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ITFiE HOOD RIVER NEWS
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 23
HOOD RIVER, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1910
SUBSCRIPTION, $1.50 A YEAR
Citizens Protest Against
Raise in Phone Rates
Merchants Association Takes Up Matter
and Discovers Other Oregon Cities Have
Cheaper Rates. Want Better Service
The raise Id telephone rates an
nounced by the Home company June
' 1st, and which will become opera
tive July 1st, U meeting with strong
protest from Hood River business
men and iiImo private users of phones.
A raise In the rate had leen antici
pated, hut It In stated by many nub
scrlbers that It was not thought
that It would lie as sweeping as an
nounced. Mauy say they would not
have objected to a 25 cent raise for
the use of residence phones while
others lielleve that the rates were
sufficiently high to Insure profitable
returns to the company If the system
was properlp managed and operated.
It Is shown that the rates which
the company proposes to put Into
effect are higher than most of the
towns In the stute where systems
are helug successfully operated and
that while residents here are willing
to support the company lu putting
the telephone system ou a. paying
basts, they object strongly to paying
a rate that Is higher than uecessary
to do so,
The rates now la use were put Into
effect when the company had 800
phones. Accordlug to Its statement
It now has 1,2) with about 500 lines
In use. It Is pointed out that
while the number of phones has
doubled there has been but little In
crease In the number of lines and that
therefore the company U getting the
IienefU of large additional Income
without a corresponding additional
expense.
The circular of the telephone com
pany states that the raise Is neces
sary to put the business on a dlvl
dent paying basis and announces the
following rates:
Main line business phone $3.25
Tarty line busluess phone 2.25
Main line residence phone 2.25
Tarty Hue residence phone, city.. 1.50
Kxtenstou phone .... 1.00
Tarty line, rural 1.75
Extension bell 50
Desk phone In residence, extra 25
Extra listing In the directory, 25c
a month. 25c a month discount for
rural phones If paid quarterly on or
before the 15th of life first month of
the (juarter, Tosltlvely no discount
after discount date.
Trlvate line in thecountry by speci
al arrangement, based on distance
from exchange.
Mt. Hood rates remain the same
until the construction now under
way Is completed.
According to letters received from
four towns lu Oregon the proposed
rates are from 50 cents to $1.25
higher than those In effect In these
cities. The letters were received lu
response to requests for Information
sent out by the Hood River Mer
chants Association and arc as
follows:
Oregon City, Oregon. June 4. 11(10.
Hood Klver Merchants Association,
Hood Illver Oregon. (ientletnen:
jn reply to your Utter of the 2nd
nt., lu regard to our service, rates,
etc., would say that the service we
are giving here Is of the best that
can be given on a common battery
exchange.
In our trouble department we had
only seven cases In April and three
cases In May, and everything run
tilng fine at present. Complaints we
seldom ever have.
Our rates are as follows:
lluslness private line, $2.50 per
month.
lluslness two party line, $2.00 per
month.
lluslness four party line, $1.50 er
month.
Kesldence private Hue, $1.75 per
month.
Kesldence two party line, $1.50 per
month.
Residence four party line, $1.25 per
month. Yours very truly,
T. II. Haviu hst, Manager.
Albany, Oregon. June a, 1010.
II oiid Hlver Merchants Association,
lood Hlver, Oregon. Ienr Sirs: In
reply to yours of no date to hand
this morning we respectfully report
as follows as to telephone rates In
Albany. We have both tho Hell and
Home systems.
Kesldence phones, party lines,
four party, f 1.00; two party, $1.25.
Kesldence phones, private lines,
$1.50.
Business phones, $2.00.
The Home company gives us free
service to all points In the county
while the Rell company charges lor
all service outride the city. In other
f-sjiccts the charges of both compan
s are about the same.
Itespect fully yors,
V, p. GlLUKitT.
The Dalles, Oregon, June 3, 1910.
flood Klver Merchants Association,
Hood Klver. Oregon. Dear Sirs: As
per your request I send you the fol
lowing phone rates as given me by
the company here.
Business Thones One party line,
$2.50 a month; two party Hue, $2.00
a mouth.
Residences One party line, $2.00 a
mouth; two party llne,$1.50ainouth;
four party line, $1.25 a month.
Kxtenslons, $1.00 per month.
Yours truly,
J fini S. Fish, Secretary.
Eugene, Oregon, June 4, 1110.
Hood Klver Merchants Association,
Hood Klver, Oregon. Gentlemen: 1
have your letter of Inquiry In regards
to telephone rates. We are having
fairly good service here. It is better
than It has been heretofore. We pay
on main lines 2.50 per month for
busluess phones, and $1.50 for party
lines, residents. Yours truly,
C. F. LtTTl KKIKI.I).
It Is claimed that with the Increase
lu the business the local company
should be In a position to furnish
phones cheaper now than when the
service was Installed and to give a
better service. Many state that tbey
would not object to paying some of
the Increased rate If the service was
satisfactory. It Is also stated that
when the local company was being
organlged It was loyally supported
on the promise of cheaper rates and
lietter service and that on this ac
count the company was given an
unlimited franchise in the matter of
rates in the expectation that they
would not be raised. The original
amount of stock was $15,000. Ac
cording to the company's statement
to the Glacier the amount now In
vested is $70,000. It Is argued there
fore that while the company has not
paid any cash dividends the earn
ings of the plant must have gone In
to Improvements and that subscrib
ers should not be asked to take up a
profit making burden by paying
higher telephone rates than Is paid
elsewhere.
The Merchants Association has de
cided to take action In regard to
raising the telephone rates which
will come before a meeting to be held
next week.
BRINGS SUIT "
AGAINST COUNTY
A suit against Hood Klver county
has lieen brought by ('has. W. Went!
assignee of the firm of Hughes &
Wentz, who entered Into a contract
with the county to copy the records
of Wasco county pertaining to real
property In Hood Klver county. Mr,
Went! sues to recover $9t!0 alleged to
be the balance due from the county
for copying the records. Mr. Went!
alleges that when the work of tran
scribing the records commenced
County Clerk Cultiertson explained to
the county court that he could not
certify to the records unless he or his
deputy had compared them, and
wanted the court to furnish a deputy
to compare the records as they were
transcribed so he could certify to
them. This the court refused to do,
and the copies were delivered ns fast
as transcrllied to the county, who
ordered warrants drawn In payment
of the same, except abont 25 per
cent of the copying price, which was
retained to tdemnlfy the county
against defective work. When all
the records were transcribed and de
livered to the county the clerk still
refused to certify to them as true and
correct copies unless he or his depu
ties compared the same. The district
attorney and attorney general were
consulted and advised no certificate
could be made until the records had
lirst been compared by either the
clerk or his deputies. The court then
directed the clerk to employ deputies
and compare the records, which, hp
did. During the course of compar
ison many errors were found In the
work of the contractors and cor
rected ns they went on comparing
records.
fter the records were compared
they were certified to by the clerk
and accepted by the county, (lu
May lOlh Cl)ntj. . euti, assignee
of the firm of Hughes & Went!, met
with the county court nt the court
house, and after going over the ac
counts It was found there was f!M0.0
(Continued on I'm 10)
XOater Company Again
At the council meeting held Tues
day, May 31. the Light & Tower Co,
submitted Its option on the water
plant, which It offered to the city
for $40,000 accompanied by a letter
from the Tortland Trust Company,
the bond holders, offering to re
lease the plant for that amount.
The option and letter were re
ferred to the fire and water com'
mlttee. After some deliberation the
committee handed In a report pre
pared by City Attorney Derby as
follows:
To the Fire and Water Committee.
Gentlemen:
I have examined the option tend
ered the city of Hood Klver by the
Hood Klver Light and Tower Co. of
the purchase of the water system
eloiglng to said corporation by
the City, and In response to your re
quest for an opinion as to the form
of the option, I beg to say that I
would suggest that the following
formalities be required:
1. That the option be prepared so
as to read that the Light & Tower
Co. will transfer this property, If
voted ou favorably by the people,
free and clear of all encumbrances
whatsoever. This Is not expressed
definitely, though probably Intended.
2. That proper assurance be re
quired from the Light & Tower Co.,
that In case this proposition be
submitted to the electors of the City
of Hood Klver and favorably acted
upon by the electors, the City
could enforce the transfer and not
be placed In an awkward position
if the matter should miscarry In any
way without the City's fault. ,
3. I would suggest that the sec
ond paragraph on the second page
lie required to be In somewhat differ
ent form. The wording of it as It
now stands leaves more or less op
tion with the Light & Tower Co. to
cancel the option If the City Is not
proceeding speedy enough to meet
their views. I think ninety days Is
ample time to act upon the proposi
tion If the Council so desires, but do
not think that the option should be
open to be cancelled at the Instance
of the venders.
Further than these points enumer
ated, find no objection to the form
of the Instrument.
Yours truly,
A. J. Derby.
A letter was also received from X.
C. Evans, the minority stockholder
In the old company, who has refused
to accept the money offered him for
his stock, claiming that the sale
was not bona fide. The letter says:
Hood Klver, Ore., May 27, 1910
To the Mayor and Common Council
of the City of Hood Klver.
Gentlemen:
You will hereby take notice that
I, N. C, Kvans, as a stockholder,
owning and holding 133 shares of
stock in the Hood Klver Electric
Light, Tower & Water Co., do here
Issembly Will 'Preserve
Tarty Says Tbvin City Man
Deploring the fact that Minneapo
lis has nothing to compare with the
Republican assembly, of Tortland.
John Van Nest, president of the Min
neapolis city council and a member
of that body for eight years; A. W.
Armatage, a prominent Minnesota
business man, and James Gray, asso
ciate editor of the Minneapolis Jour
nal, talked Friday at the Tortland
Commercial Club of the admirable
position a city occupied by nomina
ting oflicers on the assembly plan.
Mr. Van Nest Is spokeu of generally
as the future Republican mayor of
Minneapolis, to succeed Mayor
Haynes, the Democrat nt present In
ofllce.
"As things are," said Mr. Van
Nest, "In the Republican primaries
we h.tve hosts of candidates for
every office. For the minor offices
there may be dozens of candidates,
Everyone who has a few friends
seems to decide he will run for ofllce
and there Is no way of weeding out
In the public mind the hopelessly In
efficient ones.
"To do this I can see the assembly
Is the most effectual way possible.
Just as we have a Republican con
vention for gtuto officers, we ought
to have a Republican convention for
city oflicers. Think of the Tark. nnd
Health boards, for Instance, having
to, he fought out in the primaries by
scores of candidates, no one know
ing what their qualifications are."
Mr. Van Nest would not discuss
Offers Vlant to City
by protest against the purchase of
the water plant of aforesaid corpor
ation, from the pretended owners,
the Hood Klver Light & Tower Co.
The pretended transfer by the
officers of the Hood Klver Electric
Light, Tower & Water Co. to the
Hood Klver Light and Tower Co.
were preceeded by a long chain of
abuses and frauds committed by the
officers and directors of the Hood
River Electric Light. Tower &
Water Co., against my Interests as a
stockholder In said company, and
that they had no authority or right
to transfer the property of the com
pany, notice of which I served J. D.
Wilcox, Wert Minor, and Robt.
Smith April 0, 1910. I also notified
them as officers of said Hood River
Light & Tower Co. on May 12, 1910
not to attempt to transfer any part
or all of the property attempted to
be transferred to them by the officers
of said Hood River Electric Light,
Tower & Water Co.. You will there
fore proceed In the purchase of
said water plant at your peril as I
claim that the Hood Klver Light &
Tower Co. do not own and have no
authority to sell the water plant to
the City. Yours respectfully,
N. C. Evans.
June fl, 10
To cover the objections set forth
above the Light & Tower Company
has submitted to the city a copy of
a letter addressed to the First Na
tional Hank as follows:
First National Hank,
Hood River, Oregon.
Gentlemen:
The undersigned, the Hood River
Light & Tower Co., hands you here
with a warranty deed duly executed
by the Hood River Light & Tower
Co. for the purpose of conveying the
water system from which is supplied
the city of Hood River, which said
pror-rty Is more particularly de
scribed In said deed, and wherein the
said city of Hood River U named as
grantee. It Is respectively requested
that you hold this deed In escrow
and deliver the same to said grantee,
Its officers or agents duly authorized,
upon Us paying to your bank and to
the credit of said undersigned, the
sum of $40,000 cash, or In lieu of cash
the duly executed 20-year five or six
per cent bonds of the city of Hood
River, provided that said sum of
$40,000 or the bonds duly executed,
as aforesaid, be delivered ou or be
fore 10 days from date.
Respectfully,
Hood Right & Tower Co.,
By Albert S. Hall, Manager.
It has also had prepared and sub
mitted to the council an uncondi
tional option on the plant for a
period of 90 days from June fith,
which agrees to deliver to the city
all the property of the water com
pany free of encumherauces and to
take the responsibility of satisfying
the lawful demands of any person or
persons against the plant.
his own uomlnatlou ns Mayor, but
the other members of the party said
that he was a strong candidate and
a business man, something much
needed In Minneapolis, with the Re
publican majority In the city council
offset by unbusinesslike tactics of the
Demoratlc mayor,
Mayor Haynes Is In favor of munic
ipal ownership, nnd when the city
council voted to renew the franchise
of the local gas company when defi
nite pledges were given as quality of
service and rates, he declined either
to sign or veto the franchise. The
council had granted a, 5-jear fran
chise with privilege of purchase In 20
years, and Mayor Haynes desired
that the plant should be bought by
the city.
He Insisted, said Mr. Van Nest, on
the Insertion of a purchase clause nt
the end of five years, which, In view
of Its concessions, the gas company
declined to grant. Eventually, after
long bickering, the council passed
the franchise In the teeth of the
mayor.
To avoid such dissensions ns this,
which had even caused the business
men of the city to appoint rt eoiunilt
tee to urge the Uia.vor to meet the
demands ol the people. Mr. Van
Vest said a Republican mayor was
demanded.
"The lVtlKHTAt was elected," he
said, ,(Iy Democrats registering as
Republicans nnd getting a very weak
Republican elected at the primaries.
Prof. Cord ley Allays
Fears of Apple Growers
Mass Meeting Called to Discuss Spraj
Burn Listens to Expert Who Says Burn
Injur Preferable to Diseased Fruit
Alarmed by the number of apples
that were apparently ruined by be
ing sprayed with lime and sulphur
during the hot weather of a week
ago apple growers of the east side
Invited Trof. Cordley of the O. A. C.
experiment station, who has lieen an
earnest advocate of this spray as a
fungicide, to come to Hood River
and make an Investigation. Mr.
Cordley arrived here Friday and In
compauy with E. H. Shepard made
an extensive tour of the east side
orchards. In many of them evidence
was not lacking that apples that
had been sprayed with the lime and
sulphur solution previous to the hot
days or on those days were badly
burned. The Investigation also
showed however that In every in
stance the burning was on the side
of the tree where the hot afternoon
sun struck the fruit. In order to get
as much Information as possible a
mass meeting of growers was
held Saturday afternoon at Tine
Grove Grange hall. The meetluir
was attended by 100 or more growers
from the east side and several from
other sections of the valley. A. 1.
Mason was chairman and first called
on the growers to tell how they had
sprayed, what with, and when.
A great deal of testimony was
given most of which showed that the
burned apples had been sprayed with
lime and sulphur, either Just previous
to or on the excessively hot days.
One grower stated that the tempera
ture In his orchard on the day after
his trees were sprayed was 116 In the
sun. The growers also bore out the
findings of Mr. Cordley and Mr.
Shepard to the effect that the apples
were Injured on the side of the tree
touched by the afternoon sun. A
good many of the opinions were con
flicting and a number had varying
Ideas as to the cause of the damage.
Also It was stated that some of the
varieties of apples were much more
affected than others, Baldwins,
Spltaeubergs and Black Twigs being
seriously burned while Newtowns,
Ortleys and other varieties were
harmed very little. Some had used
the straight lime and sulphur spray,
others In combination with arsenate
of lead, a number of brands of the
latter having been used. In one or
two Instances growers reported that
they had sprayed with lime and sul
phur but found no fruit damaged.
They had however noticed some
damage to the foliage. Some of the
growers thought the injury was due
to the spray, others thought It due
simply to the extraordinarily hot
sun at this season of the year and a
good many more evidently didn't
know what to attribute It to.
August Taaseh thought It was the
lime. L. J. Goodenough who said
he had had a great deal of experience
with lime lu manufacturing paper
said he didn't believe this was possi
ble ns the lime became neutral after
being slacked. Mr. Goodenough said
that In his oplulon If the burning
was doue by the spray It must con
tain au acid and possibly was caused
by the arsenate of lead used, depend
ing on whether the lead was an acid
or neutral. He asked If the lead used
by growers here this year had been
analyzed. This question brought
out the fact that It had not and Trof.
Cordley stated that It would be
analysed ns soon ns he returned to
the experiment station.
The discussions brought out a
numlH-r of Interesting and valuable
points among them that the proper
way to slack lime was by steam or
hot water nnd also the admission by
Mr. Mason who has beeu experiment
ing with lye as a fungicide that the
latter Is a failure.
M. M, Hill and Geo. Sargent gave
some Interesting Information by
stating that there were no burned
apples lu their orchards and no scab.
It developed that Mr. Hill had used
bordeaux Instead of lluiennd sulphur
as a fungicide and had sprayed his
Of course, when the general flection
came the weak Republican was over
whelmed. With our voting machine
and other 'advanced' methods, there
Is no means to check the dishonest
lK'inocrnts who vote one way at the
primaries and another at the gen
eral elei'tlou."
trees thoroughly with this mixture
last fall and also this spring. Mr.
Sargent's treatment was similar and
both orchardlsts had manufactured
the spray themselves. The bordeaux
was applied In light strength. Mr.
Mason said that Mr. Hill bad the
cleanest orchard In the valley.
At the end of the discussions Mr.
Cordly was given a bearing and said
that he had come to Hood River be
lieving that It would be necessary to
conjront the meeting with a pair of
guns, but was glad to discover that
this was not necessary. In regard
to the Injury to the fruit he said that
he had no hesitation In saying that
It was caused by the spray In con
Junction with the hot weather, but
that as far as he could discover It
was the only case of Injury from
lime and sulphur on record In the
United States. Before coming here
he had communicated with a num
ber of places In the Willamette valley
where the spray was being used and
bad examined the orchard at the ex
periment station. None of these In
vestigations showed any Injury.
The fact that the spray had Injured
the fruit he said was very disquieting
to hi m as his principal reason for
advocating it was to provide a fun
gicide that would not be Injurious
as was so often the case with bor
deaux which although a standard
remedy for a long time If applied
during wet or damp weather invar
iably caused damage, sometimes
running as high as 50 per cent. He
stated that the elimination of apple
scab as well as other tree diseases
through the use of chemicals always
contained an element of danger. It
was necessary to use something
powerful In order to have It efficient
and It was simply a case of whether
It was not better to lose a small per
centage of fruit now and then by the
use of spray than to allow a big per
centage of It to be ruined by pests
that would flourish If the trees were
not sprayed. From his examination
of the orchards he thought the
amount of damage done was com
paratively slight and not nearly as
great as would have resulted If the
trees had not been sprayed. It was
also suggested by Mr. Cordley that
the advanced growth of the fruit
this year might have rendered the
apples more susceptible to burn than
they would ordinarily be at this
season of the year. He promised
that the case would lie thoroughly
Investigated and au effort made to
determine just how much the spray
had assisted In caustug the damage.
Another matter that was brought
up was that of obtaining an expert
to reside permanently In theeastslde
district and also If possible to secure
a sub-experiment statlou here to
work In conjunction with the one at
Corvallls. Mr. Cordley said that the
funds alloted the agricultural college
by the government for this purpose
were exhausted and that It would
not be possible to secure any assist
ance from the legislature until 1911.
The ouly way to procure Immediate
results was to secure funds through
private subscription. To secure a
competent man would cost $1,500 to
$2,000 per year. The best plan to
select a man he thought would 1h to
have a committee appointed consist
ing of one of the growers here, a
memlier of the college faculty and
one of the experts connected with
the experiment station.
As it was necessary for Mr. Cord
ley to catch a train he left the meet
ing nt this juncture, being conveyed
to town by W. F. Laraway in his
automobile.
A committee to Investigate the
matter of securing an expert was ap
pointed consisting of T. S. Davidson,
(i. R. Castner, Geo. Sargent, Frank
Cutler, XI. M. Hill, E. II. Shepard.
Rae Rabson, Dr. Stanton Allen and
A. W. Teters. Monday night the
committee met In the I'ulverslty Club
rooms nnd organized the Hood Klver
Apple Growers' Fellowship for this
purpose. A sub-committee was ap
pointed to draft bylaws and another
meeting will ! held Saturday to
perfect the organization. It Is then
expected to adopt a plan of scurlDg
funds which It Is probable will lie on
a basis of assessment according to
acreage.