The Republican journal., 1885-02-19
The Oregon Snow Blockade.

WHAT KANSAS MAN SAYS Oh IL.
kansi, man who was in Portland Oregon
during the recent snow blockade wrote home t,
the Topeka commonwealth the follow in.
amusing, though perhaps not strictly accurate
letter:
Portland. the richest LATEST and drIip~t towf
of is size in the United States il bottled IN fol
an indefinite period. Providence. in the form
of d snow storm ably assisted BY the improvi
Deuce Of the people. ba~ completely corked II,
this community.
Imagine Topek being Withou; "A mail fer tet
( days; her railways suspended because il hAt
never occurred to the managers to provide snow
piOWS; her street cans stuck in the snow drift,
because II cost too much 10 shol eli them out be
| telephone wires lying IN tangled masses in III,
trees and on the house tops, because it cost lu(
much to right them; her theaters using candle,
because the gas works We're disabled her cjti
Zens using snow water because the water main,
had burst. and laundering through the drift,
on The sidewalks because ii cost money to shove
away the snow. And this condition of thing,
continuing not for a day, but for ten days. Oh
the hundred miles or more of sidewalk in the
city, It l. safe to say that less than half milk
mas been cleared OF the snow. In Topeka Wher
lady goes out TO do shopping she finds an oper
walk TO tread on and courteous clerks to opel
store doors for her, and some disposition tc
t'''it htl pau biidSt. III IOIlidllti slt has 1t
hounder along in Indian file, with other untor.
Inmates, and contest her right to Il share of tbe
path VITA drunken sailors and Cinnamon. oper
anu close doors herself and invite the clerk, Whl
Is 1attenlDg his nose against the window pane
to wait upon her.
Since the Willard bauble burst. Portland has
been IN condition of helples, collapse. With.
out enterprise TO develop her resources, or sag.
aclty TO discern the course of events. she is sit
ing III the ashes of her hopes. while Tacoma
and Seattle are planning for her further bumil.
aion.
The Oregonian is making vigorous effort to
rouse the people. but 1t will be futile, Portland
Is too well satisfied with being dead
This is dreary Christmas. There are few
sitlehs IN the streets, and occasional SYMPTOM,
OF fiaccld sort of mrth struggle up through
The storm to my wndoN. Muffied figures now
and then pass, as some son of ii millionaire
Weaves his way along the trail to the theater or
ball with his best girl 'toting' along behind
very solemn sensation is the hilarity of Port
land.
y few miles from here are 125 overland pas.
sengers stuck in the snow-waiting for spring.
For ten days aud nights they have paced the
noor OF those cars or sought sleep on the seats
without bedcothes, and listened for the shouts
Of the relief party that have not come. There
are delicate children of the number. and enfee-
pea Ole men and women, and yet the railroad
Is struggling alone in its gallant fight with the
elements Tor these lives. God only knows which
side VIII be successful, and the people of Port
land evidently don't care
One old lady was Oh Ler way to spend Christ
mas with her daughter in this city, but instead
she Is eating raw wheat for Christmas dinner
While her daughter has been a corpse for a
week. Such conditions usually distress svmpa-
thetlc people and rouse the noble and generous
qualities in their natures, hut Portland is indif-
1erent. suppose these trains We're blockaded at
Eudofa, and the country between there and
Topeka was unnhabited. suppose members
OF Topeka families were on these trains and had
not had full meal for ten DAYS. Suppose
those families knew their relatives were on this
good Christmas day chewing handfuls of wheat
to keep soul and body together. Under these
circumstances would the people of Topeka
leave the Santa Fe road to fight the storm alone,
Would they say, THE railroad has more money
Than we have, let them fight 1t out" Would
the Santa Fe officers have to give men 800 each
to carry few pounds of bread to those people
TO keep them from starving. | think not. !
think the bells would be rung, the people called
together, purses opened, expeditions organized
and bountiful supplies carried by swift feet
until every craving appetite was salislied-until
every mans fears were allayed and every child's
tears were dried.
But Portland is not Topeka and there are
more on this coast than he Chinese whose wavs
are peculiar"
7. S.-lf this letter moves on Portland time
l shall be in Topeka before it arrives next sum
mer and will read the proof for you.