The Bend bulletin.
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Section 3
Tnnsftttii'm
Past and Prcseit
VOL. X,
BEND, OKEGON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1012
NO. 17
The Railroads Have Revolutionized Interior Oregon Transportation
Two Lines to Bend Make Town Distributing Center for Territory Larger than Three Eastern States
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llttlng thn terminal of tho Joint
On-Kot. Truiik-DoDchutoa rtilUxiads,
lleiul has Itocoiuo tho UUtrlhutlng
lo I nt fur a vmt territory routh and
toutlioiut of hero, and tho railroad
frflelittiit tatloa for nu Area that li
, lurj.or than Connecticut, New Jersey
and Uhode Uluud combined. (These
tates total 14.0S5 squaro miles; tho
' territory that comes to lleud for Its
, freight embraces between 10,000 and
20,000 squaro miles. For tho benefit
!nf those not familiar with Central
, Oregon dlstauces, It may be well to
(add that Crook county alono has
I some G026 squaro miles, or about as
much us Connecticut and Hhode Is
land combined.)
Foreseeing a big business passing
through this point, the railroads, nt
a cost of about $6600, constructed
a largo warehouso operated by the
United Warehouse Company, a cor
poration composed of local men. The
warehouso building Is 00 by 208 feet
and has a floor spaco of 12,480 feet.
It Is coustdeicd ono of tho best
equipped structures of Its kind In the
stnto, and Is tho largest warehouso
In Central Orogon. Yet with nil Its
size, at tho busiest seasons so fnr
this year, It h'aa been necessary to
lite tho platform for storing goods,
nud oven tho spaco beneath tho plat,
form for frolght that could bo safe
ly handled that wny.
Tho town receiving tho greatest
volutuo of frolght hero, except of
course lleud Itself, Is Hums. Tho
enterprising Harney county mer
chants soon loprned, after tho rail
road was completed to this town,
that this was tho most economical
as well nu tho quickest way of get
ting uhlpmontB from Portland nud
other polutB. Tho result has been
n transformation In tho history of
freight handling In Central Oregon
tho Inauguration ot regular auto
truck sorvlco.
The Ileml-Ilurns lload.
Tho distance from llend to Hurns
Is 140 miles, from Vale to Duma 138
miles. If that were all. Hums
might yot be getting tho bulk of Its
frolght Jho same way I. did before
tho Deschutes valley was furnished
rail transportation. It la tho excol
lence ot the Hend route which his
givon It supremacy. Tho lleud to
Hums roud Is level and open to traf
Ac practically tho year round. The
Valo-llums road crosses threo ranged
of hills that nro virtually mountains
when It comes to hauling freight up
them. It Is u hard wagon freight
ing proposition most of the year and
Impractical for auto trucks. 'Dobe
mud and difficult grades restrict Its
possibilities.
An Interesting comparison ot the
speed of tho two routes from Fort
Jand to Hums by way of Vale and to
Hums by way of Hend shows the
difference. About tho best railroad
time from Portland to Vale for
frolght Is tour days. From tho lat
ter point to Hums wagon freighting
requires anywhere from 8 to 18 days
an average of 10 days at tho best.
Portland to Hend the (tme Is about
1G hours. Loaded Into tho auto
trucks here, tho freight Is delivered
at Hums two days later lees thun
tour days from shipping point to des
tination. Hates Favor Hend.
As for rates, the comparison Is
oqually Interesting. Tho wagon
rate from Vale to Hums varies from
a minimum of 1 cents, during a
very limited period, to S cents dur
lug tho winter. Two ct-rits seems to
bo tho year round average, and tor
practically four months freighting
must bo discontinued except for very
light loads us oxorbltaut rutes. Tho
rato from liond to Hums by onto
truckB or wagon la 1 i to 2 cents.
In tho railroad haul Portland to
Valo and Portland to Uend thero Is
an nvorngo ot 11 cents n hundred
la fuvor ot Hond, On the class of
frolght which tho merchants mostly
rocelvo It Is oven greater than this,
making tho advantage from 35 to
200 per cent.
Tho Central Oregon Trucking Com
pany, with two three-ton trucks; be
gan freighting to Hums the past
spring. At first thero was not a
groat volumo ot business, but In a
short tlmo tho merchants of tho Har
ney county town awoke nnd began
having their goods routed this wny.
Soon the two nuto trucks wero not
Able to carry It all, tho rosult bolng
that two moro cars were put In oper
ation by this company. In addition to
others.
, Hut tho Auto trucks nro not the
only factors In tho distributing and
trelghlng business from llend, or in
deed the most Important, so far as
tho toUl volume ot tounoge Is con
cerned. Today, as In tho past, tho
big horso freighting outfits handlo an
enormous bulk ot business. Ilc
tween fiend and Hums dozens ot out
fits operate, while tho traffic to tho
south, La Pine, Crcscont. Sllvor
Laku and Paisley Is handled prac
tically entirely via tho "elght-horso
railroad."
Tonnage Una HIr Proportions.
An Idea ot the freight passing
through tho warehouso Is gained
from the following figures: From
March 4 to April 10 there were 22
carloadsW emigrants' movables. In
cluding everything from furniture to
stock. Tho total amount of freight
during the same period was 263 cars,
a dally average ot C carloads.
Tho road to Hums Is a most ro-
markablo one, tho auto truck haul
from hero to that town being, it Is
said, tho longest In. tho country.
Thero nro no difficult hills to bo
climbed, tt being almost possible for
passenger autos to mako the entire
run of 146 miles on the high speed.
The country Is level or slightly roll
ing, the soil being mostly clay, A few
sandy spots here and there do not
scriousy Interfere. Tho road was
built through the co-operation ot
Crook and Harney counties, tho peo
ple ot llend and Hums and tho set-
iiciB.uiuuB uv .uu.c. iuo expense
was very small, considering tho great
distance.
Not only do tho peoplo ot Harney
county get their freight here, but as
stated above, nlso thoso of La Pino,
Crc.ccnt. Fort Hock Fremont. Sil
ver Luke and even Pnlsloy, to tho far
south. With tho exception of Pais
ley, these plnces all hall to haul In
thotr frolght from Shanlko boforo
tho Oregon Trunk-Deschutes lino was
built. The 100 miles of roads that
were too often Impasgablo, botween
here and Shanlko, am traversed no
moro sluco llend has become the
railroad terminal tor tho Interior em
pire Oood roads mako Ufa much
moro ploasant for tho freighter
with his eight or ten horses drawing
from ono to throo wagons loaded, aud
the peoplo of the south couutry find
tholr freighting blUs cut in halt In
many cases.
Paisley Also Uses Uend.
Evcu the merchants ot far-away
Paisley como hero now for freight.
for it means a saving to thepi ot
about a hftlt cepl ft pound jirobably
more over getting It by way ot tho
narrow gauge road to Lakevlew, The
distance from hero to Paisley Is 155
miles, the wagon haul costing from
1 to 2 cents a pound. On Fourth
Railroad Day
Marked Awakening
Near midnight on October 4, 1911.
the first passenger train came la
over the rails rails that had been
laid but a few days to llend. The
next day. October 5, was "Railroad
Day." The golden spike was driven,
the cornerstone to Head's stone depot
was laid, and the railroads were of
ficially welcomed to Central Oregon
and officially made acknowledgement
to tne royal welcome given them.
James J. Hill and Louis V. Hill
weio here, and the high officials of
the Harrlmsn and Hill systems.
"Hill" Hsnley, probably best known
of all Central Orcgonlans and clouo
friend or "Jim" Hill, was a. central
figure. To him much of tVe credit
for the railroads' building was given
by Mr. Hill, and he It was who gavo
Uend's native stono depot Its start,
by laying the cornerstone, while all
Uend, most ot Central Oregon and a
goodly representation of men and
women from Portland and Seattlo
applauded.
And during that day and the next
there was celebration In Hend. J.
J. Hill told of his faith In Central
Oregon a faith that had brought
about tho Investment of millions ot
dollars and predicted the great
things that the future has In atoro
for tho Httlo developed Interior coun
try, Day find Ills Meaning.
Hut with all tho fun nnd jollity ot
"Kallroad Day." It had a far greater
meaning than most such celebra
tions. It commemorated not sim
ply the arrival of two railroads at a
previously rail roadless town. It
did far moro than that. It was a
big doublo ml lot tone Id tho develop
ment history not only of Central Ore
gon, but of all tho state. Hend'
railroad day marked the opening ot
a new era In tho history of all tho
torritory cost of tho Cascade moun
tains nn era whose Inevltablo pros
perity could not but moan a similar
prosperity for all Oregon. Tho ar
rival of the railroads at Uend marked
tho end ot an unparalleled situation
unoquslcd for Ita economic Inertia
and wasted ttosslbllltlbs and ihn
opening to development of tho great
eat and richest undeveloped cmiilre In
all the West.
Tho articles In this Bectlon deal
briefly with Central Oroeon'a ante.
railroad days, with tho old methods
of transportation and tho now. with
probable futuro railroad develop
ments, with horse and autnmablln
transportation, with tho commercial
growtn tbat Is directly dependent
upon the railroads. With roada and.
especially, with the development ot
the near future which will mean
tonnago to tho railroads that hava
built to Hend.
Hut bit: as all tho auhlect la.lt can
only bo scratched hero) October's,
1911, was tho real opening ot it all,
and so It Is that "Kallroad Day" will
go down In Central Oregon annals
as the brightest day on tho calendar.
class freight, in which class falls
most ot the material uiied by general
merchants, the rail rate from- Port
land to Lakevlew, Paisley's railroad
point, totals $2.50 a hundred, In
cluding wArehose And transfer
charges. On top of that tho 45-mtlo
LAkevlew-Palsley wagon haul has for
lis lowest rato 50 cents a hundred,
making a total of about 3.00. The
total rate from Portland to Paisley,
by way of Hend, Is about $2.50.
These figures apply on one of the.
first shipments tried. It Beems prob
able that an even greater advAntago
In favor of Uend will develop as tho
business Is enlargod.
Wholesale .Stocks Carried Here.
In addition to the largo volumo ot
freight passing through Hend, It la
possible for tho merchants ot the In
terior to buy At wholesale hero. Tho
warehouse always has on hand largo
stocks ot flour, sugar, dairy and ta
ble salt, gasoline and oIIb and It
buys hides aud polts. A local com
mission firm, tho Control Oregon
Urokorago Company, nlso wholesales
smoked and salted meats, lards, com
pounds, etc. ot which It carries
large stocks ready for shipment. In
this way tho Incouvontenco and de
lays ot tho old methods aro greatly
eliminated.
Ot course an Important Item of tho
freighting business, from the stand
point of the town, Is that all thoso
who haul freight from Uend spend
money hero. For Intvtanco, overy
olght-horaQ outfit that comes for a
load, buys food for freighter and
teams hero, the autos buy gosallpo
And supplies And have repair work
done, nnd all contribute to the sup
port of local business In ono way and
another.