Looking Up
and Down
the Canyon
w
By CHARLES WOLVERTON
A few weeks ago we moved into
a new (or practically new) home. A
rather startling fact has faced us in
the process—we’re unable to buy a
lot of items that are essential for our
new place right here at home.
There have been about 100 new I
houses built in Mill City and vicinity
in the past nine months. And I got
to thinking—the owners of these new
homes must have been in the same
fix as we were when it came to es­
sentials.
For instance, one can’t buy drapery
School buildings in the Noith San­
materials anywhere in the Canyon.
tiam
Canyon bulged with children—
Curtains and drapes for 100 homes
must have amounted to quite a fig­ with increases as much as 100 per
ure—to Salem or Portland merchants cent over last year’s enrollment.
Gates was the biggest gainer, as
—for these 100 homes.
children from the many tiailer parks
The same is true of items like rugs, in the area were added to an already
insulating materials, special decora­ large enrollment.
tions. shrubs, etc.
Mill City grade school passed the
It would be, I believe, a conserva­ 300 maik, an increase of 90 and the
tive estimate that *150 worth of such high school was up about 25, to a to-
item«, not locally carried, went into tai of 92.
the bundled homes. In other words, Detroit’s grade school was not much
$15,000 in local spending went out­ smaller, with 240 enrolled and more
side.
expected.
True, there is always a percentage
High school there showe 1 338 ear­
of trade that goes to the bigger cit­ ly in the week.
ies. There always will be. The local
Lyons enrollment went up to 200.
merchant can point out to you that
E'oitunately, every community has
it wouldn’t pay to carry such items anticipated the increase with new or
as I have mentioned. Yet, it could be enlarged buildings. But in many cases
pointed out to him that at times he teachers will have classes rather too
can’t affoid not to carry them.
large until irore peisonnel can be
Mill City has a great future as a I t i red.
trading center. A large recreation
area around the lake foimed by the
Gates schools opened Monday with
Detroit Dan will draw thousands as a 100 per cent increase in registra-
summertime residents on its shores. tion.
The improved road into Elkhotn, now­
Monday—with enrollment still in-
being built, will draw into this Can­ complete—the total was 168, with 55
yon the trade of a hundred resort ’of that number in the junior ami sen­
households. That trade will be ours Ì ior high schools.
if competitively we can match the
Principal of the high school again
maits of more distant cities.
this yea is T. R. Burton, and the
I’m not implying any criticism of
our local merchants when I mention
things they don’t keep in stock. They
have had their hands full just keep­
ing apace with local growth, of build­
ing new buildings, of making all var­
iety of adjustments to changed con­
Gates businessmen, whose commu­
ditions. Yet the future seems bright nity, according to school registration
for a ieal trading center here—and this week, has expe ienced the most
well stocked places of business are rapid growth of any in the Canyon,
the key to such a program.
are organizing a commercial group.
• • «
First meeting was held at the Gates
Rapid growth of population and furniture sto:e Thursday evening and
additional building in the west and again Monday night.
southwest parts of town has created
A board of directors was elected,
a real problem of*access stieets for including Glen Hearing, George Clise,
these newer district«. Within the city Joe Jun, Floyd Völkel and Dick Park­
limits, vacant lots are filling up with er. Geoige Clise was chosen to serve
new homes. And just outside are two as chairman and Dick Parker as sec­
additions waiting to come into the retary-treasurer.
city.
P e-ent at the first meeting, be­
Yet, for those who are settling to sides the directors, were Norman Gar-
the west,, the.e’s but one way into r: on, J. Adams, John LaHaie, Gil-
town the highway. For the 40 or 50 b< rt Weathers, Jer: y Lyons, Frank
school children, walking along that Saunders. Harold Heath, Ned Rich­
i
heavily traveled route is a serious ards, William Hutcheson, Wilson
hazard.
Park and Bob Jackson.
To the southwest, the problem is
£ little different. All tiaflfic must go SNOWBALL BI SH BLOOMS
via Kingwood Kt. (the county road)
A sncwball bush in the Frank Bla­
and First Ave. To school, this means
eight or ten block.- for the child that zek must have thought the recent
ain was a spring Shower, for several
lives but a few blocks from it.
The Ogden addition, when devel­ blooms appeared on its top this week
oped. will provide access streets to —out of season by half a year.
The bush stands about 15 feet high
both areas—the Swift addition and
west along the highway and in the and Mrs. Addie Wells, who lives in
old Paradise addition. Both streets a second story apartment nearby,
will lead into Evergreen, which Bob first observed the blossoms, not no-
Veness, councilman, believes will be ticeable from the ground.
Only the top branches 'had bloom.«.
a main thoroughfa:e. Two years ago
west from the school. Evergreen wa~
« two-lane highway—there wore two WILSONS BUY PROPERTY
Mr. and Mrs. Russell Wilson, of
deep ruts.
•
*
e
Mehama, who operate a hatchery in
A few weeks ago. the usually fair- tEat vicinity, have purchased proper­
minded foimer Governor Charles ty in Foui Corners, containing sev­
Sprague in The Statesm« n was sharp­ eral large and small buildings. The
ly critical of the Army Engineers for tract with two large duplex build­
locating Mongold. Detroit Dam con­ ings and tw cottages, all rental pro­
struction camp, below the eventual perty, was purchased from F. A
water level of the reservoir. The gov­ Boyington.
ernor w>as doubtless influenced by a
mild case of dispepsia plus a reac­ ' scape.
tionary article in the Readers Digest
At Mongold, rents of over $125 a
of which I will refrain from polite day are being collected from the bar-
remarks at this time.
- racks alone. The apartments are pay­
Fact is. Mongold was a logical step ing and more than paying their way.
in the vast undertaking of building
The governor was also irked over
the dam, and it was the most econ- the fact that the other installations
•> rival means of providing housing such as st rets, a water and sewage
for 48 families and over 500 single system, would be lost when the area
is flooded.
«o ken.
Facts are that only the cheapest
Mongold was built with material
«alvaged from old army bases, as was pipe went into the ground, and it i-
the Detroit school. The apartments expected to just about last out the
were built out of housing that had dam building period.
i As for the
been temporary—set up originally to the foundations, streets, , etc . that
last out a five-year war period. That were installed—one has only to loor
de
it is serving another five years is all at Camp Adair today to wish
to the good. Tse ba-rack« were of the b is, old foundation«, stirk r irne;
MKM junk lurher. and tfeir con- an-i worthless streets were we 1 und
-truction cots were iessened because many feet of water.
In the Mongold area, much
they were delivered on the Mongold
«:te partly fabricated. So w»ie the work was done bv the Anrv
eeis themselves after contractor-1 Ea
apartments.
AH the buildings are of auch tem- bid too high over estimates. In ver
porary construction that it is a reilef case, projects were complete-; at
tr be assured that—ugly as they are cost than the lowest bid but beL w t i
t ey will not mar the future land- estimates.
T he MILL CITY
ENTERPRISE
NUMBER 37
Population Rise Jams
Schools in Canyon
Gates Organizes
Business Group
teaching staff includes Mr. and Mrs.
William Hall and Mrs. Bowling.
Grade school teachers are Mrs. Ri­
ley Champ, Mrs. Olive Barnhalt and
Mrs. Gwen Schaer.
A number of students from the
old Blowout Camp have been included
in the Detroit district this year and
will attend theie, thus avoiding a
long and hazardous trip for the school
bus.
MILL CITY. OREGON. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15. 1949
Sent ng
LYONS, MEHAMA
ELKHORN. MILL CITY
GATES, MONGOLO
DETROIT, IDANHA
12.00 A YEAR. 5 ( ENTS A COPY
Key Recreation Area
Seen for N. Santiam
Detroit Vote
To Incorporine
Detroit Dam Engineer Sure
It Will Lead in Oregon
The North Santiam Canyon was en- . the amount one foot deep on an acre)
visioned today as becoming the great- [of which 40,000 acre-feet is reserved
est lecreational area in Oregon by ' for power production, 160,000 "dead
Lt. Col. Jack Miles, resident army­ storage” and the remaining amount
engineer of the Detroit Dam.
flo<xi control storage.
The long-cherished hope that De- ‘‘I'm getting to be a one-man cham­ Water for Irrigation.
Col. Miles estimated that a total
| troit, a town marked for extinction ber of commerce about it,” he told
The city council Wednesday eve­
Mill City Chamber of Commerce of 135,000 acres of land could be ir­
because
it
lies
below
the
eventual
ning heard Boy Scout representatives
members at a noonday luncheon rigated with water from the reser­
and their plans for a scout cabin in water line of the Detroit Dam reser­
Of all the projects in the Willam­ voir, if used. He stated that 200,000
voir,
might
find
a
way
to
continue
the city 'park. Clyde Golden, local
ette
Valley Project, the Detroit Dam acre feet could be used for that pur­
on. was nearing reality today.
committee chairman, and Louis Ver-
offers
in the reservoir area the long­ pose. The irrigation possibilities of
A bigger and more important De­
beck, committeeman, presented plans
est
season
for recieational uses, he the dam were figured in the econom­
for a large cabin an scout headquar- troit is in the making.
ics of (hv planning, the engineer de­
This week the Mai ion County court
ters in the southest corner of the
“I further predict that the view clared, pointing out that he had had
set a date of Oct. 13 for holding an
park.
across
the reservoir fiom the high­ to correct certain misconceptions in
The council has referred the plans election to incorporate an area six way near Piety Knob, with Mt. Jeff­ the Valley by farmers who thought
miles along the Canyon — including
to the city planning commission.
irrigation would be forced upon them.
The incorporation erson in the distance, will become as Col. Miles explained that irrigation
The council was informed that the Idanha as well.
familiar
to
the
nation
and
the
world
horseshoe shaped street in the CBI lines proposed, all in Marion County, as the view of Mt. Hood across Lost proceeds only after the farmers of
addition ha- been named Parkside are bounded on the west by the new Lake,” he adde.
’an area set up an iirigation distict.
school house aiea eastward a quarter
Drive.
1 “I was surprised to find out that a
He
said
that
Piety
Knob
would
be
Work began Monday on cutting to a half mile in width to Marcy
- lot of folks in the Canyon don’t know
an
island
in
the
reservoir
and
would
down the grade of First Ave, and the Creek, a mile above Idanha.
what Big Cliff Dam is for,” he said.
add
further
to
the
new
lake's
pos
­
Pae incorporation area follows the
abiupt rise there already has disap­
“One man told me he thought it was
sibilities
for
recreation.
same general lines as the Breitenbush
peared.
for catching salmon.”
And
since
not
far
away
there
are
Discussed as urgent business was fire district.
Here is how power production will
If the election favois incorpora­ centers of winter sports, the Can­ work at Detroit and Big Cliff dams:
the need for a city charter election
yon
’
s
possibilities
are
not
limited
to
as soon as possible. The council is tion, the town of Idanha will cease
Detroit Dam will generate 100,000
a few months of the year, he said.
planning to call for it soon, after cer­ to exist by that name.
kw in two 50,000 kw generators dur­
But,
the
colonel
advised,
those
po
­
Petitions asking for the election
tain legal details are woiked out.
tentialities will come sooner if the ing the periods of peak use in the
Lack of a city charter has prevent­ were signed by 100 upper Canyon res
Canyon’s people see them and do Northwest, about five or six houis a
ed the city from proceeding with spe­ idents, or substantially above the 20
something
about them. If they don’t, I day. Because production of that vol­
cial assessment programs for paving, per cent required by law. There are
he
said,
others
from the outside will ume of power lets loose a veritable
etc., and seveial additions waiting to 391 voters in the area.
flood of water, some means had to
do them later.
County officials expidited the elec­
come into the city limits cannot l.e
be devised to level off the ebb apd
The
resident
eng
r
er
’
s
talk
covei-
tion procedure rapidly. Edison Vick-
voted in till the charter is set up.
flow. Hence, Big Cliff Darn, which
ed
a
wLia
scope
of
facts
about
power
eis, justice of the Breitenbush justice
will
hold back these peroidia rushes
i
court, presented the petition to the production, irrigation, water capacity of water and i elease them in regular
and river flow statistics.
county court Monday.
By Tuesday
volume.
morning
County
Attorney
Stadter Importance of Dam Stressed.
At the same time Big Cliff will be
A family of eight was homeless
Speaking
of
the
dam,
Col.
Miles
Wednesday when their house in the validated the petitions, and by noon explained its functions as part of the generating a constant 18,000 kw.
Power from Detroit Dam will be
hill country south of Mill City was the same «lay the County Court had Willamette Valley Project and term­
set the election date.
sent
over the Cascades into the NW
totally destroyed by fire.
The new Detroit, which Mr. Vick- ed a “very important link” in that power pool. Big Cliff’s power will go
Al! peisonal belongings, including
vast
undertaking
which
ultimately
is
new clothing purchased for school, eis said would be the “longest little intended completely to harness the to the valley.
i
city in the country,” has great hopes
Present schedule calls for the com­
was lost in the flames.
river and its tributaries. He said the
in
the
future
of
becoming
a
trading
pletion of Detroit Dam tn June, 1953,
Fire was spotted by the lookout
seven
dams
now
under
construction.
station on Monument Peak, and By­ center for a large recreation aiea ex­ 'T ««nit In file lower Willamette will I but production of 'power ther wilt ac-’
ron Bates, county warden, investiga­ pected to develop around Detroit successfully control floods, and other I tually precede the windup of the job;
t'd and found the Donald Philpott res­ Dam I<ake. This lake, about ten nittcs installations ultimately will maintain . the first generator is to be cut over
idence a smoldering ruin. He radioed long, will have a shoreline of about the rivet at a fluctuation ot f"'abou't , I *n November, 1902.
Blir Cliff Dam must be
he ready
railJv by
he
back tn Monument Peak and the look­ 45 miles, and federal plans aie for a three feet.
' • “Big
road encircling it, with shore front-
Outflow on the North Santiam is 'the tin,e th* flpst generator starts
out phoned to Mill City.
I age leased to summer home owners.
on an average of 1,475,000 acre-feet ’ Ploduc,n« power,"
Pie lake will be the nearest such
WHO GOT STING?
annually, the major part In the win­
body
of
water
to
a
million
or
more
Mis. Leo Wagner v*
of ..■-,,■,,,0
Mehama this .
.
ter and spring. The Detroit Dam, as RESCUE IR ROUGH GOING
week reported the theft of a hive of Per‘P e w,t 10
miles,
designed^ will retain two-thirds of the FOR INJURED LOGGER
bees.
maximum recorded flow of the river. A hand-over-band rescue in the rug­
BIRTHDAYS IDENTICAL
The North Santiam, he said, fluc­ ged McCully Mountain legion Friday
NOTICE
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Wiltse, Mill tuates between a recorded maximum succeeded in bringing out a Mehama
Contributions of clothing for a
City, are the parents of a boy born, flow of 61 300 cubic feet per second, logger to safetly and on his way to
family of eight, bedding and other
Sept. 6, the sa/ne birthday as that of and in low water stage drops to a a Salem hospital.
household necessities are being re­
He was Harry Monroe, employee
a previous youngster. Statistically, knc«wn minimum of but 320 cu. ft.
ceived by the Firemen's Auxiliary
of Erci 1W1 oslinLogging Co., whose
it’s a 156 to 1 chance for parents to per second.
in an emergency collection for the
have two children with the same birth
The reservoir will stort 455,000 hip was fractured when a rock was
Phillpott family, whose home was
date.
acre feet of water (an acre-foot is dislodged on a steep hillside and hit
destroyed by fire. Ix*a\e contribu­
-him in the back.
tions with Mrs. Frank Blazek or
logging area was
i The
.............
- — too
— rough
.—u for
Mrs. George Ditter.
stretcher-bearing. The Injuied man
was lifted from the canyon hand over
hand up the main line, aided and sup-
STRAIGHTEiiER-yr
ported by Ollie Adams and Jim
Toome, fellow workers.
i
-----------------
TWO LOSE FINGERS
Two local men lost fingers in con-
AUMSVU’LLE
Farmers from
Bob Schmidt, agricultural chair- i struction work last week.
many points in the Pacific Northwest •1 an of the Oregon State Grange,
Joe Podrabsky lost part of his left
are expected to come here Saturday and general chairman of the farm foiefinger in a plaster mix machine
to see the first farm face-lifting ev­ face lifting show, makes it clear the while working on the Lyons school
ent in the Willamette Valley. A coips field day is not merely a series of Cast Thursday.
He
of farmer volunteers, equipment com­ goo-l land use demonstrations.
Erank Rada, who is building cab­
pany representatives and state and said:
ins, lost parts of two fingers on a
"Each soil conservation practice cutoff saw.
will attempt to complete a soil and put on Bartels’ farm is needed. It
water conservation program on the solves a particular land problem. The SURPLUS STORE TO OPEN
Irvin Bartels farm, one mile North field day isn’t a testing ground for ( Bui nett Cole, of Detroit, will open
of Shaw, in a single day.
go«>d land use steps, or a mid-way a war surplus store in the Mill City
,__ l>
Willamette Valiev Conservation of better farming methods. All of Furniture Co. quarters Friday.
F r •»-
Day is being cosponsored by the the conseivation work applied during
The store, called the Santiam Wa
Oregon State G ange and the San- the day Is part and parcel of Bartels’ Surplus, will have the same name as
tiam «ail conservation district, with farm conservation plan.
the one he opened in Detroit about
"The way sloping, eroding lands a year ago. The establishment will
many civic groups co-operating. By
It’s »11 in a day’s work (or a Navy
the end of the day, the committee are t eater! and wet fields drained, carry clothing, shoes and many other
»•'leiarket. 4 crew member from
expects to have completed the proper and the 20 or more things that will it ma.
. .-e r.f the units of the Sixth Task
land use ami erosion control p’SC- lie done in the revamping of Bartels’
I,-, t lends a little support to the
f.eantn: Tower of Pisa in the
t ce« needed o nthe Bartels farm. All farm, should be an eye-opener to
DONT MISS IT!
of the Fleet's visit to th«-
conservation work carried out by hundreds of Willamette Valley farm- f
An event of greatest importance
of northern Italy. Florem e
Bartels and the staff of equipment eta.’*
to everyone interested in agricnl-
Pisa and other Italian cities were
"n th<> ,tgM«rein< agenda »• the
opei atora and soil technicians meets
Scho idt explained that while the lure in the "field day” on soil ron-
.
k F< rce brought the Naval ver-
the
capability
requirements
of
his
prar-tices
sheduled to be applied to aervation at l*v Bartels farm near
-•>n of tmerira ta Mediterranean
land.
(Continued on Back Page)
Shaw Saturday. Don’t miaa it!
»•rOO. O*clal U S
PiMtsg-ayb)
Scouts Seek
Cabin Sight
Set Eor Oct. 19
Family Burned Out
Complete Face - Lifting to Be
Given Farm in Single Day