The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1918-01-10
HOOD RIVER GETS
EDITORIAL PRAISE
(From the Dallas Observerl

progressive anu promising tOWns- IL
may be little bigger than Dallas. but
a very few years ago it was smaller.
Ii has a fruit industry back of it and
it has some logging business. II is on
through" railroad line. Through"
in that case meant, until few years
ago, that the trains on the O.-W. r. &
N. went whizzing through there with.
out stopping any more than TO take
their breath-and maybe little water.
Passengers on the line seldom took
the trouble to stick their noses out the
window, even to sniff the pure noun
tain air. Hood River, of course, is in
the valley. but it's pretty close to
Mount Hood.
But live people came into Hood Riv-
er and developed its industries and put
the town on the map. Today Hood
River is meeting the world with a
grin. and the place is growing by leaps
and bounds. 1t has doubled in popula-
tion few times. and its business in
terests have grown in geometrical ra-
tio. People no longer tuck their robes
about them and go to sleep when the
brakeman calls Hood River" but
they prick up their ears and look at
one of the prettiest and most progress
sive.cities in Oregon. From little
burg half buried in the mud Hood
River has changed to well paved,
we'll lighted, handsomely improved and
prosperous city, in the space of a few
years.
Hood River has, among its other as
sets, good newspapers. They are
among the best newspapers in Oregon.
The reason they are good newspapers
is because the town. and the people OF
the town, have made it possible for
them to be good newspapers. The Gla-
cier is recognized as one of the best
country papers of Oregon. The reason
it can be made good paper is because
it carries from 80 to 35 columns of ad-
vertising every week, besides reading
notices and legals. If Hood River had
continued to browse, she would not
have good newspapers. There is no
power on earth that will make good
newspaper except the cooperation and
united energies of the people whom 1t
represents, and for whose benefit it is
published. This word "benefit" is here
used advisedly, because nine country
newspapers out of every ten confer
vastly more benefit on the community
in which they are published than they
do upon their publishers. People may
turn up their noses at the country
press, but they will turn them up a
yard further at any town which does
not have a good newspaper. And be-
sides, the people themselves would find
that town rather lonesome place
without any papers.
Eugene is another Oregon town that
tried for years-50 or 60 years-to pull
itself up by its own boot straps. Ten
year ago it suddenly woke up. and to.
day it is the prettiest city in Oregon.
Medford is another. Ten years ago
the Eugene Guard was thing to be
laughed at wherever seen or men
toned. Today the Guard is one of the
best country newspapers in Oregon.
And the reason the Guard and the
Medford Sun, and the others, are good
newspapers is because the towns in
which they are published made it pos
sible for them to publish good news
papers. They did not do it when the
towns were not progressive. They
couldn't.
And the relation is absolutely recip-
rocal. One cannot make much prog
ress without the other. Papers confer
lust as much benefit on towns as they
receive. If these places had mot live
papers to boost them, they would still
be as they were-maybe worse.
Nowadays every town has a CONNER
cial club, or some organization which
performs the functions of one, some.
times under an entirley different name.
And nearly every one of them is over
looking the biggest chance it has tc
boost its town and county. What they
all want is publicity, and they neglect
most of them-the only logical source
of publicity - their own newspaper.
Oftentimes they spend large Sums fol-
circulars and various forms of adver,
tising stunts, many of which are gooC
in themselves and many worthless,
when the postage spent on them woulc
pay for more and better advertising in
the local paper-and they could save
their printing bill.
| ANY commercial club, or other body
seeking publicity, which cannot under
stand the value of cooperating with the
logical publicity agent, THE newspa
per-well, they are overlooking theil
one best bet. There should be thor
ough spirit of cooperation between the
| two. If there is not cooperation be
tween these two, neither one is goine
to get very far.
But the cooperation must mean wha
the word implies. 1t does not NEAR
the same as the old Indian said about
his team. He said he had the mos
willing team he ever saw. Somebody
noticed that one horse was pulling al
the load and that the other was merely
walking alongside, barely straighten
ing his traces. Asked to justify hi
statement the old Indian replied
"Both heap willing. One willing tt
do all. Other is willing that HI
should" Cooperation doesn't meal
that sort::of thing. 1t means that eacl
shall get into the harness and pull hi
share.
A community is composite organic
alton, and unless each one does hi
part there can be but mighty ltitl,
progress made, because it can go aheaC
only as fast as the slowest of tn,
parts. Every community has laten
| energies that are never tou, he'd, be
cause there is no proper cooperativ,
effort madesto develop and push them
The world is made up of small things
and there are individuals fitted to d'