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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1948)
Library, U of O Headlines Mark Top News of '48 “Vernonia, Gateway to Nehalem Valley Lumbering, Farming Recreation ” VOLUME 26, NUMBER 53 Gauge Lists 10-Degree Low Point Weather Observer Tallies Snowfall Totaling 13 Inches A low temperature reading of 10 degrees was recorded at the cooperative weather station De cember 27 by Mrs. Helen Spofford who makes the official weather readings for this vicinity. She issued her report of the weather Wednesday morning to cover the readings so far this month. The minimum of 10 ahov" zero was the coldest recorded during the recent period of freezing weather, she said. Th«re were several other days when the of ficial minimum reading was 12 degrees. Maximum reading was 46 de grees on December 9 and the pre vailing wind direction has been south west. Considerable snowfall has also been tallied during December with the total being 13 inches. Pre cipitation up to Wednesday morn ing was listed at 11.60 inches of which .83 of an inch fell the night before during the rain that ended the cold spell. e Tigers, Loggers Tangle Jan. 4 Ball fans will not see the Log gers in action again until January 4 when Vernonia again starts net play, this time against the Clats kanie Tigers. The game is sched uled for the Logger’s floor. Again here during the same week Vernonia will meet the top notch Rainier Columbians here. The date for this game is Jan uary 7. Rainier defeated Albany Monday of this week in a tourna ment at Lewis and Clark college and is rated highly, as a contender for the championship of the Lower Columbia league. • Remembrance Marker Given A cemetery marker in memory of their daughter, Bernaden*, is being given Mr. and Mrs. H. H. King by city employees who are closely associated with Mr. King in his work for the city. The people expressing their sympathy to the Kings are: Al Childs, Neal Bush, Lyman Hawken, J. E. Tapp, W. H. Kent, Bob Curl, Sam L. Hearing, George Johnson, J. A. Davis, R. L. Ray mond, J. J. Grady, C. F. Heiber, Bert Brunsman, Sh’rley Kirtland and Mona and Paul Gordon. The marker will be placed by Mr. Kirtland, cemetery caretaker. VERNONIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON Skating Rink Opened Mon. Another form of recreation be came available to local people Mon day of this week when Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Baker opened their skating rink. The rink is located at their home on Capitol hill «nd many people will know the loca tion as the Capitol Hill Hatchery which Mr. and Mrs. Baker also own and operate. The skating area measures 24 by 52 and provides almost 1250 square feet of floor space. It is located in a building which has been re modeled. • Byers Makes Air Trip with Squad Included as a member of the 33-man Oregon state football squad which left Eugene airport early Wednesday morning for Honolulu was Duke Byers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bus Byers. The Beavers will play the University of Hawaii in the Pineapple bowl New Year's day. The Beavers were scheduled to arrive in Honolulu Wednesday evening and planned to immedi ately set up headquarters in the Moana hotel. Several tours of the island are planned for the squad in addition to a full-scale Luau, traditional Hawaiian feed and fiesta. • Chest Gives 15 Families Gift Baskets Committee Expresses Appreciation for Donations to Fund Fifteen families in this region bencfitted this Christmas from baskets prepared and paid for by funds from the Community chest, according to a report issued Mon day by the committee. . At the t:me the report was released the committee also expressed its ap preciation to Oregon-American em ployees and to the corporation for the generous donations received during the recent drive for funds. The extent of activity of the committee during the past four years indicates the help extended to local needy and shows that funds donated to the cause here have been well expended. During the period from Feb ruary 22, 1944 to December 7 of this year, the chest organization for this area has expended $493.36 for food, clothing and medical supplies. The committee handling the work includes members from IWA Local 5-37 and the Vernonia Study club. • Vets Win Close Game Tuesday Council Holds Special Meet A one-point margin separated the V.F.W. and Clatskanie at the final gun Tuesday night when the two teams met at the high school gym. The final count was 24-23. Don Cline, center for the Vets, was high scorer with 12, while Anderson was high for Clatskanie with 8. Vernonia led at the end of the first quarter, but trailed at the close ef the second and third periods. The third quarter tally of 14 to 18 in favor of Clatskanie was overcome in the last period. • City councilmen met in a special session Wednesday evening at the city hall to reconsider action taken at an earlier meeting this month when the problem of licensing and taxing slot machines was consider ed and an ordinance adopted to cover operations of the machtnes. Mayor George Johnson an nounced the meeting early this week and said that the session was being held again to discuss the action taken at the previous meet ing and possibly change the de cision made at that time. • Dahl Resigns Post Annua! Meeting Set Fred Dahl, who has been 4-H club agent in this county for about a year, has accepted a position as extension agricultural economist at Oregon State college, and left Thursday of last week for Cor vallis to take up his new duties. The county court has not named his successor as yet, and the ap pointment may wait until after • On Sunday afternoon following the morning service, the members of the First Christian church will hold their annual meeting for election of officers, acceptance of the budget and to hear reports of the current year. This will be a. potluck dinner and all planning to attend are urged to bring dishes of food to share with all others. • Work to Start Soon Conference Scheduled Logging activity on the Columbia Tree Farm is scheduled to resume again January 10 after the holi day period shutdown since De cember 23. Oregon-American mill employees will go to work again Monday of the coming week. The state Grange officers con ference will be held at Beaver Homes Grange hall Saturday, Jan uary 8 with a pot-luck dinner at 6 p.m. All Grangers are invited, according to Mrs. Pearl Becker, Grange correspondent. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1948 Collectors to Aid Farmers Deputies from the office of the collector of internal revenue will be in Columbia county on three dates early in January to assist farmers with the filing of their forms 1040 ES, declaration of es timated tax for the calender year 1948. Farmers can also obtain aid in the preparation and filing of their income tax returns for the calender year 1948 from the depu ties. Dates and places where the ser vices of the collectors will be available in Columbia county are Rainier, January 4; St. Helens, January 5 and 6 inclusive. • IWA Procedure of Meetings Change Starting Decomb“r 16, business meetings of IWA Local 5-37 will be held every other Thursday night for the time being. Alter nate Thursday nights will be de voted to entertainment and educa tional programs. This plan is being adopted as many educational sub jects will be discussed, picture* will be shown, and many other items of vital interest to all mem- bers will be considered, Local officers look forward to the mem- bership attending these meetings. The next regular business meet ing will be December 30 and the entertainment meeting will be Jan uary 6, 1949. Basic Training Course Finished Pte. Richard Renfro, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. D. F. O’Brien, has completed his basic airborne course with the silbóme battalion at the infantry school, Fort Benning, Georgia. He was presented with the co veted silver wings of a qualified paratrooper November 19. During the five-week course he learned the technique and principals of para chute jumping and landing and made five supervised jumps from a plane in flight at altitudes of 1000 and 1200 feet, one of which was with complete combat equip- ment. Renfro attended Vernonia high school and is well known here. • Miller to Speak Rev. Buford Miller of St. Helens will speak at both Sunday services at the Assembly of God church. Miller is a very able minister and haB been preaching for many years. Auditor* Here Auditors from I. D. Wood and Company, Portland, spent the first three days of last week here mak ing their periodic check of books df the Oregon-American Lumber Corporation. A White Christmas It is a white Christmas in Ver nonia this year. The snow is not too deep, but it has covered the ground for some inches. The boughs of the fir trees are weigh ted with its silvery whiteness and bend downward as if in submis sion to Old Man Winter; but now and then a rebellous bough shakes off its load and springs up, cas cading a silvery shower to the ground below. As the old man, who lives up on the hill, goes out to the barn yard to feed his chickens the snow is crunchy under his feet, his breath makes a white cloud before him and he allows to himself that this cold snap will be bad for his “rumatiz”, and he places his feet with care for a fall on the iey walk would be hard on old and brittle bones. As he scatters the corn and wheat his fingers tingle with the unaccustomed cold. The old red rooster dutifully clucks the hens to their breakfast then stands around on one foot the other tightly tucked up in his feathers. The snowbirds and sparrows are chirping to him from the bare limbs of the willow tree and he scatters oatmeal and crumbs on a cleared place beneath the tree. Even before he finishes they are fluttering greedly down. In some mysterious way the word seems to have gone far and wide for before he is back to the kitchen door dozens more are coming, chirping and hopping about with many flirts of wing and tail; and there is always a few pugnatious little rascals that seem to be more in tent on chasing their fellows away then in themselves feeding. As the old man warms his numb fing ers at the stove he observes their antics from the window with dis approval and ruminates “birds are just like folks, always feudin’*. The sun cornea up reluctantly far to the south of its usual path; it is nine o’clock before it peers over the tops of the fir trees and illuminates the Christmas tree in the window with its silver tinsels, the gaily colored decorations, a tinfoil star at the top and a candy cane hanging among its branches. Ma always insists on a Christmas tree. There won't be any young- uns to enjoy it, but she says it is more like Christmas. Tonight will be Christmas Eve and they will draw up their chairs and open the Christmas packages that lie be neath the tree. The old man has a pretty good idea of what will be in his package for he has noticed Ma busily knitting on something that she hastily concealed when ever he came near; a pair of mit tens or, more likely a pair of bed socks as his feet have been getting rather cold of late. He wonders if she knows snout the warm bouse slippers, lined with rabbit fur, that he has for her. He more than suspects that she does, not that she would peek—she would never do that—but experience has taught him that it is next to im possible to keep a secret from her. He used to marvel at the uncanny way in which she seemed to know whatever he was up to, even to divining his very thoughts, but he )ias long ceased to wonder and to accept it as just something be yond his understanding. As they sat before the Christmas tree that evening the old man’s thought* went back through the years; sdme were good and some marked by sorrow and trouble but, he allowed, if he had it all to do over again he would not change it —at least—not much; and he knew that Ma went with him down mem ory lane for her work roughened hand, somehow, found its way into his, and he knew her thoughts were not unpleasant for there was a smile on her lips as her head rested gently against his shpulder. Then from up the road there came the souhd of happy young voice* and a horse went by drawing a home made sled through the snow, there was a lone sleigh bell tink ling from hi* neck and someone was singing “Silent Night,” Yea; it is a whit* Christmas up on the hill. Top news stories for the year about to end are indicated by promi nent headlines in the past 52 issues of the Eagle. The year 1948 was marked with changes and events, many of which will have lasting effect on those who reside in the Upper Nehalem valley. The Eagle dated January 1 announced that broadcasting of three species of tree seed by helicopter <tn 1000 acres of the Columbia Tree Farm had just been completed. This method of seeding was thought to be the first per formed by plane. January 15—A two-column headline above a news story about th? Vernonia bank indicated that deposits have increased steadily since the institution was opened to business March 17 of the year before. Deposits had risen to $705,431.95 as of December 31, 1947, Earl A. Bowman, president of the bank, said. January 22—Several Nehalem valley sportsmen began a campaign to raise funds for the purchase of 157 acres of land located at Keas ’y and owned by West Oregon Electric Cooperative. Subscriptions of $10 per person were asked in order to finance the purchase. Shortly after the campaign was started by sportsmen, the Cooperative carried out a plan to destroy the power dam which was located on the property in order to reduce the taxes. The blast which destroyed the dam was set off January 26. February 5—American Legion Post 119 announced its decision to act as sponsor for a Junior Legion baseball team. Harry Culbertson was named head of the committee to handle arrangements for geting the team underway and for financing. February 19—Carrol B. Howe, supervisor of secondary education of the state department of education, issued his report on the condition of the high school buildings and equipment His report of the plant came after an inspection made January 19 and rated the school as condition ally standard. The report indicated the rating would become standard as soon as changes were made in the library. Another news item on this date announced the organization of the P.-T.A. and the election of Mrs. George Johnson as president of the group. March 4—New water rates for resident* of the city of Vernonia were announced on this date after city councilmen adopted an ordinance which established a monthly minimum of $2.00 as compared with the former minimum of $1.75. The March 4 Vernonia Eagle also told about the Washington grade school basketball team winning the county cham- pionship in a play-off at St. Helens against the Warren graders. As a result of winning the game, the Washington team went to the state tournament at Hill Military academy in March. March 11—-What apparently was the end of any more definite sc tion concerning a city manager for Vernonia came at a Lions club meeting when J. W. Barney, Hillsboro city manager, outlined this form of government. Guests of the Lions that evening were members of the city council and representatives of the Vernonia Study club. March 25—A bulletin posted earlier this week at the Oregon- American plant called to the attention of employees, and especially those who have been with the corporation since it started in 1936, the fact that on Wednesday, March 24, at about 3:30 pm. the mill cut its one- billionth foot of lumber since starting in 1936. April 8—Received here last week by West Oregon Electric Manager Guy Thomas was notification that this cooperative has been granted an REA loan amounting to $430,000. The word came from rural electrifi cation administration headquarters in Washington, D. C. April 22—The Vernonia high school student body, was preparing for its annual carnival to be held the following evening. Funds raised from the entertainment that evening were used to defray the expense of a sprinkler system for the city park field. May 13—Thirty-seven seniors and 51 grade school students were listed as being eligible to receive diplomas at graduation exercises later in the month. June 3—A fire of undetermined origin in the Hotel MacDonald building earlier this week caused damage amounting to considerably over $10,000, one of the greatest fire losses to be sustained by a pro perty owner in the city in many years. The loss left the city short of hotel accomodations, not only for travelers, but for people who had been living there regularly. June 10—OMljr a small representation of telephone subscribers was on hand to voice complaints at a hearing conducted by the city council earlier this week. Arthur Scripture, West Coast Telephone manager for the Forest Grove district, was on hand to answer questions about the difficulties which had been experienced by local users. June 24—The serving of hot lunches to grade school students became possible because of a decision by voters favoring the supple mentary budget published by School District 47. The budget provided funds for the purchase and installation of equipment and supplies for the program as well as a new roof for the Washington school. The hot lunch program was backed by the Vernonia Parent-teachers association which was instrumental in seeing that steps were taken to provide for funds in the new budget. k July 29—What may come to be an annual affair here was a midget car race which the Lions.club decided to sponsor at their Monday even ing meeting. Setting of a date and place where the race was to be held was delayed until a later meeting of the organization. August 12—The Vernonia Study club announced a silver tea to take place August 25 as a public library benefit. The tea was one method adopted by the club in seeking to raise funds which the library board would later have at its disposal in order to improve the institution. The August 12 Eagle also carried a story concerning street lighting rates which were suggested by West Oregon Electric to the city council. Councilmen indicated they believed the new rate was too high while the Cooperative board of directors objected to the two per cent gross earn ings tax which was in effect by the city on earnings of the cooperative. August 26—Payment of city expenses were to go on a temporary warrant basis because of the lack of ready cash and the fact that funds had not been coming in as rapidly as necessary. Cause of the tempor ary change in the method of payment of expenses was attributed to rising costs of materials and increased salaries. On the same date Bob King was named winner of the Vernonia Country club championship tournament. September 9—The opening day’s enrollment in Vernonia school* showed a change of considerable proportions as far as the grades were concerned but remained about the same for the high school. The open ing day figure for the grades was 581 students as compared with 516 for the previous year. Officials said they expected further increase of between 25 and 50 students after School had been in progress for several weeks. September 16—The construction work on 74 miles of electric dis- ' tribution line was scheduled for completion this week by the Ganby Electric service to add over 200 new consumers to the list of those al ready served by West Oregon Electric. The new construction covered areas up Pebble creek into Top Hill, Scoffield, Strassel, Bacona ar.d roads leading into Buxton and Manning as well as the Chapman-Spitzen- berg area. September 23—Ralph McKee was re-elected to hi* third term as president of the Columbia county Local 4-H Leaders association at the fall meeting of the group at the county fairground* a few day* before this date. An estimate of the number of men who would be signed up un der the new draft law in Columbia county was considerably above the number who actually did sign. The estimate placed Columbia's total at 1800 while the signature* actually amounted to 1198 of which 40 were transients, or a differepce of 600. The sign-up, which was conducted her* by Bill Hom, totalled 230. September 30—The Vernonia Ix>gger grid team defeated the St. (Continued on page 8)
