1871-1900 Yaquina Head Lighthouse Letter books

United States Senate Washington, D.C. April 27, 1907.

Hon. Oscar S. Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D.C.

My dear Mr. Secretary:

As I informed you in a letter dated March 4th, 1907, Mr. B.F. Jones, a prominent attorney of Independence, Oregon, is desirous of securing permission to occupy about half and acre of the beach of the Government Light House Reservation at Newport, Oregon, officially known, I believe, as the Yaquina Light House Reservation. He desires to erect at this point a shoot-the-chutes, for the benefit of summer visitors at the nearby resort. Mr. Jones does not wish to secure any permanent rights on the Reservation, but merely wants a temporary privilege, agreeing to remove the chute whenever requested to do so by your Department.

I have a good deal of correspondence in regard to this matter and up to the present time have met with no success. In order that you may understand exactly what has been done, I will give you the case briefly.

I made a personal request of you, as above stated, on March 4th, 1907. Under date of March 8th, Assistant Secretary Murray advised me that this Reservation had been transferred in 1888 to the War Department for its use until needed by the Light House Board. He stated that the Department of Commerce was

Department of Commerce and Labor Office of the Secretary Washington

April 29, 1907

Memorandum:

Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon, called this morning and left the attached communication with the statement that if the request contained therein were granted, his constituent would give a bond guaranteeing the removal of the shoot-the-chutes within thirty days after notification to that effect. The Senator also stated that the erection of the structure will not interfere in any manner with the range of the lights.

['[T.L. Weed]] Private Secretary