The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-11-03
All Streets Business Streets.
Junction city Times


We spent last Friday and Saturday
In Hood River, the occasion being the
ANIMAL meeting Of the Oregon Press as
sociation. 1t Is not our intention to
spsak Of the meeting OF the association
in this article, but will devote a little
space to that thriving city, Like the
city of old, II is situated on a hill and
cannot be hid. In the city proper all
streets are business streets. 1t is not q
pretty place, but 1t is full Of business.
tits backed up by the famous Hood Rlv-
er valley.
The citizens OF the place rendered the
members Of the press an excursion up
the valley and party Of ~ took advan-
tage of the opportunity. II was Sunday
but we had Jehu for driver; we
passed through Jerieo and took refresh
ments at Beulah Land. The valley is
more picturesque than beautiful, and af-
ter travelling q few miles you will feel
like reversing that statement. There
are spots where the large rocks have
hardly room to stand, and then again
the soil is perfectly free from rock OF any
kind. We passed great straw berry fields
TINT made our mouth water TO think
about them. The strawberry output last
season amounted TO 10000 crates valued
at sl2b,000, Land suitable for the cut
ture Of strawberries is worth 800 per
acre.
Jehu cracked his whipand we whlfled
around thrifty orchards loaded with
fruit. This Is certainly the home of
the big red apple. The soil and climate
seem particularly adapted to the sue
Cessfuleulture Of apples, but IL requires
work and lots oft, II man sets out
an orchard and expects the Lord TO take
care of IL, his efforts will be bowling
failure. The pests are thrifty and Wig
orous and the trees need constant care.
was informed that many Of the grow
ers, the successful ones, actually lived
In their orchards. These will bear In four
years and reach perfection in eight. The
apple crop this year Is estimated at 76,-
900 boxes, valued at $l25,0O0. The or
chaFds are small, 80 acres being the usu.
al size. One orchard was pointed out to
us that yielded the owner sl,l00 per
acre.
We reached Benlab, Land the oldhome
Of Hon, E.L,Smith, where refreshments
awaited Ne in theway oiapples, peaches
pears, s,cider fresh from the press, and
wine. Our host was Mr.. Vanderbilt,
not Cornelius, but u better man. His
hospitality was Mexican, as his home
and everything in 1t was ours.
The valley was up hill and down and
level tract OF ten aeres Is an exception.
The soil Is loose and mellow and never
bakes. Irrigation is used only for grass
es. The valley contains about $4,000
acres of tillable land, but only about
0 ,0Ois in cultivation. The river is a
lovely stream with numerous cataracts
and falls. The engineers estimate ofI
the power is 10000 horse power per
mile. Wehad TO climba hill TO get out
of town into the valley, and as we re-
turned on the opposite side, we sailed
down the mountain side ut a rate that
madeus think about our past life. The
road was graded and graveled with a
screen Of gravel and aS smooth as q
floor.
Hood River has population OF 1900.
Town property IL valuable and while
residence lots hung around promiscuou
ly on the hills, they are ''out Of sight"
in price. A lot close in sells for $1,000 to
$500. with large rock scattered in wild
proiusion over them. They sell, how.
ever, and the town is prosperous and
thrifty.
The biennial fruit fair was in session
and it was the grandest and most gener-
Ous display of apples we ever Witnessed.
They were not exhibited by the plate,
but whole boxes were on display. Every
courtesy was extended to the editors,
every one of whom will have good
word to say concerning the welcome and
good treatment during their two days
visit. This entire exhibit was purchased
by the Lewis 4 Clark commissioners
and is now on the way TO st. Louis and
no doubt Oregon will be loaded with
blne ribbons when the awards are
made.
During the fruit fair and editorial
convention the Glacier issued daily
evening edition which was not only a
credit to the Office but TO the profession
as well. The merchants of Hood River
are enterprising, and when the solicitor
started out to secure ads for the daily
1t was thought six columns would be
sufficient to justify the enterprise, but
space was in demand and the Daily