Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, August 12, 1959, Image 1

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Medford mail tribune., August 12, 1959, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Texto) d) Oft i . 1 fS'Nfrl 3 . ft f ',"!. LOOK OVER PLANS M-yor John Snider to right, are Eugene Orr, secretary-treasurer looks over plans for the new Veterans Me- of the building fund; Melvin McElhiney, morial building and convention center, commander of the local American Legion which will be constructed at 533 Edwards post, and Granville Brittsan, chairman of St., Medford. Explaining the building, left the fund raising campaign. Fund Campaign For Vets Building Gets Under Way A campaign to raise funds for construction of a Veterans Memorial building and con vention hall at 533 Edwards st., Medford, got under way this morning. The building will be con structed as a community project by the local American Legion post, and will be op erated on a non-profit bapis for organizations convening here and for a meeting place for area groups. Eugene Orr, secretary- treasurer of the building fund, said about $20,000 is needed before actual construction can start. The structure, which will be 48 by 80 feet, is ex pected ,to cost about $42,000 when completed." About $30, 000 is needed to have enough money to provide furnishings. Land for the building is now owned by the local American Legion post. Start Construction Orr said the committee hopes to have enough money raised to start construction in October. Medford Mayor John Sni der this morning gave his sup port to the campaign, and ex pressed his approval for such a structure. Orr said, the hall will facil itate about 200 persons. The building will include two halls, one 33 by 37 feet and another 25 by 28 feet, and storage facilities, kitchen, rest rooms, and parking facil ities. Orr said the Legion hopes to sponsor free . teen-age dances at the hall, which will be available for groups on a nominal fee basis. Granville Brittsan, Med ford, is chairman of the fund raising committee. Campaign headquarters have been es tablished at 114 West Main st., Medford. Rangeland Burning In Pendleton Region Pendleton OJPD Two fires, southeast and northeast of here, covered " an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 acres of mostly grassland and rangeland late Tuesday and early today. Portland -UPD- Attendance at the Oregon Centennial Ex position reached 843,805 Tues day. Tuesday's crowd was 9,306. Local School Board Establishes Faculty Scholarship Fund The Medford school board last night established a Fac ulty Scholarship Fund." The fund will be controlled and supervised by the clerk through the direction of the school board. Contributions to the faculty scholarship fund will be tax-deductable. Establishment of the fund is an outgrowth of contribu tions being made to help fi nance Dr. Leonard B. May field's trip to Russia in Oc tober. Dr. Mayfield, superin tendent of Medford schools, was one of 30 administrators in the country to be invited to visit and study the Soviet educational system. However, Attorney Gener- Grand Jury to Consider Evidence The Jacksonjcounty grand jury will meet Thursday, Aug. 20, at 10 a.m. to consider evi dence in the case of Mrs. Esther Elizabeth Lonch, who is charged with second degree murder, according to District Attorney Thomas J. Reeder. The 31 -year -old Medford woman is charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of William B. Simmons, 62, a retired rail road switchman and Camp White Domiciliary member. She is being held in the Jack son county jail. Police said Mrs. Lonch ad mitted hitting Simmons with a shovel after he had made advances at her in the course of a day-long party at the house at 2122 Crater Lake highway. The woman had been living in a house trailer at the rear of 708 Cedar st. with a daugh ter about 14 months old, police said. Her three other children were reported in foster homes. Her husband is reported to be in California. BULLETIN Washington - (I'PD - The House, in the first major lest in its bitter floor fight over labor reform legisla tion, today overwhelming ly rejected a mild bill en dorsed by the AFL-CIO. The vote was 245-132. al Robert Y. Thornton ruled that public funds could not be used for such travel. Two anonymous donors presented Dr. Mayfield with funds toi taling $1,500 of the $1,700 needed for the trip. That money will be placed in the scholarship fund. The fund will be used for similar pur poses by faculty members and administrators. Dr. Mayfield plans to leave Oct. 3. He plans to at tend a meeting of educators in Chicago en route back from Russia. He will be gone about a month. The board last night also voted to participate in the county-wide visual-aids and curriculum materials center program. The school district, administrators ndted,; helps finance vthe program, and should get something in re turn. The board previously voted not to participate in the program, but Dr. May field said more information about the program became available since the board took the earlier action. Resignations Accepted The resignations of four teachers were accepted, and eight teachers were elected. Resignations were accepted from Mrs. Trudy Williams, who taught at Hoover school, and who is moving to Rose burg; Mr. and Mrs. Jon.Ja cobsen, who were elected earlier this year but who now find they will be unable to teach here; and Mrs. Char lotte Hannan, who also was elected earlier Ihis year. Mrs. Hannan plans to accompany her husband to Spain, where he plans to study. Elected 'were Mrs. Janet Goodrich, commercial, high school; Mrs. Judy Huck, Grif fin Creek intermediate; Mar vin D. Miner, high school Eng lish; Miss Marjo Murray, sec ond grade, Washington; Miss Ruth Osborn, homemaking, McLoughlin Junior High; Mrs. Frances Scannell, first grade, Jefferson; Jack Berg, science, mathmatics, track coach, McLoughlin; and Don Wendt, intermediate, coach, Lincoln. Reviews Activity Keith Hockersmith, chair man of the Jackson County Reorganization committee, re viewed recent activity of the group, noting recent hearings held in Pinehurst and Ash land on the committee's rec ommendation the districts be combined. Hockersmith said the com mittee must have its report of reorganization recommen dations into the state board of education early in Oc tober. The board set Sept. 3 as the annual school visitation. The board will meet at 8 ajn. at the school superin tendent's office and tour the district's facilities and view renovation, maintenance and construction work during the past year. WEATHER FORECAST: Variable high cloudiness tonight and Thurs day. Low tonight 48. High Thursday 88-90. Temp. Highest Yesterday 91 Lowest this Morning 53 Our Skies Tonight Sunset today 7:18 p.m. Sunrise tomorrow 5:15 a.m. Moonset tomorrow 12:22 a.m. Full Moon Aug. 18 Appearing to radiate from the constellation, Perseus, shooting stars of the Perseid meteor shower are now at their great est numbers. They will be more noticeable after the Moon goes down. 54th Medford 16 Pages Roseburg Firms Set Saturday for Mass Reopening Junior High School Must Be Rebuilt Roseburg UP& Merchants today set Saturday as the date for a mass reopening of busi nesses in the shattered down town section of Roseburg. As cleanup work continued and investigations got under way, the death toll still was listed at 12. Coroner C. H. Babbitt said the 10th body may have been that of Ralph Wiggins, a logger. Nine other bodies previous ly were identified and two persons, Martin Lust, 42, and Wayne Townsend, are miss ing and presumed dead. School Closed The local school board said Central Junior High school, which was near the blast area, would not reopen this year and that it would cost $540, 000 to rebuild it. No decision has been made on whether to rebuild it or build a new school. F. E. Landsburg, district In terstate Commerce , Commis sion director in Portland, said a public hearing may be held here early next month. He said a decision would be made in Washington, D.C., after a preliminary report is sent there. Landsburg said primary purpose of the public hearing would be to determine if amendments should be made in federal ICC. laws covering handling and . transportation of explosives." He said his cur rent investigation was solely to gather facts. ' - Sen. Richard L.' Neuberger (D-Ore.) said the ICC has ad vised him that it had jurisdic tion over the truck which car ried the explosives. Jonel C. Hill, public utility commissioner said the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company handled 10,000 out going calls on Friday. March on American Embassy Broken Up Santiago, Chile - (UPD - One of the heaviest concentrations of police ever seen in Santi ago bioke up a Ccmmunist led "march on the U. S. em bassy" here Tuesday night. A crowd of about 2,500 persons, who had been at tending a Red-organized meet ing on the eve of the open ing of the Western Hemis phere foreign ministers' con ference here started down Merced st. toward the em bassy when the meeting broke up. Scores of police, on the alert for trouble, quickly headed off the crowd. There was no maor outbreak of violence, and no casualties were reported. Police on foot and on horseback had been posted to guard the embassy, where U. S. Secretary of State Chris tian A. Herter will live for the five-day duration of the conference. Auto-Pedestrian Mishap Hurts Girl Sandra Carol Fierling, 5Vi, Grand View, Idaho, was re hased by Rogue Valley Me morial hospital early this aft ernoon following treatment for injuries received in an ac cident, the hospital reported. State police were notified of the auto-pedestrian mishap on South Stage rd. at Voor hies crossing about 12:15 p.m. The girl was taken to the hos pital by Medford Ambulance service. She is the daughter of Mr. and "Mrs. Jimmy Tier ling and has been visiting at the home of her grandmother, Mrs. Alvira Fierling, 22 Reed lane. DECREASE ERROR The decrease in the prop erty tax levy in Jacksonville this year is 27.4 mills, a drop from the 1958-59 levy of 108 mills to 80.6 mills this year. A typographical error in a story yestrday made the mil lage decrease read 2.4 mills. Year MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1959 flke To Quiz Nikita on Meeting Gettysburg, Pa.-(DPD-President Eisenhower said today he would ask Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev why he blocked progress at the Geneva conference which might have led to a Big Four summit conference. United Nations, N. Y.-(UPD-Soviet Premier Nikita Khru shchev will address the U. N. General Assembly when he comes to the United States next month but the date and time have not yet been worked out, it was reported today. U. N. sources said Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold invited the Soviet leader to make a speech and Khrushchev accepted. ; Eisenhower told a news conference here that his condi tions for attending a summit meeting remain the same there must be some progress on East-West problems that he can see. Officials Believe Fires Deliberately Set Saturday The forest fire that threat ened Ashland's water supply and the city itself over the week end was deliberately set, according to District Warden Curt Nesheim of the state forestry department. Nesheim said yesterday that Norris R. Joyce, the depart ment's chief investigator, would continue his probe in cooperation with state police and the Jackson county sher iff's office. "We are certain," Nesheim said, "that the fires were in cendiary, and were set by two unidentified persons." Separate Fires ; Two separate fires begun about 1 p.m. Saturday in the Jackson Hot Springs-Ashland Mine rd. , area. They burned toward each other, and joined shortly afterward. A little after 5 p.m., the combined blaze "blew up." Spurred by strong winds, it sped across some 1,000 acres in one hour. Only determined efforts by forestry crews and volunteers prevented it from entering Ashland. Accurate mapping has re duced the acreage estimate to some 4,000 acres, Nesheim re ported. He explained that the earlier official estimate of 5,000 acres was based on less thorough surveys of the blaze. An authoritative report on the number of man-made structures destroyed by flames was still not vaailable. Nesheim said that the state forestry department had about 60 men working in the fire area today. "We'll stay with it until it's out," he said. "Everything is progressing and looking good," Nesheim reported. Mopping Up ' "A terrific job of mopping up" remains to be done on the fire area, Supervisor. Car roll Brown of Rogue River National forest stated this morning. He reported that, "to be safe," the forest service will have crews patrolling its portion of the burn area until the fall rains come. , Mop up was continuing to day with about 250 men on the Rogue forest sector. Some 30 two and three-man crews were falling snags. Brown pointed out that some of these snags could still be on fire. He remarked that snags "kick out sparks" and are "the worst fire spreaders." Today, however, was to be the last day of the large crew on Rogue forest land. Brown said that just about all the loggers and the "overhead" personnel from other forests would be released today. Start ing Thursday the work which remains will be handled by the Rogue forest's own crew. Final Swimming Classes Scheduled Registration for the fourth and final swimming session at the Hawthorne park pool will begin Thursday and continue through Sunday, Aug.' 16. Registration must be made in person at the pool from 1 until 5 p.m. and 7 until 9 pjn. each day, it was reported. Classes will be offered for jun ior and senior life saving, in termediate and swimmers, adult beginners, beginners, and elementary diving. tiLJK XT sJMiTRIBUNE Sans jawa..,..,. m)m I WEE CHARMER This little pajama-clad girl, found . wandering in Hawthorne park by Medford police officers, created a regular "riot" in the police department this morn ing and won the hearts of everyone as they tried time after time to find out who she belonged to. Described as a real "character" by officers, the little miss chattered away on sundry subjects, laughed and got into mischief, but could not (or would not) iden tify herself. While officer B. E. Stevens, above, was touring the neighborhood with Petition to Change Barnett Rd. Area To Medford Filed A petition to change a por tion of the Barnett rd. area from the Phoenix school dis trict to the Medford district will be considered by the county boundary board on Sept. 3, according to the coun ty court. The area proposed for the change extends north of the center-line of Barnett rd. and north to the Eagle Point school district boundary line. Approximately 100 property owners would be affected by the change. The petition contained six signatures of property owners of the Phoenix school district and three signatures of Med ford school district property owners. Only three signatures from each of the two affected school districts are required to bring the matter before the boundary board, according to Alf B. Mekvold, county school superintendent. Hospital in Medford The area switch would move the new Rogue Valley hospital into the Medford school district but would not Senate Rejects Bid To Override Veto Washington-OIPD-The Senate rejected today an attempt by Democrats to override Presi dent Eisenhower's veto of their -.1,375,000,000 multi-program housing bill. SEWER PROGRESS The major portion of the Berrydale sewer line is ex pected to be installed by Sept. 1, city officials reported to day. The construction is pro gressing on schedule with the two pumping stations on the system . expected to be com pleted next month. The President said he has instructed his aides' to invite Khrushchev - if he wishes - to inspect some military in stallations, in order to get some idea of this country's might. But the President said he certainly will bring no pressure on the Soviet leader and if he does not want to see military installations, that's perfectly all right, with Eisenhower. He told more than 50 newsmen attending the unusual press session in a gymnasium-press room that he hopes his talks with Khrushchev in Washington and Moscow will improve the atmosphere between East and West. Eisenhower said the cold war, which began in 1945 and was intensified after the Korean war, has become such a rigid stalemate that he and everyone else should' make every effort to break the deadlock. That, he added,. is what he is trying to do. . (Continued on Page 10) mmmmi affect Rogue Valley Manor which is south of the proposed new boundary. The petition was approved by the Jackson county school district reorganization com mittee at its last meeting. It also has the approval of offi cials of both school districts, Mekvold said. "Due to the geographical location of the area described in respect to Hoover school we feel the children would benefit from the proposed transfer from District 4 to District 549C," the petition stated. Hoover school is ap proximately a half mile from Barnett rd. and the Phoenix elementary school is about 4 miles away. School Problems in Western States Are About the Same, Dr. Mayfield Says School problems in most of the 13 western states appear to be about the same if not more complex and serious than those in Oregon, Dr. Leonard B. Mayfield, superin tendent of the Medford dis trict, told the school board last night. Dr. Mayfield reported . to the board on an administra tive seminar he attended at Stanford university July 27 Aug. 1. He noted there were 21 school superintendents from 13 states participating along with six members of the Stanford university staff. "It was interesting to note," Dr. Mayfield said, "that the public education problems facing the schools in the states represented were simi lar to ours in Oregon." Among the problems dis cussed was that of financial burdens brought about by in- i. 4 Price 10 Cents No. 118 her to see if she would recognize her home, she took his hat off and threw it out the police car window.' Stevens said he took her to breakfast and she insisted on being fed bite by bite. It turns out that she is Terrie Wilson, 2V2, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Wilson, 714 East Jackson st., who had just moved into the neighborhood. Officer Stev ens finally located the little girl's home by inquiring house to house in the area. Terrie had taken an early-morning stroll unbe known to 'her mother. American Helps Smash Castro Plot Havana -(UPD- An American- born revolutionary helped smash a gigantic plot against Fidel Castro by pretending to join the conspiracy and then trapping its leaders at a se cret midnight meeting, it was reported today. Informed sources said Maj. William Morgan of Ohio, a commandante of the Cuban rural police, worked as an undercover agent with Army commandante Eloy Guitierrez Menoyo. They played along with the conspirators and passed the information to Castro. Castro was reported direct ing a continuing mopup oper ation in which more than 2,000 persons have been ar rested, at least 1,000 of them soldiers. flation, increased number of students and additional- serv ices expected of the schools. Dr. Mayfield said the ad ministrators believe that state aid should probably approach approximately 50 per cent of the total cost of public educa tion. They also agreed, he said, that there should always be. a reasonable local tax re sponsibility for financing schools. Superintendents considered desirable some form of equali zation for collecting and dis tributing state funds, but there was no agreement on the best method to do'this, Dr. Mayfield said. . "There was general agree ment," he continued, "that if educational opport unities were to be equalized through out the nation there would have to be some type of fed eral aid." However, among Firemen Turn Pressure Hoses On Demonstrators Police Arrest 20 Foes of Integration Little Rock, Ark. (UPD Firemen turned high pressure hoses twice today on about 1,000 segregationist demon strators at Central . High School. Police bloodied the heads of two men, cracked another across the ribs and arrested 20 other persons. Despite the yelling, cursing demonstrators, Negroes Eliza beth Eckf ord and . Jefferson Thomas integrated Central just before it opened for its fall term. They avoided the bulk of the crowd and ent ered unharmed. Others Integrate - Three other Negroes inte grated Hall High School in the wealthiest area of Little Rock this morning without a hand being raised against them. The demonstrators arrested at Central included six wom en and girls. Police Chief Gene Smith ordered three boys and an old man, who were among those seized, ar rested for using U. S. flags to whip up the demonstrators. Police formed a human bar ricade across the streets in front of Central and enforced Smith's orders that there would be "no foolishness." Demonstrators Held Back . . Smith personally jerked loose the wires of a sound truck that was playing a parody on "Dixie." Firemen drove most of the demonstrators back with stinging streams of water from their hoses. The demon strators never got closer than a block to "Central. The scene at Central was reminiscent o the - bloody battle in September, 1957. just before President Eisen hower ordered 1,000 para- rj troopers to Little Rock to keep the peace and protect nine Negroes who integrated ' the school. All four of Little Rock's high school were closed last year. The School Board ord ered limited integration at two this year. Local Theaters Included in Sale ElectroVision Corporation, Hollywood, Calif., has pur chased 20 Robert L. Lippert theaters, Edwin F. Zabel, president, has announced. The purchase includes the Varsity in Ashland, the Cra terian. Esquire, Holly, Star lite drive-in, Valley drive-in and Rogue drive-in theaters in Medford, and the Broadway and Drive-In in Yreka. Theaters obtained in the sale increase ElectroVision's holdings to 34 motion picture houses and drive-ins. The theaters are located in south ern Oregon and throughout California. Bob Corbin, district man ager of the Oregon-California Theaters, said there would be no change in management or policy because of the sale. He still will be in charge of the aters in Medford, Ashland and Yreka, Calif. Charles J. Maestri, who was with the Lippert organization for 15 years, was appointed vice president in charge of theater operations in central and northern California and southern Oregon. Purchase price for the 20 theaters was not disclosed. administrators there was no agreement on how this could be equitably or politically done. Administrators agreed, Dr. Mayfield said, that public schools should resist assuming additional responsibilities for caring for children which are generally considered non-educational in nature unless the state finances the program in its entirety. This included such classes and activities as driver training, health exam inations and treatment, he added. Dr. Mayfield said most states indicated that programs or reorganization of districts are under way. He said Ore gon's program appears to be ahead of most other states, and Oregon's law for reorgan ization "has more teeth in it than most other states' laws."