Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1909-01-08
DO NOT DESIRE WINTER
Willamette Valley People Fail To
Appreciate Aesthetic Merits of
"The Beautiful Snow"

Does the Willamette Valley furnish
= nice attractive setting for winte
lne. sports and amusements? No, decid
edly it does not aud every native borI
Oregonian or person who has beeL il
- Oregon long enough to become accli'
T. mated is bearing witness to that fact
by the marked disfavor with which
50 they view the unexpected panorama OF
winter that has been fosted upon them,
and by their absolute refusal to see
any point to the practical joke that
has been played upon them by Boreas
in passing them out nice white
blanket of real snow instead OF the
pleasant rains they were expecting.
If the oldest residents are to be
credited, this if the worst break of
weather man has made since way
back in the sixties, at which time he
stirred up a bunch Of mid-winter
trouble beside which his present effort
looks feeble and amateuEish in the
extreme.
Everyone is sorely chagrined that
the roaring North" should have seen
tit to call our little bluff about ''roses
in midwinter," and, being sOrely |
chagrined, the majority Of them refuse |
to have either part or parcel with the
present snowy season, but go about
the streets stepping high, like cat on
wet sidewalk, and wearing on their
faces a look Of settled gloom which is
80 fixed and frozen that it never grows
darker even in the trying moment
when that ubiquitous parsonage who
wants to know if its 'cod enough for
you," turns loose his time worn jest {
upon them.
Comparatively light as the snowfall !
has been, Oregon was unprepared for +
it, and being unprepared, everything g
is either held up or hampered by it. 3
Railroads ignore schedules, while the
hoarse engines snort and complain
and grind vainly at the slippery rails q
in an effort to get their trains started. :
Rural mail routes become demoralized :
and urban traffic drops to a minimum,
while everyone wishes for rain and
VOWS that they will never, never again c,
against the kindly minis W
.ratiOns Of ]. Pluvius, the traditional :,
patron saint of Western Oregon. Log "
ging camps may continue work very =
we'll in Minnesota and Maine and such
other states as there may be, Injured to e
ce and snow, but not so the logging ffr
camps above this city. They turn off -
heir crews with permission to take to
holiday until the clouds roll by, or, to n
De more literal, until the thaw comes. r
The younger sciOns Of our hardy til
refuse to be held up by the III
now. Sleds Of all descriptions are
lug out Of forgotten hooks and the
ighthearted boys with blue smiles of
)lissful enjoyment frozen into their h
herub faces and shouts Of delight Of
s5uing disconnectedly from between
heir chattcring teeth, proceed to
,ndanger their lives and limbs by
,oasting, and other peoples lives, ej
limbs, spectacles and window glass by A
hrowing snowballs. Bobsleds and H
'utters appear as if by magic and with
he "merry, merry, sleighbells" chin
ng in the approved style, horses
and runners cutting down II
trough the weak crust and rasping IL
trough the soft mud beneath, others
indulge 10 the nearest approach to a
leigh ride that can be procured under
be circumstances.
The harassed pedestrian lunges CO
omeward through the snow and f(
0Onders why his neighbors are so
in the spirit Of civic service
hat they refuse to shovel out a path
n front Of their residences. Having
rrived at his own humble cot he u
ecides that he is too tired and it is too :
old for him to make a path on his -
wn sidewalk and settles down to his 10
fire, leaving others to say
ne same things about him.
No, Oregon is decidedly not a place
here a snowstorm shows off to the u
est advantage, nor where it is :"
eceived with the most kindly enthusi- 81
SIN. Since tina: one way back in .
he sixties, they have gotten some -
hat out of practice and at present '
very one Is anxious, If it can be done
'ithout bringing on second flood, to
ee the thaw come as rapidly as possi-
lie and our fictitious winter give -
lace to the real gentle warm winter Az
'eather to which we have been q
d
ct