Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, December 28, 1959, Image 1

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Medford mail tribune., December 28, 1959, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextTO mm rvirvi 1MJB Tug- Boat E At rescent One Man Missing As Blast Rocks 30-Mile Area Fisherman Saves i Three Crewmen ; Crescent City, Calif. fCFD One man was missing and pre sumed dead today as the re sult of a series of gasoline 'explosions which for a time threatened this Northern Cali- fornia lumber port of 1,400 persons. . The missing man was iden tified as Gordon McCullum, 23, a deck hand aboard the sea-going tug Celilo. The 230 ton vessel exploded Sunday ' morning . with a blast that rocked a 30-mile area and set .fires aboard a barge contain ing 750,000 gallons of high octane gasoline. Three other crewmen board the Celilo were res cued through the heroic ef- -forts of fisherman Darrell Richcreek, who brought his 'boat alongside the tug while it was burning and being ' rocked by minor explosions. Survivors of the blast were Capt. Don Rabe, B. A. Walker, and Larry Hansen, who was hospitalized with minor burns. .Walker's pants were blown - off, but he was uninjured. Moorsd Offshore j The tug and the barge were moored at an offshore station to unload the gasoline through pipelines to storage tanks on .shore. The Coast Guard said a run-away engine caused the first explosion, and the result ing blaze touched off second ary blasts. ' ; The waterfront area was evacuated immediately and a Coast Guard cutter moved in to battle the "flames" aboard the barge. When the lines con- "cting the tug to the barge burned apart, the cutter tow ed the tug out to sea.' The stricken vessel burned for several hours' and then sank, sending up a 200-foot column of steam and smoke. Lighting Contest Winners Are Noted Tom Cardona, 234 Saginaw dr., Medford, was named sweepstakes winner in the annual Medford Junior Cham ber, of Commerce Christmas decorating lighting contest. Judging was Saturday eve ning. Other first place winners -were Tom W. Mast, 415 West ern ave., northwest - section; Mrs. Burr E. Tye, 102 Mistle toe ave., southwest district; and Dr. O. A. Welsh, 1300 East, Main st.t southeast sec tion. Second place winners in the four sections were Mrs. Jona than Middleton, 1525 Grand ave.; Charles Bottjer, 3350 Jacksonville highway; A. M. (Dutch) Farfan, 723 South Newtown ave.; and Paul Jor gensen, 324 South Groveland avei - Also receiving prizes were O. C. Rawiings, 131 Vancou ver ave.; William R. Uhrines, 60 Summit ave.; L. C. Mc Laughlin, 3384 Jacksonville highway; Vern E. Rose, 3390 Jacksonville highway; Jim Kubalek, 907 South Oakdale ave.; R. E. Marsh, 2100 East Main st; W. D. Mattson, 1036 ML Pitt ave.; Mrs. Gerald Dynge, 1029 Alta st.; Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Haggard, 405 J st.; Earl S. Courtney, 621 Cathe rine St.; and R. J. Hogue, 2209 Hillcrest dr. Rockefeller May Still Be On Oregon Ballot ; Salem (DPD Although New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller has announced he will not be a candidate for the 1960 presi dential . nomination, Oregon voters won't know until the evening of March 11 wheth er he will be on the Oregon primary ballot next "May. To Announce Candidates Secretary of State Howell Appling Jr. said today that under the law he will an nounce at 5 P-m. that date generally-advocated candidates who will appear on the state ballot. Appling said that the fact escent. City : 'I'M 'l-Wi&H- 'Mk ' fA'tfS' JjL ah wft irl li i I ii il in ii ii mini nii ihi rmrnn i iiiiiifff ii EXPLOSIONS RIP TUG Flames consume the huge tug Celilo shortly after two explosions ripped through her hull at Crescent City, Calif., Sunday. The flames spread to the barge at bottom which, contained a million gallons, of high test gasoline, but the barge did not explode. The waterfront area at Crescent City was evacuated during thethreat; The aerial photo was taken directly above the fire. Nixon Huddles Over Plans as Result of Rockefeller Move Washington - (DPD - Vice President Richard M. Nixon held a lengthy huddle with top staff aides today about 1 possible shifts in his plans as a result of New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller's sur prise withdrawal from the Republican presidential race. Nixon himself declined comment. But there was spec ulation in GOP quarters that he now would revise his cam paign plans and shun pri maries which would have kept him away from Washington at crucial stages of the next ses sion of Congress. Democrats See Chance Republicans said Rockefell er's withdrawal all but clinch es the 1960 GOP presidential nomination for Nixon. WEATHER FORECAST Valley fog tonight and Tuesday morning with chance of partial clearing Tues day afternoon. Low tonight 25. High Tuesday 38. TEMPERATURE Highest Yesterday 41 Lowest This Morning 26 Our Skies Tonight Sunset today 4:45 p.m. Sunrise tomorrow 7:40 a.m. The Moon rises 1- 7:13 a.m. tomorrow, rides low, and is in Perigee. New Moon tomorrow 11:09 a.m. VISIBLE PLANETS Venus. In the southeast . 6:19 a.m. Mars and Jupiter rise 6:47 a.m. Mars, the dimmer planet, is now passing to the east of Jupiter. that Rockefeller has with drawn is "immaterial under our law. It is the extent of his advocacy that matters, and only that." Backing May Slick The March 11 and 5 p.m. date and time is prescribed by the new state primary presi dential preference law, which state that the secretary of state will make the announce ments 70 days before the pri mary which is May 20.. "It is rather unlikely that backing such as Rockefeller has received so far would evaporate by that time," Ap pling said. xplode (UPI Telephoto) Democrats said Rockefell er's decision boosts Demo cratic chances of recapturing the White House. They said Nixon would be easier to beat than Rockefeller. Nixon, who attended the national pro football cham pionship game in Baltimore Sunday, planned to . fly to California later this week to attend the annual Rose Bowl football game at Pasadena New Year's Day. Office Buzzes Although the vice president kept his official schedule clear today, his office buzzed with activity. Most Republicans echoed the general conclusion that Rockefeller's action sewed up the 1960 nomination for Nixon. Sen. Frank Carlson (R-Kan.) said the announcement "as sures Dick Nixon of the nomi nation" and "he will make an outstanding candidate." Carl son, who had not taken a stand for either Nixon or Rockefeller, added, however, Rockefeller "has a great fu ture not only as a citizen but in the Republican party." (See stories on Page 2) Allies Said Decided On May 16 Meeting Paris (DPD The Western Allies have decided to suggest May 16 as the date for a post poned Summit meeting here with the Russians, diplomatic sources said today. They said separate but simi lar letters from the United States, Britain and France suggesting the new date will be sent to Moseow today or Tuesday. The Western Allies had proposed previously that the Big Four summit meeting be held here April 27. Premier Nikita Khrushchev approved the idea in principle but ve toed the date, saying it would interfere wtih the traditional Communist observance of May Day in the Soviet capi- ItaL Nine Persons Die On Oregon Roads During Week End Woman Killed By Husband's Car By United Press International A car driven by a Waldport man was involved in a col lision with one driven by his wife Saturday. Three persons, including the wife, died in the worst accident of Oregon's Christmas holiday week end. At least nine persons were killed in traffic from 6 p.m. Thursday to midnight Sim day, although none of the deaths occurred on Christmas day itself. The mishaps brought Ore gon's 1959 total to 477, just 5 short of the all-time record of 482 set in 1936. The week end toll also made 1959 the second worst traffic death year on record in Oregon. The previous second high, was 468 in 1957. Last year's toll was 449. Victims of the accident near Waldport were Mrs. Lavone Hyde, 28; a son, Randy, 5, and Mrs. Jean Townsend, 35 The husband, Lloyd Hyde, was injured critically. State police said the car oc cupied by Hyde was going south and apparently went out of control, veering into the northbound lane. The car skidded 162 feet before strik ing the one driven by Mrs. Hyde, police said. Ronald A. Bell, 27, North Bend, died Sunday in a one- car accident on liignway d about three miles west of Elk- ton when the car left the road and overturned. Bobby Jones, 16, Pendleton, was killed Sunday near Pilot Rock when the car in which he was a passenger rolled over after failing to negotiate a curve. Car in River Emery Dennis, 15, Eugene, died Saturday when the car in which he was riding left High way 36 and plunged into the Shislaw river. Four other per sons made it safely to shore. Dean Austin, 21, Portland, Marine home oh Christmas leave, was killed early Satur day when- struck" by ' a car just north of Portland while he was inspecting a flat tire. John Williams, 24, Oswego, was killed Saturday morning in a two-car accident north of Oswego. i v The first victim of the long week end was James Morez, 53, Nyssa, killed Christmas eve when struck by a car while crossing a street. Ashland Man Starts 30-Day Jail Term Ashland - A 21-year-old Ashland man began serving a 30-day jail sentence today for striking a 19-year-old girl on the head with a wrench. Richard A. Reigel, 294 Sixth st., married and the father of a 3-month-old son, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery when he appear ed in municipal court here Thursday. The assault occurred about 12:30 ajn. Dec. 20 when Reigel hit Darlene Smith, 475 Beach st., with the wrench and then took her to a desert ed house. Reigel was later ar rested on a warrant following a complaint signed by Miss Smith. Ashland police said the wound on the girl's head re quired 10 stitches. Welcome Regional Edition Medford 14 Pages Holiday Traffic Toll Smallest in 10-Year Period 481 Deaths Recorded On U.S. Highways r By United Press International Christmas holiday traffic killed nearly . 500 persons in the United States but the total was the smallest for a three day yule period in 10 years, a final count showed today. A Chicago, a National Safe ty Council spokesman deplor ed the heavy toll, but noted that it was below the estimate of 530 which the council had feared would be the death count for the travel period which started at 6 p.m. Christ mas Eve and ended last mid n: .u. Tribute Paid The spokesman paid tribute to the many law enforcement bodies, civic and religious leaders who had campaigned to appeal to motorists for care in driving. A United Press Internation al count showed 481 traffic dead in the 78-hour holiday. Forty persons died in fires, six in plane crashes, 89 in var ious other mishaps, for an over-all total of 616. New York state had 38 dead in traffic accidents, California 36, Pennsylvania 30, Texas 28, North Carolina 27, Illinois 23, Florida 22, Michigan 21. Jury Selection Starls in Court Jury selection got under way this morning in circuit court in the trial of Donald M. Thompson, '36," of 7 Klamath Falls, charged with the Sept 7 holdup of the Safeway store in Medford Shopping Center. Selection of jurors is ex pected to continue throughout today with testimony begin ning Tuesday morning. Questioning of the prospec tive jurors by the defendant's attorneys, Richard C. Beesley, Klamath Falls, and A. E. Pi azza, Medford, have centered on two points. That the state must prove that not only did a happening occur, but that a particular person was involv ed, and that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond any "reasonable doubt." . Thompson was arrested in Klamath Falls last month and charged with robbery. He has been held in the Jackson coun ty jail on $10,000 bail. Chains Advised at Crater Lake Park Chains were advised from Annie Springs to the rim in Crater Lake National park to day, according to the park of fice here. The weather was clear and calm this morning with 31 inches of powdery snow on the ground, the report said. Home, Ike MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1959 IN STEEL DISPUTE President Eisenhow er's three-man fact-finding board stepped back into the steel dispute today to get management's "last offer" to the union and to size up the s talma te. Union officials shown arriving for the meeting in Washing Porter Retire Washington-dlPU-Rep. Charles O. Porter (D-Ore.) one of Fidtl Castro' staunches! U. S. supporters, has advised the Cuban leader to retire if "you can't be an eff active prim minister." Porter made public Sunday a letter he sent Castro three months ago. He said he decided to reveal its contents because Cat tro had ignored his pleafor an answering letter to be used in speeches the congress junction In Court Today The plaintiff s testimony in the circuit court hearing on an ' injunction against the Eagle Point Irrigation district may be' completed ' today,' it was reported this morning. Mrs. Ann Todd; one of the water users seeking "the in junction in the case, which also, involves . the California Oregon Power company, told Circuit Judge James M. Main that she hoped to complete her presentation today. The announcement came after George Roberts, Copco attor ney, said he wished to sched ule some witnesses for the de fense and wondered how long Mrs. Todd's presentation would continue. Resumes Testimony - Ted Flury, district manager, resumed his testimony this morning starting the seventh day of the trial.. Three pieces of wood which Mrs. Todd in dicated were parts of the old siphon were admitted as evi dence today. Mrs. Todd told the court this morning thai she and "other water users had no in tention of trying to limit the flow of water through the siphon to 67 cubic feet per second as stated in her com plaint. The water users ac tually want to prevent the district from allowing 100 cubic feet per second flow through the siphon, she said. Circuit Judge Main said this could be brought out near the end of the trial. Flury testified this morning on repairing the siphon and its general constructin. Rackets Committee Indictments Noted Washington (DPD Attorney General William P. Rogers re ported today that 29 individu als, four corporations, and one teamster local were indicted in 1959 as a result of dis closures of the Senate Racket Committee. This rundown of cases was contained in a letter from Rogers to Committee Chair man John L. McClellan (D Ark.). In the past, the department has denied charges by com mittee counsel Robert F. Ken nedy that it was not acting vigorously enough to prose cute cases of alleged labor racketeering and corruption uncovered by the committee. Rogers made no references to these exchanges in his let ter to McClellan, in which he praised the committee for its "invaluable assistance" in pre paring cases for presentation. 54th Advises or be Effective New Pool At Groundbreaking Construction of the Jackson Park swimming pools started this morning when Medford Councilman Robert Van Sickle turned the first shovel full of dirt at a ceremony attended by approximately 20 persons representing the city, contrac tors, and the Jackson County Housing Authority. The contractors, the Nation al Gunite Company and the Holiday Pool Construction company, will start construc tion immediately and hope to be finished in mid-April. The shovel full of dirt was taken from the site of the bath house, where work will begin. Excavation for the pools will not start until it is known whether there will be one or two pools, The city did not have mon ey enough to build both the swimming and diving pools at the time the contract was let. so the council accepted the bid for the swimming pool and bath house, retaining a 60-day option in the contract to give them that much time to raise the necessary funds for the diving pool. Cost of Pool, House Cost of the swimming pool and bath house will take about all of the $77,000 available for the project. Approximate ly $12,000 more will be need ed for the diving pool and city officials do not yet know from where it will come. The money and land for Jackson park came from the now defunct Jackson County Housing Authority, which do nated it to the city with the stipulation a swimming pool be built. Mark Goldy repre sented the housing authority at the ceremonies. Also attending was Lon Skinner, president of the Cra ter Lions club, which has as sumed a club project of build ing a wading pool in Jackson park. Newspaper Strike Discussion Scheduled Portland-IUPD-Federal Medi ator Elmer Williams said to day he had scheduled a meet ing of both sides in Portland's seven - week old newspaper strike in his office at 2 p.m. Tuesday. - Eugene Cowboy Wins Bareback Riding Title Dallas. Tex. -(UPD -Don L. Wilson, a Wyoming-bred bare back rider by way of Eugene, Sunday took top money in that division at the national finals rodeo here. Year Price 10 Cents Tribune No. 235 ton are, left to right, Attorney Arthur Gold berg, Vice President Howard Hague, Treas urer I. W. Abel and President David J. McDonald. See story on page 5. (UPI Telephoto) Castro: man planned on behalf of "the welfare" of both Castro and Cuba. ' - Porter suggested Castro replace his fears and suspicions of the United States with a : frank attempt to seek cooperation. "Do keep in touch with your North Amer ican friends," Porter urged the Cuban lead er. "You have many of them. They want to help you lead Cuba to prosperity, freedom and peace." of Starts Many months of planning and work went into the pro posed pools before construc tion was actually begun this morning. It was necessary to reject the first bids for the pools in November as too high. At a second bid-opening on Dec. 15, the National Gun ite company and Holiday Pool Construction company, bidding as one on the project, sub mitted the low bid of $89,293 for the total project and $73, 721 for the swimming pool and facilities alone. It was this latter bid that the city accepted. Others attending this morn ing's ceremony were Council man Robert Baccus, parks and recreation commission mem bers, Verl Walker, Herb Par tridge, Russ Jamison, and James Zack, City Manager Robert Duff, Parks and Rec reation Director Robert Ha worth, Ed McFarlane, John Medford, and Dick Hawkins, representing the contractors. McDonald Hints at Selective Strikes Washington-UPD-Steelwork- ers President David J. McDon ald hinted today his union might strike against a few companies and avoid an in dustry-wide shutdown if the steel dispute is not settled be fore a Jan. 26 deadline. McDonald raised the possi bility of a selective strike after President Eisenhower's Fact-finding board said it saw no chance of an agreement be fore Jan. 6. He made his re marks at public hearings or dered bjr the panel to gather information for a report to the President. The steelworkers chief said the 500,000 members of his union "will be free again" to walk out when a Taft-Hartley injunction expires Jan. 26. Youngsters Face Hearing As Suspects Spokane - (DPD - A Juvenile court hearing for two 16- year-old boys who confessed Saturday night to being in volved in the murder of Ar thur Paulsen, 56, Spokane, last August will be held about Jan. 8. To Check Backgrounds Robert Brumblay, Spokane county juvenile probation of ficer, said it would take about that long to complete an in vestigation of both the fatal shooting and the boys' back grounds. The hearing will determine whether Thomas Longdo and President Calls High Officials For Conference Nuclear Program To Receive Airing Augusta, Ga. (DPD Presi dent Eisenhower agreed today to join in a proposal for a summit conference at Paris in mid-May. He also summoned 10 high government officials to a con ference here Tuesday to dis cuss the government's nuclear program in 1960 along with other foreign and defense policy matters. This meeting presumably will deal with the current ban on testing nuclear weapons, which expires this week. Confers With Herter In the first working day of his year-end holiday visit here. the President conferred with Secretary of State Christian A. Herter by telephone about dates for the proposed summit meeting. The United States, Great - Britain and France originally suggested a meeting at Paris to start April 27. Soviet Pre- mier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to a meeting but sug gested April 21 or May 4 in stead, dates which conflicted with plans of the western na tions. White House News Secre tary James C. Hagerty said Eisenhower had advised Her ter that a meeting in Paris in mid-May was satisfactory if Britain and Franc also agreed. No Obstacle Hagerty said the proposed date probably would be May 16. He denied reports that agreement on that date al ready had been reached but said "there is no obstacle to that date as far as we're con cerned." He then announced the makeup of the group flying here Tuesday for the discus sion of foreign and defense policy. . From the State Department will be Secretary Herter, Un dersecretary C. Douglas Dil lon and Philip Farley, special assistant to the secretary. Representing the Defense De partment will be Secretary Thomas S. Gates Jr., John N. Irwin, assistant secretary for international security affairs. and Maj. Gen. Herbert Loper, retired, special assistant to the secretary for atomic energy. Others in the group will be Chairman John McCone of the Atomic Energy Commission; Gordon Gray, presidential as sistant for security affairs; Dr. George Kistiakowski, White House science advisor, and Brig. Gen. Andrew J. Good- paster, White House staff sec retary. Youths Released From Ashland Jail Ashland - Two 16-year-old Ashland High school students were released from jau eany tivlav after serving three days of a 30-day sentence for slash ing tires on cars owned by two high school teachers. The youths pieaaea gumy tn malicious destruction of private property when they aDoeared in municipal court here Thursday. Each was sentenced to 30 days with 27 days suspended. During the 27-day period, uie youths must make restitution for the $106.80 in damages and must observe a 7:30 p.m. curfew. The incident occurred at a high school dance the night of Dec. 19. The youths told Ashland police they slashed five tires, three on one car and two on another, "as a joke." The teachers had left the autos in a parking lot while serving as chaperones at the dance. in Killing Michael Jared, now being held in the juvenile detention home, will be remanded to Superior court for trial as adults. Prevented by Rules Officials said court rules prevent them from revealing which youth fired the shot that killed Paulsen. Sheriff William J. Reilly said, how ever, that both youths signed statements admitting being present when Paulsen was killed, that one of them ad mitted firing the fatal shot and that both art "implicated."