Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1905-04-21
WHEN EAST MEETS WEST
Introduction Will Be Made at Lewis
and Clark Exposition In Port
land This Year.

AuA0 HIS HGdIs
The East needs an introduction to
the Middle West. Both the East and
the Middle West need an introduction
to the Far West That introduction is
going to be made, both formally and
informally-you may take your choice
this year, and the Lewis and Clark
Exposition at Portland, Oregon, will
be the introducer. This Exposition,
which will open June l, will be useful
in many ways, but in no way will it
be more useful to Americans than in
making the far-divided sections of
this great country acquainted with
each other What does the man who
lives in Augusta on the Kennebeck,
for instance, know about the man
whose home is at Salem on the
Willamette? And the Walla Walla
Washingtonian-what is his concep-
tion of the Washingtonian whose
residence is in the District of
Columbia? Between SanFrancisco and
New York stretch 5000 miles of terri
tory, and the middle does not know
the ends, nor do the ends have proper
acquaintance with each other.
The Exposition at Portland will
bring together both ends and the
middle and make them mutually ac-
quainted. The East ought to know
more about the West than the West
knows about the East, for Fasteners
travel in the West more than West
erners travel in the East; but some
how these touring Fasteners do not
seem to diffuse their knowledge of the
West when they return home. Or per-
haps the home-staying Fasteners re-
fuse to believe what their travelwise
neighbors tell them Of the West, be-
cause some of those tales are tallish,
so to speak, and appear unbelievable
to the eye of the conservative
Easterner.
On the other hand, the East has
gained mighty misconception Of the
West by placing credence in tales en-
tirely too tall for the proper stature of
truth and veracity. The "wild and
woody" West is the only West which
much of the East wots of. The tanned
and tranquil West they refuse to be-
lieve in, and they entertain also, in
some quarters, notion that the West
is incapable of complete civilization.
The Exposition at Portland will do
much toward giving the East proper
attitude of appreciation toward the
West. The thousands of Fasteners
who will take advantage of the re-
duced railroad rates and attend the
Exposition. see the western country
and its people, study conditions and
take note Of achievements, will return
home with minds cleared of very much
haziness that has beclouded them by
reason of the acceptance Of fictional
caricatures as gospel fact. They will
find all along the Pacific coast civili-
zation far advanced-splendid cities
with skyscrapers, church spires, public
libraries, universities of learning and
1t is related that Boston woman
who visited st. Louis last year was
amazed to learn that the telephone
was in general use throughout that
city. What will be her astonishment
to find in Portland not only the tele-
phone that talks, but the telephone
that sees? At the Lewis and Clark
device whereby one talk
ing through telephone may see the
reflected features of the person at the
other end Of the line will be exhibited
in practical operation for the first
time in public, and-strange to state
it is the invention of Portland man.
The East and the West will become
acquainted at Portland. This will
clear up many misconceptions on each
side and will serve the stronger to
cement the several sections of our
land