The west shore., July 05, 1890, Page 841, Image 9

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WEST SHORE. 811
" I'll ,'scort yer a bit," he said, and made toward a this was somewhat astonishing. Further questioning
raw-boned pony standing harnessed. revealed the fact that The Dalles is the metropolis of
Locking my legs to my animal I struck it a clip a section of more than 21)0 miles, and that all freight
over the ears with the reins a trick taught me by is brought in by teams. In the two weeks thf? team
Professor . in our riding school in the far east, ster had been on the road ho had passed but one night
My steed gave a startled shiver of astonishment, then under a roof, camping out the remainder of the time,
gathering himself, leaped out beyond the stable door, His freight of 1,000 pounds would give him cartago of
and we were off. A wild whoop reached me, and look- two cents per pound. The wool, ho said, brought sev
ing back I beheld Lantern Jaw in pursuit. I returned enteen to nineteen cents at the warehouso; buyers
the salute, and for half a mile led him an exciting were more plenty of late and nineteen cents was the
race. Seeing, however, that he rode the better beast, ruling figure. On reaching the warehouso I saw that
I checked my speed and, turning, drew my horse on hides, pelts in the wool taken from the sheep that
its haunches in the middle of the road. With a sud- had starved during the last unusually severe winter
den, graceful whirl my cowboy brought his mount to and wheat were piled up. The teamster informed mo
the same position. that the merchandise had all been carted from 100 to
I have since thought that the scene would have 250 miles east of the Cascade rango.
been an attraction to any circus ring. Lantern Jaw A mile below the warehouso, on the 0. 11. it N. is a
was visibly surprised. peculiarity in modern railroading wholly unknown in
" Chaw ? " he said, hesitatingly. Our horses were the east. From the bed of the Columbia river there is
now standing easy, and the man was holding a huge an unlimited, always shifting body of land, beautiful,
piece of tobacco toward me. clear sand but of such quality and weight that, as it
" No thank you," I answered. Then wishing to packs in on the railroad to the depth of from three
further surprise him I passed my flask half full of inches to two feet, it is more of an obstruction than
antidote for snake bite, with the inquiry- could arise from the worst snow storm any part of the
"Drink?" country has ever seen. All of my eastern readers
Lantern Jaw drank generously, then exclaimed, in know of the enormous outlays that railroads must un-
a tone expressing apology- dergo to keep a clear rail in winter; consequently,
We make mistakes sometimes, sir!" they will in a measure understand the great task of
" Sir I That was good. Wishing to further hu- the 0. R. & N. in keepinng clear this section of track
miliate him, I inquired if he knew who I was. when I tell them that five horse shovels are , a
" No, indeed I answered; " no such honor. I am reminded mo or Mrs. i .ruugi.... - - -
the president of 'the Union plcific system.". the sea Farther east there are many mi. h
The expression this information drew forth was same obstruction. It . w rt gW t
forcible and ingenuously profane. Knowing that the hands or - c ,aners e "
whole affair would be repeated with a
the stable, I begged the matter would be considered " m ftnJ belwo(in,
strictly confidential, adding- d .f j hirli th h tho air. In
- I am looking over the property incognito, jndg . ft hM ftnJ
Incog-" the man stuttered helplessly then tt arJ a Jm SurveyH hftV0 hvm
wheeling about, Incog-Hell "-and started away fXrby thin groat inconvenience railroading
in the direction whence we had come. anJ much momy mUHt bo
After explaining the little deception to my horse ' Qn the 1ttnkH lf
whom, by the way, I found I had slandered i n mj . U) &mM
thoughts, we struck into a sharp trot, and in half an the lo M
hour brought up on one of the curious wljW d f fc M ThcH0 CflIl not faU to be a
palisades which overlook the city of The Dalles. A nmnene
six-horse team was slowly wending down the bluii " ,n on(J ,mur i(J tho greatest catch yet
into town. Overtaking it, I learned from the bquaci- UmB ton8 dfly
ouh driver that the huge bales of wool with which tho rtcor rf M
wagons were loaded had rested in their present form wor . )urjng the
for sixteen days, or during the trip from DayviIIe, on m Amm ftR to
the John Day river, 150 miles from The Dalles, lo a I t.ttlin(.rieHf ami magnificent salmon three
man who had lived in a railway-gridironed country overru