The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-10-11
OPEN RIVER IS
BADLY NEEDED
PROF. w. D. LYMAN TELLS OF
WORK OF CONVENTION AT
THE DALLES.


association which has just convened
at The Dalles, returned yesterday from
the meeting which he reports as one
full of enthusiasm and likely to be pro-
ductive of great results.
There were three things the asso-
citation took up particularly, said
Prof Lyman this morning. First, the
extension of the portage railroad to
The Dalles: second. the matter of get
ting more steamboats, Oh the upper
river between Cello and Pasco; and
third, the matter Of getting the Cello
canal on a continuing contract basis.
whereby the congress would approprl-
ate funds once for all, sufficient for the
completion of the work and which
would do away with the delays which
are now being experienced as result
of waiting from congress to congress
! for appropriations.
"As a result of the consideration of
| The first point, three Dalles men were
/ appointed to see if there could not be,
in some way, money raised to make
the extension of the portage railroad
! for four miles to a terminal which win
be much better for boats than the
| present one If the money can be
raised, the legislature will be asked
TO buy up the eXtentiOn.
Railroads Congested.
| INT 10 of
most immediate Importance to the In
land Empire perhaps At present the
steamboat transport alton on the upper
river is entirely inadequate. There is
but one steamer, the Relief which is
/ small and cannot take care of nearly
all the work. At present there are 2OO,-
| 600 sacks of wheat piled up at vari-
Gus points along the river. AS the
Relief" can handle but about 5000
sacks week. it is easily seen it will be
long time before that wheat gets to
market The railroads are congested
and if there were several steamers
they could all be kept busy.
"The steamer Teal which the Open
River Transportation company has
/ below The Dalles is fine lew steamer
with about five times the capacity of
the Relief" which latter boat, can
not of course, keep her busy. The
portage road handles all this easily
and could handle more if there were
more to handle 1t is the object of the
Open River Transportation company
TO get several boats to operate on the
upper river.
i LAS to The last matter, nothing more
than strong resolutions could be
! passed asking for appropriations for
the extension Of the portage railroad.
| Canal Work Progressing.
Work on the canal is not progress
ing satisfactorily. The canal is eight
miles long and it is being let out in
contracts Of a half mile each. The
| first one is about half done. At this
rate, it will take something like 80
years to complete the canal. The work
where it is being done, is going on
EsheioAoNtOiiiy anu at pi CoCill tISl z al Z
abou. $50 men at work. The walls of
| the canal are 40 feet high, 20 feet wide
at the bottom and eight feet wide at
| the top. They are making about 225
cubic yards each day, using about 200
barrels of cement But to get it done.
it must be put on an immediate con-
| tract basis.
when finished, the canal will save
to the Inland Empire one and one-half
millions of dollars each year. This
would pay for the canal in three years.
AS soon as the Cascade canal was
| finished, freight dropped to third
its former rate. While we cannot ex-
| pect this much here, the rate ought to
go from 91-2 cents to cents per
| bushel.
Too Much Traffic for Cars.
There will be 3O,OOO,OOO bushels of
wheat sent out of the Inland Empire
this year. This will take $4,000 cars to
cannot get it shipped before April 1.
Then besides this, there will be 5000
cars of fruit from the four counties of
Walla Walla, Umatilla, Yakima and
Benton. And at present the Relief
can handle but small fraction of
this. The Norma" would help greatly
if she is purchased, as she has five
times the capacity of the Relief" but
even this is not enough. AS soon as
the canal is open, the lower boats can
come up; until that time more boats
are necessary on the upper river to
connect with the portage road and the
lower boats.'
Prof. Lyman reports much enthusi-
asm and optimisnA among the mem
bers of the association. There were
about ESQ delegates at the meeting
nearly $50 of whom were from points
outside of The Dalles.
Prof. Lyman addressed the associa-
ton on THE Columbia River. In It's