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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1890)
WEST SHORE. 3 MAKING A HOME IN THE FOREST. Many people come to Oregon and Washington from the prairie (tales seeking homes, only to leam that in the western portion ol these states, where the climate is mildest, a home must be carved out of the forest, If se cured upon government land, and, unfamiliar with forest life, they become discouraged and abandon the idea. To those from the forest belt along the Canadian border, the trees of this region have no terror, large as they are. They know how to handle them, and they know, alto the agricultural value of a soil that sustains such a dense forest growth. Thousands of industrious men are making homes in the timber regions of the west, and some of the finest farms in the union may be seen where a few years ago stood giant trees and a tangled mass of vines and underbrush. To be sure it takes work, but the labor is richly rewarded. Having selected Till BECIINNINO OP A FOREST IIOMK. his location and made his homestead filing at the land olllce, the settler goes upon his quarter section to begin the work of carving out a home from the forest. If reasonably accessible to some town or saw mill, he procures a load of lumber, and after clearing off a site for a cabin, builds such a structure as is seen in the engraving above. Otherwise, he constructs the old-fashioned log cabin, within whose mud-chinked walls have been born many of the great est men of the nation. A small clearing for a garden and a shed for his stock are next in order. He soon finds his cattle can support themselves by ranging through the woods. Shamrock, or white clover, is indig enous to the soil of this region, and wherever the forest is cleared or thinned it springs up with remarkable quickness and vigor. Swine also can support them selves by foraging in the timber, and thus the provi dent settler finds that be can at once keep his family supplied with the necessaries of milk, meat, vegetables and eggs. Gradually he clears bis land, If favorably situated he is able to sell his good logs to the saw mills for at least enough to pay himself wages. lie can also split and cord up a great deal of wood, which will soon er or later find a market. Other timber and refue are gathered into heaps and burned, care being taken to keep the fire from spreading. Many make no effort to sell logs or wood, and burn everything. Millions of feet of as line timber trees as the sun ever shown upon have been cut down and burned for the purpose of clear ing land. Often the settler goes out to work in logging camps, on farms, on railroad grades and In many other ways earns a few dollars from outside sources. He is able to sell a little stock, also, to pro cure money for the purchase of groceries, clothing, tools, etc The indus trious and prudent man finds many ways of getting along and Improving his condition. From six to ten years later, the time depending much upon the comparative amount of work done at home as well as upon the number of workers in the family, the homestead bears the appearance of the one shown in the second engiaving, He is now Independent and prosperous; has good horses, plenty of cattle and hogs, a few sheep, chickens, a fine meadow, fields of wheat, oats and hay, and has erected a more modern and comfortable house, surrounded by other buildings of a substantial charac ter. If he be a sensible man, he will by this time have a young orchard growing, and possibly, If be possess suitable land, will have a few acres of hops. This is but an outline of the process ol home making in the forest that is being carried on now in thousands of places In Western Oregon and Western Washington, where there are still as good opportunities as ever for men of the right caliber. PORTLAND'S GRAND CN10N DEPOT. In the center of this number is given an engraving of the grand union depot now being constructed in Portland by the Northern Pacific Terminal Company, for the occupancy of the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific railroadB. The work of filling in the depression known in former years as Couch lake is progressing rapidly, the material being taken from the bluffs on the east side of the river by the patent excavator, or " steam Taddy," shown in the engraving on the front page. The structure will be of a modified Romanesque, of extremely ornamental ex terior, with stone and terra cotta art moulded bricks, press bricks and carved stone, and the brick will have an exterior coating of rough cement, treated in colors at the end. The building will vary from one to three stories in height, will be 41H1 feet long and from 65 to 136 feet in width, with a corner tower 150 feet high, and a train shed 102x600 feet. The shed will contain six tracks and will be connected with the main building by covered pass ages, at the ends of which will be gates for the exclusion of all perrons not entitled to enter. The main building will contain on the first floor all the accom modations of a modern, first-class union depot, including a gen eral wa ting room two full stories in height, ladies' waiting and toilet rooms, smoking room and toilet room for gentlemen, barber shop, emigrants' room with toilet rooms for both sexes, dining room, lunch room, kitchen, etc. At the north end of the build ing will be placed the general baggage room, accessible from the main waiting room, and the express room, mail room, Pullman supplies, etc. The depot will be equipped with its own electric light and heating plant, which will be placed in a separate build ing at the south end. Above the ground floor will be offices for the various roads, and in the third story there will be reading rooms and assembly rooms for employees, with bath rooms and other accessories. The main waiting room will give the readiest powible access to the general ticket olllce, Pullman and telegraph offices, baggage room and the toilet rooms, and will lead by a twelve-foot corridor to the lunch and dining rooms. It will also be provided with news rooms, parcel and packago check rooms, etc., and it is intended that, for convent- Till roKKHT HUM I AT Till END or SIX TO TUN YKAKS. ence both to the public and the railroad companies, the depot shall be sec ond to none In the country. Probably arrangements will be made for the Hunt railroad to use the depot when completed, as well as other lines that will make Portland a terminal point. No doubt the roads seeking depot fa cilities will tsx the company's capacity to its utmost. If Mrs. Frank l-eslle could have refrained from having herself inter viewed, she would not have convicted herself of being foolish, frivolous, notional and vain, and having treated Deleuville in the shameful manner he claims. Out of her own mouth is she condemned. One can not help thinking that the ciedit she has been receiving of being a remarkably able business woman must be founded upon the brains and work of practically unknown managers of the male persuasion.