Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, August 04, 1911, Image 1

Rogue River courier., August 04, 1911, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Textis ?J VOL. XXV1L GRANTS PASS, JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON. FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 1011 NO. 18 CRUSHED TO DEATH IN 'DEEP GRAVEL' W. A. STRONG KILLED SATUR DAY AT BOTTOM OF SHAFT. MINED FOR MANY YEARS Leaves a-Wife and Four Children Noble Character and Highly Respected. Walter A. Strong of Takllma, who was Kinea aaiuraay in a snait on the Deep Gravel mine, was buried yester- day at Kerby, where other members of the family rest. Walter A. Strong, a pifcueer of Josephine county, miner, .and whose home Is at Takllma1, where his wife and four children reside, was kill ed Saturday morning at Waldo. Strong was mashed to death In the shaft on the Joe Smith diggings of the Deep Gravel mine. The shaft is : about 100 feet in depth. The cage was at the bottom of the shaft, and w0, v.v,, '-b:Df to present to the voters of Ore. I J i. Al - 1 x m . m a arm, ai we snau ana gave uw signal t? raise. The engineer re- sponded, but the cage stuck, and men went below, where they found strong aeaa, ana nts ooay lying nan on the cage. It is believed that Just as he gave the signal to raiie he fell half on the cage and half off, and asgood roadg ,g about ng reasonable R8 a result his body was caught. lie was fearfully crushed, all the ribs be. lng broken. Strong was subject to lumbago and it is thorghi that one oi tne attacKs seizea mm at tne mo- ment the cage started upward. His age was 47 years. Dr. Strieker, as coroner, was noti fied of the accident and Went to Wal do. The physician did not return un til near midnight, having been de tained several hours until a black smith could patch up two broken springs on his auto, Walter Strong was born in Iowa, and came when a boy to Oregon and , to Waldo. As a lad the first work he did was In the Deep Gravel mine. Mr. WImer stated to The Courier Saturday that Strong had worked In the Deep Gravel mine through all the years since, under Mr. Wlmer's man agement, and under all others who had operated the property, and that when the present corporation took over the property, with Col. Frank M. Leland in charge that he, Mr. WI mer, recommended Strong to the colonel as one of the most proficient placer mines, and especially in piping work, that could be found In south ern Oregon. Mr. WImer stated that Strong was a noble character and a man highly respected by every person who ever knew him. SMALL FRAME RESIDENC E RUINED ON WEDNESDAY Fire on Wednesday at 4:10 o'clock destroyed a Bmall frame building at 108 Foundry street. The building was the property of Oliver S. Drown and was unoccupied. A fireplace in the house was probably a convenience last night for tramps, and smoulder ing embers possibly blew out on the floor today. Mrs. H. E. Moore occupied a small bulldinir net door east, and she,' with the aid of others, hurriedly got her belongings out of the structure to the rear, beside the Southern Pacific. traclo. Hp- hnmn was Boon ablaze. but a stream of water quickly quench- ed jti A tall nnln rarrvlnc huh power lrcs stands at "the front of the, and blnzc snow tnai me rwu burned building, and this pole wP. UtsMUhod where It is now proposed K'm, particular attention by the no-tn tnko It. The present mad was tak zle rum, as a fa.l would have been' en ever the hill by the builder to of grave danger to human life, as the satisfy a freak whim, some such pur live wires would have been cntangl-! pose as pl-wed the native Indian, for some distance In the street. I won filmed to the highest poln The blaze, though from a small where he could get a better view of building, was an intensely hot one, nd drove several hundred onlookers back Borne distance. A few lawn mowers at 10 per rcnt'sltlon over; I did so In wo pieces oi discount at Cramer Bros. MR. WIMER GIVES VIEWS ON ROAD SITUATION In a communication to The Cour ier W. J. Winier says: To the Editor of The Courier: Sir: I have been much Interested in the recent discussion of the road question through the columns of your valuable paper. Ou one side Is the cry for better roads; and the charge Is made that they are inex cusably bad, and , the new arrival, the auto man, who swooped down upon our roads so unceremoniously, complains because he can't run his big, heavy machine over our dirt roads as fast as other cars are run on well ballasted steel rails; the thought never occurring to this driv er that the faster he travels tne rougher the road: and. the road eats ,no credlt at all for the rou.,h work of jan Incompetent auto driver, of which the woods are full. This Is one sidiof the controversy; the other side Is, Josephine county with Its. many bridges, and roads In every direction; the taxpayers' com plaint of high taxes; the county court doing its utmost with the funds avail able, and patiently shouldering com plaints from both Bides, striving all i the time to act as nearly as Dossible along the lines of a happy medium, And now comea alonj, M, JackBOn of the Portland Journal, who is go- g0 for theIr adoption at the next Ltate election a bill placing all taxes lipon lftnd and fordng the Bale of a1 jlanda to the 8tate( and upon whlch the state will have a sixty-day op tlon to buy the land at the assessed valuation. Mr. Jackson's Idea of his forced sale of the people's homes for which his "Journal" will battle from now until the election. He .,, . flrr0 nnft. tpBplt POfl(, thnt ,, vam. ,ttaA lowing the ruts and washing out the filling; thus he annihilates the splen did work which has been done be tween here and the Applegate river. He undoubtedly wants to confine the roads to one-track so that when he gets his forced-sale-of-all-lands law passed (the price being fixed at the assessed valuation of the land, lm provements not included), there will be more land to sell when the agent of bloated money bags drops around and offers the dissatisfied home own er a better price for the land than the state can legally give him and some thing besides for the improvements Dloated capital alone will be able to own land then and the home-owners Individual pride having been dstroy- ed will seek a business free from an nual annoyance, The fact Is, Mr. Jackson does not know much about road building; he evidently does not know that the main essentials for good roads are drainage and proper crowning to se cure It; nor does he know that it is all Important to have room to dodge bad mud holes so that they may not become impassible, The Courier hna criticised a certain piece of rond beyond Kerby, where the auto accident, fire and death, oc curred. For some years as little work as possible has been put upon this section of the road because of a con- j tcmplatod change of grade which will cut out a bad bedrock climb up a winding, steep hollow on one side of the hill, and a long up-grade tnrougn deep, black mud during the wet sea son on the other. The new proposed cut off would get entirely away from bedrock canyon where the accident happened; away from one-half of the climb over the hill, and away rrom j the long, black mudholo on the other side, and reduce the time of travel by half, When this proposed change was cs tabllshed II. S. Woodcock, ramnr oi the present county comnwemuii.-i , was on p of the viewers, and the mnrKs signal fires. Borne years ago r. n. nnrui, uu Interred In this piece of road, re quested the writer to look the propo- days. I recernnienaea mi GAS PLANT READY FOR BUSINESS IN NOVEMBER By November 1, if nothing de lays, the Oregon Gas and Electric company, which Is building a plant lu Grants Pass, expects to be supply lng customers with gas for fuel and lighting. Foundations for buildings and the gas holder are ready to re ceive superstructures. The holder will have a capacity of 50,000 cubic feet of gas. The hullding3 are to house the furnace and generator. Gas mains are now distributed ov er considerable territory in the city. Starting from the plant the main 4- inch pipe goes in the alley between and J. streets to Fourth street, oxit Fourth to the alley between A and B streets, then on Seventh, Eighth and Tenth, to the plant From these mains will be run lat erals, the building of which will keep pace with the. demand of consumers. A representative of the company who this week has been canvassing the town, reports that the company got a surprise as a result of the al most universal favorable response of householders, showing that resi dents appreciate the building of the plant, many homes to use the gas where possible. In this connection an official of the company stated that disappointment was met at Medford, the great bulk of the people there not seeming to have ever had experi ence with gas as a fuel, hence busi ness transacted since the plant was Installed has been small, and a cost ly experience so far for the gas com pany. The Grants Pass plant was order ed at the same time an order was placed for Roseburg and the two are expected to arrive at their respective destinations about the same time. "Gas !s the ideal fuel," declared the gas representative, "and when once used, always used if possible. It Is clean, quick, hot, handy and cheap er than any fuel." In addition to gas for fuel the company expects to Install In many buildings their handsome arc lamps, which give a pleasing, soft light, and at a cost which Is claimed to be far cheaper than electric lighting. STEEL BRIDGE WILL SPAN SLATE CREEK P. S. Easterday, representative of the Columbia Bridge company, lust week closed a deal wtttt the of flcials of the county court whereby the county purchases a steel bridge to span Slate creek where it crosses the Crescent City road. The purchase price was $2,650. Williams creek and Galice creek people respectively want bridges, and It is possible that these demands will be supplied at not a distant date. Judge Steplwn Jewell and Commis- gioner Barlow made an examination of roads in the Waldo region. Popular Couple Married W.J. Mahoney and Miss Eva WI mer, both of Grants Pass, were mar ried at Jacksonville Monday, July 31, 1911. No particulars of the wed ding have been learned, as the event was a surprise to relatives and the many friends of the bride and brldo groom. Mr. and Mrs. Mahoney are spending several days on their wed ding trip, but will return to Grants Pass to make their home. Visitors From Alaska Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Alkens and lit tle daughter of Trcadwell, Alaska, arrived Tuesday night and sro vlBlt lng the father and mother of Mrs. Alkens, Mr. and Mrs. C. 0. Coutant. They will remain in town a month or more. This is tne urst vian 10 ine s ates ot Mr. ana Airs. AiKens in inreo . . . ... ... years. rhnnge would glvo a pood road In tend of the bad ono In use, and without Inrreattlng the distance. It certainly Is the duty of tho coun ty court to rhanRO this piece of road at once (the blame lies In not having done It long ago), and thus get rid of a had and expensive section of mud, hill, rocks and flood-water road. The survey marks can be seen leav ing the main stage road In a swsle Just south of the corner of the WeUh field fence, hearing westerly. W. J. WIMER. 30 MILES DITCHES BY MAY 15, 1912 FKU1TDALE DITCH NOW SEVEN MILES IX LENGTH. ELEVATION OF 338 FEET Flung for Wide Distributing System Over Valley to Be Car ried Out. The Chicago-Rogue River com pany's system of irrigation will have at the opening 'of tho comng irriga tion season, May 15, 1912, about thirty miles of main ditches in opera tion. The Fruitdalo ditch now sev en miles in length, will supply water, above and below it, to about 4,000 acres, and is nearly completed and now In operation. This ditch has an elevation of 3S8 feet above Rogue River and is connected with the pumps at the power plant by a 20 inch pipe line. This pipe line !s bur led in tho earth 30 to 6 inches deep. The ditch is fodt feet on the bottom, 8 feet on the top and three feet deep, and Is built without flumes. It has waste gates measuring 1x5x12 feet at every natural guich or creek. This ditch is now supplied by a four step centrifugal pump, having a capacity of 3,500 gallons par n.inute. For the coming season the 110 feet ditch, called the Applegate ditch, covering the big flats between Rogue river and Applegate river, will be connected at the diversion dam with a 30-lnch pipe line and will be sup plied by a low lift centrifugal pump with a capacity of 12,000 gallons a minute. This ditch will be 8 feet on the bottom, 18 feet on the top and 4 feet deep. It will supply about 6,' 000 acres. About four miles from the intake will be Installed a four step pump driven by electricity, which will pump to a second ditch that will cover all the lands around Jerome Prairie and between Grants Pass and Murphy. This triangle of land between the rivers, now unpro ductive, will be one of the' most de sirable in Oregon, as it will be trav ersed with the railroads to the coast, and now has the best wagon roads In Josephine county. These ditches art on the south side of Rogue river. On the north side of Rogue river, the Grants Pass ditch Is now In ou eratton for a dlstanco of six miles. By the opening" of next season it will ho lengthened to about 10 miles and supply about four thousand acres, This ditch Is now connected at the dam with a 22-Inch pipe line about 2,000 feet long. It Is four feet on the bottom, eight feet on the top and three feet deep. It now supplies the city of Grants Pass and adjacent land and has an elevation of 200 feet above the river. On this dltcb, Just north of Grants Pass, will be located a two stop pump driven by electricity generated at the dam, and which will put water In a second ditch 200 feet higher and cover all of the Grants Pass basin of Roguo River valley, and go through the Merlin divide and cov er the high lands of the Merlin dis trict. From the dam there Is now alreadj constructed a gravity ditch three miles long which measures 12 feet on bottom, 18 feet on top and 6 feet deep. Tho first 1,000 feet of th I ditch is solid granite and roue re to with two steel gates, 6x9 feet, lead ! .Ml iu ...v.. " " i . , . , , , . .. ,dltch Is now nearly completed to th east side of the city. By the begin (Continued on pago 7.) Word whh received Wednesday that a stubborn blaze In the timber near the Almeda mine and smelter Is creeping toward the mine aud doing considerable damage. Tbo Almeda buildings are safe, as back firing had been resorted to In anticipation of forest fires. Something like a half mil 'wide had been burned tip to l""t evening, said lb report, the flames coming from the Mt. Reubln country. MOTHER AND CHILD REST IN SAME GRAVE Mrs. Winifred Schimmel, wife of W. C. Schimmel, died at the family home iu Grants Pass, 826 Orchard aveuue, Monday, near the hour of 10 o'clock. The coming Into the world of a babe took the life of this young wife, a weak heart contribut ing to the death. The babe lies dead beside the young mother, and both will be placed at rest in the same casket. The mother was Just 18 years of age In January of this year. She was born In Eugene. Mr. Schimmel has for some time been with Helnze and Lawrence at the Waldorf, but two weeks ago went with the Gibson Grocery company. Mr. and Mrs. Schimmel ' and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Jones, parents of Mrs. Schimmel, occupied the same home. Mr, and Mrs. Jones formerly conduct ed the hotel at Gold Hill. The funeral was at the homo, S26 Orchard avenue, and Rev. F. C. Lov ett was the minister. The casket was borne to Odd Fel lows' cemetery, and there the bodies of mother and babe now sheep. The bearers of the casket were E Coburn, Claud Davis, A. W. Scott, Mr. Smith, Lester Coburn and Carl Wlnetrout. TIUKC1ULLS RETURN FROM EASTERN AUTOMOBILE TOUIt Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Churchill and their daughter, Mildred, returned Sunday evening from their enstern trip. They left here on the Southern Pacific going direct to Sacramento, Salt Lake and to Denver. They pass ed through the Royal Gorge on the Denver & Rio Grande and enjoyed the scenery of that section of the Rocky mountains. From Denver they went to Chicago then on to Muncle, Indiana, where Mr. Church 111 purchased a four passenger, 40 horse-power Interstate auto and in It toured through the states of Indi ana. Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. They visited relatives In Blng hamton In the latter state and also In Amsterdam and Northport on Long island. On the return trip they vlaltod reU atlvea at Waukegan, Illinois and Mil waukee, Wis. At the former place the Churchllls went out to see the fam oua lotus beds which occupy a space of 700 acres. This seemed tftl tho more wonderful as there are only two more such In tbo world, one In Flor Ida and tho other In Egypt. At Milwaukee they boarded the Canadian Pacific and went to Van couver, B. C, from which pluco they came by steamer to Seattle and there took a train for home, Their car is coming by freight and is ex pected here Thursday, In speaking of the trip Mr. Church ill said: "We certainly had a delight ful time aud have soon many friends, but In that eastern country there are days and days of disagreeable winds and hot nights. These made us anx ious to get back to Grants Pass, which Is so different In every respect. Mrs. Churchill and our daughter were both as anxious to get homo as I was. On our return to Oregon, we visited my brother at Nowburg for a couple of duys i.nd saw soino nice country, but I caa truthfully say that In all our travel we have seen no places which look as good to us as this part of the Rogue River val ley. During our trip through New York state I discovered that little was known thero about thts part of Oregon and I decided that I would make It my particular business to dlHtribute Josephine county literature among those people." Buy bosu at Cramer Bros. Ice cream freezers at Cramer Bros. O. O. Bunch hns purchased one of the pretty bungalows recently com pleted In Westholin park, and as soon as water and electricity aro sup plied that tract, will move to the park. I cndi itf Mlx rtcncillct'ii Father A. K. Voorhles received word Mon day of tho death at Marlette, Mich. of slg uncle and the father of Mini Lulu Benedict, who spent the win ter In Grants Pass and who went to Mlcbtgsn on account of the condition of hr father. WHO NAMED CREEKS AND PEAKS OF JOSEPHINE The Oregon Geographic board which was appointed by the governor of Oregon October 1, 1908, wants In formation as to who named the' fol lowing places la Josephine county and why: Althouse mountain, Bald mountain, Bishop croek, Blrdseye creek, Board Shanty creek, Bolt mountain, Che ney creek, China gulch, Dutcher creek, Eagle mountain, Elliott Creek ridge, Ewe creek, Flumet gulch, French mountain, Grade creek, Hol- comb peak, Grants Pass peak, Jer ome prahie, Keeler creek, Kerb peak, Lake peak, Louse creek. Lit tle Grayback peak, Little Humpy peak, Mt. Isabelle, Mule mountain, M lingers butte, Ola Baldy, Panther gulch, Pikes peak, Powell creek, Star gulch, Steamboat mountain, Squaw peak, Sucker creek, Sugarloaf peak, Tallowbox mountain, Thomp son creek, Timber mountain, Vanoy creek, Whiskey peak, Fielder moun tain and Dad's creek. The president of the "board, Wil liam G. Steel of Portland, asks Tor the Information and adds: "I will also appreciate information as to any place names anywhere In the original Oregon region." The Courier will print Information regarding these names If some of ths pioneers of the county will furnish It COUNCIL ORDERS FIRE ESCAPE ON BUILDINGS At a mooting of the city council last Thursday ulght that body took steps to prevout unnecessary loss of life by fire by making an order that all buildings in the city that should be, equipped with fire escapes, and the work done' without delay. Just what buildings will come un der this order will be determined at the city ball. A petition was presented to the council for a sewer In ally from Sev enth to Eighth streots In block 17. The council ordered extension of the alley In block 2, II. B. Miller ft Co.'s addition, through the boundary line of the addition and portion of lot 3, block 63, original townslte. Con demnation proceedings will be neces sary. Report of the city engineer on ce ment walk and curb between Sixth and Seventh streets, was accepted and bill ordered paid. SMALL FARM HOUSE IS DESTROYED BY FIRH A small bungalow on the. River- bend ranch, on the south side of the river, 12 mllos from Grants Pass own ed by Joseph Moss and Mike Clem ents, wag destroyed by fire Thursday morning, July 27, as the result of a defectlvo flue or pipe. Wednesday tho family of Mr. Moes, two Miss Calrks, Miss Patlllo, and brother, Glenn Patlllo, went to the ranch to camp and uso the bungalow to cook In. When the party built a fire Thursday morning, It was not but a few momenta before the house was ablaze and quickly consumed. The goods In the residence were all saved. The house had been vacant. hence no Insurance could bo carried. Several of the ladles were pros trated as a result of excitement en gendered by the blaze, though no serious results are anticipated, and the nerves of all are about normal again, Mr. Moss stntod that a mod ern bungalow will be erected In place of tho small one burned. 17.50 values In finning tackle for $6.00 at Cramer Bros. IIATKIUM HEfTKEH BAIL Tllltonm BONDING COMPANY II. C. Bateham, Indicted by the grand Jury on a charge Involving a girl, last evening about 6 o'clock was girl, has at laHt secured big re lease from tho county Ju It. Buie satlnfy the 11,000 ball In which he Is held for trial. A surety company went on the bond, and Bateham, in addition to the foe paid for this servleo, turn ed over certain real estate to secure the company for his sppearance wtata his trial li called.