AX
VOLUME VII. ,
LA GRANDE, UNION COINTY, OREGON. SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1008.
number sot.
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FICHT
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DECLARE ASSESSMENT OX
' PUBLIC SERVICES TOO HIGH,
Slate Commissioner Learns That Rail-
r" ' of Wiwhtiurton
: . At Preparing to Fight Assessment
,; 'Case Declare Raise' la Not Equlla
" He Securing Pata and Men to Teg
: tlfy la Court When Legal Stops Are
' Taken. ' ' J. '! x
Bcllingham, Aug. 1. That the rail
road of Washington are . collecting
lata and preparing (or a bitter legal
fight in the case of ' assessments of
public service corporations, of which
hey are the most Important, raised
lgher than they think Is equitable by
the board of state tax commissioners.
was the statement made today by Slate
Tux Commissioner Frost
The Northern Pacific and Great
Northern roods particularly. It Is said,
already have men In several parts of
the state obtaining figures on the
value of real estate from experts who
can testify In the court
A DEEP WELL.
E. W. Oliver Sinking on Ills Sandrldge
Farm Down 250 Feet.'
D. M. Hunt, ts slnklngg an eight-
Inch well on the Sandrldge, farm of
E. W. Oliver. The- well Is now down
to a depht of 260 feet and they expect
to go possibly 50 feet deepef. before
they quit. Thl. well, like all of the
other deep well In this section of the
valley, goes through J practically no
gravel whatever, and the water rises
within about seVen feet of the sur
face.' ' '" V ' 1
usmess
District of Island City Gutted
laze
Smoldering Heaps of Coal All That Is "Left of VJhat Vas Once f.
Thriving and Prosperous Little City
i ' Card of Thanks.
Mr. Volswinkler of Island City,
wishes to thank his friends who so
kindly helped to save his household
goods from burning in the conflagra
Hon last night.
A.
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-'
A el
Pioneer Flouring Mill That was Burned Six Years Ago,
V- Occupied Same Site as the New One Did.
CONSERVATION ESTIMA TE OF LOSS IS 1120,000.
largest financial losiir. The targe
building, which was owned by the
company, Including the contents, con
sisting of agricultural Implements, har
ness and saddles valued at 135,000, Is
loss. This company, also owned
other buildings destroyed, which con-
- Island City' business district Is a smouldering mass of ruins today.
Last night, one of the worst conflagrations In the history of the Grande
Ronde valley consumed the heart of the prosperous suburb,' leaving but a
shell of residences and one business house. Many of the owners are absent
from their homes, and a positive statement as to the amount of Insurance 1 talned large stocks of furniture, bulld
carrled by the respective losers cannot be gained. The most conservative ' Ing material, sash, doors , and fruit
statement of. losses, compiled after interviews with as many of the owners jars. This week three carloads of
as possible, follows: ' ; ( ..'.'..
Pioneer Flouring mill snd entire stock. ". . ... . $60,000.00
Island City M. & M. company Implement house and stock ... . 49,000.00
W. C. Perry's store and stock , 1,200.00
Joseph Perry's residence '.
Robert Smith's butcher shop, building and stock ....
Lee Umphrey's store building ,
Saloon building and part of contents
Llndsey Amusement hall ,
Bear's hotel (a landmark of Union county)
Oswald's barn ana outbuildings ..... ... . ............
Building and residence occupied by Ed Clark ......
Lee Chlldera' residence, (household goods saved
Other outbuildings, and loss to telephone companies
Grand total loss, approximately
1,200.00
700.00
1,000.00
(00.00
1,100.00
. . J.000.00
400.00
1,000.00
700.00
1,400.00
$120,000.00
harvesting goods were received and, In
fact, only partially unpacked. They
think their Insurance will be In the
Mrs. Fred Holmes assisted by other
lady friends, supplied hot coffee.
which was appreciated by the' fire
fighters, along about 1:30 this morn
lng. . , '. .- '
Charles Lewis: hod a narrow escape
In. the M. & ,M, , building,: and Will
Clark received an ugly gash by a door.
He remained on the scene until atfer
the fire had devoured everything that
It oould and then went to La Grande,
where he had seven stitches taken In
his cheek.
The demon fire destroyed .more
property wjien Island City was laid
low In ashes last night than In any
previous conflagration In Union coun
ty. The fire started In the general mer
chandise store of W. C. Perry, about
11:15. Everything was so dry that It
spread rapidly and It was only a few
moments untl Ithe flames leaped from
44m MHMmHtMHmfWMMIMMMH
I Cool, Comfortable Hot Weather
Necessaries
AT MOST ATTRACTIVE PRICES
Men's Wear Section
Men's"Porous Knit" Underwear
Just what the name Indicates. Open
knit Underwear, giving the maximum
comfort Shirts made with short
sleeves; most sanitary and comfort
able; regular 75c values; here at 65c
per garment; the suit ....... .$1.25
Men's White Gauze Uuderwear.
Athletic Skirts. Knickerbocker Draw
ers, nude from fin whits combed
yarns; hot weather comfort In full
est measure; per garment. 5c; the
suit
75c French Balbrlggan Underwear,
fine combed yarns, silk finish; nat
ural Balbrlggan collars; special.
Mo
now
Men' Comfortable Shirts 33c up
In Golf and Negligee Shirts, In Per
cale, Madras, Mercerised Cotton, Mo
hair. Pon-ee Bilks, snd fins light
weight Flannel; regular prices 75o
ud: special now 8e op
I
1
: "
itadies' Wear Section
ladies Shirt Waist Suits :
In white and colors, msde from fancy
ginghams, Batistes, Indlanhcad Mus- .
llns and "Hyde" grade Oalatla )
Cloths, all at special saving In ;
price MP ;
Klmonas and Dressing Saques :
In dainty Lawns and Dimities, In Jap-
anese and Empire styles, long and ,
shorty all at a saving of from $0 to '
$0 per cent
la lies' Summer Vests
In Cotton, Lisle and 811k, Jersey and
- Swiss ribbed. In gauss and medium
weights, with and without sleeves;
plain and lace-trimmed. Ite, and all
Intermediate prices up to . ...$1.&0
65c Ladies' Umbrella Pants 50c
In the "Bet-Snug" style, lace-trimmed;
special Fair Store price Mo
$1.00 to S2.2S Ladles Walsh 68c
In white only, In Lawn and Linen,
plain and embroidered fronts. Only
' a few, slightly mussed and soiled;
to close out Just the thing for
vacation wear 8c
one building to another, - until both
sides of Main street was one wild,
roaring mass of flames. It required
only a few moments from the time the
mammoth Implement house of the M.
A M. company caught, until the big
Pioneer flouring mill Ignited. These
created such Intense heat that It was
only a matter of a few seconds until
the Smith moat market Llndsey hall
and the hotel, were ablaze.
There was a stiff breese blowing at
the time and owing to the fact that
fuse Immediately blew out at the
pumping station. It was Impossible to
get water.
La Grande was appealed to for aid
and a special train carrying two hose
carts and fifty or more firemen and
citizens, responded, but outside of as
sisting in removing the furniture from
residences In the danger sons of the
fire, they could do put little.
Heroic work by the bucket brigade
did prevent the . destruction of the
blacksmith shop of Garrlty A Brown,
also the resident of Wes Walters.
The home of Joe Perry, with much
r" , , i .1; ;ii ' '
Pioneer Flouring Mill as it Looked Before the Fire.
Boys' Canvas Shoes - 95c .
Men's Canvas Oxfs - 60c up
Boys Canvass OxFs 50c
Ladies White Duck
Oxfords - - $1.29 up
r : :
half their loss. Another loss which
they will suffer ts the loss of goods at
this busy season of the year.
Six years ago firs destroyed the Im
plement house of the M. as M. com
pany, also the Pioneer flouring mill,
but the ashes were not cold Until both
sites were occupied by more substan
tial structures than their predeces
sors. :
It was a seen of sorrow and gloom
as the many scores of La Grande peo
ple viewed the streets of Island City
today. For 'a number of years the
commercial and social relations be
tween La Grande sad Island City
of thi contents, was burned, entailing hve Dt.en i0 interwoven with friend
a loss of not less than $1200, with In-'
surnace of $800. The home occupied
by Will Clark, was another residence
consumed by the fiery element The
building was owned by the M. V M.
company, The household goods were
saved.
The Pioneer mill was Insured for
$11,000, but as the books are all In
the safe, which cannot be opened until
It becomes cool, the entire amount of
Insurance cannot be ascertained. In
addition to the mill and grain, 4000
bsrrels of flour were burned In ware
house No. I, as well as a carload of
barley, which was on the side track.
In all, Kiddle Bros, estimate the loss
at $(0,000. i
Coming as it did at this season of
the year, the company will lose the
profits of this fine large mill for the
next year.
. Will Rebuild.
Ed Kiddle, one of the owners of the
mill, wsa away with his family en
Joying an outing on Catherine creek.
and did not know a thing of the disas
ter until 1 o'clock this morning, and
Immediately left for Island City, ar
riving there about . After viewing
the smouldering embers a few mo
ments, he remarked that It would not
be long until another mill would take
the place of those red-hot ashes. This
simply means that on the site wher
he has been twice wiped out by fire, IT
ship and good will, that tbe two towns
have practically been ons, and It is
with the deepest sorrow ' that Ls
Grande views the wanton destruction
of so much valuable property. ,
For a time It looked as though th
general stors of the M. M. company
would be the next to go, but the wind
kept the heat and flames awak, so It
could be protected. It did catch once
or twice.
Early this morning there was actlv
Ity among the severs! crews of Un-i
men representing the Grande Ronde
Electric company, the Paclflo State
Telephone company and the Home In
dependent company, The last named
company soon had a 'phone fastened
to a post taking care of Its business.
Arceptanoe Rpcerli Nearly Done.
Llnooln, Aug. 1. Bryan today con
firmed the report that he will reply
to .Van Cleve's circular. Bryan'
speech of acceptance la being tran
scribed today snd will soon be In cum-
plcted form.
Take a Little Soda r
For Your Stomach's Sake f
This Advice Certainly Holds Good with Everyone
This Sort of Weather
Soda served at our fountain is more than a
tasty thirst-quenching beverage. It is tonic and
refreshing and every glass a strengthener for
the stomach.
Our Soda is absolutely pure, strengthening,
reviving, refreshing and heaUhful. It "lands di
rect" on the "dry" spot and quenches thirst as
nothing else will, because we serve it at just the
right temperature. ,
that he will still soon be doing busl-.
HILL'S DRUQ JTiOKE
LA GRANDE. OREGON t
n '
1
mrVmmmtTtmrnmrni
new st the old stand. e
The M. sV M. company Is th nsxl