.IK I
WKST SHORE.
itwturu. The general tone of color throughout iH am
1st and pale blue. The proscenium Ihixch are of the
latent design, and while not obstructing tho view from
any jsirtion of the house command the entire stage.
The rieh carvings on the proscenium front and boxes
are in plastic relief and from original designs. The
entire house will be furnished with oiera chairs, with
folding scuta, automatic backs and coat ami hat racks,
tlie scat and back being upholstered in elegant filunh.
The seating capacity is l.otK), besides ample standing
room.
SjMrial attention has been given to the safety of the
audience as well as its comfort and enjoyment. All
the nislcs are broad and lead to exits, of which there
are fourteen, with a total width of seventy feet and
a capability of completely emptying the house in two
minutes. In addition to this a solid brick wall runs
between the auditorium ami tho other portion of the
theatre and a tire proof steel wire or asls'stnn drop,
with steel cables and operated automatically, will
clone the front of the stage in case of lire. The ap
Niintmcnts of the theatre are most ample and com
plete. The stage Is very large and the settings will
be most complete and artistic, harmonizing as much
as possible with the coloring of the auditorium. There
are sixteen large and well lighted dressing rooms
aUive the stage level, a large property room, a fire
proof scene rix.ni and a paint bridge from which the
largest drops can be painted. The entire house will
lie illuminated by incandescent electric lights, proceed
ing chiefly from the more prominent joints in the
architecture of the auditorium. The ladies and gen
tlemen'i parlors and lavatories off the foyer will dis
play most refined taste in furniture and coloring. In
fact friitn c end to the other the theatre will lie com
plete, capacious and elegant in every detail. When
completed the building will U a lasting monument to
the skill, taste and excrienee of (lie architect, and to
the enterprise and public spirit of its projector and
owner, to whom Portland will W indebted for one of
the finest architectural productions in America.
Hritish Columbia isl-cginning to rcnliiethiiinier
alive necessity of providing coiniuunieation U-twecn
the Canadian Pacific and the Kootenay region toward
the 1'nited State boundary. The SHkane Northern
railway is heading in that direction, and proceeding
rapidly that it will Wore long drain that Hritish dis
trie! toward Sin.kane Falls, ami securv to A r.V..
the benefits that must accrue from t. development of I
thia Canadian territory. The Americans have the !
start of their Northern neighlmr. and thev are likely ;
t.i reap the harvest. Instances of this sort will inl. !
nice commercial union Mwccn the Cnited Statesand '
Canada more than all the congressional junketing i
tour that can I coimrtod by overworked Matesmrn '
A DAY ON SAUVIE'S ISLAND
I VINO between the main channel of the Willamette
I and Columbia rivers and a side channel, known
as " the slough," which branches off from the
Willamette a few miles above its month, and
joins the Columbia some fifteen miles below, is Sauvie'i
island, the paradise of Portland's aquatic sportsmen
The island in its highest point is but a few feet above
high water mark, and numerous depressions in its sur
face form lakes of all sizes from 100 yards to half a
mile in length, which are a great reHort for ducks in
the rainy season.
The island was at one time known as Wapato
(Wah-pa-to) island, because of the luxuriant growth
of wapntos on its numerous lakes. This is a plant
with tuberous roots, like a sweet jKitato, and i tall
stalk growing up from tho mud at the bottom of the
lake to a short distance above tho surface of the water.
It has a very sweet and pleasant flavor, and is i fav
orite food of water fowl, especially the canvas lack
and swan. Tho past summer season was an unusual
ly dry one, and the wapato lakes nearly all dried up,
but the late rains have partially rilled the larger one
and the earlier ducks are already thero. The shoot
ing season is limited by law to tho eight months be
tween September 1 and May 1, but, as was the can
this season, it often happens that tho fall rains do not
set in early enough to render shooting good in Sep-temlK-r.
The highest prized fowls are the canvas back
duck, whose flavor is unexcelled, swan, geese and
sandhill cranes. Tho canvas back is so highly priied
by epicures that they often sell at 1(1.00 to 1.25 each,
while " trash" ducks, such as mallards, widgeon, teal,
etc., bring from 2..r)0 to fi.OO jier dozen.
The season generally opens with the wood duck,
which breeds here, but which emigrates to the warmer
lakes of California as soon as the heavy rains set in.
However their place is Boon taken by mallards, widg
eon, teal, butter ball, spike tail, etc., which are driven
in from the coast by the heavy storms. When they
get a taste of the delicious wspato they feel sorry that
they delayed coining so long, and all the gunning
they aro subjected to docs not suffice to drive tliew
away until they start for the northern breeding groundi
in the spring. The canvas backs begin to straggle in
a little later and keep coming till Decemlier, nniain
ing continuously until the close of the shooting sea
They frequent only tho larger wapato lakes, and their
resort are the shooting preserves most eagerly sought
for and the rental of which brings the highest pri
In Novemlier and Decemlier swan make their n,r
iinee, remaining two or three months and then depart
ing again for tho north. Two kinds of geese am kilU
known locally as the "fall gsise "and "spring ?""