lodgett's saw
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mill and afterwards acted as foreman for Lewis Love, who liecanie owiht of the property. Mr. Besser then rented the mill himself and run it very successfully for about three years. He then entered into partnership with Levi Estes and John Gates and erected a mill on Front street between Madison and Jefferson, where they continued in business until the great fire of August 21, 1872, wherein Mr. Besser sustained a per8t>nal loss of over $50,(X)0, without one dollar's insurance. His indomital)le energy, however, never forsook him, and we find him again struiifgling to retrieve his lost fortunes. His personal interest in municipal affairs induced the residents of the Third ward in 1868 to nominate and elect him as a member of the Common Council, which position he held for nine consecutive years, and discharged the duties of his office with faithfulness and integrity, serving as a member of some of the most impoi'tant committees of that body. He was mainly instrumental in establishing the grades of the Third ward, and was the originator of the oil lamp system of street lighting in this city. He met great opposition in this last mentioned scheme, and was allowed l)ut five lamps as an experiment. It proved successful, however, and the de- mand has increased to over three hundred lamps, which are in use at the present time, the saving to the tax payers of the city being over S8.()00 an- nually. He was employed as book-keeper in the U. S. Custom House in Portland, under Collector Kelly, from 1875 to 1877 inclusive, and here, as elsewhere, proved an efficient officer. In July of 1877 he was tendered and accepted, at the hands of the Board of Police Commissioners, the office of Chief of Police, and in that capacity served the public most satisfactorily for nearly three years. During his term of office the writer of this sketch was connected with the daily press of Portland, and as a representative thereof, was oftentimes compelled to call upon him for facts connected with his office as Chief of Police, and always found him willing to impart information, courteous and accommodating, but none the less cir- cumspect and careful to avoid any disclosures that would in the end de- feat the ends of justice. He possessed many, if not all, of the qualifications of a detective, and his term of office was marked with the arrest and convic- tion of an imusually large number of desperate characters, who are now paying the penalty of their crimes in the reformatory institutions of our State. In fact there were no grave or serious crimes committed in this city daring Mr. Besser's term of office without the ultimate arrest and con- viction of the guilty parties, he sparing no pains or expense to secure the arrest of fugitives from justice, be their temporary residence in Oregon or any of the adjacent States or Territories. Prominent among his arrests was that of Brown, Johnson and Schwaitz, who were afterwards C(mvicted of the murder of young Joseph and the robbing of O'Shea's pawn-broking establishment, and the former two executed and the latter consigned to im- prisonment in the penitentiary for life. During the last two or three years the subject of our sketch has been engaged in private enterprises of various kinds, including the improvement and speculation iu city property, and in- teresting himself more or less in the political questions of the day. Politi- cally speaking, he is of strong Republican proclivities. In pul»lic or private
