The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1912-05-31
4 PLEASING PROMISE.

w,or IN Penticton, during the recent
~. ~ This upper country by the gen.
", wu' lunch of high railroad officials.
,n',.,Sent Hill-as he was holding that
..stion at the time Of his visit-gave
~ neople of that place reason to be-
~. w. that A branch of the Great Nor
.s,v .s.., would be constructed at an ear
w.; y asv from Oroville to Penticton CIV
y. hat rich and we'll settled section
= pritish Columbia an outlet to the
os,th experience has taught the pub
III that railroad magnates can be rich
n nromises and penurious in perform
:. ...s - hut in this case Mr.. Hill may
s.vs heen sincere In his declaration,
-, ~ he had seen the advanced condi-
IN. Of the upper Okanogan country.
.sd . realized that if the great and
srcvinr business of that section Is
ss 10 be absorbed entirely by the
Kettle Valley road, the Canadian Pa
,idc in disguise, the Great Northern
must s push q line into the field. and
that at once.
me promise of branch road from
0roville to Penticton was not con-
rention Of the moment. 1t has been a
esse Of suspended animation for two
or three years. suddenly galvanized
into life. The building of such line
has been long under consideration by
ihe Great Northern. Indeed. at thu
time Of the grading of the Oroville-
Pateros branch surveying parties ran
A line from Oroville northward to Pen
tcton The route was gone over by
eagineers several times and it was
generally understood that the work OF
ocation had gone SO far that the line
had been cross sectioned and grade
states set. Since the first signs of &C
tyity however, nothing more has been
done. and while the people Of OrOville
looked upon the northern branch as u
real outlet that would eventually be
built II was an eventuality of the dim
future. The declaration of Mr.. Hill
that the branch is to be constructed
arouses hope that the company will
take action at an early day. The
foundation of this hope are two rea-
sons that have been lightly touched
upon. One Is because Mr.. Hill, his
successor, Mr.. Gray. and others high
n the councils Of the great corpora.
tion have been on OkanOgan lake
over the country adjacent thereto,
iamiliarized themselves with the won
deriul progress that section has made
10 the past few years, and the heavy
carrying business it will furnish
railrcad at present, with a prospect of
steady Increase. A considerable
laaness II assured for such branch
yscM aB it u In operation, with
certainty Of it's growing in Importance.
The other is that the Kettle Valley
road Is now building into PentictOn.
and that road will monopolize the
business unless the Hill system can
enter the field as competitor.
The construction of such a road is
not heavy and expensive undertak
hg' It Is water grade between OrO-
,ytlle and Penticton. 1t Is only at oc-
casional points that there is any heavy
work. In fact there are no great OBJ
atacles to overcome along the route
and such line could be built at
minimum cost as railroad construction
Is figured At least such are the state
raehts Of those with some knowledge
Of railroad building who have oeen
over the ground.
On course the people of Oroville and
!hls immediate vicinity have a keen
interest In seeing this northern branch
Ouit and are eager to have work
commence at the earliest possible mo-
ment. 1t would be an exceedingly i'm
poftAnt factor In building up Oroville.
Is Il would settle its position as a
1'lroad center and from the very ma
me o. the country that Is what the
own Is eventually to become. 1t would
We this place another connection
WIN southern British Columbia and
cpen up market for the surplus pro-
uucts OF northern Okanogan county
sel! near at hand. Such a branch, in
eol!unction with the southern artery
y wenatchee, all centering here would
secessitate making Oroville a division
W'lI and q division point means
: large augmentation of the pop
u!allon. a pay roll and all the ben
eus !hat flow therefrom. May it turn
vu' mat Mr.. Hill was not talking to
~ Canadians just to make good
,.uow OF himself. but that he was eX-
p,sss'he q decision that he would aid
maa ai the great influence he COM
a. %snas 10 carry into effect. 1t will be
psater days to both Oroville and
seton sseaucton when the Great Northern
ncasl.y decides to build north from
to effect