A Crook Cotnety JotttrpaS COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER, $1.50 YEAR' PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1910. Cntrrrd at th pnmtnltlm at Prtnmllte, Onion, .Moad-ciaat matter VOL XIV NO. 7 HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE FEB. 4 Postponed from Jan uary' 28th WASHOUT CAUSED THE DELAY Betide the Debate there will be Good Musical Program. TtorviMifof the year for the Mich school, tlirlntcr-liluli im'IumiI debates, will take place on Friday evening, February 4. Tin supporters of the negative of the "question, resolved "That the government should own nml control tliv railroad. " left Tues day for FohkIII whore they will meet the upholders of the nlUrinntlvr. ' Foeall's negative team will go to Muro; nml Moro'a negative will rome here, tliita rompli'iliiir the trl iiiikIi", The team scoring the most point will win. It In possible for 1 lit two teams, from one school, to score (!; lit points. i The debater who left for Fossil with Mrn. Wli-kernliaiu mm chaperon are: Mlsae Ethel Kidder nml Agnes Klliot t nml Robert Hester. The high ' school made the street ring with tin !r yell an tin stage carrying the dr. hater 1'nnnml through town nml the cheer of their fellow students helcd luiK'h to make the contrtnnt feel that though the trip mlicht be hard nevertheless It wan worth It. lu addition to the debut at the Commercial club hall on Friday evening there will bo an excellent iniiHlcnl program from both the stu dents and outside talent. No one who In Interested In tin high school can afford to mla the debate. . Fol lowlnic U the program: Vocal solo "The Dally Question" Ml Helen F.lkliiM. Dehate "Resolved, That the Fed erul Government Hhould Own and Operate the Railroads of the Tutted HtnU.M Atllrmatlve, Crook County High School, Misses Emerlen Young, Iou lie Hummer and Ethel Moore. Negative, Khertnan county, up held by three young men from the schools of the eonnty. The C. C. II. 8. Nightingales In Paul Ambrose's "Hhoogy-Shoo." Instrumental duet "Sunflower Dance" by Mncflyuioud, Misses Ger- trude Hodge and Allle Horlgnn. The dechdon of the Judge will clone the program. Mrs. Mlngcr and Utile daughter of Lnmonta were C. 0. If. 8. visitor, Wednesday, Misses A Hie and Kthel Horlgnn were society visitor Friday and Mm. Kahhldge visited the Alpha sc ctety, Friday. Mra. KU'e waa nn Ochoconlnn vUltorat their hint meeting-. Atabtka. The hoy are anxlounly waiting new Irom the outside teams. We feel that we are reudy for larger field to couqucr but we may decide differently after the next Inter-soclety content. Otkacaiam. Last Friday was the aeiul-annual election of olllcers for the sixdety and TOWNSHIP PLAT BOOKS Nearly Completed by County Surveyor. WILL ADD 300 NAMES TO ROLL Great Convenience and Saving f to County Should Have been made Years Ago Continued on page 2. County Surveyor Hire says that he hat three bunded near names to be addej " to county tHuerament roll. Theae name will be turned over to the hf rift to be placed on the 1000 roll. Mr. Rice thinki that $'000 will be saved the county this year by reason of the addition. The county surveyor waa "ordered by th county court over a year ago to get op an original ownership book and a present ownerahip book ao that . the county record could lie brought down to date. The work involved l.aa been tremendous. It necessitated a trip to the Burns land office so aa to secure the original entries for the two eastern township; a trip waa taken to Lake- view to get the original government en'ries on the two southern tiers of townships, and for the balance of the townships Mr. Kice hs I to go to The Dalles land ollice. Thete original entries make up the original ownership book. The present ownership book will bring thei records down to dste. The task is by no weans completed, but it has advsnced far enough to add at least three hundred names to the tax roll. When It is undorstood that each township oi nut be platted and all errors corrected, so fsr ss possible, progrees is nstur.llr slow, but when one accom plished will be a grnat saving to the county. It will add many thousands of dollars to the tax roll, besides saving many thousands of dollars in making out futurs assessment rolls. Heretofore the assessor has hsd to get along the best wsy he could from im perfect records. Now, however, when the records are brought down to date all property should bear its just proportion of the county taxes. Complaints of double taxation, errors in descriptions, etc., thut are annually made to the boarj of equalization will be reduced to a minimum. DRY Shumia Meeting. The regular meeting of the Khu inla Club was held (Saturday, Janu ary 22, at the home of Mrs. Ethel ICdwnrdM. After the regular routine of business a inoet Interesting pro gram was rendered. The life of Dickens, taken principally from hie autobiography, was well given by Mrs. Lizzie I.nfollctte. Mr. Collins I'.lklnsthen entertained the Club with literary conundrume, cotiHlatiiig of names of magazine, authors and quotations. The prize for this contest vena awarded Mies Catherine Conway, Mrs. John Wlgle being a close second. Mrs. Pearl Kayler very ably re viewed Dickens' "ChrlHtuina Carol," with which the program closed. At the close of the meeting dainty refreelmieuta were served by the hostess, and after a pleasant social half-hour, the Club stood adjourned. Only Tlkiree Days More Our January Clearance Sale Closes Monday, Jan. 31 TT THE wonderful success of this sale is due to the fact that our prices are right. Make the most of these three days Supply your wants for the winter. Lowest Possible Prices ON ALL Mens clothing, furnishings, footwear and caps. Boys and youths clothing and overcoats. Ladies suits, coats and sweaters. Rubber footwear, blankets, bed spreads; table linen, lace curtains. 19 I GROCERY CLEAN-UP SALE Special prices for first week Fancy Seeded Raisins, "Royal Club" regular 1 5c value, special low price . Fancy Cleaned Currants, "Royal Club" regular 1 5c value, special low price...- Large Size Plum Pudding, regular 75c vaiue, special low price. Small Size Plum Pudding, regular 45c value, special low price ...1. ;.. Fancy Sliced Pine Apple, regular 25c value, special low price. ......... Fancy Canned Apricots, regular 30c value, special low price.......... . .. 10c 10c 50c 30c 15c 20c c. w. ;:;..ios;'-;-(iWPANY PRINEVILLE, OREGON Of tbis Central Oregon Country. MILLIONS OF FERTILE ACRES FARMING POSSIBILITIES Uimitable Opportunities the Enterprising Hus bandman. . for Profwsor II. D. 8cudder of the Ore gon Agricultural College writes of Cen tral Oregon in the annnal number of the Portland Oregon ian as follows : "After msny days of hard travel," writes an early pioneer," we rode np from the pleasant valley of the John Day River over a low range of moun tains into a great valky of unknown extent" "Of unknown extent" to most of us a vast inland sea of rolling sand and stricken aaa brash, from which come faint rumors of cattle, of sheep, of fence lines, of road grants, snd now at last of railroad clamor. To the dust-laden, stage-wearied traveler, who has swsyed and c'.-ng and jolted a nd choked through a labored passage to this isolated world, comes a tremen dous impression of unexpecteddistancea, limitless area, unending horizons, from which blow the keen sweet airs that tempted explorers of old on into the nn known. Day by day may one glide over the rich, black bottom lands, undulate over the rolling uplands, labor over the broken lava beds, cross the spreading alkali flats and shallow likes only to come upon still another world of twisted ssge brush, far reaching from horizon to horizon. A few scattered cattle, a few lonely rancb-houtos, a few rudely flooded lowlands, a handful of sturdy pioneers, constitute civilization in this vsst em pire of the future. And what is the future of Central j Oregon T Here lies an area of approxi mately 20,000,000 acres of rolling hills and fertile 'valleys. . New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticutt, New Jersey and Delaware combined, might be set down in tbis huge territory and yet leave uncovered miles around the edges. A good one third of Oregon here, ail but lost from her reckoning, a vast resource, un touched, unheeded. : Ten million acres of tillable land 800,000 acres of irrigable land-3,000,000 acres of dry farming land yet little more than 200,000 acres, or only about one-twentieth of this im mense body of good agricultural land has ever been farmed. In other words, this vast domain contains more good farming land than is now cultivated in all the rest of Oregon east of the Cas cades, yet bnt an inconsiderable fraction of it has ever felt the plow. To say, then, that the production of Central Oregon may be increased one hundred fold is but to name the result of the first step in its progress. Leaving aside its great wealth in minerals and forests and water-power, let us consider only its greatest and most permanent re source its agriculture. Central Oregon agriculture will be forever largely confined to the produc tion of grain, hay and livestock an other empire of wheat and alfalfa and fat stock added to Oregon's ever grow ing domain. Every quality of soil and climate is found here for the successful development of this trissverate that will lead a prosperous agriculture down the centuries. Where now the 'winter overflow floods the native grasses, bringing a lux uriant crop of wild hay, organized effort will store the waters, distribute them over many times their present flooding, ditch the land to' leach the alkali and plow and seed the rich silt loam to al falfa the transformer. Nature has al ready inoculated the soil for this crop and surrounded the valleys with mil lions of acres of grazing land upon which to grow the cattle and sheep and horses that later winter and fatten on the rich hay. Kor hay alone, but the hardy, vir ile alfalfa seed grown at these higher el evutions will come the fattening field peas, and in them both the hog per haps the greatest moneymaker the American farmer sends to market- -cer tainty so among Oregon livestock. After all, however, the Agricultural success of Central Oregon depends more upon the development of its dry-farming possibilities than upon irrigation. With an average annual rainfall of from 10 to 15 inches, and a fertile brown alluvial sandy loam soil covering almost three times the area devoted to dry farming in the wheat belt along the Columbia, the importance of this phase of agricul ture may easily be coinprehanded. Here brains must take the place of water. Selected seed, thorough tillage and diversified production,' all three combined, are the potent factors which will work the transformation from black sagebrush to golden wheat fields. Dry farming conditions nere are com parable with those of the Columbia River basin, or of Montana, or of South ern Idab.3. Successful production of crops of the highest quality has al ready long been carried on, on a limited scale, in practically everr part of tbis dry-farming area. Wheat, oats, barley, emmer, alfalfa and field peas are here the dry farmer's major crops. The hardy, drought resistant, high- grade milling wheats, Turkey red and Durum, are believed to be the eventual leaders for this territory. That the wheat seed as well as the alfalfa, peas, oats and other seed used, be Northern grown, and from regions cf equal or greater elevation, is of great rt Impor- tance. Montana-grown seed is proving especially well adapted to Central Ore gon conditions. As for alfalfa and field peas it must not be considered that these are profit able only under irrigation. Eastern Ore gon, as well as every other dry farming section, has many notable demonstra tions to the contrary. Grown for bay or pasture, they frequently outclass wheat on the ledger, while grown In rows they yield a superior and most valuable aeea crop. In addition to this, through their fertility improving qualities, they form a necessary part of the dry-farmer's pro gramme if wheat production is to be maintained permanently, permitting him also to send part of his grain to market in its most valuable form fat stock. In thorough tillage methods the Cen tral Oregon farmer may profit by the bard-earned experience of dry farmers on every side of him. Fall plowing or Fall discing; immediate harrowing and packing following Spring plowing; fre quent surface tillage through the dry season to maintain a soil mulch and keep out weeds; these are a few of the fundemental practice for the con servation of moisture, upon which the Central Oregon farmer will build his success. Nor must it be forgotten that the quality of the farming done is of far more importance in bringing about a permanent success, than is the quantity of land covered. It may well be said, too, that dry farming requires the brainiest and most courageous class of farmers to be found in all the field of agriculture. The dry farmer of Central Oregon, to be entirely successful must not only understand the underlying principles of the science, but he must have the backbone to carry them out in practice. Central Oregon requires farmers of large caliber. To these it offers success. Why then does the present population and agriculture 01 this huge area lag ao far behind? Where are the wheat and alfalfa fields and the fat 'stock? Where are the thriving towns-and prosperous farm homes? When will this transfor mation come about? For nearly half a century the answer has been vainly pro claimed, unceasingly advertised. There is perhaps no other unserved area in the United Stated, where from the agricul tural standpoint at least, a railroad would prove more profitable, and per haps no where else in this country, is there so large a body of land lying idle, waiting for a railroad and the hand of the dry farmer to transform it from a desert to prosperous production. OREGON TRUNK CONSTRUCTION Facts Brought Down to Date. SUMMARY OF W0XK DONE The Difficulties of Construction Work Explained by an Expert. Annual Number Orcfnnlan. Under construction contract 109 miles, Celllo to Madras. Definitely located Celllo to Crooked River, 140 ml lea. Probable Oregon Terminus Klamath Falls, with California ex. tentlon and branches to Lakevlew and extentlon to Ontario on Eastern Oregon border. Approximate cost Celllo to Mad ras $o,000,000. Number of men at work 2600. Maximum working grade SI x tentha of one per cent. Maximum curvatures Six degree. Character of construction Rock and gravel ballast, 85 to 90 pound steel; standard North Bank con struction. . Estimated time limit for comple tion to Madras Latter part of 1910. Smashes Greek, Gets Blood-Poisoning W. H. Bryan, a Paulina freighter, is laid up at the home of William Adams with a very sore arm. Bryan had a load of freight from Shaniko which he was bringing in by way of Madras. In the load was some wet goods. When in Madras some Greek railroaders caught on to the fact and tried to steal the "boose." Bryan protected his freight, and in the fight that ensued struck one of the Greeks in the mouth with his fiat. The man's tefeth cut the ekin on Bryan's knuckles and blood-poisoning set in. Bryan has a sore arm, but unless further compli cations result, he will get along all right. His load of freight was sent on to Paulina by another man. Prineville Beef Tops Portland Market The five cars of steers sold In the yards lost week at $5.35, the highest priee of the season for Oregon stock, came from Prineville and were ehlp ped in by George Slayton of that place. The steers averaged 13&5 Douuds and were sold by Hunt & Lacey. - "I am well pleased with my treat ment in the Portland market," said Mr. Slayton. Portland Journal. Mr. Slayton had 110 head of steers that averaged 1333 pounds, and sold for $5.35; five head that averaged 1158 pouuda that brought M-75; and one cow that weighed 1100 that brought $ 4.75. In commenting on the market at the time Mr. Slayton sold, the Port land Journal says: "While there is only a fair tone In cattle at this time and the buyers are quite well sup piled, gales of extra Belect Prineville stock was made duriug the day as high aa 5.35. Good steers sold aa high as $5.10, a very good price considering the fact that the stuff could not be rated first class. Cows sold at $4.25, but it took select quality to bring $4.75, Approximately $5,000,000 la the amount of the Initial expenditure to be made by Jamea J. Hill and his associates In constructing the Great Northern extension Into Central Oregon, known as the Oregon Trunk Line. The greater part of thU $5,000,000 will be expended In reaching simply the outskirts of the great territory that Ilea practically undeveloped la Central Oregon. While prospective extensions" of the Oregon Trunk Line beyond Bend have not been authoritatively an nounced, the entry of the road to Interior Oregon Is assured. Approxi mately 2000 men are engaged In con struction work between Celllo and Crooked River and surveyors are working as far south as Rostand, 30 miles beyond Bend. The Oregon Trunk Line begins with a bridge across the Columbia river, one mile west of Celllo, thereby forming a connection with the North Bank railroad to Portland. Celllo Is just 100 miles east of Portland. There the Trunk Line engineers have selected a natural bridge site. At Celllo the mighty volume of the Co lumbia river divides into several channels and plunges through nar row gorges among basaltic rock Islands. Five spans, the longest of which will be 320 feet, will complete the bridge and every pier will be constructed on solid rock above the surface of the water. The bridge will give the Oregon Trunk line an overhead crossing of the O. R. 4 N. main line and a road way 55 feet above the Celllo Canal. From the Oregon Bide of the bridge -to the mouth of the Deschutes river the distance Is four miles, and the railway grade gradually climbs along the face of rock cliffs and curves Into the Deschutes Canyon through a tunnel cut In solid rock. Thik rullrnfl1 ninaf Mamp tha hnt.tnm of the Deschutes Canyon 150 feet In -order to get over the Moody power dam site, located three miles above the mouth, and for seven miles there will be an up grade. Beyond the Msody dam the road will con tinue at some elevation above the water's edge, for It Is necessary to clear the Government dam site 24 miles above the mouth of the Deschutes. The Government dam Is to be 100 feet high and the original survey of the railroad was located so that It just cleared the proposed structure. After thousands of dollars had been expended In construction work, the Government required the railroad to go still ten feet higher, and 12 miles of road have been relocated, and the work already done In those 12 miles bus been abandoned. About 40 miles from the mouth of the Deschutes the first conflict occurs with the - Des chutes Railroad Company's line. The Oregon Trunk Line for 73 miles follows the west side of the river without crossing. The rival road follows the east bank for 40 miles, and then, to avoid heavy construc tion and tunnel work through a pro jecting cliff, bridges the river, follows the west bank about five miles, and then crosses back to the east side. To grasp the situation, one should understand that la the Deschut.'S Canyon there are few, If any, places where precipices have been fornud on sides of the river opposite each other. A great wall of pi rpendlcular rock may be washed at the base by the river, but Invariably the opposite Continued on page 4.