The times., 1897-04-18


fiercely that the waters of the Columbia
are damned up to a height OF eight Or
ten feet, those of the Pend dOreille rush
ing to the west bank or the other str'am
in big waves, the dividing line between
the two being distinctly marked, the wa
ter being OF different coIors. Through
these tumulteous waters the Lytton fhiv-
ering in every timber, made its way to
Wahnita, small village on the east bank
OF the Columbia, just, above the Pend
d,OreiIle The heart OF more than enc
passenger was in his mouth while i'll this
terrible water, and all bIeathed freer when
it was passed.
No more rough water was Ieached lntd
the rapids of Rock Island barred the way.
These were much like the Sheep Creek
rapids, the boat having to changeits. course
in the midst of thein but it heroically
orercame them These two rapids at low
water can only be passed by putting
line ahead to assist the boat in ascending
them. The rapids passed, Trail was reach
ed inside Of an hour.
This town had some ! 900 inhabitants,
and it is the Canadian port Of entry, where
baggage and freight coming by the river
are examined, and the customs duties as
sessed and collected. The Canadian Off
GERS are very polite and searching ones
baggage is quite a formal affair. smei-
ter had been erected at TraIl the previous
winter, and was DOW running fEil blast,
employing $50 hands. 1t sets upon one Of
the sand hills that has been described,
| about 100 feet above the town
| That evening RosslaHd was reached 1t
| Is at the head Of Trail Greek, some seven
miles west OF Trail The latter is about
| 400 feet above the sea, and Rossland
! 2 400 feet higher. 1t is connected with
| Trail by a Darrow-gaUge railroad, four
teen miles long, with two switchbacks.
Rossland has about 5000 people and
water and electric light system.
| The gold mines at Rossland are among
| the largest and the richest in the world.
| The country rock is diorite with granite
| and what is called porphyry dikes TRANSFERS
| ing it, South Of Trail Creek limestone is
| found, bearing silver ore. The gold is found
| in iron and copper pyrites OF several kinds,
| the copper pyrites being the richest in gold
| The veins are large, increasing In width and
! value with depth 50 far as gone, nearly
| 500 feet On the incline OF III ereins. They
! have many shoots OF rich ore, and much OF
1 the low-grade ore VIII paw to treat 1t bids
| fair to be the richest mining camp in Amer
| ica If not in the world. 1t may be said 10
be the center Of great mining region,
| reaching many miles north, east, south and
west
la British Columbia inns alone are allow
| ed bars where liquors are kept for sale. In
| Rossland there are many saloons, or they
| would be called saloons in the United States
| But they are all suppOsedbo be- bars OF inns,
| although IL is easily seen hat the inns are
only opened TO enable the pTOpTiPtors to
| open bars Dominion day, July l, was eele-
| bratad wfIile l was there. There was some
/ specohifying. etr,, but the chief amuse-
| meut was drinking. l never saw SO many
drunken men at one time. But all were
| quiet except that a few pugnacious persons
| had to get rid ofthe fighting whisky they
| had imbited in risticuffs. Early the next
| morning however. there was fight and
murder. 1t was believed by everyone
that the murderer would hang. have not
| heard what has been his fate.
| Our party remained al RussIand ten
| DAYS, leaving July 2, because it was feared
/ that the rising waters OF the Columbia
4 would cut us off from spokane i party,
! with a general at its head. hired stout
! sDring wagon. and drove down Sheep Creek
| to NorthpOrt ] thought had seen noun
| tain roads of every description but this
| tourney proved that I was mistaken. At
the head Of Little sheep Creek we rode
three or four miles along the brink OF q
precipice. the road being se rough that 1t
| was difficult to Keep ones seat. The heavy
| ore wagons, rough locked. had worn the
| ROADS into deep ruts the bottoms OF which
| were very uneven, and several times the
! wagon was near upsetting in dangerous
! pIaCes In the bottom OF tie main creek
| the road was good by contrast with what
| we had passed Here the timber. prin-
| ctnally cedar. though pine. tamarack, birch
| and other kinds were observable stood
! thick upon the ground. and grew very tall
The cedars were between iO0 and so feet
| in height. Many artrervitae trees were
| seen some of which were two feet in di-
| aneter. and at least 100 feet high The
| trees were so thick upon the ground that
| when one of the party asked how thefirst
| man got through the bottom, all laughed
4 1t was difficult undertaking, whoever
| did it.
| A mile or two after crossing the inter
| national line the creek enters a gorge, and
| the road fellows the hills on the eastside OF
1 h.
/ steain takes plunge over ledge or rocks
| of 15D feet. but the fan is not visible
| from the road. Four miles from Northport
1 the road begins TO descend again. 1t fol-
| lows Il precipitous hill. and would he more
| dangerous than where the creek was flrst
| struck, had it not been more smooth.
We arrived at the ferry after I o'clock,
| having been three and one-half hours
| travelling seventeen miles. After some de-
| lay we got on the ferry boat. which was
| suspended from large wire rope stretched
| across the river. The passage was made
! byturningt the side of the boatup the stream
| when it was carried over by the force OF
the current. The river was running so
| swiftly that it's center was said to he over
five feet higher than its edges, and the
| statement could well be believed. The
| ferrymen themselves were apprehensive
| of danger and stationed each one about the
/ boat to keep it trimmed in the strong
4 current. Never had l seen or appreciated
the force OF water until then.
News at Northport was not assuring
The river was nearly at highwater mark.
At critical times railroad men are most
reticent and talk as if they knew nothing
Wewent to bed at the excellent hotel North
port afforded, full of anxiety.
i That morning the railroad people knew
less than they did the night before. On
the statement being made that some o.
| our party must make Spokane that night,
| one of the officials said he thought 1t
| would be best to take a wagonto Marcus,
| thirty-two miles distant, for there was
| great danger that the train could not
| mass the Seven Devils In that event II