THE WEST SHORE.
the gate kill. The strength of this cais
on will U- mainly obtained by the four
clcd ginler which lorm it dcckK at
different heights from the bottom or
Mil timber. These girders will be
formed by tending leaven of timber, or
Uvcm of planking over one another,
thus avoiding crow-grain structure, and
by bolting edgewise attaining the rigid
ity of solid grown timber to the width
of twenty feet in each girder. The
water to fill the dock is admitted
through the caisson, the flow being
regulated by slide valves operated by
ncrcwH at the upper deck. The oper
ation of docking and pumping out a
ship will on the average probably oc
cupy nlwut three hours time. The
pumping machinery for emptying the
dock is designed by J. C. Henderson,
Chief Engineer of the 0. R. & N. Co.'s
steamship line. The pumps are two in
number, eighteen inches in diameter, of
the centrifugal style, manufactured by
Chirk k Van Wie, of Syracuse, X. Y.
Each pump will be driven by a com
pound engine of ample power for the
speed required which will be obtained
without gearing of any kind. It is
expected the Portland Dry Dock, when
completed, will have cost $125,000 and
that it will be in full operation early
next year.
Adjoining the dry dock there is now
under construction a wharf, the largest
on the continent. It will be 2,600 feet
in length, two stories in hight and have
in the center an immense grain elevator.
This, like the dry dock, is the property
of the O. H. & N. Co., and will form
another great convenience to the ship,
ping interest of the Pacific Northwest.
No Rats. In all the expositions,
able and otherwise ot the great ad
vantages and resources of Eastern
Washington, we do not remember of
weinif her freedom from a certain af
fliction mentioned with more telling
effect, than a few day ago in the Rureau
of Immigration.
A party of would be settlers were ex
amining the exhibition of grain with
great interest, meanwhile plying the
gentleman in charge with questions.
While thus engaged, a man who had
Ukcn just a little" too much entered
and joined in the fusilade of questions.
All had been answered to the evident
satisfaction of the inquirers, when our
Al the prntnt wrilinj ,h Jrttil, .
i Pu beta Jetetmintu. ne
.-.-a aA nn more: "Shay, shay,
iriCIIU tacmjvu -
Misher.do yeh ave any snakes up tnarr
v at the renlv. "but it will be ot
special interest to you to learn that if
you get ten times nuier man j
If vmi i?et the delerium tremens,
as long as you live east of the mountains,
you'll never see rats."
It is a peculiar lact tnu r.aswiu
Washington Territory is entirly free
from rats.
The mischievous meddlers und lobby
ists who largely for mercenary purposes
bamboozled a green member of con
gress into presenting a bill, looking to
the forfeiture of certain railroad land
grants, have subsided. An examination
of the N. P. 11. R. erant. as well as
a view from the side of right and equity,
gave them no hope of creating more
than a scare, and even in this they were
not successful. Won't some kind soul
pass around the hat tor the reiiei 01 tne
lobby?
A WONDERFUL CLIMATE.
A letter from Tacoma, on Puget
Sound, the western terminus of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, dated Jan
uary 25th, addressed to the editor of the
Philadelphia New Northwest, says:
" For four days past I have been spad
ing up my garden, and pruning and
setting out plants." 'Twas so last year;
it is so every year. There is not a
winter month in Oregon or Washington
Territory in which flowers and plants of
many kinds do not bloom in the onen
air. A Missourian, writing to the St.
Louis Jonrnal of Agriculture of the won
derful climate of this region, savs:
"Last winter t88o and 1881 all
kinds of stock grazed through the
whole winter in Clark
Lewis, Wahkiakum and,Chehali scoun-
es, m wasmngton Territory; and on
the 3,st day of March, 1881, at Cape
Disappointment, 496" feet above the
level of the sea. all kinrla nf ,a
" sv4 uuvrcia
were in bloom, also red and white
clover; and the tame
, ... : b'Muov' "nc uvcr
. .,, ncgnr.. un the 3d day of
Anril th ri -r i: ... .1
r. . mcu van-
couver Barracks, located at Vancouver,
c cou y, vyash.ngton Territory,
ana saw wiM n um. ui '
1 ., - I hi uiossom, ana
2 IVXJJ ,autered
...v3t uosiures, grass led. In
Minnesota, at tfiat time, tLy had nlenlC
".snow, with extreme cold weathe?
In Missouri and Illinois the weathe
- " u ury lood.
The Reception Room for Immigrants
On the grain exhibit' stand, at the rooms of q
Bureau of Immigration in this city, appears a
State motto, "Alt's volat fropriis," (sne flj
with her own wings.) That this motto is wi
chosen is-apparent on every hand. There is ni
an article that is needed for the comfort of mi
or beast, but what is produced, or can be foum
in the Pacific Northwest, of a superior qualii
Immigrants from different parts of the globe wj
visit the Bureau rooms and examine the displai
admit this fact. The Bureau of Immigration
managed by Mr. Paul Schulze, and is under tl
patronage of the different railway companies. 1
answer the numerous letters of inquiry about tl
Pacific Northwest, and transact the general but
ness of the office, Mr. S. requires eight assistant
Notwithstanding the immense good the Bureau i
accomplishing, in making our capabilities know
abroad, they make no parade, no fuss, ask no tii
or assistance from the State, and therefore bu
few of our own residents are aware of the exist
ence of this important factor in settling up -thi
Pacific Northwest. The rooms are located
railroad headquarters, corner of North Front am
D streets, and are open to the public daily, ex
cept Sundays, from 8:30 a. m. to 5:30?. m. Ii
would not be a bad idea for some of our resident'
to drop in, learn what is being done for thein
and at the same time become better acquainted
with the capabilities and advantages of the Pacific
Northwest. , .-'.:! , ' i .:: '.,'
The Grand Union Depot. In this numbe
will be found an illustration of the accepted plan
for the Grand Union Depot, to be erected heri
by the different lines of railway centering in thi
city. It is said that when finished it will be th
largest structure of the kind in the world; son
idea of its immensity may be formed when tb
reader understands that, with its courtyards, it wi
cover twelve full blocks of ground. It will
bounded by H and M, Seventh and Eight
streets. The principal entrance will be at Par,
and H streets, and should the idea be carried x
of throwing the Park blocks into one continuoi
boulevard, it will give this city pleasant and w
necessary recreation grounds of over two miles i
length. In erecting the depot none but the on
lasting materials stone, granite and iron arei
be used. Samples from the different Oregon ui
Washington Territory stone-quarries have alrea
been forwarded to Mr. Villard at New York, ul
as soon as a selection is made, and the compasii
obtain the right to occupy the streets, construct
will be commenced. The architect's and enf
neer's estimates place the cost of construction!
$1,500,000. ' All the different business offices'
the companies will be located In this building)!
fact it will be the general headquarters for trtf
portation lines. There can be no possible d4
but what the expenditure of one and a half d
lions of dollars in the construction of this dep
will be a great benefit to Portland, and when co
pleted it will be a structure that every citiienm
be justly proud of. All silly twaddle about W
obstructions may as well cease. . The fact is,
site of the depot at present is an unsightly iwmf
has no streets, and neyer will have any, unless
railroad companies see fit to make streets.
present they own nine-tenths of the property
joining the depot grounds, and the hardship
street obstructions, after they have made
streets, will tall nrh ttn.thr in thar 0
shoulders. ; . . .. r