The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1892-12-09
A TRIP OVER THE N. P.
OK ruE Road, Dec. End, 1892


EdissF GAZETTE: / arrived in Portland,
ffsfa Corvallis, oil right. But then SAY il |
ye,, want 60 know what it is to have life u
burden eems 10 Portland letting t be
kaewn, te the agents Of the several lines of
roads leading east. that you are about max.
;ss a trip ever one Of said roads. I was
, ptarsd by the adss ce guard, ten mil, Q
sat ef Portland. and by the time reached
my hotel was Literally torn to pieces and
my remains scattered among the different
railroad offices. ] collected myself as soon
ss possible, and retreating to the topmost
p;eaels Of the hotel Holton, made myself
secure until achievements arrived with
ammunition consisting of . ticket over the
NJ =, The enemy, learning through their
scouts Of my impr.gnable position, Withdrew
their forces leaving me master Of the s:tua.
tioa.
Our train left Portland at Eve p, M. De-
cember lst. We passed several towns aud
cities during the night some of which arc
growing fast. At least jndged SO from
the way they loomed up out Of the darkness,
though it may be their lofty 9situation on
the hills on either side of the road causes
them to appear to be growing, when in
reality they are not.
| am now keeping my eyes on Pasco,
which I am told is the station and--here we
are. The otter cities through which we
lhave passed are SO well known and of SO
little Importance, I have considered it not
necessary to mention them. but as so many
people arc keeping an eye on Pasco think
| il no more than right, in fact consider it
a duty that l should immortalize it in this
report. = Pasco: has population of some
three hundred inhabitants. so theya tell me,
and Systematically. even pi piofuseiy, decorated
with sagebrush, ..and in my mind there is
no doubt, with plenty of immigration, it
will eventually became thriving oity.
CHAPTER II.
/ Nearly ths whole country from Pasco to
Sprague, where posted my last letter, is a
barren wilderness with nothing to recon-
mend it, unless 1t be. the dearth Cf timber
claim jumpers. I SPOKE Of this to gentle
man with whom was holding converse.
and he informed me that that was accounted
for from the fact ofSthere being no timber
to jump. 1t is remarkable, but I had moi
thought of this before. You may think ii
strange that make no mention of any oi
the principal cities on the road. This
is easily accounted for. All the cities Of
any Importance have been draped by the
curtains OF night, asif to shield them from
my too brilliant intellect.
It is now the morning of the thru; we
are nearing Helena. saThe earth, including
the mountains, is covered with snow.
have not yet examined it closely, but have
been infor,nedithat itii pure white, and as
the gentleman who gave the information
seems to be a man of veracity, see no rea
son to doubt his word
|. Helena, this is city of some thirteen
thou~and souls, that is presuming every iu
dividual member Of the population to be
thus incumbered. On inquiring of the gen.
tleman, who kindly informs me on all sup
ljects, where they stacked up their souls,
as T., could not see dwellings enough tc
house them all, he informed me that the
city extended back into the hills and untiln.
bered distance and that said hills were com.
pletely tunneled withmines all peopled with
souls considered myself answered and
said no more. I am told one can drink
double the amount of whiskey in Montana,
as compared with countries of a lower alti-
tude. Happy, happy people. The scenery
about Helena is beautiful; do not know
! whether it is for sale at present or not, il
not, it shortly will be without doubt. We
passed through long tunnel before reach
ing Helena, but no accidents occurred worthy
of note, do not know what might have hap.
ipened had not our porter, who is extremely
careful, lighted the lamps.
W. e. P.