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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
Subscribers Edition, where 450 of 700 stories originate
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

Skagit County Times

Woolley and Sedro. Owned, issued and operated by Ketchum Printing Co., Seneca G. Ketchum, manager. Subscriptions $1/year. Ads: $1/inch/month, reductions for time and space. Published Thursdays. [You can read about the colorful career of Seneca Garrett Ketchum, as lawman and editor from British Columbia to Fairhaven to Spokane to Woolley, in Issue 25 of the separate Subscribers Edition. These issues are most fascinating to historians because they are the only complete copies from that year after the merger of Sedro and Woolley in 1899. Most volumes of the Times and Courier from 1899-1913 were destroyed in various fires, or in the Courier's case, disappeared decades ago.]

Any time, any amount, please help build our travel and research fund for what promises to be a very busy 2010-11, traveling to mine resources from California to Washington and maybe beyond. Depth of research determined by the level of aid from readers. Because of our recent illness, our research fund is completely bare. See many examples of how you can aid our project and help us continue for another ten years. And subscriptions to our optional Subscribers Online Magazine (launched 2000) by donation too. Thank you.

Jan. 26, 1899, Volume 9, Number 1 National and World news:

The epitome of the telegraphic news of the world
Infanta Eulalie, aunt of the King of Spain, is visiting England

News of the United City: now chimes the cheerful
local bell and newsy echoes rise and swell:
Electric Light Co. Attorney Schrauger came up from Mount Vernon some days ago and made a proposition on behalf of the Mount Vernon Electric Light Co. to move the electric plant and business to this town. The only things the company ask are a site and the individual support of our citizens. A meeting was called to hear Mr. Schrauger's remarks on behalf of the company and the proposition was received with much favor.
A committee was appointed to look after a site and are now about ready to report that they have been successful in their negotiations. It is said on good authority that the Mount Vernon Electric Co. has never been able to put the business on a paying basis at the county seat and has contemplated this move to Sedro-Woolley for some time. The city council took action in the matter last Saturday, as well be seen in another column.
[Journal Ed. note: Thanks to Dick Fallis's 1986 Walking Tour of Mount Vernon, we know that, in the summer of 1891, W.H. Franklin bought a small set of generators at a receiver's sale and set up the Mount Vernon Electric Co. It was located at what is now the northwest corner of Kincaid and First streets where Vaux Pharmacy was located for years until 2003. From other old records we know that the company never did succeed financially and the move to Sedro-Woolley never was successful. In 1912, Franklin sold out to Puget Power and the electric Interurban Railroad depot was located there from then to 1926.]

John Brinks has gone to Lyman to work with Davison & Caskey [logging company]
[That was Ad Davison, who came to old Sedro, on the north shore of the Skagit river, in 1890 and engaged in the lumber business. He later ran the stage from Sedro-Woolley to Mount Vernon. The other partner could have been Thomas Caskey, but we suspect that it was W.W. Caskey, who would soon become a key partner in the Union Mercantile store in Sedro-Woolley, along with George Green and Emerson Hammer, as well as in the Sauk Shingle Mill in the town of Sauk on the north shore of the Skagit river near Rockport.]
Jasper Holman, late of the Klondike saloon, McMurray, has been appointed city marshal of Mount Vernon.
[Holman later became marshal in Sedro-Woolley and organized the first fire department volunteers in the first decade of the new century.]
Mrs. E. Fornia is doing all in her power to make the Haddon House at Hamilton the most comfortable and the best hotel for meals in the Skagit valley country.
[The late Wyman Hammer, a great benefactor of this history project and a friend whom we sorely miss, was related to the Fornia family and he informed us that Mrs. Fornia had a daughter who was named, sure enough, Cali Fornia.]
Charley Hill took a shot at "Tinky" Smith early on Sunday morning. Hill claims that Smith was trying to break into the Michigan saloon. No arrests were made.
[The Michigan saloon was then located in a woodframe building on the south side of State street at about where the Old Timers Bar stands today. Hill was one of the town's most colorful characters. During Prohibition, he was an active bootlegger and he converted the old North Star hotel at Metcalf and Gibson streets into a "blind pig" after hours club, which later became known as the famous "Fern Rooms" sporting house.]
Dr. Fowler, the dentist, is now at the Osterman house and will remain here for a couple of weeks. The doctor has decided to locate permanently in Sedro-Woolley if he can obtain a suitable office.
The new butchering firm
Mrs. Margaret Gallagher, the belowved wife of J.J. Gallagher Sr., who died at her home at Sterling on the 13th inst., was 64 years of age and enjoyed the good will and respect of all who knew her. The family came here from Buffalo, N.Y., about six years ago and have lived in the present home since. J.J. Gallagher Jr., formerly a lawyer of this town, came up from San Francisco to attend the funeral of his mother. Rev. Father Metz of LaConner [Catholic] performed the last sad rites.
E.E. Burns, who resigned his position as head salesman for the Chicago Wearing Apparel Co., has accepted a similar position with the leading firm of B.L. Martin of LaConner. Mr. Burns came here from the east and won many friends during his brief stay in Sedro-Woolley. [A large sandbar that once jutted out into the Skagit river, just east of old Sedro by the wooden water pipeline and near Dead Man's Slough, was named Burn's Bar for this family.]

Prairie:

Hoyt's mill has started up again. [See Journal website.]
A social party and dance given by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bottiger was a most enjoyable occasion on the evening of the 14th. At twelve O'clock a bounteous supper was served, after partaking of which many returned to chase with flying feet the "wee sma' hours." The company broke up with many pleasant thoughts of those who had contributed so generously to the entertainment of all.
Lottie Warner has returned from a visit with her sister in Cokedale. [We marvel how, back then, newspapers carried items like this that you would never see in modern newspapers. You read about the pioneer Warner family from Warner's Prairie at this Journal website]

Deaths:

Woolley, Jan. 20, 1899. The Grand Junction Lodge #90 of the I.O.G.T. [Good Templars/Prohibitionists] announced the death of their member, William H. McNally of Woolley. "Respectfully drafted in F.W.&C., Estelle Milhollin, Charles McFadden, Stella Hutton."
Woolley Jan. 20, 1899. Edgar McDonald, 14 year old son of James McDonald, at St. Elizabeth's hospital, of appendicitis.

Marriages:

At Bayview, Jan. 11, 1899. E. Tholstrup of Bayview and Miss Louise Dobers of Anacortes, Rev. C.R. Delepine officiating.
At Fir, Jan. 18, 1899, Nathan Ostrander and Miss Minnie Stackpole, Rev. C.R. Delepine officiating.

Senator Hammer and the barbers union The unfortunate gentleman with a thin cuticle and a strong beard will thank Senator Hammer if his bill relating to barbers becomes a law. It is being pushed by the barbers' unions. It requires a board of three examiners, who have authority to issue certificates to barbers and compels all barbers to be registered. Senator Hammer should still further improve the bill so that our long-whiskered friends of the Pop persuasion would be required to remove the alfafa from their physiogs. This would keep barbers busy underbrushing, and also curtail the powers of calamity bowlers, whose chief occupation and delight is to talk at random through their whiskers. [Journal Ed. note: Senator Emerson G. Hammer was the center of a large extended family that included his father-in-law George Green, who was the founder of Lincoln, Kansas, before they all moved out here. Emerson came with his bride, Isabel, in 1889. Read about all the families at this Journal website.

Loggers' Right of Way Loggers will be interested in the bill introduced by representative [Joseph H.] Parker of this county, giving to logging companies a right of way over public lands for the transportation of logs. The bill is designed as an amendment to the law providing for the survey, selection and approval of public lands of the state. It is provided that the logger desiring a right of way shall apply to the board of state land commissioners, who shall investigate the matter and allow the application if it does not conflict with other rights or with the rules of the commission.
If the bill is passed it will be of value to the loggers of the state, and there seems at this time to be little doubt that Representative Parker will succeed in carrying the message through. The special correspondent of the Post-Intelligencer at Olympia says that Mr. Parker is one of the careful and hard-working members of the house, who makes many friends, and his course always leads to a successful record.

The colorful Hoo-Hoos The state concatenation of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo was held at Seattle Saturday, January 14th. Skagit county yielded three members for the initiation ordeal at this concatenation and all came through alive. They were Maynard P. Hurd, the new prosecuting attorney of the county, and Alexander B. Melville and Albert Baldwin, prominent millmen of Clearlake.
Quite a delegation went down from this part of the country to assist at the interesting ceremonies and also at the banquet. From Sedro-Woolley there went D.J. Cain, C.E. Bingham, H.H. Shrewsbury, J.C. LaPlant and A.E. Holland; from Lyman, B.D. Minkler; from Clearlake, J. McMaster, and the three candidates mentioned above; from Biglake, Walter A. Parker. Hon. Joseph H. Parker ran over from Olympia to take a hand in the fun.
[Journal Ed. note: The Hoo-Hoo is a fraternal group that even iconoclasts can embrace. Unlike almost all of the fraternal and secret societies that popped up like mushrooms in frontier towns, the Hoo-Hoo lodges are still very much alive and well, still dedicated to promoting the forest products industry and the welfare and long life of their fellows. There are some parallels between this group and the Eagles, which grew a few years later in Seattle. It was dreamed up almost on a whim by five lumbermen on Jan. 21, 1892, in Gurdon, Arkansas. They were on their way to a convention and their train was delayed. They rejected the idea of parades or funny fezes, but they did devise a secret way for club members to communicate. Thus the black cat and the variations of the number nine play a strong role in the mythology of the club. One of the organziers had just finished reading Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark, so the Grand Snark was the supreme officer, assisted by the Holy Bojum, the Scrivenoter, the Arcanoper and many others.] At first, there were no individual lodges; members were part of the grand lodge. Now, there are regional groupings, including several lodges that are very active in Washington state. The next time you paw your way through a used book store, look for the book published for the lodge's centennial, Log & Tally. You can also look at this official website to find the full history of the lodge, or this great article if that does not open. As the members say: "Once a Hoo-Hoo, always a Hoo-Hoo."

Burlington: George Allen and Dave Warfield are working at Mount Vernon. The "Society of Progressive Education" held its weekly meeting on Monday. part of the program was a debate. Subject: "Resolved, That prohibition does not prohibit." The negative side was declared the winner.
[Journal Ed. note: Editor Ketchum was known for his art of tippling. His biography is included in issue 25 of the separate Subscribers Edition. The subject of this debate would be tested in Washington state 17 years later when Washington state went dry by law on Jan. 1, 1916, ahead of the national law of Prohibition.]

Government: Would make a dicker. Receivers anxious to sell old Joint Town Hall
Councilman Hosch says it is no good
The matter of the purchase of the town hall was again brought up [at the city council meeting of Jan. 21, 1899]. Councilman [Dr. M.B.] Mattice referred to it, saying that the peculiar state of affairs made it appear that the city would in this transaction be required to pay [illegible] for the property. Councilman Hosch expressed similar objections and asked what had become of the money collected by individual citizens. Treasurer [William] Doherty explained that this had been credited to the current expense fund of Woolley and the building paid for out of such fund.
Councilman Mattice suggested that the receivers advertise for bids for the building. Receiver [W.T.] Odlin said that no private individual would bid anything like the actual value of the property; the town was compelled to have a building, this is adapted to the purpose; as far as concerns paying twice for the property the idea was fallacious, as the transaction simply releases property held for that much.
Councilman Hosch said the jail was no good; the council room was all right but the jail was unventilated and anyone could get out of it; he thought a suitable building could be secured for less money. Councilman [F.A.] Douglass, having arrived, said that in his opinion the cost price of the building was more than could be realized from its sale and thought it the best plan to advertise for bids as suggested by Councilman Mattice. Receiver Odlin remarked that it was just a case of incurring a new debt to pay an old one and thought that the sooner the old debts were settled, the sooner that source of expense would cease to exist; he thought a fair offer had been made in the proposition to turn the building over to the new municipal corporation at its net cash cost. The matter was laid over for future consideration.
[Journal Ed. note: After all that, we winced when we realized that the writer never mentioned the location of the old hall. We know that meetings of the council of P.A. Woolley's company town, before the merger, were conducted in a store someplace on Metcalfe street. But the only city hall we know of is the one for Sedro, the location for which the late Howard Miller pointed out for us at the corner of Jameson and Seventh streets. He recalled that when he was a boy, the old former town marshal, Chan Ingham, told him that there was a bell tower on that building that alerted people to fire and flood emergencies. The town building in Woolley, which we have seen in photos dated after this issue, was apparently erected after the merger of 1898 and it also housed the jail and hand-pumper, horse-drawn fire wagon. We hope a reader will know more about the earlier buildings.]

Liquor License ordinance: Ordinance No. 7 was then brought up for discussion. This ordinance deals with the matter of liquor licenses and provides that applications for license shall be made in writing, signed by the applicant and accompanied by a bond in the penal sum of $1,000, conditioned that the applicant shall keep an orderly house, shall not sell liquors to minors, will comply with all the requirements of the law and will pay all judgments that may be recovered against him for violation of the same. It is provided that licenses shall be issued for the period of one year only, and that the fee charged therefor shall be $500.
Councilman Mattice stated that the object in raising the license fee was to discourage the establishment of the less desirable class of saloons which a lower tax might permit or induce; better have fewer saloons and have them of a better class. James Gray addressed the council, objecting to the increased tax and adding that he thought it only fair that other lines of business should be called upon to contribute their share toward the payment of the expenses of the corporation. The ordinance was passed by the following vote: For — Villeneuve, Douglass, Mattice; Against — Hosch.
[Journal Ed. note: Hosch's no vote should not be a surprise. Hosch owned one saloon or another in Woolley since 1890, most of the time at the Gem Saloon, next door to the Keystone Hotel. He was also a member of the Woolley City Council for most of the 1890s before being elected in 1899 to the council of the merged towns. For more stories about the early saloons of Skagit county, see this Journal website

Two of the sections of Ordinance 7 follow: Section 11. No lewd men or women, minors or Indians shall be permitted to loiter or remain about places where intoxicating liquors are sold, and no license under this ordinance shall sell, give or dispose of any intoxicated liquor or to any minor, Indian, intoxicated person or habitual drunkard, and for the violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance the said licensee, or any one acting for him or in his employ, shall be subject to the same penalties as provided in Section Ten of this ordinance, and shall, in addition thereto, be liable to pay to the town of Sedro-Woolley the sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered by a civil action therefor, and the sureties on his bond shall be liable on his bond for the payment of said amount.
Section 12. For the violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance the Council may, in addition to the penalties above provided, revoke any license granted thereunder; but before revoking any such license the holder thereof must be notified in writing at least five days prior thereto that the said Council have under consideration the revocation of his said license and the cause therefor, and that if he desires he can be heard in opposition to such revocation at a meeting of the Council to be therein stated before the same is revoked. Upon the revocation of any such license the Clerk must notify, in writing, the person building the same that his said license has been revoked, and from and after such notification said license and all rights and privileges thereunder shall cease and be at an end. Passed Jan. 21, 1899.

Ordinance No. 9 — revenue for the new city
[Journal Ed. note: Back in the days before sales taxes and property taxes — as we now know them, the newly merged city of Sedro-Woolley mainly derived its revenues from "sin taxes," or bonds, fees and fines associated with entertainment and naughtiness.]
Ordinance No. 9: an ordinance in relation to the collection of fines and costs of suit in cases of misdemeanor.
Section 1. Whenever any person shall be convicted of a misdemeanor under any of the ordinances of the town of Sedro-Woolley and sentenced to pay a fine and costs of suit, and shall fail, neglect or refuse to forthwith pay said fine and costs, it shall be the duty of the Marshal of said town to immediately take such person so convicted into custody and imprison him in the town jail for a period of time that will be equal to the full amount of such fine and costs by allowing him a credit of three dollars per day for each day so imprisoned; Provided, That it shall be the duty of the Marshal of said town to provide suitable employment for all such persons so convicted (except women) upon the streets or other public improvements of said town, and he shall cause all such persons to work and labor for a period of at least eight hours each day upon the streets or other public improvements of said town.
Section 2. In all cases of conviction of a misdemeanor under any of the ordinances of the town of Sedro-Woolley, it shall be the duty of the police justice or other magistrate before whom said conviction is had to adjudge and tax against the party so convicted all costs of prosecution, which shall include all fees of the police justice or other magistrate, which shall be taxed in such sums and amounts as are by law allowed to justices of the peace for similar services, and also the marshal's or constable's fees, equal in amount to those allowed by law to constables for similar services, and shall also include an attorney's fee of two dollars and fifty cents in all cases in which the town attorney shall appear on behalf of the prosecution.
Section 3. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the Skagit County Times.
— Norris Ormsby, mayor. Attest: F.F. Willard, clerk. Passed Jan. 21, 1899.

New county officials:

Ed Wells, sheriff, has appointed Charles Harmon his chief deputy and a Mr. Parker of LaConner as jailer. Parker will assume his duties for a month or two; John McGilvra retains the responsibility until then. [Wells, elected as a Republican in 1898, Harmon was elected sheriff as a Republican in 1904 and 1906, and Wells was elected again in 1912 and 1914 ]
J. Haddock Smith, clerk, has appointed his wife chief deputy.
M.P. Hurd, attorney, is monarch of his own situation and will not appoint a deputy.
James Dunlap, treasurer, has appointed James McCreary his chief deputy and as clerks, Mr. Crookston and Miss Lena Lena Soule. [Miss Soule was the daughter of Thomas W. Soule, who platted and named the town of Burlington. She married Q.P. Reno, cashier for C.E. Bingham's bank.]
Grant Neal, auditor, has as his chief deputy Fred Blumberg of Anacortes, although Mr. Flagg will remain in the office for a month or so until Mr. Neal familiarizes himself with the duties of his position. Mrs. Alf Robinson of Burlington is copying clerk.
John W. Meehan, surveyor, is at present in the east, but Dame Rumor has it that he has gone after a lady deputy to be known as Mrs. John W. Meehan. In the mean time, Henry Gay is doing business for him. [See this Journal website about Henry Gay an early settler on the north shore of the Skagit between Sauk and Concrete.]
Miss Susan Lord Currier, school superintendent, has not made any appointments so far.
William Dale, assessor, has not announced his chief deputy yet. It is said that when he does, it will probably be Fred Lippincott.
[William Dale's home, built in 1901, still stands at the southwest corner of Cleveland and Snoqualmie streets in Mount Vernon. Dale came from Wisconsin to the Skagit valley in 1874 at age 22. A logger back home, he spent eight years on Fidalgo Island as one of the first large-scale logging company owners there. He then homesteaded in the Samish river area and drained the delta land and diked it, preparing it for crops. He bought two of the earliest steam threshers in that area. He was elected Skagit County Assessor in 1888 and 1890 and then again in 1898 and 1900, for two terms.
Deputy Coroner Vercoe has no assistant.
The board of county commissioners organized by electing W.J. Henry as chairman [second district]. Politically the board stands: Henry and Melville Curtis [first disctict], Republicans; A.H. Rogers populist [or People's Party third district]. [Curtis was a brother of Anna Curtis Bowman, namesake of Anacortes.]

Bonds were approved:

James Vercoe, coroner
Franz Weyrich, justice of the peace, Bayview
Joseph Flynn, justice of the peace, McMurray
A.W. Swaim, justice of the peace, Woolley
P.S. Hogan, justice of the peace, Mount Vernon
F.F. Willard, justice of the peace, Sedro precinct
Bonds in Sedro-Woolley: Treasurer William Doherty filed with the clerk his official bond in the sum of $3,000. His sureties are C.E. Bingham for $1,000, and H.H. Shrewsbury, A.W. Davison and N.P. Nelson for $500 each. [Shrewsbury was an early mill owner on Big Lake and then in Woolley, and later had a sash and door business and hardware store on the east side of the 700 block of Metcalfe. In 1899, he had a sawmill and shingle mill with a double-block machine and steam dry kilns, along with a planing mill north of Ferry street on what is now the parking lot for the Bank of America. Nelson had a livery and blacksmith shop on Third street just north of new Sedro on Third street.]

Jan. 3, 1899 Board of Commissioners,
some of the authorized payments:

Samuel Wainwright, ferrytender Sauk $20
C.S. Allen, bridgetender, Swinomish bridge $30
J.C. Garl, ferrytender, Riverside [north Mount Vernon] $30
K.K. White, ferrytender, Sedro $30
G.A. Henson, ferrytender, Hamilton $30
M. Cook, inspector Sedro-Woolley election; judges J.A. Dorman, W.T. Odlin and William Dohery; Harry L. Devin, all $30
Bonds approved for justices of the peace: James Callahan, Fredonia; J.F. Dwelley; J.W. Lowman, Ship Harbor; F.R. Hamilton, Culloin. [Frank Hamilton was a pioneer of Concrete; we have never seen this township of Culloin mentioned before.]
Application of John Sontag for a liquor license at McMurray was laid over till Jan. 9, 1899.
Some pioneers were included on the list of road supervisors: F.A. D'Arcy, Dist. 4; James Jameson, Dist 51; L.L. Siegfried, Dist. 28 [Ship Harbor]; Alf Christianson, Dist. 61 [the legendary seed grower of Mount Vernon]; Frank Hoehn, Dist. 52 [Skiyou]; F.A. Gardner, Dist. 6 [Burlington]; Valentine Adam, Dist. 57 [Cockreham island, Lyman]; G.W. Jameson, Dist. 37; James Warner, Dist. 17 [Prairie]; H.C. Barkhousen, Dist. 13 [Fidalgo]; Leslie G. Savage, Dist. 16 [Birdsview, south of river]; August Kimerich [actually Kemmerich], Dist. 19 [Birdsview, north of river]; Morris Duffy, Dist. 11 [Lyman]; H. Hurshman, Dist. 22 [Hamilton]; Otto V. Pressentin, Dist. 23 [Marblemount]

Advertisements and business news:

Carstens & Donnelly firm dissolved by mutual consent. Will be continued as Woolley Meat Market, David M. Donnelly, manager. Effective Jan. 1, 1899.
[The former partner was J.A. Carstens. He was a member of the Tacoma family that owned Carstens Packing plants in that city and Seattle, among others. After the turn of the century, they became leading packers of both meat and pork, having been given a boost by shipments to the Klondike during the gold rush of 1897-1900.]
The new butchering firm of Donnelly Bros. is making extensive alterations and additions to the Woolley Meat Market on Northern avenue. A large $400 refrigerator has been put in and the office accommodations improved.
[In the next decade, David M. Donnelly would move their business into the Bingham-Holland block at the northeast corner of Ferry at Metcalfe, a three-story wooden building that burned to the ground in the July 1911 downtown Woolley fire.]
J.A. Carstens, formerly of the butchering firm of Carstens & Donnelly, has bought out the Central Meat Market from Parker & Preston. This change was rather a surprise all 'round, as Mr. Carstens had about completed arrangements to go into business in Seattle. Mr. Preston will go to work for Donnelly Bros., while Mr. Parker is undecided what he shall do next. The many friends of J.A. Carstens are glad he is not leaving town.
Hotel Royal, Charles Villeneuve, owner. Only first class hotel in Sedro-Woolley [southwest] corner of Ferry and Eastern.
[Now site of vacant service station, the hotel burned in 1929. Villeneuve was a Canadian immigrant who was the first merchant in future Conway in the early 1870s. His son, Charles Jr. was town marshal in Sedro-Woolley.]
Thomson's Cash Grocery Store, Hamilton. Thomas W.B. Thomson general merchandise. Get my prices on supplies. They are less than you can get by ordering from Seattle. Next to Hamilton Hotel.
H.F. Huntly, watchmaker, jeweler and engraver. "The Old Sedro article" invites his old friends to rally around him. First class workmanship. Fair prices, established 1890
Herbert S. Upper, Scheuerman block, Seattle, makes loans on timberland.
D.J. Cain & Co. have bought six fine, heavy horses for use about their Prairie mill
Dorman & Ennis — D.B. Ennis and J.A. Dorman — skilled woodworkers, carpenters and builders. A specialty of store fronts, counters, shelving and fine fixtures. We want your patronage for anything that can be manufactured out of wood. Shop in our new building west of the depot. Sedro-Woolley. Also offers: office furniture, cabinets, shingle-packing frames, bee hives and bee keepers' supplies, burial caskets.
Messrs. Kirby, Falconer and Lathrop have gone to Skykomish to build a mill for the former.
[That was Wyman M. Kirby, who came to Sedro in the spring of 1890 to join E.M. Curtiss in the logging business. They had two mills here in the early 1890s and the mill in this note was created to provide ties for the Great Northern Railroad as James J. Hill built his line west from Spokane Falls across the Cascades mountains.
Boy wanted. The Skagit County Times wants a stout intelligent boy, about 16 years of age, to learn the printing business. Must be respectable, honest and active.]

Feb. 2, 1899 issue Local and state news:

Addison G. Foster elected U.S. Senator from Washington at Olympia yesterday. "A great victory has been won for the state, the Republican party and the coast country. One-man rule of Wilson is ended. John L. Wilson relegated to the ranks of has beens.
The Seattle Trade Register complains that there is no hyphen in the heading of the flag on our newspaper even though the towns were merged in 1898. But with both post offices still operating, distributing newspapers through them both requires the separate wording.
J.H. LeBallister, agent for Reinach Ullman & Co., fashionable tailors, $10-50.
Mrs. S.W. Jackson & Co. New millinery store. She has made all arrangements and will put in at Sedro-Woolley a very large and complete line of all staple and up-to-date novelties in Spring and Summer millinery.
Joseph Lederle. Practical shoemaker. Repairing done in neat and skillful manner. Promptness a specialty. Third Ave. Sedro-Woolley

April 6, 1899 issue Ads

J.T. Moore, Boots and shoes, Metcalfe street [street is still spelled with an "E" on the end in this ad]
Keystone Hotel, B.D. Vandeveer [Northern avenue, across from the depot]
Grand Central Hotel, Taylor McRae, prop. Newly built, newly furnished, every modern convenience, opposite Bowery Square. This house is centrally located in the pleasantest portion of the city. Every attention is given to secure the comfort of guests. Rates reasonable and service first class. [south side of State street where Metcalf continues through today. Bowery Square was where Bus Jungquist Furniture stands today]
A.M. Devener, undertaking a specialty. Furniture, wallpaper, stoves, tinware, upholstery
Band Stand Store, James Renfro, hot roasted peanuts [in the 2-story gazebo, which stood in what is the parking lot today, on the east side of Metcalf street, just south of the railroad tracks]
K.S. Paulson, 450 barrels of flour, Sinclair's famous Bacon, lard and ham [west side of Metcalfe, 600 block, where the old bowling alley now stands]
Sterling Manufacturing Co., best grade of red cedar shingles, V.A. Marshall, manager
[Located on the west bank of the horseshoe bend of the Skagit river, south of where the hospital and railroad tracks are today, on the present Hart's island slough. Marshall was a pioneer from the 1870s and was originally a partner in the Cokedale mines. A street in Sedro is named for him.]
Hegg & Co. has added a small select stock of dry goods and gents furnishings
[Located on the west side of Metcalfe, 700 block, about where the Castle Tavern stands today. In 1903 F.A. Hegg's store would be incorporated into the Union Mercantile Store [see this Journal website about F.A. hegg ]
Parker Graham Shingle Co. Washington red cedar shingles. F.W. Graham, manager.
Capital Bar. Hathaway and Mullen, proprietors. Family trade and first-class patronage.
[This was the high-class gentleman's bar, the only one allowed to serve spirits between Ferry and State streets. It was located on the west side of Metcalf street in the 800 block, south of the alley, about where the Hometown Café stands today. This was a wooden structure as most buildings in Woolley were then. The Knights of Pythias erected the present brick building as their lodge hall in 1910.]
A.W. Hight, manufacturer of Washington split-wood pulleys. Best on earth. all kinds of band sawing and wood turning done on short notice.
[This was Albert Watson Hight, whose daughter Martha married Sedro pioneer Charles J. Wicker, Sr., on March 11, 1896. Hight settled in Portland sometime after the Civil War and married Clara Elizabeth Blackiston HightMartha was born there in 1878. They moved to Ballard in 1886, where Wight owned a shingle mill. Then he owned one in Centralia and he came to Sedro in 1894 to install machinery in the Batey-Hart mill by the river.]
Thomas W. Stranger, successor to B.N. Donnelly, cigars, confectionery, nuts, soft drinks, hot beef tea. [Northern avenue east of the Keystone hotel]

June 8, 1899 Supplement No. 2 to regular edition Mill Man's Burden by Thomas W. Tressider Take up the Mill Man's burden —
Put forth the best ye know.
And try with toil and anguish
To get the thing to go.

Wrestle with chain and engine —
Your half-taught weavers wild —
Your pestilent knot-sawyer,
Half devil and half child.

Take up the Mill Man's burden —
And dwell to fortune's frown;
With timber scare and rising,
With shingle prices down.

Then, when your path seems smoother,
And there is time to joke,
A spark strikes on your dry house —
Sit down and watch your smoke.

Take up the Mill Man's burden —
No joyous snap is this;
A grind on mind and muscle,
Empty of ease or bliss.

The notes ye may not cancel,
The bills ye can but owe,
Go, stay them to your worry,
And pay them to your woe.

Take up the Mill Man's burden —
And reap his old reward —
Bad faith and broken promise,
Deals that are harsh and hard;

The sneers of those ye favor,
The jeers of those ye aid,
Their fawning it ye flourish,
Their flouting if ye fade.

Take up the Mill Man's burden —
And lay it down again!
Then jump with joy exulting
At being free from pain.

Better the farm or foundry,
Better the spade or shears,
Than cutting the cedar shingle —
Is the judgement of your peers.

July 13, 1899
Local news:

Woolley: Harry Holding, head butcher for Donnelly Bros. for the past eighteen months, has resigned his position here and gone to Pat McCoy's camp to work.
Marblemount The native village above town is deserted. B. Aronson went down the river on business. Miss Ida Smith of Ross is visiting in our city. The Lindon Bros. have gone to work on their quartz claim at the foot of Sourdough Mountain.
The city council approved the bond of Martin Gillespie, covering the work of improvement of Ferry street.. It is drawn in the sum of $400, with Charles Mills and K.S. Paulson as sureties. The contract for this work was also signed and delivered, the improvement to be completed by September 1st.
The marshal's report for the quarter ending showed $1,737.50 in income, including $50 from the poll tax. Sam Hinchen, Marshal
Treasurer William Doherty's report showed that the city was in the black with $1,408.67 in receipts and $716.06 in expenses.
Ordinance No. 19 was passed by the council. It is designed to put a stop to the highly dangerous practice of boarding moving railway trains within the city limits. The necessity for such measure has been apparent for some time past and the evil has grown of late until the wonder is that no serious accident has occurred, particularly as boys of tender ages are in the habit of jumping on to almost every train coming into the city.
Ordinance No. 20 was passed by the council. Section 1: From and after the taking effect of this ordinance, it shall be unlawful for a person to ride any bicycle, tricycle or tandem upon the sidewalks of any of the following named streets of the town of Sedro-Woolley, viz: south side of Northern avenue, Ferry street, State street, Talcott street, north side of Jameson avenue, Metcalf street. Third street and Sixth street.
Section 2. any person who shall ride a bicycle, tricycle or tandem on the sidewalks of any of the streets named in section one of this ordinance, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall on conviction thereof be fined in a sum not exceeding $10, and shall be adjudged to pay all costs of the prosecution.
Dissolution of copartnership. The copartnership heretofore existing between Albert Zabel and George E. Gaetzman of Hamilton, Skagit county, has this day been dissolved by mutual consent, George Gaetzman retiring. Albert Zabel continuing the business, who will collect all amounts due the firm and assume all liabilities of the saloon department. June 26, 1899.
Commissioners proceedings July 3, Mount Vernon. Bills paid included: G.E. Henson, Hamilton ferry tender $30. C. von Pressentin, Birdsview ferry tender, $10. J.W. Meehan, salary surveryor, $96l.25; William Dale, salary assessor, $104.00; Ed Dale, deputy assessor $50. Liquor license of G.W. Troop allowed for lots 10 and 11, block 2, Fir.

Advertisements:

A.M. Sabin, attorney at law, will practice in all the state and federal courts. Office in Sedro Land Company's building. State street, between Metcalf and Third, Sedro-Woolley.
[As with the ordinances above, we see that by this month in 1899, the street is universally and legally being called Metcalf in lieu of the original spelling of Metcalfe. See this Journal website about the street's namesake, James Bard Metcalfe] The SLC office in question was owned by Sedro's pioneer realtor, Harry L. Devin. In January 1899 he took over the building vacated by attorney J. Henry Smith in new-Sedro and moved it up to State street on log rollers. He set it up on the south side of the street, across from what was then called Bowery Square [the Opera House] and about where Hank's barber shop is today.]
Crescent Bicycles, A.E. Holland, agent, Sedro-Woolley. Prices $25, $35, $60. [the top-of-the-line bicycle of the day]
Steamer Bay City. The only propeller on the route [as opposed to paddle-driven]. Leaves Whatcom at 8 o'clock and Anacortes at 10 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, leaves Commercial dock, Tacoma, at 2 p.m. and City dock, foot of Main street, Seattle, at 8 p.m. for Whatcom. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for Anacortes, Fairhaven and Whatcom. Fare to Seattle, $1; Tacoma, $1.25. W.R. Ellis & Son, owners; W.J. Ellis, Traffic manager

Mortimer Cook Goes Hence
To the Philippines He will Hie, to Return with Boodle Bye and Bye
Mortimer Cook, shrewd, kind-hearted, brusque and much-revered Mortimer Cook, is going to the Philippine Islands. He leaves from Vancouver, B.C. about 31st inst., on the Empress of India. This boat has carried other distinguished people across the Pacific, but none ever trod her decks that had with them the same measure of love and confidence of friends as Mortimer Cook.
Mr. Cook came to this place when it was yet unborn and set up a sawmill on the banks of the majestic Skagit. The business prospered, the population about the mill-site grew, and it became necessary to have a post office. Mr. Cook was asked to establish such an office and select a name. He called the place Bug. After awhile this name became distasteful to the people, because outsiders would refer to them as being buggy, and a man wanted to start a hotel and call it the Bughouse. The inhabitants kicked and the name was changed to Sedro, which is a corruption of the Spanish word cedra, meaning cedar.
[Journal Ed. note: Even our overworked award-winning team of Journal> fact checkers and copy editors blow it big time now and then. This time, however, their mistakes are both repeated and egregious. While they are behind the woodshed being flogged, we apologize and admit the errors. Over the years, we have variously written that the Spanish word for cedar was cedra or sedra. But, dear reader, once your humble editor actually consulted a dictionary, he discovered the Spanish word is instead, cedro. Therefore, Mortimer Cook simply changed the c to s.]
Since then Mr. Cook has been a rancher, a politician, a banker and a merchant, and has achieved two or three fortunes of comfortable dimensions. Each of these he lost by speculation and philanthropic donations. Now he is going over to Uncle Sam's new possessions to secure another pile, for although Mr. Cook might be considered an old man in a physical sense, mentally he is as strong and vigorous as a man in his prime of life.
His present idea is to go over there and establish a sawmill, and soon we may expect to hear of him cutting up the sugar cane into sugar and the mahogany into logs. There among the Taglos, the yam yams, the Manila cigars, the gorilla and the relics of the late war, Mr. Cook will surely flourish. Where the perverse and wayward Aguinaldo once shot cold, indigestible lead into the diaphragms of the old American volunteer, Mr. Cook will plant his patriotic flagstaff and defy competition in cutting up lumber and using expressive and vigorous language. Mr. Cook will teach his Taglos workmen how to talk in the Woolley and picturesque language of Western Washington, where the American Eagle some times gets up in the night and screeches like hell for more pie. In his particular case the damn will always be there by the millsite.
As Mr. Cook has demonstrated that he is something of a poet himself, not be entirely outdone, The Times will drop into beautiful verse to wish him bon voyage.

Farewell, Mr. Cook, you have taken a notion
To hie to new colonies over the ocean;
May you come back again to the friends you have shook
With a hatful of money, dear Mortimer Cook.

In fancy we see you conducting a mill,
And driving your Taglos with restless good will;
May the stars and stripes be as proud as they look
As they wave O'er your efforts, dear Mortimer Cook.

Undated advertisement at the same time period: Off, off, off to see —
Grandpap Gorilla,
Down near Manila,

Examine his teeth, his muscle and eyes,
And try to decipher who is most wise,
Carnegie, Rockefeller, old Russell Sage,
And other "swell heads" of this rotten age

Or our old grandpap
Who could with a snap

Rip the stuffin' out of several dozens
Of these rotten, degenerate cousins.
Oh! tell me, tell me, forsooth,
Which of them is nearest the eternal truth?
— Mortimer Cook, Sedro-Woolley

Advertisement by Mortimer Cook And now I jump the country.
My shop will be open during June from 7 a.m. til 8 p.m. for blood, unless sooner sold in a lump, There are very many useful things here; tinware, kitchen furniture, crockery, cooking utensils, glassware, notions of all sorts, trunks, valises, traveling bags, shoes, hats, undershirts and drawers, pants, coats, sox, baskets, lap-robes, some dry-goods and a thousand thousand other things, all useful and of everyday use. They will not be given away at any price, but all will be sold cheap — much cheaper than usual, and below prices anywhere; they were all bought cheap for cash in advance.
— Mortimer Cook, Sedro-Woolley

Letter written Nov. 22, 1899,
received by Mortimer's daughter, Jan. 2, 1900
From Brigade Hospital, Iloilo, Philippine Island
To: Mrs. Fairie Cook Litchfield, Plaza Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
Dear Madam:
I write you this letter in relation to your father, Mr. Mortimer Cook, who died in this hospital on Nov. 22, 1899. My first introduction to him was on Nov. 1st when a message came from the hotel requesting a physician to come and see him.
It was found that he was suffering from acute Dysentery and as proper care could not be given him there, it was thought advisable to bring him to the Hospital, where he has been under constant attention since that date.
Every possible effort was made to check the disease but without success. His age [75] was a serious obstacle, and his recuperative power was lacking. His courage was not lacking and he was hopeful almost to the end.
The case was practically hopeless from the beginning, but I was encouraged to hope from the fact that his strength held out for so many days, that he might recover.
A special [illegible] was detailed and he was given every possible care and attention. The day previous to his death he called me to his bedside and informed me that he was satisfied the end was near at hand, and that he wished to speak to me privately.
He spoke of the family in general and said he wished to again attended to by Captain Butler, U.S. Vols., with whom he had had business relations, and that his effects and money were to go to you, and this will be attended to.
The end came peaceful and he was conscious to the last. He was buried today in the cemetery at this place and proper records of the interment made.
Very respectfully, G.H. Calkins, Acting assistant surgeon, U.S. Army P.S. Burial certificate enclosed. Buried in a grave adjoining grave No. 15 as shown on official plat of cemeteries

[Journal Ed. note: The upcoming Issue 26 of the Subscribers-Paid Journal magazine online will be focused on Mortimer Cook and his amazing family, from his birth in Ohio, to his service in the Mexican-American war and his trading post in Texas afterwards, to his time as a storekeeper in '49er gold country, to his pack trains from Whatcom during the 1858 Fraser river gold rush, to his trading post at Cook's Ferry on the Thompson river in British Columbia, to his marriage back in Ohio, to his business in Topeka, Kansas, to his bank in Santa Barbara, California, and his time as mayor there, to his move to the Skagit river in June 1884. For now, you can read more about him at this Journal website about Cook and you will find links there to other Cook features. (Link repaired]

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Story posted on Dec. 17, 2004, last updated Dec. 22, 2010
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This article originally appeared in Issue 25 of our Subscribers-paid Journal online magazine

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