Image provided by: North Santiam Historic Society; Gates, OR
About The North Santiam's Mill City enterprise. (Mill City, Or.) 194?-1949 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1949)
-------- Serving the North Santiam __ The North Santiam ’ s • J —-— Mill City Enterprise VullMF\ MMI!I: kb 3| Mill, ( ITY. OREGON. 1 Hl'RSDAT.\| Gl >f L Looking Up Building Permits Total and Down the Canyon $304,509 Since Spring By CHARLES WOLVERTON “Step up, ladies and gentlemen— and the kiddies, bless ’em and take a ride on the Ferris wheel. It’s sen sational! It’s colossal! It’s a thrill!’’ This is the spiel which a local company of carnival entrepreneurs are praoticing up on. Fur the firm of Hutcheson-Reid-Greene-Stewart and Wolverton is just about ready to get in the show business. The reason therefor are two rubber checks and a couple of unpaid bills. The Enterprise shares the distinction of having been taken for a Ferris wheel ride along with such concerns as the Mountain States Power Co., the able real estate firm of Reid and Hutcheson and perhaps others who belong in similarly exalted company. (It has been reported that the pow er company was reimburse I for the hot check, along with Mr. Greene, too, but such facts spoil this story, so they will be disregarded.) The main thing to concentrate on is the fact that R. L. Stewart, Dave Reid, Bill Hutcheson and your editor have a real claim upon the apparatus which stands half assembled in Gates following a none too prosperous at- ,n, . by the Northwest Amusement Co. to amuse the people of the Can yon. « • « The aforesaid company, henceforth referred to as HRSW Inc., will take over the ownership anil operation of said wheel as soon as certain legal problems are settled. The assignment of duties is as follows: Bill Hutcheson is best qualified to be the ticket seller, pa tly because the kind of hats he wears are suffi ciently picturesque to pass him off as a snowman. M». Stewart, will tei ' > him; toe ticket sellers’ booth with pencil and pad, for reasons we won’t go into heie, because they might reflect on the integrity of the ticket seller. It's just a matter of form, you know. For Dave Reid is reserved the spe cial task of starting the motor that uns the wheel. From ail accounts, that will be work enough for Mr. Reid. When the former proprietors of the wheel we. e on the Gates site, owned by Messrs. Reid an I Hutche son, the motor was started by wind- ,ng a rope around the shaft, getting four or five men on the end of the rope, then dashing all in the same gene.al direction until the rope had spun the motor. To Mr. Reid is as signed the responsibility of getting the darn thing started. The Wolverton part of the firm will handle all 'publicity foi the Ferris Wheel company at a safe distance. In addition, what spare time he has, he will stand behind Mr. Stewart to make sure Mr. Stewart and Mr. Hut cheson don’t get together.! Bill has wo. ked out an idea for a further source of revenue from the machine. We’ll sell space for adver tising signs on the backs of the seats for molest sums. The e will be a board of directors meeting soon, at which time the members of the firm will draw straws so see who puts the apparatus to gether. Two men were injured, both seriously, when they were trying to set the thing up last week. • • • Unfinishe i business: The little mat ter of the road which Marion County has promised to this area, between Elkhorn and Gates. How about it. Mr. Rice? The completion of the North San tiam highway f om Mill City into the Valley. How about it, Mr. Baldock? The dangerous intersection (Bal- lock Corned in Mill City, which is a source of hourly peril to life and lope/ty and ought to be closed. How bout it, members of the city coun cil? Tie installation of phosphorescent ..ghts on Broadway? How about it. Mountain States Power Co ? And. speaking of some eal unfin- e: business, what about the repair ii the < ity’s streets ? In this case, the city got the run around from Baldock an 1 Co.—this time by a rembe of that firm named Jerry Farrar. Mill City «ent the Mg-- way eommiasMM a check for $1000 fo state crews to do the *vrk which Building permits totaling an a — t iundi'g $304,50° have been issued ii. )’ I C ty since »he bu>' ’ ng cc e wa> set uu last Ap’i! Figures were his week by C.*" Recorder Ein Rags ale. T h - total went u> .-harply ’his week vi- the issuanc. uf a $42,000 pern i: ta C msolidated Bail ler.-- Inc., fen three ew hörn'». ;'i the < BI ad- diti n. M Rag dale said th it residential construet’on accounted for <b 75 per cent of the total btnldi’ig. and tha* it epresented ab'.u ~0 new homes, as well as remoJt'in . Of the estimate < 50, about ?5 w»re acded oy CBI. The LuTding totals. ,f they we e to in-.'tide those struct'! i • Lui t cut- sid - th.- city limits an 1 in nearby Gt'.*-, would probably teach over a h-.’f m 1; on dollars. The current building boom, which shows no pie.-ent sign of letup, has more than doubled the store frontage locally. Nor do the figures inclu !e the big $165,000 new gra ie school building. Buildings Go I p Rapidly Two new business places for Mill City on 1st. St. are going up fast. One will E »und» an automobile repair shop. Both build ings, on the former Rhoda property, are of permanent pumice block co - st: uction. Now rapidly nearing comple '"s a new tavern, the Meander Inn, -e- ing built by Tony Ziebert and GeoVge (Sparky) Ditter. Mr. Ziebert estim ated the building will be finished in two weeks. In real estate, considerable activity has been recorded the past week or so, with Gates in the lead. In Mill City Dick Cain and Cecil Lake report er the -ale, within a few weeks aWer opening Cheir 21-lot subdivision, of six parcels. Al Adams, superintendent of con struction of the grade school build ing. said this week that the new 12- room building would be finished well before the beginning of school and within the cost of $165,000 which was set aside fo: the project. Virtu ally all carpenter work is done, paint ers are following close behind the carpenters, and the glaizers are past the half-way mark in their work. Laying of asphalt tile floors also has been started. Mr. Adams said the competion of the gym might go beyond the day school starts. He raid he had been given another 15 days by the board on that job, because of the change of plans in the roof. Deer Tramples Detroit Boy Jack Payne, 9, o f Detroit, was c’.iarged by a deer and badly bruise I last week on a trail in the upper part of the Canyon. The boy thought at fiist a cougar was after him. His mother, Mrs. H. C. Payne, and his brothers, David and Mike were out picking berries. Jack was walk ing along a trail. Suddenly he heard something running and before he knew it a large doe came charging lown the trail, knocking him down and jumping on him. He was badly '».akin, but not seriously bruised, al though the dees’s hooves dug into i’ face. was to start Aug. 1. Nor* the -tate Mr. Farrar -says it will be 60 days, if at all this year. Anyone who knows the diffe ence between a cow path and a four-lane highwav which wouldn’t include the 1 ori -nentiuned Bildock & Co.f knows you can’t repair *a -^rav*! st eets • the fall min* in. Yet t .e stafe1 p opoAcs— if it can jfet around to *1 jo <0 start pouring tar nnd "I irto rhurkholeji which by Oc- tober will be as deep and vast as mill ponds. T-e ise Wednesday night in vo'tiny to buy rond re «»quipment. • • • The state fair has announce* that Ft r’s day and the day for the fee- ble imikded he me is the sum? Aren’t tfiev af aid of mixiry em Rivaling the CBI homes in beauty is the newly completed motel, built by the Montag Construction Co. in Gates. The exterior of the eight-unit motel has been finished in pastel, oi a stucco surface, and the grounds are attractively landscaped. Real estate has begun to move in Gates again after several weeks of inactivity. Mr. and Mis. Melbourne Rambo have sold their home on the highway west of town to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Jun and Mr. and Mrs. Bob Lewis, re cently of southern California. This property includes the Rambo home and about two acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. Rambo plan to build in Gates if a location can be secured. Dave Reid of Mill City has com pleted the sale of a lot he owned on the highway on the corner opposite and west of the postoffice. Following the cc lpletion of a ut ility house, construction of the first unit of a motel to be erected by George Clise has started and a drive way from the highway has been in stalled. Construction of the new postoffice is under way. This building will be 36 by 28 feet and of pumice blocks with waterproof paint finish. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brisbin and located on the site of the old building which has been moved to an adjoining lot. Work was started Sunday on the clubhouse for the Gates Woman’s Club on a lot donated for that pur pose some time ago. Lumber has been purchased for a good start and a crew of volunteer workmen met on a cement foundation and foims. Paving Jobs Under Way Extensive work was being done the past, week on paving of approaches to several businesses in Mill City. Thc Western Paving Co. which re cently completed the street thruogh the CBI addition, has found contin ued jobs paving approaches and park ing areas. Among the firms for which work has been done are: Les’ Tave. n, driveway and park ing area. Don Smith Se vice Station: the en tire area between the station and the street. The new tavern being built by To ny Ziebert and Siparky Ditter: entire area between the building and the highway. Beebe’s apartments: a driveway 300 feet long. Other businesses are planning to pave entrance ways and parking ar eas, including the Mill City Theatre. 'A street about two blocks long will be paved by 'property owners on the '4arion County side. /Kuglers Meet, Trge Game Fish Initial steps toward the organiza tion of a North Santiam Sportsmen’s Club were made in Stayton Morniay evening, with the primary aim of getting the river better stocked with game fish. Sportsmen from Stayton to Detroit were present. Anglers pointed out that the No:th Santiam, a natural habitat for rain bow trout and other game fish, is now stocked chiefly with salmon, and t at there are no trout aised in the state's hatchery on the stream. Further meetings will be held and a p“rmanent organization set up. M&M Move to Stop Road Opening Fails McKay and Ex-Governors To Dedicate New Highway Oiegon's Governor Douglas McKay will officiate at an impressive cere mony August 14 at Breitenbush Bridge, opening the North Santiam highw-ay f8r traffic that will link two empires with a modern thoioughfare, it was announced today in Detroit by Ed Vickers, president of the Can yon Commercial Club. Joining with Oregon’s chief exec utive in the festivities will be several former governors, a queen presiding over the fete, pioneers of the Canyon country, eastern and western delega tions and representatives of the fed eral government. Dedication ceremonies will be cen tered at the bridge at 11:30 Sunday forenoon, after caravans from Sisters on the eastern slope and Gates on the western converge. Oregon’s queens of betuty, Miss Beverly Krueger, for 1949, an 1 Miss Joyce Davis, Redmond, for 1948, are to her the eastern caravan. The west ern caravan will be led by Gov. Mc Kay, and Queen Santiam, reigning over dedication day. Miss Patricia O’Conner, Cherryland queen, and Miss Stella Dummer, flax festival ¡Plan Offered 'Set Up New Chest Group Mill City and Gates officers of the Community Chest have called a pub lic meeting for this Friday evening, 8:30 o’clock, at the Fire Hall to dis- cuss plans far incorporating the or ganization locally. Former Governor < harles Sprague of Salem is expect ed to speak. The meeting was called bv Gale Carey, Gates, and Earl Ragsdale and Tony Ziebert, Mill City, and an in vitation is extended to the public, to leaders of various organizations and especially to those organizations likely to share in Chest funds. Mr. Carey, Mr. Ziebert and Mr. Ragsdale are all members of th,. Ma i ion County committee. Sponsors of the plan for incorpor ation assert there are many advan tages gained by incorporating: 1. That the local community can designate local purposes for use of funds collected. 2. That, while supporting the gen eral county program, local partici pating organizations can have more direct benefits from the Chest. 3. That local citizens will be more j willing to contribute, knowing that the fund will concentrate on local aid. queen, a e expected to be among the royalty. Special recognition will be paid to the old timers of the region, with in vitations including one to B. E. Remp of Marion County, who recently cel ebrated his 99th birthday. In keep ing with the pioneer spirit, the Ore gon Trails Assn will be represented by a covered wagon in the western caravan. Each caravan will be ac companied by a band. Invitations for the day have been sent to foimer governors Charles Sprague. Walter Pierce, A. W. Nor- blad and Oswald West. Mr. Vickers said. Fifteen or more candidates for the queen's crown were entered in a pre view meeting at the Canyon Theatre last week. New Town Wil) Rise as Old One Goes z The building of a new town in the North Santiam Canyon will get un der way this year, it appears with the announcement of a low bid on preparing a townsite, announced this week by the Army Engineers office in Portland. Site of the new commnity, which will contain a.t the outset about 15 pe manent homes, is on the new high way between the new Breitenbush and Tumble Creek bridges, in the Breitenbush flats area. The firm of Minnis and Shilling, Eugene, was the low bidder with $138.734. The contract wincludes the con struction of a motor repair shop, a warehouse, pumping station, water storage tank, water and sewer sys tems, power installations, substations access roads, and parking aieas ar eas in the permanent housing area. One government town will be van ishing while another is rising, just a few miles away. Mongold, now the housing site for Army engineei per sonnel and th^ location of their of fices in connection with the Detroit Dam, will be razed within two years as the waters of the reservoir begin ! to rise. The new town, for which no name has yet been announced, will be going up meanwhile. In Portland this week Army En gineers officials expressed the opin ion that the new townsite would not house more than a fourth of the dam personnel, and were interested in the prospects of further housing facilities in the Canyon. FREE MATINEE OFFERED KIDS BY FIREMEN’S At'XILIARY A free matine,, will be given to all local children of pre-school and grade school age Suday at 2:15 by the Women’s Auxiliary of the Mill CecH Gold, 31, a laborer, was ar- City Volunteer Fi-e Dept, at the lo i e-ted in Mill City on a charge of cal theatre. Mr- Frank Blazek, president of the ' rape, following the signing of a com auxiliary, said the free show, which plaint by a 17-year-okl girl that she will include a comedv and cartoons, | was criminally attacked by Gold and is being offered the youngste-s in I a companion. Gold, who is an employee of the lieu of the cusomary kids parade. Tie [«’■ado was felt to be unwise, , H. O. Montag Construction Co., «as e -'i I, becau*e of the big increase 1 arrested by Chief of Police J. T. King ' >n a warrant charging him wita rape in 'oca! traffic W(MH»< JOBS SCARCE Member* of the auxiliary will act and waa jailed in Salem where his nail was set in Judge Joseph Fen- Don Downing, business eg nt ef a* chaperone' at the theate-. on’s court at $3500. Officers a:e con- the Canyon local, IWA. reported to ' Iitcting a search for his companion. i «• . at Lbs wer -till sca re for In her complaint the girl asserted I'» r.g wo ker», de-pte the fact the troit Dam and the Bonneville trans r'lf, ogt in a car with the two men many construet’on jobs are booming mission lines. But he added, he was experiencing to go home. Instead, she charged, she the area. ulty finding work «as taken to a secluded place on the M -. Downing said the chief hope rm I rable ri of future erployment is in connec fo- the former employees of Mill Ci Fe n Ridge road and was attacked. Gold came to this area from Miss- tion with the clea ing projects ac- ty Manufactu ing Co., which closed I curi. conpanying the building of »he De- la-t spring. Worker, 31, Held Oil Kapt* Charge But U. S. Must Oil Highway Logging an I lumber inU;«~i 1 i- ed Tuesday to postpone the abandon ment of the North Santiam brsp' h of the Southern Pacific rail rood nd delay the official opening of Che uuW highway. The State Highway Come ission in Portland announced it would declare the Detroit-Niagara porti« of H way officially open as so Bureau of Public Roads completed oliing an I smoothing it. Commissioners felt that the final work on the road could be cumpleUsi by inid-August, ar in time 'or u de dication ceremony scheduled for Aug. 14. The Portland hearing brought to gether a variety of diverse inteests which included: 1. The Coups of Army Engineers, whose representatives argued that a delay in the opening of tlhe highway would delay the construction of the 450 foot Detroit Dam a whole year. 2. Logging and lumbering interests led by the M. A M. Woodworking Co. which declared thc roar! is rough and <iu»tv and unfit for traffic, (M. and M. has a loading point well above the future end of the SP branch at Gates at Blowout Creek, several miles above the dumsite, and would benefit by continue«! use nf the rail road. • 3. Chambers of Commerce from the cities which lie along Highway 222, all for immediate opening of the n««w highway. Bureau of Public Road- officials, who got into a side «-¿angle with the highway commission over thP con dition required for the road in order to be acceptable to the state. It was a complk»t<<l affair. Road to Be Oiled. Afte,r considerable argument, Frank E. Andrews, senior engineer of the BPR. agreed that his department would oil and gravel the 13 mile sec tion, but only after he had extracted from the highway commission the prorniw of help, particularly in the loan of equipment. The task of finishing the highway can move rapidly, but to BPR men a <ha<lline of Aug. 15 appeared at the hearing a tough assignment. I'uder a ruling of the Interstate Commerce Commission, made after logging interests several years ago had demanded, but lost out, that the railroad be relocated, th, branch up from Gates cannot be abandoned un til the highway is officially declare«! open for travel. The portion of high way, hack's) through a steep canyon moat of the way, has cost over $5,- 000,000, which was charged up to the dam project. Its relocation was ne cessary because most of it lay below what will be the water level of the reservoir. Busineas organizations from Salem, Silverton, Stayton, Mill City, Gates, Detroit, Idunha, Bend, Sisters and Redmond were present. Ed Vickers, president nf the Canyon Commercial Club, Detroit, an«I Robert Veneta, secretary of the Mill City Chamber of Cxrm merer, led the Cc gation. M&M. Ia-ads Protest. Eberly Thompson, assistant to the president of M. & M., asked delay of the highway «gtening because the unsurfaced new section is asserted!)' dusty, rocky an«l unsafe. The railtoad is s«-he«iuled for aban- onment at 12:01 a’m’ August 11 and it would be to the interest of the Portland lumber company to delay that until the end of the current log- (Continued on Back Page1