GLOOM
SB Of F
F eara
Coming Session at Salem Will
Be Important Affair.
W IL L
D IS C U S S
STATE
F A IR S
F r a it g r o w e r g , S to c k m e n , H o p g r o w e r s
a n d H o r t ic u ltu r is t s W i l l B e P re s e n t
a t T h is I m p o r t a n t S le e tin g .
Salem, Or., Jan. 29.— The farmers’
congress to be held in Salem February
7. and 8 w ill probably be the most im*
portant meeting of the kind ever held
in this state.
The gathering w ill be of more that
state importance, for thé agricultural
interests of California, Washington
and Idaho w ill also be represented. 11
w ill be more than a meeting of farmers,
as that term is generally understood,
for fruitgrowers, stockmen, hopgrow-
■ers, horticulturists, in fact, men of al]
occupations related to agriculture, will
be present. The congress is intended
to comprehend all the departments oi
the diversified agricultural industrie«
o f the coast, and it is expected that f
permanent organization will be ef
fected.
This movement was started by tht
Salem chamber of commerce, working
in unison with the state board of agri
culture, and one of the chief objects tc
be attained is the arrangement of dates
o f the state fairs of Oregon, California,
Washington and Idaho so that there
w ill be no conflict. By such an ar
rangement horsemen and exhibitors
w ill be enabled to make the circuit of
The coast states each season, and the
various fairs w ill be improved accord
ingly.
Secretary
of
State Dunbar has
offered the use of either of the legisla
tive chambers for the congress, and it
is expected chat the meetings will be
held in one of these spacious halls.
The date has been arranged so as to be
■convenient for those who may come
from various parts of the state to at
tend the meeting of the League of Re
publican clubs, to be held in Portland
February 6. Secretary II. B. Thielsen,
o f the Salem chamber of commerce,
has prepared a programme for the con
gress and all who attend the sessions
•Will be assured a rare treat.
MERCHANTS
ARE
PLEASED.
■Change S a t is fa c t o r y — l'h e y See B e n e fit
C om ing- t o B u sin e ss I n t e r e s ts .
Chicago, Jan. 29.— George II. Med-
,'hurst, a prominent merchant) of Hong
Kong, while in Chicago today, on his
w ay to London, said:
“ The commercial interests of Hong
F.ong look with favor on the American
rule of the Philippines. In the past it
has been the misfortune of those is
lands to have been most wretchedly
governed, and in general the conditions
which have obtained there have tended
to check progress on the part of the
people and the development of the un
doubtedly great natural resources of
those islands. Under the rule of this
■country, all those conditions w ill be
changed, the resources of the islands
w ill be developed, business w ill ex
pand greatly and the policy of this
country will make them inviting fields
for commercial venture'and enterprise.
“ The business interests of Hong
Kong will unquestionably be benefited
By these changed conditions and in
other ways we hail the advent of the
United States into the Orient.”
IN
ENGLAND.
T h a t T h e W a r O ffice I s
h o ld in g : B ad N ew s.
THE ARID REGIONS. I
W it h
London, Jan. 29.— Seven days oi
fighting have leftjthe!§main Boer posi
tion intact,®an<l General Buller 706
weaker, according to the official casu
alty lists, which seemingly do not in-
culde the Spionkop losses, as those last
forwarded do not mention General
Woodgate’s wounding.
England is possessed by a sense of
failure, though not a word in criticism
of her generals and soldiers is uttered.
Not much effort is made to place a hap
py construction upon General Buller’s
18 words, tellii^t of the retirement
from Spionkop, and there is an nneasy
impression abroad that worse news is
yet to come. At one of the military
clnbs tonight, the statement passed
from one person to another that the
war office had received an unpleasant
supplementary dispatch from General
Buller, which was being held up for
12 hours.
Spencer Wilkinson, in the Morning
Post, writes as follows of the Spionkop
losses:
‘ ‘This is a serious matter, and an at
tempt will not here be made to m ini
mize it, for no greater wrong can be
done to our people at home than to mis
lead them about the significance of the
events of the war. The right way is
to tell the truth, as far as we know it .”
But the facts from the neighborhood
of the Tngela are scantier than ever.
The censorship now is simply prohibi
tive, and something is wrong with the
cables. The break on the east coast
lines has been lepaired, but the cable
between San Thome and Loanda, on
the west coast, is now interrupted.
“ More troops!” is the only suggestion
here as to the way to break the Boer
resistance.
Mr. Wilkinson regrets
that General Buller has not 20,000
more men, declaring that if they would
not make victory certain, his enter
prise without them is helpless.
The Spectator, dealing with the ne
cessity of large additional military pre
parations, says: “ It may be that we
have yet another cycle of disasters in
front of us.”
The transport Assaye arrived at. Cape
Town last Friday, with 2,127 officers
and men. The first portion of the
Seventh division is afloat. Hence,
with the 10,000 men of this division,
and about 9,000 now at sea, it lies in
the power of Lord Roberts to reinforce
General Buller heavily. This course is
advised by several military writers.
Although England’ s nerves are se
verely tried, her nerve is absolutely un
shaken, and probably nothing that can
happen in South Africa w ill change in
the slightest degree her intentions.
She w ill continue to receive bad news,
if it comes, with dignity, and w ill
maintain her determination to w in at
last.
D e p a r tm e n t o f C o m m e r c e .
Washington. Jan. 29.— The question
of establishing a department of the
government to be known as the depart
ment of commerce, with a cabinet offi
cer at its head, has been discussed at
considerable length by the senate com
mittee on commerce. The discussion
was based upon a very complete report
on the subject prepared by Senator Nel
son.
It is proposed to include in the new
department a bureau of manufactures,
and to transfer from the treasury de
partment the life-saving, lighthouse,
marine hospital and steamboat inspec
tion, service, the bureaus of navigation,
immigration, statistics and ooast and
geodetic surveys; to transfer from the
interior department the commission of
railway, the census office and the geo
detic survey, and from the state depart
P h ilip p in e S c ie n tists.
ment the bureau of foreign commerce.
San Francisco, Jan. 27.-—Father Jose The department of labor and the fish
Algue, director of the Manila observa commission are also placed' under this
tory',' the largest of the kind in the supervision.
Orient, and his assistant, Father Jose
R o b e r t ’ s S a la r y .
Olos, have arrived here, en route to
Washington, Jan. 29.— The question
Washington, with many folios of valu
able scientific data, which they hope to of salary and mileage allowed for Mr.
have published by the government. Roberts is to be considered by the
They have come to America upon the house committee on account. There
urgent invitation of President Schur is about $1,000 on mileage, and a like
man, of Cornell university, who wav amount for salary, conditionally due
president of the Philippine commis Mr. Roberts, but there is some doubt
sion, and also by the request of {Gov as to whether those sums should be al
ernor-General Otis, of the Philippines. lowed. The attorney-general, on appli
Both of them are Spaniards and cation, has refused to pass on the sub
Jesuit priests. Father Algue is a ty ject, as it is not in his jurisdiction, an
phoon expert, and his companion is an the controller of the treasury has alsc
authority on earthquakes. They, bring referred the matter back to the commit
The latte*1 body w ill
with them besides 12 manuscript vol tee on accounts.
umes on scientific subjects, many valu now seek to get at the law in the case
and reach a decision.
able maps of the Philippine islands.
S ix A m e r ic a n s S h o t.
El Paso, Jan. 29.— The mail tonight
from Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, brings
the news that a report is current there
that six Americans, David Cusick, John
Eldredge, George Lunt, Charles Burns,
Lon Webster and Henry Williams,
were shot last week near the foot of the
Bacatete mountains, east of Guaymas,
by order of General Torres, who is in
command of the Mexican troops now
operating against the Yaqui Indians in
Bacatete range.
It is further reported that the matter
was brought to the attention of the
American consul at Guaymas, but the
latter declined to act. It is said the
Mexican troops found the Americans
in
friendly intercourse with
the
Yaquis, whom the troops have suj-
xounded in the range. Some of the
Americans are known here, and are
prospectors. Americans at Guaymas
warn all Americnas to keep away from
Yaqui country.
I n v e s t ig a t io n o f W a r d n e r T r o u b le s .
Washington, Jan. 29.— The house
committee on military affairs today
agreed to proceed with the* investiga
tion of the Idaho labor troubles Febru
ary 14, and it was arranged that the
governor and auditotr of the state and
Major-General Merriam should be
asked to appear at that time. Snlzer,
of New York, and Lentz, of Ohio, who
have been urging the inquiry,, are to
furnish the names of additional w it
nesses to he examined. •
D ia m o n d R o b b e r y in P h ila d e lp h ia .
Philadelphia, Jan. 27.— Diamonds
valued at $6,000 were stolen from th6
safe in the office ot Joseph K. David
son & Son, manufacturing jewelers.
That the thief was in possession of the
combination is evidenced by the fact
that there was not a mark on the safe.
Samuel W. Nealy, while temporarily
insane, hanged himseif at The Dalles.
He was 78 years old.
T w e lft h C ensu s W il l S h o w P r e s e n t C o n
d it io n a n d V a lu e s o f A g r ic u lt u r e
In A r id , S u b -H u m id S e c tio n s .
MINES *N°
M a y o r C a s h e l T e lls o f t h e R ic h n e s s o f
t h e C ap e N om e D is t r ic t .
WOOLEN
GOODS
A C TIV E .
!
P r o v e a n E x c e p t io n t o D u lln e s s S h o w n
in O th e r D in es.
Mayor Cashel, of Nome, tells of its
Bradstreet’ s review says:
m
wonderful riches:
Exceptions to the quiet and even
When I first came to Nome, on June' dullness shown by the many lines of
27, from Dawson, some men w ere' trade and speculation are found in the
working on the beach to see what they! active demand for woolen goods for
could get out of it. They worked j next fall’s deliver^, and in the active
quietly at first, but pretty soon the j call for iry goods on spring account.
news of
A the
. richness of . the
. . beach . g o t! , In the latter direction, prices show
out. Business men quit their business Hpeoial strength, and the bulk of the
in town and went to the beach to business placed in woolens has been at
work. The whole shore became an at an advance of 25 to 40 per cent. In
traction.
other lines, notable steadiness is shown
As regards the gold, there are two, in prices. Weather conditions through
and sometimes three, pay streaks. In out the country part of the week have
the first the gold, is almost always {,een against trade in seasonable goods,
found in a strata of ruby sand, espeo and there is very general complaint of
ially when found above bedrock, This large stocks of winter goods in the
bed rock is really a false rock, for it hands of this branch of trade. Another
consists of a stratum of clay or sand, effect of the usually mild "weather is
It varies. I think that below it is that shown in the Northwestern lum
another bed rock.
ber business. The lack of snow w ill
When gold is found on this so-called probably insure a reduction on the cut
bed rock it is sometimes deposited with of last year, and this, combined with
a sediment of the character of ruby smaller stocks, points to at least a
sand, and sometimes otherwise. This maintenance of present lumber quota
ruby sand is nothing more than iron. tions.
The water runs over the tailings in the
Woolen manufacturers-have consti
color of blood. The redder it is the tuted an exception to the general quiet.
richer the deposit.
They opened their order books this
I don’ t like to theorize as to where week, and an unusually heavy volume
the gold comes from, but the gold is of business is reported to have been re
nearly always coarser near the shore corded. Cotton goods are reported in
than at the edge of the tundra, giving good demand in nearly all markets,
the impression that it comes out of the and the confidence as to spring business
sea, because the finest particles are in dry goods and clothing is a notable
found deposited at the furthest c point
poiui j feafcur6j in sharp contrast, in fact, with
from the present surf action, witniu the reports received from retailers as to
a radius of two miles on the beach— the present season’ s business in winter-
from the spit to the northwest— I wear goods. Scarcity of water is com
counted personally, about August 15, plained of as limiting the output of
280 rockers. There were at least two New England cotton mills, which are
men to each, and away beyond these reported as backward in deliveries.
rockers, below the Indian village for
Business failures for the week num
seven or eight miles, was an almost ber 252, as compared with 255 last
continuous line of men.
week, 246 in the week a year ago, 288
Taking it as a conservative average, in 1898, 326 in 1897, and 393 in 1896.
I should think 2,500 men were work
Canadian failures for the week num
ing on the beach between the mouth of ber 39.
Snake river and Cripple river. I judge
P A C IF I C C O A S T T R A D E .
very few men made less than $10 a
day, and the average was at least an
S e a ttle M a r k e ts .
ounce a day, or $16.
Onions, new, $1.50 @1.75 per sack.
I know personally two men who
Lettuce, hothouse, $1.25
took out $13,000 between July 15 and
Potatoes, new, $16 @20.
October 4, These were Cummings and
Beets, per sack, 75 @ 85c.
Missouri Bill, and there were other«
. Turnips, per sack, 60c.
that I know in a short space of time
Carrots, per sack, 50c.
took out lots of gold. J. W. Logan, a
Parsnips, per sack, 75 @ 85c.
San Francisco newspaper man, and
Cauliflower, 75c @$1 per dozen.
three associates, took out $7,000 in 80
Cabbage, native and California, 75c
day8 and left the country. They just @$1.00 per 100 pounds.
worked one little draw. This is con
Apples, $1.25 @ 1.50 per box.
servative.
Pears, $1.06@1.25 per box.
I made myself, under favorable cir
Prunes, 60c per box.
cumstances, $100 a day for a time.
Butter— Creamery, 29c per pound;
Any man who went on the beach and dairy, 17@22c; ranch, 34c per pound.
would work ten hours a day made big
Eggs— 20c.
money. Most men didn’t work bard,
Cheese— Native. l6e.
and in a great many instances they
Poultry— 13 @ 14c; dressed, 14 @ 15c.
rocked over and lost more than they
Hay— Puget Sound timothy, $12.00;
saved. The appliances were crude and choice Eastern Washington timothy,
the men inexperienced. But after the $18.00@19.00
introduction of copper and silver
Com— Whole, $23.00; cracked, $23;
plates, better results were obtained. I feed meal, $23.
estimate that an average qf 2,000 men
Barley— Rolled or ground, per ton,
were working on the beach and that $21; whole, $22.
they made $1,500 each. This would
Flour— Patent, per barrel, $3.25;
bring the product up to $2,000,000, blended straights, $3.00; California,
and I believe that at the least the pro $3.25; buckwheat flour, $6.00; gra
duct was from $1,500,000 to $2,000,- ham, per barrel, $3.80; whole wheat
000*^—They worked nearly thirteen flour, $3.00; rye flour, $3.80@ 4.00.
m i l e ^ f this beach.
Millstuffs— Bran, per ton, $14.00;
shorts, per ton, $16.00.
M in es In R o s s la n d S treets.
Feed—-Chopped feed, $20.00 per ton;
Several promising
quartz claims
have been located in the streets of middlings, per ton, $20; oil cake meal,
Rossland, B. C. A shaft has beeu per ton, $30.00.
Fresh Meats— Choice dressed Beef
sunk to a ledge uncovered by a street
3teers, 4 M @ 5 c; cows, 4 @ 4 % c ; pork,
grade at First avenue and St. Pan]
street and a shaft in fine ledge matter 4 Me; trimmed, 6 Me; veal, small, 6c;
large, 4c.
has been sank on the Paris Belle on
Hams— Large, 13c; small, 13 Ml
Butte street, and as good croppings as
breakfast bacon, 12 Me; dry salt sides,
have ever been found in the camp were
recently discovered in a basement of a 3c.
The preliminary work of the census
office in collecting data relative to the
arid and sub-humid regions shows that
during the past 10 yeais vast areas
have been reclaimed by irrigation, both
by ditching from running streams and
drilling for subterranean waters.
Where only a few years ago the sage
brush struggled for existence in the
midst of a waste of alkali and sand,
today are fields of waving grain and
blossoming orange-groves.
Hundreds
of miles of oanals and ditches have
been constructed; hundreds of wells
have been sunk, and thousands of acres
of land have been cultivated in zones
where once the desolation of Sahara
reigned.
Moistened by fresh waters and fertil
ized by the rich silt of the swift moun
tain streams, once trackless wastes and
desolate valleys in the arid Southwest,
have become as fertile as the famous
valley of the Nile, and send forth crops
of endless variety and exceeding abun
dance. -
Irrigation is
intensive farming.
W here the water supply is apple, it is
sure farming. There are no^failures,
and ciops are enormous. Th^ experi
enced irrigator is like the trained en
gineer with his hand od the lever. The
movements of his hand regulate the
amount of water supplied to his fields
as those of the engineer control his en
gine.
In most of the irrigable sections of
the West, fertilizers have never been
used, although the land has been con
stantly cultivated for over two centur
ies. In many sections fields may be
seen which have yielded successive
crops of wheat for 40 years and show
no diminution of productive strength.
Wonderful progress is shown in the
methods of constructing canals, dams,
and pumping machinery, and in the
manner of distributing water. Modem
inventions in machinery have greatly
lessened the time, labor, and cost of
construction and management, and
made possible many gigantic enterprises
of land reclamation and water utiliza
tion.
Mountains have been tunneled and
whole rivers have been lifted from
their beds and spread over the valleys
precisely as wanted. High up in the
ranges and on the elevated plateaus
immense storage reservoirs have been
constructed to impound the flood
waters of the streams so that the thirs
ty land below shall not suffer during
the long rainless surpmer.
As the successful soiiMon !6f the
problem of conservation of flood waters
means the reclamation of millions of
acres of public land, the people natur
ally ask the government to promote
measures having this end in view. To
this demand the government responds.
Lands containing excellent reservoir
sites have been
set aside and a
thorough study of the sources and per
manence of the water supply of arid
regions has been made to enable con
gress to legislate with intelligence upon
this important subject.
In aid of this work the twelfth cen
sus will endeavor comprehensively to
show |he present condition and values
of agriculture in the arid and sub-
humid regions; the length, irrigable
extent and cost of the various canals,
wells and ditches; the character, vol
ume and constancy of water supply;
systems
employed in distribution;
amount paid for water and the crops,
acreage and yield of irrigated farms;
This effort will be successful if those
interested in irrigation shall heartily residence. It instated that lying be
co-operate wih the census office and its tween Monte Cri'sto and Butte streets
there is every indication of an immense
agents.
Within a brief period the main body of ore. The Rossland Miner says
schedules for taking the census of irri that on account of the surface of the
gation w ill be distributed, and Direc Paris Belle being covered with houses,
tor Merriam requests that all recipients the work of prospecting and develop
prepare properly to fill them out and ment has been prosecuted under diffi
culties, but it is being accomplished
to return them promptly.
and along practical lines.
P o r t la n d M a r k e t.
Wheat — W alla Walla,
51 @ 52c;
Valley, 50c; Bluestem, 52c per bushel.
Flour—Best grades, $2.90; graham,
$2.25; superfine, $2.15 per barrel.
Oats— Choice white, 35 @ 86c; choice
gray, 34c per bushel.
Barley— Feed barley, $15@ 16.00;
brewing, $ 18.00@18.50 per ton.
Millstuffs— Bran, $17 per ton; mid
P a c ific C o a st N o te s .
dlings, $22; shorts, $18; chop, $16 pel
1’ a in t M in e B o u n d e d .
Mormon elders are holding meetings
ton.
at points in Wallowa county.
The announcement of a paint mine . Hay— Timothy, $10@12; clover,
Baker City’s special tax to continue and iron deposits, near Scappoose, in $7 @ 8; Oregon wild hay, $6 @ 7 per ton.
Butter— Fancy creamery, 50@55o;
her schools was carried by a vote of 50 Columbia county, have led Portland
capitalists to investigate. After a care seconds, 42M @ 45c; dairy, 30@ 37M c;
to 1.
ful survey of the country by competent store, 22M @ 27M c.
Eagle valley has a ‘ ‘ whisky wagon” engineers and expert mineralogists, a
Eggs— 16@17M c per dozen.
— presumably a concern that peddles half section of land owned by Frank
Cheese— Oregon full cream, 12 M e;
fire water.
Payne, on the north fork of Scappoose Young America, 14c; new cheese 10c
Another sawmill w ill soon be in creek, was bonded for $53,000 by a per pound.
operation on the Siuslaw. It w ill be Portland syndicate. An amount suffi
Poultry— Chickens, mixed, $2.50@
owned by Saubert & Co., and will cut cient to satisfy Mr. Payne that the in 4.00 per dozen; hens, $4.50; springs,
vestors mean business has been paid, $2.50@ 3.50; geese, $7.00@8.50 forold;
about 30,000 feet daily.
The Marshfield Sun understands that and if the weather shall permit, work $4.50@ 6.50; ducks, $6.00@9.00 per
the Western Union Telegraph company on permanent improvements w ill soon dozen; turkeys, live, 15 @ 17c per
pound.
w ill extend its line to all points in the be started.
Potatoes— 55@ 85c per sack; sweets,
county the coming summer.
D ea d F u r n a c e R e s u m e s W o r k .
The removal of the duty on pig lead, 2 @ 2M c per pound.
There w ill be no debate this winter
Vegetables— Beets, $1; turnips, 90c;
between the state universities of Ore resulting from Canadian bullion being
per sack; garlic, 7c per pound; cab
refined
in
the
United
States,
has
al
gon and California, but effort w ill be
ready had its effect in the “ blowing bage, lM c per pound; parsnips, $1;
made to have a “ meet” next winter.
in ” of the lead furnace at the Trail, onions, $ 1.15@ 1.50; carrots, $1.
A barrel of whisky, supposed to have B. C., smelter. This smelter has a
Hops— 7@ 10c; 1898 crop, 5 @ 6 c.
come from the wreck of the Brother stock of ore sufficient to keep it in
W ool— Valley, 12 @ 13c per pound;
Jonathan, which was lost off Crescent operation for two or three months, in Eastern Oregon, 8@ 14c; mohair, 27 @
City in 1865, was washed ashore last dependent of any new purchases.
30c per pound.
week, says the Marshfield Coast Mail.
Mutton— Gross, best sheep, wethers
The barrel is in good condition and
^
membere of the
(Ireland) and ewes, 8 Me; dressed mutton, 6 M @
.he whisky shonld be of rare quality. |Fjre B)igade are about to memorlalize 7c per pound; lambs, 7M c per pound.
Hogs— Gross, choice heavy, $5.00;
A river steamer is being built on the , the corporation to increase their wages.
Joquille by D. T. White, A lex Snyder ¡The maximum salary paid to the em- light and feeders, $4.50; dressed,
ind John Moomaw, which is to have &|ployes is $7.50, while the minimum $5.50@6.00 per 100 pounds.
Beef— Gross, top steers, $3.50@ 4.00;
speed of 14 knots an hour. It is th e ' salary is $6. The men on escape duty
intention to make two round trips per also are going to apply for a reduction bows , $3 @3.50; dressed beef, 6 M @
lay between Coquille City and Bandon in the hours they have to work pres “ 1 1 Mo per pound.
Yeal— Large, 6 M @ 7 Me; small,, ° "
luring the summer months.
' ently.
*Mc per pound.