.1
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDKORD. ORECON
SUNDAY. OCTOBER 21. 1962
.6 A
Thornton Campaigns in County Despite Day-Long Downpour
By GEORGE H. BELL
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Candidates for political of
fice naturally prefer sun
shiney weather to do their
campaigning in. During fair
weather, people are on the
streets, and a candidate can
in the space of a few short
blocks, shake a satisfying
number of hands and pass out
his cards to every voter he
meets.
But, like the proverbial
postman, when the weather
turns bad, neither rain nor
hail nor dark of night can
deter an office seeker from
making his scheduled rounds.
So when Attorney General
Robert Y. Thornton, Demo
cratic candidate for governor,
arrived in Medford a week
ago last Tuesday for a day of
campaigning in the valley -and
found it pouring down
rain - he had no choice but
to go ahead and do the best he
could.
His spirits, as well as his
wide-brimmed hat and rain
coal, seemed a little damp
ened when he came into the
newsroom about 9:45 a.m. to
pick me up. He had attended
a candidates fair in Grants
Pass the previous night, and
the turnout had been disap
pointing.
Takes It Philosophically
"It just served to point out
one tiling," he said. "The po
litical candidate these days
must go to the voters. The era
of the big meeting, the old
time political rally, is a thing
of the past.
"The change has created a
real handicap for Democrats
though," he observed, "be
cause they, in general, can't
afford to utilize the mass me
dia for their campaign the
way the Republicans can."
But he brightened shortly.
He turned to his Medford
campaign manager, Mrs. Eliz
abeth Poston, and Charles
Crary, Democratic candidate
for the legislature, who were
to travel with him during the
day, and told them that he
had a "good day" in Douglas
county over the week end.
Visit Lumber Mills
"I visited some lumber
mills, had luncheon in Drain,
made a radio-television ap
pearance, and had a press
conference with some news
men. My people there did a
real good job for me," he
said.
We arrived at the Labor
Temple on South Grape si.
V if f .
GREETS WORKERS During his day of
campaigning in Jackson county Tuesday,
Oct. 0, Attorney General Robert Y. Thorn
ton, right, spotted three men working on the
remodeling of Landis Photo Studio and
Severson's Candy store at the corner of
Main and Grape sis. Thornton is seen here
shaking hands with Bob Chriss while Oscar
Privette, far left, and Louise Haussler look
on. Standing between Chriss and Thornton
is Alexander Diepenbrack, who was talking
to the three workmen when the attorney
general walked up.
BEAUTIFUL NEW
HORIZON
TRAILER VILLAGE
. . . offen loh of thing, for
you to do! Pay ui t visit
ADULTS ONLY. Hiway 99
South of Medford at Phoonix.
about 10 o'clock, and Thorn
ton walked through all the of
fices upstairs, introducing
himself, shaking hands and
passing out his cards. The
Deople seemed glad to see
him, and he stopped and chat
ted briefly with several of
them.
The next stop was Bear
Creek Orchards on South Pa
cific highway. Shortly after
we arrived there about 10:20
o'clock, a firm executive
came out to the lobby where
we were waiting and greet
ed Thornton.
"You've come at an unfor
tunate time," he said. "This
rain has stopped most of our
packing work. We just had a
small crew come in this mor
ning, and 1 Hunk mcy ve pioo
ably finished by now."
Tour Main Building
But he hastened to assure
Thornton he would he happy
to have him tour the main
business building to famili
arize himself with the npcr
i ntion of the organization.
Thornton agreed, and Har
ry Jewell, department man
ager for Harry and David's
took over and guided us
through the sprawling offices
of the multi-million dollar
business.
11 was an interesting excur
sion, and the attorney gen
eral was obviously impressed
with what he saw. But all the
employees were so busy, there
seemed little opportunity 'or
ELECT
jim mm
Democrat
4:
i
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
Ont of your 3 votci foi Jim
Redden foi Rcprcientjtive.
Pd Pnl. Adv T
4 1 E.tstwood Dnv
J P rector
Medtord
the candidate lo meet many
of the workers, other than
three or four supervisors. Tlie
half hour spent there, at least
from the point of view of an
office seeker who is admit
tedly running behind his op
ponent, was not time well
an.' "
Wanted To Return
The tour was cut short,
though Thornton told Jcwett
he wanted to return later in
the day and finish it if he
could. The attorney general
brought the subject up again
in the afternoon, but by then
it was too late and he wasn't
able to go back.
We drove back to down
town Medford to visit Thorn
ton's old law office.
On the way, I noticed him
yawn a couple of times and
1 asked him if he were tired,
if the strain of the campaign
were telling on him.
"Oh, no," he said, "this is
my tourth stale-wide cam
paign, and I am used to it.
Hut I've been having trouble
getting enough sleep lately.
I go right to sleep the min
ute I get in bed, but for the
last few mornings, I've been
getting up at 5 a.m. I'm just
sleepy."
Avoiding Label
He and Clary and Mrs.
Poston began to talk about
how the Republicans in this
campaign "arc trying lo avoid
the GOP label." Thornton
said that when Senator Gold
water and former Vice Presi
dent Richard Nixon visited in
Oregon recently. Gov. Hat
field avoided having his pic
ture taken with them.
"But when Secretary of Ag
riculture Freeman and Sec
retary of Labor Goldberg
came to Oregon, you notice
the governor had his picture
taken with them." Thornton
smiled.
Thornton said he had need
led Hatfield one time because
the word "Republican" was
missing from some of his
campaign material.
"He got every indignant
about it," Thornton said, "and
told me, 'Nonsense, every
body knows I'm a Republic-
Medford Lions Club
PANCAKE SUPPER
HEDRICK JUNIOR HIGH
SCHOOL CAFETERIA
THURSDAY, NOV. 1
5-8 P.M.
HELP A WORTHY CAUSE
All Proceeds
To The
SIGHT
CONSERVATION
and
YOUTH
PROGRAMS
COURTESY OF THE
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
To Leverette Building
In Medford, we began to
walk up to the Leverette build
ing, where Thornton had
practiced law for about a year
in 1938 in partnership with
Sen. A. E. Reamcs.
Just as we were turning
the corner, he looked across
the street and saw several
men working on the remodel
ing of Landis Photo Studio
and Severson's Candv store.
He crossed over to say hello
to them.
Pictures were taken of them
all - a candidate for gover
nor, three men in hardhals,
and a sidewalk superintend
ent type - standing there in
the rain talking together.
Thornton was pleased with
the picture, and he smiled
broadly as we walked back
across the street.
"That will be one of the
best pictures of the campaign
I think," he said.
Describes Firm's Office
We took the elevator up to
the fourth floor of the Lev
erette building, and when we
stepped out Thornton immedi
ately began describing how
his firm's offices had been
situated over two decades
ago.
He went in and introduced
himself to the present occu
pant, C. T. Groomes, who op
erates an insurance adjust
ing company there. Groomes
was cordial and the two posed
lor pictures together in his office.
The next slop on the itin- i
crary was the U.S. National j
bank, but we had some diffi-
culty finding a parking place j
and it was necessary to drive j
around Ihe block and come
back. .
On the way. we passed the j
Southern Pacific depot.
Thornton gestured toward it
and chuckled.
"Many's the time I've come j
down here to board the old
Rogue River Rocket." he
mused. i
Successful Stop !
' The visit to the bank turn- i
ed out to be one of the most I
successful stops of the day. j
at least in terms of meeting
potential voters.
It was 11:'25 when we walk
ed in. Thornton met and shook
hands with several bank ex- '
eculives. After a moment, one j
of them volunteered to show
him around so he could meet I
employees. j
He listened carefully dur- ;
ing each introduction, and al
ways managed lo greel each ,
person by his or her first
name and lo add some iiip ;
or comment to his salutation. ;
He teased some of the girls .
ho met aboul being "too :
good line, even when he
was wrong.
It was close to noon when
we got back to the car to
drive out to the Medco mills
by the Big Y Junction. The
rain hadn't let up a drop.
Getting Into Politics
I asked him how he had
happened to get into politics.
"Oh, I ve always been in
terested in politics," he said,
"but when I was first start
ing out, I worked mostly for
other people. I joined the
young Democrats the year I
practiced here in Medford.
When I moved to Tillamook,
the county organization need
ed a chairman, and I got the
job. I've been at it ever since."
At Medco we obtained a vis
itor's pass and set out across
the yard without a guide to
try to find some employees.
After a fruitless search
through one building (it was
lunch time), we were final
ly directed to a "smoke
house," where the men cat
their lunches during bad
weather.
Introduces Himself
There were about lfi men
ranged around tables in the
building when we found it.
Thornton went up to them, in
troduced himself and handed
them his cards.
"Hello," he said, "I'm At
torney General Thornton.
I'm running for governor and
I'd appreciate your vote."
From there we went over
to the plywood mill, but the
employees there were work
ing at such a pace, with the
precision timing required of
such an operation, that the
candidate was reluctant to
disturb them. We climbed up
on the catwalk that runs the
length of the building and
walked through the plant.
At 12:45 we arrived at the
Union club, a downtown res
taurant, for lunch. About a
half dozen party leaders met
him there to talk with him
and pay their respects. He
had fried oysters.
At exactly 2 o'clock, the
four of us left for Ashland
to visit Southern Oregon col
lege, where a student press
conference had been ar
ranged for him.
Campaign Rumors
The subject of campaign
rumors came up during the
conversation on the way over,
and Thornton recounted a
number of them that had hap
pened to him.
He recalled thai one time a
rumor began circulating that
he was a Catholic, a political
ly risky religious affiliation
to have in Protestant Oregon.
"I've always tried to keep
i religion out of politics," he
said, but I ve never made
any secret of the fact that
I'm a long-time Episcopa
lian" At SOC Thornton was met
in Churchill hall by Dr. A!
Fellers, director of student
affairs, who introduced him
to a group of Young Repub
licans. The youngsters were
delighted that they had
scored a coup on Ihe campus
Young Democrats, who were
waiting in the Britt Student
center to meet him.
Holds Press Conference
After going down the hall
briefly to greet Mrs Mabel
Winslon. SOC registrar.
Thornton went over to the
student union to hold the
press conference in the offices
of "The Siskiyou," t h e
school newspaper. En route,
he made conections with Dave
Elliot, president of the young
Democrats, who greeted him
familiarly.
Thornton excused himself
briefly to make a long-distance
telephone call to check
in with his office in Salem.
Then he returned to the Sis
kiyou office, where, for the
next half hour, he stood lean
ing against the door frame,
fielding questions tossed at
him by the student leaders.
The youngsters were sharp
and rather well informed,
though the questions tended
toward the seasoned chest-
IN DEMAND
Washington TPi Peace
Corps Director Sargent Shriv
rr has announced that ti isi
ness executives have conuu't
eri him already with offers lo
hire corpsnion when ihey re
turn from the two-year tours
oung to vote for me." It was of duty overseas.
r
ELECT
CHARLES
CRARY
DEMOCRAT
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
ABLE
HONEST
QUALIFIED
! V
I i
' -V'-
h 1
m
r.t rM a.k . tie, i-t Si Kre Ci-
ICIN h.i.wII t"V' Jill H.iliv. A.hljrvl O'l
nut variety, ones that have
been asked over and over
before. Thornton was able to
use them as springboards,
however, to develop some
points that he wanted to
make.
Expand Promotion
He would "expand" the ex
port promotion division to
seek more foreign markets
for Oregon products. He
wouldn't "sacrifice our scen
ic advantages for the sake of
obtaining smog-producing in
dustries." He regarded our
natural resources as "price
less." He would give "top pri
ority to the Oregon way of
living."
He felt there was "nothing
sacred about either public or
private power He would
have vetoed the Daylight Sav
ing Time bill since it had
previously been voted down
four times by the people. He
was opposed to a sales tax in
Oregon because "it would op
erate most heavily on the low
income earner." He would
check the stale's tax structure
to determine if there were
any bracket "not paying its
fair share." He would plug
whatever "loopholes" he
found.
Race May Be Close
Asked to evaluate his con
test with Hatfield for the gov
ernorship, he said he felt
"the race may be as close as
the Cordon-Neuberger sena
torial race in 1954." (Neuber-
ger won in that election by
about 2,600 votes when late
returns from Multnomah
county gradually overcame a
downstate lead for Cordon.)
The affair was wound up
about 3:20 with Thornton and
the youngsters posing for pic
tures. As we left the campus,
he turned to me and said,
"That's one of the nicest re
ceptions I've ever had at any
college."
On the way back to Med
ford we stopped off for a few
minutes in Phoenix so he
could talk with Red Norton,
owner of Norton s Lumber
yard.
The day of campaigning
was concluded with a visit to
county Democratic headquar
ters to "greet the faithful,
as he put it.
Talks About Material
The rain seemed to have
cleared the streets, and the
place was deserted except for
the receptionist, Mrs. Ira Mc
Donald, who was nearing the
end of her five-hour stint at
the desk. They talked about
campaign materials, and he
noted that the supply of
bumper stickers was getting
low.
Aboul 4:30 o'clock, he re
turned to his host's home to
prepare for dinner with a few
friends at the Rogue Valley
Country club at 6 o'clock.
Thornton seemed a little
preoccupied that night at the
Candidates Fair at Medford
high school as he waited on
the platform for his turn to
speak. But when he rose to
address the crowd, his speech
was clear and articulate and
he delivered it with onlv a o'clock when I went up to
slight glance at his notes. He ihim to say goodbye,
finished the five-minute talk I His day in Jackson county,
on time. the last one he planned on
Afterwards in the cafe- before the election, was al
teria, a number of people most over. But with Nov. o
came up to his table to shake a few weeks away, he could
his hand and talk with him. look forward to more busy
He seemed in good spirits and days and long nights before
relatively unfatigued about 10 i it was all over.
The Beautiful New
COLONY RESTAURANT
Corner 4th and Front Streets
Opening Soon . . .
We invite the applications of qualified restaurant personnel.
(Waitresses, Cocktail Waitresses, Hostess, Bartenders, Bus
Boys, Pantry Girls, Dishwashers) This will be Medfords finest
dining place and we want personable employees, experi
enced and with proven backgrounds. These are permanent
positions with top wages and excellent working conditions.
All applications will be held in strictest confidence.
Please Call Alex Murphy at 779-1616
, Between 2 P.M. and 6 P.M. Sunday to
Arrange Interview
THE YOUNGER ''
THE BETTER! XS.
jfr The youngster who learns early that the difference between lvt
: wishing and Having is SAVING ... is headed in the right ftV
I direction. Teach your youngster (his important savings- J
j habit-lesson by opening a savings account here ! tj I"
mi prflai
Jackson County Federal
Savings and Loan Assn.
Home Office: 2 East Main, Medford
Ashland Branch: 337 E. Main, Ashland
Attention. . .
CITIZENS OF ROGUE RIVER VALLEY:
I would like at this time to personally assure you that, as a citizen of
Medford and an employee of the Medtord Hotel for 14 years, we are offer
ing a Dinner Card for the Candle Room to show you our appreciation
for the wonderful success that YOU have made the Candle Room over the
past 5 years. Please believe thai if I honestly did not believe this is of a
benefit to you my name would not appear at the bottom of this letter.
Thank You,
Your Host
Dint Mil nun
General Ma Hirer
CANDLE ROOM DINNER CLUB
During the next few days a limited number of people will be invited to join this marvelous new
innovation tn dining excellence. As a member, you will receive . . .
12 FREE DINNERS OF YOUR CHOICE, ONE EACH MONTH ... As member of the Candle Room
Dinner Club, you may dine one evening each month in the Candle Room any night except Saturday.
All you need do is be accompanied by one guest. Then, you just pay for one of the two meals you
have . . . any dinner on Ihe menu.
THE COST OF MtMBERSHIP IS JUST $12 FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR ... In order to insure our finest
service, the number of members in the Candle Room Dinner Club must be strictly limited. We,
therefore, suggest that you place your reservation as soon as possible in the event that the roster
is filled before you receive your personal invitation
CLIP AND MAIL TODAY
EHSYJLf : Add
No. of Cards .
Please Send Membership Cards To:
Name
ress
Enclosed is check or M O. in amount of $
IB
HOTEL MEDFORD
For Phone Information
Call 772-61 SI
"T,"U'X,S'"
.irt.ii1rk,nf-
.iJMi
I