Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-08-22
GSTo EAsTER1 WAsQlyGroS N
RAIL.

give romantic impressions. 1t is
sand bank, on which the railroad ha
station houses that blush with pain
and are favored with responsibility
but the town itself is rude eollectios
OF rough board shanties where mer
chandise and wbiskey maintain sway
And there is restaurant or SO tina
must preserve life, because the inhabit
ants do live. whether by meat or 6rinl
the reader may judge for himself.
The train that left The Dalles las
evening stopped little before nine
o'clock and laid by nj Grants station
until morning. A freight train tha
passed down this side of Grant.
found the sand over the track SO thai
the cars ran off the rails. and the
wrecking train was busy all night re
moving the fragments. On one side
lay the locomotive, literally hors du
combat. and on the other were seve
raj box cars, piled up in fearful man
ner. The drifting sands that made
trouble are drifting still, and will con
tinue to drift while winds continue to
blow, and that is what the Colnmbia
river winds do with unfailing persist
ence. So We slept in quiet in the sec.
tons OF the Pullman. and wondered
whenever we awoke why the train
was not in motion. We got = cup of
coffee and something that kept hun.
ger still, at Grants, where the land.
lady did her best for the usual throng
of customers. ut is an i'll wind that
blows nobody good" The drifting
sands of the Columbia river lost US a
days time. We came on to Wallula,
where we dined on the fat Of some
other land, because there is no fatness
in the sand and sage brush about Wal
lula, then came on to AinswOrth, and
between Grant, Wallula and Aims
worth it would require sharp hand
to give the preference.
Here is where the importance OF the
Pullman sleeper comes in. Having
paid for accommodations to RitZville
we have good quarters and a pleasant
home, with good attendance, the ice
water doesn't fail. and the clean tow
els are constantly on hand. But for
this, the idea of spending night at
AinswOrth would be alarming. All
the beds in town are occupied. aud
the hotel accommodations are not Of
the highest order. Rude shake downs
answer for the ropgh fellows who need
to be taken in and caredfor. How to
sleep Is a much more important tban
what to eat. With the Pullman char
tered for the voyage we can put up
with different or with indifferent fare,
il necessary.
Just now the town Is full Of rough
looking men who have just come from
running down drive of logs from
the forests Of the upper Yakima.
They are hard workers as a class, and
know how to manage the floating logs
in swift or sluggish waters. They
come here from the Sound, but are
originally from Maine, Michigan or
Wisconsin. They earn good wages.
frequently getting 81 or - day. 1
am told that some extra good men
have been paid $1,000 for a seasons
work. They spend a great deal OF
time in water, and often suffer from
rheumatism. Some of them are on a
bender; they act silly, but are jolly
and yood-natured. AS a class they
are big. stout fellows. brawny and
large limbe6, for it is business where
no weak manhood need aspire. Many
of them are prudent and saving
They have their board besides their
big wages, and when the drive is over
the whole sum OF their wages is to
their credit. They look as II the
weather had beaten on them. for they
seem made of bronze.
As contrast to these western sons
of toll, here come, with incident,
tread, four of the natives
of the country. They are dressed in
blanket pants or leggings, moccaslns.
and wrapped in o blanket. as II the
sun was not hot enough, and the sands
of Ainsworth rejecting the suns rays
make a smelter without much Cloth
ing They letter close by and engage
in conversation. My old stock OF
iargon is called on for a medium OF
discourse. They say they are Column
bia River Indians, and this is their
that they have no CHIEF, ne
Is dead; that they are fearful SO many
whites will come here that there wont
be room left here for slwashes. In
short, they wax eloquent, ana Win a
little encouragement would detail! TO
rs a pitiful story Of their wrongs.
change the conversation, however.
and ask them why they don't work
AS white men do. aud raise bread. and
earn money to buy food and clothes
with. and be like white folks. 1t is
to see how suddenly these
tillicums fail to understand you when
you talk common sense to them, ana
mention the idea Of work. They fold
their blankets around their dusky
forms when you do that, and say they
don't understand you, and VIII see
YOU again. That was what this band
of siwashes did, here at Ainsworth,
this blessed Sabbath afternoon.
Supper is over. The restaurant
WAS crowded, and between the fliers
and the loggers the victuals evidently
had a hard time of 1t. Down on the
river, close by. was the steamer An
ME Faxon, belonging to the N. r: Is
r. Co., engaged in towing the logs
down from the mouth Of the Yakima.
fiftcen miles distant. To 60 on board
the clean looking steamer and get =
cup of tea was q good thing to be able
to do and did it, having acquaint-
ance with the officers, 50 that supper
time passed without compelling diges-
ton TO wait too long for appetite: 1t
was = hot afternoon. intensified BY
the scorching sands, but towards eve
ming a cool breeze came down the
Colombia. A friend from Waila
WaIla pro posed to walk up that stream
about mileto the company's saw
mil, which several Of US toOkandreally
enioyed. This saw mill is on the Col
nmbia where IN island creates IN
eddy and in the slough between the
island and main land they find room
for storing millions oflogs. The mill
has 4 capacity only less than that Of
-. 20 shel al class mills on the Sound