The record-union., 1892-07-21
B2SELEEA;S OUTING.
She Visits Her Old Home and Friends
in Portland.
Description of a Picnic Party and
Comments Upon the People
Who Composed 1t.

Who Composed 1t.
PORTLAND Orr, July III have been,
or rather to be veracious about the
matter, 1 am at present on my summer
vacation. 1 am spending few weeks i'll
my old home, Portland. Having been
away almost six months I was over
whelmed with joy to be once more within
the walls of my adopted city. l do not
think was ever SO excited in my life as
when the train entered the green and
verdant Oregon State. ! do not mean TO
say that the inhabitants are green" not
by any means, away with such an un-
holy thought! What l meant TO say was
that nature seems more luXuriant here
than in any other part OF this great
Northwest. [ tried my best TO be prop
erly dignified on the train, but am much
afraid l allowed my risibilities to gain
the ascendeDt upon several occasions. one
time in particular. when a dignified old
gentleman fell into the seductive embrace
OF Morpheus and slumbered peacefully.
Then the circumambient air was agiuated
sDy series of grunts, each louder and
longer than its predecessor. Ali at once ne
gave Il terrific snort, which fairly shook
the car and awoke himself with Il jump.
His hat had partially fallen off and by this
tune was perched over one ear; it finally
fell into his seat. startling him beyond
measure. 1t was too much for me- and
L gave away to uncomfortable mirth. The
old gentleman favored me With look
something like this, = PILE" set
the offending object firmly upon his
cranium and staggered forth to the
smoking-car, where he soothed his in
Jured feelings with a Havana.
There was also the Eastern tourist,
making his first Western tour, and who
eyed askance every other male passenger
on the train, thinking they were cow
boys, or, worse Still banditti in disguise
and last but not least the festive drum
mer, making eyes at all the IMPRESSION
able lady passengers. But why go on?
Everyone who has done any travelling at
all knows what a tralnful of ordinary
humanity is like.
/ found Portland very much improved;
several large buildings under construc-
ton whilst L was here are now finished
and others begun. Electric cars line the
city IN every direction, and the principal
business streets are being laid in asphalt
Portland is distinctly not a boom"
town; its growth is slow, but she gets
there just the same. The citizens are be-
ginning to realize that improvements are
absolutely essential, and they are carry
ing out the idea in a praisewCrthy man
ner.
Fires are of too frequent occurrence"
SO say the residents OF this city. There
have been several disastrous confiagra-
tions lately, which look 20 though they
might be of incendiary origin The
largest one occurred several nights ago
when whole block i'll the very heart OF
the city was laid waste by The angry
flames. The loss is variously estimated,
but is thought TO be about S200, GOO. One
young man rushed from one OF the burn
ing buildings clad solely III his robe de
mat, carrying in his hands a silk UNI
brella and pair of corsets just whom
the latter garment belonged to deponent
sayeth not. but as the gentleman is not a
Benedict she gently insinuates they
belong TO the young man himself.
OF course this is stoutIy denied by the
victim. The block is TO be rebuilt at
once.
Sunday night one of the Portland
Hight cable cars ran away, and severely
wounded several passengers. The brake
man lost the grip, and the car, which was
crowded, rushed down the steep incline
at breakneck speed, oyerturning at the
bottom Of the hill and throwing the pas
sengers in all directions. Fortunately
no one was killed outright, though one
young man almost had the life crushed
out OF his body by having the car fall on
top OF him. The cable company exoner-
ated the gripman, and say the accident
was unavoidable. Since the passengers
were SO miracuiously saved from hor-
ri6le and instant death, the general pub
lie are content to let the matter drop and
thank their lucky stars it was no worse.
An individual camping in the noun
talns declares he has seen Mount Hood
smoking again. The papers darkly hint
that he IS suffering from hallucination,
caused by lnDIblng too much ''snfke-
bite autidote." 1t has always been main
tanned that the mountain was once an ex-
tinct volcano, but there is no reliable
authority for the report. A very pretty
Indian legend Is connected with the
mountain, which L do not think is gen
orally known. 1t is said that Mount
Hox. and Mount st. Helena were close
to.s :, in fact they We're married by
the o. at Spirit in the creation of the
woriu. For while they lived happily
together, then st. Helena became dis
satisfied and longed tor a separation.
To this Mount Hood, her spouse.
gave Ehis consent. st. Helena there
upon moved several miles away from her
oDnoxious husband, so runs the story.
was telling the tale 10 a lady in the train,
when, after gazing at the two mountains
from the window, she turned to me and
said, Its ali very pretty, l admit, but do
younot think 1t Is q little bit incongruOus
else how could the discontented wife.
Mount st. Helena get past Mount Adams,
which stands between them?" For an
instant l was nonpiussed, never hay-
ing thought OF the matter i'll that light.
then an inspiration came upon me, and /
said: why, don't you see? Mount
Adams must be the criminal lawyer who
secured the separation, and under the
circumstances would naturally stand be-
tween them."
Yesterday jolly party of eighteen, of
which l was among the number, went
into the country on a picnic; we Were
bent on having good time, and we got
it with vengeance. We We're driven to
the picnic grounds, a beautiful grove i'll
the heart of the Willamette Valley, in a ve-
hicle built for just such occasions,
and called Jupiter The clouds
were bit threatening as we
started out, and many an anxious
glance was cast skyward, but
the Pluvius who dwells above was for
once magnanimous to the Jupiter who
dwellS below, and kindly held
his rain forces in check. Arriving
at the grove, the luncheon was
spread, and we seated ourselves in the
grass and prepared 10 do full justice to
the goodly viands before us. | do not
know what was the matter, but for some
inexplicable reason that dinner wasn't
hardly touched. The chaperones wageed
their heads as they repacked the baskets,
and muttered over them the magic in