Medford
Tribune
Section B
MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1960
Pages 1 8
UdaH Residents
Forget Horror
Of Tornado
Udall, Kan. OJPD Twlsteri
are whirling again through
prairie skies and with ap
proach of the peak of the tor
nado season, City Marshal
Hay Payne is worried - be
cause Udall citizens general
ly are not.
Payne reported difficulty in
getting sentries to man the
town's tornado watch tower.
In 20 minutes of terror on
the night of May 25, 1955,
Udall was splintered by a
tornado that cut a swath 45
miles wide as it roared up out
of Oklahoma.
It killed 83 persons, out of
Udall's population of less than
600, and injured 270. Not a
single building in town was
habitable when it was over
and all but a very few were
reduced to kindling. Proper
ty damage totalled $2,225,000.
Live in New Homes .
In less than five years,
Payne said, most survivors
seem to have forgotten. They
live in new homes, built on
the old townslle. Their resur
rected community has grown
to a prosperous town of more
than 700 persons. Its citizens
seem more conscious of the
workday problems of spring
in a farming community than
of the danger from a twister.
When the town was rebuilt,
consciousness of danger show
ed in every blueprint.
About 50 per cent of the
homes have their own storm
shelters. Beneath the grade
school is a shelter which can
accommodate about 250 per
sons. There's room for anoth
er 200 in a shelter beneath
the high school.
Payne said there is enough
underground, tornado - proof
shelter space to protect every
person in Udall.
Getting them there is
Payne's worry.
Lookout Tower Built
.When rebuilding got under
way almost the first structure
to go up was a lookout tower,
built on high ground and
standing about 25 feet tall.
Sentries use the tower to scan
the sky whenever - weather
forecasters Indicate likelihood
of a tornado or when the sky
grows yellow, the air still and
a black thunderhead rolls up
on the southwest horizon in
the manner prairie dwellers
recognize as a danger signal.
"It's hard to get people to
man the tower," Payne said.
f'Some don't want to go up
there when storm conditions
are around. Some Just think
they are too busy.
"We just don't have too
much luck in getting watch
ers. Only a few people do the
work."
Udall has four sirens to
sound an alarm once a funnel
cloud is sighted. One stands
on a pole 35 feet in the air.
In combination with three
smaller ones, its wail can be
heard for miles.
Knowing when to use them
la the problem, Payne said.
Comet Burnham Can
Be Seen in East
Washington - (Science Serv
ice) - Comet Burnham can
now be seen low in the east
in the early morning sky just
before sunrise.
The comet has developed an
unusual three-forked tail, but
It can be seen' only with the
aid of binoculars or a tele
scope, as it is of the seventh
magniture, Dr. Elizabeth Roe
mer of the U.S. Naval observa
tory, Flagstaff, Arte., told
Science Service.
Dr. Roemer said that the
comet is not expected to get
any brighter during April as
it moves northward toward
the North Star. When it gets
there, it will be closest to
earth, about 20 million miles
away, and will be visible then
in the evening sky.
After the beginning of May,
the comet will fade rapidly.
They'll Do It Every Time
. By Jimmy Hatlo
Census Takers
In Home Stretch
Washington - (BID - The na
tion's census takers are head
ing down the home stretch in
their race to count some 180
million Americans by the end
of this month.
The Census Bureau said
148.242.224 persons -83 per
cent of the anticipated total
were counted by midnight
Saturday. A spokesman said
that except for a few trouble
spots the counting will be fin
ished sometime next week.
More than half of the enu
merators have completed their
work by counting each man,
woman and child In 83,737
districts across the county.
HoWCUM-THE
AQUA THE
DENTIST GIVES
YOU TO DRlMK
IS ABOUT THE
TEMPERATURE
OF USED BATH
WATER,
But the spfcAy
HE SHOOTS INTO
YOUR EXPOSED
NERVE FEELS
LIKE IT WAS
PIPED DIRECT
FROM GREEN- '
LAND'S ICV
MOUNTAINS""
Pre-Finished Wall Panels of
Plywood Cuts Decorating Costs
New York (UPB A plywood
maker said today he has found
a multi-million dollar market
In providing pre-finished wall
panels so cheaply they can do
away with the tedious and ex
pensive chore of redecorating
homes and apartments.
Chairman Bernard Hewitt
of Industrial Plywood Co., of
Jamaica, N.Y., doesn't expect
his new panels to put the plas
tering and wallboard indus
tries out of business. In fact.
he expects many city building
codes will continue for a long
time to require wet plaster
construction. And lots of peo
ple will keep on liking wallpaper.
But Hewitt says his hew
laminated plywood wall pan
els with the finish applied at
the factory are competitive
with wallboards in price and
that the finish will last for
years with only occasional
waxing. Moreover, they can
be nailed up by "do it your
self homeowners.
Easy To Maintain
No more painting every two
or three years with the labori
ous sanding and spackling,
says Hewitt.
Hewitt's company has made
a special effort to reach the
low price market. Hewitt told
United Press International he
is making pre-finished ply
wood wall panels to sell for as
little as 17' 2 cents a square
foot and has persuaded well
over 100 lumber yards in the
New York metropolitan area
to stock them. That's about
half the price of the cheapest
pre-finished plywood panel
offered and the average was
well above 50 cents.
County-wide Sweep
That means that while most
builders still figure plywood
panelling a 10 by 12 room at
around $750, it can be done
with Hewitt's cheaper panels
for $100. Even with a cherry
or walnut finish, it can be
done for under $200 and no
more painting or papering and
spackling repairs.
Hewitt believes in time vir-
Psychologists Study
Knowledge of Sex
New York - (Science Serv
ice) - How much young man
knows about sex and the
"facts of life" la related to hit
Intelligence but not to his
marital status, sexual adjust
ment or his age, Drs. Leo Sha
tin and J. Alfred Southworth
of the Albany Veterans hos
pital and Albany Medical col
lege told the meeting of the
Eastern Psychological associ
ation. The young men studied by
the psychologists were all pa
tients In the psychiatry serv
ice of I general hospital. The
average age was 33 years.
They were selected for study
because sexual maladjustment
is sometimes a symptom of
mental illness and may ag
gravate or contribute to that
illness.
The majority of the patients
(85.7 per cent) judged their
own personal sexual adjust
ment to be satisfactory or bet
ter. Their therapists, how
ever, judged 73 per cent to be
unsatisfactory or worse in
sexual adjustment.
ou "ooor
li Your Grovyl
BE A K-BOY
Blooper-Snooper
tually every lumber yard will
carry the plywood panels in
the cheaper as well as some of
the luxury finishes and that
there will be many houses
wholly done in them. He
thinks the trend towards hav
ing one room finished in ply
wood well on the way to
sweeping the country.
Hewitt talked about his new
wall panels in connection with
the ground-breaking by his
company at the site of a new
"plywood city" -in Jamaica
where architects and builders
not only may chose from a
huge variety of plywoods, but
may supervise from the start
the manufacture of large cus
tom orders for plywood.
Industrial Plywood Corp. is
a leading maker of custom
plywoods and a wide variety
of patterns finished in exotic
woods and of plywood panels
with formica, metal or plastic
surfaces.
The company is publicly
owned and its sales have
mounted sharply in recent
years. The new plant in Ja
maica is costing $1.7 million.
So far, both Hewitt's com
pany and his competitors
have found the best market
for wall panels for homes in
the luxury houses. But Hewitt
says even the small $8,000
house in the cheaper construc
tion areas now tends to have
at least one room finished In
plywood panels with a fine
wood finish. Commercial use
of plywood interior finish,
whether with wood or plastic
surface, is growing fast. Sev
eral other companies are in
the field and the total sales of
the pre-finished panels almost
reach $50 milion a year.
The panels come in a great
variety of finishes, are in four
by eight foot size, very light
in weight and have a new
grooving joint that makes put
ting them up almost foolproof,
Hewitt said.
They are so moisture resist
ant, Hewitt said, they even
can be , used for bathroom
walls.
Nuclear Progress
Among Reasons for
'Watchdog' Group
Portland It may not be too
long, as industrial revolutions
are measured, until a nuclear
reactor will be installed along
side the Willamette or some
other Oregon river.
That is only one of the rea
sons why Dr. Richard H. Wil
cox, state health officer, re
cently appointed a continuing
"watchdog" committee of ex
perts to investigate steps
which may be necessary to as
sure that radiation will be a
boon rather than a bane in
this state.
Routine Measure
Appointment of the commit
tee was termed "a routine pre
cautionary measure", but It
really was a realistic admis
sion that the nuclear age al
ready has come to Oregon,
and residents must learn to
live with a new neighbor
whether they like it or not.
Actually, however, there is
nothing new about radiation.
It bombarded the first human
ever to appear on earth. It was
in his water and food, and
everything else around him.
This so-called "normal back
ground" radiation in Oregon
today is measured at about
0.1 roentgens per year, or ap.
proximately one-third of the
total radiation exposure of the
average resident.
First widespread . use of
what might be termed "artifi
ficial". radiation began after
discovery of x-rays in 1895.
Since then, use of radioactive
materials has steadily in
creased, often for such every
day conveniences as luminous
watch dials.
Despite the fears generated
by such headline-producing
events as the "hot rain" a
couple of years ago in Califor
nia, weapons testing has con
tributed only a minute
amount to an Oregon resi
dent's current radiation expo
sure. The fallout which has
caused such alarm is respon
sible for perhaps 0.01 of the
total 0.3 roentgens per year
exposure in Oregon.
Not Shrugged Off
Although these levels today
are low, they are not being
shrugged off by state health
authorities. This is because
radiation effects are cumula
tive, and the level to which
the expected large future use
can safely go will depend to
some extent on how much ex
posure the population already
has experienced,
i Dr. Wilcox also wants the
new watchdog committee
learn as much as possible
to
about today's more-or-less nor
mal radiation levels in food,
water, air and everything else
around the general popula
tion, so health authorities will
be able to pin-point any pos
sible dangerous Increases in
the future.
Unfortunately, Oregon
doesn't have the resources to
day to do this job, so the com
mittee's first task will be as
sembling a list of needs and
recommendations for consid
eration by the 1961 Legislature.
EX-PUBLISHER DIES
Manning, S. C.-fllPD-Mattle
B. Appelt, former co-owner
and co-publisher of the Man
ning Times, died Tuesday.
DISASTER POTENTIAL
Miami Beach, Fla.-OTD-Prot
Ernest B. Bartley of the Uni
versity of Florida warned
Tuesday that increasing con
struction of homes on water
front property since Florida's
last major hurricane has cre
ated a "tremendous potential
for disaster In many coastal
regions."
Ml - :' ,
xIl
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