The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-05

world, where the soil is rich, the mois-
ture abundant, transportation is easy,
and where noble institutions have been
maturing for over a generation. Min
nesota has wheat forests and iron; New
England has mills, water power, and
the sea; Iowa has corn and cattle; Colo
RADIO it's gold and silver; but oregon has
the sea, and wheat, and cattle, and
fruit, and forests, and fisheries, and
gold, and silver, and nickel. and copper,
and tin, and further if she has only the
beginnings of manufacture, she has
power in abundance. 1t was but twelve
miles from Portland we viewed the
great falls of the Willamette river, at
Oregon City, where the river falls forty
feet, and where upwards of a million
horse power is said to be afforded.
The rainy season of the Pacific
Northwest in the centuries gone by
has cast into the lap of Oregon and
Washington an untold wealth OF mag
nificent timber. The majestic fir COW
ers her mountains and valleys from the
submits of the Cascades to the sloping
shores where the ceaSeless surf of the
mighty Pacific wash up the sands for
thousand miles southwark. Here the
finest and most elegantly favored ap-
pies in the world are grown. A day or
two ago we rambled through Horticul-
tural hall at the st. Louis exposition
and viewed the apply display from all
the apple growing states of the union,
but there were none which would COM
pare in size and elegance with those
grown in the Pacific Northwest. Here
wool is said to be the finest grade and
often brings fancy prices because Of
it's fine quality. Here the Angora goat
flourishes, and here are grown hops as
in no state save that of New York;
however, the lumber interests of this
section overtop all others. The fir, the
redwood and the spruce are noble
trees. In the western section where
rain is abundant the moisture loving
Douglas fl pierce the sky over 200 feet
til. FA0H @E
lumber to the acre. The state of Ore
gon has approximately three hundred
billion feet B. NJ. of standing timber,
and is one-sixth of the merchantable
land spruce grows from twelve to six
teen in diameter. In variety the for
ests comprise fourteen kinds of pine;
two of larch; four of spruce; two of
hemlock; eight of fir; four of willow;
five varieties of oak, blackberry, and
scores of other varieties which are not
of great value commercially. The lum-
Der industry of this section has for
tunes for those who will enter this great
region with the railroad during the next
generation.
The mild climate and the great rain
fall, often aggregatfng 20 inches in
season, makes the matter of crops in
western Oregon sure thing. The win
tiers are mild, and roses bloom in the
cities in the parks all the year around.
The great wheat fields in the valley of
in western Oregon produce the heaviest
grain in the world. 1t is a sight worth
travelling 1000 miles to see those mighty
wheat fields, over which run the great
machines drawn by upwards of thirty
horses, and which cut, threSh, clean
and sack the wheat all in one process,
leaving the sacks scattered about the
field ready to be gathered, hauled to the
train and sent to the elevator.
To our eyes the mighty Columbia
river as it flowed on to the ocean pre-
scented a sight which we will never for
get. Its scenery in the midst of the
nificent. Here it breaks through the
Cascades cutting a frightful cash in
natures barriers. A beautiful Indian
tradition has it that at first the Col
ing a mighty bridge of rock over the
sweeping river, across which the In
dian had a highway of travel. In an
unfortunate day it is said, this great
astrophe was the origin of the pic
turesque rapids at The Dalles. Near
this point as the river sweeps on
through a deep canyon fine streams of
water fall into the depths from the
dizzy heights above, making some of
the most beautiful falls in the world.
Among these are the Bridal Veil"
'Latourelle" Mist" and "Multeno-
man. At the last named our train
tarried, and soon hundreds of passen-
gers were standing in silent awe where
mountain stream tumbleS itself down
a frightful precipice, $40 feet high, to
be dashed into a spraying mist ere it
reached the bottom.
We are sure we could not do justice
to our lady readers were we not to
mention an industry of the Columbia
river in which of necessity they are in
terested, namely the salmon traps and
canneries. Here is the home of the
royal Chinook salmon, the richest and
most deIicately favored of all food fish.
These fine fish in weight are from 20 to
go pounds. They are caught by all
kinds of devices from the crude spear
in the hands of the alert Chinook In
dian to the great revolving wheels with
wire scoops which are placed so as
to intercept the luckless fish when the
run is on and land them in the wire
basket in the air to be finally tum-
.bled into trough whence they are ia
ken before the day is done and care
fully cooked and packed away in tins
ready for the fasteners table. The
eater of canned salmon has no idea of
the elegant flavor of the fresh fish. es-
pecially when it is fried in olive oil, as
the coast people prepare them,-a dish
fit for the godsl
Portland, the pride and metropolis Of
the northwest, called by the enthusiasts
tic, THE Rose City" the Pearl of the
Pacific is situated on the Willamette
river. 1t is a city of fine business
houses, elegant churches, beautiful
parks, good homes, and hundreds of
fine factories. and noted just now as
the site of the coming Lewis and
Clarke exposition" in 1905 From its