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HOOD RIVER, OR., AUG. 3, 1889.
WATER FROM HOOD RIVER.
The water question should be settled
and settled at once. That the town will
have to bring in a supply for next year
ia certain, and that the farmers will bo
immensely benefitted by having an
abundance of water is equally certain.
The town can get water very easily by
going three or four miles, hut if the
farmers will unite in bringing a ditch
through the valley it will be better per
haps for all parties to take an interest
in this plan. A ditch and flume from
some point near the forks of the river
would bring the water out into the val
ley, and once out of the canyon it can be
conveyed in almost any direction. We
are unacquainted with the ground, and
would therefore like to hear the opinion
of those who are. Let us agitate the
matter now and once agreeing upon the
natter call a mass meeting and take
steps toward beginning the work. A
good irrigating canal through the valley
will double the value of every piece of
land adjacent to it, and will enable us
to raise abundant crops of clover and
alfalfa. Let us hear from vou, gentle--caen.
WANTED, CORRESPONDENTS.
We want a good live correspondent ia
each section of the valley as well as
from the Cascade locks and the White
Salmon region. It is impossible for us
to give the news from every section un
less some one will send it to us, and as
our acquaintance in those neighborhoods
is very limited we find it difficult to
make arrangements for getting the local
happenings. Communications should
reach us by Thursday night to insure
publication, and they should be signed
by the parties sending them. The name
of the contributor will not be made
known if thus desired but it is necessary
for us to know from whom we receive
contributions. Send along your items
and assist us in making the Glacier a
compendium of tho local happenings of
this entire section.
By this time next year old residents
will haraly know the place. By that
time it is probable a dam will have bedu
thrown across the river near the county
bridge, and a big saw mill will be In
operation near it. Ttie town will have
a population of eight hundred, and it is
probable that a second mill will be in
operation below the depot. Then a big
ditch will have been completed the en
tire length of the valley, and two or
three four horse coaches wiil be leaving
every day for the glaciers. Hundreds
of acres will be cleared and set out in
orchards, and in the near future the
roads will be lined in the evenings with
teams bringing fruit to the railroad.
Hood River has no boom nor does it
waut one, but its merits are becoming
known and nothing short of a vigilance
committee can keep people away.
The proprietors of The Dalles Trunk
Factory who use pine from the head
waters of Hood River in their trunk
bodies, pronounce it the best lumber for
the purpose in the United States. The
Thillips Bros., who are interested in the
factory, have worked at the trade for
years, and their opinion is certainly en
titled to weight. Its principal point of
excellence is the fact that it will not
split and from this cause much larger
nails can be used in fastening the pieces
together. This fact suggests the advisa
bility of starting a box factory here, and
no doubt this will be done when the
saw mills are in operation.
Communicated.
Hood River, Or., July 24, 1888.
-Editor Hood River Glacier:
Having a curiosity to again climb the
steep grades to old Hood, and view tho
improvements that have been going on
during the past summer, and the propo
sition being numerously seconded by a
Dumber of intprpstud nnrtina n.o.s,...
fS ments were duly made, conveyance
found us on tho road. The traveling
was unusually good for this time of the
year, as wood hauling so far has been
unusually light, the farmers having paid
more attention to their farm. and less
to wood, than heretofore. After cross
ing Hood river the dust was bad, until
we reached the top of the Booth hill
where dust gives way to stumps and
brush. From Booth's will be the begin
ning of the stage company's road at
Baldwin's homestead. The trayelingwas
very fair for this notoriously wretched
piece of road. Where under the sun the
road taxes of that district are worked is
a mystery to everyone but them selors.
The Stage Co.'s road from Baldwin
homestead to the bridge, can be greatly
improved by keeping on directly south
on the county road, instead of turning
down on the sundy river bottoms,
Arriving at the bridge we made
camp on the west side near the river.
The bridge across the East Fork is a
substantial structure of about 120 feet
length and a sixty foot span acrors the
main stream, was built by Stranahan
Bros., and is a credit to both builders,
and owners.
Here the stage road proper begiiiB,
and then work is apparent on every
hand, in good bridges and broad anJ
well worked grades.
About two miles from the bridge in a
heavy body of timber, we met the lead
ers of a large band of sheep ; we could
not turn and the sheep would not turn,
nor giye the road, and so we had to re
main in our wagon for nearly half an
hour, and enjoy as best we could, the
detention and aroma of about 28(H) head
of "Mary's little school mates" that
inarched by in single file. These annual
incursions of marauding sheep men into
our little valley is an outrage that ought
not bo longer endured. The supply of
grass is already scant for our own lim
ited number of stock, and when these
piratical bands of sheep are driven in
upon us the result is that our stock is
starved out, and comes home in the fall
poor and unfit to enter into our rigorous
winters. I understand that it has been
practically demonstrated in some locali
ties east of us, that saltpeter sowed
plentifully during June and July brings
forth fruit (sheep) meat for repentance,
and I believe it is sotry it brethren.
The "Elk-beds" station is our next
stopping place, where we were cordially
greeted by our old friend Pallas. After
watering our horses and eating a hasty
lunch, we start again on our final pull
for "Eliot glacier." As we approach
the mountain the grades get heavier,
our panting horses require frequent
rests, our party impatient to reach the
end of our journey alight and take the
more direct route by the old road,
while I with my heavily loaded team,
wind leisurely up the zig-zag road. The
grade upon the whole is a great im
provement upon the old one, but still j
there is room for improvement. A very I
just criticism would be that when so
large an amount of money was to have
been expended, a competent corps of
engineers should have been sent out and
a regular grade established. This could
have been done as the broad even side
of tho mountain would allow it, and at
no great increase of cost, but a vast
improvement to the road.
But the road has an end. The new
hotel looms up before me perched on
the summit of "Photographers Hill,"
then in the foreground "Eliot" glacier
with its monstrous contorted, misshapen
bodv of ice and rocks, while beyond and
in full view stands Oregon's pride Mt.
Hood,
Our camp is made among the village
of snowy tents that dot the groves.
Many friends gather around our evening
fire with eager questions of friends at
home, and news of lire and flood. Our
day's work is done and we sink to sleep
drinking in the pure mountain air.
Early morning finds us with lunch
basket in hand, climbing up not "the
golden stairs" but the sharp broken
rocks that form the moraines and cover
the lower portion of tho glacier. This
passed, we reach the smooth solid ice,
with its hundreds of minature rivers
and creeks racing along in their crystal
beds. Further along we come to im
mense crevassesjthat cause you to step
back and listen in awe to the infant
Hood river rushing dowu its rocky bed
beneath the glacier, hundreds of feet
below. Still further up gigantic blocks
of frozen snow stand towering above us,
evidences of power immeasurable that
has riven it into myriads of fantastic
shapes. On land again we have evi
dences of our altitude in gnarled and
twisted trunks of pines two and three
feet in diameter, that have defied the
storms of ages and still have not grown
higher than your shoulder. At your
feet, see, there is a Lupin in full bloom,
that at your home grows higher than
your head, but here you can cover the
mature plant, bloom and all, with a
divided walnut shell.
The beauty of the old camD is gone.
Its primitive wildness has passed away
forever. Thousands of mischevous
sheep have shorn its billowy hills of
their wealth of grasses and flowers.
The woodsman's ax and destructive
fires have wasted the stately forest,
the grader's pick and shovel have com
pleted the ruin of nature's works.
The hotel, perched upon the extreme
summit of Photographer's point, over
looks the entire surrounding country,
and affords a view unsurpassed any
where in the world. From the south
extreme you have the whole north fall
of the mountain from the summit to the
doorstep "Eliot" glacier trom its very
inception on the cloud-capped peak, to
its terminus, a perperdicnlar wall of ice
400 or 500 feet high. In the north there
are Mts. Adams, Rainer and St. Helens
that look like fleecy clouds floating on
an ocean of deepest blue, while to the
west at your feet, fades awav the Cas
cade range- into the distant Willamette
valley. Eastward the silvery thread of
the Columbia can be traced as far as
Umatilla, and the shadowy form of the
Blue mountains in the dim distance.
On the left at your feet is a chasm
where over 2000 feet beiow roars the
torrent of the middle fork. A mile
below at Strai.ahan's falls it leaps sheer
200 feet to its rocky bed below.
A queer, quaint, old-fashioned house,
is "Cloud-Capped Inn." Colonel, let
me congratulate you. ijueen Anne
never toasteVl her roval shins before as
grand a fire Jdace as that in tho middle
room. No expense has ueen epareu,
everything that comfort and conven
ience can suggest has been added.
Water brouirht in 2 inch main furnishes
an abundance of the clearest and purest
liquid that was ever placed to inorta
lirfl.
But the sun sinks low in the west, our
horses are impatient of delay, and there
are hours cf a cool evening urive ue
tween us and our homes. Iexd
Oregon Mate Wcathxr linreaa.
Orecron State Weather Bureau in co
oneration with U. S. Sienal Service
central office. Portland. Oregon. For
week ending July 28, 1889.
The temperature for the week has
been very decidedly above the normal.
A continued hot waye seems to have
overspread the state east of the coast
ranges. No rainfall is reported except
an occasional shower or cloudburst;
there has been no good rain in the state
since May 19, and the last three days oi
June when light showers were generally
experienced, benefiting some crops.
The sunshine continues to be above the
normal, few clouds being at all visible.
Smoke from forest fires prevails over
the larger portion of the state to a cor
tain extent obscuring the sun but not
giving the cooling effects caused by
clouds.
Grains are too far advanced to be in
anv wav affected bv the weather. Gen
eral reports indicate a small yield per
acre but owing to the increased acreage
the amount for shipment will exceed
that of any former year. In some places
in Western Oregon the wheat has been
injured slightly by the long continued
warm, dry weather. Many thousands
of acres will however yield 30 to 35
bushels to the acte.
The Willamette valley will yield the
best wheat crop in Western Oregon ana
the Grande Ronde vallev the best in
Eastern Oreeon. In the Umpqua val
ley in Southwestern Oregon and in the
southeastern part of Umatilla county
the wheat crop will also be good. The
southeastern part of Jackson county and
in Klamath, Lane, Wasco, Sherman,
Gilliam and Crook counties the crop will
be poor, though even in these counties
there are favorable localities where 40
bushels to the acre will be gathered.
Though considerable wheat has been al
ready sacked only small amounts are
being delivered or offered for sale. At
Alhanv the market onened at GO cents a
bushef. This may be the price for aver
age wheat in the valley. In Eastern
Oregon the price will be from 48 to 54
cents per bushel according to locality
and quality. wTbeee prices are tho best
that wheat buyers will otter at the pres
ent time. B- S. Pague,
Observer U. S. Signal Service.
Asst. Director.
A complete bulletin may be found in
the Sunday Oregonian of this date.
To Rent.
Six pleasant rooms suitable for house
keeping for small family. Water in
kitchen. Rooms up stairs over postof
fice. For terms inquire at postoffice.
Our first installment of boots and
shoes have just arrived from Chicago.
We can now offer you ladies shoes from
$1.25 to $4.50 per pair; men's from $1.50
to $J.50. Come in and look at them.
Blowers A Son.
THE GLACIER
Barber Shop
Grant Evans, Propr,
Second St., near Oak. - Hood River, Or.
Shaving and Hair-cutting neatly done.
Satisfaction Guaranteed.
B. R. TUCKER,
PROPRIETOR OF
HOOD BIVEB MILLS.
LUMBER
OF ALL KINDS.
MANUFACTURER OF
FRUIT BOXES.
. HOOD RIVER, OR.
J. H. MIDDLET
DEALER IN
Y
G
Groceries,
Boots and Shoes
- -
oves and Tinware
Flour and Feed
A General Assortment of such
is usually found in a
country store.
HOOD RIVER, OREGON.