The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-10-08

hopeless lnValluS. OomenOW the SyS-
tenn of "protectionn which man has
provided for woman in pioneer quarters
often has the effect that the Irishman's |
fence-stake oats produced upon his pro-
verbal horse. Just as they get the
women used to it, the contrary creatures
either die off or get hopelessly diseased.
At noon we halted in fertile valley,
nestled down between the hills, where
excellent entertainment awaited US at
the wayside inn of q brother-in-law of
our well-known friend, Captain Apper-
son, of Oregon City. The head of this
family is rich and prosperous. His wife
is an excellent and faithful servant, as
indeed are the wives of all frontier tav-
ern-keepers.
"How do you enjoy the hotel busi-
ness ?" we asked.
"It's very hard on a woman" was
the smiling reply, as the good lady
served us bountifully with choicest vi
ands. "It's very hard on woman, but
then it has to be DONE"
We gave her copy of the NEW
NORTHWEST, chatted while with her
husband, who was communicative and
affable, and went on our way repeating
to ourself the old, old sophistry,
"Women are supported by men,"
Down long ravine and up a longer
winding mountain the stage-coach Ia
bored, our faithful driver carefully
avoiding the EXTREMIST edges of the
zigzag heights, from whose dizzy sum-
mits we gazed in some trepidation as
we realized the fact that little. care
lessness on our part would precipitate US
from our preearious perch over the
yawning precipice into the wooded
gulch below; then again, up and down
and down and up yet other dark defiles,
the wagon track just wide enough for
our coach, and woe be unto US if we
meet another, till darkness brings US to
to the "half-way house," in the heart of
the mountains, where we encounter
primitive accommodations for our
weary bodies, and rest us till the morn
ing.
The road, considering the character OF
the country, is very good one. 1t is
sixty miles in length, and is the prop
erty of the Union Pacific Railroad Com
pany. A toll of 50 so for four-horse
team is the regular fare, and the road is
well patronized at that figure. Settle
ments are springing up in the wooded
dells as by magic. Blackened clearings
abound at intervals all along the line.
These mountains are rich in timber and
coal mines, and their vast wealth will
some day be one of the worlds wonders
The most thickly-studded forests o.
myrtle and maple to be found on the
coast abound in these Businesses, while
laurel, alder, q species of chinkapin oak
white and yellow fir, yew, cedar ant
hemlock grow together in immens,
profusion and tangled confusion, bewil
dering to behold. Cataracts course theil
laughing way over moss-grown rocks
and purling springlets peep from thu
roadside amid wildernesses of fernl
and brakes. Indeed, the voluptuou'
abandon of the mountain wildwood, il
all its wealth Of green and russell, seem
to have collected its forces here for ;
high carnival.
Around Cape Horn our stage-coacl
winds, the dizzy depths below and gidd,
heights above US answering back t.
each other the awful echoes of the rum
bling wheels. Indeed, the scenery her
is not surpassed by the American River
as the winding railway bears the tray
eler over the wilderness of wildness tina
sometimes o'erpowers him in the Sierr
Nevadas of California.
On and on and on we go, something
new and yet the same to be seen a
every turn; stop at noon at the house {
a brother-in-law of our friend, GoN
Geo. L. Curry, of Portland, whose vii
and daughters are protected and sur
ported in another well-kept way-sid
inn. Then on we go again, and at nigh
emerge from the wood and go bowlin
down a dusty slope and fetch up 9
"Coos City," the terminus of the stag
line, where we stop at another prim
tive hotel, with sweet-faced landlad
presiding, who brushes the dust fror
our garments and makes us thorough
comfortable.
The village has an air of quiet new
ness about it, the villagers are hospits
bic and friendly, and we agree to met
them at their hall after resting an hou
to give them talk on the woman que
tion.
The next morning, while we wei
scribbling leisurely in the little parlo
the landlady hurriedly informed us thG
the ''steamer was coming, and wouldn
wait minute" so we snatched shaw
and parasol and hat and bundle an
basket, and the obliging landlord ust
cred us aboard snug little packe
about the size of modern bathing-tul
with white wings on either side abo1
the paddle-wheels and pilot-house hea
erect, looking more like a Japane'
"goose" than the little steamer "Coos,
which we had almost spelled at i
terminus with an "e."
Down the "Isthmus Slough" "
steamed for dozen miles or so, hig
ridge of fire-bIackened timber upon oil