WEST SHORE. o, SCSSS 10 provide an elecWc ,ight - te The people o K amath county Oregon, are agitating the .ubject of or ganising a district fair for their section of the state. They want the lerisla tare at Its next session to make an appropriation for that purpose as It has aided other district fairs in the state. , J? &"t 'l hM BUCCeeded 1,1 P,4cin8 water bonds of the city of Pasco, Washington, to the amount of $130,000 at a discount of ten per cent. The money will be available immediately, and as a contract has been signed for the construction of the main canal, work will be com menced at once. The canal will be about twenty miles in length and will be eight feet wide and three feet in depth. The Crescent Creamery Co., of Tacoma, has just completed a large and handsome building In that city, and has a large lot of machinery on the way from the east which will be set np and put in operation at the earliest pos sible moment. A cold storage department will be a prominent feature of the business, $20,000 worth of refrigerating machinery having been pur chased. An old cold storage house has been converted into a fish dressing establishment, and the company will engage extensively in that business. One year ago Puyallup, Washington, the great hop center of the north west, bad but one brick building. Now there are finished, or in an ad vanced stage of construction, eight brick structures two and three stories in height A large number of other buildings have been erected during the year, including an excellent hotel designed to accommodate the tourists who visit that locality. The unusually prosperous season in the hop business is likely to cause even more substantial improvements during the coming year. One of the biggest finds yet reported in the Castle mountains, Montana, has recently been made at Four-mile, between the location of the King of the Castles and the Columbia. A tunnel was run in through a mass ol iron and an Immense body of high grade galena exposed. There is considerable excitement over this find for two reasons, first, that it is in the granite, and second, that it Is on the White Sulphur Springs slope of the Castles, and gives assurance that the mineral belt extends around the northern elope fully as strong as on the southern declivity. On Monday evening next will be inaugurated a week's season of tragedy at the Marquam Grand opera house, by the eminent tragedian, Mr. Thoe. W. Keene. Mr. Keene's eleven years' service constantly engaged in por traying the leading characters in the Shakespearean drama certainly give him a strong claim to popularity and consideration, and wide recognition by the most eminent American critics secures for him a place in the dra matic history of this country among the most Illustrious of our tragic actors. The repertoire is, Monday, Richelieu; Tuesday, Louis XI; Wednesday, Richard III; Thursday, Hamlet; Friday, Othello; Saturday matinee, The Merchant of Venice ; Saturday night, Richard III. The commission of army officers, appointed by Secretary of War Proc tor, to select a site on the Paciflo coast for the proposed gun factory, has been in this city, and will visit various places on the coast before mak ing a report. The commission Is composed of Colonel William P. Craig hill, of the United States engineer corps; Colonel Henry W. Closeen, Fourth artillery j Colonel A. R. Bufflngton and Major Clarence E. Dutton, of the ordnance department. The establishment of this factory will depend largely on the result of the labors of the commission recently sent out to select a site for navy yard, as the materials, shipping facilities, etc., of the one are also essential to the other. Both establishments will employ a large number of men, and will contribute very materially to the prosperity of the northwest Hop culture along Fraser river, In British Columbia, is becoming a large and profitable business. Here are two instances of great results this season : Messrs. Bros Brothers, well known and succestful farmers of Al dergrove, put about twelve acres of land In hops this year, and these acres yielded no less than twelve tons, which have already been sold at forty-six cents per pound. This brings the gross value of the crop to $11,040. Colt of picking, freight to market, etc., at eight cents per pound, $1,IK0, which, deducted from $11,040, leaves a net profit of ftltt. These figures are al most two large to be believed, but they are genuine nevertheless. Another farmer In the same district, named Hudson, had twenty-five acres in hops 187 this year, for which he was offered $16,000 In cash, the purchaser to pick and ship and take all risks. The offer was refused, as Mr. Hudson was con fident of realising twenty per cent more by picking and handling the crop himself, ' With the advent of a railroad to Willapa harbor, the oyster business of Shoalwater bay will be increased to immense proportions. The title to the vast shoals is said not to be clear at present, but the question will shortly be settled, when It is said the business of transplanting oysters from the east will be engaged In largely. Nowhere In the country are the prospects so good in this respect, as there Is comparatively little expense connected with the growing of the bivalves in that section. In San Francisco bay the beds have to be protected from the raids of the deadly enemy of the oyster, thestingeree, by a fence extending for mile after mile, while in Paciflo county there is only the star fish to contend with, and these can easily be killed at low tide. The stlngeree, on the contrary, comes and goes with the tide, and consequently can pursue his depredations with Impunity. Thous ands of dollars are spent annually in San Francisco In keeping these fences In good condition, and this fact, in addition to the greater cost of transpor tation to the Sound and Portland, where there are large markets to be sup plied, is an important factor in favor of Shoalwater bay. This trade will yet contribute largely to the development and welfare of Pacific county. Attoria Pioneer. There is a movement on foot looking to the construction of a north and south railway In Idaho, and a number of prominent business men in the new state recently held a conference with Union raciflo officials relative to the building of such a line. The new road is to run between the Seven Devils mining camp and Silver City, with the DeLamar mining camp, some distance south of Caldwell, on the Short Line, as its terminus, 130 miles in all. The line will really be a feeder to the Union Pacific for ties and timber of all kinds, and also supply timber to the big DeLamar and other mines which are in need of it. By tills road 500 square miles of yellow pine, fir and tamarack will be made accessible, from which at least three and one quarter billion feet can be cut. Allowing that between fifty and a hundred million feet be cut annually, the supply would not be exhausted within forty years, and at the rate now paid the railroad for hauling would bring in a revenue of $15,000,000. The road will cost about $11,000 per mile In cluding equipment. The heaviest grades are only seventy-five feet, while the curves are nothing to speak of. Engineers have completed the prelim inary survey, which is almost as good as a final location as the work wu very carefully done. Everything about the road seems feasible and the prospects for Its construction are considered bright. Alaska Is almost the last place In the world where one would think of prosecuting agriculture, though popular knowledge of the subject may be said to be limited to generalities. The Seattle Telegraph the other day re ported Governor Knapp, who Is down from his northern province for a tew weeks, as follows : " Agriculture in Alaska Is as yet only a matter of theory. Very little has been done In the way of agricultural pursuits. Special farming, like cultivation of roots, berries, and the keeping of dairies for local demand has proven very advantageous. The climate Is too cold and wet for the cultiva tion of grains. Furthermore, clearing is too difficult for rapid development of the country, and even if our experiments should prove successful we should have no markets (or our produce. The potatoes, cauliflowers, onions and turnips raised in Alaska are the finest I have seen anywhere. We had some cauliflowers that we Intended to send to the Spokane Falls exposition, but our poor transportation facilities prohibited ns from doing so. " Alaska abounds In berries. Along the Chllcat river, the Yakuat river, Prince William's sound and on Corak Island fine and good strawber ries are raised in abundance. Our cranberries are smaller than those railed In the states, but excel them In flavor. We have a kind of berry called the salmon berry, which Is similar to your raspberry but larger. Our black berries are not by any means like the eastern blackberries. Tbey are simi lar to the blueberries, but a little more tart and probably are a variety of the blackberries. " Timothy grows fine. The great drawback Is the weather, which does not allow ns to cure the grass. Cattle live out-doors without being fed ex cept during winter, when It Is extraordinarily cold. The snowfall Is light and the winters are not very severe. In Hitka the themometer has been down to itro only once In forty-six years. Last year It reached four degrees above sero one night. " The product of roots and vegetable! does not as yet supply the local market. The interior of Alaska has, In my opinion, great possibilities aa regards agriculture. The climate is not as wet as It Is along the coast, but private enterprise cannot afford to experiment with it The government should take some steps to solve the question."