was removed across the street to the present site of the theatre. Work was then begun upon the foundations of the hotel, but was soon suspended, and the premises remained an unsightly spectacle in the heart of the town for several years, during which the Oregonian labored faithfully to spur on its completion by the citizens, but stock in the enterprise was slowly taken until the magnates of the Southern Pacific, on the completion of the Oregon and California road, bluntly declared that neither they nor any other persons of distinction would ever care to visit Portland unless modern hotels were erected and maintained according to modern taste in such matters. And what was the result? Whereas, before, every man of means was a householder, as he should be, straightway the Hotel Portland was completed it became the fashion to live at this hostelry instead of one’s own house, until tourists were in danger of being crowded out by the home patronage, and the manager, one of the world-renowned Lelands, was forced to discourage permanent boarding. A secondary result was the erection of more hotels and improved hotel service generally.
Another object of which the city is justly proud is its Industrial Fair building, where is held an annual exhibit of the natural and cultivated productions of the State, its manufactures, and works of art. It is the largest on the coast, and the exhibition is surprisingly interesting as well as remarkable for bulk. Many of the exhibits are permanently preserved at the Board of Immigration, which at present occupies rented rooms, but is to be provided with more convenient quarters in the near future.
This Board of Immigration is doing a good work, if only to remind the present inhabitants of the State of their possible achievements. For strangers it furnishes many attractions and answers many questions. For instance, in the centre of the floor is a “kiosk” constructed of the best specimens of native grains in the stalk,—quite an elegant work of art. In the centre is placed a table laden with specimens of the choicest varieties of fruit and vegetables contributed by the orchardists and gardeners of all parts of Oregon. There are several tables arranged across the room for more general displays of fruit, and shelving around the walls containing glass jars filled with seed- grains and early fruits, each labelled with the name and locality
