Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-04

E ever the yield, il is plain from Il
thrifty appearance Of the farms, n se<
from the car windows. that the GRECO
farmer. n time. grows comfortably.
$ not luxuriocsly rieh. These willamet
valley people are rather fortunate
the facility with which they reach
= sure and capacious market. Two lin,
] OF railroad, on either side of d
/. river, bring every cultivated mi
|, OF the district within bu, OF
/ days shipment of an export marke
/, while complete elevatoApystem facil
J tases .he handling of the product. A
, IN Dakota, toe wheat is threshed ir ID
harvest field without fear of rain, an
deposited in the elevasors-the elevate
ticket being afterward negotiated in th
market. The trip mp this valley wa
eighty miles TO Albany. through Salen
tas capital Of the State-a common
ptce village enough. The most charm
ing OF the sub-excursions out of Por,
land Was that 70 Astoria. There aT
three thugs at Astoria-historic remi
niscences. salmon fisheries and can
neries- and a distant view of the Pacific
ine "Reminiscences are connected witt
John Jacob Astor. and with Lewis AM
Clarke, who spent winter here. an,
are not so entertaining as the othe
things. Astoria is half a Venice ant
4 naif Swiss hamlet. One part stick,
like fiy on the wall to the face Of [
precipice, dislodRing giant pines tha,
grow 70 the 'vatsr's edRe-the other
frame and brick business builinRs, saw
mills. salmon canning houses-is bull
on piles over muddy cats, covered w1tf
water at high tide. Above thu
town. which looks shabby and wealth
er-beaten. rises an abrupt hill, So(
feet above the sea level, which gave al
q panorama of the river mouth head
lands and the bar /; and, cleaning like
a ribbon of silver ON the horizon, the
vide expanse Of the Pacific itself. into
which We saw the sun set like ball Of
red hot metal into sea of mercury
from the deck of the steamer an hour
later. There wasn't much sentiment in
our party. bat the view on the series Of
Columbia River trips which ended at
Astoria kept the cabin pretty well emp
tied and the decks crowded with gazers.
they saw none Of the trumpeted won
ders of the Columbia dallcs, cas-
cades or rapids-only the majes-
TIC river itself, rolling between
dark cliffs from few hundred
to near thousand feet high, chnaging
from sheer precipices of basalt TO steep
wooded slopes, and marked here and
there with the silver thread Of water
fall. But there were stores of beauty
enough in these to feed the mind with
memories for lifetime. There is a
considerable lumber interest at Astoria,
though the IRE of q year ago burnt u
ghastly hole in it but the place lives
chiefly on fish. 1t has 1000 popu-
lation IN the fishing season, and 400
the rest OF the year. The surplus are
the hardy and daring Italian and Scan
dinaviau fisherman, who take the
salmon ont Of the river, and the China
men, who put them into the cans in the
oanneriss. There are some dozen of
these canning establishments, repre-
senting a capital Of $4,000, with an
annual product Of 10000 cases, worth
nearly 100000. Until now the pro-
duct has mainly gone abroad to Eu-
rope, Asig and Australia but with the
opening Of the Northern Pscifc IL 10
proposed TO chatiRe all that and turn
part OF the current eastward. The Last
OF the minor excursions out of Port
land took the party over the first strip
OF railroad built by the Northern Pa
cite in Oregon - the Puget Sound
branch, from Kalama 70 Tacoma.
Kalama Ia sosle twenty miles below the
mouth of the Willamette, on the Co
iumbia, and 10 still reached BY boat,
though the rail line 10 conpleted and
~ tnepe0eed By villasd . ony or two
ago. From Kalama this strip Of road
aims almost due north TO the southern
most inlet Of the strsgglinc found. Il
10 one hundred miles in length, and they
are doll and weary miles, sitter the bold
and pictureeQue scenery Of the
Columbia. The situation IL good deal
like that in Northern Wisconsin, with
little patches Of prairie substituted for
the swAmps, and O mountain back
ground added; forests Of pine, muddy
and half-choked streams, through
whose valleys the road finds its way,
with foFiQrp looking farms and settle
ments pretty tbickly scattered, and
t1esifying to its very recent settlement.
There are sonse evidences of aer:cui-
ture and more Of lum5efipg. bat in
general the country does not seem 10
have been very thoroughly explored.
The hope and rev ard OF rn;s soufnryi.
q view Of Mount Tacoma. We have
been very spar;ngiy .ei ON snov-cspYed
peaks on this irip-M5cn Hooi Slow
ing its c.si~llaied sammits aud 81.
Helen's ifs t.oad-bssed cone for tne
Erss time On sne morning most Of tne
party left Portland. Tacoma, overlook
the last half of the Soand journey,
with its plac:ey-stYiped and SNOW
clad summit cleaning in bright SON
and under clear sky - Tacoma
was, by far. the .Mof striking
mountain spectacle os the joorney--its
apparent height being exaggerated by
its apparent Yise from ia: plain II,sls
shove the SEA level. Tie road fesm!n-
stes for the present at New Tacoma, .
magic city 81 5000 70 1000 people,
evoked in three years from wilderness,
while old Tacoma, which missed the
railroad. s;umbers IN unvistted obseoyi-
81 two nilD fssthes. Fogsy miles
north, on the east shore Of The 6ound,
opposite the Straits of Fuca. lies g.
aide, the older and larger rival Of Ts-
coma for terminal elosiss. Tbs tvs
towns ars alike In sitossjon and ehassc-
ter, sIambsring The hilisidss like Astoria
o. DuIuGh; bat 6eattls has eood pop
plstioo, fne hote1s and bosinsss btoeks,
an Gu1abiisbed trade sod go mills that
Do not yiald 70 0inuespolis or Duluth.
Tecoue has ~ IT, tBpsoayess and So
rn1leond II poo1nn66o, bot the liao viii
b eomplsted . 6on11Ie githin . Doosh.
vbsn % . superficial ytsu tbs con1sss
0o0G ukejy 20 beenne onequaL Tbs
Quaoe5co which of theoe growing towns
3 70 oetaf0v the othss, u ises intsssse-
ing than the larger question ] have
tsuchsd upon befoss-vbeeber . great
seaport rival 70 Portland shall Rros up
On IT, fhyres Of tbs Bound. Eisher Of
shseopanAs has - Dhyo:Gat qnslj6cs-
tons for such port; perfectly shelter
ed, dep haYbo., and . pe0ducslye eoan-
Try back Of it--As do dozen other
places on the coast. The timber re-
soosees Of either would bofld up ssb
stanSiai city. aud the Ignite and bstc-
minous col mines in The interior prem
| ise maferi4l for lees primitive msnufse-
fnsss. 4 branch railroad from Tacoma
70 Csxbonado. tie seat Of the m0ee
! futly deysl0p<d mines. - 4, link In the
Cascade rznes cus-aE os the future.
vkish ska.i briag fns S0ftb<sn Pacific
elesr 70 Pueso Sound.
A CoCSyET FoE FARMERS Prom
residents Of the Wenss country Ne
] learn fbss fhst SECTION IL rapidly ses.
tiing mp During the past fes
months considerable nHmbefs hss<
s~ff3nd In there many Of whom have