The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-02-14
A TRIP AROUND ALASKA
BY FATHER BAILEY.

We left the Sixteenth street sta
ton in Oakland at :35 on the even
ing of July Goth, and arrived in Port
land, Oregon, on the 22d, at 12:54
P ~, by rail-
l will not describe route SO com
mon, except to say that as we passed
over the rolling country Of Oregon,
the oaks, so common IN California,
began to be mixed with cone-bearlng
trees-frs, pine, etc.-whlch IN
creased as we went north, till at last
no oaks were seen. The country,
too, became more smoky as we pro
ceeded, until, as we went through
Washington Territory, the smoke
became so dense as to be uncomfort-
able, and all the grand, high old
mountains were blotted out. Shasta
made a grand show, but as we waited
at Tacoma we only obtained a soil
tary glimpse of the top of Mt. Rain
Ter or Tacoma, which, seen by the
last rays OF the setting sun, appeared
like a small, illuminated cloud, from
which it could only be distinguished
by it's permanence.
Arriving at Portland, we stopped
at the Esmonde House, but the I'M
promising appearance of things,
coupled with high prices, led Us to
look farther, and we finally decided
to stay at the st. Charles, where the
table was not necessarily connected
with lodging and the prices were
moderate.
Portland is a place of $4,000 in
habitants, but having been settled
sometime ago it has an old time look
the streets are narrow, the hotels are
out of date, although splendid new
one is being built.
l had a letter from Mrs. Mills in.
PRODUCING me to Hon. Mr.. Dolph
who gave me a free ticket to and
from 1.-The Dalles" on the Columbia
river, which we visited on Tuesday
the 22d. We went up the river by
rail, and first saw the noble stream
after going ten or twelve miles dowr
the willamette, on which Portland is
situated.
The railroad passed up the lef
bank of the Columbia, and the
"Dalles" are about 100 miles above
the junction of the two rivers After
awhile the banks of the Columbi;
become high cliffs, broken up int
fantastic shapes, and more or less
covered with pine and other trees
Poplar and cottonwood, and [ thinl
sycamores abound on its immediat,
banks. The two former are manu-
featured into excellent paper il
some mills along the river banks, TO
which purpose the trunks ant
branches are ground into a pulp
The clear, crystal waters of tn
river are peculiarly favorable TO
this work. There are also establish
ments for canning salmon. Som
of the villages along the banks, nest
ling at the foot of the tall cliffs wer
very picturesque.
The railroad passes frequentl,
through tunnels, under spurs whicl
} extend out from the cliffs quite t
the rivers, giving no place to g
around them.
About half way up to the 'sDalles
the Cascades" are passed. The
are a series of rapids more or les
steep, extending five or six mile
along the river, and giving variet
and beauty to the scenery as the
flash in the sunlight There ar
many beautiful, wooded islands i
the river; some of which are only
, few rods in extent. In most stee
places the cliffs are bare, revealin
the rocky strata. The prevailin
character of the rocks is evidentl
t volcanic, though some good sane
stone for building was SEEN
We arrived at the Dalles abor
: noon, and the heat was great. w
put up at the Umatilla House wher
!, we were made as comfortable as th
t case admitted at moderate cost. W
=, were in full view of the river.
We did not see the ''Dalles" c
Narrows, from which the place take
its name. The town contains por
g ulation of about 5000, and has til
appearance of a busy, growing plac,
1t is lighted by electricity, as 1 ha
occasion to know, my watch bein
: stopped while l visited the work
: where the willy fluid is made
steam power.
:, At IA. NJ. on the oath, we took th
steamer D. S. Baker, a stern-wheele
as all the river steamers are. for on
t return to Portland. There are som
t advantages in going by steamer; 20
can see both banks equally we'll, an
are less cramped than on cars.
At the Cascades we landed an
took cars which were waiting an
| ran about six miles by land, and the
took another steamer below the Cas-
cades, which had come up to NEE
us: but we had to wait some tim
which made it 7:45 when we arrive
, in Portland.
Once we stopped at paper mil
and took on cargo of paper whicl
was brought on board in rolls fou
feet long and two and half fee
!. thick, or Whereabouts. It was th
paper on which one of the Portlan,
periodicals is printed; being read,