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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1963)
Desert Wasteland Promoters Facing Long, Cold Winter if A. ROBERT SMITH Mail Tribuno Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON - It looks like this will be a cold barren winter for the slick promoters who in recent years have been peddling desert wasteland to innocent citizens who think they're buy ing a lovely homesite in the scenic West on the installment plan. Usually this is the peak of the season, with winter's chilly blast roaring down the chim ney, for the promoters to flood the mails with literature por traying inexpensive sunny home sites, sometimes pictured near non-existent lakes. There may never be an end to variations on thes promotional venture, but 1963 should go down as the year the government cracked the desert land frauds. 14 Indictments Returned Since last February, when the first indictment was return ed in a desert land speculation scheme, the Justice Depart ment's investigation of this rack et has resulted in grand juries returning indictments in 14 cases in a dozen slates Ari zona, New Mexico, Georgia, Vermont, Kansas, Idaho, Ne vada, Texas, Colorado, Missouri and Oregon. As of now the government is batting a thousand. It has gain ed convictions in all three of the cases which have gone to trial. The most recent conviction was last week at Pendleton, Ore., where a jury found three men guilty of using deceptive advertising to swindle buyers of one-acre lots in what they called Lake Valley located in Harney County, one of Oregon's most remote and arid areas. Lake Valley's Los Angeles and Chi cago promoters had sent out brochures describing the area as a fertile paradise ringed with mountains and lakes. The convictions in the other two completed cases were se cured earlier in Idaho and Ne vada. Cases in other states have yet to go to trial. Usually the pattern which de velped in the Oregon case by the same. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, in announc ing the first indictment of three Florida men connected with an Arizona promotion, observed that the big increase in mail order sales of real estate sight unseen has been aimed especial ly at aging couples planning re tirement. "Advertising for such fradu lent sales has played on these retirement hopes, on the prom ise of the West, and on the lure of easy credit such as a dol lar down and $10 a month," said Kennedy. In the Arizona case, the pro moters obtained 17 sections of desert range land, subdivided them into lots, called them the Lake Mead Rancheros, and ad vertised them as "liveable now" and "developed," the Justice Department pointed out. The government said this come-on fraudently suggested SS CHRISTMAS NIGHT 4 Apostolic. Faith Church 3rd and Central The Rev. Loyce C. Carver, Pastor Christmas Music -7:50 P.M. 40-Piece Orchestra "March of the Three Kings" 60-Voice Choir "Modern Christmas Choir" Christmas Message FOR YOUR LAST MINUTE SHOPPING that drinking water, power lines, telephone .circuits and other community conveniences were at hand for ready service to each lot. Money Mailed Over 3,000 citizens living in a dozen states and Washington, D. C, bit on this case. They mailed their money to an ad dress in Kingman, Ariz., pre sumed to be near the property. The indictment said this was part of the fraud, for the mail was forwarded unopened to their offices in Miami and Hollywood, Fla. Florida's reputation among would-be property buyers living elsewhere was once tarnished by the promoters who sold swamp land with the same sort of misleading salesmanship. The Justice Department's suc cessful crackdown on desert land swindling will protect the good name of the Western states to which many Midwest and Eastern citizens have been mi grating in recent years. Four Killed in Rectory Robbery OTTAWA (UPI) Parishion ers bowed their heads in prayer near the end of the noon Mass at the little church of Christ the King on the quiet last Sunday before Christmas. Then a loud knock on the door behind the altar heralded the beginning of a drama of horror that was to end with four persons fatally shot in the par ish rectory a few yards away. Canadian Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Lionel Chevrier, a member of the Roman Catholic parish, was among the 350 worshipers who saw and heard the events un fold. Two women and a man were shot to death Sunday in an abortive robbery of the rectory in the heart of this Canadian capital city. Then one of two brothers, the suspected gunmen, killed himself in panic as police closed in The other brother surrendered and was charged with murder. Victims of the shooting were Miss Alberte Guindon, 45, the rectory housekeeper; Miss Do ralise Bechard, who lived with a sister in an apartment in the rectory building, and Paul Mer cier, a parishioner. Roger Bi- nette, 21, shot himself in the head with an automatic pistol when police with machine guns closed in. His brother Reginald, 17, gave up when he crawled onto a third-story fire escap and fouiffl police guns bristling below. Man Sentenced Again For 1962 Slaying PORTLAND (UPI) -George Jones, 37, today was sentenced to life imprisonment for a sec ond time for a 1962 slaying. Jones was convicted last week of second degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Robert Bow man, 33, in a local cafe. He had been convicted and sentenced to a life term earlier but the State Supreme Court or dered a new trial. SHOP ALL 3 FLOORS at GIFTS FOR EVERYONE! OPEN MONDAY NIGHT UNTIL 9:00 P.M. "The Stor of Thousand Thoughtful Gifts" They'll Do It Every At the football qame the loud speaker PAGES SOMEONE ONLY WHEN ITS VERY IMPORTANT KJ PR. EPSOM- A I-""" -SJ kw-. "."-hS-.". VVT" ' $' DR. EPSOM MWWOSASLVV rf. STOPAT THE DEL' THE METRIC SYSTEM WHAT IT IS (This is the first in a series of three columns) Say you weigh 125 pounds, and measure 36-24-36. What if mately 57, your height 1.63 and 91-61-917 This is not pre-Christmas nonsense. For what I've done above is simply translate our familiar English pounds, feet and inches into their equivalent metric weight and measures kil ograms, meters and centimeters. Impressive evidence is piling up that we finally are mov ing toward adoption of the Metric System for weights and measurements the "international language" of science and trade used in 88 countries, including 90 per cent of the world's population today. Item: A "Metric Study Bill" is slated to be introduced in the next session of Congress to lay the basis for conversion here to the Metric System over the next generation. Chances for passage of the bill, which would call for an exhaustive study of the feasibility and problems of the changeover by the National Bureau of Standards, are considered the best in years. Item: This Saturday, Dec. 28, in Cleveland, the Metric Association, a non-profit organization headquartered in Wash ington, will hold its annual meeting in connection with the con vention of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Sci ence. Leaders of science, education and industry at this meet ing will pusl: for conversion as soon as feasible. Item: Editorials are now appearing in record numbers in the nation's most influential scientific and trade journals urg ing a changeover to meet the demands of space-age indus tries and to bring our measurement system into conformity with the most of the rest of the world. "Never before has there been such tremendous pressure to convert to the Metric System," says Democratic Congress man George Miller of California, chairman of the House Com mittee on Science and Astronautics and sponsor of the Metric Study bill. Miller expects that the study will be completed by 1967, that it will recommend conversion and ,"that we could be actually converting before the end of this decade." What is the Metric System? It is a beautifully simple system of weights and measure ment, invented by the French at the close of the 18lh century, which educators say could be mastered by most of us in less than an hour. It divides all weights, distances and volumes into neat units of 10, 100 and 1,000. There are only three units involved the gram, (lie meter and (he liter, tn measure weight, length and volume. For weight, (here is (he grum and (here arc 1,000 grams in a kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). For length, (here is (lie meter and (here are 1,000 meters in a kilometer (about half a mile). For volume, (here is (he liter (which is about a quart) and there arc 1,000 liters in a kilolitcr. In addition, there arc such measures as the millimeter, the milligram, the centimeter, hut the entire system is in those neat units and there is no such nonsense as 5,280 feet in a mile or 12 inches in a foot or 86 15tit quarts in a barrel of cranberries but 105 "dry quarts" (whatever they arc) in most other barrels of fruit. In contrast, our system Is, as the Science News Letter puts it, a "tangled spaghetti of systems," an ordeal for young and old. Aside from feel and inches, we all must learn there are 160 rods in an acre, 640 acres in a square mile, four gills in a pint, 32 quarts in a bushel, 144 square inches in a square foot. How many do you still remember? If you are an engineer, a surveyor or a scientist, you also must deal with links and chains, drams and minims, short and long tons, points and perches, grains and scruples. You must know the difference between statute and nautical miles, Troy and avoirdupois ounces and you must not forget that a pound of feathers does NOT weigh the same as a pound of gold. Against the Metric System's three units, there are more than 80 units in "common use" in our country today. Ours is a tortuously complicated, monstrously mixed up system in a world in which trade and exchange of scientific information demand simplicity and uniformity. Next: What a changeover would mean In you. fir Time So THE GOOD DOCTOR C-ETS TO SAID OFFICE TO FIND THERE'S A PHONE CALL AWAITING HIM Your Money's Worth By SYLVIA PORTER Cpylik, Hall Syndicate, Inc. are five feet, four inches tall your weignl became approxi- your measurements hold fast Bulgaria To Try Official as Spy VIENNA (UPI) Commu nist Bulgaria will try a former official in ils U.N. mission this week on charges of spying for the United States. It accuses Ivan-Assen Gcorgicv of receiv ing $200,000 for his espionage work and spending much of it on women and immoral living. The 56-year-old Georgiev, in ternational lawyer and former counsellor to Ihe Bulgarian mis sion to the United Nations, is charged with delivering Bulgar ian political , economic, and military information to the "American intelligence service." The charges were announced Saturday night by the Bulgar ian Telegraph Agency (BTA) which said Georgiev's trial would be held Thursday. Portland Florist Taken by Death PORTLAND (UPI) Funeral will be held Tuesday for Hans Niklas, a prominent Portland florist. Niklas, 72. died at a hospital Jicrc Saturday. MEDPORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON By Jimmy Hatlo Paul Robeson Ends Sell Exile NEW YORK (UPD-Contro-vcrsial Negro singer Paul Rob eson, 47, ended his self-imposed five-year exile Sunday and flew back to the United States. The former All-America foot ball player, associated in the past with Communist front movements, arrived at Kennedy Airport here looking consider ably thinner than when he left in 1958. He has been suffering from a corculatory ailment and received medical treatment in East Berlin and London. The 65-year-old Robeson re mained relatively quiet, prefer ring to let his wife do the talk ing. Questioned about reports that Robeson had become disillu sioned with Communism, the singer's wife, Eslanda, told newsmen, "that's stupid. Of course he is not. He never was. He thinks its terrific." "He's always thought that way and he always will," Mrs. Robeson said. Robeson, who has been in re tirement since before his ill ness, appeared reluctant to talk. "I may have something to say later," he told newsmen. Dennis the Menace rH3 ' We better tell Santa Claus to ASK0 FOP. 1 JUST fCUSO ONE ON TRY ACME LOWEST PRICES BEST QUALITY OPEN TONIGHT Until 9 p.m. GIFT WRAPPING Widest Selections for all the family SPtCIAllSTS TENTH AND CENTRAL The Family Council Kdttor's no': The Family Council conilsti of a Jude, .. CfiycHntrist, ihree clergymen, three editors and a women's editor, tarn ft-Ucle is a summary i! a family disagreement presented to the rounci.. Lie Council deals with problems, major and minor, encuntcrftd ov guidance counselors and nodal workers. Edited hv Mrs. Alma Denny. (Copyright b Victor R. I want my fim ily to stay out of this. Kenneth K. He's like putty in that woman's hands. Victor R. My wife and I have a few differences of opin ion, but I haven't given up hope of working out a compromise. Right now she's vacationing in Florida alone because I balked at the expense of us both going there. I preferred Atlantic City. My brothers and sisters are hor rified and want to give Jane a piece of their mind. I know they mean well, have my interest at heart, but this is between us two. Kenneth R. He's mar ried to a monster. After 3 years of hell, he should admit it and get rid of her. Already he's had one breakdown, during which she visited him even less than Doomed Child's Father Offers To Share Toys BOWLING, GREEN, S. C. (UPI) The father of Vicki Wray, a 2-year-old threatened with the loss of her remaining eye by cancer, is a $50-a-week millhand but he wants to share the countless toys donated to Vicki with "other underprivil eged children." Robert Wray, 39, who has eight other children, has asked the Salvation Army to distribute the excess playthings "to share the happiness of Christmas." Unknown friends across the nation donated the toys and more than $5,000 to Vicki, af flicted with retinal blastoma, a form of cancer that took her right eye last July. j ncar'by clover is in charge of State Ren. Bate Harvey of a lund to help raise money for an operation lor Vicki. The sur gery was to nave Dcen per formed at Duke Medical Hospi tal at Durham, N.C., last week, but specialists postponed the operation because it was not immediately necsssary. Harvcv said Vicki has re-1 ceived more than 300 cards and letters, one from two Charlotte, N.C., boys who enclosed 11 cents each. They told Vicki they wanted to share in her Christ mas celebration. fomn 'boot the train set i THE TOP SHELF IN fJAOS 006ET ' FIRST... Your QUALITY AT LOWEST PRICES IN HOMtWARtS! PHONE 772-5201 Qeneial Featuret florp.) casual friends did. A woman like that can drive a man to ruin. If Vic won't make a move to save himself, shouldn't we, his family? She's made it clear she doesn't want him, his love, his children, only his money! The Council: Alas, Ken neth, there are many ways of destroying oneself and an in curably miserable marriage is one. Here, according to you, Victor is destroying his life, while his wife is enjoying hers. And you want to apply brakes to his tailspin and her merry whirl. As an "outsider," that is, outside the marriage, there's not much you can do. Like us, you can only try to get Victor to confront reality. Does he see Jane as you do, as selfish, grasping, cruel? Or does he sec retly blame himself for "cheat ing" her in some way, for being unworthy, and, masochistically, accepts her browbeating? Inter fering at this time, against his will, might make him feel even more pity for Jane. You'd have them joined against you. Only Victor's own instinct for self preservation can chart his course with Jane. If he asks, you can help. If he doesn't, it means he feels he can handle things himself, or else, he just doesn't care. When he admits that call a doctor! 4-H NEWS The Kandy Kids Officers were elected by Ihe Kandy Kids 4-H Club at their last meeting. They are Myrna Long, president; Darlene Thompson, vice president; Carol Foote, secretary; Shirley Roach, news reporter; and jun ior leader, Donna Bailey. Plans to take cookies to an old folks home were discussed and the members agreed to carry out this project. The program for the year will j be made out by the president, I and junior leader and the club leader. Each member brought a cen ter piece to the meeting to be exhibited and discussed. Shirley Roach, i Reporter Lake Creek Wranglers The Lake Creek Wranglers 4-H Beef Club elected olficers at the December meeting, held at the home of Bob Fisher They arc Laura Mae Noble president; Willard Walch, vice president; uicryl Stanley, sec- rotary; Bob Armitagc, reporter, and Nancy Stanley, song and game leader. The next meeting will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Armitoge al 7:30 p.m Jan. 21. Bob Armitagc, Reporter r JOHN F. KENNEDY 35th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES May 29, 191 7 -November 22, 1963 Al the conclusion of the official 30-day period of mourning for our martyred President, we believe it is proper that we make this final formal Iribule. The outpouring of sympathy, prayers and understanding that has followed the presidenl's death is likewise a tribute to the nation. The British statesman Gladstone said il well: "Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of the people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyally lo high ideals." PERL FUNERAL HOME Corner Sixth and Oakdale MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1063 Belle Probably Won't Leave Jail PITTSBURGH (UPI) -Lack of $60,000 bond was expected to keep ex-financier Earl Belle in the Allegheny County jail for the time being on 50 counts of fraud and conspiracy. Belle, who ended a 514 year self-imposed exile in Brazil a week ago when he arrived in New York, was brought back to Pittsburgh Thursday to face federal charges growing out of stock manipulations. Belle's attorney, Louis Glasso said Friday he would continue attempts to raise bond money and would try to have the bond reduced Monday. Glasso also explained that $3,000 found in a coat taken to Belle by his father, Julius Belle had been earmarked for the care of the suspect's children. The attorney said the cash was the remainder of $4,000 the elder Belle had taken to Brazil j recently 10 use lor me care ol his son's two children. Jail guard discovered the cash when Belle brought clothes to his son at the jail. Belle, 31, also faces federal charges in New Jersey growing out of the collapse of his paper financial empire. State Assessors To Convene At Albany ALBANY (UPI) - The West ern Oregon Assessors' Associa tion will hold its valuation con ference here Jan., 14-16, it has been announced by Linn County Assessor Al Brown, president of the organization. Speakers will include mem bers of the Oregon Tax Com mission and the assessors' asso ciation. Steve Yih, general man ager of Wah Chang Corp., will describe Albany's metallurgical industry in an opening-day talk. Because of recent tragedy in family and illness, we take this means 1o thank all our friends, known and unknown, for the beautiful flowers and cards and wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God's blessings be with you. Dr. IN MEMORIAM A ,, -A A 5 Suit Filed Against Balloon Bread Law r PORTLAND (UPI) -A suit asking that the ballon bread law passed by the 1963 legisla ture be declared unconstitutional has been filed in Circuit Court here. The Davidson Baking Co. of Portland took the action against the Oregon Department of Ag riculture and its director, J.F. Short. The company also asked for a temporary injunction restrain ing the department from enforc ing the law. The law, which requires that ' bread labels contain the mini mum weight and weight size of loaves, is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. The department reported that most bakeries already have sub mitted their new labels for ap proval. mm mm IS and Mrs. Joueft P. Bray m I 0
