, 1881-12-31


1t Is true that the great enterprise of
building broad gusge railroad down on
each side Of the Columbia riyer-she one
to Portland and the other to Kal.ma, is
worthy of ali comnsniation- But .hese
can never supply the place of the one to
Puge. Sound direct across the Cascades
through the Yakima country; and to New
Tacoma, or feeder to Seattle from . di-
vergence on the roai 81 or ~ u.iles east
of the latter city Ii is true that the And
grant Of the n. P. r R. Co. requires
that they shall build one branch Of their
road to point upon the Columbia River,
and another one TO Puget Sound, but
leaving the terminal point to the company
TO determine.
The vast interests Of this company re-
quire that the road shonid cross the
mountains upon the Green River pass
route The company have already 22
mules Of broad guagc road made to South
Prairie, - miles east of New Tacoma,
and in direct line towards this pass
Their land grant, along upon both sides
OF this route, is worth more than ten mil
lions OF dollars, in soils, timber, coal
iron, silver, chalk, mineral paint, mag
nesia, water power and superior building
rock. They have all the water front
at New and O,d Tacoma for about three
miles at the head Of commencement Bay,
besides large amount Of town property
in New Tacoma They ewn riparian
rights Y. Z. and S. E. of New Tacoma to
the space for city of more than quar-
ter Of million inhabitants. These lands
Will be valuable only as lying upon that
road throush the Green River pass route.
The minerals alone on their lands would
be worth, when developed, twice as much
as would be required to build that line
OF road. But the great worth of this road
to Eastern Washington as well as Western
Washington in the great system Of ex-
change Of products, and social relations,
would be beyond computation. Eastern
Washington needs the coal the iron, the
timber, the lime, the fish and the ties and
piles that could be sent in such great
abundance from the Sound country on
that railroad to the great open, rich coun-
try in Easterh Washington and parts of
Idaho. Bat last, though not ieasr, is
the immense advantage of Transporting
the vast tonnage Of the eastern section to
deep, safe ship navigation upon Puget
Sound. We w,uld all desire most earn
estiy that tire mighty Columbia-the clas-
sic '10reson" afford deep and
safe navigation from The Dalles, through
the Cascade Locks and 10 deep sea beyond
the Columbia bar. But the inexorablc
logic os facts declares that the vast guam
titles =. fine sand which constantly are
blown INFO the Columbia river and carried
down to the lower Columbia, settle down
in great quantities and form the bar at
the mouth Of the Willamette river and
on FIVE bars below and on the great sand
flats below Astoria lies the great trouble
to navigation. The channels below As
toria are constantly filling up. Dredging
cannot clear those channels permanently
for large ocean vessels Clatsop spit Is
constantly wearins IF and the gulf stream
is forcing the sand ac,,ss the channels
and shoa:ing them.
All the large s:i.ps must al length come
10 Puget s .uud for freight. The great
ei,y Of The Northwest viii spring up at
New Tacoma or Ssa,;ie Shall not the
\. =. r L. c., accomplish the great
work Of buiijiEs this standard guage road
from Walluia 10 the Soundl They are
fully able to 90 it, and no doubt but that
they are willing TO do it, Ii they are will
ling and the people are willing, who shall
prevent the consumation of this great
measure
Nh. Willard seems nearly hopeless
about the clearing out Of the Columbia
river below the Cascade falls He de-
| signs 10 build railroad from Portland to
Kalama, by which vast tonnage from
Portland would pass to the Sound on the
Kalama road. We hope that those great
measures will succeed
DAVID NEwsoNE.