February, 1881.
THE WEST SHORE.
33
inspection at the coming World's fair.
Of course, Gov. Perkins is working, in
the main, for California, leaving other
governors anil other legislatures to
attend to their own respective concerns
as touching this general business.
And now, to come straight to the
point, the very gist of this article, wc
would like to know if anything of a
similar nature will be done by our own
state authorities? This is a question of
, no small importance to the people of
this state; and it is high time that the
subject be brought to the notice of those
authorized and qualified to act officially
and effectually in the matter.
Let our agricultural societies sec to it
at once that Oregon shall be reprc.
sentcd at the great exhibition of 1S83
as her best interests demand. Some of
our own friends may think we are pre
mature in urging this business at so
early a day, but we have only to repeat
what wc have said, that other parties
are already in the field, fully deter
mined that their own interests shall be
justly subserved. Oregon has thousands
of Bcres of good land to sell to the
hardy yeomanry that is certain to cross
the Atlantic immediately after the
great council of nations at New York
shall close, and there is no reason why
she should not induce a good-sized
branch current of the prospective im
migration to flow into her borders.
The fair commissioners for each state
and territory were appointed by the
head managers some time ago, and
many of them have gone into'activc op
erations with the view of justly and
profitably representing their respective
claims at the great convocation, ami
nobly serving their state constituency.
As a parting word of caution, we re
peat, let our own commissioner and our
own people be on the alert.
TI1K WIDK vi:st.
Ever since the growth of the country
east of the Cascade mountain legan to
indicate that the people of that section
had turned their attention to something
more permanent than placer mining,
the necessity of better traveling accom
modation was made apparent to the
Oregon Steam Navigation Company,
of which the elder Aiusworth was the
moving spirit. He knew that bis coin
pany was receiving the highest rate of
freights and fares of any steamboat
corrutioti in America, and that it
would be made the subject of hostile
legislation unless first-class accommoda
tions in the way of speed and comfort
were furnished to the traveling public.
lie had a splendid lieutenant at his
side, in the person of John Gates, the
company's consulting engineer. In fact,
he was exceedingly fortunate in hii
choice of subordinates, and when he
once secured a competent officer, he did
not propose to let him go. With Gates
to model the hull and machinery, and
Holland to construct the vessel, it was
no wonder that Oregon now boasts the
handsomest fleet of stem-wheel steam
boats of any state in the Union. And
in 1S77, about the middle of June, on
the present site of Aiusworth dock,
was laid the keel of the palatial steamer
Wide West; a boat of which it may be
truthfully said that she was built upon
honor.
Her hull is 215 feet long and about
236 feet over all, which of course in
cludes the " waterfall" enclosing the
wheel. She is of 39 feet beam, giving
her great carrying capacity. Her hull
is divided into 8 water-tight compart
ments, each of which is provided with
a steam syphon to discharge leakage
water. This, of course, requires a great
deal of extra timber and necessary
made the hull strong enough to bear
immense weight upon the decks.
She can carry about 550 ton of wheat
without swashing her gitards in the
water, and would have been ablo to
carry 1 20 tons moro had her hold lccn
made a foot deeper. In this resxrct
and this only, she is inferior to her con
sort IkihI, the It. R. Thompson, built
one year later, and now plying between
the Cascades and Dalles. In all other
rccct she is the finest Merit-wheel
boat in the world.
I ler profiling power. consists of two
horizontal high-pressure engines of 28
inch bore of cylinder ami 9I inch stroke
of the piston. These engines were
built by I'uscy, Jones & Co., at Wil
mington, Delaware, from drawing and
specifications made by John Gates in
person. They are exact duplicates of
those in the R. R. Thompson, built by
Harlan A Hollingsworth at Wilming
ton. They are provided with an inde.
pendent cut-ofT, designed by Mr. Gates,
which is a great reduction of steam in
the cylinders and as a natural conse
quence, a great economy of fuel.
These engines arc driven y a sec
tional boiler of great length, of the fire
box model and having an elephant
saddle" or combustion chamber about
two-fifths of tho distance back from the
fire-box which distributes the heat
evenly between the upper and lower
tubes of the boiler. On the muddy
Missouri or Sacramento rivers, such a
j boiler would need cleaning every other
day, and would be utterly useless for
that, reason. But the water of the
Columbia river Is so comparatively free
from sediment, that these boilers work
splendidly if washed out once a weok.
In tho breeching of the boiler, Is a spark
arrester consisting of a wire screen,
against which, tho sparks are thrown
by the force of tho exhaust and fall
down Into a pit, while a jet of water
from the donkey pump plays upon them
and washes them out through tho side
of tho hull. This saves an Immense
amount of paint for tho upper works,
and keeps the upper deck always clean.
Donkey pumps are used also to feed
the withstands and work the hydraulic
steering-gear, ol which moro anon.
Passim; from the main deck to the
boiler deck, first wo enter the "social
hull," which has ten state-rooms with
two bachelor berths in each. The
steam drum comes up Into tho hall and
is neatly jacketed as a receptacle for
valises, overcoats, etc., while the boat Is
under way. The purser's office Is 01
0110 side of tho hall, and the Irclght
clerks' on the other. This hall is done
in a delicate tint of lilac, and the floors
are covered with mosaic oilcloth. We
now enter the dining-room which has
twenty-two large and commodious
state-rooms, each provided with a three
quarter bedstead lor two persons, while
alwve it is a single lerth. These rooms
ami those in the ladies' saloon, are all
of uniform size and contrast favorably
with the cramped up little dens called
state-rooms on the eastern steamlxiat.
This room is painted in pale lemon
color with gold beads In the door
panels, and rarrtrd with rich M russets
covered with snowy duck. The dining
tublcs and chairs are of Oregon ash,
veneered with burl maple, everything
betokening home industry,
The ladies' saloon is of diflVent tint
from tho other sections, and contains
six rooms one of which is fitted up a
a ladies' toilet. The pumps keep con
tinuous jets of water playing, while the
boat is in motion, to that no offensive
effluvia tiiN llicse sumplucur cabin.