The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-03-02
AT ALBANY.


of the train on the roof" For it tum-
bled by great bucketfuls from high to
lower roof close by my head during |
the livelong night. 1 do not speak of
the water tumbling from the housetops
as anything wonderful In itself, for, as
the uns0phisticated Hibernian said |
when viewing the falls of Niagara,
"What is that to wonder at? What
would ye expect it to do when it comes
to the jumping of place but to fall? If
I'd see it going up, instead of down, I'd
think it wonderful; but it don't. 1t
keeps falling, just what you'd expect it
to do." Pat had little poetry in his
makeup, and l confess that ere the
morning dawned, the "patter of the
rain" had become prosy enough to me.
Breakfast over, 1 took spin around
the place, and was agreeably surprised
to see how Albany was beginning to
take on city airs. Quite a number of
dwelling and business houses have been
erected during the past two or three
=
style, to be sure, but not a few tasty and
substantial structures attest the refine
ment and affluence of their owners.
Albany is well provided with side
walks, but the streets otherwise are gen.
orally in an unimproved condition; yet
so smooth is the site of the city that
very small outlay would make them all
that could be desired-during the dry
season. 1 could but note a sad want of
drainage generally throughout the city,
however; nor do know of town any
where where this could be effected more
easily. Perhaps am wrong, but, judg-
ing from appearances, should say that
the apothecary, the physician, and
probably the undertaken, reap harvests
here during the spring and early sum-
mer, for with their present defiance of
all sanitary regulations, if the inhab-
itants enjoy good health, it is a wonder.
Another thing struck me quite unfa-
vorably here. refer to the uninviting
appearance of the chief public school
house in the place. have not visited
the school, hence cannot speak as to the
internal arrangement of the building or
of the manner in which the school is
conducted, but the dimensions of the
building should cause the cheeks of the
wealthy citizens of Albany to blush
every time they view it. There should
be commOdiOus and cheerful-looking
building erected the ensuing summer,
and free graded school inaugurated
and kept up. It's cheaper to educate
our youth-the poor with the rich-than
it is to build jails and pay for criminal
prosecutions. A good English educa-
tion should be as free to every child in
America as the air they breathe. Wis
tied the college here, and although it is
doubtless a well-ordered institution, it
is in no particular superior to the High
School department of our Portland free
schools. do not say this in disparage-
ment of the Albany college either, but
because I consider the High School in
Portland is deserving of high eulogium.
But came here to attend the State
Temperance Alliance, and must repair
to the courthouse, where it convenes.
This is a substantial edifce, built of
brick, and if the county commissioners
would employ lady house-keeper for
the county, it would be good invest
ment of the peoples money; for of all
the dirty places 1 ever saw, the Linn
county courthouse excels They ap-
pear to have periodical house-cleanings,
when they remove the dust, guilds, and
debris generally from the courtroom to
the vestibule at the head Of the stairs,
and there deposit it in compost heaps"
to dispose of, as suppose, to vegetable
gardeners around.
J But what of the Alliance? Well, I
J have attended every session, given close
J attention to all the speeches, and pom
: dered over each and every "whereas'
! and "resolved," and 1 am still in total
darkness as to both the ho1O and the
tOhen of that longed-for time when "rum
is drunk no more" There was no paucity
of suggestions and recommendations as
to the most effectual methods of pro-
noting the cause Of temperance, Iassure
you. In fact, all conceivable plans and
means were proposed and advocated.
Some argued, and forcibly, that the en-
reimbursement of woman would summa-
, rily rid the land of the scourge; others,
with equal zeal, advocated legal pro-
hibition, while others, again, thought
that it lay with mothers and aOiUes at
home. Indeed, your correspondent could
but wish, as he listened to those impas-
stoned utterances, that it was as easy to
effect reform as it was to see for ones
self how it might be done. Yet candor
, compels me to say that think the in
f1uence of this session of the State Tenn
perance Alliance will be lasting for
good. And I will say further that I
never attended a meeting Of any kind
where more uniform courtesy and good
feeling was exhibited. Indeed, there
was nought but the best of feeling dis
played at any time.
But the Alliance has adjourned, and