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About Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1915)
vetvst VOL. 27 (THE HOME PAPER) DALLAS, POLK COUNTY. OREGON. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1915. (TWICE-A-WEEK) NO 64 THOUSANDS PICK HOPS HARVEST IN POLK COUNTY NOW WELL UNDER WAY. Growers' Association Aims to Control Fifty Per Cent of Non-Contracted Product Expects Good Prices. Approximately 7000 persons are now engaged in the Independence hop district gathering the harvest from an acreage closely estimated at 3000, of which the Willamette river town is the logical center. Portland has sent about 3000 persons into the hop yards this season, the remaining number coming from various parts of the state. About 225 persons are requir ed to a 100-acre tract. Nearly all the yards are short-handed this sea son, accounted for from the fact that the harvest began 'unusually early, overlapping the grain . "harvest, and the reduction from 50 to 40 cents per box for picking, which is considered by the growers to be a fair price un der nresent market conditions. The price outlook for 1915 non-contracted nops is not encouraging; neimer 10 it depressing. The average hop man will sav that the price will be somewhere between 12 cents and 40 cents. Twelve cents is reckoned as the bottom price, because it will cost 10 cents to get the hops "in the bale" this year. The growers say the price will depend mainly on the following: The ability of the Hopgrowers' association to control a majority of the supply; the buying activity of the London mar ket; the quantity and quality of the general output. There is no doubt that market eauilibrium will be brought about in time by the forma tion of hopgrowers' associations. Hop men agree that if a fair percentage of the supply can be controlled the business can be made conservative. Anvwav. these associations which now have taken definite form are eliminating the middleman by selling directly to the brewer. J. S. Cooper of Independence, who is engaged in association work, is of the opinion that 50 per cent of the non-contracted hops will be lined up bv the associations this year. It Lou don firms come briskly in the market and cheerfully pay the excessive ex- 4 tra cost of war insurance, high ex change and prohibitive freight rates tt the price will be good. It is evident ' that there is a shortage of hops in the country generally, but the quality is excellent. This ought to make for better prices certainly. Contrary to some reports, the crop around Inde pendence is both heavy and of high quality. C. A. McLoughlin, big own er and a man whose opinion is given much consideration, says his yard will average 1400 pounds per acre and be lfeves about 25,000 bales will be ship ped from the country tributary to In dependence. The raising of hops in Polk county furnishes employment to a large num ber during the three weeks of the harvest, and that hop-picking is re munerative is illustrated by the earn ings of a family coming from the Si letz country, where they have a home stead and where they have undertak en to carve out a home for the future. This rural resident is the possessor of a wife and ten children, who are pick ing in the Cooper yard, where, ac cording to the family head, together they are averaging fifty boxes per day, or $20. Counting $4 per day for expenses a handsome sum is be- ing netted. To a newspaper man who visited this field the mother Said she hoped to make near $300, which would clothe the children through the win ter months and provide them with books for school. In Other Districts. But the Independence district is not the only section of Polk county which produces hops. Surrounding Dallas are many smaller hop yards, where hundreds of persons are now engaged, most of them going forth in the morning and returning to town at the close of the day's work. The up land crops are showing up better than was anticipated before the harvest be gan, while the quality is considered fairly good by the growers. Some of the vards have finished picking, but as a whole the gathering of the crop is only about half through. The one yard from which a larger crop than that of last year will be gathered is that of Fanning & Brooks at Ballston. They have 43 acres and estimate that from this yard they will harvest between 70,000 and 80,000 pounds. This is in what is known as the Sheridan district, where a con servative estimate of this year's out put is 2000 bales, or just 50 per eent of the usual output. Ordinarily not less than 4000 bales are gathered. This estimate is based on the result of pickings in some of the yards where harvest has begun. The Horst yard, containing 567 acres, is the largest in the world. From 1250 to 1500 pickers, besides a machine, are employed there to gath er the crop. The machine cost $17, 000 to build, and while it requires forty persons to operate it, it per forms the work of 100 hnman pick-1 era. The machine, however, is used only in the poorer grade of hops. Five thousand bales of hops is the esti mate from the Horst yard, At other representative hop yards in the Independence district pickers are being employed as follows : C. L. Mitchell, 400 pickers; H. H. Hanna and John Hanna, 400; Mrs. J. H. Burton, 400; Spurling Brothers, 200 j Walker Brothers and Cook Brothers, jointly, 150. At the 300-acre yard of C. A. McLaughlin, from which 2000 bales of hops are expected to be pro duced, 700 pickers are employed, and at the Wigrich yard of the same area 800 pickers are working. The latter yard is owned by Wigant & Richard son of London, England. At the K.reDs yard the picking is being carried on by contract, Japs being employed. PEROXIDE REFUSES TO KILL. Jealousy Causes Wife of Cook to Make Attempt on Life. Jealous of her husband, Mrs. Theo dore Vasso, wife of the cook at the Imperial hotel, attempted to take her life on Saturday niglit last ny annK ing peroxide, but the effort was futile. The attempt to kill herself followed a family quarrel, which resulted in the dismissal of both from the employ of the hostelry, Mrs. Vasso being en gaged as a waitress in the dining room. The husband departed early Sunday morning, leaving his wife in ignorance of his whereabouts, and she went to Portland on the midday train, evidently in the hope of meeting him in the metropolis, from whence they came to Dallas several months ago. WOULD BECOME CITIZEN MONMOUTH MAN SURPRISED BY NOTICE FROM CLERK. William Riddle, After Residence of Thirty, Years, 1b Reminded That Only First Papers Were Ont. Mr. Riddle, owner of a large ranch near Monmouth, and who is one of Polk county's most enterprising and prosperous farmers, after having held various offices of trust within the gift of the voters of this bailiwick, finds that he is not a citizen of tho United LStates, and will hasten the necessary proceeding to become a subject of your Uncle -Samuels- Mr-rRiddl- was in Dallas last Saturday, coming hith er after having received word from Countv Clerk Robinson that under the recently enacted amendment to the constitution, which denies the right to vote on first naturalization papers, his registration had been cancelled, This notice reminded Mr. Riddle that he had never completed his naturali zation, the matter having been neg lected through all these years from the fact that he had been permitted to vote under .those already taken out, On his visit here last Saturday, Mr. Riddle -took the necessary steps to complete what he undertook in 1882, when he secured his first papers, and in due course of time he will become a full citizen of the United States, having made application. William Riddle is a native of Scot land. He came to America in 1868, and shortly after took up his per manent residence in Polk county, where he has become one of its fore most citizens, and where he has filled county offices, including that of court commissioner. SUICIDE SCARE AT M'COY. Woman Found Unconscious, Nearly Killed By First Aid. "If I had no children to consider I believe I would end these worldly woes," said Mrs. Lance, the widowed proprietor of the hotel at McCoy, as she mourned, before friends, the death of one member of her little family. With that expression she re tired to her room. A lodger in quar ters nearby heard the lady tumble on to her bed, sobbing pitifully. Soon there came a thud she had fallen to the floor and all was silent, with the quietness of death. The lodger hur ried to the room, battered the door and found Mrs. Lance in a lifeless heap at the bedside. He cried for help and the populace of McCoy swarmed the place. Dr. Starbuck of Dallas was called to the case, and in the meantime first aid doses of strych nine ware administered, in all a tenth of a grain, almost enough to kill a human being. The doctor found that the patient had fainted, exhausted by worry, and that she hail no intention of suicide. He took some pains to re lieve her from the effects of the strychnine and admonished the first aiders. Had Mrs. Lance died the ver dict of the coroner would have been, most likely, suicide. Still the fatal potion would have been administered by her well wishes. Mrs. Allen Stores First Hops. For a number of years the first hops to be dried, baled and stored at the Dallas warehouses were from the ranch of Mrs. Fern Allen, near this city. Mrs. Allen's record was too good to loose, so sbe made sure to lay claim to the title for this year by sending in a ton of good hops on Saturday. NEW DISPLAY OF APPLES pmzES AMOUNTING TO $27 OP- FERED BY GROWERS. Quarter Size Box, Commercial Pack, To Be Feature of Apple Display at County Fair. On Friday the Polk County Fruiti Growers association met and an nounced an important addition to the apple display contests and posted twenty-four special prizes for the winning exhibits. The fair board has provided for plate and standard box exhibits of apples, which are fast be coming one of the most important horticultural products in the county.. The board turned the exhibit over to the growers' association, which has now added a quarter box class to the display. This will consist of single layer boxes, commercial pack, and will include entries of King David, Baldwin, Spitzenberg, Yellow New town, Tompkins King, Ben Davis, Gravenstein, Rome Beauty, Winter Banana, Northern Spy, Jonathan and Wagner apples. The prizes offered by the association will be $1.50 for best entry, of each variety, and 75 cents for second best. The idea the growers had in making the display in single layer boxes was to get more and a better class of entries. Ine best colored apples are scarce about fair time and many growers are hin dered from entering competition be cause thev cannot pick, at that time. enough select fruit to fill the require ments for standard boxes. Those who expect to enter displays can secure the boxes from N. L. Guy, at Guv Brothers' store, and from the same gentleman can obtain any de sired information regarding tne con test. The boxes are exactly one quar ter the size of the regular apple box. Contestants are requested by the as sociation to deliver the apples to the exhibit place at least two days before the opening date of the fair. Boxes and entry privileges are free, and the only cost to the grower is tne use 01 his fruit and its transportation. Ed win Parker of Perrydale is in charge of the horticultural display at the fair and will add the proposed ex hibit to his list of charges. The sponsors of the new contest expect it to meetfHJwers-'.JWiuu'einentand art planning on at least titty boxes tor the display. It has been arranged so as to relieve the grower of any trou ble or expense and apples will be packed bv the association if so de sired by the entrants, leaving to them only the transportation of the fruit from the orchard to the exhibit place. Special Prayers for Schools. To mark the opening of the Dallas public schools, and in response to a call issued by the National Reform association, the clergymen of this city will, on September 12, preach special sermons and utter special prayers for the good will of God to wards the public schools. The ar rangements other than given, have not been fully completed, but there will probably be special music at the several edifices of worship. YOUNG TROUT PLANTED TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND FRY ARRIVE FROM HATCHERY. Fish Commission Grants Request of Dallas Club for Closed Season During Three Winter Months. Yesterday rooming the Rainbow, the state's fish Car, arrived in Dal las with approximately 200,000 trout- fry from the Bonneville hatchery for planting in the waters adjacent to this city, the request having been made by the Nesmith Rod and Gun club, of which organization 1. O. Stockwell is secretary. The car con tained seventy cans of Rainbow trout and ninety-five cans of eastern brook trout, the average length of the ship ment being about four inches. Some of the largest fish, if left unmolested, will span during the months of Octo ber and November, and hence it is in cumbent upon every lover of piscator ial amusement to see that they are protected. Under the guidance of Phil Begin the fry were deposited in the upper La Creole and the Lllen- dale creek, conveyances being at hand upon the arrival of the ear, which was attached to a freight train that ar rived early from Salem. The riesmith Rod and Gun club re cently petitioned the State Fish and Game commission, of which Governor Withycombe, I. N. Fleischner, Mar ion Jack, Frank M. Warrtn and C. r . Stone are members, to close the season for fish of all lengths in Polk rounty between December 1 and April 1 of each year, and that body has ae- quised in the request and so ordered. It will, therefore, be unlawful to take front over ten inches long from these waters during the period mentioned, as has been permissable heretofore. MEDICAL MEN TO MEET DALLAS PHYSICIANS TO REPRE s SENT TRI-COUNTY SOCIETY. Local Organizations From Through out Oregon Will Assemble in Metropolis This Week. The Tri-County Medical society, the membership of which includes physi cians in folK, jnanon ana 1 amain counties, will be actively represented at the forty-first annual meeting of the Oregon State Medical association at Portland on Thursday and Friday of this week. Dr. V. C. Staats of this citv has been elected a delegate from the Tn-County society with Dr. B. H. McCallon as an alternate, and thev will probably take part in the discussions which are to feature the two-day program. Dr. O. D. Butler of Independence is the president of the Tri-County Medical society and Dr. M. J. Clements of Salem is sec retary.' Both officers, together with holders of minor offices, will attend the Portland meeting. Two hundred physicians from Ore gon, Washington and Idaho will regis ter at the meeting and will partici pate in the several functions that have been arranged for their pleas ure as well as the business sessions each morning. Each of the local or ganizations in the state will send a delegate to the Portland meeting and there will be many doctors in at tendance who are not official dele gates. The principal discussions in the program will be those relating to the two great diseases over which medical scientists are pondering, tu berculosis and cancer. One of the principal lectures to be delivered will be that of Dr. K. A. MacKenzie of Portland on "The Prevention and Cure of Cancer. " A varied program of entertainment has "been provided by Dr. W. T. Williamson, chairman of the committee on arrangements, and includes a banquet on Thursday evening at the Multnomah hotel, ten dered bv the Portland City and Coun tv Medical society. Dr. MacKenzie will be toastmaster oft; this occasion and a number of addresses will be given. At the Waverlv country club on Friday evening the doctors will be guests at a dance. The ladies who go to- Portland-with ihaiE.Jxusbands will be entertained with rides about the citv and at a luncheon arranged for by Dr. Katherine C. Manion. Bus iness meetings begin at 9:30 .each morning and discussion will begin at 10 :30 a. m. and at 2 p. m. each day. Petition the Bishop. Fearing that the Methodist confer ence, wnicn convenes on eeptemDer 22. might assign the Rev. George il. Bennett to another charge than that at Dallas, a number of his friends have circulation a petition requesting the bishop to return him to this city for another term, and are hopeful that it will be given the desired con sideration when the appointments are made for the coming term. The pe tition is being largely signed, not on ly by members of his congregation, but by citizens generally. RAISING CHINAS IS EASY SAYS WILLIAM FINLEY, STATE BIOLOGIST, WHO KNOWS. Unprecedent Demand for This Game Bird Induces Belief That Indus try Should Be Commercialized. Owing to the increased demand for Oregon's game bird, the China pheas ant, by game fanciers and bird breed ers all over the United States, Wil liam L. Finlev, state biologist, has eome to the conclusion that farmers should be encouraged to breed pheas ants for commercial purposes. "Ihe pheasants are practically just as easy to raise as are chickens, says Mr. Finley. However, he is of the opin ion that details must be studied and utmost care exercised to insure suc cess. During the current year the slate game farm at Corvallis has reared ap proximately 5000 birds for commer cial purposes and for liberation, and as many more have been provided by farmers all over the state. Gene Simp son, manager of the state farm at Corvallis, tells The Oregonian that "captivity seems to change the hab its of the China entirely. The hen rarely ever makes a pretense at laying in a nest, much less sit and hatch a brood of young pheasants. The eix-k becomes decidedly polygamous. He will instantly kill a young bird, if placed in the same enclosure. The percentage of fertility of all pheas ant eggs is remarkably great. It is not at all uncommon for every egg to hatch, and for many years I have mated from four to six bens with one cock, the latter number invariably when the enclosures are sufficiently laree." In order that the best results be ob- tained Mr. Simpson says breeding yards with removable partitions, for the pinioned birds, are, perhaps, the best to use. These yards are 24 feet square, have no covering and aceo-n- modate six hens and one cock during the laying season, immediately after which the birds are turned out into a large, open field adjoining. At this season the flocks will not fight, and but little time is consumed each day for several hundred birds. . The parti tions are then set aside and the entire strip cultivated and sown with grass seed, and the work may be done with a plow, whereas, it the partitions were stationary, it would take consid erable time to spade and cultivate each yard. In March these partitions should be put back and the birds mat ed again for the laying season. As the China pheasant hen is no mother to trust with the raising of a family chickens are used for brood ing. The best hen for the purpose has been found to be the Cochin ban tam. Marriage Licenses Issued. Deputy County Clerk Siefarth is sued a marriage license on Saturday to Jirnest a. Honk of rerrydale and Frances K. Kurtz. The bridegroom gave his age at 22 years and that of his bride to be as 20 years. James vv. Fry of bhendan, age 24, secured a license on Monday to marry Miss Evangeline M. Morris, age 18, of Polk county. The young folks had other things than legal holidays to think about and called Deputy County Clerk Siefarth from a comfortable chair at his home to issue the license. ANTI-FIRE FIGHT BEGUN STATE INSURANCE COMMIS SIONER LISTS METHODS. Law Providing for Organization of Associations in All Communities in Oregon Is Sought. In an effort to curtail fire losses Harvey Wells, State Insurance Com missioner, has issued a bulletin giv ing the various origins of fires and means of prevention. Mr. Wells urg es that the way to obtain cheap in surance is to stop the enormous fire losses. Now the non-buraing, careful business man, he says, pays for the careless," indifferent, reckless builder and occupant. He declares: "The fire loss in Oregon, most of which may be termed 'fire waste,' is greater in proportion to the popula tion than in most states. In 1014 the value of property destroyed is esti mated at more than $4,000,000 and the insurance companies paid $2,736, 000 of that amount." The commissioner insists that the state should enact a fire marshal law, and that there should be fire-prevention associations in all communities. The duties of these organizations, he says, should be to create sentiment for solid buildings, clean premises, fire prevention laws, and ordinances governing flues, electric wiring, etc. "We have our efficient lire depart ments in the cities to attack fires," continues the bulletin. "Now, after we have built and organized these departments to their maximum strength and efficiency, what is our next step in combatting the immense fire waste f Why should we not have a department known as 'Fire Pre venters T' " Mr. Wells estimates that $2,000,000 of property is destroyed and 500 lives lost yearly through the careless use of matches. Rubbish and ashes are given as other causes of fires. Careful use of matches, kerosene, the clean ing of cellars, closets and attics are urged as means of fire prevention. The bulletin is filled with useful in formation regarding the preventing and extinguishing of fires, and Mr. Wells -will give it as wide distribu tion as possible. INSPECTOR APPROVES SYSTEM. Collector of Internal Revenue Mil ler's Deputy Visits Dallas. Chas. F. Miller, inspector under the new naricotic law, and a brother of Milton A. Miller, collector of inter nal revenues, was in Dallas on Satur day in the discharge of bis official duties. He complimented the Fuller Pharmacy very highly for the manner in which its record of sales is kept, saying that it excells anything of the kind he had seen. "Doe." Patterson simply records the date of sale, and the number of the prescription, which latter is kept on file and conveniently at band at all times. The narieotio used in compounding the prescription, together with the physician issuing the order and the person to whom is sued, may here be readily ascertained, making the record complete in every particular. An equally simple meth od is employed in recording purchases of drugs coming under the law, and also those nsed in manufacturing. Problems. Farm and Ranch: There are very few problems too difficult for a united and determined people. In fact, dif ficulties disappear before a strong sentiment for self help encouraged by community co-operation. . MAY CHANGE HIGHWAY COUNTY COURT VIEWS PROPOS ED ROAD TO SALMON. Would Eliminate Treacherous Leno Hill New Road Would Induct Settlement There. The county court has practically de-. cided to accept the water grade road trom a point near Bentley to John Bover's place on the Little Nastueca, a distance of four and one-half miles, the purpose of the change being the elimination of the Leno hill, one of the most impracticable highways in the entire coast country. For nearly four miles the present thoroughfare stands nearly on end first one end and then the other and during the winter months travel over it is next to impossible. In several places in the timber the road is still covered with mud, notwithstanding the fact that no rain has fallen in that locality for many weeks. When Judge Teal drove over the Leno hill last Friday he expressed himself as being sur prised that Yamhill county should permit the highway to remain in its present wretched condition, and es pecially so since Polk county had con structed a splendid rock road connect ing therewith. A considerable por tion of the proposed new highway around the hill iB in Polk county, and if constructed will have not more than a two per cent grade with the exception of a shoQt distance, where it will reach five per cent. The road now traveled has about three-quarters of a mile of better than a twenty per cent grade, ascending skyward several hundred, feet and following a "hog back" in which there are also some stiff grades. The road around the Leno hill as surveyed will, as stated, follow a water level, and will run through a fertile valley, susceptible to a high state of development agri culturally, and would doubtless be the means of inducing settlement! in that section of the county where now there is but one resident for a dis tance of about seven miles, that at the toll gate. Judge Teal, Commissioners Wells and Becket, Surveyor Ed. Himes and Roadmaster Waldo Finn, accompani ed by a representative of The Ob server, visited that locality on Friday of those who have long sought a change of route to the Salmon river country, some of the officials follow ing the survey as made by Mr, Can field to determine its practibility, while Judge Teal, to satisfy himself 'that the complaints regarding the Leno hill road were well grounded, went bv that route. The verdict ren- 'dered by the venerable judge, al though brief and pointed, would not look well in print, and will probably result in granting the request of the petitioners who are seeking relief from isolation during the winter months. The proposed new survey is via Bentley, reached by a shortened route from what is known as the Butler bridge over the Yamhill river, and leaves Grand Ronde out of the running. It intersects the present Salmon river road at the toll gate. It not only eliminates the Leno hill, but the wretched road in Yamhill county after leaving the agency, to connect with which this county has expended in the past more than $40, 000. This particular road is on the main highway to Tillamook county, and is so rough that it would jar the burrs loose on' a wheelbarrow. The planking has rotted in places, and those remaining in fairly good physi cal condition are scattered over the roadbed in Buch a manner as to make traffic slow and decidedly uncomfort able. It was Judge Teal's first trip over this road, and he expressed him self as being surprised at the appar ent neglect of the Yamhill court after Polk county had constructed a per fectly rocked road from near WU lamina practically to the intersecting line. The Salmon river road is a much traveled highway, especially during, the summer months, many outing par ties going to Siletz bay annually, while the country beyond the summit is quite well populated. The records of the toll gate show that an average of ten four-wheeled vehicles pass through daily during the season when the roads are passable, besides which there is a daily mail from Willamina to the Siletz country. The contractor receives $6,000 per year for the deliv ery of the mail, and when it is con sidered that during the winter four hones are required to draw a vehicle through the deep mud of the Leno hill and that from eight to twelve horses are needed on the route, it will be realized that he earns his money. The postal department of the government puts up $1.50 each day for toll at the gate, John Boyer, formerly of Uauas, having leased the highway from Tillamook county for a term of ten years, three of which are still to run. It Fays. Southern Agriculturist : It pays to keep up appearances. An attractive package is a big item in selling fruits, vegetables or other farm products.