Image provided by: Hood River County Library District; Hood River, OR
About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1909)
10 THE HOOD RIVER NEWS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2D, 1909 Smy Hood River I Affeoted With "Aptloltl" (Continued from Ps-w 1) worked lor yearn for a transconti nental railroad at f U'5 a month, and after four year of orcharding ha repeatedly refused $100,000 for his apple land which uet hliu easily $25,000 a year. "At the Minnesota State Fair I saw, arranged on t allien In the Agri cultural building, the liest apples that the commonwealth could fur nish, but I know now that they are only 'farm apples.' By and by 1 went to the Biennial Apple Fair at Hood River, a funny little new town perched on the high banks between which the stream for which it U named tumbles Into the Columbia, some sixty miles east of Portland. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company ran a special tralu to Hood River that day, and It carried four hundred or so of the best people In Portland, well groomed, well man nered, gracious, sane to all outward appearances, but all. If the truth were known, stark, staring,' apple mad. "The first thing you see when you get out of the train at Hood River Is a shining little kiosk, ornate enough, perched on the steep bank at the top of the steps that lead up from the station. It has a big glass front and a sign, electric lighted at night, runs clear across the front of It, announc ing to the passing world that 'all apples sold here are guaranteed by the Hood River Commercial Club.' "Hood River history, which does not reach back so very far. tells that some penny-hunting little boys sold scrubby apples around the station and thereby blackened Hood River's apple fame, which Is Its greatest pos session. So the official apple-stand was established and does a land office business. "The town was packed with peo ple for the Apple Fair. Side shows, with manifold marvels and leather- j lunged barkers, jugglers, freaks, Itearded ladies, atld performing dogs were established In the steep hillside streets, but nobody gave much heed to them. It was apples they had come to see. At the corner of the main thoroughfares was seeu a tent, a circus tent that would have held comfortably a two-ring show, and Inside of It and about Its doors, or somewhere In the vicinity, seemed to lie gathered everybody In Hood River who wasn't engaged in run ning a railroad or some other Indls penslble Institution. Inside there were apples, apples, apples, of every hue from the pale green of the New town, through all the shades of yel low, and starting with the pink blush of the Winter Banana, there were other apples that made a regu lar procession of rosy colors down to the Indescribably deep crimson of the Arkansas Black. There were boxes of apples In the smiling tiers known as the 'Hood River pack'; there were pyramids and bowls and baskets and plates of apples of every shape and name kuown to the grow er, and some 'sports' got by acciden tal cross-polllnatlon, beautiful, fra grant, delectable, but nameless. "Some people had sent a few grapes and pears Just to show what the soil would do, but they were lost sight of. On a long platform at one end of the tent was a show of apple preserves, apple butter, apple Jelly, apple tlilsand applethat everything that has ever leen made from apples. At one side. In an enclosure, two of Hood River's best looking girls, one representing the (lolden, the other the Delicious, drew Hood River cider from Hood River barrels and distrib uted It free, and the people as they drank It talked apples. ' Over the boxes spread out along the aisles were blue and red and yel low premium ribbons, and It was told that the apple-wise Judges had sat up till moruing trying to rind some difference letween the tirst and second boxes, that they had even oo2 "Amandine Cream" On Everybody's Hands A A i 4 4 H Just the thing to keep your hands from getting rough and sore j 25 Lents a Bottle Rlath's Drug Store Especially Prescriptions Farm, City and Town Loans FIVE PER CENT interest, NINE years' time with privilege of paying at any time. Return payments monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually, to suit borrower. For particulars write The Jackson Loan & Trust Co. 310 Century Building Denver, Colorado 'broken the pack,' taken out every apple, tape-measured them all for uniformity, tested them apple against apple, before yielding the momen tous verdict. When the strenuous vigil ended and day came to Hood River, they had awarded three of the live capital prlxes to one man, and the singular thing about It was that all the apples that brought hi in hon ors were grown on one small or chard of about three acres. This furnishes the keynote, the moral and the explanation of Oregon and Wash ington fruit, aud Is bound to center attention upon the possibilities of small acreage and the truth, which America Is so slow to learn, that In tensive cultivation Is the secret of agricultural profit, and of vast In crease In national wealth. "When an outsider comes to town Hood River looks htm over and won ders what kind of a neighbor he will make, for It Is an old story, here and In alm st everyone of these high class fruit districts, that the untieliever from afar comes to scoff.aud remains to raise apples. "A bad apple can no more get out of Hood River than the camel can pass through the needle's eye, for there Is no road . over the mountain by which a valley orchardman could, even If he wished, take his bogus fruit to another station for ship ment. No man In the Hood River district even packs his own apples When the picking Is under way and some hundreds or thousands of boxes have been gathered in the growers' apple houses, the union sends out packers. Every packer has a number, every box and there were uearly a quarter of a million of them last fall has a nutulier. When the apples at last go down to Hood River station for shipment, or to be held In the union's cold storage houses, each box Is entered by number lu the tin Ion's books to the grower's credit, together with record of Its contents, the number of the packer, and the grade of the fruit, which is either 'fancy' or 'choice.' Where the box Is bound for, ordinarily, the grower has no notion, neither does he care much. The uulon finds the market. conducts the sale, and pays him for his apples at the platform, and Its stamp on any box Is guarantee of perfection. When a Russian colonel In Vladivostok finds a blemish on a Hood River Jonathan the union de ducts the price of the box from Its bill against the consignee. It Is the boast of these northwestern orchard men that any apples they ship can lie taken from the box and eaten In the dark. It Is the standard of qual ity and the trustworthiness of the guarantee that makes the price. The apple crops of Hood River, Yakima, Wenatchee, and a lot of other places are bought on the trees. In advance of the harvest, by dealers in New York. London, Hongkong, and numberless other cities, without the sending of any agent to Inspect their quality. A name for reliability Is Indeed an asset of worth." 0&5 New orlr City' Fruit R. E. HARBISON A. L. NEWTON BOXES Crates and Fruit Packages of all kinds. Band Saw ing and other Wood Work given special attention. HOOD RIVER BOX CO. HOOD RIVER, OREGON ABSTRACTS, LOANS, CONVEYANCING, SURETY BONDS, FIRE, LIFE, ACCIDENT, PLATE GLASS, LIABILITY, BURGLARY INSURANCE. ALL WORK GUARANTEED Waucoma Abstract & Investment Co. (Inc.) First Door South of Hood River News Office H. L HOWE, U. S. Commissioner. Land Office Practice 1 WOOD & HUGGINS Fancy and Staple Groceries Preferred Stock, Heinz's 57 varieties Pickles, Krout, Mince Meat. Catsun. Annie Butter. Ftp. Snlendid 1 1' i - -1 i r i a line of canned Tomatoes and Corn at IO cents 3 SOLE AGENTS FOR PURE WHITE FLOUR ...Your order will receive onr best attention... (Continued from Page 1) buys. They sit nnd gesticulate, grimy awl uncombed, but people who know say that some of them make five or six thounand dollars a year. They never change their way of dress, they find It Inconvenient to live uptown, but they stow their mouey away somewhere until there comes a propitious moment for go ing Into business on a larger scale, or elne they Have It for a comfortable old age under their native skies. It Ih rather dazzling when a man with out an overcoat, apparently un waged these many day, airily pulls several hundred dollars out of hi pocket or makes an agreement In volving thousand, but It Ih a com mon occurence In the fruit business. All the conditions of the trade have changed within the last decade since the went entered the Held. A dealer voiced the general sentiment when he said, "The east can show flavor, all you want, but when It cornea to grading nnd packing the west ha got 'era skinned to dnth." The "good-looking" fruit comes from the went atld the trade In thin branch Ih growing with , great strides every year. Not long ago an apple wan an apple and a peach a pencil, but democracy had deserted the orchard. Fine fruit hati a market now that It never had lefore. One of the dealers In thin Hue can show applet from Oregon Helling for 'St cents apiece. Questioned as to the price of peat-hen he observed that the fl nest sold for $2 apiece. The glory of raising these aristocrats cannot be claimed by Cal ifornia, hovever, for they are Im ported from England and llelglum, but It shows that there Is a market and, no doubt, the west will provide a HiHMclei.tl.v high grade article lie fore long. Not more than a dozen or so of tln-Me $2 (leaches are sold In the course of a week by the retailer who showed them, but several other houses carry them, and the total must mount up to a respectable figure. ft Lditor's Note This Is the first of n Installment of an article on the above subject which will be published in three parts. It tells where the fin est fruit comes from, how much It sells for and gives hood River the palm for the world's best apples. Stoantie Co. A Fine Stock of M erchandise for You to Select From. Staple and Fancy VA 4 ft GROCERIES Our Ladies' and Gentlemen's Furnish ing Departments are Up to Date, in charge of experienced clerks. Be Sure to See Us! Davidson Fruit Company FRUIT DEALERS COLD STORAGE CRYSTAL ICE We will handle Strawberries and other Fruits again this season as usual and will give our customers the benefit of our long experience in marketing Hood River Fruit. Call at our office or phono us General Office Phone 65 Ice Factory and Cold Storage Plant 65 Davidson Fruit Company HOOD RIVER, OREGON 1 J ? i J FARM, FRUIT LAND AND DAIRY iL1N $13,000 t04 SkOrot 4 miles from Camas. 60 acres cleared and In high state of cultivatoln. 7 acres in prunes, 4 acres in apples, pears and peaches. A few walnut trees. All kinds of berries. Near church, mile to school, flood house, well, 2 barns, Im plement shed. New prune dry er. All kinds of farm imple ments and household furniture included. II tons of prunes dried In 1909. Plenty of tim ber. Finest soil to be found anywhere In this section. 5 head of cattle, I Rood team, hogs. Terms $10,000 cash, balance In S years at 7 percent. $6500 SO Aorer 4 miles from Camas, 20 acres cleared and cnultlva tlon. Mostly level. All well fenced. 23 acres heavy tim ber. Watered by two creeks and two wells. Fruit trees, 35 walnut trees, 3-4 acre black berries, strawberries, ete. Good 8 -room house cost f 1000. Large barn and sheds. 14 mile to school. Near church. R. F. D. and phone. 7 cows and hay enough for winter. Terms f 4000 cash and balance In 3 to 5 years. $82.50 Per Acre 256 Aero, 4 miles from Camas. 12S acres In cultivation I house and 2 good sized barns. Oood well. Water piped to the house. Large family orchard. Will make an ideal place for stock. Plenty of good timber suitable for wood. All can be cultivated. Terms half cash, balance on reasonable terms. A CARD WILL BRING FULL INFORMATION patton & McAllister Opposite Depot -:- Camas, Waslr Candidate for Congress W. A. Ilalteman, executive com missioner for Washington state at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition, Is being strongly urged as the succes sor to Congressman Miles Polndcxter In the Third District. Mr. Ilnlteman made an excellent showing nnd has a splendid knowledge of t lie state's needs. Secretary U. P. Krotilierjfer of the state commission, who was also a prominent factor In making the vvrislilngton showing a pro nouncd success, will proliahly lie come a permanent resident of the west side.