Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/246

Rh occupied with local news, with plenty of detail but rather formless writing. Page 4 was virtually all advertising. The paper had been semi-weekly for two months in 1889 but was now back to a weekly.

A railroad from Roseburg to ocean transportation at Coos Bay was a dream of those early years. It had been, in fact, a hope of several communities since the coming of the north-and-south line in the 70's.

Every western Oregon town, and some of the eastern ones, had dreams of railroad development and perhaps saw itself as a terminus of some line or other. That the road was never built is no fault of theirs or of the Roseburg boosters who fought for it and were ready to bleed for it financially.

In the weekly Review of Thursday, January 16, 1890, appeared one of the earliest stories promoting the project. The headline:

Then follows, at the top of the story, the following list of names:

Then the story:

The above gentlemen are the Committee appointed to assume charge of the preliminary matters to secure a Railroad from Roseburg to Coos Bay. ..

The business now before the committee is to correspond with the Coos County parties and secure the active cooperation of Coos County in this matter. Some efforts will also be made to secure a proposition from Railroad men concerning the building of the road. A mass meeting will then be called and the committee will make its report and the work of soliciting funds will then begin in earnest.

Work must commence this year!

Let everybody say so and it will be so!

The road will be a paying investment and will be the