Astoria, Oregon - History

History

It is customary in publications of this kind to at once set forth the advan¬ tages of the particular locality to which the stranger is invited, but let us in this instance state the great and potent disadvantage under which Astoria has labored. It has not been known. In other words, false impressions regarding it have gone unchallenged in print while its real, substantial merits have been unheralded to the world. Even its own people have not fully appreciated the many blessings at their very doors, and only until recent times have some of the " hardshells" been brought to a realization of the potential wealth remaining uncovered here or the vast possibilities of the future. Without doubt, there are pessimists in heaven.

However, Astoria is bound to surprise the world, and itself, within the next few years. Already a city of approximately 25,000, and a port of importance, there can be no exaggeration of words in the statement that the day is not far distant when its population will be increased many fold and its name be known as a place of more than ordinary consequence in every quarter of the globe.

Nor is this mere language, mere claim. It is easy to write, "it is bound to be;" but in this case facts fully justify every prophesy made in the follow¬ ing numbered paragraphs, paragraphs voted by the substantial citizens to be a statement of their clear and firm conviction:

3. Within five years, land values within the City of Astoria (excepting perhaps in certain districts) and throughout the greater portion of the county, will have increased from 25 to 50 per cent.

4. Within five years, the present enormous payroll, one million dollars per month, an extraordinary payroll for a city of this size, will have trebled.

5. Within five years, ships will be plying direct between Astoria and all the major ports of the Pacific regions, and to many on the Atlantic sea¬ board and Europe, carrying the grain of the Northwest, the lumber, fish, flour and other products of Astoria one way and returning laden with the merchandise of the Orient, Australia and South America.

7 Within five years, because of the fertility and peculiar adaptability of its soils Clatsop County will be producing more berries than any other county on the Pacific Coast. This will include the growing of cranberries, already a safe and sure industry, though just in its infancy. It also means that Astoria will become a center of berry-juice manufacture and export.

8. Within five years, Clatsop County is bound to lead all others in the United States in the production of lumber, already so important here. 1 he vast timber regions of the county, hitherto scarcely touched will, within a few months, be penetrated by the Lewis & Clark Railroad, now partly built and going forward, and by other avenues in contemplation. Govern¬ ment experts have figured that there are sixty billion feet of marketable

Immense Grain Elevators And Flouring Mills

IMMENSE GRAIN ELEVATORS AND FLOURING MILLS These utilities located at Port Pier No. I , were brought into being thru and are controlled by the Port of Astoria Commission.

9. Within five years, the City of Astoria will have every street paved and Clatsop County will have hundreds of miles of hard-surfaced roads, reaching all distant sections and at various points connecting with the Roosevelt Military Highway, which in turn will cover the entire seashore route and join the California state highway at the border.

10. Within five years, Astoria will be the most prosperous and pro¬ gressive city of its size in America - holding the place it holds today, but even with more sureness and with still brighter prospects for the years then to come.

Here, then, are ten prophesies, based on substantial facts and figures, and made after the exercising of common sense and ordinary business vision. It is a trite saying that we do not know the future, and of course we do not.

But it is human to believe that the world will continue and that the earth will revolve in its sphere for a long time. It is American to believe that the United States will increase in wealth, power and glory as years roll on; and it is Astorian to feel with supreme, justified confidence that this city at the mouth of the Columbia is destined to such a future as is in prospect for per¬ haps no other community in the world.

It will be noted that a period of five years has been selected; this, because it is firmlv believed, bv those whose intelligence, thought and foresight give their opinions weight" that all the good things named will have come to pass within that time.

There will be no such thing as a "boom in Astoria. No barn-raising, whereby a structure is thrown together by a gathering of neighbors and a keg of cider. No "hurrah, boys!" Astoria has set her face (one of nature s loveliest countenances, too) against any balloon ascension freak growth or get-the-people-here proposition. Astoria knows, at least feels, her destiny, and she is content to traverse the solid, straight highway, rather than go across-lots to attain her goal . 1 1 may seem tame as compared to the booster

A Clean, Modern City

Most people like to live in a clean town - a physically clean and shining town! and so most people will like Astoria. There is a great contrast between the smoky, dirty, unkempt small cities of the middle states and those of the Pacific Coast. Astoria exemplifies this. Here one finds broad macadam streets bound by uncompromisingly straight and solid stone curbs, instead of the dirt or brick streets that seem to wander aimlessly through unkempt plots of grass where parking strips should be, but are not. Here are clean straight cement sidewalks. Here are sewage and drainage systems which are models of their kind. And here is pure, sparkling mountain water in such abundance that no one needs to compute the amount which runs through the meter each time. The garden is watered. Let the hose run all day. The Astoria reservoirs have plenty more and to spare.

The city is adequately supplied with electric light and gas. All the thoroughfares are well lighted, and power is of sufficient cheapness that many families do their cooking with electricity.

There are eleven churches in Astoria, the leading denominations being housed in excellent edifices and well supported by the community. A $30,000 Y. M. C. A. building administers to the younger generation. The Y. W. C. A., although it does not as yet own its building, maintains an efficient and energetic work for the young women of the city. Large rest rooms and public meeting hall take care of its growing club work, which was characterized in a recent Northwest report as having made the second largest gains of all the associations in the district in 1918. A recent "drive" for funds was so successful that a permanent . \V. C. A. in its own building is assured.

The city hall is a commodious, well-built structure, housing the various departments of the municipality as well as the public library, which has an annual circulation of many thousands of volumes.

The fire department is noted for its efficiency ; so much so that the state association of underwriters has greatly reduced the insurance rates of the city on the strength of the department's fine performance record in the past few years.

Police protection is ample, and the force maintains a fine appearance, which always impresses favorably visitors from more metropolitan cities.

The Clatsop County Courthouse is an edifice of which any city might be proud. Built at a cost of $130,000 it is a handsome structure which embodies modern building improvements and a beautifully furnished marble interior.

I here are five banks in Astoria, the deposits of which now amount to over $8,250,000. They are conducted by keen, conservative and enterprising citizens. A building and loan association has recently been formed.

As for hotels, although traveling men will tell you that they can get accommodations and service in Astoria on a par with that of the great cities of the west, there is opportunity here for still another first-class hotel, or even two, and the investment would be of the very best nature. As a matter of fact, at this writing a new hotel is in prospect.

An encircling street car line provides quick and convenient transporta¬ tion from both ends of the city to the downtown district, where is a hustling retail section of up-to-date progressive stores. Many people have commented on the attractive retail houses of the city. Astoria's stores reflect instantly the latest modes and styles of the large cities, and stocks in every line are kept fresh and abreast of the times. One candy store has an enviable reputa¬ tion all over the country among men of the confectionery trade, and its leading product, the famous Centennial chocolate, is ordered through the mails from cities very far removed. People in New Orleans, Boston, Provi¬ dence, Chicago, having once tasted this unique confection, order it by mail every year, and it is sold in all large cities on the Pacific Coast.

In a word, Astoria is a clean, modern Pacific Coast city; and so it is a city of homes, where every man can have his own house built according to his idea of what a house ought to be, and with something more than a mere pocket handkerchief of lawn in front. It's a city in which you'd like to live, build up your business, raise your children, enjoy life.

It's a city of progressive men who support their institutions, lodges and churches, and work far-sightedly for the support of what is best for the life of the community.

The Port Of Astoria

Perhaps nothing is more characteristic of the far-seeing, confident young west than the Port of Astoria, organized by law and governed by a com¬ mission. Dreamed into being by men of vision, this highly developed terminal of the Columbia River is destined to care for much of the constantly in¬ creasing world commerce of the Pacific. Here at Astoria, on the finest land-locked ocean side harbor of the world," the people of Clatsop County have made provision for the handling of a great commerce which shall help to develop their own district and the commonwealth of Oregon.

Truly The World'S Larg

3ut dreams and confidence alone will not bring a city into being, will not build up an isolated section of the country, or draw a world commerce to themselves. There must be a sound base to build upon. Had not the UnitL.1 States government recognized the fundamental natural advantages of the lower Columbia river as a harbor, there could be no Port of Astoria. Without the assistance of the government monies and engineering skill, the Columbia River would not be the advantageous port of call for the largest ocean steamers that it is today. Thanks to the federal construction of the north and south jetties at the entrance to the river and by the dredging tth:char> b6 har,bor 1S open for all time to the greatest ships that float the sea. Indeed so favorably does the government consider the Astoria harbor that the Navy Department contemplates centering in it the major nava base of the Pacific. On this ample expanse of fresh water wUl some day float the giant battle squadrons of the western coast; just as a few weeks ago those splendid vessels of the Pacific Fleet, the battleships Arkansas and

Vermont and the scout cruiser North Carolina swung easily in Astoria's harbor and the Vermont docking in fifteen minutes at the Port Terminal. In the opinion of members of the House Naval Affairs Committee, who visited Astoria this year, and of Secretary Daniels and the naval officers a few weeks ago, the lower Columbia is the logical place for the establishment of one of the major naval bases for the Pacific, similar to Hampton Roads on the Atlantic.

The Port of Astoria, in taking advantage of the natural superiorities of the lower Columbia harbor, has builded wisely and with care. A detailed study was first made of the traffic and commerce of the northwest, the trade of the Pacific, and the Port facilities of seaboard cities on three sides of the

Est Fresh Water Seaport

United States. In the piers, warehouses and grain elevators erected by the Port, the best features of the nation's traffic and storage facilities have been incorporated. With a clean start, advantage has been taken of the mis¬ takes made and lessons learned by older terminals.

The facilities of the Port of Astoria now in operation include a 1,300 foot warehouse pier of the most modern type, a 1,300 foot open storage pier, and concrete grain tanks with a capacity of 1,040,000 bushels of wheat. This year a third pier for imports and exports is being built. It will be similar to the present warehouse pier and will cost about one million dollars.

"I never knew there was so much wheat in the world!" said William J. Browning, representative in congress from New Jersey, when he first went through The Port of Astoria warehouses and grain tanks, and he added, appreciatively, "This is the biggest thing I've seen in the west." And any¬ one who makes the trip on the escalator to the top of the grain elevators and then looks down into one of the vast concrete tanks - take your choice, there

Astoria'S Fish

To the Port s tidewater grain tanks at the mouth of the Columbia rolls the yellow flood from the Great Columbia River - inland Oregon, Wash- ington, Montana and Idaho. Because of the water grade haul to the rivers mouth and because of freight rates that place Astoria on an equal footing with Portland, Seattle and Tacoma, grain can be more advantageously handled at the Port than elsewhere. Located only ten miles from the ocean on one of the five deep water harbors of the Pacific Coast, and equipped with the most efficient grain handling machinery, ships can load at Astoria and get out to sea with their cargo more easily than even from San Francisco or Seattle.

A seaboard terminal depends to a great extent on properly balanced and adjusted facilities, adapted to the requirements of the business tributary to its particular location. Such terminals should possess elastic qualities to meet the growth of business demands, as well as to enable its operators to economically and successfully meet the needs of its customers with full satisfaction. The Port of Astoria fulfills all these requirements. Through its commissioners (all highly successful business men who serve without compensation and with a fine appreciation of the service they can do the community), the Port of Astoria maintains, and is further developing its superior ity of storage accommodations, handling facilities and a high standard of service.

The plan of development for the Port of Astoria includes a pier system to extend far around the shore of Young's Bay, the city's new industrial center, partly around which the Port has already built a belt line railroad to care for the terminal traffic; the dredging of various tributary waterways "NlSn1 b^'ng carried on by the Port owned and operated dredge Natoma; the building of seawalls and filling in of land alona the Astoria waterfront, much of which has already been accomplished. °

1 he dockage space already developed by the Port of Astoria equals one anc one ^uartei miles; at all points of which is maintained 30 feet of water at mean low tide, sufficient depth to accommodate all classes of vessels tha may enter the Columbia River. The warehouses are equipped with the most modern electrically worked conveyor machinery; a 50-ton locomotive crane is operated on the storage pier. Coal bunkers with a capacity of 3,000

Side by side with the development of the Port of Astoria, a great project ol pri\ ate iather than public nature, is being developed. The Astoria Marine Iron Works, which now occupies Port of Astoria property, but which is re¬ moving to its own ground on oung's Bay, is one of the greatest industrial plants ot the west. In its business with the Emergency Fleet Corporation, it ranked third in point of contracts of all the ship machinery installing con¬ cerns in the United States. So well pleased was the Shipping Board with its work, and so favorably impressed with the future of Astoria harbor, that the board has combined with the company in the construction of a marine railway to cost $500,000. Ground for this ship repair hoist has already been broken. It will have a capacity of 6,000 tons deadweight, and will be able to accommodate at one time four submarines. In view of the fact that the Navy expects to establish at Astoria the Pacific Coast submarine base, if not a naval base of first magnitude, this fact is of special significance.

Astoria has exceptional advantages as the site for the great marine repair plant and marine railway such as the Astoria Marine Iron Works is building. Situated at the mouth of one of the greatest rivers in the continent, mid¬ way between the chief northern and the chief southern ports of the Pacific Coast, it is at the terminus of the shortest possible water-way arc between the United States and the Orient, and at the entrance of one of the deepest and most accessible of the world's great harbors. These considerations have led the government to foster the building of the marine railway at Astoria, and these same factors are drawing to the Port, steadily and surely, the water commerce of the Pacific.

The total berthing capacity of the several wharves available in Astoria Harbor is 11,714 lineal feet with a depth of water ranging from 30 to 65 feet at low tide.

Story Of The Salmon

One of Astoria's chief reasons for being is the existence in the waters of the Columbia of the King fish of the sea, the Royal Chinook Salmon. Every spring this most highly prized of all fish swarms up the river from the Pacific to its spawning beds, and every year millions of them are caught in the nets that Astoria fishermen spread in the Columbia. Where epicures meet, the Royal Chinook Salmon is acknowledged to be the peer of all sea food, and wherever men of commercial and industrial knowledge meet, Astoria is recognized as the home of the greatest fishing industry in this country So far famed is Astoria for her salmon, that the Chamber of Commerce con¬ stantly receives inquiries concerning the industry from people in all parts of the world. I he important early history of the city and the lower Columbia may be summed up in a few significant dates: The discovery of the Colum¬ bia River by Captain Robert Gray, May 10, 1792; settlement of the city

From that first modest cannery in 1866 has grown the vast salmon can¬ ning industry of today, a business employing thousands of people and brin^ina in an annual income of millions of dollars 8 g

To the visitor who comes to Astoria during the spring fishing season - from the first of May to the latter part of August - the first sight of the mighty river dotted with thousands of fishing boats is a sight never to be forgotten. At night their lights stud the dark Columbia as with a million glowing jewels. Varied estimates and seasons vary the number of fishermen who cast their nets into the Columbia, but authorities on the subject place the quota at between three and four thousand during the height of the season. Not only is fishing on the Columbia carried on by gill netting, laying out the nets across the channels and drifting with the tide or current but by other methods as well. On partially submerged sand islands in the river seining -mounds are operated where long nets are laid out across the channel, the outer end being towed into the grounds to form a purse and the net is then dragged in by horses. Another method of catching salmon is by fish traps, formed bv hanging a wep pot within a circular enclosure of piles, with long net wings hung® torn a line of piles running into the channel, to divert the

Bv far the most dangerous and picturesque means of catching the salmon is that employed by the trailers, who go outside the entrance to the river and troll for fish. Also a large number of deep sea purse seine boats are operated off the entrance to the river. The fishing industry on the lower Columbia supports at present about 20 canneries, the principal plants being within the city of Astoria. During the 1918 season the Columbia River canneries packed 600,000 cases of salmon. The value of this pack was $7,500,000, 65% of which represents the revenue to labor within this district and di¬ rectly associated in the industry.

To further the salmon packing industry on the Columbia, the state of Oregon operates numerous fish hatcheries, which are maintained by licenses assessed against the canneries and fishermen, where millions of salmon are propagated each year and released into the river. These fish go out to sea and grow to maturity, after which they return to the Columbia to spawn. One of the state hatcheries is located at Clatskanie, near Astoria.

The Chinook Salmon, for which the Columbia is famous, starts to come to the mouth of the river from the ocean as early as February or March but, by state regulations, the season for catching them does not open until May 1st, which allows large numbers to get up stream to their spawning grounds. Those which enter the river first go to the headwaters many of them getting to spawning grounds in the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho more than 1,000 miles from Astoria. There is no other species of fish in the world equaling the Chinook Salmon in commercial value. It reaches an enormous size; fish have been taken weighing 80 pounds, and 50 to 60 pounders are not infrequent catches.

The Lumber Industry

W ithin the boundaries of Clatsop County, stand forests waiting for the woodmen's axe, which are estimated to contain 15,097,285,000 board feet; and on account of Astoria's harbor facilities the city is the natural center and distributing point for the lumber from the 60,000,000,000 feet of timber which stand in her tributary territory, according to government estimate.

The heaviest stand of timber in the county is yellow fir, of which there is 8 172,410,000 feet in the county. Of hemlock, there are 3,694,495,000 feet, and of spruce, 1,361,648,000 feet. Other woods make up the remainder.

In the Hammond Lumber Company's plant, with a daily cutting capacity of 450,000 feet, Astoria has one of the largest mills on the Pacific Coast, and the ten other plants which are now operating in the county bring

The whir of these dozens of rip saws add hundreds of thousands ol dollars to the city's payroll, and make Astoria one of the most impoitant lumber shipping ports of a section of the country where lumbering is one of the main industries. The ports of Puget Sound, which are the Columbia s greatest competitors in the lumber business, can not compete with Astoria in regard to the accessibility of their mills, for in Clatsop County and in the tributary parts of Washington, the trees are felled within sight almost of the ocean and brought to harbor within the sound of the breakers of the Pacific.

That Astoria is logically the very center of the lumber industry, not only of Oregon but of a large part of Washington, is told by the recital of a seemingly small but nevertheless very important fact, to-wit: That towage charges are less to Astoria than to any other point on the Columbia. That is, from almost any point of the vast tributary territory a raft of logs may be taken to Astoria cheaper than to any other point. This is because all natural conditions of river current and ocean tide are in its favor One ex¬ ample will suffice. It costs but 30 cents per thousand feet to bring timber from the Washington side to Astoria, while it costs from $1.50 to $1.55 per thousand to raft the same timber to Portland. Time and tide are indeed great actors in favor of Astoria, and this favoritism simply means that for untold years Astoria will grow and grow in importance as a lumber center, eventually, perhaps, to become the most important in all America if not in the world. Does this appear extravagant when more than one-tenth of the world s standing timber is at our very doors?

hundreds of men are employed the year around. Some of the more important camps are those of the Crown Willamette Lumber Company, Western Cooperage Company, Smith Lumber Company, Hammond Lumber Company, Murphy Timber Company, Kinney Timber Company, Olsen Brothers Lumber Company, Scott Warren Lumber Company, California Barrel Company, Potter & Chester Lumber Company, Larkin & Green Logging Company, Oregon Timber Company and the Fish-hawk Logging Company. During the war and up to the signing of the armistice on November 11,

1918, Clatsop County was one of the liveliest spots on the Pacific Coast. No less than six Spruce Division operations were engaged in moving spruce from the Clatsop County forests for the Air Production Board, and during this work approximately 100,000,000 feet of the choicest spruce was removed and shipped to the mills, where it was reduced to the finest lumber for the manufacture of airplanes.

In order to facilitate the production of this vast quantity of timber, railroads were built up into the hills and through the forests, and expert woodsmen were in charge of the work. A giant tree was found with a clear trunk for 20 or more feet from the ground, and it was felled. Perhaps but one log was taken from the tree, for only the choicest timber was accepted and this had to be free from knots. The balance of the tree, perhaps 10,000,

Lumbering. Agriculture And Shipping, Each Has Its

And this great quantity hasn't even made an impression in the vast forests of Clatsop County. Of course a trip through the forests will show where, here and there, a tree was felled, and the woodsmen left behind, all cut, greater quantities of choice lumber than was removed.

But, with the great markets of the world open to the lumber of America during the coming five years, and the shipping facilities offered by the Port of Astoria, there is no reason why the Clatsop County lumbering industry can not be more than doubled within a very short time.

But this is not all. With the vast forests of spruce extending right to the water's edge and ample water available not only for use of the mill, but also for power, there is every reason in the world why a paper and pulp mill for the manufacture of news print should be located at or near Astoria. The raw materials are right at the door of the mill location and the market isn't far distant.

Up to the present time no attempt has been made to develop the market¬ able resources of the alder, so plentiful in Clatsop County. This wood not only makes good furniture, but it can also be used for dozens of other house¬ hold necessities, such as broom handles, clothespins and similar articles. There are millions of feet of alder along the numerous streams in the county, and about all that this fine timber is now being used for is firewood, and not much of that finds its way into the stove or open fireplace.

Farming in this county may be said to be very good from the ground up - nature made it so. Astoria, the large and rapidly growing county seat, as well as Seaside, Warrenton and Gearhart, offers good local markets. A comparison of industrial with agricultural development shows most con¬ vincingly the great need of agricultural and diary products for home con- sumption. Facilities for transportation are not as yet all that could be desired, but improvements are going forward rapidly, and within a year or two no farmer need complain. By highways, by water and by rail do our products find their way to market. Quite as important as the excellent home market, are our fertile soil and right climatic conditions for this becoming a northwest center in dairying, berry and cranberry production and truck gardening. With summers cool and no droughts, and winters of little cold weather, everything is favorable for high production at minimum cost. The abundance of pasture and immense yields of roughage and root crops of our fertile tidelands are the foundations for successful dairying. Yet there are not more than 5,000 dairy cows in the county. We have room and present need for five times that number. At present we are not pro¬ ducing enough dairy products to supply home demand, whereas we should be exporting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth annually. Here is in¬ deed an opportunity for hundreds of dairymen. Root crops are now almost entirely used for winter food. The yields obtained are unbelievable to those unacquainted with the facts. The county agent has made careful estimates of fields and found some producing 45 to 70 tons per acre in the season of 1918. Single roots weighing 25 to 35 pounds each are common. At this rate, a single acre will feed 10 cows 160 to 175 days. Our hundreds of acres of tidelands, most of which have not yet been plowed are naturally fitted to become paying producers of dairy and truck garden foods.

Berry Growing

The recent phenomenal demand for Oregon berries has turned all eyes toward Clatsop County. Canneries and other manufacturing concerns all recognize that our climate is most favorable for producing large tonnages with none of the uncertainties of dry seasons. Hundreds of tons of wild evergreens can be harvested here annually. Canners expect to pay $27,000 this year for what they can get harvested. All temperate climate berries grow to perfection. Loganberries yield 3 to 6 tons per acre, for which cannenes are paving 7 to 8|c a pound. Raspberries, under ordinary good care, will average 33 to 41 tons per acre, for which canneries pay 10c a pound. Four hundred

24-pound crates of strawberries is a common yield. The local demand is far from being supplied, and canners are paying 10c a pound for all they can obtain. The climate is so favorable for this crop that our state Agricultural College horticultural authorities claim we have exceptional opportunities for producing late season berries for the large markets. The mild "autumn weather finds ripe and ripening fruit on the vine in November.

Yields exceeding the rate of 400 crates per acre are on record. One prominent grower states that $500 represents an average net income per acre. One man with about an eighth acre of raspberries and loganberries sold $lb0 worth of fruit this year. Another with a similar sized strawberrv patch sold $120 worth of berries.

Truck Gardening

The same climatic conditions, together with the high natural fertility of the ticlelands, present exceptional possibilities for truck gardening. Peas, beans, cabbage, root crops, broccole, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers and other staple truck crops grow at their best here. Four to four-and-a-half tons of beans, 20 to 27 tons of cabbage, 30 to 35 tons of table carrots, are not except¬ ional yields. The possibilities for producing late peas for the northwest markets is unlimited. Canneries and dehydration plants are looking this way for locations because of the absolute certainty of getting large yields, of excellent quality, annually. Failure due to drought or insect ravages is unknown.

Potato Growers Paradise

In 1910, there were 273 acres of potatoes in Clatsop County. Careful estimates indicate that there has been but slight increase in acreage since that time, due to activities in other lines than agriculture. The average yield was 1 50 bushels per acre. This is above the general average for Oregon. Yields of 200 to 250 bushels per acre are common in this county. One grower obtained 10,000 bushels of marketable potatoes from 40 acres last year. He produced about 25% of all the potatoes in the county. From two and half to three times as many potatoes are consumed here as our farmers produce, and this does not include what the hundreds of ocean resorters use The man who comes here with good methods can conservative¬ ly expect around 300 bushels per acre from one year to another. All our soils except the undrained tidelands are well adapted to potato cultuie. Here as in dairying, we have the market, the soil, the climate, and we need more farmers who will make potato growing part or all of their business.

An average of 175 sacks of marketable potatoes was produced on the diked drained tidelands last year. The best yields on this soil reached 240 sacks per acre. One man with ordinary good creek bottom land obtained 200, while Nehalem Valley sandy soil is returning 250 to 300 bushels per acre of exceptional quality potatoes with just ordinary care.

Our Soils

1. Tide lands, of which hundreds of acres are found in the county. Their production capacity is usually about four times that of the uplands. This land can be bought for from $100 to $450 per acre, depending on the extent of improvement. Droughts are unknown in this soil.

2. Botton lands, along the river and creek valleys. This varies from sandy loam to clay loam, and is the next most productive soil in the county, admirably adapted to grass, grain and potatoes, especially.

3. The beach sands, extending from Warrenton to Seaside and Ft. Stevens, and totaling between 8,000 to 9,000 acres. This is the most responsive soil in the county, and, with manure, will equal tide land in pro¬ duction. Seventy to eighty tons of rutabagas from an acre have been harvested from this soil. For root crops, potatoes, strawberries, this is a remarkable producer. It is well to understand that this sand is extremely fine, and with cultivation and manure it holds moisture exceptionally well. Its depth and warmth make it well adapted to alfalfa, and this crop is now being harvested here.

4. Upland soil includes most of the logged off lands in the county - some easy to clear; much that is not. In good locations, this land costs fifty to eighty dollars per acre; some that is away from the main highways costs less. Newly broken upland soil is not very rich in available plant food, but, like the sand, it becomes highly productive with manure and cultiva¬ tion. As a soil for berries, it is excellent. Some of the upland is best adapted to goat, sheep and cattle ranges, and can be had for this purpose at sur¬ prisingly low figures.

5. Boglands, suited to cranberry culture. The cranberry industry is only in its infancy here, but it is bound, within a very few years, to become a most important one. Acres of this bogland are waiting development.

Poultry And Eggs Needed

The poultry man who looks for high prices for his products should come to Clatsop County. Visits from government poultry experts never fail to bring forth surprises at the prevailing figures. Local fresh eggs are few in supply. We haven't the producer, that's all. Our growing cities and the hundreds of ocean resorters, furnish an unexcelled market. Other con¬ ditions for poultry production are easily as good as in most localities. We have only four or five large producers in the county; there is plenty of room for others, and we need many more with flocks of from 100 to 300 Fresh eggs retail at times as high as 80c per dozen, 50c and 50c being the usual summer price during the past few years.

Sojourning At Seaside

Seaside, eighteen miles from Astoria by rail and hard-surfaced highway, is the playground of the Northwest, where mountain with its streams and ocean meet, where breakers roll and cool ocean breezes soothe the workweary soul of man!

Seaside, truly, is a meeting place, not only of the mountain and ocean, but of the large majority of rest, recreation and pleasure seekers of the Northwest. Her own public-spirited citizens do all in their power to furnish their visitors with all the rest, recreation and pleasure they can handle.

For rest, what better place is there than a quiet cottage facing the ever roaring breakers of the Pacific and the exhilarating air that comes with it? Or what more healthful exercise than a stroll along the hard sand of the beach or on the board walk at the edge of the hard sand?

For scenery, some of the most magnificent in the world can be found at Cannon Beach, within an hour's automobile ride of Seaside; and once there, the surroundings make simply being there a never-to-be-forgotten thing.

Recreation, according to Webster, is diversion, and diversion is simply another name for Seaside. To get away from the toil and hustle and worry of business and city life into a quiet spot is no diversion, but simple laziness in most cases. But to find something to substitute for the toil and hustle and worry of business and city life is certainly diversion. At Seaside, a visitor need not look hard to find something different to do. There is a brisk walk or drive along the ocean or on the paved highway; there is surf bathing, which in itself is worth going to Seaside for, and there is a large salt-water natatorium with excellent diving boards, which appeals to those who are too delicate or fearful to brave the ocean breakers; there is roller skating, bowling, shooting, and above all, in the minds of the younger vis¬ itors at least, there is dancing and music.

The purchase according to announcement just made, of the Hotel Moore, for many years the leading resort hostelry of the Northern Pacific Coast has been made by a body of prominent citizens of Seaside, who plan to build a great addition and make the hotel, the name of which has been changed to Seaside Hotel, even more famous than it now is.

Haystack Rock At Cannon Beach

This hotel, however, is not the only place where a visitor can find en¬ joyment, for there are numbers of other fine hotels and there are numerous summer cottages, tent-houses and real summer homes which are obtainable for rent.

One of the sports which many of the visitors believe to be even more exciting than trout fishing, is clamming, and this is not one of the least attractive drawing cards of Seaside. You see the hole, you know the clam is there, you dig for him, and if you don't catch him it's your own fault. Then, there are many crabs in the ocean, and Seaside is a good place to catch them.

Among the projects which Seaside is about to undertake is the con¬ struction of a large recreation pier, to extend from the foot of the main street, Broadway, out into the ocean until it reaches the smooth water far beyond the breakers. An association to forward this project has been formed of the leading citizens, and considerable funds are already on hand toward its construction. This pier will undoubtedly be a reality, it is said, before the opening of the 1920 season.

Through the center of the city, and continuing for a number of miles back into the hills, is the Necanicum River, splendid for fishing, for boating, especially canoeing, and flowing between banks of unusual beauty.