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About The Coos Bay times. (Marshfield, Or.) 1906-1957 | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1907)
,'t. ,-nr;,J pj v.w' imys'' THE DAILY COOS BAY TIMES, MAHSHFIEM, OREGON, TUESDAY, AI'RITi 30; 1007. -- "- FP SEE "fV Mi ft' " r; i i i W: W m ii V 8' . i SOME OBSERVATIONS ON COOS BAY HARBOR CoBuauflkalion Regarding the Much Talked Of Water, front and Railroad Question. t V(By U. C. Dlers.) If we all pull together, make a bet ter harbor, sell cheaper Mel, make cheaper power and .lights, get more puro waterbuild moro now lndust rice, more pleasant homes and elec tric roads, Including railroad termin als, -which all roads can use on equal footing, with wharves to which cau co mo ships ovor tho pathless deep from everytport In the world, than our neighbors do to the north and Eoath of us, surely every railroad, big, small, steam or electric, long or short, will build to our commercial doors. " Railroad builder always build to such harbors, and such only, where there are fewest obstacles to over come, whero tributary resources are unlimited and markets unrestricted Today few peoplo of Coos Bay real ize, -their .vast resources and tho strategic valuo of their position, and many have no conception of it ye. Tho Coos Day aountry was long known for Its virgin forestB, vast soils, splendid summers and mill winters, but Its commercial possibili ties iwoxe not understood. Now tho awakening has begun. Every railway system of importance that Is heading for the Pacific Is bondlne. its, efforts to reach. Coos Bay. Statesmen and empire builders of this country are predicting that Coos Day wlll'bo one of the principal door ways betweon the developed eaBt and tlw riches of the Orient. , The far reaching events which are stirring oriental countries have turned the eyes of tho world in that direction, and commerce' is flooding through thexgatc8 of the Pacific coast. First the Mediterranean, then the Atlantic, but now the Pacific. The gontle Paclflo has beaten out only seven of these gateways worthy to ho sailed harbors: 'San Pedro, Bay of San r Francisco, Humbolt Bay, mouth of the Columbia river, Grays HarPorrand Puglt Sound, with Coos Bay located centerly; three to the north and tho same number to the south of it Between these seven ports will bo divided, the expanding commerce of the western side of tho continent; the wealth which drains from the "Rocky mountains toward the coast must seek these outlets to ,tlle, Orient. With Coos Bay central In position, with hor wealth of forest vast coal fields, minerals, agriculture lands, unlimited water powers, and" "pleas ant climate makes her greater, then simply In being nature's ?rendezvou for ships and locomotives, for she lies, as no port south or north of ber does lie, on the International high way of traffic, where the east and tho west the shortest possible distance in exchanging products. ;Thls busi ness belt, along which traffic flows, following the line of least resistance, extends between Liverpool, New York, Chicago, Coos Bay and Yoko hama. To deflect from this course and go south is to add miles to the crossing of each degree of longitude, lor eacn aegroe ai ine equator is ou miles from the- next, while at the poles they touch. To deflect and go north from this- course is to strike the hard winters and the summer flooding districts of the contlnentt, and fleree stortn centers 6t the,Pa clflc ocean. The long distance to the ports south, natures obstacles handicap ping the ports to the north, makes Coos Bay's shortness of distance an Inalienable advantage which will play an ever Increasing part In the hlBtory of Its development. In the ingredients which are to be used in building a large city on Cooe Bay the source of resources and the reliability of tho supply and proxim ity and capacity of markets must be considered. In addition to these the method of transportation between them must be taken into account. Commerce Is production, transpor tation Is distribution. The laws of production and distribution now days are made a science. Ralph Waldo Emmerson defies commerce as carry ing things from where they are plen tiful to whero they are needed. Transportation companies competing for these things between tho two points, for self preservation, will seek the lines of least resistance 1 struck between these points, and I whenever that line falls Into the net work of an absolute monopoly, that moment the place where things are , plentiful and the- place where they aro needed will irresistablo gravitate into the full control of this same monopoly, which means that the price, cost of manufacturing, of carrying and of purchase will be dictated by this one concern. A study of the great seaports of the world shows that the commercial, financial and social center Is always on the shores of the Inner harbor and that the western side of tho port Is the side of natural growth.' In the Inner harbor on the western side of Coos Bay has existed through all these centuries, a spot combining the Ideal qualification for a great city. Into the basin at its feet drain rivers and inlets, each a self appoint ed roadway to deliver the endless lumber, agriculture and mineral wealth stored in the vast tributary country. But although tho match less harbor is here, ready to be fed from the fertile valleys that inter lace through miles of richest terri tory, although the ports of the world are ready to secure the wealth with which this land is teeming, one ele ment Is lacking to the building of a great city, and that Is the meeting of the sails. and the rails. When that Is accomplished we will then see ar dent enthusiasm go into the build ing of a modern twentieth century city on the shores of .Coos Bay. But we must be careful and not permit any one powerful railroad corpora tion use Its grasping claws and strangle this infant city while yet in the cradle, and being nursed by those who have the foresight to see that in the very near future this infant will develop into a giant. So the question before the people of Coos Bay today 13; shall we let one railroad corpora tion control this harbor' against all its competitors? Did anyone ever stop to figure in' money the value of a harbor? Seattle, Tacoma, Port land, San Francisco and Atlantic seaport cities have property the val uo of which runs into hundreds of millions of dollars and some run into a billion. Let some accident befall any one of these ports that would close the harbor entrance to Navigation and value in those tall skyscrapers would slump so sudden that it would even daze tho most pessimistic bear on the slock exchange. Let some on rail road corporation control tho shipping In any of these ports arid It would own all the property- in' that city. Let one railroad control Cqos Bay and It will own all tho vast forests, immense coal fields, precious metal mines arid farms that are tributary to. this port. The vnlued that we can figure up on the Vast resources which are trib utary to Coos Bay, which can be run far lrito the hundreds of million dollars' are not in those resources, but in the Coos Bay harbor, there fore Coos Bay is just as rich in its harbor as any other harbor on the Pacific or Atlantic coast. On account of it being free to all we give a har bor no financial reconlng for the reason that tho sea Is tho one great highway where the cities qn these harbors all stand on an equal foot ing. So long as these harbors are not monopolized they aro all at the one dead level of' competition. The harbors that are' not monopolized are never way' stations on this great highway. Each ono is a terminal and each enjoys equal transporta--tion facilities with tho other. This axiom holds good as. far as ocean freights are concerned. So long as Coos Bay is not controlled by one railroad corporation, so long It will hot be an isolated seaport. But let It be bottled by ono railroad, and we will have an Isolated seaport. The moment we permit one rail road to absolutely control the water front of Coos Bay that same moment wo become powerless and will be forced to hand over' to this monopoly our vast resources which aro tribu tary to this port. To be more ex plicit the Coos Bay country has over fifty billion feet of timber, which must pass through this port while going to Its destination, tho ports of the world, at one million feet to the vessel it will require 50,000 vessels to transport this timber. Five vessels a day would take forty years to transport it. Then we have the coal, the mineral and farm products and merchandise to be transported, all this, will practically be owned by the one railroad If permitted to control the water front of Coos Bay. So the' question for the people of Coos Bay to decide Is: are they going to let one railroad control the water front and through It control all the vast resources tributary to It? Leases. Johnson Lumber company to Charles Gage, lease to East half section 35, Township 27, S. R. 14 W. Richard Thrush to Johnson Lum ber company, right of way lease to right of way in section 3, To,wnship 28, 3. R. 14 W. The Steamer M. F. PLANT Cniic tnf fsnn Prnnciscb Tuesday. Anril sn I F.S DOW Agent I MARSH FIELD, : : : OREGON Khhohri The Steamer BREAKWATER Sails for San Francisco direct Saturday, Apii 27th, at 10 a. m. For freight and passage apply to C. F. Mel COLLUM. ir THE CITY OF COOS BAY ON THE MAINLAND In Full View of Marshfield Plat B And North Bend Where Rail and Sail Will Meet It will pay you to inspect this New Townsitc It Has: One and one half miles water front. 150 acres tideland sites for mills and factories. On deep water-east channel of Coos River, 3000 platted lots size 25x120. Streets 100 feet and 66 feet wide alleys 20 feet, LOTS 35.00 TO $350.00 Take our launch. Coos Bay Townsite Co. N. "P. THRONE, Sec, Marshfield, Ore. Of ficeOpposite Central Hotel - Marshfield, Oregon i Jk 'llfe B KB . r .&! 1' ' ' ''. ' ' J .'" THAT EAST MARSHFIELD PROPERTY IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME-Homeseeker - " SEE W. U. DOUGLAS, Pres. . W. J. RUST, Sec. And all Real Estate Dealers. I . ,;-, i "f '. -. .Hfv ,Hf. J East Marshfield Land Co