Walla Walla Wheat Takes Sixteen Handlings

The Astoria says: Some of the wheat sacks from the Walla Walla country look like sieves by the time they get here, and it is not much wonder, as they have passed through sixteen handlings to get here from the farmer's wagon at Walla Walla. The current transportation system is a ruinous chain: from wagon to warehouse, to cars, to wharf boat, to steamer, and back again, through Celilo, the Dalles, and the Cascades, finally reaching Portland. What the cost of transportation with all these handlings is, to say nothing of damage and wastage, we can only judge by the market quotations, which usually show from 25 to 50 cents a bushel difference between Portland and Walla Walla. Furthermore, the navigation is liable to obstruction and entire suspension every winter. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company is said to be preparing to build a railroad from Wallula to Portland to maintain their monopoly. Seattle has no rivalry with Portland, but it holds a geographical advantage. Wheat sent from Walla Walla to Seattle would require but one handling to place it on shipboard. With a railroad connection with Puget Sound, farm products in Eastern Washington will be worth more, and Seattle, with an inexhaustible supply of coal and timber, would become the commercial metropolis.