La Grande evening observer., December 20, 1913, Image 9

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INDUSTRIAL SECTION
VOLUME xm.
LA GRANDE, OREGON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1913.
NUMBER 169
ft
BOUNTEOUS CROPS BACKED
BY VARIED INDUSTRIES PUT
. FftlTHIH UNjOHCOUHTYSOIL
Surprising Totals Tell Reason County's
v Wealth Has Few Ups-and-Downs
UANY BRANCHES AMOUNT TO OVER A MILLION EACH
Wheat, Apples, Lumber, Cherries, Factories and Rail
road Payrolls Run Resources of Countp to an
Enormous Annual Figure for Year 1913.
Why are La. Grande and Union county so prosperous 'every year i
crop shortage or no and more especially why so prosperous in 1913? ,The
answer is: : - . '
The O.-W. has paid out in wages to people living in La Grande and
working out of La Grande $1,440,000; the George Palmer Lumber company
has paid to workmen in the mill and at the camps, $480,000; the Perry
mill about $300,000 and much of it was spent in La Grande; one million
and a half bushels of wheat will bring about $100,000,000 to the growers;
a thousand tons of cherries,-$70,000; apple orchards produce 200 cars of
apples at approximately $89,000 in cash returns; small grains, small fruits,
combine to' bring about $75,000; stock of all kinds netted $201,000 this
years, subdivided as follows: Hogs at an average of $900 a car bring
about $10,000 a month or $120,000 a year; cattle this year brought $40,000;
norses $35,000; sheep $5,000; (these figures are very conservative); local
and foreign creameries paid into Union county in 1913 a large sum; smell
factories, the brewery and the other lines of industry in the city add fully
$100,000 more; throughout the county there ace factories, mills and other
business and mercantile establishments that bring a vast sum of money
teh size of which cpnnot be computed, but $3,500,000 as listed above were
distributed this year, but of course are only partial and form but a part
sf the income of a strongly endowed county, whose' assessed valuation
is $20,000,000. No possibility - of computing the county's gross income
exists, but the. figures above give an estimate basis at least, ,i
EASTERN OREGON HEADQUARTERS OF THE O.W, -
. WHICH SPENDS MILLION IN LA GRANDE YEARLY
Annually the Observer has chron
icled more or less of the development
of Union county and the , cities in
it about this time of the year, but
erected. All this was in addition to
the building of 87 homes and Tepairs !
to a great many others. Local con
tractors affirm that extensive repairs
the files will show, and residents. will , to homes has almost equalled that
. , H. I 1 .: I Al.- fj ... 4.U. -J t-r, VAi
Tememoer, mat Ul liu bimo una biituuuc w uic new piujcwo. uAjjcuui-i
population of this county dealt in
such tremendously large figures as
ih( 1913; know that an unprecedented
streak of prosperity and advance,
ment has struck the county; citizens
of La Grande know that her building
and her advancement in every phase
has been marked; North Powder, Un
ion, Cove, Island City, Alicel, Imbler,
Summerville, Elgin, Kamela, Hilgard,
Perry, Starkey and all the various
localities know and report the same
thing precisely for their respective
sections. The county's industrial
calendar is spreading at the expense
of no established industry.
.Today, as Father Time is about to
. j 1A1Q ...Uli Uln
a WUUp UUWII UIUI1 CW1U Wlfil. ma
sure scythe reap -down another year
that can never return, Union county
holds her head high and" erect, boast
ful of her resources, confident of her
financial affairs, keenly interested in
iAr iniitiHtrial welfare, and haDDV as
a community. ; .
; RESOURCES UNLIMITED.
CHtie Pictures What Might Be Done
With Grande Bonde Soil
"I estimate that the Grande Rondo
valley has 300,000 acres of excellent
dairy, fruit and general agricultural
land and that if it were farmed as
Denmark for example, it would pro
dace crops representing fifteen mil
lion dollars annually." So 'spoke
James Withycombe a day or two ago
while housed at the Sommer hotel
during, brief visit to La Grande.
Mr. Withycombe, who as head of the
gr1iltural department of O. A. C.
at Corvallis, has become a master of
facts and figures carefully compiled,
went on to say: "The latent agri
oitnral possibilities of this valley
are simply marvelous. In fact op
portunities for dairying are infinitely
better than they art even in Den
mark, where they have made a phe
nomena! success of the industry."
BIG PROJECTS MANY.
Library, Church, Federal Building and
West Building erected. .
-Itissafe to say that no town in Ore
jron, except Portland, has built as
many big buildings as La Grande this
year; no sooner was the Foley 5-story
building ready than work was com
menced on the West-Jacobson build
ing The federal building was com.
pleted this year, the Methodist churcli
built and dedicated a few days ag&,
ture of thousands of dollars on. the
building occupied by N. K. West's
department store has made of that i
place one of the very foremost build
ings of its kind in the state, and it is
elegantly arranged within, giving
three distinct departments. ;
Hill's drug . store was another
structure in the downtown section
that received considerable attention.
Disaster often brings greater things j
than were destroyed, and such was
true .when the three-story Bohnen
kamp furniture store was completely
ruined and practically all furniture
stock wrecked during the middle of
the summer, by one of the two big
fires that raged at different times in
the city this year.' Before the ashes
were cold, work of reconstruction was
commenced, and with a fine burst of
speed, Contractor Rush, a local man,
completed the reconstruction, mak
ing four stories of the building. , It
is now being furnished and restock
ed. M '
WATER DEPARTMENT BUSY.
If'1'. "
v -1 1H ii I a - 1 fTi'i
TREMENDOUS
PAYROLLS AID
TO LA GRANDE
Seventeen Thousand Spent by Water
Superintendent Office in 1913.
The Foley building a new office building which houses the office of Superintendent Wm. Bollons and is
the home of the La Grande Commercial club of which Joe Williamson is secretary. The Commercial club,
one of the livest in Eastern Oregon, occupies the fifth floor, with ample lounging and amusement rooms
and commodious meeting room facilities. During the past year it has been host to nearly a dozen different
big conventions. The railroad company offices occupy the third floor and the balance of the offices are
filled by various tenants. A sister structure, an eight-story hotel, is to be built by the Foleys opposite this
building next year, making the largest hotel in Eastern Oregon when complete. .
VAST AMOUNT
OFNEW WORK
DONE IN 1S13
PERMITS ALREADY PASS THE
THREE HUNDRED THOUS
- AND DOLLAR MARK.
La Grande's water department has
grown with great rapidity during the
vast year and at a cost of $17,058.23.
City Water Superintendent L. M. Hoyt j GENERAL PREDICTION UPSET
enticipates there win oe xar less ex
penditure for the water mains the
comintr year, for the city is pretty
well provided with latterala and ser
vice pipe will probably be the enter
expenditure fa tb Immediate Vt
tore.
The department reports for the
year show material bought amounts
to $9,094.08, but of the material, there
remains material on hand to the value
of $646.74. The salaries for labor
cost $6,944.18 and the Beaver Creek
upkeep went to $1,020. This total
is $17,058.23.
The Jefferson avenue relay of eight
inch siDe and the Palmer mill line
which gives the city added fire pro
tection, were the big undertakings
during the past year. On Jefferson
avenue there were used 4,486 feet of
eight-inch, 746 feet of four-inch and
1500 feet of six-incn pipe, ine cosi
was $3,617.22. The Palmer mill line
of which the mill company paid noe
half, amounted all told to $1,617.81.
During the year new extensions put
in amounted to the following: Two-
inch niDe 2,986, three-fourths ' inch
service pipes, 6,227, and the four-inch
mains totaled 6,422 feet
Much of the city has now been cov-
Six Hundred Thoaaand for Buildings)
iDarfag Last Two Years.
la sharp denial and refutation of
predictions mad last year that La
Grande could not equal or approach
again the remarkable building record
of $287,000 in 1912, came in 1913
when La Grande erected buildings and
repaired homes and business blocks
to the tune .of $300,000. And the
year is not closed by several days.
Practically $600,000 in two years is
a remarkable total for a city of La
Grande's size, and her inhabitants
look with pride upon the achievement.
The building activity month by
month, shows a total of 87 homes
built . The monthly permit totals are:
January Three residences built and
total expenditures for buildings and
repairs $5025.
February Three residences built,
total building activity $3450. -
March Six residences built, . O.
0. F. hall repairs started; total for
CITY MANAGER PLAN LIKED
COUNTRY GENERALLY WATCH
1NG LA GRANDE.
Demand for Charters Frost Many
:. States Indicates Interest.
America's foremost method of eity
government haB made 1913 a mile
stone in La Grande's history; has
marked a new epoch; has put La
Grande to the point where her charter
is in demand and is watched from
the four corners of the country, .
The radical changes in the form of
government that prevailed from 188S
MILLIONS SPENT EVERY YEAR
BY 0.-W. TO RUN LINE
THROUGH CITY. .
PAYROLL ALONE IS' MILLION
Additional Engines, ; New Building,
Division Headquarters and Increas
big Payroll is Lot of La Grande from
, Railroad Standpoint Material Ac
count Runs Into Millions. " k ,"
Three million dollar" Were rmnlnul '
to maintain service over the O..W. in-
auiar as tne . division point at La
Grande was concerned during the) '
year of 1913. To onerat. . lii
from Huntington to Umatilla and aU .
uiauui unea in wis division, required
another half million, for numerous
trainmen, laborers and material ex- .
pense accounts required at points
other than La Grande but within the !
division district .
Based on actual figures from June
30 to December i.
$1,440,000.00 for the year and material
91,OUV,UUU.UU, ' , : -
i. . '.La' Grande Great Benefactor.
. 8o tremendously big are the ex
penditures from O.-W. coffers in La
Grande that they are amazing. Dur
ing the year , just closing there have ,
been numerous imnrovementa ti, v
for but aside from that the operating
cAeuae runs mio ngures that startle
the average citizen.
Coal An Enormous Item.
Take for instance the coal imoff in
the division Three hundred tnn -.
coal a day. Such is not the every-
uojr yiBijmrement, out ngures reach to
that point To keep eight locomotives ;
steamed up costs $450,000 at the low -average...
;.y.. ,- "'.: , ,
Salaries Biggest Items.
Figures that startle are created in
all departments but the salary sheets
alone shows an expense of $1,440,000 a
year while the company must pay
wages other than those which come
i ne vi,44u,uu9 comes to La
Grande for distribution and about
the city.
V Material Used Immense.
The store house in La Grande hand
les $260,000 worth of material for
roadway department and maintenance
every year. Such a sum was ex
pended this year. These items were
all handled in La Grande but tho com
pany of course has been under tre
mendous expense on this division that
La Grande knows nothing about
The bringing of division headquarter
to La Grande this summer has added
materially to the payroll, but has als
added prestige to railroad circles.
New Engine Purchased.
These items enumerated above are
incidentals. The company has added
ten new super-heater freight engines,
at a post of 12no.nnn. ( now nn.
WATER MAIN GROWS LARGE heater passenger engines at a cost of
- : ' ,$120,000 and two switch engines for-
nere aiso at a cost or f io.uuo, an or
STREET, SEWER
ANO BUILDINGS
COST S4S3.000
STREET IMPROVEMENT ITEM
ALONE RAN TO HUGH
FIGURE IN 1913.
Been Ten Miles of Pavement.
to 1913, came when, as the climax of Qjf gp, gf Water Department I :w'1'c'1 brings the engine complement
for, kept up and used out of the local
round house. Hundred of men are
reauired to ODerata them and there
Considerable more than $300,000 for u where a Dortion of the bin aalanr
'new buildings and repairs, $136,000 for jexpense eomenv
new pavement ana cement wauu ana, New improvements have been many
sewers, $17,000 for the water depart- yeap A BtorehonM ehe!, . M.
ment, make up a total of almost a ;tomatic coal balAer the neweat
half million contributed by La Grande t it(el pBint Bn0P(
tax payers during 1913 toward prop-tcoke biMf new Ml ehops 80xioo,
erty and municipal improvements. One 'iehrpmr gnop Bnd machinery equlp
hundred and thirty-si thousand werement( y motor o( o,, tt0gt ap.
expended through the engineering ;de-!proved type froight house addition.
and a new cinder pit
a movement that was started two
years before, the city by a big major
ity voted for a managerial form of
government Hurriedly the chang
was made and La Grande is now gov
erned by a commission of three men,
one of whom is a president, and
manager. The commission legislate
and employs a manager and appoint
a municipal judge. The manager is
held responsible for every depart
ment of the city and ha the sole
naming and discharging of all heads
of departments. They must report
to him and he to the board which ipartment and Engineer R. R. NeaT
meets weekly. The system has been 'compile the following:
in vogue about one month now and ' Street Pavements.
tiaD oiroaMn rnf nf? mnfnrlnt hnnrhon O avenue. Seventh to Wash-
from the snlarv list The street i ington 6,691.23
commissioner Job and the olumbing : O avenue, Fourth to First. . 9,045.71
insnpft.inn. MKtinir the citv 8100 ner: Fourth street O avenue to
month previously, was instantly cut C avenue 41,000.00
off, making the city engineer the Second street, Spring to O.-
head of the street maintenance, and h W. R. & N. Co........... 16,400.001 remarkaMy but 8ufflcice it to
also making him piummng inspector, jenerson .nu, w M0'Bay that by the time the shops are
La Grande is well pleased with the ,5lem.loc!i1 " '1''"""" , . ji'nn kept P in La Grande, the engines and
m. Alley m biock ii i.iovi.uw. ..... -A
P'wfi'w ujr - nr..t.: . drains equipueu wilii iilvh onu wig
tir..j ti. t a Sonne Bvenue. Washington ... . . .. , -j ,v.
Added together, these expenditure
for permanent improvements, salaries,
new power, equipment necessary ex
penses insofar as payment of checks
through La Grande are concerned, the
total amounts to considerable more .
than $3,000,000. When the overhead
expenses are all considered, the totals
Wood, John Gardner and J. A. RU8- Spng avenue, Washtngtoi
sell and believe that the best man pos- JI!SIxi.
24,300.00.
three brakemen rule has increased the
the Carnegie library