January 6, 1950 (8 pages)

Volume 23, No. . ‘commen “8 ——-— NEVADA CITY (Nevada County) CALIFORNIA Friday, January, 6, 1950 HARDY RETRIAL AND ACOQUITTAL. TOPS 1949 NEWS On another page of this edition The Nugget is publishing a resume of news events of Nevada City and county for 1949, From the -happenings of the community and district The Nugget has selected what it considers the ten most newsworthy events of the past year. Leading the list is the second Lois Hardy trial in February—a news event that spread the name}! of Nevada City and county to the far corners of the country. The ten stories are: 1. Lois Hardy retrial acquittal, 2. Polio epidemic. 3. Slot machines problems of Nevada City. 4, Opening of new powerhouse at Colgate. 5. Collision between. pickup truck and logging truck killing three Grass Valley men. 6. Dog pound troubles of Ne" vada City. 7. Financial and _ physical difficulties of Nevada irrigation 8. 1,000-acre forest fire near Truckee. and 9. Audit difficulties of student body funds. 10. Nevada City’s astounding upset of Placerville, 3-2, in baseball. . Mrs. Lois Hardy sobbed with} joy when Court Clerk Russell! Wilson read the verdict of “not, guilty”. Feb. 2 in Judge Jamés;. Snell’s superior court. She was free.after 18 months in jail in-. cluding. sentence of death in Te-' hachapi prison for women. Mrs. . Hardy had been found: guilty of . murder. January, 1948, in the same courtroom, charged with. her husband, Joe Hardy, with the slaying of James W. McLain on July 30, 1947. . Severest polio epidemic in Nevada county history broke out in late July. Following a brief attempt at concealment a widespread campaign of education and. enlightenment was adopted. Volunteer. therapy classes and purchase of an iron lung cli-' maxed the epidemic. City slot machines woes were . started when Attorney . General Fred Howser asked California peace officers for. routine report in late September. Chief of. Police Max Solaro asked city council for approval of report there were no illegal slot machines in Nevada City, tossing .a council! meeting into an uproar that resulted in the bandying of Nevada City by the state metropolitan press. The slot machines closed for awhile. Colgate’s new 40,200 horsepower powerhouse of the Pacific Gas and Electric company started operations June 16, replacing a 50year-old plant. : John Wearne, Warren C. Falkner and James M. McDonald lost their lives Aug. 23 at the Bear valley grade when. their pickup truck was demolished by swinging log from truck driven by a construction crew member, Robert Perez. Dog problems dogged city dads . all summer. An attempt to clean, up hordes of canines roaming the streets resulted in: establishment of a dog pound. Following seyeral stormy sessions. city, dads _capitulated, abandoned dog pound, . and released the dogs to roam, the streets again. A quarter of a century of mismanagement and companionate lack ofsmaintenance brought Nevada irrigation district’ to grief when severe. winter of 1948-49 damaged flumes and ditches and caused Heavy repair expenditures. Requests to increase domestic rates caused ill feeling jn “spring. Higher assessments -cre. ciyt. City Clerk Calanan was re. the question. . cations of the. political. situation . communities ated stormy sessions at directors. CITY COUNCIL TO SET AMOUNT OF BONDS FOR SEWAGE PLANT The amount of, the bond issue for financing of Nevada City’s proposed sewage disposal plant will be set at a meeting of the council Monday night. — The amount is expected to be approximately $100,000. City Engineer J. F. Siegfried and Ed Uren, engineer, will complete final engineering estimates before Monday session. Siegfried report that the road to the disposal site and the excavation work was more than 90 percent complete. The council will also meet on Jan. 19 for sutdy of the establishment of a business ‘lighting zone and improved lighting in the residential areas. W. H. Meuron, illuminaiton engineer of the Pacific Gas and Electric company will outline the proposed plan. It was also agreed to study a proposal that the county assessor take over the assessment and tax collection for the city. City Clerk George H. Calanan estimated the work would cost $230 annually. Permission was granted John Zunino to transfer his garbage collection contract to. Art and Dick Gagliardi, from Concord. Police Chief Max Solaro asked the council to determine whether city police are protected by insurance during calls outside the quested to obtain. an answer ‘to Calanan was also authorized to launch a survey of business licenses and the location of the license holder. The move was in compliance with a request from: the city planning commission, NEIL O'DONNELL NAMED SPEAKER FOR CHMA. SUNDAY IN AUBURN Neil O’Donnell, executive vice presidént and-general manager of Idaho-Maryland Mines corporation, will speak on the gold situation Sunday at a luncheon meeting of the California Hydraulic Miners association at the Hilltop dining room; Auburn. O'Donnell will discuss impliand its effect on gold mining of. California and what future the mining industry can expect. President George Hallock and Secretary Floyd: T. Wilmogh are in charge of arrangements. FOLK DANCING ONLY ADULT CLASS HERE Folk dancing classes to be held Mondays will be the only evening adult instruction retained during this semester at Nevada City) high school, according to Ed A. Frantz, principal. Miss Helen Chapman is teacher of the class. Classes in industrial arts, wood and metal shop, and séwing’ are dropped, Frantz said, because of small attendance and interest. sie rae’ sean aanaioie ne meeting. The problem was still far from solution at year’s end. , Over 500 men fought Tahoe’s most destructive fire of season Sept. 26 on Bald mountain and threatened, Truckee. More than 1,000 acres of choice recreation forest destroyed. David Hartman, Grass Valley accountant, reported no fraud of student body funds but suggested many practices needed correcting to more or less settle a squabble that stirred the community through October and November. Floyd “Babe” Perry pitched a brilliant 5-hitter to lead Nevada City to a stirring 3-2 upset of the champions, Placerville Bartletts, in the opener of the. Placer-Nevada league in Placerville April 24. Perry never pitched another good’ game all season, TIMBER OPERATORS REGISTRATION OPENS Annual registration of timber eperators as required by California’s forest practice law is underway, according to Ranger Don Knowlton. To facilitate registration, application forms are being mailed direct to each of 813. operators who registered during 1949. Operators who have not registered before may obtain the forms. from Ranger Knowlton’s office on the Nevada City-Grass Valley highway.or by writing direct to division of ‘forestry headquarters, State Office building No. 1, Sacramento. The forest practice act stipulates that all operators engaged in cutting ang removal of timber or other forest products from forest lands for commercial purposes, shall register with the state forester. This requirement applies to the harvesting of saw logs, veneer bolts, posts, : piling, pulpwood;' fuel’ wood, greenery, Christmas trees; and related raw products. It does not apply to those operations exclusively engaged in the manufacture of forest products, such as sawmills. DEFENDANT'S WIFE COLLAPSES IN COURT Justice of the Peace George W. Gildersleeve hurriedly recessed court Tuesday afternoon’ when Mrs.: Vernon Jackson, wife of defendant, Vernon Jackson, eollapsed as attorneys argued question of holding Jackson for petit -or. grand theft. Court attaches carried Mrs. Jackson to a women’s lounge to revivee On reconvening court Judge Gildersleeve ruled Jackson be held for superior court trial for grand theft. Jackson is charged with taking logging tools and equipment valued at more than $200 from Banner mountain logging camp of Americo Bastiani. ° Five teen age youths are released to custody of their parents awaiting action on a charge they removed evidence in the case from @ truck in the sheriff’s par ing lot and dumped it into the Yuba river. Two days of. grappling recovered only part of the equipment. SNOW AND COLD BRING NEW YEAR IN FRIGIDLY Nevada City residents awoke Monday morning to a cold and white second day of the New Year with a mantle of 2% inches of snow on the ground. The next night brought frigid blasts and frozen pipes in the wake of the snow. Wednesday ' morning’s recording of 8 above is the season’s coldest. Precipitation of the. fall of snow was .22. The week’s readings as recorded by Fred Bush: high low Friday, Dec. 30 Saturday, Dec. Sunday, Jan. 1 Monday,: Jan. 2 Tuesday, Jan. 3 Wednesday, Jan. 4 . Thursday, Jan. 5 WALTER BOWER BOUND OVER TO HIGHER COURT Walter R. Bower, Grass Valley businessman, was bound over to Nevada county superior court by Justice of the Peace George W. Gildersleeve Tuesday afternoon on a charge of drunken driving. “Bower was driver of a car involved in a head-on collision with 31 ‘an automobile driven by Mrs. Mae Carr, Nevada City, near the Yuba River Lumber company office Tuesday, Dec. 20. ’ John L. Larue, Nevada City, is. counsel for Bowery ELMER STEVENS COUNTY'S TOP CITIZEN IN 1949 The Nugget nominates Elmer Stevens as Nevada county’s leading citizen in 1949. Stevens served as president of Nevada County Historical Saciety during the year but gave his greatest. contribution of service in the everlasting campaign to eliminate polio’as a scourge from the world. Stevens was chairman of the Nevada county chapter and successfully conducted the annual drive * early part of the year. His service in Nevada county’s severest polio epidemic in its medical history é .is the principal Elmer Stevens factor in. Stevens’ selection as leading citizen of Nevada county. for 1949. Stevens worked tirelessly day and night taking care of arranging transportation, hospitalizaSeas and treatment of the many atients stricken during the epidemic. ADELE STURTEVANT NEVADA CITY MARCH OF DIMES CHAIRMAN Mrs. Adele Sturevant has been named Nevada City chairman of the 1950 campaign for funds to start Monday, Jan. 30, by the Nevada County chapter of National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Ray Hodge, chairman of the chapter made the appointment. Hodge appointed. Mrs. Gertrude Esterly as chairman in the Grass Valley area and Walter Barrett in Truckee. Plans for the annual March of Dimes campaign will be completed tonight at the California highway patrol: office at 7:30 o’clock. A full attendance of all officers and residents is urged by Hodge, in view of the magnitude of the program this year: Last year under the direction of Elmer Stevens, the Nevada county chapter hospitalized and paid the bills for 30 cases handled by the chapter in addition to carrying three 1948 cases, and then opened~a polio: center in Grass Valley to do important follow-up work ‘on all cases plus eight “missed’”’ cases directed to the center by -physicians. The local chapter spent $23,000 for “transportation, tion, medical fees, therapy. Hodge has the important task of maintaining therapy, setting aside funds for what might be another emergency and seeing that Nevada county does its share of giving to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Nevada City Elks: lodge, Girl Scouts and 4-H clubs have al'ready made plans for campaign and “other groups are urged to participate. DIVORCE FILINGS HERE OUTNUMBER WEDDINGS As in all counties of California that are close to the Gretna Greens of Nevada and Arizona, divorce filings in Nevada county in. 1949 outnumbered marriage licenses, according to County Clerk Ralph E. Deeble. Deeble reported 66 couples applied for licenses to be married last year whereas 74 actions for divorce or annulment. were filed. Deeble said the 1949 figures braces and jare average for Nevada county. for funds in the; hospitaliza. /Expert Booster pik haan ibe pM iba To Tell Us How . The Nevada City Chamber of’Commerce will launch its 1950 promotional campaign Tuesda National hotel with Carl T. Mills of Angels Camp scheduled as principal speaker. Highlights of the dinner meeting will be installation of recently elected officers and directors and an outline of the planned activities for the coming year by President DONNER TRAIL RIDE PROPOSED AS ANNUAL JOURNEY OVER DIVIDE Plans for a proposed annual ride of some 250 to 300 of leading . horsemen and sportsmen of the west’from Donner Trail ranch at Verdi, Nev., to Nevada City and return were disclosed upon return of Jack Cartwright from a holiday visit to Jack Fugitt’s Nevada working dude ranch. The ride will be similar in nature to the big annual Rancheros Visitaderos ride held each year from Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez in southern California and is expected to attract some of leading lovers of horseflesh from as far east as Denver, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., as well as from Nevada, Utah, Oregon and California. Tentative plans discussed with Fugitt and others interested in staging the ride as an annual event call for at least two days and a night on the Donner -trail from Fugitt’s Donner Trail ranch to Nevada City where the riders are expected. to spend at least two nights and a day before returning, according to Cartwright. Assurances that leading national picture magazines, news services and newspaper photo services would. cover the ride have been obtained and it may be possible to short’ wave the daily doings on the ride to one of major networks for rebroadcast, it was pointed out. Leading figures from the financial, industrial, professional and motion picture segments of the west will participate according to the program now being discussed, and with Nevada City as the western terminus of the ride this city and Nevada county in general will be insured its share. of nation-wide publicity through magazines, newspapers and radio. A definite date for the ride has not been set as yet-due to the necessity to fix a five or six . day period during which the . Donner Trail Pioneer Ride will not be in conflict with any similar major attraction in the west, the men interested in promoting: it, pointed out. $381,113 WORTH OF CONSTRUCTION IN CITY AND COUNTY IN 1949 With figures of construction permits unavailable from Grass Valley city and the first’ two months of unincorporated areas of Nevada county, construction in 1949 is believed to have been over the half million dollars value, according to figures compiled from records in County Assessor Philip G. Scadden and Assistant City Clerk Sam Hooper’s offices. The county ordinance requiring permits for any construction in the unincorporated areas of the county became effective last March 1.: Scadden said he has reports of some building where owners have neglected to obtain a permit, but reminded that all non-permitted construction would . be revealed when the assessing is done this spring. Since the ordinance went into effect Scadden has: issued Hooper has issued 16 permits, valued at $21,825 during: 1949. VANDALS AT GRAVES. — Vandals. are reported stealing flowersand. floral offerings dec‘orating, graves at Pine Grove cemetery. 104 permits for construction totaling . ,$369,288,15. ¥Ray Spickelmier. The subject of Mills’ speech will be “Ways and Means of Letting the World Know About Your City and County.” The -speaker is particularly well qualified to speak on the subject in view of his highly successful’ record of calling attention to Angels Camp, the Calaveras county fair and the Jumping Frog. Jubilee for the past 20 years or more. Although Angels Camp has a population of 1,000 it has frequently had crowds of more than 25,000 for the celebrations there. The records in Angels Camp show that several of the stunts promoted by Mills have backfired but in all of the cases officials were able to convert the near disasters into more wide-spread publicity than would have: resulted from the proper staging of the event. In one case hundreds gathered in Angels Camp one Sunday to watch a ‘Battle to the Death Between a King Snake and a Rattlesnake.”” With much fanfare the snakes were released in the arena. Startled by the crowd, the snakes retused to fight and were more interested in escape. The disappointed spectators booed loudly which only added to the snakes efforts to escape. However the resulting public-\ ity was far in excess of what it would have been if the ‘fight had gone off_in-good style. Bay ‘section papers wrote at great tength ‘on “Angels Camp Snake Battle Backfires’ and “Snake: Fight Promoter Lays an Egg.” On. another occasion a group of Calaveras men dressed as cattle rustlers drove through the hills firing blank cartridges at a. carload of sheriff's deputies in hot pursuit. A fancher, believing the bandit pursuit was the real thing, fired two shots intd’the bandit car. Fortunately none of the bandits were hit. But metropolitan papers which considered the bandit chase only a mediocre publicity stunt, gave much space to the umexpected turn of events. “At another time the Angels Camp, Boosters club elected to reenact the lynching of a sluice box robber. The robber wearing a harness under his clothing to which the lynchers planned te attach the sope, was captured and tried in a vigilante court, With much shouting the rope was attached to a hook on the harness and the’ robber was hoisteg aloft. . It was all very realistic. The robber’s face turned purple, his eyes rolled up and histongue protruded. A doctor in the crowd, noticing that the facial expressions were too realistic, ordered the robber cut down and jit-was discovered the harness had slipped and the man was very nearly actually hanged, The publicity space which followed far exceeded what would have been given to just an ordinary phony hanging. But .on the more serious side of promotion Mill’s record is exceptional. He has been a leader in the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce and the Ebbetts Pass Highway Association, which both conduct year around campaigns to -bring hunters, fishermen, picnickers and summer home builders to the upper section of the county. Without any . industry’ and — the closing of the mines, Cala— _veras county has maintained a. great amount of consistent . population growth while most mountain counties have shown a decline. y evening at the las

Volume 23, No. . ‘commen “8 ——-— NEVADA CITY (Nevada County) CALIFORNIA Friday, January, 6, 1950 HARDY RETRIAL AND ACOQUITTAL. TOPS 1949 NEWS On another page of this edition The Nugget is publishing a resume of news events of Nevada City and county for 1949, From the -happenings of the community and district The Nugget has selected what it considers the ten most newsworthy events of the past year. Leading the list is the second Lois Hardy trial in February—a news event that spread the name}! of Nevada City and county to the far corners of the country. The ten stories are: 1. Lois Hardy retrial acquittal, 2. Polio epidemic. 3. Slot machines problems of Nevada City. 4, Opening of new powerhouse at Colgate. 5. Collision between. pickup truck and logging truck killing three Grass Valley men. 6. Dog pound troubles of Ne" vada City. 7. Financial and _ physical difficulties of Nevada irrigation 8. 1,000-acre forest fire near Truckee. and 9. Audit difficulties of student body funds. 10. Nevada City’s astounding upset of Placerville, 3-2, in baseball. . Mrs. Lois Hardy sobbed with} joy when Court Clerk Russell! Wilson read the verdict of “not, guilty”. Feb. 2 in Judge Jamés;. Snell’s superior court. She was free.after 18 months in jail in-. cluding. sentence of death in Te-' hachapi prison for women. Mrs. . Hardy had been found: guilty of . murder. January, 1948, in the same courtroom, charged with. her husband, Joe Hardy, with the slaying of James W. McLain on July 30, 1947. . Severest polio epidemic in Nevada county history broke out in late July. Following a brief attempt at concealment a widespread campaign of education and. enlightenment was adopted. Volunteer. therapy classes and purchase of an iron lung cli-' maxed the epidemic. City slot machines woes were . started when Attorney . General Fred Howser asked California peace officers for. routine report in late September. Chief of. Police Max Solaro asked city council for approval of report there were no illegal slot machines in Nevada City, tossing .a council! meeting into an uproar that resulted in the bandying of Nevada City by the state metropolitan press. The slot machines closed for awhile. Colgate’s new 40,200 horsepower powerhouse of the Pacific Gas and Electric company started operations June 16, replacing a 50year-old plant. : John Wearne, Warren C. Falkner and James M. McDonald lost their lives Aug. 23 at the Bear valley grade when. their pickup truck was demolished by swinging log from truck driven by a construction crew member, Robert Perez. Dog problems dogged city dads . all summer. An attempt to clean, up hordes of canines roaming the streets resulted in: establishment of a dog pound. Following seyeral stormy sessions. city, dads _capitulated, abandoned dog pound, . and released the dogs to roam, the streets again. A quarter of a century of mismanagement and companionate lack ofsmaintenance brought Nevada irrigation district’ to grief when severe. winter of 1948-49 damaged flumes and ditches and caused Heavy repair expenditures. Requests to increase domestic rates caused ill feeling jn “spring. Higher assessments -cre. ciyt. City Clerk Calanan was re. the question. . cations of the. political. situation . communities ated stormy sessions at directors. CITY COUNCIL TO SET AMOUNT OF BONDS FOR SEWAGE PLANT The amount of, the bond issue for financing of Nevada City’s proposed sewage disposal plant will be set at a meeting of the council Monday night. — The amount is expected to be approximately $100,000. City Engineer J. F. Siegfried and Ed Uren, engineer, will complete final engineering estimates before Monday session. Siegfried report that the road to the disposal site and the excavation work was more than 90 percent complete. The council will also meet on Jan. 19 for sutdy of the establishment of a business ‘lighting zone and improved lighting in the residential areas. W. H. Meuron, illuminaiton engineer of the Pacific Gas and Electric company will outline the proposed plan. It was also agreed to study a proposal that the county assessor take over the assessment and tax collection for the city. City Clerk George H. Calanan estimated the work would cost $230 annually. Permission was granted John Zunino to transfer his garbage collection contract to. Art and Dick Gagliardi, from Concord. Police Chief Max Solaro asked the council to determine whether city police are protected by insurance during calls outside the quested to obtain. an answer ‘to Calanan was also authorized to launch a survey of business licenses and the location of the license holder. The move was in compliance with a request from: the city planning commission, NEIL O'DONNELL NAMED SPEAKER FOR CHMA. SUNDAY IN AUBURN Neil O’Donnell, executive vice presidént and-general manager of Idaho-Maryland Mines corporation, will speak on the gold situation Sunday at a luncheon meeting of the California Hydraulic Miners association at the Hilltop dining room; Auburn. O'Donnell will discuss impliand its effect on gold mining of. California and what future the mining industry can expect. President George Hallock and Secretary Floyd: T. Wilmogh are in charge of arrangements. FOLK DANCING ONLY ADULT CLASS HERE Folk dancing classes to be held Mondays will be the only evening adult instruction retained during this semester at Nevada City) high school, according to Ed A. Frantz, principal. Miss Helen Chapman is teacher of the class. Classes in industrial arts, wood and metal shop, and séwing’ are dropped, Frantz said, because of small attendance and interest. sie rae’ sean aanaioie ne meeting. The problem was still far from solution at year’s end. , Over 500 men fought Tahoe’s most destructive fire of season Sept. 26 on Bald mountain and threatened, Truckee. More than 1,000 acres of choice recreation forest destroyed. David Hartman, Grass Valley accountant, reported no fraud of student body funds but suggested many practices needed correcting to more or less settle a squabble that stirred the community through October and November. Floyd “Babe” Perry pitched a brilliant 5-hitter to lead Nevada City to a stirring 3-2 upset of the champions, Placerville Bartletts, in the opener of the. Placer-Nevada league in Placerville April 24. Perry never pitched another good’ game all season, TIMBER OPERATORS REGISTRATION OPENS Annual registration of timber eperators as required by California’s forest practice law is underway, according to Ranger Don Knowlton. To facilitate registration, application forms are being mailed direct to each of 813. operators who registered during 1949. Operators who have not registered before may obtain the forms. from Ranger Knowlton’s office on the Nevada City-Grass Valley highway.or by writing direct to division of ‘forestry headquarters, State Office building No. 1, Sacramento. The forest practice act stipulates that all operators engaged in cutting ang removal of timber or other forest products from forest lands for commercial purposes, shall register with the state forester. This requirement applies to the harvesting of saw logs, veneer bolts, posts, : piling, pulpwood;' fuel’ wood, greenery, Christmas trees; and related raw products. It does not apply to those operations exclusively engaged in the manufacture of forest products, such as sawmills. DEFENDANT'S WIFE COLLAPSES IN COURT Justice of the Peace George W. Gildersleeve hurriedly recessed court Tuesday afternoon’ when Mrs.: Vernon Jackson, wife of defendant, Vernon Jackson, eollapsed as attorneys argued question of holding Jackson for petit -or. grand theft. Court attaches carried Mrs. Jackson to a women’s lounge to revivee On reconvening court Judge Gildersleeve ruled Jackson be held for superior court trial for grand theft. Jackson is charged with taking logging tools and equipment valued at more than $200 from Banner mountain logging camp of Americo Bastiani. ° Five teen age youths are released to custody of their parents awaiting action on a charge they removed evidence in the case from @ truck in the sheriff’s par ing lot and dumped it into the Yuba river. Two days of. grappling recovered only part of the equipment. SNOW AND COLD BRING NEW YEAR IN FRIGIDLY Nevada City residents awoke Monday morning to a cold and white second day of the New Year with a mantle of 2% inches of snow on the ground. The next night brought frigid blasts and frozen pipes in the wake of the snow. Wednesday ' morning’s recording of 8 above is the season’s coldest. Precipitation of the. fall of snow was .22. The week’s readings as recorded by Fred Bush: high low Friday, Dec. 30 Saturday, Dec. Sunday, Jan. 1 Monday,: Jan. 2 Tuesday, Jan. 3 Wednesday, Jan. 4 .. Thursday, Jan. 5 WALTER BOWER BOUND OVER TO HIGHER COURT Walter R. Bower, Grass Valley businessman, was bound over to Nevada county superior court by Justice of the Peace George W. Gildersleeve Tuesday afternoon on a charge of drunken driving. “Bower was driver of a car involved in a head-on collision with 31 ‘an automobile driven by Mrs. Mae Carr, Nevada City, near the Yuba River Lumber company office Tuesday, Dec. 20. ’ John L. Larue, Nevada City, is. counsel for Bowery ELMER STEVENS

COUNTY'S TOP CITIZEN IN 1949 The Nugget nominates Elmer Stevens as Nevada county’s leading citizen in 1949. Stevens served as president of Nevada County Historical Saciety during the year but gave his greatest. contribution of service in the everlasting campaign to eliminate polio’as a scourge from the world. Stevens was chairman of the Nevada county chapter and successfully conducted the annual drive * early part of the year. His service in Nevada county’s severest polio epidemic in its medical history é .is the principal Elmer Stevens factor in. Stevens’ selection as leading citizen of Nevada county. for 1949. Stevens worked tirelessly day and night taking care of arranging transportation, hospitalizaSeas and treatment of the many atients stricken during the epidemic. ADELE STURTEVANT NEVADA CITY MARCH OF DIMES CHAIRMAN Mrs. Adele Sturevant has been named Nevada City chairman of the 1950 campaign for funds to start Monday, Jan. 30, by the Nevada County chapter of National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Ray Hodge, chairman of the chapter made the appointment. Hodge appointed. Mrs. Gertrude Esterly as chairman in the Grass Valley area and Walter Barrett in Truckee. Plans for the annual March of Dimes campaign will be completed tonight at the California highway patrol: office at 7:30 o’clock. A full attendance of all officers and residents is urged by Hodge, in view of the magnitude of the program this year: Last year under the direction of Elmer Stevens, the Nevada county chapter hospitalized and paid the bills for 30 cases handled by the chapter in addition to carrying three 1948 cases, and then opened~a polio: center in Grass Valley to do important follow-up work ‘on all cases plus eight “missed’”’ cases directed to the center by -physicians. The local chapter spent $23,000 for “transportation, tion, medical fees, therapy. Hodge has the important task of maintaining therapy, setting aside funds for what might be another emergency and seeing that Nevada county does its share of giving to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Nevada City Elks: lodge, Girl Scouts and 4-H clubs have al'ready made plans for campaign and “other groups are urged to participate. DIVORCE FILINGS HERE OUTNUMBER WEDDINGS As in all counties of California that are close to the Gretna Greens of Nevada and Arizona, divorce filings in Nevada county in. 1949 outnumbered marriage licenses, according to County Clerk Ralph E. Deeble. Deeble reported 66 couples applied for licenses to be married last year whereas 74 actions for divorce or annulment. were filed. Deeble said the 1949 figures braces and jare average for Nevada county. for funds in the; hospitaliza. /Expert Booster pik haan ibe pM iba To Tell Us How . The Nevada City Chamber of’Commerce will launch its 1950 promotional campaign Tuesda National hotel with Carl T. Mills of Angels Camp scheduled as principal speaker. Highlights of the dinner meeting will be installation of recently elected officers and directors and an outline of the planned activities for the coming year by President DONNER TRAIL RIDE PROPOSED AS ANNUAL JOURNEY OVER DIVIDE Plans for a proposed annual ride of some 250 to 300 of leading . horsemen and sportsmen of the west’from Donner Trail ranch at Verdi, Nev., to Nevada City and return were disclosed upon return of Jack Cartwright from a holiday visit to Jack Fugitt’s Nevada working dude ranch. The ride will be similar in nature to the big annual Rancheros Visitaderos ride held each year from Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez in southern California and is expected to attract some of leading lovers of horseflesh from as far east as Denver, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., as well as from Nevada, Utah, Oregon and California. Tentative plans discussed with Fugitt and others interested in staging the ride as an annual event call for at least two days and a night on the Donner -trail from Fugitt’s Donner Trail ranch to Nevada City where the riders are expected. to spend at least two nights and a day before returning, according to Cartwright. Assurances that leading national picture magazines, news services and newspaper photo services would. cover the ride have been obtained and it may be possible to short’ wave the daily doings on the ride to one of major networks for rebroadcast, it was pointed out. Leading figures from the financial, industrial, professional and motion picture segments of the west will participate according to the program now being discussed, and with Nevada City as the western terminus of the ride this city and Nevada county in general will be insured its share. of nation-wide publicity through magazines, newspapers and radio. A definite date for the ride has not been set as yet-due to the necessity to fix a five or six . day period during which the . Donner Trail Pioneer Ride will not be in conflict with any similar major attraction in the west, the men interested in promoting: it, pointed out. $381,113 WORTH OF CONSTRUCTION IN CITY AND COUNTY IN 1949 With figures of construction permits unavailable from Grass Valley city and the first’ two months of unincorporated areas of Nevada county, construction in 1949 is believed to have been over the half million dollars value, according to figures compiled from records in County Assessor Philip G. Scadden and Assistant City Clerk Sam Hooper’s offices. The county ordinance requiring permits for any construction in the unincorporated areas of the county became effective last March 1.: Scadden said he has reports of some building where owners have neglected to obtain a permit, but reminded that all non-permitted construction would . be revealed when the assessing is done this spring. Since the ordinance went into effect Scadden has: issued Hooper has issued 16 permits, valued at $21,825 during: 1949. VANDALS AT GRAVES. — Vandals. are reported stealing flowersand. floral offerings dec‘orating, graves at Pine Grove cemetery. 104 permits for construction totaling . ,$369,288,15. ¥Ray Spickelmier. The subject of Mills’ speech will be “Ways and Means of Letting the World Know About Your City and County.” The -speaker is particularly well qualified to speak on the subject in view of his highly successful’ record of calling attention to Angels Camp, the Calaveras county fair and the Jumping Frog. Jubilee for the past 20 years or more. Although Angels Camp has a population of 1,000 it has frequently had crowds of more than 25,000 for the celebrations there. The records in Angels Camp show that several of the stunts promoted by Mills have backfired but in all of the cases officials were able to convert the near disasters into more wide-spread publicity than would have: resulted from the proper staging of the event. In one case hundreds gathered in Angels Camp one Sunday to watch a ‘Battle to the Death Between a King Snake and a Rattlesnake.”” With much fanfare the snakes were released in the arena. Startled by the crowd, the snakes retused to fight and were more interested in escape. The disappointed spectators booed loudly which only added to the snakes efforts to escape. However the resulting public-\ ity was far in excess of what it would have been if the ‘fight had gone off_in-good style. Bay ‘section papers wrote at great tength ‘on “Angels Camp Snake Battle Backfires’ and “Snake: Fight Promoter Lays an Egg.” On. another occasion a group of Calaveras men dressed as cattle rustlers drove through the hills firing blank cartridges at a. carload of sheriff's deputies in hot pursuit. A fancher, believing the bandit pursuit was the real thing, fired two shots intd’the bandit car. Fortunately none of the bandits were hit. But metropolitan papers which considered the bandit chase only a mediocre publicity stunt, gave much space to the umexpected turn of events. “At another time the Angels Camp, Boosters club elected to reenact the lynching of a sluice box robber. The robber wearing a harness under his clothing to which the lynchers planned te attach the sope, was captured and tried in a vigilante court, With much shouting the rope was attached to a hook on the harness and the’ robber was hoisteg aloft. . It was all very realistic. The robber’s face turned purple, his eyes rolled up and histongue protruded. A doctor in the crowd, noticing that the facial expressions were too realistic, ordered the robber cut down and jit-was discovered the harness had slipped and the man was very nearly actually hanged, The publicity space which followed far exceeded what would have been given to just an ordinary phony hanging. But .on the more serious side of promotion Mill’s record is exceptional. He has been a leader in the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce and the Ebbetts Pass Highway Association, which both conduct year around campaigns to -bring hunters, fishermen, picnickers and summer home builders to the upper section of the county. Without any . industry’ and — the closing of the mines, Cala— _veras county has maintained a. great amount of consistent . population growth while most mountain counties have shown a decline. y evening at the las