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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1912)
THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL', PORTLAND, TIIUi::PAV v:::hi:G. JULY 11, VA2. 3 . .iliaiiil Is City of Remarkable Development r7 lieSent Progress Indicates fUsta V Future . . Greatness I 'ROM an overgrown town of 80.000 people In 1900 , to ft metropolitan city of something over J250.O0O, In 1312, le junto of no small magnitude. Portland made thla Jump In twelve years. Bhe la still jumping. A most conservative estimate Is that 1(20 will , see Portland with a population of 676, 0007 , ... : With added population will eome more Wealth, .., more manufacturing plants, mora shipping and jobbing. Already I classed as one of the wealthy cities of j the country, Portland promises to swing to the front rank among the wealthiest , communities. Every Indication points to this In an unmistakable manner. The city Is the meeting place of land I and water transportation. - A splendid 'tresh water harbor with a deep chan- ttel to the sea, connects her with the ocean, the roadway to the world's mar ket. Railroads, with water grades, bring the produce from the great rich Inland Empire to her gates. Geograph ically, Portland's location as a business, manufacturing and Jobbing center is Ideal. "High, mountains shut off her rivals from the Interior. Heavy grades or roundabout routes are the only choice f for those who wish to ship goods to ; wuuer osxDors in ice racino normwesi. ; Tlittlhd advantages possessed by j Portland are fully appreciated by the Hill and Harrlman railway systems is ,,een la the millions they have spent In J securing terminal facilities in Portland LZor tho existing and proposed lines In Fo the Interior. And more millions will ii Spent. Xjess than 46 years ago there jjiras not a (rod of roadbed within the tate. To&egy there are nearly 3000 f miles Of stewn railroads In operation land approximately S00 miles of electrlo i Jlnes. And Portland is the center of this railroad ' activity. Several hun- ored miles of railroad, reaching into the 3ieart of eastern Oregon and traversing ha State are i projected. When com pleted these feeders will pour the pro duce of that reajlon Into Portland also. , - Within the lstet two months the Hill officials announced that they will spend everal millions 'for extensive terminals Ja Portland, anil the Southern Pacific lias announced that $8,000,000 will be , upended In the electrification of ap proximately 840 ' milei of Its lines In .western Oregon. J Waat rignres Show. ' In 1860 tho census showed Portland .to have a peculation of 2874; In 1900 this had lnoreased to 90,426, and in .1911 tho very lowest possible estimate .-hows that 260,000 or more people re side within tha city limits. This does not include the thousands who live In outlying communities, who make their living and draw their supplies from Portland. The assessed value of the city In 1900 was f29.554.209. In 1911 It was $298,199,230; and it Is estimated that the assessed valuation for 1912 Will be $816,000,000 In round numbers. Within the last two years the postal receipts have Increased 22.82 per cent In 1910 the receipts for 12 months were $817,790,000 and for 19il, they were 181,004,428, an Increase of $186,688. For the first six months of 1912 the postal receipts amounted to $522,976.64, as against $489,661.11 for a similar period in 1911. . ' r. Bank clearing in 190) were $108,91$,' 027.48. . This . was ; multiplied .by. five plus In 1911 when the clearings were $567,464,848.17. For -the first six months of 1912, ending July 1, the clear ings were $289,789,508.08, approximate ly $26,000,000 more than the clearings of the first six months of 1911. The building record likewise shows how the city has been jumping to the front In recent years. Less than $1,000, 000 was spent for buildings in 1900. Twenty million dolars was the building record of 1910. In 1911 the records show that $19,162,870 was put into new struc tures. For the first six months of 1912 building permits were Issued to the amount of $8,798,116. Realty activity Is another barometer in 'business. In 1900 prpperty valued at $3,532,985 was transferred. Approxi mately eight times this amount or $26, 269,554 in realty was transferred In 1911. Street Improvements as well as other things of similar nature kept pace with the city's advance on financial lines. At present there are 280 miles of paved streets In Portland. Last year 181 miles of street improvements were completed. Up to July 1, of this year, contracts for 50 miles of pavement were made. There are nearly 300 miles of sewers and large contracts for sewer exten sions into outlying districts have been let recently. The city's water supply comes from Bull Run lake, 24 miles away. It Is the purest in the world. The new con duit, just completed, can supply a city of (25,000 people. Big Building. Marnlflcent hotels and business blocks have been built recently. Among them is the Teon building, a splendid 16-storv structure on Fifth street, at Alder; the Wilcox building, at 81xth and Washington; the Multnomah hotel, Holts department store, at Fifth and Washington, the solid 10-story build ing opposite It that will house the Lip man & Wolfe department store; the Woodlark building, on West Park and Alder, and the Bowers hotel annex, on Washington street at Tenth. The new home of The Jourpal at Seventh and Yamhill is another notable structure that Is nearlng completion. Its tower Is the highest observation point rn the business section of the city. These are only a few of the downtown sky-scraper's that have been erected in the busi ness section In recent date. Behind the history of any com munity's upbuilding is the story of her business development Business is the big pulsing heart that keeps population at flood tide. In this connection it may be said that the city Is the home of hundreds of manufacturing plants and factories. At the present time there are 760 manu facturing plants operating in the city. These represent practically every line of endeavor from furniture manufactur ing and ship building to canning peaches and drying oysters. More than $46,000,000 is invested m these enter prises. Thirty thousand people are em ployed In them. The concerns earn each year $20,006,600. Portland is the greatest wheat ship ping port In the United States, New York Is second and Puget sound stands fourth, according to records of the united States bureau-Of commerce and labor. For the first six months of 1912, 6,830,031 bushels were exported from Portland. The value of these shipments aggreated $5,876,539. New Tork during the same period exported over 6,700, 000 bushels of wheat, and Puget sound. 3.180,000, not quite one-half the amount shipped from New York. In addition to. large shipments of wheat and flour Portland exports mil lions of faet of' lumber, raw and fin ished, during the year, and at . her docks vessels from every country of the world discharge cargoes destined lor the markets of the great west nut Portland's claim to fame as a progressive city in which the highest type of citizenship prevails is not based on material considerations , alone. She Is well aware of the fact, pointedly stat ed by Kipling, that money is only the oil that makes the machinery of life run smoothly, and aocordingly offers her residents all inducements for a home life amidst the most favorable environment. Her public school system Is well conducted. There are within her borders several educational Institu tlons of higher learning. Notable among these is Reed college, an institution of arts and sciences, richly endowed. through the generosity of the late 8. Q. Reed of Portland, that will begin the second college year of Its history next September on Its own campus In the southeast section of the city. The city's religious life is centered In scores of church structures, many of them nota ble edifices, representing the several denominations. Work has been begun preparatory to the construction of a new public library to replace the present library that has become too small for the city's needs. Portland's need for a larger conven tion hall Is to be met shortly by the construction of a suitable auditorium, for which a public bond Issue has been authorized, while the authorization by the voters of a bond Issue to meet the cost of an adequate public docks system insures Its construction. With the opening of the Panama canal, now event of the very near future, a great business Impetus is certain to re sult Immigrants from Europe, who previously have stopped at the Atlantlo seaboard, will come through the canal direct to the open west Instead of liv ing cramped lives in sordid surround ings of murky factory towns, they will go to the farms, and assist rn making tho Sunset land the most progressive and richest of the nation. In eastern Oregon alone there are 18,000,000, acres of arable land, that has never felt a plow. Along the lower Columbia river Is 600,000 acres that is virgin soil. These opportunities will draw thou sands on thousands from the east as they have already dona The great ma jority of these prospective homeseekers will not suttle in Portland, but their works In territory contiguous to her, will redound to the benefit of the city, Just as It will to themselves and to the commonwealth at large. A dollar turned anywhere In the west enriches the whole west in that sum. The development of any natural resource, by the same token, enlarges or creates another money mak ing source. PORTLAND WELCOMES' THE HERD While in Portland Smoke the Best Cigaro ahd Your Lady Friends to the Beat Candieo in America To Be Secured at the Three Best Stores in Portland THIRD AT WASHINGTON - 92 THIRD ST. - SIXTH AT WASHINGTON r For Cigars Smokers' Sundries and Candies HAVANAS - Cards: Lord Baltimore Mi Hogar ' Ldvera IMPORTED Romeo and Julietta Hoyo de Monterey Upmann Partagaa NICKEL CIGARS ANTI NICOTINE New Bachelor Alomina Rex Sc, 10c, 15c Smoke 100 .With impunity La Intel Manilla, the Wonder Nickel Ggars Phone for a Bor of Cigars or Candies JL-42T8. "IF IT'S THE BEST, WE HAVE IT" IMPORTERS . WHOLESALERS .RETAILERS Maillard's Park & TOford's Allegretti SIG. S1CHEL & CO. THIRD AT E FTOH1 com lfe Wholesale iAW Distributors Every Visiting Lady Elk from Out of Town Wearing the Official Badge, Will Be Presented With a Box of Glace Fruit at Our Store During the Convention. J Make Our Store Your Headquarters, Every Courtesy Will Be Extended Waiting Room, Free Phone and Information Bureau at Your Service. ml m (8 F Oregon Distributors FOR This Famous Beer The ileal thirst-quencher. Superbly de licious as pure and sparkling as the mountain's air RAINIER BEER 99 Demand the Best , " . , .Rainier Beer Your patronage solicited from the bottle to the carload. When thinking beer THINK "RAINIER" AT ALL CAFES, GRILLS AND BARS Delicious Refreshing Invigorating BOTTLED G00DS--AI) Standard Brands Wines and Liqnon Carried by Us Absolutely Guaranteed RUNM COM MOT FIRST AND ALDER Phonet-M-2958, A-2958 - Largest Pare Food Liquor House All Goods Gnaruteed Under the Pare Food Act TWAWW.w ,-,.,-..,...,, ,T ; 1S r.'