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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1907)
THE MORXIXG OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1907. DAMAGE FROM THE FLOOD IS GROWING Strong Current Carries Away Clubhouse of Portland Rowing Club. N S':. V'.. ;m-A ?.mmm.m " ? -? : a, -m:smj2' WATER IS STILL RISING A - matt ' lO r "! Ill i mm m mm 'a ' my :mm:- :V: ;;'0: r Zmmm : : l mim mmm'mmmm xm,J imm x mm m' iifiiaiiwiiii PER Rpr 4 ? s s, ,s s N -Of if Measured 20 Feet Last Xlprht and Will Reach Maximum of About 2C Feet by Friday If Pres ent Conditions Continue. HEIGHT OF WILLAMETTE. Albany 30.3 above low-water mark, falling. Salem 31.2 above low-water mark, rising. Eugene 18 above low-water mark, falling. Portland 10.7 above low-water mark (at S o'clock), rising. Yamhill River. McMlnnvllle, 33.8. a rise of 2 feet during yesterday. Rising steadily all day. the Willamette flood did Its worst damage at Portland yesterday. Drift which increased towards night tore a number of houseboats from their moorings and carried them down stream. The clubhouse of the Portland Rowing Club was swept away, the dam age amounting to 510.000. Logs and drift accumulated on the bridge piers and seriously Interfered with the movements of shipping in the harbor. On account of the rapid current craft could not move along the harbor front nor get through the bridges with safety. The river is expected to continue to rise-today until It reaches a height of 'about 22 feet by Friday. It will probably then commence falling as the crest of the flood Is thought to be near. The river had reached 20 feet above low water mark last night. The upper river Is falling as fast as It rose early in the week. This means the worst is over up the Vailey. and it is hoped that more damage will not occur here, although a higher stage will be reached today. The swift current run ning is an element of added danger. . The O. R. & X. Is still blocked, but Ceneral Manager O'Brien hopes to have the line cleared tonight or tomorrow. Steamers are being run to bring passen gers to Portland, and eastbound travelers can probably get away today by making a steamer trip from Portland to Cascade Locks. Belated Passengers Arrive. The first passengers to reach Portland from the Upper Columbia since last Sat urday came In yesterday afternoon on the steamers Harvest Queen. Joseph Kellogg and Capital City. Bach boat carried full loads and brought down belated O. R. & N. passengers who have been stalled in the snow drifts along the Upper river since Sunday and Monday. Train No. 6, which was held in the snowdrifts near Hood River for 36 hours, was released Tuesday and backed to Hood River, where the Kellogg took on 150 passengers and brought them to Port land, arriving here at 6 o'clock last eve ning. The Capital City arrived from WATER ON RAILWAY TRACKS. Water Ilea 14 Inches deep over the rails of the Southern Pacific a mile north of Oregon City and extends for a quarter of a mile. A similar condition exists near Canemah, two miles south of Oregon City. The r-ater is backed up by the Willamette. This does not stop the operation of trains, although the water comes well up on the trucks. Trains are delayed from half an hour to on hour by these stretches of water, as trains are oblijied to proceed slowly because of danger of running Into float ing logs and derailing the train. Mosler, with 2M passengers later in the evening. The Harvest Queen, with 200 passengers from cascade Locks, also ar rived in the harbor last night. It is hoped to have the O. R. & N. main line cleared by tonight or tomor row morning. Large forces of men are at work but large quantities of ice and sleet are blocking the efforts of the men to clear the tracks. The slides that cover the track Include rocks, ice and broken trees and stumps. This condi tion makes it hard to clear away the drifts as snowplows are helpless when they encounter obstructions in the drifts. General Manager O'Brien, who returned yesterday in a special train from a trip up the line, found snow 20 feet deep lying on the tracks three miles east of Bridal Veil, which Is as far east as the line is clear. The tops of the drifts lie level r) WE R I-I.AXT CHIPFLKO. Additional streetcars, -usuully start ed at fl o'clock by the Portland Rail way C6mpany, and maintained during the evening rush, were conspicuous by their absence last night. On some lines it was Hardly possible to oper ate the usual number of cars on account of the lack of power. This . condition In brought on by the flood. In tho "Willamette, as the high stage of the river at Oregon City almost stopped the dynamos last nliht and If was thought likely the big turbine waterwheels will not be spinning to day If the river continues to rise. Should the power plant stop. It will mean an absence of all trippers to night and the company will be for tunate If It can run even a few cara on all lines. Some lights about the city may not be burning tonight on thia account. with the top of the locomotive's smoke stack. Wires are still down and the Western Union sent out a special repair train yes terday to put the wires in working con dition. Only one message was received from General Superintendent Buckley yesterday by the operating departmnt of the O. R. & N, and this came by Salt Lake and San Francisco. He advised that after a rotary snowplow had been ut to work from The Dalles, working west, and had plowed through a drift 30U0 feet long and running from 15 to 30 feet deep, the -plow was broken and was sent back to La. Grande for repairs. A shoveling gang was organized, as this accident left the line without a plow In commission. Mr. Buck ley reported rain falling, with the flange bad. which means there is so much Ice between the rails that there Is no room for the flanges of the wheels anil the engines climb the rails. Mr. Buckley wired that he expected to reach Cascade Locks yesterday, and in THE PORTLAND ROWING CLUB BOATHOISE STARTED DOWN THE RIVER FROM THE OAKS AT :13 A. M. AN HOUR LATER IT CRASHED INTO THE BOWSPRIT OF THE SCHOONER VIRGINIA, AT INMAN, POUL SEN'S. MILL. AS SHOWN IN THIS PHOTOGRAPH. AT 3 P, M. THE BOATHOUSE CRASHED INTO THE MADISON-STREET BRIDGE, AS SHOWN IN THIS PHOTO GRAPH TAKEN AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH. this he was successful. He reported the weather warm and said it was chlnooking all along the line. Steamers Transfer Passengers. Steamers will probably be put to work today transferring passengers around the points still blockaded. Trains can now be run from Portland to Bridal Veil and from The Dalles to Cascade Locks. This leaves a distance of 17 miles still blocked by slides. The tie-up of the O. R. & N. is causing much concern. ' The Southern Pacific is so hard put to it for coal since the usual supplies from the Huntington gateway are unavailable that two freight trains were stalled yesterday at Albany, unable to proceed. A few cars were purchased by the Hurriman lines from the Pacific Coast Company and sent to Albany to permit the trains to come on to Port land. Anxiety has been caused on Railroad Row by the blockade of traffic, for the pay checks for January for many of the officials and clerks are in the delayed mail Ueld in the snowdrifts. Passenger trains are collecting at The Dalles, where passengers report discomfort and annoy ances in waiting for the lines to be opened. Between 21.5 and 22 feet Is now con sidered to be the extreme limit of the flood in Portland. This point will be reached by noon tomorrow and then the waters will begin to recede. During the greater portion of yesterday the rise was not as fast as the preceding day, the limit being about an inch an hour for the first half of the day and about three-fourths of an inch during the last part. By far the greatest damage to result from the flood as yet occurred yester day. At an early hour in the morning the boathouse of the Portland Rowing Club, which was moored at a point a short distance below the Oaks, tore loose from her moorings and went down the stream. She brought up on the bow of the schooner A'irginia at the mills of Inman, Poulsen & Co. The bowsprit of the Virginia caught the roof of the boathouse and crashed through. The float hung up on the anchor chains and for several hours the home of the rowing club clung to the ship. House Smashed Completely. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon a mass of drift came down and the strain was more than the float could stand. It gave away and .went down stream, carrying a portion of the rigging of tho Virginia. The boathouse crashed into the Madison-street bridge and emerged on the lower side in a sadly dilapidated condition. Several planks were taken from the bridge. . Further damage was done at the Morrison-street bridge and after passing the lower bridges the wreck of the once hand some home of the Portland Rowing Club would not make kindling wood for a beachcomber. The loss to the rowing club will exceed $10,000. but the board of trustees an nounced last night that the club will be in position to take care of members as soon as the season opens. All the boats, shells and canoes were saved. A large portion of the equipment, however, -went with the honse. All the private lockers and their contents are a total loss. A number of houseboats broke from their moorings from points on the river in the vicinity of The Oaks and went down-stream to their destruction. The launch and house belonging to Dr. H. W. Coe went adrift, and up to a late hour last night had not been picked up. The launch belonging to Mr. Bishop also broke loose and was badly dam aged before it was towed to shore several miles below the point where it went adrlft- Tic-Tlac Is Saved. The houseboat Tic-Tlac. belonging: to H. E. Judge, narrowly escaped destruc tion. Mrs. Senders, mother-in-law of Mr. Judge, secured the services of sev eral men and a dray and removed all the furniture to a place of safety. Ad ditional lines were put on the boat and it is thought it will be saved. The hull of the old steamer Glenola, which has been moored at a point op posite The Oaks, was in' a dangerous J (set? position last night, and a force of men was sent to the scene in order to make Iter fast. If the derelict should break loose it would cause great damage to the bridges. Shipping interests are suffering un told losses on account of the high water. Above the Madison-street bridge are several sea-going vessels which cannot move on account of the current in the Willamette. It is a dangerous matter to attempt to take the craft through the bridges. Suspended traffic on all rail lines makes it impossible to secure wheat, and most of the craft in the harbor are unable to load. COMPLAINS OF TREATMENT Portland Man Says Conditions in Coaches Were Unsanitary. J. H. Krueger, of this city, reached Portland last night after being held at The Dalles since Monday. He complained of the treatment of the passengers held in The Dalles by the O. R. & N. and says they were compelled to stay In cars lack ing both water and lights and filthy from not having been cleaned for live days. He was prominent among those who objected to the action of the railroad officials and was arrested by The Dalles police, the charge being that of inciting a riot. He says he was released by or der of the Mayor of The Dalles. When Mr. Krueger and other passen gers arrived at Cascade Ixicks yesterday to take the Harvest Queen to Portland, he says the steps leading. from the rail way down to the river landing were in crusted with ice so that it was impossi ble to walk, down them. The passengers ' St OWNERS OF HOUSEBOATS k? i j x, V llllllli :;;;--;;:o:'-::;:;:;:j:;:j:;:;:;:v::: sr 5 i v i 3 1 4 Mill v 1 hit upon the plan of sliding down the stairs on suitcases, boards or anything that was availaole. Mr. Krueger said: "Personally I have no complaint to make. 1 was in the Pullman, and be- yond the fact that I was delayed, I have no kick coming. What I did object to was the way the railroad people treated the poor unfortunate people who were housed like cattle in the day coaches. Men and women had been in the car for five days. Filth was ankle-deep in the car. There were no lights and no water. I Jtnow there was no excuse for this, for we were at The Dalles and men could have easily ben secured to at least clean the cars and give the passengers water. Together with about 50 of the passengers I waited on the conductor, and for my pains was grossly insulted by him. I also saw Pas senger Agent O'Neill, and on my first in terview wi;h him he promised to "take care of the passengers. On going through the car some time later I discovered that nothing had been done. While the pas sengers were complaining,. O'Neill came through the car and he began to abuse me for 'butting in.' Later he had me ar rested and two officers took me to the City Hall, but Mayor Kelley refused to allow the officers to lock me up because O'Neill was airaid to swear out a com plaint. "When O'Neill and the rest of the rail road officials saw the passengers were bent on making trouble unless something was done for their comfort, the cars were cleaned. I was not satisfied with the job, so I telephoned to the City Physician, and he made a personal search through the cars. He expressed himself as being thoroughly- disgusted with the frightful con dition of the cars and ordered the clean ing done over. If the train had been on a siding there would have been some ex ... 4 y "A ABOVE IJOIAN, POULSEN'8 MUXS, SAVING THEIK FURNTTURR AT 2:30 P. 31. THE PORTLAND ROWING CLUB BOATHOUSE BROKE A WAV FROM - STARTED DOWN STREAM, ACCOMPANIED BY DRIFT, i -..Ci. . . , .. t"- ' - - . x - - cuse for the company's neglect, but as it was it was simply shameful. Just to add to the discomfort of the passengers, the train was placed on a side-track at least a mile from the town." E. H. Foster, of Baker City, who was also a passenger on the same train, de clared last night that Mr. Krueger's story was true. He Said the condition of the passengers was frightful beyond words. Damage in Eastern Multnomah. ORES HAM, Or.. Feb. 6. (Special.) Effects of the recent storms of snow and sleet are becoming noticeable, now that the weather has moderated. Scarcely a tree in orchard or forest but what has suffered and the roads are obstructed in many places by fallen trees. All the telephone systems were put out of busi ness and service is only being resumed ttn short circuits. The now Farmers' line with its 50 miles of wires was a heavy sufferer and the stockholders have been assessed J2 a share for repairs. The Bull Run pipeline wires were down in many places, as were the lines of the Pacific system between Portland and all the towns .of this part of the county. The damage will not be fully repaired on any of the lines for another week yet, although strenuous efforts are being made to renew the service as speedily as possible. Kirk man Claims His Liberty. LEAVENWORTH, Kan.. Feb. 6. Form er Captain George W. Kirkman, prisoner in the United States penitentiary here, will make application for a writ of habeas corpus in the Federal Court at Topeka today. He will claim that according to the military law under which he was sen tenced, Jie is wrongfully held. "v.SfJT 15 . ;J sC y ' 5f t . ! WfAfOic f Ax i iywA A AVa I a .Mini! wjwimvsi!ii1fm?vi 5- s THE BOATHOUSE AFTER STRIKING MADISON-STREET BRIDGE. HUNGRY BUT HAPPY Passengers of Stalled Train Arrive in Portland. TRAINMEN HIGHLY PRAISED Walled in by Snowdrifts, Travelers Organize Quartet, Play Cards and Carry Out Laughublo Coon limit. Although men. on the stalled train No. 5, which was released from the drifts, near Hood River Tuesday afternoon, went 30 hours without food that the women and children on board might have what scant supplies were available, they had no complaint to make of their treatment when they reachen Portland laft night on steamers from Upper Columbia River points. Cnoer the circumstances, the storm bound passengers had a jolly . time of it, and whiled away the hours .as best they could. Although a blizzard of sleet and snow howled around the cans, with the nearby river running full of ice nnd with snowslides blocking the track ahead and behind of the train, those on board accepted conditions philosophically. Train men, under tho direction of Conductor Maher, walked miles over the snow and through the storm for provisions, for there was no diner attached. The train men also kept constantly on the alert to care for the passengers and keep the fires in the stoves going when steam from the locomotive failed. Raymond Lake, secretary of Senator TVhealdon, of The Dalles, and son of Judge Lake, of Wasco County, was on. the train bound for Salem. He reached the city last night on the Kellogg and tells the story of the snowbound train as follows: Itetreat Is Cut Off. "We left The Dalles Monday morning and reached Hood River at noon. We went on a little ways and came to a slide blocking the line. The train was backed with the Intention of reaching Hood River, but a slide that had come down since we passed cut off our retreat. A heavy sleet storm was whistling around the train, which was kept moving ahead a short distance and then backing to pre vent the Ice from covering the rails and freezing the wheels so the train could not be started. "The train consisted of engines 195 and 197, a baggage, mail, three day coaches, one tourist and two standard sleepers. We had nothing to eat that night, but the next morning brakemen went to Viento through the storm for food. There was not enough to go around and the men gave what there was to the women and children. "Despite the fact that many were hun gry and annoyed at the delay, the best of feeling prevailed. Only two people in the whole train grumbled and with these exceptions everyone maintained their good nature. Water in the cars ran low Monday night and Tuesday morning pas. sengers washed their faces in snow. Many Ways to Kill Time. "The time was whiled away in nu merous ways. Several traveling salesmen started a card game and kept it going all night. The porter of our car helped peo ple forget their troubles, but the one who did the most to make the occasion a merry one was Coroner Bursette. of The THE SCHOONER AND . . . Dalles, who was on his way to Steven son to conduct a funeral. "Ben Kline, a burher who shaved Har riman on his last visit to Portland, and who operated a shop at the Kxposition, set up a chair in the rear of the car and shaved everyone who desired such an operation, free of charge. He would not even take a tip for the service. "A mixed quartet was soon organized and some good music was given the wait ing passengers, under the somewhat novel surroundings. Sandwiches were furnished by the O. R. & N".. which also paid for the entertainment of the belated passen gers at the Mount Mood Hotel at Hood River. "Perhaps the most fun throughout the blockade was caused by a coon hunt. A coon was discovered by someone up a nearby tree, and one man who possessed a six-shooter immediately got out and fired 50 shots at the animal at close range without so much as shooting a hair oft its tail. Coon Is Finally Killed. "An old soldier on the train then called for volunteers and organized every man with a revolver into a company. The force moved against the coon and fired about 40 volleys at the animal without ef fect. Finally one man grazed the ani mal's chin with a bullet and the coon tumbled to the ground. The captain of the company then ordered a charge. A small stream, covered with Ice, intervened between the men and the coon and in crossing It many broke through. The ani mal started to run and more volleys were tired after it. The bullets fairly shoveled the snow away from under it but tent wide of their mark. Finally a fleet-footed photographer named Murphy caught the coon and killed it by beating Its brains out on a log. It was then exhibited to the passengers. "Senator J. N. Hart. of. Baker City, was on the train, bound for Salem, but his legislative duties were seriously in terfered with by the snow blockade. Mrs. Ernest Ford, of Portland, with her baby, was in the party, and the child was seriously ill Tuesday night. "A bridegroom who was to have been married Tuesday afternoon at Eugene, was among those delayed. He was the object of much good-natured railery on his unfortunate plight. "During the afternoon of Tuesday sandwiches were Ir such good supply that the male passengers broke their fast. At 5 o'clock the rotary snow plow which had been working toward us from Hood River arrived and the train was backed. It remained at Hood OTTI.OOK ON O. B. N. "We hope to have the line cleared Friday night or Saturday morning." said General Manager O'Brien last night, after his return from th storm swept district. "Conditions are very bad, but we have large forces at work and we expect to put a rotary snow plow in commission bucking 5rlfta to day. Both of these machines which went to the scene of the trouble are now out of commission. There will un doubtedly be steamers sent up tomor row morning to take passengers to con nect with trains at a point east of the slirleA where the tracks are clear to the Eat." River that night and we took the Kel logg for Portland. At Bonneville we found the Harvest Queen, and our cap tain ordered her to proceed to Cascade Locks and take on passengers there, which she did." A. Ii. Mohlcr Much Better. Concerned by the reported illness of A. L. Mohler, vice-president and gen eral manager of the Union Pacific, Col onel William Crooks, assistant to Gen eral Manager O'Brien of the Harrlman lines, wired Mr. Mohler for information concerning his health. Colonel Crooks, who is a personal friend of Mr. Mohler, was much gratified yesterday to re ceive the news that Mr. Mohler is much Improved and will have recovered within a few days. I