The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1911-11-17
$3.50 A YEAR

though little care or attention he gave
his trees, for more neglected orch
ard the writer has never seen, and was
a famous hand for stilling the juice
of grape and fruit into delicious wines
and brandies of kicking power that
surprised many visitors, lulled into
security by the sweetness of the tipple,
by the rapidity of its action. This
reference to Miller's skill with the
wine press is not intended to convey
the impression that his winery was
the resort of the inhabitants of the
grog shop, or was made the scene of
debauchery. 1t was no such place.
While he may have supplied the
meagre local demand, his product was
for other markets, at that time
reached by long wagon hauls. The
scattered settlers of the Big Bend, who
may have at long intervals made pill
grimages to that bright spot in the
Sahara, may have felt with Omar
that:
Nhy' w 'iiiS JolNV iiiN SloN' III VI
God. who dares
Blaspheme the twisted tendrils as a
snare?
A blessing, we should use it, should
we not?
Or, if curse-why, then, who set
it there?"
But enough of Miller. He, and what
he proved the land capable of doing,
is but an incident of this narrative,
and is mentioned as an exception to
the general appearance of the We
natchee valley at that time and it's
uselessness as a home for the settler.
Those who saw the country at that
period. and under those conditions,
little dreamed of the wonderful
changes that few years would bring
about, and only those who are con-
versant with the conditions as they
were then can realize or believe the
transformation that has taken place
due wholly to water and an intelligent
application of the same.
AS hereinbefore set down. so was
the Wenatchee valley in year OF our
Lord, 1891. Now, look at it, and see
what it Is in the year 1911. The fric-
ton of the lamp may have trans
ported Aladdin from one extreme con-
ditiOn to another more speedily than
the change has taken place on the
west bank of the Columbia river at the
immediate point where Wenatchee is
located and on up the Wenatchee riv-
err but that change could hardly have
been more surprising and remarka-
Bile. Possibly the contrast between
what was and is may not appeal so
strongly to those who have been on
the ground and seen the improve
ments slowly work out from year to
year, from month to month, from week
to week, as the person who saw the
country first in the raw, and then at
long intervals, develop into the present
wondrous high state of cultivation,
that has made possible the vigorous,
modern, up to date, bustlng and at
tractive little city, a rare gem in the
richest of raw settings. The writer is
one who has seen the development
from a chrysalis to the perfect butter
fly, his opportunity to note the steady
progress to the present nigh state per-
fection coming at long intervals, and
hence is in a position to realize and
int hot
plised in what once appeared to be
an unpromising field for endeavor. 1t
has been upward of three years since
we We're last in Wenatchee. That is
not long period in the life of a COM
munty or country, and ordinarily
great achievements in the way of
growth and change do not take place
in that concentrated measurement of
time But here they have been SO
marked and conspicuous as to arouse
the wonder and admiration of the be-
holder.
Making allowance for the loyalty of
the native, who never balks at placing
figures high enough, Wenatchee prop
er contains probably 5000 people. but
such an active, pushing, progressive
get there people as to be equal to five
times that number of ordinary inhabi-
tants. The place is a metropolis in
miniature. The business houses are
of substantial material and modern in
appointment The residences indca-
tive of taste, comfort and refinement
Striking features are the stocks car
| ried by all lines of business The
store rooms being OF a size and the
| contents of a bulk that one rarely sees
in city of even 10000 or $4,000 pop
ulation. There is an -xhlarating air
about the place and people in keeping
with the spirit of this age of progress,
and the impression is at once formed
That the town is destined to be one of
Fthe largest and most important cities
| Continued on Page Four.)