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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 14, 1950)
10 Capital Journal, Salem, Ore., Tuesday, March 14, 1950 LOCAL ENTHUSIASTS Salem Public Library's Start One of Sacrifice, Devotion How the Salem Public Library had its beginning is a story of personal sacrifice and devotion to a cultural idea. The story, given in the Capital Journal today, is told by Mrs. Caroline t. B. Sigrist of Portland, formerly Mrs. Kelliher of Salem. ' It was requested by Cornelia Marvin Pierce, former Oregon ..... UA state lioranan, wno w ""-Tarnnn- the first reentered bor- writer: ; "When I came to Oregon, as secretary of the library commis sion, in August. 1905, I met the most able and devoted library worker I have ever known Mrs. Caroline L. B. Kelliher. She had been the chief leader . in starting tiie Salem Public library, and had given gener ously of money, books and time until it became firmly estab lished." Among library enthusiasts of those years Mrs. Pierce men tions Mr. and Mrs. Anson Pres cott. Prescott was Orcgonian correspondent in Salem, later secretary to Senator Jonathan Bourne, and now lives in War renton, Or. Records of June. 1904, show him and his wife rowers. Of the active library workers of the early years, Mrs. Flo Ir win, Mrs. Russell Catlin, Mrs. Clarence Hamilton and Miss Mattie Beatty still live in Sa lem. All were members of the Woman's club in 1904. Among the first borrowers of books, and who are still using the library, were Mrs. Winnie Pettyjohn and Mrs. Frank H. Spears. Histories of the early library days were written by the late Mrs. Perry Raymond, an ardent worker, and others. Tomorrow the Capital Journal will tell the story of Mrs Sig- rist's eventful life. Following is her story of the beginning of the Salem Public library: By CAROLINE L. B. SIGRIST ' It is so long ago, and I have only my memory. ' We moved to Salem in January, 1900. In the spring there Was a notice In the Salem Statesman that a Woman's club was to be formed, and the public was invited to meet at the resi dence of C. P. Bishop at a certain date. I had been living for three years in Gladstone, Mich., and had enjoyed the Woman's club ipr. Also a Mrs. Mason and I had a book club, so I was in terested in the notice. But, as r was not acquainted in saiem t'went to interview Mr. Bishop. He urged me to attend tne meci tag, which I did, and signed as i charter member ' I was never an officer of the club, but was always very ac tive as a member, and when in 1004 the club decided to start a nublic library I was elected president of the library board. As I remember, tne oiner mem bers were Mrs. F. A. Moore, wife of a judge of the Oregon Supreme court; Mrs. Alice B. Traver, wife of the city super intendent of schools, and Mrs. Florence Irwin. We started from scratch. We had neither library, libr arian nor quarters. We put in a petition to use the council chamber at the city hall as a library. The council met only once a week in the evening. The mayor, Frank Waters, was favorable to us, but we were so green that we did not know enough to attend the meeting, and were turned down. Only one member voted for the petition. I went to Claud Oatch at the Ladd & Bush bank the next morning and told him my troubles. With the mayor favorable, he thought It could be arranged. They rescinded their action at the next meet ing and gave us the room. . We now had room rent free, trith heat, light and janitor serv ice. I made out a list of the magazines needed, went to the State House, and asked the of ficials, from Governor Cham berlain down, each to subscribe for one. The Woman's club had a book social and everyone was invited to make a contribution of books for a library. The club members were to act as librarians. We were open seven days a week from 2 to 5 p.m After some months the Salem library board suggested a trained librarian, Miss Florella Phillips. Tiie board members were to pay half her salary ev ery month, and I collected from club members each month the other half. We now were open 7 to 9 o'clock evenings. The Woman's club gave us a shower for books, and after a little while the city council gave us money for a budget. Later, for several months, we had a trained libr arian, Mrs. Ida Kidder, but she went to Oregon State college as librarian. Finally we sent to the Albany, N. Y., State Library school for a recent graduate and Miss Essac M. Culver came to us and was there when I moved from Salem. We expected to secure a building from the Carnegie Foundation, but we had to have a site, also support, which our city council was giving. Werner Breyman's family had a site where the Salem Public library now stands. The price was $12,000. That would not seem much to Salem now, but in 1908 it was different. Mrs. Eldredge (Breyman) suggested that she and I can vass the town. She offered to solicit the old wealthy fam ilies and I was to contact the public. We raised the $12,000 and bought the site. I moved from Salem in Oc tober, 1909. I had put about as much time into the library as I had on my family, but ev erything had gone well.' The public library had the backing of the Woman's club, the support of the city council, the advice of the Oregon library commission, and especially a tower of strength in Miss Cor nelia Marvin, state librarian. Her help through the years was invaluable. The late George M yew candy cSh TODAT wwn Stout Boston Mints cranchy, filled centers! "SWBBT SIXTEEN VAUBTIBS' Calvert master blenders blend finer taste into Calvert from an unequalled library'of over 315 fine whiskies and blending spirits. ANOTHER. REASON WHY ITS SMART TO SWITCH TO CHOICE BLENDED WHISKEY, 86.8 PROOF, 65 GRAIN NEUTRAt SPIRIT!. CALVERT DISTILLERS CORPORATION, NEW YORK CITY ! ifc $f fit S - Sewer System For Oceanlake Simplified plans have been accepted for the sewage treat ment plant and construction of a sewer system for Oceanlake with bids to be received on both projects until April 5. Low bid on theoriginal plans was $52,874 on the original plans was $52,874 $2900 for a sludge bed. The plant will be located at the south end of Oceanlake about 600 feet east of the Coast highway and empty in D river. The city has already cleared the plant site, blown stumps and is now putting in an under drain The Duchess Goes by Air The Duchess of Kemlworth, a collie, hurdles five boys in training for the obedience com petition of the Detroit Kennel club's show. The boys from left, are: John and Dick Collins, Bob Ferrel, John Teeter and John Goddard, of Royal Ok, Mich. Wheelbarrow Pusher Feared Caught in Mountain Blizzard Cascade. Colo., Mar. 14 (O.R) A blizzard lashed Pike's Peak Monday and friends feared that Larry Hightower might be in trouble on his stunt hike to push a wheelbarrow to the moun tain's top. The storm cut off telephone communication with the little mountain settlement of Glen Cove, Colo., where Hightower was to have reported on his progress. It wasn t known this morning Rodgers, mayor of Salem, was also cooperative. Negotiations for the Carnegie building were undertaken after I left Salem. I was at New York City Pub lic Library school 1911 to 1913 and worked in the New York City branches 13 months. I came to the library association of Portland in July, 1913, as mu nicipal reference librarian in the city hall and served for 20 years. whether he had made it to the village and Hightower's friends watched anxiously for the mir ror signals he had promised to send daily. Sub-zero temperatures set in Sunday night and several inches of new snow fell to hinder the one-wheeled junket. Hightower, 49, is from Ellens burg, Wash. Hankering to set "some sort of a world's record," he decided to wheel his barrow to the top of the peak after reading that a man once pushed a peanut to the summit with his nose. He left Colorado Springs Sat urday on the first leg of his 26 mile trip Fallon Next K&F Speaker "Misadventures of a Latin American", is the subject of a talk to be given before the mem bers of the Salem Knife and Fork club the night of March 7 at the Marion hotel, by Carlos Fallon. Colombian born, I'allon, now a naturalized citizen of the Unit ed States, has recently returned from an intensive economic sur vey of South America. When not on a lecture tour he makes his home here. He speaks English as fluently as though he had been born and reared in this country. Fallon's lecture has to do with his experiences south of the Pan ama canal and his talk will be interspersed with bits of humor and solid facts. GBP GED CEO CD3Q11KQB Before the grass on your lawn grows any higher, get on of our new, smilingly low priced, wonderfully efficient Royale powtr Itwn mowers by Reo. lis ) blade reel and one-piece steel bottom knife cuts grass smoothly, and well. ..up to three full acres a day, with a speed snd efficiency tbst will tare fully 75 of your tim. And became the Reo Royale is aelf-propelled, there's no pushing. It starts, stops, speeds up or slows down with just a single, finger-tip "Magic Touch" control. ADJUSTABLE HANDLE For Easier Mewing f osier Storing The lightweight steel hsndl adjusts to the height that suits you best. It also stsnds straight up takes less room when stored. The Roysle is powered by the easy starting, 4 cycle, IVih. p. engine built by Reo, famous for dependable pro ducts for 44 years. "TURN. A JOB INTO A JOY" Mow wfffi Koo . , . tho Namo You Know J3 U N. COMMMCIAl f. to eliminate the problem of a creek in that area. The treatment plant will be 6D by 60 feet and require ap prixamitely 175 cubic yards of concrete, with reinforcing steel and equipment. Part of it will be two stories and provide primary sedimentation, filteration, final treatment and chlorination. The sewer system will serve the greater part of the populated area of the city with 13,000 lin eal feet of concrete sewer line, most of which will be eight-to-i ten-inch pipe. There will be two' lift stations and 105 manholes. Oceanlake has indicated the desire to see the project com pleted this summer with a date of August 15 anticipated. The system will also be needed to serve the new school which will be constructed this summer. Sheridan School Budget Meeting Date Set Sheridan The annual school budget meeting for the Sheridan school district No. 48-14 will be held March 15 at the Sheridan high school building. 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