“Vernonia, Gateway to Nehalem Valley Lumbering, \&,,rling, Recreation.”
VERNONIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON
VOLUME 24, NUMBER 30
Interruption
Of Service to
End This Week
Business District
Wiring Undergoing
Change by Co-op
Practically all, if not all, elec­
tric service interruptions in the
Vernonia business section will
end this week Frank D. Seelye,
West Oregon Electric manager,
said Tuesday. Servjce stops have
been necessary in order to carry
out the rebuilding of lines and
installation of new poles in this
area, but the interruptions will
result in better and more reliable
service for the town than has
been true for many years.
The new poles are confined to
one side of the street only, are
considerably higher than the old
poles and will be used both for
the Cooperative lines and wire
for the "West Coast Telephone
company.
By utilizing the poles for both
concerns the elimination of a good
deal of the maze of wires will
be possible as also will the volume
of radio interference. Until the
new street light units are ob­
tained and installed it is likely
that Bridge street will be darker
at night than usual because sup­
ports for the present lights will
not be available.
Renewed effort toward collect­
ing the balance of the fund need­
ed for new street light units was
in evidence early this week. Con­
tacts of business houses which
have yet to contribute to the
fund were being carried out by
the committee headed by Cleve
Robertson.
City officials have
been informed by Attorney R. M.
Burley that it is lawful to divide
the payment into three yearly in­
stalments of $10 each.
Those
firms which wish to do so may
make the payment as part of the
city occupation license. How­
ever, as yet no definite action
has been taken by the city to levy
the assessment in that manner.
•
Boosters to
Meet Monday
At a meeting of the Vernonia
Booster club board of directors
Monday night tjie decision to meet
on the coming Monday evening
was suggested, adopted and pre­
liminary plans arranged.
A somewhat different procedure
than usual was decided upon in
that the members are asked to
gather at the Vernonia Country
club at 8 o'clock for the meeting
to enjoy a light lunch afterwards.
A future program of activity
for the club and suggestions for
ways to boost Vernonia will be
the meeting’s topic, President Lou
Girod said.
COUNTY NEWS
Tree Feeding
Experiment
Being Tried
Speedier Growth
Sought From Tree
Farm Seedlings
Start ’em growing fast and
keep ’em growing fast. That’s the
slogan of the foresters for the
Columbia County Tree Farm and
they’re attempting to do just that.
To back up that slogan they
have started experiments in feed­
ing the young seedlings the neces­
sary plant foods.
They have
staked out 100 seedlings in an
area which was plowed and plant­
ed last winter. By applying vari-
out commercial plant foods in
certain amounts to every other
seedling, they hope to find the
one combination which will give
the treated plants the greatest
additional growth per tree over
trees getting no extra nourish­
ment.
As the experiment is now in its
early stages, no results can be
determined and made available
for publication. But if the ex­
periment gets resulas, Columbia
farm foresters will have the an­
swer on how to grow trees fast
—and maybe even faster!
•
FAIRGROUNDS DRESSED
UP AS DATE NEARS
ST. HELENS—Now in the pro­
cess of coming out of “storage,”
Columbia county’s first fair since
1941 when war with Japan and
Germany were only months away
gives promise of be'ng one of the
best in more than 30 years
that the annual shows have been
presented. Ralph Langdon, Scap­
poose, secretary of the county fair
board,-said last week that prepar­
ations for the fair are progressing
rapidly.
BEAN HARVEST STARTS
200 PICKERS SOUGHT
SCAPPOOSE—Harvest of the
considerble acreage of beans in
the Scappoose dike lands got un­
der way last week and a call
went out for 200 pickers. Those
desiring work in the harvest can
either reg ster at the farm labor
A practice judging tour occu­
office in the county agent’s rooms pied the time of members of the
in the courthouse or can catch the Vernonia 4-H Livestock club last
bus which will haul workers to Friday when the club and its
the fields each morning.
leader, Mrs. Byron Kirkbride, and
Pay for pickers this year has County Agent George Nelson
been set at 2l£c per pound and visited the Albert Schmidlin farm
the harvest of the present crop and the G. C. Kirkbride feed lots.
will take about three weeks. Pole
Dairy cattle were judged at
beans will be ready for harvest the Schmidlin farm and swine at
later.
the latter place.
Work of harvesting the pea
Making the tour were Mr. and
crop has been virtually completed, Mrs. Ed Siedelman and daughter
but haying is now in full swing, and son, Pearl Siedelman, Marga­
thanks to arrival of warm weath­ ret Buckley, Melvin and Ronnie
er. Hay hands are still needed, Beck, Mrs. Jim Moran and son,
w th pay set at $1 per hour in Harold Schmidlin, Jerry Oakes
most cases.
and Mrs.. Kirkbride and oldest
A call went out last week for daughter and son.
cucumber pickers for the harvest
Members of the club who wish
which will begin about August 1 will enter 4-H judging competi­
in the Scappoose district and last tion at the county fair, Mrs. Kirk­
Two new neon signs which ^dd through the fall months until the bride said.
much to the appearance of Bridge first killing frost.
•
street, both during the day and
Mexican labor, depended on for
at night, were installed on two much of the harvest work during
business places Tuesday by the the war years, will not be avail­
Columbia Neon Sign company of able in any quantity this year.
CONSERVATION WORK
Portland.
Getting the improvements were RISE SHOWN HERE
ST. HELENS—Columbia coun­
Bush Furniture store and Whities
Harry Junken and his son, Ar­
tavern. The latter was formerly ty farmers are beginning to real­ thur, are busy building the third
known as the Vernonia Billiards. ize more every year the need for pulpwood mill at the Vernonia
The signs are another step to­ more soil and water conservation Welding shop Mr. Junken an­
wards the improved appearance practices..
nounced last week.
The first
A tabulation of intended con­ mill constructed earlier this year
of Bridge street.
servation practices on the 520 was purchased by R. H. Meyer
•
farms signed in the 1946 AAA and is working steadily. Capacity
program reveals that farmers are for that mill is between 50 and
planning to do conservation prac­ 60 cords a week.
tices amounting to much more
As the previous units were built,
on approximately tha same acre­ so this mill will be of all metal
age as in 1945. For instance, in design for the quick and easy
New officers to serve for the 1945 the intended amount of lime sawing of pulp logs into eight-
coming year began their work was 1200 tons, and in 1946 farm­ foot lengths.
Thursday evening, July 11, the ers have shown intentions of ap­
The mill now being assembled
first July meeting of IWA Local plying 2000 tons. Figures show will use a 52-inch saw, a little
5-37. The new officials received that 600 pounds more pasture larger than those made before.
their obligation June 27 from Dis­ grass seed is intended this year, Some delay has been experienced
trict Council President Harvey bringing the total intentions up to in obtaining needed materials for
about 80,000 pounds for the coun­ the work, Mr. Junken said.
Nelson.*
The officers are: John Gritdahl, ty.
Drainage ditches, another
president; Albert Tandy, vice- large item under the conserva­
president; Pete Weidekehr, war­ tion program, have more than
den; Henry Ade, conductor; John doubled since last year. Farmers
Elder, business agent and finan­ this year are planning to dig
cial secretary, and Bill Lindley, 1,698,000 feet, compared with
800,000 feet in 1945.
trustee.
New opening hours for the Ver­
nonia Auto company are announced
this week by Edw. Salomonsen
who is making arrangements for
The saplings of today will build
keeping the garage open to cus­
tomers 15 hours a day from 7.00
the homes of tomorrow. Protect
a.m. to 10:00 p.m. except Sun­
days. The new schedule becomes
our junior forests.
effective next Monday, July 29.
The change is being made to
accommodate truck owners, farm­
ers and the- motoring public by
providing service similar to that
offered before the war.
4-H Class Gets
Practice Judging
Neon Signs Are
Installed Tues.
Third Mill
Being Made
New Officers
Begin Duties
Longer Opening
Hours Planned
THURSDAY, JULY 25, J946
Rain Plaints
Bring Heat!
Apparently he who regulates
the weather tired of hearing peo­
ple complain about the rain . . ,
and the beautiful sunshine came.
At any rate the official maximum
temperature recordings for the
past week at the cooperative sta­
tion on Corey Hill are:
July 17—75 degrees;! 18th—82
degrees; 19th—90 degrees; 20th
—101 degrees; 21st—87 degrees;
22nd—87 degrees; 23rd—85 de­
grees. Cooperative Observer Helen
Spofford has checked her records
to find that this hot period is
the longest for many years for
this vicinity.
In downtown Vernonia, resi­
dents have reported thermometers
as registering from 108 degrees
to 115 degrees on, July 20. That
day is the warmest on record and
there was no breeze. Humidity
that day was listed at 21.
•'
'No Parking'
Action Taken
City councilmen met Monday
evening for the first time this
month to officially okeh July bills
and transact other pending busi­
ness. Previously scheduled meet­
ings were postponed due to diffi­
culty in obtaining a quorum of
members.
Definite action towards making
effective the recently-adopted or­
dinance concerning parking time
limits on Bridge street was ta­
ken.
The ordinance has been
adopted and is officially on the
books but it has been impossible
to obtain signs designating where
parking will be prohibited and
telling the time limits of parking
where it will be allowed.
When the ordinance was adopt­
ed the council intended to erect
metal signs, foregoing wooden
markers because they are less
durable.
However, later word
from the company which was to
supply the signs informed the
council that several months time
would elapse before they could
be obtained.
In order to start enforcing the
new rule, the council has or­
dered lumber for wood signs which
will be m««"ted on pipe. A
painter for the signs has also
been engaged.
Other action Monday was an
order for City Attorney R. M.
Burley to draft an ordinance reg­
ulating the movement of tractors
with lugs on city streets. Tractors
have been driven on the pavement
in the past and there has been
no regulation to prevent such ac­
tion.
The city governing body is
scheduled to meet again August
5th.
•
Heart Disease,
Cancer Top List
THIS IS the way the x-ray unit works. Only a moment is re­
quired to take each person’s picture and the test is free to every
person in this community who wishes to find out whether tuber­
culosis has a start. Determining whether tuberculosis has a start
before the disease has made any great headway is the best means
of warding off a long, expensive treatment and possible death.
The unit will be here for two days next week.
X-Ray Unit to Offer Free
Examinations Mon., Tnes.
Have your picture taken free
next Monday or Tuesday by the
mobile x-ray unit by making your
appointment with Mrs. Wilfred
Holce at the Vernonia bank build­
ing. That is the opportunity of­
fered local people next Monday
and Tuesday when the unit will
be in Vernonia.
The details of arranging for
the visit were made locally by
Mrs. Frank Hartwick and letters
have been sent out asking that
those who want the free examina­
tion for tuberculosis notify Mrs.
Wilfred Holce at the bank build­
ing. Mrs. Holce will in turn ar­
range a time for each individual
to visit the unit and notify that
individual when to appear.
The unit is capable of taking x-
rays at the rate of 50 an hour
and five people take care of the
work, Mrs. Hartwick said. The
Youth Killed in
Burglary Attempt
A 19-year-old youth was killed
by shots from a gun fired by
Kenneth White, owner of a hard­
ware store at Sweet Home, early
last Saturday morning.
Explanation of the shooting as
told to Deputy Coroner John Sum­
mers was that Mr. White was
awakened and went down an out­
side stairway, entered the store
and switched on a light He saw
a figure crouched in a corner and
when hands moved he opened fire.
Three bullet holes in the head
were the cause of death.
Mr. White formerly managed
the furniture store owned here
by Geo. G. Patterson of Forest
Grove before that store was sold
to the Bush Furniture and Fu­
neral Home.
•
HORSES RUN AWAY
A team of horses belonging to
J. R. Lee. jr. “ran away” Tues­
day evening about 6:30. The
horses broke loose on Rose avenue
and ran down Bridge street to
the Chat ’N Nibble cafe before
being stopped. The incident was
one that has not been seen here
in many years.
Diseases of the heart and can­
cer again top the list of ten lead­
ing causes of death in Oregon for
1945. The death rate per 100,-
000 population for heart disease
dropped from 296 to 287, while
that for cancer declined from
132 to 130.7.
Other leading causes for 1945
in order and respective rates are
intracranial lesions 101, nephritis
82.3, influenza and pneumonia
40.5, motor vehicle accidents 52.2,
diabetes 22.2, tuberculosis 22.2,
accidental falls 19.2, premature
births 17.3.
The 1945 figures indicate a no­
table drop in the rate for influ­
Another step to welcome visit­
enza and pneumonia deaths from ors to Oregon and at the same
54.6 to 40.5 which, Dr. Harold M. time urge safety practices in Ore­
Erickson, state health officer, gon forests was the dedication
comments, is attributable to the Tuesday morning at Rainier of
lesser incidence of “flu” in 1945 the Keep Oregon Green highway
than in 1944 and to improved signs which bear the caption “Wel­
methods of treatment, including come to Oregon.” The dedica­
greater use of penicillin.
tion speech was made by R. J.
The death rat« for motor ve­ Baldock, state highway engineer.
hicle accidents rose from 18.4 to
The signs, one of which is
25.2.
Suicides dropped entirely mounted on the south end of the
from ten leading causes of death. Longview bridge, is about eight
equipment will be located by the
high school gymnasium the same
as last year and will be operated
from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday, July
29th and from 8 a.m. to 12 noon
and 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, July
30.
Authorities on the subject of
chest x-rays urge that people
have the check-up again this year
even though an x-ray was taken
when the unit was here last year.
•
Tree Farming
Talked Tuesday
Tree farming as practiced on
the Columbia County Tree Farm
was the topic of a talk made
Tuesday evening by Farm Super­
visor Glen Hawkins when he spoke
to the Kiwanis clsb at Clatska­
nie.
The Columbia County Tree
Farm has already received wide­
spread publicity along with the
new relogging practice that re­
ceived its start in this vicinity
and has resulted in many de­
mands upon Mr. Hawkins to tell
about the work that is being car­
ried on.
Along with his talk were shown
picture slides which are a part of
the visual education program of
the West Coast Lumbermen’s as­
sociation. The slides dealt prin­
cipally with Keeping Oregon
Green.
•
Dedication of
Church Intended
The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints will be dedicat­
ed July 31 at 8 p.m., is the an­
nouncement made this week. The
service will be presided over by
President Bringhurst of the North­
western States Mission of Port­
land.
President Antonie R. Ivins of
the First Council of the Seven­
ties of Salt Lake City will be
the principal speaker and the pub­
lic is invited, the announcement
states further.
"Welcome to Oregon'
Signs Dedicated Tues.
by 10 feet in size of rustic con­
struction and mounted on logs in
keeping with the design. Along
with the "welcome” is a reminder
to keep Oregon green and point­
ers as to attractions in the state.
Similar signs will be placed at
principal entrances to the state.
Attending the ceremony from
here were Glen Hawkins, super­
visor of the Columbia County Tree
Farm and Frank 8ergeant of the
Pittsburg Guard station.