The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1896-04-04
VANDERBILT
COMING WEST.
To Locate a Point for Pacific
Coast Terminal.
The Mouth Of the Columbia
the Nest Suitable.
Is He Behind A. Is. Hammond
and the Astoria Railroad?
What a Railroad Visitor TO Astoria Pre-
dicts-A Line of Oriental Steamers
to Feed the Astoria Road.


Vanderbilt and Chauncy NJ Depew
will start for the Pacific Coast in a pri-
vate car Friday afternoon. With them
will go John Hone, Jr., Wall Street
broker, and Colonel George R. Fearing,
of Newport
The above dispatch has caused con-
siderable agitation in railroad circles,
and good deal of effort has been made
to divine the program and object of
the visit, but those more or less famil-
lar with the transportation business of
the Northwest are unable to solve the
problem.
1t is evident, however, to all men en-
gagged in business and transportation,
that mighty upheaval will occur very
soon rim abroad management on the
Pacific coast, particularly in the North
west, and that in the change, cities and
commercial points that owe their ex-
istence to the primitive pastoral con-
ditions of water route in an agricul-
tural country viii loose their place in
the struggle for commercial empire and
international trade.
The Vanderbilts are in control of the
best equipped railroad system in the
Eastern States, but they have no Pa
cific coast terminal to compel fair
division of Pacific coast or Oriental
business. G. P Huntington, at the
head of the Central and Southern Pa
cific systems, has everything south of
the Columbia river, and his steamer
connections with China, Japan and
other ports, give him a strong purchase
on the products of Asia that enter the
United States. jim Hill; with the
Great Northern and the Canadian Pa
cific have complete n1Dnopoly of bust
ness entering Canada and the United
States to the north, and all of them are
in position to shut the Vanderbilt
lines completely out Of business.
The anxiety that was manifest
couple of months ago in regard to the
final disposition of the o. R. & N. Co.,
will get a fresh impulse by this visit of
Vanderbilt to the coast. The reorgan-
ization of the o. r. & N. on an indie
pendent basis was failure and it was
due to the contention of powerful rail
road factions. The policy of Portland
was antagonistic to program already
made up, without its knowledge or con
sent, and up to this time Portland cap
italists have been unable to discover
what the program is or to change it.
A railroad man, who was here several
days ago, looking over Astoria, and who
went over all the land on both sides of
the Columbia river, told Budget re-
porter that there would be a great |
change at the mouth of the river in
few years. He ran over the railroad
grade above Tongue Point and re-
marked; "Such grade laid with Alb
steel rails, is not constructed merely to
ship salmon and do the local business
Of Astoria. There will be an ocean line
Of steamers running from Astoria to
China and Japan that will be equipped |
with as speedy and large vessels as are
now run by the Canadian Pacific rail
road from Vancouver. These steamers
must have deep water, and consequent
Iy they cannot go above Tongue Point
They cannot spare the time or undergo
the expense, and the Willamette would
lot give them room to turn around.
This line will make business for any
'ailroad system that has control of the
Astoria railroad.
81 understand that steamers for the
Oriental line are now under construc-
ion, but no information has been given
,ut as to their ownership or destina-
ion. One thing do know is, that an
gent of the syndicate will visit China
md Japan next summer and make ar
for establishing the line
md carrying on an extensive trade.
"There is another idea that you may