THE ILLUSTRATED WEST SHORE.
feelings of his fellows, scrupulously careful of the rights of those with whom
he is brought into business relations, and conscientious in all he does, he is
deservedly held in high esteem by all who know him."
APRIL
Ah, who is this with twinkling feet,
With glad, young eyes and laughter sweet,
Who tosses back her strong, wild hair,
And saucy kisses flings to Care,
The while she laughs at her? Bewarel
You who this winsome maiden meet.
Her feet dance on a daisied throne;
About her waist a slender tone
Of dandelion's gold; her eyes
Are softer than the summer skies, ,
And-blue as violets; and lies
A tearful laughter in her tones.
She reaches dimpled arms and bare;
Her breath Is sweet as wild rose air;
She sighs, she smiles, she glances down,
Her brows meet in a sudden frown;
She laughs; then lean the violets drown
She'll steal your heart. Dewarel Beware!
Ella Higoinson.
PROMINENT MEN OK THE PACIFIC COAST.
Prominent among the members of the Portland bar u C. A. Dolph,
president of the Oregon State Bar association, whose portrait appears on the
first page of this paper. Mr. Dolph is a native of the state of New York,
his ancestors being among the early settlers of New England. Abda Dolph,
his father's grandfather, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1740, and
served with some distinction in the Revolutionary war, as did also his brother,
Charles Dolph, to whom congress voted the thanks of the country for military
services, evincing exceptional skill and courage. Joseph Dolph, grandfather
of the subject of this sketch, settled at Whitehall, in the state of New York,
where Chester V. Dolph, his father, was bom in the year 181 J, and the family
removed to a place afterwards called Dolphsburg, in what is now Schuyler
county, in the same state. Mr. Dolph was born near that town, September
27, 1840.
Mr. Dolph was educated in the schools of his native county, receiving
only such further assistance from his father who had been a teacher, but
afterwards a lumberman and farmer as the biter's life of incessant toil and
many cares would permit. At the age of eighteen he took up the profession
of teaching, and taught school a portion of each year until the spring of 186,
when he came to the Pacific coast and settled at Portland, where he has since
resided. Mr. Dolph began the study of law while engaged in teaching, and
in the year 1S66 opened an office in Portland, where he has since been
actively engaged in his profession, and now controls a large and lucrative
practice. He has been connected with many ol the important enterprises
organiied for the development of the northwest, notably the Oregon & Cali
fornia railroad, the Oregon Railway & Navigation company and the Oregon
Improvement company, of which last mentioned corporation he is now the
vice president.
Mr. Dolph's characteristics as a lawyer may be best given in the language
ol one who has known him intimately, both personally and professionally, for
many years, and who, speaking of him, says ;
" Every part of the large and complicated business of his firm has his
personal attention and supervision. He it a hard and conscientious worker,
The law is said to be a jealous mistress, yet Mr. Dolph's devotion to his pro
fession entitles him to the place which he has in h. He is cautious without
being timid, and is exceptional for the soundness of his judgment. Having a
retentive and discriminating mind he never forgets nor misapplies a case.
He has in an unusual degree those qualities which distinguish the safe lawyer
from the showy one. Steadfast in his friendships, conservative in his judg
ment when the conduct of others expose them to censure, considerate of the
RAILROAD PROJECTS IN WASHINGTON.
This year, as last, the state of Washington promises to be the seat of the
greatest activity in railroad construction in the country. The great transpor
tation companies contending for supremacy in that wonderfully-developing re
gion all seem to be bent upon pushing forward the work already undertaken
as well as planning new enterprises. In this work the Northern Pacific seems
to be well in the lead. It not only possesses the only line across the moun
tains, but it reaches more terminal points, and is stretching out to a greater
number of new ones, than any of the others. Besides its terminals around
Puget sound, it has extended its system to Gray's harbor and thus strength
ened its position mightily. A line up the coast through the Olympic region
to the Straits of Fuca, and thence by ferry to Vancouver island and by rail to
Victoria, the capital and metropolis of British Columbia, is one of the moves
k not only has in contemplation, but for which active preparations are being
made. Such a line would be the first to pass through the undeveloped region
lying west of the sound, where there are large areas of agricultural land, great
bodies of timber, and, it is believed, much mineral wealth. Still another
move is that ol securing a direct ocean terminus for wheat shipment at Shoal
water bay. Its line from Chehalis to Willapa harbor, as the deep water upon
which the thriving young city of South Bend is situated is called, has been
under construction since last summer, and will be completed before the end
of the year Supplemental .to this is a line projected across the mountains
from North Yakima to Chehalis. Increase in its capacity for trans-montane
traffic is a vital necessity, since its present line is now taxed to its utmost, and
the construction of a new line, through a new region and shortening the route
to its new terminals, would be worth more to it than the difference in cost
between such work and that of double-tracking the present line. This would
shorten its route to Portland many miles, and give it almost an air line from
the wheat fields of Eastern Washington to its two ocean harbors on Shoal
water bay and Gray's harbor, with better grades than on the present route to
the sound. When this is done it will be difficult for any other system to get
into a better position to handle the traffic of that region than the Northern
Pacific. Shortening the route to Portland, an object previously sought to be
gained by a line down the Columbia, but which this move would render un
necessary, will be one of the greatest points secured, since, after all that has
been said, Portland is, and will continue to be, the great freight terminal and
railroad town of the northwest.
However, a line down the Columbia, on the north side of the river it cer
tain to be built. Hunt's sale of his system to the Northern Pacific can only
delay its construction, It is too desirable a route into Portland to be neg
lected. The engineering parlies were not withdrawn, and are still at work
upon the survey, either in the interest of Mr. Hunt or some one else. The
Great Northern has been credited with an intention to thus reach the great
metropolis of the Columbia from Spokane, and thus help drain the wheat re
gion by the Columbia route, instead of attempting the exiensive (eat of haul
ing grain over the steep mountain grades neccessary on any mute farther to
the north. Its line to the coast will be pushed this year with its proverbial
energy, to connect with hi lines on the eastern shore of Puget sound, where
it already has two fine terminals, Seattle and Fairhaven, and a line to the
Canadian Pacific at New Westminster. The line for the joint use of itself
and the Union Pacific from Portland to Seattle, will, doubtless, have work
upon it resumed soon, as both of those great companies are determined to
have such a line, even if it be necessary to build it without the co-operation of
the other.
Aside from these movements by those great transcontinental systems,
there are other line projects, chief of which is the westward march of the Spo
kane & Northern, whose proposed extension to the coast Irom Kettle Falls
gives promise of being more llian talk, Active surveying is in progress, and
a line by this route from Spokane to Puget sound, bordering the international
boundary and tapping the great mineral districts of that region, is one of the
bright possibilities of the next two or three years.
All these great projects mean increased imputation, a multiplication of the
wealth of the stale, an industrial development fur greater than anything yet
seen, and an elevation of the stale to a higher position in the great sisterhood
of which she is so young a memlier, Railroads give life to commerce, which
is the basis of all material prosperity, and the more of (hem traversing the
country the better for every industrial inlrrest and the people at large.