, 1889-05-09
RAMBLING NOTES.
Spokane Falls to COlfax Over
the Spokane l. PalOuse.
Something About Railroad Mis-
connections ut Garfield.
Coiisx-The Advantages Of the Rockford
Branch whitman County
Court House Muddio.

A correct idea of an important section
Of the vast and rich agricultural country
tributary to Spokane Falls can be formed
BY taking = trip over the Spokane Il Pa.
louse railway, which places the famous Pa.
louise country in direct con nmu nicAtion
With the Northern Pacific railroad. and
the commercial center and natural v ateway
pire-Spokape Falls.
A long unsatis6ed desire to once more
piingle for time with old-tine friends in
the thriving town OF Colfax, tte county
seat OF the rich and far.famed county OF
Whitman. prompted the writer,a few days
since, to shift the responsibilities of his
position on the reportorial staff of the
REVIEW to the shoulders Of his more i'm.
pecunious co-workers, and abat don him.
self to the lnxuries Of relief from work
and to the tender mercies Of the officials
Of the Northern Pacific US far as Marshall
Junction. thence over the Spokane Il Pa
louse to Garfield, thence over the .. X. x
N. to Colfax.
The passenger train on the Spokane &
Palouse leaves Spokane Falls at 2:45 p.
M , and in less than two hours crosses the
timber line and reveals to the EYE of the
purofhkrI VIC utlub vi tUt
great Palouse country, stretching east, " est
and south until lost to view in toe crests
Of the fertile hills beyond.
From the timber line on the north to the
intersection of the Spokane& Il Palonse with
the o. X. 4 n. at Garfield, the scene il
one of continuous fertile rolling hills and
plains. Rosaiia, Spangle. Oakesdale and
Garfield are the aour,shing towns which
have sprung into existence as the natural
result of the rapid settlement of this great
wheat. growing region. They are oil TO-.
Gated on the line of the Spokane a. Palouse,
road which perhaps furnishes as much
ira fic in the way OF wheat shipment as any
other branch line in the great Northwest
RECKLESS BoyINEs.
There are great many cattle along the
line of this road, and they have become 40
used to passing trains that they pay little
attention to the warning toots of the whis.
tie and generally get oH the track in the
most leisurely manner, unless assisted by
the cowcatcher, which is not infre qupntly
the case. Oftentime, the train il forced
to come almost to standstill In order to
allow these lazy boyines to take their own
time for getting out OF the way. Just
after leaving SpanRle our train came across
bunch of cattle, and despite loud shrieks
ITOul tut WUIbtIt Ont cow WIN
O bell on walked leisurely along
the track in front Of the tram, and before
it could be stopped her cowsnip was over.
taken and knocked almost off the face of
the earth for her foOli shness. She got up
with broken leg and shook her head de .
family at the passengers who got of to
sympathize with her. Some cows never do
have any sense.
rYNn nvUAv
A paragraph which has been
effect that the Spokane & Palouse
and o. Il. & N. trains now con-
meet at Garfield IL an infamous prevarica.
tion and has been the cause of much pro-
family which might otherwise have been
dispensed with.
The trains not only do not connect at
Garfield, but either the officers of the
Northern Pacific or o. r. & N. or both,
take particular pains to prevent any con
nettion, making II condition of affairs ex-
tremely exasperating to the travelling
public. The situation is simply this:
The Spokane and Palouse train from
Genessee to Spokane, Falls and the Q: X.
& N train from Pennington to Walla
Walla, both reach Garfield either at the
same time or within II very few minutes
of each other. The roads cross here, and
trains are required to come to u stop and
whistle before crossing. IL one train
happens to get IN few minutes ahead of
the other it is possible tor passengers to
make the connection, but If the trains
arrive at the same time this is almost i'm
possible. The depots are only about 300
yards apart. but neither train stops long
enough to allow passengers time to travel
from one depot 10 the other. They delib-
erately pull out while passengers are max.
ing every effort to travel the brief dis
tance of 300 yards, People who get left
in this manner. when delay of half a
minute would prove of no incon venience at
all TO the railway people. get very mad.
and say awful bad things abeut this style
Of managing railroads. People who are
posted. however, have discovered means
by which connection can be made when
the trains arrive simultaneously, and that
IL by getting Of the moment the train
stops at the crossing and running at once
TO the depot Of the other road. A good
foot-rscer, not handicapped with too much
baggage, can usually make connection by
following the above plan.
There Is no chance for even good foot
racer to make connection going from Spo-
kane Falls to COlfax, or vice versa, and it
is necessary to spend the night in Garfield.
Fortunately for the disgusted traveller this
little town supports an excellent hotel.
Garfield is a "dry town." there not being
q solitary saloon in the place. Several
citizens apolo3ized to our party for this
apparent lack of accommodation, and
stated positively that saloon would be
started within two weeks.
COLFAX,
Colfax has for many years been the
principal town Of the Palouse country, and
the indications are that it will long be
able to maintain its position as such.
The advent of railroads has caused rival
towns to spring up on every aide, but none
of them have sufficient natural advantages
over Colfax to deprive that healthy little
city of its com mercial supremacy.