fttttfa
j PAGES 9 TO 16
PART TWO
i4
VOL. XXI.
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23, 1902.
NO. S
i 4 o - m, ) i
r-fc&?ytt sM f fth-i
The Spring Season
of 1902:
Promises unusual attractions here. The Spring goods
this year are daintier and prettier'in style than ever
before, and the standard of high quality is faithfully
maintained in fact finer qualities are more in evi
dence than in any previous season.
IN SILK DEPARTMENT
SEWING SILK ESCURIAL GRENADINES, choicest designs,
exclusive patterns, no two alike, 7 yards to a pattern, $20 to
$37.50 pattern.
Also Novelties in WHITE HEMSTITCHED GRENADINES, 45
inches wide, $2 yard.
HIGH-CLASS PANNE FOULARDS, exclusive patterns only, 15
yards only of each; $1.25, $1.50 and $1.75 yard.
SATIN RAYE MOIRE ANTIQUE, in all the new colors; $2.25,
$2.50 and $3 yard.
BLACK PANNE CREPE DE CHINE, 48 inches wide. $4 yard.
COLORED DRESS GOODS
Applique Bordered Robes, $15 to $40.
Pongee, natural, $2.50 yard.
Tucked Suitings, $1.75.
Etamines and Mistrals, $1 to $2.50.
French Challies, 50c to $1.
Popelin de Chines, $1.75 to $3.75.
Twine Voiles, $1.50 to $2.90.
Crepe de Chines, $2 to $5.
Seeded Metallic Voiles, $2 to $3.50.
BLACK DRESS GOODS
REAL TURKISH MOHAIR FABRICS, $1.50 to $3.50 yard, in
the following weaves : Etamine mistral, crepe, whipcord, ar
mure, granite, canvas, sanglics, Sicilian.
SHIRTWAIST MATERIALS
AT WASH GOODS DEPT.
White Silk Madras, $1 yard.
White Imported Madras, 50c, 75c.
White English Damask, 70c, 90c.
Dresden Stripe Grenadine, 40c to 80c.
Colored Silk Madras, $1.
Mercerized Canvas, 65c.
French Linen Batiste, 80c to $1.50.
French Linen Embroidered Batiste, $1.50, $1.75.
French Linen Stripe Batiste, 50c, 60c, 70c.
Lace Stripe Madras, 60c, 65c.
Lace Stripe Mousseline de Sole, 50c, 60c.
IN CLOAK DEPARTMENT
Correct Styles in Ladies' Spring, 1902
TAILOR-MADE SUITS
In Eton, Blouse and Postillion styles. Made of newest
Spring fabrics.
Silk Cravenette and Empire Raglans.
Moire Velours and Taffeta Improved Gibson Waists.
Exclusive styles in Renown and West End Shirtwaists.
NEW WALKING SKIRTS
Made in the new stitched voke effects, with stitched flounce, gray,
Oxford, navy and black, $6.50, $7.50, $9, $13.50.
WHITE SHIRTWAIST LINENS
Specially woven for the making of fine hand-embroidered
Shirtwaists, 54 inches wide. 90c, $1.00, $1.20, $1.50 yard.
HOME FURNISHING DEPT.
New Arabian Lace Curtains, Motifs and Panels
Silk Tapestry Velours Tapestry
Damask Tapestries, $1.00 to $15.00 yard.
New French Curtain Net in Arab color, 85c yard.
TREFOUSSE
BEST MADE
BEST SOLD
Three-clasp Carlyle Quality, Trefousse Glace Overseam
Kid Gloves, one row Toskune embroidery, all shades,
Two-clasp London Quality, Trefousse Pique Suede Gloves,
Paris point embroidery, all shades, pair,
Two-clasp Trefousse Pique Suede and Glace Kid Gloves,
Paris point embroider', all shades, pair,
Three-clasp Trefousse Overseam Glace Kid Gloves,
Paris point embroidery, all shades, pair,
CHIFFON VEILING
Chenille Dot Hemstitched Border and Chenille Dot Novelty
Border Chiffon Veilings,
Chenille Dot and Silk Ring Chiffon Veilings,
BOOKS
Indian Basketry, giving the history of basketry; its various
symbolisms, development, etc. Over 360 illustrations
First Across the Continent. By Brooks.
(The Story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) s
Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum. By Walter Irwin.
Moses, a Tale of His Boyhood.
(For little folks.)
Voyage of Ithobal. By Edwin Arnold.
(Profusely illustrated.)
Barrack Room Ballads, etc. In the Lark Classics edi
tion, attractively bound in flexible leather
Life On the Stage, by Clara Morris.
Old Time Gardens, by Earle.
KID GLOVES
IN FRANCE
IN AMERICA
$1.50
$1.75
$2.00
$2.00
65c
50c
$1.58
$1.50
25c
15c
$1.15
$1.00
$1.50
$2.50
NINETEEN PERISHED
Details of the New York
Hotel Fire.
WERE MANY THRILLING SCENES
Origin of the Blaze Is a. Mystery
Stories of Guests Who Escaped
Some of the Prominent
Victims.
NEW YORK, Feb. 22. For the third
time since Nov.- Year's Day, Park avenue,
this city, has been the scene of loss of
human life. First was the collision in
the New York Central tunnel at Fifty
sixth street and Park avenue; second
came the dynamite explosion in the rapid
transit subway at Forty-first street, and
the third, today, was the lire which
started in the Seventy-first Regiment Ar
mory at Thirty-third street and then
spread to the Park Avenue Hotel, where
19 persons were killed and many injured.
It was the worst fire since the Windsor
was destroyed.
The lire was first seen about 1:30 in the
morning in the Armory and in a remark
ably short time that building was aflame
from end to end. The firemen made their
way as best they could through streets
deep with slush and did all possible to
confine the lire to the Armory, but after
they had been at work nearly an hour
the discovery was made that the hotel
was on fire. The hotel was crowded with
guests who had come to attend the fes
tivities In honor of Prince Henry. More
than 500 persons were in the house.
The fire was confined principally to the
fifth and sixth lloors near the elevator
air shaft. About the time the hotel was
found to be on fire the lights went out
and tin corridors were filled with smoke.
Th guests, unable to find their way
through the darkened hallway. Jumped
from windows or ran directly into the
flames which swept portions of the build
ing. It Is this face thnt accounts for
the large los of life, although the hotel
was not destroyed.
The Dead.
The fnllcwlnir list of nersons who lest i
their lives In the Park-A venue Hoi...
fire, or who died from Injuries received in
It. was compiled lute tonight:
NORMAN ACTON, tiled In Bellevue,
lived In Colorado Springs.
COLONEL, CHARLES L. DL'RDETTE.
Hartford, Ccnn., commander of the First
Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, klllfd
by fall in tire.
WILLIAM J. BERNHARDT. 35 years
old killed In hotel: home. Chicago.
MRS. WILLIAM J. BERNHARDT,
died in Bellevue.
LEE G. CONRAD, 21 years old,
draughtsman. New York.
FRED S. HOVBY. .To years old. of
Lyons. N. Y.; died at West Thirtieth
street Station House.
JAMES R. HAMES (not certain, may
be Thomas Home). Denver.
JOHN IVERSON. died in hotel.
MINNIE E. LIGGER. 40 years old, Den
ver. MRS. J. McMANUS.
CAPTAIN CHARLES UNDERWOOD
O'CONNELL. died In New York Hospital,
formerly Clerk In Supreme Court.
EX-CONGRESSMAN G. A. ROBBINS,
of Savannah, Ga,
ESTHER SCHLESSINGER, SS years
old, of Chicago, a buyer.
JACOB SPAHN, 50 years old, Roches.
te. N. Y.
JOHN G. WALKER, 23 years old, Co
lumbia, Tenn.
COLONEL ALEXANDER M. PIPER.
U. S. A., retired, 70 years of age, died In
hotel.
MRS. SALOME FOSTER, known as the
"Tombs Angel."
Unidentified body of woman, may be
that of wife of Rev. William S. Board
man, who is a patient in Bellevue.
This list of 19 may be cut to IS, as one
body has been identified as that of Wil
liam J. Bernhardt, and as that of Lee G.
Conrad.
The Injnred.
"The revised list of injured follows:
Lester L. Woodbury, 50 years old, sta
tioner of Portland. Me., burns on honda
and face; Frank Everhard, 4S years old,
agent for candy company, burns on
hands and face; E. S. Heist, 2G years old,
Columbia, Pa., burns on hands, par
tial suffocation; William J. Stebblns,
M years old, shock and burns; Rev. Wil
liam S. Boardman, C3 years old, lives at
hotel, burns; his wlfo is missing; Perry
F. Livingston 40 years old, Campvllle,
N. Y., shock and partial suffocation;
Charlotte Bennett, 55 years old. shock
and suffocation; Emma S. Meyer, CO years
old, of Savannah, Ga., shock; Sophia
Beech, 61 years old, shock and suffoca
tion; Mary C. Bennett, 20 yeare old. buyer,
Denver, shock and burns; Catherine M.
Bennett, SO years old, Denver, shock and
partial burns; Mrs. Samuel H. Hall. 33
years old, Newark, N. J., burns on faco
and hands; Miss Anna Hall. 33 years old,
Newark, burns and shock; W. B. Bradley,
2C years old, of South Carolina, sprains;
William O. Hale, 35 years old, of W1I
llamsvllle, Mass., partial suffocation and
hands burned; Sarah Brlgham, 52 yeara
old. Savannah, Ga., shock.
"Where tlio FIrc Started.
The fire In the Armory started on the
third floor on Thirty-third street, where
there was a tier of rooms occupied by
different companies of the regiment.
In flvo minutes the whole structure was
beyond saving and 10 minutes later the
roof fell In with a terrific crash. Thero
was no one In tho Armory at the time.
except a Janitor and his family. They
escaped by going through a scuttle nolo
In the roof and then along the battle
ments of the Thirty-fourth street side
to safety on the roofs of houses to the
east. This passage was attended by
much danger, owing to the ley condition
of the roof.
Six alarms were turned In for the fire,
but in spite of tho quick response, the
Armory was soon doomed to destruction.
The prevailing gale made it Impossible to
check the flames. Several hundred
pounds of ammunition stored In the tower
of the Armory detonated in a series of
explosions, partially wrecking the por
tion of the walls near which it was
stored. This added terror and caused
fear of greater explosions to those who
were fighting the flames.
Flame Discovered In the Hotel. "
It was not until almost 3 o'clock that
the flames were discovered in tho Park
Avenue Hotel, directly across from the
Armory- Manager Reed, of the hotel,
had been on the roof watching the fire
In the Armory, with guests from the
hotel. Ho had descended to the first
floor and was standing talking to a guest
when a burst of flames came up through
the elevator shaft. Immediately he or
dered his men to go through the hotel to
give the alarm. The lights almost Im
mediately went out and tho hotel corri
dors were In darkness. The flames
leaped up through the elevator shaft and
seemed to gather around tho fifth and
sixth floors, filling tho halls with dense
smoke and making exit by means of the
stairways almost Impossible. Manager
Reed tan up to the fourth floor and thero
entered the elevator, Avhlch was descend
ing. He alighted at the first fioor and
soon after the elevator was a wreck.
Various opinions were given as to the
origin of the fire In the hotel. Many as
sert that If was of incendiary origin.
Others hold that the fire originated from
sparks from the burning Armory build
ing swept by wind In the direction of
the hotel, descending the air shaft, which
was directly alongside the elevator, and
igniting debris which was piled up in
the basement and near the elevator shaft.
The idea of Incendiary origin Is scouted
by guests of the hotel and by Fire Chief
Crokcr. Another theory Is that the fire
started on the fifth or sixth floors and
thus resulted In the damage to thoso
floors more than to any other portion of
the building. The theory advanced by
the majority as to the air shaft Is con
firmed by many of the fire captains.
Escape of the Guests.
The flames mounted rapidly and the
fire extinguishers made little impression.
The guests of the flfth and sixth floors
had been aroused and those who had not
lost their heads started for the stair
ways, clad only in wrappers and some
with only sheets thrown over them.
Scores of people were taken from tho
windows of the third, fourth and fifth
j PARK -AVENUE HOTEL, 'NEW YORK, DESTROYED BY FIRE.
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floors of the house by firemen and police,
many of the rescued being made hyster
ical from fright.
At the windows on the Park avenue side
of the hotel many persons appeared.
Women were screaming frantically for
help. A Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, guests
of the hotel, who were to leave today on
the transport McClellan for Manila, ap
peared at the flfth floor window on the
Thirty-third street side, screaming loud
ly. A Mrs. Charlotte Bennett and her
husband, of Alabama, stood on the flfth
floor on a ledge directly over the portico
and main entrance to the hotel. Mrs.
Bennett, evidently thinking that no one
was going to rescue her, struggled from
her husband's grasp and shouted that she
was going to Jump. Tho firemen gath
ered in a circle below and stretched out
their arms. She broko away from her
husband and flung herself out of the
window while the flames had almost en
veloped her. Her Injuries aro severe.
Her husband rushed into the hall and
made his escape, though he was slightly
burned and almost overcomo by smoke.
Death of Colonel Burdctte.
Colonel BurdeUe after making a des
perate attempt to save his life, met death
In a shocking manner. His skull was split
open, and he wao found shortly after 6
o'clock lylns In tho courtyard within tho
hotel. He had fallen six stories. Colonel
Burdette was a guest on the sixth floor
of the hotel. Soon after the alrm of lire
reached him all escape was cut off. He
dragged the mattress from his bed and
dropped It to the roof of an extension over
the hotel dlnlng-rocin, three stories below.
Then, by tying the sheets together, he
made a rope and secured It to the win
dow. Hfc object was to land on the mat
tress and thus break the fall. He mis
calculated the distance and fell Into ttie
court.
J. M. Sheehan, a contractor of New
burg, Pa., occupied a room on the fourth
floor. He was aslce; In his room until
ho hc-ard the screams of "Fire!" In the
hall. He partially dressed hlmslf and
groped his way through the smoke and
darkness until he reached ti:e utairway.
There he war. met by two elderly women
who were trying to find mans of escape
for .themselves. With his assistance the
two women were led to safety and he
himself escaped.
A pitiful sight was that of Mrs. Piper,
who husband. Colonel Alex M. Pip r,
was fpund burned to death near the ele
vator shaft. Elie managed to escape, and
was taken by friends to a private resi
dence but irtly clad. She was not In
formed of the death of her husband, and
It was feared that the shock would kill
her. Her husband. Colonel Alexander It.
Piper, of the retired list of the regular
Army, was graduated from West Point In
1S51; was Colonel of the Tenth New York
Artillery during the Civil War. At the
close of the war lie wa.s Captain In the
Third United States Artillery; became
Colonel of the Fifth United States Artil
lery in 1SS7, and was retired in July, 1S9I.
He was brevettcd Lieutenant-Colonel,
United States Army, for gallantry before
Petersburg, Va,, In June. 1S04.
The "Tombs Ansel" Perished.
One of the saddest Incidents of the fire
was the death of Mrr. Salome Foster,
the "Tombs angel." who for years had
been In service in behalf of female prls.
oners in the Tombs-and other city prison?.
Mrs. Foster was the widow of John W.
Foster, and had lived for the last five
years at the Park-Avenue Hotel. Her In
come, which was at one time considered
(Concluded on Paye 11.)
GURDUTYTO MALAYS
Americans Can Be Depended
Upon to Do What Is Right.
BEVERIDGE'S CHICAGO SPEECH
Baron de Constant Discusses tho
Trade Relations Existing Be
tween France and tho
United States.
CHICAGO, Feb. 22. Chicago paid fitting
tribute today to the memory of "Washing
ton. All the banks, the stock exchange
and the Board of Trade were closed, and
many of the large business houses ob-
JrA- 'j ... . -?.
served the holiday. Flags floated from, the
Government buildings, clubs, schools and
many business blocks. Patriotic exercises
were held in many quarters of the city.
In the afternoon, elaborate public exer
cises were held at the Auditorium, under
the auspices of the Union League Club.
Thero was a large audience.
Senator Beverldge's Address.
After selections of patriotic music and
an Invocation by Dr. Fi-ank Gunsaulus,
President Robert Mather Introduced Sen
ator Bevcrldge, of Indiana, who, in part,
spoke as follows:
"We dally hear dogmatic demands for
the Independence of our Malay wards,
without considering concrete conditions.
Is this moderation? Is this tho method
of calm, reason? Is It not better to find
the facts and fit our acts to these? Adapt
ability Is tho American, characteristic. We
aro told that self-government is the
American characteristic. Wo aro told
that this and that Is tho Ameri
can characteristic We are asked to frame
our action upon thi3 tradition or that, re
gardless of changed situations, of abso
lutely different facts. But adaptablllty
ls tho American characteristic Adapt
ability, adaptability, adaptability. Tho flt-
Senator Albert J. Beverldfre Wash
ington birthday speaker at Chl-
c-iko.
ting of means to ends, the adjustment of
measures to conditions this 13 the heart
of Americanism. The secret of American
success has been that we havo looked
the facts squarely In the face, and then
made our measures fit thoso facts. We
have done this regardless of maxims, in
different to theories and even over the let
ter of our Constitution itself when It stood
in the way. If Philippine conditions
require Filipino s"elf-government. self-government
we will give the Filipinos because
It Is wise. If legislative participation In
their government Is permitted by Porto
j Rlcan conditions, we will give the Porto
1 Ricans that because It Is wise. If Cuban
I conditions require American suzerainty,
we will maintain that because It Is wise;
j If annexation, we will accomplish that
i because It Is wise; If utter, separation.
I that shall be done because It Is wise. If
facts demand that we administer govern
ment in our far Eastern possessions, with
out the participation of an Incompetent
people, that government we will, our
selves, administer, because It Is wise.
"The treatment of our dependencies Is
the Tvond issue now confronting us. Let
us then plant ourselves on the funda
mental certainties. And the first of these
certainties Is that not one single foot of
soil over which American civil authorlty
is established will ever be abandoned.
What we have, we hold!' This is the
voice of our race. People of our blood
never leave land they have occupied. No
master people ever yields while they re
main a master people. Emerson declares
that when the powers of a man decline he
draws in his enterprise: he (quits busi
ness; he prepares for the Inevitable end.
The same Is true of a people. But the
American people are not on the decline.
The American people are not ready to
go out of business. The American people
are stronger for the world's work now
than any people ever wera before. And
our portion of the world's work, which
destiny has laid upon the younger and the
growing races, Is the duty of labor of
guardianship. We are tho executors of a
trust estate In Porto Rico, in Cuba, in
the Philippines. That trust we will exe
cute as thoroughly as Americans do every
thing. And so American government In
' the Philippines will be permanent. Tho
American flag In Porto Rico will float
there as long as the Republic's govern
ment Itself shall stand. American suzer
ainty over Cuba will remain until time
laces that Island more closely to us- with
more enduring bonds. Events call for tho
conservatism of adaptability. Conditions
demand the moderation of the free hand.
The radicalism, of ancient methods has no
place among new conditions. Remember
the parablo of tho new wlno In the old
bottles. What would we say If the an
cient mariner should step from his vessel
of 'wood and sail and spar 3 and ropes onto
the bridge of a 20th century ocean liner,
and declare that the steam, which drove
it. the electricity which lighted it, the
steel plates, the copper bottoms and all
the methods of modern shipbuilding are
sacrilege, because ho had not done In
that way? This hoary representative of a
day that Is dead would not be considered
conservative. The board of directors that
would place him. in command of a Deutsch
land or a Lucanla would not bo considered
conservative. Moderation means the prog
ress of facts not the daring dreams on the
ono hand nor yet tho cowardlco of remi
niscence on the other. And so with the
dependencies of tho American Republic;
American statesmen must deal as prac
tical thought directed to actual conditions
demands that they should deal. They
-must not deal spasmodically. They
must not deal retrogresslvely. They
must deal practically, steadily. Tho freo
hand must bo the steady hand If It Is to
be the hand of the master, and the free
hand can be the steady hand only when
its action is governed by actual and not
Imaginary conditions.
"But in this great problem of our de
pendencies, more even than in the sur
prising developments of our internal
economy, patience is the word of power
and of success. A race cannot be trans
formed over night. The methods of three
centuries cannot be remedied between sun
rise and sunset. The character of a peo
ple is not to be altered even by the school
teachers' priceless work In a season or a
year. Let us not bo in haste. Let us
have the serenity of the situation. We
are dealing with an elemental problem, a
racial problem, a world question. We must
act,- therefore, with deliberation a3 large
and a patience as steady as tho problem
Is vast and historic. We must employ no
magic but time, no legerdemain but that
of steady and continuous effort unvarying
and undismayed. There must be no spasms
of extravagance, no spasms of retrench
ment, no panic of retreat, no fury of ad
vance. Let us not pine for the fruit before
tho seed is planted, or even the ground
prepared.
"So. fellow-citizens, we will go on in
the spirit and method of Washington,
practically, steadily, calmly, without
prejudice and without fear. Whatever tho
futuro may hold for the American people
in Internal development or foreign domin
ion, that future will bo met with that
thoughtful moderation which adapts
means to ends. If old methods suffice,
thoso old methods we will use because
they are approved. If present methods
suffice, present methods we will use be
cause they are at hand. If new methods
are necessary, new methods we will Invent
because the case demands them. The fanat
icism of tho old will not influence the
American people. The fanaticism of the
new will not Influence the American peo
ple. The conservatism of adaptability,
the calmness of the appropriate, the pa
tience necessary for the doing of the work
(Concluded on Pago 11.)
IQRE FRUIT TALK
How the Newtown Pippin
Gained Its Fame.
ELIMINATION OF THE UNFIT
An Interesting; Story Relative to tho'
OrlRin of the Oregon Pioneer
Frnlt Varieties The Ash
land Frnit District.
MEDFORD, Or., Feb. 22.-(Staff Cor
respondence.) "I think I may fairly
boast." remarked Mr. DeHart to mo this
morning, as ho piled another log on tha
blazing hearth, "of the most expensively;
stocked woodshed In the State of Ore
gon." Proceeding, he explained that tho
basis of his fuel-pile was a prune orchard
planted some eight or 10 years ago and
recently dug up. Just as it was coming,
into maturity, because it has been found,'
that tho pruno is not a profit-winner ia
tho Rogue River Valley, or at least, not!
in the district of which Medford'l3 tho'
center. It seems that those who ven-1
tured early in tho orchard business here,
including Mr. J. If. Stewart, wexo to.
some extent infected with tho pruno craza!
which swept the country a fow years;
back; and without carefully estimating
all of tho facts related to tho productloat
and marketing of prunes, mado a. very-
considerable planting of prune trees.!
This explains tho presence about
Medford of some small pruno orch
ards which aro not profltablo but
wnicn there is some natural re
luctance to destroy. Tho situation, of
the orchardist in possession of a thrl--j
ing plantation of prune tree3 Is precisely
that of one having on his hands a half-!
worn suit of clothes which ho is unwillinsr
again to wear, but, nevertheless, lacks
the moral courago to givo to tho poor.
Mr. DeHart solved the dilemma by hav
ing his prune tree3 dug up and converted
Into fire-wood and by planting apples and!
pears In their place. Some others have'
followed tho same course, but others still
hold on to their pruno trees, hoping
against hopo and waiting for tho season
of old-time prices, which will never como
again.
Tho variety planted here is thet
Petite, or French pruno, which comes'
into direct competition with the Call-'
fornla prune crop, to which it 13 inferior
in tho all-Important point of size and
with which, under the local conditions of
climate, it Is unablo to competo as to
price. Mr. Voorhles, who, as tho owner 1
of the old Stewart place, has a beautiful
pruno orchard, still holds fast to his trees'
and last season turned out a product of
several car-loads, but tho sizes were small'
and the price, which, has been reserved.!
must have been very llttlo If anything
above tho cost of production. There can,
I think, bo no mistake In. the calculation
which adjudge? the prune tree commer
cially worthless In the Roguo River Val-'
ley, and which has sentenced it to tha'
axe and to tho fuel heap. (
I was especially Interested In this be
cause in times past I havo witnessed tho
very same evolutionary process In various
parts of California. Somo 15 or 20 yearsl
ago, when California went prune mad
on tho basis of the early and great sue-'
cess of the prune business In tho Santa
Clara Valley, pruno orchards were set
out with small regard for local conditions,
and, among other places, la the region
fronting tho Coast south and west of tha
Santa Cruz Mountains. In timo thero
grew up a great orchard area along tho
Coast. Tho trees weTo vigorous and
healthy, as they are now In tho Rogue
River Valley. Their product of fruit
was immense, exceeding. In many local
ities, the product of Santa Clara orchards.
But, in spito of all, tho Coast prune
could never bo mado to yield a profit. At
first tho blame- was laid upon tho fogs
which prevented tho fruit from drying
by the cheap and handy process of ex
posure to tho sun; and to get over this
dlfllculty a great drying plant was cre
ated by the Coast growers on the Inland
side of tho Santa Cruz Mountain 3, tho
fruit being hauled over to tho drying:
grounds by an easy arrangement with thai
railroads.
But this plan did not work In',
practice and the Coast growers f-JiL
back upon artificial drying, which con-"
sumed all the margin of tho business and
put them at a disadvantage as compared
with tho growers in tho valley districts.
At last the wiser among the Coast grow-'
ers abandoned tho pruno business alto
gether and directed their attention toward
other" forms of production. "Whola
orchards of fine prune trees were cut
down and burned and the soil which they
cumbered was given over to other and
more profitable crops. I myself wit
nessed the destruction of one of tho larg
est prune orchards in tho Pajaro Valley
(Watsonville), and am ablo to bear per
sonal testimony to tho disappointment
and loss suffered in the effort to do lnj
that locality what was being done and
which continues to be done easily just'
across the range less than 20 mile3 away.
The abandonment of prune growing, if
not the beginning of the apple industry in
the Watsonville district, was at least thoj
beginning of its larger development.
Apple trees were, to a very great extent,
planted in the room vacated through elim
ination of prune orchards and today
they contribute In large measure to tho
welfare of one of the most prosperous
sections of California.
In horticulture, as In other things, each
country has to find out its best adapta
tions. There is but ono guide to this endfj
and that is experience, and experience,
usually comes high. Too often those who
venture first are heavy losers, and tooj
often they are looked upon as cranks
even by those who gain most through tho
demonstrations into which they havo cast
their energies and their fortunes. Hap
pily, this has not been the experience In
the Rogue River Valley. Tho Industrial
Moses of that district, Mr. Stewart,
made some mistakes, as he frankly con
fesses, but his early ventures, as well as
his more recent ones, have been on tha
(Concluded on Page 10:)