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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1902)
THE JIOKNIN'G OEEGOXIAN- WEDXESD'AY, 'JANUABY 1". 1902. '41 . ON LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER. Clatsop and Columbia Counties Rich in Natural Resources of Great Value Giant Forests of Merchantable Timber. c IATSOP and Columbia Counties oc cupy the northwestern corner of Oregon, and form the Lower Colum bia group, as distinguished from the Coast group, to which Clatsop is contiguous, and the Willamette Valley group, to which Columbia Is contiguous. Both are susceptible of large development and the future has much in store for them. Both are rich In timber resources of known extent and in coal measures the extent of which is unknown because of lack of de velopment. CLRTSOP COUNTY. Vast Bodies of Hcrckaatable Timber Trlbntary to Astoria. Probably no other section of the state offers so great a diversity of inducements to prospective settlers or to capitalists seeking profitable investments for their wealth as does Clatsop County. The lat ent resources of the district are enor mous, and when developed will prove vast 'sources of wealth to the ones who take advantage of them. Possessing thousands of acres of fertile lands, vast forests of the most valuable timbers native to the Northw est, large fields of the best steam ing and coking coal, extensive deposits of the finest potter's clay, and, located as it is, on the shores of the Columbia Riv er and the Pacific Ocean, its opportunities for farming, stockralslng, brick and pottery-making, lumbering in all its various departments, shipbuilding and fresh-water and deep-sea fishing are unsurpassed. The principal farming districts of the county are on the Clatsop Plains and along the vallejs of the Lewis and Clark and Young's Rivers, extending south to the Nehalem Valley. The Clatsop Plains extend from the Columbia River to the Necanicum, a distance of about 20 miles, wjth an average width of two miles. The soil Is a sandy loam, producing grass, oats and vegetables. It is conceded by experts that this soil is especially adapted for raising sugar beets. Between the plains and the foothills is a vast expanse of peat marshes, upon which wild cran berries grow in profusion and, when cul tivated, will ield a profitable crop of those delicious berries, for which there is always a ready market. The river and creek bottoms and the tldelands are com posed ot the richest soils, and are capa ble of growing cereals, vegetables and hay, and are especially adapted for stock raising. Hopgrowlng Is also becoming an Important industry In the Nehalem Valley, and some extensive fields are now in cul tivation, yielding a handEome yearly profit to their owners. Importance of the Salmon Industry. The principal Industry of the county. and the one on which the people have de pended for the most part as a means of gaining a livelihood, is salmon-packing. Thousands of persons are given employ ment each season In these fisheries, and it is estimated that during the past jear $1,200,000 was paid the gillnetters, seiners and trappers for their catches, besides the many thousands expended for preparing the fish for the market and in manufac turing the cans and barrels In which they are packed. The outlook for this Industry Is much more promising than It has been for several years past. Artific ial propagation, so long an experiment, has been proven a success, Insuring an In creasing run of salmon each year, and be fore another season opens there will be at least three new canneries and four new cold-storage plants erected, and several of those now in operation will materially increase their capacity. Among the other varieties of food fishes are shad, herring, sardines and smelt. These are to be found in great abundance in the waters of the Columbia River and the other streams of the county during certain seasons of the year, and while large quantities of them have been caught and shipped fresh to the markets each season for many ears, steps are now be ing taken for tho first time to can and smoke them. Conservative men assert that when this Industry is fully developed its returns will amount to many thou sands of dollars annually. Deep-sea fish ing from this port is as yet practically untouched. An endless variety of edible salt-water fish swarm tho waters of the Pacific Ocean within a short distance or the mouth of the Columbia River, and with the excellent cold-storage facilities now available at Astoria, afford an ex ceptional opportunity for a lucrative In vestment to persons having the capital and energy to engage in It. It has long been known that there were largo deposits of coal underlying the vir gin forests of the county, but it Is only within the past few monthB that any or ganized movement has been made to open them and develop them. The most ex tensive of these coal fields yet discovered are the Kinney mines, near the mouth of the Nehalem River, and the veins owrieU by the Knapp Coal Company and located a short distance from Knappa. The for mer fields have been acquired by the Ne halem Coal Company, and a large force of men is now at work uncovering the veins and constructing a tramway for transporting the jutput to tidewater. An , excellent quality" of fuel has been found there, assaying much better than the Brit ish Columbia product, and it is in quan tities sufficiently large to mine advan tageously. The owners of the mines as sert that they will bo able to sell the coal In Astoria at not to exceed $3 per ton, thus solving the all-Important question of a cheap fuel for manufacturing and steamship purposes. The work on the Knappa fields Is not so far advanced, but the indications warrant the belief that veins of paying proportions will be un earthed. In the vicinity of the Lewis and Clark River are extensive deposits of a fine quality of potter's clay. These are as et untouched except that some has been shipped to Portland and there manufac tured Into articles for the market. The quantity is almost unlimited, 'and furnish es a chance seldom encountered for a fac tory to make sewer-plpe and all classes of pottery. Vast Forests of Timber. Next in point of Importance to the sal mon fisheries, and which are capable of even far greater development, are the vast timber resources of Clatsop County and the country tributary to Astoria ad jacent to the mouth of the river. Astoria as a possible lumber exporting point is without a rival on the Pacific Coast, et hitherto no account has been made of it in lumber circles. The industry has been smothered by peculiar conditions that have placed this district at a disadvan tage with other lumbering points on the Coast. One of the chief drawbacks was lack of railway connections and common point rates on lumber to the Interior mar kets. Another was supposed to be its lack of a relatively large local market for its second-class lumber. The first of these barriers has been removed, as the trans portation companies have recently ex tended to the Lower Columbia River dis trict equal rates on lumber to all points north, east and south of Pocatello, Idaho. At present there are but four sawmills in Clatsop County. They are the plants owned by the Clatsop Mill Company and the Astoria Box Company, in Astoria; tae Necanicum Spruce Lumber Company, at Seaside, and the Warrenton Lumber Com pany, on the Skipanon, but others are ex pected to be started In the Immediate fu ture. The total cut for the year will ag gregate about 50,000,000 feet. There are four big distinct sources of lumber tribu tary to Astoria. The first and most con venient of these is that which has an out - let in Young's Bay, down the Lewis and Clark, Young's, Claskanlne and "Walluskl Rivers, all of which rise to the southeast of Astoria some SO or 40 miles distant, in the Nehalem or Crescent Range of moun tains. For many years the local mills have drawn their supplies chiefly from theSo forests. The result is that much of the good timber has been logged, and It is necessary -to go higher up near the This is one of the by the Portland Hotel run, by H. C. Bowers, sources and far back to the summits of tho divides between them in order to find ample timber. Still there is yet a vast quantity of Oregon pine and much apruce to be found In those great forests, to say nothing of the hemlock which Is very abundant, especially on the Lewis and Clark, and" cedar, which is well scattered. Location of the Timber Belts. The next most accessible body of timber is that found on the Oregon slopes of the Columbia aboe Tongue Point, and which finds an outlet down the numerous small streams that empty Into the Columbia at that point. Much of this, lying within a few miles of the river, has also been logged, principally for the Portland mar ket. But on the higher slopes, for 15 miles back to the summit of the Nehalem di vide, crowning the northern extremity or the Coast Bange, Oregon pine is much in evidence. The third accessible great source of tim ber supply is known as tho Necanicum spruce belt. The Necanicum River, with two branches, is some 23 miles long, and ita watershed is on an average, perhaps, 10 miles wide. It flows into the ocean near Tillamook head and taps the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad at Seaside. It is the most westerly of he little rivers heading In Saddle Mountain and, being nearest the ocean, its forests are chiefly spruce, with hemlock a good second. The spruce belt, it may be remarked, is with in 12 miles of the seacoast. As a conse quence of this scientific fact, the Lewis and Clark Basin has much spruce in it, while only in the lower part of Young's River Basin is any spruce to be found. So, too, the other regions and timber ba sins on the Lower Columbia farther than 12 miles from the seacoast have none, or, at least, very little spruce. The Necani cum region will average about 8,030,000 feet of spruce to the section. The next great timber belt within Asto ria's reach Is the basin of the Nehalem River. That river Is about 150 miles long. with a watershed averaging some 25 mi:ea in width. It rises in tho eastern slopes of the Coast Range, northwest of Forest Grove, makes a big bend to the eastward, and, turning west, cuts through the Coast Range In Clatsop County and empties Into the ocean below Tillamook head. AH this timber, which consists of the largest and best Oregon pine, spruce, larrh and cedar, is tributary to mills located at the mouth of the Columbia River. An extension of the Astoria & Columbia 'River Railroad, now being agitated, down the coast to Tillamook, would tap all of this immense belt of timber. These vast forests, con taining billions of feet of fine merchant- able timber, are within the confines ot Clatsop County, easily accessible from the Columbia River, and offer opportunities for the establishment of large 'mills un equaled in the Northwest. Astoria. I. J. KERN. COLUMBIA COUNTY. OHtcroppins; of Coal and Iron Foand in Several Sections. Sixteen miles below Portland the Colum bia River, flowing north, becomes the eastern boundary of Columbia County, and in Its course to the sea washes Ita shore for nearly 60 miles. Before passing beyond the county the river turns wet, having made a quarter circle. From the center of the county the distance to the river at any place east or north would vary but little from 14 miles. The bottom lands are not extensive, but are valuable for hay and pastures. ' The grasses remain green most of the year. Part of the bottom lands are overflowed every Juno rise; and the higher places only once in five or 20 years. Overflowed lands are fertilized by the limited coat of silt deposited during the flood. Stockraising and dairying Interests are well represented on Sauvle's Island, Deer Island and Scappoose Bay pastures. Columbia County may, in a general way, be called "hilly." Bunker Hill, 13 miles west from St, Helens. Is probably 1800 feet above tidewater. Most of tho larger streams within the county rise or take their source In that Iclnlty. All these streams are pure living waters, do not dry up, but contain trout at all seasons. Of the creeks, Scappoose, Milton, Tide, Goble, Beaver and Clatskanle are the largest that flow into Columbia River. The Nehalem River, the east fork of which rises- near Bunker Hill, empties Into the ocean. Most, If not all, of these - ,f - BTsW''"MssssMMni,sssssssssssssssssss ' VJ (P ''''AX. ur'J:il!BW?g5ig-y'11!::s IM-issWMiM mJtmiinkmSkWfJmm iWli'lV piri' m " m J)swMniillHfi-B& .! a,,1!..., , t" 1iffistt" Ml ? "iJ sr "SMT s? t"iBBs "j 38f 'jSBkmMvmi K'M&S- 'fcrT 'it ikn MP' ' ' i iff m jtl' fiffplatclfT MB it 1 t ftlg 3lJ'r 24PLI JpUiifc-aPlii i .. ia itsflisHt 49&B ' 3 ll kBBj(5 Kp..fBH kSitJsSKBMfrP " Ism sBBsMHBMlg5MgasKigBrraM'ii.' k,,-k Jteesreaa. rate. tmmr. 1BI ll&fiHI'Ji I wft-W lBtfiBSMT's'- -SBPPPlfc i ,- L,KjBlHslRfMSSSKJriasmasMKVHR3 ' ,:S?"9snBli f" "V" ,! K. iJL JT nt W"-, 3 ' ST HmfcM ty "Gtssfc i vJnMsiBMMSflMmsnii8KAM -MBHB93C3SKSEssHBB9BE6BErBHRHBSfc fflsK2S"&xv UHHHHIsittvmBflBfir B8 v-sfsKSsKsa rcisHii umftRjjJmKyL-L. fiSBmBBBB'j&PsSaL cyfsTO5gTJi.i!l3E 'JC-- '-IZMsliMi kjsB sBhiTfejsy8fcs3WsaMWjpB.iS itfjnl1RfP ' JTfcT"r"nr''i'f?TTfc"T & ,BlMIIMBi,i,Byr!T3rt3HGfMwAsVBBWBgs JBlnHPIB streams are utilized for floating the prod ucts of the forest to tidewater. These creeks make a deep cut into the back country and will make it possible for a majority of the settlers to send to mar ket much of the forest In the shape of sawlogs, piling, cordwood, fence posts, that would otherwise be of little value for many years to come.' They will hasten the day of home-building. Giant Forests of Cedar and Fir. The wealth of Columbia County Is In Its forests of fir and cedar. Probably more than 60 per cent of the land Is still covered by valuable living trees. They owe their size, excellence and profusion to the copious rains and mild climate, tempered by the ocean winds. Large liv ing springs of purest cold water flow out of the hillsides in many places. The forest is being marketed rapidly, but not too fast. It is our principal crop, standing ready for the woodman's ax at all thnes and seasons. Probably tho great hotels of the United States. It is owned Company (local capital). The hotel is most ably Manager. land is being denuded of its merchantable timber at a rate that would clear a strip along the Columbia nearly half a mile wide and CO miles long each yoar, say J0.000 to 20,000 acres per annum. After tho axmen have gone over the ground It would still be called a forest by Eastern, men unaccustomed to our giant forest trees, the products of which only Is sent to mar ket. Before the land can bo brought un der thorough cultivation many very large stumps remain to be disposed of. The ground is still covered with fallen timber, too much decayed to be utilized. Thick underbrush la In evidence eerywhere. These difficulties seem to deter any but the most energetic and industrious pettlers from acquiring and improving farming lands and making Independent homes thereon. As I remember tho early settlements on tho timber lands in tho Middle States, "log-rollings" were a necessary feature In clearing tho land and destrojlng tho timber, for there was absolutely no mar ket for It, The able-bodied settlers, by Invitation, would assemble at one man's clearing and then another's, until enough ground was cleared, making it possible to support a family in the modest, eco- nomlc way then only possible. The most comfortable families in those early days, and who became the well-to-do landown ers, lived mean and shabby, compared with tho poor settlers in Columbia Coun ty today. It would be interesting if the comparison could be made in 50 or 60 years from this time. Tho donkey en gine is more suited to Oregon forests. We" have with us farmers well-to-do, who, by their own labor, have cut down tho trees, taken out the stumps, cleared the land, and have their reward In ex cellent apples, pears, prunes and most all the temperate zone fruits except peaches, wheat, oats, barley and most of the grains, except that corn does not mature in all years, and can be depended upon only for table use and the silo; potatoes onions, cabbage, turnips, carrots and most vegetables, except sweet potatoes. This section of Oregon is the home of the red and white clover, but is not .suited for alfalfa. Timothy, redtop, blue grass, orchard grass and. In fict, most temperate zone grasses thrive ery welL This means the successful production of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and iioultry- The upland soil is mostly a stiff yel low or brown clay. Is very strong, and absorbs and retains fertilizers- veil. It has been the rule. In subduing the forest, to, If possible, get a "good burn" over the elearlne. The bimUncr is done in Jhe dryest season of the year, ' not only burning off all the wood, trash j and underbrush, but all the humua and j mold that has accumulated In scores of years. It Is a mystery how "any lund i could be so treated without destroying the soil for purposes of agriculture. No cheap practical way of disposing of the stumps, etc., has so far come Into general use. Settlers hero do not seem to recognize the advantages that may come from many Informal meetings of farmers, where free interchange of opinions and personal , experiences couldJbo made for the gen- J eral information of all; of the beet and cheapest mode of bringing tho land un- j der cultivation; of what to raise and how j to raise It, Except on the islands, It will . be a county of small farmers. The "lay of the land" will govern this question, Land may be held in large tracts, while covered with timber, but will never be farmed except by men with small hold ings, for the principal reason that farm ing T)y machinery" and hired labor requires a comparatively level country to operate upon. Trees Are the Beat Crop. Our fir forest trees, having arrived at maturity, or, as one may say, "become ripe," do not stand forever and a day; but slowly succumb to a dead rot, called "punkey." Then they are in good con dition to invite and feed the extensive forest fires that at long Intervals devas- .nA ,AW.. 1.....7A .t.0 9 .IwiVtA. !). ll.. 6 traction of these old trees in vast con- flagratlons was probably a benefit rather than a calamity. Several fires separated by Intervals of years would in succession gradually complete the destruction of the old dead timber. "When they were so thoroughly burned as to be no more fuel for conflagrations, a new growth would spring up and shade the ground to an ex tent that would defy conflagration. In the still older "burns" the timber is of the size known as "piling," say IS Inches to 24 Inches in diameter. When the trec3 average, say, 30 to 40 Inches in diameter the fact of there ever having been a destructive" conflagration is not much. If any, in evidence. And so on in streaks, grade after grade In size, until the old trees appear again; or, in fact, forest trees of any age, as there is no regularity In the streaks of trees of dif ferent periods of growth. Is it not quite probable that the old forest, left to slow decay. woulQ be a breeding place for de structive Insects to such an extent that no forest could resist their attack? Our young and middle-aged firs are, as a rule, sound and healthy, and only under extremely favorable conditions would fire run through such timber, If at all. The forest Is the best crop that will ever come off the land. But it la only ono crop in a lifetime. The preparing of it for market gives employment to a large force of "men. Many of the settlers of modest -means obtain work much, of the year, and at good wages, in the logging and wood camps. Lands within a few miles of the Columbia River, from which the timber has been taken off, sell in small tracts at 5S to 510 per acre. Many families prefer theso small tracts near r-choolhouses to much larger holdings In the backwoods. So far the "burns" have not received much attention. Coal and Iron Outcronplnj?s. Lignite coal crops out la many places in the county. The developments go to show a large area of coal measures, and that Is about all that Is known about It, Pros pecting In a more intelligent and sys tematic manner Is promised In the near future. If an average vein of good com mercial coal should be found, the lands of the county will advance materially and rapidly. Most of the veins, perhaps all of them, dip into the hill, no matter where found; that is, In following a vein the coal formations. Important develop ments are quite probable in the not ery remote future. Like most localities showing coal, we j also find many outcroppings of Iron ore at a number of places west of St. Helens and south from Rainier. Probably care ful examinations will show Iron oro to , exist In many places yet unknown This is still a new country after tho Columbia River is left a few miles be- vwsw ; Vr f V Hv,MfW - 8g &-'' pm THEIR LARGE ESTABLISHMENT OX EAST MORRISON STREET, PORTLAND. On January 1, 1301, the Pacific Northwest business of the Studebaker Bros.Company was Incorporated under the name of Studebakcr Bros. Company North west The capitalization of this corporaUon Is 5400,000. The company's headquarters for tho entire business of the Pacific Northwest today are located at Port land. The president of, the corporation is Frederick S. Fish; E. M. Brannick 13 vice-president, treasurer and general manager. The Important office of secretary and cashier, occupied In a most able manner by the late Edwin R. Kimble, is at present vacant. This company began business at Nos. 320-32S East Morrison street, on Juno 1, 1S32. By the Spring of the following year It had Its building In shape for handling, in an expeditious manner, tho large trade which the Studebaker Bros. Company already controlled in the States of Oregon, "Washington and Idaho. Since 1E93 the business of tho Portland branch of this house has steadily Increased. Mr. Brannick, the manager and local representative of the Studebaker Bros. Company Northwest has always had great faith in Portland, and In its supremacy in this field as a commercial and financial metropolis ot all of the Pacific Northwest. Studebaker Bros. Company Northwest has now in process of erection a magnificent new four-story building adjoining the store of the present building that the company occupies. It Is the intention of tho local management to have the new building ready for occupancy by April 1 next. This building will have 100 feet frpntage on East Morrison street, and will be 200, feet in depth. It will contain approximately 100,000 square feet of floor space. The Studebaker Bros. Company Northwest today from its Portland establishment handles a business whicn reaches to all parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and the British Northwest to the Arctic circle. It has agencies In all the principal cities of the abeve territory. It carries constantly In stock here one of the finest assortments of vehicles. Including the best types of buggies, carriages, etc.. and the highest grades of farm wagons manufac tured anywhere. When its new building is completed, this company will qarry In Portland a stock of buggies and vehicles of" all kinds that will compare very favorably with larger stocks in this line carried today by any of the largest houses in the representative populous centers of the Eastern States. I f-fc-ft Ki6tnn nnimtttnnMmttttmitMHnn4Mnittiinitii t $ t t hind. It is hard to find another new country with so many natural advantages yet unclaimed as may be found here. "What the Immigrant expects to find and what he does find will be In wide con trast here, as It Is everywhere. Immi grants by rail are not so well qualified to tackle the changed order of things as were those who tolled over desert ana mountain with wagon and footsore ox teams. Then little was expected, and much was found; now too tnuch is expect ed and not so much to be found. The by tunneling, the flow of water would be into tho hill Instead of out of It. It Is expected that artesian machinery will soon bore down several hundred feet into first man who came to the county had choice of everything; the second man's chances were reduced by any and all ap propriated and claimed by the first comer. Tho opportunities of Incoming Immigrants will be reduced by all that has been ap propriated by the 6000 who are here in this county. The same conditions exist in all countries to which people are emi grating. "Go West and grow up with the country" a a saying that is worthy ot much consideration. We have several small towns or vil lages In the county, none of which can count 600 Inhabitants. Most of them are on or near the great and beautiful Co lumbia, that grandest of American rivers. Ships from the principal ports of the world arc in daily evidence, going up the river or returning to the sea. Our schools would do great credit to many of the older communities east of the Rockies. In a general way this may be called a healthy country. No particular diseases are prevalent. Our communities average fairly prosperous, and a few live with out any visible means, as is not infre quently the case in all new countries. I constructed an Icehouse some 12 or 13 years ago, and fill it any season that ice freezes over two and a half Inches thick. Five inches Is the thickest ice yet obtained, and that only on the most shad, ed ponds. Seven, sears of this time no Ice was frozen to the required thickness, so the Icehouse could not bo filled. W. H. DOLMAN. St, Helens. TmLJc MlFMihSHISB !HSflSmSBCA jBt3BBsfflSiSssiHCaS''sKjft!EBl JllsfHlllsBaflHHwKSSHBaiJ..' -jBBKZQsAssnKAvBSSKJCd!' 4fl0v9BBBBjRJrnnvEflSdSBHlflBiB' ilfjgfBjfaBMBKMMKBsssrBjBssW . ifcipJWsBjMpfyiMgaPyt i m fi tJ tHMHHMtHtMHnMMMMMHMMMHMMMHMH(tMHHHMMHtMMt .. t STUDEBAKER BROS. COMPANY NORTHWEST. tneMMMHMHHMtMHnMMMMMtM Members Chicago Board of Trade San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange San Francisco Produce Exchange. Bolton, de Ruyter & Co. Hos. 8 and 9 Chamber of Commerce, Portland, Oregon 433 California St., San Francisco, Cal. GRAIN, PROVISIONS, COTTON STOCKS AND BONDS WE DO A STRICTLY COMMISSION BUSINESS. POSTIXXJOUS MARKETS BY PRIVATE WIRE, aCICKl SERVICE. Telephone Oregon Main 313; Columbia. 7SL BBFERENCES First National Bank and United States National Bank, of Portland; Crocker-TVoolworth National Bank and Bank of California, of Ban. Francisco. -- -- M t.M M M M t M M M Columbia Engineering Works Will soon occupy new and commodious quarters at NINTH AND JOHNSON STREETS. BUILDERS I Steel Logging, Marine AND Saw Mill COLUMBIA ENGINEERING WORKS, PORTLAND, OR. I ? Successors to R.W.HCKINN0N&C0. 'V r M M C M H M M M. . It OF ALL Hoisting and i! Engines Machinery - t. t t j tjtjjjt t J.t tJjTJJI.I.tJ,tjLQ.t 6 tt