Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1905-02-07
PAST AND PRESENT.
A Brief Summary of Our Condi-
ton Ten Years Ago-And
tine Present.

LII SOiA- u1olilS-o al ttio So
apsce, and this is one of them.
On allhands we see indications
of progress, and as progress is
the result of ambition ia a de-
gree, we may be said to be an
ambitious people. People who
reside continuously in a given
place are not prone to realize the
changes that are taking place.
These changes are gradual, and
in a sense, commonplace, but
as general thing they are inn
DTovements.
Some ten or twelve years ago
Corvallis was favored by the in
stal alton of her first telephone.
This, at the time, was thought to
be great, and so it was. At this
time we had incoming but two
mails day-and contented.
The reason that we were content
ed is that we were as well sup
piled as the average town the size
of Corvallis ard experienced no
particular need of any thing bet
ter.
But through the ever-working
process of evolution our condl-
tlon was changed, and our re-
quirements necessitated sorbe-
thing better; conseq quently, every
good citizen did his part toward
all proposed Innovation that bid
fair to better conditions. Final
1--WE secured a Sunday train over
the West Side. In efecting this
some opposition was experienced
from some unexpected sources.
but. was happily overcome, and
now it is doubtful if the opposi-
ticn would change back to the
old condition of affairs.
So.afairs progressed, until to-
day we have incoming FIVE mails
daily and the same number OF
outgoing mails. Our mail serice
is far better than it was and we
ale doing better postal bushes.
than ever in the past. We ap-
peal to Postmaster johnson to
confirm our statement.
We now have two systems of tel
ephone and gossiping is a greater
luxury than ever, and business is
also facilitated. The independent
line is already installed in many
country homes throughout almost
the entire county This is a
great convenience for farmers, as
they can do business of various
character without wasting time
to travel several miles for FIVE.
minute business talk. Right mere,
we may state that now and ther
a nran who has reasons <'tha'
look good to him" for being
skeptical about phones. For in.
stance, one of our st-knowr
farmers, Henry Dunn, on being
questioned some time back abou1
the installation of phones in corn'
try homes, OPPOSED the PROPOSE
ton, and when pressed for a rea
son said: "When I talk bust
ness to a man / want to see how
he bats his eyes,
While this is somewhat anus
ing, there is nevertheless an ele
ment of truth in what Mr.. Dun1
saws, and all kind of business car
not be trusted to phone. Blu
the great bulk of it, can be, ant
safely, too.
In the way OF freights we ar,
we'll provided. Aside from tn
regular train from Portland, thre'
times week, we now have
special freight train over the
same route about as often as tn
regular. And in the season tina
the Willamette river is at boat
ing stage we have river steamer
carrying both passengers an,
freight. So it is apparent tha
in the way of passenger, mai
and freight service Corvallis i
extremely fortunate.
In many untold and unknown
ways we have made greatadvance
mept during the past ten years
An advancement that we VIII
have continually resided here d,
not realize until our attention
called to it. We are still to pro
grees and expand-pessimisti