MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
Huge Fireball Explodes Over
Pacific Northwest of Eureka
r
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1961
By PHIL F. BROGAN
Pacific Northwest Director.
- American Meteor Society
Bend - (Special) -.A huge,
tailless fireball that bored into
the earth's atmosphere high
over southern Oregon on Sun
day, Jan. 15, at 10:20 p.m.,
exploded in a shower, of "lava
tears" over the Pacific ocean
slgihtly northwest of Eureka,
' Calif.
; Tills is the conclusion of the
, American Meteor, society, ob
servers of which have studied
reports from scores of persons
who , traced the big meteor
over parts of its course and
watched its fiery disintegra
tion over the ocean. i
Observations indicate ' the
object,, described by some as
being as large as a moon at
full phase, entered the earth's
atmosphere at a steep angle
over the Umpqua region.
flamed across southern Ore
gon and . exploded over close
to the ocean horizon.
Widely Observed -
The meteor was widely ob
served in southern ' Oregon
1,508 Visit Museum in
January, Report Shows
Jacksonville A total of
1,508 persons visited the Jack
sonville museum last month to
' boost the total attendance
isnce July 10, 1950, to 407
597. The January tally repro-
' scnted an inorease of some 3.17
visitors compared to January,
1960.
Museum .guests were from
: 31 states, as well as from. Can
ada, Colombia, South Ameri-
- ca, England, Sweden, Finland
The Netherlands, Israel, and
.. India.
Gifts and loans ta the collec
tor s place included a large,
framed picture of Capt. Wil
liam Kelly, along with his
cap, sash, and epaulets. Rod
ney Keating, his grandson.
now living in Ashland,, pre
sented the items in view of
the forthcoming , Civil War
Centennial observance.
Savings Bond Sales
Show Decline Here
Sales in Jackson county of
Series E and H savings bonds
: amounted to $68,249 during
January, compared to the
January,. 1960, total of $107,
663, according to the treasury
department.
Throughout Oregon, U. S.
. savings bonds sales amounted
to $4,090,862 last month, a de
crease from a $4,504,057 total
In January, 1960.
; County s a v I n g s ' bonds
spokesmen pointed out that
1960 Is the 20th anniversary
, of savings bond sales. Not
only have savings bonds
played an important role in
federal financing, but; they
have become one of America's
greatest savings ' Institutions,
. they said. ,
Today, individual (..citizens
hold more than $4." billion in
savings bonds, they added.
Other gifts Included a 1865
newspaper from the Rev,
Marie H.: Headlee, a spice
grinder from Florence M.-Gif-
ford, and a manikin from Mrs
Ralph Dippel, all of Medford
Glenn Simpson, Ashland, do
nated a picture of an early
covered bridge over Bear
creek. A small Bible that re
portedly had been used by its
owner during Imprisonment
at Andersonville, Camp Sum
ter, S.C., In 1864, was received
from Mrs. Helen V. Roberts,
of Jacksonville,
West Coasf Has
New Record Year
West Coast .Airlines com
pleted 1860 with new all-time
records in total passenger, on
line, and interline, revenues,
according to . us annual . re
port.
Medford WCA officials re
ported that 1960 local sales
amounted to $82,060, com
pared to $47,790 for the pre
vious year, a 71.7 per cent in
crease. The total number of
passengers dropped 5.3 per
cent from 1959's 7,701 to
1960's 7,292. , .,,
Net sales for the company.
including those from other
irlines reached a record
$6,269,256, a 33.58 per cent in
crease over 1959.- On-line
sales, . including station and
travel agency sales, were up
31.5 per cent and interline
revenue increased almost 41
per- cent, ,..,.;
West Coast carried a record
total of 386,781 revenue pass
engers, a 14.22 pet cent " In
crease, plus another record
92,805,669 'revenue passoiker
miles, almost a 30 per cent in-1 warded
and northern California. How
ever, a cloud hid the fireball
from potential observers
northern Oregon and possibly
nevaaa
The flare of the fireball on
the clouds led many to be
lieve a bnllaint flash of light
ning had illuminated the re
gion
One o the best reports was
received from Robert Nichols,
FAA flight specialist stationed
at the Eureka-Arcata, Calif.
airport. The blinding flare of
the terminal explosion caused
him to face west, just in time
to see sparks resembling fiery
lava falling from the blast
area. Height of the burst was
about eight degrees above the
norizon.
Obtains Good View
Darrell E. O'Dcll of the
Roseburg police force also sta-
tained a good view of the fast-
moving oau or lire, it was
first seen in the southwestern
sky, as viewed from Rose
burg. - ;
Many observers said the
object appeared to plunge
into the earth. Some thought
it struck the sides of distant
hills. A few described the me
teor as cigar shaped. Officer
O'Dell said the fireball ap
peared to be the Ize of-a flam
ing plane viewed from a dis
tance of about 10 miles,
A Grants Pass observer said
me object was "about 400
feet ,in : diameter." Reference
to the great size of the meteor
by Oregon and California ob
servers had led -to the belief
it was one of the largest and
most spectacular fireballs to
blaze through western skies
m many years. '
Hills are. Lighted
t here is some .' evidence
that a part of the fireball
broke away from' the main
mass and exploded over Ore
gon prior to the terminal
blast off the Oregon coast.
Near Wolf Creek in southern
Oregon, timbered hills were
temporarily, lighted.
Police officers and FAA ob
servers in southern Oregon
and in California ' received
hundreds of calls.- Californi
ans saws the . object as far
south as San Francisco. "
AMS observers surmise that
the fireball blazed into visibil
ity some 60 miles, above the
earth as its surface peeled
off in a fiery spray under at
mospheric friction.
Data relative to the course
of the fireball' over . Oreeon
and Washington! and" Its ap
parent point of explosion off
the Eureka coast will be for
to Dr. Charles P.
, s.fcj$t wM0 m$$m
r V&"
THRIFTY GROWTH Timber which became established
soon after the 1910 Cathill Burn fire in 'the Butte Falls
area thrived before brush became too dense for a tree
seedling to survive. One such growth is visible to the left
60 Acres of Cathill Burn
to Restore
in the brush field. The timber in the background is the
edge of unburncd timber in the 1910 fire. Brush is piled
in windrows in the foreground.
Being
Replanted
Production
I nr-nnca ntrai Tana i nili.in. A TIT o I
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IUUNT 59 - I IXQUISITI 52 - I 1 M" 0lD 42 - 1
DIAMONDS ,. ,..7T I DIAMONDS T,.77T. f I N D A WJ'J
122 East Main
Phont SP 3-S348
Open 9:30 i.m. to 5:30 p.n
Mondays Until 9 p.m.
Sixty acres of dense brush(
portion' of the Cathill Burn
brushfield in the Butte Falls
district, Rogue River National
forest, was recently prepared
lor reforestation in an experi
mental' clearing project, ac
cording to. District . F o r e s t
Ranger Randall Perkins.'
The Cathill Burn brushfield
is a familiar sight to residents
and visitors of the Butte Falls
area. It can be seen as a
smooth green carpet stretch
ing for miles along the west
ern slope of the Cascades from
Mt. McLoughlin to Blue Rock.
Occasionally the brushfield,
light green in summer, white
with Snow in winter, is broken
by dark green patches and
stringers of conifer trees.
Made Up of Brush
The carpet is made up of a
practically impenetrable thic
ket of many species of hard
wood brush, in most places 10
to 20 feet high. Manzanita and
chinkapin predominate but
varhtshleaf snowbrush, ew
Iceberry, willow, cherry, scrub
oak. hazel.' snowberry and
other speciea'are also present
Cathill burn resulted from
one' of the disastrous forest
fires that raged across the en
tire Northwest in 1910. Frag
ments of the area were re
forested soon afterwards.
The Snowshoe plantation of
60 acres planted in 1912 is
now' a thriving young forest
of ponderosa pine trees from
a foot to two feet in diameter
and about 50 feet tall. Por
tions of the burned area re
forested naturally but about
8,500 acres are still an unpro
ductive .brushfield 50 years
after the fire. It is the largest
potentially 'productive patch
of idle 'land ,oh the Rogue Riv
er National forest.
Attempts Are Made
Over the years various at
tempts have been made to re
forest the Cathill Burn. Dur
ing the years 1937 to 1940,
19 miles' of cleared lanes were
bulldozed through the brush,
and ponderosa pine seedlings
were planted. Foresters then
hoped those trees would grow
overtop the brush, and shade
it out. Natural revegetation
over several generr lions
Km
FOREST SOIL Forest soil capable of pro?. River National forest. The forest service
ducing good timber growth, is exposed when - plans to reforest about 60 acres of the dense
dense brush is stripped off In the 'Cathill brushfield to bring it back Into production.
Burn area near Butte Falls in the Rogue' :
Copco Employees
Honored at Dinner
Two recently-retired em
ployees of California Oregon
rower company were honored
recently at a buffet dinner at
ihe.Jaokson hotel.
Guests were E. R. (Rollo)
Yocom, who retired Dec. 31,
after serving 37 years as a
Copco journeyman lineman.
and J. W, (Joe)' Johnson, who
retired Jan. 3 U Johnson first
entered company service in
1927, left Copco for a short
period, then has been contin
uously associated with the
firm during the nasi 9.1 vpnn
as a journeyman-lineman and,
more recently, as a foreman.
The two were nrpsnntoH
gifts "reurcscntinir the affec
tion ana esteccm of their fel
low emolovces." aceordine to
company officials. Some .16
other previously-retired em
ployees were also present and
introduced.
W. H. Ward was conpral
chairman of the nrnunim Hint
drew about 114 Copco em
ployees. ... .
MOVIE PIONEER
Hollywood - The first
known American motion pic
ture icaiure was produced
and exhibited to the public
in 1903.
WATER LEVELS
Sault Ste Marie - The canal
locks at Sault Ste Marie ad
just 18 feet level difference
between ; Lakes Huron and
Superior.
would , then reclaim the area
as a productive forest.
: The plan was only partially
successful, The cleared lanes
became game ways. The rab
bits, deer, and other rodents
ate off many of the new trees
while the brush crowded back
in from the sides.
A few. of the pine trees did
get their tops above the brush
and are, now thriving, but
most succumbed to browsing
by animals and crowding by
brush. ( ; . . . y
Aerial Spraying
Later aerial spraying' with
herbicides was tried. It also
was only partially successful,
killing some species, only the
top branches of other species
and leaving some to flourish.
Further, it didn't disturb the
thick carpet of duff and dry
leaves that prevented tree
seeds from finding a seed bed
of mineral soil.
Trials with various types of
specialized machines for
brushfield clearing were con
ducted: Although proven ef
fective elsewhere, the brush
was top dense and tough for
either a brushcutter or a root
plow, pulled by tractor.
The most effective tool for
clearing the brush found to
date is the bulldozer brush
rake mounted in front of a
large tractor. The Caterpillar
Tractor company has coope
rated with the forest service
in some of these trials and
has demonstrated that the
brush can be removed, and
when cleared away, good for
est soil is uncovered.
On the 60 acres recently
treated, the soil resembles a
plowed field between the long
rows of piled brush.
Fir Trees Being Planted
Little white fir trees are be
ing planted in the cleared
areas, under the direction of
Donald A. Perala, project
forester. White fir is a fast
growing productive tree . at
this high elevation. A small
portion of the area will be
planted with white fir seed as
an experiment. Although seed
ing has a lesser chance of
success than planting, it is ad
vantageous in that it can be
used in the absence of avail
able planting stock.
According to Perkins, it is
hoped that the 60. acres being
reforested this ' year will be
only the beginning of a con
tinuous program to fully re
claim the Cathill Burn.
The cost is high, running
$60 to $70 per acre for clear
ing and planting, but he says
it is well justified by the high
ly productive capacity of the
soil.
He questions whether in a
community deDendent tn a
large measure on timber proc
essing such productive land
as this can be left idle. Con
verting Cathill Burn to pro
ductive forest is a means of
increasing the growth, sustain
ed yield capacity, and allow
able cut of t i m b e r in the
Rogue basin.
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