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About Ashland tidings. (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 1916)
. - ...., HWABIWH - -. jrtl . ' ' 1 Orsgon Historical Society f!nnii 207 Boeond S "Ashland Grows While Lithia flows' City of Sunshine and flowers Ashland, Oregon, Lilhla Springs "The Carlsbad of America' VOL. XL ASHLAND. OREGON, MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 191 G NUMBER 64 Tidings Oregon Second in New R. R. Mileage Fewer miles of railroad were built In the United States during 1915 than In any other year since 1864, and more miles of railroads were In receivers' hands during the year than ever before, according to railway sta tistics compiled from official sources by the Railway Age Gazette. There have been only three other years since 1858 In which the Increase In railway mileage was less than 1,000 miles, and those were the Civil War years 1861, 1862 and 1864. In 1915 the total miles of new railroad constructed in the United States Were 933 as compared with 1,532 in 1914 and 3,071 in 1913. The largest mileage of new road in one state was built in Pennsylvania, which constructed 98 miles. Oregon was second with 83 miles, and Wash ington third with 71 miles. Eleven states built no new road at all. Can adian roads built 718 miles of new track as compared with 1,978 in 1914, while In Mexico 36.5 miles were built as against none recorded for 1914. Oregon makes a good showing for the past year, but should far eclipse the amounf of 83 miles of newly con structed railroad, In 1916. The Coos Bay road will be completed, the Grants Pass-Coast railroad will add a few miles of track, the Roseburg railroad to the proposed sawmills will probably be well along, and there Is an Imminent possibility of the Strahorn eastern Oregon railroad being partly built during the year. I & WHAT YOU CAN DO . A XI) WHAT YOU CAN'T I'NDKK "DRY" LAWS OF THREE STATES. 3 WASHINGTON. w ! If you want to get liquor you Q ? must go to the office of the J 3 county clerk In person, swear to J $ an affidavit and secure a per- S mit. ? You must send the permit to $ 3 a liquor dealer outside the state J 5 and he must paste It on the J i package of liquor which he S 3 ships you. S $. You must not have shipped to ? $ you more than two quarts of $ 3 strong liquor nor more than 24 $ s quarts of beer In any period of 3 30 days. . . $ OREGON. 4 3 ' You must order liquor from 5 outside the state and it must be S S delivered to you In person. ? On delivery you must sign an 3 3 affidavit which is later kept on $ file in the county clerk's office. $ You must not receive more 3 5 than two quarts of strong liquor $ nor more than 24 quarts of beer in any period of four weeks. S t IDAHO. 3 This Is the only "dry-as-a- $ $ bone" state of the three. The ? 3 Idaho law prohibits the manu- 8 facture and sale, and also the S ? receipt In the state of any in- $ $ toxicating liquor. 8 J . Fewer Rod and Gun Licenses in 1915 For one or some of several reasons the sportsman with rod and reel and gun did not pay In the usual amount of license money during the year 1915 for hunting and fishing licenses. Either many have been too busy try ing to make ends meet, or doing nothing, to hunt or fish, or have not had the required dollar, or the Hub bard shooting episode and other oc currences have satisfied the hunters and fisheremen that a license is un necessary. Despite the open seasons on pheas ants and gray squirrels and the con sequent increase in the number of gunners, the number of licenses fell off. County Clerk Gardner has a record of 2,595 licenses issued to gunners, 2,031 to fishermen, three to non residents and 249 combination licenses. The fees paid in for those purposes amount to $5,154. This total shows a decrease of $1,211 from last year's receipts. It Is $1,447 less than for the year 1913. There were 83 old soldiers' licenses Issued during the year. On them no charge is made. The great decrease in fishing licenses is easily explainable in that the Rogue river, the principal fishing stream of the county, which is usual ly a fisherman's delight, was almost devoid of fish this year. The fisher men state that this is due to the commercial fishing at the mouth of the Rogue. The commercial fisher men, get practically all of the fish which come Into the river. The sportsmen of this part of the state are up in arms against the commer cial fishermen and expect do secure legislation which will give the upper valley one of its best assets, an ac cessible river with the best fishing on the coast. Electric Company Rushes Work on Dam The California-Oregon Electric Power Company, who are supplying electric current, wholesale, to the city of Ashland, has a force of men working night and day on Its dam at Copco, Cal., on the Klamath river, in an endeavor to get all of the work above the high water mark before the spring rains cause the river to rise. This . dam will he an Important piece of engineering and will form an Immense lake of hundreds of acres, covering some valuable farms the company" purchased from the resi dents. It Is estimated the entire cost of the work will be in the neighbor hood of a million dolalrs. The company is going into the wholesale manufacture of current on an immense scale and intends to en large their plant to meet the demands of all of northern California and southern Oregon as necessary. Elec tric motors are fast taking over the burden of pumping water for Irriga tion, running mills and all of the oth er labors formerly periormea Dy steam. County Court Fixes 1915 Tax Levy At 14 Mills After Making Changes A committee from the Jackson County Taxpayers' League formulat ed a report regarding the proposed county court's budget, submitted their report to the directors of the league, who in turn presented It to the county court. The report Is printed herewith. A numlfer of citi zens and members "of the league ap peared before the meeting of the county court Thursday and pressed changes In the proposed budget. The court" received all suggestions with good grace, and whenever the reduc tions or changes were deemed feas ible, made them. The total levy re mains at 14 mills as advertised, but several funds were red iced and the amounts put in the. road fund, which For indigents not at poor farm $9,000.00 The law requires a county health officer with a salary of about $400. It Is necessary to have a county phy sician, and the salary until recently has been $35 or $40 per month. This committee approves the decision of the county court In consolidating the officers of county physician and county health officer In one Individ ual, but the committee objects to said person being superintendent of the county farm. It is recommended that the salary of said physician health officer be fixed at not more than $50 per month, as a very proper compensation for services your com mittee understand are ordlnarllv was raised from $39,000 to $70,000, rendered by such physician-health but which is still short of the amount raised for roads last year, 'nvestlga tion of the taxpayers' committee re vealed the fact that many of the county expenditures are fixed by state law and out of control of the county court: Medford, Ore., Dec. 28, 1915. officer. Douglas county is paying $33 for the same service. It Is further recommended that the present efficient assistant superin tendent (Mr. Wells) or some one equally competent be made superin tendent of the farm at a salary of $1,000, thus effecting a saving of To the Taxpayers' League of Jackson over $1,000 on the present plan. County, Ore.: Gentlemen: Your special commit tee of nine appointed to consider and investigate the published budget upon which the proposed 14-mill county tax levy for the next year Is based, reports as follows: Your committee, after carefully reviewing the budget, Invited the county officials to meet with the cpmmlUpn In order to furnish such Information as might be desired by the committee upon any Items of the budget.' With the exception of the county court, each county official re sponded to the Invitation and very frankly, courteously and satisfactor ily gave facts and details In reply to every inquiry made by the commit- The information furnished Is that the number of inmates in the county home ranges from 27 to 31. On the basis of 30 the total expense of the farm averages $300 per Inmate per year, being $25 per month, whereas the state expense, we understand, averages approximately $13 per month, while In Douglas county $15 per month and no county farm. The rpfllntennnce costs In money $300 per year per inmate, not including the salary list.' The preseent farm Is taid to com prise about 27 acres, the greater por tion being f-rtile, of which over half Is bottom :and, rich and well wa tered. . The committee believes a practical tee. V sunerfntendent can raise much mnre Your special ctfmm'ttee. as far asj0f the food products needed for the Inmates of the county home and save correspondingly of present outlay for maintenance the $200 per inmate. Therefore, your committee specif kMj suggests that this matter be urged upon the county court with a view of more reasonable economy In the handling of county funds in con nection with the county farm. In the absence of an opportunity to take up with the county court mat cers relating to county expenditure, it now understands the facts, calls attention to certain Items In the bud get, and makes recommendations in connection therewith, as follows: County Indigents. The county farm expense, estimat ed In budget, is: Superintendent (physician and health officer) and assistant '..$2,800.00 Maintenance of farm and hospital 6,000.00 Council Expresses Its Appreciation Resolutions and thanks to the various councllmen and city officials were offered at the final 1915 meet ing of the city council last Thursday as follows; "Resolved, that we, In this the final meeting of this council, hereby express our appreciation of the long term of service which has been ren dered by Mr. Cunningham covering eight years of hard and faithful work In the city's behalf. "He has at all times used his high ability and his best efforts In for warding the city's welfare, and we wish him those valuable blessings of health and friendship so desirable to all. "We hereby pledge our friendship to our official associate, Mr. Cun ningham." Mr. Ware moved that "the mayor be thanked by this council for" the ever fair and Impartial manner In which he has at all times generously ruled over the members of this coun cil, as presiding officer, during the past year, and we hereby extend our slncerest best wishes to him for his future years.." It was moved by Mr. Ware that the .council herewith express to Re corder Gillette its appreciation of the courtesy and kindness shown at all times by him, not only to the council members but to the public, and sincerely thank him for the same; and further, that the council expresses Its hearty approval and gratification of the loyalty shown by all the city's regular employes, and the active interest each has taken In the performance of duties, and In the efficiency resulting. Mr. Cunningham offered the fol lowing motion: That the members of the council extend to Mr. Ware their thanks and hearty appreciation of his untiring zeal and active work In behalf of the Interests of the city of Ashland during his term of office as councilman from the third ward. Tubercular poor 150.00 :your committee has no additional in- formation over common knowledge, Total $S, 950.00 'as to the care of indigents outside the county home; but, based upon-expenditures in the several localities of the members of this sub-committee, It Is suspected that, after paying $7,500 for widows' pensions and $2,000 for the county home, it may not require $9,000 more to care for Indigents outside of the home. Therefore, It Is recommended that the county court be urged lo again consider this Item of $9,000. Your sub-committee also believes the keep ing by or for the county court of a Governor Praises Ashland Girls The publicity department sent marked copies of the Issue of the Tid ings that contained reproductions of the letters written by the winners In the high school contest to Governor Withycombe, J. A. Churchill, state superintendent of Instruction, editors of the Portland papers, Southern Pa cific officials and other prominent men. Governor Withycombe acknowl edge receipt of the paper by writing the following Bplendid letter to the manager of the department, in which he sends his personal congratulations to the winners of the three prizes of fered in the contest: "My Dear Mr. Duryea: I note In a 'copy of the Ashland Tidings the. very excellent letters written by tha wfnncrs of the letter-writing contest recently held in your high school. It speaks well for the intelligence and enterprise of your girls that three ot them should carry off the first prizes, and I desire to congratulate Miss Mil lion, Miss .Mat lies and Miss De Carlo. This Is splendid advertising for any community, and on the other hand It is extremely worth while for tha boys and girls of our towns to learn to expres ' themselves and to have some intimate knowledge of the re sources and attractions of our com munitles. "Very truly yours, , "JAMES WITHYCOMBE, "Governor." Bid Farewell To Year and Saloons The new year was ushered in. very quietly in Ashland. Only two church bells were ruug and the rail road whistles, which generally awak en the echoes with discordant blasts, were silent. Several watch parties were held, but the streets were quiet. Someone Bhot off a couple of bunch es of firecrackers and another wel comed the baby year with a six shooter. - No small proportion of the male population journeyed to Medford Fri day evening and bid farewell to the saloons and the year 1915 together. Medford witnessed quite a joyous time, all of the liquor houses doini? a mulling business and cleaning most of their stocks. A celebration at the .Medford hotel claimed most of the elite of Medford and a number of the clawhammer set from Ashland. Throughout Oregon the goiiig of the saloons was marked with hilarity. j list or items expended ror indigents i uui everyone is too ousy studying out Must Use Scissors On Magazines Proclaim Stock Show Success We have received from tht officials otthe recent Portland Livestock show the official catalogue of the recent exposition. According to the live stock men, this Is, the first time a catalogue showing awards has ever been issued by any livestock show and received the thorough apprecia tion of breeders and exhibitors. Attendance this year approached 50,000, every one of whom was there with the' idea of getting something out of the show. The next year's show will be open December 4-9, and already the directors are planning to make it even better than the past ex position. 1 ;' ' ! !" A number of valley cattlemen at tended the show and brought back glowing reports of the high class of exhibits and the-completflness or the arrangements. Numerous purchases of high grade atoek were made. ' ' Newsdealers and magazine dealers In Ashland will have to spend several merry hours with the scissors or face chances of a heavy fine. The selling of publications carrying liquor adver tisements will make the seller liable to a fyie of from $100 to $500, and throughout the state newsdealers are preparing to carefully clip all liquor ads from the papers and periodicals which they handle. Oregon must not only "cut out the booze," but must cut out the booze ads. That part of the Oregon law that affects the newsdealers is found in section 8, which reads: "If any person shall advertise or jve notice by signs, billboards, news papers, periodicals, or otherwise, for himself or another of the sale or keeping for sale of liquors, or shall circulate or distribute any price lists, circulars or order blanks advertising liquors, or publjsh any newspaper, magazine, periodical or other written or printed papers In which such ad vertisements or notices are given, or shall permit any such notices, or any advertisements ot liquors (including billboards) to be posted upon his premises, or premises under his con trol, or shall permit the same to so remain upon such premises, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500." ' A movement has been initiated with the publishers to send special prohibition editions to this state and Washington. It Is planned to around Echo, Ore.' - oil the roads Ashland and Valley Developments During the Year Nineteen Fifteen f ASHLAXD. Mobilization of lithia, Soda, sulphur and natural gas in Lltliiii Park and at depot fountains practically completed at cost of f KM),.. OOO. Magnificent new Lithia Park, a great part of which was pur chased, beautified. Tennis courts, gardens, fountains, hundreds of rustic seats and bridges, waterfalls, springs, bandstand and. con course, compTete children's playgrounds, hike and many other fea tures, at cost of $75,000. , . Auto camp, which has become the most talked of feature of Its kind on the coaHt. Wonderful scenic drive completed on east of canyon. Drive on west under way. Remodelling of Hotel Oi-egon to extent of $15,000 assured by citizens raising bonus of $1,800. AsliTand Roller Mills, with fifty-barrel! capacity, built by Mor ton & Xoi'lh. $10,000, Improvements in water system, new pipe, etc., to extent of sev eral thousand dollars. Xew city jail of latest design completed. , Schools Install several ntw departments. School census shows incrt'ased imputation. California-Oregon Power Company erects $20,000 sub-station. Plans laid for new Chautauqua building. General improvement in apiearaneo of streets and residences and bcautifieation of parks ns a result of activities of Ladies' Civic Improvement Club. Several new private residences of bungalow type and costing from $l,NO to $3,000 built and ninny residences improved and additions built. VALLEY. Pompadour Mineral Springs Company incorporated with backing of valley capitalists to develop lithia springs near Ashland lithia springs. Federal building and hotejl in Medford. Considerable building In all towns of county. Establishment of Ashland-Talent irrigation district under way. Government survey completed of valley's water resources for irri gation work. Content plant at Gold Hill. Pish Lake dam of Rogue River Canal Company and vaPley irri gation development $150,000. Grants Pass-Coast railroad practically completed to Hays Hill. Sugar beet factory for valley assured by signing of 0,000 acres for sugar beeta. $600,000 and $400,000 per year. Phoenix ditch to irrigate 1,000 acres wefl under way. General revival of mining development throughout southern Ore gon. : ? (with names) outside of the home. and by municipalities and districts so that municipal and district offi cials or proper representatives of; rum. taxpayers might easily ascertain who are receiving county help In their re spective localities, would prove very advantageous in several ways, and result in saving to the county a con siderable part of said $9,000. Jailor mid Janitor. This committee believes the jailor has sufficient time to properly care for the oounty buildings, as Janitor. The law Is said to fix the salary of jailor at $50 per month. For years both jail and Janitor work was done by one person, and up to some two or three years ago. Douglas county has this plan and salary is $70 per month. Therefore, it Is recommend ed that the offices of Jailor and jan itor be consolidated, and that the county pay a salary of $75 per fionth to the Jailor for Jail and Janitor work. Fruit. Inspectors. Your committee Is not satisfied that the county is receiving proper value for the expenditure of $0,000 for fruit inspectors. It Is essential to properly safeguard the fruit in terests of this county, but unneces sary or Improper expense items are believed to have been frequently al lowed In this department during past years. U also appears to this com mute that a lack of Intelligent plan ning of the work and a reasonable energy and economy In doing the work may In all fairness be made against this department. Further more, your committee Is Inclined to believe that, some items of expense in this department, at least, have been approved without sufficient care, resulting in unnecessarily large expenditures. . It is suggested by this committee that greater efficiency be exacted in the expenditure of the fruit inspection fund. Schools and Supervisors. In connection with he school; su perintendent's department, while it may-not-be proper for this sub-com- the Intricacies of the so-called pro hibit ion law to have many regrets over the departure of the demon All of the banks, the postofflce and most of the business houses were closed Saturday, It being New Year's day. The postofflce was open for an hour In the morning. mlttee to express any disapproval of certain appointments made by tha superintendent, It certainly is proper for' the committee tb state that it la Impressed with the Idea that two su pervisors at a cost of $2,500 in tha budget are inadvisable. This conclu sion is based on two reasons, anions others: First, that the superintendent deems It unnecessary for him to visit the schools In his fixed field, even though required by law so to do, be cause of these two supervisors, ami so does not give his personal atten tion to them. Second, because your committee is) not convinced the practical work: done by the supervisors Is really wortir $2,500 more to the county than could be done by the superin tendent himself if he would person ally keep in touch with those teach ers whom he deems specially In neei of counsel and advice in their school work. The committee hastens to express) Its satisfaction that Superintendent Wells has planned to conduct hist county school work with but one su pervisor after July next. The com mittee believes $2,500 to be too large an item for supervisors and urges a reduction. Attention Is called to the law which requires the appointment by the superintendent of at least one supervisor; which law also provides that if a supervisor is uudeiired, the county districts may, by. petition ot the trustees ot a majority of such . districts, secure the discontinuance . . (Continued on Page Three)