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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1905)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 26, 1905. It MR. WOOD FIETOFITS Explains His Attitude as to Malheur Project. SENDS WIRE TO HITCHCOCK Wants to Know if Secretary Said He Was Guilty of "Deliberate Mis representation" Senator Fulton's Statement. PORTLAND. Now 25. (To the Editor.) In The Orcponian. November 24, ap peared a statement by your Washington correspondent to the effect that Secretary Hltrhcock had said thrft I had made-deliberate mlsrcprcBontatlons In connection with the Malheur Irrigation project. I immediately wired the Secretary of the Interior, and received the following reply: Secretary Hitchcock directs me to nay that h had made no ntatemrnt whatever to cor respondent of Oregonlan regarding the Mal heur project, nor has he cen him for sev eral weeks. TV. SCOTT SMITH. Trlvate Secretary. I give this reply verbatim because of the subsequent developments. You then wired jour correspondent, and I received a re ,iy from him, asking me to verify his statement by a telegram to Senator Ful ton I did so, and In reply Senator Fulton said In substance that Secretary Hitch cock, after criticizing The Oregonian's correspondent severely for his course In general, had continued: "And that man "Wood, too, has been making misrepre sentations. He'd better keep still. They are all HeB." The Senator says he un derstood this language to Include me as well as The Oregonlan correspondent, but concludes that he understands the Secre tary denies this. It is a matter of utter Indifference to me what Secretary Hitchcock's opinion of me is, but If I have made misrepre sentations to him, he ought to point out what they are. As the matter now stands, either Senator Fulton greatly misunder stood the Secretary, or the Secretary and his secretary have stooped to an almost unbelievable cowardly quibble In denying that the assertion was made to The Ore gonian's correspondent. It Is difficult to believe that of Mr. Hitchcock, and cer tainly no one out here would ever believe Senator Fulton had deliberately misquoted the Secretary. Therefore, for the present, I drop the matter, so far as the public is concerned, as a misunderstanding, though I shall pursue It to a finish in my own way, as my own affair. I fancy the public cares very little about this phase of It. i think, bowever. that the public is en titled to know why I am responsible for the abandonment of this great public en terprise, if I am responsible. It may be that I, acting for the trust reposed In me, have been unreasonable in my atti tude, but It seems to me It Is the Recla mation Service and the Secretary who have been unreasonable- The following facts, however, wllk speak for them selves, and permit the public to Judge who Is really responsible as between mo and the Secretary. I finally agreed to subscribe to this rec- Ilamatlon plan, every acre of which lay under the system; In round numbers, 5.000 acres, and to burden every acre with I a first lien of to secure the return to tfie Government of the money expended. Il'.felt It was my duty, however, to tell line Reclamation Service my candid be lief that I did not think more than 10,000 acres of our land 'would really stand this heavy Hen, but that my people were willing to subscribe It all, rather than be responsible for blocking this enterprise of so nuch importance to th,e State of Ore gon. The Reclamation Service has al ways Insisted and still Insists that every acre selected by them would well stand, the $42 per acre lien; therefore. I cannot blieve that the reclamation people were frightened out of their own carefully ma tured Judgment by my differing opinion. I agreed as a matter of course that we and our lands must In all things be bound by the reclamation act Itself, and, there fore. I agreed to make it a covenant and condition to run with ail of our sales and to bind the land in the hands of any owner, that no single individual could get water for more than 160 acres of land, but reserved the right to sell, subject to this condition, in any quantity, because we were, and are, contemplating a sale of the entire grant, or this entire Malheur tract, as a body. The Reclamation Serv ice asked that the Secretary be given con trol of our land, the same as of the Gov ernment land. This I refused, but in the Interest of the enterprise, I agreed to turn over to the Secretary all of the land remaining unsold after the expiration of one crop year after water was actually turned on. we to receive 53 per acre from any sales made by him. It seemed to me then and does now that $3 per acre Is not an unreasonable expectation on be half of the owner from land which is deemed capable of bearing $42 per acre first Hen on the raw land. I believed, and so suggested, that we would at first have the alternate even sections of Gov ernment land to compete with, and, also, lands Just across the Snake River, which. I was Informed, could be had in ' large quantities from private reclamation en terprises, with a water lien of $35 or $35 per acre. I promised to expedite sales as much as possible, and. without this prom ise, it certainly seemed that we could not well afford to unduly hold our lands, when the Secretary, within one year after the reclamation had become an accomplished fact, could take the entire matter out of our hands at $3 per acre. This is, I think, a correct summary of my correspondence and conversation with the Reclamation Service. The full corre spondence is open to any one intcreited to investigate tho matter. The Reclamation Board, In announcing the abandonment of the enterprise, de-. clarcd, as its own construction of our acts, that we were asking, for a year after the water was turned on. in order to profit by the rise in value due to the improvement of adjacent land. I say we had no such intention, and I say It would have been a dangerous thing to do with the club which the Secretary held over us. for a year is no great matter In an enter prise of this kind, involving about 100.000 acres of land. Had this been my inten tion. I would not hesitate to say so, be cause, in fact, I see no reason why the owners of this land, who are not grafters, but have paid full value gold coin for It. should not. after they have burdened it with a first Hen of 42 per aore to the Government, get what profit they could for themseh'cs out of the land within the time limit allowed them. These I believe to be the facts, and the public can now Judge for themselves. So far as 1 enter into the Question at all. It seems to me the request of the owners of 2S.000 acres of land for one year after water was an accomplished fact, in which to sell their lands for some thing over $42 per acre first mortgage lien was reasonable, but if considered un reasonable is It not more so . to make this demand any part of the reasons for the suspension or abandonment of this Important enterprise. 1 feel that the Reclamation Service has approached every one having any vested rights, either in land or water, too much in the spirit of "Here, now, we arc the Government: lay down all your hard-won or hard bought rights, and let the Secretary do as he pleases with them, for he wants to make a lot of small homes tor poor peo ple, which is a fine thing to do. So you people must give up' or be called grafters." C. EL S. WOOD. MISER IS OUT Resigns Position With the Harrimalv Lines. CAUSE OF HIS RETIREMENT SoHthern Pacific Officials Objected to His Seeking a Front-Street FrAHchiws for Other Than Their Roads. Thomas McCusker has proved that he is not attempting to secure a franchise down Front street on behalf of the Harriman Interests by handing In the following let ter of resignation to R. B. Miller, general freigh agent of the Harriman system for Oregon and Washington. The letter Is ex planatory to a degree, and seems to show that great effort is being made by the Harriman people to control the Front street franchise. The letter sent by Mr. McCusker follows: R. B. Miller. General Freight Agent Karri man System. City Dear Sir: Owing to the repeated requests of yourself and M-. Com an for my withdrawal from the Front-street franchise, or In lieu thereof my qpslgnatlon on the statement that same Is In conflict with the Harriman Interest. I hereby tender my resignation to take effect December 1. as I do not wish to embarrass either yourself or Mr. O'Brien. Respectfully youra. THOMAS M'CUSKER. When asked yesterday afternoon when his resignation was to take effect, Mr. McCusker said that he would leave the service of the company December 1- A .curious muddle arose when Mr. Mc Cusker entered the list of railway pro moters in opposition to . Mr. Harriman and his agents. Mr. McCusker asked for a franchise down Front street, and at the same time the Southern Pacific people wished it. It was said at first that Mc Cusker was working for Harriman. but things that came to light afterward tend ed to change the opinion. It was pre dicted that. If the franchise sought by McCusker was not for Harriman, the Job of contracting freight agent would soon bo open. In a short time it began to bo whispered that McCusker had been asked to resign, but this was denied. Now the resignation is in. Had Mr. McCusker been able to secure his franchise, as he has hopes of doing, and General Manager O'Brien and Gen eral Freight Agent Miller had allowed him to remain peacefully on the payroll of tho company while working against It. there is reason to believe that Mr. Harri man would have wreaked vengeance on the officials for aiding and abetting a re bellion. It was in order to avoid any un pleasant results for either Mr. O'Brien or Mr. Miller, both of whom are friendly to Mr. McCusker, that he resigned. It had been his Intention to force them to give him his discharge, but later consid erations changed his plans. The franchise question will be up for dis cussion befpre the street committee of tho City Council on Friday next, at which time It Is hoped by Mr. McCusker that he will be able to show that his project is reasonable and feasible and to the benefit of the city. No Cause for Smallpox Scare. One new case of smallpox was reported yesterday to the City Health Officer.. that of Mrs. Minnie Wagner, residing at Zi3 Lincoln street. Symptoms of the disease in the form of eruptions developed Friday night and yesterday morning. Dr. X. H. LIFE SAVED BY FAMOUS PILE CURE i Well-Xmewa lUsideit of Moline, TJL, P.ece-d Fren Dezfk fey the . - "WjoBderfnl Pyramid Pile Cure. - To Aayeae Seadtar Xswe sad Address a Pre Trial Treatmest Will Br Peat to rroTe the Troth of IU Great Power. By every mall we get hundreds of let ters like these: ' "I will say that two prominent physi cians of our city declared that unless I underwent an operation, and that very soon. I was in danger of death. I saw your ad. in a newspaper and at once sent for a sample, which I received very promptly. I want to tell you that it was the first thing that cased the terrible pain and itchtng and allowed me to have a night's rest for seven long weeks. My husband Immediately went to our drug gist. Mr. Hclnbach, and procured a 50 ccnt box. I am now cured, and will al ways recommend you highly to every one. Tou actually saved my life. My mind, too, was almost gone from the naln. Yours gratefully. Mrs. Rose H. StouiTer. 1603 Six teenth a tree t, Molinc. 1IL" The Pyramid Pile Cure quickly and easily cures the worst cases vof plies, heals all ulcers and sores; reduces all inflamma tion and takes away all Itching and pain. Beware of the surgeon's knife. Its re sults'are horrible, often wrecking life and resulting In hemorrhage and death. Pyramid Pile Cure gives Instant relief, you cure yourself In your own home, without being at all disturbed from your work. " It is prepared in the form of "easy-to-use" suppositories. A trial treatment, will be sent to any one, absolutely free of charge, who sends name and address. After you are satisfied with the sample, you can go to your druggist and get a regular-size treatment for 0 cents, or if he hasn't it. send the money to us and we will send you the treatment at once. Send your name and address to Pyramid Drug Co., 6971 Pyramid Bldg.. Marshall. Mich. Dining Table Specials all this .week $1 Down50c a Week Rand, her attending physician, does not regard her case as severe, but thinks It Is a mild attack. Dr. A. J. Giesy, a. member of the City Board of Health, staled last night that there was no occasion for calling a apo dal meeting of the body to consider the smallpox situation, as the facts did not warrant any extraordinary action. He said that Health Officer Matson and City Physician Cauthorn had the matter well in hand, and there was no necessity for public anxiety, the reports having been greatly exaggerated. Sunday Club of Y. M. C. A. At the Sunday Club" of the Young Men's Christian Association tnis after noon. Dr. J. Whltcomb Brougher. of the White Temple, will be the speaker on the topic "How to win Out." A musical programme of- unusual Interest has been arranged. The usual half-hour or chestra concert by McCurdy's Orches tra will be held preceding the. address In the auditorium, but the special feat ure of the Jay will be the numbers by the well-trained chorus of 20 voices ! from the First United Presbyterian , Church, which Is under the direction of ' Miss Kiia trance MODcrg. xne pro gramme begins at 3 o'clock, and Is open without charge to all men. Fake Jewelry Ordinance. An ordinance -has been prepared under the supervision of the license department of the City Auditor's office to meet the re quirements tf the situation demanded by We are offering fr this week special prices and terms in. Dining Tables. If you ve planned for a hew Dining Table you will surely get it before Thursday. "We arc selling these beautiful tables imdif such liberal terms no one in want of a high-class Dining Tabic need longer be without it. t Look at the five-legged tabic shown here, taken from a photo. Note its pleasing design. Style, quality arid price are all satisfactory. Notice the terms. Why longer have a table want in your household? Top is 4S inches diameter, extends to 6 feet; legs 5 inches, handsomely turned and fluted, just like cut. The price has been $25, but we've knocked off $5, and sell it to you at $20 -$1.00 down, 50 cents a week. A square top costs you a dollar less. Pedestals the Thing, Pedestal Tables, round and square tops, arc in de mand these days and wc arc amply prepared to meet every call. Our stock is the largest in the city, for we have made a specialty of tine tables for years. "We show here a very handsome pedestal table with carved feet, made of solid, selected oak, quarter sawed and kiln-dried, hand polished and thorough ly well made. Yon may have one sent to your home in time for the Thanksgiving dinner for the small "payment of $1.00 down and agreement to. !ay;50 cents a week. The original price was $27; special price this week 23 Special Range Sale1 CI oses This Week $1 down and $1 a. week will buy one and make a beautiful Christmas present for your wife. I. Gevurtz & Sons 173-175 First Street 219-227 Yamhill Street the recent trials of cheap jewelry auc- sell or offer for sale In this city any artl tloncers by the license committee of the j cle of gold, silver or plated ware, watches. Council. j Jewelry or precious stones, without statin? Under the provisions of the propositi i in a loud and distinct voice that the artl mcasurc. no auctioneer shall hereafter I cle Is sold without any warrant or repre sentation, as to quality whatever, or that the article is expressly warranted to b as the auctioneer represents It; nor shall he accept false bids from any person in the employ of himself or others. -v ECONOMY OF GAS ITS CHEAPNESS Thousands now ctffck with GAS for its convenience, cleanliness and comfort. Other thousands for its Efficiency, and the TIME IS NOW AT HAND when ALL people should cook with GAS for ITS ECONOMY INVESTIGATE FULLY COUNT THE COST and FACTS will prove to you conclusively that GAS is pre-eminently and WITHOUT question the cheapest and best fuel. WELSBACH AND LINDSAY GAS LIGHT 75 CENTS r i I THIS INCLUDES INSTALLING The former price of these well-known lights was $1. With the reduction of gas on Nov. 1 to $1.15 per 1000 cubic feet makes the cost of lighting by gas by far the cheapest light on the market. The Welsbach and Lindsay light save both gas and money. It's the way they are built. They save several times the cost during the year. CIRCULATING GAS WATER HEATER Don't Forget That Gas Is Economical for Cooking the Entire Year With the Circulating Gas Water Heater and the modern mode of heating, gas is by far the most convenient as well as economical LET US TELL YOU ABOUT THE SYSTEM Since Nov. 1 the Price of Gas Is $1.15 Net; Per 1000 Cu. Ft. 3 . MODERN GAS RANGE PORTLAND GAS COMPANY FIFTH AND YAMHILL STREETS