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The Infamous Black Bird Southern Oregon History, Revised


Medford News 1948

Medford-related news items from 1948. Also see descriptions of Medford and Jackson County for this year.
MONTH BY MONTH REVIEW OF 1948
NEWS IN MEDFORD AREA IS GIVEN
    The death of Clarence A. Meeker, Medford mayor, in February; beginning of what is hoped to be a motion picture industry in Oregon with filming of a picture in the valley; the death of W. H. Fluhrer and three other prominent Oregon Republicans in a plane crash at Lake of the Woods in August, and the primary and general elections highlighted local news during 1948, a check of Mail Tribune files shows.
    Following is a month-by-month chronology of happenings:
January
    Seven hospitalized in auto crash near Phoenix . . . Year's first baby, a girl, born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Dye, Gold Hill . . . Earl Newbry elected potentate of Hillah Temple of Shrine . . . Ashland suffers high water damage, fire truck plunges in swollen stream as bridge collapses . . . Fire, police protection for city only, council emphasizes . . . Rotarians load rail car of food for Pacific Northwest relief ship for Europe . . . Five-cent toll charge placed on phone calls to Jacksonville . . . Charles Havens county's first traffic fatality for year . . . Ronald Tompkins, 8, struck by stray bullet while playing in yard . . . Arthur Perry, veteran Medford newspaperman, succumbs . . . Charles C. Furnas observes 29th year in service station business . . . Medford Corporation acquires 22,350 acres of timber at Butte Falls . . . Operational failure blamed for delay in fighting fire at Dr. E. R. Durno home . . . Gordon Gilmore resigns as Boy Scout chief, replaced by Clifford Hanson . . . Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Aldredge observe 60th wedding anniversary . . . Snow surveyors plan Sno-Cat trek over Cascades . . . Alvia J. Spence, Gold Hill, and Samuel H. Ackerman, Klamath Falls, killed in separate traffic accidents . . . John L. Downs' Irish setter judged best at dog show . . . Forrest Wilson, convicted in poker game slaying here Nov. 10, 1946, to get new trial . . . O. H. Bengtson goes to Washington, D.C. to plead for V.A. use of Camp White hospital . . . W. H. Fluhrer announces candidacy for state senate seat.
February
    Lewis Ulrich retires as manager of employment office after 14 years . . . Services held for Jack Thurman, killed in a plane crash at Crescent City . . . Mrs. Ben Sanford, Route 4, wins valuable prize in March of Dimes letter-writing contest . . . Four injured as fire truck hits car at Main and Front streets . . . E. W. Pease reelected president of Southern Oregon Conservation and Tree Farm Association . . . Valley clocks affected by cycle change due to power shortage . . . G. Herbert Smith, Willamette University president, breaks ground for new YMCA building . . . Mercury dips to 18 degrees . . . Gov. John Hall visits valley . . . J. E. Jorgenson buys Southwest Oregon Dairy Co-op . . . J. M. Spencer retires as manager of Medford Irrigation District . . . Mayor C. A. Meeker dies of heart attack; James C. Collins appointed.
March
    Robert J. Cunningham named assistant manager at United States National Bank . . . John C. Carkin, ex-Medford attorney, named public utilities commissioner . . . Public hearings slated here on two suggestions for Rogue basin dams . . . Rogue Valley women's post, American Legion, opens county safety drive . . . Mrs. Susan Clayton, last surviving Civil War nurse, dies . . . Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Walls, Portland, purchase Hotel Medford . . . Otto Ewaldsen wins area two speech contest for Toastmasters . . . Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wattenberg observe golden wedding anniversary . . . Mary Sue Greene wins Elks scholarship award . . . 700 youngsters enjoy Kiwanis Easter egg hunt . . . Crater Lake Lodge sold to Californians.
April
    Warrants issued for suspects in Holly Theater holdup . . . Craterian Theater usherette thwarts robbery . . . Southern Oregon water prospects brighten . . . Open house held at new Trailways bus depot . . .Gunar O. Sanden retires after 23 years with postal department . . . City judge and Mrs. Tom Waller found dead in Rogue River trailer house . . . Medford Toastmistress Club gets charter . . . Crater Lake National Park service runs out of postage money . . . Fish life in Rogue River in decline through years, count at Gold Ray shows . . . Ten county teachers honored on retirement . . . Jeanne Rice wins Philharmonic Society of Southern Oregon scholarship . . . Mrs. Blanche E. Canode named woman of year by Medford Zonta Club . . . Walter Leverette hurt in California auto wreck . . . Milk prices jump two cents a quart.
May
    Daughters of Job Bethel installed at Central Point, Patsy Faber seated as queen . . . Francis H. Walker, active in veterans affairs, dies . . . Dr. A. Erin Merkel, county health director, to enter private practice . . . GOP presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey speaks here . . . KYJC dedicates new radio truck . . . Mail Tribune to offer pattern service . . . G. W. Goddard resigns as superintendent of Jacksonville schools . . . Harold E. Stassen, GOP presidential candidate, visits here . . . Phyllis A. Swearingen, part owner of Community Hospital, dies . . . Hillah Temple hosts Shrine ceremonial . . . W. H. Fluhrer, L. G. Morthland, C. L. Hockersmith, Frank Van Dyke, Ben Day, Marie Bosworth, J. P. Graham, C. A. Myers, Carlos Morris, George W. Neilson, George R. Carter, Ralph Sweeney nominated in county primaries . . . Albert Braun Jr. wins A.F.L. scholarship contest . . . Janet Coyle named queen of catfish derby . . . Fluhrer bakeries sell retail department to W. R. Godlove, Los Angeles . . . City of Medford receives National Safety Council honor roll plaque.
June
    KYJC broadcasts from Vanport flood scene . . . E. J. Moss, Medford businessman, dies of heart attack . . . Dr. L. F. Belknap, retired minister, drowns in Bear Creek . . . Mail Tribune starts daily carrier service to Reese Creek, Shady Cove and Eagle Point . . . Mayor J. C. Collins stricken by heart attack, Frank J. Runtz named acting mayor . . . President Truman signs Camp White hospital legislation directing Veterans Administration to take control . . . Catfish derby held at Tou Velle State Park . . . Medford High band takes part in Portland Rose Festival . . . Eureka couple killed in Blackwell Hill auto collision . . . Sheriff's posse holds seventh annual Roundup . . . Greta Hansen chosen Miss Medford . . . Roy P. Stoy named commander of American Legion Post 15 . . . Mrs. Stephen Nye chosen new director of school board . . . Year's first polio case reported in county . . . Mrs. C. Rease Braley returns from globe-circling trip.
July
    Jackson County delegation seeks four-lane highway from Ashland to Central Point . . . C. A. and Delbert Tingleaf struck by lightning at Eagle Point . . . City fathers show interest in program for elimination of annoying insects . . . Wesley Cornelius, Newport, killed in jump from rim of Crater Lake . . . First National Bank to erect building at Central Point . . . Aylene Hopkins represents Oregon at national convention of Future Homemakers at Kansas City . . . Chamber thanked for daily roses sent to GOP convention . . . Motion picture industry to be started in Rogue Valley with filming of "Last of the Wild Horses" . . . Enlargement of present sewer plant with available funds seen inadvisable, Acting Mayor Frank Runtz says . . . Gold Hill residents protest cement plant dust . . . Cattle dusting from air demonstrated at C. C. Hoover ranch . . . Bond issue for trunk line to Camp White disposal plant gets approval of voters . . . Don Henderson leaves for Washington, D.C. Boys' Forum . . . Medford starts water rationing . . . Greta Hansen, Miss Medford, ties for fourth in Miss Oregon contest.
August
    Body of Wiley Montgomery, 2, found in Phoenix irrigation ditch . . . John Applegate named airport manager . . . J. C. Penney opens new store . . . Oregon Shakespeare Festival lifts curtain at Ashland . . . Medford parking meters average $7.37 monthly . . . Josephine E. Wood drowns in Rogue River at Shady Cove . . . Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gile, Kings Highway, observe 50th wedding anniversary . . . Assessed valuation in county shows increase over 1939 . . . Completion of corporation of Tucker Sno-Cat company announced . . . W. H. Fluhrer, three other legislative figures, die in plane crash at Lake of the Woods.
September
    William McAllister named to succeed W. H. Fluhrer as state senate candidate, Democrats pick Lloyd Rupp . . . Frances Irene McCurdy, Gold Hill, held in slaying of two children at Grants Pass . . . Jacksonville Gold Rush Jubilee attracts throng . . . The Rev. and Mrs. Neville Blunt arrive from Heppner, he to be assistant rector at St. Mark's Episcopal Church . . . Medford schools open after summer vacation . . . Ben H. Schmidt to retire as YMCA secretary . . . Richard Talbot, Medford, and P. B. McCloud drown in boat accident at Lake of the Woods . . . Voluntary gasoline rationing goes into effect here as coast oil strike continues . . . Two-month-old plumbers strike in Jackson and Josephine counties ends . . . Oregon Medical Society in convention here . . . County 4-H livestock show held at fairgrounds . . . Veterans administration takes over Camp White hospital . . . O. O. Alenderfer, ex-mayor, dies . . . Sgt. Earl A. Burtch, state police officer, killed in crash of plane near Tiller . . . Frank (Ken) Peabody, Ashland jeweler, missing.
October
    Slashing fires cause forest blazes in Prospect area . . . Dr. J. C. Hayes to retire after practicing 28 years here . . . Ken Peabody, missing Ashland jeweler, located in Washington . . . Dr. William F. Roney retires after 33 years of practice . . . Medfordites get brief glimpse of Earl Warren, GOP presidential candidate . . . Dwight Epperson, Phoenix, killed while hunting in Applegate area . . . C. E. Walbert plane, lost since 1940, found by hunter . . . Jack Enders succeeds W. H. Fluhrer as commander of air reserve unit . . . Forrest Wilson found not guilty of John B. Camden murder.
November
    World premiere of "Last of the Wild Horses," filmed in valley, opens here . . . Diamond Flynn elected mayor, L. G. Morthland named county commissioner, Frank Van Dyke, Ben Day, William McAllister named to Oregon legislature . . . Curtis H. French of Pet Food Shop loses cash and wallet to robber . . . Defeat of old age pension bill brings flood of letters to editor . . . Hollywood film personalities inspect Table Rock Estates . . . Training course for firemen held . . . Full program scheduled in Medford Armistice Day activities . . . Gasoline prices increased . . . Local shops ask restrictions on itinerant photographers . . . Dr. Bert R. Elliott retires after 29 years as Medford dentist . . . David Cowley, 76, loses billfold containing money for needed eye operation.
December
    Dealers increase gasoline prices two cents . . . Money taken in burglary of Rogue River High School office . . . Slush, ice hit Medford area. . . Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Williamson observe golden wedding anniversary . . . City police note plague of bad checks in Medford area . . . Local football fans mourn Grants Pass players killed in bus crash . . . Hitchhiker suffers frozen feet when lost atop Siskiyous . . . Robert B. Hammond to retire as manager of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company here after 35 years . . . J. J. Newberry Company opens new store . . . Death summons Hugo von der Hellen, rancher and builder . . . Numerous parties mark Christmas season . . . Prof. F. C. Reimer honored with Marshall T. Wilder medal . . . Checks totaling nearly $300 presented to Daniel N. Cowley, who lost money needed for eye operation . . . Jimmie Fidler, Hollywood correspondent, becomes partner in Eagle Point ranch . . . Mrs. Bert B. Lowry, well-known civic and club leader, passes . . . School bond election for $685,000 overwhelmingly approved . . . Gold Hill school robbed, records strewn . . . Southern Oregon area scanned for missing plane with three aboard . . . Medford woman held as witness in Grants Pass shooting . . . J. H. Creager named manager of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, succeeding Robert B. Hammond.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 2, 1949, page 9


ASHLAND DAILY TIDINGS AND ASHLAND PRINTING CO., INC.
    Opening press day for this pioneer newspaper was June 17, 1876, when it was issued as The Ashland Tidings. Alert coverage of the community news and movements of wide importance, together with advertising-with-results, gained a steady increase of readers and subscriptions until in 1921 publication advanced from weekly to daily, under the present name. Stockholders include Mrs. William Schuelke, Mrs. Vivian Ling and Noelle Ling. Editor G. M. Green has published the Tidings since 1924, with offices at 150 East Main, Ashland.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 6B


CHRYSTAL DISTRIBUTING AND COLD STORAGE CO.
    Chrystal Brewing and Distributing Company engages in many enterprises of the bottling and storage industries, including the wholesaling Columbia Ale, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Petri and Connoisseur wines, also Alt Heidelberg beer, and many brands of frozen foods in Jackson and Josephine counties; distribution of wet and dry ice, operation of 2100 cold storage lockers with a quick freeze and food processing department; operating the Clicquot Club Bottling Company of Medford, under the Clicquot Club franchise, bottling all flavors of mixer and soda.
    Stockholders in the Chrystal Brewing and Distributing Company are Bill Chrysler (41¼), president; Margaret C. Haight (41¼), vice president, and John M. McCabe (17½), secretary-treasurer. Main office of the corporation is addressed at P.O. Box 231, Medford.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 11B


J. P. DODGE & SONS HOME FURNISHERS
    Founded in 1887 by J. P. Dodge, this highly successful store has continuously brought satisfactory service to the community, especially featuring furniture and electrical appliances. One of the oldest firms in the city of Ashland, the business is now operated by Louis and Will M. Dodge, sons of the founder. J. P. Dodge & Sons is located at 125 East Main Street, Ashland
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 13B


FLUHRER BAKERIES
    Fluhrer Bakeries started with 5 employees in 1921 and now 400 persons are carried on the payroll. Establishing their business at Medford in a small plant, W. H. and John A. Fluhrer (deceased) rapidly developed a trade handling by truck in the area from Redding, Calif., to Roseburg, Ore., and between the Pacific Coast and Lakeview-Alturas section. Operating with products made in the bakeries and loading stations in Medford, Klamath Falls, Grants Pass, Oregon and Eureka, Mt. Shasta, Alturas and Yreka, Calif., Fluhrer's is yet filling but 75 percent of the demands for their bakery goods. The plants, manufacturing under the brand names of Fluhrer's Holsum Bread and Fluhrer's Fine Cakes, are recognized as the finest of their size on the West Coast. The company's co-owners are: W. H. Fluhrer, president; Margaret Fluhrer, secretary, operating heads; and Elizabeth Fluhrer Widmer. Main offices are at Sixth and Holly streets, Medford, Oregon.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 17B


S. C. JONES & SONS, INSURANCE AND REALTY COUNSELORS
(BILLINGS AGENCY)
    Organized in July 1883 by G. F. Billings, the Billings Agency had its first offices on the south side of East Main Street, in Ashland, Oregon. Moved in 1886 to 41 East Main Street, this early firm has been in continuous operation since, contracting for the many kinds of insurance, bonds, abstracts and real estate. Mr. G. H. Billings, son of the founder, joined the organization in 1906, and after the death of his father in 1934 continued the agency alone.
    He sold to S. C. Jones & Sons January 1, 1946, yet the firm was still linked with the founder's family, for Kenneth H. Jones, one of the new owners, had been married to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Billings.
    The S. C. Jones & Sons Medford office has been operating since 1938. The main office of the firm [in Ashland] was moved in May 1946 to the corner of Main and Oak streets, while the old landmark building at 41 East Main was torn down to facilitate highway improvements. The staff of S. C. Jones & Sons number eight, including partners S. C. Jones, Stanley Jones, Jr., Kenneth H. Jones, Cosette F. Jones, Eleanor G. Jones and Laura B. Jones
    The Ashland office address is corner of Main and Oak streets, Ashland, with the Medford office at 232 West 5th St., Medford. Each office is operated independently.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 23B


LITTRELL PARTS, Industrial Supplies, was founded by E. A. Littrell in 1922 as the Littrell Parts Co. at Medford, Oregon, and has since grown to be one of the leading business concerns in the field of automotive and industrial supplies. The company, a leader in its line, is distributor for many firms in the Southern Oregon and Northern California territories.
    Continually expanding, this supply house has branches in several cities of Oregon and California. The main office at Medford is now housed in a modern building, recently completed, equipped with up-to-date, systematic wood shelving, which permits accurate customer service.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 27B


SOUTHERN OREGON SALES, Inc.
    This is a group of pear-growers who organized in 1926 a cooperative for packing, cold storage sales and orchard supply, today own their own $500,000 plant and handle a $2,000,000 annual business today which includes 400,000 packed boxes alone.
    The sixty-five grower-members producing and packing pears and apples in and around Medford maintains employees on an annual payroll in excess of $200,000.
    Capacity of the cold storage plant is 320,000 annually. In addition to securing the advantages of the cooperative system for their business operations, these growers have gained the confidence of those with whom they deal in the firm's fair dealing, high credit rating and the excellency of their products.
    Main offices are at P.O. Box 126, Stewart Avenue, Medford. Managing officers are: Leonard Carpenter, president; C. C. Clemens, vice president; E. R. Hull, treasurer; Mrs. Marion Reigel, secretary; S. V. Carpenter, F. C. Kenly, A. E. Brockway, Paul Culbertson and Bruce Fleming, directors; S. M. Tuttle, manager; J. J. Finegan, sales manager.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 46B



Last revised January 28, 2017