USA > Oregon > The Oregon native son, 1900-1901 > Part 60
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elected to the office of governor was The- odore T. Geer, the present executive of the state and it is quite a coincidence that some one related to him has been a member of the legisla- ture ever since Oregon became a state. Relatives were also in the territorial assembly during 1849 and 1854, and were also members of the constitu- tional convention of 1857. The first and only native son thus far elected to the United States senate was George W. McBride in 1895, and the first and to date the only one elected to the lower branch of congress was Malcolm A. Moody, who was first elected in 1898 and re-elected in 1900. All of the governors of Oregon except two have been pioneers or native-born. The two not of these classes came here in the earlier sixties and their lives are so closely identified with our common- weaith that they may well be called pioneers. This rule, as to the pioneer element representing Ore- gon in congress will also hold good.
Every member of the legislature, and especially the "third house," since 1870 knows what "house
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THE CAPITOL OF OREGON.
bill 104" means. But few, however, know its ori- gin. It seems that both branches of the legislature of that session had agreed to adjourn at a certain hour. The senate finished its labors before the time came and adjourned, proceeding to the house to await its being dissolved. They found that it was yet wrangling over measures, and had passed 103 bills up to that time. Vic. Trevitt, a senator from Wasco county, who was of a very convivial nature, had stored in a convenient room some liquid refreshı- ments for the purpose of drinking a parting good cheer to friends, proposed to his his colleagues that they accompany him and he would introduce then to "house bill 104." This bill has ever since been a fixture in the lgislature. Bills of a direct con- trary nature have been introduced therein. In its case, the order is reversed, the law-makers being in- troduced to it.
In the present senate, comprising thirty mem- bers, eight of them are native-born Oregonians; one is a native of Washington; four are pioneers, and the remainder are late-comers, one of them being foreign-born. The house has a membership of sixty; fifteen are native sons; two were born in California ; one in Washington ; nine are pioneers. and the balance newer residents, five of them being foreign-born. A writer of verse, signing himself "D. N. M.," has contributed to the press the fol- lowing lines concerning the legislature of Oregon :
BILL'S IN TROUBLE.
I've got a letter, parson, from my son away out West, An' my ole heart is heavy as an anvil in my breast
To think the boy whose futur' I had once so proudly planned,
Should wander from the path o' right an' come to sich an end.
I told him when he left us, only three short years ago, He'd find himself a-plowin in a mighty crooked row.
He'd miss his father's counsels, an' his mother's prayers, too;
But he said the farm was hateful, an' he guessed he'd have to go.
I know thar's big temptation for a youngster in the West,
But I believed our Billy had the courage to resist,
An' when he lett I warned him o' the ever-waitin' snares
That lie like hidden serpents in life's pathway every- wheres.
But Bill, he promised faithful to be keerful, an' allowed He'd build a reputation that'd make us mighty proud. But it seems as how my counsel sort o' faded from his mind,
An' now the boy's in trouble o' the very wustest kind.
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Cronise photo. SEN. N. H. LOONEY. An Oregonian.
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Cronise photo. SEN. A. C. SMITH.
Cronise photo. SEN, R. D. INMAN.
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
Cronise photo. SEN. W. A. HOWE.
Cronise photo. SEN. R. A. BOOTH. An Oregonian.
Cronise photo. SEN. GEO. W. PROEBSTEL. A Pioneer of 1852.
His letters come so seldom that I somehow sort o' knowed
That Billy was a-trampin' on a mighty rocky road;
But never once imagined he would bow my head in shame
An' in the dust'd waller his ole daddy's honored name. He writes from out in Salem, an' the story's mighty short,
I just can't tell his mother-it'll crush her poor ole heart.
An' so I reckon, parson, you might break the news to her-
Bill's in the legislatur', but he doesn't say what fur.
The present statehouse is located upon a slightly elevated plat of ground, 680 feet in length from east to west and 369 feet in width from north to south, near the center of the city of Salem. It was con- structed in the main of brick. The corner-stone was laid in 1873, and the building could not be duplicated for less than $750,000. Its general plan is that of a cross, the length being from north to south, and width from east to west. The main fronts are on the east and west wings, which are 60 feet in width, and the wings extending north and south are 100 feet in length and 80 feet in width. The east and west main fronts project 40 feet from the main walls, and there are porticos 16 feet wide across each, with steps full width. The porticos are supported on large corinthian columns with heavy pedestals. These columns extend in one length the height of two stories.
The height of the main building from the ground to the cornice is 75 feet. Towering above this is the ornamental dome, constructed of iron, covered with copper. It rises directly from the center of the building, being supported by heavy iron pillars at the bottom and extending 187 feet from the ground. The general plan of the structure is divided into three stories. The first story or ground floor, called the basement floor, is 16 feet in height in the clear between floors. The second or main floor is 21 feet 6 inches in height in the clear between floors; while the third story, or second floor above the basement or ground floor, is 20 feet in the clear between floors.
The general description of the interior would properly begin at the rotunda directly under the ornamental dome in the center of the building. This grand rotunda is 54 feet square, and extends from
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THE CAPITOL OF OREGON.
the basement to the upper floor, above which there is a circular ornamental dome with glass dome light in the center of the ceiling. The rotunda on the second and third floors is circular in form sur- rounding the opening extending from the orna- mental dome light to the basement. From this rotunda on the different floors there are grand stair- cases, giving access up or down, and also a pas- senger elevator to the northeast of the rotunda. On the first, or basement, floor there are entrances on all four of the fronts or wings, with hallways 12 feet in width leading into the main rotunda under the circular dome. This portion of the building ac- commodates various purposes, among them being the state printer's department, adjutant-general's office, state land agent, committee rooms, vaults, store rooms, etc.
Access to the second story is by the two main entrances on the east and the west fronts. The cement steps leading up from the campus in front on the east and west sides, from the first story directly to the main entrances of the second floor, are 50 feet in width. On the second or main floor, leading from the grand rotunda, are the entrances to the senate chamber in the north wing and the hall of the house of representatives in the south wing. The offices of the governor and secretary of state are in the west of the main front or wing, and the office of the state treasurer and superintendent of public instruction in the east wing. The senate chamber in the north wing of the second floor is 75 feet in length, 45 feet in width and 21 feet 6 inches in height, with adjoining legislative commit- tee rooms of various sizes extending across the north end of the chamber directly back of the pres- ident's chair and the main rostrum. These legis- lative committee rooms are of different dimensions, averaging about 20 by 22 feet. Directly opposite the senate chamber, on the south side of the grand rotunda on the second floor, is the hall of the house of representatives, 84 feet in length and 75 feet in width. Back of the president of the senate's chair hangs a fine oil painting of Dr. John Mc- Loughlin, "the father of Oregon," and around the walls those of the provisional and territorial and state governments up to 1866. On the walls
Cronise photo. SEN. GEO. C. BROWNELL.
Cronise photo. SEN. L. L. PORTER.
Cronse Fatow. SEN. ALEX. SWEEK. An oregonian.
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
Cronise photo. SEN. W. W. STEIWER. An Oregonian.
Cronise photo. SEN. A. C. MARSTERS.
Cronise photo. SEN. L. J. ADAMS.
of the house similar paintings of the governors of the state subsequent to that date are to be seen.
The third story is reached by elevator and by stairways located on the east of the rotunda of the second floor. In the north wing and directly over the senate chamber is a large room, the same size as the room below. It is at present unoccupied. On the south and directly over the hall of the house of representatives is another large room, which is used as a state library. The main portion of this floor is taken up with the offices of the several jus- tices of the supreme court, the attorney-general, superintendent of public instruction, clerk of the supreme court, committee rooms, and the supreme court chambers.
The elevator, located on the northeast of the main rotunda, runs from the basement under the first or ground floor to the attic immediately above the third or upper main floor. From the attic there is a circular iron stairway extending around the exterior of the ornamental dome between the out- side copper covering and the inner glass dome light two stories to the rotunda of the ornamntal dome above the main capitol building. This main story of the dome is inclosed with large glass win- dows, and there is a circular promenade ten feet in width around the interior surrounding and about ten feet above the dome light, being directly above the rotunda on the basement, second and third floors. From this promenade or dome rotunda there is a circular iron stairway leading on up in a spiral form to the very top of the dome.
The capitol is heated by steam and lighted by gas and electricity There are 46 large windows in each story, the upper part of those in the senate and house of representatives being of ornamental stained glass. The structure was commenced in the year 1873, and is mainly constructed of brick, which was manufactured principally at the state peniten- tiary by convict labor, so that its absolute cost can never be definitely ascertained, as the labor for the manufacture of the material cost the state nothing. The approximate cost is $500,000, and it is the only state capitol on record in the United States that was finished according to original plan within the amount of the approximated cost in the original estimates. The campus or grounds about the cap- itol are appropriately arranged with trees, shrubs and flower beds and green lawns.
GOVERNORS OF OREGON.
Executive committee-
David Hill, Alanson Beers and Joseph Gale, July 5, 1843, to May 14, 1844. ·
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THE CAPITOL OF OREGON.
Peter G. Stewart, Osborn Russell and W. J. Bailey, May 14, 1844, to August 3, 1845.
Governor-
George Abernethy, from August 3, -845, to March 3, 1849.
Territorial governors-
Joseph Lane, March 3, 1849, to June 18, 1850.
Kintzing Pritchett, June 18, 1850, to August
18, 1850.
John P. Gaines, August 18, 1850, to May 16, 1853. Joseph Lane, May 16, 1853, to May 17, 1853.
George L. Curry, May 19, 1853, to December
2, 1853.
John W. Davis, December 2, 1853, to August II, 1854.
George L. Curry, August 1, 1854, to March 3, 1859.
State governors-
John Whiteaker, March 3, 1859, to September 10, 1862.
A. C. Gibbs, September 10, 1862, to September 12, 1866.
George L. Woods, September 12, 1866, to Sep- tember 14, 1870.
La Fayette Grover, September 14, 1870, to Feb- ruary 1, 1877.
Stephen F. Chadwick, February 1, 1877, to Sep- tember 11, 1878.
W. W. Thayer, September 11, 1878, to Septem- ber 13, 1882.
Z. F. Moody, September 13, 1882, to January 12, 1887.
Sylvester Pennoyer, January 12, 1887, to Jan- uary 14, 1895.
William Paine Lord, January 14, 1895, to Jan- uary II, 1899.
Theodore T. Geer, January 11, 1899, present governor, elected for four years.
OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES.
Prior to provisional government-
Rev. David Leslie, chairman of the meeting of February 18, 1841, when the first committee was chosen to frame laws for the area known as "Oregon."
Robert Moore, chairman of the meeting of May 2, 1843, at which time the second committee was chosen to frame laws.
M. M. McCarver, speaker of the third commit- tee chosen session of 1844.
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
Speakers-
Wm. H. Gray, 1845; M. M. McCarver, 1845 : Robert T. Newell, 1845 and 1847 : A. L. Lovejoy, 1846; Ralph Wilcox, 1848; and L. A. Rice, .1849.
Cronise photo. SEN. F. P. MAYS. An Oregonian.
4
SEN. W. KUYKENDALL. An Oregonian.
Cronise photo. SEN. T. H. JOHNSTON.
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
Cronise photo. CHARLES W. FULTON, President of the Senate.
JOHN H. MITCHELL. United States Senator.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. Presidents of the council-
Samuel Parker, 1849 and 1851; W. W. Buck. 1850 and 1851; M. P. Deady, special of 1852 and 1853 ; Ralph Wilcox, 1853 ; Jas. K. Kelly, 1854 and 1856; A. P. Dennison, 1855 ; H. D. O'Bryant, 1857; Charles Drain, 1858.
Speakers of the house-
A. L. Lovejoy, 1859; Ralph Wilcox, 1850-51; Wm. M. King, 1851; B. F. Harding, 1852 and special of 1852; Z. C. Bishop, 1853; L. F. Cartee, 1854; Delazon Smith, 1855; L. F. Grover, 1856; Ira F. M. Butler, 1857; N. H. Gates, 1858.
STATE GOVERNMENT.
Presidents of the senate-+
Luther Elkins, 1858, 1859 and 1860; Wilson Bowlby, 1862; John H. Mitchell, 1864 and special of 1865; Thomas R. Cornelius, 1866; B. F. Burch, 1858; James D. Fay, 1870 and 1872; R. B. Coch- ran, 1874; John Whiteaker, 1876 and 1878: Sol Hirsch, 1880; W. J. McConnell, 1882; William Waldo, 1885 and special of 1885; Joseph Simon, 1889, 1891, 1895, 1897 and special of 1898; C W. Fulton, 1893 and 1901 ; T. C. Taylor, 1899.
Speakers of the house-
W. G. T'Vault, 1858 and 1859; B F. Harding, 1860; Joel Palmer, 1862; I. R. Moores, 1864 and 1865; F. A. Chenoweth, 1866; John Whiteaker. 1858; J. K. Weatherford, 1876; J. M. Thompson, 1878; Z. F. Moody, 1880; George W. McBride, 1882; W. P. Keady; 1885, special of 1885, and 1893: J. T. Gregg, 1887 ; E. L. Smith, 1889; Theo- dore T. Geer, 1891 ; C. B. Moores, 1895 ; not organ- ized in 1897: L. V. Carter, special 1898, and 1899; L. B. Reeder, 1901.
Oregon has had more Thanksgiving days than any other state in the Union since it became a state. In 1893 it had one by proclamation of Governor Pennover on November 23, and another by proc- lamation of President Cleveland on November 30. It also stands alone among the many states in re- spect to a seal of state. The others all have ( ne ; Oregon is without one.
"According to the constitution of the state, the state seal shall be an escutcheon, supported by thirty-three stars, and divided by an ordinary, with the inscription, 'The Union.' In chief, mountains, an elk with branching antlers, a wagon, the Pa- cific ocean, on which a British man-of-war depart- ing, an American steamer arriving. The second. quartering with a sheaf, plow and pick-axe. Crest, the American eagle. Legend, State of Oregon." If any one will take the trouble to compare this description with the impression of the pretended seal now in use, they cannot help but admit that Oregon has no seal of state.
F. H. SAYLOR
Cronise photo.
THE CAPITOL OF OREGON. First occupied in 1876.
A TOUR OF THE WORLD.
JOHN J. VALENTINE, PRESIDENT OF WELLS-FARGO & CO., WRITES HIS FRIEND, AARON STIEN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, AN ACCOUNT OF HIS TRAVELS.
(Published by Special Permission of Mr. Valentine.)
D CONSTANTINOPLE, Jan. 27, 1900. EAR UNCLE AARON: Buda - Pest (old historical form, Buda-Pesth : present journalistic, Budapest ; analytical eclectic, Buda-Pest, which I adopt as most to my purpose), the flour- ishing dual city of Hungary, five hours by rail from Vienna, over a flat agri- cultural and grazing country along the Danube, the total population of which is, say, 700,000, presents one of the
many striking examples of the modern growth of cities in continental Europe. It lies on both sides of the Danube- Buda on the right or south bank, and Pest on the left or north bank. Up to thirty years ago these were independent municipalities, but they were then con- solidated; since which time Pest has utterly outstripped its mate in growth and progress, and is now known as the New City, furnished with all the modern
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
improvements, first-class hotels, coffee houses and elegant private residences, with a population of 500,000; while Buda, originally an old Roman post, and more advanced in years, is said to have but 200,000 people. Pest is also a place of important manufacturing interests. Communication between the two cities was originally maintained by a bridge of boats, which has been succeeded in our day by a magnificent suspension bridge three-quarters of a mile long.
Buda has the royal palace and other official buildings appurtenant thereto; while Pest has the house of parliament and other buildings connected with the executive work of the national adminis- tration of Hungaria. As usual in this series of letters, I will not attempt to enter upon exhaustive details, obviously impracticable, and will therefore dispose of the public buildings of importance here by the general remark that they are similar to those of other capitals al- ready'visited and written up-as, for ex- ample, Dresden, Munich, Prague, et al. The buildings of prominence in Pest are all "modern," or rather, after the modern style-for in finish and interior decorations they incline to the Turkish. The rotunda under the dome of the houses of parliament shows really good examples of modern Gothic arches, while the decorations not only in that imme- diate vicinity, but in all the approaches to it are to some degree of the warm and florid kind characteristic of the Oriental ; but as a whole it is, neverthe- less, very handsome. The central hall on the ground floor of the palace of justice or supreme court, leading to the main stairways by which the upper floors are reached upon which the court- rooms are located, while by no means strictly Turkish or Moorish in style, is really admirable in its way. It differs widely from the finish in the supreme court building of Germany, at Liepzig, -is less subdued and staid, being highly ornate, and yet not gaudy. Externally the building, which is of sandstone, is distinctly Romanesque, while those of the department headquarters and the
houses of parliament are more Gothic than otherwise.
The Museum and School of Arts and Industries, while unpretentious, is never- theless an imposing building, and so is the National Gallery of Old Paintings ; and the contents of the latter are meri- torious, but, as in the case of Vienna, picture for picture, not equal to the col- lections at Dresden and Munich. Of course, art galleries and museums are estimated also by their extent and the interest inspired by the character of their contents. The old parliament building, from which the legislative bodies have not yet moved, contains a11 art gallery of Hungarian painters, which includes many modern pictures of merit. In the same building is also a museuni of natural history. These features of a European capital are never missing. Pest, like other capitals, has fine play houses-opera, theater, variety, etc.
What is exceptionally striking about Buda-Pest is the phenomenal growth of Pest, that city having expanded withili the last fifty years from an unimportant town to a handsome city of 500,000 peo- ple, as at present. Its chief industries are locomotive engine works, car works, glass works, and other manufactures connected with the heavier utilities. Two fine new streets, crossing each other at right angles about the center of the city -namely, Andrassy avenue and the bou- levard-are worthy of especial mention because of the public spirit displayed by the citizens in constructing these fine thoroughfares at very great expense, in- creased by razing or razeeing old build- ings and removing any other obstruction that happens to stand or lie in the way ; as they are still engaged in doing about the parks of the city and on other streets. Andrassy avenue is paved with wooden blocks on a cement foundation, and no heavy vehicles or car tracks are per- mitted thereon; but in a tunnel under- neath it is the underground electric rail- way, having twelve stations within four kilometers, or two and a half miles.
Within four miles out from Buda- an hour's drive by carriage-is the
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A TOUR OF THE WORLD.
famous "Hunyadi Janos" spring, the waters of which are known throughout the world. I was told that the present owner, who is a millionaire, bought the right of the spring from a farmer some forty years ago for 1,000 florins or $400 : the purchaser, then a young man, bor- rowing part of the money to complete the payment. In the city itself is a large bathing establishment erected over two famous hot springs, whose waters have a natural temperature of about 105 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, re- spectively. Here I was shown a room the stone-walled bathing pool in which, it is alleged, was built by the Romans : and it seems not unreasonable to think so, as in all the country around about Buda are to be found stone tablets, slabs, etc., with Latin inscriptions, and other relics suggestive of the Roman occupa- tion and the Eastern empire.
On the north or Pest side of the Dan- ube the land is quite flat, while on the south or Buda side rise bluffs bearing much resemblance to those above the river Moldau at Prague, upon which stands the old Burg castle. The so-calledi castles or palaces at Buda are all new or in process of reconstruction, and are most imposing in appearance. The side of the royal palace in Buda overlooking Pest presents a perpendicular wall of magnificent masonry and architectural design three hundred feet high, owing to the steep and abrupt declivity on which that side of it rests. In the Dan- ube, almost exactly midway between the two cities, is a pretty oblong island. called Margarethen ; and the river-as muddy here as at Vienna-is .spanned by three bridges.
· As usual, wherever I find operas, and have time, I attend them. In Buda- Pest I heard two: First I went to the Hungarian opera-house, expecting an en tertainment purely Hungarian, when, lo and behold! in the opening overture I detected "The Runaway Girl." by Hicks, presented a year ago at Daly's theater in New York, and I am free to say that the Hungarians put it on in finer style and sang it equally well; and the come- dian-Courier-and his partner made a
very good stagger at the Negro act that rendered famous James T. Powers and Mabel Gilman in New York. The sing- ing was good, and the general presenta- tion had a vim, a snap, a touch of go about it quite equal to the very best examples of American comic opera performance; and my observations abroad convince me that American comic opera equals the European article.
The following evening at the Royal opera-house "Traviata" was presented. with an Italian prima donna, Mme. Bianchi, as Violetta. The staging throughout was on a plane not excelled by any presentation of that opera I had ever witnessed, but the singing was uneven. The baritone, who sang that beautiful air, Di Provenza, was excel- lent; the prima donna had a highly cul- tivated voice and acted in the main with admirable good taste, and the tenor was of very considerable power and richness in some respects, but had the most ex .. ecrable fault of gasping and catching his breath in a way distressing to the be- holder.
As to the people of Buda-Pest: In outward appearance and dress they do not differ materially from those of Munich or Vienna. In all three of these cities some of the people array them . selves in a sort of Tyrolese costume- short coats and brigand hats, with a feather. For the feather "any old thing" will do. The average of those one meets on the streets here are not unlike the Viennese either in respect to diversity of race and nationality, the population of Hungary being composed of Magyars. Slavonians, Croatians, Germans, etc .- altogether about a dozen languages or dialects are spoken within the king- dom. This heterogeneous people pre- sent some curious and intricate prob- lems for sociologists and ethnologists. I have no facilities at hand to verify it. but my impression is that Genghis Khan, as well as Tamerlane, the Tartar, and Solyman and Bajazet, the Turks, and other rough-riders-to say noth- ing of Attila, the Hun, after a brother of whom it is thought Buda was named -one after another raided these parts
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OREGON NATIVE SON
(then forest wilds) under circumstances liable to produce racial complexities that would perplex the most learned savant to satisfactorily unravel. Napoleon's "Scratch a Russian and you'll find a Tartar," was not all a flight of fancy.
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