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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1953)
Library, U of O 10c COPY VOLLME 31. NUMBER 53 VERNONIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON PHONE 191 Assessor to Mail Property Report Forms TOP NEWS STORIES LISTED FOR 1953 Note—As has been customary during past years, a summary ot the news events of the year just ■omple.ed has been prepared for J953 from files of The Eagle to provide readers a cond nsed pic ture of the past 12 months as they relate to this area. The dates •s they appear before ixcerpts of the news stories arc those of the sues in which the items ap- ,» a red. January 8 — The Commerical Bank of Vernonia reported de posits of $1.439,349.69 and loans •>' $366.959.56 at the end of the year. Both deposits and loans ■ -a increases over the amounts f'ir December 31. 1951 when these igures were $ 1,248,534.19 and $328,415.32. I | | I I ' us Sale Approved January 15 — The b .aids of rectors for both rchooT district 47 and the union high school g.anted approval for the sale of two school busses, those owned • Bruce McDonald and C. A. V ils. Bob Curl will take ov r •e Mills’ bus and W. A. Davis : e McDonald bus, effective Feb- • nary 1, January 22 — Calvary Taber- cle is moving to its new loca- t n at the corner of First and ?< aple this week and will con- ■ ‘ct services there beginning ' mday, January 25. Rev. Don ~, rling announced that the name •uld be changed at that time to • ■ Vernonia Bible church. January 29—Tom Bateman and T.-?i! Messing completed 29 years 7 • .»day that they have worked together in the Vernonia post office. i j i i , | j ment would be ready for use. Mr. and Mrs. Turner Daniel. Tre. probably by the end of this we.k. harne, Friday evening when he April 23 — Mrs. Lulah Fuller was introduced at the half-time ton and Mrs. Ruby Reese Powell, interval of the Vernonia-S aside grtide school teachers, announce game. plans »o retire at the end of the October 15 — Notification was present school term. The former received h re Tuesday morning will have completed 40 years in by Postmaster Emil Me-sing of the profession. 22 of which have I the signing of a proposed lease b:en spent in Vernonia. Mrs. | that will provide new quarter» Powell will have completed seven • for the post office, probably at years in this system. the time when the lease expires May 7 — Vernonia’s candidate in February of next year. to compete for the title of Diss Columbia county will b? Miss Record Best Yet Barbara Howard, who was elected October 22 — Forest fires re Miss Vernona last Thursday ported for the 1953 fire season evening at a talent show at the hit an all-time low for the coun high school. ty. Only nine fires were reported to date for the year and they had Member 50 Years Last May 21 — Frank E. Taylor was j burned only 2.4 acres. year's r cord was 20 fires ar.d 47.- honored May 14 for his 50 years 32 acres. cf membership in the Masonic November 19 — Damage to the ledge by th presentation at his new high school building, esti home of a 50-year jewel. mated at close to $100,000 re June 18 — Glen F. Hawkins sulted Saturday night from a will serve another term on the fire that broke out in the gym board of directors of school dis nasium. trict 47 as the result of the elec W st Oregon Cooperative's an. tion Monday at the district’s an nual meeting drew the largest nual meeting. His term will be attendance of any since the Co- for a period of three years. operative started business in 1945. Re-elected as offic.rs for tiie I December 3 — Death claimed Nehalem Valley Pioneer as&ocia- I Andrew M. Parker November 26 tion Sunday were Robert Be.-g, | at the age of 88. He was a well president; G. P. Wanstrom, vice- known pioneer of the valley, president and James Cahill, sec having lived h: re since the age tary-treasurer. of nine years. June 25 — Antone Smejkal. in - - - cumbent. was returned to the high school board of directors Monday even:ng as the result of the elec- i tion which took place at the dis- I trict’s annual meeting. P.ople residing within the city Coach Jack Reynolds’ Loggers limits were asked to attend a will go into action again shortly public meeting Monday, June 2a after the first of the year and to hear an explanation of details j after school resumes again after concerning the proposed sewer the holidays to meet the Pacific syst.m for Corey hill. University frosh in a return game i which will be played on the | Sewer Approved Washington school floor. July 16 — Last Friday's special The Loggers met the frosh I election on the proposed sewer earlier this month at Forest Grove system project for Corey hill in their early pre-league schedule resulted in balloting that tallied and this game will be a return 115 votes in favor and 27 against match. Only this game remains the new installation. before the Loggers wiil officially West Oregon Electric's board of open their Lower Columbia league directors chose the bid of the season on January 8. At that Estep Line Construction com time Vernonia will host the St. pany. Yakima, in the amount of Helens Lions here. $54,872 to build 16.3 milts >>t So far attendance at games transmission line and substation has been small even though the work between Sunset Junction record of wins so far has been and the Jewell-Elsie area. impressive. School officials hope August 6 — More than 50 per fans will make a better turnout cent of the adult population of when the «official league season this area visited the mobile chest begins so costa will not exceed x-ray unit during the four-day income and result in a deficit i period it was in operation. for the athletic program. August 20 — Miss Helen Sollie was appointed county home agent, | eff.ctive September 1. to take the position vacated by the resigna tion of Miss Frances Gallatin. Loggers Resume Play January 5 Board Picks Man February 5 — Darrold Proehl .• s named superintendent of the . de schools as the result of a -ision made by the district 47 . oard of directors Wednesday evening of last week. He haa been an instructor on the grade school staff for the past seven y ars. First definite action that will • J eventually to the purchase ! an ambulance for the use of | vicinity will be taken Thurs. c; ; evening at the regular IWA —■ eting when a petition will be started to obtain signatures of perple who wish to help finan- < Iv to provide the unit. February 12 — A rating of ' ’ ” per cent was earned by the .<:• f of the post office for the : “anner in which business is --died there when department • acctors made a periodic in spection last Friday, Postmaster F • ¡1 Massing announced early ; • week. Former Resident Taken by Death Contract Granted * Eugene Dove, high school superintendent was granted a c" tract for another year by the c s’rict board Tuesday evening. February 26 — Wednesday saw • ■ completion of the 1953 spring planting work on the Columbia Tree Farm. This season marks . t completion of the planting of :first million trees in this area. The bid of Harry Culbertson for ; j.-chas? of the old high school -perty was accepted by the b-.< rd Tuesday evening. .ipril 2 — Word was released - Portland late last week of a ft es agreement by which The L. ig Bell Lumber company is p.-t pared to acquire 79 per cent he stock of th-' Oregon-Ameri ca - Lumber corporation through purchases that may amount to .=. '.00.000. Word of the deal came ■n Sigmund Stern, president of Central Coal and Coke corp- o.ation of Kansas City, Missouri. ,-.pril 9 — Patti Ann Bass was er-sen queen to officiate over • - year’s annual May day festi- va.L when the boys of the high . -ool student body voted last Friday. Bids Lacking I I ! ! j Loan Note« Signed | Ambulance Ready ’.pril 1« — At the Monday - ning meeting of the executive --nmittee charged with working cut details of handling this tom- •nity’s ambulance, the group ..<« informed that the equip- August 27 — A delay in the start of the sewer project for Corey hill arose Monday evening, th? date s-t for opening bids for the proposed S85.OOO bond issue which would be used to finance the work. No bids were received Figures showing th° number of p.ople x-rayed by the mobile unit during its visit m the valley were released by the Columbia County Tuberculosis and Health association. For Vernonia, 1117 people were x-rayed and for Mist and Birkenfeld. 100. September 3 — First day en rollment figures for the grades and the high school show.d de creases from last year. For the high school, enrollment was 176 on opening day as compared to 190 the year before. Listed for the grades was a total of 479. down from the 509 the year be fore. [ I . I September 10 — Directors of the board of West Oregon Elec tric. at their Tuesday meeting, signed notes for a loan of $185.- 000 Of the total. $86.500 is ear- marked for the construction of 30 miles of new line to serve 45 consumers in the Wilark and Trenholm areas. October 1 — This community welcomed home Sergeant Orville Daniel, prisoner of war son of Funeral services for Joseph A. Wirtz w'*re held Tuesday, De cember 29. at 9:30 am. at St. Francis church at Roy with in terment following at St. Francis cemetery. Mr. Wirtz, age 73 years. 11 months, 16 days, died December 24. Mr. and Mrs. Wirtz lived in Riverview for a number of y:ars and left their home here almost a year ago because of his failing health. Since that time they have made their home at a Catholic home for the aged in Portland. | Survivors are the widow, Julia, j one son, George, of Sunnyside, Washington and one daughter, Mrs. Rudy Kemper, of Forest Grove and eleven grandchildren. Mist Resident Taken by Death Death came Monday night of this week about 11:30 for Mrs. John E. Crawford, 53. of Mist because of a heart attack. The remains were brought here to the Bush Funeral Home and then taken to Clatskanie. Services are to be handled by the Anderson Funeral home there and details were not available Wednesday aftemon of survivors and the date of the funeral. THURSDAY DEC 31. 1> I Late Filing of Returns to Draw 5 Per Cent Penalty FOUR FISH for two fishermen was ihe day’s calch for Andy Brimmer and Sam Ceballes Sunday while they were fishing for steelhead between four and five miles up Rock Creek. The fish varied in weight from six to 12 pounds. Other fishermen report ing luck during the past week end wtre John Chambers, C. N. Rundell. Albert Blount and Rube Archibald, the latter's catch weighing over 20 pounds. Fishing is expected to be good aga n this week end. THOSE WHO ÄRE IN IT Commissioner Resigns Post Pvt. E2 Wesley Hunt spent a week's leave at the home of his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Fr.d Hunt, coming from Fort Lewis, Wash ington. Donald Parcher, for several years a county commissioner of Columbia county, submitted his resignation to the county court Decsmber 30. Mr. Parcher gave no explanation for his resignation, but it is understood to have been for personal reasons. Parcher first started working lor Columbia county as a laborer in its road department in 1922 and in 1938 was advanced to the position of road supervisor in the Rainier district. This position he held until he was appointed county commissioner on July 18, 1945, to fill the unexpired term of J. N. Miller of Clatskanie, wao had di d but a few days before. He was elected in his own right as county commissioner in No vember of 1946, serving four years and was then re-elected to the -urn - position in November, 1950. During the eight years and five months that he was commissioner the record shows that he missed only one regular court meeting and that was due to his abs nee from the state. A 3c David Dutton is spending an 18-day leave at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Dutton, coming from Francis E. Warren air ba.».'. Cheyenne, Wyo ming. He is to r port at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey January 6 and will go from there to Ger many. A/3c Billy Wells of Paine Air Base in Washington spent Christ mas and the week end at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Wells. Golf Course Lease Changed A change in the management of the Vernonia golf course be came effective a few days ago when Mr. and Mrs. Bill Johnson assumed the remainder of the lease on th? course from John Young. Th • property is owned by Dr. C. P. Howarth of St. Helens. Mr. and Mrs Johnson are re painting the interior of the club house and plan to move there by the end oi this week. Other pians for changes at the course will be announced later. Cancellations Go Up Slightly The Christmas mail rush at the Vernonia post office was almost even with that of last year, a check with the cancellation fig ures for letters at the office eaily this week indicat’d. Cancellations this y ’ar totaled 55,816 as recorded by the letter cancelling machine. This figure was only 244 above last year. The machine is used to cancel letters dropped through th? letter slot and does not include metered mail, but do a give a good indica tion of Christmas mailing activi ty The record was kept starting December 7 through December 24 and the peak day was Monday, January 21 with 7091. Vet Law Info Told in Manual Approximatelp 2500 petsonel property report forms will be iti the mail this week as reported by County Assessor O. A. R der. our. Cooperation by owners in listing all information and filing early will be greatly appreciated as the office now has much work on hand due to the re appraisal program launched last month by the county and the state. LATE FILING COSTLY The d adline for filing is Marc i 2. A penalty of five per cent on the consolidated levy will b • used on all late returns plus $l-> per day if the case warrants. Eat*v y ar the percentage of late re turns increases This p-ol>I :i involves extra work for too uf( and more expenses to the . cunty for more help to investigate these returns. Penalties will also be used in cases of owners neglecting to file a complete list of property and to persons not filing. Failing ti receive a form from this office will be no excuse as it is the re sponsibility of all persons to fil? if they own personal property. In elaborating on the penalty detail, the assessor said, “I sin cerely hope the use of penalties will not be necessary, but thj filing of late returns and omitteu personal property must also b • dealt with if we are to reii-'v • our tax problem in the county. I know this probitm is of greet interest to all concerned.” EQUALITY SOUGHT This year an effort will be made to equalize between the real and p rsonal property tax and on various personal a 10 per cent drop in the ratio will be made. A complete equalization is in sight for next year. Attention is also called to the new law which provides for tax. ation of trailer coaches used pri marily for business and resid t .- tial purposes. This applies re gardless of whether or not llw trailers have been licensed by th' state. Trailers not in actual u.< * will be taxed only if not licensed by April 30. Included with the report form each persona) property owrv r will receive will be a letter of ex planation which will explain to the owner the information whic i he or she should list on the report to provide data needed by the sessor. FORMS INCLUDED Two other forms will also b* mailed with the reports, but on»y to those to whom they will apply. For instance, one of these fottns will provide for listing furniture and fixtures, the age and b-.xik valu'1 on today's market. The other will be a form which will be used by businesses with in ventories of merchandise. The department of veterans’ af fairs has just published a r'vised booklet entitled ■’Veterans’ Bene- fits of the State of Oregon.” The 31-pag- manual is an up-to-date digest of stat? laws affecting war veterans as well as personnel on active duty and tells where and 1 how to apply for benefits. The booklet is index 'd and , Oregon residents continued tf: .r contains service officers, field vet- I “savings spree” last month by erans’ service officers, field per s?tting asid? over $2 million 33J sonnel of the department and thousand in series E and H sav state service officers of the veter ings bonds. ans' organizations. “This represents a 40 per cent Director H. C. Saaifeld says increase over the correspondin; free copies may be obtained by period in 1952,” according to contacting the Department of Philip L. Hickey, county cha r- Veteran»' Affairs, State Library man, “and reflects one of th s building, Salem, or Stat? Office highest monthly increases sin. • building, Portland, or through the end of World War II.” veterans' organizations or coun County sales during Novem ty service officers. ber in E and H series borJa amounted to $15,678. Bond Sales Up 40% Over 1952 Representative Named Business d tails concerning the Quirin Lumber company can be referred here to Albert Childs, according to an announcement made recently by Roger Quirin before he left for Canada. He has located a sawm.ll at Lac La Hache, B.C and the family moved there earlier this month. Large Parsnip Grown Brought to The Eagle otfee late last week was a parsnip grown by Mr. and Mrs. Estie Rot.i at their home on Capitol hill. Th • vegetable is unusual in that it weighs three and one-fourth pounds.