Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-06-01
Raging Waters.


a.. u i result ir .ore Il roc,,lc~. 1t j.
-a- :..: abo| tie li-u water mark
OBJ. l~93, a"d nA~ >ril! ism. a, last ac-
,"ru;~. La SATURDAY IT," dyke at
NJ. N,.a-u g,tr way. and two Inrn
~ - away W.th til r.cin- tor
ven: were with difficulty resented Thu
,>'-n.u. ia. Inundated J. l. square
Iu..,~ AI> IN the dyke at Ayon
ant STIRLING Viii practically l.at" ali
-" farming lui oi >NAeit county
a-.'r water. tN''rt ~ani-h Hats.
Iur,. mi.c- # the Great Northern
trlc} ncIg fir were reported to he
washed ont Hamilton i wholly
under wator aud At the town oi Sedro
the water l. = loot above the wharf.
Reports fcum New Westminster, b.
g., state that the Fraser j. fairly BOOM
liz .ron Carrihoo to the Gall Of Gcor-
cia. The weather j. remarkably hot
for tli~ season, and every stream
cinptying into the Fraser has over
,luAcd it, hanks. The snow in the
mountains i the deepest ever known
1t this time Of the year, and ii the
warm spell continues the ircshet is
hound to exceed the height reached
in 1892, when the whole lOw-lying
land on both sides OF the Fraser be-
tween Chiliwack and Westminster
wnS flooded. Farmers have suffered
much damage already, but the worst
has by no means been reached.
The Spokane river, at Spokane, is
nearly a foot above the highest point
reached in the city's history. The old
bridge at Mission street went out at 9
o'clock Monday afternoon. A num-
Der Of houses OH the low lands are al.
ready flooded.
The Columbia is at high stage,
and it is thought that the record OF
1870, of 2S.7 feet will be broken. The
rise the past few days has been at the
rate OF about half an inch an hour.
The memorable floods on the Column
bia and Willamette rivers occurred in
the years 1861, 1876, 1880 and 1890,
which were all largely in excess of the
annual June "freshets" OF other years.
In Portland, Tuesday, the scenes of
former floods were brought forcibly to
memory. Front street north from
Washington, and First street from Pine
were under water, and the current was
beginning to encroach upon the lower
part OF Third street. All the whole.
sale houses on Front street had been
engaged for days before in removing
their stocks in the basement TO upper
stories and to warehouses in other
parts OF the city. Sidewalks were an
chored by ballast OF iron or shores ex-
tending from the upper part OF each
building to about the center of each
walk. Later on, the same scenes were
enacted by the retail dealers on First
street, while all over the city pumps
were kept going to keep the seep-
age from cellars.
The large number of drays, trucks,
and every conceivable form of vehicle
employed in removing merchandise,
and the construction of temporary
sidewalks outside and inside of the
business houses, gave an appearance of
business, although it afforded no mar
gin of profit for the disconsolate mer-
chants; following as it does after a pre-
longed siege of prostration OF trade, it
is not calculated to raise the spirits
any more than the prospect of malaria
when the waters have subsidized. Qui-
nine will be in demand soon as the pres
ent worry is over, and business will
be resumed with the dreadful con-
seriousness that there can be no end to
this blighting experience until the
grade of the city is raised from five
to ten feet.
No interruption has yet occurred to
the Northern Pacific trains coming
this way, except to make them a few
hours late. This is caused by the
time lost in transferring passen-
gers and baggage from the train
at Portland to Kelso, a distance
OF 80 miles. A large proportion of the
the track between Columbia and
Hunters, on the Oregon side, where
the transfer boat formerly landed, and
Kalama and Kelso on the Washington
side, the former place being the ter
minus of the ferry boat, is under water,
and all along the banks of both rivers
the passenger sees houses and barns
surrounded by water, while their occu.
pants seem to be quietly and patiently
waiting for the waters to recede. The
old Burbank hotel at Monticello, and
all the buildings at Freeport, a few
miles further up the Cowlitz, stand in
a vast lake of back-water. All crops
are, OF course, submerged, and it shows
the indomitable spirit OF Western
character that the owners of this
property have apparently taken this
misfortune rs a matter of course and
are ardently hoping for the best.
There will undoubtedly be considera-
BILE restitution, if the flood continues
any great length of time, and the loss
of crops will be seriously felt in the
future.
PORTLAND seems to be certain to 90
for Inman, the Democratic Populist
candidate for Mayor, next Monday.
He will surely have preponderence
of votes, and ii the count is fairly
made, will be Portland's next Mayor.
The Republican administration has,
however, given the Republicans ma.
lori:y on each election board, and it is
thought that this movement il 70 u;vo