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
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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."