Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-01-16
NEWS OF OREGON
ITFMS OF INTEREST FROM ALL PARTS
OF THE STATE.
Eight New Rural Mail Routes Tax Levy
of Various Counties-Astoria Schools
Remain Closed-La 0rande Wants the
County Seat-Big Mine Sales-Dairy-
men Meet at Medford.

/
The Marion county commissioner
court has made the annual tax levy on
+, the 1902 assessment roll. The levy
amounts to 19 mills, as against 20 mills
last year. This will produce $780,
| 1866.
The county court has fixed the tax
levy for Benton county for the ensuing
year. It is as follows: State pur-
poses, ~ mills; county purposes, in
Guiding provision for roads, l5 mills;
school, 5 mills; special road, mills;
total, 2sh mills.
E. A. Spalding and associates, of Ta-
coma. who have been interested in
mines of Southern Oregon for some time
past, have purchased the Coffman
placers, in the Forest creek district.
The consideration of the sale is $40, 900.
At special meeting of the Astoria
school board it was decided that it
would be inadvisable to open the city
schools for another week 80 as 10 pre-
vent as far as possible the spread of
| scarlet fever that is now prevalent in
that city.
The Washington county commission
ers court refused the application of the
county school superintendent and a
numerously signed petition to declare
tax of 10 cents per pupil for the pur-.
pose of purchase of school district liz
braries. There are about 5000 pupils
in the county, and the tax asked
would have amounted to about 5000.
rhe court declared that districts could
levy the tax at their annual meetings
if they desired the Libraries.
La Grande is again agitating the
question of changing the county seat
from Union to that city. The Com
mercial club has been circulating Pc
titions throughout the county and. the
signatures seem to indicate that the
greater number of voters are in favor
of the change. A vigorous effort will
be made at the present session of the
legislature to have a measure put
through authorizing vote on the
question.
The records of the Panhandle dis
trict, which was cut off from Union
county two years ago and added to Bak-
ture, have been completed and will be
turned over to the officials of the coun-
ty, shortly. Mr.. McFadyen, who had
the contract of transcribing the records,
devoted almost one year to the labor.
1t required six books of $40 pages to
embody all the records of the district
cut off from Union.
The quartz mines of South Myrtle
creek are rapidly coming to the front.
A recent shipment of Il tons of ore
netted over 500, above allIexpenses for
mining, shipping and smelling. The
ore was taken from the Little Chieftain
mine. The Continental mine, adjoin-
ing, was sold few days ago by 6. W.
Crews to W. B. Stewart for $4,000.
An offer was since made by representa-
tives Of Eastern capitalists, of 1000
for the Little Chieftain mine, but was
refused.
An enthusiastic meeting of the
farmers interested in dairying was held
in Medford last week. Addresses were
delivered by Professor Withycombe, of
the state agricultural experimental eta
tion; H. E. Lounsbury and W. E. Cole
man, of the Southern Pacific traffic de-
partment, in which the advantages to
be derived from dairy products were
outlined. It was shown that the sta
tistics gathered relative to the number
of productive cows at present in jack
son county would warrant the extension
of investment by every farmer in the
valley. The meeting adjourned to
January "a, at which date a permanent
organization will be perfected.