' t
PEN BE NIC
MONITOR
VOL. 1
INDEPENDENCE, POLK COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, SEPT. 19, 1912
NO. 8
4 " iM jiniip
, , .
FROM MANILA
COMES LETTER
Dean Butler Writer-Some
Interesting Hm'r:
TELLS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES
Almost Taken by Wild An
imals, Odd Building are;
Described, and Be-'
gins lfte'5frork '
We arrived h&etast Sunday
(July 28) .and-, tfegam work the
next .morning. I shall 'begin
back at Marnia awTTrarrate events
up to date. We span about ten
days in Manila before a boat left
for Vigan. Df ring "ur stay
there we saw manytRirirs of in
terest. The old walled' city be
ing one of the most Intersting.
The streets are very narrow, no
eidewalksaiyjtdll the'huildings
have balconies over'-the streets,
extending out about four feet.
Practically all buiSrtfcgS' Ire two
storied. Every one fives' , up
stairs. Some' sfto'fca -and stores
are down stairs, ;.Tiey are built
up to keep thingdry.as every
thing's damp and mouldy' The
. case holding my glasses moulds
..every day while- In my pocket.
.'That may be : from ' perspiration.
.; We spent a goothtfeal of our
time in Manila at the: Bureau f
Education, being bored with use
less itstruction.
. We were invited out by people
we met on the .boat, one was Dr.
Farmer the head of ,the M.. E.
church in the Islands,.- the other
was the captian's mother-in-law
at Ft.Wrn. McKinley. The rest
of the time, was spent., at. a,
Spanish or Italian hotel eating
stuff I never heard of before.
The big dining room, wag up,
stairs, to the sides were slidunf
windows. They -were all Mm
when a sudden wind storm' came
up and dishes and contents wpre
well strewn on the .floor. . Ntery
few glass windows in this caun
try, the panes are made of sea
shells each about three inches
sauare, but there are plenty idf-
windows in all the houses. TJje
shells are better Jhan. glass, .as
glass is more expensive and lets
in too bright a light. The light
is mellowed by the shells which
are translucent.
I think the most jrrsting
thing in Manila1 is 'the' public
market, a ver3t--laiv-j)e'Bshed
roof and posts only. Jt is divid
ed lengthwise into aisles, on each
side of the aisles it is divided in
jto stalls, which ap rented tdny
one having any thing to f.e"
Shopping is done from 6 tc 10 A
M. Mobs of people come with
straw racks or large' baskets .on
their heads and nass along the
aisles and purchased ' what thev
want and iut the entice load on
their head, balance it -thee ai
hike.. Every thnig t imau'inabh'
is there, fruits, vegetables, meat!
live or dead chirken..- -fish.""?
over all an abundance of flies.
Lunch counters were there also
which we did not patronize.
Every thing is handled-jlsdirty
hands. hfguess 'the. Americans
have improved them but I would
have disliked very much to have
been here before AmericWoccu
pation. " "l .
The happiest time in a Philli-
Dines life. is when he-ean-'telll
someone else how to do & thing,
consequently when working eacb
one is telling all the rest what to
do and how to do it ' I
The Maubin left the Pasig riv
er that night at ten P. M. It is
& small Spanish boat and the
first cabin is the stern. There
were two other Americans, an
old soldier and an engineer and
a number of C .inese and natives.
We watched t'-.o receding
lights and remained up un:il we
passed Corrigedor the Fort and
then went into our room. When
Mary reached ..the center of the
room she let out a scream that
raised my hair. I looked Jand
there she .w$coti fronted with a
"gigantic cockroach, when she re--fcovered
'fitorft the shock she1
ducked under the bunk and then j
they bega to peek oat and wink
at us f roip,. -.bjigid every thing
in the room" andone swung down
,from the'c'elfife and tickled the
back of my neck. We beat a
hasty retTtt " and ordered our
cots placed onf deck. People
were sleeping everywhere, sit
ting in chajrs, stretched on deck
with or with or wifhuot blankets.
I slept about an hour, and put in
the remainder of the night hold
ing the cot on board. 1
There is something radically
wrong with, the foundation of
the China sea. t It . took us ten
days and ten nights to make
the trip because 'the China sea
was on edge and ' we had to
go clear up one side and down
the other. i ' '
We managed to hold our -cots
dowm till morning and then our
work doubled r.a our stomachs
cut worse capers than the. cot.
We lay there two days and nights
looking at one another in gloomy
silence. We dared not speak lest
we loose part of our anatomy,.
It. was surely.the most distressing
feeling I ever experienced. Well
that darn boat rolled until it got
its keel sunburnt. And they all
said the sea was smooth for this
time: of year as this is typhoon
season.
It looked odd to us to see the
respectable Jap women smoking
cigarettes but the women here
. i ' ... . l
go them one Detter ana smoKe
black, home made cigars. Some
cigarsare over a foot long and
an inch and -a half in diameter.
On the 26 of July we had our
baggage put on board the Maubin
to sail for Vigan, Wll was very
interesting to watch, them load
the boat. Everything, was car
ried on board and then" lowered
into the hole with a crane. It
takes about fourftbtrts,asrnany
men with four times the fuss to
do the same work as.it does the
Americans.
Concluded next week.
FAMILYBORD
; r V j
; . v
Hop Pickos .Make Money
Fast in Hop -Yards
Several difFerant localities have
been bragging about their cham
pion hop pickers but Indepen
dence broke all records last Sat
urday when the Koss family of
six people picked 53 boxes of
hops.! These were picked in the
C. A McLaughlin yards on. the
Hirschberg property. They net
ted the pickers $26.50 for, the
days work and if they could pre
serve this average for thirty
days "they would be able, to pur
chase a nice little residence in In
dependence where they cquld be
near the champion hop yards of
Oregon.
ALHEMAN
LIKES PAPER
Monitor Acceptable to the
Old Time Subscribars
; Mr. G. A. Hurley, Dear Sir: 1
i e il T
just received a copy 01 ine in
dependence Monitor which was
quite a pleasant surprise to us
all. We c-A . r.ct guess how
we came to get a paper from
away down in old Polk county,
until we saw who was the pub
lisher. Wishing you success in
your new enterprise, I am Very
Truly Yours, Geo. D. Huntly,
Kockville. (VeTon. i
The largest load of hops
brought in town this year was
hauled in Monday from one ot
the hop yards north of town.
There were 2y bales in the load,
about three tons of hops. Atk.O
cents per pound this one load
would net its owner about $12u0.
A SAW MILL
PROBABLE NOW
...
Falls City Lumber Comp
pany Get Franchise
ROAD FOR MILL NECESSARY
Decision on Mill Site to be
Made :oon and Coun
cil Grants Franchise
on Sixth Street
The City Council granted a
franchise on sixth street to the
Falls City Lumber Co. for a rail
road track on that street for
this company. This road will
probably connect at the motor
track and run to the Nelson tract
ef land where a new saw mill
will be built by this company at
Independence. This will be
large mill and the company will
make definite decision in this
.matter in the course of a few
weeks. "
The council passed over the
other ordinances and ''franchise
matters until next Wednesday
when they are to be made special
business and in the meantime an
investigation is to be made on
light and water charges in other
towns.
THE BO ITCH
Panama Canal Nearing
Completion
The Panama Canal is to be op
ened to traffic in the fall of 1913,
This statement was made offici
ally at the Navy Department to
day with an announcement that
the Atlantic fleet would be ren
dezvoused at Colon this winter
before the water is turned in.
lhe navy s estimate is based on
the latest report from the army
engineers.
Because of the 110-foot width
of the canal, the United States
has practically set the ultimate
space in beam for all the big
battleships of the world and has
made the elongated warship
the type of all new great con
structions.
This new feature is emphasised
by the Wavy Department an
nouncing today its plans for
Pennsylvania, the one battleship
authorized at the last session of
Congress. The department has
been obliged to sacrifice beam to
length, so that the new ship
would be 630 feet long, this be
ing 55 feet more than the length
o'f-th4 Oklahoma and New York,
the latter of which is to be
jaunched October 31st.
. The restrictions of the canal
Width have made P5 feet the
maximum for the beam of the
battleships of the future, as it is
certain' that ships which may be
built by foreign nations of great
er beam will be discounted by
those that can pass through the
Panama canal. The experts
here say that any greater width
Lthan 95 feet would expose any
battleship to great risks in pass
ing through the canal.
The Pennsylvania will, there
fore have a beam of 95 feet.
The new ship will have a speed
of about 23 knots an hour, as
against the record of 20.50 'made
by the Oklahoma. Her displace
ment will be approximately 31000
tons and she will cost $15,000,
000.
With the 16-inch armor on the
water line and 12 14-inch guns
in her main battery the Pennsyl
vania will be the most powerful
battleship in the world.
Before the announcement of
the opening date, Secretary Mey
er consulted with the Isthmian
Canal Commission and discovered
lhat construction work on the
canal had progressed bo far that
unless action was taken imme-l
diately there waB a probability
that the men of the fleet would
have no opportunity to examine
the connecting link between the
two oceans before it was in oper
ation. The visit,' of the Atlantic
fleet will include railroad trips for
the men throughout the canal
zone.
While there has been much
speculation and a number of
J prophecies concerning the early
opening of the canal, the Navy
Department was the first to an
nounce the surprising fact official
ly. The date for opening origin
ally was set for January 1, 1915,
and engineers for some time had
doubted if the engineering diffi
culties could be overcome to per
mit completion of the work by
that date. The remaining work
is said to offer new obstacles.
The Washington office of the
Canal Commision received a
cable dispatch to-day from the
chief engineer on the isthmus
giving the total amount of exca
vation for the canal for August
as 2,443,353 cubic yards, place
measurement, as against 2,633,
437 cubic yards in July. .
Earth slides in Culebra cut on
the Panama Canal have amount
ed to 16,500,000 cubic yards
since the excavation of the cut
began. There slides represent
not less than 20 per cent of the
total amount of earth removed
SCHOOL BOARD
Holds Important Meeting
Ordering Equipment
The district school board held
a meeting Monday evening com
pleting the work necessary to be
done before school commenced
Prof. Chute .was also present at
. . . a . .
the meeting, it was decided to
order the material necessary for
the Domestic Science depart
ment and the labratory work of
the school at once and the clerk
was ordered to let the contracts
and purchase the raw material
in order to not tax the district
it is also decided to give a series
of entertainments during the
year in order to meet this ex
pense.
The board discussed the repairs
of the building and reported both
in a fine condition for the open
ing of the school. They had
hoped to be able to paint the
grade building and let the con
tract some time ago. They
were unable to get the work
done as planned and owing to
the lateness of the season decid
ed to leave the building alone un
til next summer. Painters in
spected the building and stated
it was in good condition and
would not be damaged by being
left for another season.
mery
Well
Opening
Attended
are
Displays
Best Possible
Small Towns
in
The millinery opening Satur
day P. M. and evening was well at
tended and the displays at both
the millinery parlors were re
ported larger, better and more
complete than usual. The ladies
can not do better than spend
their money for millinery at In
dependence as the best selec
tions to be seen can be found
here.
Young Le Masters, a fourteen
year old boy, has the record for
hop picking among the boys.
We have been unable to hear of
anyone that near comes to him.
He picked 28 boxes in three days
and states he can average nine
boxes a day in good hops. He
was working across the river in
the Fennell yard. Polk may be
a slow name but she produces the
champions in every line. Anoth
er case of there is nothing in a
name.
GRAIN CROP IS
BEINGJAVED
Not As Much Loss as
Was Reported
THRESHING ALMOST ALL DONE
About a Third Goes to the
Warehouses and the
Balance Goes as
Feed on Farm
Ingermanson, Carmack, H. A.
Brown, O. A. Brown, W. S.
Brown, Scott, Stapleton, and
many other farmers were bring
ing in their grain this week to
the Independence Flour mill ware
house and there is practically r.o
damage reported. It is now
Btated that the loss on oats will
be less than 20 per cent and
that 10 per cent of this loss will
come from re-shocking and hand
ling, which owing to its condition
causes considerable shattering of
the grain.
There is reported to be about a
twenty per cent loss in the wheat
crop that was out at the time of
the recent rains. It if estimated
that 60 per cent or the gram in
this section of Polk county was
threshed and that about 40 per
cent of the wheat got the benefit
of the wet weather and that net
to exceed 20 per cent of this is
lost.
Mr. Hoffman stated to the ed
itor that there would not be a tot
al loss in wheat as it was not in
such bad condition that it could
not be used for feeding purposes,
although the wheat that is
sprouted can not be used for
flour.
There were twelve threshing-
machines operating in the terri
tory south of Independence and
in this section of the country,
and they average over 1500
bnshels of grain daily. It is fair
to estimate that they have 25 to
30 days run, which means the
threshing of 500,000 bushels of
grain in this section of the coun
try. - here is probably the same
amount threshed north of town
in the section tributary to Inde
pendence, which means a million
bushels of grain. Not over 30
percent of this grain now goes to
the warehouses we have on good
good authority learned, as most
of it is used to feed on the home
places, a condition which has
come about in the last few years;
and which means a larger raising
of hogs, sheep, goats, horses and
cattle. John B. Stump who last
week, thought his grain was
total loss, has since threshed his
crop and will probably have grain
to sell. I. M. Simpson, who just
last week thought he would not
have enough to feed his own
stock, was able to sell two car
loads of grain this week after
he had threshed his crop. Re
ports from every section are like
these and the Monitor believes
there will be but little loss in the
county from the recent rains.
HOPS COME
Independence Shipping to
Exceed All Sections
in Hops
Tuesday morning the Indepen
dence warehouse had received
over 400,000 pounds of hops and
at that time but few of the grow
ers had baled their hops ready
for delivery. There will be sev
eral million pounds of hops stor
ed this year. Horst Brothers
hops have been coming into the
warehouse rapidly and are being
shipped out as fast as they get
in. This week saw five more
cars started and more will be
shipped before the week closes.
At Horst Brothers yards two
of their patent pickers were
working. These machines, they
declare to be quite a success. It
repuires about fifty hands to run
one. Men and women, both, are
employed. This invention Mr.
Horst has been perfecting for a
number of years stating he ex
pects to install about five here at
these yards. The first part of
the week he started his pickers
on his 105 acres of baby hops
and when they were finished
his complete crop was harvested.
Many hop growers have finish
ed their work and the pickers
have been transferred to other
yards which has resulted in
rushing the remaining crop
through. Wednesday Burtons,
Sloper & Patton, Damon, Fen
nell,, Walker Bros., Davidson &
Hedges, Horst Bros., and Hanna
Bros., had finished their picking.
But a small per cent of the
hops have been lost, in fact
a great deal less than was report
ed and this is made up with an
increase yield in most of the
yards.
The Independence district will
have a prime crop return and
should get the top prices for their
output this year.
RAIL ROAD
Work Going On, Grading
at Wigrich Place
Kauroad work has neen con
tinuing active around the Inde
pendence center. The new
Hirschberg extension from Inde
pendence to the Buena Vista
country is pushing alongrapidly.
More ties and rails came during
the week and the work has been
going right along. They have
passed the county road with
their construction outfits and are
pushing along towards the Wig
rich property as fast as possible
We were informed this week
that plans are being contemplat
ed for the extension of the road
to Buena Vista and that the gap
would be closed by Jan. 1st to
that point II all indications were
carried out. Many who seem to
have inside information seem to
think that ultimately this line
will be pushed through to Albany,
making direct connections be
tween Independence and that
city. While no official statement
of this fact can be secured the
private opinion of the farmers a-
long the route seems to be that
this is the case. The valley be
tween Independence and Albany
is a rich section and if a line
could be secured between this
city and that it would be a big
step towards opening up a rich
section to this town and would
mean much development for In
denuence. Monday an ex
tra Southern Pacific tie train
came through Independence with
about 26 men on it. ihey were
unloading ties along the line be
tween Portland and Corvallis.
The train arrived here about noon
and unloaded a considerable of
their material along the line near
Independence.
BUYERS ARE LOOKING
Hop Dealers Sampling
Local Hops
Several buyers drifted in town
this week, inspecting and taking
samples. Ross Woods of the
firm of Hart & Woods, hop deal
ers of Portland, and James Linn
oftheCatlin& Linn firm were
both in town, while others were
here their names were not obtain
ed by us.
It is generally thought that
the market will open up the first
of next week as the hops will
then be in shape to sell in many
places and in Independence sev
eral complete crops will be ready
for sale and delivery.
CLOVER IS A
WINNING CROP
Polk Farmers Raising a
Good Deal
2,000 RUSHELS THIS YEAR
Some Very Flattering Re
turns Made This Year
by the Clover Seed
Raisers Here
Polk connty is getting to the
front in her production of clover.
When we mentioned a few re
turns on clover a few weeks ago
some stated we were exagerat-,
ing the facts" Since that time
our report has been verified and
in some instances even improved
upon. We just learned thatR.
H. De Armond has produced the
champion crop of the county.
From 25 acres he got 94J sacks
f cleaned clover, which at an
average of 160 pounds to the
sack brought him 600 pounds to
the acre. He got better than '
the market price for his crop, as
did Joe Rogers, who secured 150
sacks from his tract of 55 acres.
At the market price "of 14J De
Armond would have secured $90
to the acre for his clover. E. H.
Sloan has been threshing this
week in his alsike clover. He
will have about 50 sacks. The
largest single crop in the county
will probably be the Riddells,
who have 230 acres in the crop
and who will get over 400 sacks
if they can save the entire crop.
That will mean about $9,000 from
the crop. They have their own
threshing machine in operation
and having a header, will be able
to thrash much longer than is
the case where the hay has to be
cut and shocked.
, As we prophesied Geo. Dicker
son will have over 100 sacks from
his 55 acres tract when it is all
hulled, and Tuesday morning he
had five acres yet to hull, and
had a that time already secured
90 sacks.
It is estimated that there will
be 2,000 sacks of clover in the
Independence territory this year. .
Building Slill Going
in Independence
On
The Monitor has learned a little
more building news for Indepen
dence during the week. Homer
Woods is building two new resi
dences on his property in the
west part of town. He just
completed a small place in which
to live while he is erecting the
lurger ones which he is just
starting. Mr. Frick has just
completed a new structure in the
west part of town which he will
occupy for residence purposes.
K. C. Eldridge has also con
tracted the building fever and
stated to the editor that he
would build three new bungalows
on his lots on Monmouth street.
These will be of the yery latest
design and well constructed and
built for the purpose of selling
The lumber for the first of these
was hauled to the property dur
ing the week. Mr. Eldridge is also
planning to build a fine new res-
dence for himself, but has not
yet secured plana and specifica
tions for the same. He expects
to build as nice a building as is in
the city as soon as he gets hi'3
plans out for it.
Croft Brothers have just finish
ed painting the Humer Mills nev
home and were working this
week on Mrs. Spurr's property
on C street. 1 hey a'so have the
contract for painting the I. O.
O. F. hall with cement paint.
A iarge warehouse and heat
ing plant is being built back of
Weatherbee & Jones clothing
and furnishing store, which was
formally opened up last week.