Compiled by the Deschutes County Historical Society from archived copies of the Bulletin at the Deschutes Historical Museum.

100 Years Ago

For the week ending

Feb. 22, 1920

Survey will measure milk intake of area children

J. Alton Thompson, superintendent of schools of Deschutes county and the teachers of the local schools have been asked to co-operate in making a milk survey to ascertain how many of the children are getting no milk in their diet. The work is simple but is regarded as important in that it calls attention to the great food value of milk and dairy products. The plan is that of the Oregon Dairy Council, an educational organization that has the co-operation of the state agricultural college and the endorsement of the bureau of health, the state superintendent of schools, the Oregon Parent-Teachers association and the Oregon Federation of Women’s clubs, the state chamber of commerce and other organizations and persons of prominence.

Follow up work is being done by the clubs and Parent-Teachers by teaching the food value of dairy products.

Bets made on whether highway will pass through Redmond

That the Crooked River highway, more than 30 miles in length, has been turned down by the government as a post road, was the information given out today by Construction Engineer Wickner, on the Oskar Huber road projects, who is in Bend today to meet Mr. Huber and his general manager, E.J. Currigan, scheduled to arrive tonight for a general survey of Central Oregon road work. The reason for this government action, Mr. Wickner could not authoritatively give out.

Excellent progress on the South highway is reported. Two miles of cindering already been done and only three days more of grading remains to be done. Although the cinders are being spread, there will be no rolling until after a rain, in order that the cinder surface may bind firmly with the dirt base.

Whether or not the McKenzie Pass highway passes through Redmond, is a question on which Mr. Wickner placed a wager of one suit of clothes this morning, making his bet with H.J. Overturf, who contends that the highway in question does not touch Redmond. Mr. Wickner has in his possession communications from the state highway commission, in which Redmond is mentioned as one of the points on the McKenzie highway, and declares further that it is so mentioned in the contract for road construction awarded to Oskar Huber by the commission.

Mr. Overturf’s contention is that the McKenzie highway was fixed by legislative act in 1917 session laws, shows the highway designated as “a road from Eugene connecting the Willamette Valley with Eastern Oregon by way of the McKenzie river to Bend.” Whether or not the commission is empowered to change name or route has not yet been decided on by the principals in the wager.

Farmers bank on new profitable plant: sunflowersThe success of experiments conducted last year through the office of the county agricultural agent and the First National Bank of Bend in the planting and growing of sunflowers were so convincing that sunflowers can be grown in Central Oregon at a profit and especially for feeding silage that 25 farmers will take up the sunflower project this year.

The First National Bank has ordered approximately 2,000 pounds of sunflower seed which will seed approximately 200 acres in Central Oregon.

75 Years Ago

For the week ending

Feb. 22, 1945

Public employees favor retirement plan

Salem, Ore., State, county and city officials today filed arguments with the house counties and cities committee in favor of a bill (HB344) to provide retirement systems for public employes.

Sponsors said the bill was needed because such employes are not now covered in social security, need an incentive for long years of public work, older workers want to retire to make way for younger employes, and most of such jobs were relatively low in salary, precluding much change for private savings.

If enacted, the retirement system would be compulsory for the political subdivisions unless they elected to withdraw within six months.

Brooks-Scanlon lumber used in far Pacific Islands

“Just the touch and the smell” of ponderosa pine made one Bend soldier in the far away Marianas “plenty homesick”, according to a letter he sent to local friends. The letter was from Sgt. Glen C. Young, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Young, and was addressed to members of the Deschutes national forest staff, in which Young once served as a lookout.

Sgt. Young is attached to a depot repair squad in the army air force, and was engaged in building airplane hangers on the south Pacific islands. He explained that he had received two “batches of Brooks-Scanlon lumber and it sure made me think of home!”

Bend man invents rigid life rafts

The rigid pneumatic life rafts, now widely used by the navy and also by army engineers in the construction of pontoon bridges, were invented by a Bend resident, Bartholma B. Gervais, of route one, he reported today.

Gervais stated that he invented the rafts while living in The Dalles in 1917, and procured a patent on them on Feb. 20, 1918. He immediately gave the patent to the U.S. government. The rafts, he believes, were not widely used until current hostilities started but, he stated today they are now in world-wide use.

Gervais, a member of a pioneer family of Oregon stockmen, stated that a tanker, recently launched in Portland, was named after his grandfather, Joseph Gervais.

County donates 6 tons clothing

Cooperative residents of Deschutes county, in a two-weeks salvage campaign which ended last Saturday, furnished slightly more than six tons of usable clothing for the relief of civilian Russians, it was reported today. Two large trucks were needed to remove the clothing from the Wall street depot, and when they arrived in the Portland salvage headquarters they were weighed, showing they contained 12,325 pounds of clothing.

Headlines

Big U.S. air fleet hits Tokyo — Iwo Jima ablaze as Yanks hit from sea, air, land — Midnight curfew ordered for nation, effective on Monday — Hitler’s isolated fortress bombed by U.S. airmen — 40,000 Marines in Iwo battle

50 Years Ago

For the week ending

Feb. 22, 1970

U.S. senator from Oregon introduces abortion bill

Washington — Bills that would legalize abortion in the District of Columbia and provide a tax incentive for U.S. families to limit the number of their children to three were introduced today by Sen. Robert Packwood, R-Ore.

“The tenor of the times dictates that Congress must provide leadership in the field of unwanted pregnancies by accepting the responsibility for the welfare of the citizens of Washington, D.C.,” Packwood said, concerning his abortion legislation.

“If I could have my way, similar legislation would be enacted in each of the 50 states. But since that is a state prerogative, Congress can only exercise responsibility and provide leadership by setting an example through enactment of this legislation.”

The legislation would require that abortions be performed by licensed physicians and be approved by the husband if he is living with the woman. If the woman is unmarried and under 18, the consent of her legal guardian would be required.

Packwood said his tax plan was intended to help “ease the strain on an overtaxed environment.” The proposal would become law in 1973 and provide that the first child in a family could qualify for a $1,000 personal tax exemption. A second child would qualify for a $750 exemption and the third child as a $500 exemption. Additional children would not qualify for any exemption.

The legislation would affect only those children born on or after Jan. 1, 1973. A family already having three or more children would receive the regular $750 exemption for each one. Families with fewer than three children would receive an additional $250 credit since the first child would qualify as a $1,000 deduction.

Packwood said the 200 million persons in the U.S. now “live in dirty cities, have inadequate housing, attend crowded schools, breathe polluted air and share crowded recreational facilities.” In 30 years, he said, the population will be 300 million.

“Something dramatic must be done if we are to stem this tide of pollution which has reached epidemic proportions.”

“Our growth rate must be slowed,” Packwood said. “This legislation encourages families but it encourages smaller families. With smaller families we have a chance to save our environment; without them, we are lost.”

25 Years Ago

For the week ending

Feb. 22, 1995

Auto ban on beaches proposed

Salem — Cars would be banned from Oregon beaches under legislation that pits homeowners who don’t want vehicles on the sand against people who feel that driving on the coast is the public’s right.

“The beaches should be used primarily for natural things like walking,” said Rep. Lisa Naito, D-Portland, who introduced the bill in the Legislature at the request of one of her constituents. She also said beach driving hurts tourism.

Property owners in some of Clatsop County’s most exclusive, gated neighborhoods that front the beach in the northern part of the county have led the fight against beach driving.

Prohibiting cars would improve the beach experience for most visitors, said coastal property owner John Carroll. He acknowledged that some beach users would be upset.

“Some people feel that they have to keep their hand on their car to be sure they are having a good time,” he said.

The proposal would prevent people, including clam diggers, dory fishermen and other commercial users, from driving on the beach. It would exempt emergency and government vehicles.

Snow, rain delay river dredging

Weather, conditions have prompted a six-day delay in a dredging and fish habitat enhancement project on the Deschutes River near the former Crown Pacific mill site.

The River Bend Limited Partnership had scheduled for the project to begin Monday, when the Central Oregon Irrigation District planned a water run. The dredging will be done during a time of low flow in the river to minimize turbidity. However, the irrigation district has postponed its water run until Feb. 26.

The dredging will clear away silt buildup from the intake for a pond on the mill site that provides emergency firefighting water for the property and adjacent Willamette Industries Korpine plant.

A 425-foot-long gravel structure called a coffer dam will be placed in the river around the dredging site to help keep silt from entering the river.

Once dredging is finished, the gravel and a number of boulders will be placed in the riverbed to create spawning areas and improve fish habitat. The project is expected to take four days.