, 1882-03-18
Prom she Chief
o. BOARD TEE ALxorA, March l2:h-

=
cobwebs from ones brain, and with this ides
I concluded, a few hours before my epai
.ure, that il WAS due the readers OF the
SrarssxAS 70 inform them OF the status Oh
the uppe. country, and accordingly took the
train for South Texas On Sunday morning as
. telegram the day previous informed me
tina. the Almo.s would start for Lewiston on
its arrival.
This programme was carried out to the
letter; We arrived at Texas q little after
noon, and after paying my derours TO Capt'
Peabody and the rest of the boys, went on
board and did justice to . good dinner
although the steward spOlogized for the menu
on the ground that We were late And conse-
auen.iy the best OF everything was gone. IL
is but right that should make particular
mention Of the officers and men Of this boat
They are the most attentive set Of men ever
met, polite snd gracious to all; Capt bansn-
man saws but little but that httle is to the
point. Ee attends faithfully to his duty and
appears 10 have an eye to everything. 1he
pur,er Of the boat, Mr.. C. W. Wooster. Is
quiet pleasant gentleman that every one has
A good word for. Of course made friends
with the steward, I. Sheridan the trst l
knew of him was portrait l saw in the tel
egraph shanty at South Texas; underneath
it was the information that he had starved
more men than any other two stewards IN
the company's employ but this is base
slander for the table Is better set and at
tended than even below the Cascades; all
the Sheridan family appear to have good
poin.s about them somewhere but this par
ticulsr one bristles with them; strike him
where you will spark Of good nature, TEL
low feeling or generosity is sure to fy out; {;
he has been great traveller and car spo.
bad character Just as soon as he sees him-or
her
There is a terrible complaint al! along the
line from Bolies Junction 10 Texas that they
cannot obtain mails with any regularity !;
it looks 20 me that it could very easily be
remedied: | know that there is no mail
route vet established there, but surely some
Temporary arrangement could he made by
which the people could receive a daily mail J;
trains run every day from Walla Walla and
it would be very easy matter to have sack
of mail left at one of the company offices IN
the city and for one Of the tram men to dis
tribute it along the route at the stations
where the train stops. Mr.. Chase, l fancy,
would receive anything OF the kind at his
office he is always very good natured and
obliging in anything that pertains to the
public benefit, and by doing this he would
confer benefit upon hundreds.
Snake river is very forbidding in its gen.
eral air OF sterility and dreariness more es-
peciallv to new eomers who have heard and
read SO much about the fertility Of our soil;
it reminds me of the thoruy and tOrtuous
path we used TO read Of in the pilgrims pro-
gress but which always led to a heaven OF
delIght and happiness, no one can form an
idea of the country from what he sees by
travelling up the river: the traveller must
get away from the river slope entirely and
it is not until he reaches the summit of the
hills on either side can he Judge what the
country really is.
Both the "Almota" and Spokane" are
kept busy bringing down wheat from Lewis
ton, Almota and other landings; there is yet
no less than
SIXTEEN THOUSAND TONS
of wheat to be carried away and both boats
will find employment until next harvest
Dreary as the Snake river valley looks yet
see much land cultivated wherever there Is a
chance to plow and scme Of the flats, ben
chcs, and at the mouth of the creeks every
thing is plowed up, and the tall sown grain
looks much better than on the upiands.
Wherever there is a chance to irrigate down
here fruit thrives wonderfully and venture
tie prediction that some OF these river lands
will yet command higher value than ever
our famous wheat lands, being at much
lower altitude, the climate is much warmer
and vegetation is more forward than in the
Walla Walla valley.
The recent freshet has left an indelible
imprint in some of the creeks; in the bed Of
Toucsnnon where there was fully Six feet Of
ietriS the bed rock now glistens in the sun
it has gone to help
BUILD UP DELTA
at the mouth of the Columbia, and / cannot
help thinking what fine farming country
will be formed there in some future era Of
the worlds history. If l was asked for my
opinion respecting the Columbia river ba,
about this time, should say that it would
annually become worse instead Of better and
among the reasons should vance would
NC tHS VASTLY i.SiSooSt uut VI ihuu
brought down of late years wing to the
great mining operations on the hundreds OF
streams tribulating TO that noble river.
Take the tributaries Of Snake river alone
and We have the muddy waters of the Clear.
water, Salmon, Powder, Burnt, Boise, Owy-
hee, Grande Ronde and Wood rivers, all Of
which were once streams SO pure and blue
that fish swimming about and rocks at the
bottom could clearly be seen, but now many
Of them
Run LIQUID MUD
caused by the annually growing scarcity Of
gold, and the consequent washing away Of
so much more alluvial to obtain it, the argu-
mcnt that every high water helps the bar is
a very foolish one for the reason that in reg
ular years the sand. Iailings, etc, accumu-
late, and in high water is brought down
with rush. The question is. do the waters
at the mouth OF the river-where it Is very
fat and no fall, take away the dirt that
Is brought down roaring and rapid rivers: ]
will say nothing respecting the quantity OF
mud added by the irrgating operations in
the sage-brush interior.
F.J.P.
SNAKE RIVER TowNs.-The editor of the
STATESMAN, among other interesting editor.
ial notes just received, pronounces the
s.tOrE, on Snake river IN ne miserable