East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-09-24
The Story of the Cello Canal

! about ls0 tons Of wheat, but lacked
I power TO so above Umatilla rapids
[ She did succeed in furnishing the
/ portage railway some buiness, and
she was bought after Theodore Bur
I ton, the chairman of the rivers and
{ harbors committee Of the house, had
/ declared the portage railway must
show some business or the apprOpria-
tions for the Cello canal would cease.
The Mountain Gem, second boat of
the line, made her first trip in Sep
tember. 1906, bringing sos sacks of
wheat from the Arlington Interior
Warehouse company. 1t was the un-
derstanding that these boats would
make lower river connections with
the Regulator line, controlled by the
Northern Pacific. but the fallacy of
depending upon a railroad for CO.
operation in opening up river TO
navigation was shown first by fitful
and irregular service, and next by a
one-day notice that connections could
not be made. Immediately the j n.
Under the beneficient competitive in
fluence, the railroads steadily be-
came more accommodating in the
matter of cars and shipments and
rates. The little group that had sub
scribed many thousands of dollars
were called upon for still more and
there was little suggestion of loyalty
in the hearts of shippers that would
keep them patrsnizing the line after
the railroads had met the competi-
ton. In 1912 the company took up
The Dalles, Portland and Astoria
Navigation Company, owned by the
S, P, & S. Railway, the possibility OF
its vacating the trade between Port
land and The Dalles and letting the
Open River line handle the business.
The D., P. & A. N. Company did not,
! however, leave the business until the
/ recent order of the interstate COM
/ merce commission under the general
ruling that a railroad may not main
tain boat service parallel to its own
lines.
I shall never forget the last days
! of the Open River transportation
company. There was one attempted
rally after another, but to no effect
Friday, the thirteenth day of Sep
tember 1912, the company voted tC
discontinue business. Service was
continued on the river until october
81, 1912. Subsequently the boats oi
the open River company were sold
With the opening Of the Cello cana
there is to be ans extended, uninter'
rupted service into a territory agar
active in advocacy of feeder lines
both rail and highway, between rive
and producing districts.
The government engineers reported
. at one time a production of $4,000,
, goo bushels of wheat east of the Cas-
cade range. of which they estimated
that 22,O00,0OO bushels would be ex
, ported. The production should nov
be in excess of 2OOOOO,OOO bushels
year in wheat, without reference t
! the many other commodities whicl
} may also be shipped more cheaply b
reason of the Cello canay. The rec
e ords of the portage railway and tn
J, Cascade Locks show as principal ar
+ ticles of shipment, berries and fruit
4 cattle. horses. fish, flour, hay, lum
= Der. grain, powder, sheep, wheat an
s wool
g The Cello canal is but just com
l pleted and already citizens and news
s papers are saying, 1T is not enough
n There must be canals and lock
= around Priest rapids and other oh
s structions that prevent continuou
r navigation into British Columbia.
= is even said that the purposes or com
!. merce will not have been served un
e ti1 the Great River of the West itsel
I is canalized, the electric energy there
: bv developed used in aid of agricul
J. ture and industry-the splendid rive
I. subdued to assist the ends of trans
e portation and the progress of ciVlllza
: ton. In a statement by Captain "
= p GRAY a veteran open river can
o paigner and navigator, president
: the Columbia and Snake Rivers wa
It terways association, and admiral
: the Cello canal celebration fie'
+ which moved from Lewiston to tn
y sea via Cello canal, May S-S, occui
this assertion:
l. "An open river does not mea
II merely the completion of the Cell
= canal blowing out a few rocks at u
IS rapids and scraping the gravel OH
! few shoals. It means a 40-foot chai
g mel across the Columbia river bar,
10 30-foot channel from Astoria to POT
,e land and Vancouver and low wat
N channel 10 feet deep from Vanco'
s. yer to The Dalles, six feet deep fro
$, Cello to Pasco, five feet deep ITO
l. Pasco to the Canadian boundary
e. ,be Columbia and tour and ha
r feet to the head Of navigation on u
le Snake. the Willamette and oIh
ernaller rivers. 1t means canals al
nv locks around Priest Rapids and k'
mt tIe Falls. II means dams with loc
o. on the Snake and other rivers to su
a. noarge the rapids, reefs and pa
,st and It means that where dams OF
n nails and locks are built, cheap el'
a. tric power will be generated ana
of uater that now flows useless by Q
ee tbirstv plaIns will be raised to g
A. them life. The verdant field, the
in, cbard and the vineyard will soon
nd place the cactus thorns and sa'
ar brush. The busy hum Of faet'
wheels will wake the echoes OF
ed rock-ribbed canyons Cities
, A crow beside the rapid strear
in trolley cars and automobiles VIII
Of place the blackboard and the br'