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About St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1910)
Historical Society ST. Johns review ITS NOW UP TO YOlf U tor THM Paetr. AM Mm m wkfc k It mm k Mr mU. MkiMrfMnN OET IN THE HABIT of mtat to niw rmm t fee") aefW rtaret U. aw tort mm aMltowe rM M Devee4 te Ik fatereet of tin Peetaea to, tfce MinnfcriBj Center of the NorthwMt VOL. 6 ST. JOHNS, OREGON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25. igio. NO. 16 BIG EXPLOSION OF POWDER Loosens Many Yards of Rock on West Side . Bight thousand pounds of blast ing powder were touched off by electricity at tht rock quarry Satur day afternoon, near the Clarcmont hotel, throwing down from the fact of a cliff enough rock to keep the rock crusher and city prisoners there busy in repairing roods tor a year. There was no denotation and lit tie smokesimply u dull rumble. and then the face of the cliff moved bodiloutward and crumbled into a mass in the ravine below. There was a slight jar felt in the immc dlate vicinity, but no daniBge was done other than the breaking of a few boards in the stockade fence by the rock sliding down on them and the breaking of the water pipe that sunn es the prisoners' quarters. Prenaratlons for the blast shot have been coing on since early in last September, when the work of drilling and blasting out the tunnel and side leads into the cliff lcgan. The powder used has high ex plosive powers which are produced in the form of rapidly expandiug gasses which permeate the rock crevice and literally force the rocks apart, crumbling the mass into convenient size for further crushing. This form of blasting powder works throughout a wider range than .dynamite, which is used principally for shattering purposes. If the blast had been dynamite, Portland would have 'distinctly heard and felt the shock. The blast was pronounced one of the most successful ever snot in this vicinity because of the large amount of rock dislodged for the nuantitv of powder used. The value of the 8000 pounds of powder was It, 100. The cost of drilling was uomiu.tl as it was done by prison luooi-, ulthough considerable quantities of explosives were util ized, in constructing the tunnels, V Activity Up' the Line The .Willumbla Hall company, composed of Portsmouth and Uni versity citizens such us Will G Steel, T. A. Kitchen and R. G. Brand, Friday contracted to pur chase from Friendly & Thompson the lot at the corner of Lowland 'street, and Portsmouth Avenue in Portsmouth1 for $5000. The lot is 66 by 1 10 feet and is located direct ly across the street from the Glass Brothers store. This company will at once begin the erection of a two story brick business block, 60 by 80, with 6tore rooms below and either an up-to-date hall or apartments ou the second floor. A moving picture theatre, has also beeu started at "Portsmouth a'ud is doing a rushiug 'business AT petition is being cir culated for the hard-surfacing of 'Portsmouth .Avenue from Willam ette Boulevarsi.to Columbia Boule vard, with good prospects of sue- -Telegram. BttikKnt Permits 1 ; No. 24 To W, P. Palmer to .erect dwelling en Armour street between Oregoaiaa and Midway avenues; $750. No. 35 To Ziak & Mageske ,t erect .jlwelliag 00 Jersey street ' between Catliu and St. Johns ave aueferK. Feldmeth; cost $1300. ' No. 36 To Edward Wei t fall to erect dwelling ou Chapel street be tween St. Jehus and Hoi brook aveaue; coat $400, -,HV' 37-rJT 'J.R, Kerr & Mob te erect dwelling u S. Hayes be twaaa Burr ad Buebauaa streets far Mrs. C. Bradea; cost f 1800. lie. a To, F. S. Liadley te ereet dweUiac ou Polk street Be tween Hudson aad Portland vard; caet loeo, , , The irst doHer must be saved before there cue be a fortune. The kettle utuet.be laid before these sea be a railroad. Dees this meea 'anything te yen. whe net your pay today? .The Pint National Bank 'mUml mumm'tUm ttlamUr Tft AmfmmU&JaUt (wtTewei enwnwp. jnsnsn wweaw wwttwwwwwww Jntereet every six ssaaths. it WJUamalml Bit lint VmmYmml WBelltn nnnnfnj St. Johns (As it U.) . -Where rolls the mighty Oregon, Willamette's flood to meet, Where these great waters of the West, In graceful concord greet, And open wide their shining breast For all the world's grfat fleet, Here Is St. Johns. No fairer hnrbor on the earth, With room enough for alt, A vast, extending, peaceful sheet, Beyoud the floodtlde's pall, Where nature's' vety heart doth Wat j At every nation's call, Here is St. Johns. With gorgeous summers, winter mild, With fruited vernal beams, -With autumns all surpa'sslng.grand, When health honey streams, Where optimistic mortals stand To greet the good that gleams, Here is St. Johns. (Is to Be.) Where shipping comes from every laud, From islands of the sea, From India's gorgeous coral strand, From Africa's suuuy lea, Where Brittnji, Teuton, Frank and Dune, For bread and freightage flee, Here is St. Johns. Where Occident and Orient, With arms extended greet. Where Asia, in her rising, bows At fulr Columbia's feet, Where white and yellow, .brown nud black, From all the earth do greet, Here is St. Johns. Where, ever pours a constant stream Of never failing wealth, Timber fur building, wool fer Nwnrmth, And brend for blooming health, Where fruits and flowers, and lacteal strength, , To all mankind are dealt, Here is St. Johns. Yeraca. At the Packing Plant Receipts of live stock for the past week have been 1346 cattle, 103 calves, 1351 sheep. 584 hogs, 163 horses. 1 he market for cuttle has icld a high plane throughout the week, good steers bringing 5.75 as u top. There tins not been an over- supply and buyers have not been utile to secure a sulhclent number for their requirements. Shippers have been holding back due to poor advice from market guesters. I. he tjupply of sheep has been very igut and prices have ruled strong and high for all classes. The hog supply has beeu very ight and prices have ruled strong and high. Anything like good hogs have brought $9.35. The sale of hogs at $9.30 at eastern points was the cause of a good deal of. ex citement at the Portland market, Packers and butchers find them selves rather at a loss- in this part of the country just now as the prices of hogs locally and east are so high that the sale of pork is almost out of the question. D. O, Lively, General Agent Exploiting Oregon The Great Northern Railway will exploit Central Oregon, and has sent two men through that ter ritory to get data for bulletins aad other railroad publications that will describe the country thorough ly and tell prospective settlers what they may expect there. The val ley of the Deschutes River tributary to the Hill road sow buildiag up the Deschutes will cerae in fer much favorable publicity and it resources, crop possibilities ana general future will be told, The Hill Hues are taking au iatercet in Oregon that will mean much fer the state. At exhibit rooms in St. Paul, the. Great Northern 'shown Oregon products and similar ex hibits arc. te be malutaie4;by the railroad company iu Philadelphia and Boston. These places will direct a great deal of attention te Central Oregon for the settler. Two Oregon Agricultural 'Co. lege students, Joseph Hatieek and eha Ceok, have rigged up a wire less telegraph 1 station and are re eelving meaiagee daily. They catch menagee from, all stations south as far as Ban Frauctese and north aa far ae she Huddle of Britiah Cfl-j-f-t OTIafJC VammUUF ttaufl fjaaUa unHeUHtnWUS e awutnnu, wafmrmK temwrml BHnunnnen MiurtieeMy all of their iuttrunseuM eonetrneted their GIVES GLOWING ACCOUNT Of Oil Situation in East ern Oregon . Authentic information reached Porllaud yesterday that a 300 barrel well had been tapped in the Vale oil fields in eastern Oregon. At a depth of r470 feet in one of the eight wells now being sunk iu the district, a strong flow of high grade Earafnne oil was tapped. A vcrita le oil boom is on iu the little east cm Oregon city. People arc pour ing into the oil fields from all over the Northwest to such an extent that it is impossible to get hotel ac' commodatiens. News of the recent strike and the practical certainty that several other wells are expected to come in any day has sent land values in the oil district clear out of reach. Since January 1, 186 oil locations have been filed on and hundreds of men are pushing far back into the hill, miles away from the present activity, in quest of suitable places to locate claims. Drilling is going on night and day on six wells and four new stau dard rigs are on the way to the dis ttict for other companies. In the well of the Columbia Oil & Gas company, which is down about 1500 feet, the sand is said to be fairly alive with oil and gas, the sand bucket bubbling over the .top like a pall or yeast. The drillers in this and the other wells iu the dis trict are having some trouble in controlling the water and are confi dent that as soon as they get it cased off they will, have not less than half a dozen commercial wells iu the field. In anticipation of the oil strike. the Vale Oil Bxchange was opened for business last week. A fine suite of offices has been fitted up iu the bnildiug formerly occupied by the First National Bank of Vale and arrangements have been made to get direct oil quotations from the San Francisco exchange. In the exchange are listed the stocks and securities of all the oil and gas com panies actually iu operation iu the district, about 15 companies having up to date taken membership in the exchange. A sure indication that the most competent oil experts in the coun try have notified the big operators that a new oil field has been dis covered in eastern Oregon, is the fact that the Standard Oil and other eastern concerns have their repre sentatives on the ground, who are tying up every foot of lund they can get hoiu 01 unywnere tn the district. So confident are the operators in the district that they have com mercial oil wells, that steps have already been taken to organize a corporation to lay a pipe line from the field to Portland by way of the Snake river and Columbia river route, with the intention of corral- ing the big fuel oil market that has developed in the past few. years in the Portland territory. It is not generally knowu, but is a fact, that Portland and vicinity, which includes the lower Columbia river, the Willamette valley and that part of Washington tributary to the city consumes more than 1,000,000 barrels of fuel oil per month. Over 1300,000 has already been invested in the development of the Vale fields, most' of which was fur nished by the merchants, bankers and other business men of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. This sum will probably be iucreased to f 1,- 000,000 within the next, few months as a large number of claim owners will begin drilUag as last as the well outfits can be transported into the district. ' x Portland is heavily interested in the Vale fie Ids, scores ef well known business and professional men own ing claims outright, and others held large bWekaof stack in devel- tent companies operating in the rict. -One of the largest owners of Vab; oil leads is the Balfour Guthrie company, which controls, all told, about' two and one-half sections. Sunday' a Journal, The frame work ie completed en the big new saw mill that is being const rue ted at Linn ten, and it will anon be hi eneratlea. Linnton is growing at a rapid rate, Many w structures bare been com pleted recently and many mere are Bnmmmmm? fAUtf mnf AAnabmTmtamtnnnSi ujunnnnnmB) wwjawfr sn enanannntm) enjennnnHmjy How Would Christ Vote Ed. St. Johns Review: Will you give me space in your valuable paper for a. few more words and an announcement? The St. Johns Protective Association, having not the "courage" to discuss "Solu tions," "prime causes of crime," "gambling dens," "infamous places of resort," etc., we have made up our. mind to discuss it for them. We tried hard to get a lyceiim started where atl these subjects could be thrashed out, but they seem to be afraid that their pet theory might get licked, and have gone in their holes. We arc not made of that kind of stuff. Wc want the truth. Wc want the light. To this end, wc have en gaged, the M. W. A. hall for five weeks, beginning Sunday, February 37, 1910, at 3 p.m. Wc cordially invite all to come, and especially the St. Johns Protective Associa tion. Strictly Bible subjects; strict ly Bible answers; strictly Bible con elusions. . Subject: "How Would Christ Vote? Wet or Dry?" Now I have voted dry since 1880 to the present time. This year I am going to vote as near as I can determine by the evidence dug up in these meetings. Come and help dig up the evidence. Who was Frances E. Willard? Wc will not feel hurt if all the ministers iu St. Johns at tend. Lawyers, doctors, saloon keepers, bankers, merchants, me chanics, common laborers, tramps thieves, and robbt'rs, nil come Let's find out what is the "Prime Cause of Crime." G. L. Pcrriiie. Whitwood Looking Up Prospects for a banner year at Whitwood Court are now very bright. Since the first of the year over thirty lots have been sold, and a great rush to secure these lots is looked for in the spring. L. M. Mills will erect a couple of houses of a modem type as soon as the weather settles, and a number of others have expressed their inten tion of building in the spring, Several Eastern visitors at the Shepard home last week were en thralled with the grandeur of the scenery as viewed from the hillside, and they spent most of their time on me trout porcu. mere is but little question that sooner or later Whitwood will be the-site of many magnificent homes, for nowhere along the Willamette is the scenery so superb and entrancing. Will Soon Enlarge We have decided to enlarge the Review, beginning April ist, to a six or'eight page paper. We be lieve the city of St. Johns has out grown n four page paper, and be lieve it will stand for a larger one. We want to give the county, state and national news each week In condensed form, but the present sice of the paper will not permit it. In order to meet the additional ex pense involved In enlarging the Re view, the subscription price will be advanced to $1.50 per year, this being the general price of subscrip tion iu vogue all over the North west for weekly papers, Sub scribers may, however, advance their subsciptions as far ahead as they may desire at the present rate of f 1.00 per year before April ist. St. Johns Looks Good Writing to a friend here, S. B. Sbafer, representative for National Busiuess and Professional Men's Association of Spokane, has the fol lowing to say of St. Johns: "On arrriving in St. Johns I observed the flourishing feature first of all, and believe it is the best place for its size either in Oregon or Wash ington. My authority for believ ing this is because I have beeu ac customed to arriving in each city where I find the people are either snowed under, waitiug for summer to come, or else they are asleep and there is nothing doing. Far be it from such .in St. Jobus. I have established the agency of the Na tional Business and Professional Men's Association in St. Johns and have met with success," VOIItt BBS CHANCE Uvea right here, where you are now, Make the most 01 it oy adding to your savings. They pay 3 per cent at the First National Bank, Interest compounded every six months. it feek fer a Greater Bt eana. TAXATION SYS TEM ABSURD And a More Modern and Fitting Method Needed 1 11c tax paying scasou is once more at hand, and one cau cither Mnnd in line for many weary hours trying to receive attention at the Sheriff's office in Portland, or send in for a statement by mail. There is certainly a lot of antiquity about tuc tax business iu the Northwest. The fact of the matter is that it should never be necessary for a citi zen to make a personal request for a statement of his taxes. It should devolve upon the proper officials to send out statements each year with out solicitation, and long before they become delinquent. Another thing Is that wc arc always a year behind with the taxes. The taxes paid this year should be for 1910 instead of 1909 Personal property slipuld not be taxed when the as sesstnent is $300 or below. It places au undue burden upon the married man and the bachelors get off scan dakmsly easy, in fact many of them pay no tax at all, unless they own real estate. If au occupation system of taxation was in force, ns it is iu many of the Eastern states, the married man's burden would be shared by the unmarried men. And this is as it should be. The idea of the people of St. Johns sending their money to Portland and then the city's portion being' returned to it is going nt the thing In a very bad form. Au assessor uud a tax collector should be elected iu each corporate town at least, and they should assess the property and col lect the taxes, and then what be longs to the city be kept here and the balance sent to the county au thorittcs, A local assessor certainly should be able to do better work than a man who runs down here for a few days and makes a guess at it, and a local tnx collector would make it handler for nil concerned, and there would be less danger of the delinquents getting away with out first "paying up." Verily the laws regarding the collectiuji oi taxes mid assessing of property iu the state of Oregon needs fixing, and needs it badly. Birthday Celebration The ladies' aid of the Christian church met with Mrs. M. A. Bit good Tuesday of this week and the little woman celebrated her birthday ou that date, treating the workers to a delicious feast. The "piece de resistance" was a birthday cake which Mrs. Bitgood has been prac ticing ou for 61 years, at least she said it took her that long to make this one. Those who at,e of it be lleve her implicitly and hope shewlll keep practicing for another 61 years and that they may be there to help dispose of the last one; but they all declare she could not make a better than this last one, iu a hundred years. Rather Dangerous Two St. Louis girls are suffering from leprosy, caused by wearing "rats" made of Asiatic hair. As a result, the health authorities have begun an investigation into the sale of goods of this character. The willingness with which members of the fair sex pile ou any kind of hair would almost indicate that they prefer to take a chance on leprosy and other diseases which come into the country with this baled beauty rather than be out of style and a peculiar style it is, too, Oregonian. Work on what will be the tallest building in this state, if not iu the Pacific Northwest, will be begun March 10, when construction of the new Yeon buildiue will start. The structure will be built at the corner of Fifth and Alder streets and will be 15 stories in height. Like the new skyscrapers now go ing up in Porttaud, the structure would be a credit to any city of the country. Mary had a little lamb That filled ber mind with grief, She knew she'd get a better price Had it been made of beef. Plant Many Roses Washington's birthday was cele brated in Portland by the planting of rose bushes in the parks and public squares of the city with ap nronriatc exercises. Thousand. of bushes were set out throughout the city and the new plants will be blooming in time for the annua! Rose Festival In June. City and state officials, together with repre sentatives of foreign nations that contributed their roses for the affair. participated in the rose ptantiug ex crciscs. This has become au annual event iu Portland and the custom is growing in favor each year. The planting of roses at a time when many other sections of the country are still wrapped iu snow and ice is also a splendid advertisement of Oregon's climate. ill Start in March Tle new packing plant of the Swift interests on the Peninsula is expected to start operations on March 14. Because of the tuagnl tudc of the work embraced in the Swift plans, there has been a delay in the original project of nearly a year In getting ready for packing, but the plant Is now practically complete. The opening of the plant means that 500 people will be employed nt the start with the probability that the number will be doubled within the coming year. It will furnish a big livestock mar ket for the farmers and stock raisers of the Pacific Northwest and other packing plants and factories for utilizing side products of the pack ing houses will be established. Firemen's Athletic Club The Firemen's Athletic club last week elected the following board of directors: F. W. Valentine, Geo J. Perkins Wynn Manning, John Kdlefscn, John Nocc, J. T. Murphy, and M. K. Stclchner. v. W. Val eutlne was theu elected president. J. 1. Miirpuy vice president, U. J. Perkins secretary, John Nocc treas urer, mid Wynn Manning manager. The directors and officials are all representative citizens, and the club promises to become one of the best organizations of its kind iu the Northwest. New members are bciug added to Its list right along. Many interesting events will be pulled off from time to time, announcements of which will appear iu due time. Branching Out Advertisements are being placed by the Portland Commercial Club In the leading Swedish and Nor-wetgau-Danlsh papers of the coun try, calling attention to opportuni ties here for industrious people who seek homes in the couutry districts. A large inquiry is coming to the Portland office from Scandinavians all over the country and letters are answered by a special correspondent who understands the language. This is but one phase of the Com mercial Club's work but it is bring ing inquiries. The people are thrifty and industrious and settlers of this kind will help develop the vacant lands of the state. Will Get One More Oregon will be given another congressman, and possibly two, It s believed, after the coming census s taken. According to the basis of representation expected to be fixed by the new census, one con gressman will be allowed for every 234,000 of population. The basis at present is one representative for every 192,183 of population. It is expected the coming census will show a population for the state of close to 800,000. This would give three congressmen, and if the hopes of some are realized and the state is found to have 1,000,000, then four congressmen will be al- owed. In the annual report of Master Fish Warden McAllister, lately submitted, it is shown that the 1909 crop of salmon harvested iu the waters of the Columbia River, Oregon side, amounted to 17,604,- 997 pounds, which ts a decrease of &58i549 pouuds, The chief reason for the decrease is thought to be the shortening of the open season by the legislature, Blueback sal mon alone show a gain in the pack over 1909, FOR RENT cards at this office, A FEW LOCAL BREVITIES And Items of General In terest to the Public Merrill Davis is ratstug hls'hottsc ou Stafford street and is having a fine basement placed underneath. Bonham & Currier a?c improving the house formerly owned by Henry Gosncy in Hill addition, nud it will soon be in first class condition. J. Marquette is building a nice little home on North Jersey street. The basement has been dug nud work will be pushed right along toward completion. ' A 'new tailoring establishment, will open up iu the room recently vacated by the small restaurant on North Jersey street, opposite Mc Kiuuey & Davis' real estate office. J. R. Kerr & Son have secured the contract for erecting n hand some $1600 residence for L. Trcibcr at Linnton, upon which work will commence when this gosh darned weather lets up a little. Ni A. Gee has secured the con tract for laying cemcut walks and otherwise improving the home of Councilman A. W. Davis, work upon which will commence as soon as the weather is favorable. Remember the Review will be $1.50 per year' after" April "first. Now would be a good time to pay up and sveure the dollar rate. The pper will be eight pages instead of four, which will make it as large ns any country weekly published in the Northwest. The days are growing precepti- bly longer, and so far wc have heard no complaint over this state of affairs. The electric light and (;as men may havan grouch about t, but they seem to be accepting the fact philosophically. Richard Shetiard. Sr.. after two months' Illness with kidney trouble, has escaped from the hospital and Is once more able to be around again. His many friends here were glad to see him appearing iu our midst alter nis severe siege ot Ill ness. "king & Brodahl are removing their real estate office from the McChesney building to the room recently vacated by Snlmoud Bros. ou North Jersey. The realty men of St. Johns seem to be rullyiug around Jersey street iu close com- inmiion to each other. The Passion Play pictures in tlic skating riuk Sunday and Monday nights was far from belug a success cither iu point of attendance or iu presenting the pictures. Many in terruptions came through poor films or poor management, and the thread of the story was thus rudely broken so often that the result was far from satisfactory. The attendance both uights did not exceed fifty per sons. Passeuger service ou 35 miles of completed road at the west end of the bottthern Pacifie s lillatnook. extension will be beguu, it is ex pected, on April 1. Trains will be run from Tillamook to Vosburg, giving service to Bay City, Hobson ville and other intermediate points. Meanwhile work is steadily going on across the Coast Mountains and by next fall it is expected trains will run through from Portland to Tillamook Bay. Holmes Lodee. Kuights of Pyth ias, entertained in splendid style last Friday night iu honor of a visit of Graud Chancellor Frank Menefce of the Dalles, and Grand Keeper of Records and Seals L. R. Stlnson. Judge R. C. Morrow and Robert Goetz of Portland, and My- rnn ntift Harry Tlnnev of Toledo. Ohio, were prominent out-of-town visitors also, Addresses were maue by the graud lodge officers and mauy others, and a season of gen eral enjoyment and good fellowship ensued, 't .v-