The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-17
IT IS STANDING STILL.
Continued from First Page.l

three feet above the street level, hai
the water near down to the floor. IT
vaults and. cellars are all still deep il
water, and the tell tale slime shows
where the river has been up to before
it started to fall. l suppose a greaI
many people in Astoria v been al
some time or other in the offices of the
cious room running water for two
weeks, over its massive counters, stain
ing and breaking and cracking every.
thing in sight. The mahogany furniture
all ruined. The flooring of fancy tiling
spoilt past redemption, while there is
barely a block of marble the whole dis
tance around the counters that is left
standing in its proper position. The
mahogany all over the room is now of
a dirty yellow white color. The beauti-
full scroll work and painting on the
side wall are completely demolished.
The vault doors are thick with rust,
and the big swing doors that lead into
the vault are rotted for a height of
Two leSl VI HlOIe' IL VIII SoSl ulOuSdHuS
of dollars to put the room in proper
shape for business again, and it will
practically nave to be refurnished.
The U. p. ticket office is wrecked past
feet of water-a very picture of de-
struction. Every part of the magnii-
cent furnishings of this Office is utterly
destroyed, and the loss TO the company
will be very considerable. The tiled
: decorations and high-class art work on
the walls were all of the costliest de-
scription, and they now look worse than
if they were built of damaged tin. Coun-
tiers, the fine safe, pictures and in fact
everything of value in the office has
gone under.
We will leave First street at this point
for today, and continue tomorrow along
the thoroughfare, where the carnage in
creases and the sights get more sicken-
ing as we proceed.
The magnificent vestibule of the Wor-
cester building, at the corner of Third
and Oak, shows some very pronounced
ravages more particularly in the mar
bic and oak fittings that are displayed
in profusion all over the corridors.
The natural fir wainscotings in the
Sherlock building have all been discol-
ored and destroyed by the water, which
this place.
Among the pioneers from Clatsop
county present at today's big celebra-
ton 1 noticed the following: j.. w. Gear
hart C4S), j. b. Wyatt C2S), James w.
Welch C44), A. H. Sale C52), d. e. Pease
Gao, Hannah Pease Gao and John Hob
son C43).
Capt. Fisher, of Astoria, who is in
attendance as a member of the United
States jury, took a boat ride through
the worst parts of the flooded district
today. What he saw convinced him of
the very great destruction that had been
wrought. His imagination had painted
nothing as bad as the reality.
The mythical tidal wave that is sup
posed to have swept over Astoria is
still the question Of the day. Many peo-
pie believe 1t, and some of this ilk had a
hot and strong argument this morning
with four Astorians, to prove the truth
of their assertions.
At five or six places along Front street
today men were stationed with pumps
trying to pump. the water out Of the gas
1,aofpC Tho oaC nv Gill axypaot 10
have their works in order by tomorrow
evening, but this is not likely.
One of the amusing phases of the
flood was apparent today when bill col
lectors got round in small boats to
gather in their accounts. They had to
climb ladders, swing on ropes and gen.
orally to do a big lot of swimming and
gymnastic exercise that must have come
unusual.
Several more Astorians came to town
on the boats today. They included Geo.
Flavel, ]. o. Hanthorn, G.. w. Louns-
berry, d. Morgan and ]. NJ. Hughes.
Matt was making his way gaily along
in the shadow of death on the elevated
sidewalks, and was thinking a good deal
more oyer the food than his defeat last
week.. He leaves for Eastern Oregon
today.
Among the pioneers present in the
city is James w. Welch. He has a
chip on his shoulder, and is going
round spelling for an argument with
the first unfortunate individual bold
enough to say he had been in Oregon
longer than the only Billee.
Pumping is being vigorously proceed
ed with, and in front of all the big
buildings can be heard the regular
blowing of the engines and squirting of
water as it deluges the roadways.
Thousands of people find time to watch
these operations, and the Plaza is, night
and day, full of idle men anxiously
waiting for the moment when there will
be a chance of their being offered jobs
among the wreckage on the streets. For
the first time in two weeks people were
this afternoon able to walk without the
use of the elevated scaffolding through
the chamber Of commerce building.
The greatest height to which the water
in his structure reached was marked
off for future reference today. 1t show
ed Al inches in the west ground floor.
Now that the tersalated pavements are
nee more bare, some conception Of the
destructive powers of the water al be
1