Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, April 08, 1910, SECTION TWO, Image 9

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Rogue River courier., April 08, 1910, SECTION TWO, Image 9

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About Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1910)

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Newspaper Page Textmite? SECTION TWO Pages 9 to 10 16 Pages VOL. XXVI. GRANTS TASS, JOSEPHINE COUNTV, OREGON, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1910. No. 2. THE ROGUE RIVER COURIER IS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD Stories Reminiscent of the Early History of the Paper and Its Quarter of a Cen- a W V J tury or Usefulness. Courier passed its twenty-fifth birth day and this week we celebrate the ovent with a sixteen page issue, in which the story of the paper during the quarter of a century past is mod estly told. Grants Pass has seen many changes since the day this journal first appeared as a candidate lor public favor, and the fact that it has stood the storms of adversity and become a power for good in the city of its birth and the county of Josephine, entitles u to rejoice mat It has been enabled to meet on this occasion its thousands of friends and accept irom mem a welcome m men . . i i .. i. i liomes Tn.ontr.fivo venrs is a long time i In the history of a newspaper. When and constantly increasing business, the Courier was started Grants Pass it has available 3000 feet of ground--was a very small town and the jour-1 floor space, with opportunities to add nalistlc venture at the time was any thing but promising; however, it rew with the growth of the place and as the years passed it became more and more a necessity with the people of the county, and In all fair ness, it may be said it did Its part in iM!nr nf hU section of the i IUC UUUHUIHQ Rogue River valley. It welcomed -every new comer, published a record of the marriages, births and deaths, and recognized the efforts of every citizen who helped to make Jose phine county more acceptable as a home for the people. Whatever was calculated to make mining, lumber ing and farming more profitable or more honorable as a calling, to that It gave Its attention. In all these years It never lost sight of the fact that the climate, the soli and the op portunities In the Rogue "River valley Btand foremost In the great North--west. It ever advocated the found ing of schools, churches and civic organizations, always giving to each a helping hand. During the first six years the Courier in turn was owned by no less than six different proprietors, the last of the six was G. II. Currey who, In June, 1891, sold It to Jerry Nunan, -who ran the paper for over six yenrs, selling It to C. S. Price and A. E. 'Voorhles, who took charge on July 1, 1 S97. Mr. Nunan Is now In Port land, where he Is the real estate editor of the Evening Telegram. He looks back to his experience In GrsMits Pass as one of the plenant cst period of his life nnrt thinks Southern Oregon perfection when It ciii" to climate and the enjoyment of Nctnre's gifts. He looks for a frl.irl.ius future for Grants Pas when (Vie liTlirntini: systems now under wnv have attained completion, ns:' , , .. . . ,.,l,l,r rw1 in. , I In Hin tonitlP!-- V'lIIIIIIS in ate zone can then be raised In pro- fu on. He expresses himself as glad i , ' ., , , 'Coiir r Is in reality a history of th" to w Iness the continued success of; . the Courier, which he regards ns the i best paper published In Josephine rounty, and one that has never lost the confidence of the people. Price nnd Voorhles ran the Courier from July, 197, Tor sometning nr , a year nnd n half, when Mr. Price sold out to his partner, Mr. Voorhles. I and later went to Santa Cruz, Cal.,1 where he took up school teaching . and became prominent In educational work, tenchlng for the first seven yenrs, at the end of which time he ( was appointed to the office of county , nrhooi superintendent. tie servcu out the unexpired term of his pre decessor and was then elected for a four years term. He l. popular In tne rounty and will undoubtedly con tinue In the office which he has con ducted with slu'tial micces. Since becoming sole proprietor, the present owner has endeavored j on all occasions to make the Courier n factor In bringing prosperity to all the people of the city nnd county; tn make It worthy of the confident e of Its subscribers ns well as the Imsl IH'M men of the city tin been th purpose from first to last. The pop ulation of th county made slow growth for many years and from time to time other newspapers were established in the city, which tended to make the business anything but remunerative. After a time, how ever, a better day dawned and the paper was enabled to provide itself with a modern linotype and a fast press and newspaper folder, as well as other up-to-date newspaper ap pliances. These helps naturally placed it on the road to prosperity, and then everything came easier. Last year the paper, after waiting for twenty-four years, was enabled to build for itself a home of its own, a commodious building, 50x60 feet, jon the main business street, having amnle space for its already large 2000 feet more. The interior, when entirely completed will have a large business office and editorial room on the front, back of which will be a private office. These last mentioned improvements are under contract and will be completed in a few days The front of the building is of mas- - - slve plate glass and the vestibule .n Phnto by Crtnlt P Art Studio MISS MAUDE RARER Reporter entrance is paved with mosaic tiling with the mine Courier written In the center with the two colors of marble if will- li the tiling Is composed. The i s-.lu.ti. "Rogue River Courier," is ri( i-ess the front of the building, the I Irttel-K'lieillg (if raised steel, 1 li feet 'in length. These letters are covered with gold leaf and present a vet-j .i 'i'i, i . t ...., i ' s genera ly admitted. Is one of the I handsomest In the city. ...I. . . . I. I )...... T,l..,,. n i niu I I I ill iiii. iiiiiii' ill I' !'-ty ' ns, ns the town wn less than two years old when the paper was established. W. J. Wlmer, who was at that time nnd still Is, a prominent citizen of Josephine ... ....W.I. .1., ,. Hi, tho 1 I'll II I J , II II U III IK II III tin "I'll in.- foun,1nR of ,he pappri ,, at onr w. pHt hns wrl.trn the B,ory of , farlv h(orVi whl11 we K,vn hor. wlH) s R J1nllj ,invarn,Hhpd iaPi nm, l(oltlK ai.Mliitc-lx trtu". Ih ontltlc-e (f g n t,p nnnnh ()f ,hp noRm. Rvpl va(,v T,,p Coiirlpr wn, f,)lin()fl(1 Apr, 3 RS",, by J. H, Rtlne, nnd hg ronm.f.ton wth ,t u .,,,, In full In Mr. Wlmer's story. GRANTS PASS' FIRST NEWS PAPER. Illy W. J. Wlmer.) "Refute J. H. Stifle es-lnbllsled the Grants I 'as Courier, he and his wife entile to Waldo. The first time I ever saw him le drove up to my yard gate nnd Introduced hlmlf nnd wife, Kot out of the buggy nnd re tnalti'd omt nlglit. "Somebody had told him that I mlent back him with tne necessary funds to start a paper In Grants Pass, so he stated to me. He had some temporary aid, which I subsequently learned came from Dr. W. H. Flana gan, but it must be met on time, and he stated that unless he could get barking he could not pack the load. "I did not know why he had been directed to me unless it wa3 because I was one of the firm of J. Wimer iV Cnna UnA iimt m nrtraA frmil thpl expenditure of $20,000 building a wagon road to the coast if I would at that time spend more than two years, winter and summer, in those mountains on that venture, I might also back a weekly paper in a county with but five hundred voters In it, many of whom were not at all inter- Photo by Crania Paia Art Studio A. E. VOORHIES Proprietor for Past 13. Years. ested whether the county had a paper or not; and this too in the face of the fact that our old hustling Charley Nickel, of the Jacksonville Times, practically owned Josephine county in the publishing and printing busi ness, body and soul. I had heard of Mr. Stlne's newspaper proposition and was greatly pleased that the county was to have a paper. I there fore told Mr. Stlne that If he would keep the paper out of politics and devote it to the upbuilding of South- Pliulo by Gianti I'hkh Art Studio FRED SMITH Foreman Job Department ern Oregon, and especially Josephine county, I would stand between Mm ami the sheriff. Rater on Mr. Stlne owed heavily and was about lo be attached. Meantime, on account of his drinking, I had become doubtful about loaning him money and to find n way out of It I went to nn attorney for advice. He promptly told tne that I could not safely loan Mr. SMne any money. Acting upon his advice and to keep my promise to Mr. Si hie I bought a half Interest In the Courier for $S00. It was n seven column patent outside, with but three nnd a half columns of news matter, Cdltorlals nnd all. a broken Howe hand press and no jobber. "Our article of agreement mrulr Mr. Stlne the editor nnd I was the business manager. Stlne wan nMI gated not to drink. Mr. SHuo went to Portland and bought of I'almei ft Ray a full dress of lotrj primer tytie, it Gordon Jobber and mat'Tlr-' sufficient to do all work com In'.' oi wnv. We Immediately (lis n rd ! t patent nnd Issued a full home p-Ih' nnd It was a neat paper. Things w-n' lovely for J'ist thirty diivs, 'ie SMlie entered til" Office "lut( 'l l'M,v' ly nft." and between break et d clared that I had better buy the othe half of the Courier. I agreed up.." the condition that he let me pay hi - hi i -a ill mr-iiur- debts among the business firms of the town so that the paper could obtain their good will. "Tho purchase price then showed some $1500, whereas a better plant could have been bought new for but little over half that much. "I now had a plant that was not saleable at the price I must ask for it. I knew nothing about the news paper business, and the support tho paper was getting did not justify hiring anyone outside of the mechan ical department. 1 took the train for Ashland to confer with my dear friend Leeds, of the Tidings. Mr. Leeds, seeing my predicament, let I ' H . . i I n I . . ' . I ! '.''. 1 . , .i - i . ' - -- A ... - - r v y Photo by Granta Paaa Art Studio C. G. COUTANT Editor me have one of his best men in the person of B. A. Stannard, wno im mediately moved to Grants Pass wife, babies and cow, and Mr. Leeds took the case himself. But for these two men this history might read en tirely different. With their aid the Courier never missed an issue. "I did not like the name of my nauer. "Grants I'ass courier, ue- I . . -1 M I. cause it was misleading, the town (now city) being in a beautiful val ley. One day I met Hon. 11. u. Mil ler, now consul general to Ireland, he at that time being the head and shoulders of the county's business matters. I asked him what name he would suggest for the Courier. He studied for a minute and replied: Well, it is In the Rogue River Valley, why not call it Uhe Rogue River Courier?' The present name and style of head line was then adopted. Photo or u.a.ni , Ait Studio W. R. MeCRACKEN Foreman Newspaper Department "I had great faith In the county; 'mslng my confidence mostly on the opportunity for development of a llverslty of Industry, climate, etc., is to the future. "One Saturday evening I ran across a bunch of sllurlan box whit tiers on the corner of Sixth and Front Ft reel h, one of whom deilared 'hat there were as many buildings ;n Gnu t 1'im us there ever would 'ie, nd'Hi.!;- 'What Is there to make i town here.' I promised him then Mid there ll'at I would count nmi MlhiWl In the tieXt Idle of tin ''oiirler n II -t of the Inlldinirt for 'inmirlson )"l' r on. Here Is the Item, hlih I lake from the CoiiIit of ll-'1St I', 1 s I " 'l.a-t S in day, to wmM f a curl ,.,ty v. lr:'."i I Ih" tow !' nvl -jn n f I eyrv b lOillrr' In I'. W" f't'd Hint ''re are ?,', residem es nnd hul'd ngs used for residences; there are 1 business houses nil told. Resides 'hese are the M. E. rhur'h, court t;H- i . :' t.i. i '.' iMMBMiJiiawiM a aaAiaaiaBiir house and jail, depot and warehouse, two livery stables, three windmills, town hall and rink, I. O. O. P., Ma sonic and I. O. G. T. lodge rooms, brewery (unfinished), saw mill, sash and door factory (size 50x125 feet), two stores, two bakeries, academy, two laundries, six-stall round house, railroad machine shops, wagon shop, brick kiln and a $10,000 bridge al most completed. Add to this 23 barns and we have 226 buildings In our little city and the town no more than 23 months old. This does not in clude a host of small buildings, nor j do we count the railroad turn-table and water tank.' There were no brick buildings in the town at that time. "The Courier first appeared in an old two-story shack on the east Bide of Fifth street, opposite the rear of the old Palace hotel (now Arling ton), Mr. Stine and wife living up statrs. Later-on Mr. Stlne 'built an office on Front -street, three doors west of the Tnlnce hotel. "While I had the Courier tho great fight over incorporation occurred, and the chairman of a mnss meeting to appoint a committee on charter put the editor of the Courier on In order to keep him In line and the salve worked fine. "With the incorporation of tho town nnd the adoption of Its charter," a change enme over the place. Twelve menacing stove pipes, protruding through the low roofs In the block bounded by Fifth nnd Sixth, and Front and II streets, at all fancy angles, had to come down; and a large white hog, the scourge of the rear doors got discouraged and sui cided by diving head first into a forty-four gallon swill barrel in the rear of one of the hotels. And cat tle Boon quit bellowing in front of Ahlf'a butcher shop. "Conspicuous figures in our town In those days were Consul General H. B. Miller, who wa3 at the head of the Sugar Pine Door and Lumber Co., assisted by H. C. Kinney, besides his many other interests. Sarnuei White, now of state farm, had his law office on Front street. Hon R. A Booth managed the S. P. D. & L. Co.'s store, then on the southwest corner of Sixth and Front streets. George II. Kellog. of the Booth Kelly Co.. was Wells Fargo agent, nnd John F. Kelly was traveling snles man for the S. P. D. & L. Co. "Ex-Judge H. L. Benson was prln clnal of the school system and a good one. IT. S. Senator Jonathan Bourne owned a portion of the town site. Dr. F. W. VanDyke, T. P. Jud son. A. J. Strohecker and others owned the fast stock. J. W. Howard, tho first merchant and postmaster, began where his brick building now Btands. Hon R. G. Smith made his first plea In a case before a justice's court and upon a splendid speech won the case, the Courier force jubl- I' l . I,, 1 , t ,, I . I .1 I I HI I A. JACKSON Linotype Operator Int'iii; over that speech. Sum Smith :tnd Cora Smith, brother and ulster if "Rob," got their niiut In the Courier oHIo. So did F. W.I "liniisxe. later of the Observer. ! "Reforo Incoi poifiilop, tin- i -1 1 1 z ' 1 1 -i vvie divided Into two pietlv bitter V Holm oee for certain lllltlg led 'iv II. R. MIIP'r, mid the other was 'I by n"h '.roml'iert men as Hon. I' or ' W. I.'lddl", now I. S. r I v r f the Ne le !',' land .;ffl'-c; .1. P. uhI J. T. Tuff el al, Mi Courier fa voring one side iigiiltiHt the other When I entered the Courier f'.eld this I- had position of the paper was at oihu corrected and Its platform became one opposed to fighting any enter prise whatsoever. After the incor poration the people got together and. the result was better. "The library conducted by the ladles was one of the early institu tions. "Upon the completion of the brew ery on Gilbert creek a well was bored over 30 feet deep in the basement, and when the pipe waa inserted it threw a full stream of sparkling water. "I was sent for and witnessed the splendid display. The Courier in its next Issue gave an account of it, but not having access to my files at this writing, I am not in a position to rep roduce it. "I sold the Courier to G. G. Wick son, a dairy mnchlnery firm in San Francisco, for their brothor-ln-law, A. A. Allworth." THE FIRST MMRER OP THE COURIER Vol. 1., No. 1. of the Courier was dnted April 3, 18S5. It came out aa tho official paper of Josephine coun ty and was a seven-column folio. From a copy of tho issue which has been kindly furnished us by Amanda Yerka we note that it was not only- full-fledged newspaper but waa ably edited and fully represented the' city of Grants Pass and the county of Josephine at that time. The com mercial interests of the city are Bhown by five columns of advertis ing, which proves that the merchants of that day were enterprising and promptly came to the front with pa tronage for the new paper. Dr. W. II. Flanagan Is represented by a professional card, as is also Dr, F. W. Van Dyke. Campbell & Tuffs announce clothing, dry goods, boots and shoes, gent's furnishing goods, groceries, etc. II. B. Miller & Co. advertise dry goods, hardware and tinware, as well as lumber and build ing material generally. G. W. Rid dle sells dry goods, clothing, hoots and snoes. S. E. ITarkness advertises drugs and medicine, ns does also Dr. Keeler H. Gabhert. Mrs. Ilarkness advertises millinery goods, as does also Mrs. M. Hyde. The Central hotel Is run by J. B. Hutch. The Commercial hotel by Jas. Jordan. Tho Grants Pass hotel by J. R. Hunsnker. Porter & Dlmlck advertise real estate, also W. D. Robertson. II. Thornton & Son run the Grants Pass livery nnd feed stnble, and Burroughs & Hartman are proprietors of tho Grants Pass ferry. Volney Colvlg is a Justice of the peace and notary public. M. V. Wheeler offers to deliver fresh milk to any part of town. Howard & Co. hnve no regulnr advertisement, but they nre spoken of as tho pioneer merchnnts. A. C. Scranton Is a boot and shoemaker. The outside towns como In for a good showing. Kerbyvllle Is men tioned ns the county sent of Jose phine county. Waldo has a dozen Important Items. Allhouse has sev eral Items, among others It Is men tioned that a gobl nugget wns pick ed up on the claim of Chas. Felt and George Glenson which weighed 17 ounces, nnd this lends the writer to remark that In 1R"4 the same claim produced a nugget which weighed nearly $3,200 and he nlso (ells of another nugget found by n Chinaman on the claim above that weighed 14 ounces, There nre Items from Wild ervllh nnd numerous personals nbout people all over the county. This first Issue of the paper says that the Grants Pass school had ICO scholars, ami gives Prof. Will C. King ns principal and Miss Tuffs as asHlstnnt. The following Is the salutatory published In tint first Issue of the Courier. Considered ns a straight forward business document that covers every point and Is In every way a clear-cut announcement. A quarter of a century has In no way iiuide It obsolete or Injured Its force and purpose: "Snhitittory." "With this, the Initial num ber, the Grants Puss Courier commences Us career and greets the people of Josephine county, "We do not claim to supply a long felt, want or anything of the kind. Times have (hanged In Southern Oregon wonderful ly In the last two years. Joso- (Contlnued on Pagu Ten)