejren, Sunday, April 1, 193 njQS Search, Rescue; Arresting Only Part of Duties Br JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Staff Writer Search and rescue, climb ing steep, narrow highland trails on horseback and track ing lawbreakers on snowshoes sounds like the life of a Royal Canadian Mounted police man's life. It isn't. It's the story of the nine years experience of State Police Sgt. Fay Holley who served as state police game enforcement officer, and a to tal of 18 years in the state po lice. State police officers and particularly those in the game laws enforcement section re ceive little public or official praise since their work is con sidered merely x routine. However, Sgt. Holley did receive an official letter of commendation from Former Governor Douglas McKay. This involved his aid in help ing to locate a downed plane and recovery of the bodies of its occupants in the Fort Rock area. Answer A Letter The letter was a copy of one sent by McKay in answer to a letter from a relative of one of the crash victims praising the state police officer for his work. The letter states, I appre ciate very much your letter of Oct. 23 commending state police officer Fay Holley for the assistance he gave during the search for and recovery of the bodies of your brother and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Blakkolb. The tribute that you have paid to Officer Holley and to the other mem bers of the department of state police will mean a great deal to them and I am sending your letter, as well as a copy of my reply, to Mr. H. G. M a i s o n, superintendent of state police. "While Officer Holley has told you that he was simply serving in the line of duty, it is evident that he was inter ested not only from the stand point of service as an officer, but that his humanitarian in stincts were guiding him. Devoted Time "The fact that he devoted time to the search outside of his hours of duty, and that he maintained such a constant interest in tracing the plane indicates his wholehearted de sire to lend aid to the families of those who were lost." The state police superin tendent added his letter of commendation. The Beechcraft plane dis appeared March 21, 1950, and contained four homeward bound Portlanders who par ticipated in an Oregon air tour to Cuba. They were Mr. and Mrs. Lee Blakkolb, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Lundstrom. Blakkolb was pilot. The plane wreckage and the remains of the occupants were found on a flat in the rugged country east of Newberry cra ter in the Palina mountain by two Hood River hunters area. The wreckage was found W. E. Hamilton and J. J. Johnk of Hood River. The plane discovery and re covery of the bodies climaxed an eight months' search by tne state policeman and his party. One of A Series This was one of a series of such crashes covered by Hol ley. He brought out alive three men from a plane crash in the same area during Feb ruary, 1952. To rescue the men Sgt. Hol ley and his rescue crew fol lowed in a weasel the blinking lights of a B-17 plane to where the downed Boise, Ida., men had been spotted. The party plowed its way through the snow from Fort Rock to the plane's location some 32 miles northeast of Fort Rock. The trio was rescued after spending two chilly nights and part of a third day without food on the high desert in the highlands south of the Central Oregon highway. Six-Mile Hike Sgt. Holley's game enforce ment activities have covered a variety of experiences. Imi tating the Canadian Mounties he made a six-mile hike on snowshoes into the rugged Walker mountain country of northern Klamath county to arrest an illegal trapper. Charges were trapping with out a license and with un branded traps. Holley's evi dence, backed by pictures, ob tained a conviction, total fines of $359 and 30 days in jail. The state policeman was making a snowshoe trip into the Warner mountain country when he detected and picked up 20 traps unbranded, con trary to the state game com mission law. '-'l t'tHS4 pnfJM tfir X"?? SV tTJ iff Ci 4 MW4 wS tt - til APPREHENDED - State Police Sgt. Fay Holley is shown with a man he arrested on charges of trapping without a license and with unbranded traps. Holley's evidence, backed by pictures, obtained a conviction,- total fines of $359 and 30 days in jail. The arrest was made during a rugged six-mile trip on snowshoes into the Walker moun tain country of northern Klamath county. ' EXAMINES TRAP - State Police Sgt. Fay Holley examines the notch of a tree in the foreground containing a trap set for Mar ten. The trap was set with the flesh of a beaver, a protected furbearing animal. The sergeant made a six-mile hike into the rug ged Walker mountain, country of northern Klamath county to arrest the trapper on charges of trapping without a license and with unbranded traps. The man was traced by the unusual print of his snowshoes which resembled large bear tracks. Inspection showed the traps were set to catch marten, a small but valuable fur-bearing animal. Flesh of a beaver, a protected furbearing animal, was used as trap bait. Posses sion of this was also unlaw ful. Resemble Bear Paw The officer noticed that snowshoe tracks formed what resembled a bear paw. The home-made type of snowshoe was traced to its owner and the arrest made. Wrestling with a crazed log ger and firebug is also all in the day's work for such a game law enforcement officer. The man was subdued after setting two fires in the Des chutes forest. While foresters were fighting the set fires they could hear his laughter echoing through the woods. Sgt. Holley brought him out by letting him ride his horse When it came time to put the crazed logger in restraints it took all the strength of five men to subdue him. Working the same general area one winter, Sgt. Holley found that two deer had al most starved in the heavy snow and were eating Jack Pine to keep alive. He re moved them from the wind whipped "bowl" around the trees by dragging the forked horn and four-point bucks by the legs to the road. There he put them in his pickup truck and carried them to the Cen tral Oregon desert where he released them. In the Spring of 1948, he hiked 3Vz miles into the Ros ary lakes on the Skyline trail obove Highway 58. There he found and arrested nine peo ple for fishing through the creek near Odell lake with- a ice. Here, Holley reminded J hal tn f White fish they that the game code is com posed of regulations estab lished by the game commis sion and laws passed by the state legislature. The latter only the state legislature has the power to change. Another time Holley ar rested 11 people on . Trapper White fish is a had netted game fish These experiences, although Sgt. Holley's, are typical of the work of all state police game enforcement officers, About 60 per cent of West Virginia's total area is in farm land. iff If f' jj ' m ft? APPROACHES TRAP - This picture was taken as photo graphic evidence by State Police Sgt. Fay Holley when a game law enforcement officer. It shows the suspect approach ing the unbranded trap he had set. The tree in the fore ground contains the trap in a notch partially hidden. The trap was set for Marten, a small but valuable fur-bearing animaL uzzleloanlers Collectors Hold Matches With Old Flintlock Rifles By JOE COWLEY Meil Tribune Staff Writer A tall, lanky elder with flowing white beard steps to the firing line, lifts the long' barrelled rifle to his shoulder, carefully squints at a blacken ed wood chip in the distance and squeezes the trigger. A puff of smoke and a small tongue of flame rises from behind the flintlock hammer as the ball speeds to its mark. The men and boys leaning on their long rifles give gasps and whistles of astonishment as the judge examines the re sult. Typical Scene This was a typical scene in the U. S. villages in the late 1700's and up to the 1890's In those days every American was a rifleman. It was such riflemen as these who took the long trail to Oregon and pioneered in the development of the Pacific Northwest. . In the early days, accord ing to historians, gun experts and collectors, the rifle was a man's protection, put meat on his table and provided his chief means of recreation It was this early muzzle- loader, both percussion cap and flintlock which helped the United States to win its independence, conquer the wilderness and later explore and settle the west. i collecting and making a study of such guns are mem bers of the Oregon Arms Col lectors' association A number of people in the Rogue Valley area follow this hobby. The Oregon Arms Collectors' as sociation is an affiliate of the National Rifle association whose aim is to make every American a rifleman. Rifle Matches Many of these collectors hold rifle matches with old muzzleloaders. They insist that if you're a marksman with a flintlock you can fire any gun. A long delay results from the time the trigger is pulled to the instant , the charge sends the ball speed ing to the target. It requires a steady hand and a sharp eye. A flintlock mechanism works this way: A pull on the trigger releases the flint ham mer, then causes it to strike against the steel. The result ing spark drops into the pan containing black powder. Then the flame from the powder ignites the powder in the barrel discharging the ball. The percussion cap type of gun works like this: A cap containing black powder is detonated over a hollow nip ple discharging the bullet. American Rifle The long-rifle is an Ameri can rifle developed for Amer ican frontier conditions, col lectors say. The American flint-lock rifle with its slen der stock and its long, care fully rifled barrel using the patched round ball, came in to use in this country early in 1700. It had a degree of accuracy never known before. Previously the guns were made in Europe, mainly by German and Swiss rifle-makers. They were too heavy and had too large a bore which was wasteful of both powder and lead. It was also difficult to load. During the Revolution in America, a large bore French gun was used 75 caliber. Then in post-Revolutionary times the colonists started to explore the frontiers of their country. Wanted Small Bore The frontiersman wanted a small-bore rifle using a ball weighing about an ounce that would hit what it was aimed at and would kill up to about 150 yards. This type of arm had to be well-balanced so that it could be fired from any position to meet the quick frontier dangers. It couldn't waste powder which was pre cious in the frontier and at the same time it couldn't give a loud report that might at tract Indians. When the German and Pal atine Swiss came to the east ern part of Pennsylvania in 1710 they started developing the needed firearm. Later the western plainsmen and moun tain men wanted a larger Waore gun which could stop the grizzly bear and a shorter barrel which wouldn't be too hard to handle on horseback or in the brush woods. Muzzle-Loader The muzzle-loader reached its highest development in fmmm mm Iroimp TAKE AIM - Doug LaFever, Ken Myers and Leland Breedlove, all of Medford, take aim with their .45-.70 caliber Springfields on Roxy Ann. These were guns which aided in the winning of the west and were taken on the Oregon Trail to southern Ore gon. When fired the guns emit a cloud of black smoke and a strong odor of burned gunpowder. lz.Mi vf :4 PEACEMAKER PISTOL - Ken Myers, Medford, fires a Colt Peacemaker manufactured in 1875. The gun, similar to the ones used by frontiersmen, has a hair-trigger and a recoil which kicks the pistol upwards in Myers hand. Suspects Held in Mine Guard's Death Whitesburg, Ky. -UPD- State police Friday held three sus pects in the shooting of mine guard killed in a gun battle with striking United Mine Workers members. The victim was James Ottis Adams, 41, Dongola, Ky., who drove a truck and acted as a guard at the Little Shepherd Mine Co., five miles north of here. His death was the sec ond fatality in the weeks long eastern Kentucky coal strike. Police arrested on charges of willful murder Harrison Stidham, Verlin King and Democrat Hilliman, all of Marow, Ky., and members of the United Mine Workers Union. Salem - (UPD -, Dan Pierson, Hood River, has been reap pointed to the Columbia Riv er Gorge Commission by Gov. Mark Hatfield. Castro Not Red, Congressmen Told Washington - (UPD - Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro told congressional foreign policy leaders Friday he is not a Communist and Commu- unism has no chance of suc ceeding in Cuba if his people can be cared for and kept "reasonable happy." Castro met behind closed doors with members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Com mittee, plus other influential legislators. He was invited to come to capitol hill by Sen ate Foreign Relations Chair man J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.). Ways and Means Studies Jobless Pay Washington (UPD After nine days of sharply-conflicting testimony, the House Ways and Means Committee went behind closed doors Fri day to start hammering out a plan to beef up the unemploy ment compensation program. One proposed standby sys tem would lengthen the dura tion of jobless pay in bad times. Under this plan, the federal government would channel money to the states for longer benefits to the job less whenever unemployment in the nation, a state or a local area climbed to a certain figure. Organized labor wants a federal law requiring the states to increase the amount and duration of their unem ployment payments. It seemed clear the committee would not go along with this. Man Retires After 23 Years With Firm Vandiver R. Gilbert, 135 North Holly st., retired last week after 23 years work with Fluhrer Bakeries. He was the first man from local 404 of the American Bakery and Confectionery Workers' union to retire under the union's new pension plan. At the time of his retire ment, Gilbert served as chief stock man, in charge of all stock arriving at the bakery, according to Fluhrer Manager Eugene Farrell. Folding WHEEL CHAIRS For Keaf or Sole . ALSO EVKEST AND JBM&1 WALKEtS currents PATIENT UFT COMMODES Hudson's Pharmacy el 3 EAST MAIN 1 Block East Hawthorne Park Open Sundays and Holidays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 7 "Mobilheat" The Oil to Burn ESTABLISHED 1896 f j GREEN ISTAMPS, MEDFORD FUEL CO. Tel. SP 2-2111 Catherine de Medici, queen of France, was a grandniece of Pope Leo X. 1760. More improvements had been made, particularly in the shape of the lands and grooves in the barrel and the fitting of the patched ball to the bore so that it was easily loaded without deforming it. Although this rifle became known later as the "Kain tuck" it was actually made in Pennsylvania by the same in genious gunsmiths of Swiss and German descent. Only in recent times has this rifle been bested in ac curacy, . collectors say. Long loved by the men of this country, . its replica can be seen on the modern Ameri can soldier's infantry badge. j . . Chapel for One Service , I I Ready for use in about sixty days. It will also be available for use regardless of place of interment I ' " ' Conger-Morris v Hillcrest Chapel I lUCBESTPARK I il...u...n Bill Driscoll, manager North Phoenix Road j jjljj Phone SP 3-6162 or SP 2-7 111 i
