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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1882)
r 'arch, 1 88a. THE WEST SHORE. 55 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD AND OTHER LANDS. The bulk of the agricultural lands of t! v Northern Pacific Railroad, in the rcific Northwest, now in market, is situated in Yakima, Walla Walla, Co lumbia, Garfield, Whitman and Stevens ;; Washington Territory,' and in Nez Perce county, Idaho. These lands are, for the most part, accessible, and within easy reach of transportation fa cilities, not only by way of the tr,unk line of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Columbia and Snake rivers, but aba by the branches of the Oregon Rail way and Navigation Company's system, extending from Walla Walla over the refon south of Snake river, and from a point on the line of the Northern Pa cific, 48 miles northeast of Ainsworth, through the territory watered by the Palouse and its numerous tributaries. Among the regions most desirable for set- . tlement may be mentioned those water ed by Crab, Rock, and Hangman creeks, in Stevens county, and by Thorne, Pine ani Cottonwood creeks, in Whitman county. The .soil is exceedingly rich and productive, and living water is found in almost every quarter-section. There are also extensive tracts of equally desirable railroad land in the counties of Garfield, Columbia, Yakima and Wt'Ja Walla. The lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad, lying west of the Cascade rr.:jntains, are principally timbered. Thre are, however, large tracts in the vi' jys of the Chehalis, Cowlitz, Lewis, 0. ! Salmon rivers as well as on the l '. :au north of the Columbia, extend ir ' award the Cascade mountains, which rr be easily cleared and brought under c vation. Here, all kinds of fruit and i thrive equally well. On Puget C id, too, there is plenty of rich bot t: land that can be brought under cul ti . ton at but little cost. 'ihe Northern Pacific Railroad Com s p: sells its lands on easy terms, and it ' w prices, assisting intending settlers h ery way to find suitable locations, aide the Northern Pacific Railroad C ipany and the United States Gov ( nent, the Oregon Improvement ( "pany is the largest seller of land in t territory east of the Cascade mount- This company owns 145,000 1 of carefully selected agricultural 1 in Whitman county, Washington ritory, and ao,oxJ cr in Grand Ronde and Powder river valleys, Baker county, Oregon. These lands are par ticularly desirable, owing to their prox imity to the Palouse branches, and the Grande Ronde branch of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. They are sold on easy terms, at from $5 to Jio per acre. The February number of the West Shore contained complete statistics about land and land laws in the Pacific Northwest. We will mail a copy of it on receipt of 25 cents, or, send it and two other numbers of different dates for 50 cents. Alsea Bay, Benton county, is the place to get a home. If you have no home, go to Alsea Bay, for there are one hundred settlers and plenty of land for one hundred more. Times have been better this winter on the Bay than ever betore. The rush to Newport gave us a market for our vegetables, eggs, butter and honey at a very high price. This country, when cleared, is well adapted to farming, for the hills possess a rich soil and grass will take well on farms, and the hills when the brush is chopped off, make good pasture land. We have a schooner plying to the bay, owned by Cant. Lutjens. Strangers pass every day looking for land. Some locate, others pass on. Come we welcome you to the garden spot of Oregon. C. The Blakcly mill is the largest single sawmill on Puget Sound, and cuts on an average, in twelve hours, 110,000 feet of splendid lumber. Occasionally the tally boards in the evening show that 140,000 feet or more hits been cut, but the average, week in and week out, is 1 10,000, per day. The new 65-inch circular, which is the largest on the Sound, has been tested and found to work to the satisfaction of all. What is known as the Big Bend country, situated west of Spokane Falls and north of Spragtic, contains about So,ooo acres of rich wheat and grass lands, with sufficient timber for farm purposes. At no time this winter have cattle there been without outdoor feed. The Indians have raised good corn in that locality, and many of the whites intend to make the experiment. A ledge of iron has been discovered not far from Tacoma, and close to the railroad. The specimens found indicate the ore to be what it known as gray hematite, and it is thought to be rich. COST OF LIVING IN 1849. Whilst the Forty-niners made their money easily, they also had to spend it quite as freely. We were recently shown a bill of those old days. The pri ces are rather steep to say the least: Auburn, Dec. la, 1849. Mr. Kttirchlld Bought of Wi-Uler & Co. i II fts Rice(3i7$ eta ..$ 9 00 9 tt Mcal(a.7 eti 6 75 II It Suriu:i8o cla 8 80 10 IU Cherriea (dried) (a 80 cla 8 00 10 ttu Peaehca (dried) (a $1 10 00 a tta Tcnf:$l.50. 3 00 77 tt Pork(o;8o eta 61 60 85 ttta Hecf (corned) ($$0 cla 4a 50 10 tha Rnialna (n oo eta 6 00 1 lb CftmlMa $a, a 00 150 Iba KlourfnOocli. 90 00 $247 65 Paid, Wktzi.kr & Co. . The same bill of goods could now be ' bought for about 538 50. Value ok a Timiif.r Claim. Upon this point tho Fost-Intelligtnctr remarks as follows: Puget Sound is noted for its magnificent timber and its enormous supply, and yet comparatively few peo ple have an accurate idea how much timber is to be found on a single quarter section of land. A friend of ours, who is a practical woodsman and a reliable man, tnlorms us that he with others, perhaps more competent than himself, recently made a critical examination of 160 acres of land in the Samish section, about sixty miles north of this city. They went all over it most carefully, counted trees, computed contents, and reckoned up the vast quantity into lay 000,000 feet of k wed, merchantable lumber, or an average of 75,000 feet per acre. The stumpage on this tract at the low rate of 50 cents per thousand feet, would bo no less than Jt6,ooo, and at common rate in tho ICust fa would be $36,000. Is it to be wondered when such facts and figure arc comtcm platcd, that the timber lands of this country ant in such demand ? Np farm ing lands anywhere to be obtained are at all comparable with them in value. TEMPERATURE FOR 1880 1, AT I.F.W ISTON. v Mean temperature for the entire year of 1880 wos 49.5. Highest mean for any month (July) was 72.. Lowest mean for any month (Nov,) was 31.6. Mean temperature for the entire year of 1881 was 51. Highest mean for any month (July) was 73.3. Lowest, (fan.) 39.1. All above . Thus it will be seen that the di (Terence between the highest mean of July, 1880, and July, 1881, was one-tenth of a degree, and the difference between the lowest mean of any month in 1880 and 18S1 was two and rive-tenths, and the difference in the average temperature between the two ye&rs was one and five-tenth. The bov shows a uniform mild climate.