The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-17
IT IS STANDING Still
The Condition Of Portland Re-
mains About the Same.
DANGER OF AN EPIDEMIC
Every Hour the Reeking 0dOrs in
the Flooded District Become
Worse.

Special Correspondence of Astorian.
Portland, Or, June Is, 1S94.-Between
ones inclinations and duty there gener-
ally, probably more often than not, is a
wide divergence. 1t is so with myself,
and l believe with yourself and your
readers, in connection with Portland'e
present calamity. 1t is not we'll for a
newspaper to manufacture lies out of
whole cloth for the sake Of pandering to
desire or ambition. There is always
come back that strikes hard, and
when this Willamette flood is still fresh
in the minds of people, when state
condition of affairs can so easily be
proved or disproved by the eyesight of
anybody anxious to get at the truth, 1t
would be suicidal to diverge in these
letters away from the sober facts. That
is a plain proposition. There is no As
toria man, or Salem man, or Tacoma
man, or Ashland man, who has visited
Portland during the past week that win
not join in deploring the circumstances,
and in sympathizing, in no stilted or
affected manner, with our metropolis In
her misfortune. Neither is there one Of
these men who can shut his eyes to the
actual damage that has been wrought
by the flood, or to the true nature of
the losses sustained thereby, The peo-
pie of Portland themselves are the first
to acknowledge the facts, and to their
credit be it said they are setting an ex-
ample of genuine grit In meeting their
misfortunes that compels the admira-
ton of every part OF the state OF Ore
gon. Why, then, should the leading
newspaper of the northwest deliberate
ly accuse not only outsiders, but the
vast majority Of residents Of its own
town, of lying in the premises and Of
exaggerating a molehill into noun
tain?
Your readers may turn for conilrma-
tlon of what has been said in previous
letters, and Of what will be said in fu-
ture ones, to their own neighbors, who
have come to this city and Investigated
for themselves.
The waters are now stationary, al
though this morning they fell about
three inches. The statement In the
Telegram this evening that the river is
rising again a little is not borne out by
facts. 1t is still, that is all, and none OF
the members of the weather bureau
mere believe that there will be a rise of
any kind again this season. The stop
page Of the fall is easily accounted for
by the very great heat OF the last two |
days. Even II this heat continues, the
backbone Of the flood has been undoubt- |
edly broken, and II will not recover |
anything like its former dimensions.
regret to say that the sanitary condi-
tlons get worse, despite the precautions
taken by the board OF health 'to en-
sure absolute cleanliness and vigilance" |
Front street continues as odorous as
ever only more So and In the lower |
end of that thoroughfare are some Of |
the vilest, most flth-reeklng localities |
hat ever existed. The authorities, while |
to recognize the Importance Of |
this subject, are proving themselves la
managers, with no knowledge
the right means of immedi-
ltely checking the evil and avoiding |
serious consequences. The stencil in the
heart Of First street, near Washington,
was something fearful this evening. and
expressions Of disgust and alarm are
laily becoming more frequent. Nobody
seems to have any ability to carry any
scheme Of Improvement in this respect /
o completion, and all that the authori-
les are apparently able to do Is to shake
heir heads gravely and let the nuis-
tnce go unchecked. The boasted "clean
Up" SO far has consisted In the sprink-
ing Of. chloride Of lime in front Of
lbout thirty buildings in different parts
Il the city. Every cellar ventilator
Iends up into the centre Of the side
galks the breath Of pollution. and every
lour Of course, makes the nuisance
more abominable. This state OF affairs.
90, is confined to no particular section,
nut is common wherever the food has