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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1922)
THE SUNDAY OREGrONIAN, POETLAND, IHECH ' 19, 1922 " v , Stephen Carver Dreamed as a Child of Being Banker 4, Z rt; and Railroad Man, and His Dreams Came True. T -v - ft J 1 1 fUin i:r ..; jV ' '' ill i : Si ' 1':-'V'V ,5- 1 Hi' V-Vt- ( 111 p; I It-' - V',h' Vi- - ' ' mi . v v t .: - " " - i S It istf - 1.1. ., ng Ji. ' . , . 1 ' : ... .. i 1 I x- opera- BY De WITT HARRY. river, near where Clear creek has its west to Chinook. Montana, and there' route. When he had his survev com IN Gilbert and Sullivan's tuneful mouth. With this auto-oddity the fulfilled the first part of his child- pleted he ' hired a 'draughtsman' to "Mikado", appeared a character Portland & Oregon City railroad, in hood dream, opened up a bank. The make, the location map and the line whose talents were so varie'd that other words, Stephen Carver, main- Chinook bank was a success from the is there today, straight as an arrow he managed to hold down a choice se- tains regular schedules and holds its start and to show in what respect and with an exceptoinally eafey grade lection of positions. Stephen Carver or hs rrancntses. . carver, or the rail might be called the Pooh Bah of the load, take your choice, is under the ered the ultimatum that he would go railroads that, measuring by aneaa in any event. However, beuore tion-standards, are a. success, he made, much progress he was called jn .1914 Carver thought he saw an back and the railroad officials agreed opportunity to build another railroad that, in consideration of an option, that promised success south from they would furnish the necessary Portland into Clackamas county and steel, and Carver, his time sadly de- found it an easy matter to interest pleted, and with a rush in eight to his Montana backers. The city of collect his bonus, started - construe- Portland, under Mayor Albee's ad- tlon- ministration, granted him a franchise He. wasn't an engineer, so fie took and the work went ahead.. War-time the most direct method he knew to measures forced the shutting down of locate his line, mounted a horse and the actual construction work just as rode straight across country, guided the line was ready to cross the by a compass, and staked out the Clackamas river and a great wooden trestle is now half way across .that stream, waiting to join onto the right- Carver and his associates own 2049 acres of timber cruising almut 80, 000,000 board feet and adjoining them the Swift & Cornwall interests have e 5000-acre tract that contains 230. 000.000 feet. Other holdings in two near-by townships are estimated at 600,000.000 feet additional and yet back of this is a Weyerliauser, Col lins & Swift investment of some 80, 000 acres of solid forest heavy in merchantable stocks and there is more than 25 miles of forest extending back to the Santiam river. The Car ver line has its right of way to th start of this belt and it is the inten tion eventually to tap it and handle the logs or finished lumber, for many small mills are being located in the woods where cost of operation if light and where they get the benefit of a terminal rate ruling of recent - date. cf-way that appears in the hillside a And there 'is Carver, holding on stone's throw away- Between Carver like a bulldog, buffeted by the "re and Vioia ihe road is 80 per cent com- turn to normalcy" conditions and pleted and one mile of track laid, forced to ride as best he can. He is Here the builder found he was up making . a single-handed effort against a different proposition than against the world and as the "pooh an ordinary panic and was forced to bah" of the railroad is a unique fis shut down. During the war period ure. His childhood dreams have corn the road paid on account of the pas- true and he has owned his bank and senger traffic that originated with his railroad, several times each, but many men working in the shipyards, here he is, all tied up, and trying his but this has dwindled off. now until best to . untangle himself. Perhaps Carver doubts If he is breaking even some day soon a fairy will come and in paying the expenses of coaxing the help him out with a magic wand that "Galloping Goose" on her 'three round .will make steer beef worth enough trips daily. 'so that the Montana backers can dig Lying back in the hills near Viola up the money to complete the line. Portland & Oregon City railroad, for control ot tne state putmc service he is superintendent of the entire commission. He or it publishes a reg line.. construction foreman, mainte- ular schedule and time table and- is- nance of way chief, head of the oper- sues a larni ior Doin ireignt ana pas- 'not railed to come through as he ation -department, has charge of all enger traffic that must be given of- promised. He is having a difficult Carver was held by the friends he and very cheap to construct. The made there, these are the men who engineering staff of the railroad, are putting up the money for the whose best men had spent months Portland & Oregon City railroad. They trying to figure out means of fol- have confidence in Carver and he has lowing a tortuous river to -Ontario, THE TRUTH ABOUT HOLLYWOOD cave," says Mr.' Mather's report, "are In (private hands undr the term of a famous will which dictated that th land must be held In trust unitil such (Continued From Page 2.) , traffic is engineer, dispatcher, section foreman and crew, ticket and station agent at several places and in addi tion has charge of the promotion and financing departments. Carver's tale, as related by himself, reads like a page from some child's dream book. As a youngster in a ' email .Iowa town he used to accom pany his hard-working farmer father to town. In those days it was the fashion .for bankers to display their wares in somewhat the same manner as did other merchants. ters would be stacks of ficial approval like that of any other time with his present and third rail corporation rendering a public serv- road, but hopes to come out on top ice in this state. . So much as a fillip in the long run. Whether Carver will to coax the reader further into the make it a perfect score and pull an story of a unique enterprise with other chestnut out of a hot fire in many amusing and at the same time this case, time only can tell, but it interesting angles.- - must be admitted that he is making What is the reason for the Carver a gritty fight and meeting obstacles line up the Clackamas? The same as that would discourage many a man. for the building of any other railroad, - After the bank et Chinook got go traffic. In this section of the state lng good Carver looked about for paid Carver the tribute of saying that tfiey had to "give the palm to "a farmer." , . Race " Against Time Wou, So Carver started his race against time and with a crew of men throw ing up a temporary grade ahead of the track-Jaying gangs he rushed the line straignt across, from vale to On credited with having built the first tario and rah" the little locomotive studio, at Edendale. Then came the 200 other persons are needed to assist time aa the death of the las of the ers living in handsome homes in the his light in shining before men. The named heirs occurs, when It 1 to be midst of citrus orchards. Its char- crowd came and it sought homes, oold at public auction iti its entirety, acter was about like that, say. of Transients, finding themselves set- "Because of the advanced age of the Bernardsville, N. J. Los Angeles was tied for a long sojourn in California, tw.0 Burvivlng heirs it may be a city of little more than 100,000. It bought or built houses. The tropper, ltha,t it wiM not be long before had-already started to boom wnen always a nomaa, creaming 01 a iixea thlfa worldj-famed cavern will be sold the movies came. G. . M. Anderson Broncno Billy appeared from somewhere and began thooting "Westerns" requiring no studio. Colonel William M. Selig is habitation, found his dream coming true. In California he could literally have his own vine and fig tree. He could be sure of seeing his family every day. There sprung up a feeling of local pride. The actor and his retinue, the director; the scenario writer, the host into town . ' its stack just showing B'ograph and others, one at a time lies some of its most valuable tim- other opportunities and in 1898 came above the sage brush as it came They found in this part of California 01 otners wno neip xo maKe me pic ber: close to tidewater and terminal to Ontario. Oree-nr, .ciKiih t, f 1. n. not only the greatest number of sun- tures came to have a love for Holly- On the coun- facilities and a suburban area that his second bank, the first one in tis promised bonus. When therail- lit days and the best actinic light wood because it was their -town. c Jtfl e t in teems to promise considerable de- Ontario. Like the Chinook institution mart was first talked of Ontario mus- value, but the greatest variety of "lo- Proudly they voted, became bank de-i .it, ... . veionment in tim a won a thi i t . 1.1 j cations" to be discovered anywhere, positors, went on boards of directors. """ " i ana lais money display in a u e &-great .1 - ouwcoa lerca m pujjuwuuu vi - x aim wao ctii - impression on young Carver. The lit- v"mu aencunurai community, xne irom tne start ana carver gained the alkali hole In the midst of a sage tie Iowa town was on the main line railroad at present is completed to confidence of the community to such desert. Within 18 months it had 1100 of a transcontinental railroad, and the the town of Carver, 16 miles from an extent that when Ontario - was population, two hanks, a waterworks men who operated the trains were also Portland, and 85 per cent completed threatened with a serious disaster, and an electric light plant and today heroic figures to the impressionable to. Viola, one of the pioneer towns of Jione other than losing the county is one of the prosperous cities of Ore boy. Therefore young Stephen came Clackamas county, 14 miles back in. seat, they came to Carver and offered gon. The Oregon Short Line after- through childhood with twin ambi- t?ie hills from Oregon City. Difficul- to pay him a bonus if he would build wards purchased the Carver railroad There were' prairie, desert, ranches, xney even joinea tne cnurcnes, wun rocky and sandy beaches, gorges, which Hollywood is plentifully sup mountains, snow, gardens, vegetation Pled. of every clime, romantic villages. The recent scandals have endan- tustling cities, all within a small gered the livelihood of these men and geographical compass. . women. In defending Hollywood In the center of all this, Hollywood, against attack they have acted from under the hammer, and unless Borne mtMS are found to take It over na tionally at that time, either through congressional appropriation or ele througfa donation of some public-epir-ited indJv'dual or organization, the cave will be lost for all time as a national park possibility and will continue to be privately exploited." I trust congress will make an ex- vldent poiiioy not to funds in. the acquisition of park areas by purohaao of the great Mammoth cave of Kentucky." Passing; It On. tions. He wanted to be a banker and "" """"""S nave neia up con- tnem a ranroaa to vale, a distance of and it is now the Malheur valley conveniently piacea Detween tne Ui a railroad man. The story of his life structlon of the last link to the tim- 16 miles. Here again was fate inter- Branch line, part of the Union Pacific mountains and the sea, far enough belief that the black sheep are few. and has been extended on up from Los Angeles to De out or tne shows that he fulfilled his childhood ber line, for the reason, according to vening in Carver's life and warming syster dreams, for he has founded two suc cessful banks and built two. success ful railroads and is now building the, third one. "(jialloplnt; Gooie Wanders to Country. Crane' creek for 70 to SO miles. highest rent zone, affording plenty of In another article an attempt will - Then Carver came to Corvallis for vacant space for the erection of etu- be made to give the facts and to his next railroad building experi- dios. At first each producer of pic- estimate the soundness of the defense. erice and constructed the Corvallis tures naa nis own inuepenumit pBi - & Alsea ra'ilroad, 31 miles long. In sonnel. For example, each company the building of this line he was just making wild west films had his own at his busiest when the panic of 1907 army of cowboys. Each outfit was hit the1 country, but his Montana jealous 01 tne omer, anu as u piu Mammoth Cave Is Desired as National Park. Willie burst into the room late one afternoon with this announcement: "Dad, there's a man at the door who says he wants to see 'the boss of the house'.'" , . Dad glanced up from his paper and answered laconically, "Tell your mother." Whereupon mother, who from the next room had overheard this, called out: , "Willie, tell Bridget." OUISVILLE, Ky., March 18. Un til e government acts -soon, a Money Smuggling Profitable. Carver, that the backers are Montana up . the memory of those childhood cattlemen and their market for beef dreams. It had been "his dormant am- and stock has been hard hit during bition ever since he left the little the adjustment period following the Iowa town to build a railroad and war. They have hopes of soon being here Was opportunity. '.... ableto complete their railroad to a Farmer Best. Engineer., point where it will begin to pick up , Golfers on the municipal course at paying traffic. In the meantime Car- rlor lu lnls "mB engineering crews Eastmoreland often see Carver 'pass- ver is operating the line. One "man 1''tt1 Deen In the country for the Ore- k wer not iniured and thev ducing company can be busy all the lng by witn nis "uaiioping Goose. against .tne world, it might be said, gon tsnort jine ana naa maae adverse man a r erf to keen the funds, coming in time, tnere was iime iur uiaaipanoii. even what it was. The "Galloping Goose" fcame time maintaining regular sched- ine a feasible route that would not Montana, stock interests do not have been virtually cornered by two " i auamiaoya cave, weU up placed persons and keeps the Is a bird of somewhat the same na- ules per official time table and renr entail too costly construction. Carver the money to turn loose, but hope women. -. When a producen needs a -K-entucKy, as a national park. IMS police busy trying to check it. The ture as Bill- N'ye's "Walk-Up-the- dering that service that enables him was in a quandary on account of the that an adjusting market will soon ranch, crowd, he telephones the was pointed out ry Stephen T. MaJther, authorities traced one trunk with Creek." It ts an exceedingly rara to hold onto valuable franchise rights, difficulty in getting rails and mate- place them in a position to take on women for them. When the cowboy director of national parks, in a re- false bottoms and sides containing avis. It is a creation of Carver's, In 1888 Stephen Carver, chuck full rial and made a trip to Salt Lake their present railroad to completion, scenes are finished these men are port recently issued. A move for the about 5,000,000 kronen and arrested a home-made auto-bus on railroad of ambition, left Iowa and came to to see if the Harriman interests would Four years after the Alsea line was paid off. They' return , to headquar- purchase of the cave as a national a trunk manufacturer who confessed tracks that furnishes service .between Kebraska, where he got his start with not sell him light rails and not force built It was sold to the Portland, Eu- ters and wait for an assignment to park Js now under way and has been ne had made in his place 250 such Portland and the 100 residents of the three head of horses and liyed in a sod him to buy in the east and pay a ter- gene & Eastern, and afterwards to some other studio. UTged upon congress for action. speoially designed receptacles and metropolis of Carver, 16 miles away shack on a homestead.. When he had rific freight- rate. He was .turned the Southern Pacific. So Carver's first Rob, Wagner. . biographer of the "The 3000 acres sought for the. park that he had personally packed 25 of and ji the banks of the Clackamaa made-a-little .money, here Jje moved down ; cold, but before he left deliyr two. construction . attempts. produced jnovlea, estimates-that for-very.tar jmrjjoees at th eniUnajiOiMammot1! them with money. B - - .uvoo uc, iuuu, e : . . managed to Keep tne iunas coiiuns m . 1 lesg the government acta soon, a ..-... ,,t , but the chances are that few of them for he is holding expenses down to reports on this section of construction so that he could carry on the work, wrwjllng, lometlmes nerioui tiraifli J. VIEJSNA The profits in have taken the trouble to find out the .absolute minimum and at the on account of their difficulty In locat- The case this time Is different, for the Since then the cowboy market has ; I n,,v , T smuggling continue to tempt