La Grande evening observer., July 13, 1934, Image 25

Page Three
MRS. WILLIAMS FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN NEW. TOWN
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER, LA GRANDE, OREGON
Her Birth Same Day As
Arrival of First Rail
road Pay Car.
such- a time as a hotel could be
built to house the workers.
"Tho town, of course, grew rap
Idly after the coining of the train,';
said Mro. WllUama, "and many of
tho stories which are now told by
the early settlers I can remember
aa having happened when 1 was a
sin nil girl.
"X think tho most thrilling of
all my experiences was to have
seen, in print, upon a visit to the
Smithsonian Institute several
years ago, the names of my grand'
Mrs. Nell Grnndy Williams was
born on the day that the first
"pay car" came into La Grande
after the railroad had come
through more than two months
before. She was the daughter of
Ben G randy and Lydia Palmer
Grandy and was born on Sept.
10, 1BB4. Mrs. Williams has the
distinction of being the first child fllther nnd Krftndmothr, Robert H.
uiuu .B mmuuu urnvea, m Palmw and Hannah Palmer, in tho
other words the first child to bo . list of tne ptissenger8 who were
born in the new town of La M tne 18 n9 who nwrt0
Grande "Donet anyone get the tne flrfjt trl n tnQ firgt
impression that I claim to be the u.lin wmcn im(ie a Jun ln
M .Wf keT chllti m " ithe Unlted stBte8. Xnls wns
Grande, for i wasn't " mphtlcal-; pmindel hB and r had , J
n8 c Wi". "I was neard that it was so, but until I
tho first child born in the new i ..... t,at- D .., ( .
newspaper which is preserved un
der a glass case at the Institute,
I did not realize the full signifi
cance of the fact that it was my
town." .
The "pa? car" which arrived on 1
that day was the car on which
the money was brought to pay the
men, ln cash, for their wort from
tho time the railroad began its
runs through the Grande Ronde
valley. This was, of course, vast
ly different from the method of
paying'by check that Is used today,
as all the men, in those days were
paid in cash and had to be at the
car in order to get their money.
Of course that was a big day, and
the men all gathered at the sta
tion when the "pay car" arrived
and all the tracks were cleared
for this train on Its regular trips
through this section.
Mrs. Williams mother, Mrs.
Lydla Grandy, who still makes her
home here, ran a boarding house
for the railroaders for a short time
before the hotel could be built to
take care of the needs of the many
men who came into La Grande im
mediately after the coming of the
railroad. This house was located,
as has been stated before, on the
present site of the La Grande ho
tel, where Mrs. Grandy resided for
60 years. Many of the first rail
roaders on the early trains still
call to visit Mrs. Grandy, remem
bering the times when they would
have had to go up on the hill, a
mild from the railroad station for
their meals, had it not been for
the fact that Mrs. Grandy had
opened her home to them, until
grandparents who were on that
trip."
Other "firsts" ln the Grandy
family (of which there are many
if they could all be brought to
light) was the fact that Ben Gran
dy, father of Mrs. Williams, was
the first mayor of the city of La
Grande. .
Much more could be written re
garding the Palmer, Grandy, Hard
ing, Williams and other families,
if space permitted going Into suf
ficient details, but some of these
things give us who are living to
day, an Idea of the Importance of
these sturdy pioneers having "car
ried on," as they did, in spite of
hardships.
BEAl'TIFCL BUILDING
The Eastern Oregon Normal
school, erected here In 1929, is
one of the most beautiful of state
owned structures. It Is of Italian
Renaissance architecture and lead
ing to the building, which, is lo
cated 42 feet above the street, Is
a grand stairway 150 feet ln
length.
A customer left a wrapped stick
of dynamite with a box of maca
roni in a New York store and failed
to return for It.
"Oh, Tell Me
Pretty Maiden"
. . . sang Steve as he cocked his paste
board derby at a 45 degree angle and
leaned into his standard size collar
to give the gals who bustled by an
"eyeful and a once over."
. . . But if Steve were standing on our
corner at Elm and Adams today, he'd
get an eyeful of something in our
windows that would soon take the
thoughts of the gals right out of his
mind . . . Fishing rods and tackle . . .
guns . . . sporting goods and what
nots for hours of real fun and pleas
ure . . . he'd be off to the hills and
streams and far away.
ROY FARNAM
Headquarters for Athletic Goods
and Sportsmen's Supplies
i&2 Adams Ave.
MONUMENT TO PIONEERS
' Sr u,
6 f
?4 vn,
oi8 5,11 U -
EAST OREGON
NET TOURNEY
IS SCHEDULED
V
w4
The above pictured monument to the mt'iunrv of Eastern
Oiv pioneers was dedicated at Immigrant Spring, hifcli in
the Klue Mountains lit the mi miner or li3 when President
Warren G. Hurtling attended the Old Oregon Trull celebration
at the Top-o-the-IHue Mountains.
EARLY HARVESTING OF
WHEAT TOOK MUCH WORK
Pioneers tell of the early days
of wheat harvesting in Union
county, fifth largest producer of
the golden grain in Oregon, and
which is to reaD a cron of i nnn .
000 bushels this year, and it is
difficult to reconcile tho early
stories with the modern methods
in use today.
In historical files hern nt-o on
account of George Gray, one of
the earliest pioneers, which tells
how he and his brother took two
plough shares, had them sharp
ened at an expenditure of 60
cento all told, used them to pre
pare the soil Into which they
planted their wheat by hand; later
to cut It by hand, threshed it by
hand on the cleaned corral floor,
and realized a crop amounting to
1000 bushels with no more actual
outgo of money than the 60 cents.
That was in the early 60s.
That was the beginning, but as
the decades passed, modern and
more modern developments oc
curred, until today wheat growing
and harvesting in this county as
in other wheat countries is a
precise science, with machinery
playing an all Important part ln
the process of sowing -to-milling.
Tennis enthusiasts will have an
opportunity to see some high
class playing hero during the Semi
centennial U. P. celebration here,
when a number of outstanding
racketeers will engage in an East
ern Oregon tournament, to be held
from Thursday to Sunday, Inclu
sive. It is open to all who wish
to enter, and already players aro
signed up from The Dalles, Port
land, Walla Walla, North Powder
and Boise, besides La Grande
players, stiff competition is ex
pected throughout.
Drawings for places are to be
held nest Tuesday evening.
Tho tournament will Include
men's and women's singles, men's
doubles and mixed doubles, and
nn entrance fee will be charged.
Application should be made with
Roy Nelson or Shrimp Reynolds.
Players already entered Include
Elwood Cooke, Mr. Stevens, and
Mrs. Lee 1 la Starr, of Portland; Dick
Crane, The Dalles; Jack Ahearn,
Walla Walla; Lyle Wilson. Imbler,
and others. Entrants also are ex
pected from Salt Lake, Ogdcn and
possibly other cities along the U.P.
mainline.
POPI LATION HEHK K0.10
La Grande is" the largest city ln
Eastern Oregon east of Bend, with
a population within the city limits
of 8050, according to the 1930
government census. Counting ln
territory immediately adjacent to
tho limits but actually a part of
La Grande, the population runs
well over 9000.
22 MILKS OP PAVEMKXT
La Grande has approximately 22
miles of paved streets, much of
which were put In during the pe
riod from 1923 to 1030.
The Pioneers Knew a Good
Place When They Picked
La Grande
THE MELVILLES FIRST CAME
HERE 44 YEARS AGO AND
WE HAVE NEVER HAD CAUSE
TO REGRET THAT WE DID
WE ARE PROUD OF LA GRANDE
WE entered into business a short time later and we
are proud too, that our firm today is one of the
oldest operating under the same management since
its inception in the city of La Grande. From a small
beginning, we have progressed with the community
and now, in our own large building, we offer for our
successful continued patronage, the finest stocks of . . .
Choice Domestic and Imported
GLASSWARE - DINNERWARE
GRANITEWARE
WOODENVVARE - TINWARE
OVEN GLASSWARE
POTTERY - STEELWARE
Everything In Kitchen-ware and Dinner
or Luncheon Service
A Host of Ollt and Payor Item
MELVILXE'S
1429 Adams Avenue