Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-02-07
AS SEEN BY OTHERS.
Senator Myra1 Points ont Our Short
comings, as He Sees Them.

Senator Myra1 Points ont Our Shor
comings, as He Sees Them.
About the niddle of last mont
Senator o. w. Myran, of Mir
nesota. came to Corvallis for th
Joint purpose of seeing the plac
! and visitiag his friend, w. W
! Calkins, who recently locate
among us. Senator Myran Will
here wrote a lengthy letter to th
Norman County (Minn. Index
He gives a very good description
of this country and the prices o
| real estate, and shows himself t
be a very keen observer. w
think that he has a little over.
fd{awn the picture of "tumbl
dsFn shacks," but they may ap
peat verse to others than the,
do , US. At any rate his obser
vatbns may serve the purpose o.
lopening our ewes to Our owl
shortcomings. In nearly all in
stances there is much truth ii
what he says. We have only
space to devote to that part o
his letter which deals directly
with as, as follows:
| From what I can learn of the
country I believe that lands are
much lower in proportion to the
actual value of land than any
where that I have been in H,y
travels. l can see no reason why
these lands when compared with
lands in the east, and with lands
on other parts of the coast,
should not be worth from SEQ
per acre up. A country where
winter never comes; where ap-
Piles, pears, peaches, prunes and
all fruits that can be grown in
temperate climes abound; where
the soil is rich and which is
within easy driving distance
from unsurpassed summer re-
sorts on the sea coast, and in the
mountains where fish and game
are plentiful; with a healthy
climate and good water; where
crops never fail and where no
provisions to speak of have to be
made for wintering cattle, where
cattle, sheep and goats abound
and are profitable; it seems to
me it most in the very nature of
things, sooner or later attract at
tention,' and when attention is
once thoroughly attracted to this
country l am thoroughly satisfied
that prices will not remain long
at their present level.
For a man with moderate
means I have not seen any place
east or west that presents SO
many attractive features for
home Of course the wet season
might be disagreeable to some;
and to others, as for instance. to
myself, made undesirable to re-
main during the wet spell On ac-
count of health, but for myself,
if I had my health so that I did
not fear an unfavorable effect
from the wet weather, l would
not hesitate to cast my lot with
the inhabitants OF the William
cite Valley.
Corvallis is a town of 1900
people. The State Agricultural
College with about 600 students
is located here. The public
buildings, such as court house,
city hall, etc., are generally
geod. The hotel Accommodations
are poor, and to one accustomed
to travel it gives an unfavorable
impression of the town. There
are many good substantial resi-
denees, with we'll kept lawns and
beautiful surroundings. There
are also many premises that are
old, tumble down and in much
need OF repair and care. The
main business portion of the
town is composed Of good sub
stantial brick buildings inter
persed with rickety, tumble
shacks in all stages of delapida-
ton. All kinds of business
seems to be taken care of and
the stocks of merchandise are
large and compare favorably
with towns Of the same size in
other parts OF the country. The
electric light service seems to be
poor. The main business street
is lighted by "a candle incandes-
ent lights that produce just about
enough light to locate them. On
the whole, nay i'm ression of the
town is that they need to have
the wave of progress and i'm
provement that is at present
sweeping over the country pass
over the town and carry away
the old tumble down structures
and replace them with newer
and modern buildings, and in
fuse into its people new life and
eueroy