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The Infamous Black Bird Southern Oregon History, Revised


Medford News: 1916

Medford-related news items from 1916. Also see descriptions of Medford and Jackson County for this year.

Coin Shower Deluges Workmen.
    Workmen employed on the ditch of the Rogue River Canal Company set off a charge of dynamite under a stump and then the air was filled with dollars and half dollars. The blast uncovered a money cache that had apparently been buried there since the early sixties. Most of the coins were of the mintage of the fifties, and when the fall of coin began there was a wild scramble for it. The cache contained about $500, according to some; others placed the amount as high as $2,500. Some Spanish coins were found among the United States coins. How the money came to be beneath the stump, or why or when is a mystery.--Ashland (Ore.) dispatch to Los Angeles Times.
Beloit Daily Call, Beloit, Kansas, January 8, 1916, page 3


SNOWFALL ISOLATES MEDFORD
Wires Down 24 Hours and Power Lines Prostrated.
    MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 10.--(Special.)--Heavy snows in the mountains isolated Medford from the world for 24 hours Sunday and Monday. Sunday telephone, telegraph and electric wires over the Siskiyous, and over the Rogue River mountains, went down. Monday noon the Western Union secured a wire to Portland, but other lines were prostrated until late in the day.
    All trains were from two to three hours late. The snow is four and one-half feet deep at tunnel No. 9, the summit of the Rogue River Mountains, between Merlin and Glendale. On the Siskiyous, it is eight feet on the summit; at Sisson seven feet; at Dunsmuir seven feet.
    The snow is wet and heavy. Miles of the power lines of the California-Oregon Power Company are down. At Dunsmuir the wires are reported coated to 14 inches in diameter with wet snow. The four-by-six-cross pieces for miles have been snapped by weight of the snow-laden wires, and in many places have broken in two.
    Distributing lines were broken down all over the country. While inconvenience has been suffered, no material loss is reported. Local ranchers say the snowfall will be of great benefit to the soil.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 11, 1916, page 6


OREGON LETTER.
Medford, Ore.,
Jan. 19, 1916
Mr. D. A. Rheubottom,
    Wakarusa, Ind.,
    Dear Sir:--I find myself delinquent so will pay now, thanking you very much for sending the Tribune. Will blame Democratic administration for my shortage and Oregon went dry, that may help some. Please find postal order for $4.50.
Resp'y. yours,
    F. E. Martin
Wakarusa Tribune, Wakarusa, Indiana, January 27, 1916, page 1


    Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Johnson and children and Mrs. Minnie Snyder, who have been living in Beloit for several months, left this morning for Medford, Ore., where they expect to live.
"Arrivals-Departures," Beloit Daily Call, Beloit, Kansas, January 19, 1916, page 8


MEDFORD SMOKER IS SET
Dressing Contest and Tug-of-War Arranged as Features.
    MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 16.--(Special.)--After a lapse in boxing and wrestling for over two years, the sport will be revived Thursday night at a Seventh Company smoker, when Medford athletes will meet a team from Central Point. An unusual feature will be a dressing contest, when the clothing of five boys will be thrown into one barrel and the first dressed will be declared the winner.
    On Main Street there will be a tug of war between Medford and Central Point with eight men on a side. There will be three wrestling matches, at 135, 140 and 145 pounds, and three being matches at 135, 145 and 180 pounds.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 27, 1916, page 16


Medford Business House Moves to Klamath Falls
    Klamath Falls is soon to have another large business establishment. H. N. Moe, who has been in business in Medford for the past five years, has leased the commodious store room in the White building, and is now making preparations to open a large dry goods store.
    Mr. Moe spent some time here several weeks ago and decided that Klamath Falls and its equally prosperous surrounding territory was the best location he could possibly select. Accordingly, he began negotiations for the least of the building.
    The deal was finally closed this week. Yesterday carpenters and painters began the remodeling of the interior of the White building to suit the needs of the new tenant.
    Moe & Co., in their five years of merchandising at Medford, have built up a good business, and are known in the Rogue River Valley as a reliable, energetic firm. Mr. Moe has been in the dry goods business since boyhood, and he promises the best in goods and prices.
    Preparatory to removal here from Medford, Moe & Co. have instituted a big clearance sale there. It is their intention to close out the entire stock of their Medford store, which is to be discontinued, and to begin business here with an entirely new spring stock of the latest and best in dry goods, ladies' ready-to-wear clothing and millinery and similar lines. The new concern will also conduct a dressmaking department.
The Evening Herald, Klamath Falls, February 2, 1916, page 1


    The popular Mrs. Fred H. Hopkins, of Medford, who is a frequent visitor in this city, is the house guest of her sister, Mrs. C. H. Noble. She came to Portland to attend a family reunion in celebration of the 80th birthday of her father, Judge J. H. Woodward, which was held Wednesday evening. Judge Woodward is a senior member of the Oregon Bar Association, and is the oldest practicing lawyer in Oregon.
    Mrs. Hopkins will return in a day or two to her home in Southern Oregon.

"Society," Sunday Oregonian, Portland, February 20, 1916, page C3



Medford May Get Cannery.
    MEDFORD, Or., Feb. 26.--(Special.)--C. L. Knight, manager of the Knight Packing Company, of Portland, has just completed a contract for the product of 20 acres of tomatoes in the Rogue River Valley this season. The tomato pulp will be shipped to Portland to be converted into catsup. If the quality is satisfactory, Mr. Knight says the company will install a plant in Medford, handling tomatoes, cucumbers and vinegar.
Sunday Oregonian, Portland, February 27, 1916, page 20


Apple Growers Like "Community" Packing.
    Wenatchee, Wash.,May 20.--It is probable that the majority of the large tonnage expected from the upriver country this season will be packed out through community or central packing sheds. The system of cooperative packing, which has been proven a success in California and Oregon, has received a strong impetus in Okanogan County and the large centers, Omak, Okanogan and Brewster, are all considering seriously its adoption.
    Everywhere the growers are taking readily to the new system and from present indications probably will use it this season. Meetings were held at Okanogan, Omak, Brewster and Entiat and at all places the majority favored switching from the orchard system of packing to the central method. C. E. Chase, manager of the Brewster unit, returned recently from a special trip to Medford, Ore., where he investigated personally the large cooperative packing houses that handle the bulk of the tonnage not only with the managers but also talking with growers, large and small, who had abandoned home packing for central packing. He heard not a single complaint against the new method. All praised it highly, saying it was economical and resulted in better packs. Medford growers have forsaken the expensive orchard packing establishment for the central house. All fruit grown within a radius of 15 miles is hauled in daily during the picking season on large motor trucks. It even has been found wise and a matter of economy to abandon small warehouses located on spurs of the Southern Pacific throughout the valley. The boxes are nailed in the orchard by a force from the central house, and the fruit is hauled into Medford in these standard boxes rather than in lug boxes.
    The growers have found that not only is there a saving in the actual cost of packing, which, of course, can be ascertained, but that there are also other savings and advantages that accrue. The apples are handled more scientifically from the tree to the box, and not allowed to remain in the orchards or in a hot packing shed for more than 40 hours at the outside, which retains to the apples all of their original keeping qualities. More time to superintend the pickers has resulted in an increase of at least 25 percent in the day's work besides being more carefully done to prevent bruising of apples and knocking off of fruit spurs.
The Chicago Packer, May 20, 1916, page 16


Medford Association's Plans for the Coming Season.
    Medford, Ore., May 29, 1916.       
    To the Packer: At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the association the following directors were elected to fill vacancies on the board: H. W. Bingham, F. Corning Kenly, Frederick H. Hopkins. Our packing charges including all materials and labor and carloading, but not including hauling to our packing house, will not be more than 28½¢ for apples, 25½¢ for pears and 23½¢ for half pears. Our marketing program contemplates an extensive campaign for f.o.b. sales throughout the United States and in the European markets, if available; charges will probably be 10¢ a box against a combined charge in previous years of 15¢ a box. We handled during the past season 96 cars of pears and 56 cars of apples, a total of 152 cars. All fruit has been accounted for with the exception of 11 cars of apples which we succeeded in getting abroad late in the season. We are advised that one of these cars has been sold at prices ranging from $1.50 to $1.90 f.o.b. Medford. Our averages on all varieties of pears were extremely good. The same is true of our apples, our best single sale being one of five cars sold at $1.65 per box f.o.b. Medford.
    We made a splendid record in the operation of our cold storage plant, some of our Newtown apples were held three months and longer, and our thermograph records on file in our office show that the temperature under which this fruit was held ran from 31 to 36 degrees, at no time higher nor lower than that. It proves that fruit can be successfully held here under temperatures like the above for a long period and delivered in good condition, either at the Atlantic seaport or in England. We are now installing certain repairs and improvements which will result in more efficiency and will enable us to successfully pre-cool Bartlett pears under the most severe temperatures in August. This will be done at a minimum expense and will undoubtedly result in deliveries of our fruits in so much better condition as to command substantially higher prices.
S. V. BECKWITH,       
Manager Rogue River Fruit and Produce Association.       
"Letters from the Packer's Readers," The Chicago Packer, June 10, 1916, page 8


26 Oregon Convicts Paroled by Governor
By the Associated Press.
    SALEM, Ore., June 13.--That he may support his parents in their declining years, Frank Wade, convicted in Jackson County, more than 20 years ago for the murder of Frank Marlow, was conditionally pardoned today by Governor James Withycombe. The condition of his pardon is that after the death of his parents he will surrender himself to the penitentiary authorities if they demand it and fulfill the life sentence imposed upon him.
    Governor Withycombe also issued a conditional pardon to Virgil A. Perrine, convicted of robbing a bank in Milwaukie, Clackamas County. Armed with a revolver, he held up the cashier of the bank in 1913. The condition of the pardon is that he is to go to St. Louts, Mo., and reside with his parents.
    Twenty-four other convicts were paroled by the governor. They included George Hamlin, convicted in Jackson County of assault, and J. F. O’Brien, convicted in Lane County of obtaining money under false pretenses.
San Jose Mercury-News, San Jose, California, June 14, 1916, page 8



ASKS TONNAGE AT MEDFORD
FOR COOPERATION S. S. BULLIS WILL BUILD SAWMILL.
    MEDFORD, Ore.--In a public statement to the residents of Medford S. S. Bullis, with whom the city recently concluded a contract for an extension of the Bullis line to the Blue Ledge mine, announced that he would put up a $30,000 sawmill in order to obtain a large box factory for the city if the citizens of Medford would cooperate with him in an effort to get tonnage for the proposed road.
    The Commercial Club has the promise of a large Oregon box factory to erect a second plant near Medford for 1917 business if it is guaranteed 1,000,000 feet of lumber a month. With the operation of a sawmill on the proposed Blue Ledge road Mr. Bullis will make this guarantee. The new box factory would employ 172 men and have a payroll of $10,000 a month.
    Mr. Bullis assures the residents of Medford that the construction of the road will never be a liability to the city or involve any increase in taxes, but will be an invaluable asset if the proper local support is given in the effort to get the required tonnage. He says he does not want the city to spend a cent on the railroad until there is enough tonnage in sight to make it reasonably certain that the railroad will pay its operating expenses from the start.
Spokesman-Review, Spokane, July 21, 1916



New Catsup Factory at Medford.
    Medford, Ore., Aug. 11.--A new catsup factory is practically completed, with a capacity of 15 tons daily. Later on this factory will be manufacturing apple butter.
The Chicago Packer, August 12, 1916, page 54


PIONEER'S DIARY IS GIFT
Oldeste Native Daughter Presents Mother's Records to Whitman.

    WALLA WALLA, Wash., Aug. 17.--Mrs. Eliza Spalding Warren, of Walla Walla, the oldest living white child born in the Pacific Northwest, presented today to Whitman College the diary of her mother, Mrs. Henry H. Spalding, who as a bride came across the continent in 1836. In the pioneer party were Mrs. Spalding and her husband, a noted pioneer missionary, and the Rev. and Mrs. Marcus Whitman.
    The diary of Mrs. Whitman was presented to Whitman College years ago, and the diary of Mrs. Spalding has been sought by historical societies. The diary, among other things, relates the building of the first Christian home in Idaho at what is now known as Lapwai.
Oregonian, Portland, August 18, 1916, page 2



    B. W. Young of Medford, Ore., writes: "The fruit business of the Rogue River Valley is largely that of pears. We have this season about 500 cars of pears, 275 of which will be Bartletts, and the balance Comice, Bosc, d'Anjous, Howells and Winter Nelis. The apples produced here are largely Newtowns and Spitzenbergs, mostly Newtowns, and will amount to a total shipment of 450 cars, 75 percent of them being Newtowns. We probably will have in the neighborhood of 15 carloads of Jonathans, and since we have almost normal rainfall in addition to which most of the fruit-producing sections of the valley have been supplied this year for the first time with water from an irrigating ditch, the general condition of the fruit and its size will be all that can be desired. The growers have taken unusual care, and the fruit is practically free from scab and insect sting."
"Apple Crop in Pacific Coast Districts About 25,000 Cars," The Chicago Packer, August 23, 1916, page 52


    Wm. Fowler, late of the Providence mine, Greenwood, died at Rogue River, Oregon on the 31st of July.
"Around Home," The Ledge, Greenwood, British Columbia, August 24, 1916, page 1


    One hundred men are now employed on the Crater Lake Highway, and 100 more men could be used, it obtainable, until the first of November. By that time it is estimated that 45 miles of highway will have been graded, leaving only the rim around the lake.
    The total pear shipments from Medford of last year have already been doubled and many cars of Winter Nelis have not been forwarded. Last year 219 cars were shipped. This year 470 cars have already been billed out. The entire fruit crop promises to come up to the early estimate of 1000 cars.
    Medford townspeople have raised $16,000 by solicitation for the construction of a $25,000 sawmill in the Jacksonville timber belt, on the proposed line of the Medford-Blue Ledge railway. If the present campaign is reasonably successful an attempt to raise $75,000 for a box factory at the same place will be made.
"Oregon News Notes," Monmouth Herald, Monmouth, Oregon, September 29, 1916, page 5


    Elmer E. Vroman, who left here about eight years ago to reside in Medford, Or., has just sent to this city the news of his marriage the first of this week. Mr. Vroman is the son of the former owner of the McElroy plumbing works. He is now connected with the Medford vulcanizing works.
"City News in Brief," Daily Star-Mirror, Moscow, Idaho, September 29, 1916, page 3


    Joseph G. Martin, 1852, born in Missouri in 1845, died at Medford, Or., September 14, 1916.
"343 Oregon Pioneers Have Answered Last Call in 12 Months," Oregon Journal, Portland, July 19, 1917, page 15





Last revised May 6, 2024