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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1886)
146 THE .WEST SHORE. TUB LOST RIVER COUNTRY. That portion of Idaho known as tho "Lost river country," lien east of the Worxl river mountains, north and west of the Invti Mis, nw notith of the Hnlmon river divide. It embrace some 3,500 square miles of mountain and valley land. The following description in epitomized from the HituHton Prmn: Homo forty mile alxive Houston, in Thousand Spring " '" or two otimr valleys, the Big Lost river ha it source and trends nway southeasterly to the great lava Mis, where it sink and in lost Alxmt thirty mile east of Houston another imjxrtant stream rises, which Mrs the name of Little Lost river. Thin bIbo disappears, after winding southward through beautiful valley a diHtanca of forty miles, in the great lava dis trict Emptying into those streams are numerouH feed ers, amall oreeka which are formed high up on the moun tain hy spring and melting anow, and which come tumbling down tho rocky, precipitous canyons with a fall of from 200 to l.OIK) feet ti the mile. Everywhere along the main streams, tho creeks, and the hundrodsof miniature lake that are hidlnn among tho mountain xKka, are deep fringes of the softer varieties of wood, such as quaking asp, cotton w.kkI, oto., while tho moun tains are heavily timlstred with fir, pino, H)ruce, cedar and mountain mahogany. Within the entire Lost river country there is not a mountain whoan surface does not show indications of mineral within ita rough exterior. Prosting is only in its infancy in this section, and mining has not been carried on very extensively, nevertheless, tho main min eral Ml, which trends north westerly and southeasterly on the weal aide of Kig Lt river, has boon Bufllciently explored to not only guarantee this an almost inexhausti ble field for the minor, but has as well uncovered to the gar. of those of the mining world who wish to come and Miold them, the most gigantic ledges of pay ore that have ever Mm discovered: If a correct rojxtrt of the vastness of the mineral deports within ten miles of Houston was compiled by tho moot noted excrt of tho Pacific coast, and then the figures divided by two be fore given to the publisher, the reader thereof would ermit a smile of incredulity to xrmeato his phisiog. nomy and would doubtless look upon tho entire report aa gross fabrication, resulting from the receipt of a cash consideration of unusual proportiona. Owing tit the home demand for garden product the Iioat river rancher is fast accumulating a comfortable apply of this world's g.s.,1. Wheat and oat, which yield bountifully -r acre, bring three eeuU pr pound in Houston, while potatoes, largo, smooth and mealy, are in demand at from two to three cents jw jxmnd, accord ing to the season in which they are marketed. Other product, such as lettuce, onious, cabbage, raddiah, par suiw, turni, cucumber, melon, etc', fiud ready sale at figure which would astonish the gardener of tho Eastern SUto. Wa can call to mind the names of a number of rancher who cam to Lost river ouly one year ago with scarcely anything, who now have comfort able homes, several head of horses and cows, and pigs and poultry, and whoso crops this year will leave them a comfortable bank account on the credit side of the lodger. This is truly the poor mnn'B eonntry, provided of course, tho poor mnn is a worker and rustler. In no section of Idaho has nature more bountifully provided for stock than in the Big and Little Lost river vnlleys and the foothills bordering upon these never failing streams. There are scores of fine ranges in the vicinity of tho alxve named rivers that are sheltered by high mouutains whose peaks turn the snow-laden clouds of winter from the valleys and foothills, and make the winter pasturage all that coukl reasonably be desired. Thousands of head of horses and cattle roam over these ranges at all seasons of the year, and at all times are sleek and fat Thore is still room for large numbers of cattle, and many desirable ranches with streams run ning through them thus affording an inexhaustible water supply are subject to location. The cost of rais ing stock in the Lost river country is as low as on al most any ranges in the United States. Every owner of stock in this section has been successful and all are rapidly locoming wealthy. PETROLEUM A8 A WOOD-PRESERVER. A corroBjHmdont of the Rural New Yorker writes in regard to the value of crude petroleum as a wood-preserver, as follows : "Fresh, light petroleum, if applied warm, will penetrate, if the wood is dry, almost as read ily as water; and, once thoroughly saturated, ' it is there to stay;' water will not wash it out I have been for years a pnxluoor of crude petroleum, and have yet to find a board or piece of timber connected, or otherwise, with the works, that had once been saturated, which is not sound whore the oil touched; while frequently pnrts not oiled have decayed rapidly. I have just finished taking down and making over into smaller ones a wcxxlon storogn-tank, which was first built over eighteen years ago, and left exposed to alt kinds of weather. We did not find one rotten spot in it; everything was sound. I have known oil barrels, and also small tanks, to be covered with a thin layer of earth and remain so, in one caso over fourteen years, and come out sound." He es locially states, that, saturated with this moisturo-re-pollant from nature's own marvellous laboratory, sills of barns and similar buildings will outlast any other part of the framo; and he remarks that, after the first two or three days, the application does not expose wood to Bny increased risk from fire. Hiieumatihx. A German who baa been greatly bene fited by the use of celory for rheumatism says: "I had a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism, and I was healed in two days' time by soup made of the stalks and root of celery. The celery should be cut into bit, boiled in water until soft, and the water drank by the patiout Serve warm with piece of toasted bread, and the painful ailment will Boon yield."