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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1961)
Or fv. 'Vint. 4 Recommended Today's child wllh a speech problem can be helped. The Southern Oregon College Speech and Hearing center proves this every day. Hundreds or children In southern Oregon have been helped by the clinic's program. Read about the clinic and its activities on page 12 A of today s Mail Tribune. 52 PAGES Section A "He Said For Me To PUG Head Dismisses Complaints Against Southern Pacific Salem - Public Utility Com missioner Jonel C. Hill Satur day dismissed complaints against the Southern Pacific Railroad company, in the five-year-old "Rogue River Rock et" case. At the same time he order ed Pacific Motor trucking, a subsidiary of SP, to pay $160, 000 or more in highway use taxes accumulated since 1955 while trucks have been haul ing mail formerly carried by the train over the Siskiyou line. " Hill said the money would be turned over to the state highway department. Hill said 'he made his de cision on the controversial case after 18 months of study. Filed By Senators The complaint had been filed against the railroad by three former state senators -Paul Geddes of Roseburg, Philip R. Lowry of Medford and Gene L. Brown of Grants Pass. Hill said testimony and ex hibits show that the contract secured by SP for the mail haul, which F:1T is perform ing, was not obtained by com petitive bidding, but by nego tiations carried on between the SP and the post office department. As such it does not qualify for an exemption. Lowry, an attorney, said in Medford yesterday he is sur prised that any decision was made on the case at all since it had been postponed for so long. The suit originally was filed in 1955 when Charles School Age Limit Bill !s Tabled Salem - (Ml - The House Education committee late Fri day tabled a controversial bill that would have changed the age that children can be ad mitted to school. The measure, HB 1097, stir red up irate parents and had a hearing here last Wednes day. Children would have had to be five months older before they could be admitted to pub lic school. Tabling means the bill Is dead for this session. The committee voted out "do pass" a bill that would allow school districts to have classes on Saturday. Attend ance would not be compul sory. The measure is HB 1079 House Fire Victim Is Owen P. Short Positive identification was made Saturday afternoon of the man who died Wednesday night in a house fire on Car penter Hil! rd. Dead is Owen P. Short, 46, who was living at the house at the time of the fire. The vic tim's wife identified remnants of clothing that were found on the body, Coroner Carlos Mor ris reported. An autopsy was performed earlier at the request of Dis trict Attorney Alan I). ttnlmes. TALKS POSTPONED Washington tUPU The State department announced today that Russia has agreed to the American proposal for a six week postponement in re sumption of the Geneva nu M United Press IntermUonsi rull Leased Wire Wait For An Answer" Heltzell, was Oregon public Utilities commissioner. "This shows an urgent need to adopt legislation to provide public representation in any matters coming before the PUC," Lowry declared. Not Angry Lowry emphasized that he is not angry with the decision since it was expected. But, he said he did seriously question the reasoning in the 18 page opinion completed by Hill. The ex-state senator and prominent Med ford lawyer also declared that public hear ings conducted by so-called regulatory bodies and govern mental agencies do not, pro vide for safeguarding the pub lib interest. .. "The commission office seems to be merely a court- teous form for granting the utility request," Lowry re marked. Lowry said he would write the PUC commissioner giving his opinion on the decision. "It has been almost six years since the complaint was filed and there is absolutely no ex cuse for that kind of delay in any matter of public inter est." 'Absolutely Incredible' The former state senator termed the decision's reason ing as "absolutely incredible" and hit the following points: "The opinion states that since the public did not use what the commission describ es as very inferior service it did not attract public use and since it did not attract public use abandonment of the pas senger service was justified. "It also says that since the valley was without service for five years the question is moot. The case was supposed to raise, the question of wheth er the service for' this area is in the public interest. "The commissioner accepts our contention that the Land Grant Act of 1866 requires in terstate service from the rail road. But the commissioner says in effect that Oregon is not concerned with a federal law and we should take it up with the federal government. Point of Trial "In the 1940's the federal government did file a suit on this ground and got up to the point of trial. However, Fed eral Judge James Alger Fee dismissed the case because federal attorneys hadn't per fected a law suit so a hearing could be held. "It seems to be a situation in which the state and U. S. government are batting this land grant question back and forth. "The Southern Pacific fail ed to produce income records from the state, but the com missioner does not seem dis turbed about that. This is the only populous area in the United States where complete abandonment is upheld by the PUC. "T h e commissioner also makes another peculiar find ing: 'Since the population of the area has continued to ex pand during the time this suit was pending it indicates other forms of transportation are sufficient and the Rogue val ley residents-don't need rail road passenger service.' "But, since the area has ex panded it really shows much greater need than at any time of the hearing many years ago," Lowry concluded. EDFORD Nigerians Jumped By Pro-Lumumba Troops in Congo 272 Missionaries Moved to Safety Leopoldville -fUPII-The Unit ed Nations rushed strong rein forcements Saturday to the scene of a fierce gunbattle be tween some 1,500 Congolese soldiers and three platoons of U.N. Nigerian troops. A U.N. spokesman said ad ditional Nigerian troops were being moved into the Kasai province town of Kindu where tneir countrymen had been under heavy attack since Fri day by Congolese troops loyal to jailed ex-premier Patrice Lumumba. Malayan troops with armor ed cars also were alerted to move into the area left by the Nigerian reinforcements, the U.N. spokesman said. Missionaries Removed At the same time the U.N announced that 272 American missionaries and their fami lies have been moved to safe ty in Uganda from the Congo's Oriental and Kivu provinces since Jan. 30. Both provinces are occupied by forces loyal 10 L,umumoa. A cease-tire ordered late Friday at Kindu has been maintained "except fori few random shots," the U.N spokesman said, adding it should have cleared the way for reinforcements to get into tne area. One Nigerian officer was known to have been killed in the battle and four enlisted men were missing. At least six Congolese were reported kill ed. But complete Congolese casualties were not reported. Plane Attacked A U.N. plane trying to land supplies at Kindu airport Fri day niglit was shot up by Con golese troops, but ma'naged.to get away, the U.N. spokesman said. The spokesman said the Kin du fighting was sparked by an incident in which a drunk en Congolese soldier fired at a group of Nigerians of the U.N. force. He said. a, brawl developed in which the Ni gerians fought back and killed six Congolese. A large force of the pro- Lumumba Congolese ambush ed the Nigerian troops near the airport early Friday. The Nigerians withdrew under heavy fire and were besieged in the downtown building they have been using as head quarters. Wood Thieves Can Turn Woodcutters Ashland - Two men now in the Ashland city jail will be released as soon as they cut a cord of wood. The two were arrested by city police Thursday night. Clarence Duane Comstock, 19, of 455 South Mountain ave.. Ashland, and Bruce Quinton Hall, 18, of 3048 Madrona lane, Medford, pleaded guilty in municipal court to charges of petty theft. The two were charged with stealing wood from the Leon ard Rude home, 425 Liberty St., Ashland. Friday Judge Richard Cottle sentenced them to 10 days in jail. How ever, he stipulated that if they contacted the forest service and obtained a permit to cut a cord of wood to be returned to Rude, they would be allow ed to leave the jail during daylight hours. As soon as they get the wood cut the sentence will be suspended. They hadn t finished Satur day. Local Pea r A delegation of pear grow ers from Jackson county and County Assessor Ray Schu macher attended a House Tax committee hearing in Salem Friday on a bill which would remove the property tax ex emption on deciduous trees. Schumacher did not testify but was t h e r e in case he should be called on. Jackson county fruit growers attend ing the hearing included Ward Spatz, Paul Culbertson, Dave Lowry, and State Sen. Lyndel Newbry. . Approximately 200 persons appeared before the commit tee, most of them from the Willamette valley. Rep. George Annala (D- Hood River), and Ken Kirby, Hood River county assessor, testified in favor of the bill. Hood River and Jackson coun ties are considered the two main pear producing areas in Oregon ' , & A T r nowstorm Paralyz L ' - , , l - if f ' t-Mr Ak, i WINTER IN NEW YORK More than 17 inches of snow fell on Now York City Saturday with drifts as high as 12 feet in some areas. With ihe snow sull coming down Siskiyou County Matron Killed In Auto Accident Yreka - Two cars collided on U.S. highway 99 19 miles south of here Friday night, killing both drivers and injur ing two passengers. ' The California highway pa trol identified the dead Mrs. Frances E., Mazzoni, 37, Weed; a matron in the Siski you1 county sheriff's .office, and Floyd Holeton, 61, Brem erton, Wash.-- Karen Gonzalez, 22, Weed, was critically injured and Donald Freeze, 20, Weed, a jailor in the sheriff's office, sustained back injuries. Both were passengers in the car driven by Mrs. Mazzoni. Patrolman William B. Dun can said Mrs. Mazzoni was traveling south and Holeton north on the two-lane high way when Holeton let his car drift across the center line as he rounded a sweeping curve. He realized his danger, Dun can said, and tried to pull back into his lane. Mrs. Maz zoni swerved to her left in efforts to avoid Holeton and the cars collided just west of the center line the officer said. Copco Empoyee Burned by Wire Robert C. Lake, 306 Gar field st., a California Oregon Power company lineman, was reported in fair condition in Rogue Valley hospital Satur day where he is being treated for electric shock and burns. Lake was stringing a wire at East Evans creek Friday when the wire hung up and hit a 12,000 voltage wire. He was burned on his hands and feet, hospital attendants said. WEAPONS NECESSARY Charleston, S. C. - (UPI) - Gen. Lauris Norstad, supreme commander of the North At lantic Treaty Organization said Saturday nuclear weap ons should be used "if neces sary" to stop any violation of the 4,000 mile NATO frontier, Growers Testify at Tax Committee Hearing Annala and Kirby said or chard valuations are being given preferential treatment as compared to other lands. If deciduous trees should con tinue to receive property tax exemption then the sales ra tio studies within a county would be placed in a "cock eyed" position, they said. Culbertson said the pear growing industry faces a ser ious problem with pear de cline and it would be aggra vated by removal of this ex emption. Culbertson said many pear growers arc not able to pay their loans in full and do not have the ability to pay the proposed increased tax. Re moval of the exemption from fruit trees would mean double taxation, he said. Overall pro duction the last two years was down about a third. While at the hearing Cul bertson said the Jackson 5 MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, Knife-Wielding Man Robs Service Station A man with a paper sack over his head robbed the Med ford Cash and Save Oil com pany, 3602 North Pacific high way, at knife point last night and got away with $159 in cash. It was the second serv ice station robbery here in a week. - ' . ., At Mail Tribune press time, Medford city police- and- sher iff's deputies were combing a field in back of the station in an effort to find the man who had escaped on foot.. Delnricre Hackworth,. w h o was just closing the station at thd time of the robbery, at 9:20 p.m., said the man forced him to open the cash register at knife point. Hackworth's wife, Lcona, was also at the station at the time of the rob bery. Hackworth told police that he had just locked up the sta tion s garage doors when the man stepped out from behind a parts rack, stuck a knife in his ribs and said: "Don't move." He had Hackworth lead him to the office, where he then tried to open the cash register. Failing to do so, he then made Hackworth open it for him. ; Before he left, the man tore the station's telephone off the wall and warned Hackworth not to call police. Hackworth said the man went around behind the sta tion and disappeared into a field. He then went to a near- WEATHER FORECAST: Variable rlnufllnrss and mild temperatures today. .Mostly cloudy tniifgiit and Mon day with possibly a feiv lislit showers on Monday. II iqli today near 61). Low tonight 35 to 38. High Monday 52 to 55. Temp. Ilichpst Yesterday 57 Lowest This Morning '. 38 I'rcclp. to 5 p.m. Yesterday 0. Our Skies Tonight Sunset today 5:30 p.m. mi n rise tomorrow a.m Moon rise tonic lit 10:34 p.m. The planet, Mercury, Is about 33 million miles from the Earth today. It may he seen for the next few evenings low In the west - southwest, a little after sunset, County Fruit Growers' league will ask the 1961 Legislature and Congress for funds to carry on research into the cause of pear decline. The exemption, enacted by the 1957 Legislature, is con sidered ' particularly benefi cial to fruit growers The com mittee is considering two sim ilar bills; one would remove the entire exemption, and the other would leave the exemp tion on trees but remove it from grazing vegetation, shrub3, plants and crops. Sen. Walter C. Leth (R Salem), a prominent member of the Oregon Slate Horticul tural society, protested re moval of the exemption. He argued that farmers already pay the greatest share of tax es in farming areas. Removal of the exemption, he said, would hit an already hard hit segment of taxpayers, loosen up tax laws and create 'more FEBRUARY 5, 1961 Patrolman. Mathcw Lyons stands in knee-high snowdrift as he calls his station house during the morning hours. ' (UP! Telephoto) by home to call police. An estimated dozen city policemen and sheriff's denu- tics were involved in the search for the robber. : : I Last Sunday night the Re gal Service station, 1006 South .Central ave., was rob bed of $45, by a man who said he had a gun in his pocket; In that robbery (the man was wearing a wool sock over his face, i "... " ' ' v ' Police said last night that It is possible the two robberies ,r. ln.ri.rf In last night's robbery the man made no attempt to harm either Hackworth or his wife. January Snowfall Sets Park Record Snowfall at Crater Lake Na tional park during January set a 30-year low, according to Park Supt. Otto Brown. Only 40.5 inches were re corded compared to an aver age snowfall for January of 136.5 inches, and a previous low o 56 inches set in 1942. Accumulative snowfall for this season is also well below tho 325.7 inch average through Jan. 31. The 190 inches recorded so . far ap proached a 107.5 Inches record low noted last year. Precipitation during De cember, 1960, also established a new record low. The 5.36 inches of precipitation record ed were far below a 30-ycar average for December of 12.08 inches. A previous record low of 5.46 inches had been set in 1059. BOMBER LANDS SAFELY Edwards AFB. Calif. - HOT - Maj. Harold 11. Snowdon of Ft. Worth, Tex., and two crew men nursed their crippled $15 million B58 Hustler jet bomb er 1,000 miles Friday and made a successful emergency landing on a foam - covered runway here. problems than It would solve While the bill is generally supported by fruit growers, there are exceptions, it was noted. The Jackson county assessor fought against the exemptions on fruit trees when they were first presented in bill form in 1957, and again in 1959 when he worked for repeal of the law granting exemptions. "Generally speaking, while other property is taxed based on 100 per cent of its market value, orchard properties are taxed on a 50 per cent of their market value," the Jack son county assessor claims. "If taxpayers want to give this subsidy to the pear growers, that's allright. If they, don't they should write their legis lators." Schumacher said that or chards are in a slightly dif ferent position than other crop lands since trees are consider- 55th " ssJ " " United Press InternationalFull Leased Wir State Department, JFK Said Working On f nnnn Cnlut VH VAJllUv) JUlUUvMi .. . .Washington -lUl'll-President rwuuneay ana siaie acpuri- merit off icials worked Salur day on details of a sweeping new Congo plan .which would set up under United Nations supervision a coalition govern ment representing all warring elements in the chaotic Jungle country. , , ', . . ,. ; : " rf , " 1 , ' ,, ",Vno proved the general principles The- President, who. has ap- of the plan, conferred at the White House with' U.S. Am- bassador to the -Congo, Clare H. Timberlake. Secretary of State Dean Rusk held separate confer ences with Belgium Ambassa dor Louis Scheyvon and Tu nisian Ambassador Mongi Slim. Scheyvcn and Slim repre sented different views on how to handle the crisis in which a number of countries are withdrawing the troops they have committed to the U.N. police force. ... To Announce Support The Kennedy administra tion was expected to announce within the next week its sup port of the plan to "neutra lize" the feuding factions and create a federation-type gov ernment. It would include fol lowers of imprisoned former premier Patrice Lumumba. The U.S. position may be disclosed soon after the U.N. Security Council resumes the Congo debate Tuesday. But officials doubted that consul tations with interested gov ernments could bo completed by that lime. Timberlake gave Kennedy a one-hour first-hand report on the situation in the crisis-ridden nation. He was accom panied to the While House by G. Mennen Williams, assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Timberlake said any state ment would have to come from the President. ed to be Improvements to land. Crops have a one year period of production. They can be planted after the tax assessment date and harvested before another assessment dale. "We are continually de creasing Ihe real property tax by granting these exemp tions." Schumacher remark ed. "If the fruit industry is in a needy position then there should be other provisions to grant help rather than to tam per with the value concept of taxable property. By such ac tion it only throws the burden on other properties." The orehardists contend that if fruit trees are taxed, all crops should be taxed. There is no way to g;t the true market value of orchard land since sties or orchard lands often include equipment and machinery with them. Year Price 10 Cents Storm Claims Traffic Is By United Press A savage snowstorm dump ed 17 inches of snow on New York City Saturday, paralyz ing auto, rail and air trans portation in the city's worst winter in history. The storm howled up the eastern seaboard on gale force winds and crippled scores of cities and towns from Newark, N.J., to Hartford, Conn. It was the fifth major snow storm for snow-weary New Yorkers and the 17-inch blan ket was the city's worst snow fall in 13 years. Only essential traffic as permitted to move along snow cloggcd arteries in the metro polis. In populous Nassau county, on Long Island, a state of emergency was in force, permitting movement of only fuel oil trucks and other ve hicles essential to the life of a city. Winds Sway Tower Howling winds churned up high seas along the coast and gusts clocked at 95 miles an hour swayed the Texas tower off Cape Cod. The crew, un worried, reported they were warm and safe and "playing darts." The Coast Guard cutter Acushnct, defying 15 - foot waves and gale winds rammed through drifting ice to rescue a fishing vessel and its 11-man crew off the Boston coast. ' Air traffic was at a stand- lill. All flights were canceled at snow-choked Idlewild and La Guurdla. airports in New York. Logan International airport at Boston and airports Pittsburgh were closed. ; new ungianuers caueo. me storm a noreaster. The area was threatened with fuel .oil shortages-and coastal ' flood ing. . . - , The storm has cost the lives of 74 persons since it was spawned over the midwest Thursday. The deaths resulted from exposure, over - exertion and auto accidents on snow- packed or icy roads. Illinois, counted 11 deaths; There wore 10 in . Ohio and Pennsylvania, 6 in Tennessee and 5 in Massachusetts. Wy oming and New York had 4, Russia Launches 7-Ton Satellite; No Life Aboard Moscow - (UPD - Russia Sat urday launched into , orbit a 7.1 ton Sputnik - more than big enough to carry a man -but there was no mention of life aboard and a scientist said it would burn to a space cinder In a matter of days. Italian and German scien tists In the West reported hearing sounds like Morse code and "heavy breathing" over usual Soviet space radio frequencies on Thursday. But the Soviet Tass news agency definitely . said the Sputnik launching was yesterday. Western radios began pick ing up "rapid" signals from the new Sputnik on a radio frequency Just below 20 meg acycles. The Bochum, Germa ny, observatory said the beeps were "very loud." Few Details An "improved multi-stage rocket" hurled Sputnik V into space, Tass said. It gave re markably few other details. Tho usual lisling of space ra dio frequencies was omitted from the brief initial state ment. Prof. Ivan Shcvlyakov of Moscow planetarium called the space shot "a leap in tho creation of rockets for. space travel." But Tass called It a "Sput nik," not a "spaceship." The latter word has been used whenever animals have been carried beyond earth. Shcvlyakov said the Sput nik was whirling so close to earth it would hit the atmos phere and burn like a shooting star from friction in a few days. It was the heaviest man made satellite ever put into orbit and according to Tass was circling the earth once every 89.8 minutes In an egg- shaped path. Its farthest point from earth (apogee) was meas ured at 203.4 miles; its closest (perigee) was 138.9 miles. Subscribers To report Improper or non delivery of the Mai) Tribune in Med ford phone SP 2-6141, In Ashland MU 2-1021 and in Yreka, VI 2-2807. beioro 6:45 pjn. dally and 10 JO a m Sunday If regular delivery arrives shortly alter you cnU please notify office thus eliminating ipecial messenger service No. 275 74 Lives; Stopped International New Jersey and Michigan 3, Iowa, Indiana, Rhode Island and Missouri 2 each and ons each in Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and Wisconsin. A new storm, born in the southern plains, spread snow from the central Rockies through parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and tho Texas Panhandle. A narrow band of freezing rain extend ed south of the young storm, which was expected to swing eastward into Arkansas and Missouri by Sunday with snowfall of four inches or more. The Midwest, which felt the first force of the eastern storm, began its cleanup op erations from the worst snows of winter to strike the na tion's midsection. 75,000 Autos Marooned At Chicago, covered with an eight-inch blanket of snow and drifts up to three or four feet deep, temperatures eased somewhat to give residents a breather. Police appealed to car owners to dig out an esti mated 75,000 autos marooned on city streets. But the midwestern snows were no match for the near- blizzard that struck the East, New - York state, already reeling from its longest deep freeze In 92 years, was stag gered anew under the storm's wallop. - The New York City 24-hour snowfall of more than 17 inch os raised the city's total snow fall since the blizzard of Dec. 11 to almost 60 inches. It made the- storm the worst in ine ciiy since Tne an-ume rcc- ord smhvOman nf 9S inhD. in 1947- Stata of fimargency . A. state ot emergency was declared at Syracuse, N.Y., paralyzed by an accumulation of 30 inches of snow. Many upstate New York areas had two or more feet of snow on the ground when th storm began, ,! ' ;. ' The storm heaped 24 Inches of snow on Cortland county, N.Y., 15 inches on Bingham ton and 13 on Tannersvllle. In northwest Connecticut, drifts mounded 15 feet deep, and 12- foot walls of snow clogged suburban New York areas. Transportation in and out of New York City by car, train, bus and air was either paralyzed or hopelessly snarl ed. Downtown Manhattan streets were all but deserted. Trains ran late, ship move ments were virtually halted, and residents of luxury apart ments on Park Avenue wera snowbound by five-foot drifts. Sports Bulletins Medford high, with a 27 to 7 first quarter start, ram bled lo a 74 to 34 Southern Oregon conference basket ball victory over Ashland hers last night. Bob Quin ney and Jim Barry each had 16 points for Medford and Gale Tapper 12 for Ash land. I . ' Klamath Falls - Klamath Union high's Pelicans de feated Crater 78 to 53 In a Saturday night Southern Oregon conference basket ball game. Wall Palmberg had 22 points and Kent Hunsaker IB for Klamath which led 44 to 30 at the half. Loyal Hlginbotham cored 16 for Crater Henley - Henley High school turned back Eagls Point 61 to 51 last night In Rogue league basketball play. The Hornets had 34 lo 18 half time advantage. Lakeview-Lakeview took a 72 lo 66 Rogue league hoop win from Rogue River high here last night in over time. Score in regular play ing lime was 66-all. Jeff LeRoy scored 17 points for Rogue River and Chuck Cosaey and Doug Maxwoll 16 each for ihe Honkers. La Grande-Larry Apple gate's basket with three sec onds left gave Eastern Ore gon college a 76 lo 74 bas ketball nod over Southern Oregon last night. EOC led 43 to 31 at half lima but had to come from behind in the last minute to win. Gordon Carrigan put In 26 points and John Payne 22 for Southern Oregon. Apple gate got 23 for Eastern. Oregon 71, Oregon State 56 Oregon Tech 45, Portland State 43 (OT) clear test ban talks. f. I
