THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, JUNE 14, 1908.
LOOK FOR ACTIVE
REALTY DEMAND
ATTRACTIVE TYPES OF RESIDENCES BEING BUILT IN EVERY SECTION OF CITY
5
Dealers and Brokers in Port
land Confident of Good
Times All Summer. ,
n
INQUIRY FROM INTERIOR
-r; '-if mri.Jgs-j; .dm-
10
Tr " ' : : : -----
f . . ; ' si. i
Sales in South End of City Attract
More Than Ordinary Attention
and Indicate Extension of
the Business District.
"Things are looking1 fine," was the
comment made yesterday by leading
realty men. and facta bear out that
pinion. Building operations are show
ing no signs of falling off, but on the
contrary seem to have taken on an
other spurt. Beside the larger build
ings that are under way, about a dozen
In number, every day brings to notice
others that are to be started this Sum
mer. Announcement was made yester
day that excavation work was started
on the btg warehouses to be erected by
the Crane Company on Everett street,
between Thirteenth and Fourteenth.
The principal building will be of six
stories and will stand on the corner of
Thirteenth, on the carline, and will
cover the full quarter block. The rest
of the building will be two etories.
Another building that is to be rushed
Is the Rosenblatt Hotel at Tenth and
Alder". Forms have been placed In
position for the concrete foundations
and this work will be under way this
week. Material Is being assembled at
theslte of the Y. M. C. A. building and
operations are progressing on the Cad
well building on Second street. In a
few days demolition work will start
on the quarter block of Gay Lombard
at Fifth and Stark, the tenants having
moved from the frame buildings on the
site. While no definite announcement
has been made by Mr. Lombard as to
his plans, it Is reasonable to surmise
that he will build in the near future,
as the ground Is too valuable to remain
unproductive.
Permits 3Iake . Good Showing.
Building permits for the month to
date Include four buildings to exceed
$10,000 in cost each. One is a church
building estimated to cost $15,000; an
other an apartment house at $33,000; a
"West Side dwelling at $12,000, and the
P. R. L. & P. Company freighthouse
and dock, $21,000, or a total of $81,000.
There have been eight permits Issued
for buildings to cost between $5000 and
$10,000, 45 to cost from $1000 to $2000,
Inclusive, and 35 to cost between $2000
and $4000. For cottages to cost under
$1000 there were 16 permits taken out.
The total to Friday afternoon for the
17 business days of the month amount
ed to 80 permits with reported values of
something over $235,000. The present
Indications are that tfie full month's
totals will run over $800,000 and if
some of the supervising architects take
out permits for entire construction
work on several large buildings that
are to be started this month, the total
will run considerably over the amount
given.
In May there were Issued permits for
82 buildings to cost over $5000, eight of
which are to cost over $10,000. Of the
other permits 137 were for buildings es
timated to cost from $2000 to $4000, 105
Tor those to cost less than $1000 and 100
for repairs, a total of 374 permits.
Expect More Demand.
For 10 days realty men have been ex
pressing the opinion that a good move
ment was to be expected before Fall in
city lots. Yesterday added one deal at
least that was made at a figure that
would seem to bear out the soundness of
the dealers. The deal was referred to
in The Oregonian of yesterday and Is
the corner of First and Main, which was
reported as having been closed at $63,000.
This price places a mark on holdings in
that part of the city that confirms well
established views that business houses
are seeking an outlet from downtown lo
cutions, where valuations have about
reached a stopping place, for the time
being at least. The figure at which this
piece changed hands is not considered
out of the way, as the brick building on
the corner is well built and in good con
dition. A heavy holder of realty in the
vicinity said yesterday that all that dis
trict needs is to do away with some of
the cheap buildings that occupy too many
of the best sites and have them replaced
with substantial modern structures. Then,
lie said, there will be a steady moving
southward of the better class of busi
ness houses.
The sale last week by Dr. Cornelius
of the 50x50 corner at First and Oak was
considered by the trade as only a fair
price for the property, which was $26,000.
Of course the building is not particularly
Important, though the foundations were
put in to carry a four-story building. Dr.
Cornelius owned the property about 18
months and sold it at a good advance.
Page Place Taken by Flnley.
Another deal of the past week attracted
considerable attention, being that of the
purchase of the old Judge Page property
on the southwest corner of Sixth and
Salmon streets. Arthur I. Flnley Is the
purchaser and the consideration was $40,
000. E. T. Ames was the former owner.
There are two dwellings on the site,
which is 66x100. and when the leases ex
pire on the houses they are to be demol
ished and a modern four-story building
erected.
J. P. Finley said last night that the
present intention is to build an under
taking establishment on the new site and
that, as it Is on the shady side of the
street, the premises are admirably
adapted for that purpose. The building
now occupied by the undertaking firm
Is under lease, which will expire before
a great while, and when the new build
ing is ready the old establishment will
move.
Purchase of the First-street property
by W. H. Grace, of Baker City, a few
days ago suggested to one of the promi
nent brokers in conversation yesterday a
topic that was being discussed by other
dealers as well. Said he :
Out-of-Town People Interested. '
"I look for an active inquiry from
residents of Eastern Oregon and down
the Valley for Portland investments
from now o.n into the coming Fall.
Last season's grain crop was a bumper
one and our farmers found themselves
in possession of surplus funds after the
grain was bought and paid for. Now,
It happened that the banks of the state
were in need of funds about that time
and offered inducements to the farm
ers to allow their deposits to remain
in the banks.
"When this season's crop is disposed
of it is not probable the banks will
care to receive the farmers' deposits
on the same terms as last year. The
natural consequence will be that much
of this surplus money will seek invest
ment here, where a much higher rate
s " '
1
k
--laMiifc nwMMfciaiiiii lMfcwMMMiwi-iiiMiMiiiiiiiiiitrifir-1- - -"irrtjrtmtirtTMriifTirnTt" r
of interest is assured than is possible
in the interior towns.
. "As an instance, say a man owns a
town property in one of the smaller
places that cost him $10,000 to $15,000.
If he can get rentals that will net him
4 or 5 per cent he is usually satisfied.
"When he finds that by investing say
double that amount in Portland rent
ing property and can receive 8 to 10
per cent he is more than likely to be
interested. Again, if he finds that by
investing a like amount to that he has
in the country, in building lots in
Portland suburbs he stands an excel
lent chance of doubling his money In
a few months, that also will attract his
favorable attention.
"The fact is, right today there are
large holdings of Portland realty in
the hands of investors from other
places in Oregon and I confidently ex
pect much more to be taken this
year."
TELDS OP CITY'S DILEMMA
Isadore Lang Explains Faults in
Charter Provisions.
Isadore Lang, member of the Park
Board, presided at the lecture delivered
by R. H. Thomson Thursday night, and
in his opening remarks referred to a
recent trip to Eastern cities to observe
street conditions and particularly park
systems.
"I found," said Mr. Lang, "the most
marked improvement and most liberal
policy In Kansas City of any of the cities
I visited. That city has 250 miles of well
paved streets and has spent $8,000,000 on
park systems. Realty values have in
creased to an enormous extent following
these improvements. Olmsted's statis
tics giving the park acreage as to popu
lation places Portland well down the
list, for this city has 900 population to
each acre of parks.
"The city charter Is to blame for our
slowness in improving the streets and
extending our park system. Under the
present charter petition may be made to
the Council to have one street or part
of a street paved. That results in patch
work. The people voted in favor of the
district plan of street paving and for a
bond issue to cover an enlarged scheme
of public parks. A, contest was insti
tuted in the courts to test the validity
of the bond issue and the contest sus
tained. After 10 months of inactivity
on the part of the city officials the case
finally reached the Supreme Court, where
it rests at present.
"This city has outgrown the small
town class and we should be looking
around for an engineer of the Thomson
experience and attainments. Our pres
ent City Engineer Is a good honest man,
but he has not had experience in hand
ling big propositions such as confront
Portland today. The salary fixed by our
charter Is entirely Inadequate. It should
be made $5000 or $6000, so that we might
secure the services of a man who can
command that salary."
The Star Brewery's famous Hop Gold
beer is unexcelled in all respecta and is
highly recommended for Its strength and
health-giving qualities. Orders for bot
tled beer receive prompt attention.
Phone Bast 46. Home phone B 1146.
Spring styles Hanan shoes at Rosenthal's.
w??!
VSw s-
TELLS OF FAULTS
R. H. Thomson Makes Friendly
Criticism of Portland.
TALKS ON STREET WORK
Lecture Under Auspices of Realty
Board on Condition of Roadways
Here Results in Awakening
of Leading' Citizens.
BY JOHN J AX HARRISON".
R. H. Thomson's address before an
audience of several hundred of Portland's
heaviest realty owners, bankers, mer
chants, lawyers, city officials, brokers
and dealers in real estate, students of
municipal government and representative
citizens generally, on last Thursday
night, has already borne fruit, Isadore
Lang, who presided at the meeting in the
Empire Theater, has issued an Invitation
addressed to C. F. Swigert, Whitney L.
Boise, Samuel T. Lockwood, J. R. Weth
erbee, "W. D. Wheelwright, R. L. Glisan,
E. L. Thompson, C. S. Jackson, J. N.
Teal, EL B. Piper, John F. Carroll,
Adolphe Wolfe, Herman Wittenberg, C.
K. Henry, W. J. Clemens and T. B. Wil
cox to meet as a committee to formulate
some plan to start on the work of im
proving the condition of the streets of the
city. The committee Is to meet at the
Commercial Club Tuesday, June 16, at 8
P. M.
Mr. Thomson, who has accomplished
much in the way of making Seattle's
streets approach the line of perfection in
certain districts of that city, was un
sparing of Portland In his criticism of
the number of poorly laid pavements and
"village methods" seen employed in some
of the best districts of the city. It Is
Mr. Lang's Idea to meet this criticism by
having the committee act on the sugges
tions offered by the speaker, and ascer
tain if this city cannot make some move
in the direction of overcoming the lack
of local pride, which is charged with
being responsible for the poor work done.
One matter that will be taken up is the
delay in having the recently voted bond
issue considered and Its validity passed
upon. The lecturer made a strong point
in comparing the way funds are raised
and expended in Seattle and here. He
explained that when the Board of Works
in his city decided that an Improvement
suggested was for the good of the greater
number, both in the way of providing
better facilities for getting about and in
enhancing the value of realty, small ob
stacles were swept aside and the work
was started and finished before the
"croakers" realized what was going on.
And with that everybody concerned had
a full and fair opportunity to be heard
for and against the proposed improve
mmmm
"if
' ,
ment, and if objection was reasonable
the plans would be altered. If the objec
tions were trivial they were swept aside
and the work would proceed. This man
ner of conducting the work, he said, re
sulted in having new streets cut through
big hills, fills made, grades established
and a uniform scheme of street paving
carried out.
He was careful in his address to avoid
advocating any particular kind of paving,
explaining that the sort best suited to
any locality was agreed upon and mere
experiments were passed by. Mr. Thom
son said he had visited nearly all the
principal cities in the older countries and
had made careful study of the materials
used in street-making, and from this in
vestigation had come to the conclusion
that all materials wood, asphalt, brick,
granite blocks, etc. had their uses if
honestly provided and honestly laid down.
He traced the history of the city of
Berlin from the time of Prince Bismarck
to the present day, and held up that city
as a model for others to work by. He
attributed the rapid growth and impor
tance of the city to its work in providing
canals running through barren lands and
to its perfect sanitation and municipal
pride In making good streets and keeping
them good.
Mr. Thomson inclined strongly to the
use of brick in street-making, and re
ferred to a recent invention of slag brick,
the durability of which he was watching
with interest. Brick paving has been
used In Seattle for 16 years with satis
factory results, but In referring to brick,
he said, no criticism was Intended of
asphalt and wood. Macadam, he re
marked, when covered with a coating of
concrete or cement, does very well for
light traffic. Sandstone Is used, he said,
in Seattle on steep grades.
The lecturer Impressed his audience as
being sure of his ground and absolutely
sincere in his deductions. After saying
that Portland could be made one of the
most beautiful cities in the country, he
added: "That is, if you want it to be,
and it's your own fault if it is not
made so."
"You cannot spend a dollar In better
ments of your streets that will not come
back to you a hundred fold," was an
other statement he made in his most se
rious vein. "A man who won't take
Portland real estate and realize he has
made a good bargain Is an undesirable
cftizen."
Mr. Thomson has the rare quality of
taking what is ordinarily a dull subject
and presenting his facts and figures in a
way to make them interesting as well as
Instructive. Through his address he
treated technical subjects In a way that
no one could fall to understand, and his
citing of examples of engineering feats
he had accomplished was done so mod
estly that they appeared to be mere
everyday routine.
Besides being an accomplished engineer,
he Is an accomplished speaker, and when
at the conclusion of his address he dis
played stereopticon views on a screen on
the stage, he kept his hearers no less in
terested in the visible examples of what
had been accomplished in many cities In
the way of public improvements than he
kept them laughing at his brilliant com
ments in a humorous vein.
Members of the Realty Board, under
whose auspices the talented engineer vis
ited Portland, expressed themselves yes
terday as being immensely lmprssed with
the lecture, and said to a man that he
had planted seed in the minds of his
hearers that was sure to produce fruit.
They-said he had trod on the toes of the
1 I .
Illll
s
"rrl r.ti JVf--r,4. f . flii r.
I illiiiiiipiili
m- rri .,-v,M, ,l ..,,T,vrv,.v, f
unprogTessive rather severely, but the
truths he told of Portland's needs are
undeniable, and while they might hurt,
the results are certain to be of lasting
benefit to 'the city.
Local Hotel Company Pays.
In the face of assertions that the hotel
business of Portland is in danger of be
ing overdone comes along the quarterly
dividend of the Hotel Portland of 4 per
cent. On Thursday "the annual meeting
of stockholders was held for the election
of officers, the old board being re-elected,
as follows: Harry L. Corbett, president;
W. C. Alvord, vice-president; C. A. Dolph,
William M. Ladd and Martin Winch. In
Manager Bowers' report he announced
that the Portland is one of few Coast
hotels paying at present, the money
stringency last Fall having had a serious
effect on the business, from which hotels
in other cities' were slow to recover. Only
one period in the hotel's existence was
more profitable than the year Just closed
and that was the Exposition year.
NEW BUILDING BLOCKED
Refusal of License to Hoquiam Ho
tel Stops Progress.
HOQUIAM, Wash., June 13. (Spe
cial.) It i believed by many con
servative business men of the city that
the City Council, in refusing to grant
a liquor license for the new Hoquiam
Trust Company's hotel, which is just
outside the restricted district or li
censes, has- tended to deprive Hoquiam
of many thousands of dollars In pro
posed new structures. Many new build
ing were in project, but now the pro
jectors say they will take their capital
to cities where the Councilmen do not'
combine to defeat the 'city's prosperity.
The Hoquiam Trust Company has ex
pended over $112,000 in building and
equipping an up-to-date hotel and
etore building of reinforced concrete,
and its defeat is much deplored. Fail
ing a bar license, the magnificent
structure will be fitted up as a store
and office building.
It Is still hoped that the present
Council will reconsider its action and
grant the required license, thereby
bringing to Hoquiam a great volume
of transients who now stop in Aber
deen. The Fourth of July.
PORTLAND, June 12. (To the Edi
tor.) The concensus of opinion seems
to favor a quiet Fourt of July In Port
land this year. It Is probably the cor
rect conclusion. The time Is too short
for elaborate preparations-. As a very
fitting reminder of Independence day an
expression of our loyalty and that we re
lease our patriotism from cold storage
would it not be well to Invite Battery A
of the Oregon National Guard to fire a
morning salute of 13 guns and another
at high 12 of 46 guns?
The small expense necessary therefor
could, by action of the proper committee,
be paid from the balance of subscriptions
carried over from last year's celebration.
As one who was active In securing that
fund I feel at liberty to make the sug
gestion. ' J. D. t.-etpi
v yx?
IMPORTANT! BUILDINGS BEING
COMPLETED.
Farm Lands Adjoining Town Cut Up
Into Lots Meet AVlth Good
Sale.
Besides a $10,000 addition to the Mll
waukie schoolhouse and a $10,000 resi
dence being built by J. W. Graslee, the
pioneer town of MUwaukie has two dozen
dwellings under construction at the pres
ent time. Real estate men. Captain F.
Harlow and A. H. Dowling, say that sales
of residence sites are being made every
day, and that not within the past ten
years has there been such a pronounced
progressive movement at Mllwaukle. Part
of the farm of T. R. A. Sellwood was
cut up Into town lots several months ago.
and a large number have already been
sold off to prospective homebuilders.
' On MUwaukie Heights a number of
attractive homes have been built, the
most expensive being that of J. W.
DAVIS & DRENNEN
406-408 East Burnside Street.
Gas and Electric Lighting Fixtures
Sold direct from manufacturer to the consumer the highest quality
at the lowest prices. Do not fail to get our prices.
Fixtures Built to Suit the Home
B. E. DAVIS Phone B 2151, East 591. H. T. DRENNEN
PACIFIC IRON WORKS
O. E. Heintz, Kanager. Phone East 57, Home B 1157.
CASTINGS OF ALL KINDS,
STEEL BUILDINGS AND BRIDGES
IN STOCK 3 to 24-Inch Beams. 4 to 15-Inch Channels.
V2xV2 to 8x8-Inch Angles
East End Buxnside-Street Bridge, - Portland, Oregon, j
5 S
fidHiilniiiiiij
Graslee, which is one of the most
pretentious homes in the state out
side of Portland. The MUwaukie
Water Company will erect a reservoir in
the eastern portion of the town and sup
ply water on the higher levels of the
town. Also it will make extensions of
water mains where needed.
A contract for the completion of the
City Hall has been let to J. M. Snyder,
who put up the building two years ago.
M. Wittee has erected a large pavilion
on his beautiful lake at a cost of $2500,
Lots on the main street of Milwaukie.
which five years ago could not be given
away, are now sold at from $1000 to $1500
and are hard to secure even at these
prices. The lower court has confirmed
the decision of the Railroad Commission
that Mllwaukle shall have a 5-cent fare
with transfer privileges. It Is consid
ered probable the case will be carried
to the Supreme Court. The people of
Milwaukie have contended for a 6-cent
fare for a number of years, and will
continue the fight if the case is appealed.
Return of Prosperity.
TACOMA, WTash., June 13. (Specials
Commencing this week, the Northern Pa
cific shopmen will work six Instead of
five days a week, which means an in
crease of the pay roll of about $5000. There
are now over SOO men In the shops and
the force Is binff gradually increased.
You Save Money
When you purchase your fixtures from us and
then you are also sure of having the best and
most unique fixtures that are ir. Portland. See
our many original ideas in lighting fixtures.
THEM. J. WALSH CO.
Fine line of Lighting Fixtures and Supplies. If
you see them you will buy them.
SALESROOMS Sll STARK, BET. 6th AXD 6th.
BOTH 1" HONKS.
All Kinds of Electrical and Gm Work: Prompt
ly Attended To.