MEDFORU MAIL TRIBUNE. MEiHOHD. OREGON
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1962
Jacksonville Couple Occupies Mid-Century Home
t T3SvAr , -.. -
ROLLTOP DESK Clinton A. Smith, early
Jackson county watermaster, uses an old
rolltop desk in his home, which was built
in the mid-19th century. The desk is in the
library-study, and is filled with letters and
mementoes of earlier days. Smith establish
ed the first snow survey courses here, and
the water and snow surveys are now kept
by his son, Marion Smith.
Kennedy To Rest
At Yosemite Park
: Yosemite, Calif. (DPIi The
majestic Yosemite Valley,
carved from the Sierra Ne
vada granite ages ago by gi
gantic glaciers, will be a rest
haven for President Kennedy
this week end.
.He was scheduled to arrive
by helicopter from nearby
Merced Friday evening and
leave the following morning
to dedicate central Califor
nia's San Luis water project.
The visit will be the first
overnight stay in the park of
a chief executive.
'FDR made a visit in
1934," reported Park Super
intendent John C. Preston,
"but it was a brief affair
Into the park in the morning
and out in the afternoon.
"It will be entirely up to
President Kennedy whether
to tour the area. However,
I'm sure he will be afforded
a spectacular view from the
helicopter."
UUPfV
VP
FURNISHINGS The home of the Clinton A. Smits-Jacksonville,
is still furnished with the original furniture, brought
from Crescent City by the builder of the house, Herman
Helms. Rugs and bric-a-bac are original, as are pictures on
the walls. Mirrors from the Table Rock saloon are in evi
dence, as Helms ran the saloon. A small interior picture
of the establishment hangs nn one wall.
Extensive Studies of Ocean Under Way
Corvallis The first exten
sive studies on the nature oi
the earth's crust across Ore
gon and under the ocean off
the Oregon coast have been
started by the Oregon State
university department of
oceanography.
Ocean-floor gravity read
ings were made this month
and last at 193 points in a 10
by 40-mile section of the
ocean. The center of the area
is about 7 miles off Newport.
Readings show the gravita
tional force of the earth's
field at each of the 193 points.
The research is sponsored
by the Office of Naval Re
search and the National Sci
ence foundation. Dr. Joseph
W. Berg, Jr., department of
oceanography geophysicist, is
directing the studies. Other
OSU scientists working on the
project are W. A. Rinehart,
James Whitcomb, and Arthur
Albin.
The scientists are cooperat
ing with other organizations
interested in this work. The
U.S. Geological survey, U.S.
Coast and Geodetic survey,
and University of Wisconsin
assisted by making data avail
able to the department of
oceanography.
In 1900 all of the hard-surfaced
roads in the U.S. would
not have reached from New
York to Boston.
CHRYSTAL MEATS
The House of Personal Service
4th and Fir Phone 772-7315
Baby Beef Livers.--...,...- - 29
Bacon Squares .vys-, n,. 19
Veal Shoulder Steaks 59
Veal CIIOPS " b and T Bon. lb. 89
Veal Round Steaks 95
Rib Steaks . 75
LOCKER SPECIAL
Klamath Fed
LOCKER BEEF
CUT - WRAPPED - QUICK FROZEN
"V
Half or Whols lb.
47'
25 lbs. BEEF Family Order.... SI 298
By JOE COWLEY
Mail Tribuns Staff WriUr
Jacksonville The story of
Jacksonville's old Herman
Helms house in which Mr.
and Mrs. Clinton A. Smith re
side is actually two stories in
one.
It's the story of a home con
structed by old Jacksonville
miner Helms in the early
1850 s. It's also the story of
Clinton Smith, one of Jackson
county's earlier watermasters.
Smith was state watermas
ter for Jackson county from
1930 through 1951. He was the
second waterwaster appointed
by the state engineer to be in
charge of state district which
included Jackson county and
most of Josephine county.
Smith established the first
snow survey courses here. The
surveys continued for more
than 15 years under his super
vision. The information re
ceived from the first snow
surveys and the water surveys
of local stream systems are
kept now by Smith's son, Mar
ion, an hydrographer.
Engineers Used Information
"The U.S. Department of
Interior and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers used this
information to determine if
the valley had adequate wa
ter resources and needed
dams for irrigation, flood con
trol and related uses," Smith
said. "The watermaster's du
ties are the diversion and dis
tribution of available waters.
Future developments now in
dicate the need for major ex
pansion of the watermaster's
office."
Helms, the builder of the
house, ran the Table Rock sa
loon, in Jacksonville. This is
now partially dismantled af
ter an earlier fire. The Smiths
have a small interior picture
of the old saloon hanging in
the entry hall of their home.
Original Furniture
The house nestles under a
hill in Jacksonville's Pine st.
It is still furnished with the
original furniture, rugs and
bric-a-brac. The old knotty
pine paneling gives an air of
warmth and friendliness as a
background to the everyday
hospitality of these two active
senior citizens. Mounted deer
and antelope heads decorate
the wall above the family
room door, comfortable furni
ture, corner cupboards and
cabinets full of rare dishes
and porcelains all add to the
air of geniality and dignity
A library-study door opens
off the family room. Here on
one side is the old watermas
ter's rolltop desk stuffed with
letters and written momen.
toes of earlier years.
In the front parlor is an an
cient btandard organ on
which Mrs. Smith plays the
old hymns. Here, too, is an
old Boston horsehair-upholstered
rocker with its stiff,
straight back and hard, un
compromising seat. Other an
tiques in the lower floor of
the house include an old
French settee, Dresden lamp,
marble top table, old murals
and frescoes decorate the hall
and stairway. The original
carpets and picturese are still
there.
Saloon Mirror
In the Smiths' bedroom on
the first floor just off the
front entrance hall a hand
crocheted spread, which has
been in Mrs. Smith's family
for 100 years, is on the bed.
A mirror from the Table Rock
saloon hangs on the entrance
hall. According to Smith the
saloon had the finest gold and
mineral collection on the
coast. Also in the hall hangs
an old whale-oil lantern.
Upstairs In one bedroom is
j an old-fashioned sleigh bed,
so named because of its shape.
In the corner of the same bed
room is an old round card-
table, probably from the
Table Rock saloon. On the
wall is a mural of Pike's peak
showing a wagon train coming
down the trail.
Not much is recorded about
Herman Helms, original own
er of the three-room cabin
which forms the basis of the
Smith's home. He did pack In
all his furniture from Cres
cent City, Calif. Many of the
Jacksonville residents of that
time did. He bought gold here
and grubstaked miners. His
(father was In the saloon busi
; ness so it seemed only natural
for Helms to enter it.
1 Smith's Experiences
Smith's experiences are as
: interesting as Helms' possible
' pioneer adventures might
have been. He started his pho
tographic career in Kansas
when nine years old. He had
to climb upon a cracker box
to reach the big square box
camera on a tripod. He used
glass plates as did Petr Britt,
, pioneer Jacksonville photog
rapher. The two families were
good friends.
Later Smith made his own
wet plates and gold solution
papers for printing before
manufactured materials were
available.
Use of early day chemicals
weakened Smith's health
while he was yet a young
man. He traveled from Kansas
to Wyoming to recuperate In
Wyoming he worked nn the
A. B. Fowler ranch In th
Portland Gypsies
Request Jury Trial
Portland -IUPH- Six gypsies
arrested here during a wed
ding fracas Sunday has asked
for a jury trial.
The gypsies were arrested
on disorderly conduct charges.
They in turn accused the po
lice who arrested them of bru
tality. .
The six are out on bail. The
trial was tentatively set (or
Sept. 26.
WATERMASTER'S WIFE Mrs. Clinton A. Smith, wife of
one of Jackson county s earnest watermasters, lives wltn
her husband in one of Jacksonville's oldest homes. She is
shown in the kitchen of the home, constructed by Herman
Helms, a miner, in the early 1850 s.
spring and summer, and tend
ed general store In the winter.
Range Wars
The Fowler ranch was some
distance from the range wars
around Cheyenne and west
to Laramie, but groups of cat
tlemen would drop in to buy
horses at the ranch and tell
tales of the shootings between
the sheep and cattlemen. The
U.S. Cavalry was called in to
settle the conflict.
Smith was working in a
general store in Sunrise about
100 miles north of Cheyenne
when it was held up for the
iron mines' payroll.
'I grabbed a gun from a
counter and started shooting.
Don't know if I hit anybody.
I ducked behind the counter
scared to death!" Smith
chuckled.
The Big Bend country is a
labyrinth of canyons with
caves. A wild horse from one
of those canyons gave Smith
a brief, but exciting adven
ture. A large black stallion
with white stockings was one
of a band of horses captured
by the cowboys and penned
up in the corral.
Rop Stallion
Each cowboy had been try.
ing for days to rope the stal
lion In the corral. Smith had
been trying just as diligently
not to catch him. By accident,
one day his loop settled over
the stallion s forefeet, slam
ming him on his shoulder
Then the other cowboys blind
folded the horse and cinched
on the saddle.
As soon as Smith hit saddle
leather, someone yanked off
the blindfold and horse and
rider were off. The other cow
boys gave chase. Finally, after
circling the horse in an ever
tightening circle, managed to
slow him down. Then, a
somewhat weak and perspir
ing future county watermas
ter slid to the ground.
Corr.i Hers in 1918
Smith worked for the for
est service when he first came
to this area in 1918. He later
became an assistant to the
first watermaster for Jackson
county, Fred N. Cummings.
Then Smith worked as engin
eer for the Medford Irrigation
district under MID Manager
Ed Leach. While with MID he
helped lay out the first siphon
by Phoenix.
The Smiths have lived In
their old home in Jackson
ville since 1926. They still
take an active interest In town
affairs and the present histori
cal renovation of the old gold
and cattle town.
Oregon Real Estate
Offers To Be Probed
Washington -lUPli- The Fed
eral Trade Commission has
added Oregon to the states
where it will investigate real
estate offers.
The commission ?aid it act
ed after a former Oregon resi
dent said a ranch tract de
scribed as "paradise" actu
ally is located in barren wil
derness. The commission already has
said it will look into real
estate ventures in Florida, the
Southwest and California. It
said three or four complaints
may be filed by fall.
ALASKAN APPOINTED
Portland WPH The Forest
Service has stated John E.
Schwartz of Juneau, Alaska,
would succeed Walter O. Han
son as head of wildlife man
agement for the Pacific
Northwest Region.
FOLGERS COFFEE
6-oi. 89c
Mb. 69c
2-lbs. $1.37
INSTANT
10-oz. 1.39
EAGLE MARKET
Eagle Point
Pour3...payfor2
JL J
RG Half Quarts
SAME PRICE
AS KING SIZE
SERVES 1 MORE
3 drinks (not 2)
SWITCH TO RC
HALFXTARTS
f
Professor Receives
Grant For Research
Eugene A University of
Oregon professor has received
three-year, $59,325 grant
from the U.S. Army research
office to study simple chemi
cal reactions.
Dr. Richard Noyes, profes
sor of chemistry, will attempt
to formulate a general theory
which will make it possible to
predict what the chemical re
action will be and how fast it
will occur when simple two
atom molecules are combined.
Title of the research project
is "Reactions Involving Three
Atom and Four-Atom Transi
tion Slates." Dr. Noyes will
study substances made up of
two-atom molecules, which,
when combined, result in ei
ther three or four-atom sub
stances, depending upon the
basic properties of the mole
cules. In conducting the project,
Dr. Noyes will review the
work done In this field over
the past 40 years and devise
experiments which will "fill
in the gaps in our knowledge
of these reactions," the chem
ist said.
SfTIPII flfffr'-'- -i,:..: '"
. bOYSENBERRY PEACW .
IT
o-4
just for trying
& PRGSGRVGS
KRAFT
"fresh-fruit goodness'
in handsome re-usable tumblers
Traffic in Oregon
Tops 1961 Figure
Salem -OIPD- Traffic on Or
egon freeways in June was
more than 22 per cent above
a year ago, the Oregon Traffic
Safety Commission was told
Wednesday.
State Highway Engineer
Forrest Cooper said the big in
crease of tourists compared
with a 10.1 per cent gain last
year.
State Police Capt. Farley
Mogan reported that 16.2 per
cent of Oregon's traffic deaths
last month were non-residents
of the slate.
Plans for curbing the high
way death toll during the com
ing Labor Day holiday week
end were told by Deputy State
Police Supt. Holly Holcomb
who said all available person
nel will be patrolling the
state's highways.
Seven persons died in Ore
gon during the 1961 Labor
Day week end.
V
KRAFT
3y E PRESERVES
Id
ic
(RAFT
JELLIES
G PRESERVES
Buy any 4 different rlti of Kraft
Jelllaa A. Preserrei. Bend In the label. Get
back tl.OO with the order form be low I
Only the fineat fruits ripened in the lun
are ohoioe enough for Kraft Jelliee &
Preeervee. They're hurried to the Kraft
Kitchens and "qulok-oooked" Kraft' epe
oial way to keep the true flavor of the fruit.
All your f arc-rite flavors I
Along with many of your old favorites,
you'll find some exciting new varieties to
try, too. Piok any four. Piok any size from
the 10-oz. to the economy 18-oz. size of
Jellies or Preserves. Send in the labels.
You'll get back tl.00 in oash.
Limit of 4 labels to any eustomar-and
each label must be from a different tarlety .
Kraft JtMltl I Pmarvaa OHar
Bet 442
Chicago 77, llllnoli
I anclosa labels trom 4 different
varieties of Kralt Jellies 1 Preserves.
Please send me$l cash refund.
20NL
, fhlt .elr Oct. !M. r,r limiua Is weufund ev family of Mdrm,
, ana ii a-.oo 'h'0oiet.l th UMM sui. tviy. VO'il n'ol-i'H. I'-M V
ftit'Kltd, lltil! iuB-IUO 6 cluBi tt 0'lil'0 wi" t M WftS,
(ttteittttietee