The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-09-12
nREDGE CHANNEL FOR
PERMANENT DOCK

Elit1I Glecier Il noticed in last
weeks ra"er fumHelt CT Cant Spen.
Ger on Tie sEhi'ci at deck tor Hood
River, and leiig Lrh interested ip
the new Subject VDrld like to present
a few iilens for rCn, Iteration.
The object tn te Ohiained by the
eNnense of ANY rn" iderphlP amount
of mo oy ir lLls dIsttion is rer.
marelt 'll the year Ianding for steam
and Other craft. also suitable dccL
or VIII If h0at that would be aocessi-
BILE at all stages ~ tie water, and a
location iess 2 u tie than the present
isolated one Most essuredly this
would not be- oltpined il Capt. Spen
cet' IS ideas we're carried cut. as ut u
medium high stage Of wa or { he road
way to the urrer hnding becomes i'm
passahle as most persons know and.
too, the construction ot { >tory
d0rk that would withstand tue heavy
CT ent that sets in at that point & a
hi a water stag" would he expansive
and require eGnslani expense md at
tention Tor its lesersation
| have the o. .nions of several ex-
perienoed risermen that chaunel of
sufficient size for any craft plying the
river at PRESENT. could be dIedged
from low water clear up t. the rail
road right of way, aud by diverting a
portion ol he stream of Hood river
into it te kept practically clear all
the year around.
he prime object, rs ] see it. OF
such a move, would be the business
to be derived theiefr ON, and ! cannot
see whoie any advantages would he
had over tie present conditions by
carrying out Cai t. Speucers ideas
II we had landing all the year such
as We have in high water where the
boats come right mp to our doors, and
comm oh ious dock where II eight and
passenger trt tiic could be handled ex-
pedtiously, it would mean much to
us as a city. The impression that the
tourist has of Hood River when the
boats land at the present mud bank
dock, is not one that will enhance the
prestage of our valley to any great ex-
tent, and the number of people that
daily travel the river who would rath-
er come neie to do their trading IL
they could do so without having to
walk or ride mile through the du It
or mud, and who rather than do so 60
on up to The Dalles to do their trad
ing, is a matter to be seriously con-
sidered, as it means thousands Of dol
lars going right past out doors year
Iy, that we should have. They say
you have the goods and we like to
come to your town to trade, but your
toat landing Is SO inconvenient we
can't do it. 1t seems to me that now
is an opportune time to take this mat
ter of dredging channel up. The
north bank railroad is deeply inter-
ested in the matter of freight ship
mAnts from this point, and the only
way these could be obtained to any
extent would be through some access
sible source which does not exist at
present. They now have a dipper
dredge working at the mouth OF the
White Salmon, that no doubt they
would contribute toward the work,
and that working in connection with
q giant which could be connected with
Nj. Wilson'S pipe line would do the
work expeditiously and with mini
mum of expense. Some will say the
sand will fill in your channel and
shoal it every year, that is the eXper-
fence of tow boat men on the lower
river who have constructed similar
channels of ten times the length of this
one, and in instances where they have
no swift running stream to turn into
it as we have. But suppcsing that was
the case, could we not easily afford to
spend thousand dollars or more each
year tn keen il in pavigable condi-
tion? am quite sure the people
would answer atiirmatively after the
first year of its use. This is matter
of great impoi tance to our city and l
think it is well worthy of immediate
consideration for If we wish to get the
aid of the north bank people we must
act at once. think 1t Is a matter
that the mayor and council should
recognize and as such in authority
appoint a waterway commission who
could take hold of the matter vjgor'
ously and carry it out. j. S. Booth.