The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-22
THE RIVER STATIONARY
Continued from First Page.l

by thai golu-:rCSt-P Opulist-combile
All the Astoria delegates to the grand
lodge Of Oregon A. o. u. w. are here In
force, and, If rumor speaks truly, are
making their influence felt considerably
in a very effective canvass for the cleo
ton Of one of their number TO a posi-
ton among the grand officers for the
coming term. The judgment of the SUI
preme grand lodge in ordering the re-
instatement into the order of l. L. Os-
good, of Astoria, was formally received
by the Oregon grand lodge this after
nOon, and accepted as the final verdict
in this long-drawn out and interesting
case. Messrs. Dealey, Stockton, Win
ton, w. b. Ross and DR.. futile are the
delegates from down the river. They
expect to leave for home on Saturday.
Mr.. Duffy, Of The Astorian staff, came
up the river this morning, for the pur-
pose of taking a trip to Bonneville, on
the Columbia, with the steamer Potter,
carrying a large party of supreme lodge
A. o. U. w. officers, including two in
innate friends of his, Charles F. Wen
neker, secretary of the Republican clubs
of st. Louis, and DR.. d. H. Shields, of
Hannibal, Mo-, supreme G.. NJ. W., and
brother of the assistant United States
attorney general under President Har-
risOn
Mr.. Frank V. Holman, the well known
attorney and capitalist of this city, is
very emphatic in his statements con-
corning the causes and probable results
of the flood, and draws some deductions
that, though to my mind not at all war;
ranted by the circumstances, will never
theless open up paths for reflection and
study. He said to me today: 1.-THE
present high water has most certainly
never before occurred within the age Of
any fir tree in the flooded district, a
period which l should estimate roughly
at 500 years. The combination Of cir
cumstances that brought this state of
affairs about has been so unprecedented
and uncommon hat it is folly to dream
of a flood of any like dimensions hap
pening for hundreds of years to come.
In the first place the snow did not melt
the Columbia river, which rarely rises
till the beginning Of June. came up in
May-in fact, ahead of the Snake river,
which is an altogether unheard of cir
cumstance. The snow that had been ac-
cumulated in the Willamette valley
caused, of itself, a wholly unexpected
rise of ten feet. The reason for the pres
ence of so much snow in the valley was
that last year the willamette expert
enced five distinct freshets. Here, then,
we have all the main points, coming to-
gether in combination that went to
make up the flood we are just passing
through. First and Front streets, in my
opinion, will not be abandoned, either
gradually or at all, for the prospects of
d flood of like nature are as far remote
as a repetition Of the great earthquakes
of Lisbon or Charleston. Besides, let us
suppose that this flood came once in
every ten or fifteen years, and that it
entailed a certain amount of loss at
every recurrence. 1 believe that the
wholesalers, instead Of moving away out
of its reach back west of Sixth and
south of Alder street, and thereby in
curing enormous additional eXpendi-
ture for hauling goods to and from
docks and train depots, would rather
bear the losses caused by the flood at
the end of every Is years, which losses
would not amount to as much as one
years increased cost of haulage caused
by the removal. Of course, ! agree with
you that it is folly to state that the
damage caused by this present food has
been of no account. | confess that it
has been considerable, but believe it is
Cverestimated. My figure, at a rough
guess, as to the probable loss entailed
would be half a million dollars. l do
not consider that there is much danger
of any trouble with the foundations OF
buildings. 1t must be remembered that
the water did not press from all four
sides onto the easements of these ware
houses and stores, but that the interiors
were all filled with water too, thus caus-
ing an equal distribution of weight and
considerably relieving the strain, and
bringing to a minimum the chances of
any collapse. 1t seems to me that a
great deal of damage has been done to
the wharves through the flood, and that
their condition is extremely bad"
Mr.. Holman's views are open to much
criticism, and l will give you tomorrow
an interview with a prominent Portland
merchant whose interests are bound up
in water front property here, but who
nevertheless takes issue with Mr.. Hol-
man in all his more important theories,
end who confesses the i%ndisputable facr
that the Front, First and Second street
property in this city has been decreas-
ing in value by great jumps, until to-
day it is practically a milestone round
the necks Of the men who own it.
1t may be stated that every figure
auoted as the amount Of loss in all the
street descriptions that lave appeared
in these articles, has been furnished di-
rect to your correspondent by the pro-
prietors of the various establishments,
and that none are the result of wild
g~uesswork.
Manager O'Shea, Of the Union Meat
Company, on Third street, told me today
that he could not compute his losses till
81 - I'll