The Sunday Oregonian., February 18, 1912, SECTION FIVE, Page 8, Image 64

THE SUNDAY OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY IS. 1912.
THE DALLES IS THE TRADE CENTER FOR THRIVING DISTRICT
Historic City of Early Pioneer Days Growing Rapidly Into Town of Metropolitan Pretensions.
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8T ADPISOV BEXXETT.
THE DALLES. Or, Feb. 17. Sp
clmL) Wasco County la on of
the proprou countlea In Ore
aron. and baa lnr the first aettlereent
of th atatr. brn an Important iia
trlct: while the county at. The Pallea.
baa for more than 70 years played an
Important part In the development of
"the Orecon country." Even when
Lewis and Clark came down the Co
lumbia In the dawn of the last century
they found at The Palles an Indian
trad In point of murh moment In the
barter of the r' l.'ltins.
It haa been frequently said that In
trenr respects The lallea Is the most
unique city In the country If unique
Is a cond word to use In telllns; of the
wonderful trade the city has at tlmrs
controlled. For many years It was the
most Important wheat market In the
Northwest, and for many more years
It was the largest raw wool market In
the I'nited Ftatea. In those days the
buyers came here from all parts of the
country after the fleeces, and It was
not uncommon to aee a score or mora
buyers here at one time.
City Lea a Trade Tester.
And for many years this was the
outfitting point, the entrepot for a
Tast empire. Here the first" steam
boats 'to ply on the I'pper Columbia
were built, and when the icoM excite
ment broke out In Idaho, all of the
people and supplies rushed to their re
ctn rataed throuch and. paid their
tribute to The Dalles.
For years It dominated the trade of
all Eastern Orecon. Kastern Washing
ton, all of Idaho and larae portions of
Montana, Wyoming and I'tah. In those
days, or a little later. It waa no un
common sight to see freight teams ar
riving here from polnta 100 and 40
mllea away. And aa a postoffire. it
supplied a territory murh larger than
New Kngland. In my travels In Kast
ern Oregon and Idaho yes. even down
Jn Nevada I have heard the old set
tler tII of the days when they bad
to send to The Pallra for their mall.
I wonder If people would believe
iitma of the steamboat stories told
bre. and told by those who knowT
Would they, could they believe that
one of the early boats of R. K. Thomp
son left ths wharf here for the t'pper
Columbia country with a load of
freight and passenzera paying almost
twice the cost of the boat? One of
those In the office of Mr. Thompson
)iere In those days says that almost
10.00 waa taken aa the passenger
and freight receipts on on of those
memorable tripe.
But I did not come here to delve Into
ancient history. The Dalles la not one
of those places living In the past. I
Imply give the above facta to show
tlvat this la and always baa been the
logical place for a great business mart.
But the people are living for the pres
ent and the future, building, lmprnv
tng. beautifying and making a splen
did modern city.
firewt fiesjerale Tee ta Past.
Of course, they like to think of the
old days: like to tell of man of the
happenings of long ago; like to dwell
oa the days when Grant waa at the
Army post here; talk of rhll Sheridan,
and show where these two men. who
later cut such a large figure In the
world's history, got murh of their
early experience. But they are mora
prone to talk of the present and pic
ture the future.
Tha county of Wasco, which was
once larger than New England, baa
been cut and carved and whittled by
Legislature after Legislature. and
finally sliced up by the taking off of
Hood River County through tha In
itiative, until It now baa a land sur
face of about JJ41 square miles, or
approximately a million and a half
acres. It Is thus ISlh In area among
Oregon counties. It la practically the
same else aa Linn. But Linn haa IK..
IX arree In cultivation, wbile Wasco
has but 1T1.0S1.
In point of population. Wasco ranks
i:th. but It only beats I'nlon by Hi.
and Clatsop by 1)0. The averaee also
of the farms In Linn la Ml acres: In
Wasrn, 414 acres. Among the farm
products of the county last year there
were &7 bushels of corn. T0.7S7 bush
els of oats. 714.J5S bushels of wheat.
1I.5$ bushels of barley. M.S71 bushela
of potatoes, and 11.000 tons of hay.
Lead Meawarrea Bleb.
Home of the very best wheat land In
the state Ilea In tha central portion
of the county and adjacent there la
raised aa good fruit as any produced
In the West. Around Dutur. some 20
mllea south of The Dalles, and Moeler.
14 rallea east, lust aa fine apples aa
were ever eaten are grown, and the
area recently planted In commercial
orchards near those places ought to
make them rank among the famous ap
ple sections of the state. For cherries
there la no place on earth where the
Royal Anne and Blng coma nearer
perfection than on the hills Just south
of The Dalles and around Hosier, and
the number of young trees Just com
ing Into bearing will make this crop
one of the most Important Industries
In tha county. In addition to the ap
pies snd cherries, there are great
many prunes grown, perhsps a hun
dred carload a year being shipped
from Toe L'allce depot. And a good
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many carloads of aa fine pears and
peachea as were ever eaten.
Aa for tomatoes and other garden
products, melons and berries, celery
and cauliflower, the people of that
section are heavy shippers to the Tort
land market. And the farmers of the
Interior of the rounly sed aa good
hogs, sheep and cattle to the Tort
land stockyards as any other section
of the Northwest.
Taking the county as a whole, ais
Ing the people up outside of the towns,
there are no more prosperous cltlsens
anywhere than In good, old Wasco
County. As a rule the farmers are out
of debt, carry good bank accounts, live
well, have their children in good
schools, msny of them going to and
fro In their automobiles over fine
roads.
All of the roads In the county are
not of the best, but gradually tha main
thoroughfares are being brought to
grade and macada mixed, and many fine
bridges span the streams, with as good
gradea on some of the hills, such as
that at Tygh Mountain and from the
Deachutea up to the flats back of Mau
pln, aa can be found In the West. Tha
county haa been very fortunate In
always having Ita finances well ad
ministered: consequently the county is
out of debt and the taxes very low.
Knelt la otsfcle.
Thus much of the county; now a
word about The Dalles. In 100 tha
city bad a population of 1541; by the
census of 110 It had grown to 40.
a gain of 111. Only four towns, In the
state showed a larger growth, and In
each of thess cases, aside from Tort
land, the Increase came about through
other than natural causes.
Between The Dallea of 100 and Tha
Dalles of 111 there Is a vaat differ
ence. Looking bark to that time and
comparing the placa on tho two
dates, we find that no placa In tha
tale, aside from Portland, haa taken
on mora city airs, haa emerged from
village to city In appearance Ilka Tha
Dallea. This la noticeable as much in
tha appearance of the buildings as In
tha Improvements of the streets. No
city In tha state haa Its streets better
Improved; no city outside of Portland
baa more of a metropolitan appearance,
none has better buildings. And the
most of this has been done since the
census was taken. The new hotel, one
of the finest In Oregon outelde of Tort
land, the magnificent Kike- building, the
splendid M.isonlc building and the First
National Hank building all of these
have been constructed during the last
year or so. The City Hall should be
spoken of with the new structure, for
It waa erected but a short time ago.
It Is one of the finest municipal build
ings In the atate.
Mew a-tatloei A red.
One of the eye. sores to tha people of
The Dallea has been the railway station
and surroundings of the O.-W. It. ft N.
railway, not that the railway people
are to blame, nor the people of The
Dalles. But clrcumstancea have not
been auspicious for relocating tha site,
and until that was done It was not
wise to put up a new building. Now.
however, there is to be a new and
handsome structure erected at once,
the s'te being over what was until re
cently Mill Creek. In the west end of
town. This will be one of the greatest
Improvements ever made In the town.
Right to the south of It will be the
new Federal building, the new hotel
Just to the west of this, and the other
edifices mentioned In close proximity.
Tassengers passing through the city,
or embarking or disembarking, will
thus be able to see some of the best of
the place Instead of a couple of rowa
of shacks, as st present.
One of tee greatest institution of j
The - Dalles for many years has been
the large mill of tho Wasco Ware
house Milling Company, which has
long stood as a landmark In the east
end of town. On July 31 last this mill
was destroyed by fire, the station of
the Great Southern railway belnsr de
stroyed at the same time, the total loss
being well up to a quarter of a million
dollars. A new depot building has
been erected on the site of the one de
stroyed and a. new mill Is rapidly Ap
proaching completion where the old
one stood. This new mill will hare a
capacity of IS00 barrels of flour a day.
In Its construction wood has been prec
tlcally discarded, only Iron and con
crete being used. The six great con
crete tanks for storing grain will hold
260.00O bushels. It is hoped to have
the mill in operation by the 1st of May,
and the company haa nearly 200 car
loads of grain awaiting Ita completion.
Most of the output, that Is aside from
the local trade, finds Ita way across the
ocean.
Banks Are Thriving.
No article about The Dalles would
be complete without say In a; a word
about the banks, French Co. and the
First National. The former, of course,
haa behind It the great estates of the
Frenches, making It one of the strong
est In tho state. The latter, a newer
concern, has been one of the most suc
cessful financial Institutions in the
West. The new bank building of this
concern is one of the finest in the state.
It has cost the bank, completed entire,
a little less than $77,000. It Is said
that French & Co. will soon erect a
new 'ink building, their present quar
ters lelns; entirely too small.
There are two i?ood newspapers at
Tho Dalles. Tho Dallea Optimist and
The Dalles Dally Chronicle. The Op
timist Is a weekly. I might say it has
always been a "derned" good pafcer and
only voice the sentiments of a few ot
my friends; I might say It never was
any good and echo the cuss words oth
ers have breathed against both the
paper and Its former editor. However.
Henry Cue Is now the sole "it" of the
Optitrlst, and he will no doubt greatly
Improve It. The Evening Chronicle Is
quite n old established paper. It also
issues a weekly edition, which has a
large circulation throughout the
county.
City Has Fine Store.
The people of The Dalles ha.ve al
ways had good reason to feel proud of
the commercial houses of their city.
Two of the finest department stores In
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the state are there. The F. C. Pes.20
Company, conducting or.e and A. M.
Williams & Co. the other. The
hardware store of the Walther
WlllLams Co. Is one of the finest in Ore
gon, perhaps has a larger store and
larger stock than any other In the state
outside of Portland.
As to the other lines, such as drugs,
groceries, implements, restaurants in.
fact, every class of business iV repre
sented In a metropolitan way.
No article pertaining to The Dalles
would be complete without a word of
encouragement to Samuel L. Brooks.
The Dalles weather "prophet." For
nearly 40 years, long outdatlng the
present Weather Bureau of the Gov
ernment, Mr. Brooks has taken his
dally observations and recorded them,
until he has one of the finest and most
complete and authentic records of the
kind in the country. This has been a
labor of love with Mr. Brooks, and he
is entitled to more credit than I can
give him In such a brief notice. I can
only briey say that his labors are ap
preciated by all who know of his life's
work. Mr. Beals. the Portland weather
forecaster, says the Brooks records are
the superior of any others In the Unit
ed States.
A word about the orchards near The
Dalles. By a report Just completed by
Judd S. Fish, secretary of the Busi
ness Men's Association, there are trees
in the district extending three miles
east, five miles south and five miles
west to the following number: apri
cots, 5529; cherries, 44,733; peaches. 37.
257: prunes, 14,121: apples, 37,525;
pears, 798 and 84 acres of grapes. Re
member this does not take In the fruit
districts of Upper Mill Creek, Dutch
Flat. Mosier. Ortley or Dufur. About
one-half of the above trees are over 3
years old. About 30.000 of them were
set out last year, and perhaps as many
will be set out this year. So you can
see The Dalles will be somewhat of a
fruit district when the people get fair
ly started in that direction.
"SPOKANE'S HELEN GOULD" WORRIES
OVER MATRIMONIAL ENTANGLEMENT
Margaret Ajmstrong-HoweU Continues in Attempt to Have Wedding Annulled Ex-Senator Clark, of Montana,
Lays Cornerstone of $200,000 Home in Memory of Mother Green Wards Off Leap Year Proposals.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17. (Special.)
Tha latest development In the
unusual romance and legal se
quence Involving Margaret Armstrong
Howell, called the "Helen Gould of
Spokane," and George Howell, who.
she charges, hypnotised her Into mar
riage, came thla week when the bride
groom filed an answer to court pro
ceedings begun by the bride of a day.
Mrs. Howell la seeking to have John
S. Steely appointed bar guardian, as a
preliminary step In having the wed
ding annulled. '
According to Howell, his wife haa
been estranged from him through the
Influence of her relatives and friends.
He endeavored to effect a reconcilia
tion, he says, but falling In that, of
fered to accept a financial settlement,
according to the papers Just filed.
Howell, who admits having been mar
ried three times previously to the cere
mony at San Diego. November 2, 1911.
which Mrs. Howell la asking to have
annulled, enters general and specific
denials to the allegations in Mrs. How-
ell s petitions.
. He declares there bad been six years
of friendship before he went from
Helena. Mont, to Spokane, at her re
quest, to manage her flower store. He
denies that he planned to marry her
for her property, but says she agreed
t i marry him if he found a purchaser
for her store. He says he found a
ItO.000 puchaser. while the atock In
voiced only 11500. He further says
Miss Armstrong, whom he praises ss an
"astute business woman." wanted to
Have Spokane for the wedding to avoid
the Interference of so-called rrlends,
and with her consent he accompanied
her to Los Angeles, and but for her
relstlves here the ceremony would
have taken place In Los Angeles. He
declares she was in full possession
of her faculties when signing an ap
plication for tha marriage license and
at the ceremony, and he blames her
Los Angeles relatives for her present
attitude toward him.
feaboba Iadlaa Passes.
With the death of Rosarlo Oslo at
San Jacinto, the last member of the
family of Vlctorlano, last hereditary
chief of the Saboba Indians, passed
cut of existence. Rosarlo Oslo was the
only daughter of the old chief, and
there was no one upon whom his rank
coulil be conferred at his death, after
which his people began the election of,
captains.
Thirty yeara ago Rosarlo Oslo was a
remarkably handsome Indian woman,
and carried herself like a queen. Her
manners were gracious, and her hospi
tality attracted every one who came In
contact with her. It was this quality
In ber that drew Helen Hunt Jackson
to her very closely when Mrs. Jackson
was In San Jacinto gathering material
for Raraona, She waa also considered
the best needlewoman in Saboba. and
among Mrs. Jackson's most highly
prised pieces of Indian needlework
were a sheet and pillowcase worked by
Rosarlo Oslo.
After the death of the chief, at 120
years of age. the daughter homestead
ed her old home, and In doing so gave
up her tribal relations. A year ago
this month the historic home property
was purchased by an Eastern man.
and now on the site where the old
chief formerly held his councils a mod
ern bungalow Is In course of construc
tion. Famous Captala Dies.
Captain David McLoughlln. who
earned his rank by operating the first
submarine boat ever tried by the
United States Navy, died at theesol
dlera' home here this week, at 83 years
of age. He Is believed to have been
the last survivor of the American flag-
raising at Monterey. CaX, in 184S,
whereby California became a .part of
the United States.
He was born at Bridgeport, Conn.,
and went to sea at an early age. In
the early '40s he came around the
Horn on a whaling boat, the Grampus,
which he left to sign before the mast
on the United States sloop Cayenne. It
was while cruising along the Mexican
coast that Commodore Sloat learned of
the trouble at Monterey and headed for
that point. McLoughlin was a member
of the landing party that ran up the
American colors.
His experiment with the submarine
craft occurred at Philadelphia, In a
boat called the Kancopa, which was
not a success.
Ex-Scaator Clark la Benefactor.
Former United States Senator Will
lam A. Clark, of Montana, copper king,
art connoisseur, railroad owner and
man of great affairs, participated this
week In the ceremony of laying the
cornerstone for the Mary Andrews
Clark home here, Which the Senator
Is building at a cost of 1200,000 as a
memorial to his mother.
The home Is intended for the benefit
of young business women, and when
completed will be conducted by the
young women's Christian Association.
Senator Clark, who controls the Salt
Lake Railroad, says his company inde
pendently will begin on the construc
tion here of a $1,000,000 depot unless
an agreement can soon be reached with
the two other transcontinental rail
roads for the building of a union sta
tion. His plan is to erect the new
depot on the riverbed site now occu
pied by the Salt Lake station.
Seattle Boosts Show.
H. A. Chadwick and H. Z. Edgar, of
Seattle, who are here in the interest
of Seattle's Golden Totlatch, have been
approached by managers of the land
show, to be held here In March, with
a view to having the Seattle people
extend at the land show an invitation
to the population of the South Pa
ciflc Slope to visit the Potlatch festivi
ties.
"Our Golden Potlatch, which is to be
held from July 16 to July 20, will be
the greatest festival Seattle has ever
given," said Mr. Chadwick. "Last year
it drew 150,000 people, and we expect
it will draw many more this year."
"When Hetty Green's son goes trav
eling again and I'm anywhere near his
trail I'm going to head for tall timber.
said Colonel James Green, of El Paso,
Texas, who has been staying at a Los
Angeles hotel this week, while closing
a land deal.
"I've been proposed to four times,
and have dodged twice that many since
Tve been here. You should have seen
the looks on the faces of some of the
young women when I told them I was
Just plain Jim Green, of El Paso, and
got the title of Colonel merely from the
militia.
Colonel Green had not been here four
hours when he received a leap year
proposal over the telephone. Before
he could recover from his surprise he
was waylaid on the mezzanine floor
of the hotel by a woman who had sent
him her card.
"I'm only a poor man." Green said.
"Oh. Colonel Green," she assured him;
'remember your mother."
Then it was he told her that Hetty
Green was not his mother, and her
countenance fell.
Albert Dupont. son of Aime Dupont,
famous New York photographer; Hey
wood Brown, Columbia University stu
dent, whose father is a Gotham attor
ney: Cecil Meltzer, son ot a wealthy
London merchant, and Sidney Francis,
son of Ex-Governor David R. Francis,
of Missouri, arrived in Los Angeles
this week, on a tramp around the
world.
Brown and Meltzer started from
Southampton three months ago, and
reached Boston as stowaways. They
beat their way to Buffalo on freight
trains and again stowed away for Du-
luth. From Duluth they traveled
westward by stealing rides on the
brake-rods and blind ends of express
trains, debouching at Livingstone,
Mont., for a look-in at the Yellowstone
National Park, notwithstanding the
Wintry weather. They traveled over
a part of the park on snowshoes, got I
lost and were saved from death by
stumbling upon an Army station.
At Belle View, Idaho, they picked up
Dupont, an old chum of Brown's, and
the three beat their way to Portland.
They walked and stole rides from
Portland to San Francisco, where they
smuggled themselves aboard the
steamer Harvard, as It was sailing for
this port. Here they picked up young
Francis, and the four expect to con
tinue their globe tour together.
Municipal Front Jn Trees.
New York Tribuno.
There Is a town In Germany that
makes money on Its shade trees. Con
sul Thompson writes that In Linden,
adjoining Hanover, the roadside fruit
trees owned by the municipality yielded
this year J4906.- The consul adds:
"This application of the beautiful,
practical and economio possibilities
embraced In the control of such pub
lic property as roads is a fine Illustra
tion of the community thrift of the
German. During the three or four
weeks' period of ripening, sharp-eyed
old watchmen on bicycles patrol the
roads, being particularly active on Sun
days, when the people are out In large
numbers. It is forbidden to pick up
fruit from the ground and to knock
it from the trees is subject to a fine
of 100 marks ($23.80) or more for each
offense. Laws and regulations for the
general good, however, excite such
respect on the part of the German that
cases of theft of fruit from the high
way fruit trees rarely occur."
Streetcar Repartee.
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Mrs. Genthrie, a ladylike lady, was
seated in the trolley car by the s'de of
a perfect stranger (ar. almost perfectly
perfect stranger), who was getting
even by sitting by her side. And so Mrs.
Genthrie, that ladylike imitation, she
says to that stranger, aays she:
"What time is It by your watch,
please?"
And the stranger says he: "I don t
know."
"But you just looked at it," pursued
our heroine.
"I did that," returned the stranger.
But I didn't look at it to see what time
It was. Bless you, no. I looked to see
if the watch waa still there."
You can never tell who is your neigh
bor in a streetcar.
I