The Redwood gazette., 1910-03-16
BACK FROM THE COAST.
Mr.. and Mrs. Race Conclude their
Winter Tour. HOmeward.

Enroute from Spokane and other
Washington points to Salt Lake and
home last week, Mr.. Race wrote as
! follows:
Here we are, speeding along with
13 coaches and two engines, up and
down the valleys, crossing gorge af-
ter gorge, now and then over such
rushing rivers as the Umatilla and
the Snake, then occasionIy coming
to soft spots in the road bed where
we crawl with great care for mile
or two. Washouts are very COM
mon, and the railroad people have
done wonders in moving trains over
seemingly impossible places. In
some places temporary roads have
been made by laying ties and rails
on top of the old bed: temporary
bridges have been built over wash
outs by putting in heavy timbers to
hold up the trains. At Spokane we
were held 20 hours over time, at
Umatilla five hours and at Hunting
ton, Oregon, eleven hours. In the
Cascades we were held in a snow
drift at Stampede eight hours. All
these waits, outside of Spokane, have
been in comfortable sleepers with a
good dining car attached and no dis
comforts have been felt. save the de-
lays. What's ahead Of us we know
not.
A chinook wind blowing for two
days has melted the snow on the
mountain sides and the rivers are
overfowing. We saw places where
the Snake river, at Nampa, was
two miles wide or more.
At Spokane we saw the Bowerses,
Dickensons and Turells, all of whom
were well, happy and making money.
Robt. Turrel is now head draughts-
man of the G. N. at a salary of $4,000,
which is likely to be increased. Spo-
kane is a great city, with future
before it, and it appears to me that
any one with money who invests
there must realize good increase.
The west, after all is said, is still
an undeveloped country, with mil
lions of uncultivaUed acres waiting
for some genious to tell how to get
water upon them. AS one sees all
this waste of water, it seems as
though the government might better
build huge reservoirs rather than
more battle ships. She could easily
get her money back from happy,
healthy farmers.
Our fruit ranch near Toppenish
was all we expected and in some
ways much better. Fruit raising in
the Yakima valley is an immense
business and will soon be greater.
Land is fast advancing in price and
soon will be prohibitive to the poor.
The future seems to hold in land
values few temptations to the poor.
Unless the arid land in the west is
watered the government will soon
have nothing to give.
In all this trip. now reaching near
ly 5000 miles, I've seen nothing sup
erior to Minneapolis and very few
towns to equal it. Mime is all right
and makes good in the fullest sense.
I'm not sorry ! live in Minneapolis
nor ashamed to say that | live in
Minnesota, the Star of the North.
One will carry many pictures from
such trips as this, and now as think
| of it, I know I shall live over this
trip many times the mountains,
the canyons and deep gorges, the
rushing cascades, the snow-cappe ped
peaks. the roar Of old ocean, the
white crested pillows. the thousand
miles or more of cactus, the strange
| " dressed people who eat, talk and
think about things outside of oul
experience, are all part ofme now
The yastness Of my country is prob.
ably the thing of the greatest value
to me.
Mrs. Race has stood the trip quite
well, much better than I thought
she could.