The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-08-17
RAILROADS LEADING INTO ROSE
CITY STILL CROWDED
WITH PASSENGERS.
Everybody Is Coming to See the Lewis
and Clark Exposition
No Knockers.
Special Correspondence:

Special correspondence:
PORTLAND, Ore, Aug. 17.-Mid-
August finds the railroads lead
ing into Portland still crowd
ed with passengers of the tour
ist' sort, hailing from nearly every
state in the Union. Out here the peo-
pie never speak of traveller or a globe
trotter; the person who travels is q
tourist, particularly If he comes from
any point east of the Rocky noun
tains. A Los Angeles humorist, Frank
T. Starlight, recently published a lit
tie book called 1.-The Rubaiyat of the
Tourist, on the assumption that the
head and front of the tourist industry
is at Los Angeles; but he should get
out another edition for Portland, mas
much as this has become, for the pres
ent season, the Mecca of tourist travel.
These tourists take a grand swing
around three sides of circle-if a cir
Gle may be said to have sides. They
central route, see Portland, the Lewis
and Clark exposition, the Oregon
country and the mountains, then go
down through California to Los An
geles and home by southern route:
or they come out by the southern route,
see Los Angeles and San Francisco
first, and then visit the exposition and
go home by the Columbia river route
or through British Columbia. In any
event they manage to get great deal
of satisfaction out of their half-rate
transportation, which is made thus
reasonable because of the exposition
at Portland.
So far only one absolute "knocker"
out of the great west has turned up at
Portland. He is young man-quite
young-from Chicago, who came in a
few days ago acorss Nebraska, Wyo-
ming and Idaho and engaged board
near the exposition grounds.
Gee" he said at table last night.
this is the most outlandish country
ever saw; nothin' but sagebrush-
whole states of it,
Did you see any sagebrush along
the Columbia river?' ne was asked.
Il never saw the Columbia reckon
1 was asleep when we passed it,"
The youth had travelled nearly 800
miles along the Columbia's bank.
through some of the most wonderful
mountains and woodland scenery In
the world, but it happened that he had
passed that section in the night time.
But, say" ne demanded, little Ia
ter, who are these fellows Lewis and
Clark"
After the chuckle subsidized, a kindly
gentleman volunteered to tell him that
they were the fellows who came along
here a hundred years ago and discov-
cred this part of the country. Without
displaying the slightest evidence that
ne had been found guilty Of lament
able ignorance of history and was sor-
ry for it, the Chicago knocker of things
western inquired, with some surprise:
well, say, now, how old are these
fellows anyway"
AS to the exposition itself, there are
no knockers. Everybody who comes
here understands that the manage
ment has not tried to build a world
beater in point Of size, so that conn
parsons with Chicago or st. Louis are
never made so far as magnitude goes;
but nearly every visitor remarks, some
time during his stay:
well, they mad nothing at Chicago
or st. Louis half so beautiful as this"
And that pleased Portland, so every
body is happy.
ROBERTU SLOvE.