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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1960)
ft MftHi IB LEAWE 88KMMJ EMI iregomiDOini Hfnce oft U.S. Navy Plane Claimed Probably Cause of Disaster Craft Apparently Strayed Off Course Rio de Janeiro-JUPD-The Air 'Bomb' Believed Placed in Broken Window of Office State Arson Squad Summoned To Scene Salem -(UPD- Fire, possibly touched off by a "bomb, erupted in the Salem circula tion and distribution office of the Portland Oregonian at 5:06 a.m. today causing "con siderable damage." Salem Fire Chief Robert Mills said "the investigation so far would indicate that possibly some sort of bomb or explosive is involved." Window Broken He said a window of the empty office was apparently broken by a rock just prior to the blaze. No injuries were re ported, he said. Salem Fire Marshal Glenn Shedeck, heading the at-the-scene probe, said the state ar son squad had been sum moned from Portland. Shedeck said pieces of a bottle that may have been placed in the office through the broken window were found. The half-gallon vessel had a partially screwed on cap, and the cap had a hole in it. Shedeck said the hole "looked like a place for a wick" and that there were in dications the bottle had con tained "some sort of flam mable liquid." Records Destroyed Circulation records were destroyed along with desks, chairs, other files and a counter. An employee esti mated worth of the items at $1,500. The Oregonian office here employs five persons who ac tually work in the office. The office was moved temporarily to the home of a bookkeeper. Freeway Bids To Be Opened Soon Bids on two Jackson county projects will be opened March 1 by the state highway com mission in Salem. The projects include bridge construction for the Highway 99 freeway. One project calls for the construction of twin 280-foot structures over the present Pa cific highway at Homestead-on-the Rogue which will join the river bridge now under construction, frontage roads and interchanges, and 2.22 miles of grading. All of this work will be between Home stead and Rock Point. The other project calls for 3.35 miles of work between Evans creek and Homestead. Included is a 255-foot rein forced concrete 'deck bridge over Evans creek, a 144-foot reinforced concrete structure with 84-foot roadway to carry the new interstate highway over Depot st. in Rogue River, and a double concrete 339-foot culvert to carry Ward creek. Scheduled completion dates on both projects are late spring of 1961. Prospect Firemen Are Alerted Via Medford Prospect A round -robin telephone and two-way radio relay system was used early last Sunday morning to alert the Prospect fire department to fight a fire in a residence at the Red Blanket Lumber mill. The sequer.j of events started when the Paul Struck family discovered the fire in their home about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. They were unable to call Prospect because of the storm damage to telephone lines between the mill and Prospect, nine miles away. Foreman Alerted The plant foreman was alerted, and the mill's two way radio was used to call Roxy Radio base station in Medford, some 45 miles away. Mrs. Dorothy Lowry, who monitors the network over the week ends, contacted one of the mill owners in Med ford, Willard Mattson, 911 Queen Anne ave. Mattson, in turn, tele phoned the Prospect Volun teer Fire department, which responded. They brought the fire finder control before it Regional Edition Medford 22 Pages MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY AWARD WINNER Delbert T. Landing (second from right) was presented the Dis tinguished Service Award Thursday at the annual banquet sponsored by . the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce. With Land ing are Larry Allen (left), president of the Jaycee DSA Plaque Goes to Del Landing Delbert T. Landing, 1959 campaign chairman for the United Medford Crusade, was presented the Distinguished Service Award Thursday eve ning at ' the annual banquet of the Medford Junior Cham ber of Commerce."' Landing was given the award for community leader ship and service during the the past year. He was nomin ated for the award by UMC and was one of eight nomin ees, the largest number ever submitted for the award. In accepting the award, Landing mentioned his wife's assistance in his activities and added that every person in Medford deserved a part of the award. He commented that he was proud to accept it for them. Treasurer Speaks Howard C. Belton, state treasurer, expressed his pleas ure at being present at this "happy occasion" when an Dr. K. C. Farley Dies at Home Here Dr. Kenneth C. Farley, 60, of 3563 Jacksonville highway, died this morning at his resi dence. He was the federal vet erinarian in Jackson county for 20 years. Dr. Farley entered the fed eral service 23 years ago. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Katherine Farley, and a daughter, Miss Jean Farley, San Francisco. Funeral arrangements will be announced by Perl Funeral home. could spread to the mill. The Strucks salvaged some of their furniture and belong ings, but the house is consid ered a complete loss despite the efforts of the fire depart ment. Cause of the blaze was not immediately determined. Called lo Service Forrest Bigger, Burrell Lumber company, chairman of the Roxy Radio committee of the Southern Oregon on servation and Tree Farm as sociation, said the lumber in dustry sponsored radio net work was called into service later that morning for anoth er emergency service. About 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Roxy Radio received a call re questing California Oregon Power company crews to re pair fallen power lines at the fire scene. Bigger noted that the net work is frequently called upon to perform similar emer gency relay work both for the lumber industry and the pub lic in adidtion to providing facilities for lumber opera tions. . f &p V v tie L-V . . ,4, l MMMMMmJjI. ;.IM jii . MMMMBBBMWWMMMIIIffilllllWpiIlM outstanding citizen is honored. He said that to do one's duty is seldom easy as life is a constant struggle to ac complish difficult tasks a s sharp eyes of suspicious are al ways nearby. The speaker a d de d that many suffer from too much power and not enough wisdom as more and more is said about rights and less and less about responsibilities. He continued that history has shown that the masses are usually wrong. A sense of false values on wealth has driven many persons from po sitions of trust to become si lent spectators in the crowd. "Citizens should think more of what is right with Ameri ca, not what's wrong with America." Wider Visions The speaker concluded that a person gets out of life what he puts into it. He described the award recipient as no in trovert but a man with wid er visions. Belton, a veteran member of the state legislature, was introduced by Earl Day, for mer Jackson county judge, and state representative from Jackson county. Master of ceremonies for the 'evening was Richard Courtright. The award presen tation was made by Larry Al len, president of the Medford Jaycees. The event was attended by more than 130 persons at the Rogue Valley Country club. Other nominees for the award were Dr. Richard D. Nelson, Harold W. Gardner, E. Gregory Orr, Jerry S. Laus mann, Donald W. Carlon, Gale G. Kimball and Jennings (Jay) Pierce. Sfraub Renews Sterility Charge Salem ftTPD State Demo cratic Chairman Robert Straub Thursday night re newed his criticism of Gov. Mark Hatfield for mentioning the possibility of sterilization of unwed mothers on welfare in a letter to the Oregon Wel fare Commission. Hatfield, in Denver, con firmed that the subject had been discussed at a meeting last fall. But he said he had not advocated it and that Straub had distorted the pic ture. Straub, in Salem to address a meeting of the Jane Jeffer son Democratic club of Marion county, said he was "shocked that the governor would bring such a thing to the at tention of the Welfare Com mission as an item they should consider." ' Salem (DPD The Shaw grade school southeast of here was broken into Thursday night but Marion county sher iffs deputies said apparently nothing was taken. Tribune 26, 1960 No. 287 Jaycees who made the presentation, How ard C. Belton, state treasurer, who was principal speaker for the evening, and Mrs. Landing. Landing was campaign chairman for the United Medford Crusade last year. (Knackstedt Photo) Police Theorize Combination of Accident, Suicide A combination of accident and suicide is one of the the ories that Medford city police are working on in the myste rious death of Theodore El mer Semisch, 1051 West 13th st., who died in his home Wednesday afternoon from two bullet wounds. Police sav Semisch may have been working at a table on his loaded gun when it ac cidentally went off shooting him in the stomach. He fell to the floor and then, police theorize. rjossibly believed he was so badly wounded he would die anyway and put the gun to his chest and fired again. When the second bullet didn't kill him immediately he then staggered to the phone where he called the telephone operator to request an ambulance before he died, police speculate. There are several discrep ancies in this theory, police admit, but it is the most plau sible one they have come up with so far. Taken to Lab Police today took the death weapon, a .45 caliber revol ver, the holster, numerous fingerprints, Semisch's cloth ing and other articles to the state police crime laboratory in Salem for identification purposes. If all of the fingerprints found at Semisch's home and on the gun itself, turn out to be Semisch's, then the accident-suicide theory will be come even more probable, a city detective said. If not, then it may be mur der. Police found the missing $600 yesterday afternoon which they were looking for as a possible clue to the mys tery which surrounds Sem isch's death. He had reportedly drawn the money out of the bank an hour before he died. Police discovered the money in a locked cabinet in the house along, with some $400 in trav elers checks. Unanswered Questions One of the questions that remains uanswered is, why did Semisch draw the money out of the bank and why did he have the traveler's checks? His wife, Mrs. Margaret Semisch, who was working at the Rogue Valley Memorial hospital at the time of the shooting, told police she had no idea why he had the mon ey nor did she know anything about the checks and he had not mentioned, taking a trip to her. Another puzzling question, police said, is if he wanted to die after the first shot and the second one didn't kill him either, then why didn't he shoot himself a third time in Sjtead of changing his mind Ministry said today a big U.S. Navy plane probably was to blame for the collision over Sugarloaf Mountain which killed at least 61 - and pos sibly 67 - persons here Thurs day. About 40 of the dead were Americans. The three surviv ors, Lt. (jg) George P. Fitz gibbons, of Worcester, Mass., Sonarman 2-C. Frederick E. Wilson, of Dallas, and Ord nance Man 1-C Hal R. Holenza of Norfolk, Va.. were hos pitalized with minor injuries. Sympathy Expressed President Eisenhower and Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek went to the hos pital on their return here from Sao Paulo Thursday night to express their sym pathy to the survivors. A ministry spokesman said the Navy DC-6 which collid ed with a Brazilian DC-3 over the cloud-shrouded peak ap parently had strayed from its assigned course. The U. S. embassy declined comment. The DC-6 was bringing Navy bandsmen and other Americans here from Buenos Aires when it collided with the Brazilian airliner, in bound from Vitoria. The sur vivors were believed to be members of the U. S. Naval party sent to Argentina as a result of the recent submarine scare there. Hit Top of Navy Plane A Brazilian woman who saw the crash said the under carriage of the Brazilian plane hit the top of the Navy plane. The DC-3 plummeted into the Atlantic ocean, east of Sugarloaf, and the DC-6 spun in to a beach of the Guanabara bay side of the mountain. All of the 26 persons aboard the Brazilian airliner died. The number of dead aboard the Navy plane was a matter of dispute, the U. S. embassy saying there were 44 persons in the plane and Navy officials here and in Washington saying it carried only 38. News Briefs London - (UPD - Princess Margaret, 29, is getting married. With stunning surprise the royal family announced tonight that ' the sister of Queen Elizabeth is engaged lo Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner known only lo British society as a photographer and son of a lawyer. No dale for the wedding was set. Washington - (DPD - The Air Force said today it had lost contact with the Midas satellite shortly after it was launched from Cape Ca naveral, Fla. Jerusalem (CPU Three Israeli cabinet ministers have been instructed to re port lo the Western Big Three that the United Arab Republic is massively build ing up its troop strength on the Sinai Peninsula, highly-placed sources said today. Chicago - (DPI) - Midwest erners battled foot-deep snows and 10-foot drifts to day while southerners shiv ered in a crop-killing cold wave. Glenn Jackson Cites Oregon Livability As Industry Lure Salem - (UPD - The North west City Managers' Confer ence was told Thursday that one of the biggest Pacific Northwest assets for luring industry islivability. Glenn Jackson, Medford, California Oregon Power Company vice president and a member of the State High way Commission .said this livability should remain in balance with industry and new citizens moving in. He said important seg ments of this are high quali ty schools, adequate facili ties for recreation and con trol of traffic. The convention opened Thursday and lasts through Saturday. . .orf'-' iH'JLwr '' i I 2 1! Kit 1 WING PART RAISED Famed Sugarloaf Mountain forms a backdrop as part of a wing of the Brazilian commercial airliner which collided with a U.S. Navy DC-6 trans Eisenhower Uses Xopter To Avoid Demonstrators Buenos Aires tOPrr Presi dent Eisenhower made a dra matic arrival in the heart of Buenos Aires by helicopter to day, soaring over the heads of angry demonstrators twho were demanding the return of ousted Dictator Juan D. Peron. They shook their fists at the chopper as it passed high above them. - Five bombs exploded in the city during the night, injur ing three persons in what may have been anti - American demonstrations. Two of the blasts damaged American owned companies. Security arrangements were the tightest of Eisenhower's Latin American trip. The President arrived by plane at Ezeiza Airport, and was warmly welcomed by President Arturo rondizi and other high Argentine digni taries. Eisenhower told Frondizi that both their countries "pro vide one stone in the struc ture of peace." "The Deople if Argentina and the United States share an unshakeable resolve to work tirelessly together, and with our neighbors, for peace characterized by freedom and justice," Eisenhower added. . The two men boardea tne U. S. Marine Corps helicopter and flew 25 miles into the city to the U. S. Embasssy res idence gardens. 78 Persons Appear To Donate Blood About 78 persons had ap peared at the Red Cross chap ter here up to 11:30 o'clock this morning to donate blood during an emergency visit of the Bloodmobile, Red Cross officials said. The Bloodmobile was ,at the chapter house between 10 o'clock this morning and 1 o'clock this afternoon. The visit was made because of a 600-pint shortage in the state resulting from men at Ft. Lewis, Wash., going on a maneuver. Normally 150 pints of blood are collected daily at Ft. Lewis. Red Cross officials said 27 persons made appointments for today's visit, and there had been more than 40 "drop-in" donors. Total num ber of pints of blood collected this morning was not im mediately available. WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy to night and Saturday. Low to night 25. High Saturday 45-50. TEMPERATURE Highest Yesterday 55 Lowest this Morning 3 To 10 a.m. Today trace Our Skies Tonight Sunset today 5:56 pjn. Sunrise tomorrow 6:52 ajn. New Mooa today lt24 ajn. Venus, the brightest planet, is now rising s little later and a little further north each morn ing. Venus will leave the morn ing sky in the Spring and will return as an evening planet this Summer. . port plane at Rio de Janeiro Thursday is raised from Guanabara Bay. (UPI Radiotelephoto) Student Council Acts On Many Proposals The 12th annual Student Government Day ended last night with a student-run city coun.il meeting. Not as politi cally conscious as their elder counterparts, the students took stands on several contro versial issues. If the students had their wav there would be no jay walking on Medford city streets, no billboards on city property at the airport, and no-Darkme-at-any-time restnc tions on the south side of Main st. from the east end of the Eighth st. bridge to Al mond st. They also decided to initi action on two city parks along Bear creek and attempt to reduce the pollution in the city's stream. Miss Gray Named Woman of Year Miss Annette Gray, retired Medford teacher, has been chosen 1960 Woman of the Year by Medford Zonta club. Miss Gray, the 15th woman so honored by Zonta, was se lected because of her many years of work transcribing books into braille for the blind. Miss Gray has hand transcribed 22 books into 85 braille volumes. Announcement of Miss Gray's selection was made at an annual formal dinner of the women's service club last night at the Medford hotel. She was presented a scroll and sheaf of roses. Miss Gray, who taught English for many years at McLoughlin Junior High school and other city public schools, now is tutor ing a blind boy and teaching English to foreign children. Mrs. Bonnie (Clarence) Wil son, Zonta past president and toastmistress for the dinner, made the announcement and presentation. Mrs. Eloise Win- klebleck is president. Rogers Scheduled to Arrive March 10 W. J. (Bill) Rogers, Po mona, Calif., of the. Frost Fruit Warning Service, U.S. weather bureau, will be in Medford March 10, according to C. B. Cordy, county horti cultural agent. Rogers comes to Medford each year to provide fruit growers the frost forecast service. Cordy did not estimate when the frost season would start. However, one pear grower said this morning that some light orchard heating may start in approximately two weeks. Last year, light orchard heating started March 14 which was earlier than usual, according to Cordy. Portland (DPD Educators from all over the country were gathering here today for the annual convention of the National-Association of Sec ondary School Principals. Several other issues were discussed by Student Mayor Pat McLaughlin and the eight Medford and St. Mary's High school council men and wom en, but no decision was reached, and they were passed on to the regular gov erning body. Underpass Proposed One of the items that was passed on is a student propo sal to build two underpasses under the local railroad tracks at Stewart ave. and Mc- Andrews rd. Another proposal on which no action was taken is a mul ti-purpose city-owned recrea tion center which would ben efit all age groups. There was some conflict among the coun cil over whether the center should contain cultural or sports facilities and the idea was sent to the regular plan ning commission. They also decided to take no action on a proposed "dog control law" and recommend ed to the parks and recreation commission that they look into the feasibility of trans ferring the trees from Haw thorne park, which will have to be removed when the free way is constructed to Jackson park. Members of the council were John Lacy, Linda Low ry, Judy Bash, Ron Daley, Keith Berg, Wayne Thomp son, Elgan Cook and David Ryn. Statewide Republican Rally Slated March 1 1 Eugene (DPD Republican State Chairman Peter Gunnar said today that a statewide Republican rally has been scheduled after the closing of official filings for public of fice. He said the event is set for March 1 lin Salem. All GOP candidates for of fice including precinct com mitteemen and women are to be introduced. "He Always Leaves New York-Bound Craft Blows Up At Shannon Field 23 Survive Crash; Two Still Missing Shannon, Ireland - (UPD- A New York-bound Italian air liner which had just taken on 7,000 gallons of gasoline "blew into 10 million pieces" on departure early today and rained survivors, bodies and wreckage onto a nearby cem etery. Shannon Airport authori ties said 27 persons were killed, and that there were 23 survivors. Two others of the 52 passengers and crew aboard the Alitalia DC7 were still, "unaccounted for." Ten of the passengers were American citizens. Seen 30 Miles Away A Shannon airport spokes man said the cause of the crash appeared to be engine failure" on takeoff. He said he believed the plane did not explode in flight but upon im pact with the ground, sending flames up so high people thought it was an explosion in air. The flames were seen 30 miles away. Wheels Smash Wall Father Charles Comerford, a Roman Catholic priest who lives near a cemetery where, the crash occurred, said the plane appeared to blow up into "10 million pieces while in flight," raining bodies and wreckage across a 300-yard area of the coastal marshland.. Wheels of the giant plane smashed into the wall of New Market cemetery and bound ed about among the tomb stones. County May Ask For Armory Funds County Judge Earl Miller said today that the county court may request that the National Guard include ar mory improvements in its next budget. T have that in mind," Mil ler said. "I wrote the Nation al Guard a letter last year on improvement of the ac- coustics of the armory so it could be used for many pub lic purposes. Perhaps we will have to prod them a little." This was Miller's comment on a Mail Tribune editorial on Wednesday suggesting that the city and county officials look into why the armory has not been developed as a multi-purpose facility as prom ised when it was built. Miller said he had estimat ed cost of accoustical improve ments in the armory at ap proximately $25,000. He had received a letter back from the National Guard that there were no funds available at that time. "Improvement of the ar mory is not a county obliga tion entirely," Miller pointed out. "However, we will be glad to cooperate." The local National Guard Armory board includes one city representative, one coun ty representative and one member from the National Guard. When the armory was built the county contributed the land south of Medford and $60,000 and the city $40, 000, Miller said. A Nice Clean Desk''
