The morning call., 1894-06-07
ARE LIKE VENICE.
Condition of POrtland's
Streets.
THE FLOOD AT IT'S HEIGHT.
1t Is Now Thought the Waters
Will ReCede.
THE FLOOD AT ITS HEIGHT.
PROTECTING THE CASCADE LOCKS
Bulkheads Have Been Put in and
Every Effort Made to Save
Them.


received from the Upper Columbia region
which indicates that the worst of the food
is over.
Snake River is falling. and the Columbia
is stationary.
In this city the water will probably
reach the thirty-three-foot mark by noon.
The waters are now up to Washington
street, on Fifth. Perkins Hotel is sur
rounded. On Fifth street the limit is Tay-
lor. and on Second. Yamhill. Down on
Glisan street boats can be landed on Tenth.
and on Twelfth street ST. Vincents Hospi-
tai stands in great lake. On Front street
the water is deep enough for the naviga-
ton of large-sized river craft At Ash
street it is seven and half feet deep. At
the Union depot locomotive stands on
track half covered with water. Down in
the freIght-yard small boats can be rowed
into submerged box cars and clear over
fiat cars.
Viewed from the middle Of the river the
outlook on the river front is most dis
couraging. Many docks have disappeared
to the caves and are only kept from float
ing by heavy machinery. etc., stored there.
On the east side one can count dozen
buildings in the flooded district ready to
go down.
At The Dalles the river is 50 feet 3 inches
above low water. In the east end of town
the water extends to the bluff. The only
houses doing business are the groceries
and markets. The water is nearly three
feet deep on the floor of the postoffice. a
swi # current is running through the town.
and 1t is feared many buildings will be
washed from their foundations. The
hotels are in water TO the ssecond story.
Thirty blocks are under water, and a rise
| of few more feet will inundate the entire
! portion of the town under the bluff.
Memaloose Island, the burial-place of
| Indians for many years, is almost entirely
under water and hundreds of skeletons
are being washed away.
The latest reports from the Cascade
locks sre that the Government works are
st:ll in great danger. The bulkhead
which keep the Columbia out of the upper
end of the lock is almost submerged.
| Should 1t go out all the riprap work and
possibly the entire works would be
| destroyed, entaling the loss of over
| s., 1,O0O,0OO
The Union Pacific is in very bad shape
near the locks. Where the current strikes
!
| tain Is moving, resembling a huge glacier,
while masses of the bluff are continually
| falling into the river The big fir trees as
| they tumble over the bank hang for a little
while downward and then plunge into the
| torrent below.
The river has cut into the mountain for
quarter of a mile. The bluff where the
railroad formerly ran presents a face 300
| feet in height
| The weather bureau predicts the river
in this city will reach its maximum in
| height at midnight, and remain stationary
| till Thursday, with a tendency to fall.
When 1t commences to fall it will be very
slow, not over four inches day for at least
| ten days.
At Riparia, the Snake River has fallen
ten inches in the last twenty-four hours.
The Columbia is also reported falling at
about the same rate at Umatilla.
| A telephone message received late this
afternoon from the locks says that the
contractors have succeeded in strengthen
ing the bulkhead so that it will not go out
They have had large gangs of men work
ing for six days and nights, and immense
quantities of gravel, brush and stone have
been used. 1t is not believed that all
| danger is past.
News from down the Columbia River
! shows a most deplorable condition of
! affairs. Fishing has been suspended and
the great stream has flooded the whole
country on both sides. Houses have been
carried away, farms inundated and crops
destroyed. There has been great loss of
stock. Anything approximating an esti-
mate of the damage is utterly impossible.
Sauvies Island is entirely submerged
and crops destroyed. The loss is very
heavy and will leave a great many in des-
titute circumstances. Suffering and want
prevail among the families of many
ranchers.
Up the Columbia the foods have de-
stroyed the prospects of this seasons
salmop-fishing. All the fish wheels have
either been carried away or destroyed.
At police quarters this morning Chief OF
Police Hunt detailed several officers to
visit the northern portion of the city In
boats to seek out families in need or In
distress. The poor. however, are mostly
being cared for in various parts of the city
by friends and charitably disposed peo-
pie.
The suspension of operations on all the
streatcar lines, excepting the Second-street
road, IS growing 10 Oe serious lncOnVe-
nience to thousands of people. and par
ticuIarly those living in the eastside
suburbs. The companies will directly and
Indirectly suffer loss Of many thousands
OF dollars.
Chief Engineer Buchtel this morning
caused another engine to be placed on a
barge. This makes three engines now so
situated that they can reach nearly every
part of the flooded district.
This morning the Southern Pacific over
land brought a heavy load OF passengers
and mail. The Union Pacific mail was
sent in over the Soutnern's line, and thers
was fully ten tons of letters and papers
from the East, which have been delayed
several days.
The condition of both the Madison and
Morrison-street bridges is serious. The
pressure of the water from underneath has
broken up the approaches on either side.
ofr hridn