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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
May 22, 1969     Shelton Mason County Journal
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May 22, 1969
 
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• • • ldmtonals. Git them varmints The new marshal, resolute jaw clamped on an oat straw, cooly survey the group of nervous shopkeepers and townspeople gathered in the foyer of the tiny bank. The banker put down his interest calculator, cleared his throat and addressed those assembled. "Folks, this here's our new marshal, Slade Gorton. I know he won't appreciate me braggin' on him, but I know you've all heard how he run the crooks out of every place he's ever been at except maybe the state legislature, so I reckon he's just the man we need here." The owner of the general store hit a spitoon at ten feet, wiped his mouth on his coattail, then commented: "He couldn't be no worse than the last lawman we had. That John O'Connell didn't do nothin' but holler about us honest merchants cuttin' the kerosene and short-weightin' on beans and flour. I don't rec'lect that he ever caught a crook outside a business establishment. Leastways, I nev- er heard of it." The new marshal shoved his white hat back on his head with a leather-tough hand and was about to say something when the banker cut in. "That's right," he said. "He even accused me of charg- ing widows sixty percent interest, which is a damn lie be- cause I never in my life collected more than fifty percent, except from strangers and relatives." "And livery stable owners," added the livery stable owner. A hush fell over the group as the new marshal, his eyes mere slits, leaned forward and removed the straw from be- tween his teeth. He spoke slowly, so that no one could mis- understand his words. "What you do with your beans and flour don't make no nevermindto me. I'm here for one thing and one thing only, to wipe out crime. This is the wickedest place I've ever seen, and I'll remind you that I've seen Winlock, Twisp and Cosmopolis." "It's about time," mumbled the barber, a timid man with shaving soap on his boots. "Robbery is up, rape is up, murder is up, the kids are tearing around with no mufflers on their ponies. It's a mess." "I'm not talking about those minor crimes," shouted the marshal. 'Tin talking about crime that eats at the very vitals of the comnmnity." "Like what ?" whispered the barber. "Like bingo, for instance," screamed the marshal, warming to his subject. "Them depraved little old ladies sittin' in the social hall all greedy-eyed, trying to get some- htn for nothin'." "You're a nasty man," said the little old lady who own- ed the dress shop. "Don't give me no backtalk. You ain't drawed a legal breath since you played your first piece of corn on B-15." "Like what else ?" whimpered the tonsorial artist. "Like pinball machines," answered the marshal, curl- ing his lip. "All them poor slobs hunched over those dev- il's devices when they should be home spadin' a garden or readin' the good book with their younguns, it's enough to make a strong man retch. There won't be a wicked little steel ball or no blinkin' lights left when I get through." The banker, who had been mentally subtracting the amount of the pinball machine account from his monthly totals, turned philosophical. "Well, I reckon it won't hurt too much if you wipe out the bingo games and the pinball machines, so long as you don't mess with the working man's game, card playin'. I enjoy a little game myself, now and then." The marshal turned livid, tearing a pearl button off his store-bought shirt as he gestured wildly. "Card playin'! Card playin'! That's the worst crime of the lot. You realize there's men sittin' around dirty green tables in the back of saloons who are actually gam- bltn' for money on the turn of a card? I'm gonna save them poor wretches from theirselfs. If ] 4on't do it, no one will. There's not another lawman in the territory with guts enough to do the job." The banker was about to protest when he noticed the marshal's hand was about three inches from a pearl-inlaid gun butt. "Well, I guess that's the way it'll have to be," he said, in a tremulous voice. "When are you going to start, this weekend ?" "New," answered the marshal. "Can't do that. It's Governor's Day at the hess races Saturday. l've gotta git me up to Longacres." Founded 1886 by Grant C. Angle Mailing Address: Box 480, Shelton, Wasl 98584 Phons 426-4412 Published at Shelton, Mason County, Washington, every Thursday. Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Postoffice, Shelton, Wal Member of National Editorial Association Member of Washington Newspaper Publlshers' Association SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $5.00 per year in Mason County, in ad- vance _L Outside Mason County $6.00 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER --- Henry G. Gay PLANT SUPERINTENDENT ....... Jim Shrum OFFICE MANAGER -- Lodema Johnson NEWS EDITOR  Alan Ford OFFICE ASSISTANT  Mary Kent SOCTY EDITOR  MarJ Jacobson JLD'I"IS]LN(] MANAGER --- Don Adolson ( 'q'he,'v goe the neighlmrhood , . ." Let's talk books: The life of the logger m By LLOYD,:. (X)OK • gers., Lgggrs World, Chehalis. Lies, ld:tga and Loggers. B.V 130 Dp..$3.95 Finh'y llayes, l)ggers Worht, Bunkhouse Halhuis. By Robert Chehalis, Wash. 91 pp., $2.7) li:. Swanson. I)ggers Worht, Worht of [1)ggers. By 24 log- Chehalis, $1.(D. The perils of panic By JUDD MARMOR The assumption that war is indigenous to human na- ture, that it represents a fundamental instinct toward de- structiveness in human beings, is being increasingly chal- lenged by both social and biological scientists. Even if we should accept that assumption, however, the capacity for violence does not mean that the expression of violence is inevitable. We know war is a complicated social institution, requir- ing armies, weapons, supplies, recruitment, and scientific research; as such it is capable of evolution, change, and eradication no less than other widespread social institutions, like slavery, human sacrifice, cannibalism, and dueling, which also, in their time and place, seemed deeply rooted in human nature and destiny. Modern scocieties have, in fact, almost always had to resort to various mass props= ganda techniques in order to "sell" war to their peoples. The normal peaceful attitude of Western society grow out of Judeo-Christian ethical values and rest on concepts of brotherhood and the abhorrence of violence. To replace it by a military super-ego which condones murder of one's fellowman requires special training and indoctrination. To this end war is glorified and the answer to duty described as manly, brave, just, righteous, honorable, and patriotic; the avoidance of war is branded as effeminate, cowardly, weak, dishonorable, and subversive. God is pictured as being on one's own side, and His blessings are invoked from the pulpit. The enemy is de- scribed as vicious, despicable, inhuman, and threatening to all that once holds dear. Yet, in spite of all these enormous pressures, most sol- diers have to be drafted into military service against their will, and world leaders, endeavoring to heighten their peo- ple's will to fight, feel impelled to insist that their inten- tions are peaceful. Indeed, the basic rationale of the arms race is that only by a continuous strengthening of armed might is it possible to maintain the peace and to deter the aggressive intentions of the adversary. Whatever the validity there may once have been to the idea of man's innate aggressiveness, it is clear that modern warfare can give little satisfaction as an outlet for the release of aggressive impulses. With advances in mil- itary technology, the distance betwen the individual sol- dier and his enemy has progressively increased and in the era of push-button warfare there is no direct contact with the enemy at all  the triggering of a nuclear attack can be as impersonal as pulling a lever to start a production chain-belt moving. It is evident that the greater danger posed today is fear; panic is a much more potent trigger of hostile be- havior than is natural aggression, and the fear of the en- emy is more likely to provoke a warlike act than is the hatred of him. If it is true that wars begin in the minds of men, then the minds of men are also capable of ending saving what is loved Loggers' Life, I_ve and Laugh- ter. By Art Mackey. Loggers WorM. 144 pp., $4.50 l)ggers' World. A monthly magazine, edited by Finley Hayes. Chehalis, $3.00 a year, $5.00 for two years. Here is as grand a collection of logger lore as one is likely to find. Igger experiences on and ttf the job, many funny t:ales and jokes, advice on living and logging, equipment old and new, with comic cartoons and wx)ds photos galore. My hat is off to Finley Hayes, author and editor, for the job he has done in bringing together this all-pur- lse omnibus. With years of reading "all man- ner of print, with a fair memory of things read, I have searched my mind for a few lines that would catch the spirit of these books, their deepdown underly- ing theme. Here is a verse by Carl Sandburg : • . . If the Old Men, My Child Tell you no stories about rockets Shooting stars, horses of high ranges Let them ask your pardon Excuse themselves And go away. These logger writers do spin out tall tales, spiced at times with bawdy, ribald humor. What they tell is alrout the life they loved; maybe hat£ or feared and yet truly and forever LOVED. Things of the ImSt, many of them long gone now, with a new breed of loggers in the wols. Writers seek to preserve that past, to give it form and content, thus to build a job tradi- tion that can be passed along. Like Sandburg, they write for younger men, like many of my neighbors here in Union. That the logger of today is pretty much a new breed of eats, a machine-age man, goes with- out saying. He is far more pro- ductive than the oldtimer, far better paid for his work, a com- muter to the job rather than a camp dweller, a steady family man and, in big timber compan- ies, a union member. It is said that today a good man, using a power saw, can cut 50 to 90 thousand board feet per 8-hour day, whereas the same man, 30 to 50 years ago, with a hand saw turtled out about 25,000 botrd feet. Other phases olJogging show comparable improvement, due chiefly to mechanization. One ix)int, not stressed in any of these books, is that loggers now are better educated, or more sophisticated than were their predecessors. They are smarter about timber management, lum- ber prices, ups and downs in 'the world market, housing goals as set by Congress, and Federal timber sales. Whether they work on contract, for a wage, or "bu- shel," they are better able to guard their own interests. I have said that logger writ- ers, by and large, are trying to save what they loved in their past, a heritage for younger men. No one, in these books, has looked sharply at this point, written at length about it, so that I am left to speculate on what it is that these men would presel've and pass along. There is, of course, a logger language, a complex set of terms, which both Hayes and Mackey have analyzed. These are work skills and work tcols, described in their everyday usage, along with work and "dressup" clothes. There is a fine camara- derie, a genuine feeling of kinship when loggers get togeth- er; and there is a rating scheme so that each man in a crew knows his place in the "peck order" by reason of the job he holds. This implies a work "lad- der," a succession of jobs from bottom to top, and a number of writers tell how they have climb- ed the ladder. Much of the writ- ing is sheer adventure, the kind that comes from the nation's pioneering past. Most of all, I think, the old- time logger wants to communi- cate the kind of man the logger was, his moral (and immoral) character. Finley Hayes has much to say on this, much about the logger's "Free, go-to-hell" spirit. The logger loves his coun- try and his place in it. He works at as tough a job as one can find and he has the will power to stick it out, get on with it. "Hcrc comes your father with the alimony!" Page 4. Shelton.Mason County Journal - Thursday, May 22, 1969 Letter box: Praise, not abuse Editor, The Journal: I would like to congratulate the School Superintendent as well as the School Board for the ex- cellent job they have done in conducting the school business of District No. 309. Conducting a business of this magnitude on a sound basis deserves praise, not abuse. These are dedicated peo- ple serving with no pay, but de- voting many hours of their time, all because they have a sense of duty to the community in which they make their living. I hope the indignities heaped upon the Board members will not in any way influence them to vacate these positions. It would be well for some of the bitterest critics to turn their efforts to the support of the Board for the betterment of would have to be that all teachers at their highest perform to the ty should numeration. system would be It is normal want what we should have the it on our own. honorable and a fession, but those happy doing the happier if they private enterprise. might be greater. we are still free like - as yet, no to us what we Issues confused Editor, The Journal: It appears to me that the is- sues which the Joint Study Com- mittee claimed to be concerned with have been deplorably con- fused. Was it salaries which real- ly did prompt this investigation or was it curriculum deteriora- tion and lack of educational ad- vantages for our young people? Moreover, this controversy has mired into a sump hole of per- sonality detraction directed against the School Board and Ad- ministration. It is regrettable that persons who have a moral duty to lead youth can find it in their conscience to act in such a dis- respectful and ungrateful man- net. At the risk of being corrected again for my ignorance of situa- tions around me, I must confess that I am under the impression that these gentlemen of the Board who were elected to this thank- less position by giving us the time and ation. I having my their sense of behavior this group than obviously uthority, ation, and of dedication to I am not the toll which disrespect, euphemistic and progress: attached to take in that we will other problems " dent discipline ation is a either direction' a (Mrs.) carlotte Political free.loaders Editor, The Jourmd: Congratulations on your edi- total (Miracle Workers) in the May 15 issue of /he Journal. I wish other news media would follow suit. Publicity might cause these free-loaders to get their (:laws out of tbe public cash drawer - though I doubt it. Ira pretty hard. to shame a Senator pr Representative 'draw- ing $42,500 per year plus thoa- sands of dollars in side bene- fits, and yet expects the public to pick up the tab when he eats below cost meals and gets below cost haircuts in the Senate bar- ber shop. That type of person doesn't know any such word as shame. A glaring example of political thinking occured in the mid-For- ties. I was working as a black- smith's helper 3. My wages Working a ed about Sam $25 out of At the same timber failer, rode the year term resentatives. year term this on a junket at the payers, rleY Ss¢'a' i  And Cha "i U' r an )iv ,*, . well as l y _,.K s $1 that he had a el iness tourlr _ r.,dm expense as a 'J a Berkshire w . i  a synagogue"  "i [ The Flapdo:dle00r:J Sweet A deline from Oregon soloo00[. By STEVE ERICKSON !| The singing drunk is a vanishing Arelq¢ ,. a vanishing Oregonian. . i.#yoOtli+ he's Because the state legislature says ra=S = song, in a tavern, is a no-no. "To allow singing in taverns would nothing but grief," says the state such things. l'll take his word for it. Most state tes are plenty familiar with what causes t.vJ, However, I'd like to register a mod,* also inquire of the Oregon legislature, ^ ladies), what next ? Ban singing in the s" Where I grew up, tavern sin cred American institution shower I'm not alone in my protestationS. Club, a group of sober newsmen lik ,  to the cause, whatever it may be. _, @ "Singing is allowed in cocktail Io ungea' 00: contends. . ,,Ott  Yes, agrees our sober senator, but "€. : a decent cocktail lounge and start s in' you out." The voice of experience. At any rate, even though Oregon like bluenoses when they're I'm happy to say that in WashingtO I think. The legality of it all escap e but I seem to recall some fairly m raunchy, tunes pouring forth over L please, tavernwise. And the White Spot has been promptu harmony on occasion, I hazily Of course, what I remember ,as mistaken for moans of mortal agony keepers, for they're an unpredictable But it seems to me that if you (and you can't) then you shouldn't | late a fellow who's busy The state senator who tries it performed---re-election wise--his swa"