INVESTORS' AND HOMESEEKERS' EDITION,
- . ' THIRD SECTION ' -iSfe PAGES . 17 TO 24
PUBLISHC8 FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT jirEEaQ Uj COVERS THE MORNING FIELD ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA
33rd YEAR, NO. 47 ASTORIA, OREGON, SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23, 1908 PRICE FIFTEEN CENTS
Astoria- Sea - amid Flail Teirmiinial
What Our Rating Is as
the Greatest Fresh Water
Harbor in the United States.
The city ami port of Atorla will,
in the early future, occupy a fur dif
ferent relation to the vat territory
comprehenlvely referred to an the
"Northwest," and including, of coure,
the magnificent Columbia Basin, than
it hat in the past, for the limple rea
son that the immense, dual interest
known a the Northern Pacific Rail
road Company and the Great North
ern Railroad Company, under the
leadership and control of Jamet J.
Hill, the arch-expansionist and Indus
trial builder of the age, have come
into intimate touch with Astoria, an
the second of their sea -board ter
minal, the Puget Sound terminal o(
those road having served them in
thii relation to date. The important
connection having been made indis
pensable by the construction of the
Portland & Seattle railway down the
north bank of the Columbia river,
from Kenncwick to Portland; and
the purchase, outright, of the Astoria '
& Columbia River Railroad running !
from Astoria to Portland thus giving j
the Hill system an interrupted, down
grade, water-level haul of nearly 5(Kt
miles, direct from Spokane to the
Pacific.
The great genius who designed this
masterstroke not only secured an
other sea board outlet for his im
mense transcontinental traffic, but
opened another and better and
quicker channel for the export grain
trade of the Northwest, and put this
vast commodity five days nearer its
Oriental and European ports of desti
nation. With this direct and easy grade to
and through the vast Inland Empire,
to the Middle West, and the East, Mr.
Mill secured a masterful grip on the
incalculable shipping business of the
fast developing lumber industry of
this section, yet almost virgin, and of
inestimable resource; an element of
business that will send his trains
hastward as heavily laden with long
haul freights at they came westward
with; no light consideration in long
distance transportation calculations.
And to accomplish this successful ill
usion and permanent control of ter
ritory supposed to be dedicate to the
interests of another huge railway sys
tem, the Southern Pacific Company,
Mr. Mill hat spent $40,000,000; a fact
that forbids all idea of relinquish
ment of so large an enterprise, and
assures its fulfillment at the earliest
possible hour,
The plain motive and plan of the
Hill interests is further evidenced by
the purchase of immense water
frontages on the harbor at Astoria,
for docks, terminals, shops and eleva
tors, has wrought the double advant
age of forcing the Southern Pacific
Company to get in on the same lines
and secure bay-frontage and terminal
facilities nearly as good, and quite as
extensive as those made by the Hill
interests. Thus Astoria is made
doubly important as the tea-terminus
of two great agencies: a position, that
sooner, or later, will place her in
the foremost ranks of the marine and
rail metropoli of the country.
Heretofore she has been a mere
outpost and tea-gate for the com
merce of Portland, the metropolis of
Oregon; and even in this negative
relation, has not been made of use
to the extent her superb marine posi-
Ycung't and Lewis and Clark rivers,
and known as Young't Bay, The
northern harbor it immense and
beautiful and contains 150 square
miles of water crossed in all direc
tions by numerous and available chan
nels ranging in depth from 25 to 50
feet, the city channels being the
deepest; while Young't Bay, which it
but 10 tquare ntilet In scope, hat
fine useable channels all over it; and
the shores of both bays are easily
amenable to the construction and
maintenance of docks, warehouses,
elevators and all the faclitiet incident
to a huge commercial traffic.
The famout Columbia bar bean
aknost due west from the city and
it plainly ditcernable from the lower
levels in any tort of clear weather!
ficed at timet when itt possessors are
disposed to take extraordinary chance
with the tides and currents.
At the same headquarter! alluded
to, are also congregated another
group of pilots who take over the
vessels brought in from tea by the
bar men, and are banded in what is
called the Columbia River Pilots'
Association ,and all up-river craft are
guided to their destinations by these
men, who are equally fortunate in the
safe disposition made of their valu
able charges.
The waterfront of Astoria it lined
with tcoret of fine dockt, notable
among them being the Astoria & Co
lumbia River Railroad docks; the
Oregon Railway & Navigation docks
(Continued on page 19.)
Astoria's Rail Connection With
the Inland Empire Via the
S. P.&S. and A. & C. R. R.
James J. Hill, as president of the
Creat Northern Railway Company
and of the Northern Pacific Railway
conceived the idea of linking the
wheat fields of the Inland Empire of
the Northwest with tide-water, minus
the herculean grades that have stag
gered those great roads ever since
they reached it, and the fullest ex
pression of that idea is found in the
"Spokane, Portland & Seattle Rail
way," otherwise known to all men a
Hit "North Bank" road; the road that
i 1 1 r i
. iv-'lk - ' i
n t m km i j , f ,-.mt tt m . i -? tn mumm t- ..i "'
f V si "
f' .v ..-.il
few. ,-j.s - " -. - ''1 im:.r tz?
TYPE OF VESSELS TO BE SEEN IN ASTORIA HARBOR.
tiou justicd; Portland cherishing so
poignant a dread of Astoria's maritime
advantage, as to force the shipping
that Portland could not handle, from
Iter confined harbor on the Willamette
to the docks and channels of Ptigct
Sound, 350 miles away,
But, despite all barriers, Astoria
has done no inconsiderable shipping
of her own, as the tables of figures
on this page, courteously compiled
by the customs officials at this port,
will testify. The tables cover a per
iod of 16 months prior to November
1st, last and are absolutely reliable.
Astoria itself is situated upon a
lofty peninsula, with the great har
bor formed by the mouth of the
mighty Columbia flanking it on the
north, while its southern lines bear
upon the snug and sheltered bay
formed by the confluence of the
being but 11 milcj away. The ship
ping destined for this port and all
points on the Columbia between As
toria and Portland, is handled with
wonderful success, so far as accidents
are concerned, by a group of nine bar
pilots belonging to what is known
as the Columbia Bar Pilots' Associa
tion, which possesses one of the finest
pilot boats in the country and main
tains its headquarter office in the city.
These men have made the port famous
in its immunity from peril and dis
aster so far as their work has been
able to accomplish the fine record;
and this despite the fact, that this
bar, as yet unserved by the enormous
government jetty now building, is
considered one of the dangerous ele
ments of the Pacific Coast. The loss
record for the bar and bay is practi
cally nil, though human life is sacri-
Summary of Coastwise Entrances and Clearances at Astoria, Oregon,
For 16 Months Prior to November, 1907.
July ....
Aug. ...
Sept. ...
Oct
Nov. .,,
Dec. ...
Jan
Feb
March ..
April ...
May ....
June ,,.
uly ....
Aug. ...
Sept. ...
Oct
TotaT7
H
a B
M
71
69
69
81
77
71
68
68
79
84
91
98
109
114
106
94
1372
li
16
291
27
28
31
22
34
341
20
16
27
11
13
15
11
101
3341
34
o
0
67
68
82
78
69
781
79
75;
88
91
'98
95
115
110
94
13481
J5
191
36
22
26
31
29
19
26
26
5
23
lSi
9
10
14
9
319
66
C o
a o
M
6 a
80,535
76,865
72,809
88,135
95,840
92,484
102.961
120,783
98,273
111,976
122,550
116,422
144,029
122,873
128,448
112,195
1,687,178
i
f!
2a
a a
W.5P s
26568
33,120
20,929
43,105
23,788
37,522
6,733
6,465
12,554;
27,259
17,983
12,359
17,156
5,723
19,030
26,335
337,079
C a
S 3
W 'C
B
9,469
20.682
24,220
26,649
27,028
18,837
29,641
17,780
15,587
12,094
20,273
7,346
6.826
10,792
7,335
6,035
260,6161
u j
a e
5,683
6,120
4,361
7,961
21,188
25,66
"i746
4,619
2,262
1,465
81,763
i
U 'C
v
o B
H
79,7091
75,962
73,191
88.765
1017S66
91,037
112,203
120,618
98,497
113,887
127.324
115,279
149,162
124,806
130,260
112,573
1,716,1391
Z u
v a
HCmj
35374
16,663
19,380
28,918
14,744
23,422
6,733
6,465
4,810
22,063
8,648
13,248
17.156
5,575
19,030
22,405
265,134
? s
H
11,2861
24,897
17,399
25,023
10,731
25,775
18,338
18,305
23,219
17,101
16,729
12,754
5,463
6,422
8,004
6,041
247,487
o O S
Hd.t3
ENTRANCES AND CLEARANCES OF VESSELS IN FOREIGN
TRADE.
Fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, and subsequent four months. These
vessels entered from, and cleared directly to, foreign countries, from Astoria:
Entries Clearances
Tonnage Tonnage
July 6 17,126 Tj 707
Aug. 7 9,734 3 ' 5,295
Sept. 8 16,178 - .....
Oct. 18 39,633 -
iov. 6 13,465
Dec. 10 21,995 - .....
an. 10 22.914 -
-fcb. 11 25,150
Mar. 10 18,330 4 6,663
Apr. 4 8,516 4 8,381
May 4 8,757 2 5.247
June 5 13,948 3 9,183
fuly 2 6,174 2 2,005
Aug. 9 19,047 3 1,713
Sept. 5 12,124 1 596
Oct. 10 23,204 1 2,543
125 276,295 24 42,333
' All vessels arriving from a foreign
port wnether bound tor Astoria or
is to traverse the Snake and Colum
bia rivert on their northern marges
from the easterly limits of the grain
world of Idaho, Montana, Washington
and Oregon to the sea-terminals of tht
Columbia and Puget Sound.
The present scope of the road
is as follows: From Spokane to
Portland, via Pasco, Kennewick and
Vancouver (at which latter place it
connects with the N. P. road for
Seattle, via Kalama); and from Port
land it will use the tracks of the N. P.
as far as Coble, continuing itt tea
board run over the south bank lines
of the Astoria & Columbia River Rail
road (which last year became a Spo
kane, Portland & Seattle dependency
of the most important quality), to
the City of Astoria, 11 miles from the
Pacific Ocean.
When it is remembered that the
right-of-way mileage from Kalama.
along the north bank of the Colum
bia, to Frankfort, immediately oppo
site this city, has already been ac
quired by the Hill interests, it will
be seen that those interests have ab
sorbed the lower Columbia absolute
ly, on both banks, west of Portland,
and conjecture alone may supply the
cardinal reason for such strategic
acquisition.
Moving southwesterly out of Spo
kane, the S. P. & S, swings down
through a vast wheat and stock area
between the Spokane lines of the
Northern Pacific and the Oregon
Railroad & Navigation Company, .
touching the Snake river at a point
on the Columbia nearly opposite Sins
mons on the O. R. & N., and almost
immediately forming a junction with
its own spur running up the Snake as
far as Texas City, opposite Riparia.
The line continues on down the north
bank of the Snake to its confluence
with the Columbia at Ainsworth, and
from there utilizes the tracks of the
N. P. into Pasco, crossing the Colum
bia into Kennewick for its straight
away flight down the north shore ot
that river to Vancouver, whence it re-
crosses the Columbia, and is bridged
iver the Willamette to a final Port
land connection with the Northern
Pacific line from Coble on the out
skirts of the Oregon metropolis. The
Spokane-Portland run covering 339
miles, or, practically, 80 miles less
than the O. R. .& N. takes in making
the traverse; and the Spokane-Astori
to destination The majority of the
foreign vessels that entered here were
destined to Portland. This explains
the great ditterence between the num
ber of entrances and clearances, as
these vessels that went to Portland
cleared from there.
ENTRANCES AND CLEARANCES OF "VESSELS COASTWISE.
Summary for fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, and four subsequent months,
of entrances and clearances of vessels coastwise at the Port of Astoria, Ore.
Entries
Total entries, American steam vessels 1 362
41 . -1 .... 1.
aau vessels
" " Foreign steam vessels...
" sail vessel
334
88
39
2,062
2,299
5,925
36,998
7,860
18,167
'l"746
6,346
2,262
2,298
85,953
" " All coastwise vessels .......
Clearances
Total clearances, American steam vessels
" " " sail vessels
" " Foreign steam vessels
" ' " sail vessels
" " All coastwise vessels , 1,779
Tonnag i Entered
Tonnage entered, American steam vessels 1687178
" " '.' sail vessels 260)614
Foreign steam vessels 337,079
, " " " sail vessels 81,763
" " All coastwise vessels 2,366,634
Tonnage Cleared s
Tonnage cleared, American steam vessels 1,716139
" " " sail vessels 247,487
Foreign steam vessels....... 265,134
" " " sail vessels 85,953
rust "iinuvt uvutiu ivi jr&aivi ia vi ! . . .
Portland, must enter here, and after i run 18 accompiisnea m Wl miles,
entry she is given a permit to proceed i saving of 190 miles between the two
cmes, neretotore existant.
There is nothing in railway con
struction west of the Rocky Moun
tains to match the quality of building
that has been devoted to this enter
prise; and little, if anything to sur
pass it, east of those mountains. The
road will cost, when finished, close
upon $40,000,000, and the most pro-:
found scrutiny of the work will not
evoke a gainsaying whisper against
such an estimate. The primary max
im of reducing distances was re
ligiously adhered to in the surveys
finally adopted by the projectors, and
this has been followed up by the next
tremendous obligation of cleaving to
the water-level grade of the line for
its entire mileage with such an ex
actitude as to give it a uniform lift
of 2-10 of 1 per cent south and west
of Kennewick and but little more
beyond; a condition that makes it
pre-eminently, the master-system of
transportation on this coast, there
being no known parallel for such an
achievement anywhere on the Pacific
slope for such distances.
The altitude of the lines above the
Columbia has been kept at 10 feet
above the high water mark registered,
for the Columbia flood of 1894, the
highest ever known, and frees it from
all possible danger of inundation at
any point
The road between Vancouver and
Kennewick is, at this writing,practi
cally finished, there being but eight
1,823
1,357
319
66
37
All coastwise vessels ..............2,314,713