East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-01-16

With two trains from Portland thi.
forenoon and No. 2, this evening.
passenger, marked but an hour be.
hind schedule, tho train service shows
a decided improvement today. How
long the service will remain unlnter-
rupted is doubtful in view of the
thawing weather.
Towards the latter part Of the fore
noon two sections arrived over the
0. r. & ~ from Portland bring de-
layed mail and the Portland passen-
gers. Number J. the westbound pas
senger, was an hour or two behind
time this afternoon The Spokane
passenger awaited its arrival.
Yesterdays train No. /. which went
down over the North Bank road, en-
countered n slide in the vicinity Of
Stevenson, Wash. However, II got
through safely, reaching Portland
shortly after midnight last night.
No attempt has yet been made to-
wards resuming the local passenger
run between Pendleton and Portland.
News of the Thaw.
Ihat the chinook which struck the
mountains yesterday took the snow
Off them in hurry as was shown this
morning when the day dawned clear. 4
from the north side of the river the
path OF the chinook is plainly dis
cernible and presents an interesting
picture.
Along the very top of the noun
tain there is coating of snow and
then comes a belt, apparently two
miles or more in width, which is bare.
This extends along the mountains.
north and south, as far as they are
visible, the lower foothills shutting off
the view TO the extreme south and
north.
The effect of the chinook is also {
being seen in the Umatilla river which !
Is rising rapidly. though II IS not ex- I
pected that the water will reach j
dangerous stage. At the Main street /
bridge the ice is being broken up and "
inundated with the muddy water BY d
morning II is expected that the river /,
will be a whirlng roaring torrent but n
1t Is believed that the ice will melt so 4
rapidly that no trouble will be experl- h
enced with jams. n
In Pendleton and vicinity ideal con- Il
iitions are prevailing today. The sun v
Is shining brightly but there is no tC
warm wind and the water is going
nto the ground as rapidly as It comes
rom the snow instead of running off, 81
Is it was feared would be the case. is
At Weston also it was reported that m
he snow was going Off rapidly, II be- la
ng stated that only six inches were f
eft on the ground at 10 o'clock. Here III
lso the water was being soaked I'D la
" the ground. This would seem to Sc
efute the statements made by many is'
hat the ground was frozen to a depth
arying all the way from two to IA ca
1ches and which have been made he
reely on the streets during the past do
Nv days, Had the ground been frog 70
n the water would have been run fa
ing off instead of running in oW
With this state of affairs prevail ins
lg all danger of n disastrous flood
Pendeton seems to have been ko
lssed. Especially since colder weather Nc
promised for tonight. The flood old
aters from the rapidly melting snow pri
the mountains will have gone on sea
) way to the sea before the water No
ON the fields and foothills OF the MS
unity will have an opportunity to
ID its volume. II is also said by n
ose who are in a position to know inf
at the very fact that the snow has anc
sappeared so quickly from the bot
1untains first. means that II will be Cur
w in going off here. pro
City Believed Safe. wa
This CITY is considered safe ~ tbo tha
poll