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VOL. XXIV.
GRANTS PASS, JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON, FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1909.
NO. 49
BIG REALTY DEALS
DURING THE WEEK
Farm Property Is
Active Demand.
in
IRRIGATION THE INCENTIVE
A List of Sales Made by Some of Our
Leading Real Estate
Dealers.
Since the Inauguration of the big
Irrigation project which will supply
to this part of the country the only
thing which nature has failed to
supply, water In abundance, our
fruit growers are jubilant. Outside
capital, which has been looking this
way for sometime for good Invest
ment, has begun to take definite
steps in procuring some of the best
and most available fruit lands. The
most pessimistic ran not deny the
fact that a new era is at hand for
this country and it is easy to predict
that in ten years from now we will
lead in the growing of apples, pears
and grapes. Among the large pro
perties which changed hands last
week was the Herman & Flynn farm
of 240 acres. The purchasers were
Alex 0. Hood and W. L. Hood, of
Kellogg, Sonoma County, Cal. The
price was $30,000 and the new
owners propose to plant the tract
to commercial apples. H. L. Her
zlnger and Thomas Galvln, the real
estate men, promoted the deal. They
also sold a fine tract recently to W.
O. King, of Butte, Mont., which was
previously owned by J. W. Smith.
Mr. King will also plant to apples
and pears. Consideration $30,000.
-Bcst-FuUer Company.
. This firm have made the following
sales since our last issue:
J. C. Williams, of Grass Valley,
Oregon, bought from R. R. Atkln 13
acres within the city limits on River
Road. The consideration being
$3,400. This is the old Nash place.
Michael McDermott, of Tekoa,
Wash., bought from John B. Boese
160 acres two miles west of town.
Consideration $900.
Mrs. M. Cheetam bought of J. M.
Eubanks some acreage on Tenth
street at $250 an acre.
.Dr. S. Loughbrldge bought from
A. H. Bronson 49 acres on the river
bottom at $135 an acre.
There was also a sale by the same
firm of eight lots on Iowa street In
the Nelson addition. Consideration
not reported.
G. H. Carner bought from Sulli
van & Mottram the 700 acres known
as the Miller farm, two and a halt
miles from city. This Is one of the
beBt places in the valley below town.
There is a very valuable orchard of
60 acres on the property and this
alone would bring in the market a
good share of the purchase price,
which was $27,000.
John T. Brochers sold to George
C. Sabln 80 acres lour mnes soutn
Out new goods have commenced to arrive
THIS WELK WE RECEIVED
NEW CARPETS
NEW ART SQUARES
NEW WALL PAPER
NEW GO CARTS
St: those goods before purchasing
W. w.H co - .,lUUrU.... ...ckil Wall P..r
i 23 per cnt off fr or "me
o
o
O'NEILL
west of town, near Jerome Prairie
Price $1750.
Joseph Morn.
Joseph Moss made the following
sales during the week:
Five lots In block 45, original
townsite; by Cecilia Gamble to M.
F. Coberth. Consideration $1000.
Mr. Coberth is at present in Eastern
Oregon, but intends to move here
and erect a handsome residence on
the property for himself and also for
rent.
John Dunn to Luclle McCroskey,
two lots in block 10, H. B. Miller
& Co. addition. Consideration $150.
Will put up houses for rent on the
property.
John H. Wlllams et al to Alfred
R. Williams, of Woodville, lot 6,
block 55, in addition to Railway ad
dition. Consideration $75.
Churchill-Riggg Land Company.
For week ending March 6, 1909.
40 acres in Fruitdale belonging to
W. S. Coutant, sold to H. L. Gllkey.
J. G. Riggs, E. L. Churchill and J.
T. Fry Consideration $2000
40 acres in Fruitdale, August
Fetsch and others to Joseph Harper.
Consideration $1400.
5 acres on East Iowa street, L. B.
Hall to E. S. Van Dyke. Considera
tion $1500.
Terrible Accident.
One of those shocking events
which from time to llnie disturb a
community happened at Gallce last
Sunday night. Barnett A. Pollock,
an employe of the Harvey placer
mine, had the night shift and was on
duty piping. At the time he was
alone, the balance of the night force
being temporarily in another part of
the mine, and on their return they
found the bank had caved and that
Pollock had been caught beneath it
and smothered, though the dirt was
away from his head and face. It was
Quite plain to be seen that the giant
which he was operating had washed
the earth away from his head after
his death. The body was removed
and an Inquest held, the jury find
ing that death was accidental.
Eclus Pollock, his cousin, went
down Monday morning and brought
the1 body to this city, and on Tuesday
the funeral was held, Rev. F. C.
Lovett officiating. The Interment
took place at Pleasant Valley ceme
tery. Barnett A. Pollock came to this
country with his parents when he
was a child. At the time of his
death he was in his 47th year. Three
years ago his wife died, leaving him
the care of eight children. The oldest
were a pair of twins, a girl and a
tinv nnw In their 19th year. The
youngest child is 5 or 6 yearB old,
and this, with one or two others, Is
at the Pollock home in this city, liv
Ine with their grandmother.
This is one of the saddest events
we have had to record for a long
time.
New Ditch Machinery,
The big grader ordered by the ir
rigation company has arrived ana
will be taken out to the point where
the work Is going on below the dam
This Is a fine machine and Is war
ranted to do first-class work. The
company will order another machine
in n few days. Every modern whh
used in ditch construction will be
nrocured in1 order to do fast work
and in the best manner
Uyall ousefurnlsher
South Side of Railroad on G St.
GOVERNMENT'S
BIG LAND SUIT
Tv DoAm.an tii i J
lo Recover Holdings of
Southern Pacific.
DEFENDANT'S DEMURRER
If the Courts Sustains the Railroad's
Contention This Will
End Suit.
The long talked of suit by the
government to recover lands from
the Southern Pacific railroad com
pany was inaugurated In the United
States Court at Portland on Monday.
This is one of the most important
legal controversies which has ever
come up in the Federal courts within
the State of Oregon. The title to no
less than 2,000,000 acres is Involved
in the suit and while it is important
that the case be settled in order that
this vast body of land may be put on
the market, sold and Improved.
The government Is represented in
the case by Tracy C. Becker, and the
Harriman interest by W. W. Cotton
and other noted lawyers. The case
came up on a demurrer by the rail
road company to the complaint, and
it is sustained the government
111 have lost its case and the com
pany will be entitled to go on and
sell the lands. The question at iBsue
goes back to law of Congress passed
in 1866, granting to the Oregon &
California railroad each alternate
section for a distance of twenty miles
on either side of the road, and this
land was to be sold to actual settlers I
at not to exceed $2.50 per acre. The
government's contention is that the
company violated the terms of the
act by which they came into posses-
GRANTS PASS
MODERN TELEPHONE SYSTEM
One Big Gang Wiring
Poles for ErectionLocal Men Em
ployedBig Payroll Assured.
Yesterday the Pacific Telephone
Company commenced actual recon
struction work on their system in this
city, which should have a tendency
to set aside the pessimists statements
that the report that thlB work would
be done at once was only a bluff,
To be sure, the report has been cur-
rent for some time that this work
would be done, but many people do
not take Into consideration that a
large company like the Pacific Tele-
phone Company have much work of
n nirnliiar nature on their hands and
that It takes time to reach all of them
and they have been preparing for It
and for the last month or six weeks.
There have been men at work In this
city getting things In shape and
chunglng over their telegraph ser
vice to accomodate the change that
was necessary In tho local office be
fore the central energy system could
be Installed.
Last Friday the flrBt shipment of
material for the new central energy
system arrived in this city and fol
lowing that came some of the ex
pert employes of the company to get
this material in shape for actual
work. Monday a carload of poles
arrived and there are five moro on
the road.
Much of the labor to bo employed
on this work will be local, giving
many of the unemployed of this city
steady work for several months at
good wages. This means much to
the city of Grants Pass at the present
time and will materially assist in the
..r,orttv nf thn community, for a
I vr- i j v.
good healthy payroll mean much to
a city. The company is to be com
mended for taking this fact Into con
sideration and yesterday they took
all help that made application. They
had no sooner announced that they
slon of this vast domain and sold it
in many instances as high as $7 an
acre, and at a later date, taking the
! lands off the market, presumably
I to secure to themselves the enhance
J ment in value. Some of these lands
j have beoome very valuable. Those
in the immediate vicinity of Grants
Pass would at this time sell at $100
an acre and near other town8 Rlong
the line for a like sum. The weak
side of the government case Is the
supplementary cases which tneludes
a hundred or more private "parties
who purchased some of these lands.
To .the layman it would look as
If these supplementary cases should
not come into question at-this time
as they have the opportunity to plead
that they are Innocent hoiders. These
Bults serve at least to complicate
the question and delay the final de
cision What the people want is a
settlement of the case so that the
lands may become taxable and pay
their share of the expense of govern
ment. WILLIAM H. TAFT
IS NOW PRESIDENT
The inauguration of President
elect William H. Taft took place in
Washington, at the capitol, on
Thursday at 12:30 p. m amid the
greatest throng that has ever visited
the city of Washington for many
years. Every preparation had been
made for the proceedings to take
place In front of the capitol where
thousands of people expected to wit
ness the ceremony, but the drench
ing rain and howling blasts com
pelled the officials to repair to the
Senate chamber. Chief Justice Ful
ler administered the oath of office
to the President-elect, who repeated
the oath after the white-haired
Justice, after which he kissed the
I Bible which was carried in the arms
of the clerk of the Supreme Court,
j '
j The "Hquare Deal" Poultry Yard.
In name and In fact. In buying
stock or eggs from me you will get a
"square deal" in every case. I have
the real thing In Barred Rocks.
3-5-2t JOHN SUMMERS.
TO HAVE A
HousesOne Preparing
needed men before the superintend
ent of construction was busy signing
: men.
With the new poles that will be
i put In they will not all be used on
the reconstruction but many of them
will be used In reaching out into ter
'rltorles of the city that have not here-
tofore been covered by the company,
t It Is the intention of the company to
so reconstruct their lines in this city
that they will be adequate for the
: growth of the city for several years
, to come, and the stability of the
plnnt that they are Installing show
that they have faith io the growth
of Grants Pass. One of tho principal
alms of tho company Is to take care
of the future development of the city
Aside from this another gang of
men that are rewiring the houses
they hnvo alrendy Btarted In on thel
work, This rewiring is preparatory
to the installation of the new phones,
There will bo no Interruption in the
s'Tvlce during this work, for con
densers will bo put In the old tele
phones .'o that they can be worked
with the new switch board that will
be Installed while tho cable is being
strung and the new style telephones
put In. A shipment of the new phones
arrived today and will be on exhlbl
tlon in the various itorcB.
The new twitch board which is
now being constructed is the master
work of telephone art and will be
one of the moBt modern on the coast.
It Is the modern common battery
mutlple switch board, divided Into
sections and so constructed that each
operator can reach all subscribers,
Instead of having to "plug In" and
calling another operator.. This will
necessitate tho employment of extra
operators in the central office.
(Continued on Tage Blx)
YORK ON CANAL
HAS COMMENCED
Work In Progress Both
ides of the River.
OUBLE FORCE MONDAY
Ditch Construction Will He Pushed
as fast as Men and Teams Can
Do tho Work.
Irrigation seems to hold the mid-
die of the road with all classes In
Grants Pass and the surround
ing country. What looked to
be in the far distance only a little
hlle ago has come very near to us
all since actual work on the big
canals on both sides of the river has
been commenced. We all begin to
realize what can be accomplished by
well directed energy and expenditure
of money. Construction work on
the 20-0-foot canal on the north side
Is going forward without delay. The
force is composed of both men and
teams; more teams, it la said, are
needed, but they have been engaged
and will go to work next Monday.
Manager O. H. Carner has been a
very busy man during the entire
week as everything had to be assem
bled, men, teams, machinery , and
tools of all kinds. Nothing has been
allowed to lag, however, for want of I
attention. It can now be said the
work on the north side of the river
is going along quite well and even
better than was expected as It has
been found that the course of the
ditch does not lead through as much
rock as anticipated and the result
is Mr. Carner is rejoicing over the
good fortune as the work will be
done at much less cost than it was
figured in the beginning. From
this on, the north side ditch will be
pushed by a big force of men and
teams. The work on the south side
has been commenced. Tho survey on
the 350-foot contour canal has been
run from the dam to a point above
the school houBe at Fruitdale and for
several days a force of a dozen axe
and bruBh men have been doing con -
structlon work. This has produced
no little enthusiasm throughout the
entire neighborhood.
FUU1TDALK.
The school had a group picture
taken one day hut weok.
Ruth Huck is quite sick with the
measles
The Fruitdale telephone company
has extended Its line to E. E. Blanch
ard's farm In the southern part of
Fruitdale, where Hiram Reynolds
lives. Their phone number is 81X2.
E. H. Wise is doing a lot of im-
proving around hia place. He has
i U out -
wi u 14 v v -
ting up a lot of Pago wire fence along
the road, where he hns torn down the
old rail fence and grubbed out an
the brush. In his field on the east
side of the road he has also done a
lot of clearing, which Is a great Im
provement.
Fruitdale is rejoicing over the
fact that there are five surveyors
at work on the 350-foot contour
nnl nnrl 12 men worklnit clearing
i.nmh from tho rltht of way.
...... - -
Mrs. Henry Huck is suffering from
a severely soralncd ankle. Dr. Smith
Is attending It.
Mrs. Chas. King, of Ashland, who
vm a resident or r ruuome severm
years ago, Is visiting at tho Alonzo
Jones home. Mrs. King says she
a great many changes and 1m
sees
provemonts In the community.
There was a fine attendance at the
service last 8unday afternoon,
hlch time Evangelist Thuemler
. . - .....
gave a very interesting jiiuib mm.
Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Ida Swacker
attended service here last Sunday
afternoon and Mrs. Walker favored
us with a beautiful solo.
W. E. Sturtevant attended service
here last Sunday.
It Is expected that Captain
Lvman. of the Salvation Army, will
preach here on Sunday afternoon,
March 14.
I Planet Jr. (Jiinlen Tools at Hair
1 Kiddle Hardware Co.
The Grange meeting last Satur
day was well attended. A very inter
esting business session was held In
the forenoon, at which time a num
ber of topics of especial interest to
Fruitdale were discussed. Several
new members were initiated and
Niram Reynolds, formerly of Dlmick
Grange, who now lives on E. E.
Blanchard's farm, transferred his
membership to this grange. At noon
a bountiful dinner was served, after
which everyone looked so smiling
and good natured, that Mrs. Wise
improved the opportunity and re
questing everyone to step outside
the door, she took a picture of the
crowd. At the afternoon session, Mrs.
Parham and Mrs. T. Cook, of Dlmick
Grange were present, also a number
of Fruitdale friends. After attending
to a few business matters the follow
ing officers were installed for the
ensuing year, Mrs. Parham acting as
installing officer: H. C. Bateham,
worthy master; G. A. Hamilton,
overseer; Mrs. w.S. Contant, lec
turer; E. H. Wise, steward; Mrs. F,
A. Clements, chaplain; John Stan
brough, treasurer; Mrs. G. A. Hamil
ton, secretary; F. A. Clements, gate
keeper; Mrs. John Stanbrough,
Ceres; Mrs. H. Huck, Pomona; Mrs.
F. Brletmeyer, Flora; Mrs. E. H.
Wise, lady steward. After this cere
mony, which was very Impressive,
a good patriotic program was given.
Milton Huck recited "The Panlo In
Africa," caused by the Intended hunt.
Walter Hamilton read a very good
paper on the History of the Hatchet.
II. C. Bateham gave a talk on
"The Cherry Tree," not the Wash
lngton cherry tree, but the modern
Oregon cherry tree and Its care. Wm.
Byrne also gave a short talk on his
experience with cherries.' He has
raised cherries for years and said
that he had never had a failure la
the May Duke cherries. Mrs. Henry
Huck read a selection on the life ot
Abraham Lincoln and Mrs. E. H.
Wise gave a character sketch of
Washington. All joined in singing
America for the closing numbor. The
I question of the most convenient time
to hold the meetings during the
I spring and summer was discussed
I tTi& TOted upon. Evening being the
time chosen by a large majority vote.
The Co-operative Organizes.
On Monday evening the stock
holders of the Grants Pass Rochdale
Co. met at the Court House and corn-
J pieted their organization, electing as
I directors Marcus W. Robblns, W. G.
rjurt, Ed Lister, E. V. Smith and W.
it perry. The directors met at the
office of M. W. RobblnB Thursday
evening, and upon refusal ot Mr.
Lister to qualify for the office of
director, elected Ed H. Allen, of the
1 hnr fnrtnrr. to fill the vacancy. The
I dlrector8 then elected the following
lSJB af
officers for the following year
Marcus W. Robblns, president; Ed
H. Allen, vice-president; W. T. Per
ry, secretary; and the Grants Pass
Banking & Trust Co. as treasurer
for the company.
A Higli-CluHS Production.
Thn TtnrimmiiHter." ono of
the
KreateHt musical comedies before me
1 ,w.iitia win ha eiven at the
1 lljwt.lipiiin, " '
(jrant8 Pass opera house next Tues
.. M -..!
day night. TMB reaiiy wuuuonu.
production should be seen by every
person who appreciates theatricals
of a high order, and If we want good
plays to come here In the luture,
... i i.i .hiar ihnlr annro-
our ciiizenB bummiu bu-
elation ot this beautiful musical
comedy. i
Tn .ncuro "Tho Burgomaster .
r Kinm-v. ninnnKer of tho Optra
vy , i . .
I h.,un hna enne to considerable ox
p(.nHe, and unless the attendance is
...friiient to nay tho outlay we m
i,nrdly expect him to continue w
brlnK high-class productions, in a
i .,vu,n into uranis --
Hri0iild bo patronized liberally
- 1 Tho Club llanquet,
The Commercial Cluo uwnu
wiii take place at the SKaung ri
it. in . 4 a TM
at on the evening or Marcn
,g one 0f the great events 01 in
I .... n... ami MVfll VCOuT
year In Grants r"
houl(j bo represented on mis
lon The tickets will be 1 ""'
Lnd they should be secured on or
before Monday evening, the 8th.
jiave your order at Sabln drug
.loro or at Churchlll-Rlgg Lana o.
The ouwt 0f the banquet Is to raise
mnn(lV for the Commercial Club ana
to g(.t In line so as to be of sorvice
in the upbuilding oi joseyu.m,
county. Do not forget the date
Friday evening, the 12th.