VOL. XXV.
STATE PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Concludes Twenty-Fifth Ann
ual Convention at Pa
cific Beach.
ORNES NEXT PRESIDENT
Newspaper Men Enthusiastic
Over Grays Harbor Cli
mate and Hospitality.
The twenty-fifth annual convention
of the Washington Press Association
concluded one of its most successful
sessions at Pacific beach Saturday
night, selecting Mount Vernon as the
next place of meeting and electing the
following officers:
President, Fred Ornes, Mount Ver
non Argus; first vice president, Arthur
A. Smith. Port Angeles Tribune-
Times: second vice-president, Fred
Spear, Waterville Press; secretary,
Louis Jacobin, Concrete Enterprise;
treasurer, G. F. McClane. Castle Rock
Advocate; historian. Thomas Craw
ford, Centralia Chronicle; orator, John
L. Wilson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer;
poet, Albert Johnson. Houqiani Wash
ingtonian; executive committee, E. E.
Beard, Vancouver Columbian; F. A.
Haz;ltine, South Bend Journal; W. B.
Jessup, Bremerton Searchlight; J. B.
Be3t, Everett Herald, and Edith Tozier
Wetfcered, Tacoma.
During the afternoon the members
and their wives were entertained at
the home of George H. Emerson,
where a light luncheon was served.
The residence of Mr. Emerson is a
typical lumberman's palace, situated
in the cedar tangle, with just enough
of the natural beauty of the fores?
left to make it interesting and rustic
and yet with all the advantages of
civilization.
The convention passed resolutions
of condolence over the death of the
late Clarence V. White, of Seattle, also
resolutions favoring state aid for the
clearing and settling of logged-off
land^.
Free publicity for the campaign
against tuberculosis was promised and
thanks extended for the good time
made possible by the commercial or
ganizations of Hoquiam and Aberdeen.
Editors in Aberdeen.
The association held a business ses
sion in Aberdeen on Friday, and in
the afternoon were taken to Cosmop
olis in an open trollep car, kindly
provided for by the Grays Harbor
Railway & Light Co., where they
handsomely entertained by Neil
Cooney, manager of the Grays Harbor
Commercial Co., at his elegant new
home, on the hill, overlooking the
town and river.
Iteturning from Cosmopolis, the vis
itors were the guests of the Aberdeen
Chamber of Commerce at a banuet at
Hotel Washington. The handsome din
ing room was beautifully decorated
-with flowers donated by ladies of the
city for the occasion, and the banquet
■was a brilliant affair. 10. C. Miller,
president of the Chamber of Com
merce, acted toast master and the
hotel chef had excelled himself in the
preparation of the meal, for which
the editorial stomach had been well
prepared by the ride to Cosmopolis.
At the conclusion of the feast, Toast
piaster Miller called upon the follow
ing gentlemen, who responded in short
addresses: Hon. Deed H. Mayar, retir
ing president; J. J. Carney, of the Ab
erdeen Herald; the inimitable Frank
B. Cole, of the West Coast Lumber
man; Fred Ornes, of Mt. Vernon, Al
bert Johnson, of the Hoquiam Wasii
jngtonian, Louis Jacobin, of the Con-
Crete Enterprise and Hon. John L.
Wilson, of the Seattle Post-Intelli
gencer.
After the banquet all repaired to
the pavilion at Electric park where
Manager Nye had prepared a pleas
ing program of vaudeville and motion
pictures. Allen Dougherty, a singer
of note favored the audience with
three songs which received merited
applause. The entertainment closed
•with an excellent dialect poem deliv
ered by Hon. John L. Wilson who is
possessed of elocutionary powers of
a high order.
A dance which lasted until after
midnight wound up a day that was
■chock full of interest.
The music for the dance was fur
nished by the boys band of 27 pieces
from the State Industrial school.
ABERDEEN HERALD
PETITION FOR
COMMISSION
Petitions Being Circulated
Asking for Special Elect
ion on Question
Change Is In Line of Prog
ress and Means a Busi
ness Government
Petitions are being circulated ask
ing Ulavor Parks to call a special elec
tion within (JO days from Uie date the
petitions are filed, submitting the
question of organizing the city of Ab
erdeen tinder the commission form of
government. Three petitions were put
in circulation Saturday, and they were
signed so frely as to leave small doubt
that the new form will be adopted
at the election. The small number
declining to sign may be placed in
two classes: Those who have little
or no knowledge of the new law, and
conservatives who are constitutionally
opposed to changes from settled rout
ine in all matters, who prefer to suffer
the ills we have than to risk those
unknown.
It will only be necessary to make
known the commission plan, and to
compare it with the present system
to have the measure adopted in this
city by a 6 to 1 vote. The law pro
vides that should the vote be in favor
of the new organization, a primary
election shall be held to nominate a
mayor and two commissioners, all
candidates on the ballot being requir
ed to have a petition signed by at
least 100 qualified voters. At the pri
mary two candidates for mayor, and
the foui* for commissioners receiving
the highest number of votes shall be
the nominees at the special election,
when the three are chosen.
The mayor shall receive a salary
of $2,40® a year, and the commis
sioners $2,000 each, a total of $6,400 a
year as compared with $3,900 now paid
the mayor and 12 councilmen. But,
it is fair to presume that the city
will save money by having those three
men devote their entire time to its
business, and each of the three will
l.e the head of a department. As we
have it now, the mayor and council
men —receiving practically no salary
—are busy men of affairs, whose pri
vate business keeps their minds fully
occupied. They meet once a week for
a couple of hours to atteud to a busi
ness aggregating a million dollars or
more a year. No private business
could stand that kind of management
and avoid bankruptcy, nor could the
city were it not for its power to tax.
The commission form is but the adop
tion of the fundamental rules of busi
ness to city government, and the Her
ald has yet to hear a good reason why
they should not be adopted. It must
not be considered a cure-all. Mistakes
will occur under any system, but it is
a long stride in the pathway of pro
gress.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS
STRONG ON WOOL
They Think They Can Pass the Re
vised Tariff on Wool Over
President's Veto
WASHINGTON', Aug. 4.—Dsmocrat
ic leaders in the house of representa
tives believe tonight that they have
enough votes to pass the wool tariff
revision over President Taft's veto if
necessary.
Mr. Underwood, Democratic leader
of the house, and Senator La Follette,
insurgent Republican, as a sub-com
mittee, spent two hours today dis
cussing the two bills, out of which it
is hoped to form a compromise woolen
tariff to send to the president.
The free list bill, which has been
sent by both houses to the same con
ference committee as that handling
the wool bill, is to be considered at
the same time.
The special train carrying the State
: Press association from Hoquiatn to
Pacific Reach Saturday morning ran
i into and killed a large bull, belonging
! to George Glanders, of Hoquiam, de
| railing the engine. The accident oc
curred at a dangerous curve, and the
| editorial party felt they had narrowly
escaped a serious mishap.
BEING RAPIDLY SIGNED
HAD NARROW ESCAPE.
SEMI-WEEKLY
ABERDEEN, WASHINGTON MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1911.
OPENING OE
LAND DENIED
Statement That Large Bodies
of Coal Lands Were to
Be Opened False
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Aug. 6.—The
statement which has been going the
rounds of the press, to the effect that
seventy million acres of coal land
now withdrawn are to be restored to
entry as the result of field investiga
tions now being conducted by four
teen Geological Survey parties, is
branded by Director George Otis
Smith as grossly misleading, if not ab
solutely untrue. "The dispatch evi
dently emanated from Seattle," said
Director Smith, "and is based on al
leged interview with W. R. Calvert,
a geologist of the Geological Survey.
In a letter to tlie Survey Mr. Calvert
states that he refused to give out any
statement."
"What Mr. Calvert could have
stated," said Director Smith, "is that
the approximately seventy million
acres of coal land in the West still
belonging to the government would
be examined and classified by the Geo
logical Survey as rapidly as the ap
propriations made by Congress will
permit. The fourteen Survey parties
in the field this year will be able to
cover but a small portion of this enor
mous area, inasmuch as the coal-land
surveys are made in very accurate de
tail for the purpose of classifying and
appraising the coal lands."
Director Smith calls attention, how
ever, to the fact that this entire coal
land area, belonging to the Govern
ment, is in fact open to full and free
agricultural entry, the Government re
serving the coal rights only. Under
the highly important Mondell Act of
June 22, 1910, separating surface and
coal rights, any Government coal land,
however valuable for coal, may be en
tered by the home seeker for its sur
face farming rights. Tims the present
coal land withdrawals and classifi
cations do not operate to retard the
home-making development of the
West.
PLACARDED TRAIN TO
BOOST GRAYS HARBOR
Grays Harbor Adopts Novel Method—
Will Decorate 30 Cars of Lumber
for Des Moines.
The Grays Harbor country is to be
advertised from the Pacific Coast to
DesMolnes, la., by a special train of
30 cars which will leave here tomor
row with a special order of lumber to
the amount of 900,000 feet. The order
was received last Saturday and the
mills of the harbor have been busy
getting the order out. The train is to
be placarded with banners painted by
order of the Commercial club of Ho
quiam and the chamber of commerce
of Aberdeen.
PORTENTOUS.
SLASH ROAD TO
PNIAULT LAKE
Settlers Preparing to Do The
Work As Soon as Their
ifopps Are Gathered.
IGNORE OFFICIAL ADVICE
Insist On Having A Route
Opened So As to Permit
Cround to Dry Out
HOQUIAM, Aug. 6.—Quiniault val
ley ranchers have determined to have
the route of the road from that dis
trict to this city slashed so the sun
and air can get in to dry it out, and
are prepared to undertake the work as
soon as their crops are harvested, des
pite any advice to the contrary from
county officials. One of the ranchers
expressed the sentiments of the resi
dents-of the district thus:
"We are going to slash that right
of-way if we have to take a rifle in
one hand and an ax in the other."
They are supported and will be helped
in the work by the ranchers in the
territory between Quiniault and
Humptulips City.
Word to this effect was brought
down by P. S. Combs who returned a
few days ago from a two weeks' out
ing in the Quiniault lake district. He
says the people are determined to wait
110 longer for county aid, but will go
ahead and do the slashing.
Road Badly Needed,
"The people of that district need
a road badly and are determined to
get it some way," said Mr. Combs.
"The trail from Humptulips is fair and
could easily be made a good road. I
believe $20,000 would make it a first
class automobile road, but at present
the timber and growth along the trail
is so thick that the sun and air can
not get in to dry the ground, the re
sult being that it is muddy a good part
of the time.
"They have been advised by the
county commissioners that the road
is not a legal right-of-way, but W. H.
Abel has advised them that it is. They
want to slash the route to sixty feet
wide, letting the road have a chance
to dry, which will greatly improve it
and they say they are only going to
wait until after their crops are har
\ested to begin the work on their own
account.
Money Went Other Places.
"Residents of the Quiniault district
are indignant at what they claim is
discrimination against them. They
told me that R. L. Higley, postmaster
at Quiniault, had made two trips to
Olympia in an attempt to secure state
aid for the road. On one occasion he
was promised $40,000 for the road and
on another $17,000. The money they
(Continued on Pag* Eight.)
SINGLE TAX FOR
SEATTLE VOTERS
Judiciary Committee of City
Council Decides to Sub
mit Charter Amenm't.
SEATTLE, Aug. s.—The single tax
on land values will be submitted to
the voters of Seattle next March for
approval or rejection in the form of
a charter amendment, either at the
instigation of the city council or by
referendum. This was decided upon
today at a meeting of the judiciary
committee of the council.
Councilman Austin E. Griffiths, a
wealthy real estate owner, introduced
a resolution last Monday providing for
investigation of single tax methods
and general revision of the present
system of raising taxes.
This resolution was recommended
for adoption and the announcement
was made that unless the council
could agree 011 the terms of a charter
amendment to be submitted next
March the same amendment would be
sent to the voters through a referen
dum petition.
To Exempt Improvements.
In urging the adoption of the pro
position, Griffiths explained that his
plan would be to increase the tax levy
to a point where it would be possible
to reduce all taxes on improvements
to the minimum.
This could be done, he said, by plac
ing a valuation on real estate and
improvements and in fixing the annual
tax levy the provision could be made
to exempt all improved property from
the operation of the tax levy.
DEDICATION OF COURT HOUSE.
Mayor Kldridge Wheeler and J. E.
Calder, of Montesano, were in the city
Thursday afternoon learning the sen
timents in Aberdeen toward the pro
posed festivities at the dedication of
the new court house, which the citiz
ens of Montesano desire to make a
county affair, a time to bury the ill
feeling that was engendered by the
building of the institution and to fost
er a spirit of unity and goodwill
throughout the county.
WOULD BREAK MOTHER'S WILL.
Mrs. H. A. Stevens has begun suit j
to break her mother's will. The con- j
test involves practically $25,000 worth
of property. Mrs. Catherine Lowery,
Mrs. Stevens' mother, died several
months ago at her home in Aberdeen.
The bulk of the estate was left to Mrs.
Stevens, but in such a way that var
ious legacies have become a drain on
the property. The contest is made on
the grounds that Mrs. Lowery was not
in possession of her full mental fac
ulties when the will was made.
i When you read it in the Herald, you '
know it's so.
Historical BooUtf
LAND PROBLEM
WORKING OUT
Prominent Men Named to
Handle Logged Off
Lands.
DEVELOPEMENT BOARD
Bend Energies to Solving the
Logged-Off Land Question
Will Meet Sept. 4.
CHEHALIS, Aug. s.—The plans of
the executive committee of the South
west Washington Development asso
ciation for the development of the
,Jogged-off lands of this section- of
Washington are made the subject of a
letter which N". B. Coffman, chairman
of the executive committee of the
Southwest association, has issued to
the men who are to handle the logged
off land problem, among them some
'of the most prominent lumbermen,
millmen and timber owners in the Pa
cific Northwest. Their number includ
es the following: George S. Long of
the Weyerhaeuser Timber company,
Tacoma; P. C. Mumby, Bordeaux; P.
B. Hubbard of the Eastern Railway &
Lumber company of Centralia; H. W.
Leadbetter, Portland, Ore.; William B.
Mack, Aberdeen; Ralph H. Burnside,
Raymond; L. I. Wakefield, Elma; and
George McCoy, Vancouver.
Committee Takes Up Work.
At the Chehalis meeting early in
June plana were put forward for per
fecting a permanent organization to
operate as a holding company witb
which to list for sale the logged-off
and unimproved agricultural lands of
the Southwestern Washington for the
purpose of making them available for
settlement and productiveness. To
Mr. Coffman of Chehalis, as head of
the executive committee, and perhaps
the most active man in bringing the
logged-off land matter to the fore
ground as one of the works of the
Southwest Washington Development
association, was left the selection of
the eight men who are to act with
him in arranging the details for the
future work.
The further study of this great ques
tion is now up to the men constitut
ing the committee.
The committee has been chosea
after great deliberation and a careful
canvass of the district by Secretary
J. E. Barnes, acting for Mr. Coffman
and the executive committee. The
first meeting of the committee has
been called for Chehalis, Monday Sep
tember 4.
The plans and purposes of the as
sociation have been very carefully ex
plained to most of the larger lumber
men and land owners, resulting in as
surances of approval and hearty co
operation.
The plans of the organization under
consideration contemplate the incor
poration of either the Southwest
Washington Development association
itself, or the committee that will have
charge of the logged-off lands matter;
the creation then of the committee
into a permanent commission with
terms of office to expire one-third an
nually and their successors to be
elected by the association. The plan
would necessitate the establishment
of a head office, in charge of a general
land agent, and the opening of branch
offices with local agents In charge, in
each town where there is a club be
longing to the association.
The Weyerhaeuser Timber company
and most of the larger land owners
In Southwest Washington have signi
fied their willingness to list their agri
cultural lands with an organization
framed anlong these lines. Listed
lands could be offered either cleared
ready for cultivation, or partly im
proved, or unimproved and subdivided
into small tracts with roads opened up
and constructed, or otherwise made
attractive for settlement.
Assurances have already been given
by the Northern Pacific land depart
ment of any information in its poses
sion to afford a guide in the organiza
tion of the proposed project. This is
of especial value, as it embraces re
ports of surfaces, soils, etc., of granted
lands in this portion of the state.
Other large land owners have made
similar offers.
NUMBER 92
Co-operation Promised.
Railroads Will Aid.