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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1959)
12 MAIL TRIBUNE, MedforJ, Or. Business Started In Chicken Coop Nets Two Million By H. D. QUIGG United Press International New York-(UPB-Some men start their own business on a shoestring. Some start with an oak-paneled office and pretty secretary. - Some don't start at all if the going looks tough. But two decades ago George A. Starbird had such an ache to be his own boss that-broke but brave-he started in an abandoned chicken coop. He proceeded to run the coop into a two-million-dollar business. "I figure my big break came back there in 1938 when I decided to be my own boss," he said. "I was working in Los Angeles for $35 a week, my wife was expecting a child, and we were living in a little house in the backyard of another house. "One day I found myself thinking, 'You're going to start your own business. You're broke now-things can't get any worse.' "There was a little chicken coop, in the yard, an 8-by-10-foot shack, and I cleaned it out and moved in a drill press that I had and a lathe that I borrowed $600 to buy. I started making radio parts." The firm that grew out of the coop is the Metetron Corp. of Hollywood. Starbird, 54, is its president. It is the only company in the United States that makes a specialty of pressure actuated switches, gadgets that act as a safety device on such diverse things as atomic submarines, escala tors, airplanes, missiles, oil pipelines, and surgical irriga tion machines. ' Starbird thought up the name Meletron himself when he found people didn't seem to remember the firm name We Give d&l GREEN STAMPS CENTRAL REXALL DRUG Main and Central Dine & Dance at the ROGUE RIVER LODGE 25 Minutes N.E. of Medford ON Crater Lake Hwy. 62 FRIDAY CAESAR MUZZIOL! on the Accordion D Friday & Saturday, Our Specialty: CHARCOAL BARREL PRIME RIBS Saturday Dining and Dancing MUSIC BY THE TUNESTERS Sunday: Stewed Chicken & Dumplings, Fried Chicken, Charcoaled Beef Ribs Open Daily 2 P.M. Closed Thurs. Before the turn of the century, buried treasure was discovered at the little town of Tumwater in Washington State. The treasure was water! A most unusual water. A water so fresh and pure that it was naturally perfect for brewing just as it flowed from the earth. It was here that the Olympia Brewing Company was founded. And today, over sixty years later, the water continues to flow in unlimited quantity from deep artesian wells with the precise character for perfect brewing. Rarely, in all the world, has such a water been discovered. blends the Wc4nM4jy, July 29, 1959 he originally had chosen, Electro-Mechanical Products. He picked some syllables out of the old name and shaped them into the new. A pressure actuated switch, probably the most common mechanical safety device in use, is sensitive to any liquid or gas pressure change. It can be set, for instance, to keep rocket fuels at the right pres sure, airplane cabins properly pressurized, or to make a para chute pop out of a falling body automatically at a spe cified altitude. Starbird's pressure switch business is worldwide. He was interviewed here while on an Eastern business swing. A big, affable man with an easy-going but dedicated per sonality, Starbird foresees that through electro - mechanical science most physical labor in tthe future will be changed from production to servicing the machines, repairing and maintaining them. "When I go into a restau rant and order scrambled eggs," he said, "I can't help thinking that someday there will be a machine back there, rather than a chef, doing the scrambling." Attorney Unopposed In Board Election G. W. Kellington, Medford, is lone candidate from the fourth congressional district in the election of four candi dates to the Oregon State Bar board of governors. Oregon's attorneys and judg es have received ballots by mail and deadline for return ing the votes to John Hollo way, bar secretary, Portland, is 5 p.m., Aug. 17. Ballots mailed numbered 2,240. , Only in the third congres sional district is there a con test with both William M. Dale Jr. and Paul A. Sayre, both Portland attorneys, in the race. a Enjoy Our Lounge FRIDAY Try Our TROUT DINNER The buried treasure of Tumwater It is this extraordinary brewing water that in and brings out the more delicate flavors of choice hops and grains . . . creating a . . refreshingly different beer of unchanging . excellence and rare good taste. one priceless Four Babies Still Critical; Formula Made of Poison San Antonio, Tex.-flJPD-Two infants are dead and four re mained in' critical condition today from poison sodium ni trite mistakenly put in the babies', formulas at the nur sery of Robert B. Green hos pital " Hospital Administrator William Foster blamed a shortage of professional work ers for the tragic error, in which the poison tablets ap parently were substituted for vitamin C tablets which they closely resemble. The poison was mixed into infant formulas on Friday. Two baby , boys, sons of Mrs. Alzada Havard and Mrs. Con cha Ramos, died Saturday. Funeral services were held for them Tuesday.' The four other babies were saved - when nurses noticed they were turning blue and quickly summdned doctors to pump their stomachs. Progressing Satisfactorily . The surviving infants were said to be still in critical con dition "but progessing satis factorily." They are twin girls born to Mrs. Jose Riojas, a son born to Mrs. Fred Campbell and a daughter of Mrs. Raul Marti nez. Foster said he had been un able to determine who had made the fatal substitution of poison for the called-for vita min. He said he had ques tioned workers in both the hospital pharmacy and the nursing department and that "someone is lying." "I don't know who, but dis covery of the person respon sible - won't solve the prob lem," Foster said. "We just have too many de partments and two few pro fessional workers." Foster said the hospital has at present only one registered pharmacist to dispense $180, 000 worth of drugs a year. He said that two years ago the hospital had two pharmacists to handle only $10,000 worth of medication annually. " Naval Air Corps Program Needs Men Qualified men are needed in the Naval Air corps, accord ing to the local recruiting sta tion. Candidates for the Naval Air school, Pensacola, Fla., must be between the ages of 18 and 25, unmarried . and must have successfully com pleted 60 semester or 90 quar ter hours of work at an ac credited college or university. They must also meet certain physical, mental and moral standards. . . College and university stu dents must make application three months prior to comple tion of educational require ments. For more information contact the Navy recruiting of fice in the post office building. ;l The U. S. postal system han dles more pieces of mail a year than the rest of the world combined. ingredient . . UC BARS BLIND GIRL'S DOG Sharon England, 19, of Los Angeles, completely blind for the last 10 years,' kneels beside her guide dogr Sirius, as she tells newsmen in San Francisco she has been refused a room in a. Uni versity of California residence. University officials insist the dog is a pet and that if Sharon were permitted to keep the dog with her in a dormitory, the university would have to permit others to keep their pets with them. 9 i The 'Mysterious' Night-Hawks Are Beneficial Birds It was early evening. Trees and bushes were rapidly los ing their shape as the light failed. The summer night was soft and warm. The sky be came freckled with stars. They winked on, one by one. The air was peopled with countless black dots that hur tled back and forth; night-flying insects, busy at whatever it is insects seem to be so busy doing. The, noise of their combined movements swelled in volume. . There were other creatures a-wing too. Across the sky bird-forms passed on silent wings, each bird in pursuit of a night-flying insect. The birds were night-hawks, ap pearing for a second before disappearing in the outer darkness. With a swoop and a swerve they came and went, from every direction and at various levels, each searching for flying insects. Apparitions' "Will - of - the - wisps" these birds have been called, rapid moving forms in the semi darkness seeming to have no substance or solidarity-more like an apparition or a mirage, more like a "spirit" than a real creature of flesh and blood, Suddenly they come, out of the darkness, then as suddenly disappear. A watch-J J I - j0mmmmmM . TOrSOIl ir y-i 1rf'-''r" FINE SAND AND LOAM 1 VW i .'-K00y' '' " f ""ST - 1.J- .Ti.'-'l1,. ' fINI SAND AND ClAY j r f S v . ,X nba'n sEtBt stain I 1 '"'"""-"", PURE GLACIAL WATER j H Y DEERt ' . "Its the Water Small Worlds Around Us By Lynn tA. Watkins er wonders if he really is see ing a bird or a shadow. This rapid, silent flight probably suggested the name "will-of-the-wisp." It might be easy to under stand why superstitions were built up around this bird. Oth er folks, less superstitious but no better informed, called the night-hawk a "bull-bat" be cause they fly mainly at night and folks thought only bats would be abroad in the dark ness. The bird does spend the daylight hours sitting on a for est tree in some secluded spot. The night-hawk builds no nest but lays her eggs on the open ground or even on a bare rock or neglected sidewalk. Some of the birds that live near large cities often lay the eggs and hatch the young on the flat, gravel roofs of tall build ings. Sharp Squawks Often, while in full flight, the night-hawk utters sharp squawks, as if in fright. At some seasons of the year the bird emits a loud booming sound, not unlike the roll of a distant drum, at the same time swooping toward the ground in a wide spiral from a great height. The booming noise sounds mysterious and unreal in the darkness and lends an atmos phere of mystery to this Visitors are always welcome to "One of America's Exceptional Breweries" Olympia Brewing Company, Olympia.Washinglon, U.S.A., very day between the hours ol 8:00 and 4:30. 'Oly e- Unions, Maritime Association Reach New Agreement San FranciscoOPD-The In ternational Longshor emen's and Warehousemen's union reached agreement with the Pacific Maritime association, Tuesday on a new three-year contract. The agreement, still subject to ratification by both organ izations, will provide wage in creases for about 17,000 work ers. Men working On a six hour straight time basis will receive an 11 cents per hour wage .boost, while those on an eight-hour day will receive 12 Vi cents. The new contract, which will run until June 15, 1962, also provides for the first time a $1,500,000 mechanization fund to distribute the profits of increased mechanization to the dock workers. Provide Compensation The fund will provide com pensation to men who fail to earn a specified annual in come. How it will be distribut ed has not been decided. A joint release said: "The fund will be contributed by the employers during the first year of the contract as pay ment of the men's cash share of increased productivity up to Junel 5, 1960. The fund applies to fully registered men." Under the contract, clerks will receive an additional one and one-half cents an hour during each of the three years to reach parity with long shoremen. Chief supervisors and supercargo clerks will re ceive an additional four cents an hour to reach parity with walking bosses. Increases Retroactive All wage increases will be retroactive to June 15, 1959, expiration date of the old agreement. Retroactivity will end Aug. 10, by which time the union has agreed to com plete a referendum ballot on ratification of the contract. The fund agreement declar ed further that its purpose is "to guarantee the fully regis tered work force a share in the profits gained by labor saving machinery, changed methods of operation, or changes in working rules and contract restrictions resulting in reduced manpower with the same or greater productiv ity for and operation." In recent years, a principal goal of the ILWU has been to prevent the displacement of workers by machines and la bor-saving devices. strange bird. The underside of each wing has a white spot or band. Visible from the ground, it looks, to an observ er, as though there were hole in the wing. As the night-hawk feeds al most exclusively on insects it is one of our beneficial birds, even though it is also one of the least understood, due probably to its habit of always flying at night when supersti tious folks think that mystery lurks in the warm darkness. (Released by The Register and Tribune Syndicate, 1959) . Electronic Automation Is Available to Companies Of All Sizes, Small businesses as well as large corporations now can take, advantage of advances in electronic automation, James Powell of Multnomah Data Processing Center . said here Monday, i : r Lack of information about these advances is generally responsible, Powell said, for failures to take such advan tage. Powell told a Jackson Coun ty Chamber of Commerce roundtable audience that many smaller cities and coun ties are falling "way behind" in use of electronic devices to speed processing of paper work. He explained that automa tion, or the use-of electronic computing machines and oth er mechanisms to compile and analyze records, is proving popular and economical. . Powell warned, however, that companies and agencies should enter the field cauti ously and gradually. He stated that automation should not be introduced into one office just to keep up with the Jones company up the street. Other Positions Available Thanks to the rapid expan sion of the nation's economy, he said, those whose jobs are taken over by electronic de vices are generally finding other positions in the same growing company. - . He reported that at least one spokesman in the elec tronics field believes that within the next decade huge computers will be available to individual communities for the use of local businesses in data processing. These com puters; Powell said, would be considered as a public utility service - comparable to the telephone and power com panies of today. Powell explained that re cently invented office appli ances can be attached to type writers and bookkeeping ma chines to permit simultaneous production of the standard re ports and special punched paper tapes or punch cards. These tapes or cards, he said, can be dispatched to data processing centers where the records can be compiled and analyzed. Attached to Register Such tape-producing appli ances can also be attached to cash registers, Powell said. He reported that department stores in other parts of the country are finding this a valuable aid in quick tabula tion of sales. . Some companies, he noted, are loathe to invest in devices now on the market since they fear these will become obso lete! Actually, he said, use of what is currently avail able provides an important intermediate step in prepara Men's and g fttiiilinnlllll iiilllHiili llllllllllll HI Hill Hill f llllllill I j II li iiBMMMMWMMWI 1 1 HI 1 1 IIIMIIMI WIliwMMMMtMM MM Wtwl j 1 OFF BRAND CHILDREN'S n f r CANVAS AND 1 (Q) j BAREFOOT SANDALS S 11 Regular to 3.99 U O U Speaker Says tion for using devices per fected later. . . .. Businessmen interested in applying automation devices in their offices should first go to school and learn as much as possible about these. mod ern processes, Powell recom mended. Next,' he said, they should visit users elsewhere to see how they are getting' along. They should also check with business consultants and with representatives of companies that manufacture the devices, and then secure wo or three written proposals from manu facturers, he added. Automation in Government Automation for government, Powell said, is useful in such areas as road design, police department records, voter reg istration, payrolls, tax rolls and various analyses and sur veys. He said he thought it could also be used in prepar ing assessment rolls. Powell described one mech anism that can tell road en geneers where to build road ways. Automation can "definitely effect economies" for govern mental agencies, Powell said. He sta.ed that while he thought the federal govern 111 JIllliltTTT : lllllllllin f IIIIiI-lil jTj tl""""'!! ',","""""" " I fihal.: I GLEABAUGE I Values to $22.95 Boys1 Canvas Oxfords Reg. Reg. BOYS' GIRLS' STRAP SHOES 297 ALL ABOVE SHOES ARE FAMOUS U.S. KEDS FROM OUR SUMMER STOCK ment and state agencies are generally taking advantage of automation, many small coun ties and small cities are "defi nitely not." "Very few are going into this type of thing," he said of these smaller units of gov ernment. "In my estimation they are way behind." Not Economical A Medford city official later stated that extensive au tomation was not yet consid ered for individual cities the size of Medford. Among ma chines currently in use at city hall are an automatic book keeping machine, and several small calculators used by city engineers. This official stated that sev eral cities-such as Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls-might embark on acquiring automation equipment as a joint venture. But, he added, such intergov ernmental cooperation is rare. NEW LIFE to Fabrics With RETEXTURE SERVICE OPEN 6 A.M. to 6 P.M. Close Saturday 1:30 p.m. Medford Cleaners SP2-6S01 34 N. 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