"'A
A 30-
fi, s . : : - ; :ff '
!: (?6"'&7:$& '-;'7sz7t X' r '-i S f 4 I ; . - , f
PORT OF PORTLAND AND
U. S. ENGINEERS COOPERATE
Dredging Operations Have
Willamette and Columbia All the Way to the
Pacific Jetty Work Proceeds,
PASSAGE OVER THE COLUMBIA BAR IS NOW 31 FEET
A Gratifying Announcement.
A few days ago, S. M. Mears, chairman of the Port of Portland
Commission, announced that there is now between .Portland and
the sea a channel of thirty, and thirty-one feet over the bar, due
to the work of the commission and the engineering department
of the United Stats government.
This has been Portland's ambition for years. It is now real
ized. It means everything to the commercial future of this port
especially in connection with preparation for increased business
induced by the Panama canal. The charts show what has been
done; the arUcle is intended to indicate how the work was accomplished.
Hy Marshall N. Dana.
AY," remarked Captain Groves
"S
to an invisibility above him,
'hoist that ladder, will you?"
Apparently "Say" was in
stantly obedient. A little bell
tinkled in the engine room. Cables
heaved and blocks rattled and up out
of the Willamette, all dripping, rose
the "ladder."
And such a ladder! Certainly It
could claim no kinship with the fruit
tree variety nor yet the useful auxil
iary of the fire department. To the
dredger it bore the relation of a huge
beak. At the extremity of its steel
trussed bulk was a river bed rending
device with bright, curved blades.
Clinging to the hood of the cutter
were various blackish objects. ''There,"
explained Manager Talbot of the Port
of Portland commission, "are part of
the deckload of the Cricket some of
the asphaltum she lost when the dock
to which Khe was tied some months
ago took fire and when, to save the
vessel, she was cut loose and left to
drift. We have drawn tons of It up
from the river bed."
The two climbed as hastily off the
ladder" a they could with respect to
its slippery surfaces. Down it went
into the water again. The black pro
pellor shaft resumed its swift revo
lutions. With restless circular sweep
the blades cut into the river bed. The
30 inch tube caught up the material
loosened by the powerful action and
carried it backward.
"Here's what provides the 'pull.' "
said Captain Groves pointing to the
.suction drum, 10 feet in diameter.
"Here's our bright little sewing ma
chine," said Manager Talbot, taking
up the duty of showman and indicat
ing the highly polished engine which
drives the work of the dredge Willam
ette with the power of 1500 horses.
"When the war interrupted lumber
shipments we ran out of our usual
ADDITIONAL NORMAL SCHOOLS URGED
AS ESSENTIAL TO EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Ry Clark Wood. .
Wesfon, Or., Oct. 17. The East-1
em Oregon State Normal school
waa established by an act of
the legislature approved February 26,
188ft, and graduated Its first class lnj
1890. !
The school has since maintained a
singularly checkered and varied ex-istence-always
flourishing, however,
when permitted to do so. Its admin
istrative officials never knew fronv
ession to session of the legislature
whether it would survive or perish,
and the school was of necessity handi
capped byt such uncertainty. It was
as though the state were an Inexperi
enced gardener who occasionally
trampled upon a strange new plant
in his fear that it would grow Into s
noxious weed rather than into a fra
grant and beautiful flower.
The growth of the normal school
Idea, fostered and nourished by Hor
ace Mann in Massachusetts more than
70 years ago, was slow in Oregon.
The normal schools were looked upon
with distrust and Jealousy, and were
opposed by a large number. of.people.
unfamiliar with their wori.
Ift early years the Eastern Oregon
Normal failed of an appropriation, but
its work was carried forward by con
iit y. tributions until the legislature again
4 decided i to recognize it. Its doors
were later closed in 1905-6 by reason
of the "hold-up session," when .the leg
islature became so obsessed by a sen
atorial fight that it let the general
appropriations bill go by the boards.
The following legislature made
amends, and in 1906-7 the school was
revived under very favorable aus
pices. Its growth from a new plant
ing was really remarkable under the
enexgttlo direction of Its president.
Deepened River Channels
fiffS C ' 13 VV The dotted lines show the riverchannel between Portland VLr X,J t , ' " " KJf rr i ,
"11 V and tne Bea- The numerals indicate the places where II "Vv gw,C0WVCR e? L " ' ' t1t t :' ' ' lfC '
"wti 1 work was done as is shown in the accompanying table ea II lr$i ? ' Vir " 41' 1 1
17 C ' J showing, dredging operations for 1913. The letters IT TSSoTJ" lJc"u '"W7
v AMrroNl .JV' 7 P. W and C stand for the dredges Portland, Wil- V l't'A,''- I W r1 . '..i 11; ' ;;
X f "fST lamette and Columbia and indicate by which craft V s1 JO5
A each job was done. Sifc-J
lKcfAk 5"" y"n ancient barge whose ribs projected . - - C"X.
V V . I from the water. At intervals an explo- ! I Trrlarinor Dnratinnc fnr lOL
"A
fuel and had to burn oil," continued
Mr. Talbot as the furnace room was
reached. "Now that the mills have
started up again we have regular
fuel." He called atentlon to a barge
load of damp mill refuse that was
being loaded aboard the dredge ma
terial that would be entirely waste if
it were not for. the device that feeds
it to the furnace, transforming it into
steam and energy.
We trod the '-rounded back of the
tube that led shoreward. It vibrated
beneath our feet with the current of
mud and pebbles it was conducting,
and which it was discharging on low
ground in a great sputtering current
that in a few days had built up the
general level to a height of 20 feet
over a wide area.
Robert C. French, now educational di-
rector of the Portland Y. M. C. A., In
1907-8 the enrollment in the normal
department reached a maximum of
275, and including the training depart
ment the school housed a total of 345
pupils.
When the plant was thus blossom
ing, the legislative grubbing hoe struck
at its" roots. In the session of 1909
the school's supporters in the lower
house numbered approximately two to
one, but ' the senate was two to ono
against It. It was abandoned in the
middle of the school year, no provis
ion being made to carry out the state s
contracts with the teachers or to grad
uate its senior class. This duty was
performed by means of private sub
scriptions, and the subscribers were
reimbursed' at the reeent' session,
when the present millage tax bills for
both the Eastern and Southern Oregon
Normals were referred to the people
by the legislature.
Great was the distress among the
teachers and students over the school's
abandonment. The S40.000 main
building; for which no caretaker was-
provided, " would - ultimately fall into
decay. .j.There were books in plenty.
out none to reaataeuaone to
play; class rooms equipped withe6TyfPhere Of political influence. One-
article - of school furniture,, but none
to teach or to recite; laboratories, to
concruct experiments, but none to ex
pcrlment; a kindergarten for the train-J
ins school, but no children: a camnus.
but no students to make merry there
on In athletic sports and games.. It
is easier to destroy . than to create,
they said, and the splendid work of
years was undone In a few fateful
days by thoughtless iconoclasts.
Thus they gloomed, and their fore
bodings would have been reaJized but
for the action of the state in nf
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING,
FROM
of deepening:, the channel or along: the
shore where deep water is needed for
docks has taken out of the bottom of
the sty-eam her 20,000 cubic yards a
day," said Mr. Talbot, with evident
pride in the accomplishment. "That
is what makes it possible to announce
in this important year of 1914 that we
have a 30 foot channel to the sea."
"Yes," Captain Groves took up the
conversational thread remlniscently. "I
can well remember the first little
stumbling efforts at dredging. Twenty-five
years ago we had a channel of
16 feet between Portland and the sea.
Little towboats of the R- R. Thompson
type required between two and three
days to get a vessel from here to the
mouth of the river. Following the ves
sel we had to send a barge loaded with
BOO to 1500 tons additional cargo which
the vessel couldn't carry on her way
down river because of the shallow
channel."
A dipper dredge just above where
the dredge Willamette was stationed
was plucking away at the skeleton of
TENASILUMEE
ISLAND
an ancient barge whose ribs projected
from the water. At intervals an explo
sion under water threw pieces of
wreckage into the air.
"That very barge," continued Cap
tain Groves, "was once used in lighter
ing wheat down the river and its been
lying there sunk, for many years.
"The ship, as I was saying, would
be held at Astoria four or five days
taking on her additional cargo from
the barge. Then she would have to
wait for a favorable bar crossing and
the delay from this cause could never
be averaged nor predicted.
"This delay meant money. It cost
$2000 more to get a 2000 ton ship
away from Portland than it does now.
The towage was slower and cost more.
Also we then had compulsory river
pilotage with its costs."
The first public effort to make the
Willamette more navigable was made
in 1883 with a dipper dredge owned by
the city. Later came a bucket dredge,
so warmly advocated by Councilman
Honeyman that it was nicknamed
the normal school plant to the local
school district, which now uses it to
house its public and high schools
while the large district building in
stead stands empty. Thus the state's
plant has been in some measure kept
intact through occupancy, and can be
put in shape again for the state's use
by a reasonable expenditure.
The millage tax bill for tne school's
restoration and permanent mainte
nance has been wisely drawn, in that
it permits the use of whatever sum
the board of regents considers neces
sary for equipment and repairs. The
school was never wholly abolished,
merely suspended, and when revived
would be subject to the legislative act
of 1907. It would be controlled by
a board of nine regents, called "The
Board of Regents of Normal Schools,"
composed of the state board of educa
tion as ex-of f icio regents and of six
appointed regents. None of the latter
come from normal school counties,
thus disposing of any fear of local
Interference with the management
Thus the work of the Eastern Oreifon
State Normal would be directed pre-"
ciseiy as that of the Oregon State Nor
mal at Monmouth is now directed, and
it would be wholly removed from the
forttettf of "r'BflLattwo and one-half
cents on each thousand dollars -.of. as-J
Its support. It need not ask and will
not ask for another dollar aside from
its annual Income. - . ?
Oregon If onaal Schools ooo deal.
This reminds me that the Oregon
normals have done - large, amount at
work-for a very little moneys Wash
ington, for Instance, has regularly ap
propriated from three to four times
as much money for its normal schools
as the Oregon normals received.- The
PORTLAND TO
good work.
The present system of snctlon
dredging was - the next step in this
dredging evolution and Is the present
method. The Portland and Columbia
were put to work, and, in 1912, the
Willamette, the most powerful of the
three.
The port commission has found that
its work grows proportionately greater
as it deepens the channel. It can be
readily understood that to take off the
peak of a hill would require a shorter
cut than to cut across a section lower
down. The same principal applies to
the reduction of the bars and shal
lows. When a 25 foot channel was
maintained for instance, the total
length of the cuts was approximately
six miles; with a 28 foot channel the
total length of the cuts was 14 miles,
and with a 30 foot channel the total
of the cuts is 23 miles. Figure the
quantity of material that had to be
removed from bars and shallows for
23 miles, and think of the work of
maintenance that is required, and then
Dredging Operations for 1913.
Chart No. and
Location. Cubic Yards.
1 Harbor 559,876
2 Reeder's Cross 104,759
3 Morgan's Bar i 31,389
4 Henrici Bar 697,527
5 Mouth of Cowlitz 46,296
6 Upper Martin's 318,577
7 Lower Martin s 146,712
8 Hunter's Bar 1,415,440 .
9 Doblebower's '. 360,473
10 Slaughter's 693,386
11 LaDu's Bar 120,222
12 Bachelor's Slough 84,115
13 Westport 157,782
14 Fale's Slough 2,592
15 Oregon Slough 1,005,379
10 Grounded Vessels 146,603
17 Sand Island 1,154,594
LENGTH SHIP CHANNEL DREDGED
1302
1503
1504
1305
1906
1307
1308
1303
1310
1311
1)12
1313
5.4m i
1.03 Ml
. 7.0
ESTIMATED CUISIC YARDS REMOVED FROM
SHIP CHANNEL WILLAMETTE COLUMBIA R1VER3
190Z
1305
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
m
1911
1312
9o3, 10 o
I, 6',65 7L Co. vd
l,XO7,093 tu.ros
-ri),84l,09fe tw. ro-
I, 8 85,513 o.- vos.
. 2,,Ol5,7Q8 C.Vo3'.
OIO,I9& OU.VBS
1313
average cost of 'normal school stu
dents in Oregon in 1907-8 was $8 -This
compares very favorably to Bi iode
feel compensated for the compara
tively small tax burden that the Port
of Portland district carries in order to
open Portland as a port .o the com
merce of the world.
IT. R. Govrmeirt Cooperates.
All of the work, of course, between
Portland and the sea has not been
done by the Port of Portland. The
United States government is cooperat
ing and will do progressively more.
The government's service in d.eepnln
the bar channel has been highly Im
portant. By means of the south Jetty
and dredging the bar chajinel has been
deepened and made safer. There is
now a channel of 31 "feet across the
bar. Work has been resumed on the
north jetty following appropriation
made by congress.
As we proceeded down river to take
a look at the dredge Willamette, the
tug Samson, one of the fleet used in
conveying rock from the quarries
above Vancouver to the north jetty
pulled oui rrom ner moorings ana
I steamed out of the harbor, dashing the
Depth.
27 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
28 Feet
27
28
Feet
Feet
12
Feet
20 Feet
28 Feet
20 Feet
12 Feet
-C7 Ml.
I -...SO Ml.
IO 13 mi.
9.fc7wi.
Mf
9.5 Hi
3, 549,a.qo cu. nd
mioses Aitvti. Cai-MtaiA g, ti.mmr
Island, $294; ' Colorado, $24;f Massa
chusetts, $150; Oklahoma, $141; South
Ctakota. $192; Washington. $1M-Wis
OCTOBER 18, 1914.
THE SEA
if7 'feJfe.ii J S
-
IP
water from her prow as though eager
to get back into service again after
the period of inactivity since work was
stopped on the, north jetty for lack of
funds, it is now possible to deliver
4000 tons of rock a day for the north
jetty.
The Port of Portland launch, carry
ing us back up river, passed the steam
ship Georgian, the first to arrive in
port after passing through the Panama
canal.
"Look here at her markings," sug
gested Captain Groves.
The markings showed a draft of 30
feet
And that is what It means in size of
vessels to have a 30 foot channel from
Portland to the sea and 31 feet over
the bar, with certaLnty of greater
depth.
This port gives safe entrance into
the estuary and to the head of deep,
sea navigation to almost any ship
afloat.
It goes out over the world that the
bar channel is so deep at dead low
water that there are no waits and n
vessels pounding or scraping on the
bottom.
It is said by navigators that the
river channel may be confidently es
sayed V'itti the commissioner's ef
ficient pilotage service. Public docks
are building and give assurance of
good berthing and quick discharge of
cargo.
The government is charting the har
bor with a view to estimating the ma
terial that will have to be removed in
establishing an uniform harbor" depth
of 30 feet.
All these things make for commerce
and Portland's handling of the com
merce due her as chief distributing
point in a trade area of a quarter of
a million square miles, a greater area
than lies back of any other city on the
Pacific coast
consin, $140; Minnesota, $115; New
York, $106; West Virginia. $38; Penn
sylvania, $84; Illinois. $75.
I consider this showing remarkable,
in view of the troublesome if not
avenging Nemesis which pursued the
Oregon normals from pillar to poet
Illinois only shows a lower cost per
student, while that of Pennsylvania i
precisely the same.
The Eastern Oregon Normal and the
Southern Oregon Normal are. In my
opinion, equally entitled to considera
tion. Both have state plants unused
by the state, both are needed in their
particular sections and by the com
monwealth at large. President Camp
bell of the Oregon university, says
that about 1000 new teachers are
needed yearly for the Oregon schools.
Is it not the state's function to sup
Tiyrtn&ied Jteachers for its children,
if it Is the state's function to supply
trained men amt.women for the sev
eral professions? It would t&s con
sistent to dispense wltB' , state In
stitutions of higher learnlng,iitJ
dispense with, the normal school.
They are not the caus nor con-
NOW REAL
I'l.i. TiWr t, , ' w
Top, left to right The tug Samsonwhich hauls rock-laden .
from the quarries above Vancoigfer to the mouth of thef
Marcus Talbot, manager of the-ljPort of Portland , Cora iSte
Bottom The dredge Willamette iniction. .' i'i' 'T'Y-V ,d
depth sniicnANiSl
END DREDSiNi. SEASONS '
YEAR!
DEPTH at ZERO
1864
1889
1894
1896
1837
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
iao6
1907
1 90S
1909
f9IO
191 1
J9IZ
1.913
1914
ttibuting cause, of high taxes. State
taxes were higher after two normal
schools were suspended and only one
retained. The cost ot all three would
be but nine cents on every thousanf
dollars of taxable property, Monmouth
receiving four cents, and Ashland and
Weston two and one-half cents each.
Thus by denying himself one 10 cent
cigar each year, the thousand - dollar
taxpayer will more than save for bira
self the cost of th re normal schoojJ
1 . M . . . . ' 1
AiKua ' na luur normal Bcnooi
California five, Connecticut four, IBf
nois five, Massachusetts nine, Michi
gan four, Minnesota five, Missouri
four. New York 12; North Carolina
four, Oklahoma four, Pennsylvania H.
South Dakota four. West VirglbtaJ
seven, Wisconsin seven, Georgia, Kan
sas, Kentucky, Maine, Texas, Vermont
and Washington three each. Thirty
other states content themselves with
two each, but the educational treadsof
the-, times ' la ' toward r small ; normal
schools and plenty of them, as ind)
cated by the views of maay educators.
"rWeston,f the home of , the .Eastern
Orct-o Noaco-1 School, is a. pretty lit-
: 1
A
and Captain Graves, superintend! nt of dredges, lBp4ctrofl
cutter and ladder from the dresje Willamette. . ' "': tV7'
T" 1
IT FT
if 1 7 FT
J7ft;
i s - -
If
iOFT
2.1 Pt:IU
-0.1 FT.
' I
-XlFT.iH1
;uft. K ;
- a.4Fr
XA FT
FT
; ii i
.2Srr. y
X5P77
3-fFT .
V3.5FT.H
3.6 R
277 Ft
- - " r
Ueftown pleasantly located , at UrS
or .the Bine mountains, on ;the -R.
J N. line, in the rioltjij?
Umatilla county. Its "altitude
18oSj eet and Its poptrieUoif abo.
It ias a fine gravity system of
wotks, supplying-plenty of pure .
taifil water, and boasts of its f
ble-health conditions. , In all V
torf of the Eastern Oregon N
notrbne death occurred among t:.
dents or faculty except, that
Jatc ! President . MarHndale, who
to-Uha school an ailing- man
Mojil ' atmosphre' of - the corr.
i 'so.-favorable, to studect li ;
growth., v, - - , . -O '
fS :orts -received by .the.' j
etuamittee Xrora all 'over tha u
I to. the effect that public sentl
Wheels, asd that both bills f
thieople will tn aJI likelif . "
by yarge ' majorities. V ? I
Myr people are learning, I
icneftr' H before, that the u t
75J00 normal school claf
job?; . ml
I - '-'1777" ' '
-5L