The Kansas University Weekly
VOL. VII LAWRENCE, KANSAS, JANUARY 12, 1901.
NO.15.
A Visit to the Northwest.
I left Lawrence November 27, via the Union Pacific, for Portland, Oregon. The trip was as uneventful as the presence of fourteen babies in our sleeper would permit. The train was heavily loaded; the air in the crowded emigrant cars would put to shame any $ \mathrm{H}^{2} \mathrm{S} $ that ever grew on Mt. Oread. My interest in sociology caused me to take an occasional promenade through the train. There was a lady in our car whom I think was related to the heroine of Howell's "The Sleeping Car."
The scenery through the sage brush country of Idaho and Wyoming does not inspire one's poetical nature very noticeably, though it does suggest the tremendous possibilities of that land when irrigation touches it. When we reached the Columbia, and for several hours ride down that river the scenery was, perhaps, as grand as any in this country.
I reached Portland Nov. 30th, where I remained but long enough to catch my train for Seattle, and reached this thriving city of the sound at 9 in the evening. The state convention of the Y. M. C. A. was in session and the next two days my time was taken up by the duties of this meeting. Seattle is in the midst of a great boom, though some of the wealthy men are beginning to become cautious in their investments. The Y. M. C. A. is out of debt, owns property worth $60,000, and has a board of directors of the very strongest men of the city, including two millionaires.
I returned to Portland Dec. 3, and spent several days in that beautiful city. Portland is sixty years old and has passed through all kinds of booms and is built solidly, while a spirit of intense conservatism is dominant. The location of this city assures its continued importance as a commercial center; the Columbia valley offers the only natural entrance through the mountains; seven great transcontinental trains leave the Union depot each day; the city is in the midst of the Willamette valley, as fruitful and as beautiful as any on earth. The Y. M. C. A. has a membership of over 1100 and is doing an important work; it has a strong board with a millionaire president and a strong executive force.
The Oregon convention was held at Eugene City; we went from Portland in a special car. I was exceedingly busy at this convention, having charge of the college work with speeches and conferences galore. I found O. F. Stafford,'00, at Eugene City, assistant professor of chemistry in the State University. He is enjoying his work, but quite homesick for Kansas. I was entertained at the home of one of the professors, where I learned that Stafford was giving excellent satisfaction. The associations in the colleges are several years behind those in Kansas. That whole Northwest is teeming with possibilities, and every inhabitant could prove conclusively that his section of the world is blessed peculiarly, and that his own city is the capital and metropolis of the whole blessed dominion. This spirit of conceit promotes optimism which is supported by general