.irnnAVNOVEMBER 21, 1953
HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON
PAGE FIFTEEN
Sanest Prisoner in Ore.
n mA Ikefu Citizen
BTiQ"
ii VL'L W. HARVEY JR.
A, , Clarence Johnson,
history, is o' ' "
Ibis nian,
who tried to kill one
' . ition hruiallv mur-
,man aim - -
another, is tne suoj.i. ui .
i-t"1 . , ahrtiit. how the
orst type oi cnm"'i v-
f.-oi man for
fime shioe 1810 he owes
Ln. to ex-Oov. Charles A.
....i Tnlmcnn nCVef CaUS-
66 years old, Johnson is
and is a free citizen
rking
Lyte-nnirea -
Sv PaulL. Patterson has given
a full commutation of sen
f meaning he's paid his debt
.mhnson for 16 years.
' how he became a responsible
'a "a I, he did t with his
" " ... reformed
pnunnrre!,. nv w-"
Lelornted himself.
Lets so 0"i;it r
.wwn'in a San Francisco
SF, shop. J"son had a com-
tft a. 1M6. he found her
"another 'man, so he shot her
neck. Off to San Quentin he
Z to serve live years for assault,
ih intent to kill. .
S,e little white-haired Portland
,dv who was active In the prison
.. Welfare Association, was Mrs.
LL freeman. 57. Mrs. Free-
tan got Johnson a parole, and he
10 roil""" w "
Army Brass Gleeful Over
Turkey Dinner, As Usual,
But Personnel All Bitter
,inie
Johnson soon h"u iU"'"B
.,n,i ith a woman of shady
iharacter, or of virtually no char
ter at all.
tr vreeman objected. Johnson,
earing Mrs. Freeman would have
i m returned 10 &an iueinm
parole violator, bludgeoned Mrs.
freeman with a piece of gas pipe
in Atijr. 15, 1919. The result was
, life sentence for murder,
nmintr his first two years in
Lcnn. Johnson sbent most of his
iime m tne duu pen ior repeat.
fiolations of prison rules. He
hreatened to kill the warden.
The prison jrecord says Johnson
'was one of the toughest men ever
received here."
Suddenly. in 1921 Johnson
changed. He decided to be a good
boy. He never misbehaved after
that.
There was a riot in 1925. John
son, by then a trusty caring for
the prison lawn, seized the prison
arsenal, thus denying guns to the
rioters. Prison officials said that
if it hadn't been for Johnson's
brave act, the riot would have
turned into a blood bath with many
killed. .
As a trusty, Johnson, at various
limes, ran the bakery, operated
the prison store, ran the green
house, and was general assistant
around the administration building.
On July 1, 1940, despite the
doubts of many skeptics. ex-Gov.
Sprague released hiin with a con
ditional pardon. Johnson would
have to report to the parole board
regularly. .
He had to go bnck to San Quen
tin for three months to( clear up
the old sentence.
Then he went to work at Portland
steel company, whicli was begin
ning to build Navy ships. Soon he
was loreman oi a large Depart
ment. He came to see Sprague and me
often, proudly showing us two
books his savings account book,
and the book listing his war bond
purchases.
- By the end of the war, he had
several thousand dollars.
Since the war, he has worked
mostly for clubs.
Two years ago, Johnson told me
It was his big wish to get a full
pardon or commutation, so he
could die a free man. He said he'd
like it for Christmas.
I wrote a column about him
then, but It was too late for the
governor to act ln time for that
Christmas.
But this Christmas, he'll be
free man. .
When his application for a full
commutation of sentence went to
Gov. Patterson, it' was supported
bv Sprague and the parole board,
Sprague, writing that Johnson
"has proven himself fully," said:
"I have noted with great satis
faction his successful adjustment
in society. He has held steady
jobs, has saved his money and has
kept out of trouble.1
Johnson worships Sprague, proud
By WILLIAM C. BARNARD. I
SEOUL Itt-The U. S. 8th Army
announced with apparent gusto this
week that the soldiers in Korea
would be "devouring more than 150
tons of turkey" on Thanksgiving
Day.
But the apparent gusto, it
seemed, was confined to the quar
termaster people. ,
Slowly the dread news spread
from the rear echelons right up to
where troops look out on the demil
itarized zone.
You could hear the wail in tent
ana ounur; "Oh no, not turkey
again anything, even boiled eel or
turnip greens."
What was the story behind this
uprising against the turkey.
Tills puzzled reporter went out
to investigate.
"Why couldn't it have been
steak?" asked a captain. He was
an oovious beef eater.
"Chances are 3 to 5 wed have
got turkey whether it was Thanks
giving or not." said a private.
"Back home." moaned another
enlisted man, "we ate turkey about
three times a year instead of three
times a week, and I could enjoy
it."
That was it. The Army suffered
irom a glut of turkey. How come?
A lieutenant colonel wasn't sure.
But he told how it was late in the
war.
The colonel recalled with fine
nausea those last harrowing days-
two weeks wnen the from-une sol
diers had turkey every other day.
"It was a ration foulup," he de
clared. ' and it did us a lot more
harm than the enemy did."
So the situation is normal all
fowled up. Turkey on the menu
twice a week with hot turkey sand
wiches and turkey salad in be
tween.
A mess sergeant told me he be
came so depressed he took to
strong drink. He wanted to put up
a sign on tne mess nan door:
Caution: Turkey Today." His ma
jor talked him out of it.
It isn't just the repetition that
has the U.S. 8th Army down on
turkey. The cause lies deeper than
that in the deep freeze where the
turkey is kept, the colonel said.
"Maybe the turkey just comes
too damned far and for too damned
lone." the colonel said.
"Somewhere out on the ocean it
loses all its flavor and arrives on
I my plate tasting like a roasted
plastic pocket comb with sage
I dressing."
New Medical Machine Has
Vast Potential in Field
HOUSTON. Tex. WPj A new med-'
ical machine developed here can
record a heart beat at the same
time it checks the amount of oxy
gen in your lungs and body cells.
. Simultaneously an it checks and
records nine body functions, it can
detect brain complications and tell
a doctor whether his patient needs
artificial respiration. Its develop
ment was a community project
here.
First visualized by the .staffs of
the Southwestern Polio Respira
tory Center and Baylor Univer
sity's College of Medicine, the
physiograph was put into practi
cal application by Dr. Leslie
Geddes. A team of physiologists,
clinical men, physicists and medi
cal technicians combined ideas for
Geddes.
Yesterday, at a reception where
the device was unveiled. Dr. Will
iam S. Spencer, director of the
respiratory center, said:
"This is an effort to begin
whole flock of body function stud
ies at one time, moment by mo
ment studies because the disease
may change the way a body re'
acts moment by moment.
Other researchers said the ma
chine can detect when a patient
needs drugs to support a lagging
heart. It is expected, they said,
to be a key detector in diseases
of the heart, lungs, and respira
tory system and in brain compli
cations or injuries.
that he never let Sprague down.
And Sprague is proud of Johnson,
too, for proving the skeptics were
wrong.
FANS
LONDON W) London's Ira.is-
ndrt authority is going to install a
series of huge fans to cool off its
hoi tunnels, The average under
ground temperature, it said Friday
has risen 22 degrees in. the last
40 years.
5 ft V
'.f ft'
0 00
For this we give thanks!
vor husbtmds'tmd sons safety home.
For the end of day racked with loneliness and fear. For
the silence of tbe gum in the Korean hiUs.
Bat let remember that just to be thankful or peace has
never been enough to keep peace. It can only be preserved
by a com Hi y that is strong and secure.
That takes will and work and saving, by ail of us.
Only if each one of us saves for his own family security can
we have the national security which provides the power for
peace!
Maybe saving hasn't been easy for you, but you will find
that you can save and easily, too by investing in U. S.
Savings Bonds through the Payroll Savings Plan where you
work. Ask any friends now on this Savings Plan. They'll tell
you that you never miss the money because it is saved for
yon, before yon get your salary!
You can save as little as a couple of dollars a payday.
Or as much as you choose. Sooner than you expect, youll
have a comfortable nest egg in Bonds. Protecting your fam
ily, protecting your country. Helping guarantee that there II
still be peace on Thanksgiving Day, 1954.
Before another day slips by, why don't you sign at work for
the Payroll Savings Plan? Or, if you're self-employed, start
in the automatic Bond-A-Month Plan, where you bank.
How you can reach your savings goal
on the systematic Payroll Savings Plan
$5,000 $10,000 $25,000 1
Eoch week for
9 yeors and
BrW,.h..oy.... .B0 $18.75 $45.00
Eoch week tor
1 9 years and
8morthi,ay... . $3.75 1 ,$7.50 $18.75
This chart shows only few typical examples of savings goals snd )
how to reach them through Payroll Savings. You can save any
sum you wish, from a couple of dollars a payday up to as much as
you want. The important thing is, stei-tyour Plan today! ...
' TV 17. 8. Ommtimnt ion not pay far lajt aAmvmt. TV Trmwary Department Aoaaj, hr sUs
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