The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume], December 26, 1913, Image 3

About The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
—]MON(! the more im-
Hportant improve-
that are to
beautify the main
|* busim'S section of
during the year
1914 will be the First National
Hank building, a) the north
ff ' es tcorner of Main street and
first avenue. A view of this
proposed block is given on this
;, a ge, but it gives a very inad
equate conception of what the
.tincture will he when complet
fH] an d ready for occupancy.
[n exterior appearance and in
vrior arrangement and decor
ation it will rival any bank
Maiding in the state outside of
the largest cities. An orna
ment to the city is a mild word
to use describing the striking
addition the First National
Bank will lie to the business
houses of Oroville, and its con
struction will he an incentive
for future builders to put up a
higher class of structures.
The First National Bank wih
cover ground space 32x70 feet,
fronting on Main street. There
js to be a concrete basement
under the ent ire building. The
material to he used in construc
tion will lie brick, faced witu
light buff, or gray, brick, the
trimmings to he in terra cotta.
Tu the basement will he a l.oilei
room for tin* heating plant, a
large vault and storage rooms
There is to he a two story vault
the lower one in the basement
anil the upper one on the
ground floor. They wlil be
Imilt of concrete and steel, and
put together so that thieves
cannot break in and steal, and
impervious to tin* hottest fire.
But there is not going to bo
any fire, as particular care is
lo be taken guarding against
that constant menace to pro
perty, The building is to he
as near fire proof as possible.
Resides tin* indest met able ma
terial entering into the main
building the floors are to he
of tile, reducing all danger to
a minimum. The exterior of
the building is planned with ;i
view of appealing to the eye
hy combining the very best ef
fects in material with the gen
is at the rear, on First avenue,
and from the rear corridor is
a door into the bank, with a
wide stairway leading to the
second floor.
The First National Bank I
of Oroville |
wishes its patrons a prosperous New Year and offers its facil- |
ities in any proper and legitimate way to assist them in bring- |
ing about this result. With large resources and strong con- ||
nections, this bank continues to extend exceptional banking i
accommodations. During the coming year, we expect to pro- ||
vide ourselves with a new and more pretentious home; one ;|
more in keeping with the dignified position which this bank |
occupies as the custodian of the cash resources of Oroville |
and vicinity. We trust that no one will be disappointed eith- |
er in our new building and its equipment or the quality of |
service. Believing that the year 1914 will witness great pro
gress in the development of Oroville’s tributary resources, I
we shall aim to keep abreast of the forward movement |
On the ground floor is where
[he public will do its banking
business, and where the bank
ing business will be taken care
th b> t i e ha , nk ' ntr foree - 0,1
‘be north side of the room is
a large open space for the ac
commodation of customers,
provided with such conven
iences as are required. The
banking room is divided off
from the lobby by ornamental
metal grill work, and the furni
ture and fixtures common to
such institutions of the very
best material. There is an of
fice at the front for the presi
dent, a director’s room, a pri
vate room for customers, cloak
rooms and the vault. On the
second floor are six handsome
commodious, well lighted of
fice rooms, that can be used
singly or en suite, with lavator
ies and toilets.
1 lie plans, design and speci
fications were furnished by
Mr. Harlan Thomas, of Scat
lie, an architect who stands
high in the profession. Mr.
I honias enjoys a very large
clientage among the wealthier
builders of the coast, and his
services are in demand for (he
planning of large and expen
sive public and private blocks
and buildings, Mr. Thomas is
a relative of E. E. Work, presi
dent of the First National
Bank of Oroville, and it was
through that relationship that
the local bank was enabled to
secure tin* services of so promi
nent an architect in planning
the new home for the institn
t ion.
ccal design. There will ho a
main entrance up a short flight
ot concrete stairs to a massive
door with half circle transom
set with small panes of glass.
The winodws on the ground
floor are of large single plate
glass, with half circle transoms
of the same design as the door.
Entrance to the second floor
HOOD REASONS
(Continued from page 1)
riven point simplv because
dodging topographical inequal
.ties is the cheapest course to
pursue. There are exceptions
to this rule, but the exceptions
are few and where they exist
some object was to be gained
without regard to expense. Na
ture so pieced together Oka
nogan county that a good deal
it is on end, and getting
through in any direction pre
sents many difficulties in rail
nmd construction that builders
do not care to confront. Now
Oroville fortunately holds the
key to the passes in Okanogan
county. Any competing road
M'.vmg out a way into this
north country would not follow
the serrated tops of the hills
when the valley offers a water
ai.nlc, with tow impediments
to easy construction. And any
railroad coining up the valley
seeking a western outlet would
discover (hat the only available
means of egress in that dim*
1i m is up the Similkameen
liver. With that open route
cut through Hu 1 hills by nature
no mail would seek another
pass to the* westward. Hence,
in order to utilize that opening
in the mountains, future rail
roads must touch Oroville.
That there will be future and
competing railroads no one
doubts. The time will come,
and that time is not remote,
when the demand for trans
portation facilities in northern
Okanogan will be such as to
attract more than one compet
ing carrier. My that time Oro
ville will be a thriving and im
portant industrial center, and
the advent of additional rail
roads will emphasize that im
portance ami play a large part
in bringing about a realization
of the dreams of those who can
see in their mind’s eye the
present partially peopled flat
covered with stately edifices,
and the limits of a thriving city
spread far away up and down
the valley on both sides of the
two rivers.
Again, attention is called to
the relation of Oroville to the
more important cities of Wash
ington and British Columbia.
A glance at the map, which
covers a general outline onlv of
-tr
- f.! K3 T - M.CrONA). • f-A.MK • Of- OtOIULDU *
.# AJf l » k_.T no_n.Aji- AtCUilt-CT; stu -3$
the country in which Oroville
occupies a central position, will
assist in fixing 1 lie point we
desire to make, that Oroville is
without a rival in a vast stretch
of territory, east and west,
north and south. It is at pres
ent the largest town in a coun
ty as large as the state of Con
necticut. This is not stated
boastfully, as there are no
large towns in Okanogan coun
ty, and Oroville is as yet little
more than a village. However,
it has the start, it has the loca
tion, it has the resources and
it fears no rival and has no
rival, present or prospective,
to fear. The largest town to
the north is Penticton, which
has a field to itself, and can
never encroach upon our pre
serves. Over 200 miles to the
southeast is Spokane, 30 years
ago far less of a city than the
Oroville of today. One hund
red and fifty miles to the south
is Wenatchee, which is out of
the way of diverting (he trade
of this locality. Two hundred
miles to the west are Vancouv
er, Victoria, Bellingham, Seat
tle and Tacoma, a quintette of
great cities that will provide a
market for the products of this
vicinity without interfering
with the well being of Oroville.
From the position of all these
cities it can be readily seen that
Oroville is supremely fortu
nate as to territorial surround
ings, and as to danger from
competitors it stands in a class
by itself without a rival and
unrivaled. Croat cities have
grown up with far less back
ing; few have had better back
ing in the process of growing
up. If a decade hence Oroville
is an underling the fault will be
wholly in ourselves, for nature
has been lavish in supplying
everything that is essential in
giving support to a large con
centrated population, and a
people that will not take ail
vantage of and make the best
of what Providence has provid
ed deserve to be outstripped in
the race for supremacy.
(HE Washington Mo
-7T tor Cor company is
a feature of Oroville
that is more famil-
iar to auto owners
than to the general public
because the manager of that
company comes in direct con
tact with those who are the
happy, or unhappy, (as the
case may be), owners of the
modern gasoline gocart. The
public garage, that is hospital
for crippled automobiles, is
nowadays a necessary fixture
in any community and one that
is conducted right is a factor in
attracting business to a town.
The Washington Motor Car
company's garage is conducted
right, and it is a bus\ institu
tion during autoiug season, for
there are many local cars with
ills that require doctoring, and
few touring cars of the very
many passing backward and
forward through Oroville dur
ing the year that do not seek
the friendly shelter of that
roof, either for repairs or sup
plies. It is a business that is
growing more important from
year to year, requiring new ap
pliances for doing the work re
quired, and the local establish
ment keeps pace with the march
of progress.
The proprietor is ('has. T.
Peterson, who is a natural me
chanic, and knows every part
of a car as well as an advanced
student knows his A B Cs. Ad
ded to his natural ability is an
experience that fitted him for
taking the stomach out of an
automobile and supplying such
parts as have outlived their
usefulness. He served a long
apprenticeship at the machin
ist trade in Racine, Wis., and
at one time, when that kind of
vehicle was a part of the fur
nishings of almost every
household, conducted a bicycle
shop of his own, where he built
and repaired bicycles.
Mr. Peterson gave an exhi
bition of his knowledge of
wheels, and cogs, and spark
plugs, and thingabobs at the
time of falling heir to a dis
reputable old collection of junk
ycleped an automobile some
\ ears ago. He was living at
Night hawk at the time, and a
friend of his had an old, de
crepit, played out, one pas
senger car, about in the same
condition as the deacon’s one
boss shay at the time of its
collapse.’ This friend was go
ing to run the ear into the river
but. as Mr. Peterson expressed
a willingness to assume own
ership, it was turned over to
him. Now, to put that car in
condition to travel seemed a
hopeless task, but Mr. Peterson
took it all apart, hammered out
missing pieces from scrap iron,
tinkered over it for a week, and
one day surprised his neigh
bors by appearing on the high
way handling an automobile
that would run, and which con
tinued to run for months. From
that beginning Mr. Peterson
started into the automobile
selling and repairing business
and has made a success of it.
lie came to Oroville, started
out on a modest scale, and now
has one of the largest and best
equipped garages in the coun
ty. and one most conveniently
arranged for carrying on the
work. The immense front
room is generally crowded with
local cars, left (here for keep
ing and care. The work shop
has a concrete floor and con
crete pits. Everything is ar
ranged to handle cars to the
best advantage. There are
power lathes and drills, and all
the machinery necessary for
doing repair work properly. A
large stock of extras, oils and
gasoline is carried to meet the
demand. Mr. Peterson has no
leisure time on his hands and
he seems always under, over
or inside of some car that
needs fixing. In the busy sea
son he is compelled to employ
several assistants. His garage
is well known to the traveling
public, and his patrons will
push a limping car a long way
in order to have his expert di
agnosis and subsequent treat
ment.
Mr. Peterson is agent for the
Overland, one of the standard
makes of autos, and is gradu
ally introducing that car into
this country. Those who drive
an Overland will have no other,
and Mr. Peterson will in time
have a lot of these cars in com
mission in this county.