The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-09-18
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.


trying to reach a steamboat or rail car?
Then you know just how to laugh at
your humble servant, who, on the morn
ing of the fourth inst, awOke at dawn,
and making a hurried toilet, started of
on a rapid trot, after her good-natured
liege, who, though armed with basket
and bundle, found it no trouble to keep
ahead and out of sight of his painting
spouse, who, after all her running,
lust missed the Dixie Thompon. An
appointment was out for Rainier in
the evening, which was of necessity
abandoned; and there being no Astoria
boat on Saturday or Sunday, advertised
meetings were also missed at that place.
Waited until Monday, and then, to make
assurance doubly sure, arose two hours
before steamer time, and went, shiver-
ing in the grey of the Autumn twilight
to the busy wharves, where we entered
the Dixie's cabin and were soon lost in
a chapter of the serial story.
Rainier is a U0y quiet little town,
containing a sawmill, cannery, hotel,
cooper shop and store. Here We held
two well-attended meetings, despite the
short notice and the inevitable showers
that didn't Tain-they poured. The
friends here are wide awake upon the
Woman and Temperance Questions /;
and we make proud mention of the fact
that in the cooper shop, where there
were five wOrkmen, most of whom were
bachelors, every one subscribed for the
NEW NORTHWEST, meaning, doubtless,
TO send it to their wives or sweethearts,
after reading it for themselves We
were Hospitality entertained by Mr.. and
Mrs. Garseline, who keep the hotel, and
who are fully alive to the Importance of
our chosen mission.
Took the Wednesday morning boat
for Astoria. Cruised along both sides
Of the Columbia all day, stopping at the
fisheries, canneries, dairies, logging
camps, farm houses and wood yards,
and reached the little city at night.
Stopped at Arrigonis with hope that
no lecture would be expected until the
following evening. But the fates had
decreed otherwise, and rain, like unto
that experienced at Rainier, only there
was more Of it and it lasted longer,
drenehed small audience, and made us
rs hoarse and wheezy as u corn-stalk
fiddle.
The next day, in company with Mr..
Oatman Of Portland, whose wife feared
to risk the perils of an open boat, and
who, therefore, contented herself with
waving at Us from ArrigOni's balcony,
we sought an abiding place in Captain
Hamlin's plunger, where for two hours
we were appropriately sea sick, rs we
plunged along through the waters of the
mighty Oregon, against wind and tide,
in quest of Knappton, and busy with
sightseeing.
Captain Clemens, of the bark Rival,
and other parties were also aboard the
plunger, and we all accepted the Cap
tain's invitation to go aboard the Rival
ana pariake oI Iunch.
After a while tug came screaming
up from the bar, all ready to tow the
Rival away from the docks. Finishing
lunch and hurryiug ashore, we watched
the parting Of a hawser and the replac-
ing new one; heard the Captains
orders rs the seamen fitted to and fro,
and then gazed long and thoughtfully
after the twain rs the little tug snorted
and labored, the great bark reluctantly
following it toward the sea, looking like
a great porcupine led by the nose by q
mouse.
knapptOn, formerly Cementville, is
noted for its numbering mill. Here, in
deed, is the finest sawmiIl that we ever
saw anywhere. The property is worth a
quarter Of a million, and is in perfect
running order in every department.
Forty thousand feet of lumber is the
average product, and the saws are only
run by day. Broom handles, laths, bar
rel slaves and salmon boxes also form
an important branch of industry. The
cement works are now idle, but vast
amounts of cement of a superior quality
are here prepared for the trade upon
short notice.
Mr.. j. b. Knapp, to whose courtesy
We were indebted for opportunity to
thoroughly examine the mill and its
environs, signalled to some Cinnamon,
who gave us a ride upon the Knappton
Railroad. Oregonians, you may cease
boasting. Washington Territory isn't
to be beaten in the number of its rail-
roads.
Enjoyed picturesque but laborious
walk across the hills to the elegant
home of Mr.. and Mrs. Knapp, where
hospitality and good cheer were the order
of the occasion. The house is spacious,
rambling and quaint. The grounds are
wild and yet tame, well-watered and
beautiful, and the view from any part
Of the dwelling is perfectly magnificent.
The Columbia, eight miles in width at
this point, rolls and means and dashes
away toward the ocean, losing itself in
the breakers that crash around Fort
Stevens and Cape Disappointment,
while the requiem of its ever disappear
ing waters comes back to your senses in
q far-away roar that sounds like the
wall OF the storm spirit.
After dinner, and just as darkness
settled like pail of blackness over the
surging river, Mr.. Knapp launched his
little boat, and we three, Mrs. X, him