NOVEMBER 29. 1960 . MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON I
Big Western Railroads Waging Corporate War To Gain Control of WP
i t J ;F &PL
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ON HONOR ROLL Paulette Carre, 12, of blocks away from her home. Paulette, who
Methusen, Mass., who has never been to suffers from rheumatic fever, is in the sev-
school and yet is constantly on the honor enth grade. She plans to be a school teacher
roll, uses this intercom system to contact when she grows up.'
her rooms in the Central School about three (UP! Telephoto)
: Wake Island Boys
Hold Reunion in
i Ashlnad, Medford
Ashland
Few American
Thanksgiving reunions were
celebrated with greater en
thusiasm and few carried
more poignant memories than
the gathering of Wake Island
boys last . Thursday in the
' Mark Antony hotel, Ashland.
From all parts of the nation
came men who shared a com
mon nightmare of 45 months
of suffering as prisoners of
the Japanese. Around the ban
quet tables laden with food
they spoke little of those trag
ic starvation years but talked
rather of homes, of families
and of business, meeting each
other's wives and children
and renewing ties made al
most a score of years ago.
It was Dec. 23, 1041, that
1,200 American engineers and
construction workers on sev
en Navy contracts were taken
prisoners. Pay checks ceased.
And in the states, dependents
faced a bleak future without
Information and withouf in
come. Drop Into Silence
More than 1,000 American
men had dropped into an
abyss of silence. Among them
was Leonard Ward, whose
wife, Mary, in Los Angeles
lost no time in beginning a
battle on behalf of the prison
ers and their families.
She carried her plea to
Washington, where state de
partment red tape clogged the
wheels for many months. Per
sistence finaly paid off, and
in 1943 Mary had the satisfac
tion of seeing a bill passed
providing payments of salar
ies to families and depend
ents. It was the first of four
aid measures that Mary Ward
was responsible for having
had introduced and passed.
Although a Protestant, Mrs.
Ward carried her cause to
Cardinal Francis Spellman
and it was due to his efforts
that the Japanese allowed a
representative of the Vatican
to enter the prison camp in
September, 1943, to check the
long list of names. Until that
time each man had been
known only by number. It
was January, 1945, before
Mrs. Ward learned that her
husband was alive, one of a
fortunate few in a dam-building
project to escape the fir
ing squad. Starvation, illness
and lack of warm clothing
had accounted for almost 100
deaths.
Meet Each Year
Each year, the Wake Island
boys meet at Thanksgiving in
one of the Pacific coast states
and each year the same presi
dent calls the meeting to or
der. The president, Mrs. Mary
Ward.
IBurA,Me iiSm
r'rVl unur9 ft ART COOK
I TV HOME? 1. Manag.r
Public Welfare
Commission Issues
Emergency Grants
The Dalles-flJPD-Emergency
grants of $46,500 were ap
proved by the State Public
Welfare commission here
Monday to 14 counties for
general assistance welfare
help for November.
The grants reflected a sharp
upsurge in out of work fam
ilies. The demand is 79.2 per
cent higher than a year ago.
Eight Local People
To Attend Meeting
Eight members of the Jack
son County Oregon Unit Edu
cation association executive
committee plan to attend the
representative council of the
OEA at Lincoln High school
in Portland, Dec. 2 and 3.
The purpose of the meeting,
according to Zelma Foote, lo
cal president, is to instruct
the board of trustees and the
professional staff of the OEA
as to the programs to be spon
sored by the OEA.
This is an annual meeting
held by the association. At
tending from Ashland will be
John Cady and Frank Koch;
from Central Point, Zelma
Foote and Ogden Kellogg;
from Phoenix, Nadine Ra
mirez; from Eagle Point,
Ralph Humphrey; from Rogue
River, Don Moody; and from
Medford, Jack Bailey.
TRIALS COST TAXPAYERS
Los Angeles IUP1I It cost
Los Angeles county taxpayers
$169,787 for the two murder
trials of Dr. R. Bernard Finch
and Carol Tregoff. Neither
trial resulted In a verdict and
a third trial already has been
set for Jan. 3. That hearing
might cost as much as an ad
ditional $100,000.
Vice president of the World
War II prisoners' association,
Edwin D. Nye, flew in from
Washington, D.C., in time to
share turkey and experiences
and later to take part in the
two-day convention in Med
ford. The reunion dinner was
served in Caesar hall of Ash
land's Mark Antony hotel.
In January, Mr. and Mrs.
Ward will leave their Talent,
Ore., home for another pil
grimage to the nation's capi
tal. This time they will see
one of their staunchest cham
pions, whose personal efforts
resulted in four separate fed
eral aid bills, take the oath
of office as President of the
United States.
BONDED
and
INSURED
COMPLETE
ESCROW SERVICE
it
Your Locally
CRATER TITLE
510 West 6th
Title Insurance
Collection Escrows
Closing Escrows
Mining Abstracts
CHARLIS ELY
Title Examiner
in
Welfare officials called the
situation grave.
The Rev. Morton Park, di
rector of Catholic Charities,
called the Multnomah county
situation "truly emergency."
He drove from Portland to ap
pear before the meeting.
Funds Exhausted
Father Park said hungry
families have exhausted the
agency funds of Catholic
Charities. He said a heavy
influx of general assistance
families has forced as much
as a five day waiting period
on the staff of the Multnomah
County Welfare office.
He said other agencies are
reporting a similar situation
and overflow.
Multnomah county was giv
en $15,000 in the general as
sistance a 1 lotments allowed
Monday. .
Other Grants
Other emergency grants in
cluded Clatsop county $750;
Columbia $2,500; Curry $200;
Deschutes $950; Douglas $3,
800; Josephine $1,200; Kla
math $4,700; Lane $8,000;
Linn $4,500; Malheur $1,000;
Morrow $100; Tillamook $1,
150, and Umatilla $2,400.
The commission, ordered
recently by the Department of
Finance and Administration
not to put into effect a slight
Increase in minimum food al
lowances decided by the com
mission earlier, has asked the
attorney general's office if
such an order can be defied
Ferry, Tanker
Collide in Harbor
New York-IUPD-A Staten Is
land ferry with 2,000 Man
hattan - bound passengers
abroad collided with a tanker
in fog-bound New York Har
bor today.
Only one minor injury was
reported and the ferry, the
Dongan Hills, was able to re
turn to its Staten Island slip
and transfer its passengers to
another ferry for the ride to
Manhattan.
The tanker was the Nor
wegian - registered Tomes
which dropped anchor at the
scene of the accident one mile
off the Staten Island slip. The
vessel reported damage to its
superstructure.
FORMER PREMIER DIES
Soest, The Netherlands ,
IUP1I Dr. Dirk Jan de Geer. 89,
former premier of the Nether
lands who was convicted nf
collaborating with the Nazis
in World War II died today.
ARDEN PINKHAM
Owned Aniitant Mgr.
INSURANCE CO.
Phone SP 2-5264
Plat Preparation l'oL
Escrow Officer
Southern Pacific,
Santa Fe Seeking
Purchase Rights
San Francisco -IUPD -Bitter
corporate war, has burst out
in the West between two mam
moth railroads.
And the battles will be
waged for at least a couple of
years before city councils,
women s groups, rod and gun
clubs and fraternal organiza
tions as well as in the staid
hearing rooms of the Inter
state Commerce Commission.
The opponents are the
Santa Fe and the Southern
Pacific. At stake is the West
ern Pacific and its 1,189 miles
of mainline.
Both Santa Fe and South
ern Pacific want to buy WP
and already have acquired
chunks of stock, causing WP
shares to jump 30 per cent
just last month.
But neither railroad is free
under law to proceed any
farther with an acquisition
until the ICC approves. The
speakers who will appear be
fore civic groups will be seek
ing to drum up public support
so as to influence the ICC.
Old Wars; New Tactics
This kind of fighting con
trasts with the gun fights.
Indian wars, bombings and
wild stock speculations that
marked the railroads' develop
ment. One day in 1886, for ex
ample, Southern pacific and
Santa Fe thought nothing of
competing with each other by
dropping transcontinental
fares from $100 down to $1
between breakfast and lunch.
Southern Pacific now wants
to control Western Pacific be
cause WP runs from the San
Francisco area to Salt Lake
City, where it joins with other
railroads, in competition with
SP's Ogden line.
- In addition, WP's "Inside
Gateway" from the Bay area
to Biebor, Calif., links the
Santa Fe with the Great
Northern Railway and thus
competes with SP's Shasta
route to Portland for the
north-south coastal freight
business.
According to Southern Pa
cific, control of WP' would
permit consolidation of paral
lel lines at certain points and
a more efficient utilization of
equipment. Th,is would make
operations more economic and
the public gains, SP says.
Santa Fe, however, says
that SP's real goal is to ob
tain a monopoly grip on
freight business from numer
ous western communities. It
was just such a monopoly that
caused George Gould to com
plete the WP from Salt Lake
City to the coast in 1909.
Ernest S. Marsh, Santa Fe
president, claims that if SP
wins, his railroad will be virt
ually eliminated from the
north-south Coastal business.
What he fears is that if
Santa Fe must route cars orig
inating in Southern Cali
fornia, for example, over SP's
track, SP would schedule
them much to Santa Fe's dis
advantage. To this Donald J. Russell,
the SP president, replies that
it is not a question of mo
nopoly at all. It is impossible,
he says, for any railroad to
develop and abuse a monopoly
while it is competing with
trucks, planes and water trans
portation. Western Pacific sides with
Santa Fe and its officials have
cooperated with Santa Fe as
It developed its acquisition
plans.
Historic Allies
Historically, WP has been
a close ally of Santa Fe's
against SP. Each often has
thrown business to the other
in preference to SP.
The WP president, Frederic
B. Whitman, says Santa Fe
simply has offered a belter
deal for WP stockholders.
Santa Fe has proposed an
exchange of one' and one
quarter of its shares for one
of WP's. Southern Pacific is
offering a one-for-one ex
change. Whitman also thinks the
Santa Fe proposition "holds
better prospects for divi
dends." This battle will be joined
by the railroad brotherhoods
fearing employee reductions,
other railroads concerned
about possible loss of referral
business, and communities
along the routes of the war
ring railroads.
Southern Pacific already
has mentioned some trackages
which might be eliminated if
it wins. It points to Cali
fornia's Niles Canyon where
its line is side-by-side with
WP, the Flanagan-Fernley,
Nev., route which might be
unnecessary, and numerous
points between Sacramento
and Oakland. It also would be
possible to eliminate WP's
barge service on the San Fran
cisco Bay.
These are questions which
will be considered at ICC
hearings expected to open up
next ipring. The main issue,
1 iff fte
Awl Ffe'?
SECRETARIES MEET Presidential Press Secretary James
Hagerty, right, shakes hands with Pierre Salinger, Sen. Ken
nedy's press secretary, after they lunched at the White House
Monday. It was their first meeting. Later, Hagerty announced
that President-elect Kennedy
hower at the White House on
Quality of Union
Craftsmanship
Said Deteriorating
By DOUGLAS GRIPP
Salem-IUPII-The quality of
labor union craftsmanship in
Oregon has gone to pot, ac
cording to State Labor Com
missioner Norman O. Nilsen.
The supply of highly skilled
workers is shorter than it has
ever been, he says, and some
thing must be done about it
immediately for the sake of
labor, management and the
general public.
He describes 1920-26 as the
"peak of quality craftsman
ship" in Oregon and the na-
Court Asked To
Bar Post Office
Move to Seattle
Washington-WPll-Orcgon At
torney General Robert Y
Thornton asked the Federal
Court Monday to bar Post
master General Artnur r,.
Summerficld from going
through with transfer of the
northwest regional post ottice
from Portland to Seattle.
Announcement of the suit
was made through the office
of Sen. Wayne Morse, (D-ure.).
Summcrfield announced on
Nov. 10 that the Portland
regional office would be trans
ferred from Portland to Seat
tle starting Dec. 1.
Delay Requested
In a related development,
Chairman Olin Johnston, (D
S.C.), of the Senate Post Of
fice Committee, sent a tele
gram to Summerfield request
ing that the postmaster gen
eral delay the transfer until
Johnston's committee can hold
hearings on the matter soon
after Congress meets in Janu-
A post office spokesman
said the Johnston request
wmilri have no effect on the
planned transfer. The depart
ment also announced the ap
pointment of Leo L. Lambert
of Denver as acting regional
operations director in the new
Seattle office.
Said Not in Good Faith
Thornton said in a slate
mnni that Hie transfer was a
"sudden and uncalled for ac
tion that is not in good faith."
lie said the complaint filed
with the court charged, among
other things, that the move
"will cause irreparable dam
age in that the postal service
for the citizens of Oregon will
be impaired and delayed; the
almost 200 employees involv
ed will have to seek other
employment or be uprooted
from their homes, with the
damage and difficulties of
moving, relocation and read
justment." TEND YOUR KNITTING
London-lliPU-Dr. G. C. Hel
ler, a psychiatrist, said Mon
day night that knitting Is a
better tranquilizer for women
than tranquilizer pills.
however, probably won't be
settled by the ICC until the
end of 1962.
And then, of course, the
loser can always take the mat
ter into the courts.
LOCKER BEEF
Cut and AC!
Wrapped "Tmf
Custom Killing
Cutting & Wrapping
HARPER'S
Phone SP 3-1715 or 2-6381
will meet with President Eisen
Dec. 6.
(UPI Telephoto)
lion and said it has been on
the decline ever since.
This, Nilsen says, is how
il happened.
We were dependent on
skilled craftsmen from Eu
rope in those days, and there
was no formal apprenticeship
program."
But in that era the U.S. in
voked immigration quota laws
cutting off the supply of
craftsmen and now-in the
1960's-most of these men are
either dead or retired, and
with them went their skills.
Craftsmanship Suffers
Thus the apprenticeship
program was launched, grow
ing from only six trades to
today's 92. "But it was Im
peded along the way by such
things as the depression in
the 1930s, World War II, and
the Korean War, and crafts
manship has suffered," Nilsen
said. . ,
As for the solution, Nilsen
says , legislation is not neces
sary because the laws are al
ready there.
It requires a "voluntary ef
fort" on the part of labor and
management and this is the
action needed, he says:
1. Review ages of the entire
work force and through sur
veys determine the number
who will retire or leave the
trade for other reasons In the
near future.
2. Re-evaluate present train
ing programs and honestly de
termine what future manpow
er needs will be.
3. Undertake a program
whereby high school counsel
ors are informed as to the
requirements of industry.
Should Consider Career
Nilsen says prep counselors
are not acquainled well
enough with the, advantages
and disadvantages, pleasan
tries and unplcasanlries of
various trades. .
Students who do not plan
on college should be "encour
aged to seriously consider a
career as a craftsman," he
said.
Nilsen said these young peo
ple should be briefed at the
high school level about the
physical and educational re
quirements of a chosen trade
SHOP THE EASY WAY
Avoid the last minute Christmas rush by shopping now in
downtown Medford, where you'll find MORE of EVERYTHING.
i I I J LIU I i U ,
SJHSt i
JLJUUyULJ
MAIN St
Local Man Pleads Innocent to Charge
Marion David Caslcl. 44.
1221 Thnmns rri . entered a
plea of Innocent to a charge
01 larceny Dy emoezzicmem in
district court Monday and a
trial date was set for Jan. 13.
Caslel is charged with em
bezzling $52.70 from his form
er employer, the Rogue Val
lev Heating and Air Condi
tioning company, 26 Western
nve. Castel was arrested by
Medford police Friday. He
was released from jail on post
ing $1,000 bond.
Castel is accused of accept
ing a $52 check from a Med
ford resident after he cleaned
the residents fireplace, chim
ney and furnace, and then
failing to turn the check over
SHOE
STARTS TOMORROW AT 9 A.M.
Save on Shoes
Women's Shoes
Patent Calf, Black or Brown
Values to 14.95-NOW
$Q90 $
Women's Shoes
High or Medium Heels
Values to $13.95
$290 $090
u
and
Children's Shoes
Values to $7.95
H0W390
$490 ..j $590
Infants' Shoes
Jumping Jack
NOW $490
I
ONLY
Busier Brovn Shoe Store
15 South Central Fluhrer Building
to his employer. He was al
legedly working for the
Rogue Valley Heating and Air
Conditioning company at the
time.
City police said Castel told
them he was not working for
the company at the time he
collected the check. Castel
had since gone into business
for himself.
McADOO'S SON DIES
New York lUl'D William
Gibbs McAdoo Jr., 64, son of
the late multi-millionaire sec
retary of the treasury in
Woodrow Wilson's cabinet,
died Monday when he
plunged from the roof of a
nursing home.
CLEARA
1
i 3
Boys' Shoes
Values to $9.99
T fik ' NOW
J 1 and Mf
72
off
Look for the PARK &
SHOP' SIGN. Save
time and energy . . .
use PARK & SHOP.
NOTICE! '
If you are watching
KBEST-TV
4:30 P.M. December 1
You'tl Enjoy a
LIVE STAUFFER
Home Reducing Pla..
Demonstration
For More Information Call...
SP 37551
Women's Shoes
One Lot
Values to $13.95
$gso mm
Girls Shoes
Sport Oxfords and Dress
Flats. Val. to $7.95-Now
$90 $K90
and tS)
Men's Shoes
Values to $15.95
NOW
$090 $090
and Wj?
f r
'5a j - tWTi
VhXVv-v' I
E