88
in 1868, he went into partnership with H. B. Oatman, Esq., in the grocery business. We do not doubt but that " Van" sanded his sugar and watered bis vinegar as faithfully as any of his competitors, but even then the busi- ness was too slow for him, and he began looking around for new fields to ' conquer. The inauguration of the railroad system in Oregon about that time created a boom in real estate in Portland, and in 1871, having disposed of their grocery business, we find the firm of DeLashmutt & Oatman branching out into the real estate and general brokerage business. This was just the business for a live, enterprising man like Mr. DeLashmutt, and, within a very few months, they had in their hands property for sale and rent aggregating in value many thousands of dollars, and some of their real estate transfers netted the enterprising young firm a handsome margin. " Van" is chuck full of business and knows no such word as fail. He is ju- dicious in his speculations and is willing to take fair risks. From an ob- scure firm they have arisen to a level with any real estate firm in Portland, and their business is rapidly increasing, and, from a poor boy, who in 1856 was willing to, and did for sometime, wash dishes for his board at Bethel, in this State, Mr. DeLashmutt to-day stands as one of the solid men of Multnomah county, a man whose word is as good as his bond, and one thor- oughly esteemed by all who know him. He has recently interested himself in the organization of the Metropolitan Savings Bank, and has just been elected as its President, another mark of the esteem and confidence reposed in him by the public. He has never taken a very active interest in politics, although he is a strong Republican. No man in Portland afibrds a better examjjle of what pluck and industry will do than does Mr. DeLashmutt, and Dame Fortune has not yet forsaken him by any means. " Van" is a friend in need to those who are or have been a friend to him.
PROFESSOR THOMAS CONDON Was born near Fermoy, on the river Blackwater, in the South of Ireland, sixty years ago. When he was ten years old his father migrated with his family to America, and found a home on New York Island, a few miles north of the city. The family was poor and the children at an early age left home to support themselves. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of the children, and employment was soon found for him with a gardener in the neighborhood, who raised fiowers for the New York market. The boy's evenings were always spent in study, a habit soon noticed and kindly encouraged by his employer's family, until it became plain that an earnest student's habits had taken fast hold of his life. This led to the selection of a new situation for him, that of office boy in the office of a distinguished physician in Broadway, New York. Here the fullest opportunity was given him for study, the fine library of the family was at once and kindly opened to his use. Private lessons in drawing and mathematics were added, and after two or three years of this drill and culture, a place was secured for him in a surveying party on the survey of the New York and Erie railroad, then in progress. The commercial disaster of 1837 broke this up, and he found employment as a clerk in a New York tea store. Two years of thi^
I
