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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1908)
We ore headquarters for all kinds SEEDS i Flower and Gar den Extra Choict Variety of Sweet Peas, all Color ; and Nasturtiums. A. V. ALLEN wmuatm Branch Uniontoto. Min 711, Main 2871 Phone Main 713 8ole agent for Baker's Barrington Hall Steel Cut Coffee. Eflitidhi Yew B FISH WHEEL BILL (Continued from page 1) tfc nnntrH authorities desired to prove. ' There are unfortunately men who for consideration are as versatile as the fallen angel of whom Milton aays: "He could make the worse ap pear the better reason." On the other hand, who are the men behind the bill which the fish wheel owner's bill is intended to kill; (According to our law if there are conflicting bills on any subject, and if such conflicting bills receive the majority vote necessary to carry them, then the bill receiving the high est majority vote becomes law). The men who stand for abolition of salmon fishing at head of tide in the Columbia as officer and executive committee of the Columbia River Salmon Protective Association, are as follows: George M. Orton of Portland, president He is an ex member of the Oregon legislature and manager of the Multnomah Print ing Company. The vice-president is Jay Tuttle, M. D., of Astoria. He is an ex-State Senator. The treasurer is F. E. Beach, of Portland, wholesale and retail merchant The secretary is H. M. Lorntsen, Astoria, secretary of the Columbia River Fishermen's Union and second vice-president of the Oregon State Federation of La bor. On the board of directors are: Thomas A. McBride, Oregon City, circuit judge; Wm. I. Vawter, Med ford, member of the Legislature; G. S. Wright, McMinnville, State Sena tor; Chas. G. Roberts, Tanglewood, Hood River; D. H. Miller, Medford; T. B. Kay, Salem, State Senator; Jas. Withycomb, Corvallis, director of the Oregon Experiment Station and can didate for Governor on the Republi can ticket at the last election; James A. Lackey, Mayor of Ontario; C. C. Huntley, Oregon City, druggist, mem ber of Oregon Legislature; Wm. Mliler of Burns, attorney at law; John H. Smith, Astoria, attorney at law and ex-State Senator; Frank Kankkonen, Astoria, manager Union Fishermen's Co-operative Packing Company. James Withycombe, in accepting ' the position on the board of directors, wrote: "I shall be pleased to accept a place on the beard of directors for the movement mentioned, namely, for the protection of the Columbia River salmon. I believe that every honor able means shoulo be employed to protect this great natural source of wealth, not only for the present but for the future generations." Senator G. S. Wright wrote: "Will be glad to do anything for the .'ishing industry, by serving on the board or otherwise." William I. Vawter, in accepting, wrote: "It seems to me in every way commendable and that legislation that is protection along the, lines indicat ed should have the support of every patriotic citizen." Judge McBride when asked to serve as president of the Association de clined on account of press of business but readily agreed to serve as a di rector, adding: "The only way to save our salmon is to stop fishing at the head of tide, so as to give the fish a chance to reach our hatcheries and natural spawning grounds. For many years I have fought for the protec tion of our salmon and am pleased to see this concerted action. My voice ' and pen will ever be ready to save one of Oregon's greatest industries. I am a poor man, but if necessary I shall contribute my mite towards de fraying the expenses to fully present this question" to the voters of the State." Many, many other words of advice and cheer have been given the officers of the Association in this task to save our salmon. Necessary limit of space forbids here to quote any more. Judges, legislators, professional men, scientists, business men and fish ermen are represented in this Asso ciation. Leading citizens of the State, seeing that one o fthe leading industries of the State is threatened with extinction, have come forward to rescue it And opposed to the bill to stop fishing at head of tide, at the conflu ence of the Columbia River with the Sandy a bill fathered by these pu lie-spirited citizens is opposed this sham bill of the fish wheel owners. The fishwheel owners were too caa tious though it is alleged the proper term is "too cowardly" to father their bill, so they hired a discarded deputy of the State Fishery Bureau to champion a bill which is a trick bill from top to bottom. Now as to the tricks in that bill In the argument supporting the wheel owners bill a desire is express ed to save our salmon. But true to the methods of trickery, section l the mam section is not taken up first Instead, sections 3 and 4 are defended and section 1 the big gest nigger in this legislative wood pileis sandwiched in between sec tions 2 and 5. That trick, however, is very clumsy and can be easily exposed. Section 1 of the fishwheel owners' bill provides that no fishing at nights can be carried on in the channels used for commercial navigation. That means that the four thousand net fishermen of the Columbia, with an investment of about one and a half million dollars in boats and nets must quit the Columbia if the law, passes. The fishwheel owners and Webster know this full well, hence they tried to hide this section in their argument, hoping to thus fool the voters of the State. To explain: Fish wheels or fish traps are located on the banks of the river, or in narrows or at falls, where they presumably do not interfere with navigation. Wheels and traps are stationary appliances and before they can be erected must secure a permit from the War Department, in charge of navigation of our rivers. Thus, under this section traps and wheels could fish the entire 24 hours. Traps and wheels are built more or less upon the principle of a cattle corral, the fish striking fences or leads projecting into the river, follow them and are lead into the tunnel of the trap and then into the pot, from which they cannot escape. The fence or lead of the fishwheel leads the fish into the mouth of the wheel, when the wheel ceaselessly turning with the aid of the flowing, stream, pumps the salmon into a box, for the owner to take away once in every 24 hours. The gill nets, however, 'against wmcn tms section is directed, are drifting nets, on a submerged sand bar one moment, in the channel the next. They catch fish by gilling them, that is the salmon strike the net and put their heads into a mesh, when they cannot retreat, their gills pre venting retreat and their bodies being too large to allow them to get through the mesh. Salmon only gill when the water is muddy in freshet time or at nights.. When the salmon can see the gill net they swim around it. A gill net is only fished at slack tides, on an average six hours out of every 24 hours. A gill net further, to be worked properly must be tanned once a week and drieJ, which takes from one to two days. Thus a gill net fishes only from 30 to 36 hours out of the 168 hours of every week, while the traps and wheels, stationary ap pliances, fish day and night, the entire 168 hours in every week, as ,long as the fishing season lasts. Thus this section would drive 4000 of our gill net fishermen from their calling, destroy their property and make in a few years a dozen or so already very rich fishwheel owners manifold millionaires, without pro tecting our salmon, because the fish -wheels in the narrows and at the falls TEA We couldn't moneyback tea, if our tea weren't bet ter than tea as you know it Tear rrocr returns roar montf U yen doa't tk Schilling's But: w pay hia To the largest load of merchandise it ever pulled. Make your money work overtime for you. The.Great Clean Sweep Sale at the HERMAN WISE Store opened some marvelous purchasing opportunities, r Today an Start Break If indications count for anything. We expect to do busi ness unprecedented in volume in Astoria. Some of Our We have not space here to quote all. $5 Stetson Hats now $2.QS 50c and 75c Ties now . . 35c Regular $3 and $3.50 Hats selling 25c Ties now for....... S1.4U 15c Regular $2 and $2.50 Hats selling for . . 5c Regular $1.50 Hats. 100 dozen of fine Black and Tan Hose, regular 15c, now selling at Six pairs only to each customer. Boys' Knee Pants and Overcoats Half Price No stock is being reserved. Lewis Bros. & Co. of Spokane, who are in charge of the sale, have decided to let the selling price cut no figure. Be ing entirely without regard for cost or loss, they have offered merchan dise at prices far less than would be paid for inferior goods elsewhere. HERMAN WIS Reliable Clothier and Furnisher - - - - Astoria, Ore. do not permit fish to pass by. Year by year these .wheels have been so located and improved that where only four years ago the Wash ington and Oregon up-river hatcher ies secured some 20,000 salmon for hatchery purposes, this year but a few hundred were caught. Washing ton has closed its four up-river hatcheries and Oregon is doing like wise. -..,, The hatcheries below The Dalles according to official data are doing fairly well, considering that this was a poor salmon year. Section 2, prohibiting fishing for salmon between the first day of Octo ber and the Jlst day of December of each year, is absolutely valueless as far as our Royal Chinook salmon are concerned, as this variety almost en tirely ceases entering the Columbia the latter part of September, or the middle of October during a late Chinook season. The blueback sal mon, almost absolutely destroyed by the fishwheels, run in June and July. Our silver salmon enter the river in October, November and December and if the fishwheels were allowed on the Oregon side, they with their leads would drive in the narrow of the Upper Columbia the fish from the Oregon shore to try to find easy ascent close to the Washington shore, where the wheels and seines owned by the same men who own wheels and seines on the Oregon shore, would catch the fish, This section ii rather a clever trick on the part of the fishwheel owners. Fishing for silver salmon on the Oregon side would be stopped, where the river is from 4 to 6 miles wide and where the fish have a fair show to get by fishing appliances. Then where they get to the narrows and falls, the places of ascent on the Oregon side would be barred by the leads of the wheels and a rich harvest reaped on the Washington side by the whcelowners. The most destructive fishwheels are on the Oregon side of the Upper Columbia. Stoppage of fishing from the mouth of the Sandy and up would abolish these wheels. Then Washing ton would followed with like legisla tion. Section 3 provides that all fishing for salmon shall absolutely stop be low a line drawn from Smith's Point across the Columbia. That is fishing with gill nets must stop from Astoria to the sea, about 12 miles from the bar, where the river is from 4 to 6 miles wide; where fishing with those nets only average from 30 to 36 hours out of the 168 hours in each week; where about 75 per cent of the gill net fishermen drift with their nets, because in the Columbia from As toria and up the fish traps have driv en the gill ncttcrs from their old-time drifting grounds. Another trick to give the salmon to the rich trapmen and wheelmen. Some men, noting that yearly some fishermen were drowned af and out side the mouth of the Columbia, have declared out of misplaced sympathy with the fishermen that gill net fish ing should stop at a line crossing the river at Cape Disappointment. The tishwhcelmen have in section 3 ad vanced, this line nine miles up the river to Smith Point. The almost absurd trickery here again is plain. Section 4, by limiting length of nets in another intended humbug on the voters. The fishwheels could continue serenely as they now arc to catch every salmon getting to the Upper Columbia and the gill nettcrs, the poor men, would be so regulated that they would have to quit the Colum- Section 5, providing for a weekly 24 hbur closed season would be of vaule if the fishwheels were abolished, It is the nature of the salmon to travel, once they enter the Columbia, about 8 miles in 24 in their effort to reach the spawning grounds, until CASTOR I A for Infanta and Children. Tfaa Kind You Have Always Bought Bears the Signature of they reach the narrows and falls, j There they rest for several days in the pools below the narrows and falls 'and after having overcome one set 1 of obstructions, again rest for sev ; eral days. With the fishwheels j stretched out as tthey are, not one ( salmon in a thousand reaching the upper river would escape ine upper most wheels. 'A 24-hour weekly closing law would simply give more fish to the rich fishwheel owners. It is absolutely necessary for the preservation of our salmon that fish ing must stop where the river be comes narrow. Every nation and State owning salmon streams had to adopt this policy, or see its salmon destroyed. Canada does not permit any stationary fishing appliances in its rivers and draws dead-lines against all fishing away below head of tide. California, Oregon and Washington forbid stationary appliances in their rivers and draw dead-lines against fishing where the rivers become nar row. The Federal Government, through a decision rendered 'Decem ber last by Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus and confirmed by President Roosevelt, has adopted this principle for Alaska. The only exception to this benefic ial legislation is the Columbia River, where the fishwheel owners so far have succeeded in retaining their un fair monopoly. ' But these men know this monopoly is doomed; they knbw that the vote of the people will tell them next June, "Stop destroying our Columbia River industry," and so they got up this so apparent sham bill, Verily, "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first malce mad." Let he fishwheels be abolished by the passage of the bill presented by the Columbia River Salmon Protec tive Association and the fishermen will be the first to urge our Legisla ture to enact a Sunday-closing law, fairer regulation of open and closed seasons and other laws really protec tive of the salmon fisheries of the Columbia. The fishermen possess only their skill as fishermen and their boats and nets. With the t destruction of our salmon, their means of earning liv ing for themselves and their families is destroyed. On the other hand the dozen rich fishwheel owners own- ....it , t . spicmim larms aim real estate In our cities. They and their children do not depend on the salmon for a living, all these men now care for it to have a few more years of absolute monopoly on that portion of our sal mon crop which composes our seed fish. -wj Wi therefore ask the voter to vote "No" on the fishwheel owncr'i bill and to vote "Yes" on the bill which stops fishing at head of tide, at the conflu ence of the Columbia with the Sandy. II. M. LORNTSEN, Secretary Columbia Rivef Salmon Protective Association, Suffering and Dollars Saved. ' E. S. Loper, of Marilla, N. Y tayi: Tarn a carpenter and have had many severe cuti heated by Bucklen'a Ar nica Salve. It has saved me Buffering and dollars. It is by far the best healing salve I have ever found." Heals burnt, sorei, ulcera, fever sores, eciema and pile. 25c at Chaa. Rogers & Son, druggists. Basil Kimberff and Muff Pm.u.ii. Deep River, are visiting Astoria. O SPICES, q BAKING POWDER. Abfolufe Purity, F1rsf Flavor, Grwrt Sfitnh, Bcmtblf Prion CL0SSET6DEVEB5 PORTLAND, ORKOQM.