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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1878)
January. 72 THE WEST SHORE, Island from the main land; and not be tog aware that an English trader, named Dixon, had in the previous year discovered and named the passage and the island formed by it, had called the latter Washington's Island, a name which it continued to bear in conjunc tion with its English name until within the last thirty years. After the meeting of the vessels and the exchange of captain-, the Columbia proceeded to Canton, where she arrived on the 6th of December, 1789. Capt. Gray there exchanged his cargo of furs for one of tea, and sailed again for Bos-1 ton, by the Cape of Good Hope, arriv- i Ing home in August, 1 790, " having carried the American Hag for the first time around the world." Meanwhile, Capt. Kendrick, his im agination excited by Gray's account of bis explorations, proceeded through the Strait of Tuca, determined to find its outlet or its connection with somcj inland sea. In this search he sailed entirely through the passage back of Vancouveri Island, and beheld with j wonder the numerous chan nels and islands that make an archipelago of that por tion of the Northwest coast His discoveries were after wards made use of by Meares to establish the "probable existence of the Northwest passage." "The Walking '," he says, "entered the Straltl of Juan de Fuca, kimoUdgtt which sht rtaittii from ij, and penetrating up them entered Into an exten sive sen, where she steered to the northwest and east ward, and had communica tion with the various tribes who Inhabit the shores of the numerous islands that are situated at the 1 ack of Noot ka Sound, and speak, with some little variation, the lan guage of the Nl otkan peo ple. The track of the vessel is marked on t he in a p ( Meares1 chart ), and is of great moment, as it is now completely ascertained that Nooika Sound and the pails adjacent are Mauds, and comprehended w ithln the M1.1i northei n archipelago' In other places e a 1 e s speaks of the tshihm having " vailed through a sea extending upwards of eight decrees of latitude" ail of which was written in support of a theory t'ut ths whole of Northwest America was a collection of islands, )ii his u Obsen etlonV being at tacked with ridicule by Dixon, before mentioned, M-. Meares made the fol lowing explanation: " Mr. Neille, a gentleman of the most reputable char acter, who came home in the Chts.'tr a ship in the service of the Bait India Company, made that communi cation to me which I have made to the public. M r. Kendrick, Who com manded the II ashingfrn arrived at China with a very valuable cargo of furs, previous to the departure of the Vhattrfitul; and Mr. Neville, who was continually with him during that inter val and received the particulars of the track from him, was so obliging as to state it to me." As appears by this extract, Captain Kendrick took a valuable cargo of furs to China. Alter disposing of them, he employed himself for some time gath ciing up a cargo of -.uhl.d-wo.ul among the islands of the Pacific and was at latt accidentally killed at Kuikakooa May, in Owyhee, by a ball fired I him. Hut for the publicity w hich Mr. Meares, in support of his own theories, gave to his discoveries, they might never have been known. In the next chapter we will meet once more with Capt. Gray. FKO.M MINNESOTA. The following interesting letter is worth reading by all, but especially by such discontents who are enjoying but hardly appreciating the magnificent climate and endless natural resources of the Pacific Northwest: ChESTBRPIBLD, Fillmore Co.,Miun., ) January 7, 187S. f Mtt. Luu ok: I have recently made the acquaintance of your paper in the office of the Dtmocrat published at this place. From boyhood, Oregon has al ways been invested with an uncommon degree of Interest for me, which ma turcr years has not diminished. I have been pleased with your descriptions of its climate, soil and productions, the pictures of its varied scenery and its public and private building. And w hile perusing the columns of the West Shore, it has occurred to me that your Oregon readers might be sunshine and fiercest storm. Our pleas ant weather, of which we have a goodly share during the summer months, is unsurpassed by that of any portion of the United States, and the' same may be said of the fury of our winter storms. Literal miles ot grain fields, grass and flowers greet the view during the growing season, and blinding, driving snow in winter sometimes shut out of sight all objects however near, and buries the bewildered and frozen trav eler in the same wintry winding-sheet that covers alike prairie and forest. The variations of temperature here are extreme, though by no means of daily occurrence; the mercury sometimes rising as high as 10S degrees in the warm season, while 40 degrees below .to, and even more, are amongst the possibilities of our winter weather giving us the wide range of 14S de grees tor the year. In addition to the small grains pe culiar to our northern temperate re gions, coin matures excellently and ; most of the garden vegetables grow to great perfection; but we have pretty hard winter for five months in the year. I have seen the mercury dow n as low as 24 degrees below zero in the month j of November; and eighty consecutive 'days "have been recorded when the year in the future. Since then winter has returned and 17 degrees below zero reached without much apparent effort, with a good prospect of still colder weather. There is yet ample time for us to get winter to our hearts' content before the season for it is over, and while the hills and valleys of Oregon arc becoming green with the newly, grown grass and grain, we may look out through our frosted panes on the drifting snow, and wait, as patiently as we may, for the wanner sunshine and the tardy spring. Retlaw. The earliest patent for sewing ma chines was granted in England, in 1775, to C. F. Weisenthal. The first complete and practical machine for general purposes w as patented in 1S46, by Elias Howe, Jr., of Cambridge, Mass. Historical Adventures on the PACIFIC Coast. The opening chap ters of these interesting papers started in the July number of Thh West Shore. We will send a complete set up to January for 50 cents to any one wdio will subscribe for 1S7S. THE MIDDLE M.OCK HOUSE CotrMBtA Rtvea. interested in a few lines from your more easterly sUter of our gieat confedera tion of States. Some of your people , have had a long personal acquaintance with Minnesota; must of them know ; her only as a new State in 11 distant ! part of our country, w hich has recently become prominent among the great , wheat-supplying districts of the nation. j Hut our state differs widely from Ore gon in its natural features and climatic peculiarities. The greater part of its area is either level or a moderately 1 rolling prairie, broken occasionally into abrupt hind's, with broad valleys be tween, and, in the vicinity of some of I the Streams, into craggy and perpen dicular precipices. It has none of the mountains or magnificent trees of the I west shore. There are a few respect able forests of deciduous trees, but Jew ; of pine any other of the conifer family. ! Hut a beautiful land is Mftincsnta in lur summer dress, dreary and forbid ding when the breath of the Krost , King has sealed her lakes and riven land wrapped her broad prairies in a shroud of gloom. Nowhcrt is there a greater contrast in the change of the season ; now here does vegetation spring into life more rapidly under the w armth of summer, nor fall more suddenly jc- I fore the autumn cold. It is a land of mistake from an KnglMi vessel saluting ' torrid beat and polar cold, of fairest water did not drip from the eaves of the buildings, so intense and steady was the cold. Though free to say that such extremes of temperature very materially lessen the comfort of living in a variety of ways, the condition of our population does not argue that our climate as a whole is prejudicial to health. Our elevated position and inland situation gives us a dry, pure atmosphere thought By eminent medical men to be highly beneficial to persons with pulmonarv disease-. But a knowledge of the se verity of our winters does not appear to prevent a steady influx of population from all parts of the country Winter began this season in good earnest early in November. On the morning of "the 6th (election day) the thermometer stood at 6 degrees below aero. We had a dash of sleighing, and the hoys had a week or two of skating; but the mild weather that has prevailed throughout the country came along, ami snow and ice disappeared. For a month we had open helds, and plow ing and out-door work went on daily, not interrupted by rains; and we have witnessed the unusual sight of wild (lowers blooming in December, in the open air of Minnesota. A few farmers finished their plowing New Year's day a circumstance unknown in the previous history of our State, and one which may not to repeated for manv a MIDDLE BLOCK HOUSE, The engraving shown on this page is of a his torical spot located be tween the Lower and Upper Cascades on the Columbia river, and is known as the Middle Block House,bulltln 1855 by Capt. U'allcn of the U, S. A., for the protec tectum of settlers then living in the vicinity. Ml . Seymour, now of this city, then kept a store there in the cabin shown to the left a little b.'low the Block House, and Mr. Qrlswold resided in the house shown to the left of the Block House and in a direct line with it. It was here that, in 1S56, Mr. Griswold was shot by Indians whilst fleeing from his house to the block fort which was then in command of Capt. McPheely. Slowly but surely the resistless waves of time are wiping all these landmarks away. Both Mr. Griswold's house and Mr. Seymour's store have long since dis apeared and the old fort serves only as an abiding place for bats and owls. Anothkr candidate for public favor, and a good-looking one at that, reaches us from Salem, named The Salem Weekly Record. It is newsy, and, like its editor, E. O. Norton, sharp and sparkling. In politics it favors the Greenback party. Trice per year, $2. The Salem Mercury has been pur chased by Messrs. Moss & Cornell, and as both are practical printers, and Moss a first-class newspaper drummer, we shall expect to see the Mercury roll up a large subscription list. Success to you, gentlemen ! The average weight of a baby at birth is 6 pounds; bovs being heavier than girls. At the age of 12 the weight of both sexes is alike; at full devel opment, both male and female jwcigh exactly twenty times as much as at birth. The heart is six inches in length and four in diameter, beats 70 times per minute and forces out 2j-j ounces of blood at each beat, or 201,344 tons and 125 pounds in a lifetime of 70 years. Is it any wonder, then, that the human machinery eventually wears out'