The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1870-10-01

"SPe. IL - hoitny Oh Seneiat pei uSSi.
Portland, Oregon, July 29.-To my
great surprise, when l arrived here on
the 9th instant, found the thermometer
above 80 degrees. 1t reached that point
every day from the Sd to the 18th, but
went down every night below 65 degrees,
In justice to the climate, l must say this
degree of heat is very rare. At Astoria,
and all along the coast, it is entirely uu-
known. There so degrees is seldom
reached in summer, and the freezing
point not often in winter and this, mind
you, under the 10th parallel
The mean temperature Of last January
was II degrees and a fraction; that of
July, 60 degrees; August, $50 degrees;
September, 544 degrees; October, 81
degrees; February, 424 degrees; March,
Al degrees; April, As degrees; May, 81
degrees; june, 81 degrees. People liv-
Ing in the same latitude, near the Atlantic
coast, at Montreal, for instance, can
scarcely credit these fgures-January Q
degrees above freezing, and July 16 de
Crees below summer heat. But they are
the result of careful observations made at
Astoria by the Government
The rain fall is not less remarkable.
In the last fourteen years the smallest
quantity in one year was 57-S inches in
1868, and the largest 100 inches (cight
feet four inchcs) in 1867 The heaviest
fall in any month was two feet and seven
tenths Of an inch IN December, 1861
the ligLtest one-tenth of an inch in june
1869. No wonder these people are web
footed. Away from the coast the rain
fall is less, and the temperature more
variable.
Last Sunday | was compelled to re-
main all day at Astoria. Being unac-
quainted with the calibrc of the preach
ers, and not liking to take heavy risks
in that direction, | took to the woods in
company with an old settler. | was well
repaid for the temporary sacrifice of my
usual devotional amuscments-
On steep hill sides, several hundred
feet above the liver, were trees six, eight
and ten feet in diameter, and more than
two hundred feet high, and so close to-
gethcr that the antlered elk cannot move
among them except by circuitous paths.
l am reluctantly compelled "a. admit that
we have no forests in the Easfs We have
some scattered saplngs, and few runt-
ed pines and oaks, and a good rnany
thickets Of uuderbruSh. out of which,
from necessity we make saw logs but,
forests and full-grown trees We have not.
What think you of trees that will cut
thirty thousand feet of lumber? and
what think you of a square mile contain
ing at least three hundred trees three
hundred feet in hight, and two hundred
feet without limb
In coming across 1900 miles of un-
shaded desert, | wondered what had be-
come of all the trees. | have found them.
They are here on the Pacific slope Some
great couvulsion has swept them from
the lands centre to its wcstern rim. Ma
ture in one of her mighty MroeS has
hroscr them here, and by some magic
realizing our spread eagle Latin, + Plu
ribus Unum,' out of many little trees
made one big one.
My Oregonian, speaking of a certain
wood, said it never grew big, not more
than three or four feet in diameter Ii
We had not been among frs and spruces
and hemlocks that greatly exceeded
this measurement 160 from the ground
would have looked upon my friend as a
joker. But here they were all around
me like a rail, and its commincled
branches shutting out the light of day
more than half the earth's surface COW
cred by their gigantic bases. | measured
a trunk that had been felled inside of the
town. 1t was twcnty-one feet in circum.
frence eighty feet from the stump, while
this measured thirty three feet above the
inequalities of the roots A gentleman
told me of fir, sixty-two feet in girth as
far up as he could reach !; and this is on
the hills. General Crook told me that
even this is surpassed by the red wood
forests, further south, and near the shore
OF the last named variety are the excep
tional big trees of California
The moment l entered the Columbia
river was amazed at the arboreal luxu
rance of the hills. 1t was rich treat
to gaze once more on natures favorite
hue, after passing four days on the deser
and three more on the ocean
In all fruits but tropical ones, thi:
country Is equal to California Its cher
ries and plums have seen /; its apple
and pears have heard of, and they ar,
just about i'll proportion to the trees. Th,
cherries are nearly gone, and the plum
begun to come in. One early variety i
already exausted. The curculio has no
discovered this country yet, and you cal
generally tell how many plums you ar
going to get by counting the blossoms
The size of them will depend upon tn
space they have to grow in.
What would you think of a pair (not
pair of plums) weighing fire pounds i?
have heard of such, and from what hav
seen of other things, am persuaded t
believe it. If you show this letter to an
one you had better suppress the writer
name, for there are people who will cred
it all sorts of ghost stories, and yet rejec
with scorn any material fact that con
aicts with their narrow experience.
The trip up the Columbia river is brim
ftH of pleasure and instruction. 1t is
glorious river-next to the Mississippi
and St. Lawrence, the greatest in Nortl
American its scenery far SURPRISING
the former, and equalling the latter
From the mouth of the Willamette anf