Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 14, 1969     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 4     (4 of 30 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 4     (4 of 30 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
August 14, 1969
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Editorials: Shabby treatment The treatment being gwen its number one employee by the Mason General Hospital board of commissioners is indefensible. It has been eight days since a woman employee of the hospital complained to Shelton police that she had been assaulted by Cal Hopper, hospital administrator. During those eight days rumors about Hopper, most of them ugly, have circulated throughout the county. The commissioners' reaction to this unsubstantiated charge, for which the supposed victim did not sign an official complaint, was to relieve their top man of his duties through the subterfuge of a premature vacation and then clam up. This leaves Hopper in the unenviable position of being dissected and slandered by gossip-mongers with not one word of defense (or accusation) from the men who hired him to run the county's new hospital. The public's knowledge of Hopper, until a week ago, was of an efficient, affable, top-notch hospital man who had been hired by the Mason General board to supervise the construction of, and then administer, that institution following a successful tenure in the same capacity at Shelton General Hospital. There had never been any indication from commission members that he was anything other than that. If the administrator has suddenly turned into a monster, the public, which owns the hospital, is entitled to a bill of particulars from the cotnnaission. If he has not, he deserves the strong backing and moral support of that body and the community. The view of the commission, as expressed by its chairman, that the board can do nolhing until its meeting next Wednesday, is unbelievable. It has already relieved Hopper of his duties and whether that condition is temporary or permanent makes no difference so far as Hopper's reputation is concerned. The damage is being done now. The cold-blooded approach of the commission, as though it wcrc dealing with a balky computer rather than a human being, is inexcusable. We simply cannot understand how three good men, all of whom have given selflessly of their time on hospital work and other civic endeavors, can be handling this matter st) ineptly. If the commissioners think they are performing a public service by protecting the reputation of the hospital through the sacrifice of an expendable employee, they are wrong. Institutions heal quickly; humans have to live with their reputations the rest of their lives. Letter box: i i ii Unfinished road , Please be informed of the "project' on Spring Road. This so-called t)rojcct is an installation of an 8 or ten inch diameter pipeline from the athletic field site to Johns Prairie Road, a distance of one-half mile or less. "/'he laying of this pipe would normally take a competent contractor approximately IO days time to complete the' project without closing the public thoroughfare (Spring Road.) As it so .happens, this road has been closed for two months and still is at the time of this writing (August 12, 1969), depriving the taxpaying public of the se of its property. I have tried on three different occasions to contact the City of Sheton public officials by telephone to register my complaint in regard to this matter. ! did not make contact with any official, due to reasons beyond my control. They were not available for various reasons. What is a person to do to get action from our public servants? To keep our roads open? File suit against the city and the contractor and thereby cost the taxpayer more money? Or to remember certain individuals at the polls during voting time? An irate detourist, E. P. Bartolat A different view Editor, The Journal: I feel that people who are not personally familiar with Holden  Village deserve to hear another view of this unique retreat. The first time I was there was for a work-fun week and since then my husband and I have spent a week's vacation there. Such a short week! We hiked, read, played ping-pong, volleyball, bowled, attended a few lectures, went to the movies, or just did nothing. Two of my favorite memories are of late night deer watching and also midnight dips in the outdoor Jacuzzi pool. It's marvelous to soak in that warm water and contemplate the beautiful starry heavens and watch the moon make its way across the sky. I think it is a good place, very much a place to rest. OR with such a variety of activities, how could anyone be bored or not have a thoroughly delightful time? We plan to return often, every summer, if possible. If only 1 could express the wonder of Holden with its majestic ring of mountains, paths through deep forest, the absolute quiet. Mary Ellen Fuller New name needed Editor, The Journal: 1 see in your paper of July 3 you speak of the Binns-Swiger Road. The road, one mile east and two miles south, was made the two miles by Fred Rose and Mr. Binns, so should be called the Rose and Binns and Swiger Road. Fred Rose and the Binns came from Michigan. Swiger came later from Virginia. Fred Rose said when he and his mother and brothers moved here there was only a trail there. They used to have to just use pack horses. Archie" Binns' dad and uncle came out. They used to know each other in Michigan. Fred Rose said he worked on the road so hard he couldn't hardly get home. He lived on one side, Binns lived on the other side. They had to plow, cut trees and blast stumps. Ernie Swiger came later from Virginia. Earl Leggett and his sister were out there. If you don't believe it, ask Earl. 1 think it should be put in your records as Binns-Rose-Swiger Road. Swiger and Fred Rose are dead. There are two Mrs. Fred Roses here, so' don't get us mixed up. The other one is Rev. Mac's daughter at Kamilche. 1 am not a relation. Mrs. Fred Rose FOunded 1886 by Grant C. Angle Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wash. 98584 Phone 426-4412 Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, August 14, i g €>. ,a=. "1 don't understand how anybody can stay in the crowded city on weekends." Capitol dome: Evans to ask for state control of garbage By: ROBERT C. CUMMINGS While moving to implement the solid waste management act of 1969 through the State Department of Health, Gay. Dan Evans also is preparing changes in the act to be submitted to the special session next January. As now written, the law provides for a statewide program of planning ,for rball disposal, but leave,-local, goenment tn control of actual operations. The governor plans to have it changed so the state may set minimum standards, with which local governments will be required to comply. Though stronger than the existing law, it is still far less stringent than the original bill which the governor submitted to the regular session. It was close to a complete state takeover, but was watered down before it passed theHouse. Better Chance Next Time The reason the act is being implemented as far as possible by the Department of Health ifi that the law actually calls for its administration by the Department of Enviromental Quality, a department which the Legislature neglected to create. The governor has a good chance of getting this department in the special session. The bill passed the Itouse last time, but happened to land in the same Senate committee as his highly-controversial Department of Transportation bill, and at about the same time. With the transportation bill m there, the committee chairman didn't call another meeting. The measure will receive more careful stewardship when it arrives in the Senate next time. The solid waste management act passed bereft of any appropriation, but the governor has under study the feasibility of an appropriation for grants-in-aid to counties and cities, to assist them in management planning for garbage disposal. Partisanship Rears Head Despite the fact they are labeled "non-partisan," it has been virtually impossible to keep partisanship out of city elections in the larger cities; especially Seattle. Even when none of the candidates for an office had ever worn official party labels, they quickly were identified as either Republican or Democrat through the people supporting them. This year the party labels are official. Five of the leading candidates for mayor of Seattle either hold or have held public offices as either Republican or Democrats. Actively Partisan On the Republican side are Secy. of State Lud Kramer and former State Rep. Mort Frayn, former Republican state chairman as well as a former Speaker of the House. On the Democratic side are two incumbent Democratic senators, Fred Dare and Wes Uhlman, and Councilman Sam Smith, who served several terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat. In Tacoma, Mayor A. L. Rasmussen, seeking re-election, spent many years in the Legislature as a Democrat One of his opponents, Patrick M. Steele, served in the House as a Republican. No move appears on the horizon, however, to alter the myth of nonpartisanship, though there were partisan city elections in some third-class cities as late as 1932. No Way to Go But Up The Toll Bridge Authority didn't have any choice except to raise ferry rates. The law doesn't permit the ferry system to operate as a deficit. Gasoline tax money may be used only to service bonded indebtedness, but this restriction is only in the law; not the consitution, and could be changed by majority vote of the Legislature. As the Puget Sound area gains legislative representation through redistricting, a change in this law may be attempted, in an effort to ward off future boosts in ferry fares. Highway "Trains" Eyed Governor Evans hasn't indicated any intention of becoming involved in the dispute over the Highway Commission issuing nine trucking firms special 90-day "trial" permits to operate l O0-foot-long vehicles on Interstate Highway 5. But he hasn't made any effort to conceal his concern over the act. He thinks there are enough problems on the freeways already, without adding to them. Besides "the problem on city streets getting to and from freeways, the governor is concerned over the four-lane sections of the freeway which have just two lanes each way. Though all of the highway commissioners are Evans appointees, it could be they aren't too concerned over the governor's concern. They've had differences with him before. They could be concerned over the displeasure of the Automobile Club of Washington, however, which helped oppose successfully the governor's effort to strip the commission of some of its powers last session. Some of the press wasn't too happy over the way the commission's action was taken, either, without notice and after all newsmen had left the meeting. With rising interest rates, public officials trying to float bond issues are having a tough time writing bond issue resolutions. If they don't include a ceiling on the interest rate, they have a tough time getting voter approval. If they do include a ceiling, they face the possibility of being unable to sell the bonds. Let's talk books: i i American dream in the 40"s youth* in revolt By LLOYD A. COOK Mrs. Bridge. By Evan S. Connell, Viking, 1959. Mr. Bridge. By Evan S. Connell, Knopf, 1969.  In 1959 Evan Connell wrote "Mrs. Bridge," and a few months ago published "Mr. Bridge." The latter, a Kansas City lawyer, died near the end of the first novel so that to re-create him now is a kind of memorial. If you were an adult in the 1930-40's, on the make yourself, you have met the Bridges. Walter came from a poor family, as he was wont to remind India, his wife, and the three children. He worked hard, got a law degree, and then made a lot of money. On his last Christmas eve, he stuffed 10 shares of a utility stock into envelopes for family members - and 10 for the Negro cook - hung them on the tree. In the morning he was thanked and the shares were passed to him for safe keeping. His great pleasure was to sit in the vault at his bank and go over his assets. Mr. Bridge was a no-nonsense, take charge man, at home and in the office, tie was a good man, a man of principle. He would not 1969 laugh at dirty jokes, did not wear odd clothes, •and never gambled. Poor people were not good risks in his business, and law breakers - sex offenders in particular should be jailed. Negroes were alright in their plae; Jews he had doubts about. Pres. Hoover did his best but Roosevelt, there was a man who, with his left-wing advisers, was out to wreck the country. B's children were a puzzle to him. He was firm with them, firm and fair. He lectured them but could not talk with them. Doug, the eldest, soon headed for World War !I, was openly hostile. Carolyn was snappish and ill-mannered, and Ruth was an "unknown," a problem. He loved the kids and he loved his wife, though how to tell her this he could not imagine. As a rule he bought her something she did not need and did not want, such as a new Lincoln stationwagon. His rapport with India, or lack of it, is seen in an incident. They are at church on an Easter Sunday. The place is jammed, the day is muggy, and she begins to feel sick. When she said that she was going to faint, he replied: "No, not here. Wait until we get outside." She said: "All right, I'll try," thinking that he was going to escort her out. But, apparently not, for he did not get up. She realized that he meant for her to wait until church was over. India is a gentle, wellbred, flighty person. She lived in a fine house in a fine area. She belonged to the country club and gave to charities. She was, as she remarks, "busy, busy, busy," too busy to read a book except self-help manuals. She had made the European tour with Mr. B and loved to show friends her snapshots. She was adept at bridge, window shopped a lot, and liked to bowl. Here are, in sum, two true to life characters, as true to their times as anyone in "Mainstreet" or in "Babbitt." They are persons, one might say, who have everything. They are living out a part of the American Dream. Work hard, squirrel along, invest, have a family, retire at 60, build a cottage on the lake. Get a speed boat for the kids, a cruiser for yourself and friends. Unless, of course, the stock market should take a tumble! These are the people, the Bridges, that our children are now warning us against. They have, somehow, mucked things up, and LIFE has passed them by. What went wrong with their dream, what has happened to the nation? I sense some difference in the author's mood in the two novels. He is kinder to Mrs. B more tolerant of her futsy ways, less critical of her non-ideas. With Mr. B. his cool appraisal, his caustic humor, show some personal rancor. Perhaps the date, 1969, is significant. The WASP person is much under attack at present, which means that the times (and Mr. Connell) have changed. What these changes portend, what lies ahead in the future, is a most speculative matter. I think the Bridge children are the key to what the author is aiming at, what he intends to say about life then and today. Now that the kids are grown up, each a very different individual, I feel that Mr. Connell should go for extra innings in his hit series. There should be at least one more book which would tell us what happened to these troubled youngsters, these potential revblutionaires. The Flapdoodler: The lucky kids have to go home By STEVE ERICKSON (NEWS ITEM - A 10-year-old girl beaten in a wooded area last week told forced at gunpoint to ride past her own floorboards of her assailant's car.) We arrived at the playground and the straight for the monkey bars, which seemed arm-over-armed his way to the top and the daylights out of dad with his daredevil Shayla sprawled across two hertz pretended to sleep. Dad sat under a tree with large, protra-- watching. The playround was full of kids, some they'd stopped by on their way home from others looking like they'd just fled reform between. Strange. (The girl told police she was walking tl stand near her home when a car drove up interesection, and stopped. A man with opened a car door and told her to get in. She he pointed a gun at me," the girl said. She got Shayla and KetCh left the monkey b,as the swings. On the way, Keith drew himsel water from a leaky fountain. Shayla tested th{ The swings were in use, all three of waited. Pretty soon a blonde girl with ,,tombOY her forehead leaped from one swing and wading pool. Shayla glommed onto the swing her a push. Keith had to wait a while, but finally little lad went to visit the rest room aboard his swing and got his push. The third swing was occupied by a girl whose stencil read "waif." (The girl told detectives the man her, and she hit him in the face. The man freckled youngster hard on the left side five-foot tall, 75-pound girl's skull was places around the cheekbone.) Waif was joined a few minutes later looked a lot like her. They sat on each other'S that way, a neat trick. "It's called "spider," she explained. Keith and Shayla tried it. Pretty sets of dad-propelled spiders swinging "We're twins," Waif suddenly disclose( strand of unattended hair with her hand. fragile little girl, made the more elfin war-orphan dress somebody had hung shoulders. • Her brother's T-shirt, too, had seen Not to mention his pants. They might have Can't Bust Em's, but whatever they them in several places. His shoes were just a the rest of the ensemble. "We're eight," the boy said, grinning. and a trifle larger than the twin. Malnutrition word to use. (The girl said she thought she had seen before, although she didn't remember where provided detectives with a facial descriptior was the basis of a composite picture. believe the composite picture is accurate scared when she looked at it.") O "You kids here alone?" here. "Yes," the little girl said. "We ate lunch "What?" "Morn had to do some shoppin[ and dropped us off here to play. We ate That meant the twins had been or before. My atch told me that had been Shadows in the playground were len l recalled that this particular buffer area between a "good" "not-quite-so-good" area, frequently the sleazy type gent who gives adults even noticed by children, until it's too latel I glanced around. I didn't see exceedingly seedy, but if there were anywhere near, the twins had bullseyes Pretty soon it was time to go. For the twins, it was a little more spider, while, maybe a turn on the merry-go-re the teeter-totter or the wading pool. Or whatever. " Shayla was frowning, as she leaving playgrounds before she's readY. 1 t t0' twins. "They're lucky," she complained. ,qlteY here."