The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-01-29
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

had been hurrying for dear life to get
through with them before west-side
train time, when one of our smaller
SOUS, who was pOring over book,
looked up and said suddenly,
"MOther, if you're going to Forest
Grove this afternoon, it's time you were
of"
We looked up and glanced anxiously
out at the window. The better weather,
for which we had been waiting for a
fortnight, hadn't come, our travelling
basket wasn't packed, and those ex-
changes-half of them-had not been
opened. Then, around us was the cosy
room with its comfortable fire, inviting
books, waiting music, and the CHEEKY
presence at every eyentide Of the loved
ones at home to tempt US from outdoor
duty in the mud and rain. But there
was no time TO daily with temptation,
even Of this alluring character Thirty
i've miles away, by rail, We could see,
though the eye Of memory, the village
Of Forest Grove and the grand old sire,
who would be waiting for US in the
olden homestead, and his face, we knew,
would brighten at our approach, aud his
heart would be the lighter for the
promised visit. So we left the unfolded
papers, and were Off in less than three
minutes for the station, bound for the
classic shades Of the Oxford Of Oregon.
All along the road, upon either side,
the giant forestlay in PROSTATE grandeur,
its roots upturned TO the pitiless ele-
ments, and its broken limbs distorted
in ten thousand shapeless masses, while
the great trunks, in their mute help
lessness, reminded US Of the dead and
| dying brave ones who have fallen on
full many a well-fought human battle
ground. In many places the whole as
pect Of the country is changed by the
fallen timber. Trees that, before the
storm, stood almost as thick as stubble
hiding from the road the visions beyond
with their perennial greenery, are now
prone and dying, and form no obstacle
to the view Of the more distant land
scapes. Others, that grew scattered at
sufficient intervals apart to enable one
to see through their ranks, are now
| piled in tangled heaps, one upon a half
dozen others, forming an Opaque mass
Of formidable proportions, aud Of char
acter so eombustible that one shudders
involuntarily at the thought Of the
future cOuhigratious that must ensue
unless precautions for which the genu-
inc Anelo-Saxon has never vet been
noted, are taken at the earliest avail
able moment to prevent the threatening
holocaust. 1t Is said that, if fires are
planted in the tangled brush heaps in
the early Spring, as soon as the leaves
are sufficiently dried to burn, they will
then destroy all the lighter growth
without affecting the great bodies Of the
timber that, If ignited later in the sea-
son, will burn like tinder and heat the
very heavens red-hot.
Another striking evidence Of the
stOrm-king's track is seen in the demol-
Ished fences that mark the line Of his
destructive wake These despoiled
fences have set the farmers to msral-
izing anew about the "no-fence" law.
Aud, indeed, It is qaite time for such a
law to be passed aud duly enforced in
all farming communities. The same
principle that protects your forest trees
from the raid Of the trespasser should
| protect your fields and orchards from
the raid Of the stOck-man's property
We hope the people will continue To
urge the righteousness of the proposed
law. Let the matter be SO thoroughly
agltated that proper legislation shall be
promised by incoming members of the
State Legislature. II you are so fortu-
nate as to have large droves Of cattle,
sheep, horses or swine, you are able to
go beyond the limits Of the farming
lands. where you can feed your prop
erty on Uncle Sans domain with i'm
punity but let no disinteresied citizen
be unduly taxed on account of your
possessions. Such a law, like one for
the enfranchisement of woman, will
compel no person to take advantage OF
it against his will. Any one can build
fences for his own use il he desires, but
nobody will be compelled to do so
/ against his inclination or convenience.
We pass Beaverton, Reedville, Hills
bOro and Cornelius, aud reach the
Forest Grove station almost before We
are aware of it, the cogitations here
chronioled having occupied the time,
aud nearly annihilated the space be-
tween Portland and the ware house at the
station. Here we fiud four-horse mud
wagon, in which four or five wayfarers
are quickly dumped, and on we go,
through mud and muck, for over
mile, toward the village proper, which
we reach at nightfall, to find the genial
patriarch we have come to visit snugly
ensconeed in the rambling homestead, a
CHEEKY fire on the broad stone hearth,
and a cordial welcome from the depleted
household, where the Death Angel has
stopped since our last visit and gath
cred in his chill embrace one Of the
fairest virgin flowers Of this DEATH
doomed earth.
Ah, me Yet little while, and the
great change shall come to all who read
these pages. To some the journey will
be longer than to others; but it matters
little who goes first, if at the last we
reach the goal Of glad reunion with the