100 years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 9, 1923

Moose may be brought here

Moose will be ranging on the eastern slopes of the Cascades in Deschutes county soon, if present plans are carried out.

Knowledge that local sportsmen and persons interested in the development of the Central Oregon Cascades into a nationally known playground again intend to bring moose here was given out today by L. Antles, secretary of the Bend Commercial club, who is in receipt of a letter from A. E. Burghduff, state game warden, saying he is willing to discuss the matter of introduction of moose into the Central Oregon Cascades when he visits Bend the latter part of this month.

It is believed by various sportsmen in this city that moose will range favorably in the Deschutes Cascades. Persons acquainted with the ranging tendencies of moose, which are similar to the European elk, and believed by many zoologists to be better adapted to country having heavy snow fall than are elk.

Should moose be introduced into the timbered country of Central Oregon, it is now probable the animals will be secured from the Yellowstone national park.

B.F.D. equipment is due here soon

The hook and ladder outfit, purchased by the city council of Bend on May 4, will probably arrive here from Portland this week, according to members of the local fire department. Chief Tom Carlon says that considerable difficulty has been experienced in securing a car to take the outfit here from Portland. The outfit cost the city $5,950 and will supplement the fire engine and auxiliary truck already in use here.

Boys coasting court danger, Hanson warns

Grave danger to life and limb is being courted by boys who “hook on” behind automobiles and trucks with their sleds, declares Chief of Police Peter Hanson, and other boys are endangering their lives just as much by coasting on streets where they may be run over.

No bad accidents have occurred yet, says Hanson, although one boy is reported to have barely escaped death under the wheels of a truck while coasting on St. Helens place, and other accidents have been narrowly averted in various parts of the city.

Towing behind cars is the more dangerous practice, says Hanson, for the reason that the boy on his sled cannot know when the car is going to stop, and he may slide under a wheel and be crushed.

Drive is planned on check passers

Passing of worthless checks and shop lifting will be carefully guarded against during the holiday season by the business men of this city, according to plans made Friday night at a meeting of the Bend Merchants’ association. If present plans materialize, plain clothes men will be on duty in several of the larger stores. Bankers have agreed to cooperate with the local merchants in arresting and prosecuting passers of bad checks.

All merchants in Bend will keep their stores open on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights preceding Christmas day, observing the Saturday night closing hours.

75 years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 9, 1948

Use of Madras base rumored

MADRAS — Rumors that the Boeing airplane company was planning to decentralize its operations near Seattle by locating operational activities here, beside the big Madras air base, built during the war days at a cost of $4,300,000, could not be confirmed by officials of the Madras airport yesterday.

W. J. Hess, chairman of the Madras Airport commission, however, while he admitted that Boeing has recently had engineers and other representatives here making an intensive survey, said no representative of the Boeing company had ever contacted the commission.

The big Madras airbase was constructed for the training of B-29 personnel. It has maximum runways for any airport of Oregon and is located in an area where expansion will be easy on a terrain that offers no obstruction in any direction. It has been accredited with the most ideal flying weather of any established airport in the state.

Office structure being built at forest service nursery

Construction of an office building at the United States forest service’s Bend nursery, on Butler road east of town, is under way. The structure, 38 by 20 feet, will be of pumice block and frame construction, and will provide space for the nursery’s main office, a private office and a laboratory.

A feature of the office structure is a large “picture window,” 12 feet wide and six feet high, in four sections, that frame all peaks of the Cascade skyline seen from the Bend area. The building is to be completed by spring.

Planned for some time in the future is a residence for the nurseryman. This will be a modern building. However, funds for this building have not yet been set aside. Two million trees were planted at the new nursery this past spring, but some losses were suffered due to adverse weather conditions. Eventual capacity of the nursery will be around 15,000,000 trees. The purpose of the Bend nursery will be to grow pine seedlings for northwest reforestation.

Bend reported facing Christmas tree shortage

Bend is faced with a Christmas tree shortage, result of the December storm that has choked mountain roads and isolated yule trees behind snow barriers.

All commercial harvesting of Christmas trees was stopped by the storm, which piled snow up to a depth of two feet in many areas. There is a possibility that some trees may still be obtained in the Sisters area, where roads have been opened by loggers, but persons going into that area have been advised to get in touch with the ranger station before driving into the woods.

Many calls were received by members of the forest staff over the week end about the possibility of obtaining trees. The callers were told that practically all roads leading into tree areas were blocked and are being advised to wait for a few days to see if the storm will clear without further snow.

In Bend, the Veterans of Foreign Wars have about 1,000 trees, and these will be sold later this week. The veterans fear their trees will not be adequate enough to supply the local demand.

Winter scene at Timberlane

Out at the Timberlane ranch of Mr. and Mrs. Dean Hollinshead just east of Bend, “Mack”, a big palomino, has been receiving stiff workouts for the past few days, moving a cutter over December snow. Incidentally, “Mack” had a part in the filming of “Canyon Passage”, at Diamond lake a few years back.

50 years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 9, 1973

Carlon recalls his 40 years as firefighter

It was April 30, 1942. An alarm came into the Bend Fire Station and rookie Vern Carlon responded.

“I was alone on the rig-we didn’t have radios or anything then. When I saw those flames, I thought ‘What am I doing here?’” Carlon recalled.

“Flames were going everywhere. The house, two apartments, a woodpile and a tree. You can feel real lonesome at a time like that.”

That was the first fire Carlon handled on his own, while waiting for the other city firemen and volunteers to arrive at the scene. He laid 1,300 feet of line that day.

It’s impossible to tell how much hose he’s laid in the 40 years he’s been with the department. It probably would stretch from Bend to Portland and back.

Carlon turns 60 on Dec. 23, and on Dec 31, he’ll turn in the Bend fire chief’s badge he has worn since June 20, 1952. On Saturday, Bend will honor the retiring chief with “Vern Carlon Day.” The day will be capped with a banquet at Tony’s Poco Toro restaurant.

Yesterday Carlon sat down with a cup of coffee at the fire hall and looked back upon his years with the fire department. It was natural for Carlon to have become a fireman. His father, Tom, was Bend’s first fire chief.

Tom Carlon served as chief from the founding of the department in 1919 until his death in 1943.

The fire that stands out in Carlon’s mind as the hottest and most dangerous to the city occurred June 30, 1951. The Oregon Trail furniture company, located off Wall Street, burned to the ground that day. Smoke could be seen all the way to madras, according to long-time Bulletin reporter Phil Brogan.

“That was one hot Jose,” Carlon recalled. Firemen were hard-pressed to keep the blaze from spreading to the nearby Colonial Inn and Kingscrafts pine remanufacturing plant. The H.E. Allen School fire on Dec. 17, 1963, was another bad one that stands out in Carlon’s memory. (The school was located on Third Street, where a Safeway market now stands.) During the blaze, Carlon saw the roof burning while hose crews still were inside. He went into the building and got the hose crews out.

“Thirty or forty seconds after we were out, the roof fell,” Carlon said. “It makes you think a little.”

“That fire was so doggone hot, the water turned to steam before it reached the flames,” the chief said.

Will Carlon act like the old fire horse who wants to get back into his traces when he hears the alarm go off?

“I’m gonna try and get where I can’t hear it,” the chief said with his characteristic sideways grin. “I want to try and finish my log cabin I started in 1961. I might get it done in a year.”

My best plan of all is that I don’t have any plans. No scheduling — I’ve been working on a schedule for an awful long time now,” he said. He will probably do a lot more hunting and fishing than he has been able to in the past, but he’s going to try to avoid the pitfall many retired people encounter.

Asked what he was proud of during his years as chief, Carlon chewed his gum a minute, then responded:

“Years ago, our contract with Brooks-Scanlon was for a small amount of money, and we spent quite a bit of time there with small fires.

“Now, we have good contracts (with other companies and with the Bend Rural Fire District). That money goes into the equipment reserve fund.

“Since I’ve been chief we haven’t had to spend any of the taxpayers’ money for equipment.”

25 years ago

For the week ending

Dec. 9, 1998

Central Oregon going ga ga for Furby

Never mind the movie starring Woody and Buzz. This year the real toy story is all about money, and lots of it. The U.S. toy industry generated $22.6 billion in 1997 and toy makers are angling to pull in the same amount this year.

That $22 billion would buy a heck of a lot of Mr. Potato Heads, if that’s what kids were wanting this year. But it isn’t. They don’t want Tickle Me Elmo either.

This year, the hottest toy in America — and right here in Bend according to local retailers — is Furby. Target, Kmart and Fred Meyer all report selling out of the doll as fast as they can unpack their shipments.

Everybody wants Furby, and there is only one reason behind the demand: a masterful marketing campaign that stirred up the nation’s toy lust before the gizmo was even available in stores. Kids all over the country want a Furby though no one has ever played with one.

You can bet the folks at Tiger Electronics — the company that makes the bug-eyed, big eared, plastic-beaked interactive doll — are high-fiving and popping champagne corks as reports of Furby-crazed shoppers duking it out in toy stores continue to roll in from around the country. And the big city toy shop insanity is being felt right here in Bend.”I’ve had some Furby issues, some angry words from some Furby people,” said Rose Radoman, manager of the toy department at Target. “Some of them have gotten pretty upset that they couldn’t buy one, or if they got one, that they couldn’t get two or three.”

“We tried to keep the Furby thing quiet. We didn’t want to start a riot,” said Sheree Way, Kmart’s toy manager. “The Furby people get crazy. We sold them real quiet. I kept them in the back and if a customer asked, I would go get one. We just couldn’t keep them out on the floor. People can’t handle it.”

When Fred Meyer toy manager April Griggs emerged from the store’s inventory room with a box containing 24 of the furry toys, customers pushed her aside, opened the box and made off with the Furby booty.

The way things are shaping up, it looks like most parents will have to find an alternative to Furby. Quantities are severely limited. Fred Meyer has had only two shipments totaling 38 dolls, Kmart had 24, and Target has sold around 40 Furbies. All of the stores want more, but Tiger Electronics can’t produce them fast enough.