The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-09-26
vent ice formations from dropping on

vent ice formations from dropping on
It, and presents the appearance Of q
huge wall hundreds of feet In height,
which has been gone over by stone
cutter with a gigantic cutting tool.
Along here 10 said by the chief engi-
neer Of the road to be the best hn-
ished piece of grade on the whole line
of the new road. Below this the grade
js completed to the White Salmon Iiv-
or. The bridge of the former remains,
however, to be built. Work was COM
menced on 1: early last spring, but
high water in the Columbia flooded
the excavations for the abutments,
and Il has not lowered sufficiently to
allow operations to be resumed. En-.
gineers say that u will not, however,
interfere with the ru ming Of trains,
as piling can be driven and tempora-
ry structure made to allow OF their
crossing.
From Underwood to Drano, q dis
tance of seven miles, work 10 being
pushed rapidly, but there are num-
Der OF uncompleted pieces OF grade,
In addition to work on the four tun.
nels. The tunnels are bored, and are
now being concoreted, and are In
about the same stage of completion as
those situated on the upper end Of the
division near Lyle. At Drsno tres.
tie nearly a mile In length 10 yet to be
finished. Work on 1t was only com.
menced recently, and IL is not expect
cd to be finished before cold weather
sets In. A bridge over the Little
White Salmon river must also be built
on this section. Fills, small pieces OF
grade and gaps Cf val ious descriptions
yet remain to be connected up be.
tween Drano and the eastern end OF
the Cape Horn tunnel. Below Stew.
enson and opposite Cascade Lock.
there is still considerable unoomplet
ed grade. Seven miles above Steven
son the bridge over Wind river Is also
one of the pieces Of construction that
remains unfinished. 1t is not believed
by contractors that this long stretch
of uncompleted grade from Lyle to
Cape Horn can be finished sufficiently
to allow trains to be run over 10 by
November 1st.
The unusual width of the grade CT
the new road has been the oause Of
mich speculation by railroad men and
others who have wondered why &C
much expense was being entailed fol
a single track road when narrower
road would have answered the pur
pose. This 10 now explained by the
fact that 1t was the originl intention
to double track the road except or
bi idges and in tunnels. This ordel
was afterward modified to double
track 20 miles out of Kennewick anG
from Vancouver to the west end o.
the Cape Horn tunnel which will b,
done as soon as the road is In opera
tion. The great expense at which ths
railroad has been built from Kenne
wick to Portland estimated at $40,
900, 900, is said to be justified when il
Ia taken into consideration that th'
Portland & Seattle will virtually b,
the outlet to Portland of both th'
| Northern Pacific and Great Northerr
for all through freight In addition Il
picking up a big local business from
the grain country of Eastern Wash
ington end points along the line,
which are expected to develop lumbel
end other industries, and the leve
road, which has been built to be oper
ated at all seasons OF the year, avoid
ing the heavy snowfall and grades OF
the mountain divisions OF the North
srn Pacific. Floods In the Columbil
river have also been taken into con
sideration, is evidenced by the fac
that the grade OF the Portland Il Seat
tie Is placed eight feet above the higl
water of 1894, the highest ever known
IL is said too, ID will be more econ
omical to baul freight for points OF
the Northern Pacific between Portland
and Tacoma over the new rosd thar
over the mountain division Of th
Northern Pacific, and that 1t is ex
pected to use 1t for that purpose whel
completed. BY using the Portland
Seattle the Northern Pacific and Grea
Northern through freight for Portlan,
| will save haul Of appr oximately l5
miles. 1t will be shorter, and easie
and quicker to haul IL over this rout
from Spokane to Tacoma than II
oven the one in use at present ffor
Spokane to Portland. a
J The comparative distance over tb
J two routes as computed approximate
ly by the engineers Of the Portland
Seattle is az follows: