The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-20
FALL SHOW BUT SURE.


District Attorney Barrett went down
the river tonight.
A large number of storekeepers on
Lower Third street, confident in the oft
repeated assertions of the Oregonian
that the water could not rise above a
certain height, only lifted their goods
on planks to just about that level. The
result was that in every case the food
had reached the goods almost before
their owners perceived it, and a gen.
eral loss ensued. Most of the material
so caught was not only damaged by the
water, but, being only lightly supported,
careened over and was smashed in vari-
GUS ways.
The rain today was a welcome relief
from the sweltering heat experienced
lately, but the GOODNESS didn't seem to
abate very much Of the noxious odors
that assail one everywhere. A few more
people are using disinfectants, but the
proportion of the careful ones is very
small indeed. Two sewers have burst
in the north end of the city, and have
scattered their contents far and wide
trict. Meantime, the Oregonian this
morning loudly persists in it's deliberate
lying policy concerning the effects Of
the disaster, and OF the same page stul-
titles its statements by publishing an
urgent appeal to the public, issued by
the MultnOmah Athletic Club, to pur-
chase tickets for that body's forthcom-
ing entertainment in aid of the hun
dreds of poor flood-ruined families
whose restitution has been discovered
to be greater than was at first supposed.
Today, for the first time since the
flood reached the chamber of commerce
building, pedestrians were able to make
use of the sidewalk surrounding that
structure. Late tonight several work.
men with lanterns were patching up
the worst sunken portions Of the as
phalt, and making a very crude job Of
it. Everywhere car be seen the notion
of getting things into shape ''tempora-
rily,'' which generally means very has
tily and badly. The penny wise policy
of road and sidewalk repairing that has
been going on for the past few days,
is simply money thrown away. The
work will all have to be done over
again, when Portland resumes its nor
NAL condition. In connection with the
Sights revealed as the floods recede,
leaving out the enormous damage tol
buildings and goods, it is remarkable
how thoroughly the water has demol-
ished all the wooden sidewalks overi
which 1t has flowed. Nearly every plank
has been thoroughly rotted, and whole
stretches of walk are twisted into semi
circles and lifted right away from the
thoroughfare altogether. The infamous
eyesore known as the square cobble-
stone roadway on First street, is so
badly demolished that it will have to be
taken up at last and replaced with some
other material. On Fifth, Sixth and
Lower Seventh, where the road is sim
ply earth, the water has, of course, had
LNil eAli GALNCl bOAAll6 jug llOlCD III
all parts of it, has furrowed along from
one to another, making a series of
canals. OF course, instead of leaving
these streets on the fall of the river,
the water stays in the hundreds of
basins thus formed and remains in the
form of a series of stagnant pools, daily
becoming more offensive.
Fourth street, from Washington down
to Glisan, is in this p%redicament. In
this t~horoughfare for a distance Of very
many blocks, private houses by the
score are more or less damaged, their
foundations having been seriously at
tackled and the UNDERMINING Of bal
comics and verandas showing clearly
that a great deal of repairing will be
needed to put them in anything like a
safe condition. On this same street, too,
miles Of fencing nave been completely
demolished and a great many gardens
inundated, their contents being rotted
and ruined.
1t is late in the evening or in the
early morning, when there are no
crowds on the streets to distract your
attention, that you can get a proper idea
of the extent of the destruction wrought
all over the flooded district, but more
particularly in the localities from which
the water has not yet receded. Boats
are still plying up as far as the corner
Of First and Alder, and the body Of
water on the north end looks as formid-
able as ever, though it is, of course,
surely falling.
The big Hardman stores, on Third
street, have lost, in destruction to mer-
chandise alone, from $500 to $500, on
their ground floor, and the wreckage to
counters and woodwork will run into
another $500.
There has not been an important case
of theft reported at police headquarters
since the beginning of the flood, and the
city has of late been in a remarkably
good condition in this respect. In the
last four days and nights. constantly
moving from one end Of the city to the
other, l have not noted a single In
stance of disorderly conduct or a drunk
en- brawl.
1t has taken me some time to com
pute individual losses, for no work is so
slow as arriving at correct figures in a
cas- Of this kind. However, my next
letter viii give your readers some of
these statistical facts, which will prove
interesting reading, both to them and to
Mr.. Harvey Scott. That gentleman.