New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-08-21
A REMOTE METROPOLIS.
THE RICH CITY OF THE PACIFIC NokIh-
WEST.


Sucb place usually lives on few manuiaetnli"s
establishments and the trade of single popuio",
county, Here on the Pacific coast town oil 'Ii''
size is genujno metropolis, controlling nc COM
netco OF n vast region and furnishing iocai Po'il'
for the forces Of enterprise capital and ntesoA00
The last census gave Portland population "
only 1900 and ranked it little oeio"
burg. ~. Y. Altoona. Penn. Merideh' OV''"''
and GAINESVILLE Ohio. and uno
such towns as Binghamton. new Drums
and Bangor. The local estimate oi :"
populatIon is 5000. and like all local -
makes too liberal an allowance for eIo"'" III.
the ccnsns-taker finished ms WORK 10 NO ~ 900
the mark. let us say that there are How 1900 .
uenple 10000 whites and 1000 Chlhanonl y" '".'
LITTLE shore between the hr 1OIeS' III" .''
Dood of the Willamette River, ana on '"0
nla,ean across the stream The town, with It's
snpurb of East Portland. would only MAKE q N'"
York suburb like Orange or Honkers' leu "
handles ten million bushels OF wht at every year.
oo,trols TRANSFORMATION lines which drain rc8lon
mare than five hundred miles square, schnS SINUS
all over the world and sells goods TO the pecio u
an entire State and Territory soon 10 oeco"i0
State. With so great a trade IN inc h""N'
comparatively few peOPle-the pioh's All Poui 'nh
into a single town-POrland has grown very r'cn
indeed it is said to have moro wealth. per cAp''" Va
population than any other city n the Oh''eu 't'Oo
except New Haven, surprising TACT "hen i'' 'i'i
thirty years of existence are contrasteo WIN 'no
40 centuries OF the NewEngland towns. O.SeINo'
zoo that the property Of the Oregon meToPoI'' ms
rot come from mines of the precious meIliH' loi 'V
mines of the country tributary to IL are IL" - "
small account. but is almost wholly the result oil
trade and transportation, based on the products u
labor IN fields and forests and IN the salmon "'i-
eries Wheat first. then lumber then the salmon
catch form fhe foundation of Portlands remark
able prosperity.
Rc'uc rich. the Port and people build solid, hani-
some bus.ness blocks of brick and iron, plant spa
cious dwellings IN the midst Of flowers anu tiecS Oh
heights looking across town, rlvcr ana IoIeS'S ~
Mount Hoods huge pyramid of snow ana rGcK, 'nu
the dazzling white sugar loaf of Mount st. Helen -
Thev have sch0ol-houses that rank WIN 'Ho
biggest and best in Eastern cities. stores rs Ia
and Az well stocked as those OF BOSTON, o pu"H'
lii rary, comfortable clubhouse, miles OF maple
shaded streets bnrdered by pretty lawns churches
uitbopt number. a daily journal that prints
Whole folio page OF Geographic ne"s-albo9C
everything in short appertaining to lone-settied
and luxurious civilization except good hotel.
Remerber that this is in region wholly $50 ated
from rail communication with tie Last, ana
reached quickest by three days ocean voyage
from san Francisco. Next year New-lork ana
Portla nd will be united by the completlcn OF the
Northern Pacific road, but all that one now sees
here of Eastern comfort, intelligence Industry anu
taste has been lifted over the obstacles {" "lae con-
tinen.al spaces and six hundred miles OF sea- ana
Tins tran,panted has hourished i'll spike OF distance
and isolation. The railroads now operated IN
Oregon and Washington end at the mountain Oar
riers on the east and the south
Inc Porllanders take life comfortably. They are
not eager and active like the people Of ne"
western towns on the Atlantic slope. They do not
ALWAYS seem to be in GREATNESS chase I'er tHc
mighty dollar Tnev saunter along the streets
omen the stores late and close early do business IN
an eosv-poinC live-and-et-ive way, like TO 1nn
dawn 10 san Francisco to bigger weird IMAM
their own are much given 20 picncs. excursions ana
little home socables, pay good zeal OF at'et'" ~
church matters, read tine Eastern magazines anu
weekly papers, talk National politics as rr'"Hs
as an Ohio man. dress well, and are roma ol goo"
cheer The tone of society Is much more dIscfeet
and sober and less viyacious. am told than IN san
Francisco and comes pretty well uPto the s'ahNafd
Of small Eastern cities. To the tourist the city mas
tvo nermauent charins-the view Of the eternal
SHOWS on Hood and ST. Ielen's, ana on the farther
neaks OF Rainier and Adj ns, glowing in the full
noonday light or blushinc at dawn or sunset. or
cleaning FAINT and ghost-hke between wrapplngs
of coua and the dark fragrant fir forests close N
hand through which one can eailop over good
roads along the brink Of Alpine eorees Then there
are pleasant sails on well-appointed STEAMBOATS,
down tie Willamette and up the broad Columbia
10 fine Cascades and the Dal!es or down TO Astoria,
which sits Oh plies by the wlter-sde and lives on
salmon and sailors All Is forest and mountain on
the Columbia save bit Of farm at long ln'eT' as
h,lf drowned by the freshct at this season OF n~-
ing SHOWS IN the Cascades and tho Roa kies ana
la, f1..,fo s4 Inn Il
70 surpass Portland but years ago gave up the
pleasing deluson. But one has only TO 20 south
ward by rail up either side of the Willamette
V,uov TO see Il well-sett ed region Of broad wheat,
fold meadows and orchards. basking in a.rlcultu-
raj ptosneri,y and dotted with pretty little towns.
The whole broad continent contains no finer or
more fertile valley than tins. Where csc, inteod,
can fields be found which have produced wheat tor
thirty successive years and still YIELD at least thirty
bnShels TO the acre at every harvest
The neople OF the interior GO not like Portland.
They think it has grown rich at their expense.
They will tell you that 1t IS badly located; that
the METROPOLIS of the Columbia basin ought to be
nearer the sea or at least on the Columbia River,
instead Of fourteen miles up one of its tributaries
and 10 from the ocean. They say it Is Is # New
York were built on the Mohawk, SURPRISING that
stream and the Hudson to be navieable for large
-hips. Some say the big cIty Of the Pacific North
west should be on Puget Sound: Others at Astoria;
others at the head of navigation on the Columbia.
Meanwhile Portland continues TO grow in spite Of
all arsument and prophecies. 1t got It's start from
the tact that it stands at the point where eagoing
vessels cot nearest to the wheat fields Of the Villa
rn.tte Valley when that valley grew all the
n-oducts Oregon had TO sell 20 the rest Of the p-Orld
Having GOT the start and the wealth to control
trade Portland is not likely 10 lose her CONNER
.ial supremacy. In spite Ct overflow ana summer
h. Low for
and the growing disposition OF the Coumbia bar
10 Impede navigation. the only seaport city north
of san Francisco has grown up at thus place and
seems IN no danger Of being disturbed by future
rivals.