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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 1937)
VERNONIA EAGLE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 1937 VERNONIA, OREGON BETTY BRITE CIRCLE MEETS must be near the Rocky moun- other up and down and around ;; seemed _____ ; that ;; __ long, we —- one’s spinal column, and I was AT MRS. MALMSTEN’S tains, it came through into the most amaz- thinking flow rejuveniting and The Betty Brite circle met at ing picture of beauty. Above looked at myself to see if it was the home of Mrs. Franklin Malm- golden sunshine with a sky of so> and discovered what I thought sten Tuesday afternoon In the blue, below a carpet of white to l>e a touch of jaundice and absence of the president, Mrs. mounds, puffs and miniature liver spots, but was caused by Fred Lumm took charge. Visi mountains all made of whipped , the reflection of the plane’s sky tors were Mrs. Hazel Griffin and cream so it looked, and in the light, and that the spots were Miss Kathleen McCrae. distance I know I saw a castle. freckles. Remember “Jack and the bean I Sorry to Land JUNE WATTS ENTERTAINS salk?” Well I think it was the I was right down sorry when WITH SCAVENGER PARTY giant’s castle, and it gave one we started to drift toward the a glimpse into fairyland, for Miss June Watts entertained surely it was the second floor of airport, for I wanted to stay up a long, long time, but we kept at her home with a scavenger the fairies home. circling lower and lower, and hunt Tuesday evening, honoring It was so indescribably lovely the folks who have experienced Miss Grace Schurman of Beaver that the thrills just chased each difficulty with their tummy’s in ton. PAGE THREE landing have picked the wrong. is shining up above the clouds, pilot, because there was abso-j even when it looks dark down lutely no disturbance of any here below. o kind in the inner workings. So into my mental memory BENEFIT DANCE book goes this delightful, thril- SAT. AUG 14, 9 p.m. lig experience, and we will re member that if we ever become Deer Island Fair a parachute jumper we will make Grounds our jumps above the clouds, be- ' cause all you have to do is step Proceed* benefit new fair off to a carpet of exquisite j auditorium and St. Helen* white. We are going to turn swimming pool. the trend of thought in our 1 Music by ' small sons’ heads from being fu- ■ COLORADO WRANGLERS ture presidents to being avia Admission 50c Person. tors, and all oui lives we will know that somewhere the sun ■ EARTH BEING GETS SUPREME THRILL IN FIRST' FLIGHT By Faith Gyaham Lamm in the Keltonian Tribune Some of you earth beings, who have been married, vaccinat ed and the like, may think you have had all the thrills life has to offer but if you have not had a glimpse above the clouds, you have not made the acquaintance of the supreme thrill, and you certainly “ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” I have always stood in awe of airplanes, and promised myself I wouldn’t ever get into one, not unless I could keep one foot on the ground, but the fellow with a wooden leg is the only one who could accomplish that, and he could leave his on the ground. When Lawrence J. Sohler, in vited me to take a trip above the clouds some day, my inner self resisted plenty, but the out side person, who tries to be brave and modern, through a parched and swollen throat thanked him, and Saturday morning when it looked as if there was no end to the clouds he called and said it was a perfect day to go above, and could I go at once. Her Face Lifted One Mile Up Oh, I knew lots of other folks have flown, but as far as I am concerned I am the first, last and only person who has ever been, or ever will be, above the clouds. I got my face lifted a mile, 5280 feet. Mars has noth ing on me now. This marvel of the ages, man has invented cer tainly is fascination. Wonderful is it not, when one gives it a bit of thought. But wonderful or not, my knees were bending all directions when we walked to the plane from the car, with awe not fright at least that is my story and I'm sticking to it, and when Sohler said that magic word, “Contact” the Robin flew, and as we rose gracefully into the air it was the most delightful sensation one could hope to expedience. It just did not seem possible ,and still it was, and when you get your breath and your tongue back in place and look down, and see Mother Nature present ing her earth in a study of pat terns and prints, well you just simply cannot explain, you just have to see for yourself. All the words Mr. Webster and the modern generation have mun- ufactured could not begin to tell about it. We circled higher and higher until all at once we sailed through something absolutely white, a lacy fleecy cloud, and soon we were going through 1’00 feet of this ceiling of clouds, not being able to see one single things but Sohler’s nice hair cut. Whipped Cream Mountain« When we began to think we ♦ Motor Cruising for Fun ♦ W/iere Pete French Once Ruled a Range Empire, the Motorlog Party Visits a Haven of Refuge for Wild Birds One of the newly flooded area» of Malheur reserve it thown at left. Right, the famous old ‘P’ ranch house This newspaper is co-operating with the Oregon State Motor association and The Oregonian in presenting a series of motor cruises under the title, “Motor Cruising for Fun.” It is hoped thereby to stimulate travel in the Pacific northwest. The follow ing article has been condensed from a' full-page article appearing in The Oregonian on June 6. on his father’s ranch where that The next morning, escorted by town now stands, recalled for the Jean F. Branson of the United benefit of the members of the States biological survey and Merle travel party conditions in the early Jacobs, hunter for the biological days when literally ’’acres” of peli survey, we headed south for the cans, ducks, geese and other wild headquarters of the reserve 30 fowl made the Blitzen river and miles away, located not far from BY FRANK BARTON Malheur district their customary where the Blitzen river enters the Staff Writer, The Oregonian habitat. old Malheur lake bed, a group of Protruding from the waters of The touring party composed of attractive stone buildings con Malheur lake are a series of hay Charles A. Sprague, publisher of structed by the CCC. hummocks now alive with nesting) the Salem Statesman; Ben R. Lit- Upon <zur arrival we were told pelicans, gulls and other water-1 fin, publisher of The Dalles Chron about a spoonbill duck which was fowl. icle; Vinton Hall of the state mo nesting In tall grass not far from These unusual Islands, which tor association, and myself had an expanse of water a hundred have become colonies of wild life, spent the night at Ed Barnes' yards away. are the tops of haystacks left by Hotel Welcome in Burns after an We carefully uncovered the eggs the ranchers when the federal gov easy one-day trip from Portland and took a picture after which we ernment began flooding the region over excellent roads. We went by recovered them again. The old in its program to restore the lake way of The Dalles to pick up Ben, duck would never know the dif and the Blitzen river valley as a but cut off seven miles from the reg ference, according to John C. refuge for migratory birds. ular distance by taking the old Scharff, superintendent of the The haystacks are significant of Dufur road, so that the total dis refuge. the transition which is being made tance for the day's trip was only A trip by automobile through the in the district, once the proud cat 361 miles. refuge showed us the extensive tle empire of Pete French, founder of the famous P ranch. Quacking ducks and geese are replacing the bellowing beeves and men of the biological survey now rule a new kind of range where once French required a week's travel by buckboard to cover his almost feudal holdings. Yet as we of the travel party, | sponsored by The Oregonian and the Oregon State Motor associa tion, visited this huge r ct it! almost seemed that the original' owner of the P ranch rode again with his cowhands over the grassy valleys of Harney. Everywhere we' met with reminders of the man who has become a near legendary character in that district The government is constructing a series of dikes, and canals des tined. it is hoped, to make of the entire Blitzen valley a series of pools, marshes, hummocks and islands, ideal nesting places for the millions of migratory birds to be attracted to the region. The Mal heur lake is also to be restored to1 its original state if the cycle of, wet years, now expected, will only do their part and deposit sufficient moisture in the Blitzen water-bed.■ In carrying out this work a., at tempt is being made largely to re store conditions existing before French invaded the district in 1873 and bought up ths "marsh’* land of Blitzen valley at 11.25 an acre for himself and his partner, Dr. Hugh Glenn of Chico. Cal. Archie John C. Scharff, refuge superintendent, examinee a spoon McGowan of Burns, who was born bill dock’s nest. program which the government Is carrying out. Miles of dikes havs been constructed. Acres of water have been impounded. And tha Blitzen river, fed by snow from tha Steens mountains, is continually pouring in more water to do its part in giving the country back to the waterfowl. The project has been underway for about a year and a half and it is estimated that it will require an additional five years to com plete it Already eighteen ponds have been created in the 40-mlle- long Blitzen valley in addition to the series of canals for the control of the flow of water. A dam with spillways and gates has been built at the upper end of the valley, thereby making It possible to di rect the water into various chan nels. The dam is equipped with a fishway to provide easy passage of trout up or down stream. Ryegrass and grain to provido natural food for the birds is being planted in suitable places about ths refuge. The entire project has also been fenced. New fence totaling 178 miles was put around the lake and the 190 miles of fence around the old P ranch Is being rebuilt and reinforced. So far the government has made no effort to take a census of the bird population in the refuge. As the work progresses on the project this will be done. It Is estimated, however, that some 2000 Canada geese spent the winter on the refuge and that the number of ducks visiting the area run into the tens of thousands. Approximately 10,000 birds are banded each year at the refuge and some excellent data on migrations have been -ecorded as a result of this banding. Shore birds nesting in the area Include the long-billed curlew. Wil son's snipe, avocets. western Wil lets, Wilson’s phalaropes, kill deer, and spotted sandpiper. Other in-* teresting birds in the refuge, be sides those already mentioned, in clude black terns. Foresters' terns, California and ring-billed gulls, black-crowned and Treganza's blue herons, white-faced glossy ibises and various grebes. Significant of the return of white pelican to the district Scharff said, was the fact that there is a colony of about 200 of these inter esting birds on Malheur lake at the present time.
