The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-05-06
The Dalles- Cello Canal, Which Opens
Nations Second Greatest Waterway,
Formally Dedicated to Public Use
Imposing ARRAY OF O6N|IARIEs PARTICIPATE
Alegorica Wedding of Columbia and Snake at Kennewck
is One of Succession of Unique Festivities Which
Began at Lewiston on Monday and Will
Continue Until Fleet Reaches Astoria

The Columbia river, the second
greatest waterway in the country,
which for untold ages marked its
way through desert and cliff "hA*ing
no sound save its own dashings,'
with NO touch save the splashing
paddle of the Indian canoe; which
through another cycle Of years was
harnessed to the use Of man, only
to lapse into disuse, has this week
been reclaimed and officially dedi-
Gated to the commercial use OF the
people Of great empire. The Cello
canal, the dream of half a century
and the hope Of decade, is now q
fact. The waterway is now open to
continuous navigation from where it
mingles its foregathered waters with
the flood Of the Pacific ocean, to
where the Clearwater joins with the
Snake at Lewiston, Ida, distance Of
500 miles.
The brilliancy, the spontaniety, the
enthusiasm Of the celebration now in
progress characterizes it as the pre-
mier event Of the Northwest this year.
From sunrise Monday morning, when
the explosion Of tons Of dynamite
awoke the echoes along the Lewiston
hills, until waters; from q score lor
more Of tributatissi went splashing
into the canal yesterday afternoon, the
memories of the past have been greet
ing the activities of the present in a
manner so spectacular as to compel
a firm faith in the possibilities Of the
future.
It was the greatest day Lewiston
has ever known; it was the greatest
event in the history sof Kennewick
and Pasco; it was epoch-making for
Wallula and the biggest night Uma-
tilla has even seen. The whole Co-
lumbia and Snake river valleys are
celebrating as they never celebrated
before. The spirit everywhere is the
same, whether manifest in the gaiety
of parading thousands or whether it
has found expression in the frantic
flag-waving Of freckled and tanned
urchins in holiday attire at an iso-
lated homestead.
The week has been notable too, in
another particular. Never have so
many high public officials gathered to-
gether in the Northwest. Governors,
u. s. Senator's, and Representatives
in Congress have been as common and
as numerous as camera enthusiasts
and souvenir vendors. All have been
drawn by the same common impulse
to commemorate the connection Of
the interior country with tidewater.
A census Of the dignitaries wha are
participating in the trip includes Gov
ernor Alexander, Of Idaho, Lister, of
Washington; Withycombe, of Oregon;
United States Senators Jones and
Poindexter, Of Washington, Borah
and Brady, Of Idaho, Lane, of Oregon;
William B. Humphrey, representative
in congress from Washington and
Representative Sinnot, Of Oregon. The
pioneers whose names are linked with
the notable historic events Of the
Northwest are here, too. On board
Admiral Gray's flagship is Mrs. Nam
cy Osborne Jacobs, survivor of the
Whitman massacre, and many others
whose residence in the old Oregon
country dates back half century.
At Kennewick and PascO
A perfect day and an enormous
crowd greeted the progressive" cele-
bration at this point. The festivities
opened on the Pasco side, where at
eleven o'clock the spectacular parade
formed. Near the head of the column
were the cars carrying the bride and
her party who were to figure in the
allegorical wedding Of the Columbia
and the Snake later in the day. Fol-
lowing the bridal party were several
hundred school children and citizens
marching clubs from both towns, while
interspersed throughout the length of