Library, U of O 10c COPY VOLUME 31. NUMBER 49 Death Claims Pioneer of Valley at 88 The funeral of Andy Parker t' • k plac? here Sun. at the Bush Funeral home chapel following he death November 26 at the Jmfs hospital in Hillsboro where hr was taken Tuesday of las« week after being found ill at his home. Commitment was at the Vcmonia Memorial. Andrew Monroe Parker of Ver nonia. passed away at Hillsboro November 26. 1953. at ttm age of He was born on July 21, Ji9>5, in White Cloud. Brown county. Kansas and was the son o* Clark L. and Melissa Parker. Andrew, or Andy as most all of hit friends knew him. came west vz-h his folks at the age of 9. ' • this time he had four younger brothers and one older sister. In 18''4 h? hiked with his parents, br'thcrs and sister through the ‘ " bered country between Forest C-*sve and the Nehalem valley. A: a high light of this pione.ring »':p, it fell to Andy's lot to help erry his youngest brother, w;io w:-:- th'-n less than two years old. . pon arrival in this new world ■ Upper Nehalem Valley) they s ‘•‘.'Jed on a homestead about < - mile east of what was finally I wn as the town of Vernonia, l.i'cr there were three more s1' . rs and one broth, r that came i. '>ig to help hew out their home- seeds in this newly discovered Id. rYior to their arrival in this v; 'ey there were no roads and r nearest neighbors were some If .rules down the Nehalem rivsr. ?. 1875 several other families had r- - zed into the immediate vicini ty- 1876 the first school was sifted on a three months per yr • r basis on one corner of the Pi «r homestead. Whil" this v .-s only the beginning in the o lopm.nt of a new community, the remainder of the pioneering is n* • a matter of history and prtety well known. - -dv spent the remainder of h ■ years in this vicinity. About t.- only time sp-nt away from h -e was for work on other fi -.is or in the logging woods n Clatskanie. During his later y: rs, as the town of Vernonia w. expanding, he began sub- d ding his old home place, where F practically ran a real estate bus -less for a time. 7 lis area became the addition t .'ernonia now known as River- v About this time he also <• ■ d and operated the munici- pa water works for this new ad- a Son. j -r several years he served as ccraty sheriff in the Vernonia ar-a. He was a member of the 5 -alem Valley Pioneers and was respected in the community, ndy, n:ver having been mar. r •<. is survived by two younger F ■ hers, Francis M. Parker of F ?rs, Oregon and Albert L. F* ¿ers of Clatskanie. In addi- t- - there are some 20 nieces and I r .news, also several great, and I i it gr-at nieces and neph.ws. I Ownership of Shop Changed 1 new owner will assume the at ion of a business that has • cs n operated here for the past ?/. ears by the same man when takes possession Monday of t *- coming week. 7*?e change comes about t-r-ugh the sale a few days ago r- Norris Soden of his barber « -.p to Mr. Comer, a Portland rc< dent. Soden will continue to ape.-ate the shop through the week. The former owner has bar be red e : continuously for 31 years • k plans to remain here in re- t n snen* at his bom'-* PHONE 191 THURSDAY. DEC. 3. 19 First Aid Study Intended; Ambulance Help Needed 79 Years Spent as Resident; Homestea'd Kncwn as Riverview ‘ VERNONIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY. OREGON Sch.duled to start in the near future is a class in first aid train, ing that will be offered Long- Bell mill tmployees who are in terested in safety training. The course of instruction will be handl'd by Robert Miller of Longview, safety engine: r for Long-Bell operations, who will also arrange for an advanced course later if interest is suffic- Banks Falls to 1st Logger Try Both the varsity and JV Log ger teams came home from Banks Tuesday night with scores in the win column for their season opening fames and with some valuable experience under their belts. The J Vs op.ned the "vening with a 31-24 victory of which 13 points wer tallied bv Bill How ard as high-point man for the evening's preliminary. The varsity game, following the opener, was won by the Vernonia t'am 57 to 44 with Bill Braun holding the high-point record for the Loggers with 17. Bud Ful ton and Ken Nanson turned in 16 points each for second high. Sellers of Banks was high for the evening with 22. Coach Jack Reynolds used sub stitutes freely in the varsity en counter with an eye towards de termining the best combination ot players for later season games. His reserve strength show d well Tuesday, but definite decision on the regular starting time will come later this month, he said. His starting players with Banks were Braun and Pat O’Brien, for wards. Bud Fulton, center, and Nanson and Bill Higley, guards. Nanson and Braun will co-cap- tain the team. THOSE WHO ARE IN IT A 3c Jim Frank, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Frank, arrived home November 26 for a 12-day stay. He has just completed the air corps electrical m a i n t e n a nee school at Chanute AFB, Illinois and will report to Parks AFB. California for shipment to the Philippines. George B -Hingham of Birken feld was among a group of ser vice men that was released No vember 19 from the 503 air police squadron at the Portland air base. Word has b'en received by relatives that Delmer Jepson Birkenf. Id. will soon be released from the service and will return home from Selfridge air force base in Michigan, bringing with him a bride. Pvt. Roy Kyser, Mist, will re port to Fort Lewis today. Decem ber 3. He has been home for two weeks from his camp in California Bill Wells, son of Mr and Mrs. L. L. Wells, is home during a two-wsek period following nine months of training he received at Lowry air force base, Colorado, as radar mechanic. He will leave here for Paine AFB. Washington, near Everett, and expects to be I stationed there permanently. Stock District Vote Favorable At a special election, which took place Tuesday ot this week, a special livestock district was formed for an area on Pebble creek by a vote of 15 to 10. About 32 people who reside in the area were eligible to vot? in deciding the matter. This district, a part of Ver nonia No 3 precinct, provides that livestock now be permitted to run at large. lent. Along with word of the train ing program. Jim Cox. Jr., speak ing for the Vernonia Community ambulance committee, has voiced a need for help to build a gar- arge for the ambulance. The unit is now parked on Third street when not in use, but housing is necessary to prevent excessive depreciation of the equipment. As a start towards providing some 'of the mat rial that will be needed, the ambulance commit tee has been informed that nails and roofing will be provided free of charge by Brunsman Hard ware. Other offers of material and help are needed so that a garage can be provided, he said Preliminary plan for the struc ture is to locate it at the back of the IWA hall where it will be available for emergency us.“. The ambulance unit and all equip ment has been paid for. Up to Wednesday the vehic: ■ has provided transportation for 15 calls since it was placed in use May 16 of this year. Only two of the 15 trips have been provided without charge, they | being mad'1 for people without any means of paying the regular I charges made for calls. Hoop Jamboree Slated Friday Second on th? list of basketball events this season is slated Fri day evening when the Loggers will go to Seaside for the annual Lower Columbia league jamboree, an event originally scheduled here, but changed because of damage to the gym. Seaside will stage this affair in the Broadway school gym start ing at 7:30 when all eight teams are required to be on the floor and ready to go. Players and coaches will be introduced prior to a drawing by east team cap tains for opponents and west team captains for positions of Play. Teams to participate arc: east —Vernonia, Rainier. St. Helens and Scappoos"; west — Seaside, Warrenton, Clatskanie and Neah kahnie. Games will be two, regu lar, eight-minute quartrrs. Students must obtain tickets here to be eligible for admission for 50 cents or else pay the adult admission of $1. THE GOAT has a new home this week! He is in the custody of Bill Horn. Vernonia Lions club mem ber. who took possession Tuesday afternoon from Lion President W. A. Davis, left. Horn was the only member of the club with an unexcused absence from Monday evening's meeting. Watching the pre sentation were Jim Davies, almost directly behind the goat. Lowell Hieber and George Hahn. The goat will remain at its present home until another Lion misses a meeting without an excuse. Some Equipment Cutters Need Permits Damage Caused To Harvest Yule Trees Determined within the last few Commercial Christmas tree cut days was the ext. nt of damage ters must obtain harvesting per to band and athletic equipment mits before harvesting trees from as the result of the high school forest lands, Lynn F. Cronemiller, gymnasium fire a short time assistant state forester warned ago. Some of the items were sent for cleaning shortly after the de in Salem this week. Harvesting p rmits can be ob struction and not until they were returned was it possible to ascer tained here by making applica tain the articles that would re tion to the local forestry head quarters. quire replacement. Prospective cutters of Christ Bill Johnson, high school band instructor, said Wednesday morn mas tr?es also wer? reminded it ing that 12 of the new band uni is necessary to make arrange forms and 17 hats would not be ments to purchase the trees from us able. However, the band will the landowners. In addition, the play for home basketball games forestrr cautipned the tree cutters they must comply with the pro regardless. Coach Bill Vlcek itemized the visions of the Oregon forest con athletic equipment completely servation act which requires that destroyer as: fourth of the foot ball shoulder pads, scoreboard j and two tumbling mats. Six tumbling mats, which were un- | dcr the stage of the gym. were smoke and water damaged and will also be r plac “d. A joint installation of officers Several pairs of white basket for the Natal. Birkenfeld and ball shoes owned by players and Vernonia granges is being plan a few physical education uniforms ned for the evening of December were stained considerably. 9 at the Natal hall, word from the Natal grange Wednesday in Dance Date Named dicated. Schedukd for the evening of At that tim? the newly-elected Friday, December 11, is this year’s officers for Natal were listed as: Christmas ball, which is sponsored master, Walter Mathews; over each year by the Girls League of seer, Lawton Waddell; chaplain, the high school. The formal af Grace Mathews; steward, Noble fair will begin at 8 p m. at the Dunlap; assistant steward, Henry L gion hall. Anderegg, lady assistant st ward, Mrs. Myrtle Mathews; lecturer, Isabel Anderegg; gate keeper, Lions to Decorate Martin Mathews; secretary. Rich, Vernonia Lions club members ard Peterson; treasurer, Clyde have set Sunday, December 6, as Henderson and court, Lena Ma the day when decorations for this thews, Ruth Steers and Dora year's holiday season will be put Waddell. Laura Carmichael will b? the up. Decorated tr"“es will again be placed on the mercury-vapor Natal home economics chairman lamp standards in the business and Henry Anderegg, agricultural chairman. srction. Granges to Hold Joint Meeting Building Started Initial construction work on a new building which will be used to house the Vernonia post office began early this week and by Wednesday the cement founda tion had been poured. City work men were busy Wednsday mak ing utility connections. sufficient trees be left on the land to keep it well stocked and pro ductive. Landowners must also obtain a harvesting permit and comply with the conservation act when harvesting trees from their own property. Individuals cutting trees fo. their own use do not need per mits, but must obtain permission from the landown rs. The forest er estimated that nearly 1,000,00' Christmas trees were harvested ti Oregon last year. More than 500,000 w. re shipped out of th» state with 308.000 sold in southern California markets. Oregonian* used an average of one Christ mas tree for each four persons. Douglas fir is still the favorite of Christmas tree shippers al though inroads on the fir’s popu larity have been made by Noble firs and Shasta red firs. Boat Explodes, Man Injured An explosion, which took place Saturday near Newport, destroyixi the boat owned by Mike Luca* and injurid Leonard T. Perrv. Vernonia. Perry suffered burns from the explosion and was re covering in the hospital at Neu port. The injured man was able to get close to shore in a small skitf after the accident took place, bu' it capsized in the surf and he wai rescued by the coast guard. The 47-foot craft, valued at $15,0<H). was not found after th? explosion It was powered by a gas engine. The boat had been used for fishing along the coast, with As toria as home port, and was al most covered by insuiance. STATEMENT CLARIFIES SITUATION CONCERNING FIRE Because of erroneous reports that have been circulated regard- ing the situation as it concerns the fire which damaged the Ver- nonia high school gymnasium, the following statement was released for publication Wednesday. The statement was prepared by Super- intendent Eugene Dove to clarify the matt:r. "Two and a half weeks have passed since fire ravag'd the high school gymnasium, resulting in its being declared a loss and calling for complet: r buildin? from the floor joists up. Additional dam- age included partial burning of the area over the office and main entrance, and smoke and water damage to the walls and floors. respectively, in all rooms save the east half of the east wing. "The force of such a blow to the community's pride and par ticipation was only evidenced in part by the willingness and fer- I | , | | I | I i i I I | 1 1 i vor with which volunteers fought , suits of the fir?, giving not only the fire to a standstill and behind unofficial but false and damag Only at the a mask of calmness and serenity ' ing information. instance of such reports is it even that the students and teachers as yet deemed advisable to issue have assumed as they bravely any statement concerning the invade the smoky and smelling cause of the fire. halls daily to carry on their tasks "During th0 past two weeks, is bitter disappointment that I state fire investigators and the gnaws. We have to live with state fire marshal, assisted by the these truths. state police, have carefully and ‘‘Just as sur ly as every hap systematically examined and stud, pening has its cause or contribut ied the area, evidence and testi ing circumstances, it is human for mony. The state fire marshal man to spéculât? on or guess at and the senior officr of the fir? them Ths practice of reporting investigation squad, workng in >r passing on statements concern close cooperation with the high ing the causs of tragedies with school superintendent, state that out evidenc? or official informa- i any and all conclusions are made lions is a threat to security. known m this case to the school ‘‘School officials and this news officials first. "To date the official report of paper have refrained from mak ing any comments except obvious this fire is ‘‘of undetermined ori facts or authorized statements, gin." After carefully study and despite the fact that Portland examination there is no evidence pap rs have on at least two differ nor sound r asonin? to support ent occasions reported on the re- theories of faulty decorations spontaneous combustion, nor neg ligence of supervision or manag ment. When a further sta’* me.it is authonz-d it will app. *. in these columns. "The entire cost of restoring to new condition both building and equipment, including all coat* of renovating and repairing thz building for temporary usage is coverage by insurance. The pr 1 sent schedule of events calls for final approval of the contractu: by the school board early next week with work to begin im mediately after December II. the closing date of high school for the holiday vacation. "A date for completion of th-- rebuilding has not b. eh establish ed, but it is hoped that the gym nasium will be available for grad uation. The classroom area is scheduled to be renovated and ready for normal usage by th - time school reconvenes Januar/ 4.