o
Lro
local '-Persons
Offer Mi to
Rosieburg Area
Local and state officials in
the Medford area sprang to
the aid of disaster-stricken
Roseburg today.
Acting Gov. , Walter Pear-
son, here for a meeting on
higher education, declared a
state of emergency and called
out National Guard units be
fore dawn today and then set
; out for the holocaust scene
by state police car at 9:20 a jn.
Medford Mayor John W.
Snider w'irsd an offer of help
early this morning and later
flew to the scene JhimselLiy
private plane.
The Jackson County Red
Cross chzpter prepared to as
sist in relaying information
on the names of the dead and
injured.
A Mercy Rights plane car-
rying three utility mainte-.
nance men and a carton of
blood left early today, stop
ping at Grants Pass to pick
City Described
By Eye Witness
As in Shambles
! By ERIC W. ALLEN JR.
Managing Editor, ,
Mail Tribune
. Roseburg - The downtown
area of this city is a shambles.
Blocks awav from the site
of last night's devastating
blast, the streets are strewn
with shattered glass and
rubble. Merchants are busy
sweeping the sidewalks and
t remote anH nuttine up sheets
of plywood on the fronts of
their stores.
The Umpqua hotel, the Post
Office, the junior high school,
the courthouse - none of them
in the immediate blast vicinity
-stand windowless.
Mercy hospital, blocks away
and across the Tiver, lost all
the windows on the east side
'of the building.
The destruction is unbeliev
able. From the air, the blast area
shows up like a charred scar
in the middle of the city. But
on the ground, one can more
accurately assess the damage.
For block after block, houses
stand, some tilted crazixy,
their chimneys blown off,
their fronts shattered.
No accurate estimate of the
dollar damage can yet be
made. It may take weeks to
assess it.
But . W. P. Roble, Grants
Pass, deputy state fire mar
shall, first shrugged his
shoulders, then said: "Well,
take the assessed valuation of
the entire city of Roseburg,
then take one-third . of it.
That's about what the dam
age will come to."
The blast was in a high
value, downtown area, of in
dustrial firms and warehouses.
Big Southern Pacific box
cars lie tumbled like chil
dren's toys. The explosion was
only about a half-block from
the tracks.
, The axle of a truck - per
haps the one where the ex
plosion originated - sticks out
from the wall of a mortuary
building several blocks away.
(Continued on Page 10)
DESTRUCTION SHOWN IN DOWNTOWN
up more blood and two physi
cians. The local Salvation Army
disaster bus also answered
the call.
Lt. Earle Tichenor of the
Medford state police depart
ment was dispatched at about
3 a.m. to assist Roseburg city
police. Roseburg is in the
same state police district as
Medford.
Medford Plate Glass com
pany and Paul J. Selby of
Selby Glass company answer
ed a frantic call from the
Douglas couaty -sheriff 's- office
for glass repairmen. Medford
Plate Glass sent three men
and a truckload of glass,
while Selby went to the scene
himself. .
Medford Fire Chief Gordon
Barker was another local of
ficial who. left for Roseburg
to offer aid.
- Two plane loads of Med
ford policemen flew up as
well.
Acting Gov. Pearson,
Democratic president of the
state senate, was in Medford
for a meeting this week end
of the Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Edu
cation. Gov. Mark Hatfield is
attending a governor's con
ference in Puerto Rico.
George Milligan flew the
Mercy Flights, ' Inc., plane
from Medford - to Roseburg
early today. The three main
tenance men, from California-
Pacific Utilities, were needed
to repair damaged gas con
nections.
Milligan said he was told
no more blood was needed for
the .injured as residents were
turning out "en masse" to
donate. The two doctors re
turned with the planer Milli
gan said, as they were re
ported not needed either. The
local pilot said he was im
pressed with emergency or
ganization of medical facili
ties. He described the town's
view ' from the air as a
"holocaust." ..
The flight to Roseburg was
the first trip for the new
Mercy Flights plane since it
was put into service last
week.
The Jocal Salvation Army
disaster bus was requested by
Roseburg early today. Nor
man Bandy drove .the bus, ac
companied by Mrs. William
Ricken, senior captain of the
local corps. Captain Ricken,
commanding officer who left
this morning for Barton, Ore.,
was being contacted.
The iocal gas utilities com
pany has also, sent 18 cars and
trucks, emergency supplies
and about 11 men from Med
ford, 5 from Grants Pass, 2,
Ashland, and 4 from Klamath
Falls. v . .
Company officials here re
ported that every meter in
Roseburg would have to be
checked and that work on the
main lines would be required.
The Medford office is operat
ing today with a minimum
crew, officials said.
The California Oregon
Power and the Pacific Tele
phone and Telegraph com
panies reported that no local
crews have been sent to
Roseburg. : Copco reported
construction crews were in
the Roseburg area prior to
the explosion. .. T j
ROSEBURG-
54th
M
EDFORD
20 Pages
Roseburg People
Start Process of
Cleaning Up City
By JAMES DOYLE
United Press International
Roseburg (DPD The sturdy
people of Roseburg have be
gun the long process of clean
ing up after disastrous explo
sion and fire that devastated
a part ' of this city of some
13,000.
Although the city was in
a state of emergency, it's not
in a state of shock.
.. The people have taken their
loss and misfortune in stride.
Much of the town's business
district was closed to all but
those persons carrying police
permits. Most of the buildings
have been damaged, and few
have windows left.
Gas lines as far as six
blocks from the blast center
were leaking and some areas
were closed to all persons be
cause of the leaking fumes. -
No smoking bans have been
placed on much of the disaster
area. ;
i But still the people steadily
continue t,h e i r monumental
cleanup . task.
C. H. Patchett, owner of
Pat's Tavern, one of the few
business operating in Rose
burg today pointed to deep
pock marks on the hard top
of his bar made by flying
glass and softly exclaimed,
"It's unbelievable!"
"It happened real quick,"
Pachett said. "It was like be
ing under a jet blasting off."
"We have a lot fine people
in this town, and they're all
working real - hard to get it
going again," he said.
One jewelry store owner
said he lost diamonds valued
at $25,000 to $30,000. The
diamonds and diamond rings
were blown out into the street
from window -how cases and
mixed with shattered glass.
Roseburg-flJPD-The Veterans
Administration hospital on the
outskirts of Roseburg escaped
damage , in today's blast and
offered its facilities to ' care
fojr the injured.)
Evergreen Bus Lines Given Approval To Resume
Service for 10 Years Within Medford
A 10-year franchise with
Evergreen Bus Lines marking
the renewal of bus service
within the city limits of Med
ford was approved last night
by unanimous vote of the city
council.
L. R. Pilcher, Evergreen
manager, has stated he in
tends to begin operations, with
one bus at first linking the
east and west sides with the
downtown area, on Aug. 17.
But the franchise provides
that fares, routes and sched
ules must be approved by the
city council. No such action
was taken last night, and the
next regular council meeting
is slated for Aug. 20.
The council in approving
the franchise itself last night
also passed an amendment of
fered by Councilman Don
Hansen, Ward II. providing
that the company carry mini
mum liability coverage of
$100,000.
The Woodrow lane water:
BOXCARS
Year
MEDFORD,
Economic Data
On Rogue Study
To Be Presented
A meeting of the Rogue
Basin. Flood. Control and
Water Resources association
will be held Thursday, Aug.
13, at 8 pin. in the circuit
court '.jjppomgl Grants Pass,
according to7 William Jess,
president. ,
Henry Stewart, Portland
office of U. S.' Corps of army
engineers, will give the eco
nomic data for all structures
in the engineers' Rogue Basin
study.. At previous meeting
Stewart has given the people
of the area three proposals
for tributary structures. In
these discussions the corps
gave only the physical data
on the suggested reservoirs,
but until now all of the eco
nomic data has not been re
leased, y
Following the Grants Pass
meeting and publication of the
economic data, the corps will
schedule a public hearing in
the Medford armory about
mid-September, it was re
ported. At that time all in
terested groups and individ
uals will have an opportunity
to make a statement in re
spect to the corps' findings.
The public hearing, which
will start at 9:30 a.m. is ex
pected to' continue the entire
day and into the evening.
Queen Elizabeth
Expecting Baby
Buckingham Palace an
nounced today that Queen
Elizabeth expects a baby
early next year. The expect
ed child will be the third
for the Queen and Prince
Philip.
The story of the an
nouncement appears on
page 10 of today's Mail
Tribune.
main project was accepted by
the -council as being satisfac
torily completed by R. A.
Heintz Construction company,
Portland. An assessment rate
of $3.03 per front foot was
approved, the total assess
ment being $8,110.64.
Another project accepted
by the council was the taxi
way resurfacing at Medford
airport, the total cost being
$12,045.01 with the federal
government paying 55.92 per
cent.
A contract was awarded
for repainting the airport ter
minal building. It went to
Baker Paint and Decorating
company, in the amount of
$3,021.35. This project in
cludes the lobby, rest rooms,
exterior walls and other areas.
In other airport business,
the council approved a prop
erty lease for Steve Wilson
and Max Terzenback, who re
portedly plan , to . erect six
Sat 11 it
TUMBLED LIKE CHILDREN'S TOYS
V J
OREGON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 7. 1959
Hurled JMi
"Well, There We Were In ThU
Model Kitchen, And " .
Wagon Train Camps
Near Columbia River
Quinton, Ore.-(DPD-The Ore
gon Centennial wagon train
camped near here Thursday
night between the Union Pa
cific railroad and the Colum
bia river on property owned
by Roy Phillipi of Quinton.
The campsite was surround
ed on two sides by archeologi
cal diggings.
Today the wagon train
moves 19 miles to a campsite
one mile west of Biggs be
tween the Union Pacific rail
road and Highway 30.
The 20th century pioneers
are slated to arrive in The
Dalles Saturday morning at
T" hangars in the northwest
hanger area.
A public hearing was called
for Aug. 20 on the requested
rezoning' of property along
the south side of East Jackson
st. between Genessee and
Stark sts. from single and
two family residential to lim
ited commercial. This request
represents an appeal from the
planning commission, which
previously turned it down.
The council approved exe
cuting an agreement with
Southern Pacific railroad,
whereby the city must pay an
estimated $6,110 as its share
of the cost of installing flash
ing signals at the Fourth
st. grade crossing. This in
stallation is in compliance
with a public utilities com
mission order. Had the Clark
st. grade crossing been closed,
the r?iJroati would have borne
the full cost of installing these
signals. ,
which time an all-aluminum
key to the city, manufactured
by the Harvey Aluminum
company of The Dalles will
be presented to Wagonmaster
Tex Serpa.
Ceremonies re-enacting a
meeting 100 years ago be
tween Wasco Indians and a
wagon train will be conduct
ed Saturday morning.
An Indian style dinner will
be given to the Oregon caval
cade Saturday evening, with
Laura Thompson, wife of the
late Wy-an chief Tommy
Thompson, serving the 59ers.
City Limits
An easement for two Cali
forma Oregon Power com
pany poles on the Barneburg
hill standpipe lot was another
item approved last night.
Among steps taken in var
ious improvement projects
were these: approving plans
and specifications for paving
Mira Mar ave. from Nieto
way to Skyline dr., Nieto way
itself, and Shannon dr. from.
Nieto to Mira Mar; and for a
sanitary sewer on Shannon
for Rogue Valley Manor.
Other steps included adopt
ing plans and specifications
for a storm sewer along
Groveland ave., Woodlawn dr.
and Highland dr., and calling
for bids on this project; call
ing for bids on curb, gutter
and paving work for the
Eighth st. extension across
Bear creek; and authorizing
the preparation of plans and
specifications for a Rogue Val
ley Estates sanitary sewer.
Price 10 Cents
No. 114
Paddlewheel Now
In Long Orbit
Around the Earth
Cape Canaveral, Fla. (DPD
A Paddlewheel satellite was
hurled into orbit around the
earth today in an effort to
find answers to the problems
facing - proposed shots to' Ve
nus an'r Mars;
The satellite, Explorer
Six, was propelled into the
skies at 7:23 a.m. in the nose
of a huge Thor Able III rock
et. Almost three hours later
the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration an
nounced . in Washington that
an orbit had been achieved.
Paddle-shaped Fins
The satellite, containing
paddle-shaped fins .that are
filled with solar cells to re
charge its chemical batteries,
went into a long orbit that
brought it within 140 miles
of the early every 11 hours.
Its most distant, point from the
earth was 23,000 miles.
During its 11-hour flight
around the earth, Explorer
Six- was to reach its maximum
altitude at 1 p.m. over South
America and its closest point
at 7:30 p.m.
The 142-pound satellite was
crammed with instruments for
15 major scientific experi
ments.
"Additional information on
the progress of the experi
ment will be reported after
the date from the tracking
stations are analyzed," NASA
said.
Solar Cells Are Used
It said all further informa
tion on remaining phases of
the tests would come from
NASA headquarters in Wash
ington. , ,
The aluminum-covered arti
ficial moon, nicknamed the
Paddlewheel because of four
paddle-shaped vanes project
ing from it, was the most com
prehensive scientific package
the U.S. has devised a power
ed to hurl into orbit around
the earth. , ;
Attached to the four vanes
were 8,000 solar cells to re
charge the satellite's chemi
cal batteries during its earth
circling journey. If this me
thod of keeping batteries alive
proves succesful, it will mean
crude pictures , of the earth's
supply for maintaining com
munications -with space
probe taking months to reach
Venus and Mars. "
(Continued on Page 10)
WEATHER
FORECAST: Fair, hot and dry
through Saturday. Windy aft
ernoons with low humidities.
Thunderheads over mountains
Saturday afternoon. Low to
night 57. High Saturday 98.
.Temp.
Highest Yesterday . 100
Lowest this Morning 56
Our Skies. Tonight
Sunset today '. 7:25 p.m.
Sunrise tomorrow 5:10 a.m.
Moonset tonight 9:04 p.m.
First Quarter Aug. 11
At moonset tonight the tri
angle of Vega, Deneb and Al
tair and will be high in the
east and the Milky Way will
be - stretched across the sky
from Cassiopeia to Sagittarius
and Scorpio.
Space
THIS CRATER IS WHERE TRUCK EXPLODED '
Ammonium Blast
Rips
Area
Roseburg, Ore.-flJPD-A truck loaded with six tons of explo
sive chemicals and dynamite blew up here early today,
devastating about eight full blocks and damaging nearly
every building in the downtown part of this city of 13,000.
Police Chief Vernon Murdock said there were 11 dead.
The coroner, Dr. C. H. Babbitt, said nine bodies had been
counted and that the death toll probably would be twice that.
At least 50 persons were injured.
The truck belonged to the Pacific Powder company of
Seattle. Officials there said it contained four tons of solid
ammonium nitrate fertilizer and two tons of dynamite.
Blows Up Ship .
The ammonium nitrate was the same type of chtmical
wnicn Diew up in a snip in
ing Dbi deaths. ; --jr --;
Property loss was expected to run into the mUlioni of
dollars, v' - - ..--v-V -" :::v -' . I
-. , Roibura-(UPD-Th. following is the -list of injured In the
Roseburg blast and fire requiring hospitalisation: At Mercy
hospilaf: Flossy Van Blaricon. Harold Bailey, Martha Ver
gold, Marshall Bailey, Lyle Wescott, Sandra Simmons, Cleo
Hiati, Vera Washington. Pat Sullivan and Sonia Patton.
Chief Murdock said a four-block area from Douglas to
Lane sts., running north and south, and two blocks,' from
Stephens to Parrott sts., running east and west, wtf the
hardest. hit. ' . .. ' .
, "That was pretty well leveled and what was left standing
was gutted by fire." - .
Murdock said many business establishments were destroy
ed. Seven or eight houses near the blast scene also were lost
and at least 30 damaged severely, he said. '
"I would say the entire downtown area has damage to
buildings," the chief added.
Truck Parked for Might '
The truck was parked for the night near a building supply
company, it blew up after
firm.
The truck driver, George
was reported to have been injured by flying glass while stay
ing at a nearby hotel. State Police Lt, Howard Bennlnghoff
said Rutherford had received permission from the Gerritsen
Building Supply company to park his truck near their ware
house and had checked the truck at midnight.
The fire alarm was turned in at 1:15 a.m.
. One of the victims was identified as Assistant Fire Chief
Roy McFarland. Another was a man named Harry Car
michael. A police officer, Donald Desues, about 34, was
reported missing.
" Another victim, identified shortly before noon, was Den
nis Tandey, about 18, Roseburg. i
The blast tore a hole 50 feet across and 10 to 15 feet
deep. The hole was filled with -three or four feet of water
from broken mains. ' . ' . . '
Murdock said an area of three blocks by three blocks
was burned out by the fire. .
Like Bombed Out Area
The police chief said the destroyed businesses included
three or four automobile agencies, service stations, garages,
a soft drink plant, the Gerritsen Supply company, the Farm
ers Cooperative" Building and others.
Firemen managed to keep two propane tanks located
near the disaster area from - exploding. They had ordered
a seven-square block area evacuated as a precaution.
The area near the center of the blast looked as if it had
been bombed out. The explosion occurred about three blocks
west of the main downtown business section as firemen and
police arrived to answer the alarm. ,
Dave Coron, news editor of radio station KRXL, rushed
to the scene and saw two persons lying in the street. "Both
were till alive but were bleeding badly," he said. "There
were hot wires down iJl over the place." .
: The blast broke windows up to at least a mile away.
State of Emergency v ,
Business in this southwest Oregon lumber center was at
a standstill today. The National Guard was called out and a
state of emergency declared. V
Fire departments from Eugene and Springfield, 75 miles
to the north, were called to help. The fires finally were con
tained after a pre-dawn battle
break.
Cars parked near the blast
of twisted metal.
The Red Cross -set up emergency facilities at the National
Guard Armory and at the Douglas County Fairgrounds across
the Umpqua river from the disaster area.
Out of Bed
Bill Brubacker, announcer
he lived about five blocks away and the explosion knocked
him out of bed.
I looked up and saw a mushrooming flame. I ran down
to the fire. There was debris scattered all over the street. I
saw one body - a boy of about 18 or 19.. He must have been'
dead." -
i Fire departments from the neighboring communities of
Myrtle Creek, Sutherlin and Winston also were called in. In
addiitioi to National Guardsmen, state and city police and
sheriff's deputies patrolled the streets.
At the height of the fire flames, lighted the skies for
miles around. ,
. (Continued on Page 10) . .. - i
Downtown
Early Today
ism at xexas uty, rex., result
a fire broke out in the supply
Rutherford, 47, Chehalis, Wash..
that lasted until after day
site were nothing but pieces
at radio station KRXL, said
. "A