, 1878-07-05

RAILWAYS.

,pre ocean ward oi the wheat "
Eastern Oregon. Your editorial also I
.lludcs 20 the undeniahle fact that
IN. cereal wealth Of Western Ore. |
gon, or the Willamette Valley, could
most cheaply he got 20 market oy !
wsy OF Puget Sound.
The almost inccssant southern
gales Of last winter besides temper
srily impeding traffic, having deteri'
GRATED navigation across the danger
Gus bar at the entrance OF the Col
umbia river, bad as that has hitherto
been. The south channel from AS
toria to the ocean is reported to have
become shallower last winter and, as
is we'll known to Oregon pioneers,
the bar channels have within the last
forty years altered several times.
Fuca Strait is undoubtedly the
true and natural outlet to the Pacific
ocean, not only for all the State OF
Oregon and the Territory Of Wash
ington, but for all the northern Uni
ted States east of the Rocky Noun
tains, when traffic ocesnward to the
east is during winter impeded by
the freezing of rivers and lakes
Americans future western ways by
the north the Pacific will be open,
the year round, which is obviously a
very important consideration, north
as well as south of the 49th parallel
of latitude. Man cannot profitably
strive against Nature, either in rail-
way operations or in any other OF his
mundane concerns.
Beyond all comparison, the best
commercial port inside Cape Flat
terry on the American side is Port
Angeles on Fuca Strait. That har'
Dor is in TRUTH accessible from the
ocean in all weathers-havens further
inland are NOT. A case in point will
prove this:
Last autumn, as will by many be
remembered, the fogs in this quarter
were not such frequent occurrence,
so interse, or SO long continued, as
has several times happened within
the last twenty wears. Neverthe-
less, in October 1877, the U. S. Mail
Steamer Alaska, outward bound
from Seattle to Esquimalt, was de-
layed forty.six hours in different
harbors, and lost time, besides, in
moving at slackened speed from har-
Dor to harbor. Surprising, for argu
ment's sake, the total time lost to
have been GO hours, locomotives
with their cars, making clear of stop
pages, hundred mile in three hours,
would, in the longer period of time
named, be two thousand miles ad-
vanced towards their eastern destina.
tion, if starting from Los Angeles;
while an ocean steamer proceeding
thence to Seattle would in such
weather barely make her port, Your
readers can vary the calculation rs
they please, say, for instance, by es-
timating the time a sailing ship of
the largest size, deeply laden and in
such fogy weather as last October
the Alaska encountered, of necessity,
towed, would take from the Fuca
Strait abreast of Port Angeles to
Seattle or WISE VERSA. In such
weather, would the attempt at tow
ing be ventured on in the narrow
waters south of Fuca Strait?
The vast future importance to the
Union of Port Angeles, must have
been known at Washington, long
since. Some fifteen years ago ap-
probation thereof was shown by
President Abraham Lincoln and by
Victor Smith, then on Puget Soand,
the confidential agent of the Fed
eral Government. Mr.. Smith took
up his residence at Port Angeles,
where the Custom House for Puget
Sound was located. In 1866 both
these far-seeing men came to an un-
timely end, or the Port would have
bad a very different aspect to-day.
Suppose the Portlanders, yielding
to the inevitable, besides extending
n railway thence along the Columbia
valley into the Walla Walla wheat
country, were to continue their
present line down to the most con.
venisnt point on the Columbia river.
for car ferry to its right bank,
having thence railroad extension to
Kalams, and that from Tenino-a
station on the Kalama. Tacoma line
extention was prolonged along the
base of the Olympic mountains, and
by or close to the heads of various
inlets and harbor to the terminus at
Port Angeles, Portland would re
main the great inland railway centre
and commercial entrepot, while Port