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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1963)
6 C WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 20, 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON Controversial Dulles Airport Winds Up First Year Long Way From Success ByJtOBERT J. SERLING ' UPI Aviition Editor WASHINGTON (UPI) -Co- lossal and controversial Dulles International Airport is wind ing up its first year a long way (rom success. It is, However, a lot further away from being the flop its critics predicted. That sums up the first anni versary of the federal govern' ment's $110 million monument SALES ENGINEER A. C. Kobold, above, is industrial sales enginner for the Califor- nia- Pacific Utilities Company, a position he has held since he joined the firm in March, 1962. Prior to that, he held a similar position with the Gas Service Company in Kansas City; Mo. He also was employed by a gas utility in Omaha, Neb. His 12 years of experience has given him an opportunity of working with almost every type of application of this fuel to in dustrial and commercial uses. He attended Texas A and M University and Creighton University. to the jet age. dedicated Nov, 17, 1962, and loudly castigated both before and since. Dulles was built to providi the nation's capital with a jet- age airport, despite the pro- testa of neighboring Baltimore that its own Friendship Airport was adequate for the area's jet needs. The federal government's rea- son for building Dulles was not because of an immediate need for a new airport In the capital area, but to meet future needs, In its first 12 months, 650,- 000 passengers have flown and out of Dulles. The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), which administers the airport, had hoped for about 800,000. In that sense, Dulles has failed to live up to expectations. , But new airports traditionally have been slow to attract trai- fic. . , . Fights For Business The truth is that Friendship's aggressive fight to keep its business has played a major role in keeping Dulles traffic down. The City of Baltimore spent $50,000 on a "Use Friend ship" campaign ranging from radio and television com mercials to bumper stickers. Some Baltimore , firms have even told employes their travel expenses will not be paid if flights are boarded at Dulles. "Frankly," said one top air- line executive, "we'd get better passenger loads out of Dulles than Friendship because It's more convenient for. the ma jority of our Washington pass engers. But we can't afford to alienate Baltimore and we try to walk a tightrope between the two airports." There is another reason wny there has not been a mass ex odus of jet service from Friend ship to Dulles. The Maryland airport charges aircraft 14 cents per thousand pounds as a land ing fee. The government's air port, located near Chantilly, Va. Debate Team from Area Places First : EUGENE - A University of Oregon junior women's debate team placed first' in the Univer sity of Pacific Tournament last week end at Stockton, Calif. Judy Eberhart, Ashland, and Jo Ann Johnson, Medford, in capturing the top spot, extend ed their winning record to 21 out of 23 debates this term. The team of Marolyn Elle, Pocatello, Idaho, and Carolyn Riddle, Portland, tied with the university of southern Cantor nia for third place in the sen ior women's division. ' jne university iquk - secunu i place in the grand sweepstakes, losing only to the University, of I Arcadia, Calif. Southern California. Twenty- four colleges and universities from Oregon, California and Ne vada competed in the tourna ment. Also participating in the event were Gordon Zimmerman, Ft. Scott, Kan., and Bill Sweetland, Klamath Falls, who were elim inated in the quarter finals, and George Austin, Hillsboro, and Gary Simmons, Medford, who won three out of four debates. During Thanksgiving vacation, Nov. 28-30, the 10 top UO de baters will compete with others from 13 western states at the Western States Tournament in v 'iwZi IP? W A-iiW&f$ IP a' .. :,mimm .m . m J'Ci DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT This aerial picture made from a helicopter in 1962 shows the pagoda-like control tower (left) and nearly-finished main" terminal of John Foster Dulles International Airport at Chantilly, Va. (UPI) charges 30 cents per pounds. Considering the several lac tors in Friendship's favor, Dul- 1,000 1 les' traffic growth could be con sidered remarkable. It has cap tured approximately 25 per cent of Friendship's business, large- 29 Per Cent of Energy Requirements Provided By Gas, Booklet Notes Gas one of the oldest energy sources has undergone such growth in recent years that it now provides 29 per cent of the nation's energy require ments. This is pointed out in a new publication. "Natural Gas, a Study in Industry Pioneering," which noted mat oniy mree decades ago the fuel was sup plying but a small fraction of the nation's energy requirements. The gas industry is a $28 bil lion business which has 35 mil lion customers using this "new" fuel for everything from air conditioning to incinerators, ac cording to the booklet. "But, in addition, more than 180 million people of the United CAL-PAC UnUTlES CO. Basic to every American step forward is the vision and energy of a company such as California Pacific Utilities Company. The wisdom and enthusiasm of this company has resulted in the introduction of natural gas in the Rogue River Valley. So we say, "Well Done" Cal-Pac Utilities and we proudly salute you as the guiding force behind this great new industry : for Southern Oregon. O'Keefe and Merritt Company is proud to have played a part in this great achievement and we look forward to continuing to serve the people in this area. O'Keefe & Merritt GAS RANGES "Ail of the Good Things Come From O'Keefe & Merritt" States are directly or indirectly served by gas," it points out. "The reason for this is that everyone uses every day many products manufactured or pro cessed in some way through the thousands of applications of this versatile fuel and its by products." Stressed In Booklet These facts are stressed in the booklet which is the first attempt at bringing together in a brief account all three branches of the gas industry: gas distributors, pipeline com panies and producers. The pub lication is intended to acquaint persons Interested in the indus try with some of its character istics and problems. As recently as 1948, the book let notes, natural eas was sup plying less than one-sixth of the nation's total energy require ments. The booklet indicates this figure has grown to 29 per cent. Other leading suppliers are petroleum, with about 41 per cent, and bituminous coal, with a little over 21 per cent. "The reason for this swift progress, of course, lies in the widespread introduction of na tural gas to all areas of the na tion," the booklet notes. "Na tural gas has generally replaced a manufactured supply which had served the public well since the earlier years of the nine teenth century." Emphasis on Problems The new publication puts con siderable emphasis on problems facing the gas industry, but as serts that "the ability of the natural gas industry to sur mount such difficulties, as evi denced by its amazing growth since 1936, is still the best as surance that the gas industry can look forward to a bigger and broader role in the America of tomorrow." It was stressed that what is needed most today is legislation under which a more favorable regulatory climate can be es tablished. This should provide a workable type of producer reg ulation and adequate incentives to stimulate cxplotation for the gas reserves necesary to sup ply the increasing consumer de mand. Sponsors of the 48-page book let, which is well illustrated with pictures and graphs, arc the American Gas Association, the Independent Natural Gas Association of America, the American Petroleum Institute, the Independent Petroleum As sociation of America and the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Asso ciation. ly because, Dulles proved to be an efficient, well-run operation. Dulles' mobile lounge con cept, for example, was sup posed to be its biggest draw back. These giant, $250,000 90 passenger monsters were one of the new airporfs most widely criticized features. Scoffers said they would be unreliable and passengers wouldn't like them. The mobile lounges, which take passengers directly to their plane, actually have turned out to be one of Dulles' most popu lar features praised by the airlines (which opposed them Traffic Dangers on Holiday Are Noted Some of the traffic dangers that will accompany the . Thanksgiving holiday were pointed out today by Acting Medford Police Chief Clyde Fichtner as he cautioned resi dents to include careful plan ning for travel in this holiday preparations. There will be many motorists on the highways hurrying some place for Thanksgiving dinner and the driver who starts the holiday "party" season on Thanksgiving is an added dan ger, Fichtner stated. He listed several precautions motorists should take: Find out from the local weather bureau or police what the weather is like where you plan to travel; allow plenty of time to reach your destination; have car brakes, lights, tires, steering and windshield wiper equipment checked before starting and al low time for rest stops. The officer also urged motor ists to avoid returning home late at night or right after a heavy meal. Campaign Shows 163 Suffer Eye Ailments HUEHUETENANGO, Guate mala (UPI) A campaign against blindness in the Mary- knoll mission area here has un covered 163 children suffering (rom eye ailments. In cooperation with Uie Na tional Committee for Sight, Maryknoll priests working in the Prelature of Huehuelenan- go, under the direction of Bis hop Hugo M. Gerbcrmann, N M., of Nada, Texas, have ar ranged to havo the operations performed in a hospital in the BIGGEST furnace BUY on the marketl I horizontal furnace DELIVERS MORE WARMTH and comfort from fuel, NO FLOOR SPACE required -fits in attic, crwljpcf, utility room or basement. With preaent duct, or exclusive Blend-Air pipe aystem. BUY NOW and SAVE J EASY TERMS e Natural Gas Equipment Co. Helling Air-Condtnoning Ph. 772-2322-111 W. M.ln in the beginning) and public alike. They also have contributed -to-better baggage handling. Sur vey after survey has shown that the majority of arriving flights at Dulles have baggage waiting for passengers when they leave the lounges and without the necessity of lengthy hikes to baggage delivery areas. And because they enable jets to park up to a mile away from the terminal puiming, tne air lines have saved thousands of dollars in fuel costs. Exactly how much is unknown, but it costs $100 a minute to taxi a jet. This undoubtedly has offset the $6.35 the airlines are charged for every lounge trip. Attracts Visitors Dulles also has become, to a lot of people's surprise, one of the capital area's biggest tour ist attractions. More than one million persons have visited Dulles since it opened, purely in a sightseeing capacity. Dulles has been praised by virtually every pilot who has used it. The enormous runways and modern navigation aids and runway lighting make it a dream airport for the flier. Criticism of Dulles centers largely on ground transporta tion, and Dulles officials freely admit there has been some jus tification. The gripes are: Too long a ride between the center of Washington and the airport. It is quite a ride an average of 43 minutes. But the official running time be tween downtown Washington and Friendship is 50 minutes. Dulles may seem longer be cause the route is almost com pletely through wide-open coun try with little to see. And there is little doubt that many air travelers have been spoiled by the proximity of National Air port to the city about 15 min utes at the most. Inadequate Service Inadequate limousine serv ice. Limousines meet every in coming flight, but one difficulty is that many passengers have a habit of sightseeing when they arrive and often miss the bus. They must either wait for a spe cial one to be sent out for the stragglers or take a taxi at $11. But FAA officials think as traffic increases at Dulles, ground transportation will im prove accordingly. Concessionaires at Dulles complain that business is too slow. For some, it probably is. Only a few are making mefney. But G. Ward Hobbs, FAA's top airport official, says only one has asked for a rent- adjust ment. He also points out that bidders for space at the air port were warned business vol- ume would be slow until Dulles grew. Financially speaking, Dulles' own income from all sources has just about matched prelim inary forecasts for the first year. For fiscal 1963, the air port's budget estimated incoma at $1.1 million. The total was only $10,000 under that. 1 ; , M M fcK.H Natural Gas IS NOW HERE DAVKJB FORCED-AIR r I nC GAS HEATERS COMPLETE LINE OF GAS WATER HEATERS Sal It Initiation ' HAGGARD LUMBER & PLUMBING 312 North Main Phoenix Phont- 535-2522 WELCOME... NATURAL GAS A new way of life has been intro duced to the Rogue River Valley with the dedication of -natural gas. This new power will mean jobs and comfortable living to many in the Southern Oregon area. Among the natural gas outstanding attributes are speed and economy. We applaud California-Pacific Utilities Company and El Paso Natural Gas Company for their vision and effort in bringing this valuable new resource to our region. Our congratulations to California Pacific Utilities Company and El Paso Natural Gas Company for bringing natural gas to the Rogue Valley. Lininger's is proud to have been a part of this great development. We're happy to have had equipment that could be used in laying pipe lines and we'll continue to assist in connecting the new service of natural gas to homes in this area. BUILD THE MODERN WAY BUILD WITH CONCRETE BY... LB INI B INI Phone 773-7555 city of (juozaltcnango,
