East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-03-20

The developments In the railroad
situation of the past few days have
now assumed such form as to seem to
leave no doubt that both the Union
Pacific and Northern Pacific have
decided to construct extensive rail
lines in the Lewiston country this
year and that the Union Paacific is
even now permanently in the field to
carry out that purpose, says the Lew
iston Tribune. The first information
given the public regarding this i'm
portant move came in the arrival
here of the party of o. r. & N. sur
veyors from Portland, who denied any
identification with the o. r. & n.
despite the fact that it was positively
known they were sent out by the Ore
gon road. 1t can now be announced
that yesterday morning the engineers
began work on the old survey of the
o. r. & n. down the Little canyon
toward Lewiston and they should
reach here in a few days.
Northern Pacific Gets Busy.
The appearance of the o. r. G. N.
men here to take the field was fol-
lowed by the visit of President Elliott
and party of the Northern Pacific,
who made the trip direct from St.
Paul to Lewiston, also making a run
over the Clearwater iine. 1t was an
nounced that the object of the visit
was to investigate the matter of en-
| larged terminal grounds in connection
with proposed construction and that
the officials, while concerned, ex-
pressed no surprise that the o. r. &
| N. was in the field. Further, but
without making any definite state
ment, they informed a number Of
Lewiston business men that railroad
construction could be expected on
their part this summer.
The above reviews the develop
ments that have occurred at Lewiston
the past few days In addition last
evening word reached here by the
steamboat that the special train OF
General Manager Worthington of the
o. r. & N. would pass through Ri
paria Tuesday evening and that Mr..
Worthington would visit here within
a few days. Also the news developed
yesterday that President Elliott had
made permanent arrangements to
again visit here in a short time.
While these important matters have
developed locally, reports are now
coming from the coast that a great
war has been inauguFated between
the Hill and Hartman interests and
that Lewiston is to be the center OF
the activities In view of these facts
a review of the conditions existing
at the time of the truce made five
years ago will be of interest to the
public, as the steps now being taken
seem to indicate that the construction
war is to be resumed on the old lines.
Issues of Old Eight.
What is known as the Clearwater
fight developed when the Northern
Pacific extended its line down the
Potlatch canyon to Lewiston, thus in
vading territory that had been served
exclusively by the O. r. & n. The
latter road then quickly placed sur
veyors in the field and ran the line
from Riparia to Grangeville, and Ia
ter placed construction forces on the
section between Riparia and Lewis
ton and then purchased the entire
right from this point to
Grangeville Surveyors were also
placed in the field by the oregon
road in the Clearwater mountains and
a line run toward, Nez Perce pass,
while much right-of-way was bought
water. During this period the North
ern Pacific had run its line to Grange
vile from Potlatch junction and built
the line as far as Sites. The COM
pany also placed surveyors in the
field, who ran a line from the Lewis
ton terminal across the mouth of the
Snake river to Charleston and thence
down the south bank of the Snake
river to connection with the main
line at Pasco. Surveyors also ran
lines from Cudesac to the prairie
country and through the Bitter Root
mountains from Kooskia to a connec-
ton with the main line at Missoula.
Elgin TO Lewiston.
The Q. r. & n. also placed a party
of surveyors in the field at Elgin,
Ore, and ran line to Lewiston. The
that time was not only to build a
system of feeders to serve central
Idaho, but also to build a connection
with the Burlington at Billings. Mont
The Northern Pacific announced that
II was building the lewiston Missoula
cutoff and would continue the line
down the Snake and Columbia rivers
direct to Portland. Then Wall street
stopped the fight and the truce re-
suited. At that time the Northern
Pacific had graded for a considerable
distance beyond Sites, and the o. R.
& n. had a dozen or more construc-
ton crews on the lewiston Riparia
line. Surveyors and construction
forces were all withdrawn in day.
An Armed Truce.
Then followed a series OF confer
ences and three years ago it was an
nounced that the rivals had agreed
upon the construction of the Lewis
ton Riparia line with a branch to
serve the prairie country. The terms
of the agreement were cited to be
as follows: A company composed OF
Hill and Hartman men, were organ
lied to acquire the line from Sites
to Lewiston, from Lewiston to Ri
paria and from Riparia to Umatilla
and to open the same for the joint
use of the rival roads. Following
this announcements the q r q NJ