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About St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1910)
Hfitorlesl Society ST. REVIEW IT'S NOW UP TO YOU Towbacribe for THIS P(r. AM IIm mwf whBt ti U niwt U ear motto. CtU In and tnroll GET IN THE HABIT Of aemtfcfctc fa TTTW top m4 jrl1 Mr? ftcfrt li Be fto t mm ft4 Iwtf rttM at II Devoted (o the Intertrt of the Penlsrals, the Manufacturing Center of the Northwett VOL. 6 ST. JOHNS, OREGON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 28. 1910. NO. 12 JOHNS ST. JOHNS MAN KILLED While at Work for the Electric Company The following account of the death of Edwin Lax ton, who was electrocuted in Portland wc take from the Evening News. The death was a peculiarly sad one by reason of the fact that Mr. Luxton leaves a widow and four small children who arc just recovering from an attack of the nicnslcs. They reside on East Richmond street unci arc in destitute circumstances. The family arc deserving of all the as sistance and sympathy that can be accorded them. It is, indeed, a time of bitter sorrow for the sur viving ones. The account follows: Poorly protected wires of the Portland Railway, Light & Power company claimed another victim when Ed Laxtou, aged 35, an cm ployc of the Portland Auxiliary Fire Alarm company, became short circuited between a Home wire and a P. R. L. and P. wire, on a pole at the corner of First and Taylor streets shortly before 11 o'clock Monday morning. Laxton was doing some work for the Fire Alarm company uml was working on a pole not quite a block from where a gang of Port laud General ir.cn were taking down company wires from poles which were to be removed in consequence of the placing the Portland General wires underground in the business district. It is impossible to learn in ex actly what manner Lnxton was killed, as when his predicament was first noticed by passersby on the street he was holding onto two wires, and smoke was rising from his hands, where he grasped the wires. The peculiarity of his position attracted attention of A. R. Zuni wait of 532 i-2 First street, and others, who culled the attention of the Portland General workers to Laxtou's trouble, and a couple of men from the P. G gang went up the pole and cut the unfortunate lineman loose. He was unconscious when res cued and was lowered to the side walk, where every effort was made to revive him. An ambulance was at once summoned and he was re moved to the Holman undertaking parlors, but died ou the way. Laxton was about 35 years of age and leaves a wife and four children, who live in St. Johns. He. has been a lineman for about 10 years and was supposed to be thoroughly conversant with the dangers of his profession. His hands were badly burned nd it is evident that he received au extremely heavy voltage. The Portland General workers, who were working near by and who removed Laxton from the pole, were C. V. Eddings, O. A. Lynd, F. Rehberg and Elmer Downing, Foreman Frank New be ing in charge of the gang. These nitn were taking down Portland General wires and supposed that no live wires were to be found ou any of the poles. The pole on which Laxton was killed is one of the oldest in that part of the city and carries a heavy transformer and a perfect network of wires, some of which have car ried high voltage la the past. All wires were supposed to be "dead" Monday, however. The most pathetic feature of the death of Ed Laxton, is the fact that he bad a wife and four chil dren at home, aud that all the children bad been sick for some time. Day after day. Laxton would come to work and tell his fellow employes that he had not been able to sleep the night before, owing to having to sit up with the children who had the measles. Monday morning, however, be told J. W, Aspland, a fellow line nan, that the children bad taken a turn for the better. "I feel fine 1 this morning," said Laxtoa, "The babies are getting better and I had a ppod Bight's sleep last night. I feel like s aew mb." A few hours later he lay dead, sad toaight the wife's rejoicing at the improved coaditioa of the chil dren is turned to sorrow over the awful death of her husband. Liaeffica who were working with Ed Laxtoa, are positive in their declarations that but for the offi ciomHwe of Patrolman Richards, Ho. 19, who wu ike first Building Permits No. 5 To M. L. Holbrook to alter a building on Philadelphia street between Ivanhoe and Tersev: estimated cost $130. No. 6 To A. A. Schrimsheeto erect a dwelling on Hayes street between Maple street, aud city lim its; cost $1000. No. 7 To A. A. Sehrimshce to erect a dwelling on Hayes street between Maple street and city lim its; cost 1 1000. Doth dwellings beinc erected for the Portland Woolen Mills Co. No. 8 To S. Scheltcr to erect a dwelling on Stafford street be tween Burr aud Buchanan streets for Albert Muck; cost $2800. No. 9 To N. A. Gee to alter dwelling on E. Polk street between Seneca aud Portland boulevard for Mrs. Dusko; cost $150. No. 10 To Frank Moycr to erect a dwelling on Nicklin street between Myers aud Cruikshank; cost 51000. No. 1 1 To R. Graden to build kitchen on residence on Mohawk between Fesseudcn and Seneca; cost loo. policeman on the scene of the acci dent, Laxtou could have been re vived. These men declare that after having lowered Luxton from the pole where he was short circuited, they were working over him in au effort to restore him to conscious ness, when officer Richards came up and ordered them to leave the injured uinu alone. They protested that they had ex perience in rcsuscituting men who had been injured by electricity, and that seconds were precious, but the officer refused to allow them to make any further endeavors to save their comrade's life, persisting that he must be taken to the hospital to be taken care of. "If that officer had not butted in Ed Laxtou would have been alive this afternoon," angrily declared one of the linemen. "We had him partly revived. He was batting his eyes and moving his feet when the officer came, and in a few mo ments more he would have been all right, but that self-important blue coat made us let Laxton alone and he died before he reached the hos pital. "1 he ambulance met: were just us bad," interjected another line worker. "They were sweating their heads off for fear they would not be able to handle the case quickly enough, and get back to the office in time for another call, aud they insisted Unit Laxton could be taken to the hospital in time. Tim ambulance men and the officer nil acted like a bunch oi square heads, and it is their fuult that Lnxton is dead now." Every lineman as a part of his business learns the best methods of reviving a man who has been ren dered unconscious by electricity, and in view of the claim of the linemen that Laxton partially revived when the officer butted in, it would look as though a coroner's jury might lay his death at the door of the offi cious blue-coit and the ambulance men, who were in too much of a hurry to give a man a proper chance for his life. Will Soon Be Completed Completion of the Natron Klam ath line of the Southern Pacific within the cowing 18 months is promised by Judge W. D. Fenton, council for the Harriman road, who says that at the end of that time trains of his company will be run ing betweeu Portland and San Francisco over the new route, which will have a maximum grade of 1 per cent. Work is going ahead on 65 miles of the new route now and the remainder will be com pleted as soon as possible. The building of the Natron line will not only open up a large new territory that is without railroads, but will give a low-grade freight line that will eliminate the heavy grades of the Siskiyou mountains. The bud get for new equipment for the Har riman lines in this territory for the year 19 10 has been made up and is in excess of the money asked in any previous year for rolling stock. The budget calls for over la.ooo, 000 for new freight ami passenger cars and locomotives. The month is almost gone. Have you saved anything? Are you any better off than you were a month ago? Save something. The First National Bank will show you how and will pay 3 per cent with inter est compounded every six months, it Preach the gospel el Sfe Johns. COOPERAGE CO. COMING Will Locate on Site Near the Dry Dock From a reliable source comes the information that the Western Coo perage Co. will within the next month begin the removal of their large plant from Aberdeen, Wash., to their site near the dry dock in St. Johns. The plant is an exten sive one aud employs in the neigh borhood of 200 men. The Cooper age Co. has held the ground adjacent to the dry dock for some time, and it was rumored at different times that a plant would be constructed there, but tt now seems certain that the promise will be fulfilled. The party who advances the infor mation has just arrived in St. Johns from Aberdeen and he is well acquainted with the manage ment, from which source he ob tained the welcome news. The property at Aberdeen has been con demned for railroad purposes, aud it makes it imperative that a new location be secured without delay. And owning the admirably situated tract here it is but natural that the plant should be removed to St. Johns. The coming of this im mense plant to St. Johns will be most encouraging news to all our inhabitants. New industries is the crying need of this city and it is very gratifying to learn that this new works is practically ou the way. Many Will Come Low one way colonist rates from all parts of the East to Pacific Coast terminals are offered by the rail roads from March 1 to April 15. The opportunity to brine thou sands of new settlers to Oregon is a valuable one and commercial organ izations of the state will take ad vantage of it to the fullest extent. I he attractive literature sent out during the past year aud the wide uiblicity given all parts of Oregon lave been fruitful of results and inquiry about this state was never so geueral as at the present time. Because of this widespread interest n Oregon, It may be expected that the state will receive a large immi gration during the coming spring. Oregon people should do all they can to add to this movement to the Pacific Northwest by arousing in terest among their friends in other parts of the country who are look ing for new homes and information should be supplied them ou the opportunities here for newcomers and particularly those who desire to engage in agriculture, horticulture, stock raising or dairying. These lines of endeavor are rewarding those who are engaged in them. Who Wants It We have a number of times so licited for advertising space on the first page of our paper, but owing to the fact that we believed it would detract from the appearance of the paper, we haye persistently refused to place display ads thereon. There are two spaces, one on either side of the heading, about two inches square, that we now propose to utilize for advertising purposes. In order to give all an equal chance of securing this we propose to usk for bids on same. 1 tie party put ting in the highest bid will be ac cepted, provided it is not below our regular rates. Bids close February 1st. If you want one or both of these spaces decide what you will be willing to give and send in your bid, sealed No less than three months time accepted. If two bids are for the same amount, the one received first will have preference. This is the best and most promi nent space in tne Keview for ad vertising purposes. Changes of matter will be allowed 'once each month. The elorv class of the Baotist church gave its second annual ban quet last Friday night, and a splen did time was had. The class has grown from a membership of fifteen two years ago to seventy now, aud has at its own expense fitted up a class room in the church basement. Work fer Ureter fit Jets. A Few From Abstract Eleven more street arc lamps were installed in St. Johns last week, there now being 57 arc lights in the Peninsula cit'. These with the street gas lamps, such as arc on Portland's down town streets, make the business district well lighted. Will they ever come back ? Last week two brisk, well dressed men, smoking 25-ceut cigars, dropped into several St. Johns real estate offices to make inquiries regarding a suitable location for n 500,000 manufacturing enterprise, employ ing 300 men. After viewing scv cral tracts, the gentlemen thanked the real estate men, announcing themselves well pleased with the property shown, promised to return in the near future and bade good by. "To be or not to be, that is the question," the real estate folks arc asking. Of $160,000 to be expended ou St. Johns streets next year, $100 000 will be spent on the improve ment of Fesseudcn street from the cast Hue of the city to the O. R. & N. track, and possibly to the river. Surveying is about completed for the establishing of the grade. Ies scuden street will be widened to 70 feet from Smith's crossing to Jer sey street; damages arc now being paid and benefits estimated at a rapid rate. Before the laying of the pavement, the water company will place fire hydrants every 450 feet along the street aud the gas company will lay gas pipes. All kinds of hard surface material esti mates are being received. Since the installation of its own substation a week ago, the Kenton Traction Company has been fur nishing power for street car service between Kenton aud Stockdale. Formerly "juice" supplied by the P. R. L. & P. Co. was used. The track is being extended from its present terminus at the bwift pack ing plant to the Monarch Lumber Mills, a distance of half n mile. Work is now held up pending the arrival of tics. Grading for the carbarns has becii completed. The tedious task .of repairing the damaged brick walls of the packing plant is nearly finished. After the repairs, the building will be in a perfect condition, the only damage being the loss of time, slaughter ing will be commenced in March. Carloads of machinery are arriving daily and already some is being in stalled. Hydrants for fire protec tion are also to be placed soon. Chas Rowley, of Troutdale, will commence building his concrete block store and office building on McClellan street between Derby aud Fenwick streets. He is ready to receive estimates for the concrete block work, excavating, carpenter ing, plumbing and all minor Hues. This will be the first business block to be built east of Derby street, in a district which promises to be as active as that bordering the main thoroughfare. Several important negotiations for business blocks in the vicinity are now pending. Samuel W. Fryer and wife recently purchased lots 10 aud n, block 4, Kenton, also on McClellan street, with the intention of improving the Eroperty with a 100x100 business lock. It will be either of brick or concrete block construction. Mr. Fryer is the superintendent of the Southern Pacific car shops and will build later iu the year. The trans fer was negotiated through Krueger & Sperry. The Kenton Buiidiug & Contract Company has commenced building three more cottages on block 34. They will cost in the aggregate about $4000. As fast as excavat ing is commenced, the houses are spoken for, aud long before being completed are rented. So scarce are residences, despite the phenom enal amount of buiidiug, that in many instauces two families are occupyiug the same cottage. To relieve the house famine to a cer tain degree the concrete block hotel is being rapidly finished. Steam radiators are beiug installed this week. Owing to unfavorable weath er conditions, the hotel will be un able to open uutil April 1. Mrs. Dallas Bache is building three five-room cottages, costing $1200 each. All contracts are let. The forms are in for the concrete foundation of the Davis Safe & Lock Company plaut. Dyer & Co. are awaiting assurances that the cold weather of the past month will not be repeated before com mencing concrete work. Once started, however, building will progress rapidly. The latest acquisition of Kenton to business circles is the Nichols Hardware Company, opeuing last week with a full line of building materials. Get your new school books and stationery at Frank Clark's. ' SESSION OF THE CITY DADS Municipal Affairs Receive Careful Attention All members were present at the regular council meeting Tuesday evening, with Mayor Hendricks presiding. After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and approved, a communica tion from Hon. K. C. Couch rela tive to viewing matters on Bu chanan street was received and ordered filed. M. G. Ncase, who has a two year lease on the city rock crusher and quarry, was present and asked for an extension of three years to his lease, making five years in all. He stated that it would be neces sary to expend from $4500 to $6000 in improvmcnts in order to make KID WELCH of LbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbHLw HH LbbbbbbHBuIbbbbbbLbbV 'wHB BBBBBBBBBBHr es bbbbbbbbbbbbbW HSK) Who will wrestle with Charles Strangler Smith of Portland iu the skat ing rink Wednesday night, Feb, 3, under the auspices of the Firemen's A. A. club. The famous strangle Welch says he will win with this hold an intensely interesting event aud it is believed the rink will be taxed to its utmost capacity. Two four-round boxing preliminaries before the match Frank Ely and Bud Williams of Portland will huve one bout aud Wyuii Muniiiug, the lightning local Scott Athletic club, will be the principals iu the second go, If you have even a trace of sorting blood in your makeup you cannot afford to miss this event. General admission 75 welcome. the proposition a paying one, and two years' lease did not justify him in going to this expense. He said that St, Johns was getting cheaper rock than any other city iu Oregon: that Portland was paying $1.50 and Oregon City $t.io per yard for rock, while bt. Johns was getting it for 85 cents under his contract with the city. Mr. Nease stated ou n rough estimate the city had enough rock at their quarry to last for 20 years at five times the present ca pacity. The matter was turned over to the street committee aud engineer for a recommendation, A deed from Mrs. Nancy Caples dedicating u strip of land ou East Polk street to the city for street purposes, was referred to the en gineer for verification as to descrip tion. Au ordinance accepting a deed for a strip of laud ou Portland bou levard for street purposes, presented by the Roman Catholic church, was read ami then referred to the en gineer for correction of a small error. Mayor Hendricks then presented his annual message, which was read with much interest. The doc ument was a voluminous aud com prehensive affair, and touched upon matters of vital importance to this municipality. It is probable that the message will appear iu a later issue of the Review. A communication to the mayor from the O. R. & N. headquarters stated that au electric bell would be installed at the foot of Burlington street to warn the traveling public of the approach of a train, and also that orders had been given to all engineers to ruu at a speed not to A Challenge Ed. Review: Will you give me space for a few words in your paper? I sec that an organization has been formed iu St. Johns known as the "St Johns Protective Association," the aims and objects of which arc to "suppress saloons, gambling dens, infamous places of resort, etc. ; also to "maintalu au attitude of neutrality ou questions of public policy not directly connected with the traffic of strong drink, their meetings to be opened or closed with prayer. " I have the greatest regard for all who believe, honestly, that they are doing nil for the suppression of crime that lies iu their power, but have very little respect for the com promiscrs with evil. I will chal lenge this association to discuss the following: Resolved, that the saloon is the prime cause of crime, of gambling dens, etc., etc., or that it is not the cause, as the association sees fit. Or I will renew my challenge of one year ago: Resolved, that Socialism is super ior to Prohibition as n solution of the social aud economic evils, with all respect due you as individuals. Have you the courage to debate these questions? The public will so Salt Lake City hold of Smith's will be barred, and prohibited. This promises to be fistic artist, and Kid Davis of Mt. cents; reserved seats $1.00. i.adici be edified, the truth will prevail. What will you do? Yours for the annihilation of all crime, G. L. Perriue. exceed four miles au hour through the congested district. Bills to the amount of $24.06 were allowed, Recorder Essou stated that as n private citizen he wished to call the attention of council to the necessity of installing a newer system to pro tect the water works, He said that the surroundings of the pumping station wus disgraceful iu the ex treme, so much so as to give a "buzzard a bilious attack" as he expressed it. He said action should be taken just as soon as it was pos sible to do so. The engineer stated that he would have everything ready for work 011 the system as soon as the ground would be in condition, The Child Problem; How to Solve it. "Mother Roberts" will lecture ou this subject at Bickner's hall next Tuesday afternoon begin ning promptly at 2:30. This talk is for ladies only. Those who have heard "Mother Roberts" will need no urging to avail themselves of this opportunity aud those who have not will not miss this chance. The same speaker will talk to everybody at the Christiau church at 8:00 o'clock. Do not forget the date Tuesday, Feb. 1st, for wives and mothers in the afternoon aud for everybody in the evening. Ad mission free. Frank Moyer is building a $1000 residence on Nicklin street. INSTALL LODGE OFFICIALS And Enjoys a Pleasant Evening at Same Time The joint installation of St. Johns Camp, W. O. V., and the Ladies Circle, Women of Wood craft, held Wednesday evening of last week, was highly interesting and greatly enjoyed by those iu at tendance. Both lodges have uni formed drill teams, aud the officers in charge have produced admirable results. The officers of the women's lodge were installed by Mrs. Ella Lillis, special organizer from Ta- coma, and the men by S. II. Grif fith of Multnomah. M. D. George of the same camp acted as escort. Miss Iola Holdrcgc of Denver, an other special organizer, was a visi tor. The Woodmen officers installed were: C. C. J. A. Cole. Advisor W. E. Coon. Banker R. C. Clark. Clerk W. S. Kellogg. Escort I. B. Crow. Physician A. W. Vincent. Watchman S. C. Wagner. Sentry C. A. Dickerson. Manager L. S. Shepard. C. of G. C. B. Vcrniehren. The Women of Woodcraft officials: P. N. Lydla Tollman. G. N. Zella Dunbar. Advisor Anna L, Harrington. Clerk Hannah Vincent. Banker Sarah Brlce. Magician Anna Hathaway. Attendant Murgueritc Buery. I. S. Rosclla Smith. O. S. Alice Wcimer. Manager Lillian Miller. C. of G.-ertrude Baker, The Modern Woodmen of Amer ica installed officers lust Thursday night. A short hut interesting program was rendered and Gallo way's orchestra furnished delight ful music. Mrs. Josie Watkius, a blind lady from the Pattoit Home, rendered able assistance. The af fair was greatly enjoyed and the evening was most pleasantly spent. 1 lie installing ollicer wus J. B. Simmons, state deputy, aud W. E. Coon acted as chief forester. The officers installed were: C. C J. II. Gee. Advisor L. B. Moulton. Banker G. L. Epps. Clerk A. F. Kaemleiu. Escort J. M. Honks. Watchman Chas, Garlick. Sentry F. Glaub. Managers S. J. Scheltcr and C. O. Churchill. At the Packing Plant There has been a fair ruu of cat' tie at the yards the past week, 3057 head being received. The demand for heavy stuff has taken off every thing that has been received. The hog supply has been proportionately liberal but buyers have taken the offering promptly at good prices. U44 head were received and sev eral loads brought the top of $9,25, but the bulk of the sales nave been running from if 9. 00 to $9.10. The receipts of sheep have iu no way approximated the demand aud iu fact there has not been enough sheep in the yards to make a mar ket. Ihere is a very active de mand for fat wethers and lambs. There were only 431 sheep received. Light calves are iu great demand and there was only 30 head re ceived during the week. D. O. Lively, Geueral Agent. Recorder Essou, iu making up a record of property owned by the city, finds the following: Richmond street dock (engineer's estimate) site not considered, $1,000.00 Philadelphia street dock, site included. . . .63,754.53 City hall lot 1,500.00 City hall building 10,000.00 Office furniture and fixtures 660.00 Fire apparatus 1,783.75 Macadam road roller.. 1,800.00 Rock crusher and equipment 3,000.00 Rock quarry 1,200.00 Total. .I85.898.28 Work for a Greater BU Johns,