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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 1961)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE. THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1961 B 11 Fight Over Phone System Continues Editor's note: One of the most driwnout lejal battles In this coun try'! history Involves the United States government and the heirs of an inventor held by many to be the man who made possible long distance telephone calls. In the fol lowing dispatch, UI'l reporter Dick Fontana tells how this lingering struggle was born and continues today long after the death of the inventor.) By DICK FONTANA United Press International Pittsburgh - IUP0 -Elwood Arfstldes Grissinger knew wealth and fame. Yet he died broke, nearly forgotten. Grissinger passed away Oct. 8, 1934. His obituary attribut ed death to "digestive trou ble" which precipitated a heart attack. It could have read simply: Broken heart. Grissinger earned a half million dollars from a repeat er system which revolution ized telephone communica tions and helped shorten World War I by a year. Bill Would Force Stockmen To Give For Promotions Salem - (UPD - The Senate Wednesday passed and sent to the governor a bill forc ing 'cattlemen to contribute to promotions of the Oregon Cattlemen's association and the Western Oregon Live stock association. The bill requires operators of all stockyards, packing plants, livestock auction mar kets "and slaughterhouses to take 10 cents from the price of cattle and give the money to the state agricultural de partment. The department will turn it over to the Ore gon Beef Council. A seller who refuses to - contribute has to sign a state ment to this effect. Ho then gets a refund. Prior law stip ulated that the fee could not be deducted from the sale price without specific con sent. Bill Criticized Sen. Al Flegel (D-Roseburg) said the bill is mandatory be cause few persons will have an opportunity to sign for a refund in a cattle sale rush, and he criticized the bill. Flegel said cattlemen in his area don't want the state or dering them how to spend money they get from cattle sales. Sens. Eddie Ahrens (R Turner) and Walter -Loth (R Salem) said the bill docs for the cattle industry.. what the fryer and wheat commissions have done for those indus tries. They, said the bill is really permissive because opponents are protected by a provision for referendum. One-Car Crashes Toll is One-car non-collision acci dents on Oregon highways are continuing to take an un usually high toll in human lives, and there is evidence that this death toll is grow ing greater all the time, ac cording to Medford Police Chief, Charles P. Champlin. Champlln said that nearly a quarter of Oregon's rural highway crashes during 1960 were of the one-car variety, with more of them Involving fatalities than any other kind of crash, Including collisions. The chief pointed out that in many of these accidents, particularly where the driver is killed, law enforcement of ficials can only speculate on the cause. "However," he said, "the evidence usually indicates that the driver was driving too fast to keep control of his vehicle, went to sleep at the wheel, or committed some other careless act." Champlin declared: "In spite of increased enforce ment in 'town and country, use of radar, constant patrol ling and broadening of our safety education program, one-car accidents continue. So we ask every driver to take stock of himself and remem ber that his own destiny lies in his hands when driving." -fl tte Teen Bakers The third meeting of the Teen Bakers 4-H club of Eagle Point was held recently at the home of Mrs. John Pogue, our leader. The 4-H county ex tension agent, Miss Phyllis Kirkland, attended and talked to us. Susie Carroll and Frances Huffman gave a demonstra tion on how to make a pie. Our officers are Susie Carroll, president; Frances Huffman, vice president; Ellen Hay, sec retary, and Nancy Carroll, re porter. At the previous meeting, Nancy Carroll and Ellen Hay gave a "show-me" on mixing bread dough and kneading. Nancy Carroll, ' Reporter Death found him penniless, "because the government turned his invention over to France as surplus following the war," his relatives claim. In 1911, Grissinger's Inven tion was unveiled to the pub lic at the Indenendent Tele phone association's conven tion in Chicago. The Chicago Examiner called it "a remark able test." Remarkable Tesi It indeed was a remarkable test, transmitting a human voice 4,500 miles under simu lated conditions which would have placed the telephone re ceivers in Chicago and Hono lulu. Grissinger and his wife, Lucy, carried out the initial test, standing in separate rooms connected by a mam moth coil. Grissinger, somewhat shaky, asked: "Hello. Are we right?" Over 4,500 miles of wire came the answer from his wife: . "It is perfection. You win," The demonstration was her alded in magazines and news papers across the country, each pointing up the elimina-. Hon of cumbersome relay points and marveling at "the quality of voice resonance on a little box which annihilates distance." Actually, the device was a three-in-one instrument. It neutralized over - magnifica tion of sound waves, institut ed statlon-to-station conversa tions and carried all overtones of the human voice - at feat unheard of prior to that time. With perfection of his idea, Grissinger sold internal pat ent rights to the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. "Then the war came along," recalled Mrs. Priscilla Schus ler, Grissinger's niece, who lives here. "And all Uncle Elwood's patents for England, Holland, Belgium, France and Italy were taken over by the U.S. government. "Uncle Elwood's intention was to sell the patents to the individual European coun tries after the war. Instead, the United States installed the system during the war and used it, selling it afterward as part of surplus materials. ' "General (John 'Black Jack' Pershing said it helped end the war by a year." ' Grissinger filed suit against the government in 1922. He sought compensation for - a "preconceived plan whereby my invention was . , . appro priated and secretly used to the enormous benefit of (the U'S. government) and all the Allies . . . leaving me stand ing without even the recogni tion of having been inventor of one of the great factors of success in winning the war and the saving of human life and property." He was fighting a losing battle. Numerous "amicable settlements" were agreed upon and referred for adjudi cation. "But Elwood was never paid a cent," Mrs. Schusler complained. "All the money he received for his original patent was poured into law suits. He was penniless when he died." Ironically, Grissinger was attending M r s. Schusler's wedding here when fatally stricken. She took up his fight and has been waging the struggle ever since. "Not for me," she said, "but for Aunt Lucy (Grissinger's in valid widow) who is confined to her home in Buffalo, N.Y., and requires almost constant attention. "The government got $400 million from France for that surplus equipment, including the repeater system. All I want is for Aunt Lucy to 'get a fair pension. She's 89 and all alone." ' Two bills were introduced into Congress In 1957 by New York Senators Jacob Javits and Kenneth Keating seeking to have the Issue finally re solved. Both measures died in committee. There has been no legislative action since. Cancer Is Subject Of Television Show "Diagnosis and treatment of cancer" will be the topic of the Sunday television pro gram, "Adventures in Medi cine," arranged by the Jack son County Tuberculosis and Health association. Physicians who will take part on the panel are E. W. Sickels, surgeon; Alan Mar kee, radiologist; Thomas J. Tinsley, radiologist, all Med ford, and John Boe, general practioner, Grants Pass. The program will begin at 4:30 p.m., with questions tele phoned by the public to be answered during the half hour. Dr. P.. M. Turner, Ash land, and Dr. Earl Lawson, Medford, are co-chairmen for arrangements, and Mrs. John Boe will be moderator. London - (UPD - Britain is asking the Soviet Union to agree to an immediate cease fire in Laos Thursday, For eign Secretary Lord Home said today. Shop and Save Fishing Season Opens This Saturday ..... . and here's where to What's for Dinner? eQElEi -"BEEF 208" f HOODY'S CHUNK OR CREAMY STYLE PEAMUT BUTTER 3 a Bff- COTTftBE fMESE :r Iff ALL GRINDS FOLGERS Effll 1 17 B COFFEE tin yy tin y Strauss Choice Meats Assorted Morrell's Lunch Meal 4 -1 Caveman Brand Skinless WIENERS 49c Fresh Lean Gr. 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