Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1913)
0 't.p : THE' OREGON DAILY-' JOURNAL, PORTLAND, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER '30. 1013. CELILO CANAL WILL JOIN UPPE AND. LOWER COLUMBIA; : ;: 41-2 MILLION DOLLAR WATERWAY NEARIfp COMPLETION DITCH IS BUILT FOR NINE EES Tl ft! SAND AND SOLID ROGK Five Mile and Ten Mile Rapids and Celilo Falls Are Natural Barriers Overcame Dy Work n ft RIVER NAVIGABLE FROM MOUTH TO PRIEST RAPIDS Renewed Activity In Naviga tion on Upper River Cer tain to Follow, By Fred W. Vincent. THE year 1916 will mark the open lnc of -iTVO canl that ira Has I tlned to Dlav rolaa of rrutnit X Importance In the development of roruana ana tne racina north west. Facts and figure concerning the first, the Panama canal, are familiar to all; of the second. Celilo canal, which la at our very doora, virtually little la . known, notwithstanding the fact that , It will have everything to do with the - growth of upper river transportation on the Columbia and Snake rlvera, and will overcome the last obstruction standing .' between the continuous navigation of the Columbia from the Pacific to Priest itapiaa, wasnmgton. a distance of 407 miles. ' The drainage area of the Columbia Is zoa.uuo square miles, and with the ca nal's completion a large portion of this magnificent agricultural nil atnnlr growing empire will be thrown open to navigation, wmcn win De Tree then to compete with the railroad systems which now hold a transportation mo- nopoly, . Completed, the Celilo canal will lack . only four tenths of a mile of being nine miles long. At the present time It la about two thirds finished. Within a very short time the concrete work at all of the. locks will be ready for the installation of the steel lock gates. To oomplete the concrete lining . of the eanal where it runs through sand and gravel will require about sight months' work, and an additional four months will be needed to put on finish ing touches before the water is allowed to enter tha west's newest "ditch." The first ' estimate of the cost of the Canal was $4,854,000. but it is now be . lieved that it will b finished at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars less. Just what the effect of tha opening will be la problematical. About the first thing, in all probability, will be tha reduction of freight rates to points on the Columbia, below Prleat Rapids, and on tha Snake river to Xewlston, Idaho, for then a steamboat can travel from Astoria to Priest Rapids, 407 , miles, or to Pittsburg Landing. Idaho, M650 miles. Sufficient transportation and low freight rates will naturally prove inviting to Investment seeking capital and on of the reasons for slow development high transportation charges will have been done away wlth. With en open river will coma growth, that cannot be gainsaid. Sixty-five feet wide, the canal has already taken snaps. For more than fire miles it pushes Its length through rock and the remainder of the distance is given over to sand and gravel for mation and man mad rnnii theae give tha ditch form and staunch- ness. Five locks will be necessary to carry ,. a vessel through the waterway. At Big Eddy, the lower end of the canal, will bo tandem locks, each capable of lifting or lowering a boat 35 feot Opposite five mile rapids, there is to be a third Jock which will lift 12 feet, and oppo site Ten Mile rapids, another which will be used to elevate watercraft five feet during high water, while the last. Just above Celilo Falls, will bring boats up the last step, 10 feet and allow a boat to float out on the level of the river, this time above the falls. These locks will be operated by electric power which will be generated by power from the river. Among the obstructions overcome by the canal are the Five and Ten Mile rapids, where the great river, upended, tosses, squirms and foama between rock walls so narrow that a small boy can cast a pebble from one side to the other, and lastly, the reef known as Celilo Falls. Six thousand feet wide at this point, the mighty stream foams and sprays through and over the saw like teeth of volcanic rock, and falls thundering Into the basin below. Construction work on the canal, Which followed years of surveys, re '5 t !! v m 0 rff" J - w w lit V x p-vi , iXiy" " ' -xr.' '-2 ll " S W - ----- .. - J ROAD COAST TO OM' EUGENE WELL UNDERCONSTRUCTION Coos Bay District to Have Rail Connections With Outside World, " huge section of the Oregon mapt the 1 fisheries will ba available to market, Coos Bay country haa heretofore atood that its -unexcelled dairy lands will as a commercial colony or caurornia ' ; oe mora, generally usea v n jt save ror voting and taxation .purposes ' products be ehabled to find more ready It might haV as wall be ona of tha sala, and that within a abort ma th Islands of tha Bouth gea. (Coos Bay country will be rivaling tha Aside from the encouragement ; of the .Willamette valley in the value Of Its lnveetment pf capital In lta Industries outnu, ot th fflPn, lta chean loured arid tha oonatructlon anfl operation of ""i1"1 ""Vr cheap logged a7 mile railroad between, Marshfleld f-M4 and burns ara already In and Myrtle-Point, -the Southern aclf la flnd. company has not until 1918 been able - Recounting -of the year's activities to begin tha execution of its plana for would be incomplete without the story the betterment of western Oregon, and f Wha tha Southern . Pacific company ZLVZS 't?"dr.d dom in preparation for the 1915 nental line. The Southern Pacific la world's fair rush to the Pacific coast.?' Views of construction work along the Celilo canal. TorP Tandem leeks out practically ready for concrete lining. Center West entrance to tandem locks cut Bottom Rubble elope lining In sections of the canal excavated from graveL porta and time spent In securing a right of way, began in October or 1905. . At that time a contract was let by the United States government for one half mile of canal which consumed all the funds then available, $800,000. In 1908 a second contract was let for 14,000 feet of canal at a coat of )(00, 000. At that time it was planned to finish It in seven years, expending ap proximately $600,000 each year. But in 1910 it was decided tharTheTBTg Eddy andTCeTllo other camps are government should do the work, em ploying hired labor, and in July of 1910 operations under this system were begun. They were continued until Sep tember of 1911, when available funds ran low and operations were gradually suspended pending the authorisation of another appropriation. By June work was entirely shut down and as the funda did not become available until the latter part of July, 1912, consider able delay was suffered and work not actively resumed until September, 1912. Congress Btnawa Appropriations, But congress waa particularly gener ous in July. It appropriated $1,200,000 and since September of 1912 operations have been- carried on vigorously except when frefhets or wintry weather Inter fered. ' At t present time every piece of machinery is at work and 600 or mora men each day throw muscle and brain into work that is bringing nearer the day when all la done and the Columbia will be free. Four steam shovels are at work on excavation; six traveling derricks are placing concrete linings; four large stiff leg derricks are doing their share toward placing the concrete for the various locks and a dredge is deepening the channel at the point where vessels will make entrance at the Celilo end of the canal. Everywhere there Is hurry, bustle, the shrill whistle of hurrying construc tion trains, the roar of machines and the detonation of dynamite as it rips away rock and makes way for the water to coma The canal headquarters at Big Eddy resemble a small factory town with Its shops, offices hospital, stores and houses where the men at work make their homes. Here are accommodations for about 400 men and along the line between scattered, the principal one being "Camp 3" at Robert Station, where 1000 men can be cared for. Each camp Is well arranged and san itary. Each la provided with a aewer system and excellent water for drinking purposes is supplied from wells driven through from 100 to 2S0 feet of solid rock. Camp equipment Includes a regular hospital corps consisting of a physician and the necessary nurses, who find their chief activity looking after Injured men, as there has been little sickness among the working force. Major Jay J. Morrow, corps of engi neers United States army, with head quarters in Portland, has general charge of the canal work. Captain T. H, Dil lon, who relieved. Captain H. H. Robert last summer. Is la local charge with headquarters at Big Eddy. He is as sisted by F. C. Schubert assistant en gineer, James Brownies and James H. Polhemus, Junior engineers, and Frank W. Saunders, superintendent of field work. Under them are many assistanta, overseers and foremen who are carrying out the plans to give to the northwest something of inestimable value an open river, a mighty current, free to navigation and a natural roadway to tha sea for the producta of tha far Interior. uted by Congressman John W. Langley of Kentucky: Soma time since a yeung man In an eaatern city went to hi employer and asked for an addition to his weekly donation. The boas, thinking- he was already paying him a fair piece of money, became exceedingly thoughtful. "What Is your particular reason for asking for an lncreaaer finally ob aerved tho boss. onOTeTIoartilTy responsibilities and you should be able to save a little on what you are now getting." "I am engaged to a young girl," an swered the clerk, bashfully, "and I WOUld like tO h1r n n1nr nn klnk I can Bet marrld an A liv .... "Oea whla manl" ik. with considerable force, "There Isn'c such a salarvl I'll wv vm get married on, but that'i as far aa I By Mark Woodruff. NO MORS Important railway develop ment has ever been undertaken In Oregon than' was witnessed by the year 191$ when the Southern Purffio company started from Eugene to Coos cy wim mo construction of the Wil lamette Pacific railway. Unannounced, unnoticed in thin ini nt hi. 1. v ' B tl,lll 0, lb haa quietly begun the opening up of a m.......... na ncner man the com bined wealth Of a ouartur nf a .tn.an of eastern states which might be grouped for comparison. Its completion gives the Southern Paclflo three lines from tha Interior to tha Paifi and three cross valley lines of Import ance: The Willamette Pacific from a connection with the Natron line to .Coos cay, me csaiem, Fans City & Western from .Silverton to Black Rock, and the Corvallis ft . Eaatern from Albany to Taoulna bav. While the pioneers of the Coos Bayl oountry In southwestern Oregon sought ! gum in us snirung beach sands, their succeasora have found larger wealth by harvesting salmon from its waters, tim ber from its hills, coal from beneath the earth's surface, and In utilising green grass the year around In keeping up a flow of milk that has made Coos county second only to Tillamook In production of west coast dairy products. The Coos Bav countrv hn itself since 1856, when the first saw oegan rasping boards from logs 10 feet In diameter. With no outlet, save for a feW COaStWlsa shin Ha tnminitnm natural resources have been Jolneti to cne advantages or its wonderful land locked harbor tn nrnrinna nniiiitin of 10.000 for the four Incorporated towns inai Doraer met Day. Trade Vow Goes to California. Handling a n avnnrt atitn tnn.a valued at $3,000,000 during 1912, its trade hag gone to California to a large extent, and although accredited as a now , pushing the construction of Its rive m"n of dollars are being ex Willamette Pacific railway f rom Engene' pended by the company In preparing new to Coos Bay, a distance of 125 miles, equipment to handle the crowds of and will have the road In operation he- people It will aid in showing "Oregon fore the expiration of 1914. Deemed of flr.t, and all of Oregon.", foremost Importance in Its schema for, . giving all of Its Oregon" territory ade- , Corrallla astarn& Xmprored. quats transportation facilities, the In carrying out its policy for tha In Southern Paciflo haa given precedence terlor development of western Oregon, to the construction of the Willamette the Southern Pacific is now engaged In Pacific and Its electrical operations In laying heavy steel on the line of tha the Willamette valley. , Corvallis & Eastern, the road which Starting at Eugene, the capital of connects the Willamette valley with Lane county, the Willamette Paclflo Taqulria bay and Newport. The rails strikes west toward the Coaet range. 26 are already laid from Albany to Cor mlles of the road being now completed. valu nd from Corvallis to Norton's, In Its "approach to the mountain it the-track la being reballasted a distance traverses a rolling and rich agricultural of 18 miles, while from Norton's to district, the valleys being highly culti- Hlna bay, another 8 miles of 7S vated and tha slightly timbered hills Pound steel Is going down, making the forming most inviting prospects or the ' rod 0M ot the best in the state. Industry of the home builder ' Between Portland and the California ffnat sna-. t. is.n,..i.A Un9 tn Southern Pacific has this year Coast Kange Is Tunneled. constructed 12 miles of sidetracks as Avoiding grades and difficulties of aida in handling the business of the winter operation of railroads In moun- tartan and cities along its main line, and talnous countries, tha Willamette JPa ; nreoaratorv to handllna- tha excursion ciflc burrows under the Coaat range In making use of the groat Notl tunnel, 2480 feet In length and all completed, and emerges upon the "Siuslaw river. Passing down that stream to Acme, Florence and Marshfleld, the new road crosses the Smith and Umpqua rivers en route and affords shipping facilities to a large area of the lower watersheds thereof. The contractors have estab lished grading camps at Intervals from Coos Bay to the Notl tunnel, and It may be said that work on all parts of the western slope grade Is now in prog ress. The construction of this road re quires the building of so many steel bridges that the laying of rails can only proceed from bridge to bridge, ballast ing operationa keeping cloae behind the track layers. The completion and opening of the Willamette Paciflo railway means that the lumber mills of that section will secure better facilities In marketing the 100,000.000,000 feet of logs standing on 1 the hills adjacent to Coos Bay, that the coal from Its mines can bo placea within thefcreach of the coast cities, that Its business of 1915, when it Is hoped that thousands of people may be Induced to take advantage of stop-over privileges, for Investigating the country back from the ooast. The main line baa Just been heavily ballasted from Oregon City to Hubbard, and during the coming winter crushed rock will be placed on the roadbed between Hubbard and Marlon, another stretch of 88 miles. In addi tion to these Improvements and better ments, 90 pound steel haa replaced lighter material on 70 miles of the main line in Oregon. What's in a Name. From the Rocky Mountain Newa Mike, one of tha unemployed, was told of a vacancy and went to apply for the Job. After he had answered a number of questions, the employer asked: "What's your namer "MacOonigal, sorr." Spell it" Mo not Mo-a gl Mlka . ituch. but tried again. "M a K a Ach, to biases wld ye. Te can keep yer ould ' Job." Your Account Is Invited This bank has a thoroughly equipped plant, an efficient staff, ample capital, large re sources, a strong directorate, capable officers lumbermens National Bank CORNER FIFTH AND STARK Resources 7 Millions Out of the Question. The talk topic turned to modem ex travagance, and thla one was contrib- THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE HEAD OFFICE: TORONTO, CANADA Established 1867 A. General Banking Business' Transacted Interest Paid on Time Deposits Portland Branch: CORNER SECOND and STARK STREETS V - IliPWl:; - Vitrified Paving Brick That meetsevery condition of the paving specifications of the City of Portland Highways Paved With Our Vitrified Paving Brick or Block make permanent Roiadways for Horse or Automobile. "Think it Over 1 99 DENNY RENTON CLAY AND COAL CO. 176-8 BURNS1DE STREET s ' J,. ' : 'I . - I." - .