The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1915-11-19
WHOOPING UP THE OKANOGAN

Those who were present at the Prof
Shaw meetings held in Oroville re.
Gently will remember J. B. Maher, the
large, genial gentleman travelling with
Father Sherman as an advisor in the
capacity of land expert. Mr.. Maher
spoke briefly at the two meetings held
here. and was profuse in his praise OF
the irrigation system, the country and
its possibilities in the way of product
iveness. Mr.. Maher is a resident of the
Yakima valley, where he got into the
irrigated land game years ago, and
through whose efforts hundreds OF
thousands Of dollars worth of irrigat-
ed lands were sold to homeseekers. He
is altogether practical land expert,
knowing the capacity and value of
irrigated land from experience and
close observation. He was most favor
ably impressed with the Okanogan val
ley, and since his return to his home
has lost no opportunity to sing the
praises Of this locality. In the Yakima
Daily Herald of November 10 he gives
out the following interview that ex-
presses his sentiments regarding the
Okanogan valley, its outlook present
and prospective:
j. B. Maher, who with Father Thos.
Sherman has been for the past week or
two In the Okanogan valley, has re-
turned to North Yakima and is enthu-
siastic over the spirit displayed by the
people of the various towns that he
visited. He says that it is almost GER
tain that Father Sherman will locate
a colony in the Yakima valley, another
at Okanogan and third at Loomis.
Father Sherman will be here again in
a few days in pursuit of his work as
a field chaplain.
Il never encountered such people
anywhere as We met in the various
towns we visited" said Mr.. Maher.
I'VE were the guests of Fred Graham,
Industrial agent of the Great Northern
Railway company and we went from
Seattle to Oroville, then to Okanogan,
Tonasket and up to LOomis to the
Whitestone Irrigation project, to
Omak, Brewster, Endat and then over
to Waterville and back home by the
way of Wenatchee.
Our money wasn't any good any
where and 1t didn't matter whether we
wanted luncheon or a shave or a
magazine. Everything was there for
us, every thought and need anticipated
and every opportunity to see and learn
was placed at our disposal. We were
looked after by the people of every
town We visited from the moment of
arrival to the moment of departure
and it is impossible to express ade-
quately what they did for us. Their
spirit Of endeavOr in the general well
fare is unlimited and they centainly
acted In such way as to indicate that
their country is prosperous and that
they are anxious to share that prosper
ity with visitors or permanent settlers.
THE cereal crops are enormous on
nearly all the lands devoted to that
crop and in hay, spuds, etc the indica-
tiOns as we saw them, was that they
raise as much as we do here. The
=, r;oaC thov h yo IN tho;r loudc IN n; loo n
that they have unlimited faith in their
part of the state and We saw enough
to learn that they have splendid reason
for such faith. People, crops and prices
are all that can be desired and while
am as loyal as the next person and
believe that we have the best country
and much greater development and
opportunities than the best of them,
must say that all through that Okano-
gan valley and that part of the state
they have enough to satisfy the most
exacting buyer. The Oroville branch of
the Great Northern Railway is the
greatest shipper of tonnage along the
line.
Hay is selling at $3.50 a ton in the
stack, potatoes and onions are cent
a pound and hair cuts, dinners etc.
are in proportion. Prof. Shaw, agricul-
turist of the Great Northern Railway
has been delivering addresses all
through that country and has the peo-
pie on the right line as to crops and
stock. They have an 1900 acre irriga.
ton project under development neal
Oroville and all through the various
valleys developments of one kind ant
another is on foot. Oroville is a live
town right now, one of the best in the
state in the way of apparent oppor
tunities."
Friday morning the saw mill, planinl
mill and box factory owned by Harr,
Stanton. near Molson. was totally de
-