life
VOL. XXV.
GRANTS PASS,' JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON, FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 19ifO
No. 60.
MANY CHINAMEN
WERE AT GAUGE
700 OF THESE PEOPLE THERE IN
EARLY DAYS
MORE THAN $1,000,000.00
Over Thirty Thousand Dollars Were
Taken from the Noted
Almeda, Bar.
The part that Chinamen played in
mining in Southern Oregon is a story
that has never fully been told. Dur
ing first and last every camp in Jack
son and Josephine counties had its
full quota of men of the queue. The
Celestials came early to the country",
r following closely after the white men
It can not he said that they were al
ways welcome, on the contrary the
feeling against them was so great
that a war of extermination seemed
imminent. Once or twice violence
"was not only threatened but offered
and the Chinamen were told to go,
and they were followed out of the
country and told not to return, but
there were always some white miners
who respected the Chinaman for his
mining knowledge and his industry in
Jila calling.
1 "George Green, a brother of the
ld-tlmer, Dan Green,' is full of rem
'intBcenses relating to the days when
the Chinamen were a factor in the
mining business of Josephine coun
ty. Mr. Green came to this part of
Oregon very late in the fall of 1860.
"He was one of the Pikes Peak crowd
who rushed to Colorado in 1859, and
so a year later he came on to this
country to Join his brother, Dan
'Green, who had located in Josephine
'cotmty several years before. George
tacto his first dinner in the Rogue
River valley at Jacksonville on
Christmas day, and on January 20, i
1861, he visited Gallce, where his
brother was engaged in mining. He
entered into business with him, and
with the exception of two years spent
in Baker county, he lias resided con
tinuously in Gallce. Mr. Green says
That at one time there were 700
Chinamen working In the mines
'around Gallce. Some of the white
miners were opposed to allowing the
Orientals to stay In the country and
the matter was worked up to the
point of holding an election to de
termine whether or not they should
be Bent out of the camp. This elec
tion resulted in favor of the Chlnn
'men, much to the disgust of the agi
tators. It is Mr. Green's opinion that
(Chinamen first and last took out of
the placers of Gallce more than a mil
lion dollars In gold. In many ways
they were skillful miners, doing their
work quite as well as the average
white man could do under like cir
cumstances. They were experts at
building wing dams, erecting water
wheels, sluicing, etc. Fifteen or twen
ty of these Chinamen did some good
work on the Almeda bar, which Is
located just below where the Almeda
mine has been opened. In the early
days some successful white miners
worked this bar and took out an Im
mense amount of gold, and after they
gave up the work the Chinamen men
tioned above worked this property
over again. They built a wing dam
find did some really np-to-date work
on this. It was never known how
much gold they got, but it has always
been conceded that it amounted to
more than $30,000. This gold un
doubtedly came from the erosions on
the big Almeda ledee where !t
crosses the river. Taking the gold
from this bar had much to do with
the later development work on the
Almeda property. Many of the best
miners of the country wer of the
opinion that the Almeda would be
rome the one great producer of
Southern Oregon, and Inte develop
ments certainly confirm tMs opinion
It should be Mated here In rloslnc
this nrtlrle. that the Chlnnmnn miner
'Is no loneer In evidence In Josephine
county. It Is barely possible that
one or two are still In the business.
but this number Is not exceeded.
More Denver Arrivals.
Victor Z. Havens and Armjn Doer
ner, Jr., arrived In Grants Pass
Thursday with a car of. household
goods, three horses and two Jersey
cows, poultry, etc., whliih will be
taken to the ranch at Wildervllle re
cently purchased by E. G. Harris.
Mrs. Alfred Doerner and three young
er children will arrive Sunday morn
ing and will be with Mr. Doerner's
sisters, Mrs. E. G. Harris and Miss
Cella Doerner for several days, later
taking up their residence at Wilder
ville. Mr. Doerner 13 the head book
keeper of the Colorado National
bank of Denver, with which Institu
tion he has been connected for the
past 23 years. He will remain in
Denver for several years, visiting his
family at frequent intervals. Mr.
Havens is a student of the Denver
University in his third year, but he
will work the Doerner farm for this
year, resuming his studies. in the law
department later.
Runaway Tuesday Afternoon.
A rather amusing runaway occur
red on Seventh street Tuesday even
ing. Mrs. J. Knighton, in company
with another lady, was driving down
the street when a fastening in the
doubletrees worked loose and with
out warning the tongue dropped to
the ground. The horses became
frightened at this unusual occurrence
and finished the job by kicking the
tugs loose and started pell-mell down
the street. The ladies remained in
the middle of the road in the wagon
until the animals were out of sight.
then climbed out. The horses were
caught in a short time and matters
righted. No one was hurt and no
damage done with the exception of
the breaking of the wagon tongue.
Foot Broken by Falling Pole.
A. B. Elllstfn was painfully injured
on Monday by the falling of a tele
phone pole which was being unloaded
the south end of town. The pole
Btruck his right foot, breaking the
bones and badly crushing the mem
ber, making a serious and very pain
ful Injury. Dr. Loughrldge is In at
tendance and reports Mr. Ellison as
doing nicely, but it will be some time
before he will be able to walk with
out the aid of crutches.
Excursion to California.
On Sunday, March 21, an excursion
party consisting of the members of
the commercial clubs and chambers
of commerce of Western Washington
will pass through Grants Pass at 9
a. m., stopping at Grants Pasa for 15
minutes. The Grants Pass Commer
cial Club desires as many of our citi
zens as can possibly do so to be on
hand at the depot to bid the excur
sionists welcome to Grants Pass, the
Italy of America.
Visit of Department Commander.
A fair sized audience attended the
meeting Thursday night which was
given out as a good citizenship meet
ing, and listened patiently for an
hour or more to the rarabllngs of an
egotist In the person of Department
Commander Shaw, of the G. A. R.,
who spent the day here on a visit
of Inspection to General Logan Post
and to inculcate patriotism In the
schools. The most he did at the
school was to brag of his achieve
ments and at the meeting In the even
ing he killed time.
The Grand Army of the Republic Is
an organization to which every old
soldier is proud to belong and the
organization and Its members are
honored throughout the length and
breadth of the Union. It stands for
benevolence and loyalty and one of
Its mission Is to instill within the
breasts of the youth of the land the
spirit of patriotism, and in these
matters it has been a power, but
when a man uses his office for per
sonal glorification the principles of
the order are lost sight of.
Grading Sixth Street.
Street Commissioner McLean has
been at work during the week put
ting Sixth street In order. The city
grader was run over the surface to
cut down the high places and fill up
the hollows, which made a very
jniooih surface. After tMs hnd
been done the roller was put on
and the ground rolled down so as to
tunl.o the street smooth nnd desir
able. This might have been done
lust year but the city force was too
busy to look after street Improvements.
THE HILL PARTY
ARRIVED
SUNDAY
A WORKING FORCE GOES TO
RANCH ON MONDAY
FARMING ON LARGE SCALE
Improvements to Be Made on the
Farm at the Mouth of Apple
gate River.
W. F. Hill, of the big ranch at the
mouth of the Applegate, arrived In
Grants Pass on Sunday last from
Huntingdon, Penn., bringing with
him from Pennsylvania eleven per
sons, nine men and two women. All
of these people will live at the ranch.
On Monday the entire party went out
to the place and on arriving there
active operations were commenced.
Mr. Hill has employed A. P. Mershon,
a Pennsylvania farmer of large ex-,
perience, to take charge of farming
operations. He also brougnt with
him Mr. Brattan, a landscape gar
dener, who will look after the work
of gardening and laying out plans
for grading the property so as to
be able to cover large areas with
water from the irrigating ditches.
It is Mr. Hill's purpose to put
a considerable share of the ranch
this season into grain and forage
crops and later get the land ready
to plant to fruit. He will put out
apples, pears and peaches. The cul
tivation this season will be on an
extensive scale, so as to put the soil
in proper condition for orchard pur
poses. Later on building operations
will be- commenced to provide homes
for all the people connected with the
enterprise. Plans for the buildings
have not yet been completed, but it
is expected that several bungalows
will be put up, likewise a number of
barns and outhouses. We learn that
Mr. Hill expects to return to Penn
sylvania about the 20th of March on
a business trip, coming back later.
Mr. Hill has undertaken a great
work in this county and the general
opinion seems to be that he has the
technical knowledge and ability to
carry it forward to success. He has
the good wishes of everybody In his
operations, as his success will mean
much to agriculture and fruit grow
ing In the Rogue River valley. It
will be remembered an, article was
published In these columns some
weeks ago taken from a Pennsylvania
paper urging Mr. Hill as a candidate
In his district for congress. We now
learn that he has decided not to med
dle wrlth politics but'devote himself
strictly to business, which will be a
good thing for his farming and fruit
venture in this county. Later, should
he care to go to congress, the people
of this congressional district will be
glad to send him, for he possesses
many qualifications which would
make him a successful member of
our national legislature.
There Is Something Wrong.
There is something wrong In the
matter of handling diphtheria cases
In this city. Just who Is to blame It
seems past finding out. Every case
Is quarantined and after the disease
is over the premises are fumigated
and the diphtheria stamped out, but
In a day or two another case appears
and thus the matter goes on and like
the poor we have some of these cases
always with us. The mayor, who
fortunately h a physician, and at
the same time president of the school
board, must be called on to look Into
this matter with more than ordinary
care. He has the power, the ability
and he must of necessity have the
desire to get rid of the disease once
for all.
J. A. Dale Real IXale.
John A. Dale, who arrived In
Grants Pass recently from Minne
sota, bns entered the rank of the
real estnin dealers end tal:en rfflces
In the Conklln building. Mr. Dale
has nlrendy listed n considerable
number of fine tracts, which he of
fers to thp buying public. Mr. Dale
Is booster and will be a help to
the Grants Pass boosting force.
TLANT ROSES!
Have you ever read the story
Of the king and the blue flower,
Which transformed his land and
people
By its sweet and subtle power?
So let Grants Pass think .of roses,
plant rose bushes far and wide,
Talk of roses, dream of roses,
Bid them bloom on every side!
iiien their beauty and their fra
grance Will shed sweetness all around,
And the praises of the city
Through the whole land will re
sound. Even those of sordid nature,
Worshiping the dollar sign,
Will discover in the roses
Wealth like that of richest mine
Land will boom in town and country,
Every tourist in the West
Will stop off to see the city
All in lovely roses dressed.
Then there will be throngs of buyers,
Settlers will come thick and fast,
And prosperity's bright era
Will be ushered in at last. '
And the children reared 'mid roses
Of their sweetness will partake,
And this dear old town of Grants
Pass
Soon a heaven on earth will make.
Cella Doerner.
Grants Pass, Oregon,
March, 9, 1910.
SPELLING CONTESTS
CREATE INTEREST
The monthly spelling contests In
augurated by Superintendent Lin
coln Savage have created consider
able Interest In the grade schools of
the county, so much In fact., that
scholars who had never been known
to study out of Bchool insisted on
taking their spelling books, home to
study. The next contest occurs March
25. In the first contest the Winona
school, Chas. Thompson, Btood the
highest, 96 1-5 per cent, and the
Kerby school, Miss Augusta Parker
teacher, standing second, 90 per cent.
Six teachers failed to send in their
reports. The percentages are as fol
lows: District No. 2, Holland, 79 7-13
per cent. 13 in contest.
District No. 3, Kerby, 90 per cent.
24 entering contest.
District No. 6, Dryden, 84 per cent.
10 entering contest.
District No. 8, Provolt, 53 1-11 per
cent. 11 entering contest.
District No. 10, Murphy, 71 per
cent. 14 entering contest.
District No. 11, Leland, 58 8-15
per cent. 15 entering contest.
District No. 12, Murphy, 65 13-15
per cent. 15 entering contest.
District No. 14, Murphy, 67 5-11
per cent. 11 entering contest.
District No. 15, Placer, 82 2-11
per cent. 11 entering contest.
District No. 16, Williams, 78
per cent. 8 entering contest.
District No. 1., Grants Pass, R.
D. 2, 72 per cent. 1 entering con
test. District No. 20, Grants Pass, R.
D. 2, 85 5-9. 9 entering contest.
District No. 21, Kerby, Tt. D.,
68 5-7 per cent. 7 entering contest.
District No. 23, Grants Pass, R.
D. 1, 74-. 8 entering contest.
District No. 24, Merlin, 88 3-5 per
cent. 20 entering contest.
District No. 25, Grants Pass, 63
per cent. 4 entering contest.
District No. 27, Wolf Creek,
86 6-17 per cent. 17 entering contest.
District No. 28, Frultdale, 82 per
cent. 4 entering contest.
District No. 29, Grants Pass, R.
D. 1, 96 1-5 per cent. 10 entering
contest.
District No. 30, Grants Pass, 11.
D. 2, 81 per cent. 9 entering contest.
District No. 32, brants Pass, R.
D. 2, 82 per cent. 8 entering con
test, District No. 38, Golden, 84 2-5 per
cent. 5 entering contest.
District No. 39, Wonder, R5 1-3
per rent. 6 entering contest.
District No. 47. Merlin, 74 2-10
per cent. 10 entering contest.
('oiiImoii'a !'"MhI
f'tr little chicks makes them grow.
40g Rih street.
Miss .Ii'iikIo Hnle went to Medford
this Friday to visit over Sunday wltft
friends.
Mrs. Winks Is at present an In
mate of the South Pacific hospital,
where she Is taking treatment for a
light ailment.
RANCH DEAL
PRICE $100,000
CARNER'S. PLEASANT VALLEY
PROPERTY SOLD
NEW YORK PARTIES BUY
Best-Fuller Co. Slakes Record Sale
of the Year In Josephine
County.
One of the largest real estate trans
actions ever made in this valley took
place last week. It was the Bale of
the O. H. Carner ranch 13 miles east
of this city, and 4 miles north of
Woodvllle. The property consists of
nearly 1400 acres, and of this
amount 650 acres are made up of a
rich, black, sandy loam, under irriga
tion. Besides the above, there is
something over 700 acres of Al red
land that is considered the equal of
any soil in the valley. The property
was sold by the well known real es
tate firm, the Best-Fuller Co.. to New
York parties, who did not care to
have their names mentioned at this
time, though the deal was closed by
a substantial payment down, pending
the preparation of the title papers.
The amount of the purchase was an
even $100,000.
It is the intention of the purchasers
to expend a considerable sum in im
provements and they will at once put
in grain and forage cropB, using all
the irrigated land for this purpose.
Isaac Best, of the Best-Fuller com
pany, went to Hornbrook, Cal., a
few days ago, where he met Noble
Parker, of the firm of Parker &
Burkhalter, of this city, of whom he
purchased eight head of fine heavy
work horses to be used on the big
place. The plan of development of
this property is the cutting of it into
a large number of small farms of
such size as can be worked to advan
tage in a commercial way. There
are very few large bodies of land in
the Rogue River valley the equal in
productive quality of this well known
ranch. The locality of the' place is
In Pleasant valley and the ranch Is
called by that name.
New Store for Hugo.
Lynn A. Smith, who recently ar
rived In Grants Pass from BoIhc, Ida.,
and has purchased property in this
county, Is arranging to establish a
general merchandise store at Hugo.
The building Is now being fitted up
r.nd the stock ordered and Mr. Smith
expects to be ready for business
about March 20. The establishment
will be known as the Hugo Supply
Co.
Woodvllle Busy Boosting.
The boosting spirit has Btruck
Woodvllle and the Woodvlllans are
making the most of it and setting a
pace which many a larger town might
have difficulty in following. One of
their publicity moves is the printing
of thousands of envelopes, the front
bearing the picture of their pew
$15,000 school house and the legend,
"Why Don't YOU Come to Wood
vllle?" On the back is printed the fol
lowing: Woodvllle on the Rogue, In the
famous Rogue River valley the
homo of the big red apples and Dart
lett pear In a warm, sunny vale,
nestling at the foot of the Rogue
River mountains, bounded on two
sides by a sparkling mountain stream,
lies the town of Woodvllle, Oregon,
One.slde of the town Is on the banks
of the swift rolling Rogue river the
home of the Chinook salmon and the
game Koine River trout the fisher
man's delight. A young and rnnld
Iv irrowlng town In the finest fruit,
mining nnd timber belt, Nine b.
Hon feet of yellow nnd smjar pine
trlb'ttnrv nnd must, all be tnnnnfne
tnred nt Woodvllle no other outlet.
A new fifteen thousand dollar blah
"-,nn building nnd n new twentv
thousand dollar step) hrldee across
Hogiie River. Woodvllle Is now hnv
Ing Us (Treated building activity n
bank and many other enterprises are
tinder way for the soring opening.
BIG
Here we have the purest water most
Ideal climate where drouths, cy
clones and crop failures never corns.
The homeseeker's home- For fur
ther information address WoodvfiiA
Commercial Club. Watch Woodvllle
grow. Better still, come and see her
grow.
Cold Storage Team on a Frolic.
Another runawav. cimiiir t jat.n
to the one occurrlnar on TiiAflor hap
pened thia Friday morning, the par-
iifipanw in tne arralr being the ice
wagon team. In thts eno .
other one, the bolt In the doubletrees
came out when the team was in front
or tne cold storage, and the driver
was Just on the noint nf ntorMn.,
his rounds. When the horses found
they were free from the wagon they
Hianea at a lively gait towards Sixth
street. The driver held the lines,
which were broken In two, and the
horses departed, turning up Sixth
sireei toward the court house, where
they were caught by Isaac Best, the
real estate man. Nn itomn,. ...
done save the breaking of the lines
.1 A
mm mese were soon replaced with
new ones and the Ice wagon was soon
distributing Its cool burden over tha
city as usual.
Train Service Demoralized.
During the past week the rails of
the Southern Pacific tracks have been
kept hot by the unceasing traffic
which has passed over them. Some
times as many as 20 passenger trains,
passed through Grants Pass in one
day, en route to and from eastern
points, being diverted from their na
tural route by the disastrous slides
on the lines In Nevada. These extra
trains have created havoc In the sche
dule of our local passenger, limited
and freight trains so that no train
has been running on time during tha
past week. The last of the specials
was removed this Friday morning, so
that we may expect something like
schedule time In the future, al
though It will probably be about two .
weeks longer before we can expect
anything like regularity In railroad
traffic, as the ferry trouble which
delays the arrival of No. 16, north
bound, In the evening and conse
quently Nos. 11 and 15, southbound,
In the morning, has not yet been rem
edied. No. 18 was on time this Fri
day afternoon for the first time for
many days.
Last week no eastern mall was re
ceived In the Grants Fass postofflca
for four days and on the fifth there
were 1439 pounds, represented by 39
sacks of papers and two pouches of
letters. This was on Saturday and
every day since has seen a propor
tionately largo amount of eastern
mall to keep the Grants Pass postal
clerks hustling to work over. On
Tuesday of this week there were 25
sncks, 'containing altogether about
1000 pounds of mall.
It Is certainly a relief to the post-
office department as well as the
traveling public and community at
large to see the break In the tie-up
and to know that we will have only
our own train troubles to contend
with in the future, which of them
selves are enough to try the patience
to the extreme.
Making Fruit Farm Improvements.
A. J. Green Is making extensive
Improvements at the Jones Creek
crossing on the state road. He Is
preparing to put out several hun
dred apple and pear treos, He has
tindef construction a new house and
several farm buildings. He has evi
dently made up his mind that no time
shall be lost In getting his farm In
such shape as will make It a pay
ing Investment at the earliest pos
sible date.
Farmers' Institute.
A farmers' Institute will he held
at Williams, Ore., under the auspices
of the Oregon Agricultural college
and the citizens of Williams on Mon
day, March 14, the first session com
mencing at 10 a. m. Subjects relat
ing to dairying, chemistry of soils
and general agriculture will be pre
sented. Everybody Is cordially In
vited to come and bring the family
and friends.
Train KIIU Transient.
GOLD HILL, Or., Mar. Chnrles
A. I.nngew Ik h, ft transient, aged 36,
was killed nt Talent yesterday by be
ing struck by n iiotthboudn train. It
Is thought he tried to board the pilot.
His hat was missing and was found
on the pilot at Grants Pass.
i
i
Is