22
THE DALLES TIMES-MOUNTAINEER.
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L. E. CROWE.
GRANT MAYS.
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HARDWARE AND STOVE DEPARTMENT.
RANGES AND HOUSE
MAYS & CROWE.
What Wendell Phillips said of great political institutions ,
is also true of great business enterprises: "They are not
made; they grow." This saying finds ample and fitting
illustration in the large business establishment, owned by
the well-known firm of Mays & Crowe.
In the spring of 1891 they bought out the hardware estab
lishment of Abrams & Stewart, but were burnt out in the
.large fire of that year. They then purchased the stock of
Fish & Barden, and continued doing business in their loca
tion until the erection- of their present quarters, when mov
ing their stock there, began adding to it from time to time
to correspond with their increasing trade.
Their building has a frontage of 116 feet, and a depth of
100, and they also hare two warehouses, one 50x100, the
oiher 30x60. The two latter will be shortly replaced by an
iron warehouse, two stories in height, 100x100,
FURNISHING DEPARTMENT.
On inspection! we find these thoroughly stocked with
hardware, tin and granite ware, stoves, agricultural imple
ments, and everything pertaining to those lines. Ini sport
ing goods they control the agency of the Winchester Re
peating Arms Company. In their house furnishing depart
ment they have the absolute agency of the "Majestic" steel
range .nd the Richardson-Boynton furnaces. In the "Ma
jestic" they have the finest range in the market, the best
authorities being uaniaimous in their declarations that for
simplicity of construction, ease of management, cleanliness
in use and certainty of no repair bills, it is unequaled. In
their implement department they have sole agencies of the
celebrated Rushford wagon, made by the Winona Wagon
Company, light spring work made by the Racine Wagon &
Carriage Company, Buckeye mowers and John Deere
plows. They also carry the only complete stock of hard
wood, wagon makers' material, iron steel and general black
smiths' supplies to be found in the city.
They also do an extensive plumbing business, this de
partment being under the direct management of Wm. Mur
phy. Some idea of the amount of business they do can be
gained from the fact that at present they have fifteen men
in their employ. The firm was originally composed of Robt.
Mays and L. E. Crowe. Last February Mr. Mays sold his
interest to his son, Grant.
Grant Mays was born in this county in I860, and after at
tending the public schools here, took an academic course in
the California State University, at Berkeley.
After graduating he returned here, and until last Febru
ary was engaged in the cattle business.
L. E. Crowe, under whose management the business has
assumed its present proportions, was bora in Nova Scotia.
At the age of nine he accompanied his parents to Cali
fornia, and received his education there. He later took up
the study of telegraphy, being connected with the Western
Union Telegraph Company and the Central Pacific Rail
road. Coming to Oregon in 1S82, he was connected with '
the O. R. & N. Co., first as private operator for J. L. nal
lett, superintendent of construction, and later had charge
of the electric blasting. After completion of the road to
The Dalles, he went with the construction force of the
Northern Pacific under Julius Thielsen. He remained with
them until called to California by the death of his mother.
On his return he was with the O. R. & N. Co. as station
agent, and becoming agent at Hood River stayed there five
years, or until he came here, and formed a co-partnership
with Robt. Mays.
FARLEY & FRANK.
This firm, the oldest in its line in the city, was estab
lished in 1870 by L. D. Frank, and was succeeded by its
present owners in 1884. Tney carry a general line of har
ness and saddlery, making specialties of fine stock saddles
and ranch and fine buggy harness. G. J. Farley, the pres
ent manager of the business, was born in Norwalk, Ohio,
in 1854, and received his education there. At the age of
20 he moved to Canton, Ohio, and learned his trade there.
He then spent some time in Toronto, Canada, and later in
Tacoma, Washington. In 1878 he moved to The Dalles,
and has been a resident here since.
He takes an active interest in politics, being a firm up
holder of the principles of the Republican party, and at
present is secretary of the Republican County Convention.
In 1890 he was appointed State Building Inspector of the
portage at the Cascades, a work which has been of inesti
mable benefit to the Inland Empire.
G. J. FARLEY.
SHALL FARHS.
Wasco county, unlike most other parts of Eastern Ore
gon, is not a country of big farms. True, there are some
farms covering from 1,000 to 5,000 acres, but as a rule the
land is owned in tracts of from 20 to 160 acres. And In
sections convenient to transportation lines it has been dem
onstrated that the small farm well cultivated is more pro
fitable than the large one poorly tilled. Especially is this
true in the vicinity of The Dalles and Hood River. The
climate and soil being especially adapted to growing fruits
and vegetables, makes small farming remunerative. Port
land supplies a ready market for all classes of vegetables
and small fruits, and these products put on board the cars
here at 4 o'clock in the morning reach Portland by 8, and
go on the market as fresh as if just gathered.
So important has fruit and garden farming become that
many of the large farms are being divided into 10, 20 and
40 acre lots, and places of 160 acres, where a few years ago
only one family subsisted, now support from four to eight
thrifty families. Land suitable for gardening varies in
price from $30 to $100 an acre, according to location and
quality, while first class fruit land in a wild state may be
bought at from $15 to $75 an acre. Fruit trees in this lo
cality generally bear in from four to six years after being
set out, and an acre of bearing trees is valued at from $250
to $500. The orchardist, however, does not wait until his
trees are bearing to realize returns from his labor. The
land between trees may be planted either to strawberries
or vegetables until the trees have attained such growth as
to shade the ground and make the cultivation of such
plants in the orchard impossible. - Thus the land set to
orchard may be utilized for a double purpose until the
trees have attained an age of eight or ten years.