614: 



OREGON. 



agent in each of the 32 counties. Applications for 

 loans are made to the local agents, and are by them 

 granted or rejected. It is found that many injudi- 

 cious loans have been made. The school fund has 

 been " worked " by securing loans in excess of the 

 value of the land which is mortgaged as security. 

 The State has been put to the extremity and ex- 

 pense of many foreclosures. 



There were 336 students enrolled at the Agricul- 

 tural College in 1898, of whom 15 were graduates 

 and 24 special students, the remainder in the four 

 regular classes. The Mechanical Hall was de- 

 stroyed by fire, Sept. 28. An appropriation of 

 $25,000 from the Legislature and $16,000 insurance 

 enabled the regents to rebuild satisfactorily. 



It was thought best to consolidate the Puget 

 Sound University and the Portland University into 

 one institution, both being under the care of the 

 Methodist denomination. Tacoma and Portland 

 were named as its location, and Portland was 

 chosen, with the condition that a certain amount 

 of funds should be raised. The trustees of Puget 

 Sound University, however, seem to have decided 

 not to be bound by the arrangement, and to intend 

 continuing their own institution. 



Charities and Corrections. There were 322 

 convicts in the Penitentiary at the close of the 

 year. The amount paid out of the Penitentiary 

 fund during the biennial term was $5,613.56. 



The Reform School had 99 inmates at the close 

 of the year. 



The total enrollment at the School for the Blind 

 was 36 in the two years, and the cost was $15,985.- 

 27. Pour teachers are employed. 



The Deaf-Mute School had an attendance of 69, 

 with 4 teachers. The expenditures for two years 

 were $24,381.58. 



The Orphans' Home at Salem has been offered 

 to the State by the Children's Aid Society. There 

 are 20 inmates, and the property consists of 15 acres 

 of land with good buildings. 



The Asylum for the Insane had 1,150 patients in 

 October, of whom 372 were women. The cost per 

 capita for the month was $9.57. 



Banks. The 29 national banks have an aggre- 

 gate capital of $2,520,000 ; surplus, $479,242 ; un- 

 divided profits, $831,280; individual profits, $9,- 

 524.099 ; loans and discounts, $6,029,243. 



Railroads. The State has about 1,500 miles of 

 railroad. The completion and opening of the Port- 

 land and Astoria road in 1898 gave the western 

 section, with two exceptions, all the railroad lines 

 it will require for some time. These exceptions 

 are roads affording outlets to the valley for the pro- 

 ducts of Coos, Curry, and Tillamook Counties. 



As far south as Corvallis the Willamette river is 

 navigable for boats of light draught, and much of 

 the freight of the valley towns is handled in that 

 way. Southern Oregon is dependent upon the 

 Southern Pacific for its transportation facilities. 



The assessed valuations of railroads as returned 

 by county assessors show a total of $5,197,340. The 

 average per mile varies from $600 in Klamath Coun- 

 ty, on a lagging road, to $9,184 in Jackson County. 



Military. Oregon was required to furnish a regi- 

 ment for the Spanish war, and the Second Regiment 

 was recruited readily and sent. The regiment was 

 kept for some time at San Francisco, after which 

 it was sent to Manila and it was there at the close 

 of the year, having lost 26 men by disease. 



At a quarterly meeting, held in October, the 

 State Military Board decided at once to take steps 

 to reorganize the National Guard. A small amount 

 of money is left from the old appropriation, enough 

 to make a start in uniforming the new soldiery, 

 and a further appropriation is expected from the 

 Legislature that will enable the board to proceed 



with the work of reorganization. The plan is to 

 form 3 battalions, 1 in Portland, 1 in eastern Ore- 

 gon, and 1 in southern Oregon. To this will be 

 added Battery A, as soon as it is mustered out, and 

 2 separate companies. 



The Grand Army has 59 posts in the State, with 

 1,861 members. 



Products. The estimate of the fruit product of 

 the State in 1898 gives the following figures: 

 Cured prunes, 700 car loads of 24,000 pounds, 16,- 

 800,000 pounds ; evaporated apples, 6 cars, 150,000 

 pounds ; fresh or green apples, 500 car loads, 11,250,- 

 000 pounds : fresh or green prunes, 150 car loads, 

 3,750,000 pounds ; fresh pears, 100 car loads, 2,500.- 

 000 pounds; fresh plums, 75 car loads. 1,875,000 

 pounds; strawberries, 76 car loads. The total is 

 1,606 car loads of green and dried fruits. The 

 cured-prune crop alone at 3 cents a pound amounts 

 to $525,000, and the dried apples at 5^ cents to 

 $82,500. As a by-product of the latter, 20 tons of 

 apple peelings, heretofore thrown away, were used 

 in making jelly, and, in addition, small apples were 

 utilized as " chops " and exported. 



The grain product is given as 22,000,000 bushels 

 of wheat, 1,800.000 of barley and rye, nearly 400,000 

 of corn, and 7,000,000 of oats. The potato crop 

 was 5,000,000 bushels; the hay, 1.500,000 tons; and 

 there were 600,000,000 feet of lumber. 



The value of dairies and dairy products is about 

 $6,959,895. The amount of butter produced dur- 

 ing the year is estimated at 8,798,571 pounds. 



The gold product of 1898 is estimated at $4,878,- 

 530. Of this, $2,500,000 came from Baker County 

 and $1.200,000 from Union. Other estimates place 

 the product much lower. 



The silver product is small, averaging about 

 $50,000 a year. 



A canvass of the State made by county judges 

 and assessors shows the following number and 

 valuation of the stock: Horses, 217,535, value 

 $4,063 373 ; cattle, 459,034, value $8,030,080 ; sheep, 

 1,807,928, value $3,867,488; swine, 87,532, value 

 $261,765; total, 2.572,029, value $16,222,712. The 

 valuation for assessment is not the full mark, t 

 value ; the estimates of real value aggregate $20,- 

 986,716. 



The estimate of the wool clip of 1898 gives a total 

 of 21,291,812 pounds for Oregon, larger than that 

 credited to any other State. 



A statement on the salmon industry of Columbia 

 river gives the gross weight of salmon utilized in 

 1898 as 832,600,211 pounds, the number of cases 

 packed, 12,711,626 and the value $71,628,165.63. 



Public Lands. According to the report of the 

 Commissioner of the General Land Office, the total 

 area of land surface in Oregon is 61,626,218 acres, 

 of which 35,897,869 are unappropriated and unre- 

 served. 24,095,763 acres being surveyed and 11. WJ.- 

 106 unsurveyed. The area reserved is 5,467, 7<>2 : 

 appropriated, 20,260,647. Of the 35,897,869 acres 

 of unsurveyed and unappropriated lands, 1 7.007.000 

 acres are desert and grazing lands, and is.s;!i).s(i!) 

 woodland and forest. None of it is mentioned as 

 barren, irreclaimable wastes. The estimated water 

 supply of the State is 3,000,000 acres. 



In this year 18 mineral and mill site patents for 

 lands in Oregon were issued, and 57,883.59 anv- 

 \vern certified or patented or. account of railroad 

 grants. The swamp-land selections approved a:.' 

 gregated 1,791.71 acres, and those patented, 2,190.21. 

 Since the date of the grants 222.567.93 acres have 

 been patented. The selection of 73,695.15 acres of 

 school land, indemnity lands by the State, \\as ap- 

 proved. 



The estimated area of forest reservations in ' 

 gon are as follows: Bull Run, 142,080 acres: 

 cade, 4,492,800 acres ; Ashland, 18,560 acres. 



