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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1904)
THE MOKNING OBEGONIA FRIDAY, SAmTABY ; 19 '43 MANY BIG BLOCKS GREAT BUSINESS HOUSES AND NUMEROUS DWELLINGS MARK PROGRESS OF THE OTY . ITH four "big, round millions ol dollars expended In the construc tion of new buildings during1 the year 1903, it la still a fact admitted even by the most conservative that Portland has Just begun to spread out. Great though the number of new structures has been, and enormous the amount of money put into their construction, local capitalists have only lately realized the opportunity as well as the necessity for enlarging their city. Opportunity for outsiders there Is in abundance. Men with rrfoney who live In Portland and they live here by the hun dredare too close to the ground to see the chances for investment. For years they have been near-sighted, and are just now beginning to wear spectacles. The appended table shows the totals of building permits taken out from the of fice of the City Engineer. Complied from the Daily Official Abstract, it shows the totals of the office from a permit for $50 to repair a woodshed to another permit for a six-story brick building costing away up in the five figures. But it does , not give the. actual amount of money -which the builders put into these struc tures. To dodge the Tax Collector, it Is the almost Invariable custom of property owners to instruct their contractors to undervalue the structures. If a private residence will take $3000 out of the own- and Clark Centennial. Some found what they wanted; many others did not. Entirely aside from the temporary crowding of the city by the Fair visitors; there is need for a multiplicity of differ ent structures. Second only to therneed of new hotels Is that of office buildings. Business- men from all over- the Union are realizing the Importance 'and acknowl edged position of Portland as a business' center, and are coming here to open of fices. From these, men will travel all over the Pacific Northwest. Money and business will be brought Into the city. Only one new office building- went into commission In 1303. Another constructed during that year will he ready for the office tenants In a few weeks. And for every new room opened for business office purposes there are at least two applicants. When the Dekum building suffered from fire early In the year, and scores of 'ten ants, mostly physicians, were driven from their quarters for several weeks, there was the greatest rush for offices ever wit nessed in Portlands history, Warehouses are also required by local merchants. The great number of whole sale houses doing business In Portland maices a constant demand for good ware house locations. Unless a wealthy firm buys property and erects its own ware house, It may go without one, so unceas ing is the cry for storage faculties. An example of what some Portland firms are doing is shown by the completion of the six-story brick warehouse built by D. C. O'Reilly, of the Oregon Bound Lumber OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ' " " ' ' -9 l S. BAIN SOfllE OF PORTLAND'S NEW BRICK AND STONE BUILDINGS COMPLETED IN 1903. Welnhard, seven stories $150,000 Mohawk, four stories 120,000 Stearns, four stories SO.000 Hohenstaufen, four stories ........ 1.. ; 00,000 American Can Company 44,000 Holman, two stories 80,000 United Carriage Company, three storle3 20,000 Bast Side Telephone Exchange. . . ... . , 30,000 J. W. Cook, three stories y. 40,000 Cook Bros., three, stories.. 35,000 Pacific Coast Biscuit Company, five stories.. ...... 30,000 Cohn, three stories 1 50,000 Total $724,000 Some Brick and Stone Buildings Now Under Construction. United States Postofflce, alterations....... (200,600 Jlaxshall-Wella, five stories .., . 90.000 New Welnhard, seven stories 150,000 Loewensteln, four stories 45,000 Dr. S. A. Brown, five stories.... 75,000 I Total 5560,000 ers pocket for the construction alone, the permit will all too frequently be made out for a $2000 dwelling. This is admitted even by the contractors who sign the permits. "Add from one-fourth to one-third to the totals of the permits and you will have about the actual value," says City Engineer W. C. Elliott. Increase of One Million a Year. On this basis, adding one-fourth of the total. It Is seen that about $4,650,000 was spent in buildings in this city during the year just closed. This can safely be re garded as a most conservative estimate. According to the recorded figures, how ever, the returns for 1903 lack but a few thousands of being $1,000,000 greater than those of the preceding 12 months. It is inconceivable that property-owners tried to evade 'the Tax Collector In 1302 more than they did in the year following. Much as has been done toward building up the. city in a modern way, still more remains to be done. Official steps to this end have already been taken. Before many weeks a building inspector, with authority to force contractors to live up" to modern building laws, will be a mem ber of the, city's official family. Flretraps will go; sanitary conditions will be im proved; dangerous structures must be torn down. So much la being done by the city government. Opportunities for Investors. It will require the services of an outside capltallsx to awaken the local wealthy to ho possibilities of realty Investments Company, for the -use of Heywood Bros.- .&. Wakefield. This Is situated In the new warehouse district on Irving street, not far from the terminal yards. More Dwellings Needed. But the safest, the cheapest and the most common Investment Is small residences In the newer portions of the city. If a widow owns a lot near a car line, or even some distance from one, she puts up a small BUILDING PERMITS FOR NINE YEAR8. Number. Amount. 1804 : 271 $ 374,505 1885 345 577,109 1S93 108 184.148 ,1897 224 418,705 1898... 154 640.415 1899 35T C48.390 1900 ' 3S7 938,685 1901 445 1,529,143 1002.. .....1260 2.750,185 1903 i. 1611 3,652.795 Swelling upon 'it. Even though she pay street assessments, taxes and so forth upon it, yet It will be an unfailing source of revenue. When a house Is completed. It Is rented. If a "for sale" sign is tacked upon it, that dwelling is sold in mighty short order. Such is the rule, with but a few exceptions. New additions are being laid out, new car lines planned and preparations being made In a score of ways for the growth of the city. Logs are brought to the local A JAPAXESE TitAS OP AFFAIRS WHOSE BUSINESS INTERESTS HAVE AS EUitKD XABGE PROPORTIONS. S. Ban, born in Japan, but a resident of Portland since 1S91, Is a broad minded eduoated man of "affairs, controlling numerous business enterprles calling for quick wit, sound Judgment and ample capital, all of which re quirements are fully supplied by the subject of this sketch. It Is nothing un usual to find men of Mr. Ban's race in Portland conducting successfully small places of business, mostly shops and restaurants, who have left the larger field to others. This did not satisfy Mr. Ban, who-was qulck'to see many op portunities to make money in business enterprises conducted on a largo scale. Progressive and alert he constantly added to and improved his hold ings until today he is an important factor in business affairs throughout the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Ban is owner and president of the S. Ban Flume Company, whose plant Is located at Qulncy, Columbia County; In this state, situated . on the line of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. This company own several valuable timber claims and are large producers of cedar-poles, piling and cordwood. They ship cedar-poles, piling and round lumber to different points in California and to eastern points as far as Salt Lake, Utah. Since January, 1903, the S. Ban Flume Company have Bhlpped about 400 carloads of their own product, and these figures would have been Increased to 600 carloads "but for the scarcity of cars. A flume two miles In length has been built, and when machinery now ordered arrives from the East, the company will cut ties and all other kind of lumber. Mr. Ban also owns a large herd of milch cows, a dairy and a creamery, named the Rising Sun. The herd contains 50 full-blooded Shorthorns and Jerseys, besides other high-grade cattle. The cream Is manufactured Into butter at the dairy, which Is conducted upon strict sanitary methods, clean liness being one of Mr. Ban's strictest rules. The butter Is then shipped by the Rising Sun Creamery, also owned by Mr. Ban, and registered by the State Board, No. 174. This busy man owns timber lands near Gresham. real estate In Sheridan, Wyoming, and Woodlawn, near this city. Mr. Ban has other business inter ests too numerous to mention. The abovo will be sufficient to show what brains, enterprise and -grit can accomplish in a country abounding with op portunities for live men to accumulate fortunes, or at least a competency." NEW BUILDINGS ERECTED IN PORTLAND IN 1903. January .... February ... March ...... April Hay June July August ..... September . . October November . . December . . Pol a ft 41$ S 6 0 3 8 7 8 87.000! 40,500 230,000 114,850 136.0001 13.250 88.200 169,500 248.000 151.200 5,000 35.000 4. mo 10. 14, 45.: 45, 32. 14. 4. 7, 0, 1501 250 OOOi 529 50 675 600 2S5 000 ,870 ,000 ,000 .53 3 c s O S3 S3 118 110 88 631 82 120 120 103 00 66 66 207.055 273,229 564.221 290,954 280,210 205.212 366.C47 408.290 449.108 353,155 155,390 , 131.644 Totals 601$1.29t,50OS71213.509IU261$l,813.545l3501$378,60716111$3,552,'795 131.630 206,005 199,290 138,760 129.050 240,312 154.600 150.483 159.210 113.250 00.000 P 9 a 2. :'a S 14.875 2U.414 11S.931 22.815 4.205 17.237 15,535 51.705 36,715 37.S75 20,240 7.000 10S 156 158 128 89! 118 AVI I 100 163 140 105 91 in Portland during the next two years. For the next two years the city is to be filled with visitors. Provision for their entertainment must be made. The need of much greater hotel accommodations Is treated separately. Buildings to be used as rooming-houses, restaurants', saloons, theaters and the dozen other forms of entertainment will be needed also. Al ready keepers of lodging-houses have vis ited the city to secure buildings for their use during the gala months of the Lewis mills. -There they are sawn Into lumber. The lumber goes into dwellings. Then the people move into the houses. Such is the routine by which Portland is grow ing at a surprising rate. As a city for the homebuilder Portland Is without an equal. It Is essentially a city of homes, made by the homelover, ana maae ncn, too, by the man who stays opportunities fdr making money by a comparatively small outlay. Again the length of time before the profits come In la remarkably short. Outside people as well as local Investors are taking advan tage, but not all the good corner lots, nor all the good lumber, are gone yet by any means. The year 1203 would have been far more a record-breaker than statistics show had not the unfortunate strike in the building trades put a temporary damper r upon construction. This and the action of sawmills In refusing to supply the local trade for several days, curtailed building . to an appreciable extent The table of building permits makes plain how the strike of the union painters came at a time when building was more active than ever before In the history of 'the city. I March was a- wonder In the construction line. Everywhere could be heard the sound of hammers. Then on April 6 the union painters went on strike. April's showing on the permit table Is below that of March on that account. And the de pression did not lift until July, when It was late in the season. It Is safe to say that, had no strike occurred, $5,000,000 would accurately represent the amount of money placed in new buildings for the year just closed. Arbitration is so generally talked of by the building trades unions, and there Is so general a disposition on the part of both employers and union builders to put all points of difference to arbitration, that danger of a building trades strike for the the new year Is almost precluded. Neither side wishes a repetition of the painters' strike and its far-reaching consequences. Real Estate Market. In the real estate mart dealers are preparing for a new era of speculation. No wildly . Inflated values are to be thought of, but legitimate speculation is antici pated. For the past few years nearly all transactions were for building upon the property bought. New additions are being laid out in a way never before attempted in this .city. Cement sidewalks are being placed, sewer and water connections put In and the ground graded before the purchaser Is asked to visit the property. This scheme of making the property more attractive to the eye of the prospective buyer has been tried before In other cities with marked success. Now Portland realty AL GOOD DOS E02UH oeoeoooo J. H. BBUCE o THE ALDON CANDY CO.! Wholesale Manufacturer of HIGH-GRADE CONFECTIONERY the Xwiflmar Manufacturers of Hlgh Grade ."Chocolates. Sold Every- -where. Praised by Everyone. 289-291 ITBST ST. PORTLAND, OREGON at home and spends his money there. As an Investment pure and simple, sub- I men have proved that here also it helps urban homes of Portland offer excellent ' to sell lots and blocks. OREGON WATER POWE & RAILWAY COMPANY GENERAL OFFICES First Street, Northeast Cor. Alder PORTLAND, OREGON 65 Miles Standard Gauge Electric Line ONLY INTERURBAN LINE IN OREGON DOING FREIGHT AND PASSENGER TRAFFIC THIS line extends from Portland to Oregon City, and from Portland through the towns of Gresham, Boring, Barton, Eagle Creek, Currlns ville and Estracada to Cazadero, providing transportation facilities to all EASTERN MULTNOMAH AND CLACKAMAS POINTS. o o o 00000000000000000000000000 e e s o o e e o e o 9 O , O e ' o e e 0 0 0 O. e o COLUMBIA ; ENGINEERING WORKS Tenth and Johnson Streets, Portland, Oregon WW I llllli HiffMiB W TWO-TON. CONVERTER UNDER BLAST Steel Dept., Columbia Engineering Works. HIGHEST GRADE STEEL CASTINGS Capacity Up to Piece's of 3500 Pounds. . WE HAVE THE STRICTLY UP-TO-DATE SHOP - ; Specialties: MARIJNE, SAWMILL, LOGGING MACHINERY OO0OO0OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O'OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOO'aOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ooeo'eooe 00000000000000000 0000 ooooooO'Ooo. 1S93 19Q4 TN LINE with our policy of progression, during the year 1903 we added many meritorious novelties to our already large stock; also opened the Arcade Theater and Amusement Parlors at 330 Washington street. We are now opening a large nd ele gantly equipped store on Seattle's busiest thoroughfare, 1404 Second Avenue, Times Building, where we can accommodate our ' rapidly increasing Alaska and Puget Sound business. Eleven-years of constant application to the study of mechanical and electrical novelties has enabled us to furnish the trade with the leading coin-operating devices and novelties. We carry the largest and most complete line, and with our lately established Eastern and Foreign connections, have unequaled facilities for supplying the trade-with all the latest and best novelties in our line. ' We being the oldest established, most progressive and reliable concern in this business on the Pacific Coast,, solicit a share of : your business. ; ' ' . ESTABLISHED 1893 TRANSCONTINENTAL MACHINE COMPANY S. MORTO& COHI Proprietor PORTLAND, GR?, Park and Oak Streets SEATTLE, WASH., 1404 Second Avenue o 0 o 0 0 o 9 0 O e o 0 e e o o o 0 00OO0OOOjOOOOO0OOOO0 O0O e0OO Oee9O00OOO0OOOOO6atO'0OO i