She is said to have been the most palatial steamer that ever docked at Lewistton. She has been used for towing on the Willamette and lower Columbia for many years.
And now, at this writing, meetings are being held in Portland by those interested in the Portage Eoad, and attended by prominent business men of Lewiston, for the pur- pose of organizing the Open River Transportation Company, the object being the con- struction and operation of a fleet of steamboats on the upper Columbia and Snake Rivers. June 3 was a "red letter day" for Idaho — and for Portland.
Portland and Lumber
That Portland is the greatest lumber city in the United States stands undisputed. The Isthmian Canal Commission is going to purchase an enormous quantity of lumber — several hundred million feet — for use in the construction of the great canal. The Oregon Lumber Manufacturers' Association made a wise move when it, on May 27, adopted a resolution calling the attention of the commission to Portland and suggesting that a branch purchasing office be established here. In a letter recently received by the Chamber of Commerce from Major H. J. Gallagher, deputy purchasing and shipping agent, it was stated that contracts would in all probability go to Pacific Coast bidders.
In this connection it is interesting to note the following lumber vessels, the amount of their cargoes, and their destinations, which recently cleared from the Columbia River and received their cargoes at Portland: "Aku, " Port Arthur, 2,380,029 feet; "Orange Branch," Shanghai, 2,889,348 feet; "Guernsey," Kiao Chou, 3,433,432 feet; "Elm Branch," Port Arthur, 2,413,347 feet; "Inverness," Yokohama, 2,609,551 feet; "Oak Branch," Shanghai, 1,483,446 feet; "Norman Isles," Shanghai, 2,696,960 feet; "Almond Branch," Shanghai, 2,667,142 feet; "Palatina," Japan, 2,924,240 feet; "Thvra," China, 3,550,941 feet; "Oceano," China, 3,994,173 feet; " Strathgyle, " Manila, 3,600,000 feet; "Kohala," Shanghai, 1,021,703 feet.
Mining
Mining is keeping pace with other branches of industry in its general advancement. In Oregon new strikes are being made, and the mines are continually increasing the output of the precious metal. A rich strike was recently made in the Platts group. Rock Creek Camp, Baker County. Work has been resumed on the Red Boy and Virginia mines in the same county. In Nevada, Mr. J. P. Fitting, manager of the Bonanza King, announces that he will at once install fifteen stamps, concentrating tables, and cyaniding vats. The Bonanza King is a gold and silver mine, about twenty-five miles northeast of Lovelock, in Humboldt County. A mill, equipped with Huntingtons and plates, has been in operation for some time, and Mr. Fitting has been recovering $20 per ton of ore from the plates. Reports from other parts of Nevada are very encouraging.
At the present time the capital stock issues in the mining industry in the United States amounts to more than $3,000,000,000.
Irrigation
Too much can not be said or written on the subject of irrigation. Nothing is of more importance to us than the reclamation of the arid lands of the great West. The President, Congress, and the various States interested are working hard on this sub- ject; much is being accomplished and more will be.
The Congressional excursion, consisting of the Senate and House Irrigation Com- mittees, left Kansas City June 1. The itinerary of the trip is as follows: Kansas City, June 1; El Paso, 3 to 5; Maricopa, Ariz., 5; Phoenix, 6 to 8; Yuma, Old Beach and Calexico, 9 and 10; Redlands and Riverside, 11; Los Angeles, 11 to 13; San Francisco, 14 and 15; Sacramento, 16; Sparks and Hazen, Nov., 17 and 18; Ogden and Salt Lake, 19 and 20; Minidoka, Nampa and Boise, 21 and 22; Portland, 23 and 24; Seattle, 25; Billings, 27; Cody, 28; Toluca, 29; Alliance, 30; Cheyenne and Denver, July 1; Montrose, 2; Denver, 4.
At last winter's sessions of the Legislatures of the irrigation states certain acts were passed of importance to irrigation projects. In California there was passed an act to co-operate with the United States in the construction of the Klamath project, lying both in Oregon and California. The United States was authorized to change the level of certain lakes, and all claims of the state to lands uncovered by lowering those portions of the lakes lying in California were ceded to the United States. Also an act was passed making appropriations for co-operation with the United States Geological Survey. _ Also an act providing for the reclamation by drainage of a certain described district in the Sacramento Valley, and its protection from floods.
In Oregon an act relating to the Klamath project was enacted similar to the one enacted by the California Legislature. There was also an act passed regulating ap- propriation of water by private parties. Other legislation in Oregon established the much needed office of State Engineer, made an appropriation for co-operation with the United States Hydrographic and Topographic Surveys, provided for right of way for irrigation works constructed by authority of the United States over state lands, and passed a bill providing for the organization of an irrigation district in connection with the Malheur project of the Reclamation Service.
