Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1904)
M - UltJOUU LULL HEN the people of the United States visit Portland dur ing: the Exposition year, they will find the city In the full flush of prosperity, clean and well kept with" every facility for receiving: visi tors. Throughout its 40 square miles of area, the streets have been put In condition and In the "business section they have been paved permanently. The old wooden sidewalks have given place to firm,, smooth, lasting cement. Nearly all the old frame rookerfes. In the business district have disappeared and solid, artis tic brick and stone buildings have ap peared In their places. A new steel bridge, the widest of all, will have taken the place of the oldest that at Morrison street across the "Willamette River. Other bridges of the same material will have spanned the deep gulches which scar the city's fair face, while several others of these gulches will have been filled. The street railways will have been extended Into every one of the suburbs which have grown up with amazing rapadlty In the last few years, this work of extension be ing already half done. The water system needs no Improvement, for tho supply is the best in the world and abundant in quantity, but extensions of the distribu tion are being made to keep pace with the expansion of the population. The harbor and the river' highway to it from the .sea will be found deep enough ESTIMATED CITY EXPENSES FOR 1904. General expenses 358,397.13 Fire Department, fully paid. 162,820.00 Police Department, including $10,000 repairs City Jail.. 103.615.61 Interest on bonds 170,983.70 Lighting streets and public buildings 71.036.26 Street repairs 63,511.16 Parks 34.C01.34 Total . $9GS,405.20 "for the biggest ship to steam through without fear of hitting rock or bar. Should any ship have met with such mis fortune before coming: hero it will And a modern floating dock on which it can be repaired. j All this has been accomplished, or pro vided for, without incurring a dollar gf floating debt. The city pays Its. wayrln cash and next year will begin to create a sinking fund for the extinction of its bonded debt. It has been greatly aided in dplng so by a new charter under which Its governing functions are no longer so distributed that the chief business of the officials is getting in one another's way; It Is able to do something. By taking advantage of the improved machinery for carrying out street im provements by assessment on the prop erty benefited, it has had 20.55 miles ot streets permanently paved,, the cost of this work being $145,054.53; it has built sewers at a cost of $151,641.05, and it has street and sewer work under way the cost of which approaches 5250,000; it has begun construction of the best fireboat pn the Pacific Coast at a cost of $63,000; it has let the contract for the new bridge across the Willamette River at Morrison street,, for which it has sold'bonds to the amount of $400,000, and has let a contract to be completed before the. end of 1S04; It has sold $15,000 bonds for and begun con struction of a ferryboat at Sellwood, and It has arrangements under way to con struct a new ferryboat, at Alblna,. for which it has authority to Issue $50,000 bonds. Provision has been made for thr regular repair and maintenance of the streets which have been paved. All In all, Portland is now a thoroughly up-to-date city. Effect of New Charter. The chief means In bringing about this much desired condition of affairs Is tho new charter, which became ef fective soon after the opening of the year 1903. Its strong feature Is that it separates the legislative and executive functions, placing the former In the hands of the Council and the latter In those of the Mayor, who thus becomes the real head of the city govern ment Instead ot a mere- figurehead whose supposed powers were so hedged about with checks that he could actually do nothing. He was given an. Executive Board, appointed by himself, to help him in performing- his duties. This body took the place of the separate commissions for the police, fire and streetcleanlng de partments, each of which worked solely In the Interest of Its own department without regard to the others. The powers formerly vested in these separate commis sions are now divided among the several committees of the Executive Board, all f which work together, each having re tard to the needs ot the others. A Civil Service Commission has been created with power to apply the merit system to all departments and has already put It In active operation in the police, fire, engi neering and street-cleaning departments. Under the old charter the limit of taxa tion was S mills, regardless of valuation. Under the new charter the limit is 7 milL for ordinary expenses, but the Council is allowed to-make an additional levy suffi cient to pay interest on the bonded debt, while the Interest formerly had to be paid out of the general levy. The Uvy in 1903 was Vi mills for general expenses; 2 mills for Interest, and 1 mills for the fireboat rmder a special act of the Legislature. But the most valuable of the taxing jwers granted by the new charter is that regard to street repairs and Improve ments. It Increases the maximum levy for eet repairs from one-quarter to three- quarters of a mill: It also allows the crea tion of local assessment districts for the erection of bridges which shall Include not only the abutting property, as under the old charter, but all the property ben efited. Under this provision a steel bridge Is being built over Marquam gulch, four other bridges In that section are being filled arid either one steel bridge or two wooden bridges will be built over Sulli van's gulch. The new charter forbids the city to in cur any floating: debt; it must pay as It goes. Accordingly the year just closed found every obligation contracted during that year paid or provided for with money in the treasury. Not only has the city paid its way, but It has proved to have such good credit that It has refunded at 4 per cent bonds for $56,500 which were Is sued in 1S91 at 6 per cent. These bonds have been due for two years, but the city was unable to pay them until It was given power by the Legislature. - Expenses for Two Years. The expenses of the city for the past year were: General, $163,509.69; Are, $102. 249.79; police, $79,087.75; street cleaning and sprinkling, $43,86131; lights, $54,134.61; ' In terest, $122,575; street repairs, $30,728.01; total, $596,449.16. This Itf a great reduction from the panic year 1S93, when the total was $627,1S9.E9, although thyere was no ex penditure for street repairs. In fact this work was entirely neglcted from that year until 1900, when $7397.18 was spent, but the amount has bfeen growing ever since the latter date. The expenditures fof the year 1904, In cluding balances due for December, 1903, are estimated at $968,'J55.20, of which $170. 993.70 is for interest and $797,471.50 for other expenses. The balances due for De cember, 1903, total $2766.37, leaving net expenses, exclusive of Interest $776,705.13. The largest items in these estimates are for Improvements or work in connection with them. Exclusive of balances due for December, 1603, the amount for the Engi neer's department is $40,732; for improve ment of streets in front of public prop erty, $13,970.86; for street cleaning and sprinkling, 572,183, as compared with $43, S64.31 in 1903; for street repairs, 556,315 compared with 530,728.01 in 1903. The water department is not Included with these fig ures, being the subject of a separate ar ticle and being dependent on Its own rev enue solely. Improvement Will Continue. The improvement of streets and sewers at the expense of owners of abutting property, will continue with Increased energy in the new year and It seems- prob able that ,a million dollars will be thus expended. MAKING -SOLID STREETS. Vast Sum Expended In Pavlng--New Bridges Across River and Gulches. AT THE present rato of progress, Port land will soon have as well paved streets es any city In the "West This work received a' ' great impetus a 'few years ago, with the return of general prosperity and the revival of building, and the removal of legal obstacles by the new charter cleared the way for" manyIm provements of this kind in the year 1903. During the last year there were made into permanent roadways 20.55 miles of street as against 4.52 miles in the previ ous year. There were in the city on January. 1, 1903, 210.71 miles of graded streets, of which 78.41 miles were unpaved. There were la place on January 1, 1903, 337.55 miles of wooden and 39.19 miles of cement sidewalks, of which 2L3S miles of wooden and 19.10 miles of cement, stone brick and asphalt had been laid in the year 1902. To this was added 5166 miles of cement and 15.04 of wooden sidewalk in thi year 1903, making a total of 67.70 against 40.4S miles in the year previous. As much of the cement was laid to re place wood, the addition of this amount to the total at the beginlng of 1903 would not give a correct total for this date. here bavo also been planked In 1903 streets 6500 feet long, graded 25.250 feet.' and constructed of elevated roadway 429 feet, or .a total with temporary surface of 6.67 miles. There have been built during the last year new sewers of all sizes costing 5151,641.05. These are extensions of the existing system to follow the progress df new buildings into suburban territory, with laterals to fill in the tributary streets. The largest single system is in the Cook avenue district in Northeast Portland, which drains 400 acres of land. These sewers aggregate 13,000 feet long and range from five feet In diameter down. The total cost of street Improvements completed In 1903 was 5445,054.53, and the amount paid on account of sewers brings the total up to almost 5600,000. There is work under way, well advanced towards completion, which will bring up the total to fully $550,000. This Is more than has been expended In the seven years preced ing 1900. Work of 1904. The amount of under way and in pros pect for the year 1901 far exceeds that for 1903. The principal improvement to be STREET IMPROVEMENT TWO YEARS. IN s C ' t a M pip t 3 g-s. is ss Kind of -,SS 2 s 83 8 Pavement. I w I sp o p 3 . w -co ; 3 a. . ; . . . Bituminous j j I j rock 30 .30 Asphalt 8.1S .. 1.50 4.63 Macadam .... 43.90 .70 8.16 62.76 Gravel 50.62 3.00 8.33 62.95 Stone block.. 4.20 .. .32 4.52 Plank 16.19 1.45 1.23 18.87 Bridge and elevated roadway ... 7.71 .. .81 8.52 Woodblock-. 1.70 .. .73 2.48 Brick 62J .. .14 .76 "Total 112S.07I fi.15 22.57 155.79 made Is the building of the new Morrison street bridge, for which bonds to the amount of $400,000 have been sold. This Is to be a steel structure 119ft feet Ipng with a swing drawspan giving an open ing 160 feet' wide on each side of the draw pier. It will be thewldest bridge across the Willamette, its full width being 54 feet. This will give 36 feet for the road way, on which will be two car-tracks and room for another line of traffic In each direction a thing, which the growth of the city has made necessary long ago. he sidewalk on each side will be seven feet wide clear. The. contract has been let to the Pacific, Construction Company for $331,343, which leaves a good margin for the payment of any damages that may be awarded against the city for the con demnation of the open roadway leading to the wharves at the west end cf thp present bridge. This bridge is to be fin ished before the close of the year. The city has made such terms with the street THE MOB&BSG: railway companies for the use of it as insure sufficient revenue to pay the cost of maintenance, Interest and gradually ac cumulate a sinking fund for the extinc tion of the bonds. The contract has also been let and the. material ordered for a steel-plate girder bridge across Marquam gutch on First street. It will be 300 feet long and 64 feet wide, and will hav a concrete roadway, with wooden pavement. The cost will be about $48,000. Contracts have also been let for n.ling In seven bridges across the gulches in South Portland. Two such bridges In North Portland have been filled already, and contracts are being exe cuted for four more in that district, the total cost being about $100,000. A steel bridge will span Sullivan's gulch at either Union or Grand avenue, to cost $40,000, and another will be built on Thurman street, across Balch gulch on "frillamette Heights, to cost about $40,000. Two Big Sewer Systems. The most extensive sewer system to be constructed this year will cover over 2000 acres in the Brooklyn district at a cost of $140,000, all the preliminary work hav ing been done. Another system will cover about 1000 acres in the Irvlngton dis trict, and will cost about $100,000. Altogether there Is between $400,000 and $500,000 worth of street and sewer work under way, to be completed this year. A progressive step In street pavement has been taken recently by the City Council. It has passed an ordinance pro viding that all street crossings laid here after must be of cement, stone or brick. This will gradually do away with wooden crossings, which soon rot and become dirty and unsightly in this moist climate. The efficiency of the street cleaning de partment has been greatly Increased in the last year, new horses, a new sweeping machine and new sprinkling carts having been purchased. The Council is now con sidering the introduction of a hand sweeper, which has been found highly effective-in Edlnboro, Scotland. ABUNDANT PURE WATER. One Respect in Which Portland Has No Rival In West. PURE water and plenty of it is one of the first requisites of a healthy-modern city, and this Portland enjoys. In quality It is excelled by, none, and in quan tity all use It without stint. It brings itself by Its own weight down from the base ot Mount Hood to the city. The cost is 'only about one-half as great as was charged formerly by a private company for the polluted water of the Willamette River, but they leave a surplus of 40 per cent to be expended In extending the distribution system When this has been done so far as to cover the whole city, a still further reduction may be expected, but provision will bo made for the gradual extinction ot the bonded debt. The water comes from Bull Run Lake, three miles long- and -about a mile wide and of unknown depth, which is only seven miles from the summit of Mount Hood. It is fed by springs in the rocky slopes of the mountain, and Its only outlet Is under a great mass of basalt which forms a natural dam at its northwest end. This outlet Is 350 feet below the surface of the lake. After the stream has flowed 20 miles through a roclry canyon it enters a 42-lnch pipe 30 miles long, and In flowing that distance falls 720 feet to low-tide mark In the Willamette River. A portion of the water flows directly from this sup ply pipe into the distributing mains at the rate of 21,000,000 gallons a day. Buried deep in the ground and carried across the river in a trench dredged below the bed of the channel, it reaches the city as cool, clear and pure as when it entered the supply pipe seven hours before. The entire watershed of Bull Run has been set aside as a forest reserve by the Federal Government, so that neither man nor beast is allowed to dwell In or enter It This area Of 222 square -miles Is maintained as & wilderness of mountain and forest. r t . HON. GEORGE H. WILLIAMS, MAYOR OF PORTLAND. . ...... QREGONirr FRIDAY," JANUARY lr-1904.- C3 'where the snow melts slowly In the shade and underbrush prevents the soil being washed into the streams by freshets. Purity of Water Assured. This source of supply was only adopted after a thorough analysis had been made in a period of heavy Tain in the Autumn of 1887 The chemists reported: "Total fixed Ingredients, 2.7 -parts In 100.000 parts by weight, or 1.89 grains per Imperial gallon (of ten pounds avoirdu pois), consisting of: Parts Fn Grains 100,000. per gaL Silica 56 .392 Oxides of Iron and aluminum ,.03 .056 Calcium carbonate .39 .273 Magnesium carbonate 27 .189 Chlorides, sulphates and car bonates of alkali ......... AO .2S0 Organic matter 1.00 .700 Totals jIto 1.890 "The carbonates of lime and magnesia are in the form of soluble bicarbonates. The organic matter is mostly in the form of suspended vegetable substances and partly in soluble products of their de composition. "Microscopic examination of the sedl i ment and chemical tests of the water ' show the absence of deleterious organic matter. Only traces of ammonia were i found, while nitrates and nitrites could , not be detected, showing absence of nitrogenous matter. ; . "To sum up, the water,-ranks among the : best on record, and Is exceedingly adapted , for domestic use. . . .. : -' Extensions Made From Revenue. I As the water system stood at the open ' lng of 1903, it represented an investment of $4,314,255.9o, of which $964,022.46 went into the purchase of the several pumping systems, 5659,651.24 into the distribution system and $2,690,582.25 into the Bull Run gravity system. Of this sum $2,900,000-wa3 paid by the sale of bonds and $222,200.70 with the premium on bonds, the remainder having been paid out of surplus earnings after operating and maintenance expenses and Interest had been paid. There are also outstanding- bonds issued by the City of East Portland prior to its annexation to the amount of $250,000, which have been assumed by the city, making the total bonded debt $3,150,000, The revenue of tho water department for the year 1903 was approximately $395. 000 of which about $155,000 was expended in the purchase of pipe and extension of mains. The main laid is as follows: Four-Inch 700 feet Six-Inch 21,700 feet EigHt-lnch 15,300 feet Fourteen-inch 3,900-feet Slxteen-inch 9,000 feet Twenty-Inch 5,700 feet Total 55,300 feet This is 10 2-3 miles, all of which have been laid In North Portland, East Port land and Alblna. This makes the total length of distribution mains of four to 30 "inches diameter 168.9 miles, and the total Including the 4S-Inch Bull Run conduit 200 miles. The remainder of the year's revenue was expended as follows, the last half of December being estimated: Operation and repairs, $55,000; final payment with inter est on Alblna waterworks, $25,000; interest on bonds, $160,000. Provision for Paying Debt. The surplus revenue of this year will bo devoted to extension of the distribution system, no provision being made for ex tinction of the .debt until January 1, 1905. Beginning on that date, the charter pro vides, the City Water Commission shall provide In flxlnV the water rates for each year a sum sufficient to pay off 2 per cent of the debt in that year This sum Is to go Into a sinking fund, which is to be used either in buying bonds at a premium not to exceed 10 per cent or In redeeming bonds. Under this arrangement the en tire bond issue will have been canceled and the entire plant paid for before the bonds reach maturity, so that the city will then have an Investment of over $4,000,000 free" from debt This will have been accomplished without the imposition of any direct tax to pay for either water or Interest on bonds, and the revenue will have provided all extensions of the dis tributing mains, for there Is no frontage tax for that purpose,- as In some cities. f6r extinction op pires. Portland Building Fireboat and Oth erwise Improving Department. EFORB the close of the year Just opening the City of Portland wlU be as-well equipped for protection against Are as any city In the United States. Much Improvement has been made In the past year, but it 'Is small In comparison with the work which will be completed this year, xne nreooat ucorge xi. nuuow, now .under construction, will be finished in the Spring, and will be superior to any on the Pacific Coast in capacity to throw great volumes of water under high pres sure upon any building- on the water front Anotfier change in Immediate pros pect Js the conversion of the department from a "partly to a fully paid force with out any diminution in the number of men. The department as" now organized con sists of' 20 'companies divided among 16 engine-houses. There are 134 men, of whom 55 are fully paid and 79 call men, divided into seven engine companies, four truck companies, five hoso companies and four chemical companies. It is proposed to have the whole force fully paid from the beginning of this year, but not to de crease the number of men, as the depart ment is already rather short-handed. On the contrary. It is proposed to add two companies, In order that a- truck-company may be placed In Alblna and to man the fireboat, which will require about 12 men. Sunnyslde, one of the most rapidly grow ing suburbs, will be given full protection by neans of a combination chemical and ( hose wagon and a steam fire engine, with the opening of the year, this equipment .to be run by Engine Company No. 9. , Additions to Equipment. During the past year three men have been added, a master mechanic, relief driver and hydrant man, eight horses have been bought to replace old ones worn out In the service, and 5700 feet of hose have t neest wnarves, Mr. uawn nas designed been added. The department already has a water-tower especially for this craft on two of the largest- steam Are engines on ' the same principle as the portable water the Pacific Coast with a capacity of 1100 towers used in many cities. It will be gallons a minute each. A- large addition has been made to the -number' of- fire ' alarm boxes. 'Fiftv hvdrnnts havn been Installed. each with three hose connections and one steam connection, each connection : having a separate gate, so that one or , all can be worked at will. j Electric lights are being placed In all ' the engine-houses with provision for turn- lng them all on whenever the alarm bell sounds, and an instrument board is being placed in each house, so that no wires will hf in sisrht. Thn ntnf hmiKP hnvo all had new roofs put on and are beins painted, papered and kalsomlned and fur nished with bath tubs where these arc required. The owners of property have co-operated with the city by erecting" a number of fire-escapes and standplpes on their buildings, which greatly aid the fire men in. their work. Description of Fireboat. But the greatest step towards full ef ficiency Is the construction of the fire- boat, which Is being built in Portland ac- '. t(rn llles a" hour and will throw 14 cording to the designs of Fred A. Ballln. J"""" EhtiMf -?L-h The Legislature last Winter authorized water 'finl & ab0V6 the levy of a special tax for the purpose, While the contract price of the boat and which will realize a little over 63,000, and pumps, including other machinery, Is well this was the limit of cost The original within the limit of cost, the margin left plans provided for a boat of steel through- is not too large for the extra equipment to out but the bids exceeded the limit of be bought The electric light plant, mon cost and the contract was finally let for itor nozzle and water towir are not In a boat of wood with every precaution for eluded It will also be necessary to dredge protection from fire. t : out a slip into which the boat can back The boat will be 115 feet long over all ' so as to be always ready to start out In and 102 feet long between perpendiculars, any direction. This will probably be at Its molded breadth will be 25 feet, its the foot of Stark street A house for the molded depth 8 feet 6 Inches, and its dis- crew will also have to be built on the placement about 240 tons. It will have shore close to the slip, for all the space , STREET PAVING IN 1903. AsPhalt- Distance. Street Feet. Alder, from Sixth to Lownsdale... 2,300 Washington, from Sixteenth to City Park 3,700 Seventh, from Taylor to Burnslde.... 1,1)50 Bituminous Macadam. Park avenue, from Forest street to City Park 000 Madison street from Forest street to Ardmore avenue 200 "Douglas avenue, from Park avenue to Madison street 330- Ardmore avenue, from Park avenue to Madison tsreet i.iiw..t..t'.i 430 Carbolineum Wooden Blocks. First, from Madslon to Stark street r 2,000 "Washington, from First to Third street 400 Tamhlll, from First, to Fourth street 660 Alblna avenue, from River avenue to Page street. ...v. .....r. 000 Elver avenue, 100 feet south from Alblna avenue iwiii.i.m 100 Brick. Madiion, from Second to Fifth street .'.....;................. 720 Stone Blocks. Seventh, from Buraside to Gllsan street. '. 1.300 Ankeny, from Third to Fourth street 200 Ash, from Third to Fourth street ; 200 ' Gravel. Various streets, aggregating 49,300 Macadam. Various streets, aggregating 43,100 10S.4OO Total, new pavement - 20.35 miles 1 Asphalt Repaired. Third, from Main to Gllsan street . 4,200 Sixth, from Morrison to Irving street 3,330 Morrison, from Front to Chapman street .-. - 4.750 Washington street, from Third to Sixteenth street 3,480 11.580 or 2.10 miles Artlflclal stone sidewalk laid. 0 to 15 feet wide. 278.000 feet, or 52.08 miles. "Wooden sidewalk laid. 70.413 feet, or 15.04. miles. Total new sidewalk, G7.70 miles. ' , a. full flat bottom, will draw not over 5 feet of water and be propelled by twin screws. The material is Oregon yellow fire and white oak, all In long lengths, the principal timbers, such as keel, keelson, engine timbers, stringers, etc., being in one length from stem to stern, and all wood in the hull will he treated with car bolineum avenarlus. The- frames have a i molded depth of 14 Inches -over the keel and are sawed from double thickness of I fir flitch. The planking will be three ! Inches thick In two layers, the Inner layer running diagonally at an angle of 45 degrees and the outer fore and aft. The hull will be divided Into four com- j partments by three water-tight bulk- i heads. The first compartment will con-1 tain chain lockers, the "second stores and hose reels, the third the two boilers and coal bunkers, the latter formed on ach side by steel bulkheads, and the fourth the pumping and propelling machinery. Over the center of the vessel will be built a deckhouse 70 feet long and 14 feet wide amidships, occupied in the order named beginning at the forward end by a nozzle-room, the boiler uptakes, feed pump and piping, engine-room, bath and toilet-rooms and hoseroom. On top. of the deckhouse will be the pilot-house, and there will be a -trunk skylight over the boilers and machinery. The tops of the deckhouse and- pilot-house will be pro tected from sparks with metal sheathing. The boat will bo propelled by two high- tachM 8troJe TnQ propellcrs wlll be sec. pressure, tandem" marine engines of 14 tional, five feet in diameter, with four blades, which, like the struts, will be of steel cast In Portland. . Two Taylor water tube boilers with a combined heating sur face of 4500 square feet, tested to a work ing pressure of 250 pounds per square inch and guaranteed to evaporate 16 tons of water an hour, will furnish steam. They will be fed by two "Worthlngton Admiralty pumps. Fire pumps of the latest design are now being built for the boat, having been bought by a separate contract They will have a combined capacity of 6000 gal lons, equal to 24 tons, of water a minute. Each of the two pumps will have two steam .cylinders of 17 inches bore and 11 incnes stroke and two pump-cyoiinders of 10 Inches bore under 160 pounds pressure will make 213 -revolutions a minute. There will be two 16-lnch sea valves, one on each side, with strainers to prevent solfd matter from entering the pumps. The delivery mains from the -pumps will be reduced from 12 to 10 Inches, and wlll run under the deckhouse to the nozzle- room, where .they wlll combine Into a manifold. To' this will be connected ten 3&-lnch hoae valves, having, handwheels and cbupllngs projecting outside through the house. Branches from the main will connect to a standplpe reaching "to the top of the pilot-house, where a manltor or water-gun will be placed. Water-Tower of New Design. In order to enable the fireboat to do good service at the lowest stage of water ,n the tfver against a fire on any ot the Piacea iorwara oi tne pumps ana win oe worked from 'a platform above the sky- light One man will operate It by hy- -urauiic pressure ana at 113 mil 'neignt it will" have .a three-Inch nozzle '-40. feet above the water line, which can bo turned in any direction. It will throw all the water- that both Pumps can supply with such fo?"ce tDat 11 will tear down a building, or fiven knock a hole in a brick wall. Its greatest usefulness will be at low water, when the boat will be 25 feet below the level of the docks at some places. ' Electricity generated on boadwill light the boat a.nd will also furnish an 18-inch searchlight projector, to be located for ward of the deckhouse. The Portland fireboat will be the only first-class craft of Its kind on the Pacific Coast, for It will have four times the ca pacity of the Seattle fireboat and ten times that qf any boat in Ban Francisco; in fact, that city has only boats built for other purposes which have been convert ed into flreboats. It will have a speed of on the boat will be occupied by the ma chinery. Several thousand feet of hose must also be provided. Thus by the time the boat Is fully equipped ready for serv ice the appropriation will be absorbed. PARKS BEAUTIFY CITY. Many Breathing-Spots Result From Private Gifts and Public Purchase. PORTLAND enjoys the possession of several beautiful breathing spots in the heart of Its busineea - area, as well as larger tracts In. the suburbs, which CV V v V' :.vV.v.W have all thb charms of wilderness peculiar to the Pacific Coast Thuir management and Improvement Is in U.e hands of a Park Commission, which has at its dis posal a revenue of $17,000 to $18,000 a year derived from a special tax of half a mill provided by the new charter. Beginning of Park'System. A beginning at the creation of a sys tem of parks was made when the city was m its Infancy. In December, 1852, W. W. Chapman by his plat of the town set apart a. strip one block wide extend ing from Salmon to Clay streets, Ave blocks, as a public park. On the same date he devoted two blocks bounded by Salmon and Madison, Third and Fourth streets, In front of the .Courthouse, which are known as th Plaza, to the same pur pose. Mr. Chapman made a further dona tion under agreement by which the city partly purchased the six and a half blocks from Mill street south to Caruthers do nation claim in December, 1867, and less than three years later the cjty made the stretch of park blocks continuous for 13 blocks by the purchase for $6500 of the two Intervening blocks between Clay and Mill streets. The year before this purchase John H. Couch had made another string of park blocks In the same tier by the plat of his addition. This made- a park extend ing through the heart of the city for near ly 20 blocks, with a break of only nine blocks between Salmon and Ash, the total area being ten acres. A tract of five acres in South Portland, which was named after its donor, was set aside by James Ter wllliger in September, 1854. Purchase of City Park. The first step taken by the city to ac quire land for a park on a large scale was taken In February, 1871, when 41 acres on the Amos N. King donation claim on Portland Heights was bought for $32,624 and named City Park. From its location within easy distance of the business cen ter and yet on the rugged hills which give an unparalleled view of the grand setting which nature has given tho city, this has become the most popular of the open air apaces and on It the Park Commission has expended most money and care. It abounds in velvet lawns, bright flowerbeds, trees of every variety and Is the home of a menagerie so large and varied that many a much larger city might well be proud of it The late Governor Sylvester Pennoyer made two donations aggregat ing six acres on the heights near Spring , and Fourteenth streets, which bear the name of Governor's Park, in the years 1893 and 1S01. The City of Alblna, before Its annexa tion, had bought for $35,000 29 acres In June, 1891, which were given the name of Columbia Park and became the prop erty of Portland on the annexation of, Alblna. Holladay Park, In East Port land, five acres, was acquired by the re cording of the plat in December, 1870, and an acre in Alblna Homestead was bought of B. Mallory for $11,200, In July, 1891. An other small park on the' East Side was created by the plat of Ladd's Addition, south of Hawthorne avenue. City's Largest Park. The largest park tract owned by the city is Macleay Park, which consists of 108 acres In a deep gulch traversed by the Cornell road on Its way over Willamette Heights. This has been left In its natural wlldness, for the commission wisely de cided that any attempt to improve it would Improve away its chief attraction. This makes a total of 206 acres held for park purposes by the city at the beginning of last year. To this there has been added during the year Hawthorne Park on the East Side by lease for a term of years from the Hawthorne estate. It Is a stretch of woodland having an area of about 11 acres and extending along the banks of a slough which parallels the Willamette, and a spring of pure water flows through t A tract of about 35 acres in a canyon and on the heights about three and one half miles south of the center of the city has recently been donated by B. M. Lom bard and others. It is similar in character to Macleav Park and will need little work' to make it accessible to the public. Thus ' the city now has a total area of 252 acres devoted to parks. Improvements of -the Year. The greatest work of the Park Commis sion In the past year was the provision of open air band concerts on Sunday after noons In City Park and on two .other even ings of each week In other parks. For this purpose handsome bandstands were erected in City Park, the Plaza and other desirable locations in the other parks and the concerts were given in rotation In the different places, so that the people of all sections might have a share of the music. In City Park a new peacock house has been built, the elk corral and barn have been moved to better locations, toilet-rooms have been built new walks laid and flowers planted in ornamental de signs. The commission has cleared out the more unsightly trees, such as poplars, from the park blocks, will lay cement walks along the four blocks from Salmon street south and wlll preserve Its native forest trees and turf with a view to leav ing these blocks open. Rows of elms will be planted along these blocks In order to gradually develop a shady drive for their whole length. The practice of allowing the use of several park blocks for carni vals has been definitely -abandoned, as It has been found to damage the turf and trees. There Is a decided variety of trees 'on these blocks, including the elm, ca talpa, iolanthus or tree of heaven and some varieties of oak. Boulevards to Connect Parks. The commission Is working to Improve all the parks In turn and make all the Im provements permanent in order to carry out general plan. In fact the commis sion has before It a scheme of Colonel L. L. Hawkins, one of its members, to .con nect all the West Side parks by a sys tem of drives or boulevards, so that the people ctn go from one of the city's beauty-spots to another In carriages. A glance over the IiBt of trees growing In the parks will suffice to disabuse the mind of the popular Impression that only the dark evergreens are native to West ern Oregon. There are the larch or tam arack, long-leaved willow, yellow willow, weeping willow, Lombardy poplar, weep ing 'poplar, speckled alder, mountain ash, elder-leaved mountain ash, weeping wild cherry. Mountain maple, vine maple, sil ver maple, western dogwood, white ash and scarlet-berried elder.