Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1899-07-05
Railroad News.

g8 u,,,, street special correspondent
4 eotesman- Review has secured al
% 'r interview with high officia
IT, oregon Railway & Navigation Co
sarl;ng the railroad war in the Clear
g. which is published below. The
,;e. indicates there is no truth In
,ruor that the Oregon company has
a,.aoued the fight. Rather does it
1sow that there is promise OF an even
sa,er battle i'll the near future. The
interview follows;
Nrw YORK, July IA high official OF
10 R. & n. said to ME to-day:
~, &c difficult to appreciate the merits
, ,h. Clearwater controversy without
.,,5y;uq the map of the Clearwater
,,n,rv. There is a great deal of mis-
,nnrehension regarding the points of
.an,ention between the Oregon Railway
Navigation Co. and the Northern Pa
40 The former has now line from
wallula TO Riparia through the Palouse
.o,,,ry. This line is not satisfactory,
and so the company has projected line
bs,xeen the points mentioned following
the Snake river. The water course gives
sasv grades and better route. At Alto,
on the present line, there is 3 per cent
Grade so that practically all trains from
snotane and the north have to be broken
IT., Ill; ba auo;IaJ h., xt,a
new line The old line will then become
merely feeder for the Palouse country.
Now there is no dispute, as generally
supposed, over this new line along the
Snake river, the Northern Pacific rather
fayoring its construction. This line the
Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. has
about completed. What the Northern
Pacific objects to is a continuation of this
line, as projected, along the Snake river
from Riparia to Lewiston, where the Ore
gou Navigation now operates line Of
steamers.
ssThe Northern Pacific has line from
Moscow to Lewiston, to which
the Oregon Railway & Navigation
Company has no objection, but is build
ing lines east of Lewiston in the Nez
Perces and Camas prairie districts tc
which the o. r. & N seriously objects
because the Northern Pacific has made
no arrangement with it for hauling traffic
from this rich country.
1.-THE o, r, & N. will not only build
the surveyed line, from Riparia to Lewis
ton, but will also build east of Lewiston
and fight the Northern Pa
ci6c in the Nez Perces and
Canas prairie districts. 1t believes that
the Northern Pacific has not been FORUM
ate in the selection of its routes and dis
counts its threats to subsequently parallel
the Riparia-L Lewiston line. One who
knows the value of the Nee Perces and
Camas prairie territory can easily under
stand how the two companies have got
into such dispute over it, for it prom
ises to rank with the Walla Walla and
Palouse sections in the richness and
abundance of its wheat fields and other
agricultural resources.
"'For the present there can be no
open collision because the Northern Pa
cihc has its lines east of Lewiston
to complete and the 0. r. & N. has
its Riparia- Lewiston line to build. When
these are constructed, unless by that
time a traffic arrangement has been
agreed upon, the fight between the two
companies will begin in earnest and
hght OF no mean proportions it will be.
THE o. r. & N. is so situated geo
graphically that it can not abandon the
rch opportunities offered by the Clear
water country. Its line for the most part
runs south of the Columbia river and il
can not get very valuable traffic from
the country north of it. Its terminus is
ro'tiand, where If has large interests and
rof'iand prosperity depends considera-
o'y upon its keeping open the channel
rom the richest wheat fields of the Pa
chic northwest
1t has offered the Northern Pacific a
snort route via Council, but the Northern
racine wants more liberal considerations
IMAM the 0. R. & N. deems reasonable or
'ha'l are usually recognized. The North
81" racine now has to take its freight to
near Spokane and down again, but of
.0u'se Ii 1t built right through west of
lewiston to Its coast line it would have |
% snort route or even shorter than the