Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1895)
THE MOBXIKG- OBEGOOTAST, TUESDAY, JA3njA.TLY 1, 1S95. made from cream that has not had these imparities eliminated. The cream as it leaves the separator Hows into the cream vats, shown in the Illustration. It is then piped into the churns. After churning, the butter is "worked on the worker and then is taken to an adjoining- room and molded into "blocks, or "rolls" so called, of two pounds each. It is then ready for shipment. In addition to the manufacture of but ter, the Vancouver creamery is supplied with machinery for the manufacture of condensed milk, evaporated cream, milk sugar, etc It also manufactures 25 differ ent kindsof cheese, among the more prom inent ones being full cream, Young Amer ica, German cream, Llmburger, Neufcha tel, Fromage de Brie, Swiss, etc. In the manufacture of cheese the cream Is sepa rated as it is done for the manufacture of butter, after -which It is again mixed with the skimmed milk. The object of this is to clarify the milk of the animal matter by running it through the separator. The skimmed milk Is also made into cheese separately. The cheese is all made in the manufacturing room, after which it is stored in an adjoining room, where it is cured. An exception in this programme Is made in the storage of Llmburger cheese for curing, a separate building located some distance from the creamery being nsed for the storage of this particular variety, owing to its rather "loud" odor. It might be interesting to many to be enlightened as to the cause of the peculiar odor of .Llmburger cheese. In all other varieties the whey is expressed before it is molded. This Is not done with Llmburger, however, and it is the fermentation of the whey that gives that individuality to this vari ety of cheese. Many have guessed at the cause for this, and many peculiar stories are related, purporting to explain the rea son -why Llmburger cheese smells "so awful." The principal market for the products of the Vancouver creamery is Portland, but it also sells considerable quantities of butter and cheese in the Sound country as -well as in Astoria, Ilwaco, Oregon City and other places. The creamery is well constructed, and is perfect throughout in its details. It cost about $25,000, and is arranged so as to be operated at a merely nominal cost. Large quantities of water are required to keep the place clean, and this is supplied by an artesian -well located beside the building. The creamroom, churnlng room, molding-room and storage-room all have cement floors and are thoroughly washed off dally, thus keeping these apartments sweet and clean. The cold storage room Is constructed with double walls with a hollow space between, and an air current Is kept in active circulation in this space. To Mr. Julius Kauplsch. the general manager of the creamery. Is due the prin cipal credit for the establishment and successful operation of this Very import ant enterprise. It is true that financial assistance to a. certain extent was given him by a number of prominent citizens of Vancouver, but it is entirely due to Mr. ICauplsch's thorough and eminently prac tical knowledge of "butter and cheese making that the creamery has met with such phenomenal success. This gentle man's knowledge of the business was ac quired from long years of practical expe rience in Switzerland, Germany, France and other European countries, as well as in New York, Illinois and California. The other officers of the company are as fol lows: Honry Christ, the president, is a prominent capitalist and farmer, and is one of the oldest settlers of Clarke county. He is one of the principal stockholders, and lias taken an active and earnest interest in the enterprise from its inception. The other ollicers have all shown an equal de gree of interest in the welfare and suc cess of the creamery since it was found ed, and to the combined efforts of all the present prosperous condition of the insti tution Is largely due. S. W. Brown, the vle-president, has been a resident of Clarke county for the past S3 years. He was appointed receiver of the United States land office at Vancouver by PresI- ' Ington. That part of Pendleton's rich trlb dent Lincoln and held the position for 20 utary district not covered by the O. R. & years. The gentleman is too well known N. Co.s lines is reached by the lines of m the community where he Tesldes to re- i quire additional extended mention. Hon. W. B. Wells, the treasurer, has resided in Vancouver for the past five years, having removed from Michigan to this place. He has been actively engaged in the lumber business both at his former home and at Vancouver. At present Mr. Wells is not actively engaged in any particular busi ness. Morrl3 B. Wells, who is proprietor of the leading abstract office of Clarke county, is the secretary of the company. He is one of Vancouver's most active and prominent young business men, and he carefully looks after the company's ac counts. L. M. Hidden, a director of the company, is one of the proprietors of the Hotel Columbia, a hostelry without a peer In the Northwest. He is one of Van couver's best-known and most respected business men. asd occupies a high position both financially and as a business man in the city where he resides. The Idea of a creamery was a new one, comparatively, to the farmers, and it re quired persistent effort and a vast amount of energy and hard work to educate them to the point of a proper appreciation of the advantages and requirements of a creamery." The amount of milk received at the start was but 500 pounds, but it gradually increased until the maximum amount received per day last summer was 45.000 pounds. Milk is received from Clarke. Cow Ms and Skamania counties, Washington, and from Columbia and Mult nomah counties. Oregon. The full capac ity of the creamery is 150.000 pounds" of milk ier day, and it is, with one excep tion, the largest individual creamery in the country. The milk of each person who j-ells to the crenmery is tested sepa rately and the price paid for some is gauged according to the market price of butter and the percentage of butter fats contained in the milk. The following statement of the prices paid per pound for butter fats each month during the existence of the creamery conveys better than any other menus could the value and Importance to farmers of the creamery: Cents.! Cents. October. 1S9S M June. 1S91 itu November. 1SS3...30 jjulv. 1S84 22U ijucemoer. iK...a i August. 1KM 25 vvV.ii;. Km" lS,cVllm,,er;,.WI SJb ebniary. 1S9I....27- October, 14 27 1 .Mercn. ism r'Novembcr. 1S94 Anril. 1S94 22U.1 npopmhrr 1SU ...Si'November. 1S94....25 ...2i2 December, 1SH....27; May. 1S91 30 " '"(pounds, while 2.500.000 bushels of wheat The importance and future possibilities ' are regularly shipped from this noint of the dairying Industry In this section ' can readily be understood from the fore- going Matemcnt. and to whatever extent the industry may grow In future years the honor of being the pioneer factor in PEXDLETOX WOOL SCOl RIXG PACEIXG COMPAX1S PLAXT. PEXDLETOX. developing this industry must be accorded uic anvuuver vreamery . ompany. All the Telegraph Line. The total length of the telegraph lines the world ls about 1.005,009 miles, of which tte.000 are in America and 3J9.000 in Europe. In the United States alone there are 400.000 mllos. Looae Panther Create a Panic. A panther that is supposed to have es caped from a traveling show nearly Beared the life out of a family at Farmlands, lad., the other night, by attempting to enter their house. GREAT WOOL CENTER rENDLETON, THE RAILROAD CEN TER OF EASTERN OREGON. Saccwix of the tVooI-Scoarlusr Plant Located at This Point Lead ing Industries. 'JENDLETON is the first important point on the main line of the O. R. & N. Co.'s railroad east of The Dalles. It is 231 miles east of Port land, and a little over 140 miles east of The Dalles. It is the seat and princi pal trading center of Umatilla county, one of the richest sec tions of .the state, and the city divides with Spokane and Walla "Walla the dis tribution of all the diversified products of the vast stretch of country lying east of the Cascades in Oregon. "Washington and Northern Idaho and known as the Inland Empire. Pen dleton, while claiming less population than Spokane, has been equally as progressive as the latter city, and it is today one of the most prosperous business centers of i the company will be $220,000. This esti Oregon. I mate includes all expenditures already In addition to being located on the main 2IAIX STREET, line of the O. R. & N. Co.. by which the city is afforded transcontinental connec tion, Pendleton is also the junction of the main line and the Washington division of the same system. The Washington divis ion of the O. R. & N. Co.'s railroad sys tem covers all the best parts of Western Washington and Northern Idaho, its lines traversing all the wonderful wheat belt of the Palouse in Washington and the Bonanza mining district of the Coeui d'Alenes in Idaho. This system also con nects Pendleton direct with Walla Walla and Spokane, the latter of which is the largest inland city of the state of Wash- the Washington & Columbia River rail- road (the Hunt road), which terminates at this point. This system runs from Pen dleton to Hunt's Junction, on the line of the Northern Pacific near Wallula, and from Hunt's Junction It extends to Day ton, a distributing point of considerable magnitude, 27 miles east of Walla Walla. Branching out from the main line of the Washington & Columbia River railroad are a number of feeders which furnish an outlet for the traffic of some of the best settled districts of Oregon and Wash ington. Pendleton has direct all-rail con nection with the East via both the North- COURTHOUSE. era Pacific and the Union Pacific, systems that alto cover every part of the Pacific Northwest. The annual business handled at Pendle ton during the period of normal trade conditions amounts to $2,000.00). In ISM the business of the city fell off some, as it did in every important center of the coun try. The fall of ISSi, however, noted a mnrknil revlvnl in PpnHlfttnnQ ft-ailA ami the PIace ls ntm resuming all of Its old ,im n.,tu-itx- ti, m.ni i,innfc tlme nt1-lt Th( flMnllnl vlllnrnftrttc rf , , v. V, ................ wo' irom ,nu,lwn arc uom i.am,uw , The possibilities of an increase in Pendle- ton's business may be appreciated from the statement that there are today over 100,000 acres of land in Umatilla eeunty and directly tributary to Pendleton that Is now practically barren, but which can . - - -. : ... 7 be made highly fertile by the aM of lrri- , - .f 'V"-" v" fw -t " im- 1 gatetheselands has already assumed such j dmpe that a practical outcome of the ef- 1 forts to build a system of irrtaitinjr i ditches tb cover all of this arid district Is district fs ! already assured. Some six years a the Umatilla Irrisa- I lion Company was formed as the direct rV $ the earaeSt,evforof ?. San. I P. Sturgis. cashier of the First National bank of Pendleton, and one of the best known business men or the city. This company has already constructed a rart J of the system it early proposed to build. siwinlil w pfa ill? "Water for its ditches is taken from the Umatilla river at a point near Gibbon. Gibbon is at the foot of the Blue moun tains on the line of the O. R. & N. Co., 20 miles east of Pendleton, and at a sufficient elevation to afford a flow through all the ditches proposed by the irrigation com pany. From this point water is now car ried by a ditch to Adams, a rich farming town on the Washington division of the O. R. &. N. Co.. 12 miles distant from Pen dleton. This ditch crosses a rich section of prairie land, a district comprising TO.eOO acres, which will be reclaimed by this system of Irrigation. All the preliminary engineering work has been done on these proposed ditches, and permanent locations are all established. Congress has passed a bill giving the company the right of way 7 ;C 5-5 PUBLIC SCHOOL, PEXDLETOX. for their proposed ditch across the Uma tilla Indian reservation, this right of way to be perpetual if the ditch shall be com pleted before lKhJ. The entire cost of the system of irrigation ditches outlined by made for surveys, permanent location PEXDLETOX. and construction work; 5,000 has already been spent. The feasibility of the proposition to cover all the arid lands of the district tributary to Pendleton- by a system of irrigation ditches has been personally In vestigated by Mr. Ham Hall, of Califor nia. Mr. Hall is one of the leading au thorities on irrigation In the United States. He unhesitatingly Indorsed the project, and pronounced it feasible and an enterprise that would insure the most profitable returns to Its promoters. The mileage of the ditches proposed by the irrigation company will approximate CO miles. Another irrigation system now under construction through the country directly tributary to Pendleton is that of the Blue Mountain Irrigation & Improvement Com pany. The ditch of this company receives its water from McKay creek at a point 14 miles distant from Pendleton, and it will irrigate the sagebrush lands comprised in a belt of 25,000 acres and lying south and west of Pendleton. The company has al ready expended several thousands or dol lars in surveys and preliminary construc tion work on this ditch, and has also se cured a right of way through the Umatilla Indian reservation from congress. A number of minor irrigation enter prises have also been started at Foster, PEXDLETOX. Echo and Umatilla, towns nil tributary to Pendleton. Thee smaller systems will reclaim the arid lands situated In the western and south western parts of Uma tilla, county, it Is estimated that the completion of all the irrigation ditches now outlined in Umatilla county will re claim fully 150,000 acres of rich land, the entire crops of which will be handled either at the Pendleton warehouses or In the warehouses at these outside towns otuiuu uj icmu: controlled by Pendleton's business men. Pendleton contains a present popula tion of about 3000. It has two strong local banks, and In addition to the large local trade of the city the leading houses en joy a considerable jobbing and wholesale business. Two good newspapers arc es tablished here. One of these, the East Oregonian, has been built up as the direct result of the earnest efforts of C. S. Jack son, one of the brightest journalists of the state. The East Oregoniun occupies its own building, a fine brick structure, and it is one of the recognised newspapers of merit on the coast. The Tribune looks after the interests of the republican party 1 In Eastern Oregon in addition to its other important work as a newsgatherer. and it enjoys a local popularity which has gained for it the hearty support of the Pendleton people. One of the most important factors in the growth and prosperity of Pendleton was the establishment of the plant of the Pendleton Woolscouring & Packing Com pany's plant at this point early last year. Pendleton, being most favorably located in the center of the woolproducing dis trict of Oregon and Washington, is per- ! me ueL sue tor ice location or a large woolscouring plant east of the Cas- naps tne oest site lor the location of cades. The railroad centering here gives moat favorable rates on wool shipments to this nolnt. n.i th TrruMM ..- tnnc.tino.i.i no r-j i. ..,. ?..irt.jA .... i... -. . Mewi uic.i mc im.-bi luvoraoie rates on all Eastern shipments. The mill now in 0twi . , ... " :. scourins & Packing Companv at Pendle ton was built last spring at a ct 5 $3e,&. By recent additions of raachlnerv and the erection of adjoining warehouses, the plant now represents an outlay of over 530.030. This investment has proved a uroGtahle one tn th owners of thenlant j and the establishment of the mill here has been of the greatest beneflt to Eastern I1 Oregon woolgrowers. The buildings occupied by this plant axe constructed of corrugated iron. The ma j chinery nsed is a Sargent automatic plant J of the latest design. The completeness of j the plant, together with an abundant sup I ply of soft water .for washing the wool j handled, enables the company to turn out I a uniform scoured product of a superior quality. The location of this mill at Pendleton has been of direct benefit to the business of the city- From May 3, when it was first started, until November 20 last, the mill was run both day and night. During that time It furnished steady employment to 60 hands, and the payroll exceeded 53000 a month. During the season the mill was operated the management paid out to workingmen in Pendleton for their labor in preparing wool raised in this section for market about J20.000. This expense of preparing the raw wool for the mills has heretofore been paid in the East, thus taking just that much money away from the laborirg classes of the Northwest. The most satisfactory showing made by the establishment of the scouring mill at Pendleton Is the direct saving of nearly $30,000 in freight, money heretofore paid to the railroads which have their head quarters in the Eastern centers. During the time that the mill was run to its full capacity it scoured about 2,000,000 pounds of wool, which shrunk about 70 per cent. The expense in freight charges alone in shipping this wool In the grease to the Eastern markets would have been $41,000. The freight charges on the scoured prod uct was 513,500, a direct saving in freight as the result of the scouring of over 127,000. Through local competition a great er part of the money thus saved In freight charges goes to the woolgrowers who sell their wool in Pendleton. An indication of the benefits which have resulted from the establishment of the woolscouring plant at Pendleton may be gained from the statement that during 1S33 but 1,250,000 pounds of wool were re ceived at the local warehouses. Since the erection of the mill, the receipts of wool at these warehouses (only a part of 1S94) have been nearly 5,000,000 pounds. All of this wool with the exception of a few car loads found a prompt sale at prices that will hereafter make Pendleton the natural wool market for all the territory east of The Dalles. A manufacturing Industry of import ance at Pendleton is the Byers flouring mill. This mill has a daily capacity of 500 barrels. The flour turned out here was awarded the first prize at the world's fair in Chicago. Other manufacturing enter prises established here are a foundry, ma chine shops, sash and door factory, plan ing mill and a brewery. A feature of Pendleton fully appreciated by the traveling public is the advantage afforded in good hotel accommodations. The Hotel Pendleton is a strictly modern caravansary, conducted in first-class style, and It is now recognized as one of the great public-houses of the state. Information regarding Pendleton and the tributary country will be cheerfully furnished by Messrs. Clopton & Boyd, who handle real estate, both In city property and In farms. This firm makes a specialty of loaning clients money on favorable terms where the security offered is pro ductive farming property. LA GRANDE. The Trading Point for a Considerable Part of llic Grand Rontlc Valley. LARGE part of the Grand Ronde vul--ley. an agricultural 'section second only J in size and Import-fv-ance to the famed S&Wjllamette valley 4f.ln AVestern Oregon, Indirectly tributary -vv jo. uiauuc. j. ills is a town on the main line of the O. R. & N. Co., 305 miles east of Port- wjsa land. It is also the point of junction of the main line and the Elgin branch, which runs north of La Grande for a distance of 21 miles, terminating at Elgin. La Grande has made great strides since the line of railroad was completed to this point. The location here by the railroad company of repair shops, roundhouses and coalbunkers has resulted in the dis bursement of large sums of money regu larly each month in wages. La Grande is the end of a division on the O. R. & N. Co., and it is one of the most Important points for repairs on this great system of roads. Several disastrous conflagrations en couraged the erection of good brick busl- ncss blocks at La Grande, and the nrincl nal business of the town f; nnw lirinrllfwl . lei in modern fire-proof stru,. ures. The place 1 eral 0UtPut oC the tributary mining dis contains today a population of about 3000 I trict wU1 afford a considerable part of the It Is estimated that the area of th om,n. . traffic handled by the railroad from this try directly tributary is no less than 500 square miles, and nearly all of this tribu tary section is capable of the highest state of development. Diversity of farm products Is the char acteristic of the Grand Ronde valley. Grain, hay, fruit and vegetables, every thing that a lertile soli with the aid of an equable climate can produce, are raised successfully here. In addition to these products, wool, hides, cattle, sheep, horses and lumber are shipped in large quanti ties from La Grande. The activity no ticed in the lumber industry here can be appreciated from the statement that there are no less than 25 saw mills in the imme diate vicinity, whose output during the cutting season aggregates 1,000,000 feet a day. c Even during the stringency of the past two years, public improvements at La Grande have been made as they were in former years. During this time beveral of the main streets have been macad amized. and there ha,ve been considerable expenditures of public money for other works of a public nature. All the modern conveniences of city life, "including water. ; " " - - ' ' ' ' ' I - ; If Tl? i JfilJ.Y THOROUGHFARES, LA GRAXDE. electric lights, etc., are enjoyed by the state, climate, healthfuiness of the sur citlzens of La Grande. roundings, fertility of the soil, quality of The Grand Ronde river, which flows by water, price of fue! tc. to be carefully La Grande, furnishes a large available , considered In selecting the site. After a water-power, which is Utilized at the , most careful examination of the different present time for running one large flour- f points in Eastern Oregon, both by the ing mill, three planing mills and several state building commission and a compe smaller manufacturing plants. This power ! tent board of physicians. Union was se is canable of great development, and it Is J lected as the sat of the new institution, ample to run any number of factories The site Includes about GOO acres of choice whkh will ever be located here. j land, lying southwest of the city. The A UXIOy, SEAT OF THE EASTERN ORE GON INSANE ASYLl'M. The Projected Industries One of the Principal Mining- Centers of the State. NION is one of the old established trading cen- It is the judicial seat J of one of the richest counties In all that part of the state lying east of the Cascade moun tains, and It is the trad ing center for a district rich in mineral, forest and agricultural resources. Before the line of the Oregon Railway &. Navigation Company's railroad was completed from Portland through the Grand Ronde valley, the trade of which Is principally handled at Union, the country in the immediate vicinity was one of the richest stockraising districts in the North west. Many fortunes were made in those days in the stock business here, and it was this wealth which formed the basis of Union's future prosperity. The men who made money in raising stock in the Crand Ronde valley and on the adjacent ranges of the foothill districts were those whose principal possessions were in the section of country directly tributary to Union, and the principal part of the money thus made was invested in this town and In the development of the resources of the country tributary. The completion of the line of railroad through the valley encour aged the rapid settlement of the country over which vast herds of cattle had for merly run, and it was the cuttlng-up of this district Into many small farms which has made stockraising here on the scale It was formerly conducted an impossibil ity. Considerable stock is yet raised in the Grand Ronde valley and In the foot hill districts adjacent, but the stock is principally in small bands, and the great stock ranges of the past, which furnished grazing ground for thousands of head of cattle, are now cut up into hundreds of small farms, farms that are today among the most productive of the state. In an article on the Grand Ronde valley, which immediately follows the present article, much valuable Information can be obtained of Union's tributary country, and as descriptive of one of the most pro ductive parts of the state the article la question will well be worth a careful perusal. The immediate location of Union is in the center of the county of the same name, and at the southern extremity of the rich Grand Ronde valley. Flowing by the city Is Catherine creek, which fur nishes at this point a valuable water power, ample for all the purposes of man ufacturing. Union is on the line of the O. R. & N. Co., 318 miles east of Portland, and it is SO miles west of Huntington, where the latter road makes direct con nection with the Union Pacific system for all points East. The present poulation of Union is in the neighborhood of 2000. It is a prosperous business community. The public build ings are all modern types of architecture, and chief among these notable structures are the courthouse, the city hall and the public school. These are all fine brick buildings. The cost of the public-school building was $20,000, and it is one of the best-arranged structures devoted to edu cational purposes in the state. Among the public improvements at Un ion especially worthy of mention is the fine gravity water-worlts system. The water for domestic use in the city is taken from Catherine creek to a point about two miles distant, and it Is led into the city under a pressure of 110 feet. The lire department is well organized, and, with an abundance of water under a strong head, the city has every protection against aH "anger of a great conflagration, ' Daily stages leave Union for Medical springs, banger and Cornucopia. Union has direct connection with the depot of the O. R. & N. Co. by the well-equipped motor line of the Union Railway Com pany. East of Union is a belt of as fine timber as is found in any part of Eastern Oregon. The management of the motor line contemplates an extension of the line to tap this rich belt of timber, which would insure a most profitable traffic to the road, and the construction of this ex tension would be a most important factor in the future prosperity of the city. Union is one of the most important ship ping points on the line of the O. R. & N. Co. in Eastern Oregon. The shipments from this point comprise livestock, wcol, hay, grain and lumber. In time the mln- will be of benefit not only to Union, but to all of Eastern Oregon. During the past few years experiments have been made in Union county in the production of sugar beets, and with ex cellent results. This work has been done under the direction of the Union Promot ing Company. As a result of this experi ment, a sugar-beet factory will be built at Union during the present year by a strong Chicago company. The factory when completed will have a capacity for handling 200 tons of beets a day. The con struction will include the expenditure of no less than half a million dollars. The establishment of this induptry at Union will support, directly and Indirectly, from 1500 to 2000 people. It will be built on a site adjacent to the western limits of the city. At the last session of the state legisla ture an act was passed providing for the establishment of a branch insane asylum ! at some point in Eastern Oregon. The appropriation made for this purpose was 5163.000. The act stipulated that the new institution should be located at the most desirable point in the eastern part of the RPAM5 RvcNUE Tfr W buildings for the asylum will be erected during the present year. An Eastern company has recently pur chased a site at Union on which a large Jeamery and ohp; fnptnn.- tt-ni i imit j In the spring. The Grand Ronde valley Is essentially a dairying section in addi tion to its other resources, and the loca tion of a. creamery at Union will add both 1 prosPerit' of that city and of Uie rich section of country adjacent. In the vicinity of Union are a number or hot mineral springs, which are today attracting considerable attention. Two miles west are the famous Craig springs, vlsitea annually by hundreds of people. Six miles to the northwest of Union is the hot lake, a body of water which In v.i.iiuu .puns 01 tne iai:e maintains a temperature nearly at the boiling point. The medical springs are 15 miles to the soumeast. Hot snrinsr?! htihhl nut nf ir Jills in many places near Union, and th waters of these springs are all valuable for medicinal purposes. The Union Land & Investment Company has made especial efforts during the past year to induce immigration to Union county. They recently ran two special excursion trains from South Dakota to Union. From the work this companv is now doing it is iXreeted that th niwn-r.- Of the snrinsr trill nnln n lnMui lnnn I in the number of people arriving in Union with the view of taking up thetn homes In the immediate vicinity. The large sums to be spent at Union during the coming year In the erection of the branch asylum, sugar factory, creair.erv. elegant new brw tel, and in the extension Of th TTnlnn railway, insures the place a prosperity OREGOX ROLLER which will equal that of any interior point on the coast. Union county, of which Union is the seat of justice, contains 1,955,000 acres of land, of which about 1,500,000 acres are sur veyed. The unsurveyed portions contain rich mines, valuable timber resources and vast ranges where cattle can graze nearly throughout the entire year. The Grand Ronde valley alone in this county con tains 300,000 acres of as productive land as any In the state. The principal water- t courses of. the-, county are the Grand Ronde. Pine, Eagle and Powder rivers, all of which water valleys which are highly productive. - Among the rich mining districts directly tributary to Union are those of Cornu copia, Sparta, Sanger, Telocaset, and Catherine creek. These districts are to day but partially developed, but they con tain some of the mest promising pros pects In the state. These districts are all reached from Union, and the trade from u. irom these mines principally point. comes to this One of the best-known banks of Eastern Oregon is located at Union. This Is the well-known First National bank, estab lished July 1, 1SS3, with a capital of $30,000. The bank occupies its own building, and ? ' '. r'6. UXIOX COUXTY is under the direct management of Hon. W. T. Wright, one of the ablest financiers and best-known men of the state. The bank has been one of the most important factors in the growth of Union, and it has added directly to the importance of the tributary farming district. A leading manufacturing industry at Union is the fine roller-process flouring mill conducted by Messrs. Wright & Davis Brothers. This mill is run by water power furnished by Catherine creek, and it is one of the most complete flouring-mill plants In the state. The flour turned out by this mill not only enjoys a large local sale but it also finds a market in distant parts of the state and at outside points. In addition to the plant known as the Oregon roller mills is the Pioneer mill, owned by Ed Kiddle. The capacity of each of these plants is 100 barrels a day. The leading mercantile houses of Union aic conducted by Messrs. Wright &)hvis Brothers, and Foster, Bridges & Co. The stocks of merchandibe carried at Union are large, and, with the various demands of the trade which frequents this point, these stocks are kept as complete as the stocks of the largest stores of the more important points In Eastern Oregon. Two good papers are published at Union. The leading paper here is the Eastern Oregon Republican, published by the Eastern Oregon Publishing Company. The officers of this company are L. J. Davis, president, and M. F. Davis, secretary. This Is a semi-weekly publication. In ad dition to the Republican, Union supports a weekly paper called the Scout, which enjoys a good circulation. Suicide and Insurance. Springfield Republican. Clauses in life insurance policies pro viding that the company shall not be liable to payment In case of the policy holder's suicide will not always avail, ac cording tq, a decision just given by the United States circuit court of appeals at St. Louis. Dr. L. H. Robblns, of Lincoln, Neb., held a policy for $3000 m the Trav elers' Life Insurance Company of Hart ford, and the policy provided that In case of suicide, whether the victim was sane or insane, the company would not be lia- III: flHi Ifclt1 $ I iJJP Tir-lil5P ble for iha sum named. Dr. Robblns ac cidently shot himself in the foot, the wound brought on lockjaw, and In a paroxysm of pain he cuts his throat and died. The company contested payment and the lower courts held that the acci dent to the foot was the primary cause of death, and the throat-cutting only an Intervening- cause. This view is upheld by the court of appeals. GRANDE RONDE VALLEY. The Most Fertile Part of Enstcra Oregon The Cropa Produced. HE garden spot of Eastern Oregon is tho Grand Ronde valley, which lies east of the Blue mountains, the rcnge which divides Eastern Oregon and a part of Southwestern Washington, extend3 north and south through Eastern Ore gon and a part of Southwestern Wash ington. The first town of importance reached by the line of the O. R-. & N. Co.'s railroad. after crossing this range on its extension eastward, ls La Grande. This is at the edge of the Grand Ronde valley which extends away irom this point for a distance of nlinnt ?: tttIIck.- If !c nVinii "!! mlloa tvlrla I and comprised within its limits are about STILLS, UXIOX. 300,000 acres of as rich farming land as is found in any part of the coast. Immigrants to Eastern Oregon are es pecially Interested in the Grand Ronde valley. In appearance It resembles In its virgin state a well-kept park. In some parts of the valley the soil is a bla.-k loam many feet deep, while the soil of other portions of the valley Is made up of this same rich loam mixed with a very productive volcanic ash. All over the val ley water in abundance is fpund only a few feet below the surface. Although the rainfall of this part of Oregon is not greater than it is in some of the arid belts of Southern Idaho, yet crops have never failed in the valley, and the farmers here are not compelled to incur the heavy ex pense of building ii ligation ditches, as everything grown here attains its great est perfection without the use of water for irrigating purposes. Grain Is the great staple crop of the Grand Ronde vallev. Whfi.t hnro Mvoi ! ,.,,. ,.0ii p v.. T,..,.,f acre, and yields have been recorded as high as 0 bushels from a single acre of ground. Some farmers here even claim that the average yield of wheat on this land will run no less than 33 bushels to the acre. Barley yields 75 bushels to the acre, Mil Sill (-. Crc " COURTHOUSE. UXIOX. and the price of 1 cent a. "pound usually re ceived for this crop attests its high qual ity. There is a good market for oats raised in the valley during the years of any activity in busiress, tills crop selling for from 25 to 40 cents per bushel, and the yield of oats to the acre runs about 70 bushels. Meadow land in the vallej, which produces as high as !" to 5 tons of timothy to the acre, has been seeded on natural turf without the soil even being stirred by a plow. Enormous crop;, of vegetables arc raised In the Grand Ronde valley, and they at tain the dimensions of the prodigies in tl o vegetable line displayed at the average county fair. A yield of SO!) bushels of po tatoes to the acre has been recorded in the Grand Ronde valley, while a yield of VA bushels Ik often gathered from a single acre of ground. As a fruit-producing section, Grand Ronde valley is fast earning a reputation as one of the most favored sections of th? state. Prunes, plums, pears, peaches, apricots and berries are varieties that do especially well here. A single prune or chard in the Grand Ronde valley yicldel returns of over S700 an acre In 1S92. and the yield of a single acre of prunes in this section often sells for 550. The ap ples for which Oregon received the first prize at the world's fair in Chicago were grown in the Grand Ronde valley. The hills which encircle the valley of the Grand Ronde are covered with bun-h grass, and they afford fine graz.ag grounds for cattle. The bunch-grass-fei cattle of these ranges bring the hlgh'-t prices in the Portland and Eastern mar kets, and the mildness of the climate ena bles stockmen of this part of the state to keep stock on these ranges throughout the 3 ear, without other feed than the natural bunch grass affords. Advanced Staily. Cambridge university has recently taken up the question of degrees for advanced study and research. The council of the senate recommends the appointment of a committee to confer with Oxford and other universities to secure common ac tion on the subject, and calls attention, to the scheme for post-gra luate smdLS? alrcadj in operation at Harvard. f