Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-21

ard has been replaced with commerce and
industry that is producing vast amount
of wealth.
Several steamers are running between
Portland ard Astoria night and day. car
ryinS freight and passengers. During the
summer season there are crowds Of ex-
cursionists and "resorters' travelling back
ard forth between the city and waterinG
places along the ocean, which are attrac.
I've and we'll patroniZed. One Of them
called North Beach. a popular summer
resort for people from Idaho. Montana
Oregon. Washin gton and northern Cali
fornia. has straight stretch Of hard.
clean Sand twerty-six miles long anC
from POO to 800 feet wide. There are sew
eral good hotels and many boarding
houses all along the beach.
\ railroad follows the south bank of
the river from Portland to Astoria, which
quarters Of the fishing Industry. Besides
the salmon 1 have mentioned q million
and a. hall pounds Of halibut. conflsh,
smelts, sturgeon. oysters, crabs. CLAIMS
and crawfsh are packed there every year
Most Cosmopolitan City.
Astoria is said to be the most cosgno-
politan city in the northwest, and among
its 5000 Inhabitants can be found rep
resentatives Of every race and nation
from China to Chile, including Hndoos
Of various castles, who are engaged in all
sorts OF occupations. Many Swiss, Swed-
ish and German colonists ana q smaller
number OF Greeks and Italians have
taken up land from which timber has
been cut and are CLEARING r for truck
gardens. fruit and berries. They arc also
from the river and are raising poultry.
Which is extremely profitable because
chickens and eggs cost more out here
than they DO in New York city. One
would think that everybody would go into
the poultry business, but human nature
is the same the world over, and the man
who are piling up fortunes from wheat
fields and fruit farms out here feel the
same as the big cotton planters In the
south. They regard the chicken business
prefer to pay big prices for poultry and
eggs rather than raise them.
There are steamers carrying pasSen-
gers and freight between Portland and
San Francisco which make the trip of
about 800 miles in little moro than two
days. and steamers and sailing vessels
are always passing down the river toward
the ocean laden with lumber and grain
for all the ports upon the seven seas.
neet OF grain ships alwa vs. este Port
land from Europe in September. bringing
cement and merchandise Of various kinds
to carry away the annual harvest from
the wheat fields Of the Willamette val
Icy. eastern Oregon and Idaho. Most of
them clear for Queenstown, Ireland,
where they find awaiting them orders to
go to Liverpool or London, Bordeaux,
Havre. Antwerp or Rotterdam or what
ever port is considered most favorable
There are now forty-three grain ships
either at the docks or on their way to
Portland, representing about 10000 tons
cargo capacity. OF these twenty-nine fly
the French flag. nine the British, four the
German and one the Dutch flag, and it is
expected that ten or twelve more will be
necessary to carry the export wheat to
European markets.
Some Wheat Figures.
The official estimates, based upon re-
ports from $50 different points, put the
wheat crop of the Pacific northwest
that is. Oregon. Washington and Idaho
at 55.OOOOOO bushels. compared with 40
100000 last year. 6O.0OO.OOO in 1907 and a
five-year average of 4S.!OOOOO. These fig
ures are liable 10 slight modification in
the event of wet weather or hailstorms,
but it is not probable that there will be
any great change.
Washington will produce 35.OOOOOn
bushels; Idaho, which has the best crop
on record, about 100000 bushels. and
Oregon 1900. 600 bushels.
OF the three states Idaho makes the
best showing in proportion to acreage.
" dSNlNk lOu HAS OOu0 very well, anu
Whitman county. the banner wheat coun-
ty Of all the northwest. gives promise of
breaking the record. with a crop that may
reach 100000 bushels. This is unex-
pected because the farmers Of Whitman
county have been gradually extending
their oat fields to meet the demand from
Alaska But it would appear mat the
area Of wheat has not been diminished,
and the yield has not fallen off.
The shipments OF wheat to Europe from
Portland vary with the years and the size
Of the crop. The maximum was reached
in 1907. when the total reached DO
834 All bushels. whereas in 1908 the total
was only 13,11S.9S6 bushels. 1t is con-
idently believed that the total for 1909
will surpass the latter figures. The total
exports from all Oregon and Washington
ports in 1907 were 47,242.976 bushels, while
in 1908 they dropped to 36.21O.257.
The wool crop for 1909 in Oregon also
promises to be a record breaker. both in
volume quality and price. The best esti-
mates fix the total at 2O,45O.OOO pounds.
valued at S4.OOOOOO. Last year the clip
was Is, 5OO.O coo pounds. valued at 81, 5OO,OOO