The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-12-25
TOM RICHARDSON
ENTHUSES CLUB
INTEREST FAIR VISITORS IN VALLEY
Portland Booster Pleads for Renewed
ETOhS in Placing Our Advantages
Before Eastern People

About eighty members of the Com.
ereial club turned out last Thursday
9evening to greet Tom Richardson, Of
/ Portland. ard hear what he had to say.
! Ii was Mr.. Richardson's first visit to
Hood River for several years and he
was quite struck with the appearance
of the down town streets as compared
with the sea of mud or cloud OF dust
! that covered them at that time. He
said he couldn't remember what time
of year il was, but il il was during the
winter it was mud, and il the summer
il was dust. Now, he said, you are
high and dry all She time. especially
dry.
Before the Meeting assembled Mr..
Richardson tried out a game of bill
iards with Dir. Watt. but called it a
draw as a quarter past eight came and
W. l.. Clark insisted on starting, as he
had to catch the early trein to Port
lSnd, and did Rpt wish to stay up too
late. As it wes, he wSs the last man
to leavee he always is when there is
any work t'do. The meeting wss held
in the assembly room and Mr.. Clark
didn't introduce Mr.. Richardson. as he
said he didn't need any. He spoke a
few kind words and let Tom "go to
it. "
Tom said there was something the
matter with Hood River. and ha had
come up to find out what il was. He
said in times past whenever he made
talk Hood River was always on the
end of his tongue as an example of
| hot nEnnnp rnrtvrnuniiu ohnatlH ho
but he had been reading so many
things in the papers aboue funny do,
ings up here and disagreements of all
kinds, that he came up to take a look
for himself. o
Fifteen members of the club gave a
dinner at the Oregon to Mr.. Richard
son and when they started for the club
rooms at quarter TO eight it was dark.
real dark, and Tom asked if we did t
have any street lamps.
He said that with all the "cheap"
water power in Oregon, and especially
in Hood river, the town ought to look
like the Great White Way, but, he
said, ''it don't. p"
Some one said that the electric com
panles charged too much for the cheap
light, and he said we ought to get to-
gether and find way to get much
more street light for the price we are
paying, but someone else said we did
try to get together. but the electric
companies did it first.
'Well." he Says, 'you fellows don't
stay together after you start, is the
trouble. You won't get any place ir
one meeting. You have fallen apart
up here in Hood River. You must
have disagreed shout something. What
is it?" .
After joking those present for few
minutes, Mr. Richardson got down to q
serious strain and told Of the needs OF
Oregon in getting within heI bordeus
more of the class of agriculturists that
occupy the central and north central
states, rather than expecting very
much from the stream of immigrants
that will come from Europe afeer the
canal opening. He said that while
perhaps it Vas not noticeable on the
surface, Oregon was gaining muef
: faster manufacture than in sgri cul
ture. '..ln fact, he said. "the Who'll,
country is moving townVard. There !:
q great movement on foot in the New
England and Atlantic states to get q
. back to the farm movement. was il
Baltimore helping on some organiza
zion work and had gone out into th'
. country to look over some OF the Liant
/ they were going to get people to q
back to and farP. Why. the yer.
worst thing that you might possibl.
pick out in Rood River valleys be !
canyon side or lava bed, would lool
like paradise to farmer sompare'
eish What they have to Offer.
1.-The vest hss nothing to fear from
4 agricultural competition of the east
The manufacturing spirit that hal
4 been engendered in the past 100 year.
is too strong tdbe turned inside of an
\ other hundred, even if they had tn,
i country to do the farming in. But yol
I are crestfaIIen because there is no
the stream of travel this way thert
/ was four and five years ago. Neiehe
4 is there snyvhere just at present, bu
tka world S vsiting for 1915. and when
that comes you muse be ready TO re
cieve your visitors. At present, and a
that time unless you do something &
make them stop your city and valley
80 per cent will never see any more o
Oregon than they see from Council
j Crest.
at is a fact that but 10 per cent o
the travel through Oregon makes more
than one stop-Portland. In 1915 tn
railroads will sell to any one beinI
j able to show round trip ticket from
east of the Rockies, aickets to an!
point or between any points in the
state for fare and third. But, yol
must do something to attract the trave
your way. You should do some adVer
tising. 1t need not be expensive. Fo
a dollar per THOUSAND you can get littl
III four page folders to fit the ordihar,
il envelope, and these folders must b.
4 sent in every letter that is mailed il
4 Hood River valley. Mail them to eacI
Il other, if need be, but get it started
Every soul who comes TO your city vii
leave a little money. One OF every s
A many will go away with some kind o
All an impression. Be ready to make tina
y \ impression a good one. In seve
| months in 1910 Portland used thre
i million such folders, and in the follow
4 ing season more traael came to Port
III land than went through all the rail
4 roads of Canada in the same period
y You must do what we did. You mus
, get your scrol children to work 0
this. Have some of your business me
4 90 out and make talks to the schools
H Instl in their hearts that they live ]
II beautiful spot, that there is work fO
II them to do that they may help to max
II it more beautiful place to live in
II tell them of its climate, of its wonder
full productiveness. of the quality Of il
fruits. LGet them to thinking the trut
about your valley, and get them
H take these circulars home and get tkei
II to see that they are sent out in ever
II letter leaving. Get them to send the
IL home papers to some one in the eas