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OFFICIAL PAPER OF COLUMBIA COUNTY
VOL. XXXIII.
ST. HELENS, OREGON. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1914.
NO. 48.
i - I I rrrryss-ST'r-Tiriri III I I Ij i r I
I I iM B I A
RIVER
CLAIMS
VII
BABY ESCAPES FROM
MOTHER AND IS
bSOWNED
IS
Year Old Baby Opens Gate
While Mother Rrstn, and
Falls Into River
Tim Columbia Illvor litis claimed
amitlitir victim. This tlnio it wun
llltla Clarence McConkey, 13 months
did, tlio brlgflt butty boy of Mr. and
MrH. Chironre McConklo, who tobIiI
cil on a bout house on the point of
Siuvles Inland just opppoaltp the
mill. Mr. McConkle hnd been
working hard during the day, mil! at
3 o'clock tilie put the baby In tho bed
rcium on the bed and the wont to the
front room to Uo down on the couch
for a rout. About ten minutes lator
ulio hourd a noise, and gett'r.t ut,
f i miihI the baby had craw lei tt the
bed und wan missing. "s-cli
throughout the house tailed to re
veal tho child. ' Going outside ihe
found that tho bourd which was used
to fuHtim tho gate had boeu moved
aside, and Mrs. McConkey im
mediately gave the alarm, Hofore
nld could roach her the had jumped
Into the wator, which wan not ovo.
fmir or five foot doop around the
Jinuxn, and was wading frantically
n.'ound In au offort to recover hor
huhy. Before many minute some
men nrr'vcd In answer to her crlei
and begun to drag the water. At
& o'clock they wore rewarded by pull
in:: up the body a considerable dis
tance from the house. Mrs. McCon
koy wun prostrated. Tho body of
tho baby was taken In charge by Un
dertaker T. S. White, and prepared
fur shipment to tho old home at Mc
Minnvllle. Punoral servlcos will be
held tomorrow at McMtnnvlllo.
STREETS LIGHTS ARE
BADLY NEEDED
Railroad Addition Clamoring
For Street Lights . -
There Is a portion ot St Holens
whero nearly 100 families live that
U not lighted at all on tho stroots
Railroad Addition nnd the westorr
portion ot Columbia Turk is in total
durknoHH, and without side walks, It
1 1 most Inconvenient and dangerous
for residents of that soctlon to get
r.round uftor dark. Many of tho men
living In that neighborhood work at
tho mills nnd shipyards and never
get homo theso winter evonlin until
after dark. With so. many people
living there It would sooin that at
least a tow lights ohould be placed
along the main thoioughfares. The
tieoplo of that section are demanding
lights and their demands should be
granlnd. In order to bo'ter got the
Ideas of how badly these lights nro
needed It lias boon suggested thai
next Monday night uftor Council
meeting the Council retire In a body
ko nn inspection of Ilallroad
Addition. The result will no do:ibt
bo the ordorlng of a few lights for
thin thickly settlod portion ot the
city.
imiomisi: better sfrvich
Ttiiiniitr rv . Nov. 18. Officials
of tho B. P. & 8. Ilallroad met with
the City Council Monday night, to
nrrango for the right to eHtalilish a
tiirntnblo at the wqat end of the
city. Heretofore tlie engine of the
llalnior looal backod Into Globe from
here, there turning for the roBt of
tho run Into Portland. This dif
ficulty the company desires to ob
vlnto. Land was purclmsod from
tho Rainier Land Company for tho
turntable site, and the City Council
will draft an ordinance permitting
the turntable to be put In. The rall
way company will use gns engines
on the local as soon as the newturn
tnhle Is completed, nnd the train will
then make much faster time.
MURDERER OF
GIRL CAPTURED
Sheriff Close, of Kalama, Nabs
Traunscn Yesterday
Last Monday evening Fred Traun
son, an elevator oporator, of Port
land, shot and killed Miss Emma
Ulrlch, a stenographer of that city.
Tho slayer escaped and search has
boon kept up for him since, until
yesterday afternoon when Sheriff Ed
Closo, of Cowlitz County, Washing
ton, locuted the murdorer between
Kalama and KoIho, making his way
to Tucoma. He was arrested and
taken back to Portland lust night.
Traunsen admitted having killed the
girl and seemed to have no rngrot.
'E
What They All Spent Would
Not Pay Many Printers
Salaries
SOME HAVE NOT FILED
KurrcHsful and l efrulJ Tell tt'Imt
it CiMt Them to Itun for Office.
Some of tho candidates for .office
-it the Into lection have filed with the
clork their campaign expense
.itatenients. Judson Woed spent
111.(0 In his campaign for com
niludoner. E. C. Stanwood paid out
$100 during the time he was run
ilng for sheriff. N. O. Lurabee
spent $20.10 running for county
treasurer. Gus Lnnge parted -with
$9. GO in his efforts to be elected
commissioner. D. J. Keelan, con
ducted his campaign for re-election
to the office of commissioner as an
Independent, without upending any
thing. U. W. Clark paid out $9.60
'or the privilege of running for
dierlff on the Democratic ticket. T.
3. White only paid $8.50 as his quota
to bo elected coroner. A. F. Bar--.ott
purled with $45.00 ot his last
lonth's salary In convincing the peo
plo that he was the proper man for
ilerk, while Miss Mary Maclay for
the samo office spent $29.50. O.
Henry Oloen took $2.75 worth of
campaign in his offort to be elected
clork. Mr. Oloen was tho only So
cialist on the county ticket who
made any expenditures, the others
being contont to have their names
appear on the ballot. Soveral other
candidates for office have failed to
file tholr campaign expense state
ment yot, nnd the time has lready
expired.
ASSESSORS WANT THE COUNTY
ItATIOH MADK HIGHER.
Salem, Ore., Nov. 17. Com
til ii I ii In IP Hint thero has boen a slump
In tho valuation of property general
ly In the state, a number of assess
ors appoarod before tho State Tax
Commission yesterday ami urgeu
11, Q tantnttvn rnlllllV ratios BUg-
llldfc V VJ v, - -
gosted by the commission be made
higher. Tho ratios suggested are
practically the same as last yoar,
and are used by tne commissi
,..,u.,i,,ir thn state tax. and in ap
portioning among tho counties the
..n,,un,ni.t nn nubile service corpor
ations. Blnco thon the valuation of
.nnnrttf linn ilenroclated. declared
here yesterday, nnu
they desire a higher ratio for the
next yoar. All of the week will like
ly i.a .nn mimed by tne commission
,J " " -
i ii.,iQnincr to assessors. Those who
appeared bofore the commission yes
terday wore Assessor n. ueu,
Multnomah Couuty; Assessor J. J.
wn. nf Morrow County: Assessor
E. L. Fisher, of Linn County; Ass
essor, C. W. Blakesloy, of Columbia
County; Assessor Frank E. Moyer,
of Polk County, and Assessor Frank
I,, Calkins, of Douglas Louniy.
VIEWING COUNTY ROADS
County Surveyor Van Orshoven
and Hood Viewers H. J. Southard
and Wm. Prlnglo, were viewing
rouds In the Nohalen country' this
weok,
COUNTY IS MADE PARTY IN DAMAGE SUIT
S. P. 4 S. Railway Company Sues County and Con
tracting Company Jointly.
ACTION IS FOR ALLEGED DAMAGES EXCEEDING $21,000
Contention That Construction
Is Faulty, and That
Will Result
In a suit filed In the United States
District Court, at Portland, this
week the d. P. & 3. Ily. Co., against
Consolidated Contract Co. and Col
umbia County, the Railroad Com
pany asks for $21,303.30 damages
done to Us property and right of
way, amr prays that a permanent In
junction issue to prevent any more
work on the Columbia Highway that
will Interfere with the property of
he plaintiff. The complaint as
firm filed was agulnst the Contract
Company alone, but that company
appeared In a motion before Judge
Boon and asked that Columbia
County be also made a party and
the Judge so ordered and required
the county to make an answer or
appearance bofore December 4.
Some of the allegations of the com
plaint disclose some remarkable con
ditions and, If true the Contract Co.
or the County will' have to pay some
damages. Among the allegations In
the complaint there appears as fol
lows: ,
Tho sii Id trespasses and depreda
tions consist In shooting down
oarth, stones and debris, with
stumps and timbers, upon the tracks
and right of way of the complain
ant, placing debris upon the right
of way and erecting retaining walls
supporting large quantities of earth
and stone and road material, so close
to the complainants right of way
nd so insecurely constructed as to
endanger persons traveling upon
complainant's railroad and so that
the material will fall upon the right
of way and block the operation of
tho said railway line."
"That on or about July 1st,
1914, between Clatskanto draw
NEW BUSINESS CENTER
Business Houses Springing up
in the Center of Town
Kriilt and Vegetable Cannery Vmlor
ConNtrurtlon Now Keeu Store
That portion of tho city near the
Italian Importing Co. store Is fast
becoming to be a business centeY.
In addition to the building of the
fruit and vegetable cannery which
Is now well under way, there is now
boing also built a large feed ware
house where feed of all kinds, hay
and grain, will be kept on sale and
commission. Some machinery will
sa bo Installed where grains can be
chopped. We have not learned who
the promoters of the enterprise are.
but have boen assured that they have
the moans, and have already secured
the property, and that clearing has
already started preparatory to the
erection of the building.
KIjKCTION AND DEBATE..
Friday, November 13, the hlghor
grades and Intermediate depart
ment at the Yankton school had an
olectlon of state and county officers.
The red sample ballots were used
and as far as possible the election
was conductod like a regular state
and county election.
Saturday evening, November 14,
a debate, consisting of debates from
the school and Grange, was given at
tho Grange Hall. The subject waB:
"Resolved that country llfo is pleas
nter than city life." On the affirma
tive wore A. B. Owen, Mr. Walker
and Mr. Jeffries; on the negative
were Miss Lillian Merrltt, Mrs.
Oliver and Mrs. Brown. There was
a good attendance and all enjoyed
the debate. Antner subject will be
dobated in about a month.
Work on Columbia Highway
Serious Consequences
to Roadbed.
bridge and Mile Post 64, the defend
ant In wasting material in the grad
ing operations upon the said high-,
way, placed such material on the
right ot way of the complainant,
filling up ditches, and made it nec
essary to bulkhead in order to keep
material from falling on the com
plainant's rails. At this point the
defendant constructed dry retaining
walls, made without mortar or ce
ment and built principally of stone,
that readily disintegrate when ex
posed to the weather In such man
ner as to cause the walls to crumble
by reason of the action ot the rains
and exposure to frost, and to permit
the said material, on the breaking
and settling of said wall, to slide
down upon the complainant's rail-,
way tracks.
Then follows a numbeF of allega
tions citing instances of damages or
damage done by blasting and throw
ing trees and rocks on the tracks,
I trains, depots and cars, some ot
! which caused broken windows,
r knocked holes in the roofs, tore
down telegraph wires and poles and
many other things, causing damages
to the railway company.
1 Altogether the damage claimed by
' the Railroad Co. amounts to $21,
303.03. The prayer of the Railway Co. is
for an Injunction restraining and
prohibiting the building of retaining
walls of such character that there
' is danger of sliding down on the
! right of way, and prohibiting the
placing ot debris on the right of way.
Aloo that the Railway Company be
awarded damages In the sum of
521,303.30 and costs.
.MORE SHIPYARD WORK
Local Company Will Do Wood
Work on Santa Catalina
Material All of Mahogany and Teak
Will be Shipped In.
In the securing of the contract
for the repairs of the Santa Cat.a-
Una, the Willamette Iron Works, of
Portland, bid in conjunction with
the St. Helens Shipbuilding Co. The
St. Helens Company will furrlsh all
the wood work on the big liner to be
repaired at Portland. This wood
will all have to be sent here from
abroad, as it is principally niahog,
any and teak. The work of repair
ing has already commenced, the boat
now being on the dry docks of the
Willamette Iron & Steel Co. It will
take soveral months to finish the
boat so it will be seaworthy again.
' dimage was mostly done amid
ships, both the ends escaping with
little damage, although the wood
work on the entire boat wai com
pletely destroyed.
FARMER'S WEEK POSTPONED
Oregon who are planning to attend
Fnrmer's Week at the Agricultural
College are hereby notified that the
date has been postponed to Febru
ary 1 to 6, 1915. The changed and
enlarged character ot the exercises
have made this change necessary.
Many conventions ot leaders of the
various agricultural Interests ot the
state will be held at that time in
addition to the special technical in
struction and demonstration com'
monly given. Leaders of National
reputation from various parts of the
country and from the U. S". Depart
ment of Agriculture will be present
to address these conventions.
WORK WILL START
NEXT MONDAY
St. Helens Amateur Athletic
Club Fully Organized
Material has all been purchased,
carpenters have been employed and
a lot has been secured by the St.
Helens Amateur Athletic Club. Tne
boys purchased the Southard lot on
the corner of Willamette and Oak
streets, and will start in next Mon
day to erect their building which
will be 48 by 98 feet. Stock is being
subscribed and already enough
money has been secured with which
to put up the building, so that early
completion of modern club rooms
Is assured. This will be an addition
to the city and the fire boys are to
be commended for their enterprise.
INTERESTING BOXING BOUTS HELD
Well Known Sporting Men
From Portland Mix
Things
ONE IS KNOCKED DOWN
Special Train and 20 Autos Bring
Crowd of Fans From Portland.
About 300 fans assembeled at the
City Hall last Wednesday, where
Master of Ceremonies Jack Root
had built a squared circle on a plat
form upon which bo me exceedingly
Interesting boxing bouts were staged.
A special train from Portland
brought a number of the followers
of the boxing game from the city
and perhaps 15 or 20 automobiles
loaded with fans came also. In ad
dition to the Portland people, there
were quite a number of visitors from
various parts of this country, who
came to witness the exhibition.
The first preliminary was a battle
.oyal between four negro boys in a
free for all match, hit and run game
or soemthlng of the sort. Any way
there were 4 coons entered the rlni
with gloves on, and took after each
other, fall over the other fellow and
seemed to be having a Jolly good
time, all to the delight ot the spec
tators. The first exhibition of the even
ing was a six round bout between
Jack Tracey and Kid Brooks which
went the full length, but the exhlbi
tion lacked steam and seemed to be
nulte tame. The honors were about
even.
Next came the real clever . boys of
the evening, Yost Schmeer, ot Port
land and Dick Wayne, of San Fran
Cisco, who were Introduced, and
started in on a six round go. Sen
meer seemed to have some the better
of the argument right from the
start, apparently on account ot his
perfect condition, but Wayne proved
to be lightning fast for the greater
part of three rounds, this was an ex
htbltlon worth seeing. During the
3rd round Schmeer landed a right
to the Jaw, which sent Wayne to the
floor. He got up smiling, however,
and was not hurt. It being one ot
the rules of the evening that a knock
down would end the-bout, this ended
the classy exhibition of the evening.
Dave Wheeles and Joe Hennesy
then took the center of the stage to
box six rounds, which they did. . The
exhibition was fairly good, but too
much clinching, after the brilliant
work ot the preceding bout, made
this last affair look rather tame,
However it looked like Wheeles had
the best of the argument all the way
through.
' The exhibition or boxing was
clean one all the way through, and
the orowd very orderly. The fans
present enjoyed the evening very
much.
NOVEMBER RASPBERRIES
M. Saxon walked into the Mist of
fice this week carrying a box ot nice
ripe red raspberries which he had
picked from the bushes in his garden
that same day. The berries were of
delicious flavor and nicely colored.
Mr. Saxon says he has had berries
ever since the season started and
that there are still good berries on
bis buBhea.
PENDER GETS
LIFE SENTENCE
GOVERNOR WEST SAVES
CONVICTED MURDER
ER FROM GALLOWS
Will NOT TEST THE NEW ULW
Sentence is Commuted After
Hearing Plea of the
Attorney
Governor West yesterday commut-
ed the sentence of John Arthur Pen
der, convicted of murder In the first
degree for killing Mrs. Daisy Wehr
man in this county, several years
ago, to life imprisonment. The gov
ernor made his decision for leniency
after listening to the argument of
Pender's attorney, JohnF. Logan; to
Sheriff Tom Word, ot Multnomah
County, and to members ot the Span
ish-American War Veterans.
Governor West commuted the sen
tence with the understanding that
Pender's attorneys were not to take
advantage of any flaws which the
bill abolishing capital punishment
might have, should it be found to
have passed. This measure contains
no saving clause, and the governr
desired that it be understood that his
attorneys would not take advantage
of this, in order to obtain absolute
freedom for Pender, and they agreed
that they would not, but would go
before Governor Wlthycombe for a
pardon, should the evidence later be .
found, which would conclusively
diow that Pender was innocent.
Mr. Logan made some very inter
esting charges to the governor when
he said the conviction of Pender was
secured through perjured testimony.
and a made up case by the officers
tor political effect. All of which
reminds one that he put up the same
kind of an argument to the jury
which convicted Pender. The argu
ment did not have much effect on the
men who heard the evidence and
brought In a verdict of guilty of mur- '
der in the first degree, but it evi
dently had Bome weight with the
governor, or what is more probable,
the governor already had his mind
made up to comute the entence
anyway. Before commuting the sen
tence to life imprisonment the gov
ernor exacted a promise from Mr.
Logan, for Pender, that no advant
would be taken in case there was a
flaw in the capital punishment law
it such was abolished. Today the
count on this question shows that
capital punishment has been abol
ished In Oregon, so that It was well
that the governor took the precau
tion to exact a promise of that kind.
If Logan had waited another day he
would not have been bound up on
such a pledge.
As to the people ot this commun
ity having any Interest in the sen
tence ot Pender, the sentement is
evenly divided, with perhaps a gen
eral feeling that no particular ob
jection would be made If the sen
tence was commuted, but it would
seem that the governor, before doing
so should have given the prosecuting
attorney of this county a chance to
be present and make a statement.
However the case is now at an
end. Pender will go to the peniten
tiary tor his life, and unless some
future governor pardons him there
he will stay. It is to be hoped that
no more will be heard of it in Col
umbia County.
RAILROAD STATION WANTED
Salem, Ore., Nov. 17. Alleging
that the Spokane, Portland & Seattle .
Railroad Company has failed to pro
vide Columbia City with adequate
Btatlon facilities, that place has
filed a complaint with the Stata
Railroad Commission. The nearest
station now is McBrlde, more than
a mile distant, it 's alleged.
J. H. Price returned this week
from San Francisco where he has
been for some time on business con
nected with the St. Helens Ship
building Co.