The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1893-09-29
THE OREGON PACIFIC.

The Oregonian says that surveying
party has just arrived at The Dalles after
even-weeks trip through Eastern Oregon.
their object being to find feasible route for
railroad from that point through the in
terror to the line of the Oregon Pacific in
Lake county. just who is be hind the
project it is impossible at present to state,
but officials of both the Northern Pacific
and Union Pacific disclaim any connection
with the enterprise. The surveyors fol :
lowed the Lieutenant Norton survey from
The Dalles to the Deschutes, which was
found to be the most difficult part of the
proposed road, but the average grade will
not exceed fifty feet to the mile. Striking
that river at the agency ferry, they followed
up the stream to the mouth of Crooked
river, distance of twenty miles, the al
titude of the former place being 1000 feet
and of the latter ], l25 feet, making an aver.
age of about seven feet to the mile. There
would be no difficult work in following this
stream, and the roadbed could be easily
made From this point they went to Prime.
vile, in Crook county, forty-five miles dis
tant The first twenty miles has no grade to
exceed fifty feet, and from that distance to
the town mentioned the land is compare
lively level. After leaving Prineville they
found the ground much more feasible for a
railroad, the streams flowing over a level
country, and only passing through canyons
where they empty their waters into lakes
or large rivers. At the head of Silver
creek, l25 miles from Prineville, they
reached the surveyed route of the Oregon
Pacific, and for the entire distance the
grade would be very light. This creek
spreads out, and down it would be a
natural roadbed.
The route. if adopted, will open a fine
tf,,ro 1a14 6 To- =
watered and the soil is very FERTILE There
are settlements nearly the whole distance of
this proposed road, and after a railroad is
built to furnish an available market for
produce, the region should contain ten
times the population it now does. The
construction OF the line of road, it is said,
would not be expensive, and would not cost
nearly SO much as many now in operation.
Albany Herald; October I'd has been set
for hearing of the objections of the Ore
gon Pacific Railway Co. recently promul.
gated by the Oregon railroad commission,
says the Salem Journal.
Those rates are from 40 to 60 per cent
higher than the old commission rates on
principal articles of freight on all the South.
ern Pacific lines in the Willamette valley
north of Eugene and the changes and ad-
vances were made to cut off all shipments
to or ffom this valley over the Oregon Pa
cifc railway.
The changes were made about the time
the San Francisco merchants came to Ore.
gon, and were sanctioned by the Oregon
railroad commission. The Oregon Pacific
has secured hearing for October End, and
will show up the justice of the rates.
Salem business men and the entire Will
annette valley have tremendous interest
liz this case.
If the rates sanctioned by the commission
cannot be set aside aud the old rates re.
stored the Oregon Pacific railway may as
well be pulled up, so far as it benefits its
owners or the producers and the business
men of this valley. The rates will be
shown to have been so amended as to make
team hauling profitable as compared to the
prohibitory tariffs sanctioned by the COM
mission. To all appearances the Southern
Pacific has been thus made as completely
master of the situation as though it owned
the Oregon Pacific railway. 1t looks. if all
the facts are as stated, as though they found
it great deal cheaper and far more profta-
BILE to themselves to own the commission
than the competing road.