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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1946)
“Vernonia, Gateway to Nehalem Valley Lumbering, Berry Growing $746 COLLECTED Grade School Safety Meet FOR RED CROSS Board Offers Is Event for In Valley Is New Contracts Next Tuesday Monday Topic Milton Johnson, Geo. A. Nelsen To Speak On Coming Program The possibilities for raising berries in the Upper Nehalem valley and the kinds and fertility of the soil to be found here will be the topics of talks to be heard Monday evening at a Ver nonia Booster club meeting to whizh farmers of the valley are being invited. The program will be preceded by a dinner at 7 p.m. at the I.O.O.F. hall. Talking that evening will be Milton Johnson, assistant super intendent of Hudson-Duncan com pany, who will discuss the grow ing of berries, and County Agri cultural Agent George A. Nelson who has been asked to tell about the soil of the valley. Both men a e well qjalifed to present au thentic information that will prove valuable to residents cf this area. It is likely that Mr. Johnson will also discuss the new cannery and packing plant that his firm is constructing at Forest Grove. The Monday evening dinner is being prepared and will be served by Mt. Heart Rebekah club who are planning on one of the larg est crowds ever to attend a Booster club meeting. Anniversary Announced Pete Brunsman is annruncing an event this week for the cele bration of his first year in busi ness in Vernonia. Because of the event Mr. Brunsman tells of a special offering to his cus tomers elsewhere in this issue of The Eagle. Fluorescents Installed Flourescent lighting fixtures wer? installed Monday in the Hoffman Hardware company store to make another improve ment in that place of business The fixtures are of the four- tube diffused type and six of them were installed. Red Cross funds sent to Ben Coleman, Colutnbia county Red Cross chairman, this week amounted to $746.83, Mrs Harry Culbertson, local chairman, said Wednesday. Members of the Re- bekah lodge turned in $10 66 so licited at Girod’s Food store while the Pythian Sisters solicit ed $32.25 at the post office. So licitations from the business dis trict by Mrs. Lyman Hawken and Mrs. E. Greenwood totaled $233.50. IWA Local 5-37 has turned in $455.47 to the Red Cross as the amount received last fall during the war chest drive. Two-thirds of the amount collected at that time was given to the war chest while one-third was retained here until the time of this drive. Other organizations donating are the Pythian Sisters, $5.00; and the V.F.W. auxiliary, $10.00. The total amount collected so far is $1028.42. City vs. Summers To Be Heard Fri. The f'nal case this week for the circuit court at St. Helens will be the City of Vernonia vs. Robert Simmer;, an appeal frm the Recorder’s court here. The ca;s was first beard last sum mer here when the defendant w;as arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated. Glen R. Metzker is the attor ney for Summers and R. M. Bur ley will represent the city. Under terms of an order signed by Circuit Judge Howard K. Zimmerman, Everett L. Mer ritt was summoned to appear in the circuit court Monday of this week to show cause why he should not be arrested far con tempt of court for failure to com ply with another court order of Nov. 20. That order instructed Merritt to maintain a deposit of not less than $300 with the state industrial accident commission and was issued after that body had filed an action against Mer ritt Schroeder Points Out Danger of Fern Burning Ed Schroeder, district warden of the state denartment of for estry, points out the danger and lo-s that results from the burn ing of ferns at this season of the year in an article prepared a few days ago. Mr. Schroeder's article which follows is especi ally timely now with the possible decrease in winter rains. The time of the year is now here, when with a few days of clear weather accompanied with •wind, we can have our so calleJ fcin fires. During this period the dead herbaoous material from the past year or years will dry out sufficiently with a few days of sunshine so that a ground fire will spread over a large area in a short time. Fern fires in some cases are justified from the farmer or grazers point of view but are one of the most destructive types of fire known to the forester. The problem in this district is that there are no marked or ruturai hound-.>ies jrveen agricul • a! end timber la ids because of tbe’r intermingled condition. This con sequently results in a condition where fern fires that start on farm land spread into adjacent logged off timber land if rot properly controlled. The state department of for estry is not concerned with the fire while it is on farm or graz ing lends this time of the year, as long as it is confined to tho ownership upon which it is stag ed, but the i ¿joining timber land which in many cases is held by some absentee owner must be protected. The policy is not to interfere with the use of the in axion. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1946 VERNONIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON VOLUME 24, NUMBER 12 dividual’s property but *o use every precaution to p.otc*. the rdjoii.ing owner who may not wish to have' his land burned over. There are many arguments on the prose and cons of fern burning and this article does not intend to argue for or against with the exception of the practice on timber lands. On timber land a fern fire is cne of the most severe accidents or practices that can happen. Some of the rea sons why the forester eyes this type of fire with such a critical eye are as follows: 1. The fern fire, while it may be of low heat intensity, will kill all of the small seed lings which it contacts. • In most instances these small trees can not be observed as they are cov ered by dead ferns and other small plants or shrubs. 2. The fern fire damages the larger second growth and ma ture trees by scarring the trunks so that openings are made for de caying agencies. 3. Repeated fern fires remove the duff or the vegetative layer on top of the mineral «oil which tends to control the moisture and general reproductive condition of the site. 4. The fern fire tends to kill or retard the growth of small thin barked and hardwood spe cies which furnish shade so nec essary to the small coniferous species during the summer months. 5. Some people think that fern burning reduces the hazard on the area, but as a rule this (Continued on page 8) March 23-29 Set As Holiday Time For Teachers All teachers on the School Dis- tri:t 47 payroll were offered con tracts for the coming year at the last meeting of the board of di rectors for that district. This procedure, however, carries the stipulation that acceptance cf the contracts depends on whether the leathers wish to sign for another year and in some cases if the teachers can meet the state re quirements for certification. Offering cf contracts for the coming year is an annual pro cedure of the beard. In rder to maintain a sehed- lie of wages in keeping with other schools in the county, the hoard also granted a raise in .-al ary which will amount to 10 per cent. The board also set aside the last two days of the c-ming school week, March 28 and 29, as holidays so that the instructors may at'end the Oregon State Teachers a« ociation meeting in Portland. The two dates will also be a sp.ing holiday for stu dents- COUNTY NEWS BASEBALL CLUB IS ORGANIZED CLATSKANIE—At a meeting last Wednesday at the Clatskan'e I.O.O.F. hall Don Pillar was chosen manager of the Clatska nie ball club. A league is being formed and in the near future the list of teams and the playing schedule should be ready for publication. It is understood that the season will open some time in April. SURVEY SHOWS BUILDING DECREASE ST. HELENS — St. Helens was <he sole community in the state to show a decrease in building for 1945 as contrasted with 1944, the annual building survey by the Equitable Savings and Loan association in Port land shows. Total dollar volume in build ing for 1944 n the city was $94,100, while in 1945 the amount cf building here amount ed to but $38,800 which was second lowest in the past seven years. Low mark was set in 1943, when $19,695 worth of construction was done. RING COMMISSION NAMED BY COUNCIL RAINIER—Scheduling of a boxing meet at the American Legion hall Saturday, March 16, led to appointment of a new of ficial city group—a Rainier box ing commission, which is provid ed in the local municipality’s code of ordinances? Five men were named by the city council at its March meet ing to comprise the commission. city SCHOOL TEACHERS REHIRED ST. HELENS — With salary raises ranging from $100 to $200 per year, contracts were offered to all teachers in the four St. Helens public schools by the dis trict No. 2 board at its March meeting last Wednesday night. Printing out that the average elementary school salary here— $1851—was considerably under the state average—$2233—for first class districts, and that the high school averafU1 of $2553 was likewise lower than the state normal of $2495, Wallace McCrae, city school head, rec ommended that salary increase« be given. Speakers To Talk Accident Prevention; Color Films Planned A community safety meeting sponsored by the joint union management safety committee of Oregon-American Lumber corpor ation« will be held in the Wash ington grade school auditorium at 8:00 p.m., on Tuesday, March 26, 1946 The general public, as well as all employes cf all logging camps and sawmills in the vicinity, is in vited to th s meeting. There will be no charge for admission. Talks will be made by Dr. Chambers of Oregon State col lege, a well-known authority on the importance of mental atti tudes in accident prevention, and by Robert M. Evenden, director accident prevention divisi n of the State Industrial Accident cemm’ssion. Dr. Chambers is an intensely interesting speaker v.-hefm every person interested in accident prevention should hear. In addition to the talks, there will be one or mere films in color illustrât ng safe and unsafe methods cf work in logging and lumbering. The residents of this com munity who a e interested ,n safety—and all rendon s art— will find this twe-hour pr gram of talks and pictures interesting and informative. R. C. Auction Natal Event Natal Grange No. 302 wll hold its annual get-together and auction for the benefit of the Red Cross cn this coming Sun day, March 24, Grange officals announced this week. Luncheon will be served and will be fol lowed by the auction. Everyone is invited to attend and bring produce or other items suitable for the auction. All proceeds will go to the Red Cross. Justice Named Shell Manger A change in the management of the Shell Oil distributing plant here became effective Monday cf this week when Ray Justice as sumed that capacity, replacing Lloyd Wagner who has been man ager for several years. Mr. Justice began work for the plant before entering the service in which he served in the army air corps. He returned to work with the company after his dis charge. Mr. Wagner will go from here to Scappoose where he will open a Shell service station. He was manager here for four and one- half years. Game Group Plans Speaker The Nehalem Valley Rod and Gun club, which met last Friday evening, discussed the sports fish ing situation in this area and came to a decision to attempt an improvement in fishing for the valley. As a start in the direction of removing fishing nets from the mouths of coastal streams, a speaker for the evening of April 5 has been engaged to explain the procedure necessary. An nouncement of the ccming speech was made by Vice President W. G. Heath, who heads the club since the resignation of Jewett A. Bush. Time and place of the future meeting will be announced later. TIMBERLINE JUDGED 4TH The Timberline, Vernonia high school mimeographed bi-weekly news publication, was awarded fourth place in the 18th annual high sc'ncol press contest at Eu gene March 15. Papers of 72 high schools were entered. Pa pers were judged on the basis of the score sheet of th National Scholastic Pre s association and included a consideration of new values, news sources, news writ ing and editing, editorials and en tertaining matter, headlines and makeup. The Hi-L:t? of Scappoose high school won first in the bi-week ly mimeographed division and was awarded the Eric W. Allen cup. Mrs. Doris Lacey is the ad visor for the Vernonia high school students working on the publication. County Boards Asked to Meet Every school board member and clerk in Columbia esunty has been invited by Otto H. H. Petersen, county school super intendent. to attend a meeting at the Rainier high school March 27 at 7:30 p.m. Several topics will be discussed that evening Mr. Petersen menti ns. Includ ed are: Reoganication of the group which has not been active since the war and to elect officers; To discuss the retirement fund as pertaining to the 1946-47 ludget; To discuss house bill 80, which wiil be on the ballot next fall. Jerry S. Sayler, Portland, ex ecutive secretary, public em ployes retirement system will at tend to discuss the fund and E. H. Condit will explain hcu e bill 80. Material Big Line Difficulty The obtaining of material nec essary for the work is present ing the most difficult obstacle in preparing for line construction Frank D. Seelye, West Oregon cooperative manager, said this week. Of the material required, wire, insulators of all types and trans formers cannot be obtained for early delivery, most jobbers and manufacturers quoting delivery in from eight to 12 months. In or der to start the work as soon as possible, Mr. Seelye is new at tempting to obtain these items from government surplus. Reichwein to Aid With Field Work Edmvnd Reichwein of Port land began work here last Thurs day with the West Oregon Elec tric cooperative and will assist Frank D. Seelye, cooperative manager, with the field work of the organization. Mr. Reichwein has taken an apartment in the Chat ’N Nibblo cafe building and Mrs. Reichwein will move here within a short time. He is a former football and baseball star of Oregon State college. Musical Event Slated Mrs. Lulah Fullerton will be in charge of a musical program which is planned for Friday aft ernoon of this week at 1 o’clock at the Washington grade school. Participating in the program will be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade children and the kindergarten. Injury Causes Death Death resulted from an in- ury last Thursday when Chris Brooks, employe of the Columbia Logging company, was struck by a falling limb which fractured his skull. Funeral services were held Wednesday in Portland. Councilmen Hear Street Lighting Plan Engineers Present Plan for Modern Street Illumination Members of the city council and a large representation of men owning businesses on Bridge street heard two illumination en gineers propose a m-cdern street lighting plan and the costs Mon day evening at the second March meeting of the city officers. Pre sentation of the lighting plan was made at the request of Frank D. Seelye, West Oregon manager, in order that modern lighting may be installed when it is possible to rebuild the city electrical distribution system. The engineers presenting the information were K. W. Moore, representing Westinghou. e, and Sam Lee cf Graybar. As sug gested Monday, 14 fixtures would be needed to light Eridge street from Grant avenue to the highway corner at the Vernonia Service station and allow for one light in front of the city hall. The lights would be cf the mercury-vapor type giving double the illumination that would be received from an incandescent light of the same wattage.. The engineers suggested that the poles l>e spaced from 80 to 130 feet; apart and over one-half a foot candle was needed for the light tiaffic which was the basis used for the street. Cost cf the l’g'.its was placed at $170 per fixture which does not include laDor for installation. As suggested Monday evening, the city will pay part of the ex pense, the business firms on Bridge street a part and the West Oregon Electric a part. Mayor George Johnson suggest ed that the business men meet to determine the method cf laising their part of the expen e and appointed a committee of Cleva Robertson, J. A. Bush, Jr., Ly man Hawken and Marvin Kam- holz to arrange the meeting, the date for which has not yet been set. Chairman Clevc Rcbertson of the committee appointed by Mayor Johnson, a 1 s the busi ness f’rrr.s be represented at a meeting he has arranged for Friday night at 8 p.m. to discu-s finances for the lighting. The meeting will be held at the city hall. New Car Agency Announced Mon. George W. Johnson announced Monday of this week that he has obtained dealership rights for the Kaiser-Frazer automobiles which are being placed on the market. Mr. Johnson will be the agent for both of the Kaiser- Frazer firm’s cars, the Kaiser and the Frazer. A demonstrator is expected here for display May 1st. The Kaiser features a front-wheel drive and unit body-and-frame torsionetic springing, while the Frazer is said to be a full year ahead of the field in styling and engineering advances. Along with the car dealership, Mr. Johnson will also have the agency for Roto-ette and Roto- tiller, power gardening machines for the use of home gardeners and on small farms. Martha Well» Places Martha Wells, Vernonia high school student, placed fourth in the Willamette Speech confer ence held last Friday and Sat urday. Eight high school stu dents and their instructor, Mrs. Betty Jean Sherman, attended the conference Friday and Miss Wells entered final competition Saturday.